The Bridge: Act I

"He really didn't tell you?" Uhura seemed even more annoyed than Diana was. "Unbelievable." The comms officer turned to her fiance, dropping the last of any semblance of professionalism for the moment. "He is such a stubborn ass." She spat, exasperated, even as Spock simply rose an eyebrow at his partner's clearly emotional response.

It was touching that she was so upset on Diana's behalf, but she only knew part of the situation. "Please, sister, don't assume the worst of Jim."

"I'm not assuming the worst of him, this is completely typical!" Uhura said, perturbed to an extent Diana hardly saw from her. Then again, most of their conversations were so civil and friendly, it wasn't often that Uhura let herself rant or rave about anything. "He does this every time. He does something reckless, then he does everything he can to make sure no one else can do so much as throw him a rope."

"Seeing as how the only individuals aware of the clandestine nature of the mission were Jim and myself, he intentionally decided to keep the truth from the crew. I knew that before we left for Verex III." Having to defend Jim's actions only made Diana consider them from his perspective. In truth, it helped ease the heartache of knowing he had kept the hearing from her. She had a strong notion of what he had been thinking. "By encouraging me to take this mission, perhaps he wanted to spare me from having to testify."

"That is a likely and logical scenario." She wasn't sure if Spock was trying to help Diana or simply placate his lover.

"It's a logical scenario for him to cover his ass," Uhura scoffed, getting a bit more animated with every passing moment. "And even so, why wouldn't he tell you? What did he do now?" The accusation suggested that Uhura meant that in a personal sense, not as ambassador and captain. "I was sure you two had… gotten close. And now, he won't even tell you he could lose his ship? It's like Carol all over again. He finally figures out what he wants in a relationship and so naturally, he - "

"Nyota, please stop." Diana finally said, holding her hand up with a firm shake of her head. "There is no relationship." The statement was final and honest. It had been the first time she'd verbalized what had happened between herself and Jim. "I chose not to pursue it, so please don't hold it against him. I am sure I will speak with him when we return, but until then…" She trailed off as Uhura's face fell. Diana knew that the crew had been somewhat invested in the friendship and connection she and Jim had forged, but this felt somehow more personal. She seemed almost as upset as Diana had been. "He doesn't need to give me any more information than he chooses to tell an ambassador. If I hold a grudge, it will only be more hurtful for both of us."

For a moment, Nyota's jaw remained slack as she clearly tried to process and determine what to say next. Diana had a feeling that she wanted to ask why, or how, or any number of other questions, but considering Diana's answer would most likely upset her further, she hoped her friend would decide against it.

"Nyota, I believe we have given the Ambassador enough information to consider our proposal." Spock chose that moment to play the role of mediator. Diana was never more relieved to have his cool voice of reason to distract from the uncomfortable subject. "There is no need to press the subject further."

Uhura's mouth closed abruptly, nodding slowly as it sank in. Diana had the distinct impression that their sisterhood had been somehow… shaken by the issue, but didn't know how to necessarily ask.

"We have seven hours until we reach the rendezvous, so I'm going to take this opportunity to get some rest." Nyota finally said, her tone carefully neutral. She stood, then made her way to the aft section of the shuttle. She paused, then turned back as if she wanted to say something to Diana, then thought better of it and disappeared into the crew quarters section of the shuttle.

Diana found herself staring at the closed door, worried that she had somehow damaged Nyota's trust in her, even if two women had talked often about a number of subjects, but she had kept their conversations about the captain to professional banter, then later, to only slightly more personal teasing about Jim. She suddenly realized that her friend was far more invested in the possibility of a relationship than Diana had assumed. Again, she had made the misstep of sharing the information she wanted to at her own pace and it had backfired. Acting like the sovereign her mother wanted to be always seemed to end in missteps...

