Captain Klarx of the Imperial Warship Glorious Massacre bit into the live tribble that was presented to him by his humble servant. He wasn't hungry, but he made sure he had a supply of the furry creatures on the bridge as part of his glorious pre-battle ritual. He took a swing of Bloodwine, before tossing the empty goblet across the bridge.

"Sir!" his communications officer said. "Incoming message from the Federation ship."

"Cloaked ships, I am Captain Kehlan commanding the Federation Starship USS Sir Gawain. We are on a mission of mercy. Reveal yourselves and deal with us honourably, face to face or we shall assume that you are enemies and take appropriate action."

"The impudence!" Klarx growled. He gestured to his bodyguards. "Kill the chief engineer... tell his replacement to find the fault in our cloak that allowed those human worms to see through our invisibility screen. No wait... put him in the agony booth for three hours and then kill him."

The two guards thumped their chest in obedience and marched away. Satisfied that his orders would be carried out – not that they would DARE to disobey him – Klarx turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "Comms, order the Bloodbath, the Unquenchable Bloodthirst and the Bitter End to lower their cloaks, and we will do the same. The rest of the fleet will move into formation but remain cloaked. I will look upon this Kehlan…" He almost spat the name. "…and see her face as she hears my resolve."

As he had ordered, the cloaks fell, and the four Klingon ships, the mighty D7 battlecruiser in the centre with another D7 on either side and the final one above and slightly behind the flagship, were revealed in all their splendour.

Klarx stared resolutely at his viewscreen as the bridge of a Federation ship took shape. Standing in the centre was a Klingon female, a warrior. Dressed in form-fitting leather armour, long chestnut hair cascaded down her back from a set of brow ridges that were in his view significantly softer than they should be. Was this the one called Kehlan and if so, did she have quchHa' blood?

At that moment, the archaic algorithm - based on hearsay, innuendo and more than a little prejudice - that had been adapted from the original Kobayashi Maru simulator over a century ago, struggled to understand what was being presented to it. The Federation and Klingons were enemies, yet Klarx' holographic eyes insisted that she was a Klingon. A Klingon that was in command of a Federation ship!

The image of the Klingon captain flickered for a second. "I do not understand..." was all that Klarx managed.

"I do not understand…" Corbus found himself in complete agreement with the holographic Klingon's assessment of the situation. Sneaking a sideways glance at the fleet captain, he bit back a very inappropriate laugh. Kehlan's face was a picture of disbelief.

Sensing Corbus's amusement, she glared at him. "You said Romulans," she accused. "That is definitely NOT a Romulan..." The face in front of her was in fact, pure Imperial Klingon, dressed in typical battle-armour and seated in the command chair on the bridge of what appeared to be a D7 class battlecruiser, even if said bridge was more how the Federation had imagined it to be than how it really was. Well, that certainly made things interesting. Kehlan thought irritably, surreptitiously looking around her to see how the others were reacting.

Eyes bright with a mix of outrage and amusement, Khetara was already speaking. Her earlier, combative attitude gone, she was now advising extreme caution. The advice seemed out of character, but she had not survived to become a general by rushing blindly and recklessly into battle.

Aware of Corbus nodding his approval of Khetara's advice, Kehlan listened carefully before acknowledging. Her own thoughts were in complete agreement; if this was a Klingon, programmed in the old hostilities between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, then this was a potentially volatile situation.

Pulling herself up to her full height, Kehlan turned to the viewscreen and took a deep breath. She had been a long time in the Federation, some would say maybe too long. It was time for her to be Klingon again. Channelling her old instructors at the veS DuSaQ, the Klingon military academy, she injected a growl of aggression into her voice as she spoke. "Identify yourself!"

Within the central holodeck control core, the old scenario programme and the new subroutines tried desperately to fill in the gaps. The algorithm that was controlling Klarx furiously tried to stop the simulated Klingon personality from shutting down due to the contradiction on the enemy bridge. It was akin to the computer being given a paradox to solve, so much so that Klarx's image on the viewscreen flickered out of focus for a few moments.

