Fresh Start(Dirae Chronicles), Khiy

The Lost Puppy

To say Admiral Kanryth was good to herself was understatement central. Vice Admirals got a relatively hefty credit allowance, and Kanryth had spent most of hers on an 18th century colonial manor house with enough gardens to lose an army in. Right now, however, the only occupants were one frantic twelve year old girl and one stressed out babysitter.

Chloris Kanryth had just spoken to her mother and was running about the house like a demon gathering everything she 'thought' she would need for joining her mother aboard ship. After an hour she had managed to fill two large cases and was making a serious dent into the third.

She was rummaging through the drawers of an antique sideboard in the main hall in an attempt to locate a necklace she had managed to lose a few months ago, a fact she had skillfully concealed from Morgana by using the innate abilities of any twelve year old only child - winding the parent around her little finger.

He was old but Grant still knew how to get around security systems like a mischievous Starfleet Cadet. His rough features barely visible in the moonlight as he dragged the young annoyance along with him. Perhaps he would have left the kid at the gate but then he didn't want to meet up with a Romulan later on if anything happened to the boy. At least the payment he was getting was worth it, even if the old bitch who lived here tossed him a prison somewhere, she couldn't touch his money.

As they walked into the beam of the porch light Grant winced once his face was no longer hidden by the darkness. His dark mashed hair was glued to his forehead by the sweat which was now collecting and flowing down in beads. His chin covered by black and white fur made it clear what a ragged looking figure he was. Reaching out with his free hand he pressed the chime to the home.

With little regard for her safety she padded over to the door, pressed her hand to the scanner, and pulled the large wooden door open. Peeking round the edge of the door her eyebrows shot up at the sight of the man in front of her, and her nose wrinkled at the stink of sweat. "Um... are you lost?" she ventured.

Seeing the young girl Grant chuckled out loud, from his lips the intense smell of liquor poured out. Immediately slamming his foot against the door to make sure she didn't in a moment of fright shut it, Gant grunted "I'm looking for the lady of the house, Is the Vice Admiral in? I have urgent business with her."

While the man talked Khiy stood to the back, his head and ears covered by a tight ball cap. Around his body was an overcoat and from the obvious trail it left behind him it was many sizes to big. Though he appeared stoic and distant from what was going on, inside he was fearful.

Chloris had had the benefit of her mother living at home for the last six years. As head of Starfleet Internal Affairs, Morgana hadn't had to leave Earth, and Chloris had seen how people tended to react to the well known Admiral. So she stepped out from behind the door and drew herself up, looking as authoritative as a twelve year old in pajamas can. "Why would the Vice Admiral want to speak to a drunk sweaty old man?"

Grant's grin quickly faded to a frown "What did you say?!" Reaching forward he grabbed the young girl by the hair pulling her aside as he stormed into the home. "Where is the Vice Admiral?" In a drunken rage he began to shake her furiously by the hair.

Khiy was unsure of what to do since he had been told not to interfere with anything and to do as he was asked. Yet she couldn't have expected this, the man was beating around a harmless girl. As flashbacks bit into his mind Khiy went into action, with incredible speed Khiy severed Grant's grip on the girl by snapping his wrist. The loud pop sound proceeded the heavy screaming which soon came as Grant recoiled on the floor.

Getting a hold of himself Grant stood up eyeing the boy with range "Punk! I don't care how much she is giving me. I'm going to show you what happens to stupid kids!" Cradling his injured hand in his gut Grand slapped Khiy to the floor with his left hand. The boy didn't even flinch as he was knocked down. Turning back to the girl he smirked "Go call mommy."

Chloris' arrogance had been firmly dispelled. She didn't make a sound but the tears were pouring down her cheeks as she picked herself up off the floor. She swallowed and nodded; if he really wanted to speak to mommy she wasn't going to stop him.

She silently took a step towards the door and pressed a button, a silent alarm that would alert Morgana that there was something wrong at home. "She'll be here soon," Chloris muttered.

Rubbing his broken wrist Grant took the liberty of making his way deeper into the home and onto an empty couch. Staring at the boy still laying on the floor he laughed "You're quite pathetic, no wonder they wanted to get rid of you." Looking at Chloris he smiled in an attempt to be sweet "Got any liquor around here darlin?"

"No." She said, flatly. She sidestepped across the room towards the fallen boy, never taking her eyes off the old drunk. He wouldn't be getting close enough to touch her again any time soon.

By the time Chloris had stooped down to check the poor boy was still breathing, which he was, the sparkle of a transporter beam appeared around her. Admiral Kanryth and four of her marine guards appeared around her.

Morgana made a cool appraisal of the situation. One young man lying inert on her hall rug, her daughter checking on his condition, and an ugly drunk intruder on her couch. All in all it took her under two seconds to level her phaser at Grant. "You've five seconds to say something to stop me shooting you. Use them wisely."