"Nyota has had the distinction of knowing Jim longer than any of us, save for Doctor McCoy. Which means she has watched him handle romantic entanglements with his usual... charm and finesse." Spock sounded relaxed, even sympathetic to her, right up until he finished the sentence. His wit had been so dry, she'd nearly missed it. "I believe she has made a significant emotional investment in the welfare of your relationship. Or, at the least, the possibility of one. She feels you are well-matched. I am inclined to agree, especially given the unique events on Argelius IV."

Diana chuckled softly, although there wasn't much humor to it. "And that is precisely why I could not commit to a relationship to him."

"That is most unfortunate. I believe Mister Sulu was convinced he had won the wager." Spock said with that same dry wit. As Diana simply stared at him quizzically, he leaned back slightly, steepling his fingers together. She had learned several weeks ago that it was his way of providing her his full attention. "May I ask what led to that decision? Given your significant emotional attachment to Steve Trevor, and Jim's explanation to me that he is, in fact, Steve Trevor in spirit, then it seemed to me as if a romantic union would have been… logical."

Diana looked at him, momentarily thrown. "I thought Vulcans didn't put much stock in emotion, even romance."

Spock's lip quirked into a smirk, much to Diana's honest surprise. So much of her interactions with the man had been rooted in his stoic persona. "You would be correct. As I am half-human, I feel I am entitled to at least a partial inclination towards romance. Else, my engagement would be very short-lived."

The choice of words was meant to be glib, but it struck Diana entirely too close to home. She went quiet, taking sudden interest in her bracelets beneath her ambassador's jacket.

"It is… curious that you use that word." She said, considering the situation at large. Her shock at Spock and Uhura's impending committed life together had only reminded her of her reluctance to engage in one of her own. "May I ask a personal query, Mister Spock?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him and mirroring his own formal tone in a polite jest.

Spock simply nodded, although the smirk was still present.

Diana licked her lips as she considered her words carefully. "You are young by Vulcan years, but I understand that your life expectancy is roughly double that of humans, correct?" He gave her another nod. "My lifespan is infinite. Jim is a drop of water in a great pool by comparison. Did you consider that you would need to say goodbye to her one day? That even if all things are equal, assuming you enjoy long lives together, yours is still longer by a great deal."

Spock tilted his head slightly as he considered the full breadth of what she'd said. After a long moment, he spoke with a level of warmth she'd never heard from him. "That is true. That has always been a concern of mine. As you learned while we were on New Vulcan, I lost my mother due to Nero's attack on Vulcan. I have had my fair share of experiences dealing with grief and death with many of those I consider friends and family. In fact, for a time, I had made the decision to sacrifice my Starfleet career and return to New Vulcan. I felt it was my necessary duty to propagate my species for the full extent of my life. As much as I love Nyota, I felt it would have been... " He hesitated. "Kinder to release her from any obligation she felt to me. My thought was that she could find someone who would suit her better."

So, they had had the same exact conversation, and Spock had taken the same actions she did. Diana pursed her lips, inhaling deeply before she continued. "But, clearly, you changed your mind. You're now planning to marry."

"Indeed." He leaned forward slightly. "A number of factors contributed to that decision."

"I would guess she didn't particularly care for you ending the relationship arbitrarily?" Diana thought back to Nyota's reaction and realized it was quite likely that she had put together the circumstances.

"Yes. She felt that this was a decision we should have made together, and ultimately, I had intended to speak with her on the subject further, but the events on Altamid led me to rethink my decision entirely." Spock reached into his pocket, pulling a small device free. "Ambassador Spock, my counterpart in the primary timeline that Nero had come from, passed away. Much like Jim, I felt as though I had met someone who both was and was not myself. I thought it was my duty to continue his work." He deftly opened the device and held it out to her. Diana took it and found herself staring at a group of individuals in very different uniforms, decades older, and yet… she knew those faces. Somehow. "What I failed to understand was that my counterpart had led a full life as both a Vulcan ambassador and as a member of Starfleet. And in the end, it was his emotional connections to this crew that he cherished the most. Surely, the crew must have passed before he arrived to the latest point in his timeline, yet he did not close himself off from experiencing those friendships."

