[USS Tempest] Enmity

  • From: TKilyle@xxxxxxx
  • To: ussgeorgetown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, usstempest@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:09:20 EDT

Enmity
by Rosemary  Le Beau & Ek Balam
 

Definitions of  enmity on the Web: 
hostility: a  state of deep-seated ill-will  
hostility: the feeling of a hostile person; "he could no longer  contain his 
hostility" 
 
 
The library was chock full of  cadets studying for exams but Ek Balam was 
proud of himself.  He'd gotten  there early and secured what he considered the 
best seat which was, in fact, a  large overstuffed chair in the corner.  Not 
only was it perfect for  sprawling in while reading, sprawling being Ek's 
favorite way of studying, but  it afforded him a full view of the room as well, 
satisfying his deeply ingrained  hunting sensibilities.  A true hunter kept his 
eyes on everyone, watching  for prey as well as competition.
 
Ek huffed softly under his  breath as his dark eyes surveyed his fellow 
Engineering cadets.  Ixchel  still prodded him about his attitude and sense of 
superiority but Ek honestly  didn't believe  either was unfounded.  He was a 
better engineer  already  than most of the people in the library and it took 
great 
self  restraint for him to hold back in stating just that.  
 
Eventually, Ek admitted that  studying any more that day was useless.  He 
knew as much as he was going to  know so he dropped his PADD onto the chair and 
decided to amuse himself by  watching the room.  When he was younger, even 
before he met Ixchel and thus  realized what he was, he often amused himself by 
watching his  surroundings.  Then, his preferred spot was elevated and 
camouflaged but,  for now, his chair would do.  None of his quad mates were 
there so 
Ek, even  after three years at the Academy, didn't really know any of the 
people 
present  since, as one of his quad mates was prone to opine, Ek wasn't 
exactly the most  approachable kind of guy.  Ek didn't care what most people 
thought 
anyway  and the ones whose opinions mattered were definitely not part of  
Starfleet.  He hmmphed softly to himself, the smile on his face  what  those 
quad 
mates called condescending.
 
Finally, his interest was  grabbed by the postures of one particular group of 
four.  One female cadet  stood, hands on her hips, facing three males.  All 
of them were Human as  far as Ek could tell but that was not what interested 
him.  Rather, it was  the fact that the female's body language  suggested that 
she was angry,  tense enough to pounce even if it seemed that the three males 
were physically  more capable than her.  This, Ek told himself, ought to be 
good.  He  unfolded himself from his comfortable chair, his stretch to 
straighten 
up feline  in its grace and totality, then casually moved closer.  
 
"You know," he heard the female,  who had the oddest frame of white hair 
around her face, say, "the fact that you  got this far at the Academy with that 
attitude amazes me.  It's contrary to  everything Starfleet stands for."
 
"And it amazes me that they let  people like you in the Fleet to begin with," 
the man, who sported a blond buzz  cut began.  "Your kind is genetically 
altered.  You aren't supposed to  exist."
 
Ek stopped in his tracks at  that, tilting his head as if doing so would help 
him hear better.  One of  them?  He suppressed a shiver of disgust along with 
the urge to spit in  revulsion.  At the same time, he also realized that the 
four of them had  the attention of every cadet in the room, all pretense of 
studying forgotten in  the face of something infinitely more interesting.  A 
good fight was  always more interesting than studying, even for third year  
cadets.  For Ek, however, his interest had nothing to do with watching a  good 
fight.  This was personal.  His steps as feather light as his  namesake when it 
was on the prowl, he moved closer, the look in his eyes making  him look older 
than he was and infinitely more dangerous than he  seemed.
 
"Your kind disgust me," the  second male cadet, a heavy set fellow with curly 
hair, said.  "One day you  sit here like regular people and the next 
--poof!--you're pulling a Khan or  Colonel Green."
 
"You know what disgusts me?"  asked a deep rich voice.  "People who are too 
ignorant and stupid to walk  upright never mind get past age old stereotypes."
 
Rosie's head, along with  everyone else's, turned to see who spoke.  The 
cadet was average height  with a lean muscular build and a deeply tanned 
complexion.  Not Magni, she  told herself, but not bad at all.  It was the 
eyes, she 
decided.  They  were dark brown, so dark that they almost seemed black, yet 
they 
were lit with  something that made them glitter, something feral and 
dangerous.
 
"Not only are you ignorant,"  said the stranger, those eyes watching them 
all, "you're stupid.  You're  starting a fight in front of witnesses.  We're 
all 
cadets but I somehow  think there would be more than enough officers soon 
enough if you started  anything.  I hope to hell that you all don't ever 
command a 
ship I'm on  with observation skills like you have now."  He seemed to almost 
spit on  the floor in disgust before adding, "Idiots."
 
The dark eyed cadet stood, arms  crossed over his chest once he was done 
speaking, watching them all in turn with  that gaze of his.  Finally, the three 
males who'd confronted Rosie walked  away, muttering under their breath as they 
left.  The rest of the room,  realizing, somewhat disappointedly, that their 
entertainment was not going to be  forthcoming, returned to their scholastic 
drudgery.  Rosie then watched as  the dark eyed cadet simply turned away, 
picked 
up a PADD from the corner chair,  and headed for the exit.  
 
"Hey, wait up," she called,  running to catch up to the mystery man.
 
Ek didn't bother to hide the  sigh he let out.  He had to stop or she would 
simply keep after him and  thus stay in his vicinity much longer than he wanted 
her to.  "What," he  demanded sharply, stopping on the pathway back to the 
atrium.  He whipped  around and stared at her.  "I've got places to be."
 
That brought Rosie up short but  she offered him a smile anyway.  "Rosemary 
Le Beau.  Just wanted to  say thanks fir the help back there.  Not too many 
people would have stuck  up for me."
 
"No," Ek began, his voice thick  with acid laden disgust, "you have it all 
wrong.  I was not 'sticking  up' for you.  Think what I said.  I said I was 
disgusted by  stupidity and ignorance.  That's it."  Unbidden, his lips, 
usually  
soft and sensual, curled into a sneer as he stalked toward her, one arm and 
its  index finger extended.  "Your kind disgusts me but you are as you  were 
born, not created unnaturally.  I don't like you or your kind but I  hate 
stupid 
and ignorant even more."
 
With that, Ek actually spat on  the ground then stalked off, muttering under 
his breath in a language that Rosie  wasn't familiar with.  She didn't need to 
know the language though.   She had no doubt but that the man was full of 
anger and disgust.  If he  were a cat, she could have pictured a wildly lashing 
tail that preceded an  attack.  For herself, she sighed aloud, refusing to 
allow tears.  She  was too angry herself.  "Stupid son of a bitch," she 
muttered, 
knowing  she'd never forget the man's face.
 
 
 
 
 
So said Surak: Kaiidth. What is,  is.



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