Judgement – Pretty Little ... time-bomb
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
As the channel cut with a self important ‘bleep’ and the angular emblem of the Tal’Shiar filled his screen Rh’vaurek linked his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes. The chair made no sound as he leaned back and rested his heel on the console, one leg crossed over the other at the ankle.
Rh’vaurek recognised that he may have chosen the wrong ally, Getal had just told him an outright lie, but in truth the Cardassian was the only ally available who could put up a respectable front and deliver the right firepower. Rh’vaurek would deal with that soon enough. For now he had other things on his mind such as how long to keep Llaiir t’Khellian waiting before he opened her channel.
New
Many things had become clear since he had been made Deputy Director of Special Operations. In part that clarity came from the increased security clearance that came with the role and the rank – anomalies such as Isha – her tendency to turn up in places someone like her should never be, her insistence on taking actions detrimental to herself, her inexplicable ability to emerge untarnished from events that leave others crushed - finally, after all these decades, began to make sense.
There were still gaps, of course, some of which would never be filled, for others there were explanations and it was for one of these that Rh’vaurek had made a visit to Llaiir t’Khellian. He wanted confirmation that what was (and was not) in Isha’s classified file was true. If anyone knew the answer it was Isha’s own mother.
Llaiir t’Khellian had not been pleased; at first she had refused to see him.
With a cultivated calm that did not come naturally to him Rh’vaurek had reminded her who he was and offered her a very simple choice; they could either talk there, on her own estate, or they could talk in another venue of his choosing. Rh’vaurek was not above reminding the privileged that their privileges carried no weight with him.
A soft chuckle gurgled in his throat at the memory of the frustrated crease of her brow and the tight tone in which she used his title. Llaiir t’Khellian was truly one of the old guard and viewed his rise from nothing through a screen of suspicion and contempt.
When they finally arrived in t’Khellian’s office Rh’vaurek had taken her chair, he had known the action would rile her even more; this was, after all who Isha had inherited her temper from, and her duranium sense of propriety, he recalled the memory with a smirk.
Her chair was very different from the one he occupied now; hers was old, well stuffed and well worn, and it creaked pleasantly beneath him as Llaiir muttered something half audible beneath her breath.
The interview that followed had been very short and very tense. It had concluded with an ultimatum – she had three days to make up her mind to talk – after that Rh’vaurek was going to release a particular piece of information around her husband’s Senate dealings. To her credit Llaiir had not folded early, three days had now passed since that meeting and she had taken this right up to within a minute of the line.
It was another fifteen minutes before Rh’vaurek reached out a lazy arm and opened the channel.
“t’Khellian, what a surprise,” he said with studied insincerity, quite aware that all she would be able to see was the soles of his boots.
“I was misguided to even believe that someone like you could conduct himself with the barest modicum of decorum,” Llaiir said displeasure evident in her tone.
Rh’vaurek tilted his upper foot to one side so that he could see her expression. “You really are a humourless old witch, aren’t you,” he said as he dropped his feet to the floor,” he would have much preferred to do this in person but he did not have time to hang around Ra’tleifhi waiting for her to make up her mind.
“That attitude is not going to incentivise me to co-operate,” she said.
As she folded her arms Rh’vaurek noticed an expression flit across t’Khellian’s face, as though she was afraid that he had found out something that she did not want him to know. “I already know you’re going to co-operate, you wouldn’t have contacted me if you weren’t,” Rh’vaurek told her. “Why does Isha hate you?” he asked her.
“Because she’s headstrong, stubborn and doesn’t believe in any authority beyond her own. That girl had more presence than both her siblings put together. She resented that she would never be my heir and in time she would have challenged her sister. That is why I set her on a different path. That challenge would have been too disruptive.”
“And it also meant that you could control her, no? Create a pliable and obedient puppet and then use her to manipulate her husband so that you could grow your own power base.”
“We have been making opportunistic marriages for centuries, Raedheol, it is hardly a new idea.”
“But you made the mistake of believing that she was as compliant as she appeared to be. Then the moment she was free she turned on you. All that influence you thought you would be able to use was hers and she’s been rubbing your face in it ever since. That must really grate.”
