*Backpost* Goodbye's to old freinds, Part 1

Posted on Fri Jul 30th, 2010 @ 6:26am by Lieutenant JG Erin Tal & Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola

3,666 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: Kazon refugee planet
Timeline: Prior to departure from Typhon

Erin was ready and waiting for Kaj at the shuttle for 11 on the day of the burial.
Her usual starfleet uniform was replaced for typical kazon clothing- a vest, tunic and cloth pants made out of the same rough material, and boots made from the hide of some large animal. Even a leather belt around her waist had traditional Kazon weapons fastened to it.
The only indication that she was'nt totally tribal was her hair- which was still bound with small gold rings.

She was seated on the ground humming to herself for the past 10 minutes when the shuttle arrived.

Barely had the shuttle touched down when Kaj came sprinting into the bay, hurriedly pulling on the jacket of his starfleet dress uniform with one hand and grasped the rather ornate scabbard of what was obviously a sword with the other.
Practically skidding to a stop next to Erin he paused to catch his breath, a consequence of having to take a far turbolift and sprint to the shuttlebay in order to make it there on time. After gathering one last gulp of air he rose and looked at Erin as he spoke.
"Well I made it. Lusa is in the care of a dog-sitter, things are set up in the department to avoid MOST major screwups, I think we're good..."

Kaj was looking Erin up and down with a mixture of bewilderment, intrigue and a little guilt on his
face. Clearly he thought he had adequately prepared for the funeral but Erin was proving to be evidence of the contrary.
"Um, I read the literature you sent me on Kazon death rites, but unfortunately I don't have anything rather tribal nor could I get to a replicator long enough to program in the correct attire, so I settled on the dress uniform and optional Officers' Sword..."

Kaj looked down, he was making excuses and he knew it.

"I'm sorry, it doesn't take THAT much time to replicate an outfit I just got aggravated with all the busywork and didn't take the time..."

Erin smiled, it was so endearing that he was feeling guilty about it.
''Dont worry about it, there'll be clothes at the camp. But dress robes are just fine. Its the fact that you made the effort, really.''
She turned just as a Kazon emerged from the shuttle.
''Erin!''
''Aavik!''
They embraced, speaking rapidly in Kazon for a few seconds before Erin turned back to Kaj.
''This is our pilot. Aavik, this is Kaj. He's my guest.''
Aavik nodded at Kaj. He was tall, with darker skin and more prominent forehead ridges than Erin.
''Well met.'' He turned back towards the shuttle. ''We had better get going.''
Erin nodded, jumping into the back of the shuttle and making herself comfortable as Aavik got the controls.
''Just for the record.'' She murmured, leaving over to Kaj so Aavik wouldn't hear. ''The dress robes look good on you.''

Following in behind Erin Kaj found a spot close to her, setting the tip of the scabbard down on the deck of the shuttle but still holding onto it. When she spoke he leaned a little himself, and smirked and chuckled as quietly as he could when Erin gave him her appraisal.
"Thanks, but in the right light this thing either makes me look like a brothel owner or Rip Van Winkle himself, hence a bit of the reason why I brought this."

Almost as if for effect Kaj grasped the pearl-colored hilt and pulled the blade out halfway. The blade caught the light and seemed to radiate some sort of aura for a moment before fading as Kaj rotated it slowly. Unlike the Marine standard the Fleet version had no etching of any kind, and thus it had been a tricky thing to polish just right. But the results in front of them spoke volumes of the effort Kaj took to get the shine just right.

Re-sheathing the sword Kaj tucked it in a compartment then looked around at the shuttle. It was definetely not the Federation standard, and if he was honest he had seen old Klingon D7s in better shape than that shuttle. However he kept his mouth shut on that issue, for all he knew he was being picky about some interior foibles on what probably was a robust ship.
So to change the subject and get his mind off of the conditions he went to the obvious.
"So how long have you known Aavik up there?"

''I knew of him ever since I was a child, he was the pilot of one of the other Halik ships. I actually met him when I joined the group on the sleeper ships about 10 years ago.''
Erin replied, glancing up towards the pilot.
''He's not exactly talkative, but he's one of the main one's who bartered with the federation to let us stay in the quadrant.''
The older Kazon looked back for a said and said something in Kazon.
It was a harsh guttural langauge that sounded vaguely like German.
Erin laughed. ''He says the sword is pretty, do you have any manly weapons?''
She shook her head at Aavik with a grin. ''Dont mind him, good-natured insults are almost leisure to him."

