by James Blish
"Yes, sir. To free themselves of the rabble, and start fresh. In my opinion they would never have succeeded, even had they made it to a habitable world. The man who cannot know fear is gravely handicapped."
"We are about to put that to the test. Have Kahn brought in here, please."
Kahn was brought in, under guard, with Marla behind him. Both looked at Kirk defiantly.
"At present," Kirk said, "we are orbiting a planet in a system unknown to you, and which I shall not further identify. It is savage and inhospitable, but with breathable atmosphere and land which can be cultivated. You have the following choice: To be put ashore on this world, with a minimum of survival equipment; or, to be taken to Star Base Twelve to be assigned to rehabilitation. The second choice would be rather drastic in your case, but it would enable you to fit into our society. Which do you prefer?"
"Captain," Kahn said, "I suppose you will remember that Lucifer said when he fell into the pit."
"I remember it well. I take it that's your answer?"
"It is."
"It may interest you to know that Systems Officer McGivers, given the choice of standing court martial or sharing your exile, has chosen to go with you."
Kahn looked at her and smiled. "I knew I was right about you," he said. "You have the fire. And think of this: we have what we wanted after all—a world to win." He swung on Kirk. "And, Captain, we will make it an empire. You'll see."
"If you do," Kirk said, "you'll have earned it. Guards, beam them down."
Kahn exited without a backward look, but Marla turned at the door.
"Goodbye, Captain," she said. "I'm sorry. But I do love him."
"I wish you luck, Lieutenant."
After a short silence, Scott said, "It's a shame for a good Scotsman to admit it, but I'm not up on my Milton. What did Lucifer say after he fell into the pit?"
"He said, 'Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.' Mr. Spock, clear for space. I want to get under way as soon as possible."
"Yes, Captain. What shall I do with the Botany Bay?"
"Hmm . . . You'd better dump it into—no, on second thought, let's keep it in tow. I suppose there are still things aboard her that the historians will want to see. At the moment, though, whenever I say 'historian' I have to repress a shudder."
"Let us think ahead, then," Spock said. "It would be interesting to come back to this system in a hundred years and see what crop had sprung up from the seed we have planted today."
"It would indeed," Kirk said. "But I'll tell you something else, Mr. Spock. I only hope that in a hundred years, that crop won't have sprung right out of the ground and come out looking for us."
