The Enterprise sat expectantly out in space ahead of them. It looked small and fragile with visible exterior damage.
Uhura thought as she stared at it from Khan's embrace. The crew would be anxious and confused. Kirk would be cursing loudly and pacing the deck as Spock recited every prime directive and protocol that could be applied to their situation, as they tried to figure out what was going on.
She closed her eyes, thinking about her situation. She had to be real here; staying with Khan, on the run, could not be an option. No matter how difficult it would be to say goodbye, she wouldn't be able to justify throwing away everything she had worked for in Starfleet.
Being alone may be the only way to give Khan a chance to get away, to get a head start on the federation, to survive. She had to be logical and go back to the Enterprise.
Uhura moved to look up at him. Khan's eyes searched hers as she studied his face, her lips began to tremble and tears prickled in her eyes, knowing this was probably going to be the last time she ever saw him.
"I have to go back to the Enterprise, to Starfleet." She whispered her decision. Khan's expression fell and he held her tighter. "If Kirk's plan won't work and the federation will still convict you, or even kill you, then this is the only way to give you a chance to survive." Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"But I cannot come with you. If I do, they will only hunt us down faster. You must be alone."
Khan took a breath and eventually nodded. He understood and knew that she was right.
More tears rolled down her cheeks at his acknowledgment, finalising the plan and beginning their goodbye.
Khan's eyes were glassy,
"I will see you again." He said assuredly through tears, his voice quiet and expression wavering.
He kissed her longingly and she returned it, hating every second that escaped them.
An alert from a comm cracked through the silence and abruptly broke their kiss.
Khan walked over and examined it, face growing concerned. He suddenly, looked up. Uhura followed his gaze.
Out of the view screen, blue sparkles of warp appeared around the Enterprise as four small, unmarked ships flashed into focus and surrounded it.
They were sleek and black, each one about half the size of the Enterprise, but they were heavily armed. Phaser turrets and machines on pivots extended out from the crafts in unison. They were fearsome looking weapons, like nothing Uhura had ever seen before, and they all pointed at the Enterprise.
She glanced over at Khan before staring out into space again, instantly sobering up from her sadness.
"What's going on?" She asked him with urgency, walking towards the screen, "What are they? What are they doing? Khan!?"
Khan busily studied the comms in front of him as the Vengeance scanned and processed information on the little crafts.
"The designs," he mumbled to himself as he analysed the incoming results, "I recognise them, they're-"
He was cut off by a scream from Uhura.
The ships had open fired on the Enterprise. The blackness of space was filled with colour, greens, blues and reds as phasers blasted her home ship.
"Do something!" Uhura screamed, unable to tear her eyes from the sight before her.
"I can't!" Khan shouted back. She was about to protest when the battle ended.
A few final shots from the mysterious ships were fired and the Enterprise couldn't hold out any longer.
The federation ship crumbled and blew up, engines first, followed by chunks of the hull.
Uhura stood, fingertips breaking as they dug into the comm in front of her, helpless. She couldn't speak, or breathe.
The black ships closed up their weapons and warped. Disappearing as quickly as they arrived, leaving nothing but debris and wreckage floating in space around them.
Uhura turned slowly to face Khan.
"Why didn't you do something?" She asked, anger rising in her voice. "I've seen this ships weapons. Why didn't you do something?"
"I couldn't." He said, leaning on the comm, "They were federation ships, the same style as this one, only a different class. My design..." He trailed off gritting his teeth.
"What do you mean, 'your design'?" She asked him bitterly.
"They were an early prototype I designed for Marcus before the Vengeance. Trial war crafts, capable of taking out anything, even this ship if they had wanted too. Death ships."
"Death ships?" She repeated, disbelievingly.
"I did not know he made more, or even kept the designs..." Khan spoke to himself and stared out into the distance, thinking.
Uhura fought new tears.
"Why did they come? And why didn't they attack us?" She asked quietly.
"I do not know." Khan shook his head. "If they were from Earth then they probably had an order to be ready some time ago from the Admiral, stating that he would be returning with the Enterprise, and me." He began, "But as he has not, they have come out to him." He paused.
"They obviously believed that the Admiral was still alive, aboard this ship and in need of back up, and that I was on the Enterprise with your disobedient Captain, thus making that ship the target."
Uhura didn't know how to respond. Khan changing the game and killing Marcus had caused a chain reaction, leading to her ship and her family being destroyed.
"You knew what they were. So why didn't you stop them? Fire on them?" She asked through gritted teeth.
"I couldn't." He repeated, "There wasn't any time. The phasers would have blocked transmission signals and attacking would have alerted them to a problem, making both ships targets."
Angry tears rolled down her cheeks. Why did he have to be right? She stared at him as he worked at the comm again.
"Wait." He said, looking up to the view screen and pressing buttons to magnify the image of space.
Uhura wiped her eyes and peered through the debris, almost hoping to see those little black ships return and take out this one.
"Escape pods." He said, refocusing the screen, "They're moving."
Some relief washed over her and a small smile spread across her face as she watched a cluster of pods navigating their way through the debris.
"They got out!" She exclaimed, feeling suddenly joyous at the survival of her family.
"Some of them, yes." He reminded her.
From here, they had no way of telling who were in the pods.
Uhura felt her heart sink, but determined to be optimistic, she ignored Khans words.
Khan reset the screen and walked across the deck to his chair.
"What do we do now?" She asked him.
"We move." He said, looking up at her, "They will realise what's going on soon enough, so we must get ahead of them."
In light of the circumstances, Uhura suddenly felt stranded and very far from home. The choice to stay with Khan had been made for her. At least for now.