| Cold Fire
no Klingon content The Sword of Kahless Teleplay by Hans Beimler. Story by Richard Danus. Kor – walls of fire on one side, rivers of lava on the other. We snaked our way through the hot smoldering canyon. Our skin so parched and blistered it was as thick as armor. Kang, Koloth and I had set out with 40 legions, and now only we three remained to take on T’nag’s army. Chanting a battle cry . . . his eyes bulging with hate . . . magnificent . . . in one hand, his bat’leth in the other, I saw him kill two dozen men. . . . Kang took the high ground, and keeping the three suns to his back he forced the enemy to fight him against the blinding light. Jadzia points out that when Kang told the story Kor took the high ground. Kor – Who gets the credit is of no importance. What matters is this: in the end the mountainside was covered with dead so that not one square meter of ground could be seen. We found T’nag’s body by the river, it’s waters red with blood. Which of us had slain him, no one could say for certain, so we cut out his heart and all three of us feasted on it together. Worf listens to Kor’s story from the bar. Doesn’t want to meet Kor, Worf considered an outcast by most Klingons. it might make the Dahar Master uncomfortable. Jadzia – Kor isn’t most Klingons Kor – Worf, the traitor, the pariah, the lowest of the low, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Any enemy of Gowron and the High Council is a friend of mine. Kor sticks out his hand to Worf. They shake hands. Worf – This is a great honor. Kor – No doubt. Jadzia – Worf is a great admirer of yours Worf – I have heard stories about you since I was a child. Your confrontation with Kirk on Organia, your attack on Romulus, your defense of the Korma Pass. Kor on a quest, everything else pales in comparison to what he is about to achieve. Torch of G’boj sacred Sabak’s armor revered More coveted that the Emperor’s crown The Sword of Kahless, Bat’leth of the first warrior king most revered icon in Klingon history. Predates the Klingon empire. lost for a millennium. It’s return would change Klingon history. We must bring it back to the emperor. Kor told Jadzia not to tell anyone, but Worf guessed. Think of the glory, the honor of finding the bat’leth of the first warrior king It would be an honor to accompany you Kor – We could use another stout heart, besides it will annoy Gowron. Worf – To return the Sword to your people, I would give my life for that chance. Kor – Children will sing our names for a thousand years. They’ll erect statues of us in the Hall of Heroes. Kor has fragment of cloth with imprint of bat’leth, Jadzia – You could carpet this station with all the authentic shrouds of the Sword that people have tried to peddle. Jadzia goes to bed, Kor and Worf stay at Quark’s until Quark throws them out. Then to Worf’s for a bottle of Yridian brandy he was saving for a special occasion. Maj ram, blood brother Lethean can read Klingon minds Worf looked a little bleary eyed in ops this morning Kor, was Klingon Ambassador to Vulcan, got it from Vulcan geological survey team mining bakrinium in the Gamma Quadrant. Hur’q, the great plunderers of the galaxy. The Vulcan survey team was meticulous, found central museum, structure furthest north. Forcefield the Vulcans couldn’t get through. They brought back several artifacts. When Kor saw the cloth he recognized the Hur’q markings and got them to give it to him as a gift. The Vulcans didn’t recognize it. Jadzia would both Klingon and Hur’q DNA on the cloth, and traces of metallic compounds that could only have been left by a Klingon bat’leth 1400 years old. The time of Kahless. Hur’q, the Klingon word for outsiders. The Hur’q invaded Homeworld over 1000 years ago. What they could not pillage they destroyed. They took the Sword, and Klingons have been looking for it ever since. It is said its return will bring back a new era of glory for the Klingon empire. with the Sword the Emperor will be able to unite my people once again. If Starfleet Dax and Worf involved help heal Fed relations with Klingons. Jadzia – Hard to pass up a good quest Take Rio Grande, the cc say Mekong. Jadzia orders Worf about. Kor – Let this moment be remembered. for on this day we three, Kor, Dahar Master of the Klingons, Jadzia Dax a joined Trill of 7 lives and Worf, son of Mogh and thorn in Gowron’s side, together stepped forth into the eye of destiny. Glorious! Worf does mok’bara in main cabin while Kor snores in the aft quarters. The Dahar Master is resting Worf – Commander, I wish to thank you for introducing me to Kor. Kor comes in gargling – I slept like an Alvanian cave sloth. Dreamed that Kang and Koloth’s statues came to live while Kor and Worf and Jadzia were presenting Sword to Emperor. the three of them, together again. Dax and Worf get through forcefield. Air undisturbed for thousands of years. But the chamber has been ransacked. Everything taken. Kor – Don’t be sorry for me, be sorry for the Empire. my last chance for glory dies here. Worf notices forcefield repelling dust from secret chamber. Dax and Worf get through this as well. Jadzia through first, then Worf, then Kor, to Sword of Kahless on a display stand. Kor - For a thousand years our people have dreamed of this moment Worf – More beautiful than I imagined. You should be the first to hold it. Kor raises it up. It feels good, very very good. Offers it to Worf. To think Kahless himself once held this bat’leth. With this he slew Molor. Conquered the Fek’ihri. Forged the first empire. Kor has a ring on his left hand. Toral comes up, with two other Klingons and Lethean. Worf recognizes Toral form the House of Duras. Toral – It is good to see you too, Worf. Toral and Kor met in tavern on Torna IV. Kor kept them all spellbound with a tale of a Hur’q cloth and how it was going to lead him to the Sword. Toral was so intrigued he sent his Lethean friend to steal Kor’s thoughts. Jadzia – What do you want? Worf – The Sword is for the Emperor. Toral – Who will be so grateful he’ll give Kor his statue, and perhaps even forgive your dishonor? I’m afraid I have different plans for the Sword. Worf - You think that if you give the Emperor the Sword he will restore your family’s seat on the High Council. Toral – I’m not giving the Emperor anything. With the Sword in my hand I’ll be leading the Empire. I can see from your face Worf that you regret having spared my life. Worf – If he wants it, give it to him. Kor whacks Toral with the Sword of Kahless, Worf mek’leth’s a Klingon. Jadzia punches a Klingon who never gets his bat’leth into play, a Klingon stabs Worf lower left shoulder, Worf pushes Klingon and dagger away with a punch. Kor battles Toral. Jadzia punches Lethean. They flee. Lethean and Toral after them. Leave a bat’leth behind, Toral with blaster. Stopped by forcefield back in place. Klingon jamming signal sound, blocking communications with Rio Grande Kor killed Klingon with Sword of Kahless. It was as if he understood the honor bestowed. The first man in a thousand years to be killed by the Sword of Kahless. Jadzia – I’m sure he was very proud. Toral will find a way past the forcefield. Kor unaware that Worf spared Toral’s life, when it was discovered that the House of Duras had conspired to destroy Worf’s father’s honor, Gowron offered Worf Toral’s life. Under the Right of Vengeance. Worf declined. He was a boy. He had done nothing. That is beside the point. It was a matter of honor! It was Worf’s right to decline. Jadzia defends his choice. Kor - It was a mistake. Perhaps what they say about you is true. You’ve been around humans too long. If he hadn’t spared Toral’s life we’d be on the way to Kronos. Worf – And if you had not been drunk and told a tavern full of people what you were planning Toral would not have followed us in the first place. You could have been more discreet. Kor – And you should have been more of a Klingon. Jadzia – Kor, Worf admires you. You have no idea how much it meant for him to be invited on this journey. Kor – How well do you know him? Jadzia shifts hands on hips – Well enough. Kor – I’m beginning to think I was too lenient in my judgment of him. Any Klingon who denies himself the right of vengeance is no Klingon at all. He dishonors the Sword with his presence. I don’t trust him. Worf and Kor and Jadzia happily hunt down a cave rat for lunch. HoH! They cook it, delicious. A hunt builds the appetite. Jadzia – It’s disgusting Kor – Ah, but it will make a good part of the story, how we slew the beast, remember? It attacked us from the dark, five meters long. Eyes ablaze, fangs like daggers. Jadzia joins in – Breathing great plumes of fire. The son of Mogh is not amused Worf – A true warrior has no need to exaggerate his feats. Kor – You’d better hope that I exaggerate or else when they start singing songs about this quest and come to your verse it will be And Worf came along. Worf grabs the Sword from Kor – This is not something to shove food into your mouth. It must be treated with honor. Kor – He’s like the Hur’q, he thinks it’s a museum piece. Kahless used it to skin the serpent of Xol, to harvest his father’s field, to carve a statue of his own beloved. Worf doesn’t know what to do except bow before it. And then hand it over to his precious emperor. Worf – And then you will get your precious statue and after they have sung songs about you and you have passed out from too much drink, the emperor will use the Sword to unite our people. Kor – If Gowron allows him. The emperor is merely his puppet. Worf – The emperor is no one’s puppet. He condemned Gowron’s invasion of Cardassia. Kor – And the invasion went ahead despite his objection. Worf – That is why the Emperor needs the Sword. It will allow him to unity the Houses against Gowron. Kor – the emperor is a pretender. A clone of the original Kahless, cooked up in a vat by ambitious clerics. And if you hadn’t supported him, he’d be right back in that vat where he came from. Worf- I supported him because we need him he can unite us. Kor – The Sword will unite us, if it’s held by a true Klingon. Not a politician like Gowron or some toothless figurehead like the emperor. the Sword must rest in the hand of someone who has been hardened by battle, pure of heart, who understands loyalty and honor. Someone like Kor. The empire could do far worse. Worf’s wound is bleeding seriously. Kor goes looking for a fatter cave rat. Kor is a hero to many. If he brings the Sword back to Kronos and decides to seize power, many will follow him. Kor is not all Worf thought he was. He exaggerates his feats, drinks too much, blames others for his own mistakes, but he could be right about the emperor being too weak to stand against Gowron, even with the Sword. Jadzia has known Kor a long time, and his heart’s in the right place. Worf does not know what to believe anymore, but he knew they would find the Sword. Worf had no doubt. He felt as if his life was finally coming into focus. Worf – For as long as I can remember I have always been an outsider. I was raised by humans but I was too Klingon to be one of them. I did not belong. I begged my foster parents to allow me to visit the Klingon homeworld. They arranged I stayed with my cousin’s family. When I first set eyes on the great domes of Kronos I felt that I had finally come home. But my own cousins wanted nothing to do with me. he was too human to be one of them. I ran away into the mountains. I was without food or water for three days. But there, in the caves of No’mat Kahless appeared to me in a vision. And told me I would do something no other Klingon had ever done. After I returned to earth I pondered the meaning of his words. And wondered what lay ahead for me. when I was old enough I joined Starfleet. For a time I thought I had fulfilled my destiny. But now I see Kahless had something else in mind for me. something greater, that is why I had to endure so much pain, why I was forced to chose between the Fed and my own people. I was being tested. Prepared for some greater purpose. Like finding the Sword, or more than that, when I held the Sword in my hand I felt the spirit of Kahless himself had guided me to it. He wants me to have it, he