Stalled Negotiations (Personal Log)
Apr 20, 2020 22:08:26 GMT
Post by Admin on Apr 20, 2020 22:08:26 GMT
While Raye was at the negotiation table, Alex was the Second in a House dual for the Klingons...
Her feelings of being slighted cause of a House dual come to the fore when she discovers later that it was Alex's life on the line while she was wallowing.
The logs are a couple years in their past. Alex digs up the Personal Log while looking into her background as they become a couple.
**
It wasn't easy to reach, special added locks on it to keep others from 'stumbling' upon it.
The usual opener was present, 'personal log, date, rank and name'... then there was a pause and the sound of a deep breath being taken.
The star date was the day of the duel. While Cochrane had been shedding blood for a foreign reason, Raye had been complaining about being shunned.
Log entry is a week later after recovery began, before returning to the Saracen.
*****
“So I have been here a week and it happened again! The negotiations are held off yet another day. This is day three. I don't get it, honestly. They say it's because there is a duel for honor or something. It must be between two very high houses because it's stalling a table of peace the Empire, itself, agreed to.” The pause was one that let background noise filter in still. The speaker was pacing. Her soft footfalls traveling between a wood surface and carpet, barely audible when she spoke, were distinct in the silence. She was agitated and her nearly stomping sounds echoed that feeling. “I can't go. I was invited and I can't go.” Agitation turned to anxiety in the woman's voice, bordering on tears.
She came back, this time sitting down, or at least no longer walking because the volume became steady, closer, deeper, as she dropped her voice. “I am here at the head of the Klingon Peace tables. Sure, it's not the initial Peace Counsel. But the one held yearly to repledge on both side. But here I am... representing a race that is recognized as strong, fierce and loyal. How do I tell them the battle would unhinge me? Seeing blood spilt, despite it not being a war, stops my heart and shallows my breathing? They are blades, not phasers, I have to keep reminding myself. But it's all the same in my mind.”
She had put her head down or covered her face. The last of the recording was muffled. “I can't... I can't see that, then be strong at the table. Denis should have picked someone else....” Then a click and the record went silent.
There was an additional file. This time the usual opening was remiss.
“This is an addendum for reminder to self to look into it. Rumor is spreading that a human was at the duel. Not as a spectator, but as a fighter. I don't let such things hold up. The Empire is silent and refuses to respond. The ones at the table said it's not worth giving a response to. After all, how low does one have to be to claim a 'human' was fighting for them?” She laughed softly and moved closer to the mic. “But I think something more is going on. We just finished the talks today. Yup, completely done. We are three days sooner this time than any other Table in the history of the peace treaty. I like to think I'm that good... but it's the Duel. Something happened no one will talk of. But I think it's that moment, not me, that caused this swift acceptance of treaty and removal from the planet. I'll record more as I discover what happened....” there was another click and the voice was cut off.
*****
END OF LOG
Her feelings of being slighted cause of a House dual come to the fore when she discovers later that it was Alex's life on the line while she was wallowing.
The logs are a couple years in their past. Alex digs up the Personal Log while looking into her background as they become a couple.
**
It wasn't easy to reach, special added locks on it to keep others from 'stumbling' upon it.
The usual opener was present, 'personal log, date, rank and name'... then there was a pause and the sound of a deep breath being taken.
The star date was the day of the duel. While Cochrane had been shedding blood for a foreign reason, Raye had been complaining about being shunned.
Log entry is a week later after recovery began, before returning to the Saracen.
*****
“So I have been here a week and it happened again! The negotiations are held off yet another day. This is day three. I don't get it, honestly. They say it's because there is a duel for honor or something. It must be between two very high houses because it's stalling a table of peace the Empire, itself, agreed to.” The pause was one that let background noise filter in still. The speaker was pacing. Her soft footfalls traveling between a wood surface and carpet, barely audible when she spoke, were distinct in the silence. She was agitated and her nearly stomping sounds echoed that feeling. “I can't go. I was invited and I can't go.” Agitation turned to anxiety in the woman's voice, bordering on tears.
She came back, this time sitting down, or at least no longer walking because the volume became steady, closer, deeper, as she dropped her voice. “I am here at the head of the Klingon Peace tables. Sure, it's not the initial Peace Counsel. But the one held yearly to repledge on both side. But here I am... representing a race that is recognized as strong, fierce and loyal. How do I tell them the battle would unhinge me? Seeing blood spilt, despite it not being a war, stops my heart and shallows my breathing? They are blades, not phasers, I have to keep reminding myself. But it's all the same in my mind.”
She had put her head down or covered her face. The last of the recording was muffled. “I can't... I can't see that, then be strong at the table. Denis should have picked someone else....” Then a click and the record went silent.
There was an additional file. This time the usual opening was remiss.
“This is an addendum for reminder to self to look into it. Rumor is spreading that a human was at the duel. Not as a spectator, but as a fighter. I don't let such things hold up. The Empire is silent and refuses to respond. The ones at the table said it's not worth giving a response to. After all, how low does one have to be to claim a 'human' was fighting for them?” She laughed softly and moved closer to the mic. “But I think something more is going on. We just finished the talks today. Yup, completely done. We are three days sooner this time than any other Table in the history of the peace treaty. I like to think I'm that good... but it's the Duel. Something happened no one will talk of. But I think it's that moment, not me, that caused this swift acceptance of treaty and removal from the planet. I'll record more as I discover what happened....” there was another click and the voice was cut off.
*****
END OF LOG