Klingon
Mentor
by Ri'Par
In my 10 years in KAG, I have seen and done some glorious
things. I've made many allies, done many TV and newspaper
appearances both locally and nationally, and done a lot of charity work
that has saved many lives. I've served as honor guard for
both Gowron and Martok. I've commanded my own ship and my own
quadrant and now serve as XO to the Cold Terror Fleet. I
believe that if anyone besides myself deserves credit for this it's my
ship's founder, Henry Allen Cook.
Henry, or Allen as his friends call him, formed the IKV Bayou Serpent
in 1998 and recruited me. I wasn't aware that the ship was
part of a worldwide club. I just thought it was a little
group Allen started. So I joined his "ship". He
made uniforms for several of the original officers but at the time I
was dressing as Gene Simmons from KISS and wasn't interested in wearing
a uniform. They had a halloween event, took pictures,and
Allen started the ship website.
After a bike wreck I was unable to walk, so I spent a lot of time
online and realized that the IKV Bayou Serpent was part of something
bigger than the few friends in uniform. For some reason I
can't explain, this excited me. I guess it was feeling that I
belonged. I decided I wanted to do more. I taught
myself basic HTML and revamped the website. I asked Allen to
make me a uniform as well but he wouldn't do it. He told me
I'd appreciate it more if I did it myself. The task seemed
overwhelming but I had plenty of time with my broken leg. I
made my uniform myself. I felt the pride of an accomplished
warrior and by the next halloween, I was an officer and partying with
my shipmates at a local bar in uniform. The next halloween
was too long of a wait so I asked Allen if I could find another excuse
to get into uniform. He was happy to see me getting into it
and allowed me to plan our first real event, walking in the 2000 Mardi
Gras parade in our
hometown. Allen was impressed and made me ship XO.
That small reward has driven me to this day. He pretty much sat back
and let me plan and execute all I wanted. After a while,
Allen was promoted to Quadrant Commander but was running the ship as
well. I felt constricted and wanted to see what I could do
alone so after much thought, I just asked him to let me take
over. He knew I was ready and gladly gave me the command
chair. Not too long after, he moved away to Florida and has
since hung up his bat'leth to raise a family. We still see
each other many times each year and I always remind him of the lowly
Sergeant that he inspired to greatness.
The lesson to be learned is to nurture the talents of the people you
have. He saw something in me and made me do things with
little help which made me appreciate it and taught me to work for my
glory. Find the hidden talents in your shipmates, they could one day
aspire to greatness.
- Commander Ri'Par sutai-bortaS
IKV Bayou Serpent commander and ship's brewer
Cold Terror Fleet XO
[email protected]
www.geocities.com/henry_cook/
www.myspace.com/ikvbayouserpent
