Chapter 10: X
K'nera finished her morning meditation and blew out the small candles that she'd had lit in the center of the small quarters that she shared with DedaJ. K'nera had made sure to be up and ready for the day sooner than she usually did since her roommate had worked the night rotation. She was bound to be back to their quarters at any time to get some sleep so K'nera decided to head out before she returned. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy spending time with her bunk-mate and friend. She did. It was just that lately the only thing she spoke about was who had paired off with whom on board. That or about the various prospects of future pairings of some of the crew.
Truth be known, part of K'nera's aversion to the topic had a lot to do with Alexander. Several of the female members of the crew had begun to eye him now that he'd matured more since he'd first boarded the ship. He was by far one of the more attractive members of the crew and now that he was known more as T'knehzoR rather than Alexander he was no longer singled out as not being fully Klingon. K'nera had even seen a few of the female engineers flirt shamelessly with him up on the Mess Deck during the meals served there. True, to some extent, the flirting had been just a part of them being Klingon but K'nera was privy to their thoughts and knew that it had been a more conscious decision rather than habit. That was what had really bothered her.
K'nera supposed that she shouldn't really be jealous. After all, she'd been the one to make the decision to try not to show any outward sign of returning the emotions that she had sensed from Alexander in regards to how he felt about her. K'nera was well aware of the fact that any Klingon who would choose to become romantically involved with her would likely lose some level of respect from the rest of the crew. Or even from Klingon Society as a whole. She was not Klingon; she didn't even have a single drop of Klingon blood running through her veins. She was an outsider and always will be.
Alexander had started off as an outsider but he had slowly gained favor among the rest of the crew and had become one of them. K'nera couldn't bear the thought of being the cause of him losing his new-found standing among those of his own race simply because she shared his feelings. Instead she did her best to be his friend but nothing more.
K'nera left her quarters and figured that she'd get in a little exercise before the morning meal. She made her way to the training room and pushed the button to open the door just a fraction of a second before sensing that the room was already occupied. Of course there had been no way to prevent the door from opening at that point.
Inside, Alexander was already doing much the same thing that K'nera had planned to do this morning. He, too, was using his free time to hone his own fighting skills. He had improved a lot over the last year of service to the Empire but he knew that he still had some work to do if he wanted to be comparable to other warriors who had lived their whole lives among other Klingons. When he heard the door open behind him, Alexander turned and smiled when he saw K'nera. When he noticed that she was just standing in the doorway, he motioned K'nera on in.
"Well, yI'el. (Come in)"
K'nera stepped forward and walked over to the wall where bat'leths, mat'leths and other weapons hung on display within the training room. K'nera then joined Alexander and begun the typical warm-up moves that was customary to begin a training session.
"I haven't seen you much lately," Alexander moved into position to spar with K'nera as he spoke with a touch of humor in his voice. "I almost thought that you were avoiding me."
K'nera knew that Alexander meant it as a joke but he had no idea just how close to the mark his comment had been to the truth. Trying to keep up with the friendly banter, she smiled and parried both with her weapon and her words.
"I'm sure that my absences haven't even been noticed until I walked in here. After all," K'nera winked as she spoke, "listening to the way B'taLa tells it, you haven't had much time to notice much beyond her lately, anyway."
Alexander grimaced at the mention of the Klingon who had been assigned to the Ya'Vang since they had rejoined the Klingon Fleet after their departure from the Federation Forces shortly after the fall of Betazed. B'taLa had made it very clear that she was interested him; or at least interested in T'knehzoR, member of the Great House of Martok. Alexander sensed that she was a power-hungry woman whose only desire was to align herself with a strong house within the Empire. Martok's notoriety had grown throughout Klingon space during the war with the Dominion and with it, his influence as well. He had no doubt that the woman wouldn't have given him a second glance had he been introduced to her as Alexander, the son of Worf.
"And here I thought that you could tell when others are flat out lying to you."
Alexander brought his bat'leth up to clash with K'nera's own blade but found himself pulling back slightly on it to keep from ending their sparring match too soon. In truth, Alexander has had to hold back on his strength for the last couple of months while practicing with K'nera as both his skill and strength surpassed his friend's. Still, sparring with K'nera had shown him that it wasn't always strength or skill that determined the outcome of a battle. When K'nera knew that she couldn't defeat an opponent through fighting alone, she would often out think them instead. She was good at keeping him on his toes.
"That woman isn't exactly my type and I've tried to convince her of that repeatedly; though if it's just the name of Martok that she wants to be associated with, maybe I should send her Drex's way."
