Salidwin

[Mule]

Salidwain

Dear Reader,

I am a compulsive writer. I write what I know and what I think I know.

First, let me speak to you from this universe. I have a slightly better-than-average understanding of TOS than the general public but beyond what was originally presented in the TV series and the movies, I have not read supporting material, have not participated in discussions nor taken part in any role playing.

So what I present here will be controversial and, to some eyes, even heretical. If anything I touch upon even approaches canon, it is purely accidental. However, after reading some of the posts, I think there is room for this story here.

There is also this, my view of Klingon history is untainted by the speculations of others.

Now it is time to speak to you from the other universe.

History is written by the victors and their words are seldom kind of those they have vanquished. In war, be it armed conflict or political, the enemy is presented as monsters, rapists and baby killers with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

What we know of Klingons and the Klingon culture comes from Federation sources and in particular from Terran sources. Terrans are the most decadent of the Federation races. They are a greedy, arrogant, self-centered people who worship peace and comfort above discipline and honor. They have no concept of the analogy of the swordsmaker.

Surely history as told by Klingons would be different.

Ironically this story is not about a full-blooded Klingon.

[Mule]

Salidwain - Part I

For Empire and Glory – Salidwain.


The conference room was small and unpresumptuous. A large oval table dominated the center of the room, and there was little room for anything else in the room. The close quarters lent to an intimacy that was not immediately appreciated by the participants.

The Vulcans thought that the Klingons smelled like rotting garbage. It wasn’t a matter of hygiene. The Klingon delegation was impeccable in this regard. That’s just the way Klingons smell. To Klingon olfactory organs, the Vulcans were sensed with a sickening sweetness.

Body scent was the least of the concerns of the participants. Romulan incursions into the area bordering on both Vulcan and Klingon space, was of mutual concern. The fear on both sides was that the other would join the Romulans (or at least passively tolerate passage). Such an agreement would destabilize the region. A Klingon-Vulcan mutual protection treaty was a logical step.

Just getting to the treaty table was a monumental task given the disparities in the two cultures. Both sides knew that they would have to get over the mutual distrust of each other, and to adapt the conventions of the other. Negotiations about the negotiations were long and tedious. However, once these details were worked out, the treaty was soon drafted and ratified.

In keeping with Klingon tradition, the Vulcans sent a “hostage” to live on Q'onoS while a member of the Klingon ruling family was sent to live on Vulcan.

The term hostage harkens back to a time when the Klingons would actually execute the exchanged family member if the treaty was broken. In modern Klingon culture, the hostage is merely expelled with shame.

Modern hostages were treated as the royalty they were. They were raised the same as the other children in the royal household

In this case, the Vulcan hostage was a boy named Sansor who was sent to the Klingon ruling house of Maugh.

Even the hostage exchange had to be worked out carefully. Sansor was expected to comply with all things Klingon, yet there were still Vulcan codes by which he had to live. Conflicts were inevitable.

Some things were strictly cultural and had to be overcome. For example, although it is physically possible for a Vulcan to eat the flesh of animals, it is considered barbaric to do so and ranks on a scale with cannibalism. However, Klingon rites of passage require males to eat still living flesh. Sansor had to be given special dispensation to be able to participate in these rituals.

Other things were genetic and could not be overcome. Pan farr will come to a Vulcan male no matter where he lives in the Galaxy. A Vulcan must have a bond mate, and in Sansor’s case, the chosen bond mate was Klingon.

Fach’on was just a child herself when she was chosen as Sansor’s bond mate. This was a break with Klingon tradition in which women choose between males competing in the mating rituals. Nonetheless, Fach’on became a celebrity because of this proposed mating. Her girlfriends were curious about Vulcan boys. Did they look like Klingon boys? Did they act like Klingon boys? It was well rumored throughout the Galaxy that Klingon men were well endowed in the genital area. However there was equal tittering about Vulcan men and the “special” techniques that they practiced. In keeping with Vulcan tradition, Fach’on did not find out until the actual mating.

The arranged marriage was supposed to be symbolic but it turned out to be more than that. Sansor used his mind meld techniques to discover Fach’on’s thoughts and found them fascinating. Once he came to understand her, he found her a woman of deep feelings and integrity. In her mind, he found her beauty. He came to trust her and share his thoughts with her as well. They were fruitful and they multiplied.

The fruit of this union was a son and they called him Salidwain.

