Disclaimer: G'Kar and Na'Toth are not mine. This is probably just as well since the care and feeding of Narns is probably both expensive and time-consuming. I'm making no money here.
Things Heard
By Andraste
It was not until Na'Toth approached the place where Ambassador G'Kar must have been taken without hearing any sign of torture in progress that she began to doubt her judgement. If he was alive and conscious - as the assassin must keep him in order to collect his fee - why did he make no sound? To her surprise, it was the voice of Tu'Pari that she heard first, so busy gloating over his victim that he had not heard her approach. Na'Toth paused in a shadow behind the doorway, wondering how to proceed.
Technically speaking, she was under no obligation to save G'Kar. Du'Rog's vendetta was a personal matter, and her loyalty was to the office rather than the ambassador himself. To lose an employer on her second day might not be auspicious for her career, but there were also many who would not be sorry to see G'Kar dead.
Na'Toth's appointment as diplomatic attache to Babylon 5 had been made at short notice, but she'd had a few days to gather intelligence before leaving home. Her duties would not be much different from those she had performed for Counsellor Li'Dak, and she was certain that adjusting to living among aliens would prove no real problem - it was news of Ambassador G'Kar that interested her most. People were happy to pass on rumours about their representative aboard the station, so it was not difficult to find information. Making any sense of what she heard was more challenging.
They said that G'Kar was a clever politician - perhaps too clever - who had obtained his current position through trickery. That he was a strong and wise warrior who had devoted his early years to fighting the Centauri occupation. That he was a patriot above all else, and that he preferred human women to his own people. That he read too many alien books and spoke their languages too well, and that he knew every word of the Book of G'Quan well enough to reproduce it from memory. That he loved the sound of his own voice so much he never closed his mouth, and that he had once made Councillor Ta'Kal concede a debate without speaking at all.
She had asked her father, who also served on the Kha'Ri, and he had told her that she could learn much by watching Ambassador G'Kar. When she had inquired if she was to take his examples as instruction or warning, he had only smiled.
Na'Toth soon decided that she would have to find out for herself, and upon her arrival she had not been impressed. It was only sensible to be concerned about the Thenta Mukur, but it seemed that Du'Rog had already succeeded in introducing G'Kar to fear. Between his tendency toward hysterics and the alien bodyguard, she had begun to assume that the rumours of his bravery had been vastly exaggerated. Yet here she stood, hearing nothing, where she had expected the sound of the ambassador begging for his life.
"The pain must be overwhelming," Tu'Pari said smugly. "Why hold it in? Cry out, ambassador. With luck, someone will hear you."
"I would die before giving you that satisfaction."
Ambassador G'Kar would have more than her professional loyalty after all, Na'Toth decided as she stepped out of her hiding place. Nothing she had heard spoke more loudly than his silence.
The End
Things Heard
By Andraste
It was not until Na'Toth approached the place where Ambassador G'Kar must have been taken without hearing any sign of torture in progress that she began to doubt her judgement. If he was alive and conscious - as the assassin must keep him in order to collect his fee - why did he make no sound? To her surprise, it was the voice of Tu'Pari that she heard first, so busy gloating over his victim that he had not heard her approach. Na'Toth paused in a shadow behind the doorway, wondering how to proceed.
Technically speaking, she was under no obligation to save G'Kar. Du'Rog's vendetta was a personal matter, and her loyalty was to the office rather than the ambassador himself. To lose an employer on her second day might not be auspicious for her career, but there were also many who would not be sorry to see G'Kar dead.
Na'Toth's appointment as diplomatic attache to Babylon 5 had been made at short notice, but she'd had a few days to gather intelligence before leaving home. Her duties would not be much different from those she had performed for Counsellor Li'Dak, and she was certain that adjusting to living among aliens would prove no real problem - it was news of Ambassador G'Kar that interested her most. People were happy to pass on rumours about their representative aboard the station, so it was not difficult to find information. Making any sense of what she heard was more challenging.
They said that G'Kar was a clever politician - perhaps too clever - who had obtained his current position through trickery. That he was a strong and wise warrior who had devoted his early years to fighting the Centauri occupation. That he was a patriot above all else, and that he preferred human women to his own people. That he read too many alien books and spoke their languages too well, and that he knew every word of the Book of G'Quan well enough to reproduce it from memory. That he loved the sound of his own voice so much he never closed his mouth, and that he had once made Councillor Ta'Kal concede a debate without speaking at all.
She had asked her father, who also served on the Kha'Ri, and he had told her that she could learn much by watching Ambassador G'Kar. When she had inquired if she was to take his examples as instruction or warning, he had only smiled.
Na'Toth soon decided that she would have to find out for herself, and upon her arrival she had not been impressed. It was only sensible to be concerned about the Thenta Mukur, but it seemed that Du'Rog had already succeeded in introducing G'Kar to fear. Between his tendency toward hysterics and the alien bodyguard, she had begun to assume that the rumours of his bravery had been vastly exaggerated. Yet here she stood, hearing nothing, where she had expected the sound of the ambassador begging for his life.
"The pain must be overwhelming," Tu'Pari said smugly. "Why hold it in? Cry out, ambassador. With luck, someone will hear you."
"I would die before giving you that satisfaction."
Ambassador G'Kar would have more than her professional loyalty after all, Na'Toth decided as she stepped out of her hiding place. Nothing she had heard spoke more loudly than his silence.
The End