“You’re late.”
Martin looked up at the Klingon towering a half-meter above him. Shaktaar stood next to a noticeably trembling Ensign. Martin nodded at the other officer.
“Your partner on this exercise, Ensign Tarluk beat you here by about forty-five seconds. So much for Klingon punctuality. Unfortunate.”
“Apologies, sir.” Shaktaar handed the lieutenant his PADD.
“But you’re only half-Klingon, isn’t that right?” Martin smiled as he noticed the brown stain on Ensign Shaktaar’s uniform. “You finished almost all of your coffee, Ensign?” Martin grinned.
“Aye, sir”, Shaktaar grunted with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
“Don’t worry about it, Ensign. You’ll need something a little warmer when you get in there.” The lieutenant gestured slightly toward the holodeck doors. “Shall we?” Lieutenant Martin approached the holodeck console. “Computer. Holodeck training simulation Zeta Five-001.2.”
The two large Ensigns stood at attention while Martin briefed them on the particulars of the simulation. Two technicians moved to meet them with a cart stacked with heavy parkas, boots and equipment. After assessing the supplies, both men dressed for cold weather and hastily equipped themselves.
Lieutenant Martin grinned. “Alright, men. In you go.”
The young officers approached the massive door which parted to receive them. The large room was marked in the familiar green and black grid of a holodeck simulator. A filtered voice came from a voice monitor in the ceiling.
“Computer. Run program.”
Suddenly the room went white and the temperature dropped fifteen degrees. They found themselves on a wintery white plain, with snow whipping about in a brutal wind. A large figure stumbled out of the snow, bleeding greenish blood, and gasping noticeably.
“Please… help. My people… dying… slaughtered.”
Shaktaar’s comm badge chirped and a voice began. “USS Beowulf to Ensigns Tarluk and Shaktaar on the ice-planet, Juwaar.”
Tarluk slapped at his comm badge, “Tarluk here, sir.”
“Scout your location and rescue any and all Juwaarans injured in last night’s Dominion attack. Stay alert for remaining Jem’Hadar.”
“Aye, sir.” Tarluk scanned the massive, injured creature with his tricorder. Definitely Juwaaran. Shaktaar already had his phaser in one hand and a medical tricorder in the other. He cautiously approached the injured being, the tricorder whirring at a high velocity.
“We have to get this man to shelter. His core temperature is dangerously low, and he’s sustained multiple injuries.”
Tarluk widened the scan of his own tricorder and swept the area. “There’s a series of caves about 30 meters to the North. Follow me.”
The two ensigns set out across the snow as it swept into deeper drifts. The walk, though short of distance, proved a strenuous task in the sub-zero conditions. Shaktaar’se tricorder scanned the rocks and snow and soon located a large cave. He entered first, phaser drawn.
Tarluk’s comm badge chirped. “Shaktaar to Tarluk. The cave is clear and safe to enter. I’ll start a fire.”
Tarluk spotted a flash and a building glow from within the cave. The very thought of a warm fire brought a grin to the Klingon’s face. Then – something moved in the distance. Even through the snow and thickening darkness, Tarluk spotted a figure on the stone outcrop just over the cave entrance. He smacked his comm badge.
“Shaktaar! Get out of there…Jem Had…”
In a split second the figure tossed something into the cave mouth just as Shaktaar appeared at opening, phaser in hand. The fierce beam of light lanced outward, striking the enemy warrior square in the chest. With little resistance its body flew off into the frozen darkness.
On the icy stone, Shaktaar felt a rapid surge of air pressure from within the cave an instant before an invisible force of angry energy propelled him off of the cliff. Fortunately the snow had built to a rather thick drift in the brush below and the massive half-Klingon landed shoulder first into the powder.
*crack*
Taking a quick inventory, Shaktaar found that his phaser was lost in the explosion, his tricorder was crushed in the fall…and his left shoulder was almost definitely dislocated. “Shaktaar to Tarluk. I really hope you’re intact. My phaser is missing and my tricorder is destroyed.”
From the badge Tarluk responded. “And you? Are you injured?”
Shaktaar bit into his lip, once again tasting his own blood. The pain, now blinding, would fade in eventually. “Negative. I’m fine. Stay where you are. I’ll be there in a moment. There must be more Jem Hadar out there. Scan what you can.”
Shaktaar moved outward in the general direction of Tarluk’s last location. His comm badge was set to proximity location. The chirping became more rapid and at a higher pitch, indicating that Tarluk was near.
“Pssssssst.”
