To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh Read Online Free PDF

more thing: a large leather-bound book about the size of a computer display panel.
    What’s this?
Kirk felt a tremor of excitement as he gingerlylifted the mysterious volume from its hiding place within Khan’s coffin. While the other two men looked on, he flipped over the front cover of the book. He eagerly scanned the first page, on which was handwritten, in bold cursive letters,
“The Personal Journal of Khan Noonien Singh.”
    Kirk could not believe his luck. Khan’s own memoirs! Along with, most likely, Marla McGivers’ account of the colony’s history on Ceti Alpha V.
Perhaps,
he thought,
I should not be too surprised to find these waiting; given Khan’s enormous ego, it’s only natural that he would want to set down his life and times for posterity
.
    “It seems Khan left us his journal,” he told Spock and McCoy, showing them the inscription on the book.
    “Indeed,” Spock said. He sounded impressed, albeit in a cool Vulcan manner. “This could be a significant historical document, Captain.”
    McCoy, of course, had to question their good fortune. “I don’t get it. Why would he leave this behind? Why not take it with him aboard the
Reliant
?”
    Kirk thought he knew the answer. “Khan probably had a premonition that he might not survive his quest for revenge. He was basically taking on all of Starfleet, after all. I’m guessing he left his journal behind, along with McGivers’ disks, because he wanted some record of his struggles to endure just in case he ended up going out in a blaze of glory.” Kirk shook his head. “Khan had a weakness for grand suicidal gestures. Remember how he tried to blow up the
Enterprise
’s engines after his takeover failed? And how he activated the Genesis Device when
Reliant
was defeated?”
    In truth,
Kirk suspected,
I don’t think Khan really cared what happened to him as long as he took me with him. The idea of dying in battle against his archfoe probably appealed to hiswarped sense of grandeur. Like Holmes and Moriarity, or Ahab and the whale…
.
    “Sounds like Khan all right,” McCoy agreed. “Hell, as I recall, he almost destroyed Earth back in the 1990s, when it looked like he was losing the Eugenics Wars.”
    “Precisely,” Spock stated. “With his Morning Star satellite weapon. Thankfully, he was convinced to choose exile in the
Botany Bay
instead.”
    Kirk contemplated the volume in his hands. Perhaps these records would tell them more about Khan’s state of mind? He handed the data disks over to Spock. “Take a look at these,” he instructed. “Let’s see what we have here.”
    Spock loaded the first of the disks into his tricorder. The glow from the instrument’s viewscreen highlighted the stark planes of Spock’s face as his Vulcan mind swiftly absorbed the information scrolling across the screen. “As you surmised, Captain,” he confirmed, “the disks appear to contain a record of the colony’s experiences as chronicled by Lieutenant McGivers.” He continued to scan the viewscreen with interest. “It is quite compelling.”
    For himself, Kirk could not resist the temptation to open the dusty journal and start reading immediately. As the words leaped out at him, perfectly preserved by the arid atmosphere of the underground tomb, Kirk could almost hear Khan’s deep, resonant voice speaking to him….

PART TWO
Paradise Lost

3
    A.D. 2267
    DAY ONE
    The buzzing of the transporter beam faded away and Khan found himself standing for the first time on the soil of Ceti Alpha V. His eyes, accustomed to the unobtrusive lighting aboard the
Enterprise
, blinked against the harsh glare of the midday sun, which blazed brightly in the sapphire sky of this brave new world. He felt like Columbus or Armstrong, bolding setting foot on the brink of a vast and unexplored frontier.
    Here I will build an empire,
he vowed,
even greater than the one I left behind
.
    A stark red jumpsuit clothed his muscular frame, and his chin was held high despite the