Chapter 53

Truk and the girls had returned late last night. By the time they had arrived, Khan had cleaned up all of the blood and dragged most of the bodies outside. Ze'eva had been upstairs in her room. Khan listened while they murmured quietly and then as they walked over to Aaron's room to check in on the toddler before retiring for the night.

The next day, they (Spock and Kirk) bombard Ze'eva with questions about what happened.

Do you know who they were? Why do you think they attacked you personally? Did they say anything about what they were looking for? Where they breaking in to rob them or to slaughter any residents? Why did you fight them? Why didn't you call someone for help? How did you survive?

Khan watches as she answers their questions. Neither her face nor voice show emotion. She sits with her back straight and stares at them evenly. The three stare at each other when their questions run out and Ze'eva bounces her leg up and down with silent impatience.

"Done yet?" She asks and Kirk smirks at her before nodding.

"Yeah." Kirk says as he rises and Spock stands with him. "Is it okay if we swing by the SAR later?" He asks. "I need to talk to you about something." Spock shoots his captain a curious glance and raises and eyebrow but he says nothing.

"Sure, meet me in the Conference Room, I guess; I won't have long to talk though, you'll probably need to make it quick."

"I will try." Kirk extends his hand and Ze'eva stares at him.

"Goodbye," She says finally while she gives his hand a disdainful glare and buries her hands deeper in her jacket pockets.

"Would it be permissible if I stay awhile?" Spock inquires with a polite nod in Ze'eva's direction. She looks at him carefully.

"And what would be the purpose of your extended visit?" She asks carefully as she studies his passive face. As always, his face gives away no emotion and Khan feels a pang of irritation flare up. He really didn't like that Vulcan.

"I would like to question Aaron about the events of last night." Spock says calmly.

"He wasn't in the room." She says. "He didn't see anything."

"Perhaps not, but, for the sake of being thorough, it would be logical to talk to him. He may prove to have useful insight. He could have looked out the window and seen something useful or perhaps heard something that we could use." Spock pauses as he considers his next words. "If you are comfortable with it, of course." He states.

Ze'eva thinks for a moment before nodding to him. "If he starts to seem distressed, then stop questioning him."

Spock nods, "Of course." He starts to walk away and Ze'eva catches him by the sleeve.

"And be kind—speak softly. He is a child—do not frighten him." She adds and Khan hear a quiet threat beneath her words. Spock seems to hear it as well and he raises an eyebrow at her.

"Frightening him is not my intention. I merely want to see if he could shine some metaphorical light onto the situation. It is troubling that Klingons would seek out your house in particular to attack rather than attacking villages and cities as is the norm. If Aaron begins to show signs of being distressed, then I will stop my questions: you have my word. Perhaps, if this happens, we could play…catch…or we could do some other form of Earth game."

"That certainly sounds acceptable." She releases his arm.

...

"How is your foot?" Khan asks and Ze'eva shrugs while she watches Spock ask Aaron questions outside.

They are both sitting in the grass, Spock in front of Aaron, with their legs lotus style and their hands resting lightly on their knees. They look calm, content. Aaron smiles a little and laughs at one question and Khan smirks to the Vulcan's brow furrow in confusion at the child's emotional response.

"Good as new. No infections or open wounds." Ze'eva says and he looks back at her. She healed already? That fast? That must be something she had inherited from him.

"You have accelerated regenerative healing capabilities…" He murmurs. "It is a common trait of an Augment." He looks at her and studies her carefully.

"I am not an Augment." She says evenly.

"Perhaps." He admits cautiously. "But we are alike. You killed them rather than save them. The one that did survive soon bled to death. You had an Augment's skill with controlling your blade and a true warrior's aim." He smirks. "Very few humans are able to get to that level of skill. You heal rapidly and learn just as quickly. You are fiercely loyal to those you care about and incredible stubborn. These are admiral traits and all of these traits run deeply in our race."

But just what had happened to force her to be that good with a knife? During Khan's brief weeks of peace was the Admiral here, terrorizing Ze'eva and the other experiments? Is that why she's so good with her aim? To kill people like Marcus before he could lay his hands on her? Well, he's dead now. Khan had made sure of that.

"Maybe," She says. "But I am not an Augment."

"How so?" He tilts his head and seems to look right through her. His blue eyes shine brightly as he looks her over.

"I'm not strong." She answers with her held head high. Her blue-green eyes are narrowed as she speaks. "I'm not savage and I don't enjoy killing people. This, I believe, is an abnormality of your race."

He frowns.

Ze'eva glances outside to watch Spock talk to Aaron.

They're sitting on the grass lotus style. Spock speaks slowly and softly and Aaron listens intently. When they finish, Spock moves to stand but Aaron grabs his sleeve.