Shaktaar found his partner nearby, partially concealed behind a thicket of evergreen.
“Shaktaar, I know of a intercept mouse hole in this holodeck program. If I can get to an interface panel….
Another barrage of energy punched into the snow just meters from their location. Shaktaar visually scanned the clearing. “Look, Tarluk. Let’s discuss this holodeck trick later over some prune juice and blood worms. Right now, those Jem ‘Hadar are getting closer…and we’ve got to either get out of here or get THEM out of here. And I don’t plan on leaving until we complete this mission. We need a plan.”
Shaktaar slowly moved to his feet, hunching over to minimize himself as a target. “Tarluk. We’re out of options. We either fight, or surrender. And somehow…I don’t think the Jem’Hadar are taking prisoners on this visit. We’re going to have to rush them and hit them as hard as we can.”
The larger Klingon ensign still looked a bit dazed, “With ONE phaser?”
Shaktaar closed his eyes to muster some thought. “Yes. One phaser. With any luck, that’s all we’ll need. The storm is weakening and I can make out several forms. It seems they’ve taken position in the mouth of the ice cave, the ceiling of which is composed of nothing but ice. Ice that should respond quite nicely to phaser on maximum setting.“
A smile invaded Tarluk’ face.
Shaktaar reached for Tarluk’s phaser and continued. “My guess is that the cold is effecting the Jem’Hadar just as much as it is us. On my call, you bolt as fast as you can straight across the clearing, back toward the transport site. Once you’re in the open, I’ll charge their position like a runaway warp shuttle, feeding them phaser until it’s drained.”
Tarluk rose to a crouching position. “This IS a good day to…”
Shaktaar raised his hand. “Save it. I don’t want to die with my head full of Klingon cliché.”
Tarluk readied himself. “To the glory of battle!”
Shaktaar moaned, “You couldn’t resist, could you?”
For just one, brief moment, silence washed over the clearing. Shaktaar could hear the snow brushing the crust of ice on the drifts. The wind whipped into a crescendo. As the howling peaked, Shaktaar nodded to Tarluk. “Now.”
Tarluk dug into the freezing snow and shot out across the clearing, sending clouds of powder with each stride. The Klingon’s steps punched the crust, sounding loudly for the attention of the Jem’Hadar. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!”
As if echoing Tarluk’ strides, green bolts lanced out from the ledge at the mouth of the ice cave. Shaktaar leapt like a Bregorian Swamp Cat, closing the distance at a break-neck pace. At about ten meters from the ledge, Shaktaar’s thumb clamped the trigger of the phaser releasing a stream of destructive energy.
The startled Jem’Hadar stammered back, attempting to reclaim a strategic position. Just as they raised their weapons to fire at Shaktaar, the thick ceiling of black ice above their heads began to give. Large chunks of rock-hard ice fell down on top of the two warriors, crushing one instantly. The other only managed a blind shot upward and half of a horrible scream.
Shaktaar rolled to his right, colliding with an ice-covered tree trunk. HIs injured shoulder again took a violent blow. *crunch*
The cave-in seemed to rage for hours. When the rumbling stopped, Shaktaar pulled himself up to one knee. His weight crunched loudly into the snow, accompanied by a soft whirring sound coming from his phaser. Only then did Shaktaar notice that his white thumb still clamped the trigger of the spent phaser.
Tarluk approached from across the clearing. “Shaktaar. I found your phaser!”
Shaktaar looked up at his companion. “Great. Why don’t you stuff it up your….”
‘Computer. End program.’
The snowy scene dissolved into the familiar grid of Holodeck 7. Lieutenant Cordoba stood just three meters from where Shaktaar crouched. “Yes, ensign? What were you going to say?”
Shaktaar attempted to stand to attention. “Nothing, sir. Just a little teasing to ease the….ughhhh…tension, sir.”
“Well gentlemen. You look like you could use a little cleaning up.”
In unison, the two ensigns responded. ”Yes, sir.”
“Report back to room 7-C in one hour for review. Mr. Shaktaar, report to sickbay 3 to see to that shoulder. Dismissed.”
Tarluk exited quickly, followed by Shaktaar. Just before Shaktaar reached the door, the Lieutenant spoke in a more casual tone. “Ensign Shaktaar.“
“Yes, sir?” The young officer stopped and turned.
Martin moved toward Shaktaar, pointing with his index finger at the still visible coffee stain on his tunic. “When you report back for review, I’ll take mine with real cream and one sugar.”
Shaktaar grinned. “Yes, sir.”







