STAR TREK: TIME KEEPER
Useless War
Previously…
Spock opened his eyes and although there was pain radiating from all over his body, he did not let it affect him. He was now on the hard ground of a dimly lit Romulan brig, he surmised, and then he slowly stood up. But where were Charvon and Linav? Suddenly, and without warning, the wall which was opposite from where he stood instantly snapped open. Instead of the wall, there was a Romulan standing on the other side of a force-field.
"Despite the appearance of your uniform," the Romulan said, "I know that you are not Romulan. I was instantly able to deduce the identities of the two Romulans you were with because I've read the report Charvon gave before she defected two years ago and she mentioned a Federation officer named Spock as taking part in the theft of her ship's cloaking-device. You are that Vulcan; you are Spock."
Spock did not acknowledge the Romulan's conclusions.
"You may find this hard to believe, Spock," the Romulan used Spock's name without confirmation, "however, I am not your enemy. And, in time, you will see that unless you and I work together, all will be lost; on both sides of the Neutral Zone."
And then the wall slid closed and Spock was alone; again.
Our story continues…
An hour later, Spock was sitting on the hard ground, his back against the wall. Suddenly, a door appeared on one of the other walls and slid open. Two Romulan guards came in, as did the Romulan who had spoken with Spock earlier. The three came over to Spock, as the Vulcan stood up.
"You will come with me," the Romulan said to Spock.
"For what purpose would that serve?" Spock asked.
"For one," the Romulan replied, "you will live longer," he said, motioning to the guards, "and two; coming with me might save the life of another Starfleet officer you might know. His name is Kirk; James T Kirk."
Spock arched an eyebrow. The last Spock knew of Kirk's situation was a ruse set about by Commodore Jose Mendez which was to have kept Kirk on the sidelines via the toxin Zyphon-7. Had something gone wrong, and was Kirk's life really in danger?
"Very well," Spock said, as he took note of the two guards, "since I seem to have little choice; I will come with you."
The Romulan officer motioned for Spock to walk alongside him, and then they made their way out of the brig with the two Romulan guards behind them; both guards keeping a watchful eye on Spock.
"My name is V'raml," the Romulan explained, as they made their way down a corridor, "and believe me when I tell you Spock that I do not wish for our two respective governments to wage an idiotic war, at this time."
Spock found the validation of V'raml's remark interesting.
"Would you care to explain the concept of not waging an idiotic war; at this time?" Spock asked.
V'raml nodded his head. They came to a door that slid opened to reveal a small table with a small plate of fruits and two glasses of water.
"Certainly I will explain," V'raml replied to Spock, "but as I do, I suggest you have drink and water, because trust me; you're going to need the nourishment."
Spock arched an eyebrow, and decided to do as V'raml suggested. Though, Spock decided, he would use the nourishment to most likely plan his escape. Spock sat down at the table, as did V'raml. Spock picked up one of the fruits, and stared at it.
"The food and water are not poisoned," V'raml said, as he motioned for the two guards to leave the room; and they did.
Spock noticed the two guards' departure.
"You do not seem concerned that I might attempt escape," Spock said, in a matter of fact tone.
"The door is locked, from the outside," V'raml explained, "and in your current condition, any physical attack you might attempt upon me would be;" V'raml searched for the right word, "illogical."
Spock bit into the fruit.
"You were saying," Spock said, "fighting a war now would be idiotic."
"Right to the point," V'raml said with a slight smile, "and yes it would be idiotic. If our two sides fought a war, I have no doubt that at this time, the Federation would win. I calculate the war would last six months, maybe eight, but the Romulan Empire would be forced to concede defeat, and our weakened state would invite future unfortunate situations with the Klingons or others."
"The outcome of war," Spock came back with, "is often unpredictable."
"Oh, don't get me wrong," V'raml continued to say, "I said idiotic if we fought a war now. However, I have seen the amazing vessels that Romulan engineers are designing for the near future and I dare say," V'raml added with a slight grin, "that the idiotic nature of fighting such a useless war will be a conclusion your Federation will come to. But, that is not something we need to concern ourselves with, yet," suddenly a large screen on the wall came to life, and it displayed a tactical star map, with a slow moving object in the center of the map. "The cloaked vessel on this tactical screen is a Federation vessel and it has just crossed into the Neutral Zone, which as you know, could be considered an act of war. And no, it is not the transport with your two Romulan co-conspirators. However, I am keeping tabs on that craft as well."
