"The Toothy Grin, Untriumphant"

[Guest TroNoQ]

"Meyvn, darling," TroNoQ said, gesturing to the corridor as they stepped out of the turbolift onto deck fourteen. "This is my ship, the Qob."

 

Getting the lovely Meyvn aboard had been shockingly and pleasantly easy. Keeping her aboard might be harder. But the hardest part of all would be getting her alone, especially with K'Walus chaperoning the two of them. TroNoQ was still angry over the beat-down he'd gotten from Messner. He was the doctor, he'd been seeing to the safety of a very important "guest", and he'd tried his hardest to get Mevyn alone without her clothing. True, he'd disobeyed orders and ignored his ranking officers, but that was beside the point.

 

"Why is it so dreary?" Meyvn frowned at the strange architecture of the ship and the poor lighting. Clutching her sample case tightly under one arm, she gave the male Klingon a wary look. He was grinning at her again in a most predatory way.

 

"I wouldn't call it dreary. It simply inspires the warrior within." He lowered his vocal tones to whisper as he passed her. "Though... you inspire it more than these drab surroundings ever have."

 

"Of course I do. It can't be helped," she said, matter-of-factly. Following after him, she glanced down the hallway. "Which way to your medical facility? I am anxious to have you scan these samples with your equipment."

 

"My MRF is down a few doors. But my quarters are not too far away if you want to begin there first." He stopped suddenly and turned, steadying her with both hands as she bumped into his broad chest. He smiled sweetly down at her.

 

"Listen." She shrugged free of his grip and pushed him away, her dark eyes blazing. "I am perfectly aware that you invited me here with the intention of mating, but I am not the least bit interested in your romantic advances at the present time."

 

An odd choking noise reached them from a few paces away and they both turned to peer at K'Walus. She appeared to be choking down laughter, greatly amused by Mevyn's rejection of the Klingon male. TroNoQ scowled and opened his mouth to growl something at her, but was interrupted as Mevyn continued.

 

"These need to be dealt with first and foremost." She held up the case a few inches from his face. "Perhaps if I am sufficiently impressed by your willingness to help me find a cure for this illness, I might find you less disgusting and be better inclined to tolerate you."

 

"Perhaps?"

 

"That's what I said." She turned to move down the corridor, glancing coyly over her shoulder. "So... are you going to show me to your laboratory?"

 

"Oh... yes..." He motioned to the glass doors, behind which a surprisingly murky medical bay lay. "After you, Ma'am," he said, tossing off a mocking bow before following.

 

Mevyn rolled her eyes as she turned in the direction indicated, marveling how the primary motivation for most males was the same, no matter the species. Stepping through the door as it opened, she glanced around the dimly lit room that seemed packed with strange equipment. "Your diagnostic area? It could hardly be used for anything else."

 

"Oh, you'd be surprised." He cast another appraising glance, mentally undressing her.

 

"Well?" She threw him a sidelong glance, ignoring his suggestive comment. "The faster we get these analyzed..." She trailed off, letting him make his own assumptions.

 

"The analysis equipment is over there," he nodded in the appropriate direction, "though you don't have to feel obligated for us to start right here..."

 

"I'm afraid that I simply cannot think of anything else until I have these samples analyzed. You can understand my distress, can you not?" She threw him another glance over her shoulder as she headed toward the machines. Putting her case on the table, she sorted through the sample discs until she found the one she wanted. "You've talked quite a bit about being a warrior and being strong and brave. Are those qualities that are important to your people?"

 

"They are what makes us Klingon," the qel replied, adamantly. "Without them, we are nothing!"

 

"Ah. I see." A bit surprised by his tone, she filed that information away for later use. "My people have found that intellect serves us better than violence."

 

"They must be balanced -- something that some of my non-medically-oriented counterparts may disagree with. But the heart and soul of a Klingon are forged by warcraft and fortitude."

 

"So you are all, in effect, warriors at the core?" She threw him another glance as she placed her sample on what she decided was the scanning tray. "And none of your race ever chooses not to be a warrior?"

 

"A few cowards do... but most of them are rightfully ostracized."

 

"I see." She glanced back to the equipment, searching for some clue as to what to do next. "Are you going to show me how to use it? I do not read your language, after all. I still find it strange that I can even understand you, but you seem to speak my language perfectly."

 

"Translators, my precious." He pointed to a display, and then to the coordinating translation matrix. "This should translate to your language as well, should you prefer to read the words yourself." Tro'NoQ smiled. "See, we are not the warrior fools you might think."

 

"No, not completely." She flashed him a brilliantly false smile, then turned back to enter the sequence that she hoped would yield the results she needed. "Now this is impressive." Indicating the machine as it ran. "How long do you think it will take before the analysis is through?"

 

"Long enough, if you're interested in relieving some of the nervousness."

