Chapter Text
La’an followed the guard quietly and without hesitation, but instead her head her mind was racing, trying to plan her strategy on the spot. Her and Ortegas being unarmed actually proved to be an advantage. Ortegas would need to quickly and quietly procure a weapon for her scheme to work, and La’an had the skill to take Ortegas in unarmed combat…at least she would have if she still had her dominant hand.
Security Chief Palmer was a wall of a man: tall and broad with golden tan skin and inky black hair that he wore cropped close. He sat at his desk with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, and Ortegas and La’an sat across from him. Clearly, he was not pleased to have his routine interrupted. The inside of his office was similar to the rest of the Capitol in appearance: old Terran infrastructure mostly stripped of its grandeur.
“Well,” he began. “I hear you have some information that may be of use. We’be been expecting another assassination attempt and have reason to believe that this one will be a more concerted attempt.”
Ortegas gave La’an a sharp look before she answered. “Yes, sir, this is about that exactly. We know who is behind the coup and need to tell Spock ourselves.”
“I can’t accommodate that. Any information you have, you can tell me, and I will relay it to Spock and anyone else who needs to know.”
“That’s unacceptable!” Ortegas leaned forward and placed the palms of her hands flat on the desk. “Everything that has happened since we’ve arrived has been unacceptable! We’ve been treated like criminals! We served with Spock, we are among his most trusted friends.”
“Erica.” La’an spoke calmly yet firmly. She caught Ortegas’ attention and settled her enough to encourage her to stand down. “This man would not be chief of security if Spock did not have the utmost trust and respect for him.”
“I guess you’re right.” Ortegas sat back in her seat and let out a long breath. “Do you know Hikaru Sulu?”
Palmer nodded. “I met him once. He served with Spock too, right?”
Ortegas nodded. “We recently found out that he’s been staging a coup. Unfortunately the only evidence we have is our word, but given the current circumstances that seems like it might be enough to start an investigation. We also have names of some of his co-conspirators: Nyota Uhura, Joseph M’Benga…”
“And Erica Ortegas.” La’an interrupted.
Ortegas sprang to her feet with such speed and intensity that she knocked her chair to the floor. “La’an, what the fuck?”
Palmer drew his phaser. He aimed it at Ortegas, but kept his eyes on La’an. La’an stood up as well, but she remained calm and steady.
La’an held up the stump where her right hand used to be. “I realize it may be hard for you to believe that I wasn’t involved, but I assure you that any compliance was against my will. You can detain me or deal with me however you see fit, I won’t resist. I only ask that you tell Spock I was here. I was the one who initially warned him about this threat.” She paused, well aware that what she was about to say would sound absurd without any context. “Tell Spock that I never did go bowling again after Doctor McCoy healed my injury. He’ll know what it means.”
With his free hand, Palmer reached for the communicator on his belt, but before he could flip it open the clamor of alarm klaxon tore through the air. Ortegas took advantage of the diversion and bolted toward the door, but Palmer was quick with his weapon. He fired his phaser and hit Ortegas directly between the shoulderblades. La’an gasped, expecting to see this twisted copy of her old friend be instantly vaporized, but instead Ortegas simply collapsed to the ground. Shocked, La’an stared down at her for a moment then looked back to Palmer.
“Yours has a stun setting? The phasers on the Portland could only vaporize.”
“One of Spock’s reforms, but it’s taken longer to implement and is difficult to enforce.”
“Wait…Sulu might have genetically enhanced augments with him. They can’t be stunned, you have to set your phaser to kill.”
“That seems like an extreme measure for a far-fetched claim, Admiral” Palmer answered, impatient.
“I know, but Spock was expecting this, he’ll be understanding.”
“Got it, Admiral.” Palmer stepped to just the edge of the door, his weapon ready just in case he would need it the moment he stepped into the hall. “Wait here, Admiral, I’ll be sure you’ll be protected.”
“Like hell you will!” La’an snapped. “Get me a weapon, I’m not about to sit back and do nothing.”
A slight smile curled onto Palmer’s face. “It’s probably not advisable to put an admiral in danger, but I’ll take all the help I can get.”
They hadn’t gone to the capitol all at once, ten people traveling to the Capitol all together would raise too many questions and would need an airtight explanation. Sulu went first, with two young augments who resembled him closely enough that he could pass them off as his nephews. He gave himself enough of a lead time to get past security and to ensure that the others would not encounter any obstacles. Then, Uhura would join him with two more augments, and M’Benga with the final three a little while later. Regrettably, Awais had been killed as a result of their infighting. One less augment was an unfortunate disadvantage, but a loose cannon like him was a liability. It might be better to have him out of the way early on.
