Erratic Nerd Writings

“Cypher?”

“Yes, Kanor?”

He sat up in bed, sighing, his face contorting into a grimace as he had to reposition himself to relieve the pain in his chest.

“Why can’t I fall asleep.”

“I believe you are posing that question to the wrong individual, Kanor.”

At least she seemed to have stopped calling him “Master”.  He raised a hand up to wipe it over his face slowly, feeling the muscles of his face stretch with the passing of his fingers.  He stared at the foot of the bed, two lumps beneath the sheets indicating where his feet were.  The sight annoyed him for whatever reason; he found his face breaking into a scowl as he swiveled his body to rest his toes on that plush carpeted surface that served as a floor.

“What’s the time?”

“0217.”

Kanor had prepared himself a hearty meal after Skid had left, feeling a voracious hunger in his stomachs.  Not long after, his exhausted body had lulled him to bed at an early hour.  He had fallen blissfully asleep, but had awoken randomly not long after with the pillow wrapped up in his arms and pressed to his chest.  His gut churning in disgust at himself, he had thrown all of the ridiculous pillows off of the bed, where they still lay heaped up in the corner.  He had fallen asleep again after much painful shifting and maneuvering around, but it was a flitting state.  This was his fourth time waking up, for no apparent reason.  He considered sleeping on the floor; the “mattress” was so…soft, and pliant, he was amazed he had ever been able to sleep normally on it up until this point.  He realized his fingers were digging into the edge of the bed tightly and simply pushed himself to his feet, instead.  He needed some action, some movement. 

The pain of moving was becoming more tolerable, whether due to the drugs, his body healing, or that he was simply getting used to it, he wasn’t sure, nor did he care.  He felt cooped up inside his quarters.  Inside his current state of things, really.  He started to head towards the door out into the corridor before realizing he was nude; he had not observed public nudity to be a common trend aboard the Enterprise, though there were some exceptions.  He decided, to prevent drawing attention to himself, he would replicate some pajamas.  Besides, maybe Skid was correct; maybe he did need some diversity to his clothing selection, at least for societal purposes.

He settled upon a simple black tunic and black pants, though refrained from the suggestions of “slippers” the computer suggested.  The multitude of selection the Enterprise had for pajamas in her computer banks available for replication were largely ridiculous.  Once clothed, he stepped out into the corridor, going barefoot.  The corridor lighting dimmed slightly in the living quarters after 2200 hours, to at least create an illusion of “night time”, but everywhere else in the ship the lighting level remained at a standard level.  He wandered off randomly, no particular destination in mind, simply wanting to move, to do something physical.

While his body protested the movement with a cacophony of aches and pains, he felt a soothing of the unrest in his mind as he ambled through Enterprise.  The headache that he had noticed upon first waking up in bed with Skid-the heat of her flesh equaling his own as it was curled up and tangled with his body-wouldn’t seem to dissipate.  In fact, it seemed to be getting worse and worse; but again, he was learning to tolerate it.  The corridors were pleasantly empty, too; a nice change from the usual bustle of her crew during the “day” hours.  He passed by the multiple turbolifts along his way; instead, he had decided he’d utilize the often neglected and even forgotten about stairwell.  There was only one he was aware of, though it spanned the height of the entire saucer section.  The doors hissed open when he approached, right onto a landing.

He decided to go up.  The Lounge he had met with Stapes and Kaz at was in that direction; though he didn’t want to socialize (not that he had anyone on the ship he COULD socialize with, at this point), he felt the need to be in a large, unconfined area.  Look out on the vista of space while he was there.  That seemed to be someplace he could satisfy that requirement.  He heard muted noises further up; what sounded like someone’s voice, though he couldn’t make out specific words.  They were the first crew members he had run into since leaving his quarters.  He drew closer, then stopped in mid-step, his eyes going wide, as he rounded a flight of stairs and looked up at the two figures sprawled on the next landing up.

