Spoilers All Is Better With Discovery

L'Rell stood on the deck that circled around the outside of her Command Center and looked down onto the plains of Qo'nos far below. Vapors of steam and ash gushed from the volcanic mountains that surrounded her, creating a swirling haze that obscured the atmosphere and permitted her only occasional glimpses of the city. The city was darker than it needed to be, lit mostly by the dull light from its many thousands of burning, smoky torches. Seen from this distance these torches gave the whole city a soft orange glow. The city spread, seemingly without end, in every direction. The mountains in the east hadn't stopped its progress. Nor the lakes to the west. For many centuries it had been permitted to continue its conquering march above, around, across all barriers. It was considered by Klingons to be the most noble of all cities on the entire homeworld. It was the Capital of Qo'nos.

She lingered as she gazed at the lights far below until the vapors thickened again and she could only see the cities faint orange glow through the haze. She stared at this glow and contemplated how the city and its people had existed, without real progress, for far too long. This city was one of the many things she had come to dislike about the Klingon homeworld. She hated those inefficient torches that honored outdated traditions. She hated the old ruins that the people called their homes. She hated the stench of the rubbish strewn misshapen streets. The ancient cities of Qo'nos had become sewers. And the beliefs and deeds of their people were as filthy. The people were cruel. Ignoble. Without honor. Without discipline. They fought among themselves constantly and in the most vile ways. They slaughtered the innocent. They worshipped the guilty. She knew that not all of them behaved so badly. But the righteous were too few in number to have any influence. The whole planet needed to be cleansed. Cured of its sickness.

L'Rell turned away from the city lights and walked back into her Command Center. She had some important tasks to finish, so she walked with purpose through its foolishly ornate doors and into what had become her home during these last few months. Inside the center there was much machinery that needed tending to. The operators of the machines were all gone now, and so she alone remained to do what they could not. She quickly walked across the entrance hall and towards the consoles from where she would be issuing the necessary instructions to the empire. As she moved among the machinery she was aware of the strange silence that filled the entire area. It should have been alive with sounds of Klingons talking and laughing as they carried out their duties. But she had sent them all away. Now the loudest sound was the noise of her boots as she walked among the equipment and completed her tasks. She walked up to a console and tapped out the necessary instructions. And then she methodically moved to the next console, and then the next, until she had moved throughout the entire center. It would be very pleasing, she thought, when soon she could depart from this lonely place forever.

Her work finished, she rested at a table near the line of food dispensers and contemplated why she had to remove all of the people. When she had arrived at the Command Center as the leader of the Klingon Empire she had expected her rule to be difficult. All Klingons had anger towards her. There was much resentment when she had compelled them to return from the orbit of the Earth in their warships. The destruction of the Earth was imminent, they protested, and thus she had robbed them of what would have been a great cause for festivity. The leaders of this great battle, they declared, would become legends and heroes for all time. And the celebration and feasts that winning the war against Earth would have brought upon them would be remembered by the Klingons who were there as the greatest and most heroic time in their lives. And worst of all, a woman, not even a high-born one, was the one who deprived them of so much. There was much rage towards her. She expected that. It was the Klingon way.

That whoever had command of the most power should rule the empire was also the Klingon way. Through very strange circumstances it had come to be that she was now the person with the most power. She was the one who had been given possession and control of the detonator. A detonator connected to the cataclysm-causing explosive device that the Federation had planted deep into the heart of Qo'nos. This ability to cause such destruction across the planet was what her power and authority were based on. It was why the Klingons did not annihilate the Earth but instead returned home as she commanded. She had thought that if Klingons, by her order, were forced to cease their fighting they would become a more noble and honorable people. Unified. Dignified. But they hadn't become such a people. A familiar wave of revulsion surged through her.

As soon as she had commenced her rule over the empire the assassination attempts began. Her enemies thought that if she were suddenly vaporized in a surprise attack she would have no opportunity to use the detonator. So, soon she could no longer go to any open public places where an assassin could be hiding. They had attempted to poison her food, air, and water. Every deadly wavelength of energy had been directed towards her. There were efforts to beam her into lava fields. And many of these attempted assassinations had occurred within her Command Center. So, she realized, the only safe response was to rid the center of all other people, automate every task that could be automated, and put the strongest defensive shields around the Command Center as was possible.

But time was her enemy, and this situation could not continue forever. She knew that eventually the attempts on her life would be successful. And then, with her gone, the Klingons would return to their bloodshed. After much deep thought, she had finally realized that Klingons could not be redeemed. They would never, as the people they were now, become peaceful. Or noble or honorable. They were a repugnant species. So she had made a decision. She would give the people three days warning for them to evacuate and save themselves. And then, just as she had long warned them she would do if they remained without virtue, she would activate the detonator and devastate Qo'nos.

However, even this, she thought, would not be enough to purify the Klingons. They would rebuild and regroup and, after a time, they would become the same foul people that they were before. So she knew she would have to do something unimaginable. Something that no one had ever dared to even consider as an acceptable solution. Something she would never tell anyone she had done. Changing the nature of the planet for all time was not enough. She would have to change the nature of the Klingons themselves. And only then might they become a worthy people.

L'Rell had almost completed the tasks that needed to be done in order to make the Klingons a more worthy people. She walked over to the medical station to commence the final stages of this ambition. She busily tapped at its bio screen, and images of DNA strands flashed in front of her eyes. She looked for the key insertion points in this DNA, and as she found them she made the calculations and completed the insertions. Finally there was written across the screen "DNA Resequencing Completed" She then went over to the bio hazards console and replicated the delivery agent. A round metal container, the size of a drinking cup, appeared on the replicator pad. Inside this metal container was the virus that, once released into the atmosphere, would eventually insert the DNA improvements that she had created into every cell of every Klingon on Qo'nos. Carefully she lifted it off the replicator pad and took it to her table. She sat down at the table and held the container. She turned it around in her hand, looking at it from every side.

When she served on the Ship of the Dead the rallying cry of House T'Kuvma was "Remain Klingon." T'Kuvma's belief was that Klingons were a high and noble people who must preserve their purity by shielding themselves from the hateful influence of all outsiders. Especially from the influence of the Humans and their Federation. She had stood amongst her companions and chanted these words herself many times. She believed them at the time. Like all the others in her house she detested Humans and saw them as a befouled enemy. She believed that the Klingons were the superior and more honorable people.

