Questions, Comments, Rude Remarks

Posted on Fri May 22nd, 2015 @ 5:02pm by Lieutenant Commander Kh'ali & Commander Patrick Leroy & Ignatius Reilly
Edited on on Fri May 22nd, 2015 @ 5:08pm

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Patrick & Kh'ali's Quarters

* * * Patrick & Kh’ali’s Quarters * * *

Following Q’Vahn’s unceremonious departure from the conference room, Kh’ali herself had stormed out, leaving a very concerned Lt. Dobry and Ensign Aure’l in her wake. Now, she was home and once she was satisfied that Iggy and the baby were entertaining each other in the bedroom, she began to pace. What she really wanted was to break something...several things, starting with Q’Vahn’s neck and proceeding down from there. She wasn’t sure what to do first. Roctan was on her list to see but that should wait until her Klingon blood had settled some, and that might take a while. A long, low growl escaped her and she gave in, taking a swing. The victim of that swing was a large vase that had been a gift from Patrick’s parents.

Well...shit….

The next thing to go was a framed picture on the wall. It didn’t stand a chance but then Kh’ali had never liked it much anyway. She knew she really should settle down but that woman had really pushed every button Kh’ali possessed and she knew it. She considered calling Patrick but he was still standing in for Admiral Wegener and likely had a lot to do.

The large overstuffed chair was the next object of Kh’ali’s ire and it flipped over neatly, rolling to rest against the wall. What finally stopped her was a little voice in her head. Iggy.

Please do not crush me. I would not appreciate that. Nor would Oz. Chance might, however, lately I have annoyed him. Not like this female has annoyed you, though. Things being tossed about worried the arachnid, for all the obvious reasons.

“I could kill her without a second thought, Iggy,” Kh’ali growled. “I wish you were bigger..you could just eat her and solve my problem.” The vase of fresh flowers that Patrick had brought caught her eye but for the moment, they escaped certain death.

I could bite her. You would need to hold her down, though, lest she fight back, Iggy's voice was quiet. Could you not duplicate her on the holodeck and kill her there? Oz does that. She tells me she often kills Darwin there.

“Not good enough, I’m afraid.” Kh’ali turned to see Iggy through the door to the bedroom. “You should be okay there.” A book she’d been reading was hurled at the far wall and now Kh’ali was glad her d’k tahg wasn’t handy. “I cannot believe her! Do you know she had the nerve to call Patrick a weakling? And the baby a bastard?” The words brought her slowly settling rage back to full boil again.

You say 'bastard' as if that is a bad thing. I do not understand why it is a bad word, though. Oralia has called Jackson that... Usually she calls him a fucking bastard while they are in bed. Darwin says that is a bad word and I should not use it. Your mate, however, cannot be a weakling. He mated with you and his sperm were strong enough to help create our infant. Perhaps this woman is unaware of what these words mean.

“Iggy! Arrgh!” Kh’ali pressed her hands to her forehead. “Please!” But now she started to laugh. “The last thing I need is to know what Oz and Jackson do in bed. And I think I’ll skip telling Patrick you were discussing his...yeah...alrighty then. As for this woman, she knows exactly what they mean, unfortunately. Klingon tradition is somewhat….formal, Iggy. She’s made lots of threats.”

You are strong. You are an Alpha female. You have access to airlocks, just as Oralia does. Threaten her back. Iggy didn't really know what the threat involving an airlock meant, but she'd heard several people make it. It sounded unpleasant.

“It’s tempting Iggy, but some would consider that murder...unless she challenged me. It does bear consideration though. I am concerned, to be honest, that D’Veidh may be in danger.”

Though Kh'ali was in the other room and Iggy had no one but the little boy to witness her reaction, Iggy bristled and hissed loudly. Any who wish to harm him will face me first, said the arachnid who was just afraid of furniture being tossed in another room. If you wish me to, I could wrap him in silk and hang him safely in an airshaft. I know they are safe.

Iggy’s words gave Kh’ali pause. “You know, I can’t believe I am saying this but if things turn bad, that’s a decent idea.” She sighed aloud and dropped down on the sofa with a grumble. “Just be on your guard. How far away can I be and you still reach me mentally?”

