Kimshe? What Kimshee? - Chapter 12

Free Enterprise  -  Kimshee? What's Kimshee? 
-  Chapter #12






The Alpha Shift Bridge Crew looked up when Captain Tyr strode off the lift, and down to the last man, woman and being, and all exchanged “the look”. Oh-oh, Kimshee's about to his the fan!


Gilgamesh vacated the chair and sat at an auxiliary station, and melted into the background. All was quiet as Captain Anasazi spent the next three hours glowering at the main viewer, growling and snapping out rapid-fire orders.


Nietzscheans are capable of functioning on little to no sleep, depending on the circumstances. But, a Nietzschean suffering from lack of sleep was dangerous be around. So, the crew did well to step lightly around Tyr.


Only one being dared to place himself directly in the line of fire. Khan. Everyone heard when the lift doors opened and saw Khan step out and head for The Lion's Den. Tyr gave him five minutes, placed Gilgamesh in charge of the comm and followed Khan's lead. On the bridge everyone battened down the hatches.


Ever alert to Tyr's moods, Khan saw the storm clouds the moment he stepped onto the Bridge.


“The man had a wonderful dinner last night with T'Marr, what the heck could have possibly gone wrong?” Khan wondered.


“So, how was it?” Khan asked. He knew, but, the counselor in him HAD to ask. Tyr was standing in his favorite spot, at the viewport and staring morosely at the stars. It was cathartic for him. The Nietzschean shrugged his muscular shoulders, in response.


“That's all?” Khan asked, as he imitated his superior and friend's action. He sensed the mood shift and prepared for the onslaught. A normal red-blooded Human being would've run for the hills.


“What would you have me to say, Cat? Nietzscheans do not date! In case you have not noticed, Nietzscheans have strict ritualized means of choosing their mates, for the express purpose of keeping the species pure. Love has no place in that ritual. Call it a purely business transaction, what ever you like. It is our way! Period!” Tyr thundered at Khan, as his expression turned murderous.


“Tyr, you are so full of crap, your eyes are brown.” Khan challenged, as he dared pull his whiskers back in a smile. “You mean to tell me that after the Matriarch has selected her champion, there is no love felt between them?” he continued.


“There is the exchange of bloodline information, and blood tests. . . . . . No, there is not.” Tyr insisted, as he shrugged again. He was simply not in the mood to delve into a treaties on Nietzschean mating.


“You lie, Tyr. I hear that the husband must cater to his Matriarch if he . . .” Khan started.


“If you already know these things, why do you ask?” Tyr shot back, cutting Khan off.


“I'm just trying to get you to admit that under that persona of a supposedly perfect genetic specimen . . . . . .” Khan interjected.


“I am what?” Tyr shouted.


“Human! Despite Paul Museveni's lofty intentions, he used the Human genome as his foundation. That means you still possess the same Human desires for self worth, to love and be loved as your Homo Sapien cousins. Even though you deny it, you Tyr are just a Human!” Khan continued.


“And you are just a freakin' cat!” Tyr hissed, accusingly.


“Guilty as charged.” Khan replied, as he executed a sweeping bow.


Arguments, heated debates, fights, and civil wars had been started among the Katay, by that statement. Had Tyr not been such a close and dear friend, Khan would've ripped his face off for saying it.


“There, now do you feel better that you've said that?” Khan asked.


“No, I do not. Forgive me.” Tyr muttered, as he crossed his arms, faced the viewport and actually pouted. Khan briefly wondered what the Nietzschean would do if he could “see himself”. Right now, the fearsome Captain resembled a petulant child.


“You're forgiven.” Khan replied.


“Khan, what do I do about T'Marr?” Tyr asked, after a few minutes of companionable silence.


“What do you mean?” Khan asked. He was well aware of what Tyr was asking, but, again he had to ask.


“I am woefully inept in the . . . . . . Human . . . . . . concept of dating. . . .” Tyr began. He said the word “dating” as if it were both sour and very bitter, and scrunched up his face with distaste, to boot.


