Yeah, I know it's been like two months, y'all, but I thought it best to wait rather than post anything dumb! I greatly appreciate your patience!
Thank you to 0afan0 for your proofreading, and to thyme2read, njmrtl, BewilderedFemale, and JustaCrazy-Man for your reviews!
"One more time!" Toq roared with glee.
Qoy qeylIs puqloD.
Qoy puqbe'pu'.
yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI'
Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw.
maSuv manong 'ej maHoHchu'.
nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'.
batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv.
pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'.
mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.*
"You finally have it, my Romulan friend!" He slapped Dhaval on the shoulder. "Khaless himself would be proud of you!"
Dhaval drained the last of his ale, and chuckled thoughtfully.
"What?"
"Look at me, Toq. I'm married to a human, and I'm singing Klingon drinking songs." He shook his head. "My parents are probably rolling in their graves."
"That doesn't matter. You're like a brother to me. Don't fear. All the family you need is right here." He blinked, "that rhymed..."
"Yes," Dhaval realized, "Though you didn't know it, you're a poet."
The two fell onto their backs in a fit of drunken laughter.
"Your Anne would disagree, I think," Toq said after they stopped.
"Most emphatically! Which reminds me, I should go to her now." He slowly stood, heavily relying on the wall for support. "If we make it through this alive, we should do this again, and often."
"Yes," Toq slurred, "It has been an honor to drink with you, sub-lieutenant. And it will be an honor to fight at your side."
The Romulan nodded, and staggered off in the direction of his home. "Yo, ho ho and a bottle of rum—er, ale," he snickered as he carefully moved along. When he got there, he threw the front door open, perhaps a little harder than he meant to.
His startled wife dropped her wooden spoon. "Was that really necessary?"
"We have business to take care of, my lady."
Anne blinked. Before she could say anything, he possessively took her into his arms and kissed her. But she pulled away when she smelled his breath. "You're drunk!"
Dhaval felt guilty all of a sudden. He hadn't considered that she might disapprove. "Are you angry with me, my wife?"
She sighed, but then started to giggle. "I've never seen you drunk before. I just didn't expect this."
He laughed with her and kissed her again.
Toq meanwhile had done some thinking after Dhaval went home. In his inebriated state, he decided that he had to see Ba'el again. For all they knew, it was going to be their last night alive. And he wanted to make it a memorable one. Tokath and Gi'ral, of course, would not approve, but it was better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
Ba'el wanted him, he knew full well. He had seen the fire in her eyes. This was going to be a night neither of them would forget if they did survive!
He stumbled over to her house, knocking over a clay planter. He tried to catch it, but his motor skills were heavily impaired. The crash echoed through the courtyard, and he knew everyone had to have heard it.
But there was no other sound, no sign of anyone stirring. With any luck, they would all think it was merely a small animal that had gotten loose. Just to be sure, however, he froze in the shadows for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, after his heart had stopped its guilty racing, he slowly crept closer to her bedroom window. It was open.
"Ba'el?" he called in a whisper. She must be asleep. For the moment, at least.
There was no answer, so he opened the window wider. The creak sent another wave of anxiety through his nerves. Clumsily, he lifted his leg over the sill. Then the other.
He could hear her breathing. It excited him. In the darkness, he could just make out her comely form. Soon, she would be his. He snatched the sheet off of her. She started.
"I have come to claim you as my mate!" he hissed.
"Have you now?" said an undeniably masculine voice.
The light came on.
Instead of a beautiful Klingon maiden, an old Romulan man with graying hair was reclining in the bed. Toq recoiled in horror. He was in deep trouble.
"What are you doing here?" Tokath demanded.
"Well, I, uh...that is..."
"I already told you, you haven't married my daughter yet! Get out!"
Toq scurried back to the window and leaped out like a frog out of a boiling pot, scraping his shin on the stone sill.
"If you ever try anything like this again," the Romulan warned, "It will be the last thing you ever do, boy!" He threw a pitcher of water after him, which missed the youth only by a hair.
By morning, the canals had filled to the brim. Anything that had previously hung over the water had been meticulously chopped away. Already, the awful buzzing sound could be heard coming from deep within the jungle.
Tokath assigned several guards to patrol the perimeter until the enemy arrived. As was to be expected, Dhaval was one of them. Toq nervously retraced the beaten path behind his companion.
"It looks like hell," the Romulan remarked.
Toq agreed. It was indeed a shame to have had to level those admirable trees and the lush foliage. He had come to appreciate the jungle of his childhood home, with all of its mysterious beauty. It was as wild as his own heart.
"It will grow back before you realize it," Toq assured him. "That is the way of the jungle."
"I just wish the Empire had taken more interest in our plight."
"We don't need them. We are warriors, who can stand on our own!" He repeated the words of L'Kor for his own sake as much as for his friend's benefit.
Dhaval smiled and changed the subject. "So you actually tried it, eh? I'm surprised you're still alive."
Toq rubbed his still aching shin. "When all of this is over, Ba'el and I will marry," he vowed.
