I do not own nor profit from Star Trek of Gene Roddenberrys works.
Thank you to the Purple Cricket (whose name now brings to mind the image of a maniacal grasshopper ruling a locust swarm.) and Icesong180 for your reviews. They definitely motivate me to get you the next chapter :)
Slowly, they began to move back into their homes at basecamp. They brought shuttle after shuttle of food, clothing and blankets, as Safiya ran her show. The replicators were working as fast as they could to churn out extra food while others stacked it neatly in bundles and packages in the three operating shuttles. It had finally stopped snowing that afternoon as they worked quickly before the sun went down.
"What are we doing with the autopsies?" Gavin had taken a break from his investigation to figure out what he would have to do with his cadavers. Safiya was on the balcony, watching the loading of the shuttles. Gavin leaned against the railing, tired from the extensive research he had done that day.
"They'll stay on board, don't worry. The Bradbury will be moved closer to the camp, you can just shuttle or walk if you'd like. I don't want you so far from base, especially if you are alone. I don't want anybody too far right now, not on their own." She glanced at him as he nodded.
"Thank you, Gavin, for studying those things for me." She stood up straighter. "How is your report going of them by the way?" She turned to face him.
"I'll have something for you soon, I promise. I've just found some interesting about them, I wish to study it more before I put it into any sort of report." He scratched the back of his hand.
"Care to give me a hint?" She smirked, turning her back to the rest of the bay, leaning against the rail. "Anything to interest me?" She hinted, hoping to get some info.
"Well, you will just have to wait to see my report." He smiled. "I would love to see you wait."
"Okay Gavin, I'll let this one slide." She smiled as he walked away back to his work. The bay was buzzing with activity as people were loading and moving. It was as Safiya pictured it. Everybody working together for an attainable goal. If they could last the winter, then life would be far better for them. They could travel farther and wider on foot, while exploring without the danger of freezing to death or starving. Even now, they didn't have to worry about freezing or starving. She watched their faces. They seemed happier, if one could really tell when an Augment was actually happy. They were more filled out, having put on some weight since being able to eat their fill on board.
For the Augments, things were looking up. They had a reliable means of transportation to other worlds, or even back to Earth if they wanted to go. While Safiya had been sleeping, Ren had gathered the Augments in the dining hall, where they had come to enjoy being. It was a long meeting, in a sense, as Ren spoke to them all, aside from Khan. If he could get even half of them to understand why she had left, then it would be a success.
Before Ren could explain everything, with the help of Essex of course who had lost the most in her absence, most of the Augments wouldn't even speak to her. They wouldn't speak, nor would they listen. It was hurtful to them all, but Ren knew more about the situation than the others, and Essex had always been the closest to her outside of her relationship with Khan. Even in the back of the room, Gavin had to admit they were making a pretty convincing argument.
The response to Rens speech was a slow warming to Safiya, and their acceptance of her authority. That acceptance only came about when they saw Khan bending to her commands. If their prince would oblige, then they would follow suit, and perhaps that was the saving grace for Safiya. Now she watched them responding to her requests in the bay, taking care of one another in the end. With the job being done properly, she left to her room to rest. Sleep was something she had done little of lately.
"Something on your mind?" She heard from the far side of the room. She hadn't even noticed Khan was sitting at the table, reading a padd.
"Yes. Hair." She yawned, flopping back in bed, pulling the blankets up tight around her neck.
"Smart ass." He frowned. "Are you upset about something?" He put the padd down and sat down against her in bed.
"No, I'm not upset about anything. I'm just thinking a lot." She sighed, stretching out.
"Care to clue me in?" He captured her eyes with his own. He hated when she was upset and didn't tell him why. She had a certain look about her when she was deep in thought or upset, and he was able to pick it up even if she didn't realize it. "You know you want to tell me whats troubling you." He purred, leaning down, laying close to her. He wanted to at least try to have a better conversation with her than they had shared in the hall.
"I just, everything feels different." She rolled to face him, trying to choose her words carefully.
"Everything is different."
"But, I didn't want to come back as some sort of pariah."
"Well, I don't think you're a pariah." Khan spoke softly, as he lazily ran his fingers through her hair.
"But you are just as angry with me as the rest are." She scoffed.
"Upset? Yes, but not angry." He rested his forehead against hers. "I don't think I could ever stay angry at you."
"You were angry." She spoke defiantly.
"It was misguided anger, I assure you. But now, I am realizing just what type of woman you are, and I think I love you more if that is possible." He kissed her forehead. She lifted the blankets up to receive him, scooting away to give him more room.
"Khan, from that day back in London, when you told me what my father was doing to your people, I just wanted to help." She sighed. "I'm not the best at sharing my plans and intentions, and if you haven't noticed, I am better at silently going about my business, as opposed to sharing it with everybody." She nuzzled into his chest. "With you, Khan, I am weak. I am who I was before I joined the fleet. My emotions with you were so unguarded. But because I held you so close, it was easier for you to hurt me. If I didn't care about you, your words would have meant nothing." She sighed.