Finally, it did its job. After searching thousands of probability studies, it found something that was consistent with Klarx's original parameters. The holographic Klingon felt his confusion begin to fade, to be replaced by grim resolution. He was a Klingon warrior and he would have battle.

His image flickered again before solidifying once more, and Klarx's face twisted in anger. "I am Klarx, Captain of the Glorious Massacre. And you Kehlan, and that other Klingon are obviously traitors to the Klingon Empire... yes, I'll wager that lowly freighter that wandered into the neutral zone did so on purpose, to pick up its cargo - more filthy defectors! Surrender now, and your deaths will be quick... do not, and you and your miserable crew will be captured and forced to die a coward's death on Rura Penthe."

Unknown to the officers within the simulation, Admiral James Mackenzie sat comfortably in the observation lounge, watching his wife through the viewscreen. He'd told her he would be watching, and he'd kept his promise, although he knew she could not see him.

He frowned slightly as the scenario developed and the Klingon ship revealed itself on the screen. This was not the current Kobayashi Maru test... Klingons should NOT be involved. Someone had been messing with the scenario and, when this was over, he would want to know who and why. This was not acceptable. Almost, he reached for the comm, to get the simulation shut down, but at the last minute he changed his mind and decided to let it run.

The exam was always a good measure of how a candidate faced a no-win scenario, but at the same time most academy cadets did not know what to expect. Unlike those cadets, Kehlan was an experienced captain and he was aware that she was being considered for promotion to flag rank. As inappropriate and unauthorised as the change to the scenario was, it was certainly throwing a curve ball straight at Kehlan and that was not necessarily a bad thing. For now, he decided, he would watch and wait… and find out just how his wife handled going up against her own people.

Concentrating on the viewscreen, Mackenzie was caught by surprise when the door opened, and another officer entered. The newcomer was someone he had not expected to see. "Isis! I wasn't expecting you"

Back in the days of the Dominion War when he'd been the captain of the Endeavour, Isis Portway had been his commanding officer. Now he too had stars on his uniform – four of them, as well as lots of the gold braid that Starfleet decreed necessary for admirals' uniforms. She still outranked him, however. Portway had five stars on her uniform, although having taken control of Starfleet Intelligence, she was no longer in his chain of command.

His fellow admiral crossed the room and joined him. "I just got back," she said easily, and I'm not here officially. But I heard about Kehlan's test so thought I'd pop in and join you." Pulling out a chair, she settled herself on it, taking a moment to get comfortable before she glanced at the screen. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh my! This looks interesting!"

Turning her attention away from the reactions of her friends and back to more relevant matters, Kehlan faced the holographic Klingon captain.

"Klarx of the Glorious Massacre," she snarled, inwardly trying not to laugh. Kahless! Was this really how the Federation of a hundred years ago had seen the Klingons? Talk about stereotypical caricatures! "I am Kehlan sutai Inigan."

She paused, giving him a moment to recognise the House name. The House of Inigan was an old and highly respected family that could trace its lineage back through fifteen hundred years of history to the time of Kahless. "I hold the rank of Captain in the Klingon Defence Force," she continued, speaking in a crisp, beautifully accented tlhIngan Hol that made it very clear that she was a native speaker of the language. "I have taken command of this Federation vessel on a mission of great importance to the High Council. My orders are from the chancellor himself. Impede me at your peril!"

Klarx's sophisticated holomatrix processed the data. 'Inigan' was indeed a name that dated back to the original programming. It was accepted as authentic, and this caused its own set of problems for the system. Confusion again began to build up - one of the great Houses would never allow its members to betray the Empire. However, Klarx trusted the name enough to interrogate further. "Why would a member of that noble House be on the bridge of our blood enemy?" His voice was laced with suspicion but there was none of his previous contempt.

"Captain, a word please?"

Kehlan looked towards her first officer with a raised eyebrow, silently inviting him to continue.

With a quick gesture to the holographic comms officer to mute the sound so that their conversation could remain confidential and away from the ears of the intimidating-looking Klingon on the screen, Corbus gave his personal perception of the situation.

