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Posted on Thu Mar 14th, 2019 @ 7:48pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul & Admiral Ke'gak

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes
Location: USS Musashi

ON:

In her quarters sitting at her work desk, Captain Donatella Figueroa sat with her swaddled child pressed to her breast, the half Klingon child nursing from his mother's milk. It was not something she found peaceful nor rewarding, the child clung to her breast attached to her nipple like a barnacle attached to a whale. It was an annoyance more than anything. She looked down and did not see her child. She saw his and she saw the face of the enemy feeding from her body like a parasite. Fig's former Security Chief had convinced her that it was the right thing to carry the child to term and to give birth to it. Her former First Officer, Commander Samuels had given her reassurance that the child was pure and innocent. She needed to see it as a child, not at a demon, not as the embodiment of her enemy. Nurse Vinia had been crucial in helping Fig come to terms with how the child was sired and it was Doctor Calix in his brief time aboard who had more or less forced her into this particular predicament.

The fact of the matter was simple. The child was half Klingon, and the Federation at this point knew very little about Klingon physiology. In fact, most of what Doctor Calix had to work with when it came to postnatal Klingon care came from the medical data that Nurse Vinia and Captain Figueroa had stolen from the Klingon D-8 class prototype that she and her crew sabotaged and ultimately saw to its destruction. They did not really have the nutrients needed for a Klingon child, but the hope was with supplements and a more natural feeding between mother and child, that the child would remain healthy.

She sat at the small work console at her desk and made the attempt. She sent out a message on a Klingon frequency, it would undoubtedly trigger an alert somewhere in Musashi's Communications network in which she was expecting it to take several minute but either her new Chief Intelligence Officer or her Security Chief would bring to her attention. The message she sent was a simple one. It was straight and to the point. It was calling him out from the shadows. Out of sensor's range of course or at the very least masking his vessel every way he knew how, but she could almost feel him breathing down her neck. “I know you're out there” was the message she sent, and she managed to send it in fairly accurate if not very basic Klingon for him. She waited for him to contact her in response. She would establish direction communication to her quarters should he answer her. She also knew if he was indeed out there as she suspected, he could not deny her challenge. He would seize the moment to see her once more or hear her voice.

The large Klingon had finally fallen asleep. It seemed that he didn't get much sleep these days. The noises in his head were almost constant. It seemed like everyday the cacophony in his brain was louder and louder. The Starfleet woman was on his mind more often than not as well. The child should be out by now, out of its bitch of a mother. He was loathe to think of his child growing up amongst the soft, peaceful, emotional humans. It disgusted him. He groaned in his sleep and rolled over. He had finally gotten comfortable and was headed for a deep sleep, something that might have actually done the unhinged Klingon some good, when the chime sounded in his room. At first, he thought it part of his dream, an alarm denoting some sort of emergency, but when it chimed again he found himself dragged out of sleep and back into reality. He growled in frustration and sat up. He tipped forward and tapped the com button. "What do you want?" he growled threateningly. "It better be good... or I will tear your heart out myself."

There was a pause. Ke'gak waited, although he was not feeling particularly patient today. "There is an encrypted message... coming from the Federation, but it's in Klingon."

"Klingon? From Federation space?" He growled, this time it was more in suspicion. So, she's going to contact me? Very risky, Figueroa... very risky. What if you Federation gets wind that you are conversing with the enemy? "Patch it into my console..." He waited for the message to appear on his personal computer console. Rising from his bed he made his way to the desk across the room where the screen was flashing. "Computer... open the file." The computer didn't argue, it didn't even act like the message was encrypted, as his communications officer had suggested. Instead it displayed a simple message. “I know you're out there.” was all it said. Ke'gak knew who it was from. He also knew exactly where she was.

He tapped his com again, the one on his console. "Find that Federation ship," he barked.

"The one we've been hiding from?" came the query from his helmsman.