Spock looked at the map and ship being displayed. He followed the course it was on backward, and saw that the ship had most likely come from Starbase-16.
"I will make this prediction," Spock told V'raml, "you are about to tell me that Captain James T Kirk is on that cloaked vessel. And that you possess technology that can track cloaked vessels such as this one."
V'raml nodded his head in agreement with Spock's conclusion.
"Affirmative to both," V'raml replied. "I also know that your Commodore Mendez sent you, as well as the two traitors Charvon and Linav, on a mission to abduct the Romulan scientist who is working on the Time-Keeper device; which if properly controlled, could cause whole groups of star clusters to become unstable. Such a technology would shift the balance of power our two governments currently enjoy in favor of the Romulan Empire. However, as I said, it could lead to a foolish war."
Spock took in what V'raml said and then he spoke.
"V'raml," Spock said, "for the sake of our discussion, I will accept the facts as you have explained them. If you understood my mission, then why have you endeavored to interfere?" Spock asked.
"You probably think I'm just some power hungry Romulan admiral out to gain an advantage for my own glory," V'raml told Spock.
"Which would be;" Spock added, "a logical assumption."
V'raml smiled at Spock, and then sipped on a glass of water of his own.
"Vulcan," V'raml finally said, "you seem to understand Romulan power plays quite well. However, I hate to disappoint you, but my interference is much smaller in scope, and I mean that quite literally."
The tactical map on the screen was replaced by the image of a Romulan child; a female who Spock concluded was no more than 7 standard Earth years old. V'raml looked up at the image of the child as well.
"That beautiful creation," V'raml stated, with a note of pride in his voice, "is my daughter; Ei'antha and I would do anything for her. Do you have any children Mr. Spock?" V'raml asked Spock.
"Negative," Spock replied.
V'raml looked at Spock closely, as he tried to make his point.
"Children have can have a curious effect on their parents," V'raml said to Spock. "Whether they are human parents, Romulan parents, or even barbaric Klingon parents to some degree, it seems that for many civilizations our children are most important to us. I am no different than other parents."
Spock arched an eyebrow, having no idea where any of this was leading to. And then the image of the girl, Ei'antha, was joined by another image of a Romulan woman who Spock recognized immediately; Charvon.
"Charvon the traitor was once my mate." V'raml said, in a matter of fact tone. "She defected to your Federation after you and James T Kirk brought shame upon her, and she took our daughter, Ei'antha, with her. Commodore Mendez doesn't really care what will happen to Charvon, or for you that matter, as long as he gets the Time-Keeper out of the hands of war mongering Romulans, a goal which I totally agree with. However, hers and your mission was doomed to failure since Linav, her Romulan partner, has a different agenda. He wishes to curry favor with a Romulan admiral and defect back to the Empire. And now," the screen switched back to the tactical map with the ship carrying Jim Kirk aboard, "Mendez believes there are problems with the mission and has sent Kirk and a Federation agent, Nicholas Tolbert, to assist."
Spock thought over the situation.
"Excuse me," Spock finally said, "you seem to be quite aware of events that would seem to be out of your influence; how is this possible?"
"Looks are deceiving," V'raml stated right back, his expression becoming very serious. "Spock; I am the Romulan admiral that Linav is trying to curry favor with. I am the Romulan who has been in secret contact with Commodore Mendez, warning him about the Time-Keeper; so I know a great deal about what is happening. Now; I will keep to the terms of the agreement; the Time-Keeper for your shield modulator, but I wish to add to the trade; Captain Kirk's life for Charvon's. As you can see, I could pounce on that ship he is aboard and I could very easily reveal the entire purpose of your mission, and thereby keeping the Time-Keeper as well as the shield modulator, and killing you and your captain. However, all I want in all of this," the image of Ei'antha returned to the screen, "is my daughter back."
Spock could only think of one thing; the needs of the many out weight the needs of the few…or in this case, the fate of a Romulan child?
Continued…