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Traditions That Bind

Posted on Thu Mar 26th, 2020 @ 10:05am by Captain Enalia Telvan & Artan Pirate Dana Nyn & Commander Rita Paris & Ensign Briaar Gavarus & Ensign Fiona O'Dell & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan
Edited on on Thu Mar 26th, 2020 @ 1:15pm

Mission: Back Down the Long Ladder
Location: Planet Mariposa, the O'Dell Estate
Timeline: 2397

Mariposa: Now

"NOOW WHAT THE BLUIDDY BLEEDIN HELL ARE ALLA YE DOIN IN MAH HOOOUSE?!?"

The red-faced Duncan O'Dell, having returned from town with the Constable in tow, who had agreed to come along, in truth, only to insure that Duncan did not do something incredibly foolish, was now gathering in the parlor. Which is where he had encountered Fiona, Briaar, Minnie and Darby, as well as Captain telvan and Commander Paris. As he loomed in the doorway, red-faced and hyperventilating, there was the briefest instant where it looked like he might just charge Fiona to wring her neck with his bare hands. But that moment passed when Petty Officer Jablonski laid her hand, the size of his bicep on the Laird's shoulder and slid past him none too smoothly.

The large bully seemed somewhat intimidated by the much larger and rather unbelievably muscled giantess that served as a security officer on the USS Hera.

"I've come home because this IS me home, ye curdled saucer o'mil," Fiona explained, interposing between him and the young ones. "I'd say I'd coom to pay me respects, but we'd all know that was a lie. Instead, we're here to find out joost what ye've been up to, because frankly, I think ye're a fookin moron, but ye might be a murderin' one."

The rage in Ducan O'Dell's eyes crystallized, and he did indeed lunge at Fiona, only to be stopped in his tracks by that same beefy hand, attached to the mountain of muscle who had chosen her position quite strategically in order to prevent just succheuver.

"Sir, I don't wanna hurtcha and you don't wanna be in traction," 'Big Ethel' Jablonski informed the elder O'Dell, in her folksy farmgirl twang. "So howbout you calm down a little and let's all be civil, okie doke?"

Coming into the large, but fairly well-packed parlor, Lady Kathryn O'Dell had a larger tray with more tea and a few mugs of beer as well as she tried to smooth over the drama. "Now, Duncan. Calm yourself."

The words were less calming than the sight of the mammoth mountain of muscle, making her presence and considerable power known to the blustering blowhard whose eyes went wide at the sight as the Lady O'Dell continued. "They're here to clear up a misunderstanding, is all. And once we've satisfied their questions, they'll doubtless leave."

"Yeah, doubtless." Briaar Gavarus said in a flat, sarcastic tone, staring at Duncan with daggers in her eyes. "Oh, I'll take one'a those, thank you very much." While still watching Duncan, the tall Tellarite grabbed a beer and took a swig just to irritate him.

That was when the Klingon sisters entered, V’Nus still scanning with her tricorder. Making her way over to Briaar Gavarus, she glanced up from the display to remove the beer from her large three-fingered grasp quite deliberately and set it back on the serving tray. A silent look from the Klingon warned the Tellarite engineer not to argue, which was then followed by a meaningful glance to the Commander. Whose eyebrows rose, then she whispered in the ear of the Trill captain. Which brought about a rising anger in the eyes of the Captain, which seemed to settle somewhat with another whisper from the Commander.

Which was when the grey-suited Miss McGovern entered, in a curious turn of events.

“Alla ye, I want ye the fook oota me house! I dinna care who ye think ye are, I want ye OOT!” Duncan O’Dell bellowed.

"Miss McGovern, what are you doing here? I told you I would bring you our financial records tomorrow? This really isn't an appropriate time." Lady O'Dell said, with a confused expression on her face for the ginger-haired Tax accountant.

Pushing the round-framed glasses up her nose, the woman in the gray suit raised an eyebrow. "Oh, m'dear, Ah'm not here t' meet wit you nar yuir husband." Then, the thick Irish brogue vanished as she continued. "I already have all the paperwork on your finances I need."

