This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to Star Trek Con. Episode 8, Original Sin. Historian's Log, Dr. Rosalind Lear, continued. During the five-year period between the death of Lieutenant MacGyvers and the intended launch of the rescue ship, the recordings I've found are inconsistent at best. Although dozens remain to be transcribed, the few I've reviewed from this period indicate the following. The alliance between Khan and Del Monde seems to have held. Following Ivan's banishment and assumed death, relations between the two species clearly improved. The best evidence to support this being that construction of the ship was completed slightly ahead of schedule. Reference tape CA5-47-31M and CA5-49-2P. By the time the ship was ready to launch, both the Augments and the Alborians were barely surviving underground on subsistence rations in the caverns near the Sunless Sea, which had almost dried up. Reference tape CA5-39-17U. At least eight augments had succumbed to malnutrition. The only resident who was spared restrictions of food and water was Kali, Kahn and MacGyver's daughter. Her caregiving responsibilities fell to Mado, although Kahn seems to have been a constant presence in her life. Clearly, Kali inherited at least some of his augmented genes, as by the age of five, her development in terms of language and emotional maturity was consistent with a child twice that age. Wait, where is that one? Go on, Carly. I'm still recording. The shadow of the Dome of Pleasure floated midway on the waves. And what was heard there? Oh, Daddy, I hate Coleridge. Can we do more Shakespeare? Has Madobe been allowing you to read for pleasure again? This will not do. Your mother, the Lady Marla, believes Samuel Taylor Coleridge to be the pinnacle of romantic poetry. That's it. Reference tape CA5-53-12K. And somewhere in here... There it is. Tape CA5-61-3P tells us that Paolo, Camora, Joachim, and Del Manda were selected to attempt the rescue mission. Until I'm able to... Computer pause. Dr. Lear, I have received new orders from Starfleet Command. May I tell them that your mission is complete and we are ready to depart, City Alpha 5? We are not. How much more time can I have? How much more time do you need? I will update you shortly. Very well. Sulu out. Where was I? Right. Computer, resume. the crew had been selected. Apparently, just before the launch, the others, including Khan and Kali, would be leaving the caves and returning to whatever was left of their old camp on the surface. Conditions were understood to be terrible up there, but survival underground would not be possible following the launch. Among the many questions that remained, the most pressing include... Um... Include a computer to stop recording. Doesn't matter. I'm out of time! I failed! No, no, no! Just keep going. Computer, search time references for all entries between Day of Exile 1800 and 1900. Play the last entry. Where was I? Gates, wasn't it? Things fall apart. The center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. What did you see, my friend? When did you first glimpse eternity's true form? Slouching toward Bethlehem to be born. No, reborn, as I have been. Computer, pause final entry. Play all 16 in order, earliest to latest. Good evening, Ursula. It's almost Callie's bedtime and I'm still packing her things. I doubt she'll sleep much. Tomorrow brings change, and that is one thing Khan's daughter cannot abide. She can be so like him, but she will learn. I will teach her to be unafraid. Like you. I don't know if you will ever want to listen to these recordings I keep making for you. I don't know why I still do it. You've made it clear every day since Kali was born that what we once had is gone forever. No one can ever replace what we lost. But I think if you let yourself get closer to Kali, you will see, as I have, that our hearts can hold so many kinds of love. Give me that. It needs to go back in your bag. It's mine. Daddy gave the complete works of William Shakespeare to me for my last birthday. Mm-hmm. And you don't want it left behind, do you? Is my little goddess asleep? Quickly. To bed. Go, go, go, go. Where is my... Ah. She sleeps. She does. Whatever you do, don't wake her. But I must. Must you? Yes, yes. You see, I was tickling her earlier. And we were interrupted. Oh, no. Yes. She hasn't received a full day's ration of tickles yet. Well, we can't have that, can we? We cannot! Do you yield? Stop! Daddy, stop! Do you yield? Never! Daddy! I can't breathe! Where is Delmanda? He promised to read me my bedtime story tonight. I'm sorry, my love, but there can be no stories tonight. But, Daddy! You must close your eyes and fall asleep immediately. Because tomorrow... We launch the good ship Venture. It's still not too late to change the name. I chose that name because the great William Shakespeare based many of his shipwrecks. Including my favorite, As I Like It. As you like it. That's what I said. On the sinking of the Sea Venture in 1609 off the coast of Bermuda. Very good. But that play was written in 1599. He based the