—Chapter Six—-
Kirk returned with a sketch of the likeness of one of the Borg in hand. Anthea recognised Marla's work. It was, she saw, one of Barton mid-assimilation, after they'd had to shoot him. She wondered when Marla had taken the time to study the man's corpse, gruesome as it had been. Yves had done what he could to remove the implants, and after he and Khan had studied them, they'd incinerated both technology and body. Leaving an Augment corpse for anyone to find had been out of the question, and there was no telling what else had been done to the man that they couldn't see. It had meant an extra two days in space, going the opposite direction from home, just in case they were being tracked before they could dispose of the problem.
Khan discussed what they knew of the Borg with Kirk and McCoy, going over the incident again. Anthea pretended she couldn't hear the conversation. Yves and Ronja had a PADD from McCoy's medical bag and were going through the supplies, listing the things they needed. That left Anthea to sit there by herself, lost in her thoughts, as she rested both hands on her stomach and felt the baby moving around.
"Not much room in there, huh?" she murmured to her daughter. "You'll be out soon, I promise, and then you'll have plenty of room to stretch as much as you'd like."
She looked up as Kirk approached. "Was there something you needed, Captain?"
"Just wanted to say thanks for this information." He held up the sketch. "I'll get this back to HQ, let them know that, uh, some unspecified traders informed us of the threat. Might make a stop by Elora and see if we can get any video footage of these things, too."
"That's a good idea."
"Bones says we're gonna set up some medical supplies. I'll sign off on that. Official story is that Marla is on assignment here from me, working with some independent archaeologists about those ruins. My crew knows the truth, or some of it, and they're all sworn to keep it secret. I told them you're survivors from Marcus's shit and in hiding from anybody loyal to him. They don't know Khan is the same guy who tried to blow us up."
Khan made a derisive sound but didn't comment.
"I was wondering how you'd managed to get so many people to agree to silence," Anthea remarked. "I hope you manage to keep them quiet in future."
"Yeah, well, me, too."
Kirk looked to McCoy and nodded. "I've given Khan my personal communicator frequency. I'm hoping you guys won't need to contact us, but if you run into anything else like these Borg, I'd really appreciate a heads up."
Anthea figured that was the cost of him keeping them hidden. "We'll do what we can."
"We'll be in orbit for a few hours, while Bones gets those supplies together. Uh… Good luck with the, uh…" Kirk waved at her stomach.
"It's called childbirth," she said wryly. "But thank you. And… thank you for contacting my parents and pointing them here. They got here several months ago."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kirk said, but looked pleased. "And you're welcome."
After an awkward exchange of farewells, Kirk and McCoy left. Khan followed them out, likely to make sure they didn't detour. Anthea clambered off the bed and went over to the cryo storage, studying the frozen embryos on the shelf where Yves had put them.
Arms came to circle her from behind, and she leaned back against Khan. His mere presence was a comfort, always had been, and she hoped she never tired of the feeling.
"You lied about me getting an infection from the Romulan blade."
She wasn't surprised that he knew. Yves had probably mentioned it. "I did. Partly to get our hands on the medication, partly to make them underestimate you."
"You're very devious, you know that?"
She just grinned.
"I want to hate the man," her husband murmured, "but he keeps doing things like this and it makes it difficult to do."
Anthea chuckled. "He's not a bad person, Khan. Just very… idealistic."
"He still thinks that I'm a bad person," he pointed out.
"Not as much as he did, I think."
Khan pressed a kiss to her temple. "What was it you wanted to discuss with McCoy without me present? Was it something you felt uncomfortable with?"
"No, more something I wasn't sure you would be comfortable with. Ronja came and we discussed birth control for the women. I'm planning on having an IUD placed after the baby is born. I know we've discussed a little how many kids we want, but I'm undecided if I want to stop after Sarina. Pregnancy is hard. Newborns are difficult. And I certainly don't want another pregnancy anytime soon. I'd like to recover from this one before we start talking about more."
His arms tightened around her. "That's fair. I would love several, but you're the one who has to carry them. I won't push you into anything you're not ready and willing to do."
"I know, and I appreciate that."
She turned in his arms, looking up into those eyes she loved so much. Others feared him, but she never had. She'd trusted him from the moment they'd met, and even knowing the things he'd done, had never felt threatened by him. Well, there had been uncertainty when she'd first rescued him and woken him from cryo, but it had never been fear. Still, she appreciated being able to be so much more open with him now than before, when he'd been John Harrison.
"What will we do with the embryos?" she asked.
"I need to think on it. For now, they should be safe as they are. We don't have the facilities to implant them in any surrogates. We'll need to tell our people we have them, get volunteers, arrange everything necessary. But all of that comes after finishing our medical facility."
Anthea nodded. "And we shouldn't rush to use them all at once, either. We need to be careful with them. But I'm not volunteering, I'll let you know now. I'll have my hands full with ours as it is."
Khan kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't expect you to. I won't ask it of anyone who doesn't want to."
