The guards both turned abruptly, each towering over Freeman as they stood at least six and a half feet tall. "You speak English? I thought it was a dream, what I heard in the entryway," the Human guard commented. He then turned to his Klingon compatriot, "Go tell Travis our prisoners are awake." The Klingon banged his chest with his fist and rushed off.
The remaining guard poured water from a clay pitcher into cups, and handed them inside the bars to the weary Bristol crew. After quenching the edge of his thirst, Freeman spoke. "I am Captain Mark Freeman of the Federation starship Bristol."
The guard nodded, "Captain. What are you doing here?"
"Exploring. Dr. Leighton," Freeman answered, indicating the doctor, "is an archaeologist. We had heard rumors that there might have been a colony of Humans here. Apparently we were right."
"Wrong," the guard replied, shaking his head. "We are Klingon as well as Human here. Have been for centuries." At that moment the other guard came back with another man. This new arrival had an authoritative air about him and was also quite tall. The Human guard stood up straight, "Their leader is this man; Captain Mark Freeman. He says they were exploring."
"I am Travis," the new man said, revealing jagged teeth, similar to Klingon in appearance, though he otherwise appeared Human. "Leader of the 23rd Precisian. We will talk Captain." He turned to the guards, "Release the Captain; take him to my office. Keep the others here." Travis gave the others in the cell a once over. His gaze stopped when it reached Lt. Ivanovna. "Tall and strong," he mumbled to himself. His guards had told him she had been the last to fall. "Truly a remarkable woman." She stared back at him hatefully, misunderstanding his glance as one of lust instead of respect; he merely smiled and followed behind the Klingon guard as he escorted Freeman to his office.
Upon arrival, Travis threw himself heavily into his chair, while Freeman sat tentatively in the one offered to him. Both chairs were made of stone and were covered with skins and the like, providing a minimal amount of padding. Travis put his hands together and closed his eyes, in apparent meditation. Freeman shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as this delay lasted for some time. At length, Travis' eyes opened and he stared directly at his captive. "So Captain," Travis began, putting his feet solidly upon the table in front of him. "Why are you really here?"
Freeman folded his arms, "Your guard told you what I told him; we're here on an exploratory mission. We're from the United Federation of Planets, an organizational body of freely aligned planets who have banded together for mutual benefit."
"Well, you're obviously not Klingon," Travis laughed. "I've never heard an outlander use the words 'free' and 'mutual benefit' in the same sentence."
Freeman looked confused. "You mean, you've had other visitors? I don't understand."
"Sure, all the time. You're the first non-Klingons we've ever seen though," Travis replied. "What's wrong Captain?"
"Our Federation is many light years away; we heard rumors about a Human colony in Klingon space. We asked the Klingons for permission to send a ship to investigate and they were a little too eager to help out. We were tricked." Freeman shook his head and addressed Travis, "I take it these outlander Klingons aren't welcomed here?"
Travis pointed a gnarled finger at Captain Freeman and sneered with his mouthful of Klingon teeth. "On that point, you are correct. These shiny rocks," Travis said, indicating with his hand a couple veins that ran in the wall nearby, "are apparently of great value. They tried to subjugate us with talk once; by force many times."
"What happens when they attack you?"
"We kill all but one, sparing his life to go back to his people to tell them not to mess with us. It never seems to work, however," Travis replied, shaking his head. "There are large caverns in which plentiful food and animal life exist. Though we may appear low tech to you captain, we are not. We've been able to harness the natural thermal energy of this planet to provide for ourselves. The lifestyle, the clothes, the weapons you see are all ones we prefer to have. Though our ancestors came here under duress, we love our life here." Travis paused to let that sink in before continuing. "The Son, J'Rakh K'Ran, watches over us. He guides us to success in battle, time after time. So long as we stay true to Him and to our teachings, we will survive and flourish."
Freeman nodded, "What do you want from us?"
"Now that's an interesting question," Travis mused. "Originally, we'd planned on killing you, but you're not part of the outlander Klingons. Killing you wouldn't be right. You know, you could stay and help us fight," Travis offered, brightening. "That warrior woman with you is equal to the best of my guards."
