Chapter Seven - Dinosaur Crisis

The scientist awoke, and realized his family had left. He found it odd that he didn't want water or food, but chalked it up to a comfortable nap. As he went, he spoke into his recorder.

"Personal Journal, Sam Kirk recording. Where is everybody? I mean, if Aurelan left me, she'd better not think she's getting Peter's exclusive services. I need a clean house, too. So odd. Last I recall is arguing with Mom, and her refusing to take my call."

"Have to wonder where the parasites are. I'd just as soon they left. Noisy fuckers. Like Marc before Peter gets home."

"Wandering outside now, I see people wandering about, muttering to themselves. Some of them are badly cut, but they aren't bleeding. They---appear to be chewing on the bodies of men and women in Starfleet uniforms. Hey! That's the Enterprise's Insignia. Geez, I hope Jim isn't staying over. I so do not need another argument."

"In the distant fields, I see hordes of the dinosaur once known as velociraptor. Now, this is odd, because we here on Deneva have no velociraptors that I know of. In fact--Earth hasn't had any for millions of years. Now, don't ask me how I know any of this, but I think they were once ants. I knew those parasites were activating some kind of reversion, but from arthropod to reptile? Whatever source these parasites come from, it must live outside our physical laws. So the ants became raptors. We didn't have much fauna. Oh, I see it now."

"Ok, the herds of velociraptors are being chased down and eaten by herds of allosaurus. Now, this same odd instinct tells me these were once mice and small snakes and such. Mmm-hmm. Larger animal, larger dinosaur. The scene is once again shifting. Now--what must have been squirrels or chipmunks and large birds are eating the allosauruses. They have of course become the legendary Tyrannosaurus Rex. Man, that's a bloodbath out there. But now a thought hits me---the largest fauna we had were the mule deer."

"I now have my answer. The mule deer have now become what was theoretically called Gigantosaurus. I wonder how a T-Rex feels when it gets eaten? Must be a humbling experience."

"Now, the ugly Gigantosaurs are headed our way. I can't bring myself to care. I really can't. So I cut myself---and there it is. I'm not thirsty, hungry, or bleeding. Little brother, if you get this recording----"

Sam saw the beast open wide its bloody jaws. Each tooth was his size.

"----I'm dead, Jim."   DENEVA 3

It was a smart idea, he thought, keeping the caves as an option. While those fools in the city were possessed or made into zombies, he and his family made out like bandits, looting the other houses as they went for the hills. Yes, they had to throw the baby brat to the zombies. But they had only ever used it to keep their daughter in line. Now, while she gathered and hunted their evening meal, he and the wife enjoyed themselves all day long. Well, he did, anyway. He looked down at her nude bound form.

"Flesh----flesh---brains!"

Instead of simply burning or decapitating her, as the zombification took over her cells, he merely stripped his wife and used two holes instead of three, to relieve his need for sex. The chains he bound her with were meant to tie down transports. No undead strength was going to break them soon.

"Its a real damn pity, honey. I know how you liked to give a blow job. But---I want it back when you're done. I don't see you doing that, with your appetite."

He thought about shattering her jaw, removing her teeth, and maybe her tongue for good measure, but then where'd be the point? He would try to obey one of her last coherent wishes. The girl, their daughter, was never to be used for sex. Look for other survivors, she said, and trade for their child. See if any Starfleet folk arrived, and grab a recent graduate. They must be worth something, what with The Orion trade in them. Then she asked for flesh again.

"Hey, kiddo? Zat you? Where's the food?"

She walked in, and threw some berries and nuts at him. He shook his head. Maybe he wasn't much of a father--ok, any kind of father, at all. But he was still bigger.

"You know what happens when you do that. C'mere."

The girl just shook her head, and whistled. Ten velociraptors appeared behind her.

"There he is, like I promised. Now eat them both, and I'll just wait til you're done."

The sperm-donor stared on in abject terror as she swatted a raptor that tried to bite her across its snout.

"I TOLD you!!! I die last. I'll run into the T-Rexes if you don't eat every last scrap of those two! Got it?"