"That's what Kirk doesn't understand about you," she murmured. "You don't make our people do anything. You don't have to. And you care so much. You take care of us, watch over us. He thinks you're some violent dictator. He hasn't seen you awake all night, worrying about how to keep everyone fed and safe."
"James Kirk has a narrow world view, for all his galactic travels. He's steeped in idealism and Starfleet's supposed lofty benevolence."
"I think you wore some of his shine off, though."
Khan sighed. "We're never going to be rid of him, are we?"
"Probably not. For whatever reason, he feels responsible for the colony. And me. Which is hilarious, but if it helps us to have the Enterprise come running because Kirk's got it in his head that he owes me or something, I'm not going to turn that down." She ran her hands over Khan's chest, delighted by the hard muscle underneath. "But you know I've no interest in him, right? You have absolutely nothing to worry about there."
He bent his head and kissed the side of her neck, making her shiver. "I know. But I cannot help being possessive. Starfleet has tried to take what's mine too many times."
Her fingers curled into the front of his shirt as her eyes fluttered closed. "And I've been yours since we met," Anthea said breathlessly. "It just took a bit to admit it."
"You have been, haven't you? And I've been yours. I do suppose that's one thing to thank Marcus for, introducing us."
In the doorway, Yves cleared his throat. "Do you not have a room to take this to, mes amis?"
Laughing, Anthea gave Khan a push and stepped back. "Yes, let's let Yves and Ronja get back to work. Show me what was in the bin the Vulcan brought."
He took her hand and she followed him into the corridor and down to their ship cabin. She saw he'd already gone through the bin.
"Oh, I forgot how much I love this on you. We need to get it cleaned and then, maybe…" Anthea wagged her eyebrows at him and he chuckled, the pitch of it sending heat straight to her core.
"We'll see how they hold up. They've been in the bin a long time."
Khan gathered the items and took them over to the sonic laundry cleaner in the wall by the bathroom. While he did, Anthea wandered over to the desk where the communicator was still charging.
She picked it up and saw the messages, that he'd finally read and heard them after all this time. The playful mood she'd had vanished, and she clutched the communicator in both hands with a spasm of remembered anxiety.
"My attempts to reach you stopped going through after that last time we spoke, just after the bombing," he said behind her. "And I didn't receive anything. I think Marcus had your communicator, specifically, blocked from sending or receiving."
She turned to look at him. "You know, I think you're right. I thought I was just having trouble reaching anyone in Starfleet in the chaos. The only ones I spoke to after we talked last, I spoke to in person. I didn't have to call my parents or Lindy, and I saw everyone else when I went down to London. If someone didn't pick up, I assumed they were busy or dead."
He gently took the communicator from her. "What's done is done. It's in the past, and we can't change it. The important thing, priya, is that we're together. We won. And soon, very soon, we're going to have our daughter. Marcus can't touch us."
She let him draw her into his arms, as close as he could manage with the baby in the way. "I know. I just have such a hard time letting go of all of that."
Khan kissed her forehead. "You're looking tired again. Is it the baby?"
"It's always the baby. At least she's settled down. But I can't get rid of this backache. I think it's close. I'm expecting to go into labour at any time. This is how I felt before Nolan came."
"Well, let's get you back up to the house and lying down. I'll handle the delivery from the Enterprise, whenever that happens."
Anthea nodded. "It must be close to supper time. I was hoping to get you into those leather pants, but it'll have to wait."
Her husband chuckled. "They're not clean yet. But when they are, I'll indulge you."
"Good."
Back up at the house, Khan helped his wife remove her shoes and recline on the bed. He trusted her instincts about the baby, and intended to stick close.
He felt the pendant in his pocket as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and fished it out. "This was in my things. I'd intended to give it to you a long time ago, but… lost possession of it. During the time between the attack on the London facility, and when I assaulted the Daystrom tower, I stopped in India, because… I intended to kill Marcus, take the Vengeance, fetch you. I thought my people were dead and I didn't think we'd come back to Earth. So I wanted to see my old home one last time. I bought this there. I was going to apologise for everything with it. But that failed. My jumpship was damaged and about to crash, so I used the transwarp device to escape to Qo'noS. I accidentally dropped it and was stuck there. Nothing went to plan."
"You should have told me what you were doing. We could have killed that bastard together and taken our people back."
He gave her a half smile. "You mean that, don't you? But I didn't know how you would react to it all."
"I know."
Khan held out his hand. "I considered waiting for our anniversary in a few days, but…"
Anthea put her hand under his, and he dropped the pendant into her palm.
"It's not as nice as the ring I gave you, but I thought it would suit you anyway."
His wife turned the heavy bauble over in her fingers. "It's beautiful. Thank you. I'm afraid I have nothing for you, though."
"Thea, you're about to give me a daughter. You've given me Nolan, and a home for our people. And your love and trust. I couldn't ask for greater gifts than these."
"You told me once you're not a romantic man, but you're really a big sap," she said fondly.
