Authors note:
I watched Star Trek : Into Darkness the other day. And found myself in the weird position of actually rooting for Khan, the bad guy. Granted, Benedict Cumberbatch does one hell of a job portraying him. But the story behind, it just hit me. I'm by no means a Star Trek fan (trekkie?), in fact I'd never seen anything from the universe before Into Darkness. Therefore I don't know the ethics behind the whole 'genetically engineered humans' dilemma. Am I the only on to find the actions of the creators behind these superhumans extremely immoral? Not to mention the way they deal with the problems that arise when the Augments rebel?
This is my take on those thoughts. Please, remember I don't know much about Star Trek and so errors/mistakes/misunderstanding may occur.
This story takes places in the alternative universe.
~ Cryo ~
"They aren't dead."
Spock's face didn't show any emotions as he watched Khan in his cell.
It had been almost a month since they'd managed to defeat the superhuman, the augment. Four weeks, where Khan had been kept sedated while his broken shoulder healed. And of course, so they could take his blood. A lot of it. Not only to heal Kirk, but also to heal the thousands of wounded due to the The Vengeance's crash landing in San Francisco. Thousands had died. But ironically enough, with Khan's blood they'd been able to safe far more many people than if the augment had been killed.
But still, Khan was a fault. He piloted the The Vengeance into the heart of San Francisco. He'd attempted to destroy the Star Fleet headquarters. He was the one to blame. Would some say. In fact, most would say.
Spock didn't answer the statement from the prisoner in front of him. Instead, he turned and walked away from the prison cell. The yells from Khan followed him the entire way out.
"They aren't dead! You lied to me! YOU LIED!"
After all, vulcans never lie.
A few days later
Kirk didn't really know what to make of the entire situation. He'd been discharged from the hospital the week before. Today, it was time for the trial. The trial against Khan. And he, along with several others from his crew, had been called to witness against the man who'd almost destroyed the entire Star Fleet. The man who killed admiral Pike. Who almost killed himself.
As he were to understand, Khan wouldn't be present for the trial itself. It had been deemed to risky to place the man, who'd killed so many, in a open courtroom. It had been hard, almost impossible to find somebody who weren't linked to the catastrophes in some way or nother and therefore impossible to eliminate the possibility of somebody attempting to kill Khan themselves.
While the public opinion were quiet clear on that matter, the powers behind the justice system were quiet clear: under no circumstances would a member of the public be allowed to pass judgement.
Because – and everybody he turned to seemed to agree – Khan would face a death penalty anyway. As the first in centuries.
Kirk had voiced this to Spock a few days earlier. Spock hadn't replied which had sort of surprised Kirk. He'd assumed that the vulcan would give him some sort of speech on which laws Khan had sat into motion by killing nearly half a million people.
But, Spock hadn't answered. Instead he'd walked away, lost in thought it seemed.
After the first shock of Spock not lecturing him on intergalactic law had disappeared Kirk had started to wonder about what the reasons behind Spock's silence could be. He hadn't had a chance to talk to the man since, but as they were both due in court he reasoned that he'd most likely hear the vulcans thoughts on the matter there.
And he had a feeling Spock's words would impact with his own.
The High Court
As predicted, Khan wouldn't be present for the trial himself. However, the attendants were informed that when judgement would be served, the terrorist would be present and would be allowed to speak.
One by one, each member of the Enterprise crew gave their statement. It was rather unfortunate that each member on The Vengeance prior to Khans control of the ship had died. Meaning they had no way of proving admiral Marcus involvement. Directly anyway. Because the High Court believed Kirk when he told them about Marcus' plan. Of course, this plan was confirmed by Carol Marcus.
"Tell me, dr Marcus, did your father wake Khan with the purpose of forcing him to create weapons to use against the klingons in a war which he attempted to start by tricking another Star Fleet ship into firing missiles against Kronos?" The disbelief were to expect. It did sound ridiculous that the leader of Star Fleet would attempt such a thing.
"It is true your Honour. My father was sure that war would come and now, because of his actions, it may. General Marcus used the death of admiral Pike to lure Captain Kirk and his crew to Kronos, and to fire 72 missiles at an abandoned klingon city in order to kill Khan." Carol turned to look at Kirk for a second before continuing.
"My father knew that captain Kirk had a reputation of being hotheaded, a hit-first-ask-later kind of man. He counted on Kirk to seek revenge on John Harrison, otherwise known as Khan. As I am to understand, commander Spock talked reason into captain Kirk, causing him to disobey orders and attempt to capture Khan instead, so he could face trial and punishment."
The High Judge leaned back, a frown on his face. "Captain Kirk, please stand."
Kirk raised himself, taking a step forward. "Yes your Honour?"
"Is it true you were ordered to fire 72 missiles at Kronos?"
