Chapter Text
Seventeen hours, fifty seven minutes, and forty three seconds had passed since he had first spoken to Kirk, and the Admiral had been true to his word, with communications ever six hours. However, Khan was growing impatient. He had no trouble to delay food or sleep to pursue his prey, but all the waiting left him itching for action. It had been too long since he had felt the feeling of power that one can only feel from taking a life, and he was hungry for it.
The viewscreen came on, once again Kirk was right on time. His commitment to protecting these people’s lives was commendable to say the least.
“Admiral. So, we speak again, and as you can see Captain Tanaka is still unharmed…at least not by my hand, he was badly injured in the crash.”
“And once again I have no changes to report, and our updated coordinates and ETA are being sent as we speak.” Kirk was tired and beleaguered, dreading the thought of how many more times they’d have to go through this song and dance before he arrived at Ceti Alpha V, and how worn down he might end up feeling before he even faced the real challenges. “Khan. What is it exactly that you hope to accomplish? You’ve been cagey every time we spoke.”
“I would hate to spoil the surprise. Everything will be made clear when we speak face to face in…” Khan looked down at the console. “Three days? I thought you cared about these civilians, yet you’re taking your time to come to their rescue.”
“Ceti Alpha V is still a long way from us.” Kirk’s voice was strained, as if he was fighting not to lose his composure.
“Be that as it may, the Enterprise is capable of covering that distance in only one day. I’ve done the calculations, which your ship’s computer can confirm.”
“At maximum speed, theoretically, maybe.” Kirk was beginning to sound uneasy. “That kind of speed isn’t sustainable for a long haul.”
“You have one day, Admiral Kirk.”
Aside from a handful, most of the hostages had been taken to the colony, and the wreckage of the Toyotomi was quiet and calm. Maya remained behind, tearing open consoles and reading service manuals at a frantic pace to try to learn as much about the ship as she could. She had to admire the design of the ship. While the hull was scrap metal and the engines were shot, many of the systems survived the crash.
She worked until she couldn’t stay awake anymore and dozed off on the floor, making the mistake of falling asleep on top of her bad left arm. As she woke up, she tried to shake out the numbness as she got back on her feet, but the whole limb felt like it was barely attached to her body.
There was still work to get done, Maya went over to the console, and on the display she saw something that gave her a burst of excitement that chased away any remaining sense of drowsiness from her unplanned nap. They had visitors.
Maya tapped a few buttons on the console to get in contact with the ship…audio only no need to show off the mess she had made in the laboratory.
“Toyotomi to Portland, thus is Maya Noonien Singh. Welcome to Ceti Alpha V.”
“This is Captain Albrecht speaking. I suppose this means your sensors are online.”
“Captain, you almost sound like you weren’t expecting that, but it doesn’t matter. You’re here, I’m here, and I’m ready to discuss how I may be of assistance…as soon as I am safely aboard your ship.”
“I’m sorry, Maya, but I’ve had to reconsider some of the details of your offer. I’m happy to accept any help you have to offer, and I will help you get somewhere safe when everything is resolved, but for security reasons we’ll need to do all communication remotely.”
Dammit. Apparently Maya had been mistaken to think that Albrecht had more compassion that brain cells.
“That’s too risky for me, Captain.” She paused to reconsider her strategy. “I hope you understand what you have done to me. If it’s discovered that we had this conversation…”
“If you’ve already put yourself in such great danger, why not find some way to help? You said you were miserable living among the augments, this could be a chance for you to have revenge, to prove that you’re a better person.”
“Captain, if I am not aboard that ship then we have no deal. End transmission.”