Diana's finger ran along the edge of the photo as she drank in the details. Jim's smile, McCoy's kind eyes, Scotty's grin… Diana wondered where she had been in this other timeline. Her experiences with Barry had taught her a very long time ago never to linger on what could have been, on how timelines could change and move like paths of a river. But, she wondered… for just a moment.

"As I once told Leonard, when you have lived as many lives as my counterpart… fear of death is illogical. And to deny Nyota the relationship and life she wishes, that I, too, wish to share with her, because of that illogical fear is selfish." After another long moment to let Diana consider the picture, she finally handed it back to him. He pocketed it once more.

"Selfish…" She echoed, closing her eyes and mulling the word over. Silence, save for the occasional beeping of consoles, fell between them. "I just want to spare us both pain." She breathed.

"'Pain pays the income of each precious thing,'" The Vulcan intoned.

Diana opened her eyes to find that Spock was still watching her intently. "Shakespeare wasn't immortal, and didn't have to worry about the constant torture he would inflict on his loved ones." She remarked sourly.

Spock quirked an eyebrow. "He also once warned that 'Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting.'"

Diana sensed a challenge in his tone. He was determined to prove her wrong. She leaned forward, firing back her own words of wisdom from the bard. "Oh, 'it is excellent to have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.'"

Without missing a beat, almost as if he had planned the exchange, he fired back with wisdom of Diana's own people. "'Death does not concern us, for as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.'"

Diana's mouth hung open for a moment. Epicurus. Huffing, she crossed her arms over her chest, Socrates slipping from her tongue easily. "'By all means, get married: if you find a good wife, you'll be happy. If not, you'll become a philosopher.'"

"'Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky.'" Solon's words flowed effortlessly from Spock's mind, effectively stumping the Amazon for the moment.

Finally, she sighed and threw her hands up in surrender. "I am a warrior and monarch. Socrates was right. 'One thing I know, that I know nothing. This is the source of my wisdom.'"

Spock stood, that smirk pulling at his lips. "Then, in understanding that, Ambassador, perhaps you can look at your situation with the captain anew." He made his way to the aft section. "I shall make a pot of Vulcan tea before we arrive. Would you like a cup?"

Diana looked at him for a long moment. The first officer had portrayed the true stoic, but his friendship with Jim ran deeper than she could have ever known. Now, with the additional color of their alternate timeline, she could understand why both Spock and Uhura felt she needed to reconsider.

At his offer, she nodded softly, then glanced back at the aft section. "I would appreciate that. I wasn't expecting such a philosophical discussion so early. I was told Klingons find Shakespeare more compelling than the Vulcans do." Spock didn't reply, but she got the impression that had been intentional. He had wanted her to tilt her focus, presumably so she would reconsider her relationship - or lack thereof - with Jim with fresh eyes. "I appreciate your perspective, Spock. Please let Nyota know that this is not a reflection on how I feel regarding the two of you. And should circumstances prevent Jim from officiating…" She quirked her lips. "I would drag him from whatever demotion they set him on in order to make sure he could participate."

Spock smiled. "Of that, Ambassador, I have no doubt. Let us hope that the captain will not need it."

He disappeared into the aft section, leaving Diana alone with her thoughts. She idly glanced over at the comms panel.

Her fingers itched to call him, to see how he was doing. She couldn't bring herself to be angry, either. She just wanted to know how he was doing, to give Jim her support. No matter how conflicted she was on whether or not she could commit to a relationship, the last two weeks had given her time to be certain that she loved him. And she knew him. She knew how important his command was to him.

She couldn't stand the thought that he would lose the Enterprise because of her.