Freeman shook his head, "We have others paths to follow, my group and I."
"What if I were to keep you here? Not let you go; would you fight for me then?" Travis said suddenly, his mood apparently darkening.
"No. None of us would," Freeman responded matter-of-factly, staring his captor in the eye.
Travis rubbed his chin, "Even if I were to kill that Vulcan of yours? Or rather, threaten to kill her unless you fought?"
"Not even then."
Travis smiled suddenly, and the tense moment was over. "Not that J'Rakh K'Ran would allow us such sadism against innocents anyway; I was merely testing your resolve. I threatened a lifetime of slavery, even certain death, and you did not even blink an eye. What your friend has in size, you have in strength of character, Captain. Come; I will release your friends and we shall eat together."
A half hour later, the cleaned up Bristol landing party appeared in an expansive cavern which served as a dining hall. The party had been given clothes to replace their tattered and blood stained uniforms. Seated at a great stone table in the center of the room were Travis and some of his people, both Klingons and Humans. The main course was fish; alongside were cups of water and a soup whose contents suspiciously resembled moss. Before the meal began, Travis and his people held hands. Travis spoke, his head lowered, "We thank you, J'Rakh K'Ran, for the meal you have presented to us. Today we have strangers in our midst, and you have revealed to me that they are friends." He looked up then and smiled at Captain Freeman, who nodded in acknowledgement.
The meal itself actually tasted quite good, despite appearances to the contrary. The conversation was loud and boisterous. In the midst of the meal, Lt. Ivanovna leaned over to Freeman and commented in a low tone, "That must've been quite a talk you gave in there, Captain."
"Not really," Freeman replied back. "We were mistaken for others. We're not their enemy."
"Others?"
Freeman shook his head, "I'll explain later."
"And now," Travis shouted to quiet the din of conversation. "A toast to our guests. Welcome!" Everyone cheered and raised their cups. "Captain, you asked me earlier what we wanted of you," Travis began. "We want to learn about you, and we want to teach you about us. J'Rakh K'Ran has taught us that knowledge is one of many ways to strength and success; I believe we have much to share with each other. I'm speaking not of your technology, for we have little use for it. I'm speaking of your culture, your history, you as a people. Now, despite our inauspicious beginnings, you are our guests here. You're welcome to leave at any time; however, I ask, will you stay for awhile?"
Freeman turned to Ivanovna, who whispered in his ear that they had a couple days of the time allotted left, and they could stay if the captain was interested. Freeman addressed his host, "The honor would be ours. We have two days of the time allotted to us for this mission remaining. Let us make the most of them."
As promised, the crew did in fact make the most of the next couple days. Dr. Leighton filled all of his computers to the limit with information, and was in a perpetual state of excitement over the existence of this colony. In the interim, the crew had gotten their equipment back, minus the charge in their phasers. Travis had apologized and explained that it was standard procedure to drain the weapons of their attackers for their energy. Freeman's attempts to contact the ship had failed; fortunately for their return, he'd planned for this contingency and set the computer to beam up all living beings from their beam down coordinates at a precise time in the future.
With only a few hours left, there came a shout of alarm as Captain Freeman and Travis were having a lengthy discussion about Travis' ancestors. "Blood worms at the South Gate!" shouted one guard, gasping for breath as he ran into the chamber.
From his conversations, Freeman knew that 'blood worms' referred to outlander Klingons. He tensed as Travis threw him a bat'leth confiscated from an earlier attack, and they, along with other guards and Lt. Ivanovna, made their way quickly to assist at the South Gate.
Though the initial attack came with the hand disruptor-style side arms of the Klingon Empire, the attacking forces were closed in melee soon enough. Travis had shouted a cry, "For J'Rakh K'Ran!" and waded into the thick of the fray. Freeman himself was soon engaged, and treated the first opponent to the business end of his weapon before the latter could even raise his to strike.
