tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 19 16:08:22 2012
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[Tlhingan-hol] Who's up for another story?
I was looking for a prefixes exercise to help
someone off list and found on my hard drive a
file which was promisingly entitled,
"prefixes.doc". It was written one morning in
November 2001. I'm really not sure why. Perhaps
it was originally intended as a little primer
demonstrating various prefixes but it went so far
off the rails that I apparently abandoned it.
It's about a thousand words, three chapters of
the beginning of a story. I assume I wrote this,
as opposed to copying someone else's story for
later study, in that ten years don't seem to have
changed my style much and in just three pages it
already shares with nuq bop bom:
* an alien unexpectedly speaking Klingon
* interspecies marriage
* an Andorian slave
* cultural misunderstanding
* sentient beings eating one another
* injured hands
* first aid
* the hazards of infection
* general subversion of the Klingon "glory of war" doctrine
I don't even remember writing this thing. I
wonder what else is on this hard drive!
Because people like translations, it's followed
by an English translation. The main character is
a common soldier, and fairly vulgar, but there is no combat in the story.
----
wa? rInpu?DI? may?
yuQ machDaq luDan romuluSngan QaS, tlhIngan QaS
je. jo luSeH luneHmo? qaStaHvIS cha? DIS vaytaH.
toq yuQ, ?ach ?Itlhbe? nganpu?. toplIn
lutlhIlbe?. Soj SuqmeH, Sung Du?mey weH negh, ?ach roD roghvaH lubuSHa? novpu?.
rInpu' wa? may?. DaHjaj Qaplaw?ta?
romuluSnganpu?. che?ronvo? yIttaH tlhIngan loD
rIQ. Doy?chu?. jolmeH QuvDaq yItlaHpa? leSnIS.
qachHom tu?DI? ?el. qachHomDaq Sung be? mer.
qulDaj retlhDaq joDtaH Sung. Soj vutlaw?lI'.
lojmIt waQmo? tlhIngan, Haw?laHbe?. tlhIngan bej.
ghu? qel tlhIngan. nIteb Sung HoHlaHba?, ?ach
?oy? Hoch SomrawDaj. ?utbe?chugh vangqangbe?
SuvwI?. be? ghIj qabDaj ?e? loS tlhIngan.
tlhIngan Hol Hoj jatlhchoH Sung. jatlh <choHoH?a??>
tlhIngan mer SoQDaj. jot ghogh ?ej tlhIbHa? Hol.
qoy?be?. jatlh SuvwI? <choboQbe?chugh vaj
bIHegh.> buQ ?e? Hech ?ach Doy?qu?mo? ngaDHa? ghoghDaj.
mu?tlhegh qel be?. mISlaw?. jatlh <qaboQchugh vaj choHoHbe??a??>
jach SuvwI? <baQa?! maSutlhbe? jay?> jatlh. <chaq qaHoH, chaq qaHoHbe?.>
Sung lughIjbe?law? mu?mey. <De? ?oHbe?.
bI?elpu'DI? choHoH pagh choHoHbe? ?e? vISov.>
jatlh. ?unvo? yuvtlhe? pep ?ej Soj nuD. Soj
larghlaHmo? tlhIngan tlhoS QublaHbe?. <bIghung?a??> jatlh be?. <jISoprup.>
ngugh be? HoH neHchoH tlhIngan. nuQ. ghungqu?
tlhIngan ?a be? QIp tlhochnIS. <jIghungbe?> jatlh.
<jIghung jIH> jatlh be?. qul DopDaq ?un nechmoH.
?un bIS?ubDaq ngawDeqDaj tey. ghaH retlhvo?
jengva? Suq. ?unvo? jengva? tebchoH. buy?chu?DI?
jengva?, ?unDaq yuvtlhe? lanqa? ?ej quSHomDaq
ba?choH. qIvDu?DajDaq jengva? lan. jatlh <chaq
SoHvaD ?eybe? Sojmaj, ?ach DaSopchugh DuHoSmoH>.
<HughlIj vISIjchugh ghaytan Soj ?eymoH ?IwlIj>
jatlh tlhIngan. HoHmeH yap HoSDaj. taj lelchoH, be? ghoStaHvIS.
HughDaj So?meH be? wa? ghop lo?. <lIHoHta?DI? lISop?a? romuluSngan?> jatlh.
