Re: Burning Ring of Fire - Chapter Six
USS Weisskopf
In orbit of Ynelav VIII
Stardate 57374.5
Ensign T’Larr stood in front of Captain Dhrex’s desk in his ready room as he perused her latest report. Her team had returned to the ship five days prior, after the discovery of the Romulan warbird’s remains, and since then T’Larr had been working tirelessly to try to fathom the identity of the warbird. She was not getting anywhere and had now exhausted all but three methods of obtaining the information, all of which were in the report that the captain was taking his time to read. He looked up at her impassive face and gestured for her to take a seat, which she did.
‘To recap, Ensign, you believe that between two hundred and two hundred fifty years ago, a Romulan warbird crashed on Ynelav IV and the people reverse-engineered the technology for their own use. You have further stipulated that the Romulan survivors posed as false gods to the Ynelavii people and this caused a schism in their religious background which still exists today, and is in fact the basis for the civil war that is currently progressing on the surface?’
T’Larr nodded, ‘Yes sir.’
‘Do you have anything to back up this report?’
‘Yes sir, I do,’ the Vulcan replied. ‘This region is far from Romulan space and yet there is a Romulan warbird within the sector which arrived prior to Starfleet’s cover being blown. It is logical to assume that Subcommander Sokal is searching for something and a Romulan warbird which disappeared two centuries ago, and may contain the remains of a relative, would be ample motive, especially during a time when numerous factions are vying for control of a fractured society.’
‘Is that all?’
‘No sir, Nelan is an old Romulan name that is no longer used. It does not appear in any other culture, except this one, and the Ynelavii have constructed a religion around it. From my studies in the reliquary, I discovered runic markings that bear no resemblance to the native writings, but significant resemblance to an old rural Romulan dialect. I believe that Subcommander Sokal is searching for a relative. I also postulate that the Seer in native lore is in fact a descendant of one of the survivors, perhaps Nelan himself.’
Dhrex sighed. ‘Do you have any idea what you are suggesting?’
‘Yes sir, I do. I am also aware that according to regulations, you must report this to your direct superior.’
‘Who happens to be in close proximity to the Subcommander quite frequently. I am aware of regulations. Dismissed, Ensign.’
T’Larr raised an eyebrow. ‘Sir?’
‘I have a private call to make, dismissed.’
With a nod, T’Larr turned on her heel and strode from the ready room. Since she had been working on this outside of her usual shift hours, and had presented her report just after her latest shift, she decided to return to her quarters for meditation but that thought was immediately quashed when Dhrex emerged onto the bridge.
‘Wait a moment, Ensign. Are you sure about your report?’
‘Yes sir,’ she replied.
‘Could you show the Ynelavii the evidence?’
‘Captain, doing so would likely destroy their faith, as well as being in breach of the prime directive.’
Dhrex looked around at the officers, including his exec who raised an eyebrow as well as any Vulcan. ‘Alright everyone, conference room. We’ll discuss this. You too, Ensign. I want you to present your findings to them.’
‘Yes sir,’ T’Larr replied. Though she didn’t let it show on her face, she was surprised that he would discuss what amounted to a breach of the most sacrosanct law in the Federation.
Moments later, once the bridge were seated around the conference table, T’Larr gave her report. Once she had concluded, there was silence until lieutenant commander Renn, the tactical officer, spoke up.
‘I can accept that telling them the truth would violate the letter of the prime directive, but it does not violate it’s spirit. We’re not interfering in the natural course of their spirituality, we’re helping to return it to its natural course.’
Commander Banks shook his head. ‘I disagree, I think that by revealing to them that the last two centuries of their religious beliefs have been a lie, we would be causing a deeper schism than the one that already exists. It would be reckless and irresponsible to put this culture, hell any culture, through that.’
Dhrex glanced at his XO and sighed. ‘You may be right, Commander, but I cannot leave without revealing it to them.’
‘There is another way,’ T’Larr said.
‘We send the information to both parties through an intermediary and let them decide what to do with it.’
‘Who would that third party be?’
‘The Resoto,’ Banks answered.
Dhrex scratched his chin. ‘That is an interesting proposition. Alright, let’s contact the nearest Resoto vessel and have them deliver our message.’
‘There is something else,’ T’Larr said and Dhrex turned to her.
‘Well?’
‘They may ask us to return, so we shouldn’t be in the system. They could get suspicious.’
‘Their ships have returned from their mission, wherever that was, so it will be difficult to leave without being detected.’
‘That’s easy,’ lieutenant Johnson, the chief engineer, replied. ‘We mask our signature to match the background radiation and just leave at one quarter impulse. They’ll never find us.’
‘I take it you’ve used that trick before?’
‘On the Cardassians, and they were paranoid.’
‘We have a plan, let’s get to it, dismissed. T’Larr, wait a moment please.’
The others filed out to get on with their new tasks and Dhrex handed the Vulcan a small wooden box. ‘I know you don’t like a fuss, so I thought I would just present it to you simply. Your department head had already been informed.’
T’Larr opened the box and saw inside a small cotton cushion, upon which rested a hollow gold pip. ‘Captain?’
‘It has been a long time coming, Lieutenant. Live long and prosper.’
‘Peace and long life,’ T’Larr replied, cradling the box.
Want more!(insert tantrum here)
