“There is a growing minority within the Senate, including the Vice-proconsul, which supports an alliance with the Federation and the Klingons and turning against the Dominion. But even if we get a majority, the decision will ultimately lie with Praetor Neral and the Continuing Committee and they have not shown any indication that they look favorably at an alliance.
Our biggest obstacle is Senator Vreenak, the chief architect of our current non-aggression pact with the Dominion. He’s the secretary of the War Plans Council and co-chairman of the Tal Shiar. He also has Neral’s ear. If we can convince him, we’ll get the Continuing Committee on our side.”
The walk to the senate chamber was a long one mostly thanks to the many security checkpoints they needed to clear. But it gave Senator Cretak plenty of time to outline once more what Dar, Leva and Xeris would have to expect once they arrived.
Leva didn’t miss the chemistry between Dar and the senator. They had known each other for months as they had communicated over subspace and Dar had not been shy to point out on numerous occasions how much he thought of her. As far as he knew, their relationship was purely professional but he couldn’t help wonder what exactly his private tour with the senator had entailed.
He was in no position to judge. After all he couldn’t help himself but steal brief glances towards Donatra whenever he thought nobody else was looking.
The attraction had been purely physical after he had first met the attractive women but after their own tour, she had given him surprisingly much to think about.
“Vreenak is not our only problem,” said Donatra. “Koval is also a firm opponent of any kind of Federation-Romulan alliance.”
“Chairman Koval.” Xeris said. “The unquestioned leader of the Tal Shiar.”
The sub-lieutenant nodded, perhaps a bit surprised at the engineer’s knowledge of Romulan senior leadership.
“I’ve heard rumors about the man. Apparently there is talk that he may have been involved in the mysterious death of the deputy chief of Starfleet Intelligence,” said Xeris.
“I wouldn’t put it passed him,” said Cretak. “Koval is very dangerous but also incredibly difficult to read. We know he’s against an alliance but the man works in such mystifying ways, I wouldn’t be surprised if even the Praetor himself isn’t aware of all his activities half the time. Fortunately for us the only thing both Koval and Vreenak hate more than an alliance with the Federation is each other. Something we may be able to exploit.
Leva immediately understood that Senator Cretak had surely pulled a number of strings not only to get them to Romulus but also to allow them to address the aristocracy and the decision-makers directly from the sacred senate chambers.
He couldn’t help but get a chill when he stepped onto the expansive marble floors of the large, round room, dominated by a massive bird of prey chandelier suspended from the ceiling, as if the ancient and vengeful spirits of the empire themselves were keeping a close watch on anyone and anything that was discussed in this room.
The turnout was not particularly encouraging however.
Just a handful of senators and military officers were in attendance, hardly filling the available seats. Two men stood out from the small crowd. Leva immediately realized that one was Koval and the other Vreenak. And while they were both supposed to be working for the same agency, they sat about as far away from each other as the chamber would allow.
Cretak led her guests to the center of the chamber before she addressed the audience. “Thank you all for coming. As you are aware we have invited Mister Dar, special envoy from the United Federation of Planets and Commanders Leva and Xeris from Starfleet to Romulus to make their case for a Federation-Romulan alliance against the Dominion. I’m convinced that after their presentation you will agree with them that such an alliance would be in the best interest of the Empire,” she said and then nodded at Dar before she took a seat in the front row herself.
Donatra set up a holographic projector behind the trio of Federation ambassadors before she joined the senator.
Leva felt uncomfortable almost immediately.
His mind had been too preoccupied with the many possible ways they were going to be betrayed by the Romulans the moment they’d sat one foot on their world that he hadn’t really considered that there was an actual chance that he would have to address the Romulan Senate.
Once he had realized that at the very least Cretak had been genuine about her intentions and they had not been arrested by Tal Shiar agents, he had become too distracted with Donatra and what she had revealed to him to prepare for this moment.
Leva was not a diplomat and not for the first time he felt incredibly out of place in the halls of power. Surprisingly the same could not be said about Xeris who radiated an amazing sense of calm for an engineer standing in front of high-level politicians.
This remained true for Dar as well. The two Starfleet officers gave him some room as he took a step forward. “First let me express our gratitude for allowing the three of us – estranged sons of Romulus – to come here and allow us to address you in this very hallowed place.”
Leva may not have been a politician but he recognized the hallmarks of pandering to your listeners. Dar did this well and some of the few senators actually appeared to appreciate this. The faces of both Koval and Vreenak however remained unmoved, like gargoyle’s stone faces.
“The Romulan Empire, at best, has ten years left to live.”
That was an attention grabber and even Leva had to do a double take on Dar.
A nervous murmur went through the crowd and Vreenak seemed to shift uncomfortably on his bench for a moment.