"You wouldn't?" K'nera couldn't suppress her amusement at thought. "I didn't think that you could be that devious. But considering his attitude towards you, I could certainly see the appeal of doing so. Though I'm sure that there are plenty of women on board that will be pleased to hear that you have no interest in B'taLa."
K'nera laughed as she spun around to jump a bit further away from his weapon before trying to advance with her own blade. She pushed up on her bat'leth against Alexander's and lost her footing as he pulled back suddenly. He then used the back side of his weapon to knock her off of her feet before pinning her to the deck. Alexander grinned as he leaned over K'nera and put a hand on her bat'leth and tossed it just out of her reach.
"I'm not concerned with the other women on the ship or their opinions of who I have an interest in."
He had been toying with the idea of acting on his feelings for K'nera ever since he had spoken with Ambassador Troi. Still, he had been reluctant since she had yet to give any indication that she either returned his feelings or if she only considered him a friend and nothing more. Alexander eventually decided that if she didn't, she would have said something before now since, as Lwaxana had stated, K'nera must already know how he felt anyway. Trying to hide his feelings from a telepath was pretty pointless so why try?
"Is that so?" K'nera swallowed hard as she realized that Alexander was now willing to be bold about his feelings for her. Despite knowing them already and deciding that she couldn't allow him to toss his future within the Empire away just for her, she had yet to figure out just how to deny her own feelings for him in return. How could she refute the fact that she, too, only had eyes for him and it irked her like nothing else when the other women on board were so flamboyant in their pursuit of him?
"Nope. I'm only interested in you and your opinions." Alexander had released his own bat'leth and brought a hand up to move some of K'nera's blonde hair out of her face as he felt himself drawn deeper into her pitch black eyes. On some level, he swore that he could almost sense what she felt. It was as if he could hear her inner turmoil with herself. She returned his feelings, he was sure of it, but something was holding her back.
"Alex-"
K'nera words and thoughts were cut short as he leaned forward, silencing her lips with his own. Any words or thoughts on how Alexander shouldn't look for a relationship with her died without ever being spoken. After only a moment of hesitation, K'nera returned the kiss with as much vigor as he'd shown. The two were completely lost in the simple act of returning the affection that they felt for one another; an affection that both had denied for months which only caused the fire that burned just below the surface to become much hotter. As if it had been stoked by the mere denial of its existence. Suddenly, both K'nera and Alexander were jolted as the ship itself began to rock from a hit to the starboard bow. The two remained stunned for another moment before they jumped up and instinctively grabbed their weapons as the alarm was sounded to signal an intruder alert.
When the pair stepped out of the training room, they ran headlong into a group of Jem'Hadar. As one, they moved to intercept the reptilian aliens from venturing further into the ship. Alexander raised his bat'leth and began to attack the closest of the warriors. The squad fought back with the same single-mindedness that they were known for. As he dispatched one Jem'Hadar, another brought his own weapon down, tearing into the armor and flesh of his left arm, biting back a howl of anger and pain, Alexander returned the assault with just as much fierceness while trying to keep tabs of how K'nera was fairing with her own opponent despite the fact that she was the more experienced fighter.
By the time he had downed the third opponent, Alexander glanced back at K'nera just as she was run through by one of the remaining Jem'Hadar. When the blade from the kar'takin was pulled free, both Alexander and K'nera herself watched as her blood dripped from it before her eyes rolled back into her head. K'nera's knees then buckled beneath her as Alexander saw her fall to the deck where she then lain motionless. With only a fraction of a second to be shocked before the remaining Jem'Hadar resumed his attack, Alexander lashed back at him with a level of both anger and hatred that he'd never felt before.
Just as the Klingon reinforcements arrived, the final slain alien fell to the wayside. Ignoring the newly arrived comrades, as well as the continued sounds of alarm, Alexander rushed to K'nera's side and checked to see if she was still breathing. She was alive, but barely. Blood was pouring out of the wound at an alarming rate. Without even stopping to think about it, Alexander scooped K'nera up and proceeded straight to the Medical Ward. The Jem'Hadar or procedures be damned.
DS9
In the main bridge, M'jaK watched as the Jem'Hadar ship vaporized after the Romulan ship that had responded to the Ya'Vang's call for assistance fired upon it. Immediately, the captain of the crippled Klingon ship called for a status check of the ship's functions as well as a list of all wounded and dead. As the reports started to come in, the captain of the Romulan ship conveyed his willingness to offer further aid, should it be needed. M'jaK was sure that the man was taking great pleasure at being the saviors of the outmatched Bird of Prey and could barely keep himself from growling out his gratitude.