Khan snorted. "I meant I'm not one for flowers and chocolates and big, showy gestures. I prefer… words and actions."
"Well, I'd say, then, that destroying a whole Klingon colony to rescue us was pretty damned romantic." She smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him until he laid down beside her. "Though chocolate would not be amiss ever. And you still owe me a foot rub."
He laughed and nuzzled her neck. "That will have to wait until later. I need to at least inform Otto and my council about Starfleet's visit."
She heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Fiiine. I suppose it can wait."
He kissed her softly, then stroked a hand over her hair. "Rest, darling. I'll try to keep the meeting short. They're probably on their way here as it is."
She flapped a hand. "I'll just take another short nap. I've a feeling I need to save my energy."
Reluctantly, Khan rolled off the bed and closed the door behind him as he left the bedroom. As he did, he reminded himself to finish work on the sound proofing shield in his lab, and to get better locks on the doors.
A knock at the front door signalled the arrival of his council. Years of working together meant Otto would have gathered everyone the moment Kirk left on his shuttle.
He was a bit surprised when Joachim followed the others in. He wasn't part of the council and thus never in attendance to these things. But then he saw that the young man carried something in his arms.
"Your pardon, Kaiser," Joachim said, in his mild German accent, "but I finished this for the Kaiserin and the baby and wished to bring it to you."
"It" was a carved wooden cradle and stand, just the right height for their bed, the unvarnished wood oiled to a soft, glossy sheen. While not the most skilled work, care had obviously gone into it. Joachim had incised a myriad of stars into the wood with a wood burning tool, and swirls that Khan supposed represented nebulae.
"This is… very impressive work," he told the younger man. "My wife is going to love it."
Joachim blushed, grinning bashfully at the praise. "I worked on it all winter," he confessed.
Handing the cradle back, Khan said, "Let me go get her. You should give this to her in person."
Anthea wasn't happy about being dragged out of bed just after getting comfortable, but the moment she saw the cradle, she melted. "Oh, it's beautiful! Thank you, Joachim!"
Joachim followed them into their bedroom and showed them how to set up the stand and cradle to turn it into a bedside bassinet. Anthea had had similar when Nolan was first born, but hadn't kept it. She'd mentioned such to Khan, and they'd been lamenting only having Nolan's old, convertible crib.
The young man left, and Khan returned to the council while Anthea fussed over the gift. His wife was on the council, as his rani—or kaiserin as Otto and Joachim called her—but she needed rest more than she needed to be present for this.
Once everyone was gathered, he told them about the embryos that the Starfleet officers had brought.
Joaquin Montilla, one of Khan's lieutenants, spoke. "I am suspicious," he said in his Mexican accent. He was a bit shorter than Khan, with brown hair, sleepy, hooded brown eyes, sharp cheekbones, and a jawline that could cut glass. He had come from Mexico via Europe, where he had met Inigo Sandoval and Miguel Rodriguez on his way to joining Khan. Joaquin blamed himself, Khan knew, for bringing Rodriguez into their midst, after Rodriguez had attempted to kill Anthea and the children. "Of their motives. You say they are our enemy, and yet they have helped us twice now. Why?"
Seated on the sofa with Kati, with Pandu on his lap, Yves said, "James Kirk does not think as we do, mon ami. He has a very developed sense of right and wrong."
"And he has the hots for Khan's wife," Otto put in.
It irritated Khan a bit that his men knew about that, but they all looked amused, not judgemental. And who could blame Kirk? Anthea was beautiful. "They were involved briefly, a long time ago," he explained shortly. "Anthea tolerates him. Barely. But he's useful, so she won't let me kill him."
"Smart woman," Joaquin remarked with a grin. "But it explains a lot."
Kati had an odd look on her face, which made Khan think his sister knew the truth about Anthea and Kirk. That didn't surprise him. Thea and his sibling were very close friends. It made him happy that his wife and his sister got along so well.
They discussed a few items of business, such as supply stores and other necessities. Then most of them left, save for Kati and Yves.
"I should get back to the ship. I imagine that the items Leonard is sending will be delivered shortly. I would like to see this 'beaming' in person," Yves said.
"I need to teach you and some of the others how to operate the transporter," Khan said. "And perhaps select a dedicated crew. Now that we've cleared everything out of this ship's spare crew cabins, we can actually take more than five or six of us aboard."
"I would like to learn," his sister said. "About many things on the ship. And more about modern medicine!"
Khan had to smile at his sister's eagerness. "We can make that happen. Would you stay here, with Anthea, in case anything happens while Yves and I are seeing to the delivery? I realise Graham and Martha are here, but you can run faster to fetch me."
She nodded. Yves handed her the baby and followed Khan out.
"You are worried, mon frère," Yves said, as they descended the hill.
"Yes."
The Frenchman shrugged. "I wish that I could say nothing will happen to Anthea or the child, but I am not naive. I will say, however, that she will, as always, have my best care."
"I know, and I appreciate it more than I can say."