Hell's Mirror

   

Hell's Mirror

Description[]

Legendary writerJ.M. DeMatteis returns toStar Trek for the first time in nearly 40years! And it’ll be well worth the wait, as he tackles two of the franchise’s most popular concepts:Khan Noonien Singh and themirror universe!

Summary[]

Centuries ago, themirror universe'sKhan Noonien Singh could have saved the world. He could madeEarth a paradise only for theTerrans to rise up against him and his fellowAugments. After more than two centuries adrift, the crew of theSS Botany Bay, awoken by a desperate group of rebels, to find theTerran Empire conqueringthe galaxy, repressingart andculture in favor of brutal savagery. And so did Khan take it upon himself to rally theTerran Rebellion around him, intending to resurrect this sick universe withthe Satori Project.

Walking the halls of his base, Khan is joined by his second, the defectedmirror Spock, to thebridge of theirspaceship, engaged in a duel with theISSEnterprise, here to collect the abductedDoctorRichard Daystrom. Afterweapons fire proves ineffective,Kirk contacts the rebels and offers himself for negotiations, vaporizing his bridge crew as proof of his good intentions. Just as asecurity team enters, Kirk isbeamed aboard and given thepolitical asylum he had requested. To further prove his allegiance, Kirk remotely detonates everyphoton torpedo aboard theEnterprise, destroying it, and asking to be taken to Khan.

Brought to his opposite, Khan asks why Kirk would defect. The tense atmosphere quickly devolves into combat, both physical and philosophical, with Kirk opining that Khan is but a tyrant who seeks to eliminate the competition. After knocking Kirk down, Khan insists that he wants to build a galactic Federation before subjecting him to the only known method of confirming a man's true intentions, the Vulcanmind meld.

Pushing past Kirk's legendary defences, Spock reads the past of his former captain. Born to simple farmers, Kirk was brought up to know peace and fed a diet of forbidden literature before the sedition was discovered by the Imperial forces. As the farmhouse burnt, Kirk was dragged to areconditioning camp to become a loyal servant of the Terran Empire.

Finding Kirk to be but one of many souls who was warped by the Empire's cruelty, Khan is quick to reach out the man, showing him a collection of books similar to his parents and finally acknowledges Khan as his master and savior.

As Kirk and Khan debate whether a revolution must come from within or without, the former asks again to see Satori before the latter sends him to the bridge. Having seen the whole exchange, Spock emerges from the shadows. Though he does not trust Kirk, the Vulcan notes that Khan trusts them both and yet refuses to tell them what Satori is.

Heeding his second's words, Khan takes the two to the depths ofCeti Alpha V to the cavern where Satori lies. Following, Kirk and Spock find, not a weapon, but a massive library filled to the brim with forbidden literature, amassed by Khan and all those like him and Kirk's parents. Soon, the drones will have finished digitizing all the tomes and the Satori project will be beamed out across the galaxy, a perfect virus that will bring the Empire crumbling down.

Kirk cannot stop himself from breaking down in laughter. The unwashed masses will never see it that way. They live in fear every day. Without even breaking his stride, Kirk orders the orbiting warships to commence an orbital bombardment while sending down forces to eliminate Khan's rebels. As Khan lunges at Kirk, Spock, another spy, quite literally stabs him in the back, revealing that Kirk's "memories" were nothing more than a fabrication.

As he falls, Khan insists that Kirk believed in his cause but the captain scoffs. Reciting Khan's own words back at him, Kirk insists that if one were to peel away the Augment's own self-delusion, they would find nothing but a petty tyrant. As the Terrans beam out and his life's work collapses around him, Khan lies dying, wondering if Kirk was right about him but still clinging to hope that he made a difference and that things will one day get better.

On their new ship, Spock enters Kirk's quarters and questions the memories he saw. Memories that the Vulcan knows were real. Stubbornly dismissing the idea, Kirk orders Spock out.

Now alone, Kirk reaches behind hiscomputer, pulling out a hidden copy ofThe Once and Future King.

References[]

Characters[]

Khan Noonien Singh (mirror) •Spock (mirror) •James T. Kirk (mirror) •Hikaru Sulu (mirror) •Pavel Chekov (mirror) •Janice Rand (mirror) •George Kirk (mirror) •Winona Kirk (mirror)

Referenced only

Emperor of the Terran Empire •Richard Daystrom (mirror) •Montgomery Scott (mirror) •Socrates (mirror) •Surak (mirror) •Guru Nanak (mirror) •Charles Dickens (mirror) •Fyodor Dostoyevsky (mirror) •Ray Bradbury (mirror) •Flint (mirror) •John Milton (mirror)

Starships and vehicles[]

SS Botany Bay •ISSEnterprise

Referenced only

USSDefiant

Locations[]

Earth •Ceti Alpha Five

Referenced only

K7 prison station •reconditioning camp

Races and cultures[]

augment •Andorian •Romulan •Vulcan •Terran

Referenced only

Sikh

States and organizations[]

Terran Empire •Klingon Alliance •Federation

Other references[]

phaser •universe •The Satori Project •shield •commander •captain •political asylum •photon torpedo •Vulcan mind techniques •The Once and Future King •Library

Appendices[]

Images[]

Cover image.

Khan Noonien Singh.

Connections[]

Timeline[]

External link[]

• Hell's Mirror article atMemory Alpha, the wiki for canonStar Trek.