If the weather in San Francisco was any indication of how this hearing was going to go, Jim seriously needed to consider resigning. The sky was ominously dark with storm clouds, and the rain poured down in buckets. His boots sloshed through the inch of water already on the ground as he quickly crossed the main courtyard towards the Starfleet Command building, having changed into his grey formal dress uniform. He didn't care for the hat that went along with the uniform most days, but he felt the briefest hint of egotistical pride that it at least kept his hair looking nice in the rain.

Technically, he could have kept on his normal uniform, but given that he was about to walk into the slightly only more polite version of a court martial, he determined that formality would actually help him.

It was strange and bittersweet that he was in the same uniform he had buried comrades in after another near loss of his ship. He had learned to respect the uniform a helluva lot more after that funeral.

He just needed to prove that to Starfleet Command.

He hadn't made his choice to go after Jaylah because of his ego. He had done it because it was the right thing to do.

Jim had left the crew back on the ship, but Jaylah, Scotty, Sulu and Bones were expected to take a shuttle down before the hearing began. They would most likely be called to testify, but he wanted to keep his crew out of the line of fire for as long as possible.

He may have gone overboard in trying to do the same for Diana.

After their… was it a break-up? Could it be a break-up? They'd barely had a chance to get started, but he had admittedly let himself think that they were simply picking up where they had left off, both from 1918 and just before Circe had thrown everything sideways.

Diana apparently hadn't felt quite the same. In fact, knowing that she had lost him once as Steve made her even more reluctant. So, Jim had thrown himself into preparing for this hearing. The moment he got the orders that Diana had been assigned to a diplomatic mission on New Vulcan, he gave Spock and Uhura the clearance to go with her. He couldn't think of anyone he trusted more to have her back during a meeting with the Klingons, but it meant that he wasn't about to compromise her focus with the hearing.

She thought she needed to protect him; he thought he needed to protect her.

Idly, Jim had a feeling that this was probably going to be a pattern, one they would need to learn to work through. He didn't have much time to dwell on it.

The building loomed ahead of him. Jim ducked under the awning and pulled his hat off long enough to shake it free of as much rain as he could before stepping inside. His uniform jacket was fairly water-resistant, so he was able to brush his shoulders and front clear before heading to the lift at the end of the lobby.

His first stop wasn't the main Admiralty Chamber, but the office of one admiral in particular.

Admiral Conner Kent's office in San Francisco was much more comfortable and warm than Jim expected. The door was open, and he had clearly been expecting him from the moment the ship entered orbit. The admiral himself was at his desk, reading something on his console. Jim was startled by the several framed pictures around the room, but managed to keep his poker face.

"Come in, Captain. Have a seat." The admiral said without ever looking up from his console. Jim had to wonder if he was looking over the weeks' worth of captain's logs and supplementals that he had sent as parts of his testimony for the hearing. He knew how those hearings worked. The admirals would call into question his feelings on the Orion Pirates, on Diana, on Jaylah… so he'd provided every pertinent log for those three subjects, packaged to demonstrate his perspective.

Clearing his throat, Jim nodded and crossed the distance to the cushioned armchair across from the desk. "Thank you, sir." He was careful to keep any of his wit and humor out of his voice. Without Diana around - and possibly because he had involved Diana in this mess - Jim didn't want to give Conner any reason to be more stern. He had a feeling that this was going to be a very unpleasant conversation, and this wasn't even the hearing.

The admiral never looked up, nor did he see fit to say anything else for the moment.

That left Jim time to stare at the photos. And there were… a lot. Far more than he expected. Without trying to be too overtly curious, Jim realized he could see the resemblance between a number of the pictures. Dark hair, very distinct angle to the jaws on all of the men.

"The West-Allens." Conner finally said. When Jim jerked his head up to look the man in the eye, he found that the console had gone dark and he was being watched. "They're the closest thing I have to family these days. Barry was practically my uncle. His family line has been… very successful. Even now, Adriana West is the Ambassador currently on assignment to Coridan for the dilithium negotiations." Jim's surprise must have been obvious. "I took a break from civilization. I didn't completely cut myself off from everyone."

