A Night at the Theater
Posted on Sat Aug 23rd, 2025 @ 4:13pm by Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Captain Larta Daughter of Shog
Edited on on Tue Aug 26th, 2025 @ 4:55pm
2,248 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
The Amalgamation Interrogation
Location: Empok Nor
Timeline: MD001 2000 hrs
Larta lounged casually in her balcony box, the heavy chair couldn’t be kicked back onto its rear feet easily, but she did have a booted foot up on a foot kicker as she looked about. A handful of boxes were on the same level as hers but this one was centermost. She’d brought this traveling troupe to Empok Nor, so it was hers for the next two weeks as she served as the troupe’s patron.
There were some perks to being an Ambassador, after all. Dressed in simple blood red velvet gown with ivory lace and black leather accents, she sipped from a silvered crystal goblet. She swirled her blood wine critically and decided she approved of the vintage.
The gagh was fresh from the latest supply ship and she had the wait staff standing by for whatever her guest might request, though she did have a bottle of Praline Pecan liquor she’d ordered in from Earth, called the Nut Cracker.
Which might be suitable if Mira was shacking up with her blood brother.
Smirking, Larta slouched even more as the small orchestra in their pit warmed up while more people filtered into the theater. Flipping her palm up near one of the computer displays, the bill for the night’s performance of Hamlet by Dunav’s Klingon troupe should be lively. It was a dinner theater and there would be fruit and flowers to throw at the performers, depending on how the show went.
Klingon actors could get cranky and it wouldn’t do to have an open fight opening night.
Still, they had to be true to their art.
Jayna was a little leery about meeting Larta. She was Neil's blood sister, but she was also Klingon and if she didn't like her, it could make future interactions...interesting. At the same time, she wasn't going to put off the meeting. And Jayna was curious. So, she dressed in a black silk skirt with a black leather bodice and headed for the theatre.
She arrived several minutes before curtain call and slipped into her seat next to Larta. "Hello. Thank you for the invitation. I haven't seen Hamlet in Klingon before."
Larta snorted slightly with amusement, looking Neil's woman over with curiosity. "Neither have some of the performers, from what I gather from their troupe leader. There was quite a fight among the crew, though no one died, when he announced this production and tour. They felt Klingon's performing a Klingon classic, like T'Kuvma's March would bring more of our culture to a broader audience. The troupe leader argued that that might be not well attended in the Federation and about half the troupe thought it would be betraying Klingons history and risking that it would be corrupted."
Sighing a bit dramatically herself, Larta said, "I am to be the judge it seems, and you get to help me Mira Jayna. May I offer you a drink? We're likely to need it."
That didn't sound promising. "Yes. What are you drinking?" She looked around the theatre, then back at Larta. "What, exactly, am I to help you judge?"
Peering at the half Vulcan, then looking obviously toward the theater stage and then at the bill and grinned. "A Klingon interpretation of the Earth play Hamlet by Shakespeare. And I am drinking blood wine. A twenty-two eighty five variant. The worms fed on a Kaduza tree forest that was witched by a lost house. I think that house's wine is a fine memorial. And the house, better off dead."
Nodding toward the bottle that sat brooding on the table between seats, she said, "There is that. And I have a Praline whiskey from Earth if you prefer."
"Nothing against blood wine, but that praline whisky sounds interesting. I think I'd like to try that. Although I'm not sure how well it goes with Hamlet." Larta didn't tell her why she wanted her here, but Jayna hoped that would come soon.
Larta fished a crystal rocks glass from the built in bar, put a globe of ice in and poured the whiskey, then sat back after placing it before Jayna. "I'll get to the point, since the curtain is due to go up in about twenty minutes," the ambassador said, crossing her legs and adjusting her gown. "You know Neil and I are blood kin. A bond forged by their time fighting against and alongside one another nearly fifty years ago."
Taking her goblet again, she sipped at the blood wine and said, "Shog's an old fool but he fought well when he was younger. He and Neil's father were foolish together, but lived. There is much to be said about that, don't you think?"
Jayna picked up the goblet and took a sip, letting the flavor sit on her tongue for a moment before swallowing. "Being fools together or living through it?" she asked.
Larta laughed and raised a toast toward Jayna, "Likely both. That comment alone says much about life itself. Being foolish together and surviving life is a challenge. Sipping at the wine again, the ambassador said. "Which leads us nicely to the main reason I thought we should meet. What are your intentions with Neil?"
Jayna watched Larta for a moment, assessing her. "Even though you're his blood sister, that is between me and Neil." She took another sip of her whisky. "I will say that my intentions are honorable." Wasn't that generally a question a parent asked?
Larta adjusted her skirt and pushed herself deeper into her chair with the heel of a boot as she looked at Jayna evenly. "Not really. I don't worry about his virtue. And while I hope you two shatter each other's bones in bed, that's not my concern. As I said, he's my blood brother and if you become serious about him, you may be caught up in the Game of Houses. Shog has enemies in the Empire, as do I. Within and without."
She smiled, showing her canines then sipped at her goblet again. "So, Jayna of house Mira. Right now, you are briefly caught in the orbit, but there can be some nasty business in Klingon politics. Are you prepared for that?"
Jayna gave the question the care it deserved. "I'm very serious about Neil and I'm not going anywhere." She let that sink in for a moment. "I don't know if you looked into my background, but I'm half Bajoran and grew up on Bajor during the occupation. I'm also former Maquis. I think I can deal with Klingon politics."
