The Sato Series, Episode 3: a new Frontier

Kieran nodded. “I know. I just—everything feels wrong, Kat. Everything about this. I mean, really, what difference does it make where the wormhole terminates, as long as it’s the Beta Quadrant?”
Kathryn sighed. “I’m sorry, Kato, but I actually agree with Starfleet on this. The Romulans are more powerful as allies than the Klingons, and they were crucial to the war effort. Unfortunately, the tendency of a Klingon to let anger and bloodlust rule their reason made them less effective. In a crisis, I’d rather be fighting beside a Romulan,” she tried to convince her friend.
“Not me,” Laren scoffed. “If I’m in a fight, I’d rather have a pissed off Klingon warrior on my side than anyone else, precisely because they fight with emotion,” she argued. “But it’s not for me to argue with the brass, either,” she added, not wanting Kieran to think she would defy Starfleet at the first opportunity.
“I really don’t care either way. I know that sounds awful, but I just want my family safe, and if that means kissing P’Arth’s ass, then I’d happily pucker up,” she said wearily. “Naomi is an absolute wreck right now,” she added, not wanting to hide the truth from Kathryn.
The Ambassador nodded. “I know. She told Seven and I about the nightmares. Seven is tailing Naomi as much as she can, without being conspicuous, and she has used every trick in her Borg book to put Lenara and Naomi in the same place where she can keep an eye on both of them at once. I don’t think she’s played this much Velocity in all the years we’ve been married,” Kathryn chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “And she is none too happy that Kit is beating all three of them regularly,” she added.
Finally, Kieran smiled. Her pride for Kit never failed her, and she had to grin to imagine her daughter beating the three best players on the ship, after Kathryn.
“Yeah,” Laren put in, seeing Kieran was finally relaxing a bit. “Kit is winning all sorts of credits from them. She might be planning some truly spectacular outfit for your statue, boss,” she teased Kieran.
“Well, it was nice of her not to disobey my order to keep the statue costume-free while the Klingons are in town,” Kieran replied. “I really didn’t want the humiliation with P’Arth around,” she said defiantly.
“Are you kidding me? Kit made a point of taking P’Arth to see that statue and to rub P’Arth’s nose in the fact that the one at the Academy is three times that big,” Kathryn supplied.
Kieran smiled. “It’s good to have a fan,” she joked.
Laren smirked. “Yeah, well Kit told P’Arth not to miss the one on campus, and P’Arth is planning to make a pilgrimage,” she offered. “You’d almost think the woman admires you,” she puzzled over it.
“It’s a front,” Kieran contended. “Deep down P’Arth hates me for what happened, because it forced her to go home from school in disgrace. What I can’t figure out is how she managed to land an important husband, after washing out of the fleet.”
Kathryn finished her eggs, wiping daintily at her mouth. “Seven told me she all but asked P’Arth that question,” she answered. “P’Arth said that it was no disgrace to leave the Academy, because the Klingons think she was soft or daft for going in the first place.” Kathryn sipped her coffee. “She landed such a prestigious husband because she fought valiantly in the war. She killed more Jem Hadar than anyone else in the Empire. She has medals of valor to prove it,” she explained. “She became a very desirable mate, after that,” Kathryn added. “And Mor’dehK was every bit the social climber P’Arth is, and he latched onto her for the mutual prestige. His own wife died suddenly—under suspicious circumstances, I might add,” she informed them.
“Why does that not surprise me?” Kieran groaned. “Hasn’t anyone in the Empire figured out that everywhere she goes, people die?”
Laren shrugged. “You know how it is with national heroes, KT,” she argued. “They can get away with murder. Human history is replete with examples,” she contended. She touched Kieran’s hand. “Lucky for you,” she teased.
Kieran snorted disdainfully. “I’m not a national hero, Laren,” she retorted. “I’m a Starfleet officer whose pro career washed out.”
“That’s not what Kit tells me,” Laren shot back. “She says you can’t go anywhere on Earth and not get asked for an autograph. Even now.”
Kathryn smiled. “It’s true enough,” she agreed. “But don’t let that give you any ideas about murdering P’Arth,” she warned Kieran playfully.
“No, I won’t,” Kieran agreed. But her mind recalled her history with P’Arth all too well.
Kathryn knew Kieran needed to talk about it. “You’ve never told me much about her. How did you ever end up being lovers with a Klingon?” she asked.