"And I never intended to hurt you... After we got here to Pollux." He admitted.
"So you did intend to hurt me before, like with the cryo tube?" She looked up in a frown.
"That was more to scare you into our little ceremony, to say yes to loving me." He spoke smugly. "Of course. On the Vengeance. I had every intention of pushing you away by hurting you. I was unaware that it was not going to work. When you saw me the night before my execution, I knew I had to tell you. I could not have died thinking that you thought I hated you in any degree." He searched her face for understanding, and perhaps even forgiveness. "When I get close to you, I must confess, I get scared. I don't know how to let go all the way. To think of another having complete control of my heart is a most terrifying prospect." He murmured, leaning in to kiss her.
"That, Khan, is just a part of love. It is giving your heart to someone, and trusting they won't break it. It is forgiving them. It is equal compromise when necessary. There is a lot we will have to learn of each others ways to make this work. But if you are serious Khan, then we will have to do this together. I'm willing to learn with you." She looked into his icy eyes.
"We can work on this. I will try." He sighed. That was all he had to say to know he was doomed to never regain his heart from her control again.
"Look in the drawer behind you. In my bedside stand." She whispered as he rolled over to pull out a small stack of papers.
"What are these?" He gave an distrusting look.
"Those, are marriage certificates and paperwork that Akkare signed off on." She spoke nervously. He remained stoic. "You said we weren't officially married, so, I thought that since Akkare could legally marry us. That perhaps he would sign off on this, and we could have a marriage recognized officially if you would still marry me." She spoke in soft tones.
"And who else would I marry?" He kissed her neck softly.
"I don't know, but, with this spat, I didn't know if you were still in a marriage mood." She chuckled as he pulled her in, the papers crinkling behind her back.
"You and I could be having a knock down, drag out fight, and I would still marry you." He sighed. He couldn't hold on to this anger forever, but even though he was angry, he couldn't let this opportunity slip by. She had thought of him while she was gone. Not just as another Augment, but as her husband. Her desire to get the papers proved that much to him. She was giving him the chance to be that he had wanted to be to her.
"From now on though, that means you will treat me as an equal. Not as a child." She looked up, kissing him.
"What about just an overprotective husband?" He pondered. She playfully hit him on the shoulder. This was the Safiya he had loved for so long. This sweet, loving woman who loved him without asking much in return. The dominant Safiya was just a treat to his angel of mercy.
"Now, I need to take a nap. I'm tired, a little cranky, and short on patience." She grumbled, resting her forehead against his chin. His warm body against hers lulled her to sleep. She hadn't even realized how much she missed the feel of him against her, but she was happy to have it back. She kicked herself mentally for having told him so much, even as she snuggled into him. Reverting back into secrecy was her defense mechanism, and yet here she was again, spilling everything.
Safiya slept safe in his arms. Khan had to wonder, like her, if he had perhaps divulged too much? Would she see him as weak now that he seemed so... Human? Ugh, human. A thought that Khan despised. That was a fine position for Safiya, as she was a fine human in his eyes. But he could not imagine giving up his power, who he is, to become simply human.
"Talk to me Gavin." Safiya walked into the conference room, her head lowered, reading over his report. He had already been there, sitting with Ebony, who had been there to help document everything they looked at.
"Well, we did have some pretty interesting finds. Aside from what you already know, we learned that they lay eggs. In fact, one of the females brought on board was in the process of developing her eggs." He sighed, showing a picture of a dissected abdomen, showing the exposed egg sac.
"If you tell me they weave webs too, I'll be very upset." Safiya laughed. Ebony smiled, but Gavin continued, ignoring her statement.
"Coupled with interviews conducted with Essex, Ren and Khan, I have a feeling they have a hierarchy system." He scrolled through. "I would imagine they lay eggs so that the pregnant females would not have to be burdened by the weight of a fetus while they hunt, so I imagine that all are expected to do their fare share of bringing in the kill. That would also explain the bones that Essex found in the room you were in." He rubbed his head.
"So, there were bones in that room. Not uncommon for a predators laid." Khan spoke from the doorway. He took a seat at the far end of the table on the opposite end of Safiya. He leaned back in the chair, focusing on the table as he listened.
"That's just it though. For a large den, if that is the kill room, one would expect far more bones than Essex claimed to have seen." He frowned.
"Well, that could be easily explained." Safiya looked up from her padd. "You say they lay eggs, correct?" She arched her brow, flipping back to the picture of a cluster of 5 eggs in an exam tray. "Well, chickens lay eggs." She shrugged.
"Yeah? And?" Ebony shook her head with distaste.
"How were her bones?" Safiya scanned the report for any anomalies in bone structure.
"Their bone structures were pretty much an exact replica, except for one. It appeared that one had broken a limb at one point, and it healed itself. Otherwise, pretty normal." Gavin shrugged.
