The Klingons Come to Dinner

Posted on Sat 28th May, 2022 @ 12:20am by Lieutenant Commander Kiara Lena & Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs & Commander Zed & Lieutenant Damion Ildaran & Daeren Iril & Krell House of Mer'uk & T'Vala & Tessanna (Tessa) Valeri & Miadze Palel

1,773 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Hunted
Location: Helicon III
Timeline: MD 2, 1820 hours

It had been nearly four days since Dallas had faced the Assassin. He would be dead right now if it hadn't been for Krell's intervention during the fight. Dallas had been badly wounded, but was now recovering nicely.

He sat on the bed in Kiara's quarters. He tested her bed with his hands. It was about as soft as the one in his quarters. Neither of them were very comfortable. "So, what's the plan?" He asked as he looked up at her.

"I plan to show up at the negotiations unannounced." She smiled at Dallas. "The Thunder Child will need to be notified of our arrival, but I don't want any mention of me over a comm channel. I'm sure someone on the planet will be monitoring both ships." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if it would be better for Ambassador Krell to beam over and meet with the delegation in person, or if there's a formal dinner tonight on the planet." She'd considered going down tonight, but she didn't want certain parties to have time to plan before the negotiations began in the morning.

Dallas nodded, "That actually sounds like a good idea. He can meet with the Delegates and explain your plans."

"I admit to being curious to see how the three factions on the planet respond to a Klingon Ambassador," Kiara said, grinning. "That in and of itself may give us some clues as to what they think."

Dallas smiled, "I think that someone is going to be very scared when they find out that Krell is a friend of Commander Lena. I bet they will be fearing for their life." Dallas thought of something, "You may want to speak with Krell so he doesn't kill anyone." As much as Dallas wanted to kill the ones responsible for Kiara's crash, it wasn’t right, but they did need to be punished.

She sighed. "I should. A murder would not help with negotiations at this point. Even though I want to personally confront those who lured you into a trap."

"He already paid the price for that," Dallas spoke about the Assassin. "And it wasn't a trap, I knew what I was getting into. It was necessary to find you."

"He did, but you were still his target, not me. I was just a convenient lure." She still felt bad about it. "I'm just glad you did survive."

"You and me both, but it's in the past now and we need to work on the future. We need to get the ones responsible."


The IKS Amar dropped its cloak in orbit. The large Vor'cha-class battlecruiser may have been old and outdated, but it was still a devastating military weapon, if need be. Captain Koor, a young and very fit Klingon, was the current commanding officer.

He glanced over at his Communications Officer. "Lieutenant Tigris, inform the Thunder Child that we are in orbit along their starboard side. Also, inform the Delegates that we are here with Commander Lena." He paused for a moment then added, "Discreetly. She would like to make an entrance to gauge the reactions of the leaders when she appears."

"Aye, sir." Tigris sent a message to the Thunder Child that the Amar was there with Ambassador Krell. Then, on a private channel, the other ambassadors were informed of his arrival and the presence of Ambassador Lena.

Two minutes later, an invitation was sent to Ambassador Krell, inviting him to meet with the other delegates aboard the Thunder Child.

Koor stepped down from his chair and headed for the door at the rear of the Bridge, "Inform the Ambassador that the delegates await him on the Thunder Child as soon as he can beam over."

"Aye, sir," Tigris replied, sending the message.

Krell was in his quarters when he got the message that the Thunder Child was ready to receive him. Now anyone on the planet with sensors could see that the Klingon battlecruiser was in orbit, and they would also be able to tell when Krell transported over. Also, if they studied the Klingon vessel hard enough, they would detect life signs of a human male and female. Krell pulled the Ambassador's robe over his Klingon battle armor and left his quarters, heading for the transporter room.

T'Vala was in the transporter room of the Thunder Child, waiting to greet the Klingon. She was curious to know what happened, and how the ship had come across Kiara, although she would never show it.

Krell stepped onto the transporter pad and nodded, quickly consumed by a bright red light before vanishing.

In Transporter Room Two aboard Thunder Child, Krell materialized. He stepped down from the transporter pad and smiled slightly, pleased to see the Vulcan in front of him.

There was a smile in T'Vala's eyes before she bowed. "Ambassador, I am pleased to see you. I trust you are well?"

