Măgath

Posted on 01 Jun 2020 @ 1:59am by Lieutenant Yam Prat
Edited on on 02 Jun 2020 @ 5:33pm

597 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Past Prelude
Location: Cardassia Prime

“Brocol leryat edek? {Did I hear correctly?}” Voc Prat asked flatly, his back to his sons. The question was asked with all propriety, yet the sneer that was implied could not be missed to even the most dense Cardassian.

“Rhodrun”, Yam began slowly, words eyes downcast and words carefully devoid the seething that lurked beneath the surface, “True, Edek me Nurjo-nim met with Nevotda, but-- {True, Nurjo and I met with the men of Nevot, but--}”

By natural appearance Cardassian were a people of rigid facial expressions that most could not read without spending time immersed in the culture, but reading Yam and Nurjo’s father as he turned away from the porthole of the hovercraft flying them back home there was no need to dissect every gesture or expression.

“Family is all,” was all Voc said in a deep, throaty tone brooking no further discussion about the guilt of his sons in their unsanctioned excursion to the Nevot region.

Yam spared his younger brother a sidelong warning before aptly following his father’s words with his own, “Family is all” alongside his brother who repeated the anecdote with expected stoicism.

Voc knotted as an unexpected corridor of hot air rattled the tubular aircraft causing everyone to grip their seats reflexively. When the turbulence ended the silence as father studied his progeny was louder than the slight tinny humming of the engines. Ress, father’s second, appeared from the cockpit with a dark look on her face as she strode down the aisle toward the family of Prats; the boys and Voc were the only passengers of the flight. “Kiba’avzayn Rhodrun {Good tidings, Elder},” she greeted Voc, giving a curt, but respectful nod Yam and his brother, “Three cirdas {men} were captured for questioning, however…” her words trailed as she considered something then leaned down to seek secretly into Voc’s ear.

Yam turned his head to view outside the porthole feigning lack of interest in the conversation. Only tidbits came to his ear, but nothing that made sense. The brief conversation ended and Ress levered herself straight, turned on her heel, and marched back to the cockpit where the captain was beginning the pre-descension checklist.

“The Nevotda will be questioned about what they sold to you,” Voc stated, listless gray eyes peering into the horizon as Cardassia Prime came into view, “Should anything have been left out from what you have told me, I will arrange for not only those men to be punished, but their families too.”

Yam’s blood ran cold. “Rhodrun, there may be outrage over this…”, he argued dispassionately; his father enjoyed shocking them. Yam believed that controlling their emotions this way was a means to ensure that dominance was always asserted on the part of Voc Prat. “Surely, it is unnecessarily cruel?”

At the word cruel Voc Prat smiled warmly without looking away from the sight of the towering spires of glass and the finest Cardassian architecture drawing nearer. “Cruel?” Voc chuckled, “They say o’cad ta’cardast n’avec cruelty {you are not Cardassian without cruelty}”

The ice in his veins became needles pricking his flesh from the outside. Embarrassment, guilt, and shame competed for dominance in his heart as outwardly all emotion was erased from his face. Yam knew that those men and their family would likely be impoverished or killed only because his brother had wanted to try kanar {alcohol} from the farmlands for the first time.

 

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