Their transport was some form of magnificent airship. The metal it was composed of glinted seemingly silver in the setting sun with hints of teal and aqua. It appeared to be sleek, upon approach, but small design details were engraved into the hull. "They resemble waves," Shanna whispered to Ta'ole in open awe.

The Klingon woman nodded with wonder. "It is a thing of beauty," she admitted in a low voice.

CCCCC

They made it to an island that translated from the tongue of that world into 'No Ones'. It was meant to be a neutral location for all tribes to come together and have important meetings. No violence was tolerated on No Ones.

The fascinating thing about the island was the large dome erected in its center. From far away observation, the dome looked flimsy. You could only just make out others within the structure. It occurred to Shanna it looks like an enormous outer visage of a jelly fish body! She was, at that point, walking with her fingers attached to Siranon's, Ta'ole having surrendered to her husband once they landed on the neutral island.

As they approached the large structure, she could see that they were about to enter the dome, but didn't understand how because there was no door. Everyone in their party was confused, but the Mashtiq that were escorting them walked right up to the face of the dome, into, and then through the skin of it. A squishing/slurping sound happened each time one of the Mashtiq pushed against the surface and entered.

Each of them, Romulan, Vulcan, and Klingon parties, entered the dome just as their hosts had done so before them. As they entered the new atmosphere, they were awash in what felt like a light breeze and the unmistakable sounds of soft pipe music. Greenery had been cultivated within the dome. From the looks of it, they could all tell that the vegetation had not been moved there just for their conference, it had been there for quite some time.

Perhaps the dome was erected over the site specifically for our welcome? Siranon thought at her.

That could be true. Or maybe this has been a long-standing structure for occasions just like this? Shanna thought back at him.

Another excellent hypothesis, he mentally bowed to her thought process.

Shanna was holding to his fingers, her face calm, but on the inside she was battling nervousness. She did not want to do or say anything improper while here. They were in unexplored waters, no pun intended, and she knew they could not afford to get into anything while stuck at the neutral zone.

They walked through the expansive space that was almost the size of a sporting event field and to their right sat a pool. The water of the pool gave off a peculiar golden hue and for some reason, she found herself giving it a double-take. It looked like liquid gold. Her interest piqued, she wondered if she would find out what that was for by the end of the night.

But they were quickly approaching Shuulin's position. She turned her attention back to the Mashtiq all around them.

CCCCC

Shuulin was smiling as they approached. "Greetings, All. Thank you for coming to our meeting of welcome this night. The sun is setting and the evening meal will soon be served."

A lovely lady attendant took them each and placed them at a table with Shuulin, but the table itself was low to the ground. "I thought perhaps we should take dinner first before you meet the other warlords," said Shuulin. "They shall be here once we have completed the meal."

Pirrec assured him that that was fine. Polite conversation ensued with Shuulin enquiring after the children and their assuring him that the children were fine and settling into their accommodations well.

"All of the dishes that are solely vegetation have been placed into the green bowls," said Shuulin as he nodded at Siranon. He looked over at Chol'chyr and Ta'ole, "We were able to procure certain sea specimens, still alive, with high protein content that seemed quite close to your cuisine," he nodded. "They are in the purple bowls."

The dinner began with a hot soup filled with what looked like long sea rice and some form of seaweed. It was in a green bowl, so Siranon was fine with eating it. Chol'chyr seemed to force himself to taste the dish. The Klingon ambassador took two small bites and then politely put the bowl aside. He ate no more. But the lady Ta'ole actually ate the entire thing. Pirrec and Shanna found the dish to be excellent, and she could tell from within their bond that Siranon found it very pleasing to his palate.

A succession of Mashtiq foods went by at that point: sliced fruit that had been sprinkled with hot and salty spices and then grilled and placed on skewers; vegetables cooked in some kind of pressed oil and tossed with sea mushrooms; some kind of ridiculously large prawn, one for each of them, that was the size of Shanna's hand, and stuffed with some other kind of salty sea vegetable; thinly sliced raw vegetables that looked like shredded cabbage, but had been pickled in a slightly bitter tasting preservative; and a spicy legume encrusted fish that had been fried and seasoned with a very hot spice. Shanna and Ta'ole were the only non-Mashtiq persons at the table able to eat the hot seasoned fish.