wants me to led his people. Jadzia – you sound like Kor Worf – Kor is an old man. His greatest days are behind him. Mine are still ahead. Kor overhears this and is not pleased. They walk through the caves trying to get to the surface, come to crevasse. Kor slips, Worf grabs bat’leth Kor – I’ll take the Sword to my grave before I give it to you. They pull him up A Degebian mountain goat wouldn’t have fit on the ledge Worf – You were willing to take the Sword to your death and rob our people of their future. Worf and Kor ready bat’leth to d’k tahg over bat’leth. Jadzia takes it. Kor – You see I was right, he is not to be trusted Worf – His mind has been poisoned with bloodwine and age. Jadzia – You wanted him to fall, you knew that ledge would never have supported him. Worf growls – He is old and clumsy, if he fell it would have been his own fault. Curl up like trusting children Worf – I have had enough of your drunken ramblings Kor and Worf stare at each other for three hours while Jadzia sleeps, end up in d’k tahg vs. mek’leth stance Blaster fire from two Klingons. Kor grabs Sword and goes after them yelling. He won’t be killed, he has the Sword. Worf joins in, pulling his bat’leth and yelling a yell. Kor fights two who have blaster and bat’leth. Worf battles mek’leth to bat’leth with Klingon. Jadzia gets the Lethean again with punches and kicks. Worf knocks his guy against cave wall and gets another opponent. Kor bat’leth’s the Lethean in the back when he’s trying to mind whammy Jadzia, lets the Sword stay in the guy’s back as he falls. Worf battles another one bites the dust. Worf slices ?Toral midsection with ?Sword he’s just picked up. After guy falls, Kor jumps on Worf, It’s mine! They roll around, Worf throws Kor up against cavern wall, they have a strangle hold on each other. Jadzia phasers Worf unconscious. Kor – I knew you’d choose me, we’re blood brothers. Jadzia – BE quiet! And she phasers him too. Jadzia walks over to downed ?Toral and grabs him by his armor, sticks a phaser in his face – Now about that jamming device you’re using to block our communications. On board runabout, Worf and Kor agree to transport Sword back into free space. Kor – The Sword belongs to all Klingons Worf – But are we ready for it? The Sword turned you and me against each other, imagine how it would divide the Empire. Kor wants to hold it one last time but Worf restrains him – The Sword is not meant for us! It was never our destiny to find it. Kor – You’re wrong. It was our destiny to find it, it just wasn’t our destiny to keep it. Worf transports it away. Jadzia – It’s for the best. Worf – When it is destined to be found, it will be. The Sword flips through space. Maneuvers B’Elanna was ahead, 19 to 7 playing hoverball against Chakotay. She does not tense up. Among the Maquis, Chakotay and Co. disabled computer core on Cardassian frigate orbiting Bajor once, at extremely close range. Seska modified an antiproton beam to penetrate shields and hull. Seska fooled everybody. She was B’e’s best friend, or so B’e thought. Chakotay gets advice about controlling his emotions, from B’e! B’e knows Chakotay proud and private. B’e – maybe this is an instance when your gut is giving you better advice As Maquis B’e once successfully did risky transport between vessel traveling at warp speed and stationary object, by synchronizing the transporter’s angular confinement beam to the warp core frequency Resistance Alsaurian city occupied by hostile Mokra. B undercover with Tuvok and Janeway to get tellerium. Battle Mokra bad guys, gets captured, imprisoned with Tuvok. B antsy, Tuvok calm. Tuvok tortured. B – I guess I always assumed Vulcans didn’t feel pain like the rest of us, that you were able to block it out somehow. How can you be so calm? You must feel some anger at what they did to you! Some desire to fight back! Tuvok – Physical resistance is ineffective. Our Man Bashir Worf with others to conference when True Way sabotages runabout. Worf ends up as baccarat playing Duchamps, Dr. Noah’s assistant Eddington saves the day. Homefront Fourth time Dax has moved Odo’s furniture Worf prefers Klingon beliefs to Bajoran ideas. Klingon gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble then they were worth. Kira doesn’t think she’ll ever understand Klingons, O’Brien assures her nobody does, they prefer it that way. Reflections, The Lives of Dax Verad went to Gheryzon mental hospital P324 Curzon worked a lot with the Klingons, even lived on Qo’noS for a time. Jadzia had studied the structure of Klingons in comparative biology, but she’d never actually met one. she wasn’t sure she wanted to adopt a lot of intimate encounters via the Dax symbiont with a species she wasn’t even sure she liked. Paradise Lost Worf, on the Defiant, faces Benteen on the Lakota. They battle until it is either them or us. 2 dead, 7 injured on Defiant. 27 injured on Lakota. Benteen decided her orders were wrong. Prophecy and Change Broken Oaths by Keith R.A. DeCandido page 114 Worf usually only into Quark's in O'Brien's company. Jadzia set Worf up to ask O'Brien about feelings actins toward Bashir Jadzia was able to play on Worf's gratitude for saving his life during search for Sword of Kahless. Worf did not see any need to pry into O'Brien's personal life. Jadzia thinks O'Brien Bashir friendship is good for both. Curzon's imperious tones. Curzon taught Benjamin how to keep cards close to the vest. Worf reveled in the feeling of the serpent worms wriggling down his gullet. Transition from Enterprise to Deep Space Nine more difficult than he would have imagined. Mitigated by Klingon restaurant. Replicators on Enterprise had been fine-tuned to provide decent Klingon fare, no substitute for live gagh. page 118 Chef Kaga. Rokeg blood pie for dessert. Worf had never understood how humans, a species with such inferior olfactory senses could be so averse to food that actually had a smell to it. In Klingon tradition, obedience is paramount. As a rule, one does not even question the order of a superior. But, if a superior is acting in an irrational manner. KDF regulations require a challenge to remove that superior rather than obey an order from such a warrior. Page 121 Kaga – the taknar gizzards are fresh today! Kaga bowed and took his leave Kaga's blood pie the best Worf's head since Helena's. Worf – your actions were true to yourself, in the end that is all we can aspire to. O'Brien knows rokeg is dessert. Jadzia let out a growl worthy of Worf Jadzia drank allira punch with Morn Trapped in Time by Ted Pedersen P9 Jadzia’s old Starfleet Academy advanced spatial physics professor, Jonathan Vance. The Garden by Melissa Scott P95 Thilo Revek, human, tall, pale with dark brown hair, a native of the sector the Federation ceded to the Cardassians, had a good business there and no real desire to pull up stakes or work for the local Gul, so he ended up working for the Maquis, shipboard computer systems, autopilots, brought independently to Delta Quadrant by Caretaker’s beam. No previous connection with Chakotay and Co, but Chakotay had heard of him. From really marginal settlement Federation probably glad to cede to Cardassians. First hear of Revek when he was running a repair lab on the NSTN-2 station, the Maquis base. The Cardassians found it before Chakotay had any work done there. Revek said to be an absolute genius with computer systems. He had a technician who did the hardware. Not well liked. Chakotay also herd that he wasn’t exactly committed to the Maquis, more interested in testing his programs. At the time Chakotay thought Ger – the captains involved, were overreacting. Right after NSTN-2 fell, lost good people. Files were transferred from Maquis ship before it was destroyed, but they didn’t keep too much information in case captured. P121 Torres rarely sounded more stiffly Klingon than when she was angry, but at least she had her temper well under control this time. P176 meets the Kirse female Silver-Hammer meets with Torres alone, no Revek. Maybe they don’t think he’d get along well with a half-Klingon, she thought. The truth of the matter was she hadn’t liked him much at their first meeting, but it irritated her that the Kirse had noticed, no she corrected with her usual rigid honesty, it irritates me that I showed it. I have to be more careful. P183 that plaintive tone, Torres had heard that note in her own voice too many times as a child, asking why she was different from her peers, why she felt different, was treated differently, and shoved that knowledge away as too painful, retreating again into the familiar Klingon anger. Torres visceral revulsion at living being linking themselves to a machine, like the Borg. It’s just wrong, she cried. Too late remembering the lectures at the Academy – even in her brief tenure there, she had heard all the reasons for the Prime Directive, the ethical debates as well as the practical causes. And to loose her temper now, when Voyager was in such desperate need, only proved again that she had never been Starfleet material. I’m sorry, she said at last. It’s an issue of some importance in the Federation, and my people – my mother’s people, the Klingons – are prone to expressing our emotions somewhat violently. She was quoting Tuvok, an overheard explanation for one of her rages. Sliver-hammer explains that an implant could be for control. Torres stopped, silenced by the sudden possibility. Freedom from the Klingon anger, the rough aggression that was a the first answer blood and upbringing gave her, a freedom that was under her control. Too much a crutch. The Kirse didn’t believe in unnecessary social amenities. Silver-Hammer accepted her departure without the niceties that would surround say, a Klingon departure. P233 For Torres it sometimes seemed as though she’d spend most of her adult life trying to make two incompatible systems fit together P236 the running soldiers - all identical, squat and gray, all ccarrying phaser rifles at port-arms against armored chests, and none taller than Torres’s shoulder, were like the Gwarhai of childhood story, Or the dwarf armies of human legend Prototype Written by: Nick Correa and Kenneth Biller Voyager brings aboard damaged Automated Personnel Unit 3947. Kim determines it's robotic, not an organism of any kind. He and B’Elanna keep examining the unit, seeing what they can learn from its design while they try to stabilize its power supply. Harry – If you’re staying I’m staying. You may think you’re tougher than everybody else, B’Elanna Torres, but I can go without sleep just as long as you can. B – Don’t make me laugh, Starfleet, and don’t make me pull rank on you either. B tries 13 different methods to reinitialize the robot’s power source. Recharges her own declining energy reserves with a pot of coffee. Two pots of Landras blend is the absolute limit. B sleeps burgundy long sleeved shift and leggings. B knows Bolian and Vulcan blood properties. Working on Automated Personnel Unit 3947, B’Elanna’s learning more about robotics than she ever could have at Starfleet Academy. B’Elanna asks Janeway for permission to create a functioning and interchangeable power modules. Janeway balks; resuscitating APU is one thing, she says; helping a species reproduce is quite another matter. It's a Prime Directive violation. B’Elanna argues passionately to be allowed to proceed, but Janeway is rigid. Without sufficient information, she insists, the decision to act is a clear violation. B’Elanna argues from the position of an engineer, eager to solve a technical problem. Janeway as a scientist understands the technical curiosity, but for Prime Directive reasons she must refuse. Like a good Starfleet B’Elanna does what she's told. APU abducts her, the Pralor vessel raises shields to prevent beamback. Janeway hails the Pralor and demands the return of B’Elanna. The Pralor do not respond, so Janeway orders the powering of phasers. B’Elanna awakes on the Pralor vessel, demanding to be returned. APU says she's here to build a prototype with new power module for them. She says she cannot do so. Janeway orders phaser fire to open up a hole to beam B’Elanna back. They do so, and the Pralor vessel returns fire with a vengeance. B’Elanna and APU watch Voyager get rocked, B’Elanna finally agrees to build the damn batteries if they'll stop firing. The Pralor stop firing. B’Elanna hails Janeway and tells her what she's going to do, and why. She tells them to turn tail and run. Janeway gives her the serious skunk eye, but B’Elanna says it's build the prototype or watch Voyager be destroyed. APU escorts B’Elanna to the building room, and explains what is expected of her and what will not be allowed of her. I don’t know if a promise means anything to you people, but it does to us. I gave you my word that I’d do my best, and I will. I don’t need to be threatened. B’Elanna reaches a breakthrough. She learns that the power modules are not interchangeable, by design. The other body parts can be swapped out, but the power modules require a unique energy code. She says she doesn't know how to work around this. "You have failed," APU states. B’Elanna looks at him. "Hey, do all you Automated Units give up the minute you hit a bump in the road?" she asks. She suggests standard module and code. APU says that he now has sufficient reason for greater optimism. "You took the words right out of my mouth," she says. The senior officers don't think they can beam through the Pralor shields. Tom in shuttle could do it, but need diversion. Chakotay tells Janeway that in the Maquis, B’Elanna once linked a holoemmiter to a deflector array and projected an image of another ship into space. Janeway likes the idea. Tuvok hails the captain and announces that another ship is approaching. 