nexus_crossings | Family Matters

"Maybe," Jim agrees. "I spent a few years doing the same thing. Picked up some useful skills, got in lots of trouble, so not much different from Starfleet I guess. Except the discipline."

It's possibly too bad that Jim doesn't have any glaringly obvious scars or other visual markers to hint that he's not the same Captain Kirk that everyone else seems to know, but he's sure he'll figure out something, or else get used to people expecting him to remember things that he wasn't there for. In any case, Adia seems pleasant enough company, and finding out that she's got the wrong Jim doesn't seem to have scared her off, so he definitely doesn't mind getting to know her better too. "Kind of, in a roundabout sort of way. She was damaged in combat against another ship, badly enough that repairs and upgrades are going to take months. Since the ship's grounded, a lot of my crew have been temporarily reassigned to ground posts in the meantime. I'm guest-teaching Tactics at the Academy." He lifts the datapad a little, its glass-like surface covered in text. "I thought this looked like a nice place to grade papers."

Now that's a side of the Captain she hasn't heard from the Jim she knows. "You sound like my opposite," she admits with a soft laugh. "But my ship is a lot smaller than yours. Maybe I should have gotten into more trouble as a teenager."

She takes a sip of coffee as he explains what happened to the Enterprise. At least there, he's not identical to his alternate. So far as she knows, her friend's ship is currently in space. That's a cumbersome way to tell the two apart, however. "Ah, I see. Is, um... is the Federation at war with someone currently?" She brightens a little at his comment about grading. "The Nexus is great for that sort of thing. Plenty of coffee and none of your students can interrupt you."

Now that's something he hadn't suspected, and he looks up at her in interest. He's run into so many people from older centuries here that she's possibly the first one he's met that's hinted at more advanced technology. "What's your ship called?"

Her question prompts an iffy sort of facial expression out of him. "Not officially. This was a one-time sort of thing. I hope. A terrorist from the twentieth century. It's kind of a long story, and some of it's classified." It doesn't really matter to him that any intel he gives out here is unlikely to make it back home; there's always a chance, and he doesn't feel it's worth risking it.

Especially since he made a shit-ton of mistakes in the process. People died. He's still not really over it.

Grading papers is a much more innocent topic to discuss, though even that is also marred a little by his personal problems. "Yeah, that's what I figured too. Doesn't stop the messages, but at least it's not in person."

"The Chiron." She smiles, pleased that he appreciates something they have in common. "It's a research vessel. I'm a microbiologist, we study infectious diseases... although since the war started, our role has shifted more to keeping the Fleet healthy than pure research."

Not everyone has acclimated to the change, but there is a sparkle of pride in her eyes when she explains. She has enjoyed helping others in a more immediate way.

Classified that information may be, it sounds vaguely familiar to her. Her gaze drifts over towards the Industrial District, its skyline of warehouses jagged and under repair. Something caused a great deal of destruction not too long ago. "That's terrible... what happened to the terrorist? Was he -- ah, or she -- were they caught?"

Her smile returns, wry this time. "At least you still get the messages. I'm more or less out of contact when I'm here."

"So it's something of a hospital ship at the moment." Though it's probably not the best circumstances they could be under, Jim approves of efforts to help others, and while he's not personally fond of being in the hands of doctors, he also appreciates their necessity.

Her hesitation makes him think this must bring up some kind of bad memories for her. He never for a moment suspects it's Khan. "He was, yeah. Eventually. He did a lot of damage before my first officer... took him in." It occurs to him that she might actually know Spock, and he wonders if the other Jim has introduced his crew to this place. If it's possible he's going to run into another Spock, or Bones, or Uhura. As if two captains wasn't confusing enough.

Jim smiles a little at her comment. "I usually am too, but apparently this place has a mind of its own with this sorta thing. It's not just my students," he admits. "It's personal messages too." Which goes a little toward explaining the timing of his question.

"Sort of. We don't have the space to take on patients, but we can do any necessary lab work. Some of us have been traveling to other ships to help out the medical staff there." Something of a perk if you like to travel.

Adia has bad memories to spare -- living through a genocidal war will do that to you -- but her mind stays on Khan and the recent Nexus invasion. He's the only enemy of Jim's she knows about. "So he's... in prison, then?" She doesn't know what he means by his first officer taking him in. She's never met Spock or the rest of Jim's crew. A shame, really, she'd probably get along well with Bones.

