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“It wasn’t Khan, you know.”
Spock looked up from the data PADD he’d been studying to his captain’s face, bright and warm despite the sterile environment of the hospital room. It had been three days since Jim had woken up and, despite many arguments from his captain to the contrary, Dr. McCoy had been able to pull CMO rank and force Jim to stay on bed rest for at least another week, just to ensure his vitals remained stabilized.
Jim had protested even that for as long as he could, using the example of Thomas Harewood’s daughter, Lucille, and her lasting health to be signs that the extra attention was unnecessary. Naturally, it did very little to persuade the doctor, but managed to make it apparent to Spock that Jim had continued investigating the circumstances revolving the Kelvin Memorial Archive bombing.
And, apparently, had been researching other things as well.
Jim did not continue straight away, apparently waiting for some sort of acknowledgment from his first officer, so Spock raised a single eyebrow. It sufficed, and Jim asked, “How familiar are you with Earth’s history? Specifically that of the late twentieth century?”
“There were multiple historical events that occurred within that century, Captain,” Spock began, but Jim was already shaking his head, a hand coming up to stop him from speaking.
“I’m talking about a war, specifically.”
“There were several of those as well.”
Frustrated, even though Spock was simply stating the truth, Jim closed his eyes a moment before trying again. “The Eugenics War?”
Spock recalled the information easily. “The Augments, advanced superhumans created through genetic splicing and selective breeding, had risen to power by using their superior intellect and strength to hold dominance over what they determined to be less than perfect specimens of humanity. They enslaved most of the human population, conquering over twenty-five percent of the entire planet and its nations until they were overthrown, a mixture of aggression and in-fighting between the superhuman rulers themselves and sheer human resilience bringing about their downfall. The conflict went on for several years, at the cost of thirty million human and superhuman lives.”
“Some say it’s closer to thirty-five, you know,” Jim interrupted, looking satisfied. “But do you know who the last tyrant was? The very last one to be overthrown?”
Spock nodded slowly, finally seeing where his captain was going with this, although the Vulcan was still unclear as to its importance. “Khan Noonien Singh.”
“Right.” Jim pushed aside several of the PADDs laid out on his hospital bed – apparently all but done with what he and Spock were supposed to be doing (that is, filing reports, signing off repairs to the Enterprise, and similarly important items that Jim has abandoned for this train of thought) – until he picked up one in particular, checking it momentarily before offering it to Spock.
An old photograph was waiting for him on the screen. A dark skinned man with darker hair pulled off his face, dressed regally in bright red colors. Prince-like. He appeared nothing more than human, but his gait indicated otherwise, that he held great power, and even though the picture was centuries old and, logically speaking, harmless, Spock could not help but feel some measure of intimidation while looking at the man’s steely gaze.
“Khan Noonien Singh,” Jim repeated, calling Spock’s attention away from the picture momentarily, his brief emotion filed away and forgotten. “For a tyrant, he was considerably well liked, or I should say, well respected. The best of the tyrants.”
Spock could not understand how a tyrant – someone who, by the word’s very definition, rules with cruelty and, to use human vernacular, an iron fist – could possibly be well respected by the very type of people he had once enslaved. Even Jim seemed impressed. The Vulcan’s eyebrows furrowed, but his captain seemed to misunderstand his apparent confusion entirely, and the question went unasked.
“It’s not like we don’t go over it in history class, you know. High school stuff.” He took a moment to turn slightly, reaching back to adjust and fluff his pillow with a few soft punches. It would seem that despite his protests to the contrary, the blood infusion was still taking its toll on the captain, his movements careful and weak. Human. “It only just occurred to me that while in the delightful company of the fugitive John Harrison, he only gave us the first name. Khan. There’s no way anyone would have made the connection with just that alone. It was only a mutual friend of ours who identified him as Khan Noonien Singh, and that’s when I started thinking about it.”
Spock ignored the pointed look he received after that; he would not feel guilty for not telling Jim he had already met his counterpart much sooner and more often than the captain was aware, having assumed that Jim would no longer be under the impression that the duo’s meeting would have any possible bearing on the continuation of the universe.