HoSDaj lunatlh mu?mey. jaghchaj Sop?a?
romuluSngan? Sovbe? tlhIngan ?ach SomrawDu?
pujmoH qech. taj chagh. Dejbe?meH QIt torchoH.
puj ?e? leghlaHmo? be? QeHqu? tlhIngan, ?ach
SomrawDaj ra?meH yab, tlhoy Doy? yab. ratlhbogh
HoS natlh QeH. tortaH ?ej tlhuH neH.
qIvDu?Dajvo? tlhIngan qIvDu?Daq jengva? buy' Qay
be?. vangbe? tlhIngan. tlhIngan poghmey
lupe?lu?chu?bogh legh be?. Dat lam ?Iw je tu?lu?.
romuluSngan ?Iw ?oHbe?. poS ghopDaq tlhoS cha?
nItlhDu? luchevlu?pu'. nIH ghop ngejlu?law?. <yIleS> jatlh be?. <qaQorgh>.
nItlhDu?DajDaq Soj woH be?. tlhIngan nujDaq Soj
lan. tuHchu? tlhIngan. ghaH nuS chay? ?e? ngIl
be?vam? HoSqa?DI?, be' HoHta?DI? HoH?eghnIS tlhIngan..
yIvchoH tlhIngan. ngugh Soj ?ey law? bortaS ?ey puS.
vulchoH tlhIngan ?ej Dej. ravDaq chuS nuHmeyDaj SutDaj je ?ach luvemmoHbe?.
cha? jajlo?
QIt vem tlhIngan. ?oy? porghDaj naQ. Soj
larghlaH. ghungqu?. QongDaqHeyDaq Qot. ghaH
?emDaq ghoghmey nov Qoy. QongDaqDaq tlhe?'eghDI?,
tamchoH ghoghmey. mInDu?Daj poSmoH. SaH cha? nuv: Sung be?, ?anDorngan loD je.
SIbI? chol be?. QongDaq retlhDaq Qam ?ej tlhIngan
bej. jatlh <Hagh qoHpu? neH HeghtaHvIS
SuvwI?pu?>. Qaghbe?meH yeplaw?. vIHbe? be?.
wa?Hu? ram wanI?mey qawchoH tlhIngan. ba?choH.
ghopDu?DajDaq Sev lutu?lu?. Sung nIvnav tuQtaH.
Say? DIrDaj. Say? jIbDaj?e? jay?. QongtaHvIS tuHmoHtaH be?vam maw?.
QamtaH be?. qa?meH vIttlheghDaj jatlhta?mo?
loSlI'. ... qa?meH vIttlhegh. tuHmoHmo? QoS?a??
vaqqa??a?? qa?meH vIttlhegh lajchugh,
tuHqa?moH?a?? wIvmey qel tlhIngan. jottaH be?.
pa? reDDaq QamtaH loD. bItlaw? ghaH. be?vaD jatlh
tlhIngan <bIHeghvIpbe?>. choHbe?law? be? yInroH,
?a ghup loD. wuq tlhIngan. jatlh <jIghung. DaH Soj HIqem>.
leSchoH ?anDorngan. quSDaq ba?choH ?ej loQ joq
ghopDu?Daj. nom tlhe'?egh be? ?ej tlhInganvaD
jengva? qem. jengva?Daq ghab jav QImmey je
lujablu?. QongDaqDaq jengva? lan be? ghIq QongDaq
retlhvo? tlhIngan taj woH ?ej jengva?Daq lan.
ghopDu?Daj nuD tlhIngan. Sevmey Hot ?ej nItlhDu?
togh. SaH Hoch. HotlaH Hoch. ?oy?qu?. ghopDu?Daj
luQIDqu'lu?pu?mo? Qatlh SopmeH Qu?, ?ach boQ be? ?e? nIDqa'be?. bejbe?.
?anDornganvaD jengva? qem be', ej ghaH retlhDaq
ba?choH. SopchoHDI? ?anDorngan, ghov tlhIngan.
Duj toy?wI??a? ghaHpu'. melqor ?oH pongDaj?e?.
wa? ben ngaq raQ luweHtaHvIS romuluSngan,
toy?wI??a?pu? jonta'. toy?wI??a? matlh ghaH.
tojbe?. motlh toywI? QIv moj ?anDornganpu?, ?ach
toy'wI''a' ghaH je melqor SoS'e'. toy'meH boghpu'
melqor. toH. melqormo? tlhIngan Hol jalthchu? be?.
