Imperial Intelligence Headquarters
26th February 2268
The Qas DevwI was not a happy man. One thing the operations master's orders had highlighted was that his troops were not as ready for combat as they thought they were. Not that there was anything wrong with their fighting skills. Contrary to popular opinion, Imperial Intelligence soldiers did not stand around all day guarding corridors and cells, although that was undoubtedly one of their duties.
All his soldiers were trained to a high standard in the use of the various weapons they carried as well as in unarmed combat and much of their time was spent in practicing. They were also encouraged to develop skills in more specialised area according to their interests and abilities, such as combat engineering, defensive piloting, explosives and bomb disposal, and so on.
The problem, it turned out, was transport. It was embarrassing, it really was, the Qas DevwI thought angrily. It was all very well having combat ready troops if you couldn't get them to the combat zone. Of the two available DY Hundred transport shuttles, one was apparently on loan to Homeworld Security, and the other was out of commission, the engineers having found a fault and taken it apart to carry out emergency repairs. He'd even contacted the captain of the only I.I. ship currently in orbit, only to be told that their transporters were down for routine maintenance. Honestly, you really couldn't make this up! Talk about complete incompetence! And what the operations master would say when he found out was not something the Qas DevwI wanted to hear.
It was going to have to be the ground vehicles, he decided reluctantly. It would be a slow, bumpy ride, but infinitely better than walking the fifteen or so qellcams to the Inigan estate. At this time of day, the traffic in First City was always horrendous and getting from headquarters to the city outskirts would be a nightmare, even with the priority given to Imperial Intelligence vehicles.
Yes, it would definitely be a slow ride. Biting back a sigh, the Qas DevwI began to give the necessary orders.
Inigan Estate
26th February 2268
"…This is Mevaq from the United Qo'noS News Service reporting live from Teng'cha Jav. The chaos caused by the return of the Terra-One troop transport continues to escalate as disgruntled officers and soldiers insist that they were ordered back to Qo'noS… The High Council continues to deny this, and accusations of treason have been made. The senior officer in command of the mission is not available for comment and his whereabouts are currently unknown…"
Meren stirred as that last caught his attention. The Inigan line lord had been in his office, listening with one ear to the ongoing news reports, while the same time rifling through some very classified files using a highly illegal techniques he had learned from his younger brother. He was worried now. As the news reporter had said, the whole situation was escalating out of control. There was still no news from Krang, something that did nothing at all to help his mood, until he remembered that he'd turned off the entire Inigan estate comm system, making it difficult, if not outright impossible for anyone to contact him.
Cursing, he turned the system on again. Immediately, the red light began flashing, warning him of incoming messages… lots of them, none of which were from his brother. He gave an annoyed grunt, noting four more missed calls from Imperial Intelligence. That did not please him at all. If Meth wanted to berate his brother, he could join the queue. Until he'd spoken with Krang, he had nothing to say to the operations master. There was also a long list of calls from the various news agencies. That pleased him even less. He'd missed a call from his sister as well. That one, he decided, he would return.
She was very quick to answer the comm; no doubt she'd been waiting impatiently for him. "NuqneH? Oh, it's you! Meren, have you heard from Krang? Kargh has just called me from the spaceport; He was on duty when the ship came in and he says it's chaos down there. What's going on?
"I still don't know," Meren told his sister. Quickly and succinctly, he gave her all the information available to him, which was not a lot, although what he did know did not look good for Krang.
"Disobedience of Council orders? But that's treason!" Stunned by the accusations against her younger sibling, Kaghren fell silent for a moment. "You're not going to discommend him, are you?"
"I don't know," Meren confessed. "I don't have enough information yet to make a decision as big as that."
"I trust our brother," Kaghren said. "He might work for Imperial Intelligence but he's an honourable man, and whatever he's done, he will have a good reason for it. Promise me you'll at least listen to what he has to say."
It was Meren's turn to be silent. "I will listen," he agreed eventually. "More than that I cannot promise."
She sighed. "I know you'll do whatever is necessary to protect the House and the family. I might be legally part of House Khemara now, but I am still your sister, and you can rely on me to support you. Qapla', brother." She signed off, leaving him staring at a blank screen.
