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Whew, I managed to do another chapter!
Before you start to read this next installment, I think you need to know what time-period this whole story is situated at. It's somewhere long before the Klingons have ever met humans. It must happen before the "Enterprise" series, and I think you'll understand why, when you read about K'Raqt's brand new ship. (which, btw, is a number of paragraphs I'm very proud of, and I've been thinking about that scene from as soon as I started this series).
PS: yes, I know. It's the author's fault for not establishing a time frame in-story. I take all the blame, but I forgot to do so in my earlier chapters.
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K'Raqt, the veteran, and 3 guards marched through a series of hallways and corridors without a single word being spoken. The entire trip, K'Raqt was casting secretive glances at the old warrior who had taken him away, but he had no idea whatsoever about the identity or the goals of his mysterious savior. For the moment though, K'Raqt stubbornly refused to give in to his curiosity.
The trip led them far inward of the palace, as far as K'Raqt sense of orientation could tell him. Eventually, the little band reached a shuttle pod sporting a single, sleek shuttle with the windows completely blinded. The three guards unceremoniously shoved their prisoner inside, and chained him into a comfortable chair. The last guard had barely strapped himself in, when the shuttle jolted into the air with a high-pitched shriek.
_____________________________
When K'Raqt was pushed out of the shuttle again, he blinked his eyes against the bright, artificial light of a state-of-the-art shipyard. K'Raqt almost stumbled while he was taking in the view of the empty docking space, bustling with activity. It wasn't a very large shipyard, but his warrior's eye immediately caught the extended security measures, the thick armored plasteel around the hull, and a few cannons pointing outward, scanning the black emptiness ahead. That was an unusual amount of security measures, and K'Raqt did not assume these guards were here only because the infamous traitor was paying a visit to the station. Maybe they were expecting an important ship to dock soon?
- "Aha!" The veteran interrupted K'Raqt's thoughts with a chuckle, and his perpetuous grin turned a bit more wolfish when he pointed out Ster Seh-Merh'Min, who spun on his heels and marched towards them. "Our beloved Ster has already arrived. I swear, that rat builds the fastest shuttles only for himself, and he gives the scraps to his beloved emperor!"
- "Scraps?" the warrior/ship-builder bellowed, "You call the emperial shuttle a piece of scrap?!" The ship builder held out his fist as the old warrior did the same, and their knuckles connected in a strong, but less-than-formal gesture of mutual affection. K'Raqt made a mental note of the exchange, but kept his mouth shut.
Ster cast a dark look at the prisoner. "It's good to see you here, Kha'sm'll, but I see you brought the cub with you. That means our emperor wasn't kidding when he told me about his plans for this fool?"
- "Does he ever?" the veteran shrugged his shoulders, but his perpetual grin betrayed his amusement more than it conveyed sympathy or agreement. "But no, he wasn't kidding. The fool here gets the ship, and none of your laments have changed a thing. Or maybe they did, and that's why he decided to send you along!"
Again, Ster turned to look at K'Raqt, who was visibly getting more and more confused about the turn of the conversation. "You're being sent on a penal expedition, K'Raqt Vehl of the clan Vehl. But in his grace -and only in his, I might add,- he decides to give you the finest ship I've ever constructed." Ster turned, and walked slowly towards the glass panel that offered a magnificent view on the dock. In a broad sweep of his arms, he seemed to encompass tons of empty space. "The finest ship ever to have been built for the Klingon Empire, I daresay!"
K'Raqt stared at the dock, where he saw nothing but a few runabouts, and several maintenance drones hovering about. He turned to look at Kha'sm'll, who was still wearing his perpetual grin. Kha'sm'll nodded encouragingly, and K'Raqt stepped a little closer to the window pane.
- "I don't ... underst...," he started, but K'Raqt's voice trailed away, as understanding was beginning to dawn on him. Those runabouts, and that maintenance drone, they were definitely flying in a particular pattern. And if he cocked his head just a little like this, and he squinted his eyes a bit... Instead of looking at the center of the dock, K'Raqt turned his head to inspect the outer borders of the space dock, and suddenly his eyes had trouble focusing. There was a certain shimmer in the air...