"Yes your Honour."
"And that you disobeyed that order and instead attempted to capture Khan?"
"Yes."
The high judge leaned forward. "Please, captain Kirk. I've heard a lot about you. Tell me, why did you change your mind?"
Kirk took a minute before answering. When he did his voice was clear and strong.
"Commander Spock reminded me that no matter how personal it was, under no circumstances were I in any position to take a life. It's not what Star Fleet do."
"You were ordered to do it."
"Pardon me, your Honour, but sometimes we have to stop up and think. Everything admiral Marcus did he did to protect the earth and it's inhabitants. In some ways he were like Khan. He were prepared to do evil to defeat a greater evil."
"You stopped to think?"
Kirk smiled slightly. "I know that's not I'm most known for. But this time, I did."
"Then, captain, tell me what you thought of when Khan surrendered without a fight. Tell me what you thought of when you allowed him aboard The Vengeance."
Kirk hesitated. "At that point, your Honour, I had doubt. I knew Khan had killed many people, that he was a terrorist. But he managed to make me focus my doubt on general Marcus instead. Dr. Carol Marcus aided that doubt by telling me of her fathers plans. Unknowingly of course, she had no way of knowing what Khan had said to me."
"And what did Khan tell you?"
"Are you okay sir?" Kirk looked up to find Spock standing in front of him. The court had, after Kirk's statement, called half an hour break while everybody thought about this new information about Khan's origin and agenda.
"I'm fine Spock." Kirk answered. When the vulcan didn't answer he sighed.
"Okay, I'm not fine. I feel like a traitor for trusting Khan."
"You had to, at the time. It was the only logical solution. You wanted to safe your crew and ship and he offered you a solution. Until that point he'd given no indications that he would betray us."
"But we should've known."
"With all due respect sir, you told me that you didn't know what to do – only what you could do. And by doing so, you saved your crew."
Kirk nodded, standing up. "We better get back. You're up next my friend."
"Mr. Spock." Spock stepped forward as the High Judge addressed him.
"I am to understand that you visited the accused at his prison cell a few days ago, correct?"
"Yes your honour." Spock answered. He could hear the murmurs from the others in the courtroom.
"May I ask why mr. Spock? As I recall, all participants of this court trial were asked to refrain from visiting the accused."
"I needed to see something your honour."
"What did you need to see?"
"I needed to see his reaction when he realized that his crew and family weren't dead. I knew that he would realize this as soon as he saw me."
The high judge regarded Spock for a moment. "Indeed mr Spock. The reaction from him were so violent that we had to sedate him again. He almost smashed the glass of his prison cell."
This bit of information caused a great deal of uneasy murmurs through out the courtroom.
Spock looked down. "I apologize for any inconvenience I may have cause you. I only did what did in order to make my testimony as truthful as possible."
The judge nodded. "You are excused. But now, mr Spock, do tell me – while Kirk made the mistake of trusting Khan, no matter how understandable his reasons were – you never did trust him."
"No. I saw a man sworn to killing until every last person whom he deemed unworthy had been killed. I had trouble understanding my captains reasons for trusting a foe this bent on evil, but I couldn't come up with a plan myself. Ultimately Khan proved that he couldn't be trusted when he attempted to destroy the Enterprise after our trade."
"You made him believe that he'd obtained his crew, but instead you'd tricked him by using the very weapons he designed to destroy The Vengeance. Can you tell me why you didn't leave the cryo tubes in the missiles?"
Spock ranked himself, staring at the judge. "I did not deem myself fit to decide what should happen with the people of the cryo tubes. Of course, they would never had known had happened since they've been asleep for so long. Indeed, if I'd let them stay in the missiles and die in the explotion I would thereby had eliminated any future possibilities for a similar event. But, just as captain Kirk didn't kill Khan – I didn't do it because that is not what Star Fleet is. We are bound to explore and learn, never to interfere and change the course of the future. And also, I'm not entirely sure that Khan is the true perpetrator."
The silence that followed was louder than anything Spock had ever encountered. It did only last for a few seconds before screams of anger erupted from the audience. Spock waited patiently, he turned his head to see Kirk stare at him, mouth open in shock.
The High Judge slammed the hammer down again and again, demanding order. A few minutes later order and silence had reentered the court, and the judges turned their attention to Spock.
"Will you explain your words? As you heard, they provoked a great deal of emotions – from people who all have lost during Khan's attack. What makes you say that he isn't the true perpetrator."
Spock remained silent for a second or two, weighing his words.
"Your Honour, may I address the audience?" as the judge nodded, Spock turned to watched the sea of angry, sad and shocked faces in front of him.
