[Tlhingan-hol] nuq bop bom: 'ay' cha'maH vagh

[Robyn Stewart]

Uh-oh. I think Mark broke the list. This didn't post this morning 
when I sent it. I'll try again.
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I think the part that I am writing right now is better than this one. 
I'm not sure yet whether its a general undulation in quality or 
whether practice is making me better. I'm having a great time, though.

At the end of yesterday's installment, an unexpected bridge lurch was 
spilling everyone's beer.
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25

SIbI' DeghwI' bejchoH HoD, 'ach Hurgh SeHlawDaj. ghaH je merpu' 
wanI'. ghutar ghIchDaq HIq purlaw'pu'mo' tuSchoH. DaH 'orlaw'taH yaS 
wa'DIch. "Dotlh!" jatlh HoD.

jang yaS wa'DIch, "ngaDHa'choHpu' tlham ngeb lurgh. nISlaw' vay'[3]. 
vInuDlI'. loQ motlhbe'law' chuyDaH, tlham, pIvghor je."

jatlhruplaw' DeghwI' 'a SeH'egh. SeH'eghbe' Hung yaS, "QI'yaH! 
Sengchugh pIvghor jorlaH!" SuvrupchoH 'ach Do' beq Qeqbe' 'e tu' HoD.

jatlhqa' yaS wa'DIch, "baHHa'choHpu' wa' vIj. vIngaDqa'moHlI'." 
vIjvetlh matlhHa' HIvruplaw' Hung yaS[4]. vangruplaw' je DeghwI'. poS 
nujDaj 'a' jatlhbe'taH. jatlh yaS wa'DIch "ngaDmoHlaHbe' chuyDaH 
SeHwI'.[5] SomDaq vIjvetlh'e' vIbejlaHchugh tlhe'choH 'ej tlhe'qa'. 
tlhe'taHvIS tajvaj mach chenmoH, 'ach nom qaS." wanI' DelmeH yaS 
wa'DIch, ghop joqchoH. bItbogh qama' ghop rur.

"DangaDqa'moHmeH chang'engvetlhvaD retlhbogh chuyDaH yIDonmoH. HoS 
naQ." ra' HoD. leSchoH DeghwI'.

"Qapbe'law'," jatlh yaS wa'DIch. "ghurtaH tlhe'meH tajvajDaj. bID gho 
mojchugh tajvaj, Qaw''egh vIj. vIchu'Ha'nIS."

"Qo'." pay' jatlhchoH DeghwI'. "vIj Heghbat 'oH. QapHa'be' vIj'e'. 
'oHDaq QapHa' HoS'e'." jotqu' ghoghDaj. tlhIngan meHvaD tlhoy tam 
'ach tlhIbHa'law'. QI' paQDI'norgh chu' Sov QupwI'. jatlhtaHvIS 
DeghwI' 'IjchoH yaS wa'DIch, HoD je. "'elSeHcha nIH pIrmuS chang'eng 
cha'DIch yIchu'. cha'DIch neH. HoS naQ. chang'eng wejDIchvaD wa'DIch 
yIchu' je. quqnIS!"

chay' nom mIwvetlh SImlaHpu' DeghwI' Sovbe' HoD, 'ach nger yaj. 
taHchugh,[6] HoS 'och Qaw' je''eghghach.[7] qaSbe'meH, HoS lurgh 
SeHnIS latlh chuyDaH. Dup SImnIS De'wI' 'ach DaH *Dugh* chuyDaH 
SeHbe'taH De'wI'. DeghwI' voq. "yIruch!" ra'.

vangchoHDI' yaS wa'DIch pe'vIl ronchoH meH. pu'jInDaq wewchoH 
pIvghor. "Qo'!" jatlh DeghwI'. "yIlISchoHQo'. yIpoSmoHchu' neH." 
jottaH ghogh 'ej tamtaH 'ach pavqu'. SeHlawDaj HurghDaq 'or 'e' nID 
DeghwI' nItlhDu'." Qomqa' meH.

"Sogh!" ra' HoD "Degh Qay! SIbI'!"
----
SKI: The helmsman stops the FO from shutting down a destabilized 
thruster, because she has identified it as a power conduit problem 
that could explode the warp engines.
----
Some of these footnotes probably lost their heads or wandered off to 
another chapter in a rewrite, but I think they're funny, so I'm keeping them.

[1] Do you think ruQHa' would mean "mishandle a manual operation" or 
"do automatically". I omitted it here because I couldn't decide. 
Better suggestions appreciated.

[2] This is the point at which I realized that the Klingons are, 
apparently, flying a tlharghDuj manufactured by Airbus Industrie. You 
don't want to know how much diagnostic analysis I wrote into here 
before I came to my senses and sent them headlong into physical 
danger. This line used to be: jatlh HoD "chach pat tamey vIlaDlI'." 
Only I would write a story in which an emergency situation details 
the Klingon captain reading hour-old error messages. But that's how 
you administrate a large, automated vessel in *my* universe.

[3] That's my personal treksplanation of how they can handle the 
insane accelerations they do, but they all fall over when a phaser hits them.

[4] Poor guy, finally gets a gig on a spacefaring vessel and he never 
gets to stab or disembowel anyone.

[5] I think he's forgotten about the peQchem lIngwI' ngaDmoHwI'. 
Never forget the status of your peQchem lIngwI' ngaDmoHwI'.

[6] It's sad that there are two meanings of taH, because when I go to 
bizarre lengths to engineer a way to use the rare one in context, 
it's almost always interpretable as the other. And I do that on 
purpose so it continues to make sense. But YOU'll know.

[7] Too cute? Do you like it or hate it? I needed technobabble. The 
English equivalent is one of my favourite technobabble words.

Full story to date, including corrections mainly courtesy of you 
guys, at http://nupbopbom.blogspot.com