Star Trek Into Darkness Page 0,52

as adept mentally as he was physically. It was what Spock had warned him against. Kirk was wary of allowing himself to be drawn in even to something as seemingly harmless as a suggestion.

But Harrison was right. The Enterprise could scope out the indicated coordinates without the risk of being countermanded by Starfleet. Especially since said coordinates might somehow relate not only to the capture of Harrison but to the carnage that had taken place back home in San Francisco. Kirk wanted very badly to comply. Still he hesitated.

“Give me one reason why I should listen to you?”

Harrison leaned forward until his face was almost pressing against the barrier. “I can give you seventy-two. And they’re on board your ship, Captain.” His tone was relentless, matter-of-fact. “They have been all along.” Gratified by Kirk’s reaction, by the evident surprise on the captain’s face, the prisoner stepped back from the transparent wall that separated them. “I suggest you open one up—and take a look.”

X

Are you out of your corn-fed mind?”

Flanked by Spock, who hovered close, Leonard McCoy spoke as loud and as near to Kirk as he could without risking a charge of infringing on a commanding officer’s personal space. Though McCoy’s face was flushed and he bordered on the apoplectic, Spock made no move to intervene: a sign of how seriously the science officer viewed the doctor’s opinion on the matter at hand.

“You’re not actually going to listen to this guy? He killed Pike, among numerous others,” McCoy continued vociferously. “He almost killed you. And now you think it might be a good idea to pop open a torpedo just because he essentially dared you to?”

Seated in the command chair, Kirk listened to his friend’s words with half a mind while the other kept to its own counsel. “He also saved our lives. Mine, Spock’s, Uhura’s. There’s no disputing that. He could have killed me, killed all of us, with ease. Instead, he surrendered. I think it’s important to know the reason why.”

McCoy was not dissuaded. “That’s what he wants you to think. Jim, someone like Harrison doesn’t do things because they’ve suddenly experienced a change of heart. There’s a reason behind everything they do, and it has nothing to do with a sudden penchant for philanthropy. If he saved your lives, he did so because he saw something in it for him. Something that would help advance his agenda—whatever that might be.”

“The doctor does have a point, Captain,” Spock added softly.

Looking away, an agitated McCoy muttered: “Don’t agree with me, Spock. It makes me very uncomfortable.”

Kirk swung around to face both men. “Scotty quit because of those torpedoes. He wouldn’t stay on board without knowing what was inside them. I’ve decided that he was right, and not just because Harrison suggested it. We need to know.”

Straightening, McCoy gestured in the general direction of the distant holding area. “Jim. That man in the brig is a homicidal maniac who wants us to blow ourselves up! Maybe that’s why those ‘new’ torpedoes are on board. So he could maneuver you into poking through their guts. Maybe if anyone tries to open one, it’s set to protect itself by self-destructing. He’s hooked you with a challenge, don’t you see that?”

Kirk spoke thoughtfully without looking up at the doctor. “No. No, that’s too obvious a ploy, and whatever else Harrison is, he’s not obvious. He’s demonstrated that already. I think there’s another reason he wanted to be brought aboard the Enterprise. We need to find out what that is.”

“Maybe he wants to say all is forgiven so he can enlist.” His tone acidic, McCoy was now beside himself. “I think he’s gotten under your skin—he could be stalling for some reason. That would explain this challenge of his for us to go to these unvisited coordinates. He could be working with the Klingons!”

“Perhaps you, too, should learn to govern your emotions a little, Doctor,” Spock broke in. “In this situation, logic dictates—”

“Logic!” McCoy sputtered. “My God, there’s a maniac trying to make us blow up our own ship and you’re—”

Having come to a decision, Kirk raised a hand to forestall the rest of the doctor’s rant. “I don’t know why he surrendered, but that’s not it. We’re gonna open one of the torpedoes. That’s my decision. The question is, how.” Having forcefully terminated one discussion, he energetically embarked on another. “What’s the best way? The safest way?”

McCoy let out a snort of disdain. “I’ve heard the story behind the loading of those weapons.