CHAPTER 15
Two days from Shidak's stronghold, Hoshi roamed the ship, making sure all systems were operating at peak efficiency. They would need to be in top condition if things got rough. Although she ultimately planned to leave her crew on their own, she realized she did care about them. She wanted them to have the best chance to survive any hostilities they might encounter.
She was very aware of Kleth following her around, watching her fussing over the ship. Her patience began to grow thin the third time she turned around and ran smack into his massive chest.
"You change directions too quickly," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and setting her back on her feet after she stumbled from the force of her impact on his breastplate.
"Get out of my way, Kleth! I don't need you following me around like a mother targ," she said.
"What do you suggest I do?"
Hands on her hips, Hoshi considered. There were any number of things Kleth could be doing besides following her around, but one idea stood out. With a wicked smile, she ordered, "Go see what Reed and Tucker are up to. Make sure they fix the engine."
A beatific smile -- for a Klingon -- spread across Kleth's face at her words, and she knew he would enjoy himself.
"What progress have you made?" Kleth asked, his voice a low rumble as he entered the scout ship. There wasn't much room to move around, what with the two Humans and now the massive Klingon occupying the small interior.
Tucker hastily pulled his legs up under himself and stood up, leaning away from Kleth. Reed sat on the bunk, chewing on a piece of beef from one of the meal packets as he watched. He wouldn't be surprised if Kleth was going to have a little fun at Tucker's expense.
"Well?" Kleth demanded, looking down his nose at Tucker
"Ah," Tucker said nervously. "The last time I talked, you smacked me down."
Kleth laughed and slapped Tucker on the shoulder, causing the engineer to stagger.
"You may talk now. You have earned the trust of the captain." Pausing, he added, "But I will be watching you. ... So, what progress have you made?"
Tucker swallowed and inched a little farther away. He shot an inquiring glance at Reed, who shrugged.
"I got the injector aligned," Tucker began, "but I need to make another part that was too badly damaged to fix. Otherwise, next time a change in speed is made at high warp, it'll blow again. Problem is, I don't have the materials to make the part."
Kleth considered his words, then yelled out the open hatch. "K'rit! Take this Human to engineering. See if he can find what he needs there."
Tucker, a look of pleased surprise on his face, hustled out the hatch without a word. Curiosity about the Klingons' engineering section was overriding his nervousness, Reed surmised.
Kleth sat down in the pilot's chair after Tucker left. Looking around the interior, he said, "He will fix the engine."
It was a statement, not a question, and Reed heard the underlying threat. Wadding up the empty food packet, he tossed it in the recycle bin. "He'll fix it."
The two men assessed each other for a few moments before Reed spoke again.
"Shouldn't you be watching the captain's back?" he asked. When Kleth continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable, Reed probed farther. "After all, it's not me you've been protecting her from. If anything, you've thrown us together."
A sudden grating noise from Kleth puzzled him until he realized the Klingon was laughing quietly.
"You are right, Ma'Com," Kleth said. "I have thrown you together, but it did not take much effort on my part. You did not resist my captain."
Reed frowned as his reservations about his relationship with Hoshi came back to him. No, he certainly hadn't resisted her. "Whether or not I resisted is not up for discussion," he said.
Kleth laughed out loud at that. "You sound just like her. You Humans, are you all like this?"
Reed snorted and got up to get a glass of water from the dispenser. Taking a swallow, he eyed Kleth before broaching a subject that he had been curious about ever since he'd seen the Klingon with Hoshi at the restaurant.
"Why are you so loyal to her?" he asked, watching for Kleth's reaction.
"She hasn't told you?"
"She told me that Matthew Hayes saved your life twice, even if he didn't know he was doing it the second time. He inadvertently stepped into the line of fire meant for you, and died as a result."
"That is true," Kleth said. "You do not know much about Klingons, do you?"
"What all Starfleet officers know, I suppose," Reed answered, moving to sit back down on the bunk. He had the feeling this was going to be a long conversation. Kleth had settled back in the pilot's chair as if he intended to be there a while.
"What Starfleet officers know has more to do with tactics and battle history than our way of life," Kleth said, nodding his head as if confirming something. "You see us as blood-thirsty barbarians who fight all the time."
Reed remained quiet, sipping the water, waiting to see if Kleth would divulge more information without encouragement.
"Ma'Hew Hayes could have been a Klingon," Kleth said without preamble. "He understood our ways, he even risked his own ship and the lives of his crew to save the Falcon."