Rh’vaurek paused before breaking into sneering laughter, “There isn’t an obedient bone in her body,” he said, “that was one of the first things I noticed about her, but Kholairlh-a! she hides it well. Getting her to do what you want, even if she wants to is an art. Sometimes I think she’s contrary because she likes the game - she fights even when she’s got no intention of winning.”
“That is my daughter you are talking about,” Llaiir interrupted. “Keep your sordid observations to yourself.”
Rh’vaurek raised an eyebrow; given how cynically she had used her daughter he hadn’t thought she would be so protective, but then why should he be surprised that Llaiir t’Khellian was a hypocrite. “You have no idea how to handle your own daughter. Isha despises you for what you’ve made her into - a queen in an empire that despises monarchs, a career politician in a society where unless you are exceptional your war record stands for more your blood. Isha’s bloody lucky that she is exceptional.”
“I have no interest in your opinions on how I deal with members of my House. It is none of your business.”
“It became my business when you conspired to have me kicked out of the Galae because you couldn’t handle the fact that your precious jewel of a daughter had got into bed with a low ranking Galae officer, only you had no idea it was a cover.” He leaned forward, folding his arms on the edge of the console, “I thought she’d done it – she threatened to, you know, to ruin my career, but it was all you.”
“What did you expect?” Llaiir spat, “She came home delirious, she was bleeding, her jaw was broken, she was – you think I would allow a common piece of hnaev do that to a member of my House? I wanted all trace of you gone and if your mentor hadn’t pulled some strings it wouldn’t have been a dismissal you received, it would have been an execution. If I could have wiped you from her mind I’d’ve done that too!”
What was it that Llaiir hadn’t said? Rh’vaurek wondered – that was another gap he would need to fill, but not right now. “Where did Isha spend the five years she thinks she wasted serving Serona on your flagship? Where did she spend the following five years she thinks she spent studying the law before she entered the Senate?”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
“Am I?”
“Ask any member of my crew at the time.”
“Isha believes the lie,” he said ignoring her assertion. “She has no idea, does she?”
“There is no lie,” Llaiir protested. “She has not followed a conventional path but she has made a success of herself at least.”
Watching as the woman’s arms tightened across her chest, Rh’vaurek spoke again, “Such a special child. You tried to hide her from us, to protect her in your own twisted way, but we were already watching her. When you told Vrenak that she had no talent he didn’t believe you for one second. What he had seen already told him what he needed to know, but he had no use for a child, however talented. He let you believe you had him fooled.
“It wasn’t until it was Isha’s time for Serona that he came back to you, and asked for her. You conspired with him then, to make sure that it was never known that you had tried to hide her from the Tal’Shiar … and Isha still thinks that she spent Serona learning by your side on your flagship. But that never happened, did it?”
The question was rhetorical but Rh’vaurek paused long enough to give Llairr the opportunity to speak. She did not.
“Isha thinks that she spent Serona on your ship, under the watchful eye of a mother who makes me glad I have no parents. Isha has no recollection of the actual training she received, or where she was, or for how long. She doesn’t even know what she does at the bidding of the Continuing Committee, or what it is she has been doing since the day she entered the Senate and returned to her normal life.”
Finally, Llairr spoke. “I don’t know either. I was never given any details. I don’t need to know.”
“We took her and we trained her, conditioned her, and that precious brain of hers keeps it all locked away beyond the reach of even the most talented interrogator. Between you, Vrenak and tr’Vainlli you created a secret weapon, and now there is only you, me, Latasalaem and tr’Vainlli alive who know about its inception.
“If you have any sense, t’Khellian you’ll listen to me; for all her training and innate ability to segregate her mind, Isha is breaking down. Tell tr’Vainlli this – it’s a warning meant in good faith; she’s right on the edge, and sooner or later somebody, somewhere is going to push her over it and she’s going to find out who she really is. I know Isha better than she knows herself. I know that when she learns what you’ve done to her she will come for all of you. What you’ve made between you is a pretty little time-bomb, and I for one am going to enjoy watching it blow up in your faces.”
With a stab of his finger Rh’vaurek cut the channel and once again the room was plunged into silence. Long ago he had promised Isha that they would jointly get revenge on Latasalaem for manipulating them both, this was how he intended to deliver.