But time had passed and she had seen many things. She was no longer so misled and naive as she had been when she served with House T'Kuvma. Much experience meant that she had acquired the knowledge that allowed her to compare the Klingons with the Humans. And when she did this, she could see no truth to the belief of Klingon nobility. She no longer believed her own former chanting of "Remain Klingon." She now believed that Klingon purity was of no value. It was better if they did not remain purely Klingon. Their customs should not remain Klingon. Their behavior should not remain Klingon. And even their DNA should not remain purely Klingon. There was only one more step she needed to take before she could commence this process of improving the Klingons DNA.
L'Rell put the container down and turned to the console on her desk. She called up the logs giving information about the prisoners. One of the many unpleasant habits of the Klingons was that when she requested that Federation prisoners be released they would instead be massacred. Klingons found the release of live prisoners to be an unbearable humiliation. Usually it was a fire that killed the prisoners. On some occasions mass poisonings. The guards claimed such things were careless accidents. These sorts of accidents meant that although no Federation prisoners had been released since the end of the war, there were few such prisoners still alive on Qo'nos. She needed a living Human to complete her work. Fortunately, one of the better qualities of Klingons was that they were meticulous and efficient keepers of lists. If a live Human was still on Qo'nos, she would find them.

She carefully studied the prison logs. The large prisons had all been emptied of living Humans by the accidents. She would have to search the smaller and lesser known places. Sometimes the prisoners thought to be of enhanced value if kept alive were contained in other places where they were less likely to have accidents. She tapped at the console as lists of prisons quickly scrolled across it. She searched methodically across Qo'nos until finally she came to one of the last prisons on the list. It was on the other side of the planet. The information showed that one prisoner was still housed, alive, in the prison. He was kept in a single cell in a remote part of the prison. Perhaps for his own protection. Perhaps he had been forgotten by the guards. She didn't really care why he was there. Only that he had what she needed.

There were many hardships in being the ruler of the Klingon empire. Fortunately, one of the advantages, she thought to herself, was that she had control of the sorts of technology that surpassed all others. Even the best Klingon warships lacked some of the capabilities of her Command Center. Which of course was how it should be. The leader of the Klingon empire should have more power in their hands than even the best warship. She could use this sort of power now to lock on to this prisoner, even through the transporter shields that encased the prison, and transport him to a nearby crew quarters. He would be weak and unarmed. No threat to her. She would obtain what she needed from him. But then she did not want to send him back to die in his prison. Hence she knew he would be by her side for a long time, and she expected him to be putrid and foul. So she would direct him to clean himself with the sanitation available in the crew quarters. Even filthy Humans offended her. She locked on to his bio signs and began the transport. In a few moments she heard a thud in the crew quarters as he fell to the ground. She picked up from her desk the necessary medical device and a sharp weapon and went to inspect her new visitor.

She found him in the center of the floor, kneeling and looking down. Cringing in anticipation of the beating that he would be expecting to occur following his transport. His clothing was stinking rags, hanging loosely on his sickly body. His hair and beard were long and never washed. The smell of him made breathing unpleasant for her. But she didn't feel contempt or disgust for him. Instead she felt contempt and disgust for her own people. It was Klingons who had caused this once dignified, high ranking Starfleet officer to become this offensive creature kneeling on the floor. Klingons were destroyers of all that was good and admirable. Wherever they went and whatever they touched was defiled. This prisoner crouching before her was just another example of the truth of the Klingon species.

But she knew that this prisoner could not know her true thoughts or intentions. To him she would be just another savage Klingon. Perhaps his executioner. He may try to defend himself. For her own safety she would have to treat him as a dangerous enemy. She held out her weapon for him to see, and then she forcefully spoke to him.

"Prisoner, look at me."
He slowly turned his head to look at her. Good, she thought. He is well trained and obedient.

"What is your name and Starfleet rank?"

The prisoner murmured some words but she could not understand him. It did not matter. She was not there to converse.

"Prisoner. You will bathe yourself in the sanitation facility over there." She pointed at an alcove and the prisoner vaguely looked up at it. "You will cut your hair and remove your beard. You will put on the clothing that I will supply to you. If you lack the energy to do this you will eat the food that I will supply first until you can acquire the necessary energy to clean yourself. Is this clear?" The prisoner shook his head slowly in agreement.

"If you do this you may sleep in a soft bed until you have recovered better health. After doing these things you will be released to the Federation."

This time the prisoner looked up at her with more energy. She wondered if he believed what she promised. Probably not. Klingons never released prisoners. She would try to be more convincing.

"The war with the Federation ended long ago. Federation prisoners have been illegally kept when they should have been released. This has caused some ill feeling between the Federation and the Klingons. As a gesture of good will we shall release you to them. But we need you to be clean and healthy before we can do this. So do as I say and you will be given over to the Federation very soon."

The prisoner made no new indications of his belief or otherwise regarding her words. He just continued to nod and occasionally glance in her direction. Now she would complete the part of her plan that she had needed the prisoner for.

"I will extract some of your blood. We must ensure that you have acquired no diseases from your time in our custody. If you have such diseases we will cure them before your release. Is this clear?" The prisoner nodded.

L'Rell held out her medical device and approached him. He flinched as she pressed it to his arm and the blood was extracted.

"Good. You have done well. Now I will supply what you need and then I will leave you to complete the tasks. You may sleep in the bed when you are finished eating and cleaning yourself. Are these things all clear to you?"

The prisoner mumbled and nodded. L'Rell replicated the food and clothing he needed and then left the room. She could now forget about him for a time. She had what she needed and if he became too much trouble for her when he was healthier and stronger it was of no great concern. She would send him back to his prison. Or kill him. She could allow nothing, not even the life of a Starfleet officer, to threaten the success of her mission. She still had much to do before her final departure from the Command Center, so she hurriedly returned to her desk. She sat down and picked up the metal container.

Her first duty was to insert the blood of the human prisoner into the metal container. The virus in the container would then encode the Human DNA that was in the prisoners blood into its own genome. In this way it would become a virus capable of infecting Klingons with Human DNA. And then, after she had released the virus and most Klingons had become infected, their Klingon genome would gradually be permanently resequenced. For the better, she hoped. She pushed the medical device containing the Human blood into a slot on the container and pressed the activation panel just below the slot. She heard a soft hum as the transfer occurred, and then she put the container back onto the desk. This first, and perhaps most important, duty was now almost complete.

Her next duty was to schedule the time for the broadcasting of her message to the people of Qo'nos. She had recorded it long ago. When she had returned to Qo'nos as leader of the Klingon Empire it was only a short period of time before her people displayed to her a progression of their failures. So she had come to expect that at some time she would have to broadcast such a message and wisely she had prepared the message in advance. Now the time for the message to be delivered had come.

