Chapter Eighteen: Kronos

Ninety-one point six percent.

According to the Vulcan first officer those were the odds of John Harrison attempting to kill them. Marla tried not to smile at the fact that those odds were heavily inaccurate. If Khan had wished for someone's instant death he would have killed them. Marla knew that the augment wanted to toy around with his prey before putting it out of its misery. Torture and manipulation were the strong points in the arsenal of Khan Noonien Singh.

The young woman often found herself wondering if that same manipulation could have or did work on her. The more she thought those ideas over in her mind the more she knew how different she was from the others Khan had and would control. Whenever she had a moment of doubt she reminded herself that she had used him. She used so many others like she had used Khan. He fed her information she craved in the beginning. He guided her through his history and the construction of 20th century weaponry. She had used her weakness as a way to gain her strength back. She had used her determination to gain his admiration.

Marla McGivers had used Khan in the same ways he had used her. There was no difference between them. The partnership was mutual in its benefits. Though she wondered if everything was fulfilled as needed, if Khan got his people back and Marla had Marcus killed in the most vicious way she could imagine, could their partnership continue?

It was all she could think over in her mind as the female prattled on about her significant other, the Vulcan not being able to feel. Marla reminded herself that she was grateful not to have a relationship like that. She had been in relationships where feelings were needed. She had never wanted to feel much else other than the pleasure of the other individual's presence. Most of her past relationships had been ones that barely lasted. Marla had always been gleefully devoted to her work choosing to see relationships as fleeting instances. Khan was her work therefore it had been easy to feel more for him then just a fleeting fancy.

She was fascinated with him.

The dark skinned woman mentioned death, how the death of the Vulcan would affect her. Sitting in the back of the craft with the two other men she wondered if her death could have affected Khan. It wouldn't. Not with a man beyond her intelligence and strength. Not with a man who had been too exposed to death for much of his life. Marla knew his death would affect her. She was simple. She was human. She was fond of her augment lover. If the captain chose to end him, Marla couldn't be certain she would not try to stop it.

She held in a sigh when she realized it. Her feelings for him were growing beyond a simple bond for revenge. She cared for him. Marla wanted his success to become her own. The poor woman may even love Khan Noonien Singh. She had loved him before. She had loved his artistry in war. His determination to his people in the records that were left of him. That admiring love had grown into a genuine affection and need to keep him alive. Keep him alive so that she could continue knowing him, learning from him, pleasing him, letting him please her, and fighting alongside him.

The Vulcan said he chose not to feel. That was weakness. Feelings, in death especially, were a given strength. Her devotion and determination to Khan and their cause was something that she held onto strongly. She felt it guide her in her decisions. Those feelings became her strength in times of need. They were a reason to live. The Vulcan was being a coward in choosing not to feel fear in death. Fear was what caused her to act. Fear in death is what caused her not to be afraid at the small things.

Like getting shot at by Klingon vessels.

"What the hell was that?" The captain murmured seconds after two shots were fired on their transport rocking them slightly. Marla gripped her seat for support and for added nervous effect. The three higher ups started arguing of why the Klingons were firing.

"Random patrol." Marla said after Kirk proclaimed that he thought that section was abandoned. "I said this might happen."

"Well it's happening." Kirk piped in. "Hold on."

The ship twisted and turned. Marla wasn't keen on space travel to begin with. Her stomach churned a bit as they maneuvered. They had no means to defend themselves. . Marla felt her mind try to focus on the mission Khan had tasked for her over the chase between them and the Klingon patrol.

The torpedoes were currently aimed at Khan, who had found himself roaming the empty areas of the Klingon home world. Sulu was pointing them at him threatening him with his own people. All seventy two were on board. She made sure to count. She made sure to check them over even as Carol had looked at her unsure. The blonde woman would be a problem. She knew that in the way she looked at her. In the way Carol herself found the photon torpedoes perplexing.

