The Room Where It Happens
Posted on Thu Jun 5th, 2025 @ 1:41am by Akum, Son of Bra'Khis & Ed'Rah, Daughter of Khartan
Edited on on Thu Oct 9th, 2025 @ 7:46pm
875 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
ARYL 1X03: The Listening Post
Location: Klingon Outpost, Kraz System
Timeline: Simultaneous with “The First Senior Staff Meeting”
ON
Another day. Another meeting in the large, well-appointed office. Another briefing by the political officer, explaining once again why the glorious Empire would thrive and the corrupt Federation would crumble beneath their literal and metaphorical boots. Another pledge of loyalty. Another roundtable discussion about ship movements and plans and scientific research and resource constraints.
Another door closed after the departure of the last attendee (another straggler who had to be practically pushed out the door by an aide).
Finally, silence.
"You should take better care to hide your disdain for them, Akum."
Another time the voice from the shadows interrupts his respite.
Another growl of annoyance.
"Aunt, one day someone on the command team will catch you hiding in my office during one of these classified meetings," said Akum, commander of Klingon forces in the sector. "And what will happen then?"
Out from a dark corner stepped a woman, perhaps just past her prime fighting years but by no means old for a Klingon. Long hair, grey from birth, concealed the ridges that had been reconstituted on her forehead a few years earlier. "I presume they would say 'Hail, Ed'Rah, Esteemed Daughter of Khartan! Hero of Winds!', lest I take out their tongues to clean my ship." The woman took a bone from the targ carcass on the table and ripped off an uneaten hind leg. "How much of your sector operating budget goes to feeding these sycophants?" she asked before taking a large bite.
"It keeps them busy," Akum countered. "And you don't have a ship."
"Not that you know of," the elder Klingon replied mid-bite. When she finished her mouthful she continued. "You weren't there all those years ago, Akum. Glory was within our grasp. Your father knew it, and he had the courage to reach for what should be ours. We had the Federation running scared, and we would have crushed them if not for the cowardly Organians." She cracked the bone that she had been eating from in half, tossed one piece back on the plate, and used the point of the other to pick at her teeth. "Since his death your brother has been leading our house to ruin. You won't say it, but I know you believe it. You know I’m right."
"If you were wrong," Akum said plainly, "I would not have followed you down this path."
Ed'Rah shook her head. "No, Akum. You didn't follow me anywhere. I pointed the way to victory but you walked that path yourself. And so when the flag of the Empire flies over Earth, you alone will stand before Chancellor Lorak and General Chang to receive the glory. You will take the family's seat on the High Council, safe in the knowledge that your efforts contributed to one of the Empire's greatest moments, despite at your brother’s best efforts at keeping the peace," she said with disgust, spitting on the floor after saying that last word.
She grinned at her nephew. "And if by some miracle I was given a restored position, a reward for my years of devotion to one of my brother's younger sons, then all the better."
"Do not think me blind or stupid for choosing to go along with this, aunt," Akum said forcefully. "I've always seen your endgame. The official records may be vague on the subject but I know what happened on that final day before peace was forced on us."
She sucked the marrow out of her would-be toothpick and then tossed it with the rest. "And if not for that, you would be stuck with these mewling creatures who think themselves Klingon. Or worse, you would be a junior officer on a garbage scow. But here you are, a Sector Forces Commander, in a position close enough that you will be actively involved when the shooting starts, but far enough away that we can work without oversight. You are exactly where you need to be, boy. So man up, take the reins, and lead these jIvwI'pu' to glory!"
The young man growled and marched toward the door, eager to leave this shadow-controller behind him. But he stopped short. "Is the device in place?"
Ed'Rah grinned. "The agent is likely compromised, but she did her job."
"Good. Then we can proceed on schedule. Stay clear of Site wej. And begone before the cleaning servants arrive." With that, he left his office. There was much work to do.
"As my Commander orders," Ed'Rah said with an over-dramatic bow toward the now-closed door, before sneaking off into the shadows from whence she came.
END
Akum, Son of Bra'Khis
Sector Forces Commander, Klingon Empire
Ed'Rah, Daughter of Khartan
Secret Advisor to the Sector Forces Commander
~/\~
No one else was in the room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
No one else was in the room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in the room where it happens
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