Xeris looked around to see if the ever-present security forces were going to make a move on them, throwing them into a deep dungeon for threatening the state in such a blatant and disrespectful manner.
Now that he had their full attention, Dar quickly continued. “The fall of the empire will not come from any internal conflicts. It will most certainly not come because of Federation interference or because of Klingon invasion attempts. Instead, within six years, Romulus will find itself alone and isolated against an Alpha Quadrant dominated by the Dominion and its grand plan to spread its influence over the entire Milky Way. Make no mistake, the Federation and the Klingon Empire will fall to the Dominion and once they do, every other space faring civilization will have to bow down to Dominion superiority. The Romulan Empire will be the last piece of the puzzle.”
He let those words sink in for a moment. A small number of faces seemed to silently agree with him. Most notably of course Cretak and Donatra but there were other military officers who had come to the very same conclusion.
“Those estimates of yours are worthless,” Vreenak said bluntly. “They are as believable as three Romulan traitors returning to the home world.”
Leva and Xeris both tensed up.
“You are trying to manipulate us to take part in a war that has nothing to do with the Empire. But I agree with at least one of your observations. Your alliance will crumble. The Empire, however, will prevail.”
Dar slowly shook his head. “I cannot agree. Even if you think that you may be able to ally yourself with the Dominion like the Cardassians have, all you’d be doing is giving up your own sovereignty. Our intelligence sources tell us, and I’m sure your own Tal Shiar can confirm this, that Cardassian leadership has become nothing more than a puppet regime, entirely controlled by the Founders. The Dominion is not interested in alliances or sharing power. Their one and only aim is total control.”
Vreenak was entirely unconvinced. However Koval seemed to show some interest now. Leva couldn’t be certain if that was because he naturally wanted to take an opposite view then Vreenak or that because as the chairman of the Tal Shiar he knew exactly what Dar was talking about.
“I would like to hear a more detailed analysis of your estimations,” Koval said.
Senator Vreenak seemed displeased by that statement even if he tried hard to hide it.
Dar nodded. “I thought you would. Allow me to hand this over to our tactical expert, Lieutenant Commander So’Dan Leva,” he said and gestured towards the half-Romulan Starfleet officer.
Leva stepped into the center of the room. The holographic screen behind him changed to show a current territorial display of Federation, Klingon as well as Romulan and Cardassian space. It was quite obvious from the display that the Dominion controlled Cardassian space had made significant inroads into both Federation and Klingon territory since the war had begun.
“This is what the Alpha and Beta Quadrant look like today,” he said. “Dominion forces have been making steady advances into allied-controlled space and also towards Romulus. Considering the pace of troop build ups on both sides, we estimate that Earth and Qo’noS will be under Dominion siege within twelve to fourteen months.”
As he spoke, the display changed to represent Dominion progress towards those two worlds.
Vreenak stood. “Your estimates are only relevant if you are able to show us your fleet positions and movements.”
Leva looked at the senator for a moment, astonished by the boldness of that statement. There simply was no way he would give up that kind of information to a potentially hostile power. Not even under torture.
Xeris showed his displeasure more vocally. “You can’t be seriously expecting us to tell you about our fleet movements. That is crossing the line.”
Donatra also stood, apparently feeling compelled to weigh in. “Senator, I must agree with our guests. Revealing sensitive military information of this nature would not be beneficial for either party.”
But Vreenak held his ground. “We have shown this delegation and extraordinary amount of trust by allowing them to come here. I am asking that you reciprocate our faith in you by sharing with us military intelligence.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Leva said flatly, paying little attention to the curious looks his tone invited from the audience.
“You want to know Federation fleet movements?” said Dar as he stepped back into the center. He typed something into a padd he was carrying and the holo-display was quickly populated by clusters of Starfleet vessels, most of which positioned near the battle lines.
“Dar!” Leva said sharply, unable to believe what he had done.
“We have not yet reached the level of trust you have inferred, Senator,” Dar said but kept the display with fleet positions up for everyone to see. “But we are convinced that our projections are accurate. The Federation-Klingon alliance will be defeated and Romulus will be next unless you will join the war effort.”
For a moment nobody spoke.
Then Vreenak turned and left the room and soon after some of the other audience members began to follow suit until only the Federation delegates and their two Romulan hosts remained.
As soon as the room cleared Leva and Xeris immediately turned on Dar but not before making sure the holo-display had been deactivated.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Leva said. “What you have just done, that’s treason. You have given the Romulan military, the Tal Shiar, the entire empire, our complete war strategy.”
Xeris was equally fuming. “Do you realize that under the non-aggression pact the empire has with the Dominion they’d be more than able to share this information with the Founders. If they do that, you may just have doomed millions of Federation lives.”
Dar calmly turned towards the two officers. “Gentlemen, what you don’t seem to understand or perhaps have not yet accepted, is the simple fact that if we are unsuccessful, it will be billions of lives that will be lost.”