It had been maybe fifteen or twenty minutes after the conversation with his sister that Meren heard the sound of an approaching shuttle. From the sound of the engines, it was coming in fast, and wondering who it was, Meren got up and limped over to the patio door. The incoming vessel was large, sleek and expensive looking, black in colour, and as it banked in preparation for landing, Meren was not at all pleased to see the Imperial Intelligence logo on its side. His mood deteriorated as he watched the shuttle descend, bypassing the nearby landing pad and settling itself on the frosty lawn right in front of the house. If that was the operations master…
The door was beginning to open, and spoiling for a fight, Meren waited impatiently for its occupant to reveal himself. He did not have long to wait.
The black-clad figure standing in the doorway was not the operations master but his errant brother. As he watched, Krang looked back, speaking to someone still inside the vehicle before stepping out onto the ramp, descending it and crossing the lawn with his usual confident stride.
Unlocking the patio door and shoving it open, Meren went to greet his brother. Determined to show no weakness, he took great care with each step, ignoring the pain and standing proudly with his head held high.
Krang came to a halt in front of his older brother. In happier times, he might have embraced him, but he was returning home as a wanted criminal and did not deserve that privilege. Instead, he saluted and bowed his head, offering the respect that was due to Meren as the Inigan line lord.
"I wondered when you'd show up," Meren growled, relief at his youngest sibling's safe return giving way to anger. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"
Krang could only stand and listen as his brother verbally tore him to pieces. "…your sister is worried, I'm worried, you've disobeyed orders and there's talk of treason… there's already a warrant out for your arrest… and all that is going to affect your House and entire family in case you didn't remember that… the estate is on lockdown… and on top of all that, you've parked that big black monstrosity right in the middle of my lawn!" Meren voice had risen to something approaching a roar. In the face of all those very real problems, that last insignificant issue took on a disproportionate importance, becoming the straw that broke the sark's back. "Don't you know how much damage that will do, especially at this time of year? There's a perfectly good landing pad right over there…"
Krang regarded his older brother steadily, albeit with some bemusement. "Seriously, Meren? I come home accused of treason and your first concern is the lawn?"
"Yes, well…" Unwilling to admit that Krang had a point, Meren muttered something rude before attacking again. "And what's this I hear about you bringing home a human woman? Is it true you have two children with her? And you never thought to inform me?"
"I never had a chance," Krang said defensively. "It all happened so fast. I met her only a month ago, and…"
"Of all the stupid, irresponsible…" His control over his temper completely gone, Meren ruthlessly interrupted his younger brother. "Just what in Fek'lhr's name did you think you were playing at? No… wait…" he added sarcastically, "that's the problem isn't it! You didn't think! You never do!"
The unfairness of that was almost overwhelming. It had not been his choice to bring Chrissie and the children back to the Klingon homeworld. What was he supposed to have done? Turned the transport ship around?
"Krang…" Chrissie's voice distracted him from his self pity. He turned to find that she had emerged from the shuttle, Antonio and Josefina close behind her. His brother instantly forgotten, he watched as she stepped onto the grass and bent to touch it. There was a look of wonder on her face, and he had a good idea what she was thinking – her people had barely managed to get to their moon and here she was standing on the surface of an alien planet, lightyears away from home. And no doubt, he thought fondly, she was already wondering how this lawn compared to the grass back on Earth.
Her appearance had at least caused his brother to stop shouting, although he had a bad feeling that Meren was not yet done with him. Still, he was not quite ready for introductions, not until he was sure his brother had calmed down a bit. He held up a hand, and with the slightest shake of his head, silently warned her to stay where she was. She nodded in understanding, and satisfied that she would wait, he turned his attention back to his brother, giving him a wary glance as he waited for the shouting to start again.
Meren was already studying the Terran woman, a look of disapproval on his face. There was nothing special about her and he could not understand what his brother saw in her. "So that's your woman." It was not quite a question, more an accusation. Krang bristled at the tone and started to speak but Meren overrode him and all he could do was listen in disbelief and mounting anger to his brother's increasingly insulting rant.