"I wasn't suggesting you did, sir." Jim said, trying to recover from his somewhat slack jawed surprise. "It's just…" Jim's natural defense mechanism kicked in with a chuckle and wry smile. "I love my brother and my mom, but I don't have many pictures of them on the ship." In truth, he had a small padd with a few photos in a desk drawer, but he never took it out. He knew Sulu kept his photo of Demora on his console, but Jim preferred to keep that sort of thing to himself.

Although, not for the first time since meeting Diana, he realized he wanted her to see those photos. He spent a lot of time talking about Jim Kirk the captain and adventurer. One of these days, she'd need to meet Jim Kirk, Winona's son, George Jr's brother.

"Everyone's different. I like trinkets." He motioned to a trophy sitting behind him. Jim strained to read the text.

"World Surf League 2243…" Jim made out, then chuckled. "No way, you won first place? You surf? Diana never mentioned..."

Conner blinked slowly at him and Jim's mirth died on his lips. He suddenly had the impression he had crossed a line without realizing it. When the admiral spoke again, it was all business. "I think it's best if we don't talk about the Ambassador too much."

Jim sat back up, practically to attention. "Understood, admiral."

"I had to exhaust a number of favors in order to get Diana to pick up Ambassador Spock's work, and I did that, in large part," Conner leaned forward, fingers laced together as he rested them on his desk. "Because the last thing I want is the admiralty board asking too many questions about her."

"I agree." Jim said, nodding in understanding.

"Yes, I can tell you do, because you're a Starfleet captain with several years of command under your belt and yet, somehow, I'm supposed to believe you personally decided to free the entire population of slaves on the Verex III outpost." From where Jim was sitting, he couldn't tell if he ever had any good will with the admiral. Maybe he'd misinterpreted his friendly nature earlier. Perhaps he'd never been more than the captain Conner tolerated while Diana was around. That twisted Jim's stomach with something not quite like jealousy, but not quite like embarrassment. He wasn't about to use Diana as if she was a bargaining chip, and now he was worried that was what had unintentionally happened. "That sounds like someone we both know, but not you."

Jim's tongue worked against the inside of his cheek as he forced himself to stay professional. "I disagree, sir. The Federation has no tolerance for slaves, and my only recourse to free Jaylah was to disable the slave collars." He shrugged, almost nonchalant. "I didn't know it would unlock the doors for all the pens, but it was a risk I had to take to get her back."

Conner frowned, huffing in a way that felt all too much like Chris Pike. "Cut the crap, Kirk."

"That is a lot of alliteration - "

"You are covering for Diana, and you don't need to. If I submit these reports, the admiralty board will rip you to shreds and you will lose the damn ship." Conner stood, arms crossed over his chest in a movement that mirrored his father. He wondered for a moment what Kal would think of his son, alive and well and… schooling his queen's boyfriend. "If you want to get out of this with the Enterprise and with your commission, then you need to be willing to admit you lied about your reports. You need to tell the admiralty board it was Diana's idea. It's precisely why I sent her to Khitomer!"

Jim paused, all thoughts of his own hearing gone. No, there was no way that was where Conner had sent her. But, he had to make sure he hadn't imagined it. "You sent her… to Khitomer? That's the point for negotiation? The Khitomer colony?" Jim rose without thinking. "I should be there with her! That's one of the most dangerous sectors of space and you sent her in a shuttle with my first officer and communications expert - "

Conner whirled on him, voice dark and foreboding. "Exactly! So she can't get back here in time for the admirals to use her testimony against you. She's a one-woman army, Jim. Believe me, she's in far less danger than you are. So, stop trying to protect her and just do your damn job."

