Prologue:

Subject: Captain Torik epetai-Veska (Klingon: To'riQ epetaI-VesQa)

Age: 19

Height: Five feet, eight inches

Weight: 247 lbs.

Torik is currently employed by the Klingon Empire as a ship's captain and works on the Outlaw Star as the ship's medical officer. Husband of Aisha Clanclan Veska and soon-to-be father of a male child. Torik was born as the son of Admiral Arthur vestai-Veska (Human-Klingon mix) and Maren Macgregor Veska (Human). Torik got his name from one of his ancestors, who fought alongside Kahless in the war against Molar. Even before his Right of Ascension Torik studied the teachings of Kahless, who quickly became one of his heroes. He is considered by his family, friends, and even the Klingon government its self to be the incarnation of the spirit of Kahless. He enlisted in the Klingon navy at age sixteen and attended the Academy of Sciences on Betazed to earn a degree in medicine and become a licensed doctor. While on Betazed, he also picked up a clairvoyant ability from Betazoid meditation. He received the IKV Tovadok A, a Vor'cha class battle cruiser, from his father as a present for the anniversary of his Right of Ascension ceremony. His ship was destroyed in an encounter with the Outlaw Star, on which he met Aisha, who later became his wife. This was the first Klingon-C'tarl mating in recorded history.

New Characters:

Essau Lon- Age: 28. Aisha's former fiance, whom she was engaged to since her childhood. Essau fought in the Klingon-C'tarl war, but retreated to Risa, where it is reported he has fathered a record number of illegitimate children.

_______________________________________________________________________

The Essau Redemption

Part I

Blessed

Elton John

Hey you, you're a child in my head
You haven't walked yet
Your first words have yet to be said
But I swear you'll be blessed

I know you're still just a dream
your eyes might be green
Or the bluest that I've ever seen
Anyway you'll be blessed

And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best
I promise you that
I'll pick a star from the sky
Pull your name from a hat
I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that
You'll be blessed

I need you before I'm too old
To have and to hold
To walk with you and watch you grow
And know that you're blessed

It had been so long since Gene had tasted the adventure and excitement in outer space. Despite his phobia of it, he was just itching for the day when Aisha would hurry up and have her damn kid so he could travel back into space. But for now, he was stuck on Earth with everyone else, trying to scrape up as much money as he could doing odd jobs, too much like the old days. That is, until one fateful day.

The sun had just risen over the Starwind and Hawking garage. Gene woke up as soon as the sunlight hit his eyes, his hair in a mess on top of his head and his eyes heavy, having spent a night out at a local bar. He wearily took his shower and got dressed to step into the kitchen to smell something mouth-watering in the air. Man, did that smell good. Gene couldn't wait to see what it was. When he entered the kitchen, he found everyone but Torik and Aisha sitting at the table, waiting to partake of a delicious breakfast Melfina had prepared. Biscuits, pancakes, eggs, everything good was right here on the table. "Where's Torik and Aisha at?" he asked Mel. "It's not like either of them to miss breakfast."

"I'm kinda glad they are," Jim remarked. "Both of them could eat this entire table in under a minute and not leave any for us."

"I think they might still be asleep," Melfina replied. "But with those two, heaven only knows what goes on back there." Gene ignored a very nasty thought that came up in his head and began to eat his breakfast. When suddenly, out of the blue, there came a shrill scream, like a cat getting slowly run over by an 18-wheeler.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Gene dropped his fork, startled and frozen by the sound. There it went again, only this time it sounded as though it was followed by swearing. “DAMN YOU, TORIK! YOU DID THIS TO ME YOU LITTLE BASTARD!” It was Aisha, but what was the occasion for cussing Torik out? Then he remembered the awful truth.

"Jim," he asked uneasily turning to him, "how long ago was it that Torik and Aisha came back from their honeymoon?"

Then Jim's eyes began to widen. "Five months ago today," he said very slowly as he exchanged glances with Gene. Then they heard Torik's voice calling.

"Gene! Jim! Mel! Suzuka! Come quick! Aisha's gonna have the baby!" Everyone dropped what they were doing and ran to their quarters. Sure enough lying there on the bed was Aisha, blown up like an over inflated beach ball. She wore nothing but a T-shirt which unfortunately was too short and had her legs spread and vagina thrust open, awaiting her child or a painful death any minute. And next to the bed sat Torik on a chair, trying to comfort his wife by putting a wet rag on her head and holding her hand, but to no avail. She still was screaming and cursing as if Torik was cheating on her.

