Many eventless minutes elapsed after their dinner, but finally, Bral took a little time to have a
private conversation with Voyager's Captain.
"I presume you had a few questions you wanted to ask me during dinner?"
They actually sat again, at a round table in a private room.
"I do. First, I want to know exactly who we're going up against."
"It was you who got the ball rolling!"
"Yes, but I don't know 'who' I'm rolling it towards."
Bral sighed.
"Do you want... names?"
"Only the top dogs'."
He sighed again, heavier this time. 'She has to know.' He thought.
Kathryn could see that he hesitated, felt his aversion to tell her.
"Her name is Scrih." He finally said, his voice shivered a little.
"A female ruler?"
"Is that rare where you come from? You are female yourself, or do I have to remind you of
that?"
They both laughed.
"No, I was just surprised that you want to attack a woman. Women are often considered
defenseless." She sent a thought to her fiery Chief Engineer, and it made her smile.
"Not here. Scrih is one of the toughest and smartest rulers. Definitely the most dangerous, her
looks can really twist a man's head. Or so I've been told." He coughed a little.
'Good saving,' Kathryn thought sarcastically. 'Sadly for you, I've got Tom Paris in my crew.
And you can't believe what kind of prevarication that man's using.'
"Sounds like you've met her?"
For the third time, Bral sighed. "I met her when the Taali and the Sprai-koo still
visited each other's planets."
"So why did you stop that visiting?" She asked, curious as she was. If Chakotay had been
there, he'd condemned her tactic.
"No matter how embarrassing this is for me, you have to know."
'Bingo!' She thought and had to force herself not to clench her fist and hit with it in the air.
Her curiosity rose.
"What?"
"It is my fault to a part," he admitted solemny.
"What's your fault?"
"This! The fact that we're arming for war!"
"How come?" Janeway frowned and wobbled around a little with her chair.
"Scrih... it's mostly her fault, though. She is so beautiful. When we met... I fell in love with
her."
The Captain gasped, that wasn't close to what she'd expected.
She was so shocked she couldn't make any sound at all, not even one encouraging Bral to go
on. Lucky for her, he continued without the help of a stunned grunt.
"And I thought she felt the same for me. But... when I wanted to move on to a higher level,
when I asked her for her hand in marriage, she changed on a second. At first she was so...
warm and understanding, and gentle. Afterwards she turned to the completely opposite, stone
cold and calculating. I don't think she'd be the powerful leader she is today, if it wasn't for me.
I changed her."
'Don't take the credit...' She glared at him.
"Unfortunately, to the worse. What happened when you proposed?"
"She...she laughed... at me. She laughed right in my face! And with this dispiteful voice she
said, 'Sprai-koo women don't marry. Especially not mixing our genuine blood with others.'
She could just as well have spit me in the eye. I was filled with this, this overwhelming rage,
and I struck her. She fell to her own cold floor! I quickly got out of there, and my foot hasn't
touched the Sprai-koo ground ever since."
For a second he looked like a escaped madman.
"How can you say that it's mostly her fault?"
Kathryn was angry. Sure, the Sprai-koo leader, this Scrih, could have turned him down more
gently, but he should have accepted her 'no' as a man.
"If she had accepted my offer to take her as my wife, we wouldn't have this fight! And there
you see - it's her fault."
"You're just trying to free yourself! We're in this because of your pathetic relationship!"
"What do you mean?"
She hadn't seen a man look more bewildered in her life. He was obviously convinced that it
was all her fault. He wouldn't chance his opinion in a twinkling.
"If you had walked out with some dignity, you wouldn't be fighting this stupid war!"
"You proposed it!" Bral stood up and held up an accusing finger.
Kathryn also stood up,
"I didn't propose a war! I wanted a few skilled people to help me get my crew back without
being noticed!"
"That's not what you made me believe."
"What really gets to me is the fact that you only agreed to help me, because you wanted to
take revenge on your ex! Only because the woman didn't want to marry you! Who knows, she
might have been willing to continue your relationship anyway - if you hadn't hit her."
"I don't think she would. And-- "
Janeway interrupted Bral when he opened his mouth again.
"Maybe she just wanted to be free!"
"Can you let me finish! You were wrong about my reason. I'm not after revenge, though it
should be sweet, no - I want what's rightfully mine." Bral sighed deeply, like he was carrying
the weight of his homeplanet on his shoulders.
"She stole your belt or something?"
Bral gave her an annoyed glare.
"Before I met her - and about hundred years back in time - the Taali and the Sprai-koo
exchanged... delicatessen."
"Such as?" She finally stopped pacing the small room and sat down again to.
