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At the end of Alpha shift, McCoy went to the Captain's quarters as ordered. Kirk might not have had official command back for long, but little doubt he was already back in those rooms even with Pike's things still there.
He was proven right when the doors opened immediately for the doctor when he arrived. Kirk was in an unsettled mood and that was when he was most dangerous to both friend and foe. McCoy came in carefully, but not timidly. Maybe what he had to say wouldn't be well-received, but he had to voice it.
"Jim, why would they have sent us a Klingon anthropologist?"
Turning, Kirk snapped at him - which was a milder reaction than what McCoy had been braced for.
"You were there, Bones. You know very well we'll have to violate Klingon borders to go after Harrison."
"You're right. I know that - you know that and Scotty knows that, but how the hell does the Admiralty know that?"
That brought Kirk up short and McCoy could practically see his eyes spark as he processed it.
"Damn it! I knew something was off, but I -"
"But you were distracted by the million and one things you had to do to get underway by the Emperor's command."
Coming further in now that Kirk's hostility wasn't directed toward him any longer, McCoy glanced at the image on Kirk's screens. It was a close-up of a man's face and McCoy was slightly surprised to see that he recognized the man.
"Have you taken up studying history as a hobby, Jim?"
There was an exasperated tone to Kirk's voice.
"What the hell are you talking about, Bones?"
"This guy on your screen. He was one of the head honchos during the Eugenics War. Always stuck in my mind because that pale skin of his and the name Khan didn't go together very well."
McCoy found his arm in Kirk's very solid grip.
"Talk to me, Bones. What do you know about that man?"
Even after all the years they'd been together, Kirk's intensity still triggered a flight response in McCoy that he had to fight down.
"Uhm - I don't remember what his real name was, but he was from that failed experiment to create super soldiers way back when the Empire was first forming. He and his group all took names from 'downtrodden races' and then proceeded to try and take over the damn world. It was by pulling together the world's military into one unit to fight against the Augments that the first Emperor claimed the throne."
The grip on McCoy's arm lessened and Kirk gave him a wry smile.
"I shouldn't have dozed as much in history class as I did. I just memorized enough key points to pass the tests and then promptly forgot it. Why did you pay so much attention?"
McCoy snorted a bit.
"The Eugenics project is held up to all of us in the Sciences as a great example of what not to do. Just think - a project to develop two hundred super soldiers and what did they get? Two hundred extremely powerful anti-war fanatics running around, destroying military bases."
"Yeah, I remember that now. So, how does a guy that supposed to have died way back then turn up now?"
"Well, mainly because he didn't die back then, Jim. The Emperor decided to make the survivors of the Augments into a permanent display. Had them all frozen and used them as wall decorations in his reception hall. They stayed that way until someone tried to steal one of them. After that, they were supposed to have been stored away in some vault."
"Where they were forgotten. Marcus must have used his position to gain access and bought at least Khan out of storage. But why?"
"Only explanation I can think of is that Marcus doesn't approve of the declaration of war against the Romulans."
"I don't get his reasoning, Bones. Weakening the Terran Empire will escalate the war, not end it."
"I don't believe anyone has ever successfully made an argument that fanatics were sensible folks, Jim."
After a moment of silence, McCoy cleared his throat.
"Never thought I'd be saying these words - maybe you should ask the Vulcan to throw in his opinion on this?"
The silence was total as Kirk just stared at McCoy before he was finally able to speak.
"Did you hit your head?"
Scowling, McCoy pulled back from Kirk's mocking.
"I'm not kidding. They said during the classes that the hardest part of bringing down the Augments was that their brains were genetically altered to the point that they didn't really think like the rest of us. It made them hard to figure out. Spock's got a different mindset to ours. Maybe he can see something in all this that we can't."
"Maybe. Hell, why not? Might as well see what he can contribute."
Moving to activate the intercom, Kirk leaned on his desk slightly as he spoke.
"Kirk to Spock."
"Spock here, Captain."
"Meet me in the Ready Room in five minutes. Kirk out."
Turning off the connection before Spock had to chance to reply, Kirk turned back toward McCoy.
"You know, when I went back after the attack, Pike seemed really miffed at Spock."
"You mean Pike didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Vulcan son of a bitch thought Pike was unconscious and started to attempt a mind meld on him."
"And he's still breathing? Old man is slipping."
"Or he's playing his cards close to his chest. There's got to be some reason he got fixated on that pointy eared bastard."
"Valid point, Bones. Come on. Let's get to the Ready Room. When we get there, I want you to pull up all available records on Khan and his group."
When Spock entered the Ready Room, he expected to find Kirk. He didn't expect to find McCoy busy at the computer terminal. He narrowed his eyes, but refrained from comment. Kirk saw the look an the direction it had been aimed in, but decided to leave that alone for the moment.
"Grab a seat, Spock. We're trying to figure out the motivations of a violent anti-war group."
One brow rose as Spock sat down.
"Being both violent and opposed to war seems an illogical contradiction."
"No argument from me on that point. Making any headway, Bones?"
McCoy looked up with an expression that Spock considered to be highly inappropriate for a man dealing with his superior officers.
"Dammit, Jim - all the records are locked."
