Pawns and Symbols Read online

  "Jean! What are you talking about? What happened? They, who?" He closed the door and started toward her but stopped at her gesture of the dagger. "Put that thing away and tell me what's happened. There's no one here but me." His perplexity seemed genuine.

  "Klingons!" The word was bitter in her mouth. "You're the worst. You convinced me I could trust at least some of you. Including your generous, diplomatic commander! Ha! Kang tried to rape me."

  "What!" Disbelief and confusion were mingled on his face. Then he demanded, "What do you mean 'tried'?"

  "I told him to let me go. That I'd kill myself if he tried to lay a hand on me."

  "I don't believe it. The commander has no reason to do that, and besides, if he intended to, he would have done it—not 'tried.'"

  "I don't give a tinker's dam what you think. I know what happened and all I …"

  He interrupted her. "Jean, where did you get that dress?"

  She looked at the dress with distaste. "Kang sent it to my room along with the invitation to dinner last night."

  "And where is your room—exactly?"

  "It adjoins his quarters. Why?"

  "Mara's room." Aernath let out a long breath. He skirted her, carefully positioned his plant, and sat down. "I think you'd better start at the beginning and tell me precisely what happened last night."

  Something in his tone and manner sobered her. In spite of her suspicions, she found she wanted to talk to him—needed to discuss it with someone. Setting aside her anger she tried to give a calm account of the previous evening. Several times he interrupted her, probing for details, words. He grew increasingly agitated. As she recounted her final defiance of Kang, he jumped up and seized her by the shoulders. "You fool! Don't you see what you've done?"

  "What I've done! Well I like that! Dammit. It was Kang who attacked me—not the other way around."

  He shook her. "He let you go! A lesser man would have killed you on the spot. I would have." Alarmed, Jean raised her dagger. He brushed it aside. "Oh, forget it. I'm not going to do anything." He let go of her and began to pace nervously. "But why? And why now? I can't see what he expects to accomplish … There's Tirax of course. And Mara will be … By Cymele! I wish I knew more about how things stand on Peneli." He seemed to have forgotten Jean entirely.

  "If it's not too much trouble, would you mind giving me your version of what in space is going on? Or are you still thinking up a plausible story?" she inquired acidly.

  He turned angrily. "Idiot! … No, you really don't understand, do you?" He paused, searching his memory. "I'm sure I told you about Durgath and the … no, we were interrupted. What you've just described is the consort-rite. Oh, admittedly the simple military version but it's adequate and binding. You went right through it—accepted his cup and then …" He gestured expressively, obviously still angry with her.

  "Marriage! Don't be ridiculous! Obviously I didn't know what he was doing. How could you … anyone … possibly think I—"

  "Doesn't matter. What's done is done. Blast it. Jean will you try for just one minute to think like a Klingon? Kang's an Imperial Fleet commander and someday emperor. He offers you consort-right. You seem to accept it and then reject him. What do you expect?"

  She did try. "Oh …" Then she protested, "But he's still married to Mara. You told me that yourself."

  "That doesn't matter either. He can have six if he wants them. But a human?" Aernath seemed more preoccupied with Kang's motives than Jean's predicament. "What we do next depends so much on what he's planning."

  "We?" Jean squeaked. "What makes you think I'm going to do anything you say? I don't even know if you're telling me the truth. Maybe this is just another elaborate Klingon ruse. How do I know I can trust you?"

  He gave her a peculiar look. "You don't," he said flatly. "If you persist in believing that we are all scoundrels with no sense of honor then there's no basis for trust. Where does that leave you?" When Jean made no reply he continued in a softer tone. "On the other hand, if you are willing to grant us our own kind of integrity, then … I am still … bond to you. I didn't manage to keep you out of this particular dilemma, but will try to help."

  Jean sat down wearily. "I don't know what to think, Aernath. I want to believe you but …"

  As she moved, Aernath caught sight of the grain sitting on the disintegrator hopper. "Jean! The grain—what in space did you think you were doing?"

  She watched as he hastily removed it from danger. "I was going to destroy it, of course, and anything else I could before I was stopped."

