ILLUMINARRPG: (06–0805) tlha'nISta'

[Frank Truelove]

Mission: For Honor
Day: 6
Stardate: 2446.04.29

(Qo'nos — Main Hall — aCSO LT tlha'nISta' — 0805)

«qIb bo'Degh vItlh!» escaped Lanista's lips. "(By the) Great Bird of the
Galaxy!" The folkloric figure was one of reverence in Federation space. It
was (unfortunately) one of the beliefs-one-cannot-prove that Lani' had
picked up while living amongst non-Klingons…

A tell-tale laser-sight dot on Morek's chest, making its steady progress up
toward the man's head, betrayed the presence of a would-be assassin. The
culprit would be in a position of concealment, which implied he (or she, or
'it') had was characterized by «quvHa'ghach.»

~«quv Hutlh HoHbogh tlhIngan 'ach qabDaj 'angbe'bogh,»~ Lani' thought.
('The Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor.') It was a
maxim Lanista's Klingon father had inculcated since the hybrid woman's age
was still in the single digits.

The response to the unanticipated stimulus by Captain Sekal and Lieutenant
Galk (Son of Jos) was immediate! They flipped the table at which they were
seated in such a way as to provide cover that Chancellor Morek seemed to
have been able to take advantage of.

tlha'nISta''s reaction was no less immediate but was far less a spectacle.
The vambrace she always wore contained a custom-devised cross between a
PADD and tricorder. It happened to also be the sheath for a personal blade,
but in this circumstance it would be the device that would be more
important than the short hand-to-hand weapon.

Two mutually-exclusive hypotheses came instantly to mind:
• the laser-sight was NOT required by the would-be assassin except inasmuch
as it was intended for deliberate show, for declaration of intent.
• it WAS necessary for the aspiring killer because he(/she/it) was a
horrible shot.

If its purpose was the first, that had been accomplished. If the latter,
then interfering with its continued application could impair the assassin.

In survival encounters (and this was now one), instinct typically boiled
down to binary choices. "Kill or be killed." Facing another living being,
such as during Lani's Kas-Wan Ordeal on Planet Vulcan: "Can I eat it or
will it eat me?"

So, if the laser pointer were for a display, it had accomplished its
intended purpose and therefore was now not "needed". If it was, however, a
necessary piece of gear to the assassin, it could not be permitted to
continue to function. Whether was no longer necessary (i.e., it had
communicated the intent of the assassin as well as advertising his
presence) or it was still required, the only conclusion to this seemingly
binary dynamic was that the laser could or must be shut off.

Reaching a single conclusion given two diametrically opposed suppositions
didn't sit well with Lanista. THAT wouldn't be logical.

Thinking about what she might do beyond her initial visceral response,
Lani' configured the PADD'corder within her vambrace to pinpoint the
location of the laser's emissions. If she could fix the position of its
power source then that might be better. A battery would have an energy
signature even if the beam were shut off. Once Lanista's device found what
might be the emanation of the most immediately vital interest, she was off
like a shot in that direction. She was, of course, not the only one in the
Hall moving to locate the would-be killer, but she was the person in the
room with the longest stride! If she were not the first person to reach the
assassin, she would definitely be amongst the first!

(Reply: All/Any)
(Posted by Frank)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://startrekfreedom.com/pipermail/illuminar-rpg_startrekfreedom.com/attachments/20221024/e30a480e/attachment.html>