3947 does not have B’s improvisational capabilities. B’Elanna tries to activate prototype with her new power supply. "Cross your fingers," she says, and APU does his best to do so. The new unit rises off the construction table a few centimeters, then flops back down. "It does not function correctly," APU reports. "It does not function correctly YET," B’Elanna amends. "Your builders should have programmed you with a little more patience." She adjusts the flux capacitance and this works. B’Elanna is ecstatic. She shakes APU's hand. "Congratulations, you're a father!" she gushes. "Have we stumbled into a robotic war?" Janeway wonders. Kravik vs Pralor. "Why are you still fighting, then?" B asks 3947. "We killed all the builders so we could keep fighting the other robots." B’Elanna – My God, what have it done? provided a way for the Pralor robots to reproduce a massive army of killer droids, which the Prime Directive surely wouldn't have sanctioned and which the original builders added the unique power codes to prevent. She looks at her creation, and ice picks it to oblivion. "You have terminated the prototype," APU said. "Yes." "You will build another," he says. "Never," she says adamantly. "I told 6263 you were not our enemy." "I never wanted to be." Tom rescues her. B’Elanna feels bad for trashing the Prime Directive, but Janeway is compassionate. "You did what you had to for the safety of this crew," she assures B’Elanna. Now that the Prime Directive concerns are behind them, the two science nerds can commiserate over the technical achievements. Despite the circumstances, Janeway is impressed with B’Elanna's solution, the miracle of technology she achieved. "It must have been difficult to destroy what you created." B'Elanna describes the thrill she felt when the prototype unit looked up at her requesting programming, the joy of the creator over the creation. "As I said...It must have been difficult." "It was necessary." Alliances B has a lot of injured in Engineering after Kazon attack. Engines are down but Kurt Bendera is severely burned and must be taken care of first. B emergency transports with him to Sickbay. He saved B’s life once, near the Cardassian border. Friend of Chakotay too. Maquis usually had to do things themselves because no one would help them. B sulking at Bandera’s memorial. Bendera helped Chakotay in fight on mining colony. Always fighting the good fight. Hogan and Bandera were close. Maquis feel Fed abandoned them years ago. When Tuvok was a young man, a great visionary named Spock proposed an alliance between the Fed and the Klingons. This produced a major dispute. The Klingons, after all, were outlaws, employing violence and brutality to build their empire. Tuvok spoke out against such a coalition. But the alliance was forged. It brought a stability to the quadrant that had not been there for 200 years. Spock’s suggestion, so controversial at first, proved to be the cornerstone of peace. B seconds contacting Seska, take advantage of the alliances she has already been trying to forge. B thinks Seska would jump at the chance. Hogan - B, you were Seska’s friend. Couldn’t you get word to her, try to work things out? B – No, I couldn’t. It’s gone too far. Seska isn’t the person we thought she was. I don’t trust her anymore. Hogan – Do you believe our technology is worth dying for? B steps forward threateningly - Who are you to be second guessing Captain Janeway? Hogan works in Engineering dilithium chamber. Jonas tends a console, very familiar with communication protocols, knew Seska for a long time. Crossfire Eddington on vacation. Worf helps Odo with security for First Minister Shakarr’s visit. Worf in favor of evacuating entire section of Habitat ring. 1200 people. Security on the Enterprise was difficult. Next to impossible on DS 9. How do you stand living here? Odo has a routine. Worf has found it difficult to establish a routine. Everything in Worf’s quarters is arranged just so. Worf not in favor of casual visiting, people dropping by not made to feel welcome. So far, the only person who has a tendency to drop by is Chief O’Brien. Perhaps if Worf is more inhospitable, he will stop. Kira has an opinion on how the Bajoran government should be dealing with the Klingons. Kira had her Tuesday morning raktajino with Shakarr, in his quarters. Worf and Odo’s deputies track down a True Way terrorist responsible for attacks on Shakarr’s life. Worf commends Odo on his well trained deputies. Quark wonder’s if the noise was Odo as a targ Threshold B and Harry working with Tom on transwarp drive. They found a new form of dilithium in asteroid field last month. Remains stable at higher warp frequency. The three went to Janeway a month ago and told her they had a way to cross the transwarp threshold. B and Jonas at console in Engineering monitoring transwarp flight B races into Sick bay to see if Tom is alright, confirms shuttle made it to warp 10. Another emergency transport for B, with Tom. B stands over Tom in sickbay while he mutates. B and Jonas set up for anti-proton interface from warp core to save Tom. DOH Armageddon Sky by L.A. Graf Ancient Klingon courtyard, bone steps, crystal floor tiles. Dax’s holographic ‘defense of honor’ enlists Kira, Odo. Preliminary arming ceremonies Authentic medieval Klingon armor Warrior carefully programmed by Worf to match Kira’s fighting skills Ritual challenge, insult to honor. 4 you can’t just walk away from our own Suv’batlh! Worf’s expression, always somewhat grim by Bajoran standards, all but smoldered beneath the shadows of his lacquered facemask Seam in his armor’s vambrace Dax – I’m not going to stand by while you tell me where I can and can’t go, like I was one of your courtesans Worf spun on her, growling with all the fury of a ghar-wolf Kira appreciated how much of his Klingon nature he hid from them every moment of every day The DuHoH desert burning air Rippling edges of meO trees Worf – You make a mockery of an honorable tradition. I should not have accepted your challenge. Exoskeleton of Klingon armor, the intricate structure of both rantou lacquer and bat’leth As station tactical officer, Worf determined that Dax’s primary duty is on DS 9, so she missed going to see rare cometary deluge The current situation with the Klingons, how many Klingons may or may not be violating the Neutral Zone Honor Combats With the Day of Honor coming up, a little Suv’batlh might be a fun way to celebrate the holiday Worf – Honor is not meant to be fun. And the Batlh Jaj is not a holiday. It is the occasion on which true Klingons re-affirm their own sense of honor and commemorate the honor of their most esteemed enemies Jadzia – My old friend Kor used to demonstrate the esteem he felt for Kirk by drinking an extra keg of blood wine on every Batlh Jaj Worf – That is not the correct way to celebrate the Day of Honor Klingons have been increasing the number of provocative intrusions into the Klingon-Cardassian Neutral Zone recently Worf – Not all enemies have honor. To those that do not, the Klingons owe no commemoration of Batlh Jaj Violent antipathy throughout the Alpha Quadrant as preparations for the Day of Honor drew near, increase in racist grumbling Recent tensions had flared between the two former enemies DS 9 had acknowledged the holiday for as long as the Fed had kept a presence there DS 9 had phased out plans for a display of locally owned Klingon art, then the Klingon food festival, finally even the re-enactment of the Klingons’ traditional honor Combat – Suv’batlh, for fear of how station personnel would respond to the Klingon costumes and weapons Lacquered battle-mask Worf advised Sisko that to commemorate the Day of Honor so soon after the invasion of Cardassia might be unwise The Day of Honor is supposed to celebrate a time when Humans and Klingons united against a common enemy, even while they were fighting each other. Now, when we’re facing a common enemy greater than any other, the Klingons have endangered the entire Alpha Quadrant by dividing it rather than uniting it. it makes the Day of Honor a mockery of what it is supposed to represent. Ruthless lack of self-pity Kira found so characteristic of his race Worf- I cannot even challenge those who spit upon my honor with their signs and their curses! Snarling tone of repressed fury Holographic combat Dax’s Trill-clever way to give Worf’s bottled rage a safe place to erupt Kira hadn’t known what a Klingon was, except having heard the name and practices invoked in Cardassian threats The first Klingons Kira encountered, staunch allies of the Fed for what had seemed, at the time, an eternity, struck her as being even less understandable than humans, despite their refreshingly straightforward lack of Human manners. Understanding Klingons still eluded Kira They were a hard people, in many ways more complicated than the simplicity of their behavior suggested. Sudden aggressive expansion into every border star system that couldn’t drive them off Three Months ago, breaking of Khitomer Accords Before the Khitomer Accords - Populations battered to extinction, starbases brutalized, people tortured to death by an enemy too different, too barbaric to ever trust or understand Aggressiveness Klingons tended to fling around them like spittle Fed had politely forgotten they’d been mortal enemies with the Klingons for generations longer then they’d ever been friends, graciously granted the Klingons their cultural differences, prided themselves on their respect for Klingon history and tradition. The Klingons had endeavored to be less obvious in their disdain for Fed bureaucracy, had stopped bullying Starfleet officers Kira thought it progress built more on tolerance than respect, doomed to fail It looked like the Klingons and the Fed needed each other, two vast giants each needed someone to guard farthest edges. Maybe if their peace had lasted longer they would have eased into a more lasting symbiosis Families remembered all the atrocities and fears passed down from beloved grandfolk and historical texts Kira understood Worf proud, intensely private Kira – Don’t take it personally Worf – Hatred is always personal. It is only the face of your enemy that changes. Sisko feels betrayed, annoyed at Klingons, unexpected sympathy for Worf’s position Curzon familiar with ancient Klingon fighting Significant increased in Klingon incursions throughout the entire demilitarized zone in the last few months Worf had written a report in possible dangers of scientific observation mission of Victoria Adams to system KDZ-E25F, planet natives call Cha’Xirrac Klingon-Cardassian