His jaw set as his temper flared. If it had even been just a few years ago, he would have fought back with everything in him just to prove his point. But, that wasn't who he was now. Jim clutched at the bill of his hat tightly instead as he tried to work out if the gamble Conner was asking him to make was one they could win.

It was the right play. Jim inherently knew that. In fact, now that he was thinking back on it, he knew exactly why he'd tried to minimize Diana's role, and that was because he had wanted to protect her. In spite of her diplomatic immunity, in spite of Conner's move to keep her across the galaxy, Jim had still tried to keep her out of his mess.

Conner was right. It had been a gut reaction on Jim's part, and he had to learn to pick his battles. This wasn't one of the ones necessary to win the war.

Jim sighed, then nodded. "Understood. I'll update my reports…" It wasn't often that he felt dressed down, but this was one of those times. "Sir."

"I expect to see you at 1600 hours to meet with your advocate, Commander Ayala." The admiral turned to look at him as the only acknowledgement Jim would get. "Dismissed."

After a moment, Jim turned on his heel and left.

Even though he needed to focus on revising his report, he was itching to call her. Just to let her know, to support her.

She was heading into the literal lion's den and he hadn't even given her a proper goodbye.

The Khitomer colony wasn't what Diana had expected to see. The Starfleet records had been sparse, but stated that a Klingon colony had been established about ten years ago. As she had spent several days studying Klingon culture, she expected to see the pyramids indicative of their architecture.

While there was at least one pyramid building with the Klingon Empire's insignia emblazoned in red windows, there were also several bunkers with the Federation insignia still along the sides. The records hadn't suggested that the Federation delegation was so… permanently entrenched in such a conflicted planet.

Apparently, Nyota had been thinking the same thing. As they stepped off of the shuttle, the sky had already grown dark as night fell over the eastern continent of the planet. The communications officer had been quiet for the remainder of their journey to the Khitomer system, but when she spoke to Diana, it was without any lingering resentment. It was more curiosity than anything else. "This planet has been under Romulan surveillance for months. Why would the Federation sanction anything as blatant as our own habitat technology?"

"Given the recent tensions with the Romulan Star Empire," Spock was noticeably formal with the Federation's most notorious enemy. "Ambassador Spock felt this would be a positive step towards showing solidarity with the Klingon Empire. An olive branch, as it were."

Diana nodded, considering the cruel actions of the Romulans from the "prime timeline" as Spock had called it and the bombardment they had attempted on Argelius IV.

"To position one's army in front of your allies is the ultimate sacrifice and show of respect." Diana remarked as the three of them began to make their way towards the greater Klingon building. "Antiope would have said it was foolish. My mother would have said it was diplomatic. I hope for the latter and pray it is not the former."

As they neared the larger building, it became quite clear that they had crossed an invisible threshold into Klingon territory. Since they had seen almost no humans or Vulcans in the Federation buildings aside from the landing pad attendant, the commotion of raucous laughter and shouting seemed almost explosive when they rounded the corner.

Diana pulled her datapadd from her back pocket, scrolling through until she found the image of the Klingon Ambassador that had agreed to play the part of Diana's liaison. At least, she hoped he was an ambassador. As Klingons were a culture driven by honor and battle glory, it was apparently quite common for the military ranking to follow a warrior into the role of ambassador. She was apparently looking for a colonel, albeit a young one by Klingon standards. At least, from what Diana could gather from the way the Klingon records were written.

She was both fascinated and admittedly worried by the way Klingons worshipped violence. She found some solace in the great similarity to the Spartans, or even her own Amazons, in that they were Honor-bound. Unfortunately, as Diana had spent time skimming over their Code of Honor, her heart sank as she realized that while Klingons saw themselves as noble… compared to the Amazons, they were still the product of Man's Cruelty.

"'Ej HumtaH 'ej DechtaH 'Iw!

'Ej Doq SoDtaH ghoSpa' SIqral bIQtiq!"