"I mean, I don't see it!" K'Raqt corrected himself, and he stared at Ster in amazement. "Something's there, but I can't get my eyes to focus on it!"
Kha'sm'll, who's arms were folded while he was watching K'Raqt, quirked his eyebrows towards Ster as if to say "See? Told you," and he stepped forward to admire the view himself.
"Why don't you let the cub's eyes focus, now, Ster?"
Ster turned to the opaque wall, dialed a number on a panel, and spoke briefly into the screen. When he turned to K'Raqt again, he was unable to hide the pride from his voice.
- "Behold, the first prototype of the first in it's kind. This vessel will change the way space battles are fought!"
The shimmering grew stronger, as if K'Raqt was looking at a patch of desert-heated air. He had to surpress the automatic reflex to shake his head or blink his eyes. The backdrop of plasteel reinforced walls faded away from vision. The maintenance drone inflated, distorted into more and more grotesque forms only to disappear completely, as if it had been moving in front of a giant distorting lens, and then had been taken away altogether.
When finally, K'Raqt could focus his eyes again, he was staring at the dark-blue steel armor plating of a space vessel. The ship was everywhere. The same dock that had been looking so empty a while back, was now struggling to house the giant spacecraft. In order to fit the dock, this ship was hanging lopsidedly. One wing spanned all the way to the ceiling of the space dock, while the other disappeared under the room where K'Raqt and the others were standing. The cockpit of the ship was far ahead of the rest of the ship, connected to the body by a tube, and it hung in close proximity to the trio of Klingons. K'Raqt could not shake off the feeling that a giant steel bird was craning its neck to peer through the glass at the miniature figures they must have seemed.
"A 'bird of prey', we call it," Ster spoke softly, unwilling to break the spell, and pleased at the awe-inspired look of this young prisoner and soon-to-be captain, K'Raqt. "I have been working on it for three decades. Its existence, its very feasability, is a secret that I've been carrying around for nearly all my life. Last week, I could finally tell my emperor that my life's project had come to an end. And he rewards me by giving the ship to someone else," Ster added bitterly, as he spun on his heels and left the room.
K'Raqt stared at the back of Ster Seh-Merh'Min as he was leaving, and then stared at the ship again.
- "Doesn't it sound like fun?" the old veteran had closed in on him, and was now talking softly, almost absently. "You're banned by your emperor, but at least you get to command a ship. It's an experimental vessel: too slow to run, to weak to fight, and it could blow up any minute all by itself. You will be accompanied by an old veteran who envies you your youth, and by a ship builder who envies you your command of the ship -Oh, and the crew hates your guts because they've been fed the propaganda about you betraying your empire!"
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Two days later, K'Raqt was manning the captain's chair of the brand new prototype. The two officer's seats were manned by Kha'sm'll on one side, and Ster Seh-Merh'Min on the other side. The rest of the crew was standing at attention near their console. They were casting curious looks at the old veteran in the officer seat, hateful looks at the young one in the captain's chair, and fearful looks at their clan leader.
The first Bird of Prey in Klingon history moved slowly, carefully, stately, out of the space dock. Once it was freed of its cramped hiding place, the wings righted themselves, and now the bird was truly flying. The engines lit up softly as the power supply was increased slightly.
Inside the cockpit, a radar beeped.
- "7 vessels detected. Their shields are up."
The three commanding officers frowned. None of them had suspecting a farewell committee. As they were about to comment on how this depart was supposed to be a secret, the viewscreen came to life, featuring an assemblee of Klingon warriors. K'Raqt recognized almost every single member of the Highest Council, except of course one, who was sitting right next to him.
- "Seh-Merh'Min! We cannot believe you support this treachery! Do you mean to tell us you knew of this farce all along!"
Ster erected himself from his seat and rose to his full length. He crossed his one arm in front of his chest in a gesture that was both a formal greeting for a member of the Highest Council, and a not-so-subtle hint at the rude ommission of the other council members.