demilitarized zone A rumble too fierce for a groan and too wordless for a curse emerged from somewhere deep in Worf’s chest The only way to create a massive depolarizing field is massive Klingon disruptor fire, effects comm signals traveling through it. subtractive effects of the disruptor fire worst in the audio portion of the signal Worf gets Sisko an updated report from Intelligence on all known and suspected Klingon forces in the demilitarized zone. Maquis and Cardassian ships have been getting fired on and chased out of the Klingon demilitarized zone for the past three months The loss of the distinguished Starfleet retirees on the Victoria Adams is going to poison Starfleet’s relations with the Klingons for years Encountered an armed Klingon blockade, attacked for not leaving fast enough Kira – Give the Klingons a research ship in the demilitarized zone, and they’ll take a starship in the Alpha Quadrant. If we don’t stop them now, we’ll just have to deal with them later Worf responds with crew and passenger numbers of the Victoria Adams before Dax can If there are any Klingon vessels present we may be able to pick up some minor leakage from their warp cores Generic Klingon aggression Worf – It is not honorable to wage war on a weakened enemy. All Klingons know that scientists are the weakest warriors of all. Dax awarded him with an amused smile Worf wants to go with Bashir as protection, but Sisko wants him to stay on Defiant in case Klingons show up Worf grunted and threw Dax the severely reproving look she was never quite sure how to interpret Dax paused long enough to blow Worf a facetious kiss. It made him wince and look away, just as she’d expected 46 Cholegh’a’ chIm ghobDu’wI’! Klingon klingon sapiens NgliS Hol Sajatlh’a’? Devwi’ra ‘Iv? Distinctly Klingon bravura of her approach Gordek, of the House of Gordek - The arrogance of a Klingon commander, Shoulder-length hair, still curling and black with Klingon vigor. Equally vigorous beard, Civilian tunic, Clear though heavily accented Standard – I never believed I would someday be happy to stand unarmed among Starfleet officers Onyx-chip gaze Throaty rumble of what might have been Klingon threat or Klingon laughter The Klingons hiked out on the tuq’mor to investigate crashed Fed shuttle yesterday, found it abandoned The points of his teeth gnashed when he grinned The Klingon spat over one shoulder as casually as a Human might gesture with one hand Dax said something long and intricate in Klingon, she named the exiled houses until she came to the one that made him blink Vrag, he said reluctantly and Dax nodded as though that single word had brought enlightenment They’re ada’ven, political exiles from the Klingon Empire, sent here to live out the rest of their lives in isolation from their society Central firepit Dax didn’t recognize the House of Gordek as any traditional Klingon clan. Starfleet intelligence has noticed that for the past year any small Klingon house that comes into conflict with Chancellor Gowron quickly disappears from view. I think Gowron’s decided to put his past experience with the House of Mogh to use by duplicating it on other politically inconvenient families. They could have been thrown out for being pacifists or for wanting to start an outright attack on the Fed. Brow ridges fully carved, Twelfth-year incisors Three days ago comet lower atmosphere burst, the most damaging kind of impact. Several killed outright, others died since. Klingon physiology was remarkable in many respects, not the least was their ability to stoically endure damage that would have killed other species in hours Spitting apparently an all-purpose expression of scorn Main settlement, where the epetai keeps those loyal to her The dead are dead, leave them Underground, the better to rot and die where they stand I prefer to die under a killing sky than to accept mercy from my enemy You have the word of honor of one who will be epetai someday More than four dozen Klingons Rekan epetai of the House of Vrag, Tall white haired female, her head plates braided into an elegant arch from the bridge of her nose to the peak of her skull, hair longer than her height was coiled and braided into a regal coronet. polished bronze belt 59 TlhIngan Hol Dajathlh’a’? there is no honor in exploiting your enemy’s confusion Rekan never had the honor of meeting Curzon Dax while he was among us, but she hear he was an extraordinary man. Curzon would have remembered such a striking female A ghar-wolf cuffs at its offspring with short glancing blow Rekan Vrag had treaded her hands into her sleeves, a gesture that must have dated from a time when she wore the more elegantly draped robes of the Klingon military aristocracy The Victoria Adams and the cloaked Klingon ship pursuing her were destroyed by a Cardassian military outpost at KDZ-A17J, Cardassians claim it was self-defense. Victoria Adams destroyed making an apparent suicide run at outpost, cloaked Klingon ship returned their fire, the ensuing battle took down two Cardassian warships and half the station’s defense system before the Klingons were destroyed Captain Masters deliberately incited that battle to keep the Klingons from retuning That was the act of a great warrior To the Cardassians it looks like joint Fed-Klingon attack and it’s taking all the diplomatic pressure to keep open war from breaking out all along the boarder Fed diplomatic corps tried to make some subtle inquiries about KDZ-E25F planet but couldn’t get their usual Klingon informants to spill so much as a word. The best guess our tactical analysts can make is that it was the site of some heroic Klingon military action in the Cardassian invasion Worf – Unlikely. The only battlefields sacred to Klingons are those where a single warrior or ship held off an overwhelmingly superior force. The Cardassians were never that. What we are seeing is most likely an internal Klingon dispute of some kind. The presence of only a single house among the Klingons stranded on the planet Nechayev – With all the recent unrest and turmoil he just quelled in the Klingon High Council, Chancellor Gowron could be unwilling to let any hint of internal dissension get out Worf – Agreed. It will thus be a point of great honor to the Klingons to keep the blockade manned, to prevent the dishonored ones from escaping their sentence of exile Nechayev – There’s a retired officer among the tourist party who under no circumstances must fall into the hands of the Klingon High Council [Hikaru Sulu] When the Cardassians first detected the Klingons on the planet, they offered to evacuate them and they flatly refused. It is a matter of honor. Gul Hidret – Ah, the excuse Klingons always use to disguise their covert activities. Ion trail of a cloaked vessel detected A Jfolokh-class vessel, takes evasive action form comet field, not deflecting the debris. Fierce jerks and swoops. Joy riding, running close to operating tolerances for a Jfolokh-class vessel, Sisko knows Klingon cultural habit of aggression Armor and metalwork normally incorporated into even the most casual Klingon attire Banchory = war wagon K’Taran - I thought honor was about more than just how long your conduct was remembered, or what you could force others to do One fist against her chest in Klingon equivalent of handshake The concern you show for my people is honorable Vrag Household conference, snarling, snapping Klingons battling over yet another gradation in the definition of honor Tapestries, sculptures decorate dugout Epetai Vrag lifted her lip in a civilized snarl Fighting a pointless battle does not add to your honor Accept the inevitable and prepare your spirit for its passage The Klingons fell into knife-sharp silence A Klingon so old his brow ridge had begun to gnarl huffed with sour laughter Thy have chosen a path that holds no honor and are no longer a concern of this House Honor dictated that this House be destroyed. That could not be avoided, but it was never my decision. We stand where we are because honor gave us no choice. A flush of warm magenta darkened her face and she gnashed her teeth quietly Klingons don’t cease to fight just because the odds are hopeless K’Taran, granddaughter of Rekan epetai of the House of Vrag Shield-mates They took no honor promise to die 124 Kreveth realized the xirri natives would be needing help after comet fragment impact Bashir could feel defiance rolling off her like heat Worf had the away team’s secure channel routed to his cabin so he could monitor it The Klingons open a hailing frequency to Cardassian Gul Hidret on the Olxinder, on an open channel Kor, magnificent mane of gray hair, broad brow, surprising glint of humor in crinkled eyes Kor – Ah, Hidret, what a joy it is to see your face and recall once more the delightful memory of how I demolished your last battlecrusier. How nice of Cardassian High Command to give you another. Hidret – It pleases me, too, Dahar Master Kor, to see that your legendary drunken stupors have not cost you all of your titles and privileges in the Klingon Empire. Kor – Although it is a Klingon tradition to welcome visitors, I’m afraid you might not like my particular brand of hospitality What? All traces of humor evaporated from Kor’s eyes, giving Sisko a glimpse of the formidable warrior Jadzia Dax had once been willing to risk her life for. What are you talking about? Kor – The Klingons on this planet have chosen their fate, and it is my duty as a Dahar Master to make sure that no one interferes with it. it is a matter of honor. In the meantime, old enemy, the only allowance I will make is to let you turn tail and run before I start firing. But nothing! The Klingon’s sudden eruption into a roar made even Sisko start. And if you ask one more question, your answer is going to be a photon torpedo! I know you’re listening in Benjamin Sisko, if not, then Dax probably is. Take my advice and leave. If you don’t, I’m afraid I will be honor-bound to hunt you down and kill you. 137 tuq’mor, name of ancient Klingon goddess, also known as the mother of curses. Dax – there are as many codes of honor among the Klingons as there are interpretations of Prophecies among the vedeks. By struggling to evade the justice meted out by the High Council, in her epetai’s eyes she has dishonored their house. What a Klingon considers honorable depends as much on context as on precedent. This sentence of exile might have been vindictive or it might have been an act of mercy, depending on what infraction the House of Vrag committed. Klingons find other codes of law almost totally incomprehensible, because they’re meant to apply no matter what the motive or result. Kor’s ship has reduced its ion emissions to zero and is modulating its waste heat to match the planetary infrared spectrum, Defiant can still pick up minute gravitational anomaly along its extrapolated orbit. We’ve got a Klingon Dahar Master on the lookout for us. How invisible are we? O’Brien – the Klingons shouldn’t even be able to prove we’re here, we can get within 70 kilometers of them. We’re putting out some magnetic discharge, but its tuned to look just like the planet’s magnetosphere. The Klingons can’t trace Defiant by it’s gravitational field, because they don’t know where to start looking for Defiant. Worf lays in potential course changes in preparation for possible Klingon detection, straight attack, evasive attack, evasive retreat. Worf – according to the ship’s chronometer, it is 15:20 hours. Any meal served now would be classified as supper Kor’s ship settled in a stable equatorial orbit Worf – The odds against Kor just shooting in the dark trying to hit the Defiant are far too high to justify the waste of power. I would have expected better from a Dahar Master. Unless he was very, very drunk. Worf’s scowl looked as if it had embedded itself permanently in his massive forehead Odo – Is Kor so invincible in battle? Worf – The last time I saw Dahar Master Kor he was a drunken, reckless, nonsense-spouting old fool. But he was at one time one of the mightiest warriors of the Empire. I would not underrate him, even now. The Klingon ship slid around the planet’s curvature, still firing randomly into space. We’re