I do not know. I do not understand distance the same way bipeds do. I cannot reach Oralia or Li now. I cannot reach Chance or Eli either. But where are they? To me, they are very very far away.

“Eli was in my office this morning for his usual check-in until his paperwork is done. He said he would be in the computer labs which are quite a few decks away from here, at least a hundred.” She brushed back her hair and considered the options. “Patrick can set up a comm badge. All you have to do is press it and it will beep me. Would that work?”

Yes. The green woman recently measured me. She said she was working on a project to help me, like Patrick's. For now, I can press a button. Iggy's mental voice had gotten soft again. D'veidh is wet. He will become loud in another twenty seconds.

“Coming.” Kh’ali rose and hurried into the bedroom. “Patrick will be in soon too, so stay long enough to say hello?”

I am at your service and will stay till Chance comes to get me, Iggy crowed, happy that she was of service.

* * *

Kh’ali surveyed the wreckage of the living room, then shrugged it off. She really needed to find out just what was going on back home and so, she stepped over the broken picture frame and sat down at the desk. Opening a channel to Qo’nos, she summoned the man who could shed some real light on this whole mess….her father.

It took a bit to establish the connection due to distance but then the familiar face of her father appeared on the screen. His look was severe as she had always known him his bushy brows had began taking on a white color though as his well-kept goatee. A heavy scar on his forehead ran from scalp to the left brow, memento of an old battle he fought as a young warrior. He could have had it fixed even with klingon lesser medical technology but he had always refused such treatment, for the only medals a warrior deserves to wear are the scars of his battles. As he used to say…

“Qaplà, daughter. It’s most unusual for you calling me like this… I hope that you are well as also little D’Veidh and your mate, Patrick.”

‘They are fine, my father.” She took a breath as she gripped the edge of the desk. “But tell me, is your brother overly attached to that veQ he calls a daughter??”

“I think he is as much as I am to you.” Torin replied then his bushy brows furrowed “I hear a rage mounting in your voice. Tell me what happened.”

“You should see the wreckage of these quarters.” Kh’ali sighed. “Threats of all sorts. She started with insulting Patrick, calling D’Veidh a bastard, threats to my place in the family...and that is the short list. She ended by suggesting I simply renounce my family and quietly disappear.”

Torin breathed deeply before responding “I understand. Rumours reached my ears of her rantings about this. She’s been going on a while now, but never overtly at least here in Qo’nos. When I chose to marry your mother she had to undergo the formal wedding and do all the necessary things required to be accepted by the mistress of House Martok. This was necessary because she was entering our house as a bride.”

He paused then as if recollecting some pleasant memory then he looked again to Kh’ali “No matter what they say you’re not forced to do such a thing because you chose your mate outside the House… Still not everything Q’Vahn says is a lie. Martok is the Chancellor at the moment and members of our house have to stand out. Surely there are ears ready to listen to Q’Vahn’s slander and willing to back her up. You will never be diminished in my eyes but you could be damaged ‘politically’...”

His words hit Kh’ali like a sledge hammer. “I see…” she said, her voice quiet. “So if this gets worse...what? I have to choose?”

A rueful smile lined her father’s lips “From your very first bloodied nose you’ve been a true klingon to me even if I knew that your origin would have paved a difficult road in front of you. Now you’re a grown woman. You have but two options: Q’Vahn is dishonoring you. Challenge her to mortal combat and then deal with the consequences or come to Qo’nos and make your position regular and irreproachable by Q’Vahn’s lackeys.”

He paused again to let Kh’ali assimilate his words.

“If you’re not interested in all this petty intrigue and know that your life will always be elsewhere, ignore Q’Vahn and let her have her way.”

Kh’ali’s eyebrows shot up. “But there is no honor in that, father. That would be giving up.”

A knowingly smile appeared on Torin’s mouth “Then you have your answer, I think.”

Kh’ali was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded. “I cannot be on Qo’nos to stay, you know that. So yes. I suppose I do have my answer.”

“What are you saying? And what’s happened here?” Patrick’s voice reached her from behind. Concentrated in her thoughts she hadn’t heard the doors swishing.

