Two weeks before the Klingon attack on Celos-D42
"I am ready for this, Father," Jokusho Morc said defiantly, her chest puffed out.
"You have much to prove to the House, tiny one." Hus Morc eyed his daughter with a mix of skepticism and condescension.
She winced at the sobriquet. It was not used affectionately among the members of House Morc and she resented it every time she heard it, even from someone like her father, whom she would never retaliate against for calling her tiny. Many others in the House knew from painful experience that the same could not be said for those who teased her about her diminutive size in comparison with the average Klingon.
"She will slow us down," Gradogh, the oldest of Hus's sons argued. He glared at Jokusho. If he had his way, she would've been killed or abandoned on a hostile planet two years ago. The fact that he would take over House Morc upon Hus's death was not lost on Jokusho and she never forgot how precarious her place was. It was part of why she was arguing to be allowed in the next raid as a fighter. If left to her own devices, Jokusho would prefer to avoid raids. But she knew her only hope of survival was to win Gradogh's grudging respect and to do that, she needed to hold her own in the upcoming raid on the Celosians.
"Brother, you judge our sister too harshly," Drel'ak, the son closest to Jokusho's age replied. "She offers us something other than strength in battle, as you well know."
"She is not our sister," Gradogh snarled at his younger brother, moving towards the other Klingon in a menacing manner. "And her skills in science will mean nothing during the actual raid. Let her stay back at the camp with the other scientists. Or don't let her come at all – that would be best."
"I said nothing about her scientific abilities. She is clever. Surely we could use a bit of cunning if Starfleet is in fact sending their flagship to the planet to assist in recovery efforts." Drel'ak was accustomed to his hot-headed older brother's grandstanding, especially as it applied to their youngest sibling.
"The last thing we need is her anywhere near Starfleet swine. We can hardly trust her as is," Gradogh replied with a glower at the family member in question. Jokusho met his angry glare with her own death-stare. He made it so easy for her to hate him and so hard for her to want his respect. But the House would be his and every day, she was reminded that Hus was growing older. He would not be able to ensure her safety forever.
"Enough," Hus admonished his eldest and while Gradogh's eyes still flashed, he stood down. This was not the first time his father had made him desist when it came to Jokusho. Hus gave Jokusho a hard look. "If I agree to your presence in the raiding party, you must not let us down."
"Not like last time," Gradogh spat. His father ignored the interruption while Jokusho felt her cheeks flame.
"You will not get a third chance to prove yourself," Hus cautioned his daughter, the threat in his words equally clear.
"Understood," she replied, holding Hus's gaze. "You will not regret letting me join the raid. I will make the House proud."
Gradogh snorted while Hus considered her words. Slowly he nodded at her. "Work with your brothers and House Mvalmiki on finalizing plans."
With a curt nod to his sons, he left the room. Gradogh spun on his heel and rushed after his father, no doubt to make more arguments against allowing Jokusho on the raid but they all knew the decision would not be reversed. Gradogh would just have to hope she failed this upcoming mission.
Jokusho looked over to Drel'ak. "He will not rest till I am cast out," she said bitterly to her brother.
Drel'ak came over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He will come around. You will be successful in this raid and he will start to see your worth."
Jokusho gave him a wry smile. Drel'ak was ever the optimist. She hoped he was right.
"We cannot let her live to return from Celos," Gradogh muttered to his best friend and confidant, Ovic Mvalmiki.
"Don't worry. Jokusho has set her own date of death by asking to be allowed to join the raid," Ovic replied. "Hers will not be an honorable death."
Gradogh gave his friend an appreciative look. He knew, of all people, he could count on Ovic to assist him in getting rid of Jokusho. After all, the greater part of his hate for his youngest sibling was a direct result of Ovic's failed relationship with Jokusho.
"We must be careful," Gradogh warned his friend. "Father will suspect foul play if we are not."
"Leave it to me," Ovic reassured Gradogh.
"I want you to watch out for your sister during the raid," Hus demanded Drel'ak, as though the younger man had not already resolved to keep Jokusho safe while they were on Celos-D42.
"Of course," he responded.
"I mean it. I do not trust Gradogh and Ovic together. They feed off of one another." Hus sighed wearily. "They will have their sights set on ruining Jokusho's chances of success on the mission."
"If you are so sure of sabotage, why do you not intercede?" Drel-ak asked his father, curious as to why he would allow Jokusho to walk into such a trap.
"I cannot protect her forever. Jokusho must prove herself just as anyone else."
"But this is not just like any of the rest of us. The tide has been against her from the beginning," Drel'ak argued.
"Yes. And she has not always helped her case," Hus replied, tiredly. The very things he loved most about his youngest child were the same things that made it so difficult for her to blend in with the rest of the Klingons in their alliance. What had transpired between her and Ovic was unfortunate and had tipped the scales, perhaps irrevocably, against her. Her first raid had done nothing to help. He knew his youngest had been training rigorously since that failed first attempt to fight and she was a very different person now than she had been back then, for better or worse. Hus sat down with a heavy thud. He sometimes wondered if he had made the right decision bringing her into his family, all those years ago. He knew, if he died right then, Jokusho would be as good as dead too. She needed to gain back some goodwill among the community.
