Superior (A Star Trek: Into Darkness Fanfic)

Kaleothron

Alexandra stepped uncertainly out of her quarters dressed in a long hooded cloak the colour of burnt pumpkin pie. The fabric was rough, catching on her fingertips like a fuzzy piece of Velcro. To say that it itched would be an understatement. Underneath its billowing layers she wore her standard uniform as well as a phaser. She found Khan on the bridge in a similar outfit, except in a deep blue.

“So can you please explain more about where we’re going?” Alexandra asked.

Khan spoke while he busily began to prepare the ship for the journey, “It is a planet named Kaleothron known for being a leader in trade in this sector. We are going disguised as Simarlions, who are a group of peaceful yet highly secretive people who make up most of the merchants. This way no one will bother questioning us for being there.”

“And why are we going there?”

“I thought you might want to get off this ship. Now, would you like to fly us there?”

Alexandra doubted this was the truth, but she sat down in one of the command chairs without saying anything and started the warp engines.

Twenty minutes later Khan commented, “You have become an accomplished flier.”

“I learned from the best.” Alexandra muttered sarcastically under her breath.

“Now give me control and I will pull us into dock.” Khan commanded. The girl did so willingly, still not fully confident in her skills.

The planet was fairly similar in appearance to earth in most respects. Much of it was blue with water and pockmarked with continents. The primary difference was that the visible land was a sandy yellow colour seeming from where they hung in space that there was no plant life at all.  

“How do we get down there?” Alexandra asked.

“I can beam us down from in here.” Khan answered as he pushed a small button.

There was a strange tingling sensation in her stomach and the next thing she knew Alexandra was standing in the middle of an empty alleyway. She yelped and spun in a full circle, “What? How did..? Where are we?”

“On the planet.”

The girl shook her head, feeling very confused but knowing to not even bother asking for an explanation. Khan pulled the hood on over his head and she did likewise as they ventured out of the little alley.

Alexandra’s senses were instantly bombarded. She squinted her eyes past the bright sun and saw a rainbow of colors, items, and strange creatures. There were beings with pointed ears, green skin, scales, and all sorts of other deformities. She could hear the chatter of conversations in hundreds of different languages, the sound of instruments, and the shuffling noises of countless of footsteps. Then there were tantalizing scents of a variety of dishes and the less appealing odors of nearby animals.

The girl was awestruck.

Khan came up behind her and murmured, “This is nothing compared to the beauty and splendor of my empire in its time.” Alexandra found this very hard to believe, everything around her was just so vivid and alive, and she couldn’t imagine anything that could surpass it.

They wandered through rows of brightly decorated stalls. Every once in a while they would see another hooded personage who would stop and give them a curt nod, but other than that almost no one spoke to them through the drone of voices.

“Why don’t you go over there to see what that man is selling?” Khan suggested.

Alexandra walked over to a small booth to find it only contained a plethora of silk scarves. They were indeed beautiful, but hardly practical. Refusing the salesman’s offers she confusedly turned back to Khan to see him slip a small parcel in his pocket. “What was that?” she demanded running back to him.