To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox Read Free Book Online Page B

silicon-based thermoconcrete. I wonder how many shelters you could build with that?
    Intent upon her tricorder, she accidentally bumped into another woman from behind. The woman, an Amazonian female with dark skin and braided black hair, spun around angrily. “Watch where you’re going, you Starfleet slut!”
    The sheer venom in the woman’s voice caught Marla by surprise. “I’m sorry,” she offered hastily. “I apologize.”
    “For what?” the woman demanded. “For your clumsiness, or for double-crossing us back on the
Enterprise
?” In the heat of the night, the irate woman had discarded her standard-issue jumpsuit in favor of the lightweight, golden-mesh garment she had worn while sleeping in suspended animation aboard the
Botany Bay
; the sparkling metallic fibers clung to the sculpted contours of a powerfully muscled body. “Don’t think anyone has forgotten who released Kirk from the decompression chamber!”
    Marla backed away, acutely aware that the other woman was a head taller than her and at least five times stronger.“I’m sorry!” she pleaded, not really expecting the woman to understand. “I had no choice. The captain was going to die!”
    “So?” the Amazon said with a sneer. “He was just an insignificant human—like you.” She advanced on Marla, while harsh laughter and encouragement spilled from the bystanders around the campfire.
    “You tell her, Zuleika!”
    “Teach Miss Twenty-third Century a lesson!”
    “Smash her skull in!”
    Does the entire camp want me dead?
Marla wondered in dismay. It certainly seemed so.
    The woman (Zuleika?) shoved her with superhuman strength, and Marla’s boots lost contact with the ground. She flew backward as though strapped to a malfunctioning jetpack, then crashed to the earth several meters away. Her back and shoulders hit the ground with a jolt, and she skidded backward for several endless moments before finally coming to a halt. Dazed, she lifted her head in time to see Zuleika snatch a burning brand from the fire and stalk toward Marla with murder in her eyes.
    “You’re not one of us!” the woman spat, towering over the fallen lieutenant. She lifted the torch high above her head, while Marla struggled to remember her Starfleet self-defense training, which she hadn’t had cause to think of since her Academy days. “You don’t belong here!”
    This isn’t fair!
Marla thought, raising a hand in a hopeless attempt to block the coming blow.
I’m a historian, not a fighter!
    The torch came swinging down, trailing sparks like a meteor. Marla flinched in anticipation of the fiery impact. She could already feel the scorching heat of the flames as they dived toward her face.
    “What is this?!” a commanding voice exclaimed. A powerful hand grabbed Zuleika by the wrist, halting the downward trajectory of the torch. An imposing shadow fell between Marla and her foe. “Stop this at once!”
    The blazing firebrand retreated from Marla’s face, and she looked up past the flames to see Khan standing head-to-head with Zuleika, his fist wrapped around the Amazon’s wrist. “Explain yourself!” he demanded. He squeezed her arm hard enough to make Zuleika yelp in pain.
    The woman’s arrogance evaporated in the face of Khan’s fury. “Lord Khan!” she blurted, an anxious expression upon her flawless, genetically crafted features. “This woman betrayed you!”
    “That is between her and I,” he said sternly, releasing her arm. Zuleika stepped backward, the torch dropping to her side. Her panicked gaze darted from right to left, searching for support from her comrades, but none came forward to defend her, not even those who had been enthusiastically cheering her on mere moments before.
    Turning away from Zuleika in disdain, Khan reached down and gently took hold of Marla’s hand. His touch sent spasms of relief through Marla, bolstering her spirits, and she marveled once again at his uncanny strength as he effortlessly lifted her back onto