Right now, his brother was telling him that he should have known better than to behave that way on an alien planet, and hadn't Imperial Intelligence taught him about all the diseases he could catch from women of other races? "You were the senior officer," Meren added, "You did not exactly set a good example to your subordinates. Couldn't you keep your d'k tahg in its sheath for just a couple of years?"
The crude euphemism might be popular in the Defence Force, although not normally among the officer class, but it was more than he was willing to take. When his brother had started shouting at him, Krang had instinctively lowered his head, remaining quiet and respectful. Meren was the head of the House, and for much of Krang's life, he had been a father to him. But he was no longer a naughty child in need of castigation and correction. He was a high ranking, powerful man in his own right, and his brother had gone too far.
A growl rose in Krang's throat, quickly rising to become a roar. "She is my chosen mate, my par'Mach'kai. She does not deserve your scorn and I will tolerate no disrespect. She is expecting my child and you will be polite to her. As for the children, they are legitimate, born of her previous marriage. I have taken them as my own and will protect them as such. Do not test me on this, Meren, because you will regret it."
It was Meren's turn to bristle and the quarrel between the two brothers might have turned to violence if Fina had not broken away from her mother and approached them, coming to stand by Krang's side. The big man was scaring her, but she didn't like the way he was shouting at her vavoy, or the way Vavoy seemed to be letting him.
Meren looked down at the little girl appraisingly. She was a tiny, delicate little thing but very obviously spirited and she did not seem at all bothered by the fact that he towered over her. He started to kneel so he could get a good look at her, but the bolt of agony that coursed through his injured knee persuaded him otherwise.
He was unable to hold back a pained growl that sounded intimidating and threatening to the child, who pressed back against the reassuring bulk of her vavoy.
Glaring angrily at his brother, Krang bent and swept his daughter into his arms, settling her on one hip, on the opposite side to his d'k tahg. "I warned you, Meren…"
"I did not intend to frighten her." That was the nearest he could come to an apology and Krang accepted it as such.
Now that she was at eye level, Meren studied her carefully. Other than the big, dark eyes and olive skin tones, which he guessed she must have inherited from her natural father, she looked very like the Terran woman standing a short distance away with the boy. "What is your name, child?"
Now that she was in her father's arms, the little girl felt safe enough to answer. "Fina puqbe' Qis'ta Inigan tuQ jiH," she announced in a loud, clear voice that was beautifully accented, identifying herself in the traditional Klingon way, mother's name first, followed by family affiliation. Fina, daughter of Christa, of the House of Inigan. Exhausting her knowledge of tlhIngan Hol, she changed back to English. "You're scary. My vavoy says that's okay because you're his big brother, but I don't think it is okay, because you're supposed to protect him, not shout and be horrible."
Meren considered that carefully. "Does your brother not shout at you?"
"Nope," Fina said earnestly, "because I'm not naughty... and neither is my vavoy. He's brave and honour-able…" She pronounced the difficult word with great care, wanting to say it right because she'd learned how important honour was. "…and you shouldn't shout at him."
Stifling a snort at his daughter's blatant claim – although to be fair, she was generally a well-behaved child, so it was more of an exaggeration than a deliberate lie – Krang's amusement turned to pride as he listened to her defend him. What was it with that child, he asked himself? Really, she should be classed as a bioweapon… if were not for her, he would have bundled Chrissie back onboard the shuttle and forced her to return to Earth, and now he was watching her work her magic on his older brother.
Obviously, he mused, Klingon warriors could not stand against the might of little girls.
My apologies to JDC0, Solasnagreine and RobertBruceScott, who thanks to my error, are no longer able to leave reviews while logged in. This is because I removed all the earlier chapter, all 35 of them, which belonged to the previous volume, leading to the computer rejigging chapter numbers... and unfortuntely making the computer think they are trying to review the same chapter twice. It will be fine for anyone else to review of course... (hint hint) Guys, if you dont want to leave guest reviews, pm me and I'll manually add your comments to the bottom of the chapter.
I do owe my beta massive thanks for her help with this chapter as I was really struggling with it... and the d'k tahg euphemism was her idea. I am still laughing at that one... thanks Linny!