by Leslie Lee
sighed. “Relationships are dangerous at any time, Kari. Relationships within the order doubly so. It provides vulnerabilities that others can exploit. Now I do not want to speak any more of it.”
“But you like him.”
“Let us concentrate on today’s lesson, Kari. My feelings on Welan are irrelevant. He is arrogant, imperious, and condescending. He believes himself superior to the rest of us. He is an oaf.”
“It’s because there’s no place private isn’t it. There are spies everywhere.”
Jhynif tapped the pad meaningfully at her. “I do not wish to discuss it further, Kari. It is true that there is little privacy but that means nothing since I have no feelings for Welan. The lesson, Kari, let us begin.”
She waited for a time when both Romulans were in the cell together.
“There is a move that I am not quite understanding, Master Welan and Mistress Jhynif,” she said to them, standing respectfully. “Perhaps you could both assist me?”
“How will you be able to use the move if we both know it?” Welan said, his impatience making him tap his foot.
“Well, if it is too difficult, Master Welan.”
“It is not too difficult, Kari. What is it?”
“Okay, here, Mistress Jhynif, you stand here.”
Jhynif narrowed her eyes at her. “Why do I have to stand there?”
“How else will I be able to observe? It is merely for my training. And Master Welan, you are not afraid are you?”
He snorted. “No, of course not. Alright. Proceed.”
“Okay stand here like this, Mistress Jhynif. And you, Master Welan, stand behind her like this. Now, put your hands here, and you put your hands like this. Okay, just a little higher and not so tense. Is that not what you have taught me? To be relaxed? Now just a little closer that’s right.”
“She twists your students around her finger like nebby taffy, Commander,” remarked one guard to Syll as they observed through the window. The students didn’t know she was there.
“They allow themselves to be twisted,” she said. “Though they would deny it.”
“Are you sure the Human does not have Romulan blood in her?” The guards laughed.
“Okay, no, no,” Kari admonished. “You’re not going to be throwing each other about.”
“Then what kind of a move is this?” Welan said.
“I’ll show you. Now just sway a little.”
“Sway?” Jhynif said.
“Yes, like this.”
Breaking the silence after a while, Jhynif said, “I know what you are doing, Kari.”
“What is she doing?” Welan said.
Jhynif didn’t answer.
“There is a place so private in the compound that few know about,” Kari said.
“And you would know this how?” Welan snorted. “Where?”
“So you are interested?”
Jhynif looked over her shoulder at Welan. “No, not at all.”
They swayed slightly.
“Alright, Kari,” Jhynif sighed. “I know you are manipulating us. You are not nearly as clever as you think you are.”
“She is not manipulating us,” Welan retorted. “We are the masters here.”
“That is most true, Master Welan. I am merely employing the training you have given me, Mistress Jhynif. “
“Where is this place?” Welan demanded again.
Kari smiled. “Right here. Have you not made this as secure as you can? The pain field is for ultimate safety but there is not much room there and not very conducive.”
“Highly unlikely, Kari,” Welan said. “We should continue our lesson.”
“Yes,” Jhynif said, though they continued to sway.
Kari did not find it hard over the ensuing days to leave them alone in the cell and spend time in the outer area with the guards. Then one day, the two students lead her out to the outer area and had the guards turn off the observation window.
“Don’t worry,” she told Jhynif and Welan. “I will not turn it back on.”
As soon as they closed the door of the cell, she asked the guards to turn the window back on so she could look. The people in the cell would still see just a blank wall. When the guards looked at her, she pointed out that she would not be the one turning the window back on. The guards shrugged and complied.
She sat down and with her chin on her hand watched the two Romulan students. The guards for the most part ignored the whole thing. When Syll slipped in one night, Kari stood but kept watching. The guards arose respectfully as well but offered no explanations. Syll indicated they could all be seated.
“They are very cute together, Mistress,” Kari said.
“Is that so?” Syll said. “I suppose this is only fair since they have seen me naked more times than I care to count.”
Kari smiled a little. “This is quite nice. And there is little entertainment here.”
“I see. You believe the Tal Shiar is here to entertain you?”