"How can you two tolerate that?" asked Pirrec in disbelief. "It tastes like fire incarnate!"

"Men are weak," Ta'ole said as she continued eating the deliciously seasoned fish. "That is why we are the ones who birth children while you stand aside and hyperventilate."

Shanna had to stop eating for a few seconds so she didn't laugh out loud, but Shuulin felt no need to hide his obvious and open laughter. "She is correct, you know," he said charmingly as his eyes twinkled a little too warmly at the Klingon ambassador's wife.

Lady Ta'ole scandalously smiled over at the head warlord. "A ruler with sense. Your people are truly lucky."

Shuulin blushed. "The lady is too generous."

Shanna started eating again, with relish, because to her this was some serious entertainment.

CCCCC

Once dinner was finished, a bunch of young Mashtiq whom looked to be in the age range of mid to older teenagers began to come and take away first the used cutlery and dishes, and then the tables and chairs themselves.

They looked to be a carefree bunch and chattered endlessly with one another as they smiled and talked. But they didn't yet seem to be developing any secondary sex characteristics... and were they all boys, or... but some of them seemed markedly feminine in their manner and behavior... she couldn't actually tell what sex any of them were.

They have yet to choose their sex, my wife, Siranon's thought intruded upon her.

Oh, wow! Really? They get to choose? She asked, fascinated by the thought.

Those young ones are close to The Choice among the Mashtiq; a rite of passage where they choose whether to be male or female. They were engineered this way centuries ago. Once they choose, they complete the process via a ritual I am currently unaware of. Their systems begin to flood with hormones and they then begin to grow primary and secondary sex characteristics.

She was amazed and blown away.

As the young people filed out, every vestige of dinner having been removed, a host of other Mashtiq men and women began filing into the dome. There were now warlords and warladies and heads of tribes as far as the eye could see.

All of the ambassadors and present spouses were introduced to each one, person after person, by Shuulin. Shanna also picked up information here or there from Siranon whom had already read so many files of information from the time he had left Vulcan to come here.

But the last two warlords they met, Siranon thought These are the two in opposition to Shuulin. Pay close attention...

They met Warlord Aketta. He was medium height with silver hair and green eyes. His build was in top physical shape and he was one of the most bulky men in the room. His figure was impressive, and despite his opposition to Shuulin, he still seemed to respect the head chief.

And then there was Warlord Elnas. His hair was blacker than midnight, and eyes a deep intense hue that was close to purple. The moment he set eyes on Shanna, he would not look away from her. "A pleasure," he said as he met her, eyes holding onto hers intensely.

Shanna tried to smile politely and then found herself partway shirking back to stand behind someone else. No one else seemed to notice what Elnas was doing. Once she was confident she'd lost his attention, she went and stood beside Siranon, glued to his side for the next five minutes after that. There was something about his voice... something was familiar... and she couldn't shake the thought that she had heard it before...

The night's festivities moved forward and they were all seated at some point for the dances put on first by the smallest Mashtiq children. They were tiny and adorable, wearing what could only be described as loin cloths. Their hair was very long hair, and they wore a variety of little bits of sea jewelry, but not much else. You had no clue as to what future gender they would be. They were still too young to even care about such things.

When the older Mashtiq children that seemed about the age of teenagers entered next to perform, you could tell those who had already decided what they would be once they underwent their ritual. Shuulin, sitting just behind Shanna, leaned forward and whispered at her, "Half of them shall undergo the ritual very soon. They show a marked preference in who they are."

She couldn't help but lean back and ask him, "What if they don't know yet?"

He smiled down at her. "We do not force them to choose. They will choose when they are ready."

What if they're never ready? She couldn't help but wonder. What then?

Almost as if he intuited her question, he leaned forward again, "Then they do not choose. They do not ever have to choose, if they do not wish. They live in their own community and serve as our priestly class."

She couldn't help it at all as she practically turned fully around, looked at him in open fascination and asked, "Why are they chosen to serve as priestly class?"

"It is our belief that a majority of the gods do not have a sex or a gender. If you do not have either, then you are closer to those gods and their thoughts and you are all the better to intuit what it is they need to tell us."

Mind blown again that night, Shanna just sat there and digested his words. Shanna thought about what that could have meant on many worlds, gods with no sex or gender. That means there could be no excuse as to why they would oppress one sex and favor the other. Everyone would be literally equal.