"Oh yes, the rumors were true! You are a bitch!" Grinning Grant stood up as if willing to temp fate with the woman in front of him. "Listen here lady, I ain't here for trouble, and I just came to make a delivery when that little bee decided to sting me." His gaze was at Chloris as he mentioned the latter. "So if you'll let me complete this delivery I'll be on my merry way. Or I can just." Pulling a square device from his pocket he laughed "Blow us all to bits."

The Admirals phaser didn't waver. Her thumb slid the setting up from stun to maximum disintegrate. If he made one more move she'd vaporize him, possible bomb and all. "What delivery?" She asked icily.

"That Delivery" Grant motioned to the boy on the floor. "Brought me a great deal of Latinum, so I had to make sure he got here in one piece. Though I didn't say nothing 'bout bruising him." Moving forward Grant stared down the Marines as he approached Khiy who was laying motionless on the floor. Stopping about five feet from him and Chloris Grant smirked "Take off his hat."

"This phaser is set to kill. Get out before I decide to take my chances and use it. And don't make the mistake of thinking i'll ask a second time." Grant might have been able to stare down a marine, but he'd little to no chance against a fifty year Starfleet veteran who'd handled more misfits and troublemakers than most penal colonies.

Grunting he nodded "All rightly then." Pulling an isolinear rod from his pocket he dropped it onto the carpet. "I made my delivery." With that he disappeared in a fizzle of blue light.

Kanryth turned to the lead Marine. "Sergeant, have a squad beam down and secure the premises. And have that disgusting man tracked down, shot, and arrested for trespassing, assault, and possible kidnapping."

Sergeant Bergstrom merely saluted, though he was personally eager to fire the shot himself. "Right away Admiral." He turned away and issued the orders as Kanryth knelt down beside her daughter. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

Chloris just slumped into her mothers arms, willing and eager for the protection only a parent can provide. "I'm okay, mom.. but.. i dunno who this boy is, he's hurt. The ugly fat guy hit him and I can't wake him up."

As if on cue Khiy stirred, not much at first but he slowly started to come to. Sitting up he instinctively wiped the green mix of blood and drool from his lips onto the dark sleeve. Looking around he was slightly stunned to be surrounded by so many aliens, completely defenseless.

Morgana stroked Chloris' hair as she watched the young man in front of her stir. She looked up and motioned for the marines to back off before turning her attention back to the apparent teenager. "You're safe here, son. Can you tell me your name?" she asked gently.

Khiy swallowed nervous unsure of how to answer this woman. She was clearly an authority figure in Starfleet.something he had always seen as the enemy. But she didn't look like the enemy, at least not human. Why was he here? Why did she send him here? Pushing himself backwards Khiy remained silent before finally answering in an unusual accent. "I'm not certain."

"That's okay, my name is Morgana Kanryth and this is my daughter, Chloris." The little girl offered a weak smile before returning to her cuddle. "Do you know where you are?"

"Earth." Khiy responded carefully. It wasn't exactly that he was told he would be taken to Earth or that he knew he was on Earth. Khiy just overheard the guy talking about it.

"That's right. This is my home." She paused slightly, sitting down on the floor opposite the boy in an attempt to appear more harmless. "Any idea why you were brought here?"

Khiy stood up and walked to the Isolinear rod that lay on the carpet. Picking it up he walked over to Kanryth and held it out. With that he slowly removed the tight cap around his head and dropped it onto the floor. Through his mangled and disheveled dark brown hair the points of his ears were very noticeable. "I was told to give that to Kanryth, but I have been ordered not to view it."

Morgana accepted the rod and looked it over. No markings, not that she had expected any. She looked back at Khiy. "You're a little young for orders, aren't you?"

Khiy didn't know how to reply to that since he was old enough for the Gai'Shian. Opening his mouth to reply he quickly closed it as no words streamed forward. A look of frustration clearly expressed itself on his face as he stared ahead.

"Well," Morgana looked at him with a mix of pity and sympathy, "would you like to see my ship? My daughter and I have to go onboard soon." It was obvious to her that the young man was a Romulan, but what he was doing here or why was a mystery. She was just hoping whatever was on this isolinear rod would clear the matter up.

Looking around Khiy was in a foreign and perhaps hostile environment. Even if he did leave here he wouldn't know where to go. If it was indeed Earth then he was surrounded by humans who he had been told would enjoy ripping his limbs off if he ventured to far. There was no other choice for him except to follow Kanryth "It would honor me."

Chloris watched this exchange with great curiosity. She didn't really understand honour, but she chose this moment to stand up. "You'll like the Dirae. I was born there, you know." she said, almost as if it entitled her to special treatment.