Kieran sighed. “Stupidity. It was like this,” she recalled.
************
Cadet Fourth Class Kieran Thompson slung her gym bag over her shoulder, whistling softly to herself. Velocity practice had been fun, because she had played against the only Klingon at the Academy, a young woman named P’Arth, who had boldly walked on to the team without a scholarship, and soundly defeated most of the varsity starting squad. Kieran had always been fascinated by Klingon culture, and it was interesting having an opponent who liberally threw expletives in Klingon at her while they played. And she had been impressed that P’Arth had convinced the Coach to allow her to join the team mid-season. P’Arth was either very persuasive, or she was better than she’d played this afternoon.
P’Arth had questioned Kieran’s courage more than once during the match, and accordingly, Kieran had offered to take P’Arth sailing on lake Qo’noS, a very volatile body of water on the Klingon homeworld that only the most seasoned sailors ever attempted. Kieran knew there was a holodeck program at the campus rec center, and it suddenly occurred to her she had never once sailed on that program. Damn, I was trying to impress her. I wanted to show off. I wonder if it’s because she was so condescending, she mused, thinking of her Klingon teammate.
She logged into her comm account the second she was back at her quad, setting up a time at the rec center to try out the program. P’Arth had not agreed to the outing, but Kieran knew all she had to do was sneer at the woman, call her a few names, and challenge her mettle, and P’Arth would capitulate. Especially if Kieran implied P’Arth was afraid of the lake’s violent reputation.
A message was waiting for her when she accessed her account, and the locale stamp said it was from home.
Kieran’s mother, Violet Thompson, materialized on the screen, looking sternly back at her daughter.
“Hello, honey,” she said, forcing a smile. “Dad and Cass and I miss you. We hope you enjoyed Christmas break. Cassidy is coming to your next basketball game—the one against New Mexico. The house seems empty without you here. And we sure could use your help right about now. There’s a pod of Pilot Whales that keeps beaching themselves down by the Naples Pier,” she explained, “and we’re running all sorts of tests to try and figure out what’s wrong with them. The COVR volunteers are exhausted and half crazed with grief, and we’ve lost over half the pod already. Poor Cass has practically cried herself sick.”
Violet sighed, shaking her head. “I wish I understood why you left, Kieran. What we’re doing here—Cassidy understands how important it is. Why can’t you?” she implored. “Please come home and help us. When you headed up COVR, they were so much more organized. When you left, a lot of them became inactive, because they don’t like the new chairperson. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Pierce Charles took your place—did Cass tell you? They thought Cassidy was too young to run the show, but there was such a heated debate, most of Cassidy’s supporters quit. We’re so short-handed. I know if you would only come home, COVR would be cohesive again, and they’d give you back the chair in a heartbeat. When you get this message, please comm me back,” Violet urged her. “I have to get back to the lab.”
Kieran held her head in her hands. Those poor whales. What am I doing here? Away from Cass? Away from Jenna? They all wanted me to stay, go to Gainesville, get my degree in Marine Biology. Hell, I was halfway there already. I could have a masters in three years. She ground her fingers into her eyes, trying not to cry. Cass was so hurt when I left. How could I leave her alone with those people? With Mom? It’s like leaving her swimming alone with a hungry Great White. And Daddy was so disappointed in me, no matter how many times Admiral Brand tried to explain to them how incredible my SFVAB scores were, or how high Starfleet is on my application. They can’t understand. All they see is ‘military’, and they are pacifists. Even Cass doesn’t understand, though she tries to be supportive.
Kieran went to her dresser and opened the middle drawer. She pulled out her COVR t-shirt, fingering the embroidered logo. Center for Oceanic Volunteer Rescue. She traced the outline of the bottle-nosed dolphin on the logo, and the humpback whale. She remembered the first rescue she and Cassidy had worked on together. Cass had only been eleven years old, but she had been tireless, going hours without food or rest. And they had saved six Russo’s dolphins, but Cassidy could only think about the two that died. She had been depressed for a week after that, and nothing Kieran did could shake her out of it. The same way she was depressed now, because Kieran had left home.
Her workstation beeped and an incoming message flashed. It was Cassidy. Kieran wiped the moisture from her eyes and punched the channel open. “Hey, Sundance,” she said to her sister. “You caught me between practice and study hours,” she said faintly.
Cassidy studied the image of her sibling on the viewscreen. “What’s wrong, Kelsey?” she asked.