  He regarded her narrowly. "But you didn't. Why?"

  "I … I couldn't. She felt a little ludicrous trying to explain it. "A friend of mine is fond of saying there are always choices. I guess I was trying to figure out if I had any other choices."

  "You do have a couple—if you want to take the risks." He looked at her curiously. "Tell me, if you had understood Kang's offer, what would you have done?"

  Jean pondered the hypothetical question a moment. "I'd still have asked to be sent home, but … I guess I'd want to know why he made the offer."

  "I doubt he would have told you. Would you have accepted?"

  She answered slowly, "I don't know. My feelings are so muddled by now because of what did happen. I can't say."

  "All right. Suppose he were willing to give you another chance. Could you accept it now?"

  "Give me another chance!" Jean bridled.

  "Dammit, Jean, don't be so touchy! Okay, okay. Let me rephrase it. If Kang is willing to overlook the misunderstanding, can you?"

  "Look, if he can do it he can undo it, too, cant he?" she parried.

  "Dissolution? That's another possibility but I think that's even more risky. That would mean he would have to abandon whatever plans he has in mind. Kang doesn't take kindly to being thwarted."

  "I don't take kindly to being treated like a piece of chattel. Pretty wretched set of choices, if you ask me."

  "Do you have any other suggestions?" he asked curtly.

  "No." She realized he was waiting for her decision. Could she accept Kang's offer? If she had understood the situation yesterday, had had time to think it over—possibly. But now … she shook her head. "I … I can't."

  He nodded. "I thought you'd say that."

  "So what do we do now?"

  "Wait for Kang to make the next move. But, by Cymele's cloak, stay out of his sight! If you're not prepared to apologize and ask for clemency, don't let him set eyes on you. It could be fatal."

  "And if I were, what then?"

  Carefully Aernath outlined the procedure for her. "He still might kill you. Who knows? But there's a good chance he wouldn't."

  "Hobson's choice. It's his move either way. I'll stay out of sight."

  They tried to maintain the semblance of a normal day's work but Jean was jumpy as a cat. She accomplished very little and finally gave it up. A cold shower, a light supper, and bed were in order she decided as she entered her quarters.

  She set the shower dial, pushed it and turned for the soap. The stream of water that hit her back was scalding hot. Screaming in agony she reached through the spray to pull the dial off, then fumbled for the door. Suddenly it was yanked open and she collapsed in a pink haze of pain. Kang scooped her up and dumped her on his bed. "Imbeciles installed the hookup backwards. I should have had maintenance fix it long ago. Here, lie still." From his first aid kit he produced a small cylinder. It hissed softly as he sprayed her neck, shoulder, back and arm in rapid succession. He leaned over and pushed the intercom button. "Kang. Eknaar to my quarters immediately. Out." With one finger he touched her shoulder experimentally. "Still hurt?"

  She grimaced. "It's a little better, I think, except my face."

  He sprayed some foam into his hand. "Shut your eyes." Deftly he applied the medication with gentle strokes from forehead to earlobe. He paused, then disappeared and returned with her bath towel which he draped over her.

  Eknaar arrived and took in the scene. "What happen
ed?"

  "Blasted shower is hooked up in reverse. She scalded herself." He watched as Eknaar completed a swift evaluation. "Well?"

  "Not too serious. First degree most of it. May blister a bit on the shoulder here but getting the spray on it right away will minimize that. She'll be all right."

  Kang seemed visibly relieved. "Fine. Then get her out of here." He left abruptly.

  Eknaar looked up quizzically. "Funny. It's not like him to get queasy over a little burn."

  "I don't think that's it," said Jean faintly. "He's mad at me."

  Eknaar snorted. "Nonsense. He's upset all right, but that's not the way he acts when he's angry. Come on, let's sit you up." He got her into her own room, gave her a sedative, and promised to see her in the morning. She was groggily perplexed when he wakened her in the middle of the night. After another injection she promptly went back to sleep, and did not notice that the Klingon medic exited into Kang's room rather than the corridor.

  She was feeling much better when Eknaar and her breakfast tray arrived simultaneously the next morning. "Good morning. I wasn't sure I'd see you this morning after that late night visit."

