Part XX

Captain's Log : Stardate 5532.6 - After several hours of examining the derelict ship SS Botany Bay, we have beamed our personnel back aboard the Enterprise. First Officer Spock has continued checking existing databases on DNA and all matches have come back as being those genetically engineered beings known as augments. The bodies of the dead have been left on the vessel for now.

Once the others had returned from the Botany Bay, Kirk called for another meeting so that everyone would be caught up on the latest information. As he entered the room, Kirk noticed two things. One was that Spock had images of all the augments that had been identified up on the large screen. The second was that Lieutenant McGivers was looking over the pictures with an expression that Bones would have said 'reminds me of a hungry dog looking into a butcher shop'. Finally she spoke as if not realizing that she was no longer alone in the room.

"The best of all the different races. Such a handsome group."

"Would you feel the same if you were living under their yoke, Lieutenant?"

Turning around rapidly and flushing as she remembered she wasn't alone, McGivers didn't have a chance to comment back before the doors were sliding open again and the other officers entered. Still flushing, McGivers took a seat. Kirk made a personal note to himself that if the Lieutenant was that enamored with only the images of the Botany Bay survivors to go by, he would take care to ensure she never met any of them in person.

As Spock entered, Kirk took a seat himself.

"You have the floor, Mister Spock."

"Thank you, Captain. The images on the screen before you are the men and women whose chambers aboard the Botany Bay were found empty. The theory is that all of these - plus thirteen others without DNA files - were revived and are currently aboard the ship Azalaris, a ship of questionable registry that belong to Harcourt Mudd. All are known genetically altered humans who have been unaccounted for since the end of the Eugenics Wars until now."

Scotty muttered a few words and Kirk wasn't sure whether he should be sorry or grateful that he didn't understand Gaelic. Spock paused, then looked to Lieutenant McGivers.

"Lieutenant, you are the ship's historian. Please give us what information you have on this group of people."

"Yes, Mister Spock. The top left image is of the man I would assume to be the leader of this group because he as the one who held the most power before the end of the Eugenics Wars. His name is Khan Noonien Singh. Since the augments were genetically engineered and the records of what alterations were done were lost, being able to pinpoint exact heritage is, at best, a guess. In his case, I would say it is most likely that he is of Sikh descent. That group produced many fantastic warriors."

Skipping past the images of two females, she gestured to another image.

"Remus Montanari. Right hand man of Khan. He was said to have been the more diplomatic and less driven of the two. Content to be the power behind the throne rather than the one sitting the throne. That combination is what is said to have allowed Khan to have spread his rule as far as he did - farther than any other of the supermen. Remus' lack of desire for rule meant that Khan never had to worry about his back."

A very cool voice spoke up. It took a moment for Kirk to connect the icy tone with Chekov.

"You seem to have a great deal of admiration for tyrants, Lieutenant."

"They were bold men of another time, Ensign. Those days were days of higher aspirations and men who dreamed large. Heroic in stature - adventurers and conquerors."

"Your 'heroes' ae viewed very differently in my homeland. Especially Khan."

Kirk's interest went to Chekov.

"I wasn't aware you had studied history, Mister Chekov."

"Oh yes. After all, as a great Russian once said, 'those who do not know history are bound to repeat it'. Besides, the story of Khan is a personal one in my family."

It was obvious that Spock was about two seconds away from correcting who it was that had made that quote, but Kirk cut that off by questioning the young Ensign.

"Personal? Would you mind telling it, Mister Chekov?"

"Not at all, sir. My ancestors were among those that stood against Khan. He was the last of the tyrants to fall. Three-quarters of our line was lost during the final battles that ended the Wars."

McGivers own tone was slightly snide as she spoke.

"Your ancestors might have been wiser not to have fought superior warriors."

To the surprise of nearly everyone in the room, Chekov didn't react angrily to that. Instead he just smiled and pointed to the assembled pictures on the viewscreen.

"Superior, Lieutenant? Really? Who fled from whom?"

Uhura had a smile on her face that seemed to say she was restraining herself from applauding Chekov. McGivers flushed red - it would have been difficult for her to dispute that last point. Chekov merely continued as if he hadn't stopped to exchange comments with McGivers.

"While Khan did not have the wholesale massacres that some of the other tyrants were known for, those forced to live under his rule were slaves. The ones he considered exceptional - the most brilliant men, the most gifted performers and the most beautiful women - those he took as his own slaves. All the other were given out to his officers. They did not even seem to consider themselves of the same species as the people around them."

Then Chekov stated plainly what several of the others were thinking.

"I do not like to think of our Doctor being in the company of these 'superior' ones."

Kirk agree with that sentiment fully. Beneath his prickly exterior, Bones had a tender heart. He felt bad enough that the doctor was stuck around someone as mercenary as Mudd. Now the worry about Mudd was like worrying about sharp rocks in the sand when there was a shark off the beach.

"Neither do I, Mister Chekov. Meeting is adjourned for now. I want a course set to the nearest planet that might be a possible destination for the Azalaris."