"Oh my god," exclaimed Gene as he entered the room, shaking his head and covering his eyes. "Why do I need to be involved in this?"

Torik spurned him for his sardonic remark. "Just shut up and help me out here! I'm trying to comfort my wife here, and I want my son delivered safely!"

Jim realized what he had to do, since he was the only one around who knew anything about child birthing. “All right, Torik,” Jim sighed. “I‘ll try to deliver him safely.” Torik smiled, as if to give him his approval. Jim pulled up a chair in front of the bed, swallowing his pride, as Torik tried to get her to breath deeply. But still it was futile, since the screaming and swearing would not stop. She was soon dilated, and the screaming became louder and shriller. Jim still pressed on, despite his urge to throw up at the site of Aisha‘s vagina lubricating in preparation for the baby to come through. Finally, after three hours of labor, Jim began to see something. It was the top of a head, which was followed by a river of crimson blood. Part by part the new baby began to push its self out like a battering ram until finally, he was fully born. Aisha stopped screaming and began breathing hard in relief of the pain. Her new child was indeed male. He was a healthy young boy with black hairs on his head, heavy Klingon head ridges, and the ears, tail, and heavy tan of a C'tarl-C'tarl. He actually didn't look as bad as everyone expected. It seemed that a Klingon-C’tarl baby wasn’t as ugly as everyone imagined. Aisha smiled a warm and loving smile and her eyes sparkled in joy as she held her child, her offspring, in her arms. All of that labor was worth all of the pain for her beautiful son. Torik too smiled, knowing that his son was safely delivered by Jim, to whom he would be forever grateful. Surely, his son would grow into an honorable warrior that will live and die serving the Empire. And it made him laugh, seeing that he had his mother’s ears. Torik and Aisha decided to name the new baby Tybalt, after a character in Torik's favorite Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. He just loves romance stories where everyone dies for some reason.

“Torik,” Aisha panted, trying to overcome the experience of natural birth, “next time we decide to have a kid, let’s make sure there’s more anesthetic around first!”

Torik just laughed. “Don’t worry about it,” he reassured her in a soft, psychiatrist-like tone. “It’s in the past, but now that our son is born, we must prepare for the future.”

Part II

April Come She Will

Simon and Garfunkle

April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.

June, she'll change her tune,
In restless walks she'll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I'll remember
A love once new has now grown old.

Torik and Aisha were taking a walk in a nearby garden in Haiphong City. It was about four months since Tybalt was born. They admired the beauty of Haiphong, and it‘s beauty seemed boundless. All of the flora and fauna, all of the sunshine. It was just charming. The happy couple sat down on a blanket on a hill to watch the sun set after eating a hefty meal. She lay her head on his chest and purred contently, and he held her in a gentle embrace, singing to her like a baby. But their day off was to be short lived, for lurking behind them was a burly male C'tarl-C'tarl in a black cloak, with an apparent bad attitude. He confronted Torik and challenged him to a duel over Aisha, since he said he loved her before they even met. Torik drew his DaQ'taj in acceptance of the challenge and they began their battle. The C‘tarl swung towards Torik, but he blocked the swing. Torik thrust his weapon towards the burly warrior, but his thrust was stopped. The C‘tarl slashed Torik‘s arm, and it bled profusely. Torik gathered himself, ignored the pain, and charged towards the C‘tarl, who just stood there innocently smiling. But his smile quickly turned into a toothy sadistic grin, and Torik felt as though he were looking into the face of Cerberus himself. The cat man thrust his dagger out and Torik ran right into it, impaling his stomach on this evil steel. Aisha, horrified from Torik’s defeat and afraid for his life, ran onto the battlefield and cradled her dying husband's head in her arms. Then, he lifted his heavy eyelids, smiled at her and said "My love. I love you more than you will ever know. Tell Tybalt that his father now fights with his ancestors in the Black Fleet now." Then he breathed his last, his eyes rolling back into his head. His murderer grabbed Aisha by the arm and neared towards her in attempt to kiss her. She struggled as hard as she could, but to no use. His lips finally met with hers and she fainted in his arms in both disbelief of Torik‘s death and in humiliation of her assault. The victor of the battle dragged her off into the shadows, leaving her mate's unmourned corpse to rot on the hill.