"Of course the one we've been hiding from!" Ke'gak yelled angrily and slammed his heavy fist down on his console, cutting off the com. He stood and pulled on his uniform. Might as well look his best, besides, today he might find out that he was a father.

It wasn't more than twenty minutes before the Klingon ship the QIH Qa' dropped out of warp directly in front of the USS Musashi. "Don't hail them. Let them scramble for a moment," Ke'gak said with a chuckle. "Although, you should probably raise shields as well." His bridge crew looked over their shoulders at him, but no one said anything. They knew better than to ask and most of them knew what was going on anyway. More cat and mouse with the Federation woman.

The USS Musashi's immediate change in alert status grabbed Fig's attention. She eased the crying child off her breast and pulled herself together, fixing her top and setting the crying child down for a moment to slide the uniform back on. If her message was received this was exactly the response she expected. "Typical man," she muttered to herself. Always letting their actions speak for them and saying nothing with words, she thought as she picked up the child and carried him, heading to the Bridge.

'Captain Figuera to the Bridge,' came the voice of whomever was at the communications station on the Bridge. Like I wouldn't be hauling my ass there anyways? You just put the ship into yellow alert, thought Captain Figueroa as she reached the lift with her crying son in her arms. She took the lift straight up to deck one and poured out onto the Bridge, nearly stumbling as she handed off the crying baby to her Caitian First Officer. "Commander Ke'gak, Number One?" she asked for confirmation.

K'Niras was surprised for a moment and held the crying child who slowly stopped crying, staring at him. K'Niras stared back. "Yes, Sir... I'm not sure why he's here, but that's definitely his ship." He tipped the baby up and over one shoulder and started to pat his back. Only a few moments of that and the baby belched loudly. K'Niras laughed. "Oh really?"

"Careful, Number One," cautioned the Captain. "That little demon has been suckling on his mother's breast for the past ten minutes or so. I wouldn't get too comfortable and I definitely would be on high alert. He gets over stimulated after meal time and you'll be cleaning up my breast milk from your uniform and fur, and that's closer than any relationship I want to have between the two of us, no offense intended," she said.

K'Niras laughed. "We're not offended by a little baby vomit..." he said in a "cute" voice as he lowered the baby from his shoulder into the crook of one arm. The baby stared at him, eyes wide, his tiny fists reaching up out of the blanket toward the Caitian. K'Niras grinned. "At least we're not crying anymore..."

She gestured for the communications officer to hail the Klingon vessel. "Keep hailing him until he replies," she said. Don't give me the silent treatment you Klingon piece of filth, she thought to herself, gripping onto the railing that encased the command pit. "He'll reply..." she said waiting for it to happen.

Reply he did. He didn't even have to be hailed more than three times. His wide face appeared on the viewscreen. Not much had changed about Ke'gak since the last time anyone had seen him, aside from the look in his eye. It seemed more wild, maybe more out of control. "You rang?" he asked, his face breaking into what could only be described as a rather insane smirk. His eyes flicked to the Caitian officer behind the Starfleet woman and what was in his arms, but he said nothing.

The baby reached up for K'Niras' face, grabbing the ends of his long whiskers. It hurt. He had to be totally honest, but here they were in front of one of the craziest Klingons he had ever seen. He didn't want to just scream out in pain. No weakness, show no weakness. Slowly, he lifted his lip in an attempt to pull his whiskers free from the infant's death grip.

"Boradis III," she said in a swift reply. "The third planet in the Boradis system, Beta Quadrant... outside of Federation space and had a small Federation colony planted on it. I want to know what the hell your people did there, or are you not taking responsibility for that yet?" she said sharply.

Ke'gak snorted. "Woman. Why would I waste my time with some Federation colony? Boradis III? Honestly, I don't know where you come up with these ideas. Or do you just like to blame everything that goes wrong on me?" That smirk was still there. It was a little off putting. "I'm sure you didn't call me here..." he paused and looked around Fig's bridge. "... did you know that your captain called me?" He chuckled. "But I'm sure you didn't call me to talk about some tiny, insignificant colony." His eyes were on the baby again.