- "I learned as soon as my emperor told me of this ... 'farce'. And I do as I was commanded by my emperor." Ster crossed his arms in a way that signalled nothing would stop him from doing so. There was a staring contest between Ster and the other council members, and a few even turned their eyes away from the piercing glare. But the tallest warrior of the notables simply nodded, his mouth contorted in a snarl.
"Very well then, Ster! Our only intention was to contact the traitor so he would know who's vengeance he is suffering. But now that you're on the ship as well, we've learned of the rat who made this all possible. I shall take over the shipyards from your clan with great pleasure!" he spat into the monitor, and switched off the communication.
- "Sir, all ships are powering up their weapons!" A few of the Klingons aboard the Bird of Prey shifted their feet uneasily. A prototype vessel was not supposed to be put to battle so soon during its maiden voyage. Ster growled in response.
- "Red Alert. Battlestations. Get ready for cloaking device!"
- "No !" K'Raqt interrupted loudly and cut off any more commands from the ship builder. "It's me who gets to say it. Red Alert, man the battlestations! And don't -I repeat- DON'T prepare the cloaking device. Shields up, evasive maneuvers. Run for the second moon."
The Bird of Prey sped towards the second moon, followed by seven small, but fiercely armed space ships of various clans. As the light dimmed and the ship's claxon began to blare, K'Raqt caught the frown on Ster's face.
"I assume the council members know nothing of this cloaking device, am I correct?"
Ster shrugged. "I would think not, but then again, they weren't supposed to know about you leaving orbit today, either."
"Well," K'Raqt shrugged glumly, "if we're going to give away the secret of cloaking, at least we can do it in style." He turned towards the helmsman. "As soon as we're out of their radar, slingshot the ship around the moon. Tactical!" K'Raqt turned towards another console. "When we're behind the moon, drop the shields and activate the cloak. If all goes well, they'll be looking for us, and we'll be watching over their shoulder."
It turned out the fleet knew nothing about the cloaking device. When they sped past the moon, the seven ships could no longer find the renegade prototype on their radar. The fleet spread around in a standard search pattern, moving about erratically, sending radar pulses in all directions.
Meanwhile, the Bird of Prey was hovering right behind the biggest destroyer, the command ship of councillor Treq-Is. The viewscreen of the Bird of Prey showcased the tail of the command ship in great detail, from a close distance. Every crew member instinctively hushed their movements as they were stalking this big monster, and the cockpit of the little bird grew eerily silent.
- "A single volley, right in their engines, that would teach those bastards what it means to betray your emperor!" Ster whispered, and he clenched his fist.
- "It'd be just like - no, it would even be even better than kicking that prick right in his arse!" Kha'sm'll agreed softly, and he grinned once again.
K'Raqt overheard the whispered conversation with a frown. He cocked his head to listen to his crew, moving about silently and watching the viewscreen with the war destroyer so close in view. The captain shook his head in disbelief, and reached for his own console. With a few button presses, the claxon of the ship started blaring again, a deafening sound that drowned out every thought of silence. When he switched it off again, everyone was watching their captain in horror, their ears still ringing. With an impatient flick of his wrist, K'Raqt switched on the intercom and started shouting loudly into the microphone.
- "I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all something about physics. You see, sound needs a carrier, like the atmosphere. There is no such thing in space. That means no matter how much noise we make, it will NOT reveal our position! The enemy will NOT hear us! Thank you." K'Raqt switched off the intercom again, and rose from his captain's chair.
- "Set course for the designated area. I will be in my room. Call me if anything interesting happens."
When K'Raqt had left, Ster and Kha'sm'll were still staring at each other. Ster was still trying to recover from the start he had got when the alarm had rang. Kha'sm'll, on the other hand, was grinning widely. Ster could not hide an embarassed smile, and Kha'sm'll started laughing out loud. Soon, Ster was grinning, too.
- "For sure, I thought he wanted to get us killed, when he set off the alarm!"
- "Gave me a bit of a start, too," Kha'sm'll conceded, and he slapped Ster on the shoulder. "But what do you think? Has he got spunk, or what?"
Ster shrugged his shoulders noncommittally.
- "He might have." the former ship builder, now renegade officer admitted.