Ensign Te’ara, the Andorian female who had been navigating the Enterprise upon her return to the Independent Fleet’s space dock, was writhing up above, her bare blue flesh glistening with sweat.  Her stiffened antennae were quivering with obvious excitement atop of her head, unintelligible noises of enjoyment escaping her parted lips as her eyelids flickered.  One of Te’ara’s hands was stroking a bald woman’s head between her widespread thighs, the other hand clenching tightly around one of her own breasts.  Kanor was stupefied by the spectacle, but apparently made some sort of noise to draw attention to himself, as Te’ara’s eyes suddenly flew open as her back stiffened, her voice shrilling upwards on his name.

“Kanor!  Great Krotus, my night just became perfect…”

The Deltan woman, equally bereft of clothing, lifted her head and glanced back at Kanor, her face glistening.  She smiled seductively at him then winked, creating a twinge that seemed to shoot through Kanor’s entire body.  Te’ara, her blue cheeks darkening a bit, continued stroking her lover’s bald head as she bit her lower lip for a brief moment.  The blue hand she had been groping herself with instead shifted, offering that quite delightful looking area of her anatomy to him.  The Andorian woman’s eyes were practically blazing.

“Don’t just stand there, Kanor, come join us…Paia won’t mind, will you, darling…?”

The Deltan woman’s features seemed to dance with mirth.  In response, she simply shifted her body on the stairs below Te’ara, got on her knees, and spread her legs, her backside practically thrust directly towards him.  Kanor was quite certain she was also…very open to his joining them.  The stairwell had quite rapidly become suffocating.

It was without doubt an extremely pleasant offer the two of them made, and something he had never experienced before.  Even through the aches and pains, his body was practically screaming at him to jump in there and have fun with those two very willing and very attractive females.  Te’ara gasped as Paia resumed where she had left off before he had interrupted them, and in her narrowed-in-bliss eyes, Kanor could see the Andorian eyeing him lustfully, grinning at the reaction they were clearly having on his body.

He gulped.

He forced himself to put a foot on the next step up, then the other foot, and on up the stairs.  Past the Deltan’s remarkable backside presented to him with a very enticing wiggle.  Past the purple turgid peak Te’ara’s fingers were expertly manipulating.  Her hand abruptly reached out to grasp his hardness as he passed her, causing his throat to constrict.  The Andorian made a clearly excited, eager noise as she tilted her head back and opened her lips wide; whether from anticipatory joy in what she assumed he was moving to do, or because of Paia’s expertise, quite possibly both.  However, when he didn’t stop-when he clenched his eyes shut for a moment and simply kept putting one foot in front of another, out of the reach of her hand-that got her attention.

“Kanmmmnnn….Kanor…?  Where…where are you going, isn’t this why you’re…ohhh!  Why you’re here?”

The further away he got, the lighter the duranium plating that had materialized on his feet seemed to get, until finally he reached deck three.  Damn, but Deltan pheromones were STRONG.  He leaned against the bulkhead for a moment, trying to gather himself.  He had broken out into a sweat, and not from the exertion of climbing the stairs.

“Kanor, are you alright?”

Kanor nodded, though Cypher obviously couldn’t see him.

“Yes, just…whew.  Shaken, that’s all.”

“I’m detecting a greatly elevated pulse rate and a flood of adrenaline and endorphins…”

He could hear Te’ara’s exclamations of enjoyment carrying up the stairwell; the sound alone gave him chills.

“I’m fine, just…highly aroused.  Paia was a Deltan, and she was in the throes of a sexual fuckstorm!”

Cypher was silent as she processed that information.

“Deltans, when fully aroused in such a manner, are…”

The door leading from the stairwell into the corridors on deck three swished open, and a handsome young man stepped through, in the process of removing his tunic.  Upon seeing Kanor, his eyes flashed as he smiled broadly.

“Well, I’ve certainly gotten lucky right away…hi, my name is…”

Kanor’s eyebrows shot up as he held up both of his hands in a warding off gesture. 