Then he leaned forward and rocked her world worse. "Then there are those who choose both."

"Excuse me?!" she whispered back at him, on information overload.

"They choose to become both," he said, seeming to fully enjoy her reaction.

She was floundering then for something to say. "Well where do they serve?"

"Priestly class, but for the fertility gods."

Her head was starting to hurt. She didn't have a problem with the things he was saying... it was just a lot of information to absorb in one sitting. From her accounting, they had male, female, non-gender, and intersex.

Shuulin mercifully didn't give her anymore information that night, and Shanna was able to watch the performances, now of adults whom had obviously chosen and gone through the ritual, their dance styles markedly changed in comparison to the teenagers that had just left the dance area.

The children's performance had, of course, been innocent and playful. The pre-choice teenagers had been slightly flirtatious, but clumsy and unsure. They still had no clue of exactly what it was they were imitating, and they had also not been ready to do anything about the thoughts just starting to enter their heads.

But the post ritual adults were openly sexual. And as the night wore on, she realized that both the children and the teenagers had already been taken out of the room.

Ta'ole, sitting next to her on the other side, whispered, "It is good that the children do not see this. This is bawdy and tawdry. Too much sexuality on display for such innocent minds."

Shanna held in laughter at the Klingon woman's pronouncement of open displeasure.

And then things fell down the rabbit hole. Ladies from the crowd were standing up and raising a blue cloth at certain dancers. The dancer would dance up to the lady and she noticed if the dancer gave a certain gesture, the lady would shrug and sit back down. But if the dancer beckoned for the lady to join him, she would dance with him for a time and then they would leave...together.

The fourth time she saw this, she turned to Siranon, "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"

"Yes."

"Um... but that second lady that went up there was married to Warlord-"

"They do not hold to sexual exclusion within marital bonds," he whispered.

"Oh. Ladies, choice, huh?" she asked, impressed.

"For now," he whispered back.

Her eyes widened when a male walked up with his own blue cloth and gestured at a dancer and it started all over again.

When the night was finally over, Warlord Elnas stood and charged, "We did not get a chance to choose from among our dignitaries!"

Ta'ole muttered under her breath so that Shanna was the only one who caught, "Indomitable Kahless with a side of gah..." Shanna covered her mouth so she didn't burst into hysterical laugher, but this was not funny at all!

"Our hosts do not have this tradition," Shuulin said as he stood and looked around at the other warlords, warladies, and tribal leaders.

"I challenge that! Is it they who say so, or is it you?" asked Elnas. And then his eyes gave Shanna a serious up and down raking. "Perhaps you wish to keep them for yourself?"

The other warlords and warladies began muttering among themselves.

Shuulin admitted then, "If I had my choice, it would not be so," and he gave the Lady Ta'ole a look of his own, though not at all as intrusive as Elnas' had been toward Shanna. "But I do not have that choice, because they do not have this custom. And you are aware, it is not the way of our people to ever force a thing or our ways on others."

The rest of the crowd were nodding in agreement.

"They should speak for themselves," Elnas charged as he gestured at the party from offworld.

And Shanna noticed, just then, how hard Siranon was holding onto himself from the inside. She wondered that T'Pau had chosen him for this mission when she knew about his proclivity for intense jealousy. He had, to his credit, gotten it under serious control. But now, this was being thrown in his face...

Shuulin bowed, "The guests may speak for themselves."

"I am currently unattached," Pirrec stood. "However, when my lady wife was living, I would never think to be with another. And I would hope neither would she. It is not the Romulan way..." He looked over at Siranon's strained face. "It is also very much not the Vulcan way." He sighed heavily. "You must all know, that though Klingon, Vulcan, and Romulan do not have much in common, we all have this in common: We can become violently possessive, jealous, sometimes to the point of the inflicting of death on another, where our spouses are concerned. It is a weakness we have yet to overcome. Please, do forgive that of us. We cannot stretch our minds to this way, at least not this quickly. We simply cannot."

Shanna saw then precisely why Pirrec was an ambassador. His tongue was velvet with speech delivery. He insinuated that the members of their visiting party were all lesser beings for sticking with their current custom and not going along with theirs. She was fine with that! She most certainly did not want to go home with someone else tonight! And she knew exactly who that someone else would have been...