Standing and handing her half-full teacup to V'Nus, Enalia finally had enough. "Scan this and everyone in this house for traces of it." She then rounded on Duncan. "Miss Jablonski, please restrain Duncan and Kathryn O'Dell and inform these two of their rights as they are now under arrest for possession and use of outlawed contraband and attempted poisoning and murder of several Starfleet officers. Commander Paris, please contact sickbay and have them prepare enough Veridium six antidote for all of us just in case."

"Poison?! What the effin' F***!" Gavarus exclaimed as she started wiping her tongue on her sleeve.

"That's the one poison I haven't built up an immunity to..." Dana muttered as she patted her pockets and pulled out an Artan pocket scanner to confirm whether she had indeed been poisoned or not and sighing in relief when it came back negative.

“DUNCAN! Ye fat-headed fool, what have ye done?” The pipsqueak pilot fairly keened like a banshee, even as the Laird of the O’Dell's turned white as a ghost, blinking slowly as the oversized petty officer moved to restrain him.

“This… this is shite! S’all lies, I dinna poison innyone! Ye blasted Starfleet, ye coom in here throwin yuir weight around, tryin’ ta make alla these accusations ta discredit me, callin me a murderer! I’ll have alla yuir joabs fur this!” the red-faced bear of a man bellowed.

"Duncan O'Dell, you are many things. A liar, an abusive brother and a fool of a blowhard, but you may, in fact, be innocent of the charges of conspiracy and murder." The red-headed Miss McGovern said as she stepped forward and pulled out a Starfleet PaDD.

"N' WHO THE HELL R' YOU, T' BE SAYIN' SUCH THINGS, WOMAN?!?" Duncan bellowed as Petty Officer Jablonski easily pulled his arms back to put restraints on his wrists.

As she raged, little Minnie jumped up and down with a broad grin, pointing at the woman and squeeing, "GAMMY!"

"Indeed, there is no fooling you, my dear." The woman said, pressing a button on her belt. As she did, there was a shimmer and the image of a red-haired Mariposian tax adjudicator vanished, revealing the severe Romulan features of the Hera's Jaeih Dox.

"No, according to your tax records and financials, I believe it is Lady Kathryn here that has been orchestrating this particular tragedy." Jaieh said, handing her PaDD to Enalia. "You see, as Kathryn Bollea, she was quite the social climber, accruing considerable debt for herself before she met the heir to Angus O'Dell's land and assets, and his acting hand. Clearly the inheritor, and the best possible candidate to inherit the lands and titles. Unwed at 42 and an unlikely prospect, as he is boorish, loud, temperamental, with a propensity for shouting, he made an easy target."

"It's a habit, noot a propensity!" Duncan shouted.

"But Duncan all on his own wasn't nearly as well off as his father, and shortly after their remarkably lavish and expensive wedding, she began draining HIS resources. Their former home is near foreclosure, Captain." Jaieh said, raising an eyebrow. "Which was when Kathryn began coming here to 'help out' her new mother-in-law while Duncan tried figuring out where his money was going."

"Of course, that was also when Margret O'Dell took a slow turn for the worse, I'm afraid." The canny Romulan former Intel agent said, resting a hand on Fiona's trembling shoulder. "Petty Officer V'Nus?"

Slowly, Duncan O'Dell turned to regard his wife, seeing her in perhaps a different light. "Sugar plum...?"

The Lady of the house began to sob, and before the lord of the manor could wind up again as his face turned red, the large and imposing petty officer restraining him put a finger to his lips that was bigger than his manhood.

"Shhhh. It's the parlor scene, where the explain whodunnit and how. Don't iunterrupt, or I'll have to stun ya, okay?"

While his left eye twitched, Duncan O'Dell held his words for now.

"A scan of Margret O'Dell's resting place revealed a concentrated amount of Veridium Six, the same poison found in the drinks," the taller Klingon woman said. "I am... sorry, Ensign O'Dell."

"I also found trace human remains at the edge of the lake, where the ashes of the cremated deceased were scattered," Petty Officer S'Rina reported, then she snarled out the next sentence. "Scans also detected trace amounts of Veridium Six in those remains. DNA match for Angus O'Dell."

Looking somehow ashamed, S'Rina looked to her sister, who turned her gaze to the floor, as if sharing that shame. Then S'Rina bowed slightly to the little woman. "I, uh, too am sorry, Ensign."