SoptaHvIS ?anDorngan, qevpobDaj yach be? ?ej
jawtaH. Sung Hol lujatlh. yajbe? tlhIngan, ?ach qIDlaw? be?. mon ?ej loQ Hagh.
QamchoH be? ?ej bIQ bal?a? woH. lojmIt poSmoH ?ej vegh.
mejta?DI?, ?anDornganvaD jatlh tlhIngan. <QIp?a? pagh yoHqu??a??>
mon ?anDorngan <yoHqu? ?ej valqu? ?ej ?IHqu? ?ej loQ maw?>.
Hagh tlhIngan. jatlh. <DaSawta??a??>
jatlh ?anDorngan. <HISlaH>
jatlh tlhIngan <qaHoy?. nItlhabmoHpu'?a? romuluSngan?>
jatlh ?anDorngan <ghobe?. jInarghmeH wa? vIHoHta'.>
jatlh tlhIngan <maj. DaHoHpu'mo? qatlhabmoH. DaH QImmeyvetlh HInob>
tlhInganvaD QImmey qem ?anDorngan. QIm woH
tlhIngan. tochDajDaq ?uch. pel?aQ ghormeH Ho?Du?
lo?, ghIq pel?aQvo? QIm tlhutlh.
chegh be?, bal?a? ?ugh qengtaHvIS. jatlh <naDev
nInejbe? romuluSngan ngIvwI'pu'. bIratlh
DaneHchugh vaj mebma? SoHbej.> yotlh lughoS be? ?anDorngan je. wIjwI? chaH.
leS tlhIngan. Dargh wIb tlhutlh. mejrupchoH. HIp
tuQmoH. nuHmey woH. lojmIt vegh.
mej ?e? legh be?, pochtaHvIS. <romuluSngan law? tIHoH> jatlh.
qolmeH QuvDaq chegh tlhIngan ?ej beq tlhejqa?.
loS waQ Dup chu? wIv ra?ghomquv. yuQvamDaq ghor
QaS lo?be'choH. romuluSnganpu? SangmeH nuHmey HoS lo?choH.
wej wa? nem
wa? nem tepqengwI?Daq paw Hung QaS chu?.
ramvetlh, tachDaq ghom. mangHom chaH HochHom?e?.
not may?mey SIQpu', vaj mIymeH nep.
<romuluSngan boSuvpu??a?? qu?!>
<jeylaH SuvwI? nIv. wa?logh, loS vIHoHta' qaStaHvIS wa? tup!>
<ngeD Qu?! romuluSngan vIHoHmeH wa' nItlh neH vIpoQ. qatlh vagh DaHoHbe??>
<romuluSngan la? be?nal vIqeylI?mo? ratlh loS nItlhDu? neH>
?IjtaHvIS wa? mang Qup, mon, ?ach jeSbe?. poSDaj
retlhDaq ba?choH ra?wI?. mon ra?wI?. jatlh <romuluSngan DaHoHbe??a??>
<vIHoHta? ?ach Qujchaj rurbe? Qu?. DaSIqchugh,
chaq not bISIqqa?. nIv betleH. nIvqu? nISwI? beH>
<qatlh DujlIj DatlheDpu'?>
<vIQaylu?pu'. qaSpu?DI? cha?maH chorgh jar,
nawloghwIjvaD ratlh jIH neH. latlhpu? HoHpu? rop romuluSngan je>
<qewwI?lIj chevpu'?a? romuluSngan?>
HIvje? ?uchbogh ghopDaj bejchoH mang. <may?
vIqawchu?be?. qaStaHvIS wej jaj ngemDaq
romuluSngan DISuvtaH. rInpu'DI? may? tlhoS poS
qewwI? qaywI? je luchevlu?pu'. ropyaHDaq qaywI?
lutI?ta', ?ach ngImchoHpu' qewwI?>
<Sogh vIpoQ. wa?leS SoH qanum. nuq ?oH ponglIj?e??>
<qoreQ, qaH.>
----
One - after a battle
Romulan troops and Klingon troops occupy a small
planet. As they both want to control the
resources, fighting continues for two years. The
planet is inhabited, but the inhabitants are not
advanced. They do not mine the
topaline. Soldiers raid the native arms for
food but generally the aliens ignore the natives.