They were hit. Sounds railed against the inside as Kirk muttered a cuss under his breath. She was rubbish at piloting. Her times in Starfleet had been spent as far away from the controls as possible. Upon needing to escape the first officer, Spock declared they would not fit between two structures. When they turned fitting through Marla felt the uneasy urge to vomit. Her stomach still churned unsteadily. She had not been in a firefight before, or a one sided fire fight. She was not overwhelmed by the excitement. The movement was doing her in though she could not recall being ill in sudden movement before that moment. They clanged against metal until they were freed.

"We've lost them." The captain seemed out of breath.

"No," Marla was sure of it. "Back up. More of them are here I suspect."

Moments later they were surrounded by the bright lights of the Klingon vessels. They chanted declaring their need to land. The female approached the captain with her thoughts on what was to happen. Torture, questions, and death.

"We're out numbered. They'll see that. They won't hesitate unless we show them our hand. They'll suspect our strongest to approach, not our," Marla hesitated at the last word. "Weakest." She saw the woman look to her with a nod.

"Two women." The woman said. Marla was trying to pick out her name, but couldn't remember it. "They won't see that. They won't think we'll attack. Both of us speak Klingon. Both of us," She looked to Marla. "Can back each other up." Marla nodded swallowing a bit.

"They'll be more willing to see pass the breaking of the truce if we explain ourselves." Marla put in. "Together."

The woman smiled as Kirk hoped they were right.

"Are you ready Kali?" She had heard the woman being called Uhura by her boyfriend.

"I believe so." Marla was tying her dark hair up into a ponytail. She wanted to be seen as professional to these savages.

She felt her heart race with anticipation as she watched her fellow translator let out a nervous breath. She couldn't help that her nerves abandoned her. They stood in the doorway, metal and cold, to the even colder outside of Kronos. Marla wore dark pants with a maroon turtleneck. The rough looking brown leather jacket seemed to be tattered in appearance compared to Uhura's. Her clothing told a story, it had seen battle while Uhura looked too pristine. She had chosen the clothing from the array on the ship on purpose. When she landed on Kronos she would need comfort as well as looking like someone who should not be handled with lightly.

"How should we do this?" Marla wondered trying not to sound too sure of herself.

"I'll lead." Clearly Uhura seemed to have either little confidence in the Marla's abilities or she was just sparing her the terror of talking to the Klingons. "You add what you feel will grant them a better a response." Marla nodded.

They stepped off the ship together. Marla was at Uhura's left walking tall with her, head back and straight. She reminded herself of the way Khan approached everything he did. Every move Khan made was perfection. There were many Klingons waiting. Marla knew they were like the augments in many ways. She was choosing in that moment to approach them in such a way. The wind blistered cold against her raw cheek smacking her ponytail sideways. She was glad that the wig was deeply embedded into her scalp.

They walked together in time with one another, careful and slow. Once they were at the end of a set of steps in the dimly lit area she could see them. They had their faces covered in protection. Klingons were highly advanced in weaponry much in the same vain as the augments. They would not falter at a chance for a fight. They were practically foaming at the mouth.

Uhura spoke first declaring that they were there to help. Marla was very glad that her Klingon was not as rusty as she had thought. One Klingon stared along with the others though approached with gradual ease. He appeared to look between the two women tilting his head. Uhura declared that they had respect. It was an odd chose of words for Marla. The Klingons, while they harbored respect, they saw the humans as not of equal standing. Humans would not wish for respect from a mouse, they'd laugh at the mouse before crushing it, with respect.

She then began to explain that they sought a criminal hiding in the ruins after killing many of their people. The young woman idly thought about the hundreds of augments that had been slaughtered, genocide of a new race had occurred during those wars without much of a thought. They had been created and killed within decades of each other. Marla listened and watched the ever present eyes of the Klingon. The blue caused an easy feeling in her mind as her face relaxed and her chin raced ever so slightly. His eyes flickered to her for a second.