Aisha awoke from her sleep. Her nightshirt was saturated in sweat from that horrible dream. But where was Torik? Is he dead? She looked to her left to find her beloved sound asleep and impervious to the world around him. For a while she was relieved, but then she began to think for a while. The dreams about Torik and her meeting came true. What if this dream was to come true? Sooner would she kill herself than let her husband die, whether in combat or not. But who was that strange C'tarl that appeared in her dream? She had absolutely no way of knowing, but what if it could be...? No, it can't be. That little chicken shit ran off during the war with the Klingons to Risa, never to return. She smiled at her sleeping husband and kissed his head. “I swear I‘ll never let any harm come to you, Torik,” she whispered before she lay back down, her arm around Torik’s body, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow, Torik and her were going for a little picnic, and she looked forward to a time spent with him.

The couple woke up at 6:00 the next morning, ate breakfast quite quickly, and left baby Tybalt in Melfina's care. They walked off to the gardens on the outskirts of Haiphong City. The city’s gardens were even more beautiful by the light of a rising morning sun. They walked through the gardens holding hands and admiring the scenery and each other. It was enough to melt both of their hearts. They took a nature trail. Birds singing, deer, beautiful flowers covered in dew. Torik picked one for her, which she wore it in her hair. It was the most romantic time for them. They sat down on a hill for a little rest and a lot of food. Aisha had packed along some of their favorites; slimy tongue balls, bloodwine, targ heart, brigit lung, and other such animal parts that Klingons (as well as C'tarl) found irresistible. The food was gone in a matter of minutes. They spent some time staring lovingly into each others eyes and reading some poetry that Torik had written for her. He was a wonderful poet and an even better singer, as Aisha soon found out as he serenaded her with Klingon love songs. Then they relaxed a while to watch the colorful sunset sink deep into the horizon. Aisha sank her head on Torik's chest and purred contently, while he held her in a gentle embrace, softly singing to her. He drew her closer to his face to kiss her, and she closed her eyed and readied herself. All of a sudden, Aisha opened her eyes and stopped purring. Now where had she seen this before? Aw dammit, it was on the tip of her tongue. Just as she was about to remember where this scene was familiar, a voice called out to her. The voice was one that was gentle, much like Torik‘s. "Aisha, my darling! There you are!" Aisha stood up and walked over to the strange, tall figure in a black cloak. His face was shrouded in shadows, but she knew all too well the voice of one particular person. She pulled his hood off to reveal a male C'tarl, tan as she was and with spiky black hair. He wore under the cloak a leather military pilot‘s uniform. All of a sudden he held her in his arms and smiled warmly at her as his green eyes softened. "Aisha, my sweet," he purred. "How I have missed you these past ten years."

"Hey, I remember you," she replied with much rage and discontent, wiggling out of his embrace. "You're Essau Lon! You little coward! Don't think I don't know what you did! My whole family knows what you did and we're disgusted with you!"

"Why, whatever could you mean, my love?" he answered innocently. "All of the time I was away I thought only of you."

"Oh, so when you were fucking all of those Risan women," she snapped, "you imagined my head on their bodies, huh? Essau, get away from me, you pervert!"

"Aisha, come on," Essau pleaded, getting down on his knees in desperation. "It's your parent's will that we marry. So let's go. Whose there to stop us?"

Aisha then got a sneaky idea. If anyone could get this annoying little Casanova off her back, it was Torik. She put her cupped hand to her mouth and called for her husband. "Oh Torik! Could you come here for a second please?"

"Torik?" Essau thought, quite confused. "Whose this Torik?" His question was answered when he stood in the shadow of the Klingon giant, who looked down on him frowning and pounding his balled right fist into his left palm

"Essau, I'd like you to meet my husband, Torik," Aisha said, as if she were trying to humor him. "Now do you have good reason to quit bothering me?"

Essau's smile of warmth and love turned into a grimace of disgust. "So you mean to tell me," he asked, disappointed in her, “that you married the enemy of all C'tarl-C'tarl? This smelly psychopath is your husband?"