Our biggest obstacle is Senator Vreenak, the chief architect of our current non-aggression pact with the Dominion. He’s the secretary of the War Plans Council and co-chairman of the Tal Shiar. He also has Neral’s ear. If we can convince him, we’ll get the Continuing Committee on our side.”
The walk to the senate chamber was a long one mostly thanks to the many security checkpoints they needed to clear. But it gave Senator Cretak plenty of time to outline once more what Dar, Leva and Xeris would have to expect once they arrived.
Leva didn’t miss the chemistry between Dar and the senator. They had known each other for months as they had communicated over subspace and Dar had not been shy to point out on numerous occasions how much he thought of her. As far as he knew, their relationship was purely professional but he couldn’t help wonder what exactly his private tour with the senator had entailed.
He was in no position to judge. After all he couldn’t help himself but steal brief glances towards Donatra whenever he thought nobody else was looking.
The attraction had been purely physical after he had first met the attractive women but after their own tour, she had given him surprisingly much to think about.
“Vreenak is not our only problem,” said Donatra. “Koval is also a firm opponent of any kind of Federation-Romulan alliance.”
“Chairman Koval.” Xeris said. “The unquestioned leader of the Tal Shiar.”
The sub-lieutenant nodded, perhaps a bit surprised at the engineer’s knowledge of Romulan senior leadership.
“I’ve heard rumors about the man. Apparently there is talk that he may have been involved in the mysterious death of the deputy chief of Starfleet Intelligence,” said Xeris.
“I wouldn’t put it passed him,” said Cretak. “Koval is very dangerous but also incredibly difficult to read. We know he’s against an alliance but the man works in such mystifying ways, I wouldn’t be surprised if even the Praetor himself isn’t aware of all his activities half the time. Fortunately for us the only thing both Koval and Vreenak hate more than an alliance with the Federation is each other. Something we may be able to exploit.
* * *
Leva immediately understood that Senator Cretak had surely pulled a number of strings not only to get them to Romulus but also to allow them to address the aristocracy and the decision-makers directly from the sacred senate chambers.
He couldn’t help but get a chill when he stepped onto the expansive marble floors of the large, round room, dominated by a massive bird of prey chandelier suspended from the ceiling, as if the ancient and vengeful spirits of the empire themselves were keeping a close watch on anyone and anything that was discussed in this room.
The turnout was not particularly encouraging however.
Just a handful of senators and military officers were in attendance, hardly filling the available seats. Two men stood out from the small crowd. Leva immediately realized that one was Koval and the other Vreenak. And while they were both supposed to be working for the same agency, they sat about as far away from each other as the chamber would allow.
Cretak led her guests to the center of the chamber before she addressed the audience. “Thank you all for coming. As you are aware we have invited Mister Dar, special envoy from the United Federation of Planets and Commanders Leva and Xeris from Starfleet to Romulus to make their case for a Federation-Romulan alliance against the Dominion. I’m convinced that after their presentation you will agree with them that such an alliance would be in the best interest of the Empire,” she said and then nodded at Dar before she took a seat in the front row herself.
Donatra set up a holographic projector behind the trio of Federation ambassadors before she joined the senator.
Leva felt uncomfortable almost immediately.
His mind had been too preoccupied with the many possible ways they were going to be betrayed by the Romulans the moment they’d sat one foot on their world that he hadn’t really considered that there was an actual chance that he would have to address the Romulan Senate.
Once he had realized that at the very least Cretak had been genuine about her intentions and they had not been arrested by Tal Shiar agents, he had become too distracted with Donatra and what she had revealed to him to prepare for this moment.
Leva was not a diplomat and not for the first time he felt incredibly out of place in the halls of power. Surprisingly the same could not be said about Xeris who radiated an amazing sense of calm for an engineer standing in front of high-level politicians.
This remained true for Dar as well. The two Starfleet officers gave him some room as he took a step forward. “First let me express our gratitude for allowing the three of us – estranged sons of Romulus – to come here and allow us to address you in this very hallowed place.”
Leva may not have been a politician but he recognized the hallmarks of pandering to your listeners. Dar did this well and some of the few senators actually appeared to appreciate this. The faces of both Koval and Vreenak however remained unmoved, like gargoyle’s stone faces.
“The Romulan Empire, at best, has ten years left to live.”
That was an attention grabber and even Leva had to do a double take on Dar.
A nervous murmur went through the crowd and Vreenak seemed to shift uncomfortably on his bench for a moment.
Xeris looked around to see if the ever-present security forces were going to make a move on them, throwing them into a deep dungeon for threatening the state in such a blatant and disrespectful manner.