God, I can’t hide anything from that kid, Kieran thought. “Nothing, kiddo, just—overwhelmed with school, and the team, and all,” she lied. “How are you?”
Cassidy chuckled, her green eyes sparkling. “How do you think? You’re not here, COVR is falling apart at the seams, and Mom and Dad are riding me like a jet ski,” she laughed. “But I didn’t contact you to whine about that. I want to hear about school. How are your second semester classes shaping up, Cadet Thompson?” she asked, touching Kieran’s face on the screen.
“It’s a challenge,” Kieran admitted. “I won’t be able to skate, not this term,” she added.
Cassidy chuckled. “It’s about time something challenged you besides Jenna,” she teased. “She sends her love.”
Kieran smirked. “I bet.”
“No, Kels, really. She gave me an ass chewing, in fact, for not being more supportive of you, and for the way I moped around all summer because you’d decided to go. If anyone understands your aspirations, it’s Jen. She misses you so much she actually joined COVR,” Cassidy said with a wink.
Kieran laughed. “Yeah, that’s why she’s dating Teresa,” she replied sarcastically. “Because she misses me so much.”
Cassidy flinched. “She is?” she sputtered, bristling on behalf of Kieran.

“Cass, it’s okay. Jenna and I agreed last summer not to try to stay together as a couple. There’s no point, and we both know it. So don’t go after her to tell her off, okay?” Kieran extracted the promise.

“Okay. I won’t. Listen, Kelsey, I want to apologize for pressuring you to quit school and stay here over Christmas break. It was unfair of me, and I hope I didn’t ruin your vacation. I know you made the right choice following your dream, and it can’t have been easy to get out from under Mom’s thumb,” she sympathized. “It’s just—”
Kieran’s chest constricted at the vulnerability in Cassidy’s voice. “Just what, Sundance?”
Cassidy sighed. “Mom and Dad are so upset you left, they’ve redoubled their effort to make sure I never do. I feel like a manatee is sitting on me. You know, they’ve never once looked over my shoulder academically, and all of a sudden, Mom is asking to see my homework, she’s conferenced with my professors—it’s annoying as hell,” she groused, running her fingers through her curly sun bleached hair. “And I miss you something fierce.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Really,” Kieran assured her. “But you’re such a braniac, there’s no way Mom can criticize. For fuck’s sake, Sundance, you’re fourteen and taking college courses. She’ll ease up once she gets used to my being gone. I know it.” She sighed gustily. “Damn, I miss you, too, Cassidy. Why don’t you come this weekend?”
“I can’t. There’s a major rescue on, and I’m on call. I’m only home now because Pierce told me I had to leave,” she explained.
“How many hours were you in the water, Cass?” Kieran asked, sounding scolding. “You know you always overdo it.”
“Only fourteen hours,” Cassidy replied, holding up her hands to stave off Kieran’s tirade. “I know, I know, I violated protocol. But you’re not here to mother me, so don’t bust my ass,” she warned her older sister.
“Cass, I put those rules in place for your protection, and you know it. Not just yours, but everyone’s. You’re no good to the animals if—”
Cassidy rolled her eyes, interrupting. “I’m no good to the animals if I drown, yeah, yeah,” she mimicked her sister’s lecturing tone. “You wanna boss me, Kels, you gotta be here,” she quipped. “Besides, I’ve already got Mom and Dad on my back. You have to install hand rails if you wanna climb aboard, too.”
“Wise ass,” Kieran laughed. “I love you Cass. So you can’t come?”
“Kieran,” Cassidy crossed her arms. “It’s your first weekend of second semester. Don’t you have a wild, drunken party to go to?”
Kieran chuckled. “Probably. Only I’ll end up skipping it and studying,” she promised.
“Well, I would hope so, since you’re underage,” Violet Thompson snapped, intruding in Cassidy’s room. “Were you planning to hail me back?” she interrogated her oldest child.
“Yes,” Kieran replied. “I just walked in and Cass commed, Mom. It’s not like I’ve ignored you for hours,” she retorted defensively.
“Maybe not today, but God knows you ignored me all summer. Honestly, Kieran, do you listen to anything your father and I say?” she demanded.
“Mom,” Cassidy implored. “Let it go, already. It’s done.”
“Stay out of this,” Violet demanded impatiently. “Have you told her what’s going on at COVR?”