"We shipped a leaf, called 'Iy' to them, the only spice you can use making the Kaari-soup. In
exchange for our Iy-leaves, we got a crystal-clear liquid. It has a lovely taste, and after just one
sip, just one, you can feel the spirits returning. But it was along time since I tasted that
wonderful liquid. Due to the leaves, our people agreed on calling it, too 'Iy'."
"Let me guess. When you two broke up, the deliveries stopped."
"Yes. We were both stubborn, and we had both contacts. All trading with the Sprai-koo
stopped almost immediately."
"Amazing how two people can make such a mess. You've deprived millions of people their
delicatessen!"
"And I want my people to once again be able to drink the Laemp, a drink made of Iy and
what's robbed from us."
"Then why not reestablish the trading?"
"Like I said - both Bral and Scrih are stubborn. And with the high positions we both have
today, it's impossible to get along."
"I don't understand."
"Nobody expects you to, after all, you're only human."
Kathryn snorted.
"Besides, you cannot pull Voyager out now, it's to late."
"To my big grief. I want to put you, without your crew, together with Scrih and let you two
solve this on your own. If you just could talk to each other, it wouldn't have to be a war at
all."
Bral let out a donkey laugh.
"She wouldn't listen if we so were trapped together in a burning ship!"
"Then let me."
"Sorry?"
"I'll go down, by myself, and talk to her."
"They'll never let you in. 'She'll' never let you in." Another donkey-laugh.
"Don't worry... I'll send her your regards."
"Oh, you're smart! She'll think that you're trying to form a conspiracy towards me!"
"What do you think now?" Janeway's lips curved upwards, to form a bitter smile.
He nodded, "It could work."
"So you'll let me do it."
"What would you do if I said no?"
"Go anyway."
"Then what choice do I have? I prefer to know where you are."
"I don't like being watched." She tapped her commbadge before the Taali in front of her had a chance to open his big, black
mouth.
::Janeway to Voyager, one to beam aboard::
Captain Kathryn Janeway dissolved when the blue transporter beam appeared, and Bral was
left alone.
He shook his head with the black/brown spots, his red hair flew around his shoulders and back.
He stared at the spot where Janeway had been, something inside of him began to break. What
if it wasn't Scrich's fault, after all?
*
In that moment he looked a lot like Neelix, who was helping Naomi Wildman to bake a
Terrelian birthday cake at the same time the Captain appeared in the transporter room.
He shook his head in disbelief, should a birthday cake really look like that?
***
private conversation with Voyager's Captain.
"I presume you had a few questions you wanted to ask me during dinner?"
They actually sat again, at a round table in a private room.
"I do. First, I want to know exactly who we're going up against."
"It was you who got the ball rolling!"
"Yes, but I don't know 'who' I'm rolling it towards."
Bral sighed.
"Do you want... names?"
"Only the top dogs'."
He sighed again, heavier this time. 'She has to know.' He thought.
Kathryn could see that he hesitated, felt his aversion to tell her.
"Her name is Scrih." He finally said, his voice shivered a little.
"A female ruler?"
"Is that rare where you come from? You are female yourself, or do I have to remind you of
that?"
They both laughed.
"No, I was just surprised that you want to attack a woman. Women are often considered
defenseless." She sent a thought to her fiery Chief Engineer, and it made her smile.
"Not here. Scrih is one of the toughest and smartest rulers. Definitely the most dangerous, her
looks can really twist a man's head. Or so I've been told." He coughed a little.
'Good saving,' Kathryn thought sarcastically. 'Sadly for you, I've got Tom Paris in my crew.
And you can't believe what kind of prevarication that man's using.'
"Sounds like you've met her?"
For the third time, Bral sighed. "I met her when the Taali and the Sprai-koo still
visited each other's planets."
"So why did you stop that visiting?" She asked, curious as she was. If Chakotay had been
there, he'd condemned her tactic.
"No matter how embarrassing this is for me, you have to know."
'Bingo!' She thought and had to force herself not to clench her fist and hit with it in the air.
Her curiosity rose.
"What?"
"It is my fault to a part," he admitted solemny.
"What's your fault?"
"This! The fact that we're arming for war!"
"How come?" Janeway frowned and wobbled around a little with her chair.
"Scrih... it's mostly her fault, though. She is so beautiful. When we met... I fell in love with
her."
The Captain gasped, that wasn't close to what she'd expected.
She was so shocked she couldn't make any sound at all, not even one encouraging Bral to go
on. Lucky for her, he continued without the help of a stunned grunt.
"And I thought she felt the same for me. But... when I wanted to move on to a higher level,
when I asked her for her hand in marriage, she changed on a second. At first she was so...
warm and understanding, and gentle. Afterwards she turned to the completely opposite, stone
cold and calculating. I don't think she'd be the powerful leader she is today, if it wasn't for me.
