13 years ago
[Earth, New Zealand]
Shiarrael awoke, with considerable consternation, to the sound of a strange bird chirping. It wasn't a melodious tune but rather a shrill screeching sound that seemed to claw at her very essence. Sitting up she instantly felt the chillness in the air. Looking around she noticed that condensation had collected on the windows of her prison cabin to the point that droplets of water were streaking down and pooling at the bottom of the frame. She could not complain however, in terms of imprisonment the Federation penal colonies were more like criminal resorts than anything else. It is truly a wonder they have survived this long. She shook her head in disbelief and slid out of the bed. The cold air was refreshing and it reminded her of her childhood home. The air was damp but nothing too uncomfortable- save for its naming this penal colony was truly a paradise among prisons. After slipping on the standard garb, a white tee and slacks she made her way out of the little cabin only to be greeted by three security personnel; Two Andorians, who looked smug in the cool temperatures and an austere Vulcan. Shiarrael gave them a nod, the Vulcan returned it and the Andorians simply ignored it. Shiarrael overlooked the insult by the two bugs and decided instead to scout the periphery of the encampment.
Like overprotective susse-thrai the security personnel hounded Shiarrael as if she were a pup not leaving even an inch of distance between themselves and her shadow. To say she found them irritating would have been overstatement, in fact, she rather enjoyed toying with them. Increasing her pace, making sudden stops, and outrageous turns to see how well they could keep up. The Vulcan remained placid through her gimmicks but the bugs were certainly irritated. The latter gave Shiarrael additional incentive to keep up her childish but quite pleasurable antics. However, as she made her way through the interior of the encampment she heard an outburst that caught her attention.
"Checkmate." The voice was deep and monotone, almost emotionless "another game?"
"No thanks Sydney, getting beat three times in a row is enough for one day. Maybe even a week."
"Anyone up for a game?" That same monotone voice asked. There was no response. Shiarrael slipped between two cabins to find a group of seven standing around a table with a game board on it. She immediately recognized it as a terran chess board. Though she had never played a game she had seen and read references to the strategy game. "No one? Just one game?" He asked again.
"I will play." Shiarrael said approaching the group.
The man turned around and Shiarrael finally caught a glimpse of his face. He was tan, his eyes were a vibrant shade of sky blue, and his hair was light blonde with strands of silver streaking through. He looked rugged, probably an upper middle aged human by her estimate. He gave Shiarrael a look- on a Romulan it might have been considered disdain but she didn't see that from this man, instead it looked more like he was gauging her. Finally he waved his hand at the man seated across from him "get up Jeff, I got a new opponent." He finally broke a smile at Shiarrael and motioned to the now vacated seat "sit down young lady. It's not every day that a famous person asks to play a game of chess with me. I'm Sydney Solae and you must be that beautiful Romulan that has the entire camp in an uproar." He winked "do you know how to play this game?"
"Uproar?" Shiarrael smirked and took the seat looking at the chess board and all of its pieces "I am somewhat familiar with the mechanics of this game." She said. "I have never played it however, but one of my colleagues has one in her office along with an annoying terran color block called a rubrics cube. Elements curse the inventor of that strange device."
Sydney laughed "you're not what I expected." He slowly went over the general movements of each piece. When he finished he grinned "you got the gist of it?"
"I believe so." Shiarrael said. Already she had started to go over every possible move on the chess board. It certainly was complicated but she was already mapping out a strategy.
"I'll take the white pieces and you can have the black ones." Sydney set up the board and then made the first move "so, how is it that you are here alive? I always thoughts Romulans would rather die than be captured or do high ranking officers have different standards?"
Rolling a pawn in her fingers she looked up at Sydney with a wry smile "are you attempting to distract me with a veiled insult?" She set the pawn down and then answered him "I did attempt to kill myself- twice in fact. I failed both times. Thus I am either so incompetent that I cannot kill myself properly or the elements have decided that it not yet time for me to die. You can decide on your own which is true."
"Interesting first move." Sydney said. Whether he was referring to her answer or her actual chess move Shiarrael was uncertain. He slid another pawn forward "so, you were one of the primary people responsible for the capture of the Tomika system?" Two of the Klingons in the crowd who were only casually paying attention to the game and tossing disgusted glances towards Shiarrael now looked at her with slight respect after what Solae said.
"Is this true?" One of that Klingons asked.
"Does it matter?" Shiarrael said sliding one of her pawns forward "a victory is a fleeting thing. How short memories can be. I was once Shiarrael t'Rehu who led her forces against the Federation at Tomika but I am now Shiarrael t'Rehu, failure, shamed beyond recognition because I was defeated and captured. Such an accolade is now non-existent and I am no longer the one who assisted victory at Tomika."
The other Klingon grunted "now doubt it was by some Romulan treachery. Honorless petaQ."