One battle has ended. Today it would seem that
the Romulans have triumphed. An injured Klingon
man is walking from the battlefield. He is
exhausted. He needs to rest before he can walk to
the beam up coordinates. When he finds a hut he
goes in. Inside he surprises a native woman. The
native is stooping beside her fire. She seems to
be preparing food. As the Klingon blocks her
door, she cannot flee. She watches the Klingon.
The Klingon considers the situation. He can
obviously kill the native unaided, but all his
muscles hurt. He's not willing to do what's not
necessary. The Klingon waits for his face to scare the woman.
The native starts to speak Klingon. She says, "Are you going to kill me?"
Her speech surprises the Klingon. The voice is
calm and competent. She does not beg. The warrior
says, "If you do not assist me, you die." He
intends to threaten, but because he is so tired his voice is unstable.
The woman considers the sentence. She seems
confused. She says, "If I assist you, then you won't kill me?"
The warrior cries out, "Shit! We're not fucking
negotiating," he says. "Maybe I'll kill you, maybe I won't."
The words didn't seem to scare the native.
"That's not information. When you entered I knew
that either you would kill me or you wouldn't,"
she said. She raised the lid of the pot and
examined the food. The Klingon almost couldn't
think, because he could smell the food. "Are you
hungry?" said the woman. "I am ready to eat."
Now the Klingon starts to want to kill the woman.
The Klingon is very hungry but he needs to
contradict the woman. "I'm not hungry," he says.
"I'm hungry," says the woman. She moves the pot
sideways beside the fire. She scrapes the bottom
with a stirring stick, gets a plate from beside
herself, and starts to fill the plate from the
pot. When the plate is completely full she puts
the lid back on the pot and sits on a stool. She
places the plate on her knees. She says, "Perhaps
our food is not tasty to you, but it will strengthen you if you eat it."
"If I slit your throat your blood will probably
make the food tasty," says the Klingon. His
strength is sufficient to kill her. He starts to
draw a knife, proceding towards the woman.
The woman uses one hand to hide her throat. "Do
the Romulans eat you when they kill you?" she says.
The words sap his strength.. Do Romulans eat
their enemies? The Klingon doesn't know, but the
idea weakens his muscles. He drops the knife. In
order not to collapse he slowly kneels. The
Klingon is very angry that the woman can see that
he is weak, but his mind is too tired to command
his muscles. Anger has consumed his remaining
strength. He kneels and just tries to breathe.
The woman transfers the full plate from her knees
to the Klingon's. The Klingon takes no action.
The woman sees the Klingon's cut up gloves. There
is filth and blood everywhere. It's not Romulan
blood. On the left hand two fingers have been
severed almost. The right hand appears infected.
"Relax," says the woman. "I will take care of you."
The woman picks up food in her fingers. She
places it in the Klingon's mouth. The Klingon is
utterly ashamed. How does this woman dare to
ridicule him? When he is strong again, the
Klingon wil need to kill himself once he has killed the woman.
The Klingon starts to chew. At this moment food is sweeter than revenge.
The Klingon loses consciousness and collapses.
His weapons and clothes are noisy on the floor but they don't wake him up.
Two - dawn
The Klingon awakens slowly. His whole body aches.
He can smell food. He is ravenous. He's lying on
some sort of bed. Behind him he can hear alien
voices. When he turns over on the bed, the voices
become quiet. He opens his eyes. There are two
people: the native woman and an Andorian man.
The woman immediately approaches. She stands
beside the bed and watches the Klingon. She says,
"Only fools laugh while warriors die." She seems
to be careful not to make an error. The woman doesn't move.
The Klingon remembered last night's events. He
sits up. There are bandages on his hands. He is
wearing alien pajamas. His skin is clean. His
fucking *hair* is clean. This crazy woman
continued to shame him while he slept.
The woman is still standing. She is waiting
expectantly because she has said a replacement
proverb. Is she sorry for shaming him? Does she
mock him? If he accepts the replacement proverb
will she do it again? The Klingon considers his
options. The woman remains calm. The man is
standing by the wall. He seems nervous. The
Klingon says to the woman, "You are not afraid to
die." The woman doesn't seem to flinch, but the
man swallows. The Klingon makes a decision. He
says, "I'm hungry. Bring me food now."