being hailed on all wide-beam channels by the Klingons. no acknowledgement, Kor broadcasts message anyway. Kor looked very cheerful and very drunk, but not a whit less threatening for that. Kor – Sisko, come out of hiding and fight! The fierce probing flare of Kor’s phasers A thousand smeared-out streaks of gauzy light as the cloaked Klingon ship flashed through the comet debris at close range The bark and cough of Klingon voices Brave battlechants some of the young men had begun as they swept up gear Only two at a time with any given dead man, just another of many quaint Klingon traditions Eternal Klingon pragmatism Honor grants you the right of restitution. Traditionally, your family would inherit the right should you no longer be able to exercise it yourself. But as you have no family here, I will take whatever action you require of me. By my own hand. A life for a life. Should I maim myself in equal measure. do not leave me with this dishonor on my name. I have done you a terrible wrong. Please, allow me to balance the debt. Mention of her grandmother darkened her brow ridges with anger Our honor is in balance Gordek has been dealing with the Cardassians all along. About six remaining Klingons with Gordek What is the character of their honor, these Cardassians you have bound us to, Gordek? a small creature who cannot salute the sky Gordek’s band have been collecting drevlocet from the banchory for the Cardassians, a neurotoxin. Doesn’t affect Cardassians. Jem’Hadar used it to murder hundreds of humans at the Hjaraur colony The Cardassians told Gordek they would give him a ship and passage through the wormhole to purify and stockpile the frothy yellow liquid They insulted our honor by the way they forced us to bargain our lives for this drug Epetai Vrag was in favor of resigning ourselves to this new life and relinquishing hope of honorable redemption Our crime was misplaced loyalty 206 Batlh potlh law’ yIn potlh puS the eldest raised his long hunter’s knife and stabbed it deep into his own throat Dax knew this proud warrior race almost as well as she knew her own. She had known no honorable Klingon could survive learning he had doomed his own people with it. The youngest – Before I die, I will hold the knife for those wounded who are still conscious You can transport the others up to the ship to heal, but you must promise afterwards to give them the truth, and a knife I promise also to sing the honor of your actions in every great house in the Empire The last two hunters of Gordek’s house end their lives in equally dignified silence. Hers was now the task of cha’DIch, the honor witness, even if the battle here was only one of internal principles 209 even Worf wasn’t immune to the effect of Sisko’s voice in a tense situation, although his stiff posture made it clear he could have resisted that aura of command if his officer’s instincts ever told him to. The Klingon High Council swore to uphold the military convention banning drevlocet. On the Honor of the Emperor Kahless! They would never use it. The confessed traitor Gordek, stunned by Kira while lunging for Dax, transferred over to Kor’s ship. Within three hours, Kor has either debriefed him or killed him, put him in stasis chamber as a traitor to be returned home A lot of diffuse scanner activity from the Klingon ship, tracking the whole cometary debris cloud 214 Worf was laughing. It was a full-throated roar of Klingon amusement, barely distinguishable from a warrior’s fighting bellow. Worf’s eyes gleamed with the dancing red sparks that either danger or delight could ignite The Batlh Jaj! It is today. SD 3692. it varies from year to year since the Klingon calendar does not correspond to Fed standard. But the day we left DS 9 was wa’ChorghDIch, the first day of the ninth month. The Day of Honor falls three days after that. On the Day of Honor the Klingons treat even their fiercest enemies as blooded Klingon warriors, with all the privileges and rights and ceremonial duties that entails. The Suv’batlh is not a ritual, it is a battle to the death to resolve a challenge to one’s honor On the Day of Honor the combatants don’t need to be blooded Klingon warriors, they can even be Starfleet officers. If we win, we will have forced Kor to grant any request we ask on that day. Comm signal can be feed right through viewing screen circuits, replacing external scan, easily jammed itself in a few minutes Sisko, cutting straight to the heart of the matter with Klingon-like brusqueness – Kor, this is Batlh Jaj. You cannot refuse a challenge, even from a Starfleet officer who has interfered in your blockade. I challenge you on behalf of my insulted honor to engage in Suv’batlh, three on three. Right here, Kor. Right now. Suv’batlh. The screen rippled and became Kor’s broad-shouldered form, seated in his own stark command chair. The older Klingon’s furrowed face was alight with surprise, respect, and laughter Kor applauded in the Klingon style, fist thumping on chest The warriors around him watched and rumbled with amusement Kor’s grin showed stained and straggling teeth but its honesty couldn’t be doubted Match Klingon calendar to Fed days correctly, but forgot about the length of the Klingon day. The day of Batlh Jaj, what you call our Day of Honor, ended 10 minutes ago An honorable Klingon does not lie Rekan bared teeth still sharp despite her age Dishonor needs no motive I held my head proudly while our ancestors’ keep was burned and our family name shattered and thrown to the dust. Honor does not abandon its House! Honor does not bend law to whatever meaning suits it Law said only that we should remain exiled on this planet. Law never stated that we must necessarily die The intent of a command is as important as the words Because Gowron expected you to be killed here, you’re not allowed to take action to prevent it I will not have this House judged as being without honor I will not have this family go to Sto-Vo-Kor and recite to Kahless how we tried to trick honor, how we held hostages unrelated to our battle and tried to run from our duty like Ferengi picking holes in a contract of our own making. I fear we will die while fleeing, irrevocably disgraced Is it honorable to force your own fears on the rest of them? Swallow your bile. You know nothing of honor I would feed your own heart to you where I stand When one Klingon strikes another, it means you want to do combat Three required for Suv’batlh The choice of battlefield in Suv’batlh is one whose honor has been challenged The older Klingon growled and swiped at the air Worf’s furious roar of indignation Sisko – I never thought to see a day when Klingons hid like cowards behind the letter of the law. Kor’s laughter wiped abruptly from his eyes A snarl whistled between Kor’s clenched teeth Worf growled – Allow me to say that I, Worf, son of Mogh, never thought to see a day when Klingons hid like cowards behind the law, acting as if Batlh Jaj were the only day on which they needed to behave honorably! Kor crashed the mug he was holding against the arm of his chair, splashing dusky blood wine out in a violent spray. Anger had darkened his broad face to almost the same shade You insult my honor, Worf son of Mogh! Worf – Good. That was my intention. A flicker of wariness breaking trough the wine-soaked fury in his face He acknowledged Worf’s challenge with a stiff, ceremonial nod As the one whose honor has been challenged, we hold the Suv’batlh on my territory. Your party will beam over in 15 minutes, Worf, son of Mogh, armed and ready to fight. Qapla’! Suv’batlh cannot be conceded. It can only be fought to the finish A Klingon warrior does not attack by subterfuge. Any deceit would disqualify you from the Suv’batlh Klingons measure their worth as warriors by the strength and valor of their enemies. The honor that accrues in ritual combat increases as the task becomes more difficult. I think it would be acceptable to ignore any blows that do not actually decapitate or dismember you Defiant closet-sized clothing replicator capable of creating authentic Klingon outfits. Klingon weapons and armor were stock items in the replicator’s data banks, along with most clothing items from known space. Worf was humming as he waited for his weapons to be made, a song so deep and tuneless that it had to be a Klingon battle-chant. Polished lacquer plates in gleaming shades of ebony and maroon Chest-armor, side latches snugged tight. Shallow helmet curving cheek-plates designed more for intimidation than protection. Spiked gauntlet Sisko had sparred with Dax in various holo-suite recreations, as good with bat’leth as any human Worf has seen Armor for warrior4s whose arteries ran deep under leather-tough ligaments and whose skeletons already made body protective plates around their vital organs Kor would have Sisko disarmed and at his mercy within minutes, seconds To become a Dahar master you must have fought a hundred battles, survived a hundred Suv’batlh and trained a hundred blooded warriors No amount of blood wine can dull the fighting instincts of such a warrior In Suv’batlh, it is the overall outcome that counts, not the individual winners and losers, if the two others win, it does not matter that Kor defeats Worf Bashir coaxed one of the Klingon boys to carry him around to check on others Cold dry air of the Klingon ship, harsher air Blood splattered metal Thick tendons of the neck The spiraling cheek plate he’d thought was ornamental had stopped a wicked thrust of the pronged bat’leth point just short of his eye Jfolokh-class Klingon ships were small, Sisko never inside one before. It was a single cramped and cluttered deck, minimal crew of five plus captain. Various ship’s stations. Sisko Middle aged engineer even more beer bellied than Kor, single minded engineering focus Klingon ensigns Odo Hand to hand battle with young Klingon tactical officer Kitold, long armed and lithe young opponent had settled on a strategy of lunging and striking, oblivious to Odo’s attempts to block him. Wilder and wilder swings, Odo unable to hold shape much longer Worf’s titanic clash with Kor. The Dahar Master had refused to pursue his challenger, forcing Worf to come forward and attack him or risk forfeiting the Suv’batlh for cowardice. Despite Kor’s stolid stance, there was nothing indolent or inebriated about his flying bat’leth. The constant shattering crash of his blade against Worf’s at times blending into continuous metallic thunder Young Klingon manned the sensor desk, dark braids Chair of weapon’s console Another bloody slash was added to the magenta lacework he already wore The gasping old Dahar Master, the less accomplished but far more fit Starfleet officer 244 OI’yaH! Ghuy’cha’ gu’valth! Kor’s curses were as magnificently extravagant as his flowing silver streaked mane With absentminded ease he warded off a slashing attack from Worf then smacked his bat’leth against the back of his pilot’s chair. You’re supposed to be flying us through these things, D’jia, not watching the fight! D’jia, female pilot of Kor’s ship. She cursed pretty magnificently herself The drag and kick of uncompensated inertial fields In one fluid motion Kor tore his engrossed engineer away from his damage reports and threw him back toward Sisko, then met Worf’s next bat’leth trust with a blade-blocking twist and jerk. The wet hollow sound of a bat’leth sinking deep into flesh Kor dropped to one knee so that Worf’s blade whistled over his head, then lunged up with wicked tip of the bat’leth Bat’leth slid over one rib and under another to bite deep within burly chest 246 you bruised his gla’chiH, the shielded nerve plexus in his chest Worf sprawled across empty weapons panel, one arm dangling brokenly, the other locked above his head in Kor’s massive fist. The Dahar Master leaned all his considerable weight on his opponent, the point of Kor’s bat’leth dug into Worf’s throat, deep enough to spring a bright pulse of blood Worf stopped struggling and just scowled up at him Qapla’ Despite his swollen and blood wet face Worf sounded as stubbornly indomitable as ever. It was hard to believe he had really lost. The Suv’batlh belongs to you, Dahar master. Now