That was how their plan was supposed to go, but by the time Uhura arrived Sulu was still arguing with the security guard. She wore a scowl on her face, but managed to keep her cool. “Hikaru…” She placed a hand gently on Sulu’s shoulder to calm him. “What seems to be the trouble?”
“A grave and inexcusable insult to my character.” Sulu glanced at Uhura as he spoke. “We have an appointment and the appropriate credentials, yet this man is still refused our admission.”
“Is that so?” Uhura teased, placing her hands on her hips. “Do you have any idea who we are?”
“Yes, in fact, your reputation precedes you, and therein lies the problem. Both of you have been implicated in a plot against Spock.”
Sulu stepped closer. “By whom?”
“I can’t say that, but I can say that because this informant had no proof I am willing to simply let you go.”
Nyota stepped closer to the guard and smiled slyly. There was a swagger in her step, and hunger in her eyes. Even well into her fifties, Uhura was still a strikingly beautiful woman and not afraid to use her looks to her advantage. “What a shame,” she cooed. She stood directly in front of him and placed a hand on each of his shoulders. “I bet there have been a lot of such reporting going around lately. It must be hard to tell which ones are true.” Her right hand slid down from his shoulder and in one swift move she took the phaser from his belt and fired it into his abdomen. Much to her surprise he didn’t vaporize but simply collapsed to the ground.
Uhura tossed the weapon to an augment, Saoirse. “They’ve weakened their phasers, that should help us.”
The remaining guards sprang into action, Uhura was ready with her own weapon first. She fired at the nearest guard, and because her phaser was, in accordance with the old Terran traditions, only set to vaporize, he vanished with a burst of light. Meanwhile, Saoirse fumbled with her own weapon, trying to figure out how to get it out of heavy stun, but she did not have enough time to make the adjustment. Another guard’s phaser was pointed directly at her, and so she fired her weapon even though it only stunned the man.
While the flurry of phaser fire was underway, M’Benga and his group of augments beamed in to the capitol grounds. “Dammit.” he muttered as he took the lead and joined the fray.
They had started evenly matched for numbers, but with the ruthless fighting of Sulu, Uhura, and M’Benga combined with the enhanced strength and speed of the augments, they overpowered the guards and soon stood right outside the Capitol doors. The first hurdle was almost cleared, even if the plan had already fallen apart. They were on the steps when the distinctive sounds and twinkling lights caught Sulu’s attention.
“No…no, no, no… Get inside! Now!” Without hesitation, Uhura, M’Benga, and the three remaining augments sprinted inside, and Sulu stayed back to watch helplessly as four of the augments disappeared. To where, he could not guess. Five times as strong as the average Terra, extremely intelligent, resistant to injury…none of that seemed like it would make much difference now that his superhuman army was reduced to three. Worse yet, only one of them had managed to procure a weapon in the prior struggle.
La’an let Palmer take the lead. She had never set foot inside this building before and was totally unaware of the different security measures, and she lacked confidence in her own abilities: holding a phaser in her left hand felt wrong. Palmer did give her a curious look when volunteered to take a supporting, another subtle insight into how the Terran La’an’s personality differed from her own. Before they left the office, Palmer stood at the edge of the door frame and scanned the hall from this protected position. The hall was clear, and so he and La’an set out, pressed against the wall and moving with alert caution.
“The intruders haven’t gotten far past the entrance,” Palmer explained. “If we’re lucky things should be quiet for a bit, but don’t let your guard down.”
Just as predicted, they encountered little activity as they moved through the halls, only the occasional encounter with other security personnel, to whom Palmer passed on the same advice that La’an had given him about setting phasers to kill. When they heard the first shot of nearby phaser fire they froze and held their breath to listen. “Closer than I expected.” Palmer whispered. “Be ready.”
Palmer stayed pressed against the wall and peeked around the corner for just a moment. “They’re around the corner.” He was still whispering. “Sulu, M’Benga, and Ortegas and three others.”
“Augments, and far fewer than I expected.” La’an whispered back. “Take them out first.”
Palmer nodded, and with his weapon ready he came around the corner just long enough to fire. He hit one augment who fell lifeless to the floor, but Sulu was just as quick with his phaser. Sulu fired his own weapon, and Palmer was instantly vaporized.
La’an hung back and took a deep, steadying breath. They would be coming this way soo, she was still outnumbered, and if she was killed everything would be lost. She turned the corner to fire, but with her awkward left hand she missed. La’an tried again, aiming at an augment, and while she didn’t stay out from behind cover long enough to see what happened she heard another body fall to the floor. One augment left, and then it was only three regular, aging people against whatever remained of Spock’s security detail/
With renewed confidence, La’an turned the corner one more time, but before she could fire her weapon, the remaining augment—the young woman who had been arguing earlier, Saoirse–fired first. It was a hit to La’an’s shoulder and after a quick burst of pain, everything went black.