"I still don't know how that works. I've seen people use cell phones here, but I can't access any of research remotely." She blinks at his additional comment. "Oh... oh? You got a message from your mother while you were here?"

He mentally revises his assumptions about her ship - and the fleet she mentioned, at that. Either the ships are faster or spatially closer together than Starfleet tends to run its ships. Makes sense if there's a war on, though. "I'm glad that's an option, then."

Jim nods, a little uneasy with the topic, himself. "Yeah. I wasn't able to be there for the trial or anything, but as far as I know, Khan isn't getting out again anytime soon." Assuming they can trust the very few people who know where the Augments' cryotubes are being held, but he's not going to say so out loud.

"I don't know how it works either," he admits. "I've also seen actual magic here so I'm mostly not trying too hard to figure it out." And he nods in response to her question. "She's been deployed on Columbia but she's coming back to Earth in two weeks, and since my apartment building got taken out by the last terrorist attack, I've been staying at our old house in Iowa, so I can't really avoid seeing her again." He's still not sure if he wants to.

She'd be happy to talk shop, but as a civilian, she only knows so much. Her view is strictly from the porthole of her quarters or the window of a transport vessel. "Every little bit helps," she agrees. "But I wish we could more."

Her relief upon hearing that the terrorist is locked away is short-lived when Jim reveals his name. There is a look on her face of pale worry that she cannot hide behind her cup of coffee. Shakily, she sets it down. "I, um... I don't know if anyone has told you this yet, but we had a Khan here, not that long ago. He disabled the AV field and went on a murdering spree looking for -- well, for his universe's version of you." She leans forward, her gaze intent despite the way her voice quavers. "And you're sure the Khan you know is locked away for good? There's no way of him getting out?"

The last thing the Nexus needs is another Khan hellbent on revenge.

"We don't have magic where I'm from... I kind of like that about the Nexus, though. It reminds me that I'm somewhere special." That's another blink -- she might have been making an assumption or two of Jim's mother. "She's also in Starfleet? That... sounds a little awkward, if you two don't talk."

Consider his attention firmly grabbed, Adia. He stares at her for a moment, unable to process that, until incomprehension gives way to dread. Up until this point, it hasn't even crossed his mind that there might be a Khan or two on the loose, let alone one that could circumvent the anti-violence field to such a drastic degree. He wants to ask if this is some kind of really tasteless joke, but he can read the truth on her face. "He's in stasis," he says, already running through contingency plans in his head, ideas to run past Spock, to make damn sure that Khan is going to stay where they put him. "It can't hurt to take extra precautions..." He wants to ask how the hell the other Khan got out, but it seems like that might not be the right line of questioning right now, especially not of someone who clearly has her own trauma to deal with. Jim shifts uncomfortably in his chair, feeling the phantom ache in his back and muscles from his own healed injuries, only a few months ago.

After that, it's oddly mundane to be worrying about family problems. He fidgets with his coffee cup, needing something to do with his hands. Depending on her assumptions, she still might not be wrong. "How so?"

She hates delivering bad news. She wants to look away and drop the subject, but she doesn't, not even when doubt briefly passes across his face. This is important. "Stasis... what does that mean? He's unconscious?" That's not a style of containment that she's familiar with. But if it keeps him from hurting anyone...

Once she sees how seriously he's taking the news, she relaxes her shoulders slightly and lowers her gaze. "Sorry... it's not something you probably wanted to hear." She struggles with her own fears of Cylons in the Nexus. She can easily imagine how he feels. "He only became truly dangerous after he acquired some sort of magic artifact..."

His question brings her gaze up once more. "Well, if you're both in the same organization, there's a chance of having to work together... or is Starfleet so huge that it never came up?"

"He's been cryogenically frozen," Jim clarifies. "He can't wake up without someone thawing him out, and they'd need the right sequence to do it without killing him." He's certainly taking this very seriously, and he shakes his head. "You don't have to apologize. You're right, it isn't something I wanted - or expected - to hear. But I'd rather be forewarned. This artifact... do you know what happened to it?"

Her question about Starfleet is a valid one, certainly. "It hasn't yet, but it could happen. I've only been out of the Academy for a little over a year, so we haven't crossed paths before now." And of course, now that he's thinking about that possibility, there's another thing that might be awkward. "I outrank her, too."

