[Backlog] JL | Lt Entek, Princess Nox - "Something Wicked This Way Blows"

Posted on 241504.05 @ 8:57pm by Civilian Xue'Daio Nox & Lieutenant Katilya Entek MD, PsyD

Mission: Holy Cow

Night bled to day bled to night again with no real significant change between the times. Such was the bane and curse of a Starship with no sun or planetary rotation to tick away the hours with a certain amount of light, or lack thereof. It had all lead up to Xue’Daio’s ever growing irritation as her body struggled to adjust to the lack of humidity, light, seasons – the entire ship as a whole. Then someone from Engineering had come to pay a visit and check on everything in her quarters, no doubt a spy or overly curious officer who had wanted to see the albino Princess for himself. At first she’d been more than apprehensive of, and downright put out by, his appearance, but then he’d shown his usefulness by informing her that temperature controls, daylight cycle simulators, and other climate controls could be accessed and altered just by verbal command.

That night had been the first since her arrival that she’d been able to enjoy any real sleep. Under the right set of circumstances her incarceration in space seemed almost livable. The lack of real environment was just that and still a bore and gripe she’d come to make soon enough, though she knew it likely couldn’t be remedied. At least they had their so called observation lounge and during daytime hours, when it was busiest, she could freely wander without need of Pal’Maar lording over her every move, though she knew he likely lurked close by, watching and waiting for a moment to intercede and block trouble from crossing her path. That morning, however, trouble did come and it was in the form of a Cardassian female.

Xue’s eyes narrowed as she lay them on the thick scaled woman, reading her for what she was worth and knowing her for what she wasn’t. “Salmakt.” She greeted, the woman’s communicator immediately parroting the Hello in Standard. Xue didn’t waste time in plucking it from the Cardassian’s uniform and pocketing it as she sat down beside her. “nu ka kintuvisf'I.” (you’ve been seen), she continued low and terse, “ka nirayut taskinat'U; hi ka kinkith'I” (Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.) She warned with a nod that directed the Cardassian to acknowledge whether or not she understood. The death or Merket and the alliance she’d forged between the Ascendancy and the Union wasn’t quiet news in Cardassia, and she knew in her gut that the woman she sat with was no more a Federation officer than Xue herself was a Xepolite. The badge reappeared in the star child’s ghostly white hand, inconspicuously offered back to its owner now that the danger of their conversation being translated had passed. It was over. The warning made. Business could continue as usual.

Katilya had chosen a seat in the far corner of the lounge, she'd placed herself purposefully in a corner with her back to a wall that gave her direct sight of everyone that came and went. Her long dark hair had been draped as well as possible over her Cardassian features and, as people walked past and stopped to notice, she'd offered a soft and feint nervous smile that had been rarely returned. This had continued for some time until she found her routine broken by an Albino woman standing above her. She tilted her head to the side slightly as she watched the woman with interest, watching her expressions and her body language for any clues as to what she wanted. With intrigue she allowed the combadge to be taken from her jacket and said nothing as the woman passed along an attempt at a cryptic message. Katilya couldn’t help but allow her sweet smile to dance across her mouth as she met her golden eyes with those of the Albino woman.

"Quite," she said softly after a beat pause as she reached out her hand and took the combadge returning it to her duty uniform. She swept her hair back out of her face and leaned back slightly; head still slightly tilted. "Please… won't you join me?" she said pleasantly indicating to the chair next to her. Allowing just enough emotion to leak through. Her golden eyes glinted at something darker beneath the sweet exterior. Katilya didn’t take too kindly to veiled warnings, especially not from a white-as-snow jumped-up princess. While Katilya had been aware of her people's interest and eventual alliance with the Stenellis, and the role this woman had played, she had left her world and those people a long time ago.

Perching alight beside the Cardassian, Xue couldn't help but eye the woman warily. She knew that a Cardassian could spell disaster for her, but she also knew that a single word from her lips could be uttered and Cardassia would likely no longer exist. If it did, it would just be yet another part of the Romulan Star Empire, and the Ascendancy would simply chuckle and shake their heads. As it was, their use for the lizards was growing colder and more stale with every passing second. The Ascendancy had what it wanted, the technology that had been used during the Dominion wars, and with it they could easily reverse engineer it just as they had everything else they'd ever lay their hands on. It was what they did best; adopted things, tweaked them, made them better, used them to destroy those that stood in their way. Erb had learned the lesson bitterly when his little band of Ferengi troll-mutants had over stay their welcome and lost secrets to the Federation. All it had taken was one mistake and their entire colony had been eradicated from orbit without so much as a single gasp of warning.