The Klingon took off his protection revealing his face. Marla had seen Klingons before in every form, but face to face. It was extraordinary how beauty in something so deadly could still capture her imagination. He slowly tilted his head in confusion asking why he should care. Why indeed? Marla merely waited for Uhura to respond.

Her only answer was honor. That they cared about honor. That Harrison had none. Before Uhura could say another word Marla made her voice known.

"He killed our best." She lied in Klingon causing his attention to be drawn to her. "This man kills for a challenge. You have the best fight to offer him." She saw the way he looked now. He was intrigued. Uhura added for good measure that he and his people were in danger.

He waited before taking the step. The Klingon grabbed Marla by the chin lifting her. She sucked in a breath feeling her shoulder flex. The newly embedded scalpel she had placed as an insurance for herself stung when he raised her. His other hand was lowered. Before even Uhura could react they were fired upon.

He dropped her in an instant. She crouched landing on her feet letting the blast fill her ears before she made her move. Uhura had ducked and went for the knife at the Klingon's ankle stabbing him. Marla cussed herself for not seeing it, but simply ducking in the fire fight.

"Come on!" Uhura yelled over the blasts that missed and made contact with the players in the fight.

Marla saw that he had another blade on the other ankle and grabbed it. She saw his eyes look to her with anger. She plunged the blade into his head with a serious amount of force. She felt the rush fall into place. She ducked beside Uhura seeing the captain and the other occupants from the Enterprise run to battle.

Then she saw him.

No painting, drawing, or footage of any sort could match the brilliance of fully covered Khan Noonien Singh in battle. He twisted and turned firing multiple weapons together like a symphony. When she saw him shoot down the Klingon vessel her body moved, ducking through debris trying to catch up with his violence. She felt the need to. The fray hit her hard. He was also using one of her weapons, the plasma cannon they had developed. She felt quite lovely seeing he had remembered it.

Marla ducked running before rolling when something sharp and burning hit her side. She heard Uhura call out for her. The Klingon, who fired at her went to approach her while she was down, perhaps to see the light leave her eyes when he fired the last blow. She kicked her leg up using the burning sensation to propel her anger. The blade went up at the stunned Klingon up through his chin and under his mask. When he fell she grabbed the blaster from his hand. Blaster in one hand and blade in the other, Marla decided to shoot her way out through the chaotic maze of ruins.

She shot two Klingons who shot at her. Another tackled her from behind knocking the blaster away. She turned and wrapped her legs around his torso keeping him still to her body while the knife entered the back of his skull smashing against his armor at first then under it. His blaster was heavier so she retrieved the other blaster that had been knocked away. Marla found herself losing her blade once she saw a Klingon take aim for the captain. She flung it hard into his back.

Every day she appreciated her father, but it was a day and a moment like this that she wished she could truthfully thank the man. She remembered wilderness training and hunting that often coated her fond memories. Knife throwing had been a hobby of her father's. He had taught her to be accurate when it mattered. Today it mattered the most.

She approached the crew as they dragged the captain from the presence of the impending Klingons. Marla felt her blood pump into her ears and her knees quiver at the intensity. Her side burned still, but the pain was fleeting. They were against a wall trying to wait out the chaos. Marla could see despite what Khan had been to the Enterprise's crew they were in awe of his style. His eyes kept focus on every bit of chaos that went on around him. He moved and fired two weapons separately yet together. He had strategy when there was no time for one. He fell into the chaos with natural ease as if it had always been around him.

If there was doubt of her love for him it fell apart in that moment.

Admiration was there also and the need to be at his side burned inside, but there was that slow tingle in her body that told her needs and wants were no longer separate. This man was it. She wouldn't find a more worthy partner. Marla itched to fight alongside him, but she reminded herself that to those around her she was a weak historian who desired nothing more than to please her current captain.

The thought that soon Khan would be her captain was a pleasurable reminder. The pleasing aspect of the description would be a bit more on the nose.