"Can you teach me how to be a Vulcan?" Aaron asks and Spock raises an eyebrow at the small boy.

Minutes later, Aaron is learning the art of meditation. Their eyes are closed, their bodies relaxed. Khan tries hard but at the moment, he finds that he doesn't really hate the irritating Vulcan as much as he had originally thought, not with him taking time to bond with the small toddler.

But he still dislikes him.

"You requested to talk to me?" I ask Kirk as I walk into the Conference Room. Khan had given me a suspicious look when I had walked in but he continued to the labs nonetheless.

I've finally driven him to paranoia, I think. The next thing I know, he'll probably be crying in the corner and telling himself that it's going to be alright-but he hasn't eaten any of Cassie's cooking just yet. There's still hope to delay severe mental trauma. I smile at the thought.

"Yes." He says in answer to me question before saying authoritatively, "Please, take a seat."

I'm no longer smiling. Excuse me, captain? What did you just tell me?

"And then what?" I cock my head at him. "Are you going to offer me a refreshment from my own refrigerator, captain? I am the leader of the SAR—this is my workplace. Perhaps you should have a seat." I narrow my eyes at him he smirks.

"Sorry," he apologizes.

"What do you want?" I cross my arms over my chest and give him a level stare.

"I want to talk to you about Khan's crew."

"What was your meeting about?" Khan demands when he finds me in the Motor Pool where we fix the broken ships. "Me? Are you people so petty to believe that I am blind and stupid?" He sneers.

"We were talking about your crew." I say absently and I watch the anger slip off his face to be replaced by shock as if I had just slapped him.

Who knows? Mentally, maybe my words were a slap. Ugh. Where's Cassie when I need her? She understands human things like conversations and facial expression. Darn you, Cassie!

"My crew?" The anger jumps back and his eyes harden. Jeez, is this guy bipolar? "They're dead." He snarls.

"No they aren't. Star Fleet wanted you to think that." I can tell the moment I said it that my words angered him even more. Probably not a wise move.

"Why?" He walks forward so he towers over me. I raise an eyebrow at him and move away to continue making repairs on a nearby ship.

"It was part of some deal." I shrug. "They could have you think your crew was dead or have Sector 31 rip you apart while you stayed here." I shrug. "I picked the lesser of two evils which would entail that both you and your people would be safe.

"You knew?" He growls and I'm reminded of a primal animal: dangerous and feral. Hence, the shock collar. I'm beginning to see why so many fear him. He's dangerous-a killer without remorse. He'd do anything for his crew. Was it wise to tell him about them? I had thought it was...now...I'm not so sure.

"I did know." I admit. He takes a deep breath and exhales in an attempt to contain his rage. It doesn't seem to work very well but at least he isn't lunging for my throat. Or, at least, not yet, anyway.

"And what will happen to them? How many have they killed already?" He follows me as I move to the wing of the ship. I try to act like his close proximity doesn't bother me, but it does. My skin is crawling like a whole nest of fire ants have been dumped on my head and now race along my arms, my back, my legs. I flinch slightly as he drawls closer and I quickly put more space between us: I don't trust those hands.

"None of them." I say matter-of-factly. "None of them are dead or awake. Captain Kirk said that, before communications went down, they were talking about reviving some of them and sending them here—with the collars on."

"To be prisoners in a world they don't understand." Khan scowls. "To be science experiments for men that they should be ruling."

"No, to be relatively free and to see if you're the only crazy one. If they act somewhat normal, then Star Fleet will divorce them from your actions and wake all of them up." Hope gleams in his eyes at my words but he's been lied to so many times concerning his family that he has difficulty believing me. I don't blame him. The life an experiment is a hard one. To survive, you have to give up a few things: like hope, trust, and honor.

"When?" He breaths.

"I don't know. It was an idea that they were throwing around. Now, we've lost all communications with them. It could be a while if ever." And this is considering that it isn't a trap or a trick. That they aren't leaving us here, defenseless, while the Klingons grow in numbers and hostility.

"But they are alive?" He asks, his eyes shining with barely suppressed hope as if the wrong answer would cause him to shatter into a million irreparable pieces.

"Yep."

"And they are uninjured?" His voice is neutral as he tries to strangle the joy flaring up in his chest.

"As far as I know."

"And what will happen to them? When—if—they are awoken?"

"They'll stay here, I guess. I don't know. That's what I need to figure out while we work on getting communications up again. I certainly can't have 73 Augments living under my roof!"

"I'll help you." He says suddenly. "Where is the Communications Center?"

"Excuse me?" I blink at him. Moments ago he was ready to kill me, now he wants to help me? What?

"I will help you." He repeats slowly and his blue eyes ablaze with determination.

"Flame runs it down in the labs." The words have barely left my mouth when he runs away and bounds down the hallway with long loping strides.