Oddly, the reptile almost seemed apologetic as it turned back towards the angry girl's loathsome parents. His wife was gulped down in seconds, except for her head. His own limbs were early casualties, but he derived some pleasure from his daughter's demise, as the rapacious creatures kept no promises. Then, as the beasts turned on each other, he laughed ever harder. Perhaps the zombie-flesh had made them cannibals for their own species. Soon they were gone, and he was alive, if not for long.

"I'm naked and bleeding, and I'm gonna die. But I made it past every last one of you stupid motherfuc...wha?"

Something was still moving. It was his wife's head, positioned right over his crotch. She opened wide, and bit down with hideous force.

"Blowwwwwwwjjjjjoobbbb......."

Indeed, the cartoid artery near his brain did blow apart, at that.

ENTERPRISE

The parasites were gone. Spock's sight had been regained. Young Peter Kirk was making a slow but certain recovery. But Captain James Kirk was not at all a happy man.

  "A 100% Fatality rate, down on the surface? Bones, how could that occur? Is that even statistically possible, given all our planning?"

The pleading in McCoy's eyes actually moved Spock, though he would likely never admit it. The Vulcan spoke up.

"Captain, obviously, it is not only possible--it is occurring as we speak. The Doctor and I failed to take into account that when we destroyed the so-called 'puppet-masters', their puppets would no longer be able to function. We cannot be certain of the initial figures, and 100 percent is almost an impossib----"

Kirk cut him off, sharply.

"Why can't we be certain, Spock? Why don't we have landing parties inspecting the surface?"

McCoy found his voice at last.

"Jim, we sent down those parties, as per standard procedure. Three of them, to be certain."

"And?!"

"None have reported back yet. Its been eight hours. And we have a fair idea of what's happened to them."

Spock pulled out a printed copy of thermographic scans taken of Deneva. The zombies, having almost no heat, did not register. Several larger shapes did.

"Captain, these creatures roughly correspond to ancient Terran sauroid life forms. The four major groups are the 'velociraptors', the 'allosaurs', the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and a theorized larger beast called Gigantosaurus. Each species feeds on the next smaller."

McCoy added in.

"And just about damned near everything else. These are hungry fuckers, Jim."

Spock nodded.

"Crude---but accurate, Doctor. That vulgar term is apt--for they are mating at a rapid rate. Incredibly, there even appears to be cross mating."

Thoughts of furiously humping dinosaurs did nothing for Kirk's mood.

"Could we end up with a T-rex that moves like a raptor? Why aren't there armored species? And just where the hell did Deneva get dinosaurs from?"

McCoy found a comfort in Spock's approach to things. Perhaps the cold Vulcan had found a way to deal with the unspeakable.

"Best guess---those parasites found no use for the local fauna. They must have burned out the poor creatures' medulla oblongota. Now, the rest is a muddle. But that part of the brain is the evolutionary link to mammals' reptilian origins. If there were any vestiges of what we once were around, it would reside in our lowermost brains."

Kirk took in the incredible news, and asked the question he had been dreading.

"How is Peter?"

"Captain, his readings are most unusual. The Doctor asked my opinion of them. His brain activity is concentrated in the hypothalamus--the uppermost brain. It would almost seem to indicate a form of evolution. However, given the current circumstances, it could simply be...."

Kirk started muttering.

"He's only 10......its too soon."

"Captain?"

"I just realized...she never told me a damned thing about what he really...that's unlike her. I have rights. And to not even offer a clue?"

"Jim?"

"He'll kill Bri, if he has to live with her. My God....is he The One? I don't even know what The One is supposed to..."

"Captain, you are not making any...."

"He's awakening. But without a mate? He'll be uncontrollable. Even to himself. The One isn't One..its Two. The Two Are One.. what the hell are they breeding him to oppose? What--does--the --boy--CONTAIN!?"

Kirk was speaking through gritted teeth, and looked just a little wild. McCoy tried to calm his friend.

"Jim....he won't be awakening for weeks, yet. His nervous system won't support it. And he's free of the tentacles. Those things are gone."