She got up and walked over to the console where the message was stored. She called up the transcript of the message and read it one more time, wondering if she should make any changes to the broadcast before it was delivered to the people. In her address to the Klingons she had informed them of their dishonor and disgrace. That their constant fighting with each other and with the Federation was shameful. That their vile ways and customs were not behaviors that she could tolerate. The noble ancestors would not have tolerated this behavior. Kahless was enraged. Therefore she would use the detonator that the wisdom and power of Kahless had put into her hands. It was not the Federation that had given her control of the detonator. It was the will of Kahless that had done so. And now, through her, Kahless was passing judgment. She would give the Klingons three days notice to evacuate the planet, and then she would use the detonator to activate the explosive device deep in the heart of Qo'nos. This explosion would commence the process of volcanic destruction and earthquakes that would soon make the planet unfit for all life. Those that did not heed her words would perish in the flames.

After she had read the transcript and considered her message, she decided that it said all that needed to be said, in the best way possible, and so she would make no changes. She tapped out commands on her console until she had scheduled the message to be broadcast to the people soon after she had beamed to safety.

She quickly walked over to the next console. Her final duty was to arrange for her escape from the Command Center. She, along with the prisoner, if he was not too difficult, would use an encrypted transporter to beam to a cave in the Vonost mountains. She had found a suitably shielded cave where her life signs could not be discovered. After her message of destruction was broadcast, all of Qo'nos would be searching for her and her detonator. So she would have to remain hidden from detection during the three day evacuation period. After these three days had passed she would utilize the detonator. In what she hoped would be her last use of any console, she tapped out the programming for the transporter beam, so that now she needed to say only the one final command and she would be gone from this detestable place forever.

Gabriel Lorca lay on the bed and looked at the new prison cell that he was in. It seemed to be a Klingon crew quarters. It was comfortable. There was abundant food for him to eat. He had bathed and cut his hair and shaved off his beard. He had clean new clothes. And apparently, the Klingon had told him, he would soon be returned to the Federation. But such things were impossible to believe. He was surprised that the Klingons thought he was so beaten into despair that he had lost all of his mental reasoning. He had survived the beatings. The torture. The starvation. And he had not broken and given away vital Federation information. Did they now think they could trick him into revealing information with this bizarre charade of good will? And their most stupid mistake was to send a female Klingon wearing a House Mokai insignia to enact this deception. The Mokai, especially the females, were known as the liars and deceivers among the Klingons. They could tell long elaborate stories and make it all sound so believable. Nothing they said could ever be trusted. Did they think he had never learnt about them during his time of capture? Most of his interrogators were Mokai and he knew the insignia very well. But even without this arrogant mistake, he could not be fooled into thinking that the Klingons promise of freedom was true. He had seen all of his fellow prisoners brutally killed with no mercy. No one is ever released from a Klingon prison. But he had discovered during his long capture that his desire for life was strong, even when beaten and starved. He valued every extra day of life. He could only wonder how elaborate this lie would become and for how long it would continue. He would play along without revealing any useful information. It kept him alive, and it was better than starving in a filthy prison cell.

L'Rell stood on the outside deck of the Command Center and felt the cool breezes of the high altitude air on her face as it moved across the peaks of the mountains that surrounded her. Some of the mountains in the distance glowed red with the lava that constantly flowed down their sides. Far below she could just see a river winding its way across the plains and towards the great city. This is Qo'nos, she thought to herself. Beautiful in many ways. But ugly and violent also. Too ugly and violent to be allowed to exist in this form anymore. This would all change soon. She would make it change.

She thought about what she was about to do. In her hand she held the metal container. Once she opened it and allowed the virus that it contained to be swept away into the atmosphere the process of change would have begun and could never be reversed. The virus would quickly multiply until it was abundant throughout the entire biosphere of Qo'nos. It would survive the devastation of the planet. It could tolerate the hostile conditions from the volcanic ash that would soon fill the atmosphere. Eventually it would make its way to everywhere that Klingons lived. It would travel on the ships that visited the evacuation centres and off world colonies and infect those Klingons also. It would take a few years, but eventually almost all Klingons would be infected. And then, after a few more years, the virus would become inactive as an agent of infection. Those few Klingons not yet infected would never be infected. This meant that some of the Klingon species, in the remote outposts, could remain purely Klingon and the Klingon race would not be entirely lost. She had engineered the virus to have these characteristics. She wondered if she could remain one of the uninfected.

As she was engineering the virus she had thought at length about how much Human DNA should be incorporated into the Klingon genome. How Human Klingons should become had been a question of great difficulty to determine. She had decided on twenty percent Human as a good amount. They would still look Klingon, but their behavior would be, she hoped, a little more like Human behavior. That is, if everything she had done worked correctly as planned. In any new experimental procedure there can be unexpected outcomes. Such problems were not a matter of concern to her. Klingons could not continue to exist as they were now and that was all that she cared about.

 

I'm new here and have posted my story in the wrong order. So read The earlier post first if you would like to read the story. Thankyou all

She started to slowly pace up and down along the deck, securely gripping the container in her hands. With this container she was about to forever alter the very essence of what it meant to be Klingon. Yet she felt no indecision. It was the right and only thing to do. She had come to learn all about the Humans these last few months and she now respected them greatly. They were a noble and honorable people. The Federation that the Humans had done so much to create seemed a near perfect structure. In it many very different species worked together in harmony. Any problems between them were solved in an admirable manner. She now realized that it was the Humans, not the Klingons, who could achieve the sort of kinship she had spent so many years of her life lighting candles and praying for. They could end conflicts between people burdened by their differences. She more than respected the Humans for this. She had an affection for them. But there was much more that caused her to admire the Humans.

The trust that the Federation had shown in her was something she found hard to believe. She would always find it hard to believe. They had possession of the detonator themselves and could have used it to destroy Qo'nos, with no evacuation possible. But their sense of honor, of mercy, was so great that they had given the detonator to her instead and told her to use its power to end the war and bring the Klingon ships home. They valued all life. Even that of their most vile and threatening enemies. They had thought of a way that both Qo'nos and the Earth could be saved. She would repay their trust.

And then there was Ash. She knew little of Humans before he had come to live with her at the Command Centre. But she had now come to know him and his life very well. For many months he was the only one that she could trust, so they had spent long hours together in her room talking about all things. He told her that his parents were kind to him. The other children did not beat him. He was taken on holidays and given presents. He had told her many things about his joyful holidays. His life was free to do with as he wished. Other Humans treated him with kindness and cared for his feelings. Not just those of his own clan, but many other Humans showed affection towards him. He did not exist in continual fear. He said that this was how most Humans lived.