Kaj smirked, he had played this game before frequently, albeit rarely with such a language barrier. With a look on his face somewhere between mischievous and a little defiant he leaned over to Erin while still keeping his gaze forward at Aavik.
"Really? Well kindly inform him that the sword is merely for ceremonial purposes, my most dangerous weapon is one that cannot be seen but is far more effective than any blade or disruptor."

Kaj nearly giggled inside. He knew the answer to that one, it had been pulled on him when he was fresh out of the academy, but he had a feeling old Aavik would get it much quicker than he did.

The journey took roughly 3 hours, and by the time the small class-M planet was in sight, dawn was rising for the tribes below. From the shuttle, large portions of forest-land, desert, mountainous plains and lakelands could been seen as they broke the atmosphere.
''The planet was genetically modified to be suitable for all the sects to live in.'' Erin explained, pointing towards the forests.

The shuttle landed a few minutes later in a large clearing just beside the large village, viable through the trees.
The tribe was already waiting there for them, surging toward to greet their brethren, but stopped abruptly at the sight of Kaj.
''An outsider?'' One of the warriors at the front asked, stepping foreward. ''Most unusual.''

Although he already had an idea of how to respond to this situation there was still a small rush of panic in the back of Kaj's head. The fact was there was more of them than him, and though he might go down swinging any breach of diplomacy at this point would end up badly not only him but probably Erin as well, not to mention any other starfleet personnel that might touch down on this planet at a later venture.

Still, backing off was not an option either, so Kaj split the difference, albeit not before making sure his hands were well away from the officers' sword that now was at his left hip on the belt it had come with.
"I'm here as representative of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets first and foremost, and by my reckoning one does not need to be Kazon or Human or any other species to mourn the loss of a good man or woman irregardless of their species."

Erin silently commended Kaj's response. The Kazons had no problem with people on their planet- in fact there was a federation town in each sector. But they were only tolerant of people they found strong- physically, mentally or verbally.
But now it was her turn.
''He's with me. As a brethren and friend, he offered to accompany me so I wouldn't have to make the journey alone.''
The warrior considered as Aavik joined them on the platform. ''Will you vouch for him?''
Erin nodded. ''Indeed.''

There was a flurry of movement and the warrior unsheathed an energy weapon with frightening speed. Within a second it was aimed at Kaj's heart, and within a second Erin was staning in front of Kaj, arms down and defenceless.
There was a fraction of a heartbeat that passed before the warrior smiled and lowered the weapon. ''And so you would. Welcome to the Halik sect, outsider. For today, you are our brethren.''
As if some kind of spell was broken, the crowd errupted in talking and laughing, greeting the Kazon's back and leading the way in a surge through the clearing into the large village on the other side.

The village itself was boggling to look at. The large huts were made with thick wooden poles and swatched in animal hide with thatching for the roofs. Outside every house an animal was thethered or a small bonfire burned. Yet the stunning array of technology, from the energy scoures, to weapons and breif glimpses inside the huts, totally contrasted with the tribal setting.
As they walked Erin leaned over to Kaj.
''Sorry about that, its a two-part test administrated on all newcomers. They want to test your strength, and they wanted to know if I trusted you. They'll trust a fellow Kazons judgement, but sometimes back in the delta quadrant, Kazons would be taken hostage and forces to lead the way back to their own ships for sabotauge. If they failed to step in front of the weapon, their sect knew that the outsider couldn't be trusted. A fool-proof plan.''

Just then a small child in the crowd ran up to Kaj, gazing at him in awe.
''Whats wrong with his forehead?'' He asked loudly, pointing. ''Its all flat!''

About to make some sort of observation along the lines of an errant sneeze in regards to that kind of test, Kaj was cut off by the small child and his observation. Rather than simply set him straight Kaj knelt down to his level and adopted that goofy grin that he always adopted when he was about to cause a little mischief.
"Well, my forehead is flat because I work for starfleet, in fact I'm one of the people that actually navigate the big ships, and, well, since I'm at the front when we go really really fast it ended up mushing all my ridges down."

Suddenly an idea came to him. As he talked with the child he took his communicator off and flicked a little switch on the back, disabling it from transmitting, then palmed it in his hand.
"What's your name kiddo? I'm Kaj."