“Nono, I was uh…just leaving.  There’s a couple of VERY attractive ladies below, however, who I’m SURE…”

The man laughed, giving Kanor a playful wink as his gaze dropped below Kanor’s waistline.

“Oh, I wasn’t coming here for ladies, handsome.  You look like you’re not ready to leave just yet…!”

Kanor’s mouth clamped shut as he forced out a smile.

“Well, thank you.  Like I said, just leaving.”

He slipped past the man and into the corridor, his eyes wide.  What was with people tonight?

“Maybe next time, then, sexy!  I’d LOVE to take care of that beautiful…”

The rest of his sentence was cut off by the closing of the stairwell doors.  Kanor barreled down the corridor, trying to put as much distance between himself and the stairwell as possible.  No wonder it was rarely used, if that’s what…

“Hey, asshole, watch it!”

Kanor drew up short abruptly, realizing he had nearly run into someone strolling down the cross-corridor.  They were wearing a silver silk robe with black trim, and what appeared to be a black fuzzy animal with circular ears on their feet.  Smoke swirled in the air beneath Kanor’s nose.

“Commodore!”

Kaz lifted his cigarette up to his lips as he chuckled. 

“Mister Kanor!  Certainly wasn’t expecting to run into you out here this time of night.  You’re in a damn hurry, aren’t you?”

Kanor took a couple of steps back, to establish personal space and to attempt and place the smoke further away.

“Yes, well…decided to go out for a stroll, and…encountered some situations back there I wasn’t expecting in getting up here, that’s all.

Kaz’s head tilted slightly in puzzlement as he looked at Kanor, absently puffing a bit of smoke out the corner of his mouth as he lowered his cigarette.  His eyes narrowed.

“Wait a minute…you didn’t just come from the stairwell, did you?”

“I did, actually, yes.  I didn’t want to take the turbolift here; it seemed to…defeat the purpose of coming out to stretch my legs, as it were.”

Kaz’s head tilted back as he burst out into laughter, the cigarette in his hand precariously close to falling onto the deck plating.

“Oh…oh shit…and at THIS time of night…!”

Kaz was doubled over laughing, now, his hands on his knees as his body shook.  Kanor frowned, obviously left out of what seemed to be so amusing to Kaz.

“Ya hear that, Mickey?  Kanor went cruisin in the stairwell!”

Kanor wasn’t sure who “Mickey” was, though Kaz appeared to be talking to his feet.  The animals on Kaz’s feet appeared to have a face, now that he looked at them more closely.  He cleared his throat, trying to interrupt Kaz’s amusement.

Kaz straightened up again, grinning from ear to ear as he placed his cigarette in between his lips.

“I’m sorry; I can’t help it, that’s hilarious.  I can only imagine what you must have run into in there…”

“To be blunt, quite a few people fucking.”

Kaz’s eyes danced as he smirked at Kanor.

“The stairwell is the hotspot on the ship for cruising, Kanor.  It’s so rarely used by people to actually go from deck to deck, especially during the night time hours, so…”

“What do you mean, ‘cruising’?  I don’t understand.”

Kaz chuckled again, taking a pull from his rapidly dwindling cigarette.

“Cruising…looking for sex.  People head to the stairwell to look for someone to hook up with.  No strings attached, or someone new to have fun with.  Whatever the case may be.”

The image of Te’ara and Paia’s nude bodies and their wanton invitation for him to join made a bit more sense, now.  As did the young man’s rather gleeful discovery of Kanor just inside the door; the fact he was removing his tunic, the forwardness, clearly flirting.

“So…by being in the stairwell at this late hour…”

“People you ran into thought you were available for some fun.”

They stood in the corridor for a bit as that sunk in for Kanor, not saying anything.  Kaz finished his cigarette, flicked it expertly into the seemingly ever-present metal troughs in the floor along the corridor, and proceeded to light another one immediately.

“Well, then.  I don’t suppose I’ll be utilizing the stairs to return back to my quarters.”

Kaz laughed.

