"Computer, commence recording," Carol ordered, sitting behind the desk in the small office she kept in her house on the augment colony. She took a long sip of her coffee before beginning recording. "Personal journal of Carol Marcus. Stardate 2262.55. I have been living on the augment colony on Menkar or Ceti Alpha V according to Starfleet designation for ten months. As I have estimated during my first tenure here, the augments are prospering, despite this world's harsh conditions. Though the second settlement is more modest than the first and subjected to the more hostile environment up in the northern hemisphere, by the the mountains Khan has called Morningstar after Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. However, its trategic position is ideal, obscured from all known sensors by the ionic radiation emitted by the new metallic element we discovered both in the Ocean of Dust and the caves beneath the mountains. The augments have called it chrysalisite after the project that resulted in the creation of their kind.
Our surveys of the star system revealed it very poor in precious metals like latinum, but rich beyond belief in more practical minerals. In fact, I can't think of any other place in the explored space that could be through its wilderness and strategic advantages more fitting for the augments. Menkar offers other less obvious opportunities: the forests are full of a species of berries similar to redcurrant that make an excellent wine. The purity of the water extracted from the ice cap covering half of the southern hemisphere would be very profitable on the galactic market. The exploitation of the planet's natural resources require an abundant work force, for which not even the augments suffice. The settling of former Orion slaves has marked the first steps in that direction. The Orions are glad to be free and take no issue with the augment benevolent administration of the system.
It has not all been smooth sailing, however. When rescuing Kati and Admiral Christopher Pike from a stronghold of the Orion Syndicate in the Romulan Neutral Zone, unbeknown to anyone, Khan kidnapped a leader of the criminal organization. From her he had gotten information about the inner workings of a murky world of pirates and outlaws that is usually inaccessible to established interstellar powers. Khan loathes criminal underbellies as much as the latter do, as he values order above everything else. His tactical mind has put that knowledge to good to use and he raided the Syndicate's more vulnerable outposts to acquire technology and liberate slaves. The Syndicate retaliated by sending a small fleet to the Ceti Alpha system. A few Nausicaan ships came along for the looting. They approached us through the Mutara Nebula, which is an ideal location for an ambush, and so they were no match for the Vengeance. I persuaded Khan not to execute the prisoners and to give them a chance to rehabilitate themselves on the Orion colony.
The victory has made the augments in general and Khan in particular infamous in certain circles. This reputation might serve as great protection in the future. We are also in the process of mining the asteroid field covering the only entrance to the star system not surrounded by the nebula.
I have never given much thought to the exact specifics of what happiness might mean to me. I believed... I still believe in the spirit of the Starfleet Charter and I sometimes miss the familiarity of my life as an officer and Earth. But life here has proved rewarding. I feel like I have the chance to make a difference in the way the augments shape their society and infuse their steely notions of order and loyalty with a dose of compassion and in time, maybe even democratic values.
The psychologist Alfred Adler once wrote that it is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them. I can only hope to live up to mine and in doing so to set an example to my new family. I will certainly try.
End of entry."
# # #
The guest quarters on the Enterprise were not more spacious than the living ones, but they were comfortable and appropriately appointed. Carol had been assigned one with a common bathroom with Kati, who had arrived to Nausicaa to accompany her to Earth. Officially, the flagship was just taking a detour to the Sol system to drop them off on her way to her mission in the Tau Ceti system. Unofficially, Pike was doing her a favor by having her transported on a familiar ship, where she had many friends, as a small compensation for the hand she was extending Starfleet. Normally Carol would have protested the extraneous and unnecessary effort, but now she was glad to be inMcCoy's capable hands. Kati's presence was something else she would have to thank the admiral for, but Carol's heart was still heavy.
Guilt gnawed at her. She had spoken briefly to Khan via communicator and he had not protested her decision, obviously relieved that Kati was going with her. He had only been insistent in asking whether she was healthy. She had almost told him right there and then, before reason had caught up with her tongue. Her decision, difficult as it was to uphold, had been already been made. She shouldn't cause a potential political crisis while at it. Khan would do anything, no matter how extreme or insane, for those he loved, even if that compromised the frail entente he had with the Federation. It wasn't just the billions threatened by the biological weapons her father had manufactured she had to protect, but also the people she cared about and had left back on Ceti Alpha V.
The door chimed and Carol went to answer it. Kati stood on the other side with a bright smile on her lips.
"This is all kinds of paradoxical," her friend remarked, as she came in. "Returning to Earth aboard the Enterprise." She pulled a chair and plopped onto it with her customary easy grace.
She was the picture of casualness and looked at Carol so trustingly, that the levee broke. Tears sprung to her eyes, as the enormity of what she was doing hit her full force. Kati was on her feet in an instant, concern darkening her features. "What's wrong?"