  The doctor made a facee. "Not my idea assure you. Orders! If you were that bad, I'd have put you in sick bay. How do you feel this morning?"

  "Stiff and sore, that's all."

  "Of course. Let's see the shoulder … couple of small blisters, not as bad as I thought. Spray really did the trick." After another application of spray and a plastiderm dressing over the blisters he admonished, "Stay in bed for the day. Leave the dressing until it comes off by itself. And stay away from hot showers."

  She did. From the sounds next door she gathered that the shower was being fixed. By evening she was feeling nearly normal and somewhat restless. When Aernath arrived with dinner for two she was geniunely delighted. "Just following orders, ma'am." He mimicked her voice: "Don't ever go a day without checking with me as long as I'm stuck in this damned Klingon Empire. How are things in the DKE today?"

  "Aernath, I think you'd joke at your grandmother's funeral. But thanks for coming. Sit down and let's eat."

  "I hear Kang dragged you out of the shower and has been badgering the daylights out of Eknaar ever since. Is that true?"

  "More or less," she admitted. "Tell me, Aernath, would you say he's made his move? Eknaar doesn't know the story, of course, but he swears Kang is more upset than angry."

  "It's possible. You were there. What do you think?"

  Well, if he intended to do me in that would have been a good opportunity."

  "So, what are you going to do now?"

  "Make the next move."

  He gave her an odd look. "Are you really sure you want to do that? Don't try it unless you're sure.

  She responded soberly, "It isn't really a question of what I want when it comes right down to it, is it?"

  "Probably not. All right—can you do it?"

  "I think so." She had no intention of telling him how she planned to do it.

  It had been a long thirty hours. She intercepted and dismissed the crewman at the council room door, adding her dish to the rest on the servocart. According to Aernath, custom dictated she prepare it herself and she had raided his fruit collection to do it. Kang's back was turned as she entered. He gave a start of surprise when he saw her. "I didn't send for you. Who let you in here?"

  Eyes appropriately lowered, she offered the bowl. "Will you take some fruit, Milord?" She held her breath through the interminable pause that followed.

  Finally Kang reached out and took a single pomfrit. "I will hear you.

  Jean took a deep breath and launched on her own course. "I do not intend to apologize. I have nothing to apologize for. But I do have an explanation. I was ignorant of your ritual. I took it for an older and more primitive one, and it was that I rejected." She met his gaze steadily. "I had no desire to insult you."

  His eyes narrowed. "Do you understand what you are doing now?"

  "This time I do."

  His eyes held a glint of grim amusement. "But still you will do it your own way, won't you? Why?"

  She lifted her chin defiantly. "Because I think you already realize what happened and if it wasn't for your damned Klingon pride you'd have apologized to me!"

  He chuckled as he took her upturned chin in one hand. "Still coming, aren't you? If the truth be known I think you nearly match me when it comes to pride. Can you match me in other things as well?"

  "I think so," she replied evenly.

  "We shall see." His other arm encircled her and pulled her to him. She felt his mouth again, hard and demanding on hers. His hand moved across her left breast and paused below it. Abruptly he pulled her head back searching her face carefully. "You're still afraid. You've chosen this as the best of bad choices, haven't you?" Jean kept her eyes fixed on his belt buckle scant centimeters away from the bottom of her ribcage. Kang's left hand moved slightly but insistently at the nape of her neck. "Look at me." She raised her eyes to meet his. "You're right to fear me. Given my position you can't escape being a pawn. If I'm forced to it, you're expendable." A vein in his temple throbbed and his jaw tightened. "Mara understood this and she took the risk with me until your Kirk seduced her with his hypocritical human sentimentality!" The bitterness lingered in his eyes a moment as he returned to the present. "But I want more from you than fear. By giving you consort-right I have placed my political as well as my personal power around you. That's a formidable barrier. It's also as much freedom as I can give you at the moment."

  His dark eyes watched her somberly; around her, his hands waited. She regarded the belt buckle in front of her ribcage for a long moment. Then raising a finger to Kang's cheek, she asked gently, "Is that how a Klingon commander says 'I love you'?"

