Another Attempted Murder - Part 2

Posted on 13 Aug 2009 @ 12:24pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

1,522 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: M2: Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Isha's Quarters
Timeline: Concurrent with "Change of Plans"

"If there was a first, of course there must be a second," Isha said forcing a smile. Before that woman had broken in Isha had been considering something, a memory and a suspicion - she had not thought that she would share it with anyone, but under the circumstances mnhei'sahe gave her no choice.

"If I tell you something, Da'nal, do you promise you won't kill me?" she asked lowering her gaze.

~Now what~ he thought. ~What did she have to say that she feared for her life if spoken?~ Handing her his blade, not that he needed it, but he hoped the gesture would assuage her fears. "You have my word."

Isha held the weapon for a moment then rested it flat across her knees, “My husband’s ancestral sword did not do me much good against my visitor, so I doubt this would do me much good against you … but I will accept it, and your word.â€

Isha paused for a moment as she decided where to start, "Something about you has been irritating me since the moment we met, yet you have been uncommonly courteous for a Klingon. I couldn't identify what it was that caused such a feeling of affront - I rather felt that you had no business addressing me at all.

"It was not until I saw you on the bridge today that I began to understand why ... there was an expression on your face, a resigned frustration, as though you knew that this was just something you had to get through - for a passing second you reminded me of someone."

As she spoke Isha's eyes examined Da’nal’s face rather too closely for someone simply making conversation, "Some argue that one Klingon looks very much like another, but I tend to be rather more observant than that; as an Ambassador it helps if one recognizes the individual, not just the race," she paused. "Commander Da'nal, I can count the number of Klingons I have met in the course of business on the fingers
of one hand and still have some fingers spare, and you, by my memory and your own admission are not one of them - so how could it be?" Isha was sure now, but she was also sure that he was going to be furious … if he believed her.

"Once a year I bring the House together on the estate, there are so many of us across the Empire, and one rarely has the time to visit - I use the occasion of my birthday as the date ... on these events I extend the invitation to all the Illialhlae who are able to attend, and most of them come ... after all, they give me their fealty, why should they not take advantage of a few days of my hospitality? Those of us in the top ranks
tend to show off rather - I content myself with parading around being gracious and grand, others organize lavish entertainments, take out hunting parties and the like. Two, maybe three years ago ... someone, brought along a Klingon slave. I don't know where my relative acquired him, but it was quite obvious what he had been brought for ... still, it is not for me to dictate how others treat their property…"

Da’nal nodded slowly. "Nniol was that relative wasn't he? T'Pal mentioned that he spoke of a Klingon slave."

In which case Isha saw no further point in keeping that from him; she confirmed it with a nod. "I visited his pen, but I did not stay long, I might have watched if they had intended to give him a weapon but I don't find the spectacle of a man chained to a post while others are free to attack him and move out of his reach particularly entertaining. Anyway, my relative had him properly restrained while I was there, and I went quite close, at least as close as we are now - he wore that expression I mentioned to you, resigned to facing whatever was going to happen as though he just had to get through it, whatever and however long 'it' turned out to be ... "

Hearing about any Klingon being beaten like that...without honor or the ability to fight back. He wanted Nniol's blood more than ever now. That this Klingon was prepared to take whatever he was about to receive...he hoped it was an act of defiance, that he was able to bear whatever his captors brought against him. "How was this; slave," the word having to be forced from his throat, “ - captured? To live without
Honor is worse than death...he should have been allowed to die."

Isha blinked, she could almost feel the tension pulsing from the Klingon, or maybe that was her own fear, she couldn’t tell which. “He might have bought him, he might have taken him himself or had someone else do it for him; I don’t know the answer. I do know that Nniol is a student of humanoid nature, he likes to conduct practical experiments – I have been the subject of more than one of them myself … with certain pressures people will make unpredictable choices – still, honour can be recovered, one’s life cannot,†which was a very Romulan argument indeed.

Isha continued to look at Da’nal, she could not stop though she wished that she did not have to go on with this, "I understand now. My mind has seen it all along and caused me to react to you with indignation and outrage because a slave had the
temerity to address me, only my subconscious made a mistake – you weren't that wretched slave. He was bigger than you, with your nose and your jaw ... perhaps something around the eyes too ..." illustrating where she meant on her own face with a wave of her hand.

As she continued the detachment he had maintained as he thought of this being about some faceless Klingon vanished as she described the captive. There was only one person he knew that matched her description...a man Da`nal and his family believed to have died gloriously in battle.

His eyes burned with a white hot fury as he spoke threw clenched teeth. "NO....THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE! Name Him."

As Isha shrank from him the big useless knife fell from her knees and hit the carpeted floor with a dull thud, “I don’t know!â€

Da`nal bolted from his seat, his knuckles white as his fingernails cut into his hands.

Kholairlh-a , he’s going to kill me, she thought, not taking her eyes off him, “Jarath or Goreth or something!†she cried in desperation, both Romulan names.

The sound of her cry, for some reason calmed his rage but only slightly. Glancing back at her over his shoulder, "You have nothing to fear from me...I have given you my word." Da`nal would not admit to the fact that his brother could have be captured, and after several deep breaths he continued. "My apologies...this Klingon cannot be my brother, he died in battle. All you have is a vague description and name."

Isha chewed her thumbnail. She seemed to spend her whole life attempting to mollify angry, dangerous men. She continued staring silently for a few long seconds before she spoke, “Commander Da’nal,†she said using a soft tone she did not often use these days, the one which had always seemed to get through to her husband when he was in one of his moods, “I did not say he was your brother, merely that there was a resemblance between you and this man and I have worked out that it is that resemblance which has caused me to be such a difficult guest. It is quite possible for unrelated individuals to share physical traits …â€

But it fitted better the other way, and it would be just the sort of thing Nniol would do if he could engineer it, Isha thought, it would, in his opinion, add an interesting twist to this infernal vendetta she had inherited – she had come to the right conclusion, and she wondered if she could, or should continue to try and persuade Da’nal of that – she could not wholly trust his word, and they were the only witnesses that it had ever been given.

“The sl- the man is still alive, I believe,†Isha said eventually.

Da`nal's reply was cut off, "RED ALERT! - CAPTAIN TO THE BRIDGE!" as the ship rocked from an impact. If T'Pal and her staff had been on their toes they would have raised shields the instant sensors detected weapons being charged.

Without another word Da`nal bolted for the turbolift hitting his commbadge as he ran. "All hands to battle stations!"

Isha rose stiffly to her feet, "I'll just wait here then," she said out loud as she stared down at the bloodstained carpet.

What in hell had gone wrong now?

_________________________________________

Cmdr Da`nal
CO

Isha e-Khellian i-Ramnau t'lliahlae
Romulan Ambassador

 

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