The Albino didn't feel the need to elaborate beyond what she'd already indicated to the Cardassian. One thing was however certain; she wasn't buying the snake's rouse. No Cardassian was 'sweet'. They all wanted or were playing at something. "What brings you to Enterprise?" She asked. Two could play that game.

Katilya watched the Albino princess with part-amusement and part-intrigue. Truth being told she hadn't expected this interesting development; however it didn't need to concern her. She was in Starfleet now, part of the Federation and yet despite knowing she could rise above it she was interested; her own curiosity to know more drawing her further into the game like a poker player placing a bet. "Oh... I've been here a while. Hadn't you noticed? I didn't realise you were that xenophobic," she said raising both eyebrows and locking her eyes on those of her rival in this imaginary game. She let the statement sink in long enough to cause a stir of emotion before quickly continuing, not allowing the Albino to interject. "I'm the chief counsellor onboard Enterprise," she revealed remaining perfectly pleasant.

"Xenophobic." The Princess scoffed and eyed the Cardassian with no small amount of ire. She wasn't afraid of them, she was disgusted by them and their scales and lecherous minds. Not a single one of the cold blooded mutinous creatures could be trusted, they were opportunistic bottom feeders and right now they were indeed on the bottom and using the Ascendancy as their only leg up to some higher place on the food chain -- or so they thought. With Romulans lurking and Merket dead, the Cardassian's breed was an endangered one, and Xue knew she was one of the only things between them and total annihilation. "There are two of you in Starfleet. The other one is a male Commander who serves another ship. I have heard whispers in the hallways about him being a Commodore's pet. You?" The albino shook her dainty head, "You're an anomaly and I know better than to trust the rank on your collar or what you hope to appear as." She whispered, leaning close with a smile and a wink. "We are both oddities in this world, Cardassian, and we don't belong."

"Perhaps we are Princess," she said putting an emphasis of disdain on the last word. "But being an oddity doesn't necessarily mean you don't fit in... despite your best effort to play the Wicked Witch." She added pursing her lips enjoying the game she'd found herself in. People were fascinating to her and this was the first Stenellis she'd ever encountered and, like a kid who had a new toy on Christmas morning, she was enjoying learning how it worked. "So, why are you on this tub?" she asked looking around the lounge, "not exactly Princess material is it?"

"Wicked witch?" Xue asked and blinked with true curiosity staining her precious little features. It was a term she hadn't heard before and she couldn't quite put her finger on the origin either. It perplexed her as she mulled it over and finally dropped it. "You think you fit in?" She countered, the curiosity slipping from her demeanor as she honed in on what she perceived may have been an intriguing chink in the Cardassian's armor. So far, they'd simply been playing a game of who's who and basking in their own gruff brand of intelligent verbal foreplay. It was a prelude to either getting along and trusting one another, or simply waiting for the right time to bury the knife deep into a warm belly. What Xue did know was that aside from Pal'Maar, the Cardassian woman was the closest thing to a familiar face she'd seen. Four years in Cardassia had been four years too long. While she hated the scaled freaks, she hated the fact she now found comfort in their appearance more. "To learn from and be learned from." She replied to the next question with straight laced, cards up honesty. "Call it a social experiment if you will. As a counselor, you should love those."

Katilya made a distinct point to ignore the Albino woman's comments questioning whether she believed she fitted in. "Oh... I would have thought someone like you would have made it their job to know all about these humans and their culture... It's a phrase, you'll have to look it up," she said with a veiled smile. She picked her drink up from the table and took a sip, allowing the silence to linger and observing this princess as she did so to see what impact, if any, a pause had on the woman. "Well, I suppose I can get onboard with social experiments - the countless cultures of the Federation are fascinating to observe after all. I guess we're not that" she spoke the last words with just enough sarcasm to cause doubt as to their honesty but not enough to comfortably question it.

The Albino had to bite her tongue from saying something rash and stupid like 'humans are worthless and feeble, why would I immerse myself in their culture?' but somehow managed to still her tongue and shake her head, "It seems there are many things that can only be learned while living with a species." She rolled her hand dismissively, letting the phrase slide away into the ether. It wasn't worth her bother. Faced with silence, Xue only quirked a brow ever so slightly and took the chance to study the Cardassian woman for what she was worth. Somehow the idea of a Cardassian ex-pat serving Starfleet didn't quite measure up, and it left her feeling a little more than suspicious of motives... Motives she could potentially exploit if it came to be that they served a common goal. "Get used to the social experiments," She gloated wryly, "We're forever living in one, you and I."