The little boy looked up at Kaj with wide, amazed eyes.
''I'm Fe'ere.'' He replied a little shyly, gazing at the communicator, turning it over in his hands.
''What does it do? Can it fly!?'' He asked exictedly, whooshing it around like an aeroplane.

Erin had to force herself not to smile at the scene, but before she could a few Kazons rushed over, including Ma'ava and gave her a big hug, jabbering continuously in Kazon.
''Welcome back!''
''Where have you been!''
''What happened to your hair?''
''Whos he? Why did you vouch for him?''
''He looks good, for a human.''

Erin fended off their questions. ''Thanks, all over the quadrant, I braided it, he's Kaj, because i didnt want to see him with a gaping hole in his chest via energy beam, and yes, yes he does.''
Ma'a'va peered over to where Kaj was chatting with her son.
''Well he's getting along with Fe'ere, anyways.''

Kaj grinned and chuckled a little. Clearly the kid was cut from the same near hyperactive block that he was at that age.
"No, it doesn't but it makes you Lieutenant Fe'ere, as long as you wear it anyway, just like this."

Kaj took the communicator from his little palm and attached it to the left side of Fe'ere's toga.
"There, NOW you look like you're in starfleet. And someday when you're older, come find me, ill show you how to fly those big ships, deal?"

Fe'ere gazed up at Kaj with the biggest grin cut out on his face. ''Thanks! Hey LOOK LOOK LOOK IM A LIEUTENANT!!!! I'M A LIEUTENANT!!!'' He took off across the clearing to a group of children that were evidently waiting for him to go play.

As he stood up he mussed Fe'eres already unruly hair, watched him go running off, then turned back to Erin and another female Kazon.
"Cute kid, I do believe I am the first human he's ever seen. Of course I'm assuming he's yours, which may or may not be completely accurate"

He said while pointing with his thumb over his shoulder and addressing the second female Kazon before extending his other hand.

"Kaj Mikkola, although I'm guessing Erin here probably said that already. Oh and any stories she tells of me doing something crazy are mostly true, mostly."

Ma'va nodded proudly. ''Yes, he's mine.'' She affirmed with a smile.
''I'm sorry for his bluntness, he gets it off his father. Well met, Kaj. Erin never mentioned that she was bringing someone, let alone a daredevil starfleet representative.''

Kaj chuckled and shook his head, even if he hadn't mentioned it he had a feeling his reputation for periods of on-the-edge fun would follow him endlessly.
"Oh, I think that's just as much inquisitiveness as it is bluntness, at least by my bad estimation.

I have to admit I did come here with a slight preconception of what I would find thanks to Voyager's rather biased notes, but this community, this place, it's almost like an ancient germanic earth tribe, or maybe one of the first Alphan Colonies, so in a way its almost like seeing a bit of my own families history."

Kaj realized he was starting to ramble and came back quickly.
"I wish I could have come here under less unfortunate circumstances to say the least."

She looked curiously at Erin, who stared resolutely into the nearby trees, her face blank.
''We'll talk later.'' Ma'ava added in Kazon, giving her freind a knowing look.
''The funeral pyre should be ready now.'' The Kazon's eyes saddened for a minute, but she grinned as she turned to Erin.
'' Ja'afra has been looking foreward to seeing you.''

Erin looked like she wanted to vomit. ''Okay, I'll see you there. Kaj, come here for a minute.''
As Ma'ava walked off to get her son, Erin turned to Kaj urgently.
''Okay I'll explain all of this later. But I need you to do me a big favour. I need you to pretend that you're my mate in front of Ja'afra. Please. If you do this I'll owe you 50 beers and a lapdance. Anything.''

The thought of mentioning to Erin that she didn't owe him anything crossed his mind, but it was quickly replaced by the appealing combination of alcohol and Erins rather flexible movements in concert, which prompted him to quickly answer.
"Alright, but I assume the typical arm-in-arm human signs of affection aren't enough, anything I should do specifically?"

''Just walk close to me. Any of the normal body-language for being in love works for Kazons too.''
Erin was so relieved she felt like kissing the man.
''Thank you so much Kaj, I'll explain everything later.''