Whew, I managed to do another chapter!
Before you start to read this next installment, I think you need to know what time-period this whole story is situated at. It's somewhere long before the Klingons have ever met humans. It must happen before the "Enterprise" series, and I think you'll understand why, when you read about K'Raqt's brand new ship. (which, btw, is a number of paragraphs I'm very proud of, and I've been thinking about that scene from as soon as I started this series).
PS: yes, I know. It's the author's fault for not establishing a time frame in-story. I take all the blame, but I forgot to do so in my earlier chapters.
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K'Raqt, the veteran, and 3 guards marched through a series of hallways and corridors without a single word being spoken. The entire trip, K'Raqt was casting secretive glances at the old warrior who had taken him away, but he had no idea whatsoever about the identity or the goals of his mysterious savior. For the moment though, K'Raqt stubbornly refused to give in to his curiosity.
The trip led them far inward of the palace, as far as K'Raqt sense of orientation could tell him. Eventually, the little band reached a shuttle pod sporting a single, sleek shuttle with the windows completely blinded. The three guards unceremoniously shoved their prisoner inside, and chained him into a comfortable chair. The last guard had barely strapped himself in, when the shuttle jolted into the air with a high-pitched shriek.
_____________________________
When K'Raqt was pushed out of the shuttle again, he blinked his eyes against the bright, artificial light of a state-of-the-art shipyard. K'Raqt almost stumbled while he was taking in the view of the empty docking space, bustling with activity. It wasn't a very large shipyard, but his warrior's eye immediately caught the extended security measures, the thick armored plasteel around the hull, and a few cannons pointing outward, scanning the black emptiness ahead. That was an unusual amount of security measures, and K'Raqt did not assume these guards were here only because the infamous traitor was paying a visit to the station. Maybe they were expecting an important ship to dock soon?
- "Aha!" The veteran interrupted K'Raqt's thoughts with a chuckle, and his perpetuous grin turned a bit more wolfish when he pointed out Ster Seh-Merh'Min, who spun on his heels and marched towards them. "Our beloved Ster has already arrived. I swear, that rat builds the fastest shuttles only for himself, and he gives the scraps to his beloved emperor!"
- "Scraps?" the warrior/ship-builder bellowed, "You call the emperial shuttle a piece of scrap?!" The ship builder held out his fist as the old warrior did the same, and their knuckles connected in a strong, but less-than-formal gesture of mutual affection. K'Raqt made a mental note of the exchange, but kept his mouth shut.
Ster cast a dark look at the prisoner. "It's good to see you here, Kha'sm'll, but I see you brought the cub with you. That means our emperor wasn't kidding when he told me about his plans for this fool?"
- "Does he ever?" the veteran shrugged his shoulders, but his perpetual grin betrayed his amusement more than it conveyed sympathy or agreement. "But no, he wasn't kidding. The fool here gets the ship, and none of your laments have changed a thing. Or maybe they did, and that's why he decided to send you along!"
Again, Ster turned to look at K'Raqt, who was visibly getting more and more confused about the turn of the conversation. "You're being sent on a penal expedition, K'Raqt Vehl of the clan Vehl. But in his grace -and only in his, I might add,- he decides to give you the finest ship I've ever constructed." Ster turned, and walked slowly towards the glass panel that offered a magnificent view on the dock. In a broad sweep of his arms, he seemed to encompass tons of empty space. "The finest ship ever to have been built for the Klingon Empire, I daresay!"
K'Raqt stared at the dock, where he saw nothing but a few runabouts, and several maintenance drones hovering about. He turned to look at Kha'sm'll, who was still wearing his perpetual grin. Kha'sm'll nodded encouragingly, and K'Raqt stepped a little closer to the window pane.
- "I don't ... underst...," he started, but K'Raqt's voice trailed away, as understanding was beginning to dawn on him. Those runabouts, and that maintenance drone, they were definitely flying in a particular pattern. And if he cocked his head just a little like this, and he squinted his eyes a bit... Instead of looking at the center of the dock, K'Raqt turned his head to inspect the outer borders of the space dock, and suddenly his eyes had trouble focusing. There was a certain shimmer in the air...