"Of course, Veridium six is a Klingon poison. Not one you would commonly find available here on Mariposa, is it?" Jaeih added as she then looked to Enalia and her Artan attorney, who had done some digging of their own.

Enalia picked up the trail at this point. "Indeed. The Artans picked up a notorious smuggler three weeks ago in need of ship repairs and while Sarika's people rendered aid, they found a rather large stash of assorted Klingon contraband and toxins, including Veridium six."

She then motioned to Dana to continue, who pulled out an Artan holopad and pulled up an image of the smuggler in question. "As per our internal policies, as the smuggler known as Reki the Randy had multiple warrants and bounties out on him, he was detained by Artan forces for questioning. Once his identity was confirmed, his navigation logs were pulled and his assets were confiscated before he was turned over to Federation authorities and all contraband logged and disintegrated. As his most recent planetary stop was here, when Queen... Pardon me... Captain Telvan requested my aid and sent me the pertinent documentation, I forwarded her the records of Reki the Randy's visit. To be fair, there were three other smugglers that are known to have visited this world over the course of the past five years, however he's the only one that's known for dealing in toxins."

Holding up a small padd of her own, Dana Nyn projected a full-sized hologram of the smuggler, Reki's bust and showed it to Lady O'Dell who simply scoffed.

"This is preposterous. I've never seen that man before in my life, nor would I ever associate myself with his like. I am a LADY, thank you very much." Kathryn said, looking down her nose at the scoundrel on the hologram. But she no sooner said it as the ten-year-old ginger boy who had arrived with Fiona and Gavarus piped up.

"My eye ye' are!" Darby O'Dell said, waving his hands like an excited schoolchild with the answer. "Me an' me Dad saw ye' in town at th' Rusty Nail havin' drinks wit' that same man not FAR months ago! Me dad said ye were cuckoldin' Uncle Duncan!"

"WHAAAAAT!" Duncan roared before remembering the ogress with the stun threat. Grinning sheepishly at her, she responded with a sympathetic nod.

The Constable from town was now looking at Kathryn with a raised brow and a suspicious eye as well.

"Really? A ten-year-old child is the witness against me? This is absurd," Kathryn declared in mock disgust, as even Duncan was now looking at his own wife with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. "Margret fell ill, and I cared for her night and day. Better than any of her own children or grandchildren, I might add."

"Her children. The ones mentioned, no doubt, in Angus O'Dell's conveniently missing will?" Jaeih said with narrowed eyes.

"There WAS NO WILL!" Kathryn shouted. "Angus passed from GRIEF before he could record one. It's a tragedy, but nothing more. There is no blood on my hands! None!"

While Kathryn protested, at the rear of the lounge, little Minerva waddled over to Jaeih. Making grabby hands, she took the stern Romulan woman's hand in her own and began to quietly pull at her. Looking down with a raised eyebrow, Minnie was sticking her tongue out as she kept pulling, leading the elder woman out into the corridor behind the room while everyone else's attention was still on Kathryn.

"Your protest is on record, Mrs. O'Dell. But there are trace amounts of the poison on your clothing-" S'Rina reported, eyeing her tricorder for confirmation as it scanned.

"Splash from the drinks, which someone else poisoned!" Lady O'Dell protested.

"...concentrated on your hands. Handling a coward's honorless weapon, you should be more careful," Petty Officer S'Rina snarled. "The levels in your system at current recommend medical care."

At that, Kathryn O'Dell blanched, the color draining from her face.

Which was when Petty Officer V'Nus returned from the kitchen with a coffee cup in hand. "Located the toxin container, Captain. Kathryn O'Dell's DNA on the surface." Setting it down on the tray of poisoned drinks, V'Nus stepped back again.

"On top of that, we know you've had prior dealings with smugglers before," Enalia added, picking up one of Kathryn's precious tea set saucers and tossing it against a wall like a frisbee. Instead of shattering like real fine china, it bounced off and fell to the floor unharmed. "I own every Aynsley that still exists, for one. That includes those in museums. Second off, the weight and balance of these are too perfect, which means they're replicated. Third off, almost five years ago a ceramics smuggler that I bought the last set in the wild from made a visit to your planet and sold quite a bit of his stock just before the Federation picked him up for trying to sell counterfeits to a Bolian entrepreneur."