Kieran scowled. “Don’t take it out on Cass, Mom. You have a bone to pick with me, pick it, but get off her ass.”
“Don’t talk to me that way, young lady, or I’ll jerk you out of that school so fast your head will spin. You’re sixteen, and until your eighteenth birthday, you’re there at my discretion,” she threatened. “Don’t tempt me.”
Kieran set her jaw. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. But this is my career. This is what I want to do. I’m not supposed to be a marine biologist, Mom. That’s your dream, not mine.”
“So you’ve said,” Violet replied tersely. “I just wanted you to know you could change your mind. If it’s too hard, there, if you’re not cutting it—”
Kieran’s face fell. “You think I’m going to wash out? You think I can’t do this?” she demanded angrily. “You’re the one who always told us we can do anything we put our minds to,” she argued. “Now you’ve changed your tune because I’m not doing what you want me to?” Kieran bit her lip. “Thanks for your unwavering faith in me, Mom. It says everything.” She tried to get her rage under control. “My report card for first semester will be sent to your comm account Friday. Don’t hold your breath hoping I flunked out—I got straight A’s,” she advised her mother, biting off her words.
Kieran severed the link and when her mother called back, she let her automated message answer it. She sat there in disbelief, shaking with fury. I’ll show her. I’ll graduate first in my class if it fucking kills me. And I’ll start on every varsity team I try out for. She’s going to eat those words. Not cutting it, my ass.
Kieran signed back onto her workstation and checked the rec center schedule. There was an immediate opening on one of the holodecks, which didn’t surprise her because everyone was already loaded down with the first week’s assignments. She needed the adrenaline rush of a dangerous program to take her mind off her family. She ran all the way to the rec center, fighting tears.
When she arrived, the very Klingon she had intended to impress was coming out of the holodeck. “Well, look what the targs dragged in,” P’Arth said with glittering teeth. “Scaring up a holographic velocity match so you can beat me next time?” she sneered.
Kieran was still terribly upset over the conversation with her mother, and she didn’t feel like bantering with an arrogant Klingon. “I came to go sailing,” she replied with obvious disdain. Because you and Cassidy always sailed together, Kelsey. Kieran’s eyes filled with tears at the thought, and she struggled for control.
P’Arth was taken aback at the obvious emotion on the woman’s face, and she instantly knew Kieran had had another fight with her family. The entire Velocity team was aware of the situation with Kieran’s family. Teammates always knew your private life, and it was no secret that the Thompsons did not approve one iota of Kieran’s choice of schools. They had made their disapproval abundantly clear at orientation, and again at the last Velocity match, and even P’Arth had taken notice of their sour attitudes at the Freshman awards ceremony for first term. Admiral Brand had clearly been taken aback by Violet Thompson’s haughty behavior, and like all of Kieran’s classmates, Brand couldn’t figure out how such an irritating woman had raised such a delightful child.
P’Arth’s demeanor completely changed as she studied Kieran’s obvious upset. “I think you should skip the holodeck and come have a drink with me. You look like you need one,” she said in a tone that was actually friendly. “Your family?”
Kieran nodded. “Yeah.”
“Bloodwine,” P’Arth stated flatly. “Come on,” she urged, grabbing Kieran’s arm and dragging her out of the rec center. “I keep some in my quad,” she confided.
Kieran managed a faint grin. “That’s a violation of regulations,” she pointed out the obvious.
“Regulations,” P’Arth laughed. “Bah.” P’Arth touched her sleeve. “Really. Come on,” she said in a voice that could only be described as solicitous. “You’ll feel a lot better. And no one will find out.”
Kieran considered momentarily, but there was something in P’Arth’s eyes. She understood what Kieran was feeling, how lost she was. And so she relented.
“I take it Christmas vacation wasn’t exactly a Norman Rockwell painting?” P’Arth asked.
Kieran shook her head. “My family doesn’t do Norman, or normal,” she replied. “You know, for a Klingon, you sure as hell know a lot about Earth culture,” she commented, surprised that P’Arth would know about American artists.
“I’m well read,” she smarted. “And I read everything I could find about Earth culture before I decided to come to the Academy,” she advised.

“Here’s one,” P’Arth raised her glass high and began to sing a Klingon drinking song.

Kieran laughed, throwing back another swallow of bloodwine. “What does it mean?” she asked eagerly, sitting close to the Klingon on the bed in P’Arth’s section of the quad.