shipwreck in the Tempest on the loss of the Sea Venture. It's called Poetic License, Daddy. You are so like your mother. She enjoyed nothing so much as proving me wrong. Medo says that after tomorrow we will be living in Mommy's old cargo pod, and that there is a secret compartment built into the wall where I can hide all of my most precious things. Daddy, am I going to like it on the surface? I don't know. Would you rather stay here in our cave? I can't. None of us can. We're going to blow it up. After the ship leaves, all of this will be a huge pile of rocks. Well, if you can't stay here and you don't wish to go to the surface, perhaps we might find an alternative. Let me think on it, little goddess. Khan, what are you... I already have. I think I'm just going to have to be brave. We must both be brave. Sleep well and dream of the stately pleasure gems we shall build when we find our new home. Ugh, more Coleridge? Kiss your father goodnight, Scully. Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight. To be continued The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End Make way for Khan and Delmanda! The End I thought we agreed that all of our people would gather tonight. All who are physically able are present, Khan. and calm. But where is Kali? It's a bedtime. Tomorrow is a big day. I promise to bid her farewell in person. I will bring her your regrets. Yes. My friends, my brothers and sisters, human and Elborian alike, after five difficult years, after overcoming impossible obstacles, we stand before you now on the eve of triumph. That's right. That's right. It's all right. Save your strength. You'll need it in a few hours, when you begin your journey back to the surface. Delmonda, will you be so good as to walk us through the logistics one more time? Of course, but first, I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of you. The Venture, the vessel we have constructed together that sits before you now, will launch in 19 hours. She will travel the first 40 kilometers of her journey in a matter of minutes to the far end of this cavern where the explosives we have set will detonate, collapsing the wall and granting her access to the sky. We have done this to protect the ship and our living space until the last possible moment from the treacherous conditions of SETI Alpha 5's surface. And as you know, when that moment comes, we must all be far from here. The detonation will destabilize the entire cave system that has been our home and haven these many years, causing it to collapse. The timing is most critical, as the launch has been scheduled to take full advantage of a brief window that will open in the upper atmosphere at the same time, allowing the venture to safely escape the debris field that surrounds our world. Any delay would doom our efforts. For those who remain behind, your exodus will begin in ten hours. From the surface, you will maintain radio contact with the Venture's crew until they clear the star system and activate the spatial compression drive. They will travel to the next inhabited star system and seek help. From anyone but Starfleet. Starfleet has demonstrated in their failure to check our progress over the last five years, their callous indifference to us. Indeed, I cannot be certain that Captain James T. Kerb did not intentionally leave us on what he knew was a doomed world. We expect our crew to return with ships capable of rescuing all of us in no more than six months. I have asked Paolo to monitor the radio we have installed on the surface. He and Ursula are already waiting for you in what is left of our old camp, and are prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Khan, what are you talking about? We did not agree to leave Paolo behind. And now, all that is left is for us to name the brave crew who will undertake this mission. The Venture will be helmed by my champion, Yorke. Navigation and operation of the spatial compression drive will fall to Kimora, the brilliant engineer who designed the Venture systems. The other two positions are communications and command. I had intended to ask Delmonda to lead the crew, but I have also seen how vital Delmonda's leadership among the Pandem is to their continued health and welfare. It would be cruel to separate them. This is not what we agreed to, my friend. Our mission must succeed, and I am the only one who can be trusted to see this most critical mission through to its end. I, Kahn, will lead the crew to the stars and back, and by my side, as a passenger, will be my beloved daughter, Kali. We will depart the surface as scheduled tomorrow, and we'll return as promised, to rescue you all. Khan, we must speak privately, now. Khan! Khan! Khan! Khan! Khan! M-Mado? Yes, my little love. You know I can't sleep without hearing it. My darling, your mother's tapes and logs are already packed. I could sing it for you. Please? Very well. But just this once. Mado? My lord? Are her things packed? Of course. In a few hours, once the launch cabin is empty, I want you to place all of Kali's things on the venture. She's not getting on