"She is stubborn, fiercely loyal, honorable…and yet, because she is not those things in the 'right way,' everyone has given up on her," Drel'ak complained. "Why can they not see what you, Mother, Astori, myself – what those of us who care for her can see?"
"We each see what we want to see," Hus replied. "She is an outsider and some will never see beyond that." He gave his younger son a shrewd look. "But it does not matter what our neighbors choose to see in her. What matters is you must keep her safe in the raid. And if you cannot, you must ensure she winds up in Federation hands and not your brother's."
Drel'ak stared at his father. "I would never give her up to Starfleet," he replied, horrified at the idea.
Hus stood up with such force, the chair he'd been sitting in fell back with a thud.
"You must! Swear to me now. If the raid goes badly and you think your brother or Ovic will make a move against Jokusho, you will make sure she ends up in Starfleet's hands. They will keep her alive and safe which is more than Gradogh will do."
"But –"
"There is no objection. Do it or you will find yourself cast out with your little sister. You know I speak the truth. I will not be able to save either of you if the mission is not a success. And your brother is too blinded by his anger to understand that endangering the mission just to get back at his sister is a greater folly than allowing her to live peaceably among our kind."
Drel'ak stared at his father. He knew Hus spoke the truth. But the idea of handing Jokusho over to Starfleet in an attempt to keep her safe was repugnant. Sure, Starfleet didn't kill their prisoners. But how would Jokusho survive among them? Would they ship her off to some prison planet? She would rather be dead, honorably or not. Suddenly, Drel'ak was wishing he hadn't advocated so heartily for his sister's inclusion in the raiding mission.
"I swear to do everything I can to keep Jokusho fron harm," he said to his father.
"Including?" Hus was no fool. He'd stayed alive this long due to his cunning. All Klingons were strong – not all were as smart as Hus Morc.
"Including turning her over to Starfleet, if need be," Drel'ak sighed unhappily.
"I would rather kill myself," Jokusho swore as Drel'ak relayed his conversation with their father to her.
"I figured as much. So what do we do?"
He watched as his sister whirled around the room, grabbing supplies in a blur. She was about to attend yet another battle simulation – she attended at least one a day and had been doing so for a little over a year in preparation for this moment. Jokusho was determined to make it through a raid successfully. Because so much was riding on this raid, she was a ball of emotions but even in that state, she was still smarter than most people Drel'ak knew.
"We make sure Gradogh and Ovic never have the chance to set their plan into motion," she replied.
Drel'ak stared at her as he processed her words. "How?" he finally asked.
"We take them out before they can take us out," she answered grimly.
"What? How can you –"
"Easily. You would make a better head of the House than Gradogh anyway. Tell me I'm not right." Jokusho had stopped darting around the room and turned to make eye contact with Drel'ak. He remained silent.
"If I kill them before they kill me, we ensure House Morc remains the strong leader of this community and I avenge myself for what happened with Ovic."
For someone so given to emotions, Jokusho often surprised Drel'ak with her moments of dispassionate rationalizations. Gradogh loved to complain that Jokusho would never be a great warrior but here she was, cold-bloodedly plotting the deaths of her oldest brother and former parmaqqay without any qualms. Drel'ak didn't know too many warriors who could calculate the deaths of others with the same detachment Jokusho had. A lot had changed since her first, disastrous foray into Klingon war-fare.
"Look, I won't stand in your way," Drel'ak finally replied. "But what if your plan doesn't work and what if Gradogh and Ovic succeed with their plot?" He didn't want to think about it but they needed to have an option ready for if the worst-case scenario occurred.
"Then do the honorable thing and kill me," Jokusho replied, almost flippantly, but one look at her eyes told Drel'ak she was completely serious.
She approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Death by your hand would be a better end than anything Gradogh and Ovic will dream up and I will not spend my life rotting away in a Starfleet prison. I'll kill myself before that happens."
Drel'ak clasped his hand to Jokusho's shoulder. "Do what you can to prevent me from having to end your life, sister. It is a choice that would haunt me."
The siblings held their stance for a moment, a deep understanding of the lengths each would go to in order to protect the other flowing between them.
Later, by herself, Jokusho closed her eyes, thinking back to a time when Gradogh hadn't hated her as much as he did now. Sure, he'd never been very fond of her but there had been a time, not all that long ago, when he'd still considered her family. Damn Ovic. He was the source of so many of her problems. She would never forgive him for what had happened and the thought of killing him was oddly soothing. Taking another's life wasn't something Jokusho relished, though she'd done it before. Ovic though. Well, not only would she not regret his death, she'd actually be upset if she wasn't the one to end him.
A/N: I have taken the liberty of differentiating between parmaqqay and spouse for the purposes of this story. I understand they are considered the same thing in Klingon society but it made this story easier to have them mean something slightly different. I look at it like this - Klingons were not a completely unified society and perhaps there would be pockets where a parmaqqay would differ from a spouse - would be more of a union for political benefit. This would be one of those pockets.