P’Arth’s teeth glittered and her chest puffed up. “It says ‘Brothers, comrades, honorable warriors, we drink the blood of those we’ve slain, and spit on the graves of their mothers.”
“Charming,” Kieran giggled, feeling rather lightheaded from the four glasses of bloodwine she had downed in rapid succession. “Sing it again,” she begged, grinning.
P’Arth obliged by belting out the guttural song once more. When she had finished, Kieran asked the Klingon to teach her the words. They sat up until very late, drinking and singing together, increasingly off-key as their intoxication intensified.
Kieran tended to get weepy when she was drunk, because her guard was down then, and all of her feelings surfaced. She had a load on her plate that was unenviable, and her frequent arguments with her mother haunted her. And Kieran was barely sixteen, away from home for the first time, and feeling lost without her Sundance. Cassidy was her best buddy, her sailing partner, her diving partner, and just generally her biggest fan.
P’Arth poured them another drink. “Tell me about your sister,” she encouraged her teammate.
Kieran sighed. “There’s nothing to tell. She’s my best friend in the whole world. And I abandoned her to come to the Academy.”
“Families,” P’Arth said bitterly. “I have a brother who is the biggest P’taQ,” she added.
Kieran took the glass unsteadily, her words beginning to slur. “What’s a P’taQ?” she asked.
P’Arth threw her head back and laughed, a big, booming Klingon laugh that echoed against the walls. “Hmmm. Let’s see. Something akin to an asshole and a fuck up, all in one,” she chuckled deep in her chest. “And a P’taQ is without honor,” she added, drinking down her wine. “So Cassidy is how old?” she asked, intending to steer Kieran back to her troubles.
“Fourteen. She’s a knockout, too,” Kieran added fondly. “And brilliant. My parents are pretty well convinced the sun rises and sets at her feet.”
P’Arth nodded understanding. “As it is with Koreth, my brother,” she sneered. “Because he is male, of course, and females are so much less worthy,” she explained. She ground her teeth together. “A woman’s honor derives from the match she makes, from the prowess and station of her husband. A male child gleans all the focus, all the praise, all the glory. He is groomed to be a warrior. And my brother hates me because I took the same training he did, and I bested his performance at everything he ever tried.”
“Then your parents must be proud of you,” Kieran noted, smiling at her friend.
P’Arth snorted. “Hardly. I am a maverick, an embarrassment. Women are not supposed to aspire to such things. And they resent me for making Koreth look like the fool he is,” she described, clutching the edge of her bed to steady herself. “I came to school here to escape their constant carping about finding a husband and bearing children. Children,” she spat the word. “As if I am nothing more than a brood mare.”
“Starfleet treats men and women equally, at least,” Kieran allowed, resting her hand on P’Arth’s shoulder to console her.
P’Arth nodded. “It’s why I decided to join their ranks. And once I have proven my worth, I will go back to Qo’noS and I will find a mate of equal worth. One who will bring honor to my family name. That is, if Koreth hasn’t disgraced us into discommendation by then,” she snarled. “Your family—they consider your aspirations without honor?” she asked.
“You could say that,” Kieran agreed, finishing another drink. “I guess like you, I’m a maverick. They have never taken pride in anything I’ve done. And now they are actively ashamed of me.”
“Ashamed?” P’Arth asked, stunned. Kieran Thompson had entered the ranks of the Academy rumored as the highest scoring candidate on her SFVABS in decades. She was the star of the basketball team, and the Velocity squad. She was on the Admiral’s Academic list first semester—won an award for it. P’Arth could not imagine how she could have brought shame upon her family. “What have you done?”
“Joined a military organization,” Kieran replied. “My parents are pacifists. They do not believe in space exploration, let alone support what they consider an imperialist agenda,” she explained.
“Conquest is natural to all species,” P’Arth stated flatly. “And the battleground is the only arena for glory,” she opined. “Your parents are fools.”
Kieran laughed. “My thoughts, precisely.”
P’Arth studied her momentarily. “But your sister—you love her a great deal?”
“Yes,” Kieran agreed. “Clear around the world,” she said softly. She glanced up and saw the questioning look on P’Arth’s face. “Cassidy and I say that to each other.” Kieran saw some unnamable emotion working beneath P’Arth’s façade. Something akin to envy and longing. She looked at the chronometer. “I should stagger home,” she announced. “It’s late.”