kill me. 248 is the Suv’batlh mine, on all counts? Kitold, weapons officer How in the name of the dead Klingon gods did that happen? Battle gloved forearm Odo dislocated Kitold’s arm It was trickery! More like strategy You were taken in by the oldest warrior’s trick in the book. You deserve to lose that arm, but I don’t want to small your corpse all the way back to the homeworld. Go put yourself into a medical stasis chamber, now! Bank of stasis lockers at the back of the main deck Wej Heghehugh vay’, SuvtaH SuvwI? If someone has not yet died, how can a Klingon warrior stop fighting? Kor snorted, richly scornful. Only a fool takes a death that means nothing. I didn’t get to be a Dahar Master by being a fool The only thing splashed on Kor’s robe was blood wine Dujeychugh jagh nIv yItuHOo’ There is nothing shameful in falling before a superior enemy What is your will of me? Young Klingon sensor technician pounded on his unresponsive panels Kor – Cardassians! Who else would apply themselves so diligently to such a coward’s strategy? Pity flickered in her cold Klingon eyes 251 Bhirq Klingon technician notify them to let them prepare for their deaths with honor. Dax’s voice brought a reminiscent smile to Kor’s face, one that faded into regret an instant later Suv’batlh request is to consider this system from now on a joint Klingon-Fed protectorate Worf’s utter trust in Sisko had won Sisko’s appreciation from the first Cardassians aren’t very good at detecting ion trails of cloaked ships Kor gave that ultimatum the fierce snort of disdain it deserved The House of Vrag will get to decide their own fate, and preserve their own honor. Fed will not rescue them against their will. That will satisfy the High Council. garg-carcass I’m going to have to decontaminate my stasis chambers just to get the stick of him out of them Sisko was starting to see why Kor and Curzon Dax had gotten along so well Rekan’s two honor companions Rhodium comb pined her hair in place A wild mane of icy fire Klingons were nothing if not straightforward Kira battles Rekan K’Taran wrestles male three times her size Dax battles K’Daq in the tuq’mor It occurred to Kira that perhaps they were a people incapable of panic, those genes having been shriven from their species ages ago by warriors unwilling to tolerate such weakness K’Taran and her rebel adolescents Duty, honor, it mattered so much to them they would willingly forsake all else, even survival Rekan – Must honor always be cruel? I know in my heart what honor demands of us, yet now that we face the final moments I would not see my children die. I would not have love and honor always run is separate ways. Take the children, they are this House’s future. Honor commanded only that we remain on Chi’Xirrac forever. Not that we must die This House is of Cha’Xirrac now. It will need an epetai who is of Cha’Xirrac as well There is no shame in admitting that one’s service is finished I go to Sto-Vo-Kor at peace with the state of my honor Sisko would bet the Klingon Dahar Master followed the Cardassian battleship, and at a none-too-discreet distance Don’t bump cloaked Defiant into Kor’s cloaked ship Kor will want to know that Dax is alive If the Klingons had knowingly violated the Prime Directive when they’d chosen this planet for their honorable exile, it was going to be a lot harder to convince the Fed that they now owned half of it Kor’s expression was one of pure military ferocity Snaggle-teeth bared in a grin that would have done credit to a crocodile Klingon tractor beam paler gold than Defiant’s The House of Vrag is relieved to have some purpose on Cha’Xirrac other than exiles Klingons work out the terms of an ongoing scientific study with Dax Curzon once told Sisko that he didn’t think he would ever fully understand what the Klingons call honor, even if he had a dozen lifetimes to study it. Sisko thinks the Klingons are still learning and refining their own concepts every day. It’s part of what makes a culture vibrant and adaptive. A hard taskmaster. Sisko often thought honor among Klingons more religion than social, like fate among humans, av’adeh’dna among Vulcans, pagh among Bajorans. Honor isn’t just a list of rules that Klingons adhere to. It shapes them, leads them, determines the character of their souls. DOH Her Klingon Soul by Michael Jan Friedman Happy day of Honor, ? a Wednesday A brave Day of Honor As her commanding officer in their days with the Maquis Chakotay had known B to be moody on occasion, even volatile. She had never resented his company, not even at her worst, she had always welcomed it. Neelix carried a large metal pot with flat bottom, serpent worms, heart of targ, rokeg blood pie, with revulsion over to B. a mélange of traditional Klingon dishes. Chakotay Not a connoisseur of Klingon cuisine. None of it looked cooked. Even Chakotay knew that Klingon delicacies were generally served raw, and whenever possible, still alive. Neelix never attempted anything Klingon before, but he got wind of this wonderful holiday. He did extensive research on B’s cultural background. This is the way to present these dishes. B doesn’t eat Klingon food. Storms out on Neelix. Chakotay knows how B feels about Klingons, including the things they eat. Her Klingon mother and human father had separated when she was very young, so she had never really known her father. She and her mother lived in a mostly human colony. B had always emphasized her human characteristics in an attempt to belong. That desire for acceptance had gotten her all the way to Starfleet Academy. Her Klingon side had surfaced in the way she argued with her teachers. The Day of Honor, this damned holiday. It grew out of an incident a hundred years ago. A Starfleet captain named Kirk risked his life to save some Klingons, and now the day is celebrated throughout the Klingon Empire. Chakotay remembered reading about Kirk rescuing some Klingons early in his career. The Day of Honor has always been a reminder that B is different from everyone else, a part she spent her life denying. To make matters worse, B’s mother always wanted B to spend the day contemplating its meaning. B would run away and have some kind of bad luck – age 6, went exploring outside the colony and fell into big hole. Search party found her well after dark, below freezing. Age 8, B was fiddling with the controls to a sensor array when no one was looking, changed the angle on a single data collector. A damaged ship was sending out a distress call, missed because the collector was off. Caught hell for her fiddling, from her mother especially. Age 9, B accidentally locked herself in a storage room. Age 11 nearly lost leg to a falling cargo container Age 13, the boy B liked – B goes to apologize to Neelix for her behavior. He makes cheese quesadillas. She didn’t like Mexican food either. 35 DuChamps, dark, stocky former Maquis works at tactical with Tuvok. B and Harry on survey mission, abducted by Kazon-Ogla, then enslaved by Nograkh. 97 the Klingon in B, her instincts and senses were still tuned to the world of predator and prey. Cued in to sounds and smells at a level Kim could only dream about corners were easier to defend, she had learned that in the Maquis 122 Kim thought Klingons could eat anything. B is only half Klingon, and the other half is pretty discriminating the Klingon in her didn’t like insults, directed at her or her friends she could feel the surge of fire in her veins. Klingon fire. Over the years she had learned to deal with her battle lust, to channel it into more useful endeavors. Nograkh – An uneven fight is dishonorable. My people don’t like dishonorable fights Despite their belligerence, despite the cruelty that seemed part of their nature, there seemed to be a code of honor among the Nograkh. B wouldn’t have thought it possible 136 honor, it was a word the Klingons used. An d often, if her mother was any indication B had met several criminals when she served with the Maquis. Hell, she’d stolen a few things herself in the name of freedom from the Cardassians Klingon law could be quick, merciless, often irrevocable 164 it was the Klingon in her, muddling her judgment, urging her to face her enemies head-on. But she was going to think this through B could feel tears taking shape in the corner of her eyes 187 Chakotay met B on Kaladan Three, not long after the Fed withdrawal from the border worlds. group of Maquis had gotten their hands on a load of phaser rifles. B beamed up with the load of rifles to Chakotay’s ship. She felt her talents were wasted on Kaladan Three. she had some Starfleet training, so the leader of the cel there let her go. Chakotay had barely taken off when Cardassian caught sight of them. B started reprogramming the transfer conduits, funneling everything into the weapons array for one big barrage. Engines barely capable of warp 8. B insisted there was no time to explain. Chakotay would have to trust her. There was something in her eyes, her voice, that convinced Chakotay to go along with her. While on Kalladan Three b had researched and identified Cardassian shield frequencies, form Maquis ships’ logs. She picked the most popular one and crossed her fingers. The barrage pierced the Cardassian shields as if they weren’t there. B always seemed to stay a step ahead of the Cardassians. 209 Carey – I’ve served under a good number of chief engineers. None of them was as bright or innovative, or as well loved as Lt. Torres. In the Maquis, we had transport vessels that packed quite a wallop 224 B was in the thick of the action, upper cutting a guard with the barrel of her weapon. With a fury not even a Klingon could muster Ram’s Horns beat the Nograkh senseless with the guard’s own weapon 244 it was bearing down on them with all the single-minded ferocity of a Klingon targ 267 On Torres’s recommendation Janeway takes slave mining friend Tolgra and his fellow Nograkh to a world of their choosing. B wished them luck in their freedom fight. She know s what it’s like to take on someone big in the name of freedom. B asked for some time off, to celebrate a holiday she should have celebrated two days ago. What she hated about the Day of Honor was really what she hated about herself. The fact that she was different. She just didn’t want to think of herself that way. She’d come to she that what makes her different isn’t bad. In certain cases, it’s a good thing. I’m still not thrilled about my Klingon half. I don’t like having to keep a leash on my emotions. I don’t like the fact that my first impulse is always to lash out, to inflict damage on whoever’s in my way. But Klingons aren’t the only one who act that way. James Kirk was willing to give his life more than a century ago to save a stranger. And a brave Day of Honor to you, too. Return to Grace The Klingon invasion of Cardassia all but destroyed Cardassian medical system. There are all kinds of diseases. Kira needs special inoculations to go to obscure Cardassian outpost Korma to share Bajoran intelligence on Klingons. There are Fed technologies that they have shared with Klingons and Bajor, that Fed prefers to keep out of Cardassian hands. Worf comes to Kira with the list. Photon torpedo guidance systems. Long range sensors. Enhanced warp core overdrive. Korma outpost attacked, buildings destroyed, weapons disabled but not destroyed, no lifesigns. 