And he had shown concern for her feelings. He tried to give her happiness. It was a pleasant thing for her to feel these things. It felt good and she became accustomed to it. So that when he left she experienced much pain. He said that he would be back to rescue her. There was a plan. It seemed a difficult plan to her, but Ash had said Discovery possessed some special abilities and could do what other ships could not. So she had told him exactly at what time and at what place she would activate the detonator. They had decided that after she had activated the detonator she should quickly run from her cave up to the surface of the planet. He would be there with the Discovery to beam her aboard and take her to safety. He promised that then she would be able to live and serve on the ship as a member of the crew, accepted and cared for. The thought of it gave her a good feeling.

She felt certain that it could only be a good thing if the Klingons became more like the Humans. She opened the metal container, and it's contents streamed out into the breeze, moving quickly away from her and towards the mountains.

Now she had to complete her final task. She had to do it quickly, before the virus had time to swirl around in the breeze and return to infect her. She assembled the provisions she had replicated to supply herself and the prisoner for the three days that they would have to live in the cave while the evacuation was completed. She safely packed away the detonator. She then went to the room where the prisoner was kept.

Lorca looked at the door as he heard the heavy sound of the Klingons boots approaching. The door opened and the Klingon stood in the doorway. She held a knife and a set of hand restraints. She commanded him "put your hands together." He did as he was told. She approached and grabbed both his hands and applied the restraints. She then roughly pulled him off the bed by his restrained hands and dragged him along a corridor to a large open area. In the centre of this area he saw containers and bags piled up. She positioned them both next to these objects. The Klingon pushed him to the ground and he stayed in that position, still and quiet.

L'Rell looked down at the prisoner. He had behaved well and caused her no trouble so far. Good, she thought. Now she only had to say the word she had programmed into the transporter and the transport to the cave would commence. She turned and had one last, long, look around the Command Center. She was pleased to be finally leaving this place that reeked of the stench of Klingons. She loudly said "leave" and they vanished from the entrance hall.


Chapter 2


Gabriel Lorca crouched down in the position where the Klingon had put him and obediently stared at the floor. He felt himself being transported, and when the transport was complete he was immediately aware of a sharp pain in his knees. He was now kneeling on jagged rocks, so he moved his knees until the pain was reduced. He looked around and saw that he had been transported to a cave about the size of a large living quarters. Perhaps thirty feet across and twenty feet high. It was dim, illuminated by some weak lights that had been brought with them in the transport. He could see that throughout the caves walls there were many narrow fissures and also some larger openings that might be tunnels. There was a slight cool movement of air on his face, so he knew that the cave must have some connection to the outside. Close to him were about ten crates and bags. The Klingon loomed above him, pressing her legs to his back. He could see her solid brown boots standing on the rocky ground next to his knees. Then he saw her boots walk way from him and he turned his head to follow her movements. She was slowly and methodically walking around the cave, inspecting every detail of it. She peered closely at various rock formations as she walked around the cave, lightly touching and prodding at some of them. When she had circled the cave and returned to be standing next to him again she looked up at the ceiling, studying that also. He then felt her hand grasp his neck in its strong grip. She sternly spoke to him.

"Prisoner. I will lay out your bed over here. The sleeping mattress is soft. You will no longer have to kneel on the sharp rocks."

She opened the largest crate and took a thin rolled up mattress from it. She unrolled the mattress and lay it along one wall of the cave. She took another mattress from the crate and put that one along the cave wall about five feet away from the first mattress. She then reached deep down, to the bottom of the crate, and got some out some blankets and tossed them onto the mattresses.

"Come, sit on the mattress." She waved her hand for him to come over, so he got up from his kneeling position and went and sat on the mattress.

"Good. We understand each other. I command. You obey. If we maintain this healthy relationship our time here will be pleasant. Don't you agree?" She laughed, suddenly seeming more friendly.

"Very pleasant. Like a beautiful holiday," he replied. She laughed again.

"I like you prisoner. You have a sense of humor in what some people would call a challenging situation. But you must also have some other special qualities in addition to you jovial personality." She looked at him with curiosity, "Why are you still alive when others are dead? You must be doing something useful. Or are you just very clever. You can be of use to me now. Talk to me. Tell me of the clever life you have lived. We have nothing to do now but talk."

She sat down on the other mattress so that they were only a few feet apart. She appeared relaxed and ready to settle into that position for a long time. They both leaned back on to the wall behind them. He looked sideways at her sitting near to him. He could clearly see her Mokai insignia displayed on her uniform. It was attached just below the V shape of the neck of her uniform. It could not be more obvious. He hated all Klingons. But he hated the Mokai the most. The Mokai were just as vicious and brutal as all other Klingons. But they lied about their true nature. They would pretend to be sympathetic and helpful. Pretend that they were your caring friend who would protect you from the other Klingons. They could tell such convincing lies. Then they would betray you in the cruelest way possible. It was how they conducted their interrogations. To win trust and then betray. Until the prisoner was driven mad and finally gave the information that the Mokai Klingon wanted. And now this Mokai was sitting next to him in a cave wanting a friendly chat. He knew that this entire scenario must be some interrogation technique he had not yet heard about. A more elaborate lie. With a fake transporter and a fake cave. Other Mokai were probably just outside the fake cave, watching and listening to their every word. He wondered what they wanted from him this time. He would talk to the Klingon just as she requested. As long as he talked he would be kept comfortable and fed and still alive. But he would give no real information. He spoke to her.

"So when do I get released? Remember your good will gesture of releasing the remaining prisoners. The not dead ones?"

She smirked, "It's a complicated thing. You will no longer be released in the way I promised. I just said those words to get you to clean yourself. I was not going to bathe you, and you had an odor. But, if all goes well, you will rejoin the Federation soon."

"So you like to lie a bit do you?"

"Only when I have to."

She looked down at her Mokai insignia, tapped it, then looked back at him.

"I know that you recognize my insignia. And I know that you know the Mokai are prolific liars. You think I'm lying even now...don't you? But I am not a liar for no reason. Only necessary lies. I hear that in your Federation lying is rare. Almost unknown among those in Starfleet."

Lorca considered her words and replied, "We lie when we have to. Like when we meet Klingons we might have to lie."

"Klingons are a nasty people. I lie when I meet Klingons. There are always necessary lies when dealing with Klingons. But those in the Federation are a pleasant and noble people. So you don't have a need to lie so much. That's your good fortune to be born a Human and my ill fortune to be born a Klingon. But I loved my mother so I have that I suppose." She smiled that strange Klingon smile.

"So how long do we sit here and play this game?" he asked. "I lie to you. You lie to me. You make me a sandwich. We lie some more."