Kleth paused to look over his shoulder out the viewport where two Klingons could be seen working at an open access panel in the docking bay. "The crew and I, we are renegades from our own people. I had a disagreement with the Klingon military command." Turning back to give Reed a hard smile, he said, "What the disagreement was is none of your business."
"So, you and your crew became pirates?" Reed asked.
"No. We ran a trade route between two of our outer worlds," Kleth said, adding with distaste, "It was business."
"And that's when Hayes found you?"
"Yes. An accident in engineering had disabled us, and we only had a short time before the warp core would breach. Ma'Hew knew that is not how Klingons want to die. He persuaded me by saying that if the Falcon could be repaired in time and we lived, we would have another chance for an honorable death and the journey to Sto-Vo-Kor. But he was also a shrewd businessman -- after he made me see the reason to accept his help, he withheld it until I turned the Falcon over to him."
This didn't fit with the altruistic impression of Hayes that Reed had gotten from Hoshi. His confusion must have shown on his face, because Kleth added, "Ma'Hew wanted to see if trade with the Klingon outer worlds would be profitable, and the Falcon and I were to help. While I enjoy the challenge of being in space, commanding a ship, I did not enjoy being a businessman, arranging contracts, haggling over prices. I was more than willing to let Ma'Hew take care of that."
Kleth got up and peered at the dispenser.
"Water? Tea? Coffee?" Reed asked.
Turning to face him, Kleth remarked, "No wonder you Humans are so puny."
"Sorry. Blood wine isn't standard fare on Starfleet ships."
Kleth sat down again, and Reed tried to get him back on the topic he wanted to discuss. "You still haven't said why you serve her so willingly."
"You may call her by her name now," Kleth said with a small smile. "You are her chosen one and you have that right."
"All right," Reed said with a small smile of his own. "Why do you serve Hoshi?"
"She was mated to Ma'Hew," the Klingon said simply. "She now leads his house, and has proven worthy of being followed."
Reed was struck by an idea. "But, if I have become Hoshi's mate, doesn't that mean she is part of my house?"
"Not yet. She set out on this path of vengeance before you were involved. She must fulfill it." Kleth scratched his beard thoughtfully. "In doing so, she has given me a purpose."
"Purpose?"
"To avenge Ma'Hew's death." Kleth's armor creaked as he shifted in the chair. "I would have been killed if Ma'Hew hadn't intervened, but instead, he died in my place. I have a duty to fulfill to his mate, who wishes to avenge him."
Reed didn't want to make the Klingon angry and ruin the rapport they seemed to be developing, but he had to find out if there was another reason for Kleth's loyalty.
"Hoshi told me about her agreement with you," he said. "She's going to turn the Falcon back over to you when this is over."
Kleth growled, but that was all. Reed slowly relaxed when the Klingon didn't make a move against him.
"Yes," Kleth said, "but that is not why I do these things for her. She is worthy, and her desires are my orders. It is a shame that she is not really a Klingon. But she knows, and I know, that she is not suited to command a Klingon warbird, no matter how well she pretends. We are joined for this one purpose, and when that purpose is achieved, then she will wisely free herself of the Falcon and me."
Reed believed him. If there was one thing he had learned in the short time he had known Kleth, it was that this Klingon didn't lie.
Some time later, after Kleth had left, Tucker was back under the engineering panel in the scout ship, installing the connections to bring the engine online. Reed wasn't surprised that the visit to the Falcon's engineering department had made him talkative.
"You should see the set-up down there. It's terrible," Tucker said. "They don't have too many people on board who really know more than the basics about warp engines. The place is a mess."
"That's probably because most of their engineering personnel were killed in an accident just before Matthew Hayes took over the ship," Reed remarked.
Grunting as he tightened a connection, Tucker said, "Well, that explains Malin being in charge down there. He's kinda young for somebody to be in that position. He's pretty knowledgeable, but I can tell he hasn't had a lot of experience."
"You met Malin?" Reed asked, recognizing the name of the Klingon whose clothes he was wearing.
"Yeah. He's kinda small for a Klingon. I don't think he's full grown yet."
Reed rolled his eyes as Tucker, still talking, slid out from under the panel.
"He told me who won the bettin' pool, too, on you and the captain," he said, putting some tools back in his kit and taking out a spanner. "It was that big Klingon who was in here earlier."