planet. Deep down inside, did he distrust her as much as his people did?
Please, no,
she prayed desperately.
I couldn’t bear it if he hates me, too
.
“I was angry at first,” Khan confessed. He spoke slowly, as though considering every word. “But I had time to think in that lonely cell aboard the
Enterprise
, and I soon realized that I had placed you in an impossible situation; I should not have forced you to choose between your loyalty to me and your duty to your captain.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It was a miscalculation on my part. I take full responsibility.”
Thank the gods!
Marla thought, feeling a dreadful weight lift from her. Her heart pounded in her chest and she found she could breathe once more. “I was afraid you’d never forgive me,” she admitted, her voice hoarse with emotion.
Khan smiled and took her hand. “What’s done is done,” he told her. “You proved yourself to me when you chose willingly to accompany me into the wilderness.” He looked forward into the future, putting the past behind them. “We need not speak of this again.”
A piece of burning tinder snapped apart in the fire, thesharp report sounding like an old-fashioned gunshot. Outside the camp, a nameless animal howled for its mate. Khan rose from the fire. Nearby a pair of navy-blue Starfleet blankets were stretched out upon the ground, atop a layer of strewn, freshly cut grass. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed Marla had ever seen, but at least the grassy mattress provided a degree of padding.
“Come,” Khan said, helping Marla to her feet. “The night grows late, and we have many long days ahead of us.” He guided her toward the waiting blankets. “Let us retire for the evening.”
Marla thought she was going to die of happiness.
Later, after they’d made love as much as their limited privacy allowed, they lay in each other’s arms besides the fire. Marla rested her head upon Khan’s shoulder, while draping an arm across his bare chest. Ceti Alpha VI shone down upon them.
Not quite as romantic as a genuine moon,
Marla thought,
but close enough for me
.
“Tell me about yourself,” Khan urged her. He stroked her unbound red hair. “You know everything there is to know of my illustrious history, yet I know so little about your past.”
“There’s not much to tell,” she said. “I’ve led a pretty boring life, up until recently.”
Khan gave her a skeptical look. “No false modesty,” he chided her. “You are a Starfleet officer, a space explorer. Do not expect me to believe that you have not known remarkable experiences.”
“But it’s true,” she insisted, “more or less.” She snuggled closer to Khan, encouraged by his interest, despite her protestations. “My parents were killed in a transporteraccident when I was very young, so I was raised by an older aunt and her husband. They were decent people, but somewhat aloof and set in their ways. I always felt like an intrusion into their well-ordered lives, which revolved around advanced subspace theory.” She smiled ruefully. “Not exactly the most exciting environment for a young and energetic child!”
Khan nodded. “I can sympathize. I was reared by distant relations myself, after my mother perished in the Great Thar Desert. A civil engineer and his wife. Admirable individuals in many ways, but hardly my intellectual equals. I spent much time reading, in search of stimulation.”
“So did I!” Marla enthused. She was pleased to discover they had this much in common, even coming from two entirely different eras. “History, mostly. The past always seemed more colorful and interesting than modern-day Earth.”
“I, too, was drawn to accounts of the heroic past,” Khan revealed. “Alexander the Great, Ashoka, Napoleon—these were my inspirations as a youth.”
I can believe it,
Marla thought. Who else would Khan Noonien Singh seek to emulate than the legendary conquerors of the past? She readily placed him among their
Please, no,
she prayed desperately.
I couldn’t bear it if he hates me, too
.
“I was angry at first,” Khan confessed. He spoke slowly, as though considering every word. “But I had time to think in that lonely cell aboard the
Enterprise
, and I soon realized that I had placed you in an impossible situation; I should not have forced you to choose between your loyalty to me and your duty to your captain.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It was a miscalculation on my part. I take full responsibility.”
Thank the gods!
Marla thought, feeling a dreadful weight lift from her. Her heart pounded in her chest and she found she could breathe once more. “I was afraid you’d never forgive me,” she admitted, her voice hoarse with emotion.
Khan smiled and took her hand. “What’s done is done,” he told her. “You proved yourself to me when you chose willingly to accompany me into the wilderness.” He looked forward into the future, putting the past behind them. “We need not speak of this again.”
A piece of burning tinder snapped apart in the fire, thesharp report sounding like an old-fashioned gunshot. Outside the camp, a nameless animal howled for its mate. Khan rose from the fire. Nearby a pair of navy-blue Starfleet blankets were stretched out upon the ground, atop a layer of strewn, freshly cut grass. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed Marla had ever seen, but at least the grassy mattress provided a degree of padding.
“Come,” Khan said, helping Marla to her feet. “The night grows late, and we have many long days ahead of us.” He guided her toward the waiting blankets. “Let us retire for the evening.”
Marla thought she was going to die of happiness.
Later, after they’d made love as much as their limited privacy allowed, they lay in each other’s arms besides the fire. Marla rested her head upon Khan’s shoulder, while draping an arm across his bare chest. Ceti Alpha VI shone down upon them.
Not quite as romantic as a genuine moon,
Marla thought,
but close enough for me
.
“Tell me about yourself,” Khan urged her. He stroked her unbound red hair. “You know everything there is to know of my illustrious history, yet I know so little about your past.”
“There’s not much to tell,” she said. “I’ve led a pretty boring life, up until recently.”
Khan gave her a skeptical look. “No false modesty,” he chided her. “You are a Starfleet officer, a space explorer. Do not expect me to believe that you have not known remarkable experiences.”
“But it’s true,” she insisted, “more or less.” She snuggled closer to Khan, encouraged by his interest, despite her protestations. “My parents were killed in a transporteraccident when I was very young, so I was raised by an older aunt and her husband. They were decent people, but somewhat aloof and set in their ways. I always felt like an intrusion into their well-ordered lives, which revolved around advanced subspace theory.” She smiled ruefully. “Not exactly the most exciting environment for a young and energetic child!”
Khan nodded. “I can sympathize. I was reared by distant relations myself, after my mother perished in the Great Thar Desert. A civil engineer and his wife. Admirable individuals in many ways, but hardly my intellectual equals. I spent much time reading, in search of stimulation.”
“So did I!” Marla enthused. She was pleased to discover they had this much in common, even coming from two entirely different eras. “History, mostly. The past always seemed more colorful and interesting than modern-day Earth.”
“I, too, was drawn to accounts of the heroic past,” Khan revealed. “Alexander the Great, Ashoka, Napoleon—these were my inspirations as a youth.”
I can believe it,
Marla thought. Who else would Khan Noonien Singh seek to emulate than the legendary conquerors of the past? She readily placed him among their
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