…ODYSSEY OF AN ALIANCE... Part I
In the Present:
From the bridge of a ship, they're scanning a potential site for a sojourn into Northra - a beautiful but unforgiving water-world!
After an area is selected for survey, Veck'Tak & X'Zarreth beam down to the location where an empty Klingon hovercraft awaits, settled in a field of dense vegetation. Veck'Tak climbs aboard the floating craft and assists X'Zarreth's up after him... As they speed across the expanse of island inlets and lush vegetation, a cold spray settles on X'Zarreth's skin in a fine mist, bathing her slender torso with an ethereal radiance.
As the sea-spray shot skyward from the waves crashing upon the hovercraft as it sped by,,,,,They came upon an inlet known as SULPHUR ISLAND...
The Klingon hovercraft settled down, crushing several rows of vines into the moist black soil. Showing no concern, Veck'Tak hopped down from the craft and attended to his TKONIAN Wife, holding up a hand for her...After a heartbeat's hesitation, she took it and jumped down.
"Northra is a harsh world," said X'Zarreth's in a distant voice. Her arms were crossed, and her brow furrowed in an expression of familiar curiosity-
"I suppose, with the high heat and thin air, that the same could be said of Ozari-Thul, TKON where I was born, as well as of Vulcan," She said, "She exacts a heavy burden on her children."
"You are so perceptive, my wife," Veck'Tak said, "It is a world not unlike my own, leaving aside the fact that Qo'nos can be cold and moist - Whereas Vulcan, with it's blistering heat and high gravity, it's like Fek'Ihr's own sauna!" He continued,
"Suffice it to say my beloved, is that it's similarity lies in the fact that both our worlds are exacting environments,"
"I do like it X'Zarreth - the very ferocity of this world adds savor, do you not think? Afteral Beauty without danger is insipid, like a rose without a thorn."
...Together they Both examined the landscape...And he walked forward to stand near X'Zarreth, in order to point out a particularly interesting feature to her.
"Look over there," he said, "Does it not remind you of how I first saw you!"..."That Divine incident where you captured My Soul - and you whispered your "Etherial Name" into my mind...From that moment on, I somehow knew that my every waking thought, this side of Stovokor, would be of you..."
...X'Zarreth arched her brow in recognition of that fateful moment in time, where they first discovered each other, and although Veck'Tak remembered that day with vivid clarity, he also knew that to truly revel in the luxury of that memory, that a Vulcan mind-meld was the only way to go, and would be required...X'Zarreth knew this immediately, as she could read his thoughts from afar. And he looked into her eyes - in askance, making his wish for this mind-meld known...
X'Zarreth honored his wish, and started toward him, Her fingertips seeking to establish their points of origin, coming to rest on the sides of his temples...A quiet voice in his head murmured...
"Veck'Tak-...It is I,...See what I See...Know what I Know..."
...And the memories of that day came rushing in - like water from a broken dam as the picture before them, filled their minds...
PAST-TENSE: "The Fateful "Account of MEETING"
...A mental vision of X'Zarreth...Somewhere on a strange planet alone...Cold wet sand in every pore...Her body crying out for warmth through a haze of searing psionic-pain...Loud and unyielding-...It's Queen High-Priestess T'Lar! She hears her Mother summoning, light years away leaving a scream in her mind...
...A stark moon splits the ebony darkness surrounding her trembling form...Where frigid waves wash upon a desolate beach drenching her...Her body arches in the freezing blasts of the cold night wind, and a flash of lightening etches her silhouette...
Every part of her body was raked by tremors from the now freezing temperature, as the wind and rain now drenched her from head to toe...Her royal TKonian/Vulcan clothing was partially torn away from her body by the churning water. ...Like a thousand hands, the force of the sea had clawed and ripped at the ancestral robes that she had been wearing, leaving behind, only a silken underskirt that dangled from her slender hips revealing her smooth waist and abdomen...
She examined herself and sighed...glad now, to see that just enough of her top garment remained to still cover her breasts as she sat clutching her arms tightly against the freezing spray of sea...Trying to retain what little body heat she had left.
...X'Zarreth forced herself to recall the terrible details of her telepathic incident...Her last coherent remembrance was of Her Mother Queen T'Lar, and of a deafening scream in her mind that left her partially unguarded telekineticaly.
...And then total darkness set in until she awoke...Lying on a cold wet beach...
...As if in answer to her body's silent prayers, her mind chose to cut itself off from the storm and noise surrounding her lonely figure...
