Bolerov sat down with a heavy breath. "Alright," He took several extra moments to gather hit thoughts and organize them, scratching his chin. "first of all... my reasoning for sparing the third warbird. I found it odd that remans, a supposedly inferior, slave race, had gotten their hands on romulan technology. To me, that meant either there were romulans on those ships, or romulans sold the ships to the remans. Either way, romulans were probably involved. We needed to know for sure," Bolerov frequently made gestures with his hands to emphasize his points. "but if we destroyed all three ships, we'd never know. Does that help?"

Kirk nodded slowly, but was still clearly troubled. "I figured that part out, Captain. What I don't understand is why send us? There were romulans right behind us who could have boarded that ship and figured everything out a whole lot quicker than us. AND... they had the numbers to defend themselves." His frustration, though checked, was still obvious.

Bolerov nodded slowly. His brow furrowed. This was going to be difficult to answer without admitting to certain pieces of information not generally known. After scratching his ear, he finally began. "This one is a little harder... and part of it you'll just have to trust me on. We both know what the last several years has done to the Federation, right?"

"I guess you're referring to the wars, right?" Kirk replied half-sarcastically.

"Right." Bolerov nodded. He recognized the sarcasm, but decided not to show it. "Well, those wars have taken a toll on us... the romulans, too. We just don't know how badly it's affected them. Romulans are pretty tight-lipped about that sort of thing. Our intelligence says the wars plus this recent political shake up has thrown their entire military structure into a tailspin." He paused a moment to let that sink in.

Kirk shook his head. "I guess I still don't get it."

"Consider this; either their gestures of friendship are either a front to cover deeper troubles, or it's a sincere effort on their part to start over. Either way, the Federation needs to enter into these talks with a strong presence. Everyone knows we've suffered losses. What we need to do is clearly demonstrate we can bounce back more quickly than anyone else." He pointed to Kirk for emphasis. "You already started that by defeating an enemy they couldn't hope to stop on their own."

"Okay..."

"Romulans respect strength, but they have notoriously short memories. I sent you over to that ship to prove that not only are our starships superior, so are the people inside." He winked.

Kirk started putting the pieces together. He wasn't exactly thrilled with how they were adding up. "So... we were almost killed to show our superiority?"

Bolerov could tell this wasn't a very good explanation, but it had made sense to him. He was confident his superiors would be more closely aligned with his strategy. "I wouldn't have sent you if I didn't think you could do it. Try to take it as a compliment. I wanted to send my best person... that was you." Stephen was still having a difficult time with this move, which was politically motivated, not militarily motivated. That must be where Stephen was having his difficulties. "Stephen, the events of the next several months could very well shape future history. Everything we do could have a serious impact on things to come. Despite our weakness, we must continue to look strong. That way, we keep the upper hand during our talks. This is a case where you have to look at the bigger picture. If nothing else, you have to trust me." His gaze was intent upon Stephen, but his request for trust actually seemed warm.

"And you thought about this in the whole three seconds between finding out the romulan ship was going to self-destruct and telling me to go?" It was still a little hard for Stephen to handle, but since Bolerov was making a sincere gesture, Kirk wanted to return the favor.

Andrei shook his head. "No... most of this I knew about from years of experience. The concept of a strong show of force was already in my head from the fight. Having Federation officers stop a romulan self-destruct was just a natural next step. You see... now... whether they want to admit it or not, they'll have to know we can beat anything they can throw at us. History will look favorably on this series of events, Commander... just you wait and see."

So, that was it, Stephen thought. Bolerov wants to be remembered for something important. He wants to retire in glory and fame. His years of Starfleet service are coming to and end and he sees this as an opportunity to get into history books for something other than ramming Cardassian ships. "I think I understand," Kirk concluded, nodding slowly.

"Good!" Bolerov gently tapped Kirk's leg. He stood up with an 'oof'. "You get some rest. Read your book. I will give you plenty of warning before the romulan delegation arrives day after tomorrow. Oh, yes," Bolerov added with a finger snap, "a certain romulan centurian has been asking about you. I told her you would contact her as soon as you were up to it." Captain Bolerov headed for the door, then turned back around. "I hope we can take this as a new start to our relationship, Commander. Maybe you understand my thinking a little more."

"Yes, Sir... I believe I do." Kirk replied.

"Excellent. Rest well, Commander." Bolerov replied with an unusually cheery voice. Whew, he thought. That had gone better than he had hoped. Perhaps this truly was a new start. After all, this was an opportunity to secure the Federation for years to come. Andrei was getting old and wasn't going to be able to fight much longer. God only knows my last attempt didn't work well, he thought. If they could finally secure a lasting peace with the romulans, with the Federation holding the upper hand... that would be wonderful. You know... that Stephen Kirk is a pretty good guy after all.