Looking down at the tea saucer that she now knew was a forgery, Katheryn's eyes went wide and flickered with unguarded panic. "N... no... that's... that's not... that's NOT possible!? NO! No! He said..."

As the words leaked out, Kathryn's face curled into a sneer of rage. "How dare you! How dare you come here to MY home and accuse me of such things! I am the LADY O'DELL! You have no right to do this to me!"

"Still claiming to be a lady? Miss Kathryn O'Dell, you may be a woman but you are no Lady." Enalia was in full Queen mode now, adjusting her white dress uniform top before clasping her hands behind her back. "A Lady conducts herself with honor and dignity. A Lady checks the background of the goods she purchases and scans them for counterfeits. A Lady does not consort with unsavory characters to assassinate her own family. A Lady lives within her means and if she is unable to, makes sacrifices in order to do so."

"In short, Ensign Fiona O'Dell is far more of a Lady than you ever will be." The spotted captain then turned away from the furious woman with no further interest in her. "Someone please tell me we've found a will?"

"Still working on that one, Captain," came Commander Paris' voice from the Captain's comm badge.

Hissing now, Kathryn was leaning forward, most of her weight supported easily by Ethel Jablonski, who was holding the furious woman's restraints behind her back. "I do not recognize your authority here! I will fight this mockery of justice! My LAIRD and I will not be broken by your pathetic LIIIIEEESSS!"

But Duncan O'Dell was just staring at his wife with an expression of utter shock on his face, hardly recognizing her as she continued her mad rant. "All of this so-called evidence is nothing more than your sad attempts to frame us! And for WHO? That little weird, inbred piece of garbage that should have been put out of its misery as a child!? You will not get away with this travesty, Telvan! You won't, because there IS NO WILL!"

As for the ensign in question, currently, her face was set in a scowl as she eyed Kathryn O'Dell coldly. "Yuir home.... this is nae yuir home, ye harridan" O'Dell began, winding up slowly. "This was me father's home... where him and me ma raised me. Where me brothers grew up and went oot into the world. That block of real oak in the kitchen handed doown from the original Bringloidi settlers he was s'proud of. That bannister he'd tell ye he carved himself because he wanted it to be fooked oop and crooked. This floor that Duncan spilled ink all over tryin to cross the room an stumbled over his own feet, so's Mum had to put a rug over it to hise the stain."

"This was me father's house, and me family's house. Tisnae YUIR house, ye murderin... no good, goabashite garbage for a soul bloody succubus. Took advantage of me stupid brother who dinna even kknow how to think with his cock, ye mu... mu... murdered me mum," O'Dell stuttered, as Gavarus put a hand on her shoulder. "Ye killed me mum, and then ye killed me Da too."

Stepping over to the restrained Lady O'Dell, tears streaming down her face, Fiona O'Dell pleaded with the woman, her face a contorted mask of sadness. "Why would ye do sooch a thing to me family? Why? What wrong did we commit to you, what henious crime, what affront did we visit upon yuir personage that ye would... would do sooch a thing to me family? Mum, Dad... for what? Why?"

Looking down at the pitiable little mutant, the proud and regal Kathryn O'Dell drew herself up top her full height, looked down her nose and sneered at the grieving daughter of murdered parents. When she spoke, her voice was cold and emotionless.

"Because they were in the way of what I wanted."

It was in that moment that Fiona O'Dell stood on the razor's edge. While she had never been bloodthirsty, still she could fight, and she had seen action in Starfleet. But in the here and now, in this moment, she very much wanted to climb the tall woman's dress and strangle her to death with her bare hands. As that hard-favored rage threatened to overtake her fair nature, at that moment little Minerva returned to the parlor, with Jaeih Dox in hand and a wide, satisfied and proud grin on her fuzzy little face. For her part, Jaeih had what could only be described as a devilish smirk perched on her own, generally patrician facade.

"Why look, it seems we have found the will after all."

Holding up a small black disk with a plastic hexagon of screens on the top, she handed it to Enalia. "It turns out Angus suspected her for a while. The attorney WAS scheduled to arrive to record his will on the day Angus was murdered, but Angus was no fool and recorded this remotely two weeks after his talk with Fiona and Briaar. It turns out that secret passages with hidden evidence could not evade the senses of a young Minotaur, for whom such secrets are laid bare. After all, what is a secret passage but another kind of maze? She lead me right to what we sought on instinct."