She was a bit displeased when he threw her canon aside, but seeing him leap from the platform and onto the ground redeemed the situation. His face was no longer covered. She could see the intensity in his eyes and the building anger. He fed off the Klingons' savagery with great ease. Marla imagined a war between the Klingons and the augments would have been a bloodbath.

His combat was quite impressive. He did not waste. There was never a moment of waste in Khan's movements. Every stab was fatal. Every limb's movement was meant. Once he had killed those he needed he retrieved his armory approaching them. Marla sank slightly trying to bring terror to her mind. She found terror through the sudden cramping she felt from her injuries. She tried not to look too hurt as he approached. She wondered if he had the mind to feel empathy for her war wounds or if he was still in the mind frame that she was not his in that moment, simply a strange enemy. She was placed firmly against the wall when Spock stood armed.

"Stand down." He demanded. Khan merely flicked his hood back, hair mangled and whipping back.

"How many torpedoes?" His conviction was unwavering as each foot step was met with earnest.

"Stand down!" Khan fired without a thought. Spock was now unarmed, the weapon having flown from his hands toward Marla. She squirmed and whimpered in a duck.

"The torpedoes! The weapons you threaten me with in your message! How many are there?" He shouted addressing the captain with lifts of his chin.

His hair was wired over his eyes. She could tell he was on edge. She had not heard him speak this way before. There may have been fear in his voice. She wondered if she had failed in keeping his people as safe as they could be. She was certain Kirk would not fire them at Khan. He was an admirable captain. He wouldn't choose to start a war without reason.

"Seventy-two." Marla said feeling breath leave her.

His eyes met hers. There was only a moment, a split second that told Marla too many things. It was relief. He was glad to see her. She swallowed when that second turned into moments of terror. She could only feel his heart sink at the thought of dying with his people in such a way. He searched the captain's face. Marla started to feel her body crumble. She wasn't even on her feet and already she was finding it difficult to maintain focus.

"I surrender." He threw his weapon aside.

He was going with them. Like he wanted to. To be with his people. She wondered if that meant she was no longer needed. If she was no longer the keeper of the augments lying in wait. When would they be safe? When they were awakened? Or when the captain had his crew back in his care? They had never been clear on that. Spock picked up his weapon. Kirk slowly got up, struggling from his injuries. Marla tried to breath, but felt it hard to. Her hand went to the side that was hit when Kirk started making his speech to his prisoner.

Kirk started to pummel Khan. It didn't matter to her. She knew of times when humans had attempted to best augments in a fight. She just hoped Khan wouldn't break him and their chances for escape simply because he wanted to prove something. He just took the beating like a patient leader should. Her fingers traced the burning, feeling her skin sizzle. She was still seated while everyone else stood horrified by the beating. Marla was uncertain if she should look horrified.

She decided some reaction was needed when Uhura shouted for her captain perhaps to stop actions. Marla went to her feet leaning suddenly feeling worse. The material to her shirt was exposed where the burn wound was. She barely heard Khan question Kirk's status. Something was wrong. The pain had migrated. She swallowed following the deep tearing she felt in her belly. It was cold, so a wetness was in the air. She wouldn't have noticed the blood until she had been perfectly still, until she had relaxed herself and found the absence of adrenaline. She touched the spot where the wetness seemed to come from, not at her side, but at her front. She lifted her hand seeing the redness that had seeped through her pants in her pelvic region.

"Captain." The word sputtered out as she felt true fear cross her mind.

Her eyes met with a shocked Kirk as she showed her bloody hand to her crew. She was glad all eyes were on her in that moment because she saw Khan's face, a look of sudden and unpleasant terror that bore from his eyes. It was the first time she saw his posture slump, the first time she saw fear enter not only his face, but his entire body. He may have even taken a slight step toward her.

She was at ease with knowing he cared because she slowly felt a darkness take over her as she fell into a heap from the fear that came over her.

Author's Note: Alright so I suppose that was a bit of a cliffhanger. What's happening with Marla? What's going to happen now that they're back together? As always reviews are welcomed.