Mindscanner #63

My shuttle zipped along at a shaky warp 7 towards my intended destination. I was running late getting to the coordinates of Shore Leave and, to make matters worse, the warp engines were acting like tribbles had infested the dilithium crystals.

K'Tor had arrived early, having been shuttled in by his mate, Lt. D'enna vestai Do'Urden, to a relatively close proximity. He reported that as he emerged from the morning shadows of the trees he got a lot of strange glances from both the tourists and the natives.

As we made our way through the main village, we met up with the Changeling Wornox and his escort. Wornox, in Klingon persona, was wearing his very first battle armor that he made himself. It was quite an undertaking for a Warrior of 13 years, but it was very impressive! Qapla' to this energetic and valuable member of the crew of the IKV Executioner who has been asked to serve as our Cadet Coordinator!

Having been notified by subspace communication that the CO of the Shadow Dragon would be among the natives of this strange world as an arms merchant (fitting), we soon located him! His booth was very intimidating with gleaming steel of many dangerous shapes hanging on the walls.

We continued making our way into the wooded part of the commons and met up with Lt. Niobe tai, CO of the KPV Black Sun Dancer. She was undercover as a native of that planet. In her company was her first officer. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind. I did not see my assailant until he released me; it was my house brother, Kolvar! Along with

Captain Kolvar sutai-Septaric was my house sister, Lt. Cmdr. K'Trava vestai-Septaric. They were dressed in identical black outfits designed to pass among the more adventurous of the natives of this planet. A man in brown robes suddenly appeared. It was Lt. Cmdr. Tarak Duras vestai in disguise as a Jedi knight. All are members of the IKV Stormbringer.

Since Wornox and his diplomatic escort had wandered off to enjoy the sights, I took the opportunity to speak to the group regarding promoting him to 2nd. Lt. at the event. We gathered as many Klingons together as we could and proceeded with that honor. I deferred to my brother, Captain Kolvar for the ceremony. Since now Legionnaire Lance

Corporal Wornox is an Alien in service to the Empire, he will not use the honorifics he accumulates until after 3 years when he becomes a full-fledged member of Klingon

society.) I got the pleasure of administering the ritual head butt. It was a glorious occasion.

Just prior to the promotion ceremony, up walked a person I hadn't seen in a long time; Brian Holloway and his girlfriend, Heidi. He told us about having been in New York City for a meeting on September 11th. He and his roommate were six blocks from the WTC and actually witnessed the first plane crashing into the twin towers. They thought it was a terrible accident, until they saw the second one strike the other tower. Like the rest of the world, they suddenly realized something far more sinister than tragic coincidence was going on. They immediately turned on their television and found out.

As we made our way back up the hill, we stopped to speak to the Shadow Dragon CO. He and Kolvar were old acquaintances. We continued along exploring the country-side and commenting about how easy it would be to conquer this planet, since most of the weapons were wooden and some of the men even wore skirts! But, it wouldn't be Shore Leave if we did.

Kolvar took K'Tor on a tour of the Dungeon. Both were disappointed there weren't live demonstrations of some of the ancient torture devices.

We passed some time watching a sword swallower (he was a little distracted by the Klingons who were eager for blood: his). It was a good show! Another performance that we watched was very funny and had clownlike characters juggling with fire and making a human look like a fool! We enjoyed that and again, as earlier, we, especially K'Tor,

distracted the performers. In fact, very early on in Shore Leave, it became apparent that the Klingons were getting a lot of attention because they were different! Qapla'!

The day was beginning to wane when K'Tor realized his rendezvous time with his mate was nearing. I went with him to meet the shuttle and speak to Lt. D'enna, a dear friend of mine. As we left the customs area, those who had to return needed to get their hands stamped. There was no exposed flesh on my hands, so despite the civilian military personnel's

assurances that he would remember ME, I insisted he stamp me on my left upper chest. Ha! Humans embarrass so easily!

When I returned to the customs area. I showed my stamp to the civilian military personnel and grinned. He let me pass unchallenged, but I was a little disappointed at that.

We wandered down towards the arms merchant's location once again and thereupon met the CO of the IKV Stormbringer, Captain Kairos sutai-Lorenssith and his mate, Lt. Cmdr. Khalsa sutai-Lorenssith and their daughter, Cadet Brittany of House Lorenssith.

The day was a complete success! Klingons and Aliens in service to the Empire who attended (or showed up briefly or were undercover) numbered 14 and represented five ships. Members of the Federation who came to Shore Leave were 15 and represented three ships. The 4th Annual Shore

Leave to a Primitive Planet will be even bigger and better with your support! You are all invited to attend!

Lt. Cmdr. Keela sutai-Septaric
CO, Dark Star Quadrant
Dark Moon Fleet
KAG