To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh (6 page)

“So be it,” he said triumphantly, reclaiming the phaser from Marla.
Perhaps it is just as well,
he mused; his people’s numbers were not so great that he could afford to sacrifice an able-bodied man so readily.
Our colony will need a diverse genetic pool to prosper, and every man and woman here possesses a unique combination of superior chromosomes that must be preserved for the benefit of generations to come
.

Choosing to be magnanimous in victory, Khan stretched out his arms to symbolically encompass the fertile valley surrounding them, even as his memory harkened back to his vanished capital in northern India. “Welcome, my people, to New Chandigarh, birthplace of the glorious Khanate of Ceti Alpha V!”

Cheers rose from a majority of the gathered castaways, some, to be sure, more heartfelt and sincere than others. Ericsson and his treacherous coterie, foiled in their initial attempt at a coup d’état, dispersed back into the relative anonymity of the crowd, but Khan knew that he had almost certainly not heard the last of the bearded Norseman.
I shall have to keep a close watch on that one
.

For now, however, securing the basic essentials of survival took precedence. “Ling,” he instructed the Asian super-woman, who had served on his personal security force back on Earth. “Take a dozen volunteers and begin collecting firewood. Patil, take a team down to the river to gather water. Remember, we shall have to boil the water before drinking it. MacPherson, let us discuss the matter of shelter….”

There was much to do before nightfall.

Sunset found a rudimentary campsite in place just beyond the banks of the river, which Khan had already christened the River Kaur, after his martyred mother, the architect of the Chrysalis Project. At Khan’s direction, a swatch of open ground had been hacked out from the chest-deep grass, creating a floor of reddish brown dirt about fifty meters in diameter. A wall of thornbush, uprooted by hand, surrounded the camp in hopes of deterring whatever hostile life-forms might prowl the veldt at night, while armed guards had been posted to watch out for any nocturnal predators. A dozen smoky campfires blazed within the enclosure, providing light and heat as well as an added degree of protection. Stars glittered like dilithium in the deep purple sky.

“I feel as though I have traveled backward in time,” Marla dictated into her tricorder, completing her description of the settlement, “perhaps to the founding of the original Botany Bay colony in eighteenth-century Australia….”

That settlement, she recalled, had been populated by
convicts deported from England, the women all convicted thieves and prostitutes.
As a disgraced Starfleet officer, I would have fit right in
.

Guilt, fear, and an undeniable excitement warred within her soul. Although she would always regret betraying Captain Kirk and the others, she found herself thrilled by the prospect of building a new life with Khan. All her life she had felt out of place in her own time, dreaming of the great deeds—and great men—of the past. Now at last she would be
making
history, alongside one of the most dynamic and charismatic figures in human history: Khan Noonien Singh.

She was not naive. As a historian, she knew just how difficult and dangerous their new life would be. The first generation of colonists at Botany Bay had lived on the knife edge of starvation for nearly five years, while they struggled to eke a living from the foreign soil, and many of the original settlers had not survived at all, succumbing to disease, hunger, and even cannibalism.

But they did not have a Khan to lead them!
Marla reminded herself fiercely. She had faith in him. Together they would prevail over everything Ceti Alpha V had to offer.
It will all be worth it, as long as we have each other
.

She peered at the lighted display panel of her tricorder as she strolled across the camp. She had promised Khan a complete inventory of their supplies and wanted to make sure that she had not forgotten anything.

The night was hot and dry, and swarms of flying insects buzzed about her annoyingly. In theory, according to the
Enterprise
’s environmental projections, they had arrived at this location during the height of the hot season, a few months before the monsoon. Marla glanced upward at the
stars.
Let’s hope we have a roof overhead before the rain starts,
she thought.

Among the unfamiliar constellations, one particular heavenly body stood out from the rest, a large orangish orb that resembled a small moon.
That must be Ceti Alpha VI,
she guessed; the lifeless world was Ceti Alpha V’s nearest planetary neighbor. She recalled, from a briefing aboard the
Enterprise
, that the two planets were currently in synchronous orbits, which meant she could expect to see Ceti Alpha VI in the sky quite frequently over the next several months. Marla wondered if she and Khan’s descendants would someday set foot on the planet above, when their newborn nation gained the resources to venture out into space. Given the colony’s primitive beginnings, that could be many generations away….