There was activity on the stage and Larta checked the time, then looked back over to Jayna before taking in the crowd. The house was filling up, as she'd expected. She'd made sure the troupe would have an audience. "Dealing with it isn't the same as wanting to go through certain things again. Or rather new things along age old problems," Larta mused. "Of course I looked at your records, Jayna. Neil's virtue is one thing. Making sure who might be coming into the family is another. Finding out you're a separatist sympathizer and still in contact with bad actors could hurt Neil. Killing you would hurt him more, and I'd hate to do that."
She could say it was none of her business, but Jayna knew she was being vetted and had to prove to the Klingon she was a proper mate for Neil. She nodded. That was a valid point. "I would, too, if the situation were reversed. I love Neil. I want to spend the rest of my life with him--if he asks me. I can also assure you I'm not a separatist sympathizer. I was a rebel who fought with my family against the Cardassian occupation. I joined the Maquis because I thought it would allow me to do more to help. But I turned my back on that life when I joined Starfleet." She flashed Larta a smile. "Although some people think intelligence isn't much better. I believe Neil and I work well together and that we're good for each other. I don't see our different backgrounds as a problem, nor do I see a problem with his Klingon connections and I don't see a problem with any future we have together." She raised an eyebrow. "Does that satisfy you?"
"No," Larta said with her own smile. "But we'll see. You say the right things of course, as I'd expect. Proof will be in the bloodletting." Gesturing toward the stage and the seating, Larta noted the lights flashing and asked, "Are you familiar with Hamlet?"
She knew words wouldn't be enough for the diplomat. Jayna even respected it. Words were easy to say, but she knew that, with time, she would prove to Larta that she meant what she said. "I've seen the Terran play by William Shakespeare." Jayna glanced at the stage. "I have not seen the Klingon version."
"Shakespeare and Webster wrote on a level with Dashote and Krim," Larta said, fingers tracing absently on the filigree of her goblet. More seats were taken and the noise of the patrons was growing as they socialized. "I enjoy them all very much. Humanity shrouds itself, pretending they've grown past such things as revenge, envy or lust. That they've refined it. Klingons live with such passions hand in hand. But I think it's important to show both societies and others that we have more in common than most would think."
Then she showed her canines again in a rich smile, "Or would like to admit. Gesturing toward the open theater she ghosted a wink toward Jayna. And this is to upset the Cardassians by showing that comparison of Humanity and my people. I think the first Klingon troupe that would attempt to run a Cardassian play would be killed before the first act." Smiling more and sipping at her goblet Larta said, "I suppose we do have that in common, you and I."
"Yes, we do." Jayna smiled back. "But then, in general, they are so easy to dislike." She'd met some Cardassians--mostly in Starfleet--that weren't so bad, but she still couldn't completely put aside her past.
"Sadly, the people we deal mainly with are the ones that need killing the most," the Ambassador stated. "The common people only get as much voice as the current regime allows. And sorting them out is like weeds in a garden. There's always new ones."
Jayna didn't quite agree with that sentiment, but she understood it. "Those in authority do tend to feel more entitled. What is the saying...might makes right?"
"Now there's a Klingon sentiment," Larta said approvingly. "Of course, that's where the tragedies, revenge and messiness all comes into play."
Nodding, Jayna watched the stage and the gathering audience. Didn't Alyssa have a friend who was Klingon? She wondered, briefly, if he was here. "Not just Klingons. That seems to be a universal flaw with some. Entitlement, revenge, tragedy. Or, justice and retribution. Some people like happy endings." She nodded to the stage. "But not tonight."
"There's an interesting question," Larta asked as she continued to watch the other theater goers around them. "Do you believe in happy endings, Jayna?"
"Yes. That doesn't mean everyone has one, but I believe they can and do happen." She paused, then continued. "I do not, however, believe that a happy ending means nothing bad ever happens. Bad things happen to everyone. But you can have a happy ending with someone while you deal with what life dishes out. If that makes sense." She paused again, then asked. "What about you?"
"Definitions," Larta said after a moment. "Defining a happy ending. Knowing when you've achieved what made you happy and realizing it's a changing, growing animal. One that can stand on you and eat your brain and soul while you let it because you can't let go of something. Or something along those lines." She glanced at Jayna with a smile and said, "I noticed you said a happy ending with someone. You've lost people. What happens if you lose that someone? Moving on can be...challenging. But a true Klingon knows how to live in every moment. Is yours tied to Neil so much that he defines it for you?"
"No..." Then, to be completely honest, she added, "And in some ways, yes. I'm happier than I have ever been because of Neil. However, if a time comes that he is no longer a part of my life, I keep going. Just like I always have." She smiled. "Bajorans know how to keep moving forward, even when things don't go as they hope. As a Vulcan, I find this quite logical."
"Logic with Neil. I'm not sure those two play together.." Larta said with not a small amount of humor. Then the lights were flashing and started to drop as the small orchestra played an intro.
Klingons weren't all that logical, either, Jayna thought. They reacted more on emotion. But she wasn't going to debate the point. And she was curious to see what they'd do with Hamlet. Was it too late to get popcorn?
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Captain Larta Daughter of Shog
Klingon Ambassador to Cardassia
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