On the other flank, Lt. Ivanovna was having a tougher time. An ally had fallen next to her, and she found herself battling three opponents at once. She made quick work of one, before a second landed a lucky blow, stabbing her deeply in the side with his bat'leth, just inches below her right lung. She groaned under the immense pain that followed when her opponent pulled his weapon out and tore her flesh further with its jagged edge. The third opponent then caught her hard on the side of her head with the back of his bat'leth, causing her to reel and drop to both knees. Katrina swung wildly, catching the knee of one opponent and crumpling him; the backswing from one of his own men stabbed him in the back at that moment and killed him. Still dizzy, Ivanovna fell backwards, defenseless, as her remaining opponent poised himself for the killing blow.
Fortunately for the Chief of Security of the U.S.S. Bristol, the killing blow never came. The Klingon's legs were taken out from under him by Travis, who promptly held his opponent at bay with the edge of his bat'leth at the hapless Klingon's throat. The battle was soon over, and Travis' people cheered. Travis released the prone Klingon to deliver a message back to his Empire to never bother them again.
Freeman ran over to his prone shipmate. "She's lost a lot of blood," he commented, as Dr. Giovanni joined him. Travis motioned to one of his people as Giovanni ran a tricorder scan on the fallen Ivanovna.
"This isn't good; the blade caused a lot of damage. She's bleeding internally," Giovanni said, conducting a quick reading. She tore off some of her own tunic to help staunch the outward flow of blood; Freeman and Travis also assisted. "She's also got a concussion from that blow to the head.
"Can you do anything?" Freeman asked, trying not to notice that Ivanovna was as white as a sheet.
Giovanni didn't answer as she made use of the few tools and medicines that her field med-kit provided. "If I'm lucky this will stabilize her for now, but we've got to get back to the ship. I don't just mean the Runabout either; I need her in Sickbay soon," she finished, emphasizing the last word.
The person to whom Travis had signaled had returned with a clay cup. She handed it to Travis, who then offered it to a barely conscious Ivanovna. "Drink this," he said simply. Ivanovna was too weak to budge; Travis looked at Freeman and Giovanni, "This will help her, give her some strength."
Freeman looked at Giovanni, who merely shrugged, "Ivanovna could use all the help she could get right now."
The three helped Ivanovna to drink from the cup. When she was finished, Travis nodded and smiled, "Have faith in J'Rakh K'Ran. He helps friends of the Precisian."
At Freeman's prompting, Travis made arrangements for helping Ivanovna get to the beam down site. Upon arrival, Travis and Freeman clasped hands, outside in the bitter cold as they waited for the Runabout's computer to beam up the landing party. "You fought well Captain; we part as the best of friends."
"We do indeed. When I get back, I will ask my government to intercede on your behalf, to try and put an end to these attacks," Freeman offered.
"From what you've told me over the past couple days, it sounds to me like, since we're in Klingon space, there's little you can do about that," Travis replied, shaking his head. "Just remember us, and tell the universe about us. A place where Humans and Klingons fight side by side, and live side by side. We live as one people here, not as a colony of Humans or a colony of Klingons, but a colony of people. Compared to the rest of the universe, we certainly have ourselves a couple of unlikely bedfellows here, haven't we Captain?" Travis said, laughing and clapping Freeman on the back who smiled and nodded in agreement in return. "Safe journey to you. May J'Rakh K'Ran bless you."
"Long life to you Travis," Freeman said. Travis and his people stepped back just inside the cave and watched, as, a few moments later, the computer beamed up the landing party.
What the crew found on board was a mess; the Klingons had evidently boarded the Runabout. Consoles were smashed and chairs overturned. A quick scan showed that the Bristol crew were the only ones still aboard her, however.
Freeman didn't know why the Klingons hadn't just used their ship to blow it to bits, and at that moment, didn't care. "Damage report, computer."
"Communications array damaged. All Bridge terminals off-line," it replied.
"Computer, are navigational sensors and engines still operational?" Freeman asked hopefully.
"Affirmative."
"Take us home. Warp factor nine."
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