Chapter Ten

Thaddeus Debbing and his officers sat around a table accompanied by Chancellor Martok and his officers. "Tell me, Chancellor Martok. Are you looking forward to the upcoming battle?" Debbing inquired.

"Yes I am, because if we win this battle then we could turn the tides of this war to our favor," replied Martok. "And if we fail, then I hope that we all proceed to Sto-Vo-Kor".

"Or whichever preferable afterlife, depending on species," stated Tamekh.

"Yes, we Klingons don't expect everyone to go to Sto-Vo-Kor," said Martok.

"Humans alone have many different religions, all with their own afterlife. Christians have what is called Heaven. Some religions don't even seem to have a place to go after death," stated Commander Watkins.

Ko'mah turned to Robert, "I would like to see you in Sto-Vo-Kor, that way we could fight without either of us getting hurt. You fought well with just one punch," he said.

"As long as there are no d'k'taghs involved in this one, we could fight in the holodeck," Robert told the Klingon.

"That sounds good to me," grunted Ko'mah. The Klingon smiled with sharp, yellow teeth. If there was one thing that Debbing didn't respect about Klingons, it was their teeth. Ko'mah offered the Premonition's crewmembers a bowl full of gakh, "Would you like some?"

Debbing and Robert reached for the bowl and both put some gakh on their plate. However, Jpak and Watkins polite fully refused. "I have a weak stomach," was Watkins' excuse. Jpak just shook her head.
In the proper Klingon manner, Debbing wolfed down the gakh with his hands. Robert did the same. "This is good gakh," Debbing commented, "Who prepared it?"

"I did," said Martok.

"Well, my regards to the chef," said Debbing.

"Thank you Captain," said Martok, "I always bring gakh to social functions".

"And I always bring the tuna salad," joked Watkins.

"Tuna salad?" asked Ko'mah.

"It's a food from earth," Watkins replied.

"Oh," said Ko'mah.

The 'waiter' that brought the group their appetizers brought in seven plates with various Klingon and Human foods. The most notable dish from Earth was a slab of pork chops on each plate. Debbing noticed that Robert had cut a big piece out of the pork, "You should try this," he said. Debbing saw the Klingons take bites out of the pork; they seemed to be surprised by it.

"This is a great meat! What is it?" asked Martok.

"It's called pork. It's made from pigs," replied Watkins. From what Debbing noticed, Jpak was surprised by the pork too. "Good, ain't it?"

"Extremely," said Tamekh.

"There are no meats on Qo'noS that are quite like this. It's like the meat that is fit for a god," exclaimed Ko'mah.

***
Robert and Jpak sat in the mess hall, both drinking a warm drink. Robert looked up from his coffee, "Remind me that if I ever host a dinner with Klingons, don't let me serve pork". That got a laugh out of Jpak, and her first smile of the evening. "Hey, don't worry about the Klingons. It'll be fine".

"I don't care about the Klingons, Klingons and Romulans have hated each other for a long time," said Jpak.

"Then what is it?" Robert asked, "You seem kind of sad. Does the doctor need some doctoring?"

Jpak laughed again, but it wasn't much of a laugh. "I was thinking, what will happen if we don't make it through the battle? This whole relationship will be a waste."

Robert but his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, with the best helmsman in Starfleet at the helm, we'll make it through."

Jpak smiled at that remark. "And hopefully with the best doctor in Starfleet nobody will get killed," she said sarcastically.

Robert leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, "Don't worry," he said.