“Really?  And you seemed so eager to chase some tail when you first came aboard…the stairwell is quite invigorating.  That’s how Drei and I first met!”

Kanor frowned, uncomfortable with the subject.

“Again, I apologize for nearly running into you.  I was on my way to the lounge, thought it’d be nice to look out at the stars for a bit.”

“Turns out that’s where I was headed myself, we can head there together.  Besides, you can’t have access to the vista unless you’re accompanied by an officer, you know.  It IS the OFFICER’S lounge.”

Kanor had forgotten that small detail.  While it would have been no trouble to slip past whatever screening process they had, he supposed this would be easier.  Besides, he didn’t get to talk to Kaz too often; this presented a valuable opportunity to find out some information.

“Quite true.  Alright, then.”

They started off down the corridor together, Kaz continuing to smoke his second cigarette, though he made an attempt to keep the smoke away from Kanor.  Kaz broke the silence.

“So, what brings you up here this time of night?  If I recall, your quarters have a decent view of the stars.”

Kanor grudgingly responded.

“Trouble sleeping.  I’ve had a lot on my mind, and…reinjured myself yesterday.  Haven’t really been able to blow off some energy, so thought I’d go for a walk.”

“Ahh.  Well, I’m sorry to hear that.  What’d you do, push a little too hard in the gym or hit something too hard?”

Kanor snorted.

“Something like that…what about you?”

Kaz grinned, taking a nice, long pull on his cigarette, his eyes glistening happily.

“Let’s just say after a VERY strenuous and invigorating evening myself, I found I had too much energy still to simply fall asleep, so thought I’d go take in the view too, actually.  Drei was…too exhausted to come along.”

Kanor couldn’t help but chuckle at Kaz’s description of events; he might even say the Metron had a bit of a strut to his stride.

“What, were you secretly on your way to the stairwell to tire yourself out?  By all means, don’t let me stop you.”

Kaz waved his cigarette-holding hand.

“Oh no no no, Drei is quite jealous.  That wouldn’t do at all.  Besides, we’re in a committed relationship.  No, I was legitimately and innocently heading to the lounge.”  He paused a beat.  “You mean to tell me there wasn’t anyone that caught your interest in the stairwell?  I mean usually this time of night the place is hopping…and moaning, sweating…and all other kinds of very fun adjectives.”

Te’ara and Paia flashed through his mind yet again. 

“Oh there was admittedly some…very enticing ladies I ran into, but…not tonight.  Not in the mood.  Too distracted.”

“Pity.  Well, I’m sure some other night you’ll be able to have a fantastic time there.  Ah, here we are…”

The lounge had a few people in it, even at this late hour, but it certainly wasn’t as lively as the last time he had been here.  They took seats directly front and center of the panoramic viewing area, sharing the space with a couple of Tellarites that seemed to be making out off to their far left.  The occasional grunt and squeal the porcine species let off as they were enjoying each other’s company was distracting at first, though Kanor eventually tuned it out.  They sat in silence for a bit staring at the stars steaming past the Enterprise’s nacelles, which framed the outer edges of the view.

“So, we’re still playing elude the Benders…?”

Kaz, sitting back in his chair, his legs crossed, his left elbow resting on the table as his right kept that cigarette moving from his mouth and back again, blew out a stream of smoke before nodding. 

“They disappeared off of long range sensors not long after I visited you in Sickbay.  I’ve kept us moving, just in case, but we’ve slowed down to a comfortable cruising speed since.  We’ll have plenty of advance notice if they creep back up on us again.”

A waiter stopped by to see if they wanted anything; Kaz ordered a drink, then looked over at Kanor.  He decided to try something Marcie had mentioned drinking one night.

“How about a chocolate root beer?”

Kaz’s face reacted at his selection, though the waiter seemed to be more accustomed to the request.  After he had left, Kaz took a drag from his cigarette and arched an eyebrow at him.

“Really, she’s got YOU drinking that stuff?”

“Who?”

