Khan couldn't help be amused by how the girl addressed Kirk. Though he had his suspicions from the video that the Reavers were not as fierce as she made them out to be (she had handled a fair number of them, and it struck him as suspect). But she seemed to infuriate Kirk and that to some extent endeared her to him.
"That was quite the show." Khan commented as she shut off the communication.
He raised a brow, noticing for the first time toy dinosaurs on the console. He happened to pick one up, noting that the label on the bottom was incorrect.
"No show." River moved and took the toy from him, setting it down carefully.
"Protective of toys? Wouldn't have imagined that." Khan stated snidely, surprised to see her react so.
"Protective of who they represent."
River's gaze fell on him and he tried to see what it held. There was no lack of remorse in it. Whomever these chunks of molded plastic had belonged to meant something to her. Not romantic. But affection of some form.
"How did they die?" Khan questioned, sure it wasn't someone on board.
"...Suddenly. We didn't have time to realize what had happened before we had to move. Zoe didn't even get to say good bye." She glanced back to the console, her back to him.
"Zoe..." Khan couldn't say he'd gotten any of their names beside hers.
"The pregnant woman. The Captain's second in command." River replied, running her fingers over one of the plastic palm trees.
"These belonged to her child's father." Khan clarified.
"So did my position as pilot. He was here...when it happened."
"I see..." Khan paused. "Which one is the Captain again? The man in the coat, the man in the ridiculous hat, or the one who looks very confused and out of place?"
A smile returned to River's lips and she giggled, covering her mouth.
"Captain is in the coat. Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Independent. He met Zoe in a war you probably haven't heard of from over this side of the verse."
"You say Independent." Khan shut his eyes, sorting through memories. "I thus conclude the war against the Alliance a few solar systems over. Something about them wanting to control it all, much like the Federation does he."
"Except the Federation does have some good intent." River replied.
"Clearly you never met Marcus."
"Because you popped his head like a zit."
Khan faltered and turned, seeing she wasn't even looking at him, nor remotely phased. She'd just gone over what he'd done, how he'd done, as if it were any bit of information.
"Who told you about that?" He inquired.
"No one." She replied. "I read it from your memory of him."
"You read my memory." Khan faltered and then it all fit together. "You're a reader. A psychic."
"Quite." River replied. "Does that surprise you?"
"I'm ashamed I didn't figure it out sooner." Kahn confessed. "It puts a lot of your earlier actions in perspective."
"Does it embarrass you, or shame you? I'm trying to compute that. ="
"Does it matter?"
"To you it seems to." She replied simply. "I'm just curious why."
Khan gave the girl an odd look, but the puzzle was slowly piecing together.
"Have you always been like this?"
"Like what? I was a child prodigy..."
"Psychic."
"Not...to my knowledge." River fell silent. "That came later."
She said no more on the matter before facing him once again.
"So. Since you'll be confined to the Serenity, would you like the tour?"
"I'd like to see my crew." Khan replied calmly. He was expecting some resistance or an all out refusal. He reaction surprised him.
"It will be a bit of a tour then. They're all over in the ship's nooks and crannies. But I suppose time is the one thing we do have." She began to walk and smiled over her shoulder. "Follow me then."