Torik sneered at him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off of the ground. "Listen, pussy cat," he growled, bringing Essau so close to his face that Torik could feel him breathing hard, "I could care less what you think of me, but if I ever catch you romancing my wife again, I'll sheath my knife in your worthless, dishonorable heart." He unsheathed his dagger with his free hand and turned it around showing it to him. "It's awfully nice, isn't it? It would be quite an honor to be killed by such a shiny weapon." He dropped Essau on the ground, hurting his posterior, giving him a final warning never to come even within a foot of Aisha or he’d eat his heart for breakfast. Having said that, the two left for home, but Essau's determination was not crushed. If he wanted Aisha as his bride, then he'd have to pass through Torik first. And what better way to rid one's self of a Klingon than to challenge them to a duel?

Torik and Aisha returned to Starwind and Hawking, both quite tired from their encounter with Essau. Gene was sitting in front of the television watching a mindless comedy show while Jim was calculating the profit he made from a job he recently completed. Suzuka, as usual, was fanatically training with her bathl’eth. Melfina was sitting down on a chair, trying in vain to rock little Tybalt to sleep, while he was pulling on her hair and giggling. “Ow! No, Tybalt! Don‘t pull on Melfina‘s hair now. Ow, that hurts! Ow! Ow!” Torik and Aisha came through the door. She was saved! "Torik! Aisha! Thank God you're home," Melfina greeted them, quite relieved that Tybalt was off her hands. "He was, well, a good boy, and was very obedient." She put on a fake smile as she handed Tybalt over to Aisha.

Aisha took him in her arms. "Aw, did little Tybalt have fun with Melfina today?" she babbled to her child like any mother would do. "Yes you did. Yes you did!" Torik couldn't help but laugh when he saw her making faces at Tybalt. He hadn't seen such ridiculous faces since she was in labor. All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. Gene thought it was a job that needed to be done (and it had to be a pretty damn good one to have interrupted his show). He got up from off the couch and hobbled over to the door. It was none other than Essau, ready to challenge Torik to a duel.

"May I help you, sir?" he asked him, thinking he had a job for him.

Essau just turned to him and growled. "My quarrel is with the one called Torik. So haul ass, or I will kill you, terran!" He pushed Gene out of the way and approached Torik. "I challenge you, Torik," he grunted, "to a hand-to-hand duel. If you win, you get to keep Aisha as your wife. If I win, I marry Aisha," then he caught site of Tybalt, seeing that he was indeed half-Klingon and half-C'tarl, "and your child shall be mine. Agreed?"

Torik smiled a bloodthirsty smile. "I agree to your terms." All of this upset Aisha to no end. Torik didn't know it, but he was accepting a challenge from the strongest C‘tarl soldier known to their kind. Essau loved to kill more than anything and always smiled a sadistic, toothy grin as he delivered the killing blow with his gold-hilted and silver-bladed sword. But Torik seemed confident. As far as he was concerned, if he died, then he died for the honor of his family. And Klingon soldiers were trained to do that.

"Since you agree to my duel," said Essau, a smile on his face, knowing he was indeed about to receive the satisfaction he deserved, "we meet in the morning at the park at seven fifteen. If you do not have a sword, then I will supply you with one. Be there, or I will hire so many bounty hunters to get up your ass that you won't be able to find a civilized system to hide in."

"Klingons always accept challenges," Torik reassured him, "even if they have no chance of winning. And Klingons also never chicken out, like you did." Annoyed and angered at Torik‘s mention of his transgression, Essau stomped out, slamming the door loudly on his way.

Aisha grabbed on to Torik's cape and started pleading on her knees for him not to go. "Essau is the strongest warrior in the C‘tarl-C‘tarl Empire," she stuttered, choking back tears with the knowledge that her beloved husband had no chance of winning, "and he will do anything to get his hands on me and Tybalt. Just get us out of here. We'll be able to live a good life somewhere else. Only please, PLEASE don't die!"

Torik lifted her chin up and kissed her cheek. "I am the strongest warrior in the Klingon Empire," said he to his sad wife, "so the fight will indeed be fair." He turned to Suzuka. "It is custom for Klingons to appoint a cha'dIch (second) for a duel to help him out. Suzuka, have you trained with the bathl'eth lately?"

"Of course I have," she proudly announced. "What do you think I was just doing? And why do you ask?"

"I appoint you as my second," Torik replied, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Do you accept?"

Suzuka thought of this as her ultimate chance to try out her bathl'eth skills. "I do accept," she happily replied, "and upon my life I will do my duty."

