The Climb

Posted on Tue Aug 26th, 2025 @ 1:25pm by Captain Rovak & T’Shan & Lieutenant JG Telb & Captain Bob Eliss
Edited on on Sun Sep 7th, 2025 @ 9:08am

1,758 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave [3-4]
Location: Cliffside, Alkyol Mountain, Andoria
Timeline: Late Afternoon - MD08

Most of the team had gone on ahead. It turned out, according to the old man who’d joined them, the distance allowable between members of the climb only applied horizontally, so those with jet boots and gravity harnesses had used them to ascend up several more sheer cliffs ahead. Rovak remained with T’Shan and the old man, who was making surprisingly good time. Rovak followed in second. T’Shan in third. She was confident, but needed more rest than she expected.

Rovak had Starfleet equipment, but T’Shan and the old man used ushaan-tor and other traditional climbing gear. It was for that reason that Rovak kept himself between the two Andorians as they ascended in traditional fashion.

Around three-quarters of the way to the top, the weather began to turn. The snowy wind halved their progress, but they had reached as high as they would go today by 1800. They made a basecamp against the cliff, deploying collapsible shelters.

Quietly Telb made it known that they were unlikely to make anywhere near as much progress tomorrow. The weather predictions were not favorable, and weather manipulations had to be delicate. They could not ask for favors.

The old Andorian (whose name nobody had yet learned) overheard as he smoked his pipe, and shuffled over to them. “As you’ve seen I’m a fine climber, but I can’t compete with modern technology. Your daughter will be a fine climber one day I suspect too, but these are not the conditions to learn.”

“No, perhaps not. But she wishes to do things the Andorian way, and I would not deny her that.”

“The Zhai clan, she is the reason they will not let you pass, is that not so?” The old man asked, demonstrating a keen insight Rovak hadn’t expected.

“That is so.” Rovak said.

“Then she should also use your Starfleet technology. It will get you where you need to be.” The old man counselled.

“If I believed that she would accept such a suggestion, I would make it. But once she sets her mind to something, that is often the end of it. I am sure that if I press the matter, she will ask that she be left behind to make the climb alone. She is like her mother in that regard.” Rovak observed.

“Yes. I remember a young Surtha as a fresh Imperial guard recruit. Nearly froze to death trying to break the record for the Ibliv ascent.” The old man remembered fondly, taking another puff on his pipe.

“You knew Surtha?” Rovak asked with something resembling surprise.

“Oh yes. I have a ceremonial role within the guard. Means I get to meet them all, get to know them, to a point. She had great promise, greater than the guard could make use of. Starfleet was the right course for her.”

“Indeed.” Rovak agreed, looking up to see snow was falling again.

“Whatever happened to her? After your daughter was born, I mean. I know she came back after that. They wouldn’t tell me.” The old man asked.

“We are still not entirely certain. In 2395 she began experiencing symptoms of interphase sickness. Within a few days, she had disappeared entirely into interphase. We do not know how, or why. Only that our efforts to halt it failed.” Rovak said.

“Not the first time you lost her.” The old man noted.

“No. Our daughter’s birth was not a conventional circumstance, it occurred within a dimensional plane that Surtha chose to remain on, having become a higher being. We had raised her for the equivalent of four years, but we could remain no longer without risk to ourselves. So T’Shan and I returned, without Surtha.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. Twice, no less.” The old man said.

“Indeed.” Rovak said, looking out into the snow for a long moment. He realised then he still did not know the man’s name, he turned to him to ask, but realised he had retreated into his shelter, a path of footsteps revealing his course.

The next morning, progress was slow, even for the team who were utilising technology instead of climbing gear. T’Shan seemed less certain, but no less eager. She had come close to losing her grip on a few occasions, but she remained sure-footed.

They reached the peak by midday, and continued their descent. At the third point where the team who used technology instead of climbing gear waited, the assembled crew were looking rather grim.

“Captain, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can make the whole journey if we have to continue like this. The Swiftsure is needed elsewhere.”

“I understand, Captain.” Rovak told Eliss. “I will speak with my daughter.” Rovak said, moving to where T’Shan was resting.

“I’m too slow, aren’t I?” She asked her father as he approached.

“The conditions are not ideal. The delay is unavoidable without technological assistance. If this is to continue, you must consider alternatives.”