"Three days. In this cave. That's how long the game lasts. I'm not offended that you would think I'm lying to you. You're a prisoner who I'm sure has been interrogated many times. How could you believe I was really sitting here with you having a friendly talk before I release you back to the Federation? Ridiculous. Even I find it hard to believe. I wonder myself when I might start torturing you for information." She smirked again. Then her expression changed to a more pleasant one.

"Would you like me to make you a sandwich?" She looked at him more carefully than previously, "You are so thin."

"Yes," Lorca replied, "Any food is good. Do you have any desserts?"

"Sweet things? I have a type of Klingon pudding. I didn't have time to research Human desserts. But it is sweet. You might like it."

"Ok. I'll have that. But after the sandwich. I don't want to be sick."

"No. Not in this confined space." She smiled her strange smile at him again, "I tried to bring healthy food for you but I did put in some extra things for your pleasure. Like the pudding. What good is a holiday in a cave without a little bit of extra pleasure?"

She walked over to the containers, opened one and reached in, looking for something. She removed from it four food packets with Klingon writing on the sides. She took out some plates and put them on top of another of the containers. She then turned around so that he could not see clearly what she was doing, but soon she returned with his food.

"Here is your sandwich. It has good Klingon meat on it. Give you some strength. And here is your pudding." She held up the unopened food packet, which he presumed contained the pudding. She then went back to her mattress and ate the contents of the fourth food packet. They both had only spoons for cutlery, but, even with his hands tied together, he could eat efficiently with it. He supposed the Klingons did not trust him, weak and restrained as he was, to have any access to a knife.

They sat in silence and ate for a while. He thought about the bizarre nature of this interrogation. It was better than being beaten, but if the arrogant Klingons thought that he was so stupid or worn down with suffering that he would betray the Federation then they were very mistaken. When she had finished she turned towards him and spoke.

"So tell me about your life. How did you grow up? How did you enter Starfleet? What are your hobbies? I am curious about Humans. I have developed an affection for some of them. We have three days to pass. We may as well not be bored."

Lorca replied, "I didn't grow up. I was hatched from an egg, fully grown. Like all Humans."

She laughed loudly, her jagged teeth showing between her lips. "What lies you tell. You remind me, in your looks and manner, of a prisoner that I once interrogated. It wasn't much of an interrogation," she scoffed, "I just shone some lights into his eyes. Nothing at all. Captain Gabriel Lorca. He lives no more. But he was from an alternate universe so it doesn't really matter much, does it?"

Lorca looked at her. What game was she playing? Pretending that she was insane? Stupid? Of course the Klingons knew that he was Captain Gabriel Lorca. They had said his name to him many times during interrogations.

"Don't be so stupid," he said to her. Startled, she stared back at him.

"What have I done? Is your pudding no good?"

"You know my name."

"No, I don't know your name. You can know my name. L'Rell. I'd like to know your name so I can address you as something other than prisoner. You must admit...that's not a very friendly greeting."

He looked her in the eye. "Captain Gabriel Lorca," he said defiantly.

"Captain Lorca is dead," she replied. "As I just told you. But what is your name?"

"My name is Captain Gabriel Lorca. As you people know. Don't insult a Starfleet Captain."

She opened her mouth in surprise and then leaned forward to have a close look at him, placing her clawed hands on his mattress. She studied him slowly, her eyes moving methodically across his face. Suddenly her expression changed to one of jubilation, and her voice rose as she said, "You really are Captain Lorca. I can see it now. What a pleasant surprise this is. So the fates have been hiding you all this time on Qo'nos. We have so much to talk about. I know many things about you."

"So you won't need any more information from me then? You know it all already?"

"I need no information from you Captain. So tell me none and you won't have to worry about keeping your secrets. Of course the Captain Lorca I knew was not you. He was your evil twin from an alternate universe."

"Of course he was. What else would he be?" Lorca replied.

"Of course he was," she agreed. "There couldn't be two Captain Lorcas could there?"

"No. Only one of me," Lorca grinned, and then asked, "So what was this alternate universe like?"

"Very different from this one. They were very unpleasant people. That's what I was told. We stumbled into that universe accidentally. Or maybe not so accidentally. I'm not sure. But we returned home from the evil twin universe using the mushroom spores. I was in the ships brig at the time, but I have since been informed of many of the events. Of course, the Humans don't tell me everything, but I can tell you the things that I do know."

She finished her sentence emphatically and looked at him. She sat back on her mattress, leaned against the wall, and seemed ready to tell a long story. In a jovial manner she began to talk. And she continued to talk for many hours it seemed to him. The story she told was a ridiculous fantasy that he was obviously not expected to believe. He wondered what the purpose of this was. Perhaps they thought that they could eventually take away his sanity by filling this restricted world that he was in with a never ending stream of lies and illusions. He listened and remembered all that she said.

When she had finished he spoke to her, "Ok L'Rell. You've been a good friend by telling me all this useful information. I need to know what I'll be returning to don't I? When you release me back to Starfleet right? So I can fit right back in like I never left."

"Yes you do need to know. Your evil twin was busy while you were gone and did strange things."

"Alright then my Klingon friend, let me see if I can remember. Evil Lorca swapped places with me and blew up my old ship the Buran. He then got command of Discovery where he invented a new magical type of propulsion system that runs on mushroom spores and space monsters. He used this system to go back to his evil alternate universe where he is killed by an emperor who is the evil twin of Captain Georgiou of the Shenzhou. They used the mushrooms again to come back to our universe but they make a mistake and find that they have accidentally traveled into the future by nine months. While they've been gone the Klingons have destroyed most of the Federation and are about to destroy the Earth. While much of this is happening you are in the brig on Discovery. You were put there because at some earlier time you had chopped up your boyfriend Voq to make him look Human and then put some dead Human prisoners mind over the top of the chopped up Klingon so he would actually believe he was a real Human. But thinking he was a real Human, he escaped to Discovery, so you followed him where you were put in the brig. Because you're a Klingon. But you still didn't give up. You said a Klingon prayer to him to awaken the actual real Klingon that he is so you could take over the ship but it didn't work because he had fallen in love with a Vulcan Human sort of hybrid. So you removed the Klingon part of his personality and now he thinks he's a Human."

The Klingon interrupted, "Your mind is still very sharp, isn't it Captain Lorca. And with all that torture and starvation. Quite admirable."