Khiy turned to Chloris and nodded "Then it is an amazing vessel."

Morgana just let her daughter do the talking. Sometimes, she thought, the best person to reach a child was a child. The Admiral got back to her feet and watched as Chloris offered him her hand. Chloris remembered how he'd tried to protect her. "Come on, i'll show it to you."

Khiy accepted her hand and followed.

Morgana stepped up behind her daughter and touched her commbadge. "Kanryth to Dirae, three to beam up." The transporter beam engulfed them, whisking them across the distance to Dirae in a microsecond.

Vice Admiral Kanryth Commanding Officer, USS Dirae

&

Khiy tr'Rllaillieu, The Lost Puppy

Chloris Daze

It was quiet in Admiral Kanryths quarters. Morgana had left about fifteen minutes ago to resume the tasks of getting a ship crewed and moving in less than a day, leaving Chloris 'in charge' of their guest. Right now she was sitting on the couch watching a passing ship wondering why the boy was taking so long in the bedroom.

Khiy stared at the wall panel as if in any moment the jumble of symbols would flow together and make sense to him, but that didn't happen. Just standing there and staring at the panel was all he could do. Everything here was so foreign to him, he was completely lost.

Chloris didn't take too long to get bored. Khiy had only been alone in the room for about three minutes when she stuck her head round the door. "Heya, you okay? You're taking ages."

Khiy barely frowned lowering his head at the girl "I apologize, forgive me." Turning back to the wall panel he pointed at it "I do not recognize the symbols." though he didn't look too bothered by that fact his eyes showed his frustration as they gazed unyieldingly at the symbols.

Furrowing her brow, Chloris finally stepped fully into sight and moved up to the panel. "It's just the library computer. You don't know standard?" she asked, not even considering the boy was foreign. She still didn't even know his name.

"No." Khiy shook his head at the girl. When he was younger he was taught how to speak several languages to test his thinking skills. However when it came to learning how to read he was only taught Romulan Basic, since slaves would never need to read anything outside of Romulan.

She just blinked. She didn't know anyone who couldn't read standard. "Oh, uh, you read anything then?"

"Rihannsu." He replied..

There was no way Chloris would have made the connection between Rihannsu and Romulan. She just nodded as if she knew exactly what he meant. "We can fix that. See, you just ask the computer to change the language. Computer, change the panel display to.. Re..hannsu." The system beeped and the display represented itself in the Romulan language. Chloris still didn't make the connection.

This perhaps would be a time when most smiled but while impressed Khiy remained pretty much expressionless. Turning to Chloris he bowed his head lightly "Thank you." Moving his eyes back towards the panel he quickly gazed over all the information.

"You're welcome." She chimed. "If you need the computer to do something you just talk to it. You can make it read stuff back to you as well if you cant find a display to use." she informed him, feeling like the authority on all things Dirae.

Khiy nodded noting that on this ship unlike those he had served on everything is more automated and voice command centered. It was different, especially for one who did not speak much. "It is different." He replied to Chloris. "Thank you for your assistance."

"S'okay." Chloris glanced around the room. It was bigger than what most Ensigns had onboard ship, and it was still just one of her mums guest rooms. The standard decor didn't do much to fill it. "This place is pretty boring. You don't want any extra stuff?"

"Extra stuff?" Khiy asked. Again Chloris just looked at him for a moment. "Yeah, like games and stuff? Or pictures for the walls? Oh! And you *have* to get more clothes don't you, you didnt even bring a bag!"

"Games?" He wasn't sure what she was referring to exactly. "I'm not sure." Khiy replied. He did have a bag at least when he was on that man's ship, but he left abruptly so Khiy probably didn't have a bag any longer.

"We're going shopping." Chloris declared. She spun round and marched out to the living room, picking up the credit chit that Morgana always left for her. "Come on, i've plenty of credits, mum won't want you running around like a... ragamuffin!" She smirked to herself and waited for him to join her.

"Very well ma'am." Khiy replied to Chloris at her order. Following her into the living room he wondered what a ragamuffin looked like. It sounded dangerous to him.

"Ma'am?" Chloris wrinkled her nose. "Thats what you call old ladies! Just call me Chloris. Now come on, you're gonna love deck thirty two, they've got *everything*." Without waiting for a response she just took him by the hand and pretty much towed him out the door. Twelve year old on a mission!

Isolated Among Company

Khiy remained still as Chloris had asked him to stand there while she went in and scouted a shoe store. He was already holding four bags of clothing, all of which she said 'Looks good on you.' To Khiy this was all overwhelming, he personally didn't see the need for so many distinct outfits. He normally only had three or four, and two of those were his uniform.

All around him there was the hustle of people, this vessel was much different from every one he had ever been on in the empire. Though he had not met anyone distasteful Khiy felt isolated among company. This was not his home.it was so much different.