Kirk closed his eyes, and then spoke.

"Clear Gymnasium 3 for my personal use. Spock, you have the Conn. Bones, place Peter in there with me, by beaming us in when I so order..."

"Jim, you are bucking for a medical review under Sectio....."

Kirk glared.

"Review my medical exceptions as listed by Admiral Nogura. And watch that attitude, Doctor. Understand me?"

Both Spock and McCoy were taken aback. Kirk called The Bridge.

"Uhura, activate my private comm, Code 27. Then call your relief. I need your aid in breaking a new set of Romulan codes."

Spock shook his head.

"Captain, I know of no such codes."

Kirk didn't even look back at him.

"I need her. End of story."

"Jim, what about the goddamned dinosaurs?!!"

"Bones, they're feasting on the dead. You said so yourself."

He walked towards the briefing room door, leaving behind his dumbstruck best friends.

"My responsibility is towards the living. Maybe towards all life."

In his quarters was a woman who knew that Romulan codes was itself a code.

"Jim, will this be like just before you stopped Gary?"

He breathed in just how really beautiful she was.

"No. Nyta, who I have to confront now may make Gary look like a Cadet's text-only simulation. To do that, I need clarity. Are you ready?"

She hung the extra uniform she brought in his closet.

"In a way, I'm looking forward to it. I'm strong, Jim. And I hate it when you hold back. So don't."

He reached over and tore open her upper tunic. Her breasts had been enormous for a 13-year old's on Tarsus. Now, they were merely perfect. Jim cupped them, moved his head forward and began to suckle.

"I won't hold back."

She responded in kind, almost tearing the crotch out of his pants. Her goal literally sprang free. Though she had never allowed him his fantasy of a whole sexual encounter between her breasts, she giggled as she gave his member a teasing tit-rub. But as he tore off her underhose, she knew the real work was about to begin--and the real fun. Uhura closed her eyes as she was entered, not knowing if Kirk's member was truly any bigger--only that it sure as hell felt so.

On the once-bustling streets of Deneva 3, a large herd of so-called velociraptors now hunted the unliving humans who had once ruled the planet. Though ungainly and slow-moving, the undead knew no pain. A chewed off arm meant nothing to them. Some, the raptors learned, still had weapons that their rotting brains knew how to use. So it was that the wily, strong still-living raptors did what they did best. The zombies were being led into a large cul-de-sac. Obviously, the reptiles knew no such word, but their brains could easily grasp the concept of no escape.

Darting just out of the sight of their slow, decaying prey, the raptors peered through broken walls and windows at the overall movement. 30 large velociraptors had all but cornered nearly ten times as many undeadhumans. From the smell of them, the raptors knew that these hadn't been dead too long, and the fact that they were still moving made them seem almost acceptable as meal.

The moment finally arrived. The dead ones stood and pawed at a glass wall, moaning their undead chant. The raptors leaped in, roaring more loudly than usual, not caring if they excited such slow prey. One and all, though, the reptiles crashed into the same glass wall, and were lightly stunned. Their alpha, a creature with a brain twice the size of The Gorn James Kirk once faced, was the first to look around. The place had once been a clear-view aquarium. They had all walked into a mirrored surface.

The alpha-raptor looked into the tanks. There, Orcas, dolphins, and sharks floated, their upper heads ripped open. The reptile-leader knew, then. It uttered a cry that could have cost it its prime position in the herd. It was a cry of retreat. It was also far too late. In front of sealed doors and passages stood the once-mirrored zombies. The raptors' strength and fearsome dew-claws helped them not at all. The zombies on some level wished perhaps that their prey had been human.  But then, the raptors' large, juicy brains made them an almost acceptable meal. As the skin over its face was peeled away like that of a bananna, the dying alpha-raptor remembered being born as a squirrel and now wished to hell it had remained that way. In its own guttural tongue, its very last cry was a futile plea for its very life.

When they were finished, the zombies piled the majority of the tough leftover raptor-meat in the middle of the capital city. No one went to eat a morsel, or even tried to. After all, even in their state, every undead knew that they needed bait to draw in the allosaurs.