"So, chickens had extra bone, especially on their hips. This way they can draw calcium from their own bones in order to make their eggs, without sapping all of the bone they have. All birds do this." She thought out loud. "But if they don't have that extra store of calcium, then it's likely, as intelligent as they seem, that they keep a stockpile of calcium in their den when food is in short supply." She furrowed her brow as Gavin nodded with interest.
"That is very likely, actually." He agreed. "I mean, the shells on those eggs are pretty thick, and making multiples, and eggs that size, it would only make sense they would need some sort of calcium source at all times." Ebony shook her head.
"Is there something wrong down there?" Safiya arched her brow, but Ebony just shook her head again and sat back in her seat. "What else?" She turned back to Gavin.
"Well, we swabbed and sampled all of their front claws, and they all turned up positive for their toxins, but they are not hollow like the canines we looked at. So it's my opinion that they indeed lick their claws to coat their nails in poison, so that all they would have to do is scratch their prey to infect them." He stole a glance to her side where she had experienced their claws first hand, and looked back at his padd.
"They have an incredible amount of muscle, however. Which is surprising for an animal this size, with so little obvious prey around. It takes far too much energy to maintain such mass." He clicked his tongue.
"No OBVIOUS prey. That is the key word, Gavin." Safiya bit her lower lip as she tore her eyes from the screen. "I think the next step would be to actually try to catch one off guard, perhaps put a tracking chip into it. Find out where they go, how far and wide do they go to search for food?" It would be a good idea to learn if they had a specific territory. Perhaps if they could find the boundary, they may find more dens from other clans. Were these clan animals? They had no idea. Unfortunately for Ebony, she was ignoring Safiya, as she rolled her eyes and shook her head with an attitude.
"Well, thank you Ebony, for volunteering to look for the heard we used to rely on." Safiya tilted her head, a smirk on her face.
"Excuse me? I didn't volunteer for anything." She sneered.
"Oh, really? Forgive me, but where I'm from, rolling your eyes and copping attitude means 'pick me pick me, I want to sign up!' So I naturally assumed you were volunteering for the job. Thank you." Safiya went back to her padd, not caring to watch Ebony's face redden. As much as Ebony liked Safiya, and usually didn't mind assisting, she didn't like the attitude that Safiya had come into.
"I thought we were talking about these cat's food source, not our own." She shook her head, irritated.
"We were, but that is not what I asked you to do, now is it?" Safiya set her padd back down. Khan was quite interested, seeing the clash of these two women.
"No... But-"
"What did I ask you to do?" Safiya asked sternly. Ebony was at a loss for words, not used to being spoken to in such a way.
"You asked m-"
"You to go look for OUR food source, and find out where those herds moved off to. I want to track the migration of our own food sources before these other predators food source." She snapped. That was it for Ebony. She couldn't sit there anymore, taking Safiya's attitude. Gavin had sat quietly, not wanting to look up and make eye contact with either woman.
"Fine, whatever." She spat. Ebony was now being Ebony. Pushing her limits, and seeing how far she could go before she crossed that boundary. This was something she had done with Khan already, and with Trick.
Safiya wasn't in the mood to be talked back to. Before Ebony could pass by her, she was out of her seat, and a loud clap of skin on skin rang out in the room. The only thing Khan really noticed was Ebony stumbling back, her hands brought up to her cheek, her mouth open in astonishment. Safiya was seething, her shoulders squared, rising and falling with each angry breath.
"If I were you, I would wipe out that attitude quick fast and in a hurry." Ebony hissed. "I will not tolerate your attitude and disrespect, do you understand?" She raised her voice to decibels that Khan hadn't recalled hearing before, and it sounded even louder in that enclosed room. "Now, this can go one of two ways. Either you respect me, and I respect you, or we have one hell of a scrap until we sort each other out. So what is it going to be?" She still stood over the Augment woman, her fists balled. Shocked, Ebony glanced back at Khan, who simply shook his head in the slightest of ways. That was the only direction she needed.
"I'm sorry." Ebony mumbled. "I should not have stepped out of place." She swallowed.
"I like you Ebony. But remember, don't start none, won't be none." Safiya lightened up. "You will go in three days for your observation. That should give you plenty of time to get ready, and spend time with Trick. In fact, take him with you if you want. It would be good, and safe to have company. You are dismissed." She had sat back down, speaking with her back to Ebony. Ebony gave one last glance around the room, and left.
Gavin hurried to finish up with his report, so as not to accidentally get on her bad side. Safiya swore she could hear his sigh of relief when she dismissed him.
"You know, that was almost uncalled for." Khan spoke softly. The first time since he joined the conversation.
"Almost." Safiya defended.
"But it was definitely attractive to see you so angry." He smirked, drawing a look from Safiya.
"Khan, I won't be pushed around. Not by you, not by Ebony. Nobody." She leaned back.
"And what do you hope to accomplish by manhandling her the way you did?" He inquired.
"That she act like that again towards me." She sniffed.
"And I doubt she will, darling. I doubt she will."