15 Bajoran diplomats. K’Temang, loose long hair. Stands up by monitor. Somewhat shrill voice. Bank of consoles behind him. K’Temang unconcerned when freighter arrives in Korma space. Cloaks until they find it’s a freighter. Scan ship. Lower their shields and move off at quarter impulse. Underside of hull weakest spot on bird-of-prey. Freighter Groumall fires on unshielded vessel, but doesn’t do any damage. Klingons go to warp. From their point of view, there is no honor in destroying a worthless freighter. Klingons have been operating behind Cardassian lines with impunity. Dukat does not intend to let the Klingons get away with murdering Cardassians It would take a Vorcha-class cruiser to do any real damage to subterranean Cardassian base on fourth moon of Rakal. Klingon cloaking devise useless in emission nebula, like one around Cardassian Amleth Prime base. Loval a secret weapons research base, mostly civilian outpost. Klingon intelligence better than estimated, given Klingon targeting Korma, etc. Klingons would try to take enhanced dilithium cargo from a freighter. K’Temang arrives at Loval, decloaks, scan freighter, lock disruptors on freighter, interested in cargo, hail ship, demand surrender. Identify yourself. What is your cargo and destination. You’re lying. I’m confiscating your ship and it’s cargo. On the authority of the Klingon Empire and the disruptors I have put on your vessel. Lock tractor beam on. Pull freighter up toward underbelly. Shot breaches underbelly hull, impulse engines down, ship adrift. Relock disruptors on Groumall. Fire on ship. Beam troops over. Lock target, prepare to fire. Kira beams 36 Klingons over to Groumall, she knows Klingon transporter codes. All Groumall crew transferred to bird of prey. Dukat destroys Groumall and all Klingons. firing button yellow one within red grid. The first Klingon bird of prey ever to be captured by Cardassia. Computer holds target priorities of all Klingon raiders in Cardassian space. Computer contains valuable status reports from Klingon ships and outposts throughout Cardassian space. Klingon technology is odd. Hard to spot the phase compensator in the backup plasma manifold. Cardassians could launch major counteroffensive against Klingons with information, but Detapa Council is looking for diplomatic solution. Only Dukat will stand against the Klingons If Cardassia falls, Bajor would be the Klingons’ next target Damar and Ziyal practice fighting with d’k tahg knife and disruptor rifle. Fighting Klingons means being ruthless. Displays and consoles right up to viewscreen. All around walls. Dukat goes off in bird-of-prey Meld B having trouble with engines, working with Suder, Hogan. Lon Suder only one on duty in evening when Darwin reports for duty. B calls for Lt. Tuvok to report to engineering immediately, when body of Starfleet Crewman Darwin discovered. Lon Suder, Chakotay has never been comfortable with him. B – As a Maquis, Suder did what he had to do a little too well. As in killing Cardassians. Tuvok, when he was with Chakotay’s ship, was never in battle. B – In the Maquis, we didn’t ask for resumes. We needed all the help we could get. Chakotay had to pull Suder back in combat. Chakotay’s Maquis crew included malcontents, outlaws and mercenaries. Lon Suder confined to quarters, guilty of murder of Darwin. The Heart of the Warrior by John Gregory Betancourt 1 The Valtusians have managed to persuade representatives of Cardassian government, Federation, and Maquis to meet on DS 9 for peace conference. Major Kira and Lt. Commander Worf and Odo dispatched on high-priority mission into Gamma Quadrant 15 one difference between Klingon and human patients, Bashir realized, was that most human patients couldn’t break you in half if you got them angry. Bashir’s DNA Scanner removes single skin cell with mircolaser to determine carbon based life forms or Changelings. 61 Sisko – Even the Klingons and Romulans could be more reasonable than Cardassians 69 Romulans loan Worf and Kira’s team personal cloaking devices for their mission. operate for 8 minutes. Worf – There is almost something cowardly about hiding behind invisible shields 82 Philip Twofeathers negotiates for the Maquis, Cherokee, his people settled frontier planet Dorvanto 20 years previously Myriam Kravitz, three years legal training at Starfleet Academy, she left when Fed ceded her homeworld to Cardassia. Maquis ships had no stuffy dress codes 90 Kira thought the key to winning Worf’s friendship was finding common ground. Worf – I was raised by human parents so I grew up with Starfleet. Had my Klingon parents lived, I would never have joined. I would probably be with my brothers now, helping to seize Cardassian territory Kira introduces Worf to the ironic expression It’s a living. Worf tells Kira of life on the Enterprise, of Alexander, of his friends Data and Geordi and Deanna Troi. Kira found herself enjoying his company. She had been dreading the long flight. 94 Quark touts O’Brien as a bar brawler – He’s an expert in Klingon martial arts. Ten seconds after he waded into the fight he’d decapitated one and shattered the other’s skull with a flying kick. Catching on, O’Brien bared his teeth and snarled a bit, the way he’d seen Worf do it when Quark had pissed him off. There’s the Klingon restaurant on DS 9, but it’s not for timid palates. Maquis Ambassador Kravitz has heard about Klingon meals. I don’t think I could eat something that’s still moving. 117 Klingon in Quark’s bar in fight with Caxtonian, arms locked around each other, phasered unconscious by Odo’s third in command, Bajoran named Vertan. Other Klingons stop brawling. Twofeathers joined the Maquis in part for the adventure 125 Worf decided Klingons were not meant for sneaking around. Their hands, their bodies, their very minds, were designed for clean, honest open combat. There was no honor in hiding. Discipline is the heart of the warrior Martial arts had always been of keen interest to Worf. He had tried everything from Klingon to human to Romulan to Doldarian forms of combat. 129 the alien had dropped to four legs, sprinting like a wild hzork Klingons were not known for speed or long endurance in wind sprints, but now Worf thanked his grueling workouts on the holodeck and Quark’s holosuites. He was in top form. Gamma Quad Iffalian paralyzing poison not long lasting on Klingons The purpose of a game is victory 147 Curzon Dax, adventurer, explorer and rogue. Embrace the wonders of the universe, get out of your house and off your planet. Explore the galaxy and experience new things. 155 Klingon hearing more acute than a human’s. Worf had only hunted brush-devils once, on the Homeworld with his brother Kurn, but it had been one of the most satisfying experiences of his life. Kurn had given a series of hunting calls, designed to spook the brush-devil, driving it toward Worf that day on the Homeworld. Fleeing in terror was a response so alien to the Klingon way of life that Worf just couldn’t accept it. Worf stretched, feeling his muscles ripple like liquid durasteel. The frightened little Iffalian reminded Worf of Alexander, times when Alexander awakened screaming from nightmares. Comforting his son had been a new and somewhat awkward experience. But he had learned the technique from necessity. A Klingon warrior’s heart should be beating almost normally after a dash like that. One by one he began to tense his muscles, going through an ancient Klingon exercise designed to keep his body from stiffening up. 171 the Maquis drained resources from Cardassia that were badly needed elsewhere, and the Klingons posed a much bigger threat to Cardassia right now. A group of Klingons windowshopping at a store selling swords and knifes, on DS 9’s Promenade 195 some distant and more primitive part of him thought this was what a Klingon lived for, the may’boq, the battle fever that came with fighting. It sent his emotions soaring and filled his body with an almost electric energy thinking was hard after the battle fever, he still heard the faint murmur of blood in his ears and it left him charged for combat it felt good to have stretched his battle muscles Worf – the changeling represented a huge problem for him. What would Captain Picard have done? Better still, what would Captain Sisko do? Delegate, he thought with a mental cry of triumph. 203 Odo and Worf had been working at odds with one another almost since they’d met. Kira, Worf and Odo return in captured Jem’Hadar ship, towed off for further study Valtusians changelings, conference falls apart The Sons of Mogh Worf and Jadzia bat’leth practice in cave. Worf snaps her bat’leth with his mek’leth, movek, I lose. Worf was proving his point about the mek’leth’s abilities. Jadzia expounds the classic argument that the bat’leth, with it’s longer reach, is usually the deciding factor. Worf finds using a large intimidating weapon like the bat’leth often leads to overconfidence. Jadzia was overconfident, you thought that distracting me with your outfit you would gain an advantage. Jadzia – You thought I wore this for you? Talk about overconfidence. Jadzia walks away, then comes back and gets her bat’leth blade pieces to Worf’s neck. Gotthca. Movek. Jadzia – But in my own defense, you use your own tactics of distraction. All that shouting and growing you do. Worf – I am only vocalizing Odo calls Worf, there’s an intoxicated Klingon at airlock 5 whose demanding to see Worf. Kurn holds Odo and security forces at bay with small knife. Wild hair, brown fur outfit. Miserable koruts. Worf has been trying to contact Kurn for months. Kurn came for mauk-to’Vor. He wants Worf to kill him. Kurn wakes shouting for guards, something for my head. he is in Worf’s quarters, with a glass of pale green juice all ready for his head. sleeping on the soft comfortable couch. No one would ever suspect a warrior lives here. Kurn – Tell me, Worf, does Starfleet ever make mistakes? Even in their furniture? It has been four months since Kurn’s last message. Kurn – I’ve been overseeing the end of a once proud house. Worf knows what has happened to the House of Mogh. He regrets that by opposing Gowron he has brought disgrace to our family. Kurn – You regret?! What’s next Worf, do you want to apologize? Express your sympathy? How many Human weaknesses will you display? Worf – I will not apologize for what I have done, I could not join Gowron’s war with Cardassia or the Federation. It would have been dishonorable. Kurn – So, in avoiding dishonor for yourself, you brought it down on the rest of your family. What a noble act, how selfless. Worf – I will not debate this with you, Kurn. What is done is done. Kurn – For you it’s done. Your comfortable life, your glorious Starfleet career. But not for me. our family had a seat on the High Council. We were feared by our enemies, respected by our friends. It was even said that if Gowron died the leadership of the Council might be passed to someone from the House of Mogh. And you chose to side with the Federation against the empire. Gowron took our ships. Our land. Our seat on the council, everything. Did you watch as Gowron’s men seized our land and stripped our family of it’s name? Did you have to endure the humiliation of being ejected from the High Council in front of the Emperor himself? No, you chose to stay here, safe, comfortable, secure. You have everything you want, and I have nothing. Not even my honor. But you can give that back. Worf – By killing you. Kurn – I’m already dead to our people. And so are you. But you don’t care. I have never asked you for anything. But you took away my honor, and only you can give it back. So now I am asking you for Mauk-to’Vor, is an honorable death too much to ask from my brother? Cloaked ship exploded, flash of light, high energy discharge, elevated tachyon readings, subspace shock waves. Also cloaked target drone. Or many other things. IKS Korinar bird of prey decloaks in front of O’Brien and Kira’s runabout. We are engaged in military exercises in this area. Return to Bajoran space immediately. You have been given a warning according to interstellar agreement, you will not receive another. They lock disruptors on. Worf was supposed to meet Jadzia in holosuite 5 minutes ago. Worf is never late, in fact he’s grumbles at me if I’m two minutes behind schedule. Quark saw Worf this morning. Quark – If he can’t be civil I don’t care if I never see him again Jadzia – It’s just his way. It’s nothing personal. Quark – No, this was more than his standard rudeness. He came in here, ordered some Klingon incense, and nearly threw me across the bar when I tried to give him some replicated incense. adanji incense. Jadzia – What would he want with adanji? Smoky adanji incense in small earthenware bowl on legs. Nasty mevak knife, candles also on low table. Standing face to face with Kurn. Robe on. Worf lifts incense to his face. Worf – You have been wronged in this life. There is nothing left here for you. No honor. No future. Holds incense out to Kurn. Kurn – I wish to