Lorca continued, "When you returned from the evil alternate universe you brought the evil Emperor Georgiou back with you. There aren't two Captain Georgious in this universe though, as you and your companions killed and ate the other one. So problem solved. The Federation, now in desperation, gives command of Discovery to evil Georgiou, knowing who she really is, because she's the only one smart enough to defeat the Klingons. She has special talents as she's from the evil universe where this sort of behavior is normal. She puts a bomb into the heart of Qo'nos and is about to blow the whole place when the Vulcan Human hybrid woman that your Klingon Human hybrid spy fell in love with decides to trust you with the detonator for the bomb. Even though you have never helped them in any way and have been as nasty and hostile as possible. So they give you the detonator and make you commander and boss of all Klingons. But eventually you decide you don't like Klingons all that much so soon you're going to push the button, blow the planet, and then we'll both be rescued by the special mushroom ship with all the Klingon, Vulcan and Human hybrids, and I'll then be Captain of the Discovery."

"We live an exciting life, don't we Captain Lorca. Perhaps not so exciting for you in a Klingon prison but soon all that will change and life will be good. For both of us. Would you like to know about me? My life? My difficult childhood" Of course every Klingon childhood is difficult. Mine just a little more so. I have so many interesting stories and we still have so much time to pass here in this cave."

"It's only polite to share stories. It can't all be about me, now can it?"

She commenced her story, starting with her birth. She told him that she was an unusually small baby but she grew well. Her life became difficult after she rescued a suffering animal that was being beaten by a group of other children. Showing mercy to the weak is a terrible and shameful thing in Klingon society. So she was hated and abused by both the other children and eventually by her family, who could no longer bear the shame of having such a maladjusted daughter. She joined the military at a young age as she had nowhere else to go, and got posted to a ship of House T'Kuvma...her father's house. She thought it was a great honor to be there and became a religious fanatic in her devotion to the teachings of T'Kuvma. She now realises that T'Kuvma and his followers where regarded as the fools and outcasts of Klingon society. It was for this reason that their ship had been sent to the very edge of Klingon space. As far away from other Klingons as possible. Even the honored dead that were stuck in coffins to it's hull were the dead thought to be undeserving of a final resting place anywhere too close to Qo'nos. The less honored dead.

She came to the end of her story. It finished with her in a cave with a Starfleet Captain, waiting until the time came for her to almost destroy the planet with the detonator she had been given by the Federation. They would both then be rescued by the Discovery, on which they would live a blissful new life. She also told him of her recently acquired dislike of Klingons and respect, even affection, for Humans.

She turned to him and said, "You know what happened to me at my military graduation?"

"No. What?"

"I was standing there waiting to be awarded something and I noticed the high-born officials from various Houses lined up, ready to do their duties. One had this metal thing on her head and chains hanging off it. All over her face. She couldn't see. Another one was covered in spots painted everywhere on his head. There was this hat that went high in the air on the leader that looked like it was going to fall off every time he moved. It was so funny I nearly couldn't control my laughter. No one likes to hear laughing during these occasions. The way some Klingons dress is so ridiculous. And the face paint. Not for me." Her whole body shook as she laughed loudly.

"Yeah. I've seen some real shocking ones during my vacation on Qo'nos. But I wasn't so much in the mood for laughing."

"Learning to laugh about Klingons takes some practice I suppose," she said, "I've had a lifetime to learn the skill. But no laughing at them in public. When I feel like laughing I clench my teeth together and look serious. Has always worked for me so far. I do my laughing in private."

"I sort of moan and act nearly dead when I want to create a certain impression on the guards. But it doesn't work. They're on to that act."

An alarm sounded from a device near the Klingons bag. She looked at the time shown on the device.

"It's time to eat. I'll give you a nice surprise this time. Actually, every time is a surprise for us both because I don't really know what's in all these food packets. But it keeps us alive so it must be good. Maybe some delicious coffee for us this time. I've developed a liking for your Human coffee so I know I've got some of that."

The Klingon got up from her mattress and went over to the containers. She got some food packets and drink containers out and brought them back. They sat on their mattresses in silence and ate their food and drank their drinks. It was starting to get colder so Lorca guessed that it was nearing night time outside. Soon they would go to sleep. He would be glad to lie down and become unconscious. Acting out this fantasy scenario with the Klingon was very tiring to him.

 

I'm new here and have posted my story in the wrong order. So read the earler parts first if you would like to read the story. Thankyou all.


After they had eaten they sat silently for a while, and then the alarm sounded again. The Klingon reached over close to him and took his empty food packets. She got up and walked over to put them in one of the containers.

She spoke to him. "Captain Lorca, if you will lie down I can place your blankets over the top of you. It's time for us to sleep."

Lorca lay down on the mattress, his tied hands resting on his stomach, and the Klingon carefully put the blankets over him. She pulled them down at the ends and tucked them in at the sides so that they were fully covering him. He closed his eyed and was thankful to finally be able to forget about his situation for a while. Feeling warm and comfortable, he allowed himself to drift away into what he felt was the only place that was truly his. The world of his dreams. He hoped he would have a pleasant dream tonight. As he lay half asleep he could hear shuffling and banging as the Klingon inspected and arranged the containers for some purpose he didn't care about. Soon he could no longer hear even that. He started to dream a pleasant dream about friends he once knew.

Lorca awoke and looked around the cave. The dim light still slightly illuminated even it's more distant walls. He could see the pile of containers in the center of the cave. The Klingon had moved them into some new arrangement. He supposed that such actions were a part of the act. To convince him that all that he was now experiencing was an actual reality and not some elaborate illusion. That he really was in a cave, waiting to soon be rescued by Starfleet. He could not see the Klingon. He sat up and saw that she was still lying in her bed. Asleep perhaps. Or pretending to be asleep. He lay back down and waited for her to get up and feed him.

He lay in his bed for a long time waiting for some food. Finally the Klingon did awaken. She got up, saying nothing, and after a while she had fed them both. She moved more slowly than she had the day before. She appeared tired. He decided to break the silence.

"Had a bad night did you L'Rell? You don't seem so rested. Well I suppose all this cave living is not to everyone's taste. Me, I prefer a better view than this. Maybe a nice beach. Some trees. Blue sky. Human things you could call them."

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him tiredly.

"Captain Lorca, perhaps we should not joke. Perhaps we should be serious and worried at the moment." She spoke without the enthusiasm that she had shown the day before.

"I am not well and am likely to get less well soon. So some changes have been made to my plans. Our plans."

"Change of plan? Sounds like fun. Who doesn't like a surprise during a Klingon interrogation. Maybe a nice new cave with better lighting and just a small window?"

She looked at him but didn't answer. She then went to one of the bags and removed a large rectangular electronic pad. She stood for quite a while with her back to him, and seemed to be programming instructions into the device. Finally she went to the far end of the cave and dropped the device into a crevice in the cave wall. He heard a rattling as the device fell some distance down into the crevice. She returned to stand over him. She looked very serious. And tired.