Kneeling down, Fiona held her arms wide, and Minnie rushed into them, wrapping her diminutive mother in a hug. As they held one another, Fiona whispered, "Ye found yuir grandad's will for him... he woulda been so proud of ye, little one. So we'll be proud of ye for him, aye? That's me good girl."

Minerva O'Dell would never know what she had saved her mother from that day. But her timely intervention had likely saved her Mum from becoming a murderess herself. Well, attempted, as the Security forces wouldn't have just stood by to let her do it. Instead, her daughter had reminded her that sometimes good did triumph over evil, and sometimes love was all you needed.

After looking the small device over briefly, Enalia handed it over to Miss Dana Nyn. "I believe that as the only lawyer present, you're the only one authorized to certify it as authentic and all that. If you don't mind?"

"It would be my pleasure," the shorter Trill replied, once more taking out her scanner and running it over the bottom of the will. "All seals and certificates are present and accounted for the Last Will and Testament of one Angus O'Dell. I assume you'll want to have the whole family present for the reading, but there's a summary and a transcript available, if..."

With a nod from Enalia, Dana looked back down at her scanner and read through the summary. "I, Angus... yadda yadda... Sound mind... Ok... the Reason this was recorded two weeks prior to the scheduled date was because he suspected Kathryn and Duncan of poisoning him and his wife with intent to murder and they're to be removed from his will. He fully accepts Fiona and Briaar in the eyes of God and names Minerva as one of his heirs... There's some changes to the dispensation of the lands... The family fortune is to be split between his seven children... Ah, and there's the important part I assume - the house and title are to be inherited by Wallace O'Dell and shared with his brothers. The rest after that is legal requirements."

"WALLACE!?!" Kathryn shrieked, straining in vain against Ethel's iron grip. "That's a... that's a forgery!! A fake!!! I'll have a real attorney look and you'll see! You'll all see!!"

"You'll... You'll..." She protested, stuttering until her voice cracked and her knees went out from under her. With an arc of her head, she appeared to fall back into Ethel, fainting.

Holding up her tricorder, V'Nus gave Kathryn a quick scan then looked at Commander Paris as she re-entered the room, and simply rolled her eyes in a silent message to the Security chief.

“Me dad’s to be laird? Oh, have I got news when I get home,” Darby O’Dell laughed, dispersing some of the thick tension in the room.

“As of this point, I feel that most of the major questions have been answered here. Which means that it’s time to turn our findings over to the local law enforcement, so that they will have it to present to the local magistrate, and Mariposan justice can have it’s say, and it’s day in court,” Commander Paris declared, collecting the evidence into a datapacket and sending them to the Constable. She then handed over the will, which would likely have a proper reading before the end of the day. “Does anyone else have anything to add before we take our leave?”

“Aye… I’ve soomethin ta say,” Duncan O’Dell grumbled. A contrite expression was an unfamiliar one on the big man’s face, but it was there nonetheless. “Fiona… I know I’ve been shouty and angry, and I’ve made some poor choices…”

“That’s the understatement of the bluiddy year…” Fiona muttered, but let him continue.

“I swear to ye, I had no idea what was happenin,” the great bear of a man pleaded, miserably. “I dinna have any grudge against Margret, and I wanted to be Laird… but not like this. I dinna know what she was doin’, and while I listened to her advice and I coulda done things differently, I swear to ye, I dinna know she was killin our kin. If ye believe nothin’ else, please believe that.”

Standing and stepping forward, the picayune pilot looked up at the great mass of her brother. For so many years their relationship had been fine, then it had become one of damaged trust, that had devolved into bullying. Now, years later, she stood in the family home where she had grown up from birth, and eyed the man who had been so easily duped into being an accessory to the murder of both her parents… by marrying the murderess. So many emotions churned within her, and she realized that she had no obligation to offer any concession whatsoever.

Then she turned to look back at Briaar Gavarus, who looked nervous, as she always did in moments like this. But her nervous smile was warm and caring, and Fiona knew she would stand behind anything Fiona said, right or wrong. Then she looked down to young Minerva… young enough to not understand the situation, but old enough to remember today’s events. Which meant that she would learn an important moral lesson here, from the example set by her Mum.

