"Karma's Jewels"

[Guest Sar'vek t'Jhiin]

After a certain number of times thinking that one was having a bad week, day, or month, one began to realize that they had been thinking such things for... Well... Awhile. Around that point, it became apparent that the correct idea was "a bad lifetime".

 

Sar'vek was to that point.

 

Far past, actually. But it was hardly her fault that fate continued to deal out hand after hand after worse hand. Just when she would have thought that the odds alone might have dictated that she run into a bit of luck, clones of her started to appear. Or a magically-resurrected t'Rexan appeared on the Oira to backhand her.

 

Or the Klinghanns'su showed up.

 

If Sar'vek had recently done something -- recently, anyway -- to infuriate the Elements, she wished that she knew what it was. Elemental karma really could be a bitch sometimes, but when she was out earning honor (not to mention latinum) for the Empire, one would think that she'd be earning a few extra points on the cosmic scale. But no. Time after time Sar'vek felt the spiteful hatred of the Elements, and she was getting tired of it.

 

Well... not every time, she thought begrudgingly, fingering the jewels she'd stowed away in the side pocket of her uniform. And there were many vats of latinum in the hold, even after the disaster with the repair-station... though Sar'vek was starting to wonder if it was cursed latinum, for all the luck they'd been having since bringing it aboard. But no minor issue of a curse could have made Sar'vek give up her prize; greedy or not, she needed her share of the wealth, and the Elements themselves couldn't have convinced her that picking up the lat was a bad idea.

 

Stepping into the lift with the intent of making a token appearance hrrau the Oira, Sar'vek sighed, finally pulling out the necklace she'd found to examine it again. Stunning, brilliant-cut esmaurantines sparkled in her hand, set against a gleaming frame of gold-pressed latinum. She didn't want to guess as to its worth, but it was one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry she'd ever seen, and certainly the nicest she'd ever... well, perhaps owned was still an overstatement.

 

She hadn't mentioned the find to t'Rexan's watchdog, and now she wondered if that perhaps had been a mistake. Or had it not been? It wouldn't have surprised her if... well, anyone able to would have "confiscated" the necklace for their own collection. But even now, she hesitated to ask if "finders-keepers" still applied to a necklace like that.

 

She could just keep it hidden away, but Sar'vek feared the retribution that would come if someone -- named either t'Rexan or tr'N'Dak -- found out that she'd taken it without clearing it properly. Raiding a vessel in the name of the Empire was one thing, and taking a few nice trinkets was another, but looting out expensive gems for oneself was quite a different matter.

 

Putting it back in her pocket -- out-of-sight, out-of-mind -- Sar'vek sighed, stepping out onto the Oira. For the moment, she had Klinghanns'su veruul to handle, and if they survived that, then she could worry about her new... gorgeous... stunning necklace. For now, she would have to be satisfied by watching the slime get blown out of the sky.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Sar'vek t'Jhiin