OFF
erei'Khrein Rh'vaurek Raedheol
EnRiov Hru'Hfir Llaiir e-Ramnau t’Khellian
NPCd by Louise
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
| Title | Pretty Little ... time-bomb | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek | |
| Posted | Sat Feb 12, 2011 @ 10:52am | |
| Location | IRW Ael laehval. Undisclosed location | |
| Timeline | SD35 23:30 |
Rh’vaurek recognised that he may have chosen the wrong ally, Getal had just told him an outright lie, but in truth the Cardassian was the only ally available who could put up a respectable front and deliver the right firepower. Rh’vaurek would deal with that soon enough. For now he had other things on his mind such as how long to keep Llaiir t’Khellian waiting before he opened her channel.
New
Many things had become clear since he had been made Deputy Director of Special Operations. In part that clarity came from the increased security clearance that came with the role and the rank – anomalies such as Isha – her tendency to turn up in places someone like her should never be, her insistence on taking actions detrimental to herself, her inexplicable ability to emerge untarnished from events that leave others crushed - finally, after all these decades, began to make sense.
There were still gaps, of course, some of which would never be filled, for others there were explanations and it was for one of these that Rh’vaurek had made a visit to Llaiir t’Khellian. He wanted confirmation that what was (and was not) in Isha’s classified file was true. If anyone knew the answer it was Isha’s own mother.
Llaiir t’Khellian had not been pleased; at first she had refused to see him.
With a cultivated calm that did not come naturally to him Rh’vaurek had reminded her who he was and offered her a very simple choice; they could either talk there, on her own estate, or they could talk in another venue of his choosing. Rh’vaurek was not above reminding the privileged that their privileges carried no weight with him.
A soft chuckle gurgled in his throat at the memory of the frustrated crease of her brow and the tight tone in which she used his title. Llaiir t’Khellian was truly one of the old guard and viewed his rise from nothing through a screen of suspicion and contempt.
When they finally arrived in t’Khellian’s office Rh’vaurek had taken her chair, he had known the action would rile her even more; this was, after all who Isha had inherited her temper from, and her duranium sense of propriety, he recalled the memory with a smirk.
Her chair was very different from the one he occupied now; hers was old, well stuffed and well worn, and it creaked pleasantly beneath him as Llaiir muttered something half audible beneath her breath.
The interview that followed had been very short and very tense. It had concluded with an ultimatum – she had three days to make up her mind to talk – after that Rh’vaurek was going to release a particular piece of information around her husband’s Senate dealings. To her credit Llaiir had not folded early, three days had now passed since that meeting and she had taken this right up to within a minute of the line.
It was another fifteen minutes before Rh’vaurek reached out a lazy arm and opened the channel.
“t’Khellian, what a surprise,” he said with studied insincerity, quite aware that all she would be able to see was the soles of his boots.
“I was misguided to even believe that someone like you could conduct himself with the barest modicum of decorum,” Llaiir said displeasure evident in her tone.
Rh’vaurek tilted his upper foot to one side so that he could see her expression. “You really are a humourless old witch, aren’t you,” he said as he dropped his feet to the floor,” he would have much preferred to do this in person but he did not have time to hang around Ra’tleifhi waiting for her to make up her mind.
“That attitude is not going to incentivise me to co-operate,” she said.
As she folded her arms Rh’vaurek noticed an expression flit across t’Khellian’s face, as though she was afraid that he had found out something that she did not want him to know. “I already know you’re going to co-operate, you wouldn’t have contacted me if you weren’t,” Rh’vaurek told her. “Why does Isha hate you?” he asked her.
“Because she’s headstrong, stubborn and doesn’t believe in any authority beyond her own. That girl had more presence than both her siblings put together. She resented that she would never be my heir and in time she would have challenged her sister. That is why I set her on a different path. That challenge would have been too disruptive.”
“And it also meant that you could control her, no? Create a pliable and obedient puppet and then use her to manipulate her husband so that you could grow your own power base.”
“We have been making opportunistic marriages for centuries, Raedheol, it is hardly a new idea.”
“But you made the mistake of believing that she was as compliant as she appeared to be. Then the moment she was free she turned on you. All that influence you thought you would be able to use was hers and she’s been rubbing your face in it ever since. That must really grate.”
