To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh (11 page)

In desperation, she fired her pistol into the air, praying that someone in the camp would hear the shot and come to her rescue. “Help!” she cried hoarsely, choking on the smoke. “Patil! Somebody! Help me!”

But no one answered.

The hunt was on, and Khan did not intend to return empty-handed. He, Joaquin, Ericsson, and one more colonist, Karyn Bradley, pushed their way through the tall grass in search of the elusive sabertooths.
Fortune will be with us today,
Khan thought confidently.
I can feel it in my bones
.

A hot wind blew across the savanna, causing the yellow grass to rustle and stir like waves atop the sea. Khan took care to march directly into the wind, so that his scent would not precede him.

“Your Excellency, look.” Joaquin pointed to a clump of impervious “axebreaker” trees not far away. Such thickets, they had learned, offered shade and the occasional water-hole, which often attracted the beasts they sought. Khan was encouraged to see birds nesting in the upper branches of the trees, confirming the locale’s appeal to the indigenous wildlife.

He nodded in agreement, and the hunting party stealthily made their way toward the dense green grove. Khan was armed with his phaser, which never left his person,
while Joaquin and Bradley both carried American-made rifles, from the
Botany Bay
’s original stores. Ericsson sullenly carried the rest of their gear through the intense humidity. The Norseman’s once-fair skin had long since been browned by the merciless sun. His only weapon was a handmade stone axe.

As they approached the thicket’s outer fringe, their efforts were rewarded by the unmistakable rumble of a purring smilodon. Signaling the others to silence, Khan cautiously drew back the fronds of a leafy bush in order to peer deeper into the sylvan bower. His blood surged in anticipation of the kill.
The beast’s tusks and hide shall serve as testaments to my revenge
.

His eyes beheld a massive sabertooth, stretched out on the undergrowth between two thick tree trunks. The stripped bones of an unfortunate bison were scattered upon the floor, and it required little imagination on Khan’s part to imagine the mangled skeleton of one of his people in place of the dead ruminant’s bones. Sated and content, the smilodon dozed placidly in the shade, seemingly oblivious to the arrival of the four superhumans. Its eyes were closed in slumber, and its steady purr sounded like the murmur of a well-tuned motor.

Perfect,
Khan thought with pleasure. The specters of his martyred followers rose up in his memory, demanding vengeance. Khan slowly raised his phaser, taking careful aim at the sabertooth’s colossal skull. The weapon was set to Kill, not disintegrate; Khan had no desire to forgo his trophy.
I will teach this planet that there is a new and greater predator on Ceti Alpha V
.

Then, at the worst possible moment, the wind shifted, carrying Khan’s scent into the thicket. Amber eyes snapped
open and the recumbent sabertooth sprang into action, every sense alert to danger. In haste, Khan fired at it, but the animal had already bolted for safety, taking cover behind the broad tree trunks. The deadly crimson beam blackened the bark of a guiltless axebreaker, even as the fleeing smilodon suddenly veered toward Khan, lunging at him with its powerful foreclaws extended. Tusks like daggers sliced through the air between them.

Khan swung his phaser around, desperately trying to meet the creature’s charge with another blast of energy. Gunshots rang out behind him, however, and the beast was sent hurtling backward, turning a somersault in the air. Patches of bright red blood burst from the sabertooth’s tawny hide. An anguished roar joined the echo of the two, almost simultaneous rifle blasts.

Khan risked a glance behind him, where he saw both Joaquin and Bradley standing with their rifles still poised against their shoulders. The scent of gunpowder assaulted his nostrils. A look of vast relief flooded Bradley’s freckled countenance, although Joaquin’s face remained as stoic as ever. Ericsson, if anything, looked distinctly disappointed by Khan’s survival.

The smilodon crashed to earth, then instantly broke for the relative cover of the deep grass. Khan’s gaze snapped back to his prey in time to see the wounded sabertooth disappear into the rustling waves of yellow and brown.

“Hurry!” he shouted to the others, eager to claim the beast that had attacked him only seconds before. “We must not let it get away!”

There would be time enough to thank his defenders later. For now, the hunt continued. Phaser in hand, Khan charged into the brush. His boots pounded loudly against the earth
as he ran after the vanished smilodon. He heard Joaquin and the others running behind him, Ericsson cursing in Norwegian beneath his breath.