The Andorian starts to relax. He sits in a chair
and his hands shake a little. The woman turns
quickly and brings a plate for the Klingon.
There's a chunk of the midsection of an animal
and six eggs. The woman places the plate on the
bed and then picks up the Klingon's knife from
the side of the bed and puts it on the plate. The
Klingon examines his hands. He touches the
bandages and counts his fingers. Thet are all
present. They can all touch. They hurt a lot.
It's hard to eat with such badly injured hands,
but the woman doesn't try to help again. She doesn't watch.
The woman brings a plate for the Andorian, and
sits beside him. As the Andorian starts to eat,
the Klingon recognizes him. He was a ship slave.
His name is melqor. A year ago while raiding a
support camp, Romulans captured the slaves. He
was a loyal slave. He didn't trick. Usually
Andorians made inferior slaves but melqor's
mother was a slave too. melqor had been born to
be a slave. So, the woman was fluent in Klingon because of melqor.
While the Andorian eats, the woman strokes his
cheek and chats. They speak the native language.
The Klingon doesn't understand, but the woman
seems to joke. She smiles and laughs a bit.
The woman stands up up and picks up a water
vessel. She opens the door and goes through.
Once she has left, the Klingon says to the
Andorian, "Is she stupid or very brave?"
The Andorian smiles. "She is very brave, and very
smart, and very beautiful and a little bit crazy."
The Klingon laughs. He says, "Did you marry her?"
The Andorian says, "Yes."
The Klingon says, "Congratualtions. Did the Romulans set you free."
The Andorian says, "No. I killed one in order to escape."
The Klingon says, "Well done. I set you free for
killing them. Now give me those eggs."
The Andorian brings the eggs to the Klingon. The
Klingon picks up an egg. He holds it in his palm.
He uses his teeth to break the shell and then drinks the egg out of the shell.
The woman returns, carrying the heavy water
vessel. She says, "The Romulan patrols won't look
for you here. If you wish to stay, then you are
indeed our guest." The woman and and the man go
out to the field. They are farmers.
The Klingon relaxes. He drinks sour tea. He
becomes ready to leave. He puts on his uniform,
picks up his weapons and goes through the door.
The woman sees him leave, while she is planting.
"Kill many Romulans," she says.
The Klingon goes to the beam-up coordinates and rejoins his crew.
Four months from now, the High Command will
choose a new strategy. They will stop using
ground troops on this planet and start
obliterating the Romulans with energy weapons.
Three- A Year Later
A year later new security troops arrive on a
freighter. That night in the bar they meet up.
Most are cadets, never experienced battle, so in order to brag, they lie.
"You've fought Romulans? Right on!"
"A superior warrior can defeat them. Once I killed four in a minute."
"Easy! I only need one finger to kill a Romulan. Why didn't you kill five?"
"Seeing as I was in the process of using my
middle finger on the Romulan commander's wife I only had four left."
One young soldier smiled as he listened but
didn't participate. The commander sat down to his
left. The commander smiled. He said. "You don't kill Romulans?"
"I have killed them, but it's not like their
game. If you point at one, perhaps you will never
point again. A betleH is superior. A disruptor rifle is best."
"Why did you leave your ship?"
"I was transferred. After twenty-eight months I
was the only one left in my squadron. Romulans
and disease had killed the others."
"Did a Romulan cut off your ring finger?"
The soldier glances at the hand holding the
tankard. "I don't remember the battle clearly. We
were fighting Romulans in the woods for three
days straight. When the battle was over my left
middle finger and ring finger were practically
severed. They mended the second finger in
sickbay, but the third one turned putrid."
"I need a liutenant. I'll promote you tomorrow, What's your name?"
"qoreQ, sir."
---
It was really cool to read a story when I didn't
know what was going to happen next -- and I
didn't have to figure it out for myself,
either. I'm confused about where the tepqengwI'
deposited qoreQ and his less experienced
companions. I'm curious about this commander who
is so hard up for officers that he ventures into
the bar to promote the least idiotic of the
fresh-off-the-boat recruits. Must be a remote
colony. And what does it have to do with
prefixes? Is this some kind of illness, this need to write stories?
- Qov
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