Episode 87
Prologue
It was the day Admiral
William Grayson had been dreading. After more than four months of
quiet on the Romulan front, attention was finally starting to drift away from
their alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Months ago, not a day would pass without some superfluous tactical
analysis—grounded only in theory— reaching Grayson’s desk. They were all similarly themed: the Romulans
are developing “X” weapon, and if given the opportunity, will strike “Y” system
in “Z” amount of time.
In recent weeks, however, the number of
analyses dropped off by a staggering number, and today marked the seventh day
in a row without a single analysis reaching Grayson’s desk. Without any hard evidence, there was a limit
to the amount of realistic theorizing these Federation think tanks could
generate—and they apparently reached that limit a week ago.
Grayson had been hoping this would signal
the beginning of the end of the alleged Romulan threat, and for a fleeting
moment, it seemed to be so—but then came the fateful communiqué from the Agrippa:
Lieutenant Commander Ti’mur had returned…
Ti’mur was one of the most skilled and
valued members in Starfleet Intelligence.
During the Dominion War, he once spent three weeks traversing Cardassian
space, clandestinely gathering valuable intelligence on enemy movements right
underneath the watchful eye of the Founders.
The deft Vulcan moved like a shadow in the night—swift and decisive, but
utterly invisible to Dominion sensors…
And having just returned from a four-month mission into the remnants of
the Romulan Empire, it was obvious his tactics had not faded with time.
After a lengthy debriefing at Starfleet
Intelligence, Ti’mur was sent to Starfleet Command, where he conferred with
President Ghodan Makar and some of the Fleet Admirals. Less than ten minutes into the clandestine
meeting, the Federation Council was assembled in Paris; ten minutes after that,
Ti’mur stood before the gathered Council.
“Over the course of the past four months,”
said Ti’mur evenly, “forty-seven convoys—mainly Nausicaan and Yridian—have
crossed the neutral zone to deliver supplies.
Federation starships have stopped and searched nine of these vessels;
none of the searches turned up anything more than food and medical supplies,
but given recent Romulan activities, it is certain that many of the other
vessels crossing the Neutral Zone bring with them extralegal goods.”
“You have proof of this?” asked the Vulcan
Ambassador Tuvok. He seemed skeptical,
and Admiral Grayson did not blame him; much of the presented evidence seemed
circumstantial.
But if Ti’mur believed the evidence trivial,
he showed no sign of it. Instead, he
provided his Vulcan compatriot with an affirmative nod. “Mining operations on Remus and Talon II
have recently resumed; they have increased their dilithium output by more than
five hundred percent in the last six weeks.
Most of this dilithium is being transferred to the newly established
shipyard in orbit of Talon IV; at their current rate of operation, the Romulans
will have the ability to produce more than two hundred Valdore-class warbirds
in the next five months.”
Grayson saw no problems here. The Romulans were recently devastated by the
Elorg, and had little in the way of a military. It was only natural for them to rebuild their forces—but
apparently, Grayson’s mind was not on the same wavelength as President Ghodan
Makar.
The Trill sat at the opulent black table at
the front of the council chamber, seriously contemplating the situation at
hand. “Ti’mur,” he said thoughtfully,
“you said that most of the dilithium is being transferred to Talon IV…”
The Vulcan nodded. “That is correct.”
Makar arched a curious brow. “Where then, is the rest of the
dilithium going? Certainly the Romulans
are not simply stockpiling it for future use?”
Ti’mur slowly approached Makar’s table. “My contacts within the empire have
indicated the possibility of a clandestine base located on Minos Tureth.”
“Minos Tureth,” said Makar under his
breath. The Trill rapidly searched his
mind for even a shred of information pertaining to the Romulan world, but
ultimately, the search proved fruitless, and he deferred to Ti’mur for further
explanation. “What do we know about
Minos Tureth?”
“Very little,” said Ti’mur. “Minos Tureth is an O-class world located in
what was once the heart of the Romulan Empire.
Shortly after the Elorg War, the planet was abandoned—it now lies within
unclaimed space near the Garidian border.”
“And why would the Romulans establish a base
there?” asked Grayson. O-class worlds
were practically devoid of resources, and with this one located very near
Garidian territory, it seemed completely without strategic value.
“The moons,” said Ti’mur
matter-of-factly. “Minos Tureth has
three moons that were recently discovered to possess large quantities of
VXR-87—one of the primary components of thalaron radiation.”
Makar grunted as his gaze fell upon Admiral
Grayson. “We know that the Romulans
have been stockpiling therazine for many months now. And as you know, therazine can be used to counteract the effects
of thalaron radiation. … …Thus, the
recent discovery of VXR-87 on Minos Tureth is most curious, wouldn’t you
agree?”
“It certainly warrants further
investigation,” Grayson cautiously agreed.
But apparently that small concession wasn’t enough
for Makar. “The Romulans are preparing
to strike!” he said, emphatically pounding a fist into the obsidian
tabletop. “We need to take extreme
measures to prevent any sort of disaster inside Federation space. I want to triple our patrols of the Neutral
Zone immediately! Any vessel attempting
to enter Romulan space will be searched for weapons or other contr…”
“Excuse me, Mr. President.”
Makar’s voice immediately trailed off, and
his fiery brown eyes searched the council chamber for the source of the
interruption. They very quickly settled
upon Taylus Drayge, the newly appointed Bolian delegate. Makar smiled thinly. “Yes, Ambassador?”
The Bolian bristled in his seat for a moment
before mustering the courage to speak.
“Don’t you think these actions are a little premature?” he asked, his
voice wavering only for a moment. “I
will not back any military action without concrete evidence; thus far, I have
seen little more than conjecture.”
“Agreed,” said Ambassador Tuvok moments
later. “Federation law dictates that
we—”
Makar raised a dismissive hand. “I am well aware of the laws, Ambassador,
thank you.”
Tuvok nodded. “Then the troop deployments will…”
“…go ahead as planned,” Makar tersely
interjected. “I am not willing
to risk the safety of the Federation citizenry. The Romulans pose a grave and dire threat to all peace-loving
empires throughout the galaxy. A few of
their Garidian compatriots demonstrated that last year when they
destroyed this very chamber! I would
hate to see the damage done by a more organized resistance.”
Makar paused for a moment to catch his
breath, but the passionate fire burning in his eyes never flickered. “We will not be intimidated by the
Romulans,” he loudly proclaimed. “We
will deploy the troops, stop the weapon shipments, and disarm the Romulan Star
Empire—one way or another…”
And for the first time in ages, Grayson
heard dissent amongst the Federation Council.
While many of the ambassadors applauded the President’s bold and daring
plan for peace, many of the others voiced their concerns. They spoke quietly at first, but the
disagreement slowly intensified until full-fledged debates about Federation
principals were almost literally shouted across the chamber.
And the Admiral shook his head. Four months of quiet, and it all comes down
to this. And this, he suspected,
was just the beginning…