It's something she's only heard of in science fiction stories, but she knows the technology in Jim's world is more advanced than hers. She'll have to accept his answer for what it is and hope no one decides to defrost Khan. "It stopped working once he died. I don't know what happened to it... You should talk to Blaze about it, she was there. She's a robot -- tall, dressed in armor. She patrols the Nexus and keeps an eye on things."

She lets out a quiet sigh and reaches for her cup. "It was the most destruction I've seen outside my own world. Khan was... furious. Relentless. And he had several soldiers with him, too."

The fact that he outranks his own mother surprises her, but it make sense that it would only add to the awkwardness between them. "Can I ask what happened? Was she a bad parent? Is that why you fell out of touch?"

He makes a mental note of that. Armored robot on patrol, got it. Whoever he's got to talk to, he's certain he's not the only one with a vested interest in keeping this artifact out of another Khan's hands.

The news that Khan had others with him is also a concerning one, and Jim frowns deeply. "Soldiers like him?" If so, no wonder Khan made such an impression on the people here. Dealing with just one Augment was hell, and there are seventy-three of them in total.

How to even begin to explain the mess that is Jim Kirk's home life? Might as well start with the part that literally everyone on his Earth knows. "My dad died the same day I was born. I guess looking at me's always been a reminder that I'm here and he's not, so once I was old enough to go to school, she took as many off-world assignments as Starfleet would give her, and left Sam and me on Earth." It's disappointing in retrospect to look back at the stupid things he did in his youth, as if he's suddenly world-wise at twenty-six, but a lot has changed in the last few years. "I acted out for attention and got in trouble a lot, and that just made things worse."

Adia makes a mental note as well, to let Blaze know that she's likely be approached by an alternate of Jim's. She'd like to avoid any further confusion.

"Yes, about a dozen of them. They didn't do as much structural damage as he did, but they had weapons... I didn't see any of them, though. I stayed in the Plaza and helped the injured."

Her eyes widen in sympathy at the news. The Jim she knows must never have told her. "Oh, Jim... I'm so sorry... that must have been hard for your mom, but she shouldn't have abandoned you like that." That's not what a family does. She can't imagine one of her parents losing the other and then taking it out on her. "But," she adds hopefully, "Maybe she realizes that she was wrong, and that's why she got in touch with you."

A dozen is better than seventy-plus, but still way too many. "Sorry to hear that. I can't imagine." He can, in truth, but he'd prefer not to dwell on that. "We've got his people locked up the same way Khan is, back home, all accounted for. They won't be able to get out any more than he can." He hopes that'll be at least some comfort.

Having grown up in a society where the shadow of his father's sacrifice has hung over him literally since the day he was born, it's still something of a novelty to run into people who've never heard the story. But he's slowly getting used to it. "Maybe," he concedes. "It's not entirely her fault; I ran off when I was a teenager. And she did send me messages once I enlisted and showed up in the public eye again. It's just... awkward." It's her word, but it's an apt one, so he uses it again.

It very nearly overwhelmed the Nexus, but thankfully the usual group of heroes gifted Nexus residents were able to put a stop to it. Knowing that his augmented soldiers are also on ice makes her feel a little better. "This... this will probably sound barbaric to you, but why weren't they executed for their crimes instead?" It doesn't sound like an alternative that she wishes for, but she looks curious.

"Yeah," she agrees quietly. Her thoughts turn to her own mother. She'd give anything to see her again, to talk to her one more time. "But... sometimes you have to push past that awkwardness, if you want to start healing."

There's two ways he can take that, and he considers his answer carefully. "If you mean back in the twentieth century, I don't know. If you mean once they were found more recently, it isn't legal or right to kill helpless prisoners." He's not going to say that the head of Starfleet thought they might be useful, because that's part of what his superiors have deemed classified. No matter how much he despises what Admiral Marcus did.

As much as he doesn't like talking about his family issues, it's better than talking about Khan. "There's a lot to forgive and forget on both sides." He knows damn well he's not blameless in this, even if most of his shithead attitude came from the completely excusable immaturity of being an actual child at the time.