...As the hours passed...X'Zarreth soon became numb as the cold penetrated every bone in her body...Alternating between chills that racked her small limbs, to heat that raged through her system...So hot, that not even the pelting freezing rain could stop it...
But she focused her TKonian/Vulcan senses, and felt certain that she could see something sparkling in the moonlight at the far end of this lonely stretch of beach...As she lay there meditating, her TKonian-Vulcan ears could hear the unmistakable scraping of metallic boots on the rocks as someone attempted to reach her...
...For a brief moment, her eyes focused on the huge figure standing in the moonlight...Lightening flashed...And in a blinding moment of light he was illuminated in a blue/white burst of electricity...
X'Zarreth gasped in disbelief, as she stared at the ethereal scene before her eyes...Standing before her, was an Imperial Klingon Warrior in full battle dress...He was tall, and stood braced against the wind, and pelting sheets of rain...
"...Where had he come from!..."
She then Projected Her Etherial Name into his mind. "I am Supreme Sovereign X'Zarreth T'Kon of Ozari-Thul's TKON IMPERIUM." She continued, saying in an undertone,
"I am also Vulcan and T'Rukh's Eternal Empress, Grand/Majestrix & Supreme-Queen High-Priestess. The "ETERNAL-SOVEREIGN" Of 40 ERIDANI'S "TRIPLE" STAR-SYSTEMS: Alam'ak, Behr'ak & Czar'ak."
...Even though she was cold, somewhere in her subconscious was the desire to conceal her state of undress from the eyes of her Klingon would be rescuer...Then she felt a warm pair of strong arms lifting her up...And she heard his molten baritone,
"Try to be still "Majesty," I will have you warm in a few moments..."
...But she resisted, trying once again to conceal herself, but strong warrior-hands halted her progress...Then a sudden shock ripped through her being, as her near-bare chest was thrust up against cold metal armor as the Klingon Warrior-Prince lifted her slight form to his massive shoulder...
...Aware that his battle armor would be freezing upon her bare flesh, Veck'Tak grimaced as he felt her petite form flinch at the touch of his icy armor...
Her flinch of cold TKonian anguish tore at his Klingon heart!
...Somehow he sensed that this Vulcan Sovereign knew he had to cause her further discomfort, in order to get them both safely away from there...
Telepathically she was, in her own Unique' TKonian/Vulcan way, trying to let him know that she understood...And so she molded her tiny hands to the frame of the Klingon Warrior holding her so close...
...She could even feel him exhaling his own warm breath in an effort to warm the frozen tips of her pointed ears.
Veck'Tak could feel her tiny hands holding fast to his metal frame...And he heard a "great noise" everywhere in his heart, that was strange and new to him!
...Suddenly, a great need to protect this tiny Sovereign filled his being...
And as he looked upon her breathtakingly beautiful form, still cold from the elements...He hoped that she would not regain complete consciousness, until he could properly cover her up...
"The TKon-Vulcan Empress would be completely unsettled, to awaken in such a state of undress!" He said to himself,
...Secretly, he could not resist smiling to himself a he pictured the look of utter embarrassment that would furrow her Vulcan lovely brow, as he pondered,
"She would probably blush in her face as well!" He smiled,...At this thought, he properly chastised himself...And he was ashamed of the carnal Klingon feelings he was experiencing...
...Like a fire-brand deep within his body...He felt a coil of fire surge and fill his groin with a smoldering as he had never felt before!
"Ahhhhh...This is inappropriate!" He screamed inside,
"I am a Klingon Warrior of HONOR!" He told himself, as it left him breathless and in shock...
...For a moment, as he tried to calm himself...He was certain that he had seen her eyes opening!
...He saw shock and bewilderment, as he gazed into eyes as Onyx/Amethyst as the Vulcan gems of Gol! ...In that single moment, she touched his soul with a sudden flame of emotion...He gasped as this tiny creature sent her immense TKonian-Vulcan control flowing deep within his soul...Filling the empty hollows left from the battles that brought no glory to the Empire, and that had so cruelly robbed him of his inner self...
...A new enlightenment washed over him like a wave...the very possibility that this TKonian Sovereign was meant to become his wife and soul-mate...The very salvation his Klingon Soul needed to recover from the scars of battle and death claimed by the end of the Klingon/Federation treaty, and by the growing decadence of his people...
...The Klingon stared at her in total Awe and Amazement...Looked at the awesome power which lay hidden in that tiny form...And his own heart melted...
He knew not why or how this tiny Sovereign had come to be in this unforgiving place...He knew only that as long as She was in "His company," that She was His to Honor and to Protect as long as he could draw breath!