"Khan is evil. Of that there is no doubt. He will have to remain in custody to answer for his actions. But we must also remember that all he is, he is because of the stupidity of others. He's been in cryo for over 300 years. Everything he, and his people knew, are long gone. When Khan was awoken by admiral Marcus he was forced to use his superior intellect to design weapons. If he'd declined, Marcus would've killed his people. And, as my visit to the prison shows, Khan had very strong feelings towards his own.
He is a engineered human, given both intellect, power and abilities that far overshadows every person in this room. It's true I managed to subdue him, but that was only possible because of lieutenant Uhura's multiple stun-attacks. She hit Khan more than eight times with a stun pistol before we even managed to get a reaction out of him. That much would've killed any other.
Khan is, in every way, yours superior. He was bred, formed to be an agent of peace. The same goes for his crew. But we all know what happened 300 years ago, the reason we stopped trying to engineer perfect humans to do our biding – the Eugenics Wars. In their attempt to make peace in the world the Augments controlled through fear and violence. They were stopped and put to sleep.
I stand here today to question not Khan, but the entire problem behind him. Khan is an highly intelligent individual and shall therefore be held responsible for his actions. But to say that this is fault alone, that is wrong and incorrect. Our ancestors created him and his kind. And when they had no more use of them, they simple stored them away. It's no wonder admiral Marcus couldn't resist when he stumbled upon Khan. He'd found the one thing that could give us superiority in a war against the Klingons. Only admiral Marcus failed to control Khan, just like 300 years ago. History repeats itself. Not because of Khan, but because the human race haven't gotten any wiser." Spock turned to address the high council.
"We have a chance to do that now. We can repeat the mistake from 300 years ago, or we can work towards a solution. Executing Khan won't solve anything. We have 72 people just like him, in cryo tubes. Even if we were to executed Khan for his crimes, what about the others? They haven't committed no crime, and can therefore not be committed to death. But what if in 300 years the same thing happens again? And again? Killing Khan is no solution. We need to take responsibility for Khan and his people. Anything else is unethical."
A pregnant silence filled the room.
Khan was not executed that day. He was, once again, frozen in his cryo tube.
Kirk and Spock stood beside the cryo with the doctor in charge, watching the now sleeping Khan.
"I can't believe you convinced the judges to convict the sentence." Kirk said, shaking his head.
Spock looked at him. "He hadn't been sentenced yet sir."
"Oh, but he had. Everybody was sure that he was a dead man walking. You convinced them otherwise my friend. You saved him." Kirk said, placing a hand on Spocks shoulder.
Spock's face was neutral. "I said what I believed to be true."
"And I agree with you. We can't let our feelings rule our head. For all that Khan did, he did it to save his family. We, I would've done the same. And, this is a prison. He won't be out anytime soon. And who knows, maybe when we finally get out on our five year expedition, then we'll maybe find a cure for Khan and his people.. or maybe just a planet where they can live without causing trouble." said Kirk, turning away from the cryo.
The judges returned.
Khan was brought into the courtroom. He was handcuffed, with six guards surrounding him.
His face betrayed none of his thoughts.
"Khan Noonien Singh, you have been found guilty in all charges. Of murder, terrorism, conspiracy, attempted murder, massdestruction of Star Fleet headquarters and of the destruction in London and San Francisco. All of these charges have one punishment – death." Khan closed his eyes.
The courtroom was silent as Khan just stood there, eyes closed.
"However, the court has decided that shall not be your punishment."
Khan's eyes opened up, and a brief glance of wonder were to be found in his eyes before it disappeared in the dark.
"This court and the audience have all been reminded of the fact, that we have a part in the making of you and your kind. Although not directly, we have been passed on the responsibility from our ancestors, your creators. You are our responsibility. While we are aware that, given the chance, you wouldn't hesitate to try and kill all of us, we've decided to take a more human approach to this. We are not like you Khan, we do not kill our problems. We solve them. I hereby sentence you to your cryo-tube, where you shall remain until a human solution to you and your kind have been discovered. How long you shall remain is uncertain, but you have this courts promise that you and your people will be stored in a safe location until we are ready to face up to the responsibility for having created you. Do you understand?"
Scattered cries of disbelief had echoed from s few in the audience. Spock looked at Kirk, who nodded back at him, a small smile on his face.
"I understand." The dark voice of Khan was low, and he sounded oddly content.
"Thank you."
I have no idea of how this conflicts with the Star Trek universe. I did try some research, but since I'm more of a visitor to this fandom there is the possibility that I've missed something vital about Khan and his people.
But, from where I see it, Khan isn't the one to blame, in the big picture. Of course, killing all those people is bad. But the society is the parents of the Augments and therefore they are responsible for them and their actions in my eyes. Freezing and storing your problems away is not good, you have to face them.
Also, I have no idea how the court works in the Star Trek universe, so I sorta just made that up. Pardon if it's completely AU.