that ship. I've just told the others. I will be leading the rescue mission tomorrow, and I am taking her with me. Can't, you can't. Without you here, what will the rest of us do? Ursula will lead our people in my absence. Does she know this? She does. I expect the two of you to set your differences aside and work together as you once did. But why this sudden change? Delmonte told Carly only yesterday that you had decided he, Joachim, Camora, and Paolo would crew the venture. I have spoken. It is for the good of all. Yes, my lord. The last of the supplies are stored and inventoried. Go ahead. Give it to me straight. The current levels of food, ration packs, and potable water, 196 personnel can be sustained for 37 days. Oh. That's not gonna be long enough. Here's your dinner. I'll start up the burner and boil some water. What is it tonight? And don't say- Beef stroganoff. Oh, damn it. Oh, get a grip, Ursula. You have been unbearable ever since we left the caves. Five years. Thousands of hours of work. Khan doesn't explain himself to mere mortals. Surely you've learned that by now. I know where every single bolt and circuit and relay and panel on that ship is located and exactly what to do if one of them fails. You've been sleeping with the Elb Engineer. Leave Kimura out of this. He let me spend all this time working harder than anyone. Going without sleep, without rations. all because I knew that when this day came, Kimora and I would be leaving this place behind. This is my only chance. You should be grateful he's sending Kimora. Why? Why? What's going to happen to the Elborians after tomorrow? You did the math yourself, Paolo. We don't have enough rations left to feed half the people who are about to start streaming into this camp. We barely have enough for our own people. What? We're one people now. Brothers and sisters. We'll share, won't we? Ursula, won't we? Check the radio. Make sure its power cells are fully charged. Ursula, answer me! And find me another one of those haters. It's still freezing in here. You don't actually think the pandemic is just going to go peacefully, do you? They are pacifists, and it's not like they haven't made similar sacrifices in the past. None of those people survived. And they're not strong like they used to be. Every time one of them dies, it's like part of the entire pandemic dies too. Most of them can't even move things with their minds anymore, even as a group. They're weak. They're starving, and... They're the only reason we have a chance of leaving this planet. This is how you repay them? I'm not in charge yet. You want to complain? Take it up with Khan. I hate this place. Joachim, when do you have to report back? Pre-launch begins in a few hours, Erica. Are you hungry? I saved a few extra rations for you. I know it's forbidden, but I don't care. I think I'm too nervous to eat. Oh. But you were right Of course I will need all of my strength for tomorrow Have you seen Hassan today He didn show up for ration call yesterday or the day before I'll ask Khan to send someone to look for him. He will know what to do. I knew he would choose you to fly the ship. We all did. I just wish I knew how long you'll be gone. Hey, this isn't goodbye. It's... until we meet again. Which will be very soon. Promise? With all my heart. I have something for you. It's not really a necessity, but I thought you would want it. Here. Khan's Blade? But it was spent by the Elborians the day of the battle. And I have worked secretly every day for the last five years to straighten it for you. It's perfect. It looks just as it did the day Khan gave it to me. My love. Thank you. Name the pointy end at whatever you want to kill and give it all you've got. I will miss you so much. Promise me you'll keep it safe. Promise me you'll bring it back. You have my word as Khan's champion. The starship Venture. She is beautiful, isn't she? Everything you told me she would be and more. When did you decide to lead the rescue mission? Not long after our alliance began. The first time I held Carly in my arms, I saw her future as clearly as if it were already written before my eyes. I knew then exactly what I had to do. And why did you not make your intentions clear then? You might have refused to build me my ship. In the earliest days, just after the death of your beloved wife, I understood your inability to be open. But I have never failed to honor our alliance, and I have never lied to you. And I have never lied to you. Withholding thoughts, intentions, allowing you to believe what you would without correction, those are not lies. I am now as I have ever been. I am still the man you first met on that field of battle, the day you humiliated me and my people with an awe-inspiring display of power. Were you surprised we did not simply fall to our knees and worship you as gods every day thereafter? We are not gods and have never desired anything of you beyond the opportunity to be of service. But that's the problem. The mystery that five years of toilings has yet to solve. Why would any people, gifted as you are with enormous