Star Trek: 8 Things You Didn't Know About The Eugenics Wars
3. Earth's Governments Hid Khan's Escape From The Public
When the Eugenics Wars ended in 1996, the governments of the wold sentenced Khan and more than 80 of his fellow supermen to death as war criminals. However, the Augments had disappeared before they could even be arrested. In order to prevent a panic, the governments hid this fact from the general public.
As it turned out, Khan and his followers had acquired a sleeper ship used for deep space missions in the days before warp drive. Khan christened this ship S.S. Botany Bay after the Australian Penal colony. He and his followers fled into space with no particular destination in mind.
Two centuries later, the Botany Bay was encountered by the U.S.S Enterprise. Kirk and his crew revived the hibernating supermen without fully realizing the threat they posed. It wasn't long before the revived Khan led his supporters in an attempt to take control of the Enterprise. Khan eventually thwarted Khan's efforts and exiled him and his supporters to the uninhabited planet Ceti Alpha V.