 

"Let me ask you something." She turned to face him, fingers drumming on the table. "Do you ever mate with females of your own species?"

 

He grinned, glancing briefly to K'Walus who had settled into a chair and was staring at them from across the room. "On occasion. Though they're much more volatile than you."

 

"And do they enjoy your company much, or do you find yourself alone most of the time?"

 

"Well, the ones on this ship are inaccessible. And besides, they keep me in my place..." Excuses excuses. Why did she want to know? "And I don't find them attractive. But they enjoy my company quite much." A toothy grin.

 

"And what about females of other species on this ship. Are you ever physically involved with them, or are they not attractive to you, either?"

 

"They are not... I like women that are special." The toothy grin turned innocent.

 

"So basically, you are saying that none of the women on this ship are interested in you and that you are severely lacking companionship." Her eyebrows lifted marginally.

 

"I didn't put it that way..."

 

"No, not exactly, but I think it is an accurate statement. Which leads me to my next question... what is wrong with you, exactly?"

 

"The women around me have bad taste or bad tempers. Unlike you -- you're sweet and surely have a good eye for sexy, alien males."

 

"That sounds like an excuse to me. I find it hard to believe that every single female on this ship is singularly flawed in that they dislike you." Turning back to the equipment, she checked on the scan in progress. "If you think that you are somehow ingenious in your approach to win me over, you are mistaken. I've met many males like you in my village alone."

 

He stuttered for a moment. "You don't think I'm special, charming, and dashing?"

 

"Do you think you are special, charming, and dashing?" She glanced up briefly, both eyebrows arched again.

 

"I'd like to. Special, I do. Charming -- I try to be. Dashing -- on a good day. What do you think, beauty?"

 

"Simply the fact that you think you are all those things negates them. Those that are special rarely realize they are, as are those that are charming and dashing. A handsome male is one that is not aware of his dashingly good looks, for if he becomes aware and turns to vanity, he looses his appeal." She waved a second sample at him as she pulled it from the case.

 

"You could break a heart, Meyvn. And for this you won't give me the time of day?"

 

"I'm only saying this because I think you are trying entirely too hard. You come across as desperate rather than dashing." With the results from the first scan completed, she inserted the second sample.

 

"Not desperate, precious -- simply... awe-struck at your beauty. And poise!" He attempted a very charming smile, yet tried to look unaware of just how charming it was.

 

"Desperate. That's exactly my point." She leaned against the table and turned her attention back to him. "With as many worlds as you may have seen and as many different species you have encountered in your travels, you honestly expect me to believe that I am the most beautiful you have ever met? Or is it simply that was the only candidate in the room when you walked into my medical facility?"

 

"You undersell yourself." The answer came slowly, thoughtfully. "You're also very intelligent, which is more than I can say, even for some women on this vessel."

 

"True. I am intelligent, which is what makes me a good doctor to my people. But that has never come across in your advances. You seem to be only looking at the surface."

 

He sighed. "Did I mention strong-willed?"

 

She grinned slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've heard that one before. But as shallow as you may seem, be it truth or not, I thank you for allowing me access to your medical facility. Even if we cannot find the answers, at least we tried."

 

"But of course. I would always help a species in need. Or a woman.

 

"Of course." She checked the scan results on the machine and motioned him over. "Keeping that in mind, what do you think of these scans? This is a sample from one of our worst cases. If we don't find a cure within the next few hours, he will die."

 

"The subject in question, as well as most of those afflicted, seem to suffer foremost from respiratory distress." Pursing his lips, he glanced up at the monitor. "If there's a way to beef up the immune system, that will stabilize him for longer than we can on your simple," he paused, "no offense, medications."

 

"None taken. As you've seen, the primary stages of the disease build gradually. Headache, nausea, body aches, and fatigue are usually primary symptoms. Vomiting, bleeding, and respiratory failure are the latter stages. So what do you suggest we use to head off the illness before it can build?"

 

"It's a disease I'm not particularly familiar with. However, I believe the best form of defense would be some sort of antibody that's been adapted to the bug in here..." He pressed a few buttons on the display. "Perhaps something based off of the Terran malaria... I see several similarities." He sighed. "Here. Take this hypo and load it with a small amount of the sample, and scan it to see if the antidote can be created from it."

 

She nodded and did as he suggested, running a detailed scan at the nuclear level to see how the disease would react to the newly introduced agent. While she waited, she glanced back to him. "By the way, when you show all of your teeth when you smile, you look frightening rather than charming... as though you are thinking cannibalistic thoughts. Just thought you ought to know."

 

"Klingon women like that," he said with a wink.

 

"I see. I think most everyone else would find it disturbing."

 

"Thanks for the pointer," he replied, absently, before frowning at the scanner. "That mixture doesn't seem to be the golden ticket. Maybe the next try..."