For the Empire
Posted on Wed Dec 20th, 2017 @ 7:25pm by
Edited on on Thu May 31st, 2018 @ 9:56pm
1,116 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Enemy Within
Location: Mess
Timeline: MD003 1130 hrs
Tags: SD 71375.1130
B’tak entered the mess. She had spent the morning observing a few of the Engineering Enlisted. She was pleased with their performance. While she had been there she had caught sight of the Chief Engineer. She had been aware of another Klingon aboard, but hadn’t had a chance to greet him. Ordering blood pie for her lunch, and an antacid, Curse this half human stomach. she made her way towards a table only to notice that Thalk was seated in the corner of the room. She made her way to the table,
“Qapla, Thalk son of Valk.”
Thalk unsuccessfully attempted to ignore decades of ingrained conditioning. "Qapla, Master Chief." He sipped his coffee, a taste he'd chosen to acquire while working on Earth, while gesturing to the seat across from him. "Sit. Tell me how I can be of use to you."
B’tak sat and took a bite of the blood pie. Not quite the way that she liked it, but she wasn’t about to complain.
“It is not often that I see another Klingon in the fleet. I thought I might ask your opinion of this ship and her crew. As a Klingon.”
"She's a well equipped vessel. I've not yet spoken at length with the rest of the officers, but my crewmen are competent. Commander Malbrooke seems an honest man who lets his team do their duties as they see fit."
The engineer didn't think being Klingon was relevant to those assessments, but he didn't care to turn casual conversation into heated debate. "What are your assessments, as a Klingon?"
Perhaps she was imagining it. But he sounded more human than she would have expected.
“I think that it is both from a Klingon perspective, but also as a Marine. I find that they do not seem prepared for battle. This region is still dangerous, and yet they are relaxed.”
For a brief second, she reminded Thalk of Toril. He wondered if she'd die as valiantly, in the name of some grand cause.
"We aren't soldiers. This, thankfully, isn't a warship. The most dangerous enemy we'll face is astral weather." His tone, unfortunately, gave away the fact that he was trying to convince himself as much as her.
She detected a note of something in his voice. Did he say "thankfully" not a warship?
"Well Lieutenant, we can perhaps hope for something a little more honor worthy than astral weather."
She took another bite of the pie and glanced back over the Klingon engineer. There was something different about this one.
"What would be more honorable? If we were sent on what we were told was a routine patrol, but was in fact a clandestine and unapproved reconnaissance mission that resulted in the death of everyone on board, would that be more honorable than the odd solar flare?"
Well, it looked like he was going to have this conversation after all.
She looked across at the man, a little more than shocked.
"Perhaps, or perhaps a battle in which we can defend our fellows in honorable combat. Do you not wish the same. Do you not long for the final days in Sto-vo-kor? Honor, duty, we are warriors first and Engineers, or commanders second."
She was feeling the blood begin to rise, but her human side started to assert itself a little more. She made a gesture to forestall a response and added,
"At least as long as that does not conflict with our duty to Starfleet."
He'd heard this before; having left the Empire, he found it easiest to simply ignore Klingons spouting traditionalist philosophy. A crewmate, however, deserved honesty.
"I will speak to you not as a Klingon or a soldier, as those things have little use to me now. I will speak to you as a shipmate, a title I hold in high esteem."
He breathed, and allowed himself to relax into his words. He readied himself for the impact they always had on him.
"Toril, Daughter of Travas, was the finest soldier and tactical officer the Empire ever produced, and was everything you hold as Klingon. She died honorably, for nothing. I built the guns she commanded myself. There were none finer, but every day I wonder if I could have given her an edge against those impossible odds. She was the beacon that guided me forward, and she was snuffed out for nothing. If I accept that she has gone to Sto-vo-kor- and I must, for my sanity if nothing else- I must also accept that those responsible for her death, those gave the orders, are there as well. I cannot bring myself to face her in my failure, and I cannot stand to see the men that took her from me fight by her side even after death. They do not deserve the honor."
He spoke with Klingon resolve, a very un-Klingon catch in his voice, and pain in his very core: "I have no desire to see any of them again. I wish her every bloody victory she could dream of; I am done with it."
Her fork hung, forgotten in air as he spoke. The measured response, the hint of pain in his voice. She sat silent, unmoving. The weight of what he carried was clear, and it was in this moment that she felt most her human side. She had fought her whole life to be Klingon, and here was a man that was Klingon, full blooded Klingon, and he was trying to shed the life that she was trying to live.
She set her fork down and pushed aside the plate in front of her. There were no words that she could muster. No way of explaining that she simultaneously understood his decision, and hated it at the same time. She stood and pounded her fist to her chest, a salute to his Klingon side, and placed a hand on his shoulder, a comfort to the pain that he felt.
Her voice cracking she said simply,
"I understand."
He felt every muscle in his body shudder, briefly. The calm demeanor he relied on when warp cores we're about to explode returned. He stood, gently shrugging her arm off his shoulder.
"I'll forward you our personnel records, if you're interested. Good, Klingon reading. We were something, that lifetime ago. If you'll excuse me, I should return to my duties."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Thalk
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Pioneer
Command Master Chief Petty Officer B'tak Williams
Chief of the Boat, USS Pioneer
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