Runner Up 6 20403.14

Revenge, Cold - Ens Mandrak

© 2004 by Federation Space and the author pen named Mandrak

K'trok, a nine year old Klingon was happily playing in the childcare resources of the USS Valor. Suddenly the entire ship shook. The teacher told everyone to stay calm, but K'trok did not. He ran as fast as he could to the security office. His father was the chief of security on that vessel. He ran through the ships corridors as fast a he could. The ship was constantly shaking. One particularly violent shaking threw K'trok against the wall. His hand began bleeding. He looked at it. There was a huge gash.

I have to get to my dad! He thought.

He ran into the turbolift and ordered it to take him to the security office. It dropped him on the deck it was on, and he quickly ran to the office as fast as he could. When he got there he did not find his dad. Instead he found about 5 rapidly blinking lights. He looked at the panel they were blinking on. They were all different sections of deck 3.

He must be there!

K'trok ran as fast as he could to the turbolift. When he got there there was a Romulan soldier.

“Who are you!?” He asked.

“I am K'trok of the house of Kiosan. Who are you, and where is my father?” He asked trying not to look afraid.

“Kiosan eh? We have a use for you.”

“Who are you?!”

“None of your concern. You will come with me!” He said pulling K’trok into the turbolift.

“Deck three.” The Romulan said.

He must be taking me to my father. He thought. He was pleased to be going to his father but still somewhat afraid of the soldier.

They arrived on deck three and he saw his father. To his surprise his father was seriously injured and he had a Romulan holding him with a disruptor to his head.

“Tell me the security codes or I will kill you!” said the soldier.

“Father!” screamed K’trok.

The Romulan looked at the boy and got a sly grin on his face. “What about your son?” he asked.

Very quickly another Romulan came over and grabbed K’trok and held a disrupter to his head.

K’trok’s father immediately began fighting for his son’s life. He hit the Romulan who was holding him, and took his weapon. The Romulan let go of K’trok, and shot K’trok’s father.

K’trok ran to his father. “NO!!” he yelled.

“Do not try to save me son. Run!”

A human child might have tried to stay but K’trok was not human. He understood the Klingon honor system, and knew the best thing he could do was let his father die in battle.

“Okay father, I love you.”

K’trok ran off as fast as he could, he knew what to do. His teachers had told him what to do in a situation like this. He ran for an escape pod. He was able to outrun the Romulan, as he was much younger then the Romulan. He got in the escape pod and pressed the launch button. The doors closed and he felt the pod shake a little. He waited there for several hours. There was not much to do. There was one panel with a clock on it counting down from 72 hours, and there were several food rations.

K’trok was not hungry, particularly not after watching his father’s death. Thinking was all he could do. Images of his father’s death flashed in his mind. He knew there was nothing he could have done. He vowed that one day he would get revenge for his father’s death…

25 years later…

Lcdr K’trok now chief of security onboard the USS Victor was running one of his training programs on holodeck 3 when the entire ship shook again. He quickly ran to the security office to see what was going on. He looked at a terminal and saw that the entire ship was under attack. Shields were beginning to fail. He had to know what was going on. Who was attacking? What did they want?

“Security to the bridge, what is going on up their?”

[A Romulan ship has just attacked us, they say they want all our supplies, and our warp core. Unfortunately we are not sure why.] Responded the First Officer.

The entire ship shook violently again. The first officer had not yet closed the channel so K’trok heard everything going on in the bridge.

[Shields have failed, phaser array is disabled, torpedo tubes 1 and 3 are disabled] Came the tactical report.

Suddenly Klaxons started sounding all over the ship.

[Intruder alert! Intruder alert!] The computer announced. K’trok closed the channel and asked the computer “Computer where are the intruders?”

[They are concentrated on Deck thirteen.] Came the response

K’trok quickly ran for the turbolift. “Deck thre- thirteen.” He ordered.

On the very short ride their, K’trok was remembering what had happened on the USS Valor 25 years ago.

I cannot let that happen to my son! He thought.

He got to deck thirteen, and immediately saw they had his son. K’trok could tell that the Romulans had done their homework, when they asked him, “Give us the security codes or your son dies.”

K’trok had very little time to think, he did not want his son to die but he was not going to give them the security codes. He had a chance at shooting the Romulan if he acted quickly. K’trok aimed at the man without moving his phaser. He decided where he would have to put the phaser, and point it, before he acted.

He opened his mouth and instead of giving the security codes he said, “It is a good day to die!”

He shot the Romulan, and charged his son, bringing them both to the ground, and narrowly evading a disruptor shot. He quickly set his phaser to vaporize, and started shooting Romulans. He killed nineteen Romulans that day, crippling the Romulan attack force. Unfortunately he was greatly outnumbered. He and his son were incinerated by a Romulan disruptor.

The transition to Sto-Vo-Kor was instantaneous. He looked up and saw his father, looked down, and saw his son.

I have kept my vow; I have gotten revenge for my father’s death, and died honorably myself

His father said to him, “Well done son, you have honored the house of Kiosan and you have honored me.”