“Good girl,” Torik smiled. “Your job is to back me up in the battle. If I am killed, try to avenge me. Got it?” Suzuka nodded her head, a little nervous since she feared her teacher‘s death as much as Aisha did. As far as he was concerned, Torik had all he needed for his duel with Essau.

Part III

Fire and Rain

James Taylor

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone

Susanne the plans they made put an end to you

I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song

I just can't remember who to send it to

I've seen fire and I've seen rain

I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end

I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend

But I always thought that I'd see you again

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus

You've got to help me make a stand

You've just got to see me through another day

My body's aching and my time is at hand

And I won't make it any other way

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain

I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end

I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend

But I always thought that I'd see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun

Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around

Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things

to come

Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain

I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end

I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend

But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again, now

Thought I'd see you one more time again

There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now

Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you fire and rain, now

Torik’s sleep that night was not an easy one. He kept seeing visions of Aisha and Tybalt being taken away from him as he lay dying on the ground. Another dream of his was that Suzuka died while trying to avenge his death. Yet another dream was that he did indeed kill Essau, but Essau stabbed him with his sword right before he died. He woke up at two in the morning sweating. He couldn’t go back to sleep with those kinds of discouraging dreams. He walked into the kitchen, only to find that the light was on and Suzuka was sitting at the table drinking tea.

“So, you can’t sleep either?” asked Suzuka when she caught sight of him.

“Why are you up so late?” Torik queried, sitting down and pouring himself some tea.

“I need to face this duel, too, y’know,” Suzuka replied. “But I’m afraid that my skills with the bathl’eth are too dull. I haven’t had much to practice with.”

“Well then,” Torik suggested, “consider this a test for yourself.” Then Torik thought of something. “Suzuka, do you have a family?”

“Me? Hell no,” she sighed. “My parents were killed long ago, but I avenged their death at the Galactic Leyline. But the bottom line is I’m an assassin. I don’t have time for family, romance or anything that you and Aisha enjoy. I couldn’t keep up with a child or a husband or aging parents or anything. Why do you ask?”

“I sense loneliness in you,” Torik explained, “ and it seems like you don’t like to associate with other people.”

“You’re right, I don’t. I like isolation.”

“But often times that’s not good. Aisha speaks highly of you. She would make a good friend for you.”

“Are you kidding me,” Suzuka laughed. “Aisha is the most annoying person in the universe. And she keeps calling me Suzu. I hate that! How do you put up with her without killing her?”

Torik just smiled and shook his head. “I suppose it’s true love. We were obviously meant for each other, and that’s why we haven’t killed each other yet.”

“Well,” Suzuka said sarcastically, “anyone who can tolerate Aisha’s cooking was definitely made for her.”

All of a sudden, Jim walked in to the kitchen with heavy eyes, surprised to see Torik and Suzuka in the very place where he was going. “What are you guys doing up?” he asked.

“We can’t sleep,” said Suzuka. “I guess we were both awakened by bad dreams about the duel.”

“Same here,” replied Jim as he sat down. “I like you, Torik. You’re a pretty nice guy. But I am kinda jealous of you.”

Torik lifted his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I kinda liked Aisha myself,” he explained as he blushed. “I guess I had a little crush on her, if you know what I mean. It’s just that we got along so well and I thought we might have had something going until you came and married her. I hope you don’t hate me.” Jim cringed and shielded himself with his hands, anticipating Torik to beat him to a pulp for taking an interest in his wife.

Torik smiled and put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “I understand young love. But the truth is there is a very large generation gap between you two, and Aisha told me that she considers you as sort of a little brother.” Torik stopped talking when he was struck with a vision. “And besides, what about Hanmyo?”

Jim was both surprised and embarrassed at Torik‘s knowledge of his first love. “Torik, how do you know about Hanmyo?”

“Because, my friend,” Torik told him, “I picked up some clairvoyant skills when I went to get a medical degree on planet Betazed. The Betazoids have telepathic and empathic powers that they develop in life. I took up meditation during that time and picked up some of that psychic ability. Now, if you want I can tell you what happened to her, since she didn‘t show up on your appointed date time.”

Jim was ecstatic. He wanted more than anything to know what happened to Hanmyo. “Oh would you? Please tell me.”