“Marcie.  She’s the only person I’ve ever known who’s even heard of that vile stuff, let alone drinks it.”

“I’ve…never had it, she’s only mentioned it before.  I was curious.”

“Your health.  Speaking of…how bad was that reinjury?”

“Temporary, at best.  Marcie gave me something to speed up the healing process, and I’ve got a hearty constitution anyways.”

“Ah.  Well at least you’re walking comfortably enough.”

The waiter returned with their drinks; something dark and aromatic in a tumbler glass for Kaz, and a chilled, long-necked dark brown bottle for Kanor.  Kaz, after depositing his second cigarette stub in the ashtray on the table, withdrew yet another fresh one from the small pack of the cylinders he had placed next to the ashtray and the lighting device.  Kanor wrapped his fingers around the cold bottle, leaning in to sniff its contents.

“So, I hear you had a meeting with Munson today.”

Kanor bought himself some time by putting the bottle to his lips and taking a sip.  His eyes drifted as he contemplated the flavor, unconsciously smacking his lips a bit.

“Interesting…yes, yes I did.  It went quite well, Munson is an intelligent man.”

Kaz was eyeing him across the table; whether to see his reaction from drinking the chocolate root beer, or to gauge his facial expression at mention of Munson, he wasn’t sure.

“I seem to recall stating Skid would need to be present for the meeting with Munson when you requested it.”

“You did.  I haven’t really spent much time with this…Ai Tsukinawa, but she’ll have to be pretty stellar to overshadow Munson, from what I’ve seen.”

“She’s an excellent tactical officer; great shot with the shipboard weapons, and has an advanced mind for space combat tactics.  Knows the ship’s systems well, too.  You can’t change the subject that easily on me.  I’m a Metron, not a child.”

Kanor met Kaz’s gaze across the table, not breaking it as he took another, larger sip of the chocolate root beer.  An extremely intriguing concoction.  He wondered if it was the chocolate or the root beer that was catching his attention the most.  He had never had either.

“And I’m not a child, either, I don’t need a babysitter.”

They looked at each other across the table for a few moments, the only sounds a soft, long, drawn out piggy-squeal.  Kanor didn’t even want to know what the Tellarites were doing back there.  Finally, Kaz picked up his drink, took a long taste of it, then held it with his left hand as he looked out at the stars in front of them, lifting his cigarette back up to his lips.

“Sh’lan deliberately kept his security people undertrained.  Easier for him to control, and honestly it didn’t seem like he had much respect for them.  Redshirts to the slaughter like cattle.  Occasionally, good ones like Ai and Munson would survive, so he’d take steps to make sure they could flourish…but not be able to replace him.  Ai is a top notch tactical officer; Munson a top notch security officer.  Neither of them have much experience in the other’s job.  Something Sh’lan did intentionally.  They’re both under-experienced considering how long they’ve been with the crew, even in their respective areas; again, Sh’lan’s doing.”

“I assume also Stapes’ doing.”

Kaz seemed to mull over his next words carefully.

“Sh’lan operated in a fashion he learned from his mentor, Stapes.  Problem for Stapes is, I’m not someone he can control, but he needs me.  When I came along to the Independent Fleet, they were floundering.  Stapes’ method of command had either crushed people, or ran them off.  All he had were some obedient automatons who wouldn’t question his authority.”

“So how did he come to be convinced he needed you?”

Kaz smiled, though it seemed bittersweet.

“For one, I wasn’t alone.  A large number of my Metron brethren came with me; not only are we good at what we do, but Metrons aren’t exactly known for their…galactic involvement.  We brought some notoriety to his little band of mercenaries.”

Kanor was anxious to hear more along this line of thought.  Kaz was right; Metrons were relatively scarce in the galaxy.

“I’ve…heard rumors about Metrons, that they can do things they shouldn’t be able to.  Was that another reason Stapes wanted you aboard…?”