  His face softened in a brief smile. "Human sentimentality! My dear, I have just handed you a far more dangerous weapon than my knife. Use it very carefully or you may destroy us both."

  "That," she responded warmly, "I have no desire to do." She pulled Kang's mouth down to her own. It was hungry but gentle to her now. Her belly shifted softly against the belt buckle. Arguments, she decided, could wait.

  Much later, Jean lay and watched the blue green flicker of her aquarium light ripple across their skin. "Why did you offer me your cup?"

  With one finger, Kang idly traced circles on her shoulder. "You don't believe it was for mere sentiment?"

  She shook her head. "No."

  "There were several reasons, of course. Let me see if I can find one you will believe. Maybe … because of my bet with Tirax?"

  Jean tensed. "Bet with Tirax?"

  "He was with me when we found you on Sherman's planet. When we decided you would have to open the vault for us his comment was 'no problem, she'll break easily.' I wagered you wouldn't. I was right. You bend like a Blinghat rapier but never quite snap—just spring back unexpectedly." He smiled. "I won. But I didn't wager I'd nearly lose my lieutenant in the process."

  "I can't honestly say that I'm thrilled with his survival; or that reason," she responded drily.

  His hand moved to the angle of her jaw. With his thumb he traced the outline of her mouth. "You may not like it. But you believe it, don't you? Try this one: because you stand outside the Empire. And, I know where you stand. There is no one that can be held hostage for you—be used against me."

  That gave Jean pause for a moment. After some reflection she said with some reluctance, "I do have a brother."

  "My dear, you can have a planetful of relatives in the Federation. That doesn't worry me a bit."

  "No," she corrected, "I was referring to Aerath."

  His hand tightened fractionally on her chin. "I see. I shall remember that." Then he asked carefully. "Is there any other in the Empire who could be?"

  She understood his question and answered it honestly. "No. Besides, if there ever were another, I think he's the sort who would never let himself be held so."

  "There are some luxuries even the emperor c
annot command," he acknowledged.

  Turning her head slightly in the cradle of his elbow she fingered the new scar on his arm. "Does that ever bother you?"

  "On the contrary, it's a valuable reminder." To her cocked eyebrow he explained, "Whenever my advisors wax enthusiastic about attacking the Federation it will be there as one more reminder that although you humans appear soft you have sharp teeth."

  Jean sighed. "I don't suppose there is any hope of convincing you that we are not so predatory as that. Remember, too, that I tried to avoid it. It doesn't have to stop with an uneasy truce enforced by the Organians. We could pool our efforts, help each other. If you would just trust us—?

  Kang snorted. "Trust? You suggest I trust the likes of Kirk? Do you trust Tirax? Or me, for that matter? Don't lecture me about trust!"

  She made a wry face. "Touché. But it has to start somewhere. And we haven't attacked you or invaded your territory."

  "Elementary strategy. Any commander worth his ship wouldn't attack without reconnoitering, assessing the enemy's strength. No, Starfleet is just waiting for the right opening, a weak spot—"

  "Like the Tseni virus blight?"

  Precisely. Which is one of the reasons I can't allow you to return to the Federation until the crisis is over. In the meantime, it is instructive to me to have you here."

  "And after the crisis?"

  "You have my word. Trust me?"

  She acknowledged the irony. "It's not easy, I know. But I do trust Aernath—most of the time—and he's convinced you'll keep your word. I guess that's where I start."

  Casually Kang ran a fingertip down from throat to navel recalling to Jean the course of his dagger. Her involuntary shiver caught his attention. He brushed it aside with a faint smile. "And one might say I start with you … but you humans … I wonder—"

  "Humans aren't all cut from the same mold—no more than Klingons. But I think I'm a fair representative of what you would have to deal with."

  "I said it was instructive to have you here," Kang replied drily.

  Instructive for me, too, thought Jean ruefully, though I don't have the option to drop the course. Then again, perhaps Kang doesn't either. She wondered how much insight she really had gained into his motives and plans. "Why did you let me go the other night?"