Sansor and Fach’on had more than the normal concerns with raising Salidwain. They traveled back with him to Vulcan when he was 7 to undergo the ordeal of kas-wahn, and then promptly returned to Q'onoS where he entered military training.

Klingon males did not belong to their families, they were property of the state, and at age 7 mothers turned their sons over to the state for training. A Klingon woman who died in childbirth of a male was given a funeral with full Military Honors.

In addition to training in Klingon military tactics Sansor saw to it that Salidwain was also schooled in the Vulcan traditions whenever he was at home on furlough.

[Mule]

“I hit the target! I hit the target!” The young Salidwain exclaimed. Archery was a sport often practiced in Klingon military academies.

But Salidwain was not at the academy now. He was in his family’s private archery range under the discerning eye of his father.

“The physical target is nothing,” Sansor said. “Perfect posture, perfect fitting of the arrow, perfect bow draw, perfect placement of your fingers, perfect breath control, perfect aim and perfect release. These are your true targets.”

Salidwain looked at his father with confusion, so Sansor went on. “Hitting the target center is a consequence of accomplishing all these things perfectly.”

“But my score depends on hitting the target, father.”

“That is one of the differences between Vulcan and Klingon cultures. Klingon culture puts value on results. Vulcan culture puts value on means. Vulcans believe that if you concentrate on the means, the results will take care of themselves.

As a person who has both bloods in your veins, you will have to balance both means and results.”

Sansor went on, “Your Vulcan half will learn and appreciate that there are some things that one does solely for the purpose of doing them. On Vulcan we practice archery. At one time it was important for our survival as hunter-gatherers. However, we soon developed better and more lethal weapons as we advanced (or so it was called) during the violent, warring period of our civilization. Now archery serves only as a form of discipline: disciplining one’s body to obey one’s mind.

For the Klingon, archery is also archaic and is also practiced for discipline. However with all things Klingon, it is also accomplished for a specific purpose. Archery sharpens military skills and it fosters competition.

Competition of this sort is unknown on Vulcan. It is the Vulcan way to cooperate rather than compete. We engage in sport but not competitive sport. I suppose that one could argue that there is a purpose in some of these sports: maintaining health. However, there is no score keeping in Vulcan sports. When the question of adopting the Olympic Games came up for a vote in the Federation Council, Vulcan supported it as a means of promoting dialogue between cultures, but does not participate athletically to this day. For this reason, Vulcans are chosen as judges of these contests.”

[Mule]

Salidwain placed his back against the wall. His assailants, three Klingon boys older than him, could only come at him from the front.

One of them smirked, “Look at the Vulcan half-breed. I bet he doesn’t even know how to fight like a Klingon.”

That statement was not true. Salidwain took the martial arts courses taught at the academy. He fought the opponents he was told to fight, and moved up in class standing on par with his classmates. But these were older boys and more advanced in their martial arts training.

Salidwain took a defensive stance. His intention was to hold his ground and fight. There was a small spark of logic in the back of his mind that gave thought to flight, but fleeing is not the Klingon way.

One of the boys threw a punch at Salidwain and Salidwain parried it. A second boy kicked at him, but he dodged out of the way. The third and largest boy gathered himself to lunge at him when a voice boomed, “Gatath, Stop!”

It was an upperclassman named Matog. The three boys snapped to attention followed by Salidwain.

“What is going on here?” The Matog demanded.

“Nothing, Sir!” Came the inevitable response.

“Cadet, do you know the consequences of violating the Honor Code? Do you know the kind of trouble you could find yourself in by lying to a superior officer? Would you care to reconsider your response, Mister?”

The cadet was in full-brace position now as Matog brought his scowling face to within millimeters of the underclassman’s nose.

“N-nothing. Yet. SIR!” came three separate words.

“There better not be anything.” Matog snapped back. He took a step back and addressed the group. “At ease, Klingons! It seems you need an education. I know what was going on here. You thought you had a weak Vulcan who was easy prey. Do not let looks deceive you. He could be beset with dangers you do not see.

But let us assume he is a helpless boy and you choose to defeat him. Where is the Glory in that? We are not at war with the Vulcans. This Vulcan is not your enemy. You have no right to harm him.

Gatath, do you not know, or do you choose to forget that it is the Duty of the strong to protect the weak. Slay those that the Empire names as your enemy. Otherwise it is your Honor to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Your actions should not be to bring Glory upon yourself. Your only purpose as a Klingon is to bring Glory to the Empire.”