Warlord Elnas looked markedly disappointed. "That is a shame," he said with a bit of distress in his words. "But no matter. There is time."

What the hell does that mean?! She couldn't help but wonder on the inside.

She knew Ta'ole hadn't heard her thought, but it was as if she had, because the Klingon noblewoman whispered at her, "That chesten pervert is going to be a problem for you, human. You had better increase your personal security. Carry a weapon at all times."

Little did Shanna realize, both her and the Klingon woman were giving Warlord Elnas serious stink faces. Their expressions looked so much alike in that moment, it was uncanny.

Shuulin pointed out, "You can see, the ladies are obviously displeased while their males are straining to remain civil. Now that you have caused this, our guests may wish to leave before we have accomplished the necessary goals needed within our world. Are you satisfied with yourself?" he asked.

"Not yet," Elnas said, as his eyes once again looked intently at Shanna's, unashamed.

CCCCC

"You should not have shown your displeasure so openly!" Chol'chyr was chiding his wife and Shanna on the way back to the island that held their abodes.

"Do not speak to me of should and should not, husband!" Ta'ole said. "And do not speak to her, either. She is her own person, as am I!"

"Your lady wives were correct to openly show their displeasure," Pirrec interjected almost spiritedly. "If you do not show a strong front with a Mashtiq—why, they are people of war! They only respect strength. And the women showed strength this night! They have shown what they shall and shall not tolerate! That is the correct way to be. Let people know what you will and will not tolerate! It is honesty! Would you forbid them to be honest?"

"We are not here as regular guests," Chol'chyr reminded Pirrec. "We are on a diplomatic-"

"They did not sign up to be swapped for an evening!" Pirrec spoke up violently at that point. But they all knew, he was speaking as a man whom had been with a beloved wife in the past. He would have been outraged, had it been him, that was all he knew.

"Do not tell me what to do with my lady wife, You Green-Blooded Romu-"

"Oh, stop it!" snapped Ta'ole at her husband, openly annoyed.

And that quickly, his bluster was gone.

"I thank you, Romulan, for your words," she said as she nodded at Pirrec. "You are wise." She sighed. "But so is my husband. We are here on a diplomatic accord and perhaps I should have fought harder to keep a straight face, no matter my displeasure. But it is now done."

"You were flirting with Shuulin enough to belie that point," Chol'chyr charged his wife, then.

Lady Ta'ole's head reared back as if she had been hit. "So now I do not have freedom to show that which is my personality? My true self? And would you let the occupants of this vessel know, how much did you purchase me for so that you could direct my every step and dictate my whims?"

"Can we please not fight amongst ourselves?" Shanna asked. "My head hurts. The night went from wonderful to awful in twenty-five seconds back there, like DAMN."

Siranon stood at her side then and put his fingers to hers. "My wife," he said, finally speaking. He could feel her fatigue, and true enough, there was a headache beginning to beat down upon her.

"Have you nothing to say to your wife, Vulcan?" asked Chol'chyr, partway outraged.

Siranon, showing ire for the first time that night, clapped back with, "What I shall or shall not say to my lady wife will be spoken later between the two of us. But not here, not now."

"As is proper," Ta'ole said as she gave her own husband a face full of attitude. "They have not been married nearly as long, but already he has learned not to insult his wife in front of others. Too bad I cannot say the same." She walked away in a haughty looking huff and Chol'chyr was chasing behind her.

"I meant no harm! Oh, chest it all!"

CCCCC

By the time they got back to their premises, Shanna and Siranon, both, were overextended and badly in need of sleep.

They got back to their personal rooms and she turned to him, put one hand to his chest, and asked, "Do me a large LARGE favor..."

"Wife?"

"Do Not talk about tonight right now... please?"

His eyebrow rose. "And when shall-"

"Tomorrow. Please?"

He saw her eyes were truly pleading. He thought about the fact that he had had privy to more information than he had been able to give her, and he had said nothing to her of all that he knew. And she still hadn't 'gone upside his head' as his mother-in-law would have said. "Yes, wife. We shall address this tomorrow. Rest this night. Only know, I fault you not in any way, in anything that you did this night."

She sighed in slight relief. "Okay."