“I believe ye, Duncan. Yuir stupid and short-sighted, ye’re a bully and a braggart and a blowhard. But ye wouldnae have killed Da to get him oot of yuir way… I honestly do believe that. For being a dunderhead, for being rude to me and me family, for marryin’ Lady Macbeth here…” Fiona lightly kicked the slumped woman in the knee, prompting a sharp retort of “Ow!’ from the supposedly unconscious woman.” I forgive ye, brother. I believe for alla yer faults and mistakes, ye nivvir meant the clan n’harm, and had ye known ye... well, yuir track record says otherwise, but I'd like to think that if ye knew ye woulda poot a stop to it. I believe that, and for bein a dumbarse… I forgive yeh.”

Looking back to the small furry girl who smiled so beatifically at her, and the tall Tellarite who was holding back a tear or two, Fiona O’Dell took heart that she had made the right choice. She had chosen to show her daughter that family forgives, and that the way to deal with hatred and intolerance was not with petty revenge, but with acceptance, understanding, and forgiveness.

“You might forgive him, but the courts will yet have their say,” the Constable interjected, motioning to get Kathryn O’Dell on her feet. “If ye’d be so kind as to pack ‘em in me paddywagon outside, It’d be much appreciated, ladies.”

As the burly Security officer trotted the accused out, the curvaceous Commander Paris knelt down next to the grieving girl who had lost so much in so short a time, placing her hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry this happened, Ensign. I;’m sorry that we had to get involved, and I’m sorry your family’s dirty laundry had to be aired in public this way.”

“Nae worries, mum,” O’Dell replied easily. “Starfleet stepped in and made sure me Mum and me da got justice, and that made sure the guilty willnae go unpoonished. For that, I tank the captain for steppin in. ye dinna have ta do thar fuir me, mum, and I know that. I’m grateful to ye for this… and Clan O’Dell nivvir forgets a good turn. Thankye, Cap’n.”

"You should thank Representative O'Reilly and the constable as well. As soon as the Representative got word from the Constabulary, he looked you up to see which ship you were on, then contacted me without even knowing which command we were under to ask us to investigate. His people were still drawing up the official request when I interrupted your conversation." Enalia smiled that lopsided piratical grin of hers and bowed her head to Fiona. "But of course, the Representative called back later to inform me of the local authorities' desires to stay out of our way due to my... Reputation."

The buxom Trill captain then turned to Dana. "Speaking of which, Miss Nyn, please add it to the official record that, for any inconvenience we may have caused, the Artans will match whatever inheritance Fiona, Briaar, and Minerva O'Dell receive from the estate at the time of either of their honorable discharges from Starfleet or upon Minerva's coming of age, whatever that may be for a Minotaur. Furthermore, we will have food and medical supplies provided to all persons in the community at large for the same reason."

"Aye, my Queen," Dana replied instantly as she pulled out that scroll-shaped PaDD and scrawled some notes on it.

Kneeling down, Briaar tried to distract herself from crying with what felt like half of the Hera's senior staff in the room, so she picked up her and Fiona's furry little girl and gave her a hug. "You hear all that, Minnie. You're officially an O'Dell girl now. Just like your Mum, right?"

Returning the hug, little Minnie made that strange little blend of a coo and a moo as she squeaked out. "Ike Mum!"

As she did, Briaar couldn't help but chuckle as she turned to where Jaeih had just been a moment ago. "N' I guess you weren't kidding when you said you were gonna do some diggin', right 'Miss McGov'... Where the hell did she go?" But as the towering Tellarite looked around, the mercurial Romulan was nowhere to be seen, having seemed to have slipped away when nobody was watching.

“Tisn’t like Mrs. Dox to stick around for the mooshy parts, ye know that luv,” Fiona declared, then turned to her nephew. “Darby, run home and fetch yuir faaather and tell him to meet us at the poob. As for the rest of ye,” O’Dell raised her voice to be heard. “Alreet, ya gang of officers, petty and line, yuir on me home planet, and tis time to obey local tradition. We’ve solved the mystery and the guilty will face joostice. Now alla ye are obliged to coom to the poob and raise a pint to me Da. So let’s away, aye?

“Because after all, tradition is what binds families together…”

 

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