Despite its injuries, the sabertooth made good time through the grassland, easily outdistancing its determined pursuers. But although Khan could not catch even a glimpse of the departing animal, a trail of smeary bloodstains made tracking the big cat mere child’s play.
There are advantages,
Khan noted,
to old-fashioned ammunition;
a phaser blast left no bleeding wounds.

Joaquin caught up with Khan, jogging only a few paces behind his leader. “Beware, Your Excellency,” he huffed. “A wounded animal can be more dangerous than ever.”

True enough,
Khan acknowledged, without slowing his pace. “You know, my friend, I might have slain the beast myself, back there by the thicket.”

“Of course, Lord Khan,” Joaquin agreed readily. “But I did not wish to take that chance.” He gripped his rifle with both hands as he ran. “Forgive me for my presumption.”

Khan smiled, amused by the bodyguard’s apology. He was not so proud that he begrudged a legitimate attempt to protect his life. “It is of no matter,” he assured the other man.

The trail of blood led uphill, toward a stony ridge overlooking the savanna. The sabertooth was seeking higher ground, Khan surmised. He was undaunted by the climb ahead; the upward chase would leave any ordinary man winded, but Khan and his people all had fifty-percent superior lung capacity. If anything, he increased his pace as he reached the base of the ridge.

A puddle of warm blood, filling a shallow depression in the rock, verified that they were still on the right track.
Bradley winced at the sight of the crimson pool. “It’s bleeding badly, poor thing.” A note of sympathy, and regret, entered her voice. “It’s a shame we have to kill it.” Her eyes entreated Khan. “Are you certain we can’t somehow coexist with these animals?”

Khan recalled that the tall brunette had been an academic back on Earth, sheltered somewhat from the crueler realities of life. “Homer said it best,” he informed her. “‘There are no compacts between lions and men, and wolves and lambs have no concord.’” He shook his head solemnly. “On Ceti Alpha V, the only endangered species is us.”

“Yes, Lord Khan,” she said, tightening her grip upon her rifle. “I understand.”

Splashes of red led them up the side of the ridge until they came to the entrance of cave, tucked into the gap between two flanking boulders. A scraggly bush partially concealed the open cavity, which appeared to lead deep into the craggy bluff. Crimson smudges stained the thornscrub.

Khan’s face lit up. Could it be that, after months of searching, he had found the man-eaters’ den at last? He eagerly chopped away the prickly shrub, clearing the entrance. His eyes probed the darkness beyond, but saw nothing but shadows. He unclasped a palm-sized flashlight from his belt and stepped toward the gaping maw.

“Your Excellency!” Joaquin exclaimed. “You cannot mean to enter the cave.”

“That is precisely what I mean to do,” Khan declared. He had not hunted the sabertooth all this way just to turn back now. He raised his hand to forestall further debate. “Do not attempt to dissuade me. The beast dies today.”

An unexpected voice spoke up. “Then let me go first, Lord Khan,” Ericsson volunteered, without his usual sarcasm. “Your safety is paramount.”

Khan’s eyes narrowed as he examined the Norseman, surprised by the man’s offer. Was Ericsson simply trying to get back into Khan’s good graces, or had he some darker motive? Khan saw no obvious flaw in the other man’s proposal; indeed, it would be safer to have the possibly duplicitous Norseman in front of him than behind him.
And I hardly wish to leave him standing guard outside the cave, where one convenient “avalanche” could bury the rest of us alive
.

“Very well,” Khan stated, stepping aside to permit Ericsson full access to the cavern’s entrance. “Bravery is a trait I seek always to encourage.” He quickly assigned the others their duties. “Bradley, you will stand watch outside the cave. In case of a collapse, it is imperative that you get assistance from New Chandigarh to dig us out.” He turned to Joaquin, whom looked perturbed by these recent turn of events. “You, my friend, will follow after me into the cave, and we shall not emerge until the creature’s lifeless body is in my possession.”

The unhappy bodyguard nodded. “As you command.”

Khan handed Ericsson the palm light, half-expecting the bearded man to ask for a rifle as well. Instead Ericsson simply drew his stone axe with his right hand while accepting the flashlight with his left. He shined an incandescent beam into the mouth of the cave, but the light provoked no response from whatever dwelt within. “Into the
mistenkelig
breach,” he muttered, ducking his head as he entered the darkness, with Khan and Joaquin close behind him.