"YOU..." replied sharply with her emphasis on him. "No. I did not suspect you would be so tactless as to do anything to a small Federation colony. However, you are not like other Klingons. You know there are plenty of... pathetic low-life battle cruiser commanders in your great Empire who would not hesitate to be so cowardly as to attack a Federation colony with minimal defenses," she said crossing her arms in a defensive posture.

She knew he wanted to discuss the child he undoubtedly observed in the temporary care of her First Officer. "That tiny 'insignificant' colony was home to Federation citizens... families who were living peacefully in these troubled times of war. They were not insignificant to me, and if I find out any Klingon is responsible for whatever happened to them, I will not hesitate for one second to shed Klingon blood. If you are going to tell me your people are not responsible for this then fine, but there's a human expression... don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining," she countered. "The Boradis system is outside of fortified Federation space and not too far from your borders. Whether they are responsible or not, I don't like being that close to Klingon space. So, escort us to the Boradis system."

Ke'gak snorted again. It seemed to be his first response to anything that needed his consideration. "No one that I know has claimed the attack. Not that any of us speak much these days." He said all of this in a casual tone that suggested he was trying to mimic the Human way of speaking casually about matters. "And what do I get in return for escorting you? I'm not a taxi service..." He intertwined his fingers in front of himself, leaving his elbows on the arms of his seat, and leaned forward toward the viewscreen. He was definitely interested in hearing what she had to say. It wasn't like she had spoken to him this way before. It was almost... pleasant conversation.

"You are whatever the hell I tell you that you are, Ke'gak. If I say you are my taxi service... you're my damn taxi service," replied Captain Figueroa. "What do you get in return? You do not need to get a damn thing in return. It's a favor to you that my starship doesn't blast your ass to pieces and send you to the Klingon afterlife," she said bitterly. "We've gone to battle before, Ke'gak, and as evenly matched as our ships may be... I always survive and I bested you a dozen times in the war. You've gotten good shots in a few times, but when push comes to shove, you aren't man enough to handle me."

Ke'gak laughed. Like seriously laughed, he doubled over, one meaty hand pounding the arm of his chair with his effort. He laughed until he actually had to wipe at his eyes. "Woman! So fiesty... you would make a good Klingon woman. Neither of us will do anything to the other... I am not afraid of you and you are not afraid of me. I have accepted this stalemate. Maybe someday we will kill each other, but today is not that day. I do, however, see a working Federation starship in front of me. Did you somehow forget your way to Boradis? If I am not man enough, then why do you need my help?"

"I have never needed a man in my life, and I never will," replied Captain Figueroa. "What I need is a Klingon and supposedly that's what you are, Ke'gak. I want you as an escort. If I'm going to be that far out from the fortified Federation space and dangerously close to Klingon borders, I want you there to keep the vultures away."

Ke'gak was silent for a moment. He tipped his head one way and then the other as if he was weighing the potential outcomes. It honestly wasn't like he had anything better to do and now that he had confirmation that there was indeed a child he definitely didn't want this crazy Starfleet woman to endanger it. He finally nodded. "Fine. On one condition.." He pointed a thick finger at her and then at the child that was pulling on K'Niras' whiskers. "What is it?"

Fig looked at the child and then back at the screen. "That would be a baby, a bastard child, and none of your damn business."

"Fine. Get to Boradis on your own." Ke'gak made a slashing motion and cut communications.

K'Niras pulled his whiskers from the baby's hand carefully. "I know, little one, they're very entertaining..." Then he looked at Fig. "So now what? Do we really need that insane Klingon to escort us? I mean, I get what you were saying to him, but... we can't trust him."

"Fuck him," she said sharply and turned on her heels. "He knows the risks, Number One. He knows as well as I do the Klingons will be drawn out by a Federation starship out there. We cannot trust him and I never will, but I do know that sadistic bastard. He will follow us there."

