- 2 -
Emperor Khan the First, supreme ruler of the Terran Empire, regarded the people standing before him with amusement. The tall Vulcan, the beautiful dark-haired woman, the small child, and the twitching, defeated Federation officer who had made the mistake of resisting when Vulcan interrogators forcibly mind-melded with him and dredged his memories for military secrets. They made an eclectic group, but also a fine audience. His amusement was because he knew something they didn't, and because not all of them would survive their audience with him. They looked nervous, but then why wouldn't they? Khan was the person whose will guided the Empire, shaping the lives of his billions of subjects. His word was law. If he wanted them dead all it would take was a snap of his fingers. Fortunately for them, he didn't want them dead.
Well, not all of them.
They were in the throne room of the imperial palace, which was set in the hills above San Francisco and overlooked the Empire's huge spread of government and Starfleet HQ buildings. A long aisle lined with imperial guards led from the doors of the throne room up to the throne itself, and above the throne a holographic star map showed the vast regions of the alpha quadrant the Empire already controlled. It was updated in real time, a star turning Empire red even as they watched.
"So you're a copy of the Spock of the other universe?" said Khan, regarding Spock with amusement.
"So I have been informed."
"What?" said the Federation officer, staring at him in astonishment.
"Not knowing we'd soon have you as a prisoner, Admiral Cartwright, we used subterfuge to make a copy of the mind and soul of my brother's counterpart," said Sybok, "which we then tricked into telling us all he knew about the Federation's military capabilities."
"But, why's he a young female now?"
"Because I wanted a child," said Kara, putting a protective arm around the girl's shoulders, "and I was allowed to create an android body for her so that she'll always be my little girl. An android daughter for an android mother."
Cartwright raised his eyebrows at this, clearly not suspecting either was anything other than human until this revelation.
"Tell me, Miss Spock," said Khan, "now that you know you're not the real Spock, are you still loyal to the Federation?"
"I...do not know," Spock replied. "Logically, if I am not the original Spock then I am not bound by any oaths of loyalty he may have taken because I am not he. Yet I have all his memories, so in another sense he and I are one and the same."
"I see. Not surprisingly, I'm fascinated by the encounter between the crew of the Enterprise and my counterpart in your universe. Would it go against any oaths your progenitor has sworn to describe that encounter in your own words?"
"I do not believe so, no. On stardate 3141.9, the USS Enterprise came across a derelict freighter of very old design drifting in space. Its hull markings identified it as the SS Botany Bay, a ship launched from Earth in the 1990s, during that world's Eugenics Wars. A landing party consisting of Captain James T. Kirk, Dr Leonard McCoy, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, and historian Lt Marla McGivers, beamed over to the freighter. Lt McGivers was chosen because she specialized in late twentieth-century Earth history and culture. The landing party found a cargo of eighty four humans, seventy two of whom were still alive in suspended animation."
"There were seventy-seven still alive on my vessel when we were found," mused Khan. "Interesting. Continue, please."
"Lt McGivers identified the stasis tube that contained the body of the group's leader, whose identity we did not know at that point. Its male occupant began to revive, but as he did so his stasis cell started to fail. He was then transported back to the Enterprise for a medical examination. Captain Kirk ordered the Botany Bay be taken in tow by a tractor beam, and the Enterprise set course for Starbase 12. In sickbay, the group's leader awoke and attacked Dr McCoy, placing a scalpel to his throat and demanding to know where he was. Dr McCoy responded by describing the optimal way to kill him if that was his intention. Impressed by the Doctor's illogical bravado, the man put the scalpel down and introduced himself as 'Khan'."
"So that was when you finally knew who it was you had found."
"Not immediately. I ran the name through our computer's database and only then discovered our guest was Khan Noonien Singh, that he and his people were products of twentieth-century genetic engineering designed to be perfect humans."
"And we were, we are."
"You and the other genetic superhumans became warlords and conquered more than one third of the Earth, sparking a global conflict. At the end of the Eugenics Wars, between eighty and ninety superhumans were unaccounted for; you were regarded as the most dangerous of the missing individuals."
Khan inclined his head, accepting this assessment but saying nothing.
"Our Khan was given quarters. As a precaution, his door was locked and an armed guard posted outside. Lt McGivers was assigned to brief him on current events. Regrettably, she was physically attracted to Khan. He took advantage of this, revealing he intended to rule mankind again and convincing her to help him take over the Enterprise. She beamed Khan to the Botany Bay, where he revived the rest of his supermen. On returning to the Enterprise, they quickly assumed control of the ship. Khan placed the Captain in a decompression tank, threatening to slowly suffocate him unless the command staff agreed to follow Khan's orders. At this point, Lt McGivers came to her senses and freed the Captain from the chamber. He and I then released anaesthetic gas throughout the entire ship to disable Khan and his supermen. Khan escaped the gas and headed to Engineering, where he attempted to destroy the Enterprise. The Captain confronted him and a brawl ensued. Though no match for Khan's superhuman strength, the Captain was able to render him unconscious using a tool as a club."
Khan and the other superhumans were rounded up, and the Captain held a hearing to determine their fate. As a result, it was decided Khan and his followers were to be exiled to Ceti Alpha V, a world the Captain believed would be a perfect place for Khan to start his kingdom over again. Khan accepted this. Facing a court-martial, Lt. McGivers was allowed to go into exile with Khan instead."
"Not everyone in your universe has a counterpart in ours, alas," said Khan. "A pity. I should like to have met this Marla McGivers."
