“Good, because you’re not getting one—unless, of course, talking to Kor proved a waste of time.”
With the mention of that name, the rest of the night came back to Dax. The drinking. The stories of everything ranging from Klach D’Kel Bracht to the Albino to T’nag to the Korma Pass to the Delta Triangle and back to Organia again. The drinking. The flirting with those two rather comely Rigelian women. The drinking. And, oh yes, the drinking.
Vaughn was still droning. “Believe me, Ambassador, I’m fully aware that the best tool to use in interrogating a Klingon is often a case of bloodwine.”
Dax smiled. Vaughn wasn’t as stupid as he looked. But then, with that beard, he couldn’t be.“Well, you can rest assured it was successful—sort of.” Thinking about where he and one of the Rigelian women wound up, perhaps “sort of” was overstating the case, but Vaughn didn’t want—or deserve—to hear about that. “Kor didserve with J’Doq. And J’Doq—and Kravokh—did have an ancestor on Ch’gran. Andthere’s some kind of secret that relates to his ancestor—fellow named Klartak.”
At that, Vaughn’s eyes narrowed.
“What is it?” Dax prompted.
“It can wait until you’re of a better mind to appreciate it.”
“Don’t coddle me, Commander, this isn’t my first hangover. What. Is. It?”
“I was able to dig up some of the sealed records from the Ch’gran wreck they found in the Betreka Nebula about fifty years back. Klartak was the second-in-command under Ch’gran.”
“Interesting,” Dax said, though it wasn’t really. “Still, that doesn’t explain Kravokh’s obsession.”
“I’m afraid it does. You see, Klartak wasn’t just Ch’gran’s first officer—he’s also the one who led the mutiny.”
Chapter 35
I.K.S. Sompek
K’mpec was livid.
It was not enough that the distress call to the Morska system was a fake. All the Sompekfound when Morska came on long-range sensors was a buoy of some sort that exploded within seconds of the Sompek’s commencement of that very sensor probe. No sign of the Konmator its Cardassian attackers. One of Captain Kang’s officers did report, however, that the buoy could well have been a communications relay that faked the signal, though it was impossible to be sure. Kang had the debris beamed on board just in case.
But then, to add insult to injury, they received a disaster call from Khitomer—they were under attack by Romulans. Had the convoy remained on-station, had Kravokh heeded Kang’s advice and only sent two ships, then they would have been only two hours from Khitomer. Now they were at least seven hours away.
When they received the distress call from Khitomer, the first thing Kang said was, “Is thiscall genuine?” He stared right at Kravokh as he said it.
“It is a disaster beacon, sir. Those cannot be faked.”
K’mpec was touched by the young officer’s naïveté, though it was true that disaster beacons were harder to fake than simple distress calls, as they had several added layers of identity markers. That was why the original disaster call when Praxis exploded still got out, despite attempts by the High Council to suppress them.
“Set course for Khitomer, maximum speed.” Kang gave the order without consulting Kravokh. The chancellor, for his part, said nothing. The first sensible thing he has done this day,K’mpec thought.
“Sir,” Kang’s pilot said, “do you mean maximum speed of the convoy or of the Sompek?”
Kang did not hesitate. “All ships are to execute at their maximum velocity. If some are left behind, so be it!” His voice rising with every word, Kang cried, “We will not leave our comrades to die at the hands of Romulan filth!”
A cheer went up around the bridge, including several of the councillors and their bodyguards.
Only Kravokh remained silent.
However, when the cheers died down, the chancellor did speak. “Captain Kang, while I appreciate the need for dispatch, given the circumstances, I do not appreciate my convoy being taken—”
“It is not yourconvoy, Kravokh.” Kang looked directly at the chancellor, not bothering to rise from his chair. Kravokh’s office required a modicum of respect, but Kang was not giving him even that. “Icommand this fleet’s flagship. And we have seen the result of the last time I ceded my command to you. I will not make that same mistake twice.”
A strong chancellor would have killed a ship captain that made such a pronouncement, especially in front of so many other members of the High Council. In fact, a strong chancellor would not have needed to do so, because those other members of the High Council would be falling all over each other to do it themselves.
Instead, they stood their ground.
K’mpec had known that this day would come. The battlements on which Kravokh stood had been crumbling since Narendra III—K’mpec knew this, because he had been standing on the same unsteady land. But where K’mpec had spent the two years since building a new fortress, strengthening his position, Kravokh had stayed in place.
Now Kravokh’s defenses were gone. He stood alone with no one and nothing to defend him.
“Kravokh, son of J’Doq!” K’mpec bellowed the name, his deep voice echoing off the bulkheads of the Sompekbridge. At this, the bridge quieted down. “For the second time in as many years, you have let your obsession with Cardassia cloud your judgment—and allow Klingons to die dishonorably. As I stand before these warriors, I assure you—there will not be a third.”
On the word third,K’mpec unsheathed his d’k tahg.
“Do not be a fool, K’mpec.” Kravokh took out his own dagger, and looked around the bridge. “We do not have time for such idiocy! I am your supreme commander, and I—”
“Youare the fool,” Kang said. “If somehow you survive K’mpec’s assault, you will face a phalanx of warriors who will gladly take their try.”
“It is a good day to die, Kravokh,” K’mpec said. “Let the final memory of your reign be that you died with honor—in combat.”
Kravokh shook his head. “You are allfools. You have no idea what is at stake. The fate of the Empire could well hang in the balance, and you do not see it— cannotsee it.”
His voice almost a whisper, K’mpec said, “What I see, Kravokh, are hundreds of Klingon corpses—the victims of your incompetence. The dead cry out for vengeance.”
All around the bridge, a chant started. Though he was not sure who started it, soon everyone, even Kang, had joined in: “K’mpec! K’mpec! K’mpec!”
Kravokh whirled around at all of the councillors who had betrayed him. Some of them, K’mpec knew, were the some ones who cheered his victory over Grivak in Council Chambers twelve years ago. Kravokh’s eyes fell on one in particular—Ruuv, who had been Kravokh’s aide when he was a mere councillor, elevated to the Council when Kravokh ascended to the chancellorship. At the sight of Ruuv cheering on Kravokh’s opponent, the chancellor’s shoulders sagged. “So be it, K’mpec. If I am to die this day, it will be with my eyes open and a weapon in my hand.”
K’mpec smiled. “As it should be.”
Then there was no need for words.
Though neither swift nor agile, K’mpec yielded to no one in his ability to wield a d’k tahg.In his younger days, he had been feared throughout his home planet of Mempa IV; he achieved champion standing in the Mempa Knife Duels for seven years running before his Defense Force career took away his ability to participate regularly.