Sydney gave the Klingons a look that said 'shut up' and returned his attention to the board "don't Romulans also have a form of honor?" He asked sliding his knight out from its nook.
"Honor, such a simple word does not do what we believe credit." She gave the Klingons a smug look "Klingon honor is simply about death and destruction. To die in combat is the ultimate goal while winning as many battles as one can. For Romulans our belief has more substance." Shiarrael glanced at the Klingons who were openly fuming at her indirect insult "to us honor is something more- it is the way we live. The Ruling Passion." Sliding her rook forward she looked at Solae "you seem quite knowledgeable, not a common criminal I believe?"
"At one time I was Commander Sydney Solae but after some poor choices on my part I ended up here." Sydney seemed to frown momentarily as he went to pick up his own rook but after a moment's pause he set it back in its place and slid out another pawn.
"Impossible." Shiarrael said with a grin and pushed another of her pawns forward "a Starfleet officer that is not perfect?! One that has done something terrible enough to warrant incarceration in this paradise? This cannot be true! Certainly there are no such officers in this wonderful Starfleet devoid of flaws." Her mocking tone caused Sydney to chuckle. "So what did you do to deserve this terrible punishment?" She finally asked.
Sydney slid another knight out "About four years ago I was running border patrol around the Orion systems. I was commanding a little patrol ship, the USS Dothan, and at the time there was a lot of slave trading going on. I had a love for Orion whiskey and was given a bribe by an Orion freight Captain. I kept my ship away from his transports and got some whiskey for it. I originally thought he was just shipping contraband like Romulan ale but I learned later that he wasn't transporting illegal liquor, but slave girls. Starfleet found out what I did. They took my commission and put me here for five years. Not that I blame them. Anyways, so, how did you beat us at Tomika?"
"Simple." Shiarrael said sliding her queen out, the move apparently caught Sydney by surprise since his left eye seemed to widen slightly. "Starfleet ships are designed for multiple purposes: combat, science, exploration, relief, rescue, and more. There are very few Starfleet ships that are designed for single purposes or one role. Romulan vessels however are designed for primarily one purpose: combat. A large portion of the Starfleet forces at the time were large vessels: mainly Galaxy and refitted Excelsior classes. Due to their size they are not as maneuverable as smaller ships." Shiarrael looked up into the sky "are you familiar with pack animals?"
Sliding one of his bishops out Sydney nodded "yes, we have plenty of them on earth."
"So then you will understand this. At the time I was a mere patrol ship Riov, however, I saw the benefit in pack strategy by using our numerous patrol ships to hunt down the larger Federation ships in packs. This provided several benefits. It gave our vessels the cover of numbers since you can only fire on a certain number of targets. Increased firepower by number of ships used and most important; it gave us the advantage of maneuverability. Using this strategy we slaughtered your forces like a pack of thrai lying onto a hlai."
One of the Klingon snorted "I don't believe this nonsense, why would she so easily give away her strategy? It is all bluster!"
"Bluster?" Shiarrael laughed "were you born a fool or have you been hit on your head so many times that you have become one?" The Klingon started to lunge towards her but the Vulcan security officer calmly restrained him. Ignoring his reaction Shiarrael continued "Starfleet has long since analyzed our strategy. What harm does it do to tell someone something that is already well known?"
"You're right, I read about it in a tactical analysis paper written by Professor Ed Fortier at Starfleet academy." Sydney said and slid his bishop further up the board. "At the time we weren't ready but now we have vessels that are designed to counter that strategy. Specifically a greater number of escort class ships like the defiant and saber."
Shiarrael confirmed his comment with a simple nod. She had seen the changed Starfleet strategy firsthand at the Battle of Yadalla. The thought of losing her ship still brought bitterness into Shiarrael's heart but she quickly dispelled it and studied the chess board. With one final move she slid her queen across the board. One of the men watching the game, the man Sydney called Jeff, leaned over her shoulder and gasped excitedly "checkmate!"
Stunned that he had been beaten Sydney seemed to study the board for a long minute before finally looking at Shiarrael "you never played before?" He asked shaking his head.
"No." Shiarrael answered "checkmate means I have won?"
"Yes!" Jeff said almost hopping "wow, someone actually beat you Sydney!"
"First time in over a year." Sydney said still looking rather stunned.
Shiarrael stood up wearing a wicked looking grin "Commander Solae, one of the greatest mistakes a commander can make during battle is to be distracted. Thank you for this game, I truly enjoyed it." Turning around she walked off followed by the two Andorians, the Vulcan stayed behind to ensure the Klingons did not decide to act out their unhappiness.
Jeff looked at Sydney "what did she mean by that Syd?"
"What a wily bitch." Sydney chuckled "she got me pretty good."
[End]
Captain Shiarrael Rehu
Commanding Officer
USS Charon