power, lower yourselves to the level of weaker creatures? Always with you. When confronted with states of being, you cannot access humility, selflessness, grace. The imagination fails. Leave my wife out of this. I suppose that the day I touched her mind, I inherited her faith in you. I cannot help but think that had she lived, things would have been different. It no longer matters. Tomorrow, Kali and I will leave this world forever. Have no fear for Kimura. He will be well treated as long as he follows my orders. And the rest of our people will die here. All men die. It matters not where. Only what they do before that moment comes. When I left Earth, my path was clear. Find a new world and build the paradise we were denied there. An empire that would stand for a thousand years. But you didn't leave by choice. You were driven from Earth just as we were driven from Elboria, under threat of violence. Who told you that? Kali. But I should have heard that story from you. I grieved for you, for the fact that it only served to fortify the walls around your mine. You missed the obvious lesson, Khan. We might have bonded over our shared experiences. Or you might have decided that we weren't worth saving. There is nothing any of us can do to make ourselves worthy of the generosity of others. The only task is to recognize that we already are. We are all one. Words. Lovely ones, but just words. Words that have been coupled with actions that should long ago have settled your doubts. But I do doubt, my old friend. Then allow me to lay all of your doubts to rest. I know all that I need know of you. You don't. And now that I know that after tomorrow you and I shall never meet again, this is the only chance I have to clear my conscience. Nothing you can say will change the course before us now. I have spoken. Our people have accepted it. There can be no acceptance in the absence of truth. Your walls have remained intact for far too long. Permit me to apologize in entrance. No. Stop! No! No! No! Containment failed. Breach imminent. Shut it down. Sixth planet within dispersal range. Catastrophic destabilization will occur. There is an alternative. Sixth planet inhabitable. Now do you see? You. You were responsible for the destruction of SETI Alpha 6. Your ship. At its heart, a generator capable of creating and destroying subatomic particles so complex that smashing them against one another releases enough power to bend space and time. But when it loses containment, as it did when we entered this system, Those unthinkable energies are dispersed and propagated at the ship's forward ports. It was not a natural occurrence. And not an accident. It was a conscious choice. My choice. Though the Pandem consented. Had we shut down the drive to avoid the breach, we would have been stranded in the void of space, unable to seek assistance, and unlikely to find it. You chose the system. You wished to land on Seti Alpha 5 to make repairs. A sin for which I and my people have atoned daily ever since. It was not fate. It was not eternity's design. It was you who destroyed my world. Rufia! Perhaps you see now why I chose to withhold this truth. I see only the face of my enemy. Daddy, no! Kali? Leave us. No! Don't hurt Delmanda, Daddy. He is my friend. Be not afraid, Kali. I am uninjured. Let me help you, Delmanda. Kali, get away from him. Come to me, my child. There. Can you sit up? Yes. Thank you. Would you like some water? I can get it for you. Kali, I command you to come to me. Oh, Daddy, that's your angry face. I don't like it. I have a surprise for you, my love. I told Delmonda that you were worried you might not like going to the surface, and together we have made a decision. Tomorrow, you and I shall take the venture and leave this planet forever. You mean for six months to find help? Of course. For six months, whatever it takes. You should say sorry to Delmonda, Daddy, and ask him to come with us. But I cannot. Delmonda cannot bear to part with his people. They are united in a deep and powerful way. It would be far too much to ask of him. But you said we were all united. One people. And I don't want to say goodbye to him. Kali, listen to me. The space between us matters not. We will never be parted. That is the nature of our fandom. Go with your father now. Tomorrow is a big day. I offer you my thanks, Delmonda, for the insight you have shared with me. Let us part as friends. I have been and always shall be yours, Khan. Oh my God Lieutenant Marla MacGyver USS Enterprise Huh. So this is where you hid your... I remember you. What did you call this thing? A taser? A phaser? I'd still be good for a shot or two. Ursula? Ursula, are you there? I'm here. Is that you, Mado? Yes. What are you doing on the ship? Khan ordered me to put Kali's things on board. He's taking her from me. I know. I'm sorry. And you didn't tell me? When would I have had the chance? ever since Kali was born, you spend every moment, night and day with her. A child needed a mother. And I needed my partner. You got what you wanted, a child to love, and you left me... Ursula, what's