"No instance of the Kobayashi Maru has ever gone this long without a weapon being fired. You've already set an incredible record, but the fact is there is something very wrong going on here. Ever since the peace treaty with the Klingons, this test was reprogrammed to pit examinees against the Romulans. I…"

"Exactly!" Rhiana agreed, unintentionally interrupting him. "There is something very odd going on here. My understanding is that no matter what tactics you use, or how many ships you defeat, more will always come into the battle and you will be defeated. So far, that doesn't seem to be happening. Not only are we not facing Romulans, that Klingon appears to be actually listening to you."

"That does not mean you should be complacent," Khetara butted in. Obviously enjoying the unexpected twist that the scenario had taken, she was nevertheless serious as she offered her own take on the situation. "This programme is portraying the Klingons as we were a hundred years ago, in other words, at a time when we were at war with the Federation. Any volatile words could set this simulation onto a war footing instantly. One Excelsior class cannot stand against four D7 battlecruisers and I guarantee you, there will be more out there, still cloaked.

Glancing at Klarx on the viewscreen and noting that while he was showing signs of increasing impatience, his stance was decidedly less hostile, Corbus favoured Kehlan with an encouraging smile. "Despite all that, I do think that if you choose your words carefully and stay on your guard, there may be reason to hope that there is no such thing as a no-win scenario."

Kehlan listened carefully to what her officers were saying. They had a point, she conceded, several points, actually. This did not seem to be going quite the way she had imagined, or the way she had been told to expect. In fact, she would lay odds that the scenario had been tampered with, and suddenly she remembered the grins on her fellow captains' faces as they had challenged her. "Reilly!" she muttered, her eyes narrowing, "I'll get you for this."

That earned her some odd looks from her friends, but she shook her head; she'd explain later. For now, she had an impatiently waiting hologram to deal with.

"Rhiana, lay in a direct course for the Kobayashi Maru," Kehlan instructed tersely. "Full impulse." That would take her right through the Klingon fleet but right now Kehlan didn't care. She was Klingon! Caution would get her nowhere... it was time for action.

Returning to her station, the Romulan woman's hands flew across her console as she set the required coordinates. "Course laid in and ready to engage."

"Lieutenant Tyler, unmute please."

The holographic officer complied immediately. "Two-way communications restored, Captain."

"Captain Klarx…" Kehlan kept her voice strong and firm as befitted a Klingon warrior. "I have already told you that I have taken command of this vessel on the orders of the chancellor himself. I do not have time for further explanations. That can come later, over a bottle or two of the Inigan estate's finest bloodwine!"

She grinned, baring her teeth before continuing. "Right now, I have a mission to complete and your assistance would be appreciated." She leaned forward slightly, affording the holographic Klingon a good view of her cleavage as she waited for his reply.

With some bemusement, Corbus watched Kehlan as she delivered her ultimatum to Klarx. He had to admit, he was impressed. Not only was Kehlan talking her way out of the no-win scenario, but she was doing it with relative ease. He found himself having to cover a small smirk as she added some feminine 'persuasion' to the situation. That particular tactic was uncharacteristic of Kehlan and he wondered momentarily what her husband was thinking if he was watching as he had promised.

Seated at the helm, Rhiana made the mistake of glancing at Corbus and found herself fighting the urge to burst into laughter. Elements! For the purposes of the simulation, she was supposed to be a Vulcan. But honestly, the expression on Corbus' face was priceless. Despite her best efforts to keep a straight face, a faint snicker slipped out.

Rhiana was not the only one having fun. Over at tactical, General Khetara was having the time of her life as she waited for what would surely be a glorious battle against overwhelming odds. Outnumbered and outgunned, it was, she decided, a good day to die, even if only in a holodeck simulation. "Weapons are online, Captain, and ready to fire. Awaiting your command."

Captain Klarx and the Glorious Massacre are the evil brainchild of my good friend Dan1 and are used with his permission. I promise you, I could never have come up with anything quite that twisted! (Thanks Dan). All I have done is tidied it up a bit to fit in better with the rewritten story. Again, thanks to Stefan for allowing me to make use of his character Alexander Corbus.

Thanks again to JDC0 for their continued support and interest in my stories.