Klingon Sheepdog

Posted on Thu Dec 15th, 2022 @ 2:28pm by Lieutenant K’lar & Lieutenant Xalanth
Edited on on Thu Dec 15th, 2022 @ 2:45pm

2,638 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 114 - A Time and Place for Everything
Location: Security Office
Timeline: MD1

<0925 hours>

K'lar almost leapt out of the turbolift at Section A1, Level 3. He was on his way to a meeting he'd been looking forward to since word of his transfer to Starbase 400. In truth he hoped to quell an anxiety of sorts.

As he made his way through the hall filled with passing security officers, the teal-collared science officer seemed just as massive as the largest of them. At 6'3 250lbs, the broad-shouldered scientist was still a warrior at heart. His hope was to ensure a good working relationship with security within the science department.

K'lar was hoping to be considered when science officers were needed for more risky away missions and assignments. He hoped to make himself known to the security chief.

He nodded a curt bow while making eye contact with a passing security petty officer. "Good morning sir", said the enlisted crewman.

"Is Lieutenant Xalanth around?" K'lar asked the question while looking at the office door. The science officer had scheduled an appointment but wanted a head's up on if the lieutenant had arrived. He'd checked earlier but Lt. Xalanth had been at Ops.

"Umm, yes sir. He's in his office."

"Thank you, petty officer", replied K'lar. After flashing a toothy Klingon grin, the warrior scientist turned back towards the office. Moments later, he rang the door chime.

Inside his office Xalanth was doing his most hated part of his job. The paperwork. He had a small pile of padds on his desk as he sorted out the reports, arrested records and incoming intel. What he'd give for Fulvia to be giving him a hand but his third was due any day now and was relaxing at home. Hereing the door alarm the lizard pushed from his work looking up and saying " Enter."

The Klingon science officer stepped towards the doors as they sprung open. He entered quickly, looking around the spacious room with its central desk. The emblem for Starfleet Security spun on a view screen a few paces behind the desk.

Seeing the klingon enter the lizard gave him the best warm smile his species could muster. Relationships between his own people and the Klingons were warm the two warrior peoples finding each other's company in the universe rather pleasing. " Ah lieutenant K'lar welcome how are you finding the starbase." he said politely.

"The station is adequate for my needs", K'lar said in a gruff, yet cheery voice. "The crew has been most honorable thus far.. I am here to inquire about you and your department though sir." K'lar stood tall at attention for the Draconian. Klingons respected the spirit of the desert-borne lizard folk.

" What about?" the lizard said as he gestured to the chair opposite his desk.

"I sense the need to make myself more useful." He flashed his trademark toothy grin, eyes widening to match the intensity. "If you ever need a science officer for a risky mission, comm me. As a new officer here, I want to make sure I am.." He paused. "How do you say?" K'lar paused for one more moment. "In the loop, as far as security matters.."

The Klingon appeared to be offering his services to the security department. He'd heard rumors of all manner of groups on Starbase 400. There were different types of SFMC marine and intel units. Some people thought clandestine units also operated here. Others said those were rumors. All K'lar knew was that he wanted to make himself useful.

" I appreciate the offer," Xalanth replied happily. " I won't lie we have some strange things coming through our door. We are a hub of trade and commerce in the sector. We still have some of the thorlian tech from their occupation in one of the bays."

K'lar scratched his chin in thought as he sat. "I could certainly look over this tech if needed", the Klingon said. "We have a vast array of labs available to you, sir. I also carry specialized gear for away missions."

The science officer was pleased how the meeting was going. He considered himself like the old herding dogs he'd heard legends about. They would look like the fluffy Earth mammals they were meant to protect, yet they could defend a herd from wild predators. K'lar fancied himself just such a herding dog. Of course all Starfleet officers were capable. The truth was that his Klingon values compelled him to at least volunteer for extracurricular security work. It looked like he would get a chance.

"I'd appreciate it. Though if you do want to help security on away missions you'll need your phaser qualifications up to date." The lizard added.

The klingon spoke so loudly that he practically cheered. “I shall schedule a test at once”, the large man said with a bow and grin.

"No need we can do it now if your available." The lizard said after checking to see if the firing range was free.