------------------------------------------------------

USS ENTERPRISE

As she struggled to find the strength to keep on, Nyta Uhura oddly chose to recall a conversation she'd had with Carol Marcus. Despite rivalry over Jim and somewhat disparate world views, the two had been friends once. Though Carol would never know it, Nyta had acted to save her life when she almost miscarried David. It was an action Uhura never once regretted, even as Carol began to use her son as a card in her efforts to draw Jim back to a job on Earth.

But the conversation in question occurred well before that sticky sequence of events. It hadn't even really been about Jim Kirk, except very tangentially. It had been about all the men they had been with, really. It was the Academy, back in those days before the Hall's influence really began to kick in. Perhaps vestiges of ancient misogynism remained. Certainly the skirts worn by female personnel were suspicious throwbacks. But at the Academy, coupling was fast and furious. Man or woman or beyond, a Cadet who didn't try to avail themselves of other cadets' company was not viewed as pure or a nerd--they were viewed as insane. Nyta had not been shy about looking around, and she obviously knew Jim had a reputation. So did Carol. So did they all.

Carol had, in this instance, spoken of how she had adamantly refused Gary Mitchell's request for anal sex.

"I mean, Nyta, its all about submission. Its all about their rape-fantasies, taking us when we can't see their faces and identify them. Why the hell would you want to grant a man that kind of power?"

Nyta considered her every time with Jim, and quickly had her answer.

"Because he might just know how to make--very good use--of that power."

In her present, Nyta awoke from her memories to find Jim making just such a use of that power. His passion was just below the violent, and if he crossed that line, she would forgive it, because now there was no question about his holding back on her. He had undone her hair, and was pulling back on it as he rocked her spherical behind hundreds of times without let. It was a fantastic way to end a short but intense lovemaking session.

She collapsed after a time. Nyta wondered how Jim could move, let alone get up and shower.

"Jim--who do you have to confront?"

He didn't answer. She saw him actually use part of his water reserves to clean his privates, and mused on what a waste that was, when she would have licked them clean as a whistle.

"Jim--who do you have to confront? Is it Spock?"

No--Spock had been given the Conn. Uhura realized again how very little she knew of Jim Kirk's unspoken family history. Then it came to her. Family.

"Its Peter, isn't it? Jim, he's only ten years old. Surely, even by those bizarre standards you've spoken of, he can't be a threat to anyone."

Dressed now, he knelt down beside her nude beautiful form, and kissed her fingers.

"He once told me that he loved you. Better than he loved Aurelan. I asked him if it was because you never made him do chores or homework. No, he said. Its because Aunt Nyta keeps her promises."

 She silently cursed him as he left, but swore that she would keep her promise again, and not interfere with what Jim had to do.

As Uhura fell back to sleep, her thoughts fell back slightly better than a full decade.

Peter was newborn. Jim had faced The Farragut's loss that year. Gary's woman had left him upon discovering he was a member of The Order. She was never seen again. Nyta had been part of a ship and crew sent on a diplomatic rendezvous which had turned into a bloody shooting match. But the little face that Sam and Aurelan presented seemed to wipe that all away.

Sam and Aurelan had already grown tired of parenting. The baby Peter did not reach out for them. He did, however, reach out for Nyta. His tiny hands touched her face incesantly. Feeling a hole in her heart heal up, Nyta fell in love with her second Kirk. She then looked up and saw Jim's cousin, the woman who chose to call herself Jean Little.

"Its as though--he knows me."

The family guide smiled.

"There is always that one being every newborn knows and attaches to instantly, and forever. Nothing can sever that truest of all bonds. Not even death."

She said no more, and Nyta felt her words must have been some manner of riddle, because the answer just seemed so obvious.

And so it was.

As a very frustrated McCoy lay Peter out on a medical mat in Gymnasium 3, Jim recorded some private thoughts nearby.