A sloping path led them down a narrow tunnel defined by smooth limestone walls. Khan peered past Ericsson’s shoulder,
watching for the telltale gleam of angry feline eyes, while listening carefully for any signs of life. He heard Joaquin gulp nervously, and glanced behind him to see his loyal servant eyeing the jagged ceiling with obvious mistrust.

No doubt, Khan realized, the stalwart bodyguard was recalling that perilous incident in 1993, when an earthquake, triggered by a rival superman, had trapped him and Joaquin beneath the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple. Both men had nearly died that day, so Khan could not fault his old friend for experiencing a touch of claustrophobia, no matter that the sacred caves of Ajorra were now many light-years and centuries away.

Perhaps,
Khan thought,
I should have left Joaquin outside and brought Bradley instead
.

The temperature grew notably cooler, causing the perspiration on Khan’s clothes and body to grow cold and clammy. As they rounded a corner, venturing ever deeper in the subterranean recesses of the cavern, they disturbed a multitude of batlike creatures sleeping amid the stalactites overhead. The sound of countless leather wings flapping wildly briefly filled the underground chamber, before the agitated nightflyers fled toward the lower depths. Khan listened to the flapping recede into the abyss, leading him to wonder just how extensive this cave system was.
Something worth exploring at some future date,
he resolved.
Today I have bloodier business to conclude
.

The pungent smell of bat guano permeated the air, mixing with a musky animal odor that grew stronger the further they explored. Leaving the bat chamber behind, they came to a smaller grotto with two branching exits. No obvious bloodstains betrayed the route taken by the wounded smilodon.

“Which way now, Lord Khan?” Ericsson asked. Khan thought he detected a tinge of impudence in the man’s voice, but could not have sworn to it.

Khan sniffed the air. The animal scent was heavy here, but offered little clue as to which way to proceed. He stepped away from Ericsson, toward the right-hand corridor, only to stumble over something that clattered against the flowstone floor.

What is this?
Khan wondered, a terrible suspicion already dawning in his soul.

Ericsson’s search beam, turned in Khan’s direction, confirmed his fears: a grotesque assortment of well-gnawed bones were scattered about the grotto, along with scraps of fabric and pieces of jewelry. Khan realized that he had finally found the dismal resting place of the two missing colonists. Shattered skulls and jawbones made readily apparent the once-human nature of the debris.

“Gorinsky. Blasko,” he pronounced solemnly. Looking up and down the tunnels to make sure his flanks were covered, Khan tucked his phaser into his belt, then knelt to gather up the disordered bones. He had promised these victims honorable cremations and he would not suffer their remains to lie in this abhorrent state one moment longer. “A bag,” he instructed Joaquin. “At once.”

A feral growl intruded on the moment, seizing Khan’s attention. Luminous yellow eyes, growing larger by the instant, glowed in the darkness as an enraged smilodon came charging at Joaquin, who fired his rifle with commendable speed. The bloodthirsty sabertooth took multiple shots, but kept on coming, driven by a relentless primeval fury. An earsplitting roar echoed within the enclosed confines of the creature’s lair.

Khan jumped to his feet and reached for his phaser, brandishing a fractured jawbone in his free hand. Before he could fire, however, Ericsson’s voice shouted urgently: “Watch out! Behind you!”

The search beam swung around to reveal
another
smilodon, crouching atop a limestone shelf overlooking the boneyard. Intent on rescuing the dead colonists’ remains, Khan had not even noticed the shelf was there.

Until now.

The second sabertooth sprang at Khan, who cursed himself for thinking only in two dimensions, even as Joaquin continued to fire at the original predator. Dueling snarls competed with the sharp report of the rifle. Khan dropped to the floor, ducking beneath the claws of the pouncing smilodon, which nonetheless sliced through the back of his jumpsuit, tearing deep gouges in his flesh. The animal landed heavily on the ground, sending bones flying in every direction. Crazed by the scent of fresh blood, it instantly went for Khan again.

Ericsson hurled his axe at Khan’s attacker. The crude weapon spun through the air, coming to rest deep in the sabertooth’s back. The beast let out a roar of anguish, and angrily turned on Ericsson. Khan took immediate advantage of the smilodon’s distraction by taking aim with his phaser and blasting the enraged creature with a beam of concentrated energy. Taking no chances, he upped the setting on the phaser, disintegrating the beast entirely. Within seconds, all that remained of the second smilodon was a faint afterglow, which swiftly faded from sight.