Blood Wine

Posted on Sun 10th Mar, 2024 @ 3:03pm by Krell House of Mer'uk & T'Vala & Tessanna (Tessa) Valeri

1,213 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: O' the Cardiff Rose
Location: IKS Amar, Eight Forward
Timeline: MD5, 1905 hours

Eight Forward was something that you normally didn't see on a Klingon Battle Cruiser. It was to lavish and extravagant. The Warriors would not enter the location unless there were special guest aboard and even then they would grumble if they were told that they had to be there. In this instance, they were not forced to do so, but the guest would at least get to enjoy the comfortable setting while watching the stars streak by.

Krell arrived early to make sure that everything was set up for the guests. Available, were just about any drink one could ask for including plenty of young, sweet blood wine. Food was also present since it was dinner, all types of Klingon dishes, but Federation food was also available in small quantities. Krell looked around and seemed satisfied with what he saw. He took a long drink from his cup of blood wine.

T'Vala entered several minutes later with Tessa. She bowed to Krell, careful to keep her expression neutral. "Good evening."

"Hi, ambassador," Tessa added, looking around. "This is really nice."

"It is good to see you." He said to both of the women. He was glad to see T'Vala after their little talk. "Please make yourselves comfortable."

T'Vala bowed. "Thank you ambassador." She met his gaze for a moment before going to get herself a cup of spice tea. She found that she wished for quiet meditation rather than a social function, but needs must and she would perform her duties as ambassador and guest before finding a reason to retire to her room.

Tessa bounced on her heels. "This place looks great." She looked around, then noticed the Vulcan ambassador had moved on and hurried after her.

Krell wondered what was keeping the others from dinner and free drinks. He continued to stand there sipping on his blood wine.

"Ambassador Krell," Tessa said, coming up to the Klingon. "I like the changes to the ship. They're impressive. Thank you again for the invitation."

Krell nodded and gave a soft bow, "I'm glad that you like the changes. Perhaps the Amar can transport dignitaries on a limited basis in the future and I speak for the Captain and crew, you are always welcome aboard the Amar and I am please that you could join us for the simulated battle."

Tessa grinned. "That's awesome! I mean, thank you. She gave him her best Vulcan bow. "We are honored to be your guests." Then she ruined it by giggling. She would have to mention the Amar next time T'Vala needed to go somewhere.

T'Vala turned to watch Tessa and frowned. The girl knew better than to giggle. At least it was Krell, who was familiar with her aide's inexperience. It also gave the Vulcan a little distance, which she needed. She'd been attracted to Krell for a while, but this trip she felt off. The games would not last long. Once she was back on the station, she could find a more permanent solution to what she suspected was going on.

Krell gave a slight smirk and a half bow in return, "You are quite welcome." He sipped his blood wine as he glanced over at T'Vala.

The Vulcan met his gaze with a long-practiced outward calm, but she could not disguise the fire that burned deep in her eyes. She heard Tessa giggle and turned to look out the nearest viewport.

Tessa covered her mouth. She noticed that something was going on between Krell and T'Vala and she had to hide her reaction. Although she thought it was about time, she couldn't say or do anything to alert anyone else in the room to what was going on.

Krell turned to the bar where the food was located and grabbed a plate, loading it up with food to include fresh gagh, bregit lung and krada leg. He walked over to a table with his plate in one hand and his blood wine in another and sat down.

T'Vala's thoughts were still on the conversation with Krell. She needed to focus. There was this social function, then the beginning of the war games. There would be time for other things later. And with another Vulcan on the ship, she could ill afford to let her control slip. With a nod of her head, she filled a plate with fruit and pastries, then went to sit across from the Klingon. "What do you expect from the war games?" she asked.

Tessa followed the Vulcan a moment later with her own plate filled with pastries and one piece of chicken. "Yes. Are we going to sit back and watch, or will we be needed for anything?" She was fine watching, but she would like to be prepared for whatever was expected.

"The Amar is not an observer, she will be in the middle of it. Koor is young and eager to prove himself any way that he can. He has been asking to take the Amar out to help with the Pirate problem, but I have not given permission. We have not been authorized to conduct such operations from the Klingon Empire nor Starfleet. If the simulation hardware and software works right I think it will be interesting to watch, however the equipment has been malfunctioning and puts the Klingon Fleet at a disadvantage." Krell explained in between bites.

"Malfunctioning how?" T'Vala asked. That could be a problem. And if not, she wanted to know more about how the equipment was malfunctioning.

"Power surges that compromised the power system to include a cascading failure. The problem would show it's ugly face and the worst times, when power was in high demand. I voiced the concerns to Star Fleet and the Klingon High Command, but there weren't that many Klingon ships having the same problems. They choose to ignore the situation until someone gets killed." Krell said as he continued to eat.

"And the problem happened more than once?" T'Vala asked. "That is not something to be ignored."

"It has happened to the Amar and one of two other ships during the last war games. They said it was not enough to warrant an investigation into the issues or to postpone the war games until they could investigate the problem. They did inform me that there was an update to the software and that might correct the problem." Krell took a long drink from his blood wine and placed his cup down a little harder than normal indicating that he was irritated, "I think the Empire does not want to appear weak to Starfleet so they ignore the problem until someone is killed."

"Yes, that would be like them." T'Vala sighed. "Many cultures believe showing a strong front is more important. I hope the update will be sufficient. However, do you have any plans of your own in case they are wrong?"

"To get out and start pushing, i suppose." Krell said dryly.

"That would be an unwise use of resources." She knew he was not serious, but the Vulcan in her had to respond in kind. "Unless you have fifty Klingons with environmental suits and jet packs." That was about as helpful as Krell's suggestion. "Is this ship equipped with a solar sail in case of emergency?"

 

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