Rh’vaurek paused before breaking into sneering laughter, “There isn’t an obedient bone in her body,” he said, “that was one of the first things I noticed about her, but Kholairlh-a! she hides it well. Getting her to do what you want, even if she wants to is an art. Sometimes I think she’s contrary because she likes the game - she fights even when she’s got no intention of winning.”
“That is my daughter you are talking about,” Llaiir interrupted. “Keep your sordid observations to yourself.”
Rh’vaurek raised an eyebrow; given how cynically she had used her daughter he hadn’t thought she would be so protective, but then why should he be surprised that Llaiir t’Khellian was a hypocrite. “You have no idea how to handle your own daughter. Isha despises you for what you’ve made her into - a queen in an empire that despises monarchs, a career politician in a society where unless you are exceptional your war record stands for more your blood. Isha’s bloody lucky that she is exceptional.”
“I have no interest in your opinions on how I deal with members of my House. It is none of your business.”
“It became my business when you conspired to have me kicked out of the Galae because you couldn’t handle the fact that your precious jewel of a daughter had got into bed with a low ranking Galae officer, only you had no idea it was a cover.” He leaned forward, folding his arms on the edge of the console, “I thought she’d done it – she threatened to, you know, to ruin my career, but it was all you.”
“What did you expect?” Llaiir spat, “She came home delirious, she was bleeding, her jaw was broken, she was – you think I would allow a common piece of hnaev do that to a member of my House? I wanted all trace of you gone and if your mentor hadn’t pulled some strings it wouldn’t have been a dismissal you received, it would have been an execution. If I could have wiped you from her mind I’d’ve done that too!”
What was it that Llaiir hadn’t said? Rh’vaurek wondered – that was another gap he would need to fill, but not right now. “Where did Isha spend the five years she thinks she wasted serving Serona on your flagship? Where did she spend the following five years she thinks she spent studying the law before she entered the Senate?”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
“Am I?”
“Ask any member of my crew at the time.”
“Isha believes the lie,” he said ignoring her assertion. “She has no idea, does she?”
“There is no lie,” Llaiir protested. “She has not followed a conventional path but she has made a success of herself at least.”
Watching as the woman’s arms tightened across her chest, Rh’vaurek spoke again, “Such a special child. You tried to hide her from us, to protect her in your own twisted way, but we were already watching her. When you told Vrenak that she had no talent he didn’t believe you for one second. What he had seen already told him what he needed to know, but he had no use for a child, however talented. He let you believe you had him fooled.
“It wasn’t until it was Isha’s time for Serona that he came back to you, and asked for her. You conspired with him then, to make sure that it was never known that you had tried to hide her from the Tal’Shiar … and Isha still thinks that she spent Serona learning by your side on your flagship. But that never happened, did it?”
The question was rhetorical but Rh’vaurek paused long enough to give Llairr the opportunity to speak. She did not.
“Isha thinks that she spent Serona on your ship, under the watchful eye of a mother who makes me glad I have no parents. Isha has no recollection of the actual training she received, or where she was, or for how long. She doesn’t even know what she does at the bidding of the Continuing Committee, or what it is she has been doing since the day she entered the Senate and returned to her normal life.”
Finally, Llairr spoke. “I don’t know either. I was never given any details. I don’t need to know.”
“We took her and we trained her, conditioned her, and that precious brain of hers keeps it all locked away beyond the reach of even the most talented interrogator. Between you, Vrenak and tr’Vainlli you created a secret weapon, and now there is only you, me, Latasalaem and tr’Vainlli alive who know about its inception.
“If you have any sense, t’Khellian you’ll listen to me; for all her training and innate ability to segregate her mind, Isha is breaking down. Tell tr’Vainlli this – it’s a warning meant in good faith; she’s right on the edge, and sooner or later somebody, somewhere is going to push her over it and she’s going to find out who she really is. I know Isha better than she knows herself. I know that when she learns what you’ve done to her she will come for all of you. What you’ve made between you is a pretty little time-bomb, and I for one am going to enjoy watching it blow up in your faces.”
With a stab of his finger Rh’vaurek cut the channel and once again the room was plunged into silence. Long ago he had promised Isha that they would jointly get revenge on Latasalaem for manipulating them both, this was how he intended to deliver.
OFF
erei'Khrein Rh'vaurek Raedheol
EnRiov Hru'Hfir Llaiir e-Ramnau t’Khellian
NPCd by Louise