"Twentieth century?" She repeats cluelessly. "He was from your Earth's past?" How strange. She really knew nothing about Khan other than the fact that he hated Jim. "So... okay, but putting them in stasis is legal?" It doesn't seem much different than the death penalty, except of the possibility to reverse it. "Leonis -- my home colony -- outlawed the death penalty over a hundred years ago, but treason was a Colonial crime, punishable by death. On our ships, we... we don't have the means to contain dangerous criminals. Anyone murdering civilians gets sent out of an airlock."

For the record, she doesn't look particularly happy about that. She'd rather justice was served in a more humane fashion. But with the remnants of humanity living in such tight quarters, the emphasis must be put on protecting the defenseless.

She smiles faintly. "It probably helps a little, going into it with an attitude like that instead of a chip on your shoulder." Shifting in her seat, she admits sheepishly, "I was, um... I never had any issues like that with my parents, but there is someone who... well, if he reached out to me, I'd have to do the same thing."

He had mentioned that earlier, but it's entirely understandable that she's forgotten in the shock of learning that the terrorist in question is Khan, again. Jim spreads his hands a little in a helpless gesture. "I don't have much say in it. Starfleet's probably going to have to do something else, but that's for the courts to decide, and now they've got all the time they could ask for. Putting Khan in a conventional prison could give him a chance to escape and start his war all over again." He knows now that he doesn't need to tell her how horrible that would be.

She's been more than gracious in her careful questioning of him, so he does his best to return the favor. "Mind if I ask what happened?"

Finding out it was Khan and not some random terrorist was enough to make her forget that detail, and it's not relevant anyway. It doesn't matter when Khan is from so long as the where doesn't end up being the Nexus again.

She nods slowly in reluctant agreement. Better to limit his opportunity to escape, even if the concept of stasis remains foreign to her. "Our enemy... they're sentient robots, but in biological form. They're stronger than us, but not enough that... well, they're not on the same level as Khan. So far we haven't needed any, um... unconventional prisons."

It's only fair of him to ask. He's already told her so much... she's learned more about his personal life than the Jim she already considers a friend. She must have caught him at the right time. "I, uh... before the war started, I was very close to someone on my ship. He was a microbiologist, like me. A quiet guy. Serious, but he had a funny, very dry sense of humor once you got to know him."

A soft smile plays on her lips briefly. "He was so sweet to me... I was so happy. But. It turns out he was a-- a sleeper agent." She frowns and picks at the lid of her coffee cup. "It's... complicated, but I thought he had died until I ran into him again when we were under Occupation. He, um... he saved my life, but he wouldn't acknowledge that he knew me, either. He was so cold... and I wonder, sometimes, what sorts of things he's done during the war... if he's done anything that I can't forgive."

Biological robots? Now that's something he's never heard of, but he figures that she's probably not the person to ask on the technical details of how that's possible, nor is this perhaps the time for that. Instead he listens with a sympathetic ear. "That must have been a hell of a shock."

It's one thing that her world often doesn't share with others, even those that have space travel. It makes her own problems difficult to explain at times. She's grateful that Jim isn't getting hung up on the technical details.

"Yeah... you could say that." She barely manages a wry smile, and even that is only possible because she's had over two years to deal with the trauma. "Each, um... each biological robot model has many copies, so all during the Occupation I'd see his face, but I never learned which one was him." Her grip tightens slightly on her cup. "When I finally saw him again, all I could think to ask was what happened to the man I knew... he didn't give me an answer."

"That's horrible." Talk about a living nightmare. It'd be bad enough to have one person you thought you trusted who turned out to be working for the other side without having to deal with seeing that person's face at every turn.

"It was," she agrees. "It was a relief when Galactica rescued us and we were back on our ships again and out of their reach."

She sighs and reaches for her coffee, taking a long sip. Dwelling on the past was like picking at a scab. If she kept poking at it, she was never going to heal.

"It's not likely that I'll see him again, but if I do, it'd be... gosh, so much baggage. I don't know if I'm ready to forgive him, or if he even can be forgiven. His model was known for being cold and unfeeling. I can't reconcile that with the man I knew, but the longer this way goes on, the less I know about anything."

He can empathize with that, and nods as he listens. There is, however, something he still doesn't understand. "Why are your people at war with the, uh, robots?" She did mention that the conflict is being called the Cylon War, but he's not sure if that's the name of the species, or a location where the war was sparked, or some kind of technology at the heart of the war itself, so he doesn't want to make any assumptions.

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