Torik closed his eyes and went into a deep trance. Jim thought he was joking at first. No one could be that good of a clairvoyant to tell him about his love life. About a minute later, Torik spoke, and at the same time shot down his skepticism. “I see the Outlaw Star leaving a dock after some repairs were done. There’s another ship, with two parts that can detach, am I right?”

“Yeah,” Jim said confused. “So what’s that got to do with Hanmyo?”

“The Outlaw Star goes into a battle with the ship and destroys it, right?”

Jim was getting impatient. “Yeah, so?” Torik opened his eyes, a dismal look on his face. “Jim, I’m sorry. Hanmyo was piloting the ship. Her cats were piloting the arms of the ship.”

Jim didn’t believe a word of what Torik was saying. “How can cat’s pilot ships? It’s impossible.”

“They were hooked up to it and mentally controlled their parts of the ship.”

Jim began to cry. It was beyond belief for him to have been the one to kill his love. “I feel so guilty. I don’t know what to do.”

Torik put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Jim, the best thing you can do is forget her. She was one of the Anten Seven anyway. She was a pirate, and pirates have no honor.”

“Oh yeah?” Jim snapped, feeling both sad and angry at both Torik and himself. “Wasn’t Aisha totally without honor because she’s a C’tarl-C’tarl? But you married her anyway and now you have a son! It’s not fair! I wish I was dead!”

Now Torik was starting to feel sorry for him and worried. Jim was more capable and knowledgeable than any other boy his age. He grabbed him by the shoulders and chastised him for his suicidal thought. “Jim, never wish something like that on yourself. When I must go to battle with Essau I may not have a future ahead of me, but you have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let the death of Hanmyo destroy your will to live. Unlike her and her accursed cats, you have honor, more than anyone. And you’re a better man than I am for it.”

Jim began to cheer up. “But how did you know that Hanmyo was one of the Anten seven?”

“I don’t need telepathy to tell you that. About a year and a half ago,” Torik explained, “I ran into Hanmyo. The Tovadok was almost overwhelmed by the cats’ piloting ability as well as their agility. But still we persevered. A good use of phasers and her ship was damaged badly. Before she turned around and ran, she hailed us to congratulate us, but to also surrender. I couldn’t believe that a girl that young could pilot that ship, but she ran off right before I gave the order to fire our photon torpedoes and finish her off. That was the first and last time I came in contact with one of the Seven.”

“But Torik,” Jim asked, “what’ll happen to Aisha if you do die?”

“I tell you what Jim,” he promised. “If you swear that you will do your best to take care of her and Tybalt, you may consider her your wife if I die. It’s tradition. Usually the victor of the battle will get the loser's wife, but hopefully if I die Suzuka will avenge me.” All of a sudden, Gene entered the kitchen. “So, sleeping beauty,” Torik called to him, “you can’t sleep either, huh?”

“Whad’ya mean sleep?” Gene yawned. “It’s six in the morning and you need to get ready for your duel.”

“I will, Gene,” Torik responded, worried, “but first I must say good-bye to someone.” Gene nodded in understanding. Torik walked into his bedroom. There Aisha was, still fast asleep. She twisted, twitched, and turned in bed. Torik leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he went off to battle, and she settled down and began to purr softly. After bidding farewell to his wife and donning his officer‘s uniform, he told Suzuka to ready her bathl’eth and come with him. They made their way to the park in Haiphong City.

Part IV

Only God Knows Why
Kid Rock

I've been sittin' here
Tryin' to find myself
I get behind myself
I need to rewind myself
Lookin' for the payback
Listen for the playback
They say that every man bleeds just like me
And now I feel like number one
Yet I'm last in life
I watch my younger son
And it helps to pass the time
I take too many pills to help to ease the pain
I made a couple of dollar bills still I feel the same
Everybody knows my name
They say it way out loud
A lot of folks fuck me
It's hard to hang out in crowds
I guess that's the price you pay
To be some big shot like I am
Outskirt stands and one night stands
Still I can't find love

And when your walls come tumbling down
I will always be around
And when your walls come tumbling down
I will always be around

People don't know about the things I say and do
They don't understand about the shit that I've been through
It's been so long since I've been home
I've been gone, I've been gone for way too long
Maybe I forgot all things I miss
Oh somehow I know there's more to life than this
I said it too many times
And I still stand firm
You get what you put in
And people get what they deserve
Still I ain't seen mine
No I ain't seen mine
I've been giving just ain't been gettin'
I've been walking down that line
So I think I'll keep on walking
With my head held high
I'll keep moving on and only God knows why

Only God.....Only God
Only God knows why
Only God....knows....why, why, why only God knows why
Take me to the river's edge
Take me to the river, hey hey hey

Torik and Suzuka arrived at the park, seeing Essau on a hill with his sword ready. Essau caught sight of him and noticed Suzuka. “What does she want?” Essau asked.