"But She was Pure TKonian-Vulcan, Every Part!" He told himself, ...And this made the Klingon Warrior uneasy.
What if she rejected him? Thinking that a Klingon mate would not be the right choice for her?
He must convince her otherwise! Or he would surely lose this Precious gift, that he had only now, just found!
"If She would only have me!" He thought to himself,
Then He would be all that a True Imperial Klingon Warrior of the Empire would be when taking his vow of loyalty to the Empire...
One thing was certain though, there was nothing he could do now! For his soul had become Forever Bound with hers, and it was no longer a matter of choice...For she had captured his Klingon heart.
"Tigh' Ang IH JiH!" He cried out his vow of love in the dark,
If she would have him, ...He would vow to Love & Honor her as No Other! And a shiver ran from Ridge to Toe...Confirming the giving of his oath to her...
...For Veck'Tak had known Well the Glory and the horrors of war, of death and destruction until his Klingon heart went black and empty...
But now he knew a feeling of purpose which he believed would never be known to him again. For the first time in years his Klingon soul felt truly alive!
...Never before had he felt compelled or driven by an urge so strong. He only knew that he was meant to be here - to find this TKonian-Vulcan Treasure with the Onyx/Amethyst eyes, and to become her mate...
"This Vulcan Empress had been "Sent!" He thought to himself,
Neither heaven nor hell would convince him otherwise!
...The moment their eyes locked, he knew she was to be his destiny...
With the rain pelting harder, he thought no more of the wonder of this magic moment - but faced the task at hand.
He must get her to a dry place at once!
With his powerful thighs, the Klingon Warrior hefted her slight form onto his massive shoulders... She weighed next to nothing, and he could feel her tiny hands tighten around his hair as he prepared to initiate a sight-to-sight transport.
...They materialized somewhere in a bungalow he kept as a hunting rest for the "quiet solitude" which it offered when he visited that Planet to engage in the Klingon "Ritual Hunt." The place had no food replicator and no modern conveniences to speak of...
The nostalgia was what drew him to it...If there was any place in the quadrant that could renew his Klingon zest for life, it would always be this place!
...The songs and stories of Kah'Less which filled the night air were almost magical in this tiny bungalow...
As Veck'Tak looked around the room, his nostrils filled with the tangy aroma of the "pippius-claw" he had left warming over the coals of his cooking fire, and already the magic of this place had begun to work it's spell!
In a corner lay a fur sleeping pelt, and he carried X'Zarreth over to it, carefully shifting her weight to one arm.
...He then knelt on one knee and reached down to arrange the fur pelt, in order to make a warm nest for the tiny Empress he held...
As he carefully laid her upon the soft fur pelt, he could feel her body tremble, and he knew at once, that he must try to get her warm!
...He rose and worked quickly to stoke the dying fire back to life. ...The glowing flames smoldered and he knew that quickly, the warmth would fill the bungalow and drive out the cold chill of the damp night air...
...The fire crackled and popped as it filled the room with the sweet aroma of burning wood; and a glow of firelight fell across her slender shapely form...
Although he had tried to wrap her securely in the warm fur pelt, he realized that she was still shivering uncontrollably...He touched her cheek and frowned!
"Khest!" He thought to himself, ...She was still cold as ice...
"I have no other choice Your Majesty," He said as he began to peel away some of the wet fur pelt.
Even though he knew she was in the "TKon State" which resembled the familiar Vulcan "Healing State" of trance, and Fully Aware of his every action; that She would still be paying No Conscious Attention to his words... But still, He felt compelled to explain.
"But there is no Klingon female to tend to you little one."
...The firelight was casting a warm glow that sparkled across her TKon skin... Spindrift gave a lustrous sheen to her lithe body as the glow of the fire created an exotic dance as it caressed the lush fullness of her scantily clothed body...
The Empress was so different from Any Woman that he had ever seen, that it simply took his very breath away, and left him stunned!
The Klingon sat back upon his heels and gazed in awe- at the wonder and mystery which was resting before his eyes!
...She was like pure Tholian silk... The firelight reflected the bits of salt from the ocean's spray upon her skin...Wet and glistening like the ice crystals on a moonlit night, when the frost lay quiet upon the ground of Qo'noS...She mesmerized his mind and body... Her magical aura surrounded him until he could see nothing but Her Regal Etherial Beauty before his eyes...
Her raven hair shimmered like Electric-Black Onyx, as he lifted a silky lock of her lustrous hair, and let the strand curl around his finger...With a vibrant life of it's own, the silken strand entwined around his wrist... Drawing him closer within her magic circle of wonder.