Kaz’s eyes seemed to drift as he pulled on his cigarette, and Kanor got the feeling the Commodore was thinking on things nowhere near the Enterprise.  Without looking, the Metron lifted his drink, emptying the contents of the mostly full beverage in one swig.  He placed the glass back down on the table, his fingers fiddling with the rim for a moment as he contemplated…whatever it was he was contemplating.

“My group and I were…exiled from the Consortium.  The things you mention hearing, the rumors…being exiles, we’re not quite capable of those kinds of things anymore.  And what we are capable of comes at great effort.”

Kanor felt empathy for Kaz upon hearing about this exile.  While he was welcome to return to Qo’noS as he pleased, he had never been really accepted by his fellow Klingons.  His parents had suffered their own scorn for their union, but his was an entirely different kind.  He was trying to think of something to say when Kaz continued, clearly uncomfortable with the turn things had taken.

“Anyway, one thing led to another…we ushered in a new way of doing things, and more importantly, got results.  Stapes hates it, but he also can’t deny the increase in revenue for the entire Fleet I’ve brought in.”  Kaz smiled.  “We have our little game we play.”

“Game?”

“Where in he keeps trying to control me while praising me, and I keep thwarting him while doing things my way.  Where he tries to emulate the success my ship and crew have had with the rest of his people, not understanding the reason we have that success is specifically because I DON’T do things the way he insists they should be done.  He’s really quite brilliantly stupid.”

Kanor thought it made Kaz sound a bit full of himself, but had to admit it seemed to fit what he had seen of the situation so far.  He absentmindedly reached his left hand up to rub at his temple; his headache seemed to be worsening at a greater rate since they had sat down.

“And is that why you’re a Commodore still and not an Admiral?”

Kaz laughed, stubbing out his cigarette.  Surprisingly, he didn’t reach for a replacement right away.

“Oh no no, I’m a Commodore by choosing.  Stapes would love nothing more than to get me off the Enterprise.  Turn my Lady over to one of his buffoons and shove me behind a desk somewhere where he can keep me close at hand and keep an eye on me.  Hell no.  You wouldn’t believe how many times he’s tried to take the Enterprise herself away from me, get me onboard one of his newfangled monstrosities.”

“You mean a different ship, a more current design?  Why didn’t you take him up on the offer?  The Constitution class is…well, not cutting edge, for certain.”

“Kanor, technology is all well and good.  But you give me an ‘outdated’ class of starship, and I guarantee you I’ll run circles around some fucking idiot in the latest model off the shipyard’s assembly line.  Technology augments skill, it doesn’t create it.  Another reason the Independent Fleet was floundering before I came along?  Well, there’s several, but another major reason?  Stapes used the bulk of the credits earned and sunk it into technology.  Getting the newest gadgets, the most current designs, the fanciest gizmos and whirlygigs.  They were relying on technology as a crux.  You strip away their precious technology, and what do they have?  Even with Sh’lan’s tampering, I’d place my bets on a member of my crew versus any other any day of the week.  I’ve got the best damn crew in the Fleet, I stake my life on it.”

Kanor emptied out his chocolate root beer, taken aback by the conviction in Kaz’s words, the resolve.  He had to admit, there was a certain…charisma to Kaz when he spoke about his crew like that.  Unshakeable belief, undeniable certainty.  It was hard to ignore; one found oneself getting kind of caught up in it and swept along for the ride.

“So…excluding Munson from the full scope of what’s going on…?”

Kaz, who had reached to pull out another cigarette from the pack on the table, glanced over at Kanor as he held the flame to the end of the paper, letting it ignite.

“Admittedly, an oversight from long habits of dealing with someone we couldn’t trust.”  He lowered the cigarette without inhaling from it, the smoke curling up into the air above the observation area.  “You were right to point it out.  Thank you.”

Kanor tilted his head in acknowledgement of the thanks, fiddling with the empty bottle as he contemplated ordering another one.  It was a strange confluence of flavors, the beverage.

“You’re welcome.”