After being notified that the War Bird would be standing by pending the status of the wounded ship, M'jaK shifted his attention to the reports pouring in from all around the ship. As he scanned the report that had been sent up from the Medical Ward, M'jaK's eyes fell to one name that he always looked for first before any other. With his brows creased, he finished reading the list before ensuring that his crew knew their jobs as they tried to get the ship back up and running. At least well enough so that he would not have to ask for the Romulans to give them a tow to the nearest Starbase. With that done, M'jaK then left the bridge in the capable hands of his first officer who likely knew without asking just where the ship's captain was headed.
As M'jaK neared the Medical Ward, he expected to hear his niece's voice complaining of yet another trip to the ship's on board facility but instead what he heard was the voice of one he had yet to hear being raised in anger at anyone. Standing next to the aged Klingon doctor was his newly promoted weapons officer, T'knehzoR (as he preferred to be called now). He was demanding that the doctor return to the small room that he'd just come out of and do anything that he could to save K'nera.
Catching sight of the Betazoid, the captain saw the reason for Alexander's distress. On the small metal rack in the tiny room that served as an operating room, lay his brother's adoptive daughter. She was motionless and M'jaK couldn't even tell if she was still breathing. It was clear that she'd been run through with the blade of a Jem'Hadar Warrior and it was unlikely that she could survive an injury like that even with the best medical care. Unfortunately, Klingons were not known for their expertise in the medical field. In cases as severe as K'nera's, it was common practice to allow nature to take its course and to move on to the next patient. A practice that was clearly rubbing the young weapons officer raw.
"This isn't a Federation Starship, Boy," the doctor scowled as he moved to go around the younger man. "We don't have the resources to deal with injuries like hers. Now step as-"
"Then put her in stasis so she can go somewhere that does have the resources to deal with her kind of injuries!" Alexander couldn't understand the willingness to let someone who could be saved just die for no real good reason.
"It's not as simple as that. Even if she was put in stasis, there is no guarantee that she'd live."
"But there is a guarantee that she won't if you do nothing!"
From his vantage point, M'jaK was surprised at the passion that Alexander displayed on his niece's behalf. He knew that the man had different opinions in regarding death, honorable or otherwise, but the sheer amount of anger took him by surprise. Especially from one who had never shown himself to have the more typical hot-blooded Klingon temper that others of the crew had.
"Listen, Boy, there is no reason to subject her to a futile effort to try to save her life at this point. She fell in battle. To die as a result of her injuries would be an honorable death, one worthy of entrance to Stovokor; to deny her that is not exactly a very Klingon thing to do."
M'jaK knew that the doctor was right, and his brother would likely feel the same way once given the news of the day's battle but it was still not a report that he looked forward to giving his older sibling. Stepping forward, M'jaK figured that he would likely hear about his decision but it was his to make at the moment.
"True, but as much as we may have wanted to think of her as one of us, K'nera is not a Klingon." The doctor and Alexander both looked up from their argument at the sound of their captain's apparent agreement with the younger man. "Prepare her for stasis. I'll have the Romulans transport her to the nearest field hospital."
"Sir?" the doctor asked questioningly.
"You heard me." M'jaK scowled at the impertinence of the doctor. "We will be doing good to get our impulse engines back up within the next couple of hours and I don't particularly care to have a War Bird circling around us as if just waiting to pick our bones clean. Sending her by way of the Romulans will take care of both of our problems at one time. Now get to it."
"Yes sir," the doctor said grudgingly before returning to the small cubicle where he'd left K'nera only moments prior.
M'jaK then eyed the dried blood that shown where Alexander had been injured during his confrontation with the Jem'Hadar before making his way with the fallen Betazoid to the Medical Ward. It was clear that he hadn't taken notice of it and it didn't seem to have hindered his young weapons officer so he ordered him to take his station. The more severely wounded would take priority before he would be treated and it was clear that he and the doctor needed some time apart for now anyway.
Alexander stiffened slightly at the order since he wasn't quite ready to leave K'nera. Still, he had to trust that his captain (K'nera's uncle) was doing what was best for her and the ship's crew as a whole. Alexander did not trust Romulans anymore than his father but now he had no choice but to hope that he would soon be in their debt should they succeed in saving the woman that he'd only today taken a chance to act on his feelings for. With a quick glance into the room where she was being prepared for transport, Alexander acknowledged the order before turning to head out of the Medical Ward. All the while, trying to figure out just what star-base K'nera would be sent to.