All the while the ants loomed closer. Long before they could be seen, their deafening hum announced their approach. There was nothing else to do but wait to see what would happen. The line of Romulans and Klingons aimed their disruptors at the opposite side of the canal.
Tension filled the air. Dhaval would swear he could almost smell it. His stomach was in knots, though he wouldn't admit it. He wasn't afraid of combat with people, but he was afraid of tiny bugs! He was getting squeamish, like Anne. Not that he held that against her, she was human after all. There was no excuse for him to be in the nearly petrified state that he was, however. Unlike his wife, he was a soldier of the Empire.
But he didn't know how to fight a deadly infestation of ants using such such limited means. He had no idea how he was going to defend his adopted home and those he cared about—most especially, the woman he loved.
Before long, the vermin came into view, the black mass steadily descending to the water's edge. The ants buzzed around the shoreline, frantically searching for more sustenance to appease their insatiable appetite.
Dhaval gripped his disruptor tightly, and hoped its power would last long enough to see them through.
Toq put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They have not crossed yet," he said over the ruckus. Even the Klingon was not able to keep the apprehension out of his voice.
At least I'm not the only one, Dhaval thought. He watched the insects intently. After a while however, the sight of the oscillating army, combined with its atrocious noise, became nauseating. Dhaval had to turn away to keep from getting sick.
To the horror of all, the little beasts sliced the leaves off of branches with their powerful mandibles, and then proceeded to carry them over to the water. Using the vegetation as makeshift boats, they began to float across.
"Set your weapons to stun," Tokath commanded, "We need them to last as long as possible. Fire!"
The black mass boiled with wrath, though its numbers diminished slightly.
"Fire!"
A red hot glow engulfed the opposite bank. But it didn't stop them. They continued to advance in endless hordes, and the battle lasted long into the night.
By morning, the disruptors were drained. Tokath ordered everyone to retreat. As soon as they were all safe behind the sanctuary walls, the dried brush was set ablaze.
Ba'el watched her father and the other warriors feed the roaring blaze outside of the walls. The brush had burned all day, nearly drowning out the sound of the ants. Yet after the flames died down, the buzzing still had not completely ceased. Unfortunately, there was nothing left to burn.
"We are beaten!" Valdus hissed.
All indeed seemed to be lost. Families huddled together, waiting for the end, which they all believed was certainly near. But Ba'el knew her father wouldn't give up that easily.
Sure enough, Tokath shook his head. "Not yet. There is one last hope." He nodded to Gi'ral and Ba'el. At once, Ba'el understood. There was no time for lengthy goodbyes, but he wanted to let them know how much he loved them. Her heart began to swell with sorrow.
He put his hand on Toq's shoulder. "Be good to my daughter."
"What are you going to do?" He asked.
"The only thing that can be done at this point. I'm going up river to blow up the dam," he announced. "The resulting flood should be enough to destroy them. Valdus, you are now in command."
"Yes, sir," the centurion acknowledged reluctantly.
Ba'el desperately wanted to call out to her father, but she knew better. She had to be brave, and set the example for the others. She held her tongue, and rushed into Toq's arms.
The colony sadly watched as their leader covered his exposed skin and put on a helmet. Explosives were packed into a bag. But just as he was about to climb to the top of the wall, H'dean stopped him.
"Wait!" he entreated. "You have a family, Commander. My wife is no longer living. There is no one to mourn my loss. Let me go instead. Let me make a difference. Please!"
Tokath studied his old friend's face for several seconds. "Alright. Go!" He threw the pack over the centurion's shoulder and gave him the helmet.
Without another word, H'dean scaled the wall and disappeared over the side.
"May you die well, my friend!" L'Kor called after him.
Anne sobbed into Dhaval's chest. Beside them, Ba'el heard Eviess' sharp intake of breath. A quick glance in her direction confirmed that she really was overwhelmed with emotion. Dhaval noticed, too. For the first time, it was obvious that he deeply regretted his cruel prank. But it was already done.
Once again, there was nothing else to do but wait and hope for the best.
A long, seemingly endless hour passed. Fear gripped the people when the ants appeared at the top of the walls.
"H'dean has failed." Tokath nearly choked on his own words. "It is up to me now." He snatched the last of the explosives.
But then a low rumble resounded in the distance. The sound of rushing water came soon after. Waves crashed against the compound, their splashes soaking anyone who stood close enough to the walls. Water seeped through the cracks in the gates, but most of the deluge was successfully held back.
The inhabitants of Carraya IV collectively held their breath.
Once the torrent calmed, Tokath and Valdus climbed up to get a better look. The camp was now in the middle of a lake. But there was no sign of the ants, or H'dean.
*Translation:
Hear! Sons of Kahless.
Hear! Daughters too.
The blood of battle washes clean
The Warrior brave and true.
We fight, we love, and then we kill.
Our lives burn short and bright,
Then we die with honor and join our fathers in the Black Fleet where
We battle forever, battling on through the Eternal fight!