When Paul Museveni created the first Nietzscheans, he kept them isolated in a remote location, for fear he and his creations would be hunted down and destroyed. As a result, a super-species of Humans developed completely without knowledge of the rich cultures they had descended from.


Oh, Museveni made sure they were soundly indoctrinated in Darwinism, and Dawkinite genetic competitiveness, and the works of Nietzsche. They were discovered and befriended by the Katay. The two races formed a close and lasting alliance like the Ying and Yang which was instrumental in getting them both accepted into the Federation and Starfleet. Much like what the Vulcans did with Humans.


“You just befriend her, Tyr. Befriend her and she will learn to trust you and eventually love you.” Khan replied. “That means being pleasant for a change, Tyr. You can't go around ticked off at the universe all of the time. It's bad enough you terrify the crew. You don't want to scare off your lady love. . . .” Khan continued, but Tyr growled like a Doberman and cut him off.


“. . . . . That too has to stop.” Khan warned, as he wagged a finger at Tyr. The Nietzschean sighed, rolled his eyes and looked back at the stars.


“Bye the way, just in case, watch out for the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.” Khan warned as afterthought. Tyr turned to gaze at Khan with both eyebrows raised.


“The Vulcan Nerve Pinch?” he asked. This was the first time in Tyr's Starfleet career he'd ever had such close and extensive contact with a Vulcan. Therefore he was clueless about their most infamous defense mechanism.


“I do not know if it is as effective on Nietzscheans as it is on Humans, but. . . . .” Khan began, and went on to explain in detail how the Nerve Pinch was applied.




* * * * * * * * *




Ten minutes later, Tyr was leaving the Ready Room to return to the comm, with Khan right behind him. Suddenly Khan huffed. Attuned to his friend, Tyr stopped. The door opened and T'Marr was standing in the doorway, ready to press the buzzer.


“I need to speak to you in private about an urgent matter, Sir.” she stated simply, after getting over the initial fright of being right up in Tyr's grille. She honestly didn't know whether she was more frightened to death or turned on. She immediately slammed and dogged down her Vulcan mental shields.


“This must be serious, because she is in uniform.” Tyr thought. For she still had four days left on her “vacation”.


Tyr and Khan stepped back to allow her entrance into The Ready Room proper.


“Sir, in two days Solon will be arriving with a team of xeno-sociologists from The Vulcan Academy of Sciences. “ she announced.


“Why?” Tyr demanded.


“Solon claims that they wish to study Nietzscheans at work and living in a close environment with other races.” she replied. Tyr frowned because the Vulcans should've known by now that Nietzscheans were capable of "playing nice with others."


“There has to be hundreds of Starfleet vessels out there that have mixed crews. Why this ship in particular? ” Tyr demanded, once again.


“Solon is my Uncle, Sir. And he is using this as as excuse to check on me, Sir.” T'Marr replied, as she blushed a very light tint of green. Tyr noticed and filed that fact away for later.


“Let them come. We will be ready for them.” Tyr stated. Khan's ears pricked up. He'd heard of that same declaration made by numerous men and women of war, upon approach the of an enemy.


“Divine have mercy! We'd better lock down all of the weapons lockers!” Khan thought. If Tyr had his way, he would roam the Insurrection's corridors packing a Guass rifle, hunt, and pick them off one by one.


“Sir, I just want you to know that I tried to get them to cancel this fiasco, but they were already in route.” T'Marr apologized, before hastily taking her leave. Tyr immediately turned to Khan.


“I believe this will put our little experiment on hold.” Tyr sighed. After all, he couldn't very well “date” T'Marr while her uncle and his “people” were on board and watching them from all angles.


“No it doesn't. There is more than one way to skin a cat.” Khan declared, then immediately winced upon realizing his gaff. Tyr roared with mirth. Khan could not help but join in.




* * * * * *


Outside, the bridge crew sighed with relief.


"At least they're not tryin' to kill each other." whispered Ensign DeMato. Everyone shushed him, but agreed.