I changed her."
'Don't take the credit...' She glared at him.
"Unfortunately, to the worse. What happened when you proposed?"
"She...she laughed... at me. She laughed right in my face! And with this dispiteful voice she
said, 'Sprai-koo women don't marry. Especially not mixing our genuine blood with others.'
She could just as well have spit me in the eye. I was filled with this, this overwhelming rage,
and I struck her. She fell to her own cold floor! I quickly got out of there, and my foot hasn't
touched the Sprai-koo ground ever since."
For a second he looked like a escaped madman.
"How can you say that it's mostly her fault?"
Kathryn was angry. Sure, the Sprai-koo leader, this Scrih, could have turned him down more
gently, but he should have accepted her 'no' as a man.
"If she had accepted my offer to take her as my wife, we wouldn't have this fight! And there
you see - it's her fault."
"You're just trying to free yourself! We're in this because of your pathetic relationship!"
"What do you mean?"
She hadn't seen a man look more bewildered in her life. He was obviously convinced that it
was all her fault. He wouldn't chance his opinion in a twinkling.
"If you had walked out with some dignity, you wouldn't be fighting this stupid war!"
"You proposed it!" Bral stood up and held up an accusing finger.
Kathryn also stood up,
"I didn't propose a war! I wanted a few skilled people to help me get my crew back without
being noticed!"
"That's not what you made me believe."
"What really gets to me is the fact that you only agreed to help me, because you wanted to
take revenge on your ex! Only because the woman didn't want to marry you! Who knows, she
might have been willing to continue your relationship anyway - if you hadn't hit her."
"I don't think she would. And-- "
Janeway interrupted Bral when he opened his mouth again.
"Maybe she just wanted to be free!"
"Can you let me finish! You were wrong about my reason. I'm not after revenge, though it
should be sweet, no - I want what's rightfully mine." Bral sighed deeply, like he was carrying
the weight of his homeplanet on his shoulders.
"She stole your belt or something?"
Bral gave her an annoyed glare.
"Before I met her - and about hundred years back in time - the Taali and the Sprai-koo
exchanged... delicatessen."
"Such as?" She finally stopped pacing the small room and sat down again to.
"We shipped a leaf, called 'Iy' to them, the only spice you can use making the Kaari-soup. In
exchange for our Iy-leaves, we got a crystal-clear liquid. It has a lovely taste, and after just one
sip, just one, you can feel the spirits returning. But it was along time since I tasted that
wonderful liquid. Due to the leaves, our people agreed on calling it, too 'Iy'."
"Let me guess. When you two broke up, the deliveries stopped."
"Yes. We were both stubborn, and we had both contacts. All trading with the Sprai-koo
stopped almost immediately."
"Amazing how two people can make such a mess. You've deprived millions of people their
delicatessen!"
"And I want my people to once again be able to drink the Laemp, a drink made of Iy and
what's robbed from us."
"Then why not reestablish the trading?"
"Like I said - both Bral and Scrih are stubborn. And with the high positions we both have
today, it's impossible to get along."
"I don't understand."
"Nobody expects you to, after all, you're only human."
Kathryn snorted.
"Besides, you cannot pull Voyager out now, it's to late."
"To my big grief. I want to put you, without your crew, together with Scrih and let you two
solve this on your own. If you just could talk to each other, it wouldn't have to be a war at
all."
Bral let out a donkey laugh.
"She wouldn't listen if we so were trapped together in a burning ship!"
"Then let me."
"Sorry?"
"I'll go down, by myself, and talk to her."
"They'll never let you in. 'She'll' never let you in." Another donkey-laugh.
"Don't worry... I'll send her your regards."
"Oh, you're smart! She'll think that you're trying to form a conspiracy towards me!"
"What do you think now?" Janeway's lips curved upwards, to form a bitter smile.
He nodded, "It could work."
"So you'll let me do it."
"What would you do if I said no?"
"Go anyway."
"Then what choice do I have? I prefer to know where you are."
"I don't like being watched." She tapped her commbadge before the Taali in front of her had a chance to open his big, black
mouth.
::Janeway to Voyager, one to beam aboard::
Captain Kathryn Janeway dissolved when the blue transporter beam appeared, and Bral was
left alone.
He shook his head with the black/brown spots, his red hair flew around his shoulders and back.
He stared at the spot where Janeway had been, something inside of him began to break. What
if it wasn't Scrich's fault, after all?
*
In that moment he looked a lot like Neelix, who was helping Naomi Wildman to bake a
Terrelian birthday cake at the same time the Captain appeared in the transporter room.
He shook his head in disbelief, should a birthday cake really look like that?
***