"I never told you, Peter. I never told you that I am your father. I didn't intend to be your father, despite the siring. I thought somehow--Sam and Aurelan would be forced to grow up, when you were born. I never, ever thought that they would reduce a 3-year old to slavery."

"The Bright Lady never told them to do that, Peter. No matter what they told you, it wasn't her. I think you knew that, in that way you have. But I wanted it on the record. All she ever said was that you should be given some chores. Chores, and a routine to contain your restless energy. I don't know how Deneva became as twisted as it did. But even if it hadn't, Sam and Relly had this way of doing things. Sam turned his rage at your grandmother's treatment of me towards jokes meant to torment me. Finnegan never understood how I took his garbage so well. He didn't know I'd had years of practice."

Kirk was being more frank than he normally would with a young boy. But this message was needed, and sensibilities were now a poor second to that need.

"I spoke to her, son. In her indirect way, she let me know that I was not to destroy you. I think she even said that it may not be possible to do so. Her speech was untypically vague, and by that I mean our Lady cousin normally makes patterns clear, if not paths. In your case, she did neither. Despite all this, I know death is possible, Peter. Uncle Gary knew that, right as the stone crushed his head flat."

"I was six years older than you are now when I first killed. It was then I met Nyta. Love Of My Life? I don't know if I'm really prepared to burden her with that, just yet. But she loves you, too, kid. I don't think I've ever seen her so worried. I loved your mother, Aurelan. But she viewed me as a sex-toy to grab when Sam wasn't paying enough attention to her. I didn't mind. I just wish she'd grown past it, at some point."

"In so many respects, Peter, you have already grown up. But they misguided your energies. One meant to walk as a king was instead raised as a scullery. Now--I have to see how much of you is left. I pray its enough. What we are is not merely about power--or powers, Peter. It is about responsibility. On the odd occasion, we stand apart, and those that do not have it view that power, and cry miracle or curse when they do. It won't be what you think. A simple thing such as restoring someone's dignity can have crowds gasping in wonder, while a star being split in two will be written off as a temporal anomaly or somesuch. It is in that moment you will suffer your greatest burden. For whether its helping someone up when they've tripped or turning back some form of cosmic nightmare, in that moment you wield ultimate power. And With Ultimate Power Comes The Ultimate Responsibility."

He knew his words might sound to some a bit megalomaniacal. He also knew that Peter would understand what he really meant. Jim stared over at the boy, again wondering why his family's guardian had never entrusted Peter's own father with the knowledge of what he truly was.

"You'll emerge from this, Peter. I may not. If so, check in on my crew from time to time. Make sure they're alright. Especially Spock. Nyta can care for herself, if need be. But Spock will always need a friend."

Jim shut off the recording, and set out to contain a force meant to kill the beast that killed the universe.

The largest of all the so-called Gigantosaurs had turned on and killed the last of its brethren. The Allosauruses, like the Raptors, had been gobbled down by greedy human zombies.

Now, the very last T-Rex felt its head torn off by the Gigantosaur's jaws. The Tyrant Lizard learned what all eventually do : There's always someone stronger.

Now, the Gigantosaur had killed all the dinosaurs. But even if it could talk, it couldn't possibly have told you why it did this. Nor could it have told you why it suddenly fell over, quite dead. But the form that crawled out of its open mouth could. Scarred by caustic gastric juices and flayed badly by massive teeth, The King Of A Dead World emerged, bits of dinosaur brain dripping off his blanched moustache..

"Now, that's much better."

The Zombies didn't bow before him. They didn't need to. He was their mind. In many respects, he was a born leader, just as his father and brother were.

"Starfleet is just stupid enough to have set up an observation base. There's food there--and a way aboard The Enterprise itself. Just remember, Jim is mine. We were part of each other, once. We will be again. Heh. Maybe I'll even find out what Aurelan was raving about. She always said he tasted good."

The thing that had been Sam Kirk led his shambling army to the ill-fated post, and to the mass morgue that would be his recruiting station from Hell.

Aboard The Enterprise, Aurelan Kirk began to stir. She saw Nurse Christine Chapel move about, a potable, long-legged feast.