reclaim my honor in the next life. I am ready to cross the river of blood and enter Sto-Vo-Kor. Jadzia unaware Worf had a brother Captain Kurn. When she finds that out, it all falls into place. Worf returns incense to table, picks up knife. Worf – May this blade speed you one your journey. He lifts it above his head. Kurn pulls open clothing to bare heavily ribbed chest. Worf – Goodbye, my brother. Kurn raises his head to look straight up – Good bye. Worf plunges blade in. Kurn remains standing, raises hand to protruding blade, then falls backward. Jadzia and Odo rush in and ruin everything. Worf – This is not your concern! It is a private matter! Bloody knife ends up on Sisko’s desk. Bashir saves Kurn, he’ll be up again tomorrow. Worf realizes his actions were in violation of Starfleet regulations. Jadzia explains to Sisko that Mauk-to’Vor ritual – its part of Klingon belief that Sisko – I have given you both a lot of leeway when it comes to following Klingon traditions. There is a limit to how far I’ll go to accommodate cultural diversity. And you just reached it. Worf – Captain it may not be possible Jadzia – It’s perfectly clear, there are other possibilities for Kurn. This will never happen again. Sisko – You’re damned right it won’t. get out! Sisko has had enough of tiptoeing around the Klingons. I don’t want Worf anywhere near other Klingons right now. O’Brien starts to defend Worf, but Sisko cuts him off. Kurn is stabilized, Bashir can revive him at any time. Kurn was looking forward to being in Sto-Vo-Kor, I was hoping to see father there. Worf – He still awaits you. But it is not yet time for you to join him. Kurn – You decided not to complete the mauk-to’Vor. Did you fight off Dax and Odo? Did you threaten to kill them both if they interfered? Are you standing here now with the mevak dagger to slit my throat and bring me the death I deserve? No. for a moment, during the ritual, you were Klingon. But your Federation life has claimed you again. And now it is claiming me as well. I have no life, I have death. What ever is to become of me is up to you. Jadzia comes to see Worf. He puts the incense burner in small narrow freestanding cabinet. Jadzia – I want to apologize. I interfered in a family matter, and if I caused you any further dishonor I am sorry. Worf – You are following your conscience. That is an honorable motive. Jadzia – Not from a Klingon point of view. Jadzia suggests Kurn can stay on the station. Worf – He will need tasks to perform, a job. Jadzia – What about security, it worked for one Klingon officer I know. Worf – I doubt Kurn would be interested in joining Starfleet. Odo reviews Kurn’s career with the Klingon defense forces. I have just one question, does he know how to use the stun setting on a disruptor? Worf – Non lethal skills are not valued in the Empire. Worf is indebted to Odo, a man who collects on his debts. Kurn, in brown cloth Bajoran security forces. Loose hair. Odo – I’d say your brothers doing fine, he’s been on the job six hours and he’s only killed four Boslics so far. Kira’s right, you do need a sense of humor. He’s quite good, actually. Stern, but he never steps over the line. I’m finding him a pleasant surprise. Worf – I am gratified to hear that. Kurn – I hate this uniform. I have accepted the transition, I am a Bajoran security officer. The uniform is simply uncomfortable. But I will get used to it. You need not concern yourself with me, brother. I won’t disgrace you. High concentrations of tachyons, subspace distortions, nitreon traces, some cloaked ships definitely passed this way within 24 O’Brien – I’ve never known Klingons to be this fastidious when it comes to respecting borders, especially when they’re cloaked. Drovna, Vorcha-class attack cruiser reveals itself as it explodes, hole in port quarter, spins out of control. Drovna asks Defiant for medical assistance, Defiant offers to tow then to DS 9. after a consultation, offer accepted. Kurn uncovered a case of contraband in lower hold of Boslic ship. Kurn confronted the Boslic captain, who pulled a disruptor pistol. Kurn let himself be shot. He just stood there. A trained Klingon warrior could have disarmed man without breaking a sweat. Man was shaking so much he missed. Kurn – Worf, I don’t want to talk anymore. It is not Klingon. You’re the elder brother. You tell me what to do and I’ll do it. My life is in your hands. Bashir treats 15 cases of severe radiation burns, exposure to gamma rays, 7 thoracic perforation traumas caused by shrapnel, 23 decompression related injuries, from Drovna. 10 kilometers off port quarters. Even Klingon torpedoes can’t track a cloaked vessel. Cloaked mines can’t be detected by any known sensor array. Unless you know their coordinates they’re no way to find them. Worf - The type of mine currently used by the Klingons remains dormant until it is armed by a coded subspace signal. Mining a star system is an act of war. I didn’t think the Klingons were ready for that. Worf has idea for Kurn and himself to infiltrate Drovna. Kurn incensed – You want me to turn against my own people. Will my dishonor never end? Worf –it is their actions that are dishonorable. Secretly mining star systems is not the act of warriors. They behave like, like Romulan cowards! Kurn – is that how you rationalize this, by calling your people coward? So you can be a hero? Worf – Do you agree with what has happened between the Empire and the Federation? Kurn – It is not my place to criticize. No, I opposed the decision to break the Treaty. But I was overruled in Council. Gowron underestimates the Fed. He thinks they’re soft, weak. But he is wrong. Sooner or later there will be war. Worf – A war the Empire may loose. Mining the system is just the beginning. If we do nothing it will only encourage Gowron to think of the Fed as weak. Eventually he will attack, and that will be the end of the Empire. that is why you must join me on this mission. Not for my honor and not for the Federation. But to prevent the Empire from being destroyed in a war they cannot win. Our people have turned their backs on us, but we have not turned our backs on them. Let it be the sons of Mogh, side by side, saving our people. Do this with me! Nice bat’leth embedded sculpture on wall above couch. Bashir alters Worf’s appearance, scar on left cheek – Very Ugly. Uglier. A joke. Worf stands in Klingon warrior garb – I got it. Kurn relishes being back in Klingon uniform. Kurn and Worf beam in to Drovna corridor just after two warriors have walked past. One appears to be Lieutenant [DoqyIvbeH]. Red grille pattern of light cast on floor. large wide double door. Have to duck to enter it. Head for empty room with computer banks. Door opens with palm DNA recognition to the right of door. Support struts in room. Kurn – The deployment plan for the mines should be in defense system data banks. Worf- I found the main file directory. Kurn – No, no. ignore it. It is a security procedure the High Council instituted three months ago. False directories, files, entire databases of disinformation designed for spies to steal. Here’s the real database. Worf – Can you access the deployment plan? Kurn – the security codes have been changed, but not all of them. They have to work at the computers with their backs to the door! A Lieutenant enters, thin, young face, beard in two long narrow braids with beads – You two, what are you doing? Kurn turns his head – We are running a diagnostic on the computer core. There have been fluctuations in the navigational control systems. Lieutenant – I have not been informed of any problems. Worf turns his head – Perhaps you have not been tending to your duties. Lieutenant – I do not know you. What is your name? Worf steps up to Klingon – I am Commander Sorval, son of Ataqua! Lieutenant – How long have you been Commander? Worf – I will not be questioned by a Lieutenant who should be cleaning my quarters. Leave us, or I shall have you stripped of rank and sent home in a transport! Forceful but not forceful enough. Lieutenant – My words were ill chosen, Commander. Small head bow. Perhaps I can help you with your investigation. He steps toward Worf. Worf turns away – that is not necessary. All we require Kurn pulls disruptor and shoots Lieutenant dead. He is thrown back against the door, which doesn’t open. Worf – You did not have to do that, he was backing down! Kurn stomps over to body, lifts up knife protruding from sheath in left arm gauntlet. Kurn – He was going to kill you. Worf - We must hurry, the disruptor blast will alert the security sensors. Kurn disheartened – He was a warrior, doing his duty, defending the empire, and I killed him. My dishonor is complete. Worf looks around, worried, but continues gathering info. Detonation codes for each mine. Worf commiserates with Jadzia, he is still troubled by the death of that Klingon officer. His report said it was self-defense. Worf should have seen what he was going to do. He decided to kill me while I was looking him right in the eyes. And I never saw it. Kurn did, and he was three meters away. A Klingon can tell if someone is going to kill them by looking at them. It is an instinct. The ability to look someone in the eyes and see the decision to kill. An instinct I no longer have. Kurn was right, I have lived with humans so long I no longer think like a Klingon. For a long time I have tried to walk the line between the Empire and the Federation. I told myself I could live in either world, that it was my choice, but the truth is I cannot go back to the Empire. I always hoped that one day the House of Mogh would reclaim its rightful place, and that I would return. But now I know that even if I did, I have no place there. Starfleet is all I have. It will have to be enough for me. but my brother does not even have this. For him, there is no future without the Empire, no life. I was able to do the Mauk’to’Vor ritual once, by telling myself it was an honorable ritual. But now I cannot help but think of it as humans do. Jadzia thinks of a way for Worf to kill his brother, without killing him. Kira goes out in Defiant to destroy minefield. Issues one verbal warning. No response. Detonates mines, birds of prey decloak and move away. Course 327 mark 215, back to the Klingon Empire from DS 9. Kurn drunk in Worf’s quarters, with disruptor pistol – Why is it that suicide is considered a dishonorable death, Worf? Shouldn’t a warrior have the right to decide when his time has come? Worf – If you die by your own hand, you will not travel across the river of blood and enter Sto-Vo-Kor. Kurn – Even if I get cast down into the underworld, at least I’d be with other Klingons. even though they are the dishonored dead. You know what my one regret is? That we weren’t raised together. In the Empire, on earth, it wouldn’t have mattered. The sons of Mogh should never have been separated. Worf – On that, we both agree. Kurn –but That is the past, and a warrior should look to the future. And in the future you should not be burdened by my dishonor. Worf – you are not a burden. Kurn – I have never understood you, Worf. But I do know this, in your own way, you are an honorable man. Kurn passes out. Worf – And you will be an honorable man again, but not as my brother. Bashir wipes Kurn’s memory, changes genetic coding, surgically alters features. He is know he’s a Klingon, how to speak the language, virtually everything he needs to know to survive. Except who he is. There is a man named Noggra, a friend of our father’s. he will be arriving in a few hours. He has agreed to provide Kurn with a new identity, and a new family. He will supply Kurn with all the answers he needs. Noggra – Our shuttle was damaged. You were hit by a plasma discharge. Your name is Rodek, you are my son. You are part of the House of Noggra. A small put proud family. So don’t worry. I will teach you all that you have forgotten. When we get home. Bashir – The plasma discharge damaged your hippocampus. Severe form of amnesia. Worf and Jadzia standing by Infirmary door. I am Worf Are you part of my family? I have no family. Jadzia looks after Worf. Worf walks Prom alone. |
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