Spock frowned. If Khan had searched for the counterpart of Marla McGivers it meant he must have been familiar with the story already, but how? Khan saw the frown and knew what it must mean. He smiled.
"Very good, Miss Spock, very good indeed. I wanted to hear the story of your meeting with my counterpart in your own words but, as you deduced, it was a story I already knew. As for how..."
He tapped one of the buttons on the console in the armrest of his throne, and the holographic image floating overhead was replaced by another.
"It's the USS Defiant," said Cartwright, jaw agape, "but how...? That ship was lost months ago in Tholian space."
"Months ago for you," said Khan, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "yet it arrived in this universe a hundred years ago. It has had a profound effect on the history of the Empire ever since. Without it, I would not be Emperor. A woman named Hoshi Sato first used it to make herself Empress. When she was deposed, the various factions of the time fought among themselves for years, none of them strong enough alone to seize the throne and have their leader declared Emperor. Eventually a truce was declared and hostilities suspended, but they still could not choose a leader acceptable to all. What they needed was someone who would not favor one faction over another, yet someone they knew had the ability to lead. The Defiant had copies of the mission logs of all the ships in the Federation. In those for the USS Enterprise they discovered that the ship the Botany Bay had been found in your universe with myself and my companions in deep cryosleep. They knew of me, of course - Khan Noonien Singh is a legend in both universes - and they realised that here was the perfect leader for them to rally behind. At the time we departed for the stars the histories of our two universes had not yet diverged, so knowing when the Botany Bay had left Earth and where and when the Enterprise had found her, it was a simple matter to calculate where our ship would be and to seek it out. And so a century before my counterpart was woken in your universe, I was woken in this one. When I was offered the leadership of the Empire, how could I refuse?"
"But you haven't aged," said Cartwright, "how can that be?"
"Superior genetics. Before fleeing Earth, we had devised a means to extend our lifespans indefinitely, a process that would work on us but not on ordinary humans. Unfortunately, we were forced to flee before we could perfect the process, something we were able to rectify as soon as we had the resources of the Empire at our disposal. Each of my companions is as potentially immortal as me, and every one of them is now a governor, ruling one of the Empire's major worlds on my behalf."
"And when you were revived they told you about the Defiant, and the Khan of our universe."
"I was fascinated by my counterpart's encounter with the Enterprise and its captain, James T. Kirk. Here was a worthy adversary, someone who had bested me in that other universe. Such men are rare and need to be cultivated. When the James of this universe was born I had his parents killed. He was then placed in a military orphanage. Denied softness of any sort, his life was made deliberately hard. He was trained, indoctrinated to be fanatically loyal to me, and totally commited to the Empire. I moulded him into the monster I needed him to be. And he was magnificent. There was no order I could give him that he would not execute with brutal efficiency, no act too cruel to be carried out, no command he would baulk at."
"Where is he now?"
"Dead," sighed Khan, "killed by the Spock of our universe when he wanted to take command of the ISS Enterprise."
"That's right! I remember reading the report from our Jim Kirk about how officers advanced in rank on your starships by assassinating those above them. Not a very efficient system if it results in losing men like your Kirk."
"On the contrary," said Khan, "it's the most efficient method there is of weeding out those who are weak, which is why I initiated it. It ensures that the superior man will always triumph, his natural abilities unrestrained by internal politics or degenerate ethical considerations. Zefram Cochrane did not hesitate to kill the Vulcans and seize their ship on the day of first contact, nor did Hoshi Sato hesitate to kill Jonathan Archer in order to seize the Defiant. When I first read of their deeds, I knew that here was the model which the Empire's Starfleet should adopt. The death of James T. Kirk was regretable, but him falling to Spock proved that Spock was the superior man."
"I disagree," said Cartwright, defiantly. "That lack of respect for life is why you'll never defeat the Federation."
"An interesting but unconvincing point of view, Admiral," said Khan who, as he had been speaking had also been circling the quartet. Now, standing behind Cartwright, he made a gesture and the holographic image above the throne changed again.
"Differing philosophies aren't why we'll defeat you," he said, "this is."
"Oh no, dear God no!" said Cartwright, a look of horror on his face.
And that was when Khan broke his neck.
"We had already extracted all the intelligence we could from him," said Khan, turning to face the others as guards moved in to remove the body, "so no further purpose was served by keeping him alive."
The two androids displayed no reaction to what had just happened, but Sybok looked nervous. As well he might.
"Betrayal is a terrible thing in those you had believed loyal to you," said Khan, staring at him, "so to find that one of those you trusted most is part of a conspiracy working against you cuts deep."
"My Emperor, I..."
"Don't deny it!" said Khan, cutting him off. "I know you're a Vulcan separatist and were planning to alert the Federation to how the Empire is infiltrating them. What I don't know is the names of your co-conspirators, but I will soon. Guards, take him into custody!"
Two guards moved in, phasers in hand, to take Sybok away. He stood there, head bowed, until they were within reach. Then, with a turn of speed to match Khan's, he grabbed the phaser from one, knocked them both flat, and levelled it at Khan.
He never got to pull the trigger.
Before Khan could react, a phaser beam erupted from Sybok's forehead and he crumpled to the floor, dead. Behind him, holding the phaser she had taken from the second guard and fired with a speed even greater than Sybok's, stood Kara.
"You saved my life!" said Khan.
"You are my Emperor," she calmly replied.