Jim reached over and tapped the top of the PADD in Spock’s hands twice, two fingers. “Obviously, there’s not much of a family resemblance.” He smirked. “Eye color’s all wrong.”
Clearly an understatement. The man pictured on screen was clearly not the man who they had faced three weeks prior. Spock raised an eyebrow, ignoring his captain’s use of humor in favor of continuing the discussion. “The name ‘Khan’ is also an old Chinese word with similar meaning to the old English term ‘king,’ or ‘ruler,’ and holds a similar connotation in Federation Standard. It is possible that John Harrison merely adapted this word to suit his own purposes, further conceal his own identity, and the identity of—”
“Of his commanding officer, the true Khan,” Jim interrupted, apparently having wanted to make this point all along. “I think it’s entirely possible. What we assumed as a given name could easily have been a title – but even if it wasn’t, why not take the name? Take the name in honor of the Augment prince who conquered most of Asia and the Middle East in the span of a few years?”
It still sounded, vaguely, as though Jim was impressed by this feat, despite it being a barbaric time in which his own race was forced into slavery, even for a short while. Peculiar.
“Twentieth century vessels – that is, nearly any vessel created before warp technology, mandated the use of cryogenic freezing, as we’re aware. What protocol also mandates, according to the research of Dr. Marla McGivers, is that the leader be awoken first, before the rest of the crew, in order to determine whether or not the conditions were optimal and survivable.”
The captain’s research had been extensive indeed. Spock raised an eyebrow. “But that would suggest John Harrison was, in fact, the leader, disproving your entire theory.”
“Well, sure, but whose testimony do we have on the events of Harrison’s waking? His own? Admiral Marcus’? Neither of whom are the best and brightest of humanity, mind.”
“Naturally,” the Vulcan replied, eyes on Jim’s face.
“And anyway, it’s possible Admiral Marcus was able to override the protocol and picked his warmonger out of a hat, so to speak. Harrison did mention it was his savagery, his ruthlessness that Marcus desired for war. He didn’t need the leader; any one of the Augments would do. Harrison fits that bill just fine. He had the grand gift of superiority on his side and could easily take command of any situation thrown at him. Or maybe they were all briefed prior to their cryo to take control of things in the event of a malfunction and Khan wasn’t the one to wake up first.”
“The ‘true’ Khan.”
Jim nodded. “The real Khan Noonien Singh, ruler and dictator number one.”
At the very least, Jim’s theory was intriguing. He had more than enough facts to support it, although, with a glance down to his PADD, Spock would wager the difference in appearance between Harrison and the old photograph of the twentieth century tyrant would be enough. It was not the same man at all. The same… Augment, that is. They would have to contact New Vulcan again, to see once and for all if the man they faced was the same Khan Noonien Singh as Spock’s older counterpart had encountered as well, so many years ago.
Years ago in his timeline, that is. After speaking with his older self, Spock had gotten the impression that he and Jim had happened upon the superhuman far sooner than the elder Vulcan had anticipated.
Spock replaced the PADD at Jim’s feet, head tilted just enough, apparently, to indicate to his captain that he still had questions about Jim’s findings.
“Let’s hear it,” he sighed, a vague gesture accompanying it.
“I am simply curious, Captain. Your logic is sound, of course, but I wonder what bearing it could possibly have on us or the events leading up to the destruction of the dreadnought Vengeance and,” he paused, suddenly wanting to be delicate, “very nearly, the Enterprise.”
“I’m just saying,” Jim replied easily, full attention on his first officer, “that if anyone gets back into those capsules, if anyone finds and wakes up the true Khan?” Jim stopped a moment, tongue darting out to wet his lips as he seemed to consider the possibility. Some measure of fear had darkened his eyes, a reaction more befitting to the notion of a tyrant, though Spock was not thrilled to see it in his captain, to see Jim Kirk hesitate.
“Well. I’m just afraid we won’t know the meaning of the word ‘vengeance’ until then.”