"I have just programmed the timer on the detonator to cause the explosion. The detonator is gone now and cannot be retrieved. When the timer gives the command, the destruction will commence. My actions cannot be reversed now. It is a thing of great importance that I do. But it is necessary and I do not regret it. Tell the others that I know when you see them that I had no regrets. Tell Ash Tyler that I thought of him and his people as I took my actions."

Lorca listened to all that she said and replied, "So...boom. Nice to know. Don't like the place that much myself. Unhappy memories. Why can't you tell all your friends your non regrets yourself? Not coming on the mushroom ship?"

The Klingon slowly sat down on her bed and leaned back on the wall. She put her head back and breathed a long slow breath.

"Klingons have many strange ways. Maybe we are a strange people. We evolved from underground caves. Long long ago. Did you know that?"

"No I didn't. My people swung down out of trees long long ago. So, strange is a matter of taste."

"Yes. True," she continued "Klingons were once a species that hibernated in caves in the lean times. When food was scarce. We evolved away from hibernation but it is still in our blood. Some sects still engage in it for religious reason. But few talk about it. I know little of it. I knew that if I spent a long time in a cave I might fall into hibernation. But it appears I am more subject to it than I thought."

Lorca replied, "Hibernation? So it's sleepy L'Rell? Maybe all this sitting around in the dark doing nothing is sending you to sleep. A bit more activity would be good. Getting bored."

"You can be bored. There is no other activity. But yes, that may be why I am affected by this so quickly." She turned to look at him, and spoke with a sense of resignation.

"I will never leave this cave. I will go to sleep very soon and then I will die here. But you can leave. You can save yourself. Promise me that when you hear the explosion, and you will hear it I assure you, that you will climb up the passageway over there." She pointed to a narrow opening in the cave wall.

"It will take you to the surface. I think you are now strong enough to complete the climb. Then the Discovery will beam you aboard and your life will be nice again."

"So...boom. I climb up some stairs and then it's Starfleet heaven. With my own ship."

"Yes. I know, you don't believe. Of course you don't. But maybe after you hear, and feel, the explosion you can pretend for a moment that everything I tell you is true and make the climb. Satisfy your curiosity just to see what might be up there. What else have you to do?"

"Ok. I promise to pretend I believe any of this is real and will pretend to climb some stairs so I can be be rescued by my own ship." He held up his bound hands.

"If you're asleep shouldn't you untie me? That steep climb might need two free hands. And I have to feed myself while you nap."

She slowly got up and came over to him. She reached across to his hand restraints and unlocked them. She then threw the restraints across the room carelessly.

She said, "I can no longer think so clearly as I once did. So now you are free. You could injure me. But what would it matter? Eat all the food you can. Eat my food. I don't need it. Get strong to make the climb."

Lorca looked at her. She was leaning back on the cave wall, seemingly half asleep. He wondered how this part of the fiction would play out. If he did strike her would some Klingons run into the cave to stop him? Would they go so far in their attempt at deception that they would sacrifice one of their own agents? He knew that Klingons would allow their own people to die in service of the empire. And Klingons would even permit themselves to be killed in their devotion to their duties. Everything was so confusing and unpredictable. He decided to do nothing but the essentials. He would eat. He would rest. And if the pretend explosion came, he may even climb up the passageway to see if it really did lead to the surface.

"Lorca? Can you get me some food? I no longer have the energy to get up. Get me the best food. It might be my last meal. I should enjoy it. And Coffee."

Lorca stood up on his mattress and then walked over to the containers and got the food requested. And the Coffee. He returned and gave the Klingon the food and she slowly ate it. After they had eaten they both sat still and in silence for a very long time. Then they ate again and sat in silence once more. Lorca felt that the cave was starting to get colder, so he knew that the night must be coming again. The Klingon finally moved, as she started to carefully lay down on her bed.

"Lorca? Can you put my blankets over me?"

Lorca lay the blankets over the Klingon until she said she was warm. He returned to his mattress.

"Lorca? Can you tell me a story?

"A story? Like a bedtime story?"

"Yes. For bedtime. But I will never wake up from this bedtime so perhaps think of it as my last request. Then you may try harder and make it a more interesting story. Might you not?"

"Do you have any ideas for a story?" Lorca asked.

"Yes. I'm rather sad at my current condition. I have thought for a very long time about how I might one day come to live on the Discovery. To come so close to success and then fail is a hard thing. So tell me a pleasing story. Tell me about my life on Discovery. Tell me about my rank and duties. Tell me about my friends. Tell me how good everything is. The people are good. The ship is good. Even I am good."

He looked over at her. "So this is how you think you're going to get some information from me? Clever, but a bit obvious. You think I'm going to tell you all about Starfleet in your dying bedtime story? This is the strangest and most creative Klingon interrogation I've ever heard about. I couldn't even imagine something like this. I'm surprised that Klingons have that much imagination. I didn't think they did."

"Then tell me lies. But put some truth in it. Make it pleasant. With good friends. That's my last request. And make it fast. I can't stay awake much longer. I'll say my goodbye now while I still can. Goodnight Captain Lorca." She pulled up her blankets and rolled over in her bed so that Lorca could only see part of her head. He commenced his story, talking slow and soft.

"Once there was this Starship called Discovery. It was a mighty ship. The best in the fleet. It was powered by mushrooms and spores. On it served many happy hybrids of Human, Vulcan, and Klingon. There was one fully Klingon crew member called L'Rell. She was the life of the party and was loved by everyone. No one cared that she was a Klingon because she had blown up Qo'nos, the Klingon homeworld, so all her past transgressions were forgiven. She was a chief security officer. But because the ship was so powerful and its people so well behaved nothing bad ever happened and hence she had no work to do. So she spent all her time playing games with her many friends and sitting in the mess hall eating delicious food. One day there was a big party for L'Rells birthday and she got everything she wanted. Which was not much because she had everything she wanted already. Sometimes they had exciting adventures. They went to new places and met unpleasant type people but L'Rell and the rest of the crew soon taught them to behave better. She served on the mighty ship for the rest of her life." Lorca stopped his story.

The Klingon was still and made no sounds. Lorca waited for a time, but she said nothing. He presumed she was asleep. Or pretending to be asleep. He lay down himself and was soon asleep.

Lorca opened his eyes and looked around. The cave was quiet and dim as always. The containers were stacked up in its center as the Klingon had arranged them. But the cave felt different now. For the first time in a long while he felt alone. Near him lay the Klingon. She was where she had always been. He got up and went over to her bed. He leaned over the top of her to try to hear her breathing, but he could hear nothing. She was still and silent. He touched her head with his hand. It felt cool. He supposed that the Klingons had given this agent of theirs some drug to simulate this hibernation that she had told him about. She looked and felt dead.