The Cardassian couldn't help but allow a small smile to play across her face. She didn't trust the Albino and from what she knew about her people it hadn't been a difficult process to arrive at that conclusion. Yet, at the same time, there was an understanding there. "I'm sure you'll learn a lot Princess" she said putting a sarcastic spin on the woman's title before continuing, "from living with these people. What social experiments did you have in mind?" She asked with intrigue leaning back in her chair and eyeing up the Albino sat across from her.

"Time shall tell, won't it Counselor?" Xue grinned lightly, "There's an awful lot can be learned from my people, but the Federation seems so closed minded and bent of spreading their rhetoric across the universe.' She mused and folded her hands atop the table loosely, "Tell me," She began anew, her eyes narrowing slightly in thought, "Have you ever read of the Terran's 'Jehova's Witnesses'? They were a religious faction on Earth that went door to door asking if the home's inhabitants had 'found' Jesus Christ and offered their brand of cultish enlightenment almost by spoon feeding it down people's throats. The 'Mormons' were another faction that did similar, just a different version of the same religion with the same deity... Now we have Starfleet and the Federation coming door to door and boasting of their virtues." The grin widened a bit, "I find the similarities quite fascinating... The biggest experiment is simply coexistance and whether or not it's possible when someone quite openly isn't interested in change. For instance," The Princess wet her lower lip with a quick swipe of her pink tongue, "We have Romulans and Cardassians aboard this vessel. The Romulans just executed Merket in cold blood and as an Ambasador and Sovereign of an empire that has just aligned with the Union, I have to pretend that I simply don't care in order to continue the peace. You, as the counselor, have to pretend you don't care under Hippocratic oath. That's what I call a sub-experiment. Life is the great one, everything else I witness is a sub."

Katilya raised a brow at the woman's rhetoric and mused on what she said for a brief moment. She found herself nodding in agreement with the princess, despite her best efforts to hate the self-important Albino. "An interesting comparison to draw, thinking of the Federation in that way. From what I gather, they're supposed to be the beacon of hope in an otherwise darkened universe. I don't necessarily think they come door-to-door selling their ideology... from what I gather, most people approach them".

She paused a second, thought it over and allowed darker thoughts to cross her mind before dismissing them. "Maybe... most people fear change because they're rooted in their own experiences to the point anything else scares them. It's no secret that people, in general, are scared of the unknown. It's why fearing death is so common. The great unknown. Maybe... maybe we see it differently, we're not afraid of change because we do it daily simply to fit in. I prefer to see the bigger picture by looking closely at the individuals, what makes them tick and how they interact. Only then can you really answer the questions you pose. I mean... there." Katilya paused and nodded to two officers sat at another table. "Human and Klingon, it wasn't that long ago in history they would have been trying to kill each other. Yes; we can co-exist easy enough if people embrace change. Yet... My species hasn't embraced change and here we are. Me, a serving Starfleet officer talking to you, royalty, who made an alliance with the Union despite this. Co-existence... without change." She concluded.

"I'm ever so glad that you can relate and understand." Xue grinned ever so brightly. It was a million mega-watt flash just shy of a full blown smile that easily concealed the lascivious and calculating nature of the Albino creature. The Cardassian, she knew, was hardly stupid -- but that's what made her all the more interesting and worthy of being allowed to remain. "However, I fear this little chit chat is over as I have other arrangements for this evening." She all but yawned and stretched as she got to her feet. "It was a pleasure, truly."

Leaning back in her chair, the petite Cardassian smiled a little and shook her head slowly at the entitled Albino. "My, my, well I'm glad I kept you entertained while you waited," she said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Have a good evening, I'll be watching you. You are... most fascinating." Katilya said, inclining her head slightly.

"Highly entertained." The star-child beamed as she straightened out the lines of her saree. "Likewise, Lieutenant. You're worthy of note." She sniffed and with nothing more pertinent to convey, she made her way back through the crowded tables much the same way she'd arrived.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lieutenant Katilya Entek MD, PsyD
Chief Counsellor
USS Enterprise NCC-1701 F

&

Xue'Daio Nox
Crowned Princess of the Stenellian Ascendancy
Lady of Aleine
Regent of Apsha
Stenellian Ambassador to the Federation