Scanning the campsite for Khan, she spotted him several meters away, conferring with Liam MacPherson. According to Khan, the lanky, redheaded Scotsman had been one of Khan’s chief scientific advisors back during the Eugenics Wars, and Khan obviously valued MacPherson’s opinion regarding the future of New Chandigarh. Marla paused in her tracks, reluctant to interrupt Khan while he was busy.

She was disappointed to see Joaquin standing guard only a few paces away from Khan, his arms crossed atop his massive chest. The thuggish bodyguard had not left Khan’s side for a minute, and Marla was already finding his constant presence oppressive, especially when she remembered the brutal way Joaquin had struck Lieutenant Uhura back on the
Enterprise
. Thank goodness Khan had prevented Joaquin from hitting Uhura again. The man was obviously a brute.

As if he had heard her thoughts, Joaquin turned his head
toward Marla. His perpetual scowl deepened as he spotted her standing by. He stared at her with undisguised animosity.
Guess the feeling is mutual,
she realized. Despite the stifling heat, a chill ran down her spine.

The bodyguard’s baleful glare made her uncomfortable, so she turned away and headed toward the nearest campfire. She wasn’t actually cold, but perhaps the smoke would discourage the cloud of gnat- and mosquito-like creatures enveloping her. She swatted uselessly at the airborne pests, while double-checking her computerized inventory lists one more time.
Let’s see, the
Enterprise
left us about one dozen high-intensity plasma lights. Those should last at least twenty-five years or so. And we’ve got approximately 250 kilograms of silicon-based thermoconcrete. I wonder how many shelters you could build with that?

Intent upon her tricorder, she accidentally bumped into another woman from behind. The woman, an Amazonian female with dark skin and braided black hair, spun around angrily. “Watch where you’re going, you Starfleet slut!”

The sheer venom in the woman’s voice caught Marla by surprise. “I’m sorry,” she offered hastily. “I apologize.”

“For what?” the woman demanded. “For your clumsiness, or for double-crossing us back on the
Enterprise
?” In the heat of the night, the irate woman had discarded her standard-issue jumpsuit in favor of the lightweight, golden-mesh garment she had worn while sleeping in suspended animation aboard the
Botany Bay
; the sparkling metallic fibers clung to the sculpted contours of a powerfully muscled body. “Don’t think anyone has forgotten who released Kirk from the decompression chamber!”

Marla backed away, acutely aware that the other woman was a head taller than her and at least five times stronger.
“I’m sorry!” she pleaded, not really expecting the woman to understand. “I had no choice. The captain was going to die!”

“So?” the Amazon said with a sneer. “He was just an insignificant human—like you.” She advanced on Marla, while harsh laughter and encouragement spilled from the bystanders around the campfire.

“You tell her, Zuleika!”

“Teach Miss Twenty-third Century a lesson!”

“Smash her skull in!”

Does the entire camp want me dead?
Marla wondered in dismay. It certainly seemed so.

The woman (Zuleika?) shoved her with superhuman strength, and Marla’s boots lost contact with the ground. She flew backward as though strapped to a malfunctioning jetpack, then crashed to the earth several meters away. Her back and shoulders hit the ground with a jolt, and she skidded backward for several endless moments before finally coming to a halt. Dazed, she lifted her head in time to see Zuleika snatch a burning brand from the fire and stalk toward Marla with murder in her eyes.

“You’re not one of us!” the woman spat, towering over the fallen lieutenant. She lifted the torch high above her head, while Marla struggled to remember her Starfleet self-defense training, which she hadn’t had cause to think of since her Academy days. “You don’t belong here!”

This isn’t fair!
Marla thought, raising a hand in a hopeless attempt to block the coming blow.
I’m a historian, not a fighter!

The torch came swinging down, trailing sparks like a meteor. Marla flinched in anticipation of the fiery impact. She could already feel the scorching heat of the flames as they dived toward her face.

“What is this?!” a commanding voice exclaimed. A powerful hand grabbed Zuleika by the wrist, halting the downward trajectory of the torch. An imposing shadow fell between Marla and her foe. “Stop this at once!”