He walked around the cave, inspecting it. He looked at the fissures in its walls. He peered into the opening where the Klingon had dropped what she claimed to be the detonator. He could see only darkness. He went and looked at the larger opening where the steep climb to the outside was supposed to be. He could see some rough steps carved into a narrow passageway which went around a corner, turned upwards, and then disappeared into darkness. He could see no signs anywhere that it was in anything other than a cave. Perhaps it was a real cave. Qo'nos had many caves so it would be easy to find one in which to carry out their extended interrogation.

He sat back down on his mattress and started his patient wait for the commencement of whatever events the Klingons had planned for him. He would just sit and eat and sleep and wait for as long as he needed to. When these occurrences did happen he would deal with them in the best way that he could. He thought of how good the Klingon was at her job. She was so convincing that he almost believed the things she told him. And she had told him some strange things. She hadn't even bothered to make her stories believable. They were bizarre, obviously false, fantasies. It felt to him that the Klingons were trying to destroy his sense of reality. To make him unable to tell the difference between what was real and what was not. They were good at it. He was even feeling an affection for this Klingon agent that he knew would kill him in a second if she was ordered to. And she would would feel not one bit of caring or pity for him as she did so. She would be as cruel and vicious as all other Klingons as she watched him die. The feelings he felt for her were all false, based on her carefully crafted illusions. Her childhood stories that had moved him were fictions. Her caring for him, her humor, her desire to serve on a Starfleet vessel, were all lies. But she had made it all seem so real that he began to think that maybe this strange Klingon interrogation was being effective in reducing his ability to tell truth from lies. Perhaps even he, a Starfleet captain that had survived for so long, could eventually be broken.

He sat and waited and thought for most of the day. It started to get colder, so he got up to have his last food before he went to sleep. Just as he was laying down to sleep there was an explosive noise, so loud that it pierced and thudded throughout his whole body. The cave then began to heave back and forth, its walls bending and crumbling. He started to stumble as the ground beneath his feet moved in uncontrolled jerks. Rocks from the ceiling fell all around him. He knew it was part of the fiction he was living. But he also knew that the falling rocks that were hitting him were very real. So he ran to what he had been told was a path to the surface and he climbed up the steep stairs with all of the strength that he had. Until finally, nearly drained of his energy, he could see some light shining through an opening ahead of him. He quickly went through the opening and he was outside, standing on a ledge cut into the side of a high, cold mountain.

He looked out and saw that he was surrounded by mountain ranges composed of the jagged peaks of many volcanos. All along the ranges he could see glowing red lava running down the sides of these volcanos. Black ash gushed from many places and was beginning to fill and darken the air. The sound of rumbling and cracking was getting louder as the landscape shook and split apart, huge clouds of smoke billowing from the newly created chasms. The sky was crowded with thousands of Klingon ships streaking hurriedly to some destination. Some rushed past so close to him that he could see the markings on their sides. He thought that this was the most realistic simulation that he had ever seen. The Klingons must have made some advances with holographic technology that was beyond even Starfleet. Suddenly he felt the almost forgotten feeling of a Starfleet transport commencing and when he was aware of his surroundings once more he found himself on what appeared to be on the transporter pad of a Starfleet vessel.

He quickly glanced around at his new surroundings. Standing before him were about eight people. They wore Starfleet uniforms. They moved towards him, looking concerned. Some of them said "Captain Lorca" to him in urgent voices, as if they were surprised by his presence. Several of them shouted at him "Where's L'Rell?" They all looked so very real. But he knew they were not. They were either Klingons made to look like Starfleet personnel, or prisoners of the Klingons willing to commit any betrayal in order to live for one more day. He wondered what would happen next in this elaborate pretense he was living.

Then he heard a voice say "Gabriel?" He turned to see Admiral Cornwall. He looked at her face. And into her eyes. And what he saw in her eyes changed him. Admiral Cornwall had a look that he knew could not be faked. No Mokai Klingon, no desperate prisoner, no imposter, was capable of such a skilled pretense. The eyes he was looking into were eyes of concern...and love. Such a look could not be a lie. When he saw those eyes everything he had for so long thought and felt was altered completely, and in an instant he once again became a Starfleet Captain. Now he knew that this Starship and it's crew were real. And he knew the events of the previous few days were truths and not lies. For the first time in many months he knew exactly what he should do. He turned to the crew.

"We have to rescue L'Rell. Can we get a transporter lock on a Klingon near to where you found me?"

A tall man answered. "We can't do that, Sir. She's in a cave that's shielded from transporters. We'll have to transport down and get her ourselves."

Lorca continued, "She's in a cave down a steep passageway and needs to be carried up to the surface. Who are the best people to do that?"

A tall very thin man of a species he had not seen before stepped forward. "I'm stronger than I look Captain. My people were bred as beasts of burden. I can carry a heavy weight on my back up a steep incline. In very inclement conditions. Perhaps I alone should go to the surface of Qo'nos, given its current state. I'm not sure Humans could tolerate the conditions as well as I. If I feel the task is beyond me I will return immediately."

Captain Lorca looked at him. He looked weak but as a Starfleet Captain he knew better than to judge any species by Human standards.

Lorca spoke to the tall thin man. "Good. Where you beam down you'll see an opening in the rocks. It's obvious. From there climb down the stairs of a steep passageway for about a minute. L'Rell is asleep on a mattress in the cave at the bottom." The man acknowledged his orders, walked over to the transporter pad and was quickly gone.

"Beam them both directly to sick bay when they get back."

Lorca then slowly looked at everything all around him. It seemed unreal to him. He had almost forgotten that Starfleet and uniforms and badges and kindness still existed anywhere. Cruelty in a Klingon prison had for too long felt like the only thing that could ever be real. He knew that it would take him a bit of time to feel like he belonged on this Starship.

They all stood there silently, nervously waiting for the safe return of both the crew member and L'Rell. After about two minutes another crew member said, "Sir, they have both been successfully transported to sickbay." Lorca felt a sense of release he had not felt in a long time. He finally walked over and hugged Admiral Cornwall. It was the best hug he had ever had in his life. Then he turned to the waiting crew members and said, "We'll sort out all this confusion later. I'm sure I have a story to tell." He started walking purposely towards the door. "But first I have a new crew member in sickbay that needs to be properly introduced to her Captain." He walked out the door and towards sickbay.

 

Thanks for that.

 

Dear Moderator, What does the "spoilers" in front of my message mean? Thankyou.

 

Thanks for the infomation.