Patrick! Iggy greeted the male from where she was near the baby's cradle. She raised two legs in a wave; two others were rocking the cradle.

Kh’ali looked up from the terminal, wondering which to address first. “I need to go, We’ll talk later tonight,” she said to Torin, then closed the channel. “Umm...welcome home?”

“Would be appropriate… For yesterday when this was still a ‘home’," Patrick responded looking around at the picture smashed and the pieces of the vase.

“The vase…” he muttered with a helpless look thinking how to justify its destruction to his mother.

Kh’ali saw his gaze and nodded. “I’ll take the fall for that vase. It’s been a rough day, at least till I got home. You can thank Iggy for settling me down."

I told her about Oralia's use for the word bastard and she laughed, Iggy said.

“Okay, okay…” Patrick said slumping in a chair “Tell me this is all a joke.”

“I wish.” She filled him in on the details of her confrontation with Q’Vahn, then the call to her father, along with her concern where the baby was concerned. Finally, she stopped her pacing to face Patrick. “Sorry about the vase...the picture...I don’t think the chair is broken, though. For what it’s worth, Iggy doesn’t think you’re a weakling either.” She gave him a hopeful smile.

No! He cannot be! His spermatozoa infiltrated your egg! That is more than this veQ can claim. She had no idea what a veQ was, but she had heard Kh'ali use the word.

Patrick shook his head in disbelief “Well, thanks for the support Ignatius” he said in bitter irony then turned to look at Kh’ali “What you said is terrible. I’m going to ask for protection as long as this woman is here on the starbase”

He stood from the chair and tapped the badge “Security. This is Commander Leroy, I want two men posted to my quarters day and night and one that has to follow Commander Kh’ali everywhere starting from now. I’ll explain later, Leroy out.”

=^= Acknowledged, Sir. I’ll send them your way at once. =^= the voice of a security officer responded through the comm.

“Now that this thing is fixed…” He addressed Kh’ali “Tell me what you want to do.” and he was sure that he was not going to like her answer, not even a bit.

“My father gave me three options. I can ignore her and let her do what she wants, since my life is out here now, and not at home. I cannot do that as it would bring dishonor to me, my father, and mean that D’Veidh has no place in my house. Second, we can go to Qo’nos and be formally wed, but that will be a huge pain in the ass for you. And last, I can challenge her, as is my right. Going to Qo’nos may be possible later but not now so I am left with the option of killing her and being done with it.” Kh’ali stopped and waited for the explosion.

I suggested she put this veQ in an airlock.

“This is madness… Do you realize what you’ve just said? In my opinion the first option is by far preferable.” The possible irony in his words belied by the cold stare he reserved her “Do you klingons always solve anything by killing someone? What if she proves stronger or just more lucky? What should we do?” He ended gesturing to the bedroom where the baby laid in his crib.

Again Patrick shook his head “And if you come out with upper hand? Federation condemns murder and do not recognize any of your customs in this regard. And what of me in any case looking in your eyes from that day on and thinking of the blood on your hands?” He snorted “And for crying out loud Ignatius also using the airlock leaves blood on your hands… That’s figurative.”

Kh’ali’s thoughts were complete chaos now and she suddenly felt trapped between what was right and what she felt she should do. She looked from Patrick to the bedroom where Iggy was perched by the baby...and tried in vain to clamp down on her anger. It wasn’t working.

“I don’t know! None of these options are any good! But I will not have our son labelled a bastard!” She looked around the room, as if checking the exits, then turned to the door. “I need to…..I’ll be back.” With a growl, she stormed out the doors, leaving Patrick and Iggy behind in the wrecked living quarters.

Patrick knew that following her or try to force her hand right now would have been the wrong move, so he watched the doors close behind her and stood there some instants. Hearing a low wail he turned and walked to the bedroom his hands clenching.

With a sinking heart he watched the baby in the crib guarded by the big arachnid then sat on the bed resting the head in his hands.

Iggy was still rocking the baby. What is an airlock?

*******************

Lt. Commander Kh’ali
All Riled Up And No Place To Go

Commander Patrick Leroy
Overwhelmed By Bad News

Ignatius J. Reilly-Zeferino
Clueless