Everyone else is doing a social commentary story...why not me?
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Same Old, Same OldThere was a boy at the end of the hall. He had a phaser.
"Wait..." cautioned Brigadier La'ra. He wasn't speaking to the boy. The other man in the corridor was in Starfleet maroon. He had a phaser, holstered, but with quick fingers tickling it's grip.
The Starfleet man gave La'ra an incredulous look. La'ra didn't see it; he'd locked eyes with the boy.
"I take it I've wronged you?" The Klingon asked the child. Then he decided that child was an unfair assesment. The gunman was fully grown, but had the inexperienced gaze of someone not long out of adolescence. Boy, yes. Child, no.
The boy said nothing. His hands were quivering, though not quick shaking. Sweat beaded his forehead.
"Revenge is sweeter when your prey knows the reason for it." La'ra advised.
"I don't want revenge!" The boy shouted, his tone and body language a bit defensive when one considering he was the only person about with a drawn weapon. His indecision was obvious, which was why La'ra had restrained the Starfleet man, why he hadn't pulled the disruptor he wasn't supposed to have.
"Then what do you want?" La'ra asked.
The boy had to think about that one.
"You're not welcome here. We can't let you stay here."
"I won't be assigned to the embassy forever."
"Not you!"
La'ra's eyes narrowed. One of those. Every species and culture seemed to grow the same flavor of imbecile.
"Ah." La'ra nodded. "And killing me will show my kind we are not welcome?"
The boy blinked, took a hand off his phaser to wipe sweat from his brow. There was the slightest quiver from the Starfleet man; had he been inclined to distrust La'ra, he could've disabled the boy, then. His phaser stayed holstered.
"This peace...we know it's a trick. We know you're here to destroy us."
"I'm here to help manage all the details left out of the Khitomer Accords." La'ra chuckled. "I've been on campaigns of conquest; I am not on one now."
"It's a lie."
"If you truly believe that, act." La'ra ordered. His eyes locked with the boy's. If the boy shot, through reason or fear, he had a marginal chance of survival. His armor offered some resistance to phaser fire. He doubted the boy would get that far, if that was the path he chose. La'ra had seen the Starfleet man's draw. Miracles and misfortunes, though, were factors only the short-lived dismissed; if the boy fired, he might get his kill.
The boy's phaser clattered to the ground, and the young man turned and ran.
"No." La'ra barked, blocking the Starfleet man with an arm. "He's no longer a threat."
"Can't believe you talked him down."
"I didn't." La'ra asserted. "He was was uncertain on his own. I simply reminded him of it. A real assassin..."
"Right." The Starfleet man nodded. "I really should go after him. He could cause more trouble."
"That one?" The Brigadier considered. "Doubtful. He's young yet. He doesn't truly hate."
"Thought Klingons might be more approving of hate."
"We are." La'ra grinned "But like love, it's best shared with a particular person, and of one's own volition."
The Starfleet man frowned. "He did seem...indoctrinated."
"Most people who can't distinguish one individual from another are. The ones that aren't...prefer to share their bile with others." La'ra nodded. He stepped forward, retrieved the discarded phaser off the ground, removed the power pack. It'd make a decent souvenir.
"Plenty of that kind around." The Starfleet man reminded.
"Never been a shortage of fools." La'ra agreed.
End
Topic: Same Old, Same Old (Read 3498 times)