The Unsavory Tragedy of Kiley Martin

Kiley walked into the cell to see him sitting on the side of the bed facing her. She raised an eyebrow as she approached him and set aside her brief case. "Finally come out of your corner of doom and gloom?" she inquired as she took her seat.

"Doom and gloom," he pondered over her words, letting them slide off the tongue. "An elegant choice of words, pray tell why you use them?"

"This is our fourth appointment," she began crossing her legs and clasping her fingers together on her knee. "Before today when I entered you would be either sitting or standing facing the back wall. Your body was tense with your anger and your head was inclined just slightly. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed-"

"But you did," he cocked his head to the side.

She smiled, "I did."

His eyes locked with hers, "Interesting."

"I nicknamed it the corner of doom and gloom because you were so clearly sulking and thinking of ways to try to save crew; obviously coming up empty-handed." She continued, holding his stare. "But today you were not in your usual place. Why?"

He answered her with a stone face, "Despite my genetic differences, Kiley, I am still human and humans require companionship. My people are frozen, you will have to suffice."

"Are you saying you trust me, Khan?" she asked raising one smooth eyebrow. His eyes traced the movement.

"Of course not," he allowed a small smirk to cross his features. "The caged tiger does not trust his captures."

"You're a smart man, Khan," she said sitting up straight. "You know that while in his cage the tiger is helpless. His captures are the ones who give him food and water, the tiger relies completely on his enemy. In order to stay alive he must trust the ones who caged him."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Is that a threat?"

She laughed once, "Simply using your analogy to describe Stockholm syndrome. Survival instincts are a powerful thing."

"I've told you I am above human weakness," he said simply.

"Then you have nothing to fear," she smiled cocking her head to the side.

He smiled, leaning forward to catch those green eyes of hers, "You… are not human."

"Of course I am," she said, once again holding his cold gaze. "I'm just smart."

He turned his head, "No, there is definitely more to you than that."

"A dull inquiry for another time perhaps," she shrugged reaching for her brief case. "I wanted to ask you about your life before the sleep."

"I told you everything of value," he said sitting back up straight.

"I wanted to ask a few more questions about your immediate family." She said taking out her pen and paper. "You said you had no wife but I looked up the history files on you, had to dig pretty deep too. It seems that your kind were not something they wanted people to know about."

He said nothing and she continued.

"What I found said that had a wife," she said tapping her pen on the pad in her lap. "What happened to her?"

"I told you that your people started to exterminate us," he said looking away from her, his eyes locked on the cold metal door ahead of him.

"She died then?"

"She died."

"I'm sorry."

"It was your ancestors who did it," he said, his body going very still. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"I feel it necessary," she said cocking her head to the side. "You loved her very much… didn't you?"

"She was adequate," he said turning his eyes back to her and sending a shiver down her spine. It wasn't from fear, but exhilaration. Every fiber of her being should have been on edge under his cold and invasive gaze, but instead she was elated. "Her genetics, when combined with mine, would have continued the evolution of our kind."

"You are a human weapon," she frowned slightly, "what were you trying to produce?"

"The perfect being," he said simply. "Flaws are to be eradicated from our genetics."

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow, "Some would say that's impossible."

"Some would say I was too."

"You are an interesting man, Khan."

"You are an interesting woman, Kiley."

She laughed, "Hardly. I am an open and fitfully boring book."

"I should think not," he reasoned, "for I find you fascinating."

She scoffed, "We're supposed to be talking about you."

His lip twitched, "This is more fun."

"I have a job to do Khan."

"Oh please, don't stop on my behalf."

She gave him a curious look, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were teasing me."

He raised an eyebrow, "Teasing you?"

"Flirting."

"I am familiar with the term."

"Do you deny it?"

"Adamantly," he said, not looking away from those green eyes. "You're genetics are whittled with flaws."

A fire lite in those eyes as a small smile crossed her lips, "Of course they are, Khan. Because that's what it means to be human."