“The perks of your career, huh?” The Klingon greeted him with a hearty laugh and followed close behind as soon as the Draconian was ready. “I hope I’ll be certified to carry one after this.” He knew he would be ready to help defend the starbase either way.

The security chief grabbed his vest, personnel phaser and belt before heading through the door. " So K'lar any family I need to know about?" Xalanth inquired.

"Not aboard the station", K'lar replied. "I am from the House of Moklor. Small Klingon family of pilots and explorers." He humphed to himself as they made their way through the space and towards the phaser range. "And you sir?"

"I have my three mates and four soon-to-be five daughters on the station. "Xalanth said gesturing to his bond bracelet. “Back home there my clan who I could spend hours naming them all." Involuntary he glanced at the alert button on his belt. Fuliva would be going into labour any day now.

"Qapla!" K'lar exclaimed a congratulatory call that could be translated as 'success'. "That is quite a packed household." The Klingon looked down and away momentarily. "I have always put duty first." His voice tightened as he spoke. K'lar aggressively cleared his throat.

"Do your mates also work on the Starbase?" K'lar asked the question as they approached the firing line.

The lizard nodded. " Fulvia is in Starfleet intelligence, but is working in security, T'para and Leilani are both in medical. T'para a doctor and Lelani is in counselling." He said fondly slightly fumbling at his bonding bracelet.

“A most honorable contribution to Starfleet”, he said of their service. “Oh and sir, I have not yet been assigned my phaser for this assignment.” He carried a compact phaser on his last posting. The klingon was ready to borrow Xalanth’s if needed.

"No need for that." The lizard said as they arrived at the station's main armoury. Stepping inside he gave a nod to the ensign behind the shutters. " You know the drill eye and face print on the security scanner and then we can get started."

K’lar grunted and nodded in response. He placed his eyes to the scanner as it read his face along with them. Such technology always made the Klingon uncomfortable.

The klingon focused his energy on mentally preparing for the test. He thought of it as a hunt. This was when he first honed his reflexes in his youth. Treating combat trials like a hunt helped keep K’lar in the right mind state for such a test.

A small slot opened as a standard phaser, holster and six energy cells was slid out. Xalanth looked on to see what the klingon did next.

As an exchange officer who served on only a few posts, K’lar had never taken an official Starfleet phaser test before. His expression spread into a sharp grin as he quickly grabbed the phaser. Snapping apart the disassembly, he loaded a fresh power cell into the phaser to replace the one inside of it. The science officer may not have taken this formatted test, but he had definitely aquatinted himself with Starfleet weaponry at his past station.

He respected Lt. Xalanth for putting him through the test and not just trusting him because of his Klingon blood.

K’lar wrapped the holster around his thigh and set the phaser in it. He turned to the flight line. The spare cells had been tossed into his pockets for now as he looked for a potential place to lay them out. K’lar turned towards what appeared to be the firing line. He stood shoulder length apart and let his peripheral vision take in as much of the room.

“Ready sir”, K’lar barked.

The lizard nodded as he lead the way to one of the firing ranges. Putting in the code and program the lizard turned to the klingon. " You may begin when ready."

A dark holographic diamond rose high into the air along the distant wall. Two objects shot out, a green circle and a red triangle. The shapes hung in the air and awaited the start.

K’lar ripped his arm through the air to grab his phaser. It cut back upwards like a knife firing before fully lined up with the shot. The beam was still timed well enough to cut onto the target and hit. He missed the red target, which was meant not to be hit.

Red and green holographic targets continued to pour out from the floating diamond. They soon moved faster and farther away from the diamond. Red targets cut in front of green ones, needing restraint. K’lar roared loudly as the pace sped up.

Every so often a shot would miss. He’d try for a follow up when he could. He’d quickly pause to change the crystal, taking a knee when doing so.

Soon his ammo was spent and his score was ready to be tallied.

"Very good. " Xalanth said from the archway. "Seventy-seven per cent accuracy. Well within acceptable parameters."

K'lar exclaimed a howling cheer. This was not a score he would settle for. There was no exclamation of 'qapla'. "May this be the start to good things", the Klingon responded. "I must refine my skills with the beam".

K'lar unloaded the phaser and set it back in the dispenser while speaking.