The blazing firebrand retreated from Marla’s face, and she looked up past the flames to see Khan standing head-to-head with Zuleika, his fist wrapped around the Amazon’s wrist. “Explain yourself!” he demanded. He squeezed her arm hard enough to make Zuleika yelp in pain.

The woman’s arrogance evaporated in the face of Khan’s fury. “Lord Khan!” she blurted, an anxious expression upon her flawless, genetically crafted features. “This woman betrayed you!”

“That is between her and I,” he said sternly, releasing her arm. Zuleika stepped backward, the torch dropping to her side. Her panicked gaze darted from right to left, searching for support from her comrades, but none came forward to defend her, not even those who had been enthusiastically cheering her on mere moments before.

Turning away from Zuleika in disdain, Khan reached down and gently took hold of Marla’s hand. His touch sent spasms of relief through Marla, bolstering her spirits, and she marveled once again at his uncanny strength as he effortlessly lifted her back onto her feet. He placed a possessive hand upon her shoulder.

“Are you well?” he asked her urgently. “Shall I summon the doctor?” Marla recalled that Khan’s followers included at least one superhuman physician. Hawkings or Hawkins or something like that.

She shook her head. She was more rattled than injured. “That won’t be necessary,” she whispered.
With my luck, the doctor would try to finish me off!

Satisfied, Khan turned his attention back to Zuleika and the others.

“Understand this, all of you,” he said, raising his voice so that entire camp could hear. “This woman is under my protection. Anyone who threatens her shall answer to me.” His formidable gaze swept over the varied faces of the onlooking superhumans. “Have I made myself quite clear?”

A chorus of muttered assents answered Khan’s query, but Marla could not help noticing the grudging, halfhearted nature of the responses. She was still persona non grata as far as her fellow castaways were concerned, no matter what Khan dictated.
Congratulations, Marla,
she told herself ruefully.
You’re an outcast even among exiles
.

She blinked back tears, overcome by both her brush with death
and
her timely rescue. Her legs felt like rubber and she sagged against Khan, drawing on his strength and presence.

He’s all I have left,
she realized.
Without Khan, I would be completely alone
.

Somewhere out on the veldt, beyond the flickering glow of the campfires, an alien beast roared like thunder, sending another shudder through Marla’s quaking frame.

Dinner consisted of Starfleet field rations in self-warming packets. Although Khan intended for the colony to be self-sufficient as soon as possible, saving their provisions from the
Enterprise
and the
Botany Bay
for emergency use only, he had made an exception for this first night on Ceti Alpha V. Tomorrow, they could begin hunting for food and game.

Marla sat alone by a smoldering fire at the outer fringe of the camp, transferring her personal log entries onto a data disk; it was her hope that her daily recordings would
someday provide valuable insights into the early days of New Chandigarh. She watched from afar while Khan mingled with his people, making a point of dropping by each of the campfires for a few minutes or so, to share a laugh and some words of encouragement. Marla understood why he was doing this; it was important to maintain the group’s morale. Still, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat lost and abandoned, like an Academy plebe attending her first collegiate mixer. The obvious mirth and camaraderie emanating from the other fires only heightened her sense of isolation.

Outside the camp, the night-shrouded savanna seemed alive with mysterious rustlings and cries. Unknown animals barked and howled in the darkness, making Marla wish she knew more about xenobiology. The irksome insects, undeterred by the smoke, were growing more aggressive by the hour, buzzing about her face and nipping at every centimeter of her exposed flesh. The voracious pests made the vampire ants of Borgo III seem like vegetarians.

Marla caught herself yearning for the controlled climate of the
Enterprise
. “Stop that,” she whispered to herself. “It’s too late for second thoughts.” She had made her own bed; now she would have to sleep in it.

She washed down the last of her stewed tomatoes and dehydrated eggs with a gulp from her canteen. The decontaminated river water was lukewarm and tasteless, but she finished off the whole canteen in seconds, then found herself wishing for more. Alas, strolling down to the Kaur for a refill was not an option; Ling and her party had already reported sightings of large carnivorous reptiles dwelling along the banks of the river.