They were silent for a while, then, both staring out at the incredible view in front of them, each man alone with their thoughts.  Kanor, who had been sitting straight-backed in the chair, his right arm resting on the table as he held the bottle, found himself settling back in the chair without realizing it.  Kaz sat on the other side of the table, the fingers of his left hand spread out and resting over the rim of the empty glass as his right hand simply held the cigarette between two fingers.  Apparently somewhere along the way the two Tellarites had retired, presumably to have a good go at each other.  Kaz and Kanor were the only two left in the observation area.

“So if you don’t mind my asking, what’s been on your mind?”

Kanor was surprised by the question.  He turned to look over at Kaz, his head tilting to one side a bit.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“You mentioned you couldn’t sleep, you had a lot on your mind…?”

Kanor found himself biting his lower lip as he stared out into the carpet of stars, a sigh escaping his lips.

“Female issues.”

Kaz snorted, glancing over at Kanor while shaking his head.

“I’m assuming you are in fact male, and you’re just being a bit of a sexist pig in making that comment.”

Kanor frowned, turning to look across the table at Kaz again.

“What do you mean?  They are problems concerning females; what else could I call them?  Girl problems, woman problems?  What is the difference?”

“It’s the way you said it.  Almost…derisively.”

Kanor threw his hands up in the air, though he didn’t raise his arms.

“Yes, because they are problems that trouble me, not because it involves females!”

“If they were problems with males, would you refer to them as ‘guy problems’?”

“I don’t know, maybe!”  Kanor’s brow furrowed as he thought about Kaz’s contention for a moment.  “I suppose…it is because they are problems I do not understand, and…at least to me, it seems they are a problem because it involves females.”

Kaz frowned as he stared at Kanor for a few moments, lifting his cigarette up to his mouth to take a drag from it without diverting his eyes.

“There are times I’m quite fucking relieved to be only interested in other guys.   Anyways, you were saying?”

Kanor shot Kaz a look before turning to gaze back out at the stars.

“I was raised in Klingon society.  As I grew up, I realized Klingons were a…patriarchal society.”

“Anyone who’s ever met a Klingon knows it’s a patriarchal society.”

Kanor scowled at Kaz’s interruption, shooting him a withering glance.  Kaz averted his eyes as he held up his hands in a fending off gesture, his cigarette dangling from his mouth.

“I find the concept of a patriarchal society…distasteful.  A matriarchal society, too, for that matter.  I prefer the idea of a level playing field; in society, and in a relationship.  Partners.”

“Between males and females?”

“Between people, period.  In modern times, my mother’s parent cultures have developed to a more equal ground; but both Vulcans and Humans have come out of patriarchal societies, and remnants of it still echo in both, even to this day.”

“The galaxy is riddled with other gender-based societies that have come from matriarchal roots, and even some that have developed with an equality between genders.  Why, there are even cultures where a third or fourth gender…”

Kanor waved a hand dismissively to interrupt Kaz.

“That’s not where I’m going.  What I’m trying to say is, all I’ve ever known well are Klingon females.  Raised in a patriarchal society.  They’re not all submissive bedwarmers, either; there are several quite dominant Klingon women, despite how our society is arrayed against them.  The Klingon heart beats fiercely in our women as much as our men.”

“Riveting.  You know, I’ve never heard of a homosexual Klingon man…”

Kanor sighed; rolling his eyes at Kaz’s disinterested tone.

“Did you mean it when you asked what has been on my mind, or were you simply attempting to be nice?”

“You’re right, I’m being rude.  It seems like you’re rambling, however, and I’ll admit to a bit of a headache since we’ve come in here.”

“I have a point to make, in reference to answering your question.”

“My apologies, then.  Go on.”

“Klingon women were…relatively easy to understand, at least the ones I knew.  Mate for pleasure, mate for political or societal gain, mate to submit to a male who wanted you.  My parents were ambassadors; nothing of great political or societal standing, and their lot worsened when they fell in love.  As a…halfbreed, I was not well received in our society.  My experiences with women were either ‘let’s have a wild time with the freak’, or women with no mettle who couldn’t take care of themselves.”