Gatah threw his arms out to his side, arched his back and faced the sky. By baring his neck and chest in this vulnerable posture, he was offering his submission.

Matog grabbed Gatath by the shoulders and pulled him to him. Both Klingons touched foreheads and growled fiercely. It was the ritual act of reconciliation wherein the superior after chastising his subordinate restored dignity and Klingonhood to him by acknowledging that in this act, they are again equals. Shame admitted and corrected was shame forgiven.

Salidwain wondered at the exchange. Surely it would have played out differently on Vulcan. There might have been no confrontation and if there was, there would have been a logical conclusion. Here all seemed to be judged on emotion. As a Klingon he had emotions and they were powerful. As a Vulcan he was compelled to control them. As both, they constantly fought within him. He wondered about his father. Did he ever know the joy of riding the wave of exhilaration of the simplest of feelings? To be Klingon is to feel passion! It pulses through the body even as lifeblood itself.

[Mule]

“Why do we do these exercises over and over again? They are painful and we have surely learned how to do them.” Salidwain asked his mentor.

The elder Klingon smiled back at him, “Pain is something that a Klingon must learn to endure.”

He let those words stand alone in the boy’s mind and then went on. “However, this pain serves another purpose. It teaches a greater principle. Do you know why Klingon warriors carry betleH?”

“Of course, it is the Sword of Kahless. It came to him in a dream. It is our sword of Honor. I can not wait until I earn my own.”

“In due time. You have many tests to pass before we commission a swordsmaker to create one for you. Do you know what makes it such a formidable weapon?”

At this point the young Klingon/Vulcan was at a loss at both the answer to the question and how it related to the repeated painful exercises.

His mentor sat with legs crossed and closed his eyes. He motioned to Salidwain to do the shame. The mentor spoke softly, “There is much in the making of a betleH. First there is the iron itself. If you wish to build a ship or a building, iron from any mine will do. However, iron for a betleH comes from rare sources. Few mines and few asteroids contain the metal in a pure enough form for a Sword of Honor.”

“The finest iron is nothing without the swordsmaker. Those who cannot fight serve the Empire in other ways. Swordsmakers are held with Honor and great esteem. Their art has been taught for generations beyond count and handed down carefully. Only the most skillful and disciplined are allowed to apprentice. It is said that the soul of the swordsmaker is forged into the blade. Indeed, a ceremonial drop of the swordsmaker’s blood is added to the iron as the process begins. The swordsmaker’s fate and the swordsbearers fate are interwoven. Both do Honor to the other.

The swordsmaker needs more than just skill; he needs persistance and patience. The betleH is placed in the furnace and heated, and drawn out and beaten on an anvil and flattened and folded over again. It is put back into the fire and is drawn out to the anvil again and again for a thousand times. With each reforging, the steel becomes stronger and stronger until it becomes the strongest that steel can be.

The blade sharpened using increasingly fine rasps and files and stones and strops until the swordsmaker is rearranging individual molecules of steel on the tip of the blade. Then it is mated with its hilt and adjusted in fine increments until it attains perfect balance.”

The mentor took a deep breath, and looked at Salidwain with sharp, clear eyes, “You are the betleH! In your life, you will go into the fire many times, and you will be drawn out, and you will be beaten again and again, not for a thousand times, but for a life time. And with each reforging, you will become stronger.”

Salidwain rose and bowed to his mentor who he now also saw as HIS swordsmaker. He understood that he would not receive his weapon until he was forged as strongly as it.

[Mule]

Not only did Salidwain have Klingon mentors, but he also had his father as his Vulcan mentor. Sansor took extra care to expose the young Salidwain to Vulcans and Vulcan culture at every turn.

“It is said that the katra is immortal. How can his be?” asked Salidwain.

His father responded, “It is more than immortal; it is eternal. It has always existed and will always exist.”

“I do not understand.”

“Perhaps this can be best explained by example.

There was a medieval author on Earth, Edwin Abbot, who wrote a story in the Earth year 1884. The story is called, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions and it describes a mythical world that exists only in two dimensions. The creatures who inhabit this world know only forwards and backwards and left and right. They have no concept of up or down.

The story goes on about the social implications in this two-dimensional universe, but we will concern ourselves with the physical and mathematical implications.

Suppose Flatland was this floor, and a child were to drop her ice cream cone over it. And suppose that instead of smashing itself on the floor, the cone fell through the floor. What would the people of Flatland see?”