“Good king of cats,” Torik grinned, “one of your nine lives. It is Klingon tradition for a person involved in a duel to appoint someone to help him out and avenge him if he is killed. She is Suzuka, and she trains with the bathl’eth under me. This is her test. I assure you, she won’t take any part in this battle unless I die or I need help.”

Essau grinned, bearing his teeth. “That’s just fine by me,” he snarled. “I’ll probably kill the both of you anyway, so you have no use for her.”

“One more thing before we start,” said Torik. “Let‘s try and make this a fair fight. This will be an honorable duel, agreed?”

“Agreed,” Essau chuckled. “Now, let’s get on with our duel.”

Torik readied his bathl’eth and Essau removed his shirt and unsheathed his sword. Just as rumored, it had a gold hilt, shaped like a Y with a ruby on both sides in the center of the Y shape. The blade was made of pure silver, and it was razor-sharp. The two began their duel for Aisha’s heart, as Suzuka looked on, waiting for a signal from her teacher. Essau started by making a swing at Torik, which Torik blocked with his blade. Torik swiped at Essau, but his swipe was blocked. Essau swung and Torik blocked, and Torik thrust and Essau guarded. Then Essau slashed Torik’s bare arm. His violet blood spilled upon the ground. But he quickly gathered himself and the battle continued. The battle went on for thirty seconds more until Essau averted one of Torik’s swings, knocked his bathl’eth out of his hands, and stabbed him right in the stomach. The blade went clear through, making a large rend in his cape and his uniform. He bled profusely as he fell to his knees before his opponent. Suzuka then knew that Torik needed help. She picked up her bathl’eth and charged at Essau, ready to run him through. But he lifted his blade and clashed it against Suzuka’s raised bathl’eth. He pushed down harder and harder until she finally gathered the strength to push him away. But he quickly pointed his blade to her throat. She dare not move, lest she endanger her own life. Then he chuckled at her and lifted her chin with the tip of his sword. “You’re not much of a threat now, are you?” he taunted. “Kneel down and give me your sword.”

Suzuka had no other choice. She knelt before Essau and handed over her bathl’eth to her enemy, saddened by the knowledge that she’d have to bear the news to Aisha that her husband had been killed. Essau then grinned, bearing his teeth, and gave Suzuka a swift kick in the stomach. She doubled over in pain, her eyes watering and biting her lip, rubbing her injured spot, and then fainted from the intensity of the kick. Essau then retrieved Torik’s fallen bathl’eth. As he bent over to reach it, Torik slammed his foot on Essau’s hand. Essau cringed in pain as he looked up into the eyes of his opponent. Torik was still very much in pain, placing his hand gently on his injury. “You can crush my body, Essau,” he croaked, breathing hard, “you can break my bones, but so long as my spirit and my will to live is intact, I am indestructible.” But Essau was still determined himself. He smiled at Torik and removed his hand from under Torik’s boot so fast that it knocked Torik on his back. Essau then slowly pressed his foot on Torik’s belly, just below his injury.

“Before I kill you,” Essau growled as he grinned his infamous blood hungry grin, “I would like to tell you what really caused the war between the Klingons and C’tarl-C’tarl. I caused it!”

“How could you?” Torik grunted in disbelief. “No one man can start an entire war!”

“But I did, Klingon,” Essau laughed quite heartily. “I commandeered the Cahunayhunay and led its fleet to raid the Klingon border planet. I told the crew of the Cahunayhunay’s fleet that the Empire gave me orders to do so. At the same time, one of my agents on Kronos got hold of the Tagana and led its fleet to bombard the C’tarl-C’tarl planet. Then the empires blamed each other for the damage done to both. That triggered the war.”

“You fool,” Torik yelled as Essau pressed down even harder on his stomach. “Bringing harm to your own people to provoke a war is just plain cruel! And besides, it’s a dishonorable practice.”