"I mean, I don't see it!" K'Raqt corrected himself, and he stared at Ster in amazement. "Something's there, but I can't get my eyes to focus on it!"
Kha'sm'll, who's arms were folded while he was watching K'Raqt, quirked his eyebrows towards Ster as if to say "See? Told you," and he stepped forward to admire the view himself.
"Why don't you let the cub's eyes focus, now, Ster?"
Ster turned to the opaque wall, dialed a number on a panel, and spoke briefly into the screen. When he turned to K'Raqt again, he was unable to hide the pride from his voice.
- "Behold, the first prototype of the first in it's kind. This vessel will change the way space battles are fought!"
The shimmering grew stronger, as if K'Raqt was looking at a patch of desert-heated air. He had to surpress the automatic reflex to shake his head or blink his eyes. The backdrop of plasteel reinforced walls faded away from vision. The maintenance drone inflated, distorted into more and more grotesque forms only to disappear completely, as if it had been moving in front of a giant distorting lens, and then had been taken away altogether.
When finally, K'Raqt could focus his eyes again, he was staring at the dark-blue steel armor plating of a space vessel. The ship was everywhere. The same dock that had been looking so empty a while back, was now struggling to house the giant spacecraft. In order to fit the dock, this ship was hanging lopsidedly. One wing spanned all the way to the ceiling of the space dock, while the other disappeared under the room where K'Raqt and the others were standing. The cockpit of the ship was far ahead of the rest of the ship, connected to the body by a tube, and it hung in close proximity to the trio of Klingons. K'Raqt could not shake off the feeling that a giant steel bird was craning its neck to peer through the glass at the miniature figures they must have seemed.
"A 'bird of prey', we call it," Ster spoke softly, unwilling to break the spell, and pleased at the awe-inspired look of this young prisoner and soon-to-be captain, K'Raqt. "I have been working on it for three decades. Its existence, its very feasability, is a secret that I've been carrying around for nearly all my life. Last week, I could finally tell my emperor that my life's project had come to an end. And he rewards me by giving the ship to someone else," Ster added bitterly, as he spun on his heels and left the room.
K'Raqt stared at the back of Ster Seh-Merh'Min as he was leaving, and then stared at the ship again.
- "Doesn't it sound like fun?" the old veteran had closed in on him, and was now talking softly, almost absently. "You're banned by your emperor, but at least you get to command a ship. It's an experimental vessel: too slow to run, to weak to fight, and it could blow up any minute all by itself. You will be accompanied by an old veteran who envies you your youth, and by a ship builder who envies you your command of the ship -Oh, and the crew hates your guts because they've been fed the propaganda about you betraying your empire!"
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Two days later, K'Raqt was manning the captain's chair of the brand new prototype. The two officer's seats were manned by Kha'sm'll on one side, and Ster Seh-Merh'Min on the other side. The rest of the crew was standing at attention near their console. They were casting curious looks at the old veteran in the officer seat, hateful looks at the young one in the captain's chair, and fearful looks at their clan leader.
The first Bird of Prey in Klingon history moved slowly, carefully, stately, out of the space dock. Once it was freed of its cramped hiding place, the wings righted themselves, and now the bird was truly flying. The engines lit up softly as the power supply was increased slightly.
Inside the cockpit, a radar beeped.
- "7 vessels detected. Their shields are up."
The three commanding officers frowned. None of them had suspecting a farewell committee. As they were about to comment on how this depart was supposed to be a secret, the viewscreen came to life, featuring an assemblee of Klingon warriors. K'Raqt recognized almost every single member of the Highest Council, except of course one, who was sitting right next to him.
- "Seh-Merh'Min! We cannot believe you support this treachery! Do you mean to tell us you knew of this farce all along!"
Ster erected himself from his seat and rose to his full length. He crossed his one arm in front of his chest in a gesture that was both a formal greeting for a member of the Highest Council, and a not-so-subtle hint at the rude ommission of the other council members.