Now that he had their full attention, Dar quickly continued. “The fall of the empire will not come from any internal conflicts. It will most certainly not come because of Federation interference or because of Klingon invasion attempts. Instead, within six years, Romulus will find itself alone and isolated against an Alpha Quadrant dominated by the Dominion and its grand plan to spread its influence over the entire Milky Way. Make no mistake, the Federation and the Klingon Empire will fall to the Dominion and once they do, every other space faring civilization will have to bow down to Dominion superiority. The Romulan Empire will be the last piece of the puzzle.”
He let those words sink in for a moment. A small number of faces seemed to silently agree with him. Most notably of course Cretak and Donatra but there were other military officers who had come to the very same conclusion.
“Those estimates of yours are worthless,” Vreenak said bluntly. “They are as believable as three Romulan traitors returning to the home world.”
Leva and Xeris both tensed up.
“You are trying to manipulate us to take part in a war that has nothing to do with the Empire. But I agree with at least one of your observations. Your alliance will crumble. The Empire, however, will prevail.”
Dar slowly shook his head. “I cannot agree. Even if you think that you may be able to ally yourself with the Dominion like the Cardassians have, all you’d be doing is giving up your own sovereignty. Our intelligence sources tell us, and I’m sure your own Tal Shiar can confirm this, that Cardassian leadership has become nothing more than a puppet regime, entirely controlled by the Founders. The Dominion is not interested in alliances or sharing power. Their one and only aim is total control.”
Vreenak was entirely unconvinced. However Koval seemed to show some interest now. Leva couldn’t be certain if that was because he naturally wanted to take an opposite view then Vreenak or that because as the chairman of the Tal Shiar he knew exactly what Dar was talking about.
“I would like to hear a more detailed analysis of your estimations,” Koval said.
Senator Vreenak seemed displeased by that statement even if he tried hard to hide it.
Dar nodded. “I thought you would. Allow me to hand this over to our tactical expert, Lieutenant Commander So’Dan Leva,” he said and gestured towards the half-Romulan Starfleet officer.
Leva stepped into the center of the room. The holographic screen behind him changed to show a current territorial display of Federation, Klingon as well as Romulan and Cardassian space. It was quite obvious from the display that the Dominion controlled Cardassian space had made significant inroads into both Federation and Klingon territory since the war had begun.
“This is what the Alpha and Beta Quadrant look like today,” he said. “Dominion forces have been making steady advances into allied-controlled space and also towards Romulus. Considering the pace of troop build ups on both sides, we estimate that Earth and Qo’noS will be under Dominion siege within twelve to fourteen months.”
As he spoke, the display changed to represent Dominion progress towards those two worlds.
Vreenak stood. “Your estimates are only relevant if you are able to show us your fleet positions and movements.”
Leva looked at the senator for a moment, astonished by the boldness of that statement. There simply was no way he would give up that kind of information to a potentially hostile power. Not even under torture.
Xeris showed his displeasure more vocally. “You can’t be seriously expecting us to tell you about our fleet movements. That is crossing the line.”
Donatra also stood, apparently feeling compelled to weigh in. “Senator, I must agree with our guests. Revealing sensitive military information of this nature would not be beneficial for either party.”
But Vreenak held his ground. “We have shown this delegation and extraordinary amount of trust by allowing them to come here. I am asking that you reciprocate our faith in you by sharing with us military intelligence.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Leva said flatly, paying little attention to the curious looks his tone invited from the audience.
“You want to know Federation fleet movements?” said Dar as he stepped back into the center. He typed something into a padd he was carrying and the holo-display was quickly populated by clusters of Starfleet vessels, most of which positioned near the battle lines.
“Dar!” Leva said sharply, unable to believe what he had done.
“We have not yet reached the level of trust you have inferred, Senator,” Dar said but kept the display with fleet positions up for everyone to see. “But we are convinced that our projections are accurate. The Federation-Klingon alliance will be defeated and Romulus will be next unless you will join the war effort.”
For a moment nobody spoke.
Then Vreenak turned and left the room and soon after some of the other audience members began to follow suit until only the Federation delegates and their two Romulan hosts remained.
As soon as the room cleared Leva and Xeris immediately turned on Dar but not before making sure the holo-display had been deactivated.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Leva said. “What you have just done, that’s treason. You have given the Romulan military, the Tal Shiar, the entire empire, our complete war strategy.”
Xeris was equally fuming. “Do you realize that under the non-aggression pact the empire has with the Dominion they’d be more than able to share this information with the Founders. If they do that, you may just have doomed millions of Federation lives.”
Dar calmly turned towards the two officers. “Gentlemen, what you don’t seem to understand or perhaps have not yet accepted, is the simple fact that if we are unsuccessful, it will be billions of lives that will be lost.”
I doubt he had the clearance to reveal fleet movements. Leva and Xeris were rightfully indignant.