The funeral pyre was set in another small clearing about 10-minutes walk from the village in what was essentially a Kazon graveyard. The body was laid to rest in a 5-foot deep hole in the ground and earth was packed in around the hole til it was filled and a small mound was made, surround by torches.
At the top of the mound was a small vent leading straight down to the body.
After the burial rites were said, a type of oil was poured into the ground, filling up the vent until the oil ran down the sides of the mound.
Once the oil touched the flames from the torches the fire sped back up the trail and combusted , funneling down into the vent and cremating the body.
Erin had her arm around Ma'ava who was openly crying, but most everyone else was stony-faced, not letting their grief show.

After the family and friends had their turn to say goodbye, Erin turned to Kaj.
''The family stays behind now. The rest of us go back and prepare the feast. Sort of like a wake.''

"Well then, why break from tradition now?"
Kaj spoke and turned to head back into the woods, holding his arm out to escort Erin through the undergrowth.
While the two of them walked he reflected a bit on the funeral.
"It was a good ceremony, direct, to the point, and in a way it embodied the whole cycle of life thing, returning him to the planet, or something along those lines."

He raised his other hand and gently caressed Erins hand with his fingertips as they walked.
"You know, I have yet to specify what kind of funeral service I want should I die in the line of duty, and that made a case for the Kazon way of doing things but I doubt the sect would appreciate it."

''Yeah we dont really agree on pointless dressing-up and loud displays of emotion at a funeral. He gets buried, and we celebrate his life.'' Erin explained heavily.
But then she smiled. ''On the contrary, we may not be the most welcoming of people, but if if you live, fight or breathe with us, then you die with us. As long as your proven to be a freind of the sect, they would have no problem.''
He gave him a little shove with her shoulder. ''But enough talk of death. You any good at lighting fires?''
She nodded towards the far end of the village where benches were being set up around a large unlit bonfire.

Kaj's face twisted slightly for a moment as his head rocked back and forth. Clearly his ambition was clashing with what little practicality he had left in his mind, and even that lost out eventually, sort of.
"Well I did pass my wilderness survival course in the Academy, and one thing we had to do was start a fire without any sort of chemical or energy accelerant or fuel, but in my case I lucked out because I found a flint-like stone while I was putting a lean-to together."

Kaj looked at erin sheepishly and kissed her forehead.
"So in short form I'm good for it as long as I don't need to rub two sticks together, if that's the case then everybody's going to be rather cold and hungry while they wait for me to figure it out."

Erin grinned, giving his hand a squeeze.
''No worries. We have energy weapons that start fires just fine. I just wanted to see if you'd fall for it.''
The town was soon filled with people hurrying around, carrying kegs of alcohol or platters of food. Erin started to help lug around benches and other necessities when she stopped and hurried up to Kaj.
''Okay, now I can explain. See that guy over there?'' She pointed to a tall, bronze-skinned Kazon who looked about a head taller than any of the other Kazons and about twice as angry.
''Thats Ja'afra. We were...kinda...bethrothed, might be the word. It was worked out before we left the delta quadrant and I got paired with him. Anyways, he's a right obsessive creep and the only reason I hav'nt put my fist through his face right now is because I cant reach it. So ready with your acting skills if he comes over.''

Kaj was about to take rather obvious note that Erin hadn't exactly told him that but was cut off because of the sudden advance of the male Kazon that Erin had identified as Ja'afra. Thinking on his feet Kaj suddenly snaked an arm around Erin's waist and pulled her close, giving her a look that hopefully conveyed 'we need to talk about this, but later' rather than 'I think I swallowed a living small rodent whole and am unsure if it's going to start burrowing its way out of my stomach at the moment'

Erin was fully prepared to tell him the whole story later, and she sincerely hoped he had'nt got the wrong end of the stick, so to speak.
''Are you okay?'' She started to ask, noticing a very odd look he had on his face, but was cut off by Ja'afra.
''The elders said you returned.'' He rather rudely started speaking in Kazon until Erin glared at him and switched to federation.
''I was hardly going to miss Ronah's burial.''
The other kazon's eyes flickered over Kaj and hardened into icy flints.
''Who the hell are you?''

Kaj was familiar with that look, and if he were completely honest it wasn't the first time he was on the receiving end of it either. It was the look of a jilted lover or ex significant other that still had some sort of attachment to somebody that was now on his arm.
In the past this sort of thing had degenerated into blows and even errant blade swipes, so he opted for the diplomatic approach to begin with.
"Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola, USS Calypso, pleased to meetcha."

Kaj stuck his hand out in a vain attempt to shake the big Kazons' hand, knowing full well that he would probably be rewarded with an errant swat.

**to be continued**

 

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