OVERRIDE, OVERRIDE!

Khan's moment of glory is right before his very eyes. With excitement, Khan calls, "Time's up, Admiral." Kirk then tells him that it's coming. What, Khan does not know. On his command, Spock enters the prefix code at the Tactical Station and sends the signal to the Reliant. On board the Reliant, Khan's moment of joy is overshadowed, when Joachim reports that their shields are failing. Infuriated, Khan orders Joachim to raise them, but Joachim can't. Khan frantically searches for the override commands, but it's too late. On the Enterprise, Kirk orders "Fire!", to which the Reliant is rocked by phaser fire. On board the Reliant, a hysterical Khan orders Joachim to return fire. Joachim stops Khan, explaining that they've lost the warp-drive and the photon control. Joachim orders Khan to retreat, but Khan is furious. Joachim explains that they have no alternative, nor does the Enterprise. They will be a sitting duck.

I DID NOTHING

On board the Enterprise, the crew is relieved. They see the Reliant retreating. Sulu then informs the Admiral that he did it. The Admiral turns around and proclaims that he did nothing, except that he's been caught with his britches down. He then orders Saavik to keep quoting regulations, and then turns around to find out how damage Khan has caused to his ship. In the Turbolift, a bedraggled Scotty brings a lifeless body of his nephew, Peter Preston, to the Bridge, to which the enter crew reacts.

STILL WORKING, ADMIRAL

Admiral Kirk inspects the full effect of the recent battle with Khan, as he wonders the corridors of Sickbay, riddled with injured bodies. Admiral Kirk then enters the surgical suite next to main ward, which Dr. McCoy is treating the badly injured Peter Preston. Scotty is also standing by, with hopeful news of a full recovery. Preston's injuries are so severe that even Dr. McCoy's equipment can't heal the boy. When the young cadet sees the Admiral approaching, he slowly gets up and places a hand on the Admiral. With slurred speech, the cadet asks, "Still working, Admiral?" The Admiral gives his approval, "Warp Speed!" The cadet's last words are, "Aye," and he dies. Scotty cannot shed his emotions, as he proclaims that the young man stayed at his post while the other trainees ran. Just then, a communique from the Bridge informs the Admiral that impulse have been restored. Kirk orders Spock to continue on to Regula I at best possible speed.

ARRIVING AT REGULA

The Enterprise arrives at Regula I and Commander Uhura immediately opens communications. After trying repeatedly, Uhura's commboard remain silent, indicating absence onboard the station. Kirk suggests if the communications line could be jammed, but Uhura counteracts by saying there is no activity at all. Unconvinced, Kirk asks for information on Regula I. Spock reports that Regula I is a Class-D planet, remote and virtually no habitation at all. Kirk then suggests that Reliant could be in the area, hiding behind the rock. And since the scanners aren't working to their full capacity, Spock agrees. Kirk then makes the move and asks Scotty if there is power for the Transporters. Scotty says there is minimum power, and Kirk risks his life to beam down. McCoy protests saying that Khan could be down there, but Kirk counteracts saying that he's already been and hasn't found what he wanted. He also welcomes McCoy helps as there could be wounded. Just before they leave, Saavik begs to join the Admiral's party and quotes General Order 15, in which no flag officer shall beam into a hazardous area without armed escort. Perplexed, Kirk agrees to Saavik's request and asks her to join. Spock asks the Admiral to be careful, but McCoy aggressive informs the Vulcan that they will. They then head off.

BEAMING ONTO AN ABANDONED STATION

Admiral Kirk, Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Saavik beam into an abandoned spacestation. Saavik immediately activates her tricorder and informs the party that there are indeterminate lifesigns. Kirk orders phasers on stun and orders them to move out. The trio soon scans the spacestation on foot and watching out for any signs of life.

DISCOVERING THE BODIES

While the three continue to roam the abandoned spacestation, Dr. McCoy encounters the furry, rodent kind, roaming alone in the corridors. When he steps back into the thermonics room, Dr. McCoy turns around and runs into something. When he turns back to look, he discovers the bodies of dead scientists. He soon calls Jim and they set up bringing the bodies down, which has been tied up to a large sewage pole. McCoy determines that since rigor motif hasn't set in yet, he decides that this didn't happen not long ago. Upon the discovery of the bodies, Kirk fears for Dr. Carol Marcus's life.

CHEKOV AND TERRELL FOUND

Upon discovering the bodies of those scientists, Lt. Saavik also picks up additional lifeform readings. But this time, it is within the station's storage compartment. Curious, Kirk decides to open the case, but the lock won't work. He then breaks the lock to get the case open, and much to his amazement, they discover the bodies of Chekov and Terrell inside, alive and well. Kirk is appalled at the treatment of these two colleagues. Soon, Commander Uhura's incessant voice alerts Saavik and she informs her that everything is under control and ends communication.