"Sorry, Nurse. But fish gotta swim, and birds gotta fly."

The dead, or the undead, travel quite quickly, and vampiric Aurelan was no exception. Like lightning, her fangs tore out Christine's throat, and then those same fangs found they were drinking in not blood--but electricity. She yelped as she fell back, her mouth singed.

"What in the hell are you?"

Christine turned and looked at her would-be attacker. Her eyes betrayed no pain. Spock, despite his protests, had more emotions at this point. Chapel rubbed at the exposed wires.

"This unit was created on planet Exo 3 by unit designate Roger Korby, to replace organic unit Christine Chapel. Foe classification : ReSentient. Type : Hemovore. Sub-Codex : Vampire. Sealing off Sickbay Area."

Her voice shifted to normal. As Chapel went for the comm-switch, the vampire tried to stop her, but was batted back.

"Doctor, this is Christine. We've had a minor spill. I'm sealing off the bay, as per standard procedure, til we know what I spilt. Chapel out."

Aurelan looked about.

"Where is my son?"

The vampiric Aurelan had thought itself cold. The android was colder by far.

"Designate Marcus Aurelian Kirk, aged one and one-half years---deceased. Designate Peter Claudius Kirk---aged nearly eleven years----functional. Undergoing initial metamorphosis into Designate- The Rock. This unit has apprised its creator of said information."

"I can revive Marc, as a being like myself. Show me where he is."

Christine rose up, and seized a scalpel from McCoy's antique cabinet.

"Inadvisable. Options are reviewed, Re : Vampire Aurelan Sorel Kirk. Move To Terminate."

So it was that a pitched fight began between a woman who was supposed to be dead but wasn't and a woman who was supposed to be alive but wasn't.

In Gymnasium 3, Kirk read a note from his Lady cousin.

"Understand, he has lost the one he cared for more than his own life. Consider your own pain over David, then triple it. James, be careful. There is more here than even I know - JL ."

Barely in time, Jim rose from his reverie as feral teeth aimed to take out his crotch. The crazed boy had sensed that this region was part of his origin. But when he was batted back, Peter whimpered and scampered away on all fours. Incredibly, he was halfway up the opposite wall before Jim could react fully.

"Damn you, Sam. Menial labor numbs the mind! What have you done to him? Sam, Relly---what in the HELL have you done to him?"

Perched upon an upper support beam, Peter let go a roar like that of a hundred bull elephants. Jim, despite himself, looked upon all this with fear. It became doubly clear then. He did not know his own son. Now, he was not sure he even wished to.

On the Bridge, Spock received a frantic call from the observation station on Deneva.

"Sir--they made for the morgue! They're ghastly! Flesh and eyes falling off. I can smell them through the force field. Ohhh-- My God! The floor isn't as well protected. They're coming through the tiles---please beam me up! Please----DOOON'T EAAT MEEEEE......."

Uhura gave a grim message.

"We...now have visual, sir. Ohhhhhh----"

She turned away from the viewscreen, and closed her eyes. She wanted to be sick.

McCoy almost fainted as the head of the supervisor was held up, and a zombie chewed at the skull like a biscuit. The thing almost didn't have a face. A female member of the team pulled back her bloody, fingerless hand, screaming. They kept on her nonetheless.

"Spock, Beam-Out Is Impossible! The contagion could spread to The Enterprise!"

The sight shook both halves of Spock's psyche. He found himself unable to speak. One zombie sucked unmercifully on what looked like a femur.

"My God, Spock---They're Like Pirahana Fish!"

"No, Doctor. Pirahna--do not crack the marrow. Mister Sulu--target that position--and fire phasers on full."

Sulu shook his head.

"Sir--I can't. Someone on the ground is sending out a signal to frustrate our sensor lock."

Spock paused.

"Fascinating. What, then, do the undead know of technology?"

On the ground, Sam Kirk smiled through rotted, blackened teeth.

"I beat Brianna, and I beat you, Jim. I'll beat your pet Vulcan--count on it."

Next- Chapter Eight - Hail To The King Of The Evil Dead Part One