Salidwain realized that the question was not rhetorical and responded, “I suppose that would depend on what part of the cone was intersecting with Flatland at the time.”

“Exactly,” his father replied, “It may appear as a point, a line, intersecting lines, a circle, an ellipse or a hyperbola; all the so-called ‘conic sections’ of mathematics.”

“What else would be the experience of the Flatlanders to this three-dimensional object?”

Salidwain looked at his father with puzzlement, so Sansor went on.

“It would suddenly come into existence, seemingly from nowhere, exist for a while and then disappear.”

“Just like the katra?” Salidwain asked with the thought suddenly taking hold in his mind.

“Yes. This physical being,” he said, grabbing his son’s shoulder, “is merely the three-dimensional cross section of a larger being in a four-dimensional universe.”

“Just like the conic sections are an intersection of a three dimensional object in two dimensional space?” Salidwain interrupted.

Sansor nodded and proceeded, “The katra’s awareness, that which can be seen by ourselves and others, is limited only to this specific time. It came into existence seemingly from nowhere, changes appearance with time, and then will seem to disappear from this three dimensional universe.”

“But the cone doesn’t cease to exist,” Salidwain said. “It has merely left Flatland. They have no knowledge of it anymore, but the cone continues to tumble on as ever. Perhaps even into other Flatlands.”

“And so it is with the katra. It makes its appearance in our physical world for only a brief time, but it exists always. Somewhen in time exists Salidwain the infant and in another when in time exists the Salidwain who is yet to be.”

“This is so difficult to see,” Salidwain admitted.

“It will come to you in time,” his father proclaimed. “But there is even more.”

“What more can there be?”

“Existence in three dimensions has limitations. One can only be one place at one time. No two physical things may occupy the same location at the same time. All this goes away when one is free to roam in the fourth dimension. Your katra may occupy the same time and space as the karta of others. This is the principle on which the mind meld works.

You will see it first in this physical world as empathy for others. When you see someone doing something, your brain mirrors this action. As they fire neurons in their brain to perform the action, the same neurons fire in your brain as you watch the action. When you see them suffer pain, and you also suffer pain, this is due to the mingling of the katra. A true Vulcan reaches out with his katra to touch the karta of others no matter where they may be, no matter when they may be, and no matter who they may be. You will eventually develop this sense of connection to the universe and to history.”

Sansor let the lesson sink in and then continued, “It is possible to block this mingling and become absorbed in one’s self. This is manifested as greed, pride, selfishness, and the rest of the so-called ‘Deadly Sins’ expounded in the Terran religions. These traits make some people powerful and apparently successful, but pity the poor Vulcan whose entire katra is contained within his own skin.

There is no reason for a katra not to be as boundless as all the space and time as the universe itself.”

[Mule]

After graduation from the academy, Salidwain was offered a command at the Imperial Guard due to his relationship with a ruling family. He declined it in favor of being posted as a lowly lieutenant with an infantry platoon. He had barely finished his training for this when he was sent to fight against the rebels in the Wantu revolt.

The Wantu Revolt was a short, but bloody campaign. Instead of sending troops immediately to crush the rebellion, the emperor massed a great army and had his generals plan the battles as if he were fighting a very powerful foe instead of some ill-equipped and ill-led enclave on a backwater planet. The result was that the empire came down on the rebels with such overwhelming military force that there was little time or opportunity for resistance. The battle was fought in a matter of days and was over before either time had the chance to sustain many casualties. But for the few days the war lasted, the fighting was intense.

Salidwain saw war in all its “Glory.” As the proverb says, “The sweet taste of victory is embittered by the taste of Klingon blood.” He felt the blood of his own First Sergeant, an older Klingon whom he respected deeply as a father and a mentor, flow through his fingers as he held his dying body in his arms. He saw the Honor with which Klingon soldiers fought. They willingly gave their own lives to protect their fellow warriors. He felt with a certainty that was beyond logic that he would do the same for them. A Klingon gives his Loyalty to the Empire; he gives his life to those with whom he serves.

Salidwain could also see this same sense of brotherhood in his enemies. This was a trait that spanned both sides of the conflict. They fought bravely and it was a shame to have killed them.