Kari nodded. Syll slipped away before they came out. And as always, Kari flipped the window to opaque. Myryath came one time. She had decided to find out if what Donle had told her was true. Donle came to watch far more often than he should and Kari chased him away after a while.
Donle’s lessons were difficult because they tended to be boring. Not so much for her, but for him. Often he would come and slump into the chair and start reading to her. She amused herself by reading back to him in the most monotonous fashion she could. And within a few minutes he would start nodding off.
“Master Donle,” she said.
He jerked awake. “As I was saying...”
“I sometimes grow a little tired of sitting on the bed here and I fear that I am not getting as much as I could from the lesson.”
“Well, that is hardly my concern,” he grumped.
“I thought that maybe I could sit in the chair, Master Donle. It would help me concentrate a lot better and you could sit on the bed.”
“I do not see how that would improve anything, Kari.”
“I know, but perhaps we could try.”
“Oh alright.”
It didn’t take long for him to just lie on the bed and start snoozing with each session. This continued on for a few more lessons. She waited until she was sure that Syll and the other students were in the outer cell waiting. Then she carefully lifted his robe and loosened his pants. Then she yanked them down quickly and leapt astride him. He snapped awake with a shout and tried to throw her off.
“What are you doing?” Syll demanded striding in.
Donle blubbered as the other students entered. “Nothing, nothing I wasn’t doing anything.”
He struggled to stand with Kari wrapped around his legs.
“I wasn’t doing anything!”
He tried to drag his pants up even as Kari kept a hold of them at his feet.
“I will help you, master,” she cried out pulling them down further.
“Get off! Get off!” he yelled. “I was just sleeping.”
“You were sleeping with the prisoner?” Syll thundered.
“Yes, no. I mean not like that. I was just...” He noticed at last Welan and Jhynif laughing so hard they could hardly stand. Even Myryath shook. He let go of his pants and just stood there blushing so green he looked like an Orion Slave Girl.
“I am most sorry, Commander. I was tired.”
Kari let go and knelt next to him.
“Stand up, you stupid Human, stand up, stand up!”
Kari kept her face straight as she stood. “It is true that Master Donle has treated me only with respect.”
Syll nodded. “We are all tired. We find that this is a good a place for sleeping.”
She looked over her shoulder. Jhynif froze. She turned back.
“If you need a safe place then you may, but only after the lessons are complete.”
“Thank you for your patience, Commander,” said Donle, covering himself. “I will do much better.”
Myryath kept her distanc
e from Kari, only performing her duties. The young Romulan taught her how the Tal Shiar observed and remembered all that they saw. As Myryath tutored the Human, Syll watched Kari search for a chink in Myryath’s armor. On one occasion, Kari accidentally knocked a piece off the board they were practicing with. The Human automatically picked it up and put it back.
Syll entered the cell and called the other students to her while Myryath and Kari waited.
“These four stones,” Syll said picking up four pieces. “Your assignment is to have Kari hand you your stone.”
She tossed them into a corner.
The students looked at each other.
“Kari,” said Jhynif. “Hand me my stone.”
Kari went to the corner, chose a stone, and handed it to her. Jhynif showed the Romulan Commander the stone.
“Very good.”
“Well, that hardly presents a problem,” said Welan. “Kari, hand me my stone.”
“With respect, Master Welan, I refuse.”
“Hmm,” Donle said. “Not so easy after all.”
Welan tried through sheer force. On his fifth try, his superior physical conditioning, manipulated her into picking up a piece and handing it to him. He gasped with the effort but was triumphant.
“And now,” he said catching his breath. “You have a few more moves to try out on Jhynif.”
She laughed softly trying to get feeling back into her limbs.
Donle seemed to have forgotten about the assignment, just snoring away on the bed on most days after completing the lesson. Then one day, he came in carrying a tray with a cover on it.
“What have you there, Master Donle?” she asked.
“It is a treat. I made it for you.” He waved his hand over it and let the smell waft toward her.
Kari’s mouth dropped open even as she salivated. He looked towards the corner where two stones remained. She smiled and brought him a stone.
He lifted the cover
