In the meantime
In their continuing effort to maintain a positive credit balance, a Khan arrived at Gorn outpost Gamma XII to become a "magician's assistant". After the airlock opened and Khan stepped out of his shuttle, a pair of Gorn picked Khan up and carried him off to his new boss.
Unsurprisingly, Khan's information had been incorrect. The magician was not human or another humanlike species. He was a Romulan, dressed in (of all things) a grey pinstriped suit with a red necktie. He was extremely tall for a Romulan, more than two full meters in height. The Romulan nodded at the Gorn, who placed Khan on his feet and left the room.
"I'm pleased to see you...you're just in time. My last assistant left rather suddenly. I'm Trem. I perform prestidigitation, a human art which I have been demonstrating for several years at Gorn outposts. They're fascinated by what I do...it's quite lucrative, although keeping in assistants is tough." Trem shrugged, indicating befuddlement.
Khan blinked. "Trem, I have no training in prestidigitation or magic. How am I to be of value to you?"
Trem smiled. It was not a pretty smile. "The Gorn themselves enjoy the show. They're not so much for participating, and they aren't capable of acting surprised. Their range of emotions is rather limited, and that makes for a dull show. I do have a Gorn partner, but he's out on stage right now. He's not much for conversation, so there's no point in introducing you to him prior to your joining the act."
Khan shrugged. "So, when's the next show?"
"In progress!" replied Trem. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll let you know when you're needed."
Khan sat down and fingered his tricorder. It was hard to not feel apprehensive. Gorn were one thing, but their outposts were usually forward sites for invasion fleets. That meant that the staff of the outposts tended to be especially agressive and unpleasant Gorn. His imagination was not good enough to guess why the lizardlike aliens were interested in magic.
Trem popped back into the room. He smiled again, even more widely than before. "We're ready. Come on out to the stage area; I'll call your name in a moment." Khan followed Trem.
From offstage, Khan could watch Trem working the crowd. Trem spoke Gorn, and Khan followed the hissing language through his universal translator. Trem informed the crowd that he and his partner (the translator pronounced the Gorn's name as "Killer", which did not quiet Khan's fears) were ready for the show's big finale. Trem then called for (in Gorn) "My lovely assistant, Khan!" Khan took that as his cue and stepped out on stage.
Killer was small by Gorn standards, and was actually shorter than Trem. He was, amazingly, dressed in a suit identical to Trem's. He was still taller than Khan, of course. Killer was wheeling out a coffinlike box. Trem opened the box, indicating that Khan should hop inside. His head stuck out of a hole in one end, and his feet out of the opposite end.
"And now that you've enjoyed Killer's trick of putting rabbits through a wood chipper, here's his final trick of the night: sawing a man in half!" With that, Trem slammed the lid closed on Khan, locking him in.
Khan looked up at Trem and Killer. Killer was silently hoisting one end of a two man saw. Khan sighed. He hated to be right, when it meant being right like this. "So, this is why your advertisement said 'no experience necessary', right?" Trem smirked, and slotted his end of the saw into the middle of the box. The two 'magicians' began to saw. Khan's hands, inside the box, felt around for his tricorder. He pressed the button that would synchronize his memories with the memories of the Khans on Khanworld, and then gave himself an enormous shot of narcotic painkillers. In a moment the saw would be going through his midsection, and he didn't need the other Khans to remember that part. Moments later, Trem and Killer pushed the box apart, spilling parts of Khan all over the stage to thunderous Gorn applause.
Khan, with his last breath, turned his head to Trem and said, "Starfleet says hi." Trem had an instant to blink, and for shock to begin to spread over his features. As Khan's heart stopped, an electrode triggered a magnetic failure of a containment field on a canister inside Khan's torso. Half a second later, Gorn outpost Gamma XII was obliterated in a matter-antimatter explosion from the photon mini-torpedo installed in Khan by Starfleet Intelligence.
Unsurprisingly, Khan's information had been incorrect. The magician was not human or another humanlike species. He was a Romulan, dressed in (of all things) a grey pinstriped suit with a red necktie. He was extremely tall for a Romulan, more than two full meters in height. The Romulan nodded at the Gorn, who placed Khan on his feet and left the room.
"I'm pleased to see you...you're just in time. My last assistant left rather suddenly. I'm Trem. I perform prestidigitation, a human art which I have been demonstrating for several years at Gorn outposts. They're fascinated by what I do...it's quite lucrative, although keeping in assistants is tough." Trem shrugged, indicating befuddlement.
Khan blinked. "Trem, I have no training in prestidigitation or magic. How am I to be of value to you?"
Trem smiled. It was not a pretty smile. "The Gorn themselves enjoy the show. They're not so much for participating, and they aren't capable of acting surprised. Their range of emotions is rather limited, and that makes for a dull show. I do have a Gorn partner, but he's out on stage right now. He's not much for conversation, so there's no point in introducing you to him prior to your joining the act."
Khan shrugged. "So, when's the next show?"
"In progress!" replied Trem. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll let you know when you're needed."
Khan sat down and fingered his tricorder. It was hard to not feel apprehensive. Gorn were one thing, but their outposts were usually forward sites for invasion fleets. That meant that the staff of the outposts tended to be especially agressive and unpleasant Gorn. His imagination was not good enough to guess why the lizardlike aliens were interested in magic.
Trem popped back into the room. He smiled again, even more widely than before. "We're ready. Come on out to the stage area; I'll call your name in a moment." Khan followed Trem.
From offstage, Khan could watch Trem working the crowd. Trem spoke Gorn, and Khan followed the hissing language through his universal translator. Trem informed the crowd that he and his partner (the translator pronounced the Gorn's name as "Killer", which did not quiet Khan's fears) were ready for the show's big finale. Trem then called for (in Gorn) "My lovely assistant, Khan!" Khan took that as his cue and stepped out on stage.
Killer was small by Gorn standards, and was actually shorter than Trem. He was, amazingly, dressed in a suit identical to Trem's. He was still taller than Khan, of course. Killer was wheeling out a coffinlike box. Trem opened the box, indicating that Khan should hop inside. His head stuck out of a hole in one end, and his feet out of the opposite end.
"And now that you've enjoyed Killer's trick of putting rabbits through a wood chipper, here's his final trick of the night: sawing a man in half!" With that, Trem slammed the lid closed on Khan, locking him in.
Khan looked up at Trem and Killer. Killer was silently hoisting one end of a two man saw. Khan sighed. He hated to be right, when it meant being right like this. "So, this is why your advertisement said 'no experience necessary', right?" Trem smirked, and slotted his end of the saw into the middle of the box. The two 'magicians' began to saw. Khan's hands, inside the box, felt around for his tricorder. He pressed the button that would synchronize his memories with the memories of the Khans on Khanworld, and then gave himself an enormous shot of narcotic painkillers. In a moment the saw would be going through his midsection, and he didn't need the other Khans to remember that part. Moments later, Trem and Killer pushed the box apart, spilling parts of Khan all over the stage to thunderous Gorn applause.
Khan, with his last breath, turned his head to Trem and said, "Starfleet says hi." Trem had an instant to blink, and for shock to begin to spread over his features. As Khan's heart stopped, an electrode triggered a magnetic failure of a containment field on a canister inside Khan's torso. Half a second later, Gorn outpost Gamma XII was obliterated in a matter-antimatter explosion from the photon mini-torpedo installed in Khan by Starfleet Intelligence.