Krell bowed in turn, "I am well and the mission was accomplished as well. Dallas and Commander Lena are okay. Have you learned anything with your first meeting?" He asked wanting to get right down to business.

She frowned. "Yes." She turned and led the way to one of the conference rooms. "Please have a seat. The others may join us, but they are also doing research." She took a seat at a side table. "There are three factions claiming ownership of the mountain and one that claims to want to help." She pulled an encrypted PADD out of a pocket and handed it to Krell. "This is what we have so far. There is clear evidence that some of the records have been removed and one of the factions has no clear claim at all." She allowed herself a brief smile. "I look forward to the responses to Commander Lena's arrival tomorrow."

Then she sobered and looked him over carefully. "Are you well? What happened?"

While looking over the PADD, Krell grunted, "I am well; thank you for asking." He glanced up at her, "As you know, Commander Briggs faced off with the Assassin and was victorious. We discovered Commander Lena's whereabouts by raiding the Assassin's ship and rescued her. We hacked the Assassin's computer and discovered the identity of the ones who had hired the assassin to take down Commander Lena's shuttle."

"I know the basic information, but none of the details. How are the events connected, and how can we use that to our advantage?" the Vulcan asked. She did not believe it was mere coincidence that Kiara was asked to mediate and ended up crashed on a small planet.

"That may have been the Assassin's doing, but the ones that hired him are probably the ones that we are after. That alone shows their guilt." Krell said.

"It does. How are Kiara and Commander Briggs doing?" T'Vala asked.

"They are doing well. Commander Lena is eager to see the reactions of the Delegates." Krell said.

A half-smile flashed across her face. "I am looking forward to that. And to the reaction to a Klingon ambassador as part of the delegation." Her eyes were still smiling.

"I have heard of these people. They have had bloody conflicts with the Klingons centuries ago and I'm sure that they have passed down stories of their defeats and how evil and ruthless my people are and it's probably true. I have no doubt that the presence of my battle cruiser has them worried." Krell said proudly.

T'Vala raised an eyebrow. "I saw nothing about Klingons in their history."

The transporter made the sound that signaled yet another person beaming in. A moment later the column of sparks and annular confinement beam dissipated, and Consul Iril stepped down from the platform. He took in the sight of Krell, and his eyes widened slightly. Daeren nodded at T'Vala and glanced back at the Klingon. "Ambassador Krell, it's good to see you. I might even say serendipitous."

"It's agreeable to see you as well." Krell said, his train of thought lost about the missing information of Klingon battles fought long ago.

Daeren walked over to T'Vala and handed her a PADD. "Ambassador Krell, you should take a look at this, too. I came across a diary of a diplomat from the Nassan Empire. They've had dealings with the Klingons in the past--rather bloody ones. Yet there's no mention of these in the official record, aside from having met your people."

T'Vala raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating," she said, taking the PADD. "I wonder if this was because this one faction had problems, or if it was the planet as a whole and the information was removed? It is quite a puzzle."

"I don't know, but that deep a removal of historical information is concerning," Daeren said. "I've not heard that the Nassan government is a totalitarian dictatorship, even if it is governed by an emperor. Why would they keep such extensive conflict with the Klingons a secret? How could they even hope to hide that degree of contact from the other governments on this planet? It makes no sense to me. Why hide such a thing?"

"That is, indeed, the question," T'Vala said. "There is much of concern here, beyond the ownership of the mountain. I believe we should have a closer look at the Nassan records once we conclude our business. Ambassador Lena has a few surprises of her own, I am told. Perhaps that will shake loose a few truths."

"Ambassadors, you are here for only one reason and that is to make a ruling on the mountain so that the people of this planet go to war over it. I am here to bring the guilty party that orchestrated the unprovoked attack on Commander Lena. Other than those objectives, it's none of our business and I can see no type of laws broken that would affect the Federation or the Klingon people. Perhaps the attacks were so brutal that they do not wish for their descendants to remember. After all, it was a long time ago, when these people were one group. Asking them about it could create more problems." Krell explained.

"Well yes, of course," Daeren agreed. "If the wiping from Nassan history of most Klingon contact isn't germane to our task at hand, we will note it as an oddity and move on. I usually find, though, that oddities have a way of becoming relevant."

"Especially if said oddity has a bearing on the decision at hand," T'Vala added. "Whether we look into the matter or another of the factions on the planet does is irrelevant. It is definitely something that should be addressed."

 

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