...His finger let go of her hair, to graze the length of her satin cheek as he leaned back and looked his fill of her delicate TKonian/Vulcan features...
Fine high cheekbones were pale from the cold... Long, black, silken lashes fanned-out across fragile cheeks and fluttered as she continued to quake from the bite of the cold.
...She had elegant up-swept eyebrows, and a full sensuous mouth... Her lips were still quivering from the cold as the Klingon lowered his head to kiss his own body's warmth into their lush fullness- Taking her cold breath into the depth of his lungs, and then returning it with warm life into her delicate mouth...
...As he wiped down her smooth shoulders and tapered neck, he realized that her Olive skin had a "Golden Hue" to it- ….Not only was it on her face, but her entire body had the "Golden Glow" of skin "kissed" by the Vulcan Sun...
...The Klingon tried his best to regain his focus, trying to keep his mind on warming her... But her body's response to his skillful ministrations brought on a sudden rush of fire to his loins, and he could feel his pulsing Klingon-hood fill and throb with the painful need to seek her body's warmth...
The Klingon Warrior held his breath and snatched his hands to his sides! ...Almost as though he had been burned by her touch...
"Great Kah'less!" He swore to himself, "I am not an animal! She is an Empress in need of My Strength, Not my lust!"
...But even as he swore to himself, he still found that he could not resist the urge to touch her once again... He traced her collarbone with his finger and he smiled as he felt her flinch from the warmth of his touch, and not from the cold that had robbed her of so much of her body heat...
He gazed around the small room, but there were no more pelts or dry blankets to be found, and in his own dampness he was also beginning to feel the bite of the cold!
...His own wet clothes hindered his efforts, and since the X'Zarreth was still in a state of "healing trance" he quickly rose to warm himself in front of the fire- as he saw no difficulty in removing his own wet coverings...
"There!" He murmured, Growling with Klingon delight as he removed the last of his wet clothes and hung them to dry before the fire, as he had done alone by himself repeatedly, a thousand times before...
"Ahhh, MajQa." ("That is much better.") He said aloud,
The fire was warm upon his bare skin, and he turned his cold back to the fire, when he caught sight of her and gasped in shock, as he remembered at once that he was not by himself!
"She must not see me like this!" He gasped,
Veck'Tak knew Full well, that he would be hard-pressed to explain his state of nakedness to the Young Empress when she awoke.
...And he made a lightening-dash for his wet clothes in a futile attempt to cover himself... The whole time never once looking away, when he realized that she was still trembling... The moist cold causing her to grimace in her sleep-like state of "healing trance"... For She had become so very cold from the brief absence of his body's heat...
"I must find a way to keep her warm!" He thought,
And he once again forgot about his own nakedness, as his Klingon Warrior-instincts took over... He straddled her bare hips, trying to bring his warmth to her trembling body.
...Smooth as fine alabaster, she was like no other woman. Not even the most exotic specimen of Klingon womanhood came near to compare with the TKonian-Vulcan Beauty that he held beneath him...
The sensuality and feel of her satin skin touching his own naked thighs sent a rush of painful heat from the Klingon lust that surged from deep within the pit of his very being!
...But His sense of "Klingon Honor" and his will to earn the Empress's trust, forced him to calm the urgings of his own quaking thighs as he felt her heat pulling at him like a magnet! …... Rough leg to softness... Strong hip to silk... Massive pecks to velvet breasts... He enveloped her with the heat now rising unbridled, from his strong silent Klingon body...
...He felt his Klingon-hood pulsing hard against the soft satin of her belly... And suddenly, he knew the will of "Every Oath" which he had ever taken, Fall Heavily upon His Soul...
He watched as X'Zarreth began to stir, and he heard a shriek that pierced the silence, forcing him to cover up his ears... But to no avail!
For Her scream of "Hot Displeasure" was in His mind now! And there was no way of silencing it! ...Like an explosion in his head... Over and over, rang out the words,
"Kroy'kah!"..."What is thou doing!"
...No longer in a healing state of trance, the Empress was fully conscious now, and she demanded that the Klingon identify himself at once!
Gasping from the magnificence of her psionic-powers, He slowly slid to her side, as He said,
"Your Majesty," He said forthrightly, "I am Veck'Tak, "Son of Rogue'ahrr" and Sole Hier to Kah'Less... "And I am the Future Klingon Emperor of Qo'noS." He continued,
..."I am the one who rescued You"...
{CONTUED IN STORY II:}