Read To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh for Free Online Page B

scarcely imagine. But I promise you, my brethren, follow me and I will lead you to greatness once more!”
    “Like you did back on Earth?” a sarcastic voice called out. “Like you did aboard the
Enterprise
?”
    Khan’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. “Who speaks?” he demanded coldly. “Show yourself.”
    A tall blond figure emerged from the crowd. Khan recognized Harulf Ericsson, a Scandinavian superman who had served as one of Khan’s foreign operatives back on Earth. With a leonine mane of bright yellow hair, a fulsome beard, and a powerfully muscled physique, Ericsson was the very picture of his Viking ancestors. “I speak,” he declared with distinct Norwegian accent. “And not just for myself.”
    Glowering murderously, Joaquin lurched toward Ericsson, but Khan held up his hand. “No,” he said sternly. “Let him continue.”
    Ericsson needed no encouragement to voice his insolent slander. “Why should we follow you again, Khan, when you’ve led us to nothing but disaster! We fled Earth in defeat, driven off our own planet by our inferiors, and all because we mistakenly placed our faith in you. Then we spent centuries lost in space, trapped in cryogenic suspension, while our ship’s life-support systems failed and many of our valiant comrades perished in their sleep! Then, finally, you revive us to capture the
Enterprise
, only to be defeated by Kirk and his minions—including her!”
    He cast an accusing finger at Marla, who trembled but refused to shrink before Ericsson’s vitriol. Khan smiled, proud of her for standing her ground.
    In truth, he had been anticipating a challenge of this sort. Superior abilities ofttimes led to superior ambitions, and Khan had guessed that it would be only a matter of time before one of his followers sought to unseat him. Now, at least, he knew from which direction the threat came.
    “I see,” Khan responded, reining in his justifiable outrage. “Have you forgotten what became of the rest of theChildren of Chrysalis?” he asked, referring to the top-secret project that had created Khan and the rest of his genetically engineered kin. “They are all long gone, exterminated centuries ago by fearful humans, who outnumbered them billions to one. We are all that survive of that noble breed, thanks to my bold decision to abandon Earth and strike out for a new homeworld somewhere in the stars.
You
, Harulf Ericsson, are alive only because I granted you a niche aboard the
Botany Bay
.” Khan clasped his hands above his heart. “Your gratitude,” he said sarcastically, “overwhelms me.”
    Ericsson scowled at Khan’s gibe, unwilling to surrender just yet. “You may have been our leader back on Earth,” he conceded, “but that was centuries and light-years ago.” He glanced warily at the phaser lodged in Khan’s belt, but kept on speaking, egged on by others of like sympathies, who clustered behind Ericsson like jackals hungering for a lion’s kill. “A new world requires a new leader,” he called out to Khan. “Why should that leader be you?”
    “Because I am
Khan!
” Had there been a podium before him, Khan would have shattered it with his fist. Instead he looked away from Ericsson and his lurking band of jackals in order to speak directly to his people as a whole. “It has been said that to conquer without risk is to triumph without glory. We have suffered reverses, true, and grievous losses, but that is always the case when brave pioneers dare to open up a new frontier. It has cost us much to reach this shore, and yet more sacrifices may be demanded of us, but immortality lies within our grasp as well. Let us unite our efforts to forge a mighty empire!”
    On Earth, back in the twentieth century, dissension and power struggles between the Children of Chrysalis had ledinvariably to the Eugenics Wars, with disastrous results for all. Khan had spent literally years caught up in a global struggle against his fellow superhumans. He did not intend to