The singing had bubbled forth from their left as they made it to the main courtyard. In that direction, a long banquet table with benches had been set up, littered with food that Diana had never seen before, only read about. On both sides, the Klingons were pounding their goblets as they sang. Although, it was more of a drunken roar.

"This is an ancient drinking song about Kahless," Uhura said softly, trying to make sure she didn't catch the drunken warriors' attention.

"Do you know it?" Diana asked, glancing over at her friend and communications officer with a glint of mischief in her eye. She knew that Nyota would have a much better command of the language than she did, especially since Diana had so little practice. And she felt that this was the perfect opportunity to step into the social circle of the Klingons. Amazons were adept at nothing if not slipping into the social circles of others.

Nyota exchanged a long glance with her, then smiled a bit. When Diana simply motioned towards the table, she took a deep breath and held her head high, singing out proudly to the others.

" 'e' pa' jaj law' mo' jaj puS!" Uhura's voice rang clearly along with the other Klingons. The group, startled by the new voice, turned and began to trail off, even as a few sang and finished the verse with her.

"Jaj qeylIS molor mIgh HoHochu'qu'..." The voices died as Uhura finished the song alone, the Klingons grumbling as they looked to one another in confusion.

It was one thing to see Klingons on a static image. To see them grimacing and grumbling to themselves was another matter entirely. Their forehead ridges were menacing, intimidating and pierced to reiterate their tolerance for pain.

And they were all looking at Diana as if they saw another meal for their table.

Finally, one of the warriors barked at her. "nuqneH!" Diana recognized it as the closest thing to a greeting Klingons gave. When she didn't reply immediately, the warrior laughed and shouted louder. "vjlatlh!"

"I suggest we do not keep them waiting, Ambassador." Spock said quietly, although he seemed rightfully wary. Diana had gotten the impression there would be more Starfleet officers here, and instead, they had walked into a Klingon outpost with no back up.

Thankfully, she understood why Conner had sent her. They would only respect a warrior, one who was willing to play to their code of Honor.

"Agreed. Especially since I have found the ambassador." Diana only hoped her guttural syllables would sound right. She stepped forward, hands on her hips. " jiH Diana Themyscira. qaleghneS."

"Ah!" The exclamation came from the far end of the table. A warrior stood, his forehead ridges quite impressive, but more importantly, recognizable. "You speak Klingon! The Federation ambassador!"

One of the other warriors turn to the standing Klingon and scoffed. "They send us a woman to negotiate?" The warrior grabbed a bowl of what seemed to be worms writhing in a nest and threw it at the standing warrior. "This human petaQ is to order us? Klingon women are not permitted to serve on the High Council and I should listen to a feeble human one?"

"I can assure you, I am not feeble." Diana simply remarked, but she kept her eyes on the standing Klingon.

"Qu'valth!"

Within moments, a true brawl had broken out between the two warriors. Food and wine were spilled and went flying. Quickly, Diana grabbed Spock and Uhura each by the arm and pulled them back a few feet as the fight quickly went from the banquet table to the ground. The rest of the Klingons started to cheer and shout, demanding that blood determine the loser.

"Did you say you found the Ambassador?" Uhura shouted over the din.

Diana nodded, then pointed to the two warriors. "Yes, he is fighting now."

One warrior was pummelling the other. "Well," Uhura said, shrugging. "I guess it's a good thing he can fight." She was motioning to the warrior who now had the upper hand.

Diana found herself drawn back to another moment, long ago, and silently wished Jim could have been there for it.

Instead, all she could do was shrug and shake her head, face wrinkled up in sympathy. "That is not Colonel Worf." She watched as the warrior who had spoken standard to them went flying across the courtyard and landed in an unceremonious pile on the ground. The warrior groaned and made to stand, then fell back, clearly passed out from both alcohol and blunt force. She had no way of knowing that to Guinan, that face would have been quite appreciated and well-known as she muttered, "That is Colonel Worf."