"Great... So he'll be following and we won't know where he is. Did you really call him?" K'Niras asked, looking at Fig. "And why is he so interested in the baby?" There had been something about the way the Klingon had looked at Fig's child that had unsettled K'Niras. His fur was still standing on end in places. The Klingon had almost looked... hungry.

"K'Niras," she said shaking her head. "Have you seen the child's forehead? Where do you think those came from," she said scoffing. "He's the baby's biological father."

The Caitian's mouth fell open in surprise. He had known the baby's father was Klingon, that much was obvious, but he hadn't been prepared for that Klingon to be Ke'gak. "That... THAT Klingon??" he sputtered in surprise. He also knew that how the Captain became pregnant by a Klingon was a less than pleasant affair. "That... THAT Klingon??" he repeated, his tone almost more desperate the second time.

"Yes, Number One. THAT Klingon was the one I've done battled with for the past handful of years. He has an unhealthy obsession with me and you know the finer details of my captivity, torture, and how that child came to be," she said, not wanting to bring up in detail those finer details which still haunted her. She could still feel his forcefulness and violence upon her body. She could remember how weak she felt and yet how much of a fight she still put up to try and avoid it from happening, but it happened.

The baby reached up and grabbed K'Niras' whiskers again, pulling hard. He didn't even react. "Captain... I'm so sorry." He was sorry. Sorry he hadn't known. Sorry that he asked. He could see the memories in her eyes and he was sorry that he had brought that pain to the surface. "I didn't know." Although, now, many things made sense about the Klingon's behavior and why he was so insistent and persistent. The only thing K'Niras was still trying to work out was why was he so intent on this particular child?

The Communications Officer turned toward the captain and the XO. "Captain, the Klingon is back."

"Ignore him," replied the Captain. "He had his chance to talk and he blew it. Now, he can sit there on his Bridge and live with the cold shoulder. It's what he deserves anyways," she said to the Communications Officer. She looked at K'Niras. "He hates when he gets ignored. It's quite entertaining."

"Hopefully, he doesn't decide that it might be entertaining to fire on us." K'Niras pulled his whiskers from the baby's grasp again. One dark whisker remained in the baby's tiny fist. K'Niras sighed. "Man down..." he said softly, taking the loose whisker away. "Do you think he's... after the child?" K'Niras still wasn't sure what the Klingon warrior wanted with a half-breed infant.

"He might fire," replied Fig. "However, so long as I am, more importantly, the child are aboard... he will not throw any boulders our way. He won't bring out the big guns," she explained. "I think it's best we just ignore him for now. This way he has no choice but to follow us," added Fig.

K'Niras nodded. "Let's just hope not. I feel comfortable not talking to him though..." He looked down at the baby in his arms, which now appeared to be sleepy. "So, Boradis III?" the Caitian queried.

"Yes, you had better do last minute checks with Engineering before we head out and jump to warp, Number One," replied the Captain. "Don't want anything breaking apart on our way to an emergency situation."

"No kidding. I definitely don't like people all up in my Engines. They are mine now..." the Caitian said, rather protectively. "I just became the Chief Engineer and I haven't even had a chance to check out Engineering." His tone was frustrated, but not aggressive or confrontation.

Fig nodded. "And with EJ making adjustments... yeah, you better check those out. I did have him document every little thing he touched and every small tweak he made down there for your reference and in case we want to use those adjustments in the future," she said. "Let's get this show on the road. We have missing colonist to find."

"Agreed." K'Niras offered the child back to the captain. "I could take him to Engineering with me, but I'm not sure it's the best place for him, considering."

Fig smirked as she replied, "Oh yes, I'm sure there are policies in place forbidding Klingons to be shown the Engine room of Federation starships. He could share secrets with his father," in a witty response. "I'll keep him with me for the time being. Then, I'll randomly draw a name and designate them nanny for my shift."

K'Niras snorted in humor and headed for Engineering.

:OFF

Lt. K'Niras
First Officer | Chief Engineer

Capt. Figueroa
Commanding Officer