“That sounds…so romantic.”

Kanor shrugged his shoulders at Kaz’s sarcasm.

“Like I said, that’s all I seemed to encounter.  There is love for love’s sake in our people, but I never found someone for me like that.”

Kaz simply ashed his cigarette, waiting for Kanor to continue.

“Anyways, then I came aboard Enterprise.  Of course I’ve encountered societies outside of Klingons before, but I’ve never been so…involved for such a duration before.”

Kaz frowned.

“You’ve only been aboard a few weeks…”

“I don’t usually stay places for long; and if I do, I usually don’t get too involved with people there.”

“So, you’ve come aboard Enterprise, and now…?”

“Now…I seemed to have…developed feelings for individuals I don’t quite understand.”

“How can you not understand them?”

“Because they are not...simple.  One revolves around a strong friendly relationship without sex, the other seems…more sexually friendly.”

“As in all about sex, or friends having sex?”

“Friends having sex.”

“And you care and have feelings for both of them, I take it?”

“I enjoy the presence of both, and would regret losing either of their company.”

“So…you’ve said they’re both friendships, the only difference is one involves sex.  Would you like sex in the other?  Would you like the one without the sex?”

Kanor frowned, contemplating that briefly.

“I’m sure I would, on both accounts; but…it’s appeared from the beginning that sex wasn’t something available in the one.”

“But you haven’t minded until lately.”

“I still don’t mind.  It’s not the lack of it there that has caused the confusion, per se.  More like…the inclusion of it with the other that has created the issue.”

“Ahhhhhh.  So, there’s a jealous factor involved.”

“I…suppose, yes.  I guess that’s what I don’t understand.  I was simply enjoying myself with another friend; we were helping each other feel good.  It doesn’t mean I think less of the other friend because of it.”

“Maybe not, but sex is a connection you share with one you don’t with the other.  Something the one is willing to give the other isn’t, maybe for very legitimate reasons.  That’s going to make her feel inadequate.”  Kaz took another pull on his cigarette, pausing for a moment before continuing.  “Tell me; have you thought about MORE than friendship with either of them?  Do either of them fulfill your desire to find…how did you phrase it…’a partner’?  Do they each have ‘mettle’ to take care of themselves, and is the one simply wanting to get her freak on?”

Kanor was trying to understand how Marcie might feel inadequate.  His skull was pounding, now, it was difficult to focus.  He had never really compared them to each other in that fashion; Skid was simply Skid and Marcie was simply Marcie.  Neither of them was inadequate in anything in his mind, he simply interacted with them differently.  He blinked a bit at Kaz’s barrage of questions.

“I really don’t think she’s wanting to simply use me, not at all.  And as for…”

A thunderclap of screeching sound slammed into Kanor’s ears, and the deck beneath them suddenly shuddered violently.  Kanor’s bottle was knocked from his hand, fell off the table, and shattered, while Kaz’s empty glass followed not far behind.  Kanor’s hand clamped down on the table, denting it with the impressions of his fingers to stay in his seat, but Kaz was pitched out of his chair.

“Joan’s great tits, what the fuck was that!?”

The Red Alert klaxon suddenly blared to life overhead, and Kanor cried out as a stabbing pain flared inside his skull, forcing him to double over as he reached up to clutch his hair for a moment.  He hissed, but the pain just as quickly seemed to disappear, along with his headache.  He heard a series of electronic chirps from the floor as Kaz whipped out his communicator.

“Kaz to Bridge, report!”

Kanor lifted his head again, sucking in air, only to have his eyes widen in utter shock at the drastically changed scenery outside the viewing port.  Kaz had fallen to the deck and propped himself up on an elbow with his back to it; he couldn’t see.  Kanor leaped to his feet.

“Kaz, LOOK!”

Kaz’s head whirled around to look behind him, the cigarette he had managed to keep inbetween his lips falling to the deck, forgotten.

The Mindbender’s ship filled the massive observation window.