The Difficulties of Being Evil

The Difficulties of Being Evil
Attribution
Series:	Voyager
Miniseries:	The Adventures of Captain Proton
Author(s):	Craig Gibb
Publication information
Printed:	Strange New Worlds V
Chronology
Date:	1939

"The Difficulties of Being Evil" is the second of seven Voyager short stories published in the Strange New Worlds V anthology. It serves as a chapter in the fictional 20th century Earth science fiction series The Adventures of Captain Proton. Written by Craig Gibb, it was a first-person narrative of the futile life of Doctor Chaotica, doomed to be thwarted again and again by Captain Proton.

Description

Voyages of Imagination

Poor Dr. Chaotica moans about his hardships.

Summary

Chaotica has traveled aboard his galactic cruiser to a planet in the Soltair system. Interrupted by the arrival of Captain Proton's rocket ship, Chaotica orders his crew to shoot it down, and they succeed in disabling it. He has it seized and boarded. Guards bind Captain Proton and Buster Kincaid in their control room.

Since monologuing inevitably leads to defeat, Chaotica resolves not to reveal his nefarious scheme this time. But Proton gets him talking, and Chaotica soon brags about using mind flowers from the planet to build a diabolical weapon capable of mind controlling everyone. Furious at himself, he quickly returns to his cruiser and orders his guards to hurl Proton's ship into the nearby star with a grappling beam. Proton manages to disable the grappler and escape.

Chaotica's cruiser initiates landing procedures, but Proton's ship reappears and starts shooting at it. One of Proton's destructo beam blasts hits Chaotica's death ray mechanism, blowing it up and killing the guard at its controls. Additional shots disable Chaotica's lightning shield and engines. As the cruiser loses helm control, the enraged Chaotica thinks about how difficult the life of an evil genius can be.

References

Characters

Captain Proton • Chaotica • Buster Kincaid

Captain Proton.

Dr. Chaotica.

Buster Kincaid.

Starships and vehicles

Captain Proton's rocket ship • Chaotica's ship (galactic cruiser)

Locations

the galaxy • Soltair system (Soltair planet)

Races and cultures

Human

Science and classification

death ray • destructo beam • docking port • engine • grappling beam • imagizer • light • lightning shield • technology

Ranks and titles

doctor • guard

Other references

bridge • death • headache • inch • life • mind flower • planet • plant • space • sun • system • universe

Appendices

Related media

• VOY episode: "Bride of Chaotica!" – First appearances of Chaotica, Captain Proton, and Buster Kincaid.
• VOY - Star Trek: Explorer short story: "Kill Captain Proton!" – Chaotica possesses a mind control ray.

Background

• Inspired by Chaotica's TV appearance, author Craig Gibb explained, "I wanted to try and get the readers to almost root for him. I tried to flesh out his character a little bit and add that dimension that would hopefully make him more than a stereotypical sci-fi villain, hopefully also encouraging a little sympathy for him." (ST reference: Voyages of Imagination)

Connections

Star Trek: Voyager collected short stories, novellas and short novels
The Amazing Stories	"A Night at Sandrine's" • "When Push Comes to Shove" • "The Space Vortex of Doom"
Distant Shores	"Da Capo al Fine" • "Command Code" • "Winds of Change" • "Talent Night" • "Letting Go" • "Closure" • "The Secret Heart of Zolaluz" • "Isabo's Shirt" • "Brief Candle" • "Eighteen Minutes" • "Or the Tiger" • "Bottomless"
Strange New Worlds	I ("Good Night, Voyager" • "Ambassador at Large" • "Fiction" • "I, Voyager" • "Monthuglu") • II ("A Ribbon for Rosie" • "Touched" • "Almost... But Not Quite" • "The Healing Arts" • "Seventh Heaven") • III ("The Ones Left Behind" • "The Second Star" • "The Monster Hunters" • "Gift of the Mourners") • IV ("Iridium-7-Tetrahydroxate Crystals Are a Girl's Best Friend" • "Uninvited Admirals" • "Return" • "Black Hats" • "Personal Log" • "Welcome Home" • "Shadows, in the Dark") • V ("Final Entry" • "The Difficulties of Being Evil" • "Restoration" • "On the Rocks" • "Witness" • "Fragment" • "Who Cries for Prometheus?") • VI ("Homemade" • "Seven and Seven" • "The End of Night" • "Hidden" • "Widow's Walk") • VII ("Redux" • "The Little Captain" • "I Have Broken the Prime Directive" • "Don't Cry") • 8 ("Transfiguration" • "This Drone" • "Once Upon a Tribble" • "You May Kiss the Bride" • "Coffee with a Friend") • 9 ("Choices" • "Unconventional Cures" • "Maturation") • 10 ("The Fate of Captain Ransom" • "A Taste of Spam" • "Adjustments" • "The Day the Borg Came") • 2016 ("The Last Refuge" • "Life Among the Post-Industrial Barbarians" • "Upon the Brink of Remembrance")
Misc. short stories	"Seduced" • "Bitter Fruit" • "Seven v Seven" • "Retribution" • "Kill Captain Proton!" • "Summer Days Can Last Forever" • "The Kellidian Kidnapping" • "See and Seen"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"In the Queue" • "The Mirror-Scaled Serpent" • "Places of Exile"

Timeline

published order
Previous story: Final Entry	Strange New Worlds V	Next story: Restoration
chronological order
Previous Adventure: The Forgotten and Lost Race Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth	Memory Beta Chronology	Next Adventure: Kill Captain Proton! Star Trek: Explorer
Previous Adventure: Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth	Pocket	Next Adventure: Far Beyond the Stars 1940 chapters