- "I learned as soon as my emperor told me of this ... 'farce'. And I do as I was commanded by my emperor." Ster crossed his arms in a way that signalled nothing would stop him from doing so. There was a staring contest between Ster and the other council members, and a few even turned their eyes away from the piercing glare. But the tallest warrior of the notables simply nodded, his mouth contorted in a snarl.
"Very well then, Ster! Our only intention was to contact the traitor so he would know who's vengeance he is suffering. But now that you're on the ship as well, we've learned of the rat who made this all possible. I shall take over the shipyards from your clan with great pleasure!" he spat into the monitor, and switched off the communication.
- "Sir, all ships are powering up their weapons!" A few of the Klingons aboard the Bird of Prey shifted their feet uneasily. A prototype vessel was not supposed to be put to battle so soon during its maiden voyage. Ster growled in response.
- "Red Alert. Battlestations. Get ready for cloaking device!"
- "No !" K'Raqt interrupted loudly and cut off any more commands from the ship builder. "It's me who gets to say it. Red Alert, man the battlestations! And don't -I repeat- DON'T prepare the cloaking device. Shields up, evasive maneuvers. Run for the second moon."
The Bird of Prey sped towards the second moon, followed by seven small, but fiercely armed space ships of various clans. As the light dimmed and the ship's claxon began to blare, K'Raqt caught the frown on Ster's face.
"I assume the council members know nothing of this cloaking device, am I correct?"
Ster shrugged. "I would think not, but then again, they weren't supposed to know about you leaving orbit today, either."
"Well," K'Raqt shrugged glumly, "if we're going to give away the secret of cloaking, at least we can do it in style." He turned towards the helmsman. "As soon as we're out of their radar, slingshot the ship around the moon. Tactical!" K'Raqt turned towards another console. "When we're behind the moon, drop the shields and activate the cloak. If all goes well, they'll be looking for us, and we'll be watching over their shoulder."
It turned out the fleet knew nothing about the cloaking device. When they sped past the moon, the seven ships could no longer find the renegade prototype on their radar. The fleet spread around in a standard search pattern, moving about erratically, sending radar pulses in all directions.
Meanwhile, the Bird of Prey was hovering right behind the biggest destroyer, the command ship of councillor Treq-Is. The viewscreen of the Bird of Prey showcased the tail of the command ship in great detail, from a close distance. Every crew member instinctively hushed their movements as they were stalking this big monster, and the cockpit of the little bird grew eerily silent.
- "A single volley, right in their engines, that would teach those bastards what it means to betray your emperor!" Ster whispered, and he clenched his fist.
- "It'd be just like - no, it would even be even better than kicking that prick right in his arse!" Kha'sm'll agreed softly, and he grinned once again.
K'Raqt overheard the whispered conversation with a frown. He cocked his head to listen to his crew, moving about silently and watching the viewscreen with the war destroyer so close in view. The captain shook his head in disbelief, and reached for his own console. With a few button presses, the claxon of the ship started blaring again, a deafening sound that drowned out every thought of silence. When he switched it off again, everyone was watching their captain in horror, their ears still ringing. With an impatient flick of his wrist, K'Raqt switched on the intercom and started shouting loudly into the microphone.
- "I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all something about physics. You see, sound needs a carrier, like the atmosphere. There is no such thing in space. That means no matter how much noise we make, it will NOT reveal our position! The enemy will NOT hear us! Thank you." K'Raqt switched off the intercom again, and rose from his captain's chair.
- "Set course for the designated area. I will be in my room. Call me if anything interesting happens."
When K'Raqt had left, Ster and Kha'sm'll were still staring at each other. Ster was still trying to recover from the start he had got when the alarm had rang. Kha'sm'll, on the other hand, was grinning widely. Ster could not hide an embarassed smile, and Kha'sm'll started laughing out loud. Soon, Ster was grinning, too.
- "For sure, I thought he wanted to get us killed, when he set off the alarm!"
- "Gave me a bit of a start, too," Kha'sm'll conceded, and he slapped Ster on the shoulder. "But what do you think? Has he got spunk, or what?"
Ster shrugged his shoulders noncommittally.
- "He might have." the former ship builder, now renegade officer admitted.