“Oh will you SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Essau shouted, pressing his foot even harder on Torik’s stomach. “No one will ever know this because I will kill you and your little friend over there and take Aisha as my bride.” Then Essau reared his sword back preparing to run him through and kill him once and for all. But as the sword was descending, Torik reached under his cape and unsheathed the dagger he hid beforehand just in case. He blocked Essau’s thrust with the dagger and twisted it out of his hand. The shimmering sword flew out of Essau’s hand and landed point-first into the ground. Torik then dove up despite his excruciating pain and lunged his dagger with all of his might into Essau’s neck. Blood ran the fighter’s mouth and his eyes began to widen in humiliation as he fell back onto the ground. Essau’s eyes rolled back into his head as he died the slow and painful death of a man that dishonors his own kind. Torik pulled his dagger from Essau’s throat, and a stream of vermilion blood followed it. He wiped it on his cape and sheathed it once again. Then he caught sight of Suzuka laying there unconscious. He ran over to his fallen student to check her breathing and pulse, only to find that she had just fainted. But he himself was beat up pretty bad. Even though his wound was starting to heal up, it still had the chance to get infected. He hobbled over to a nearby payphone and called for an ambulance to pick him and Suzuka up.

Suzuka awoke in a room of Haiphong City Memorial Hospital. Sitting next to her bed was Torik, his armor was taken off of him and a bandage was wrapped around where his wound was. “I’m glad to see you awake again,” Torik greeted Suzuka as she awoke.

“Thank you,” she replied, yawning, “but I should be thanking you for getting me in here. How long will we be here?”

“I called Gene and the others,” Torik answered. “They’re coming over to pay the admission fees and to get us out of here.” As Torik finished his sentence, there came a knock at the door. Torik walked to the door, and no sooner had he put his hand on the door did Aisha pounced on him, pinning him to the ground and kissing him all over.

“Oh Torik, thank god you’re alive! Oh I’m so proud of you!” she repeated in between kisses. “I can’t believe you defeated Essau and got out alive! I love you! I love you!”

Torik groaned in pain as Aisha’s foot hit his injured spot. He cried out in anguish. “YEOW! I love you too, but please get off me! You hit my battle scar! Ow!”

Aisha got off of her injured husband and stood him up. “Sorry about that,” she apologized. “Gene sent me over here to pay all of the expenses. Fred Luo had a 700,000 Wong job for them to do, so they couldn’t come.”

“Wait,” Torik stopped her. “Whose Fred Luo?”

Aisha crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, you’ll meet him sometime.”

Suzuka began to chuckle at how well Torik and Aisha got along in married life. “I swear I’ve never seen a married couple act quite like you two,” she commented. “You act like you’re two teenagers on an everlasting date. If I had a guy, I hope our relationship will be like yours.”

Torik’s eyes widened as he was struck with another vision. “Don’t worry Suzuka. Your man is coming sooner than you think,” he said, winking at her, as to tell her that something in the near future was going to happen.

Suzuka just shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean by that,” she told him, “but if you’re implying that...”

Torik put both hands in front of him to silence her. “I just said that your man is going to come soon,” he told her, smiling innocently. “I never said we’d get together. The Klingons have no concept of infidelity. But still, can we get out of this hospital now?”

Aisha walked towards the door and opened it for the two victorious warriors. “My sentiments exactly. Can we go out to eat tonight?”

Torik smiled, walked over to her, and kissed her on the head. “Sure, dearest.” He turned to Suzuka, who was climbing out of her bed. “Now my student, let’s away to part the glories of this happy day.”

Hiru no Tsuki

Oto no nai mahiru
Kaze wa tada akarui
Sukoshi nemutasou ni
Hanabira ga yureta

Nani ge nai kono omoi
Nee, hito wa donna kotoba de
Yondeiru no

Shiroi suna no tsuki
Toji kometa hanashi o
Hikari furasu you ni
Kikasete ne sotto

Itsuka shiru toki ga kuru no?
Mune no itami o
Soshite ima yori yasashiku
Naru no ne

Atatakai kono omoi
Nee, hito wa donna namae de
Yondeiru no

Shiroi suna no tsuki
Mabushikute mienai
Tooi mirai no koto
Kikasete ne sotto