"I'm sure you'll improve with practice. " Xalanth replied. " Had to add a module to my TR100 just to get my accuracy working. " The lizard replied before explaining. " I was trained on one of my people's old slug throwers. My grandmother made sure I could hit what I was aiming at."

"That is relatable", said the klingon with a laugh. "The disruptor is not such a different change as that. I must still adjust to the beam weaponry. I will adapt", said the Klingon richly motivated in his desire to refine the skill.

"I know that feeling. Come I'll give you a brief look of the tech we still have in storage." The lizard said as he lead the way towards the nearest turbo lift.

K'lar snorted a laugh as he followed Xalanth. "Excellent. I would be curious to see what you have in storage, sir." The klingon felt comfortable around Xalanth. They seemed to have similar points of view.

"I have read of the weapons used during the Dominion War", K'lar added. "Advanced marine phaser rifles and such", said the Klingon with a hiss.

"Well, the pact tech we managed to recover makes the dominion stuff look like training weapons. " Xalanth said as he lead the way down the corridors to the turbolift. On the way they passed a betazoid female heading in the opposite direction. Giving the two of them a warm smile she nodded as she gave a "lieutenants." as she walked past.

Xalanth eyes didn't leave her until they were around the corridor. Noting the look of confusion on the klingons face he explained. " My second Leliani."

"Interesting... Very!" K'lar reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tricorder he kept on him for emergencies. "I would have bought my science tricorder if I'd known", he exclaimed. He could always save the scans and transfer them to the more advanced scanner later for a full analysis.

" Save the scanner until we reach the cargobay." Xalanth said as he switched on the turbolift and the two sped down the station.

The secure cargo bay was just as he left it as the doors slid open. Most of the real dangerous Tholian tech including the phased battle suit had been sent back to starfleet engineering, but many of the artifacts still waited in their cargo boxes ready for someone to figure out what to do with them.

K'lar had only grunted at Lt. Xalanth's comment on his tricorder. He had to calibrate it and get it in the proper mode to examine hand tool sized objects. He opened a the typical program one would use to scan weapons.

By the time they entered K'lar was ready to examine the boxes. "Where shall we start?" The Klingon's rough voice showed signs of excitement and curiosity. He began scanning items through the boxes at first.

" Well let's start with the stuff that we know what it is. " Xalanth said walking over to some of the crates marked with green markings. " All this is Tholian tech which we know what it is. Phasers, energy cells and portable energy nets."

Klar's tricorder picked up crystalline signatures within the weapon systems. "Tholians... They appear to be using crystal based technology." He leaned closer and carefully opened one of the crates before scanning deeper. He began to move to the next crate.

" Indeed." The lizard replied as he opened another crate. " This is the stuff we think we know what it is, but you can never tell with Tholians. This one...." He said indicating one of the electrical devices. " only seems to power on every four days on the Tholian calendar. "

K'lar quickly scanned the next items as they were revealed. He took an especially detailed look at the mentioned device. "I will examine samples of these crystals in depth... I'd like to take one of the power cells here" K'lar knelt near one of the earlier crates. "If I can understand the matrix of this crystal, it will give us the key to its knowledge", the Klingon said through wide eyes.

"And last but not least”, the lizard said pointing to the near-empty space. All that was left was a few bits of starship ceiling and walls. " This is all that's left of what they were working on here. A phaser cloaking suit. We had to pull this one out of a ships fifth deck. They took it for further study back at Starfleet engineering. I hope that these were only prototypes. I'd hate to face an army of them." From his body language anyone could tell the lizard was telling the truth. This was not something you wanted to end up facing.

K'lar nodded as the senior officer spoke. His tricorder carefully scanned the items as Lt. Xalanth went over them. "Okay sir. This is a lot to study. I will run more detailed scans.. But for now", K'lar said. "I have noticed a variance to the crystal energy's signature patterns. This may be the key to understanding how this technology works."

He put his tricorder back into his pocket and turned to Lieutenant Xalanth. "I will send you a full report on my findings sir. It has been an honor meeting you."

“You as well K'lar. It will be nice working with you." Xalanth said offering his hand.

“Thank you sir”, K’lar said as he shook Xalanth’s hand heartily. “Qapla’!” With a nod, K’lar turned and left as the doors opened and then closed for him.

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