“I know they want to be here, but the others don’t have clans to honour or dishonour. This is an Andorian matter. That’s why we need to continue with Andorian ways. I can continue alone, you all have work you need to do. Just leave me with a shelter and some food.” T’Shan said confidently.

Rovak constrained the pride he felt at her insistence, and the amusement at her unrealistic ambition. “We cannot do that, T’Shan. I am sorry, but Andorian honour may need to be sacrificed.”

“No it doesn’t!” Came the unexecpted voice of the old man, who seemed like he’d just discovered something. He was tapping the edge of his pipe against the cliff face. Obviously he’d been listening.

“Sir, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but logic demands that we –“

“We don’t need logic. We’ve got a doorway.” He said, placing his hand on a stone, causing a hidden doorway to part in the rock.

The rest of the Starfleet crew gathered around. “What is this?” Rovak asked.

“Hidden clan passage. The mountains are lined with them.” The old man explained, still chuffed with his discovery.

“Where does it lead?” T’Shan asked.

“Kislevirlar pass.” The old man noted.

“That is exactly where we are trying to avoid.” Rovak said.

“Yes, because of the Zhai. Don’t worry about the Zhai. I’ll deal with them.” The old man said dismissively. “Let’s hurry, this should get us there in just a few minutes. The only alternative is going back around, or taking another few days to climb down. Suit yourselves.” The old man hurried into the rather large lift inside.

Rovak reasoned that even if they weren’t let through as he expected, it would be quicker to climb up to where they needed to be than to climb down from here. “Very well.” Rovak said.

The lift opened up in a large hall ornate clan hall, where a number of Andorians turned, surprised to see anyone using it.

Two well-dressed older Andorians where talking in the middle of the room, their conversation interrupted by the arrival, a man and a woman. Rovak knew they were the two people he hoped least to see, the Aitanolloth and Zheishora.

“How dare you enter this place. We demand that aliens find another road.” The female Zheishora elder announced in a voice that echoed like a whipcrack throughout the hall.

“I am Captain Rovak, we are bringing the remains of a fallen Andorian to her clan grounds. This is the only way we can reach our destination. The weather has turned on us.”

“Andoria rejects all alien to her.” The Aitanolloth elder announced. “That means you, your crew, and your daughter.” He added pointedly as he reached them.

“My daughter is the child of Surtha Zhai, your cousin-by-law.” Rovak countered, stoic as ever, his brows angled perhaps a few degrees lower than usual, reflecting the difficulty he had in mastering his emotions when dealing with his wife’s clan.

“And if she had mated with a Tellarite, then so too would the child be an alien. That she is a Vulcan alien is of no consequence.” Zhaishora disagreed.

The old man stepped forward then, still mostly hidden below his robes. “The man is an alien, it is true. But the girl? She is as Andorian as any of you. She climbs with the ushaan-tor. She braves the summer storms. She persists, when all others would quit, to ensure her . When was the last time either of you climbed a cliff-face with only ropes and hooks as support?”

“Who are you that dares speak this way to us in the hall of our clan?” Zheishora asked, shocked by the impudence.

The old man pulled back his hood, rising taller as his robes fell.

“I am Tythonovar of the Royal clans of Qiinolxera and Thuvrikis, Quadrumvir-Emperor of the Andorian Empire.” The old man announced in a voice suited to great halls and the scolding of clan elders.

All Andorians present bowed, and a sudden hush filled the room.

“I may not have the authority to force you to admit this girl to your clan as you would if you had any real honour, but I am telling you that she is Andorian, and you will let us pass.”

With the gates open, it did not take long to reach their original destination. The Quadrumvir Tythonovar accompanied them, and stood solemnly through the ceremony. When it was done, and the crew began to beam back, he asked Rovak and T’Shan for a moment.

“You know, I don’t like having to tell people who I am. But those clan-kin of yours need reminding that they are not the top of the totem pole, as I’ve heard humans say. I don’t know what a totem pole is, but it’s a delightful image.” He said.

“Your majesty, please accept our humblest gratitude for –“ Rovak began, but was interrupted.

“Please, call me Tython. Being an Emperor only really means anything if you're Andorian.”

“Thank you, sir.” T’Shan said.

“You’re quite welcome, my dear. And if those clan-cousins of yours ever try to give you a hard time about your ancestry, just remind them, you’re Andorian, and the Emperor says so.” He said with a smile. As they beamed back to the waiting Hercules, the old man began his path back up the pass, to where he originally headed.

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