A TORTUROUS TALE

The three release Chekov and Terrell's bodies from the case, and Chekov soon relays the scared and torturous events that followed since there arrival on Ceti Alpha V. Chekov informs Kirk that he tortured them and put creatures into them to control their minds. He thought Khan was tough, but he wasn't. The captain bet him, the reason why they are here. When Kirk turns his attention to Terrell, Terrell snaps out of hypnosis and answers. During this, Chekov will remain in a hypnotic state. Terrell informs the Admiral that the databanks were empty, and that he tore the place apart, looking for information on the Genesis project, but the scientists didn't tell him anything. Khan then took it upon himself to murder these people and slit their throats. Khan wanted to tear the place apart, but he was too late as he had to return to Reliant to blow Kirk to bits. Saavik soon enquires about the status of Reliant's crew and Terrell informs her that he marooned them on Ceti Alpha V. Then he explains, "He's completely mad, Admiral. He blames you for the death of his wife." Kirk informs the captain that he knows what he blames him for. He then gets up, ending the arduous interrogation and notes that all of the escape pods are in place. He wonders where the transporter room is.

BY THE BOOK

Kirk and party head for the transporter room to get a clear picture of where the missing scientists went. Chekov explains that Khan spent most of his time trying to wring information from the scientists that he didn't realize that the remaining scientists bought an escape time for Genesis. Kirk guesses that the nobody stayed behind to turn off the unit, which means that their coordinates are still locked into the computer. Saavik then informs the Admiral that the coordinates locked in are deep within Regula, a planetoid devoid of life. Stage Two would have been attempted in an underground laboratory, and at that thought, Kirk grabs his communicator for a situation report from Captain Spock. Spock reports that the situation is grave, and if they go by the book, hours could seem like days. Understanding this, Kirk prods Spock. Spock informs them that main power won't be available for six days, but restoration may be possible in two days. With that, Kirk's mind ticks. Kirk orders Spock that if they don't hear from them within one hour, they should get to the nearest starbase and alert Starfleet Command. Uhura protests saying that they won't leave them behind. Kirk insists that if they don't hear from them, there won't be anyone behind. After he ends communication, Kirk decides to transport down. The others share his optimism, but McCoy doesn't. He thinks that they went nowhere, then Kirk informs him that this will be his chance to get away from it. AFter Saavik punches in command for a delayed transport, she steps onto the transporter pad, and soon the landing party are beamed away.

INSIDE A TUNNEL

The landing party beams into a tunnel, much to the Admiral's surprise. Soon, Saavik detects something from the corner of her eyes. Dr. McCoy and Kirk both recognize it as the Genesis torpedo, from Dr. Marcus's presentation. Upon inspecting the device, Kirk hears something, and whirls around with his phasers drawn. As he continues forward, someone from behind attacks Kirk, knocking him down. When the others attempt to intervene, Jedda, one of the scientists, comes out of nowhere and orders them to put their phasers down. Soon, Kirk and David engage in a fierce battle, but Kirk easily subdues the younger man. He asks him, "Where's Dr. Marcus?" David explains to Kirk that he's Dr. Marcus, much to Kirk's surprise. Then a shout from the corner explains the situation. "Jim!" exclaims Carol. Kirk goes up to Carol and asks, "Is that David?" David Marcus tries to explain the situation as he says that Kirk is responsible for all those deaths. Carol tries to calm him down with, "Of course he didn't, David. You're just making this harder."

IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK

At that point, Terrell withdraws his phaser and points it at Kirk, explaining, "It's much harder than you think, Doctor." He then orders nobody to move and raises his communicator. This was all a ruse, to get their hands on the Genesis torpedo. Terrell asks Khan if he has been listening and Khan congratulates him. David then realizes what's going on, as he tries to subdue Terrell, but Saavik manages to get him out of the way of phaser fire which strikes Jedda instead. Khan then asks what's the delay. Terrell assures him that he has Genesis, and wants to get over with it quickly. Growing tired, Khan orders Terrell to kill Admiral Kirk, to which Kirk reacts stunned. With phasers trained on Kirk, there is nothing he can do. He watches as Terrell struggles with Khan's control over him, and tells him that he can't do it. When Khan prods Terrell to do it, Terrell kneels to the floor and points the phaser to himself and kills himself. Chekov either cannot fight the eels inside and he collapses to the floor. McCoy rushes to Chekov and discover a large eel crawling out of Chekov's ear. Wasting no time and not wanting to find out what it is, Kirk vaporizes the eel with his phaser.

KHAN BLOODSUCKER

Kirk grabs Terrell's communicator and vents his anger at Khan, "Khan, you bloodsucker!" Khan is surprised to hear his friend's voice again, and explains he's still alive. Kirk informs Khan that he's a poor marksman, and while he has managed to kill everyone else he's missed his target. Khan orders one of his followers to lock onto their coordinates and informs the Admiral, "Perhaps I no longer need to try." Just then, the Genesis device is transported to Khan's ship. David tries to stop the transporter beam, but its too late. Kirk agrees that he can take Genesis. Kirk continues to insult Khan and tells him that he hasn't killed him yet and that he ought to beam down and try it himself. Khan explains that he's done far worse than kill him, that he's hurt him. He wishes to go on hurting and maroon him on the barren world, just as Kirk had left him on Ceti Alpha V. Khan decides it best to leave him marooned on Regula at which Kirk further vents his anger by shouting Khan's name. It's no use. Khan enjoys his moment of triumph.

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