Hearing footsteps behind him he turned to see if it was Chloris but instead he was knocked to the floor by a larger man, a human. Standing up Khiy immediately lowered his head "My apologies."

The man frowned "Watch where you're going next time kid."

As the man continued on his way Khiy went to his knees and began picking up the bags on the floor stuffing the sprawling contents back into them. Lifting up a T-Shirt he noticed a familiar emerald insignia hidden beneath it. Picking it up Khiy stared at it longingly, how long had it been? Too long.

Sliding it back into his pocket where it belonged he finished picking up everything just as Chloris exited the store. Accepting the two new bags from Chloris he followed as she continued down the square.

A young girl with a straggling lost puppy in tow.

Shopping Spree

The mall was a distant memory. Chloris and Khiy had just returned to the Admirals stateroom, the latter carrying a total of eight bags. Some of the larger things Chloris had decided he needed were being delivered by the quartermasters office later. In almost every way, she was just a smaller version of the Vice Admiral Minus the uniform.

"Okay, just drop 'em there and we'll sort these out!" While the intention had been for Chloris to get Khiy what he 'needed' she had been quite generous to herself too. Morgana never, ever, checked the credit statements. Chloris could have bought a small moon and she probably wouldn't have noticed.

Covered by the baggage Khiy slowly slid off the layers from his arms and then dropped the bags that he had around his neck to the floor. Stepping back he gazed at the incredible pile of 'stuff' that the young girl had accumulated. A lot of which he was uncertain about.they were so different from what he was used to.

Chloris Kanryth wasn't that naive, however she might act. She watched Khiy drop the bags and stare at them and she giggled. "You've never had this much stuff before have you?"

Khiy turned to Chloris and shook his head "No." It was true that he never had that much stuff. Yet it was always a case of him not needing much, as long as he had clothing and food he was okay. Even in the Gai'Shian he was content. The truth was he didn't know what to do with all the stuff she had gotten him.

"Okay, well..." she paused and frowned at him. "You really should tell me what to call you. You know my name, and fair's fair you know."

He didn't know but what he did know was his name "Khiy." he stated.

She smiled at the progress. "Khiy. Cool, well, the thing is Khiy you can't just wander around in the same old clothes all the time. That'd be just *boring*! And you need different clothes for different occasions. Like... you can't wear the same clothes to the beach as you wear to a party. Get it"?

Khiy who had never worn more then a few different outfits in his entire life just shook his head in bewilderment. "I am sorry, I don't understand. I will trust what you say however."

An exaggerated roll of the eyes was Chloris' response. "You're nearly as bad as the Tellarite girl I went to school with! But thats okay, i'll teach you what you need to know. So... tell you what, just ask me stuff you think you need to know, okay?"

Khiy turned to her and nodded, though he really didn't know...what he needed to know.

Sitting down on the couch Chloris waited patiently, for about thirty seconds, before speaking. "Okay.. so.. ask?"

Khiy just turned and looked at her.

After a moment of them staring at each other Chloris decided to change tack slightly. "Uh-huh. Lets play a game then, you gotta have played before, right?" she looked at him suspiciously.

"Game?" Khiy looked even more confused now, he never played any games...he never had the chance to...

The little girls' mouth just dropped open. "You've *never* played a game before." She stared for a moment. "'kay we gotta fix that." She rummaged around in the shopping bags and threw a tracksuit at him before clutching one herself. "Go change!"

Without waiting for an answer, Chloris darted into her own room and started changing as soon as she'd locked the door. "Never played a *game* before?" she repeated to herself.

Dropping the tracksuit on the floor Khiy didn't know where she wanted him to go so he just started to remove his clothing in the middle of the Quarters. Once he had slipped everything off Khiy reached down and picked up the track suit putting it on. It felt different from clothes he had worn before.it was interesting.

A couple minutes later Chloris bounced back in wearing a white tracksuit. She'd stuffed her hair into a ponytail, about the only thing she could do with her curls. She stopped straight in her tracks as she noticed Khiys' old clothes at his feet in the living room. "Khiy.. you're supposed to change in your room.. what if my mum had walked in?!"

Khiy looked up at her and frowned "My apologies."

She blinked. "I guess you really are foreign. That's okay. Just remember you have to change in your room. Or in the bathroom if you're having a shower." She shrugged. "Just not anywhere that someone else could walk in... 'kay?"

Khiy nodded. "Understood"

She just looked at him and wondered if he was ever going to disagree with her on anything. "Come on, we'll go down to the gym. I like hoverball so we'll try that." She moved towards the door and glanced at him, "How fast are you?"

Khiy thought about her question for a moment before answering "My reflexes are above average." An understatement to any extent. Following her to the door Khiy was wondering what hoverball might be.