"Captain,"
Mr. Spock began, warily, "now that you have defeated Khan, what do you intend to do with him?"
James T. Kirk shrugged, swivelling to the side in his captain's chair, "well I
was going to drop him on Ceti Alpha V, but then I had this vague recollection that the alternate Spock who was followed back in time by Nero and those other Romulans mentioned this would be bad."
Spock's eyebrow arched. "Did I.... did he tell you why this would be bad?"
Kirk replied, nonchalantly, "I think he said it ultimately caused the theft of
Genesis, and his death."
"Genesis?" Spock seemed taken aback. "I am not aware of any significance to that word, other than the
creation myth in one of the old Earth holy books. And, of course, the late twentieth century musical group fronted by
Phil Collins. But how could the future Spock report the cause of his own death, when he is still living? Most illogical," Spock muttered.
"Hang on," Kirk cut off Spock's chain of thought. "I have an
idea." The captured
Khan Noonien Singh, only recently subdued after an attempt to take over the
Enterprise, was quickly summoned to the captain's
conference room.
Kirk opened his pitch diplomatically. "I had planned to drop you on an untamed world, to let you fight out the creation of a new
civilization, but I worry about the tectonic stability of neighboring planets. So, I was wondering.... can you.... Khan, can you cook?"
Khan haughtily draw himself to his full, imposing height. "My
DNA is interspersed with that of the finest
chefs of my century. Even as I plotted the
conquest of Earth, I earned the highest honors in all of the classes at the cooking school in the
Sorbonne." He leaned forward with just a hint of
menace, his voice a harsh whisper. "I make a
chocolate truffle banana cream soufle to die for!!"
Half a
smile crept across Kirk's face. "Really, I expected nothing less." He handed Khan an information
tablet. "There's a five star intergalactic
restuarant on the Rigel IV Spacedock that's having a run of serious management issues. They need someone who can run that kitchen with an iron fist."
Khan's eyes lit up, just a flash of glorious
anticipation peering out from behind them. "Yes, yes I can see it now." His focus snapped back to Kirk. "Very well, Captain, but you should be aware of the old
Klingon proverb:
sorbet is a dish best served cold. And it is very cold.... in space." And then with a glance at the information borne out upon the tablet.... "ah, the first thing we must do is to improve upon that pretentious name...."