Instead of bristling at McCoy's words and attitude, Kirk seemed amused and moved over to where the doctor was working.
"I'd lay odds on who locked them. Computer. Update data files. Unlock all records that were previously sealed by anyone now declared traitor by the Emperor."
~Working. Files previously sealed by order of former Admiral Alexander Marcus have now been unsealed.~
"Number of files now open?"
~Working. Number of previously sealed files is five hundred twenty seven.~
"Damn. That's going to be a lot of information to sort through. Later. See if your search turns up anything now, Bones."
"Got it."
McCoy read silently for a few minutes, then let out a low whistle.
"There's a lot of shit they left out in school, Jim."
"That's a little vague, Bones. Give me some details."
"I know History's not your best subject, but from what we were taught, how long did you think the Eugenics War lasted?"
Kirk's mouth opened, then shut again as he frowned. Even if information wasn't anything he had considered important, he could generally bring it to mind if he concentrated on it.
"Sounded like a quick uprising that was put down fairly quickly. Maybe - six months to a year?"
"That's what I'd thought as well. The war lasted four years. The Augments had taken over almost all of Eastern hemisphere and conducted mass executions of all military personnel that fell into their hands as well as anyone that attempted to stop them. According to this? Between thirty to forty million died."
Digesting that information, Kirk sat back.
"That's far from a quick uprising. So, we know Khan is capable of a long campaign and has no qualms about spilling blood - a lot of blood - to obtain his goals."
At Spock's silent but inquiring look, Kirk took a few minutes to fill the Vulcan in on what they had already put together about Harrison being Khan and his apparent connection to former Admiral Marcus.
The Vulcan steepled his fingers together and absorbed the information. Doctor McCoy being the one to recognize the man's image explained his presence. Doubtless, Kirk didn't want the information of who and what they were dealing with to become too widespread.
"Perhaps the problem is that we are only seeing one side of the equation. Doctor McCoy, forward the files on the Eugenics War to the computer station here."
McCoy further annoyed Spock by looking to Kirk for confirmation before obeying. He tempered his reaction and filed it away for another time. The doctor would not always have Kirk standing between them.
While Spock read over the details of the Eugenics War, McCoy was pulling up what medical records he could find on the Augments.
"No wonder they were so hard to stop. They weren't just kidding when they labeled the Augments as being supermen. Stronger, tougher skin, less affected by energy weapons and poisons, self-healing properties - seems that was another reason for the deep freeze. The Emperor wanted some of those properties studied further, but it appears that project got shoved to the side when the second Emperor came to the throne."
"Captain, I believe I may have some insight as to what might be in the works."
Kirk wasn't sure whether the way Spock tended to dismiss McCoy's existence was more amusing or annoying. Something else that he would deal with at a later time.
"Let's hear it."
Making an adjustment to his terminal to project an image where all of them could see it, Spock continued.
"One reason for the success of the Augments in the Eastern hemisphere was due to the way the battle was carried out. Note that when the Augments made their move, no less than 40 nations fell to them at the same time. If such a strategy served them so well once, it would only be logical for them to attempt to make use of it again."
Kirk leaned forward a bit, his focus on the projected map.
"Am I understanding that you think they might be messing with the Romulan and Klingon Empires as well as the Terran?"
"If the actual goal is to cease all war, there is no advantage to making one of the three sides weaker than the others. All three sides being weakened to the point that all would have to accept the Augments as overlords is quite another matter."
Shaking his head, McCoy sank back into his seat.
"Damn. Makes a warped kind of sense, but it's not like they could blend in among the Romulans and Klingons."
Holding up one hand as he continued to look at the map, Kirk was very still for a minute before turning to Spock.
"Bring up side by side maps of the Klingon and Romulan Empires."
Spock complied silently, his own attention focused on the maps as they came up. It was obvious that Kirk had seen where Spock's train of thought was leading, so he saw no reason to comment further.
"One thing we were taught in the Command track, Bones. Potential weaknesses of the other Empires."
"Which means Marcus would know of them as well."
"Right you are, Bones. One vulnerable spot of the Klingon Empire - the moon Praxis. There's an energy production facility there. Highly protected, of course, but if someone were able to sabotage it? It would cause massive devastation - possibly even destroy the moon itself."
Gesturing to the second map, Kirk carried on even though Spock didn't see why Kirk was bothering to explain Command track theories to the doctor.
"There's a star in the Hobus system. K-band images show the star is huge and unstable. It's approximately one hundred times the size of our own sun. Were something to trigger a chain reaction in the solar mass? It would not only obliterate Romulus, but the entire galaxy Romulus is a part of."
McCoy's head snapped up as something clicked into place.
"Didn't Pike say something about Nero ranting about Romulus dying in a supernova?"
"Admiral Pike."
That being the last straw, Kirk snapped at Spock.
"Drop it, Spock. We're here to strategize, not compare dick sizes."
It took some doing, but McCoy managed to contain his amusement at the indignant look that went across Spock's face at Kirk's censure. He shifted his focus to Kirk.
"I know that look. What are you thinking?"
A slow smile spread across Kirk's face.
"I'm thinking we might be able to outflank the bastards. Gentlemen? To the Bridge."