“Love” is a word seldom used in the Kligon vocabulary, yet in this brotherhood of the battlefield, there was no greater expression of the word. Those who do not bear arms and stand shoulder-to-shoulder together in battle, facing death, can only understand this with the mind, but not with the heart. There is no greater Honor than to be told by a Klingon, “I will go to battle with you, brother.”

Salidwain learned another lesson from the conflict. He expected retribution to be inflicted on the population in the wake of their defeat. Instead he saw reconciliation. The surviving leaders of the revolt were tried, convicted and executed, but the common foot soldier was re-instated into the ranks. As Salidwain’s superior officer explained, “They are also Klingons. They fought Bravely and with Honor. They did their Duty, misguided though it was. They have earned their place beside Klingons again.”

[Mule]

After a peacetime assignment for a couple of years, Salidwain petitioned to continue his education. With intervention from his family, this was granted and he gained his master’s degree in Pan-Disciplinary Engineering at the Vulcan Academy of Science, and a PhD in Interplanetary Relations at Harvard University of Earth.

The latter degree assured that he was an assistant to the Kligon Attaché at the several conferences aimed at slowing down the arms race that was proceeding among the major powers. Salidwain thought these conferences unfair. They were aimed at trying to keep the Klingon fleet numerically inferior to both the Terrans and the Vulcans. Each fleet already outnumbered the Klingon fleet. Combined they were more than twice the Empire’s strength, and the Federation was intent on keeping it that way.

While most Klingons stayed with the delegation during their off-times, Salidwain used the time to tour the local settings and meet with the people and learn of their ways. It was an espionage mission of a sort. Its purpose was not to root out military secrets, but to gather information that was out there for the taking. This knowledge would put Salidwain at odds with his contemporaries later on.

Tensions continued to mount between the Klingon empire and the Federation. The Klingons resented the Vulcan, Terran, Cardasian and Tholian enclaves carved out in the systems adjacent to the Empire’s space. They saw it as their manifest destiny to “protect” the remaining systems from colonization by outsiders. Their protective efforts were denounced by the Federation and other societies, but these censures were ignored by the Klingons who continued their expansion. It was when economic sanctions were imposed on them by the Federation that the situation became critical.

“This cannot be tolerated,” the Klingon foreign minister said to the Federation Council. “We must not be denied our rights to buy dilithium for our fleets.”

“We will lift our sanctions when Q’onoS stops making threatening moves towards its neighbors,” said the Federation Chancellor.

“We are only protecting our interests and theirs. You speak of leaving our neighbors alone, then why is it that you have colonies among them? These colonies are potential threats to the Empire. Do you deny that we have the right to defend ourselves? Will you withdraw from your colonies?”

The accusations caused a murmur of discontent among the assembly.

“Order!” shouted the chancellor, “These people should be left to be free to make their own decisions.”

“These people are enslaved by colonialist powers. It is only when they make their own decisions in favor of the Federation that they are allowed to be free.”

And so the debate went on.

Back on Q’onoS the mood was equally filled with concern.

“This is a much disturbing development.” General T’hopat said. “Earth has moved its main battle fleet from Federation space to its outpost at Thot Habat. Thot Habat is close enough to threaten our trade routes with our Verdin sectors. Should their fleet launch, they could be on our shipping within days. This threat must be removed.”

“What do you suggest?” the Emperor asked.

“That we attack this fleet and annihilate it.”

“That would be foolish,” Salidwain responded. “We cannot win a war against Earth alone. Against the entire Federation it is suicide.”

“War?” T’hopat’s laugh bellowed and echoed throughout the hall. “War! There will be no war. The Federation is weak. They are divided. They have no stomach for fight. They will capitulate for the sake of peace. They value peace above all.”

“The Federation has the power to build ships faster than we can destroy them. They are more populous and have a bigger fleet.”

“The biggest fleet in the world is useless if you don’t have the will to use it.”

“I think you judge them wrongly,” Salidwain responded. “They prefer talk to action, this is true. But if attacked, they will fight back. I know these people. They love their comfort, but they have a turning point. Give them a common cause and they will unite. All their internal squabbles will be forgotten.”

“I agree with T’hopat on this,” the emperor said. “Terrans are degenerate. They are mongrels without any sense of Honor. The fighting spirit of one Klingon is more than 100 Terrans. Your Duty, Salidwain, is to plan this strike on the fleet at Thot Habat. Plan the strike to hit them so hard that they will lose their will to fight and sue for peace.”

Salidwain bowed to the emperor and placed his fist over his heart, “For Empire and Glory.”