"I'm pregnant," Carol blurted out, unable to hold it in for a moment longer.
Kati brightened up. "Tears of joy... I could definitely get behind those." With that she enveloped Carol in a tight hug. "That's marvelous. Khan must be besides himself with happiness. How did you manage to get him to agree to this trip, anyway?"
Carol buried her face in Kati's shoulder, sobbing now. Kati drew back to stare her in the face. The augment's scowl returned. "Tell him now," she demanded, thrusting her communicator at Carol.
She shook her head no, her vision blurry with tears. "I can't!"
"Yes, you can. You've just tested it on me," Kati uttered with fake cheer, still holding out the device to her. "Carol, you might know even better than me what this would mean to him. He deserves to know."
Carol wiped furiously at her eyes with her hands.
"Tell him," Kati insisted. "Or I will."
"No, you won't," Carol said flatly. "This is between me and him and you will not interfere."
Kati gaped at her. "Is that an order?"
Carol was taken aback. "An order?"
"Yes, an order," Kati shot back without missing a beat. "I know you're uncomfortable with the position of authority you hold among us and believe that you have it solely because you're Khan's wife. But I promise you: you don't! You have it, because you're loyal and you work tirelessly next to us and you show us that there is reaching for better even for an augment. So I'm asking again: am I talking to my superior or to my friend?"
Carol's heart fluttered in her chest, suffused with warmth and the exhilaration of hope. "You're talking to a friend and as a friend, I'm asking you to let me resolve this matter with my husband without any pressure or interference."
Kati shook her head, her eyes going soft and sad. "You're resolving this matter without your husband, Carol. You're deciding for both him and your child all on your own. So once more, please, tell him. He deserves to know."
"He'll come after me, because where the people he loves are concerned, nothing is off limits, and then the agreement you... we have with the Federation will be gone. I have to protect you!"
"The weight of the world isn't on your shoulders," Kati groused, a pinched, unhappy expression settling on her face.
"Yes, it is! It literally is. You said I hold a position of authority among you. If that's true, I can't accept it as one of power, but of responsibility. I have a duty to help the colony to the best of my abilities and I have to hold Khan back from crossing certain lines in the name of those he holds dear. This is the sort of difference that I can make, because what we're building on Menkar will also be my daughter's home and the legacy that Khan and I are leaving her matters. Now do you understand why I must do this?"
Kati was gawking at her as though she had never properly seen her before. She took a wary step towards Carol. "No... not yet, anyway! But what you should understand is that you don't have to shoulder this alone. I'm here for you... with you."
They hugged again and Carol allowed herself to be soothed and comforted. She had never had any blood siblings, but she thought she was beginning to comprehend what sisterly love felt like and the unique family bond Khan shared with his former crew.
"He's going to be very cross with me, isn't he?" Carol asked, once they had calmed down and sat down together at the table.
Kati scoffed. "With his beloved pregnant wife, you mean? To be honest, I'd be very surprised if he didn't get over it in under a minute."
Carol snorted, unsure whether she was more worried about Kati's being wrong or about how easy Khan found it to forgive her just about anything. She was even less certain if she wished that Khan loved her more wisely or if she was secretly pleased that he didn't.
# # #
Kati walked into her own quarters on the Enterprise with a sunken mood and overcome by a feeling of dread. Being back on this ship unsettled her and Carol's news, while joyful, only increased her sense of foreboding. She hesitated for a long while, pacing up and down like caged lion, which in a way she supposed she was. Augments had not been made to be confined and though technically she was a guest aboard the Federation vessel, she knew she raised everyone's hackles and blood-pressure simply by being aboard. She ordered herself a green tea from the replicator and almost spat the liquid tasting like heated polymer back into the cup. She doodled some more and then came to a decision and flipped open her communicator. The device took its sweet time connecting her to the destination of her call.
"Hello," answered a familiar voice after a few endless minutes of waiting, coming through deeper than usual.
Only then it occurred to her that she might have risen him from sleep. She smiled wryly. "Hi... it's Kati. I'm sorry if this is a bad time."
"No, not at all. Did you leave Nausicaa alright?"
Kati sank on the edge of her bed. "Yes, we did."
"That doesn't sound like it."
Kati thought carefully about what she should say next. "It's not the journey. It's just... I have a problem with a newer friend that I can't tell you about and another problem with my oldest friend that I can't tell him about."
"Sounds like quite a dilemma. If you want my unsolicited advice, always stay out of other people's marriages. Let them work it out for themselves!"
Kati leaned back on the bed. She felt so tired, though the sensation was not in any shape physical. "Words to live by! May I open the thorny topic of individual responsibility next?"
TBC