happening? Khan says you will be in command now. He says he wants to lead the rescue. Something about making sure Starfleet isn't contacted. And he's told me to restrict our rations to augments only. He says the Elbs will accept this, but I'm not so sure. We must stop him. How? There was a time I thought that ship sailed when he banished Ivan. I don't even hate him anymore. I almost pity him. What can we do? Play the hand we've been dealt as best we can. Until we die. Ursula. I have missed you, you know. Me too. I never wished you ill. I never blamed you. And seeing you so happy with Kali, that was something at least. Palo's back. I'll see you tomorrow. Get in here, Paolo. What the... Hello, my Tsef-Doc. Ivan? Sensor's reading fine. Lear to Captain Sulu. Go ahead, Doctor. I thought you'd like to know that I have confirmed the accuracy of Mr. Spock's scans. Kirk could not have known that SETI Alpha 6 would destabilize when it did. He did not intentionally send Khan to his death. I owe you an apology. Clearly, my own biases caused me to rush to judgment. I've already forwarded a letter to my university and to the Resource Allocation Committee amending my petition. and including the documentation clearing Kirk's name of any suspicion. Are we done here? Almost. If I might have a few more hours. You may. We will break orbit in the morning. Thank you, Captain. Lear out. Ensign Tuvok, I don't think your duty shift starts for another six hours. It does not. I do, however, have a time-sensitive request to make. Go ahead. I need to run a Level 9 sensor sweep of SETI Alpha 5. Why? You are familiar, no doubt, with the hypothetical spatial compression drive. I remember Starfleet designing a few prototypes, but they were never as powerful as our deuterium engines and far less reliable. That's because no materials dense enough to create a stable particle generator have ever existed on Earth. You believe they exist here? I believe they were brought here long ago. and used to build a small craft. It is my suspicion that this craft or its wreckage might still exist. It would be long buried, but our senses should still detect it. Ensign Latimer, go ahead and run Tuvok's Level 9 sweep. Aye, sir. How much wreckage are we talking about? Very little. The ship could carry no more than four passengers. When did this happen? Twenty-one years ago. You mean, after Khan and his people were exiled here? Scan complete. No wreckage was detected. Tuvok, if anyone else made contact with Khan or his people before the Reliant, I need to know about it. If the ship didn't crash, then that means... Ensign? I apologize, Captain. I assure you, all of the information you require will be found in my final report. What the hell is that? Unauthorized transport, Captain. Dr. Lear's gone back to the surface of SETI Alpha 5. Hail her! She's not responding. If I may, Captain, please allow me to retrieve her personally. Very well, but make it quick. Thank you, sir. And I want that report on my desk before we depart the system. First thing in the morning. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. and Roddenberry Entertainment. Production by Realm. Directed by Fred Greenhalgh. Executive Producers for Secret Hideout, Alex Kurtzman and Aaron Byers. Executive Producer, Kirsten Byer. Executive Producers for Roddenberry Entertainment. Eugene Roddenberry and Trevor Roth. Executive Producers for Realm. Molly Barton, Carly Migliore and Fred Greenhalgh. Co-Executive Producer, Robin Johnson. Co-Producer, Greer Mathiat. This podcast is based upon Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. Starring Naveen Andrews as Khan. Ren Schmidt as Lieutenant Marla MacGyvers. Sonia Cassidy as Dr. Rosalind Lear. Tim Russ as Ensign Tuvok. And George Takei as Captain Sulu. Also starring Oli Haskovi, Maury Sterling, Mercy Malik, Zari Washington. with additional voices by Fajar Alcasi, Hayden Bishop, Paul Castro Jr., Chad Chennai, Ethan Dubin, Aaron Fors, Juan Francisco Villa, Juliet Golia, Aaron Hendry, Cynthia Hood, Tina Ivlev, Adriel Jovianneris-Riviera, Alina Khan, Jacqueline Jackson, Jeremy Maxwell, Christina Oates, Hamish Sturgeon, Regina Dauphin, Maxwell Whittington Cooper. Casting by Meg Moorman CSA and Sunday Bowling Kennedy CSA. Looping group casting by Barbara Harris. Sound design and mixing by Daniel Brunel. Additional sound design by Jonathan Roberts. Original score by Marcus Thorne Bagala and Sam Bagala. Production manager, Devin Shepard. Production coordinator, Chad Shunai. Additional writing by Mac Rogers. Dialogue editing by Gordon Bramley. Original song, You'll Be With Me, written and performed by Lisa Carbe and Jean-Pierre Duran. recorded at Mark Krause Studios, The Invisible Studios, Real Voice LA, Adrenaline Studios, and City Vox, New York. This podcast was recorded under a SAG-AFTRA agreement. Copyright 2025 CBS Studios, Inc. All rights reserved. This program is protected under the laws of the United States of America and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution. Star Trek and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. you
