Chapter 9
The Plan Commences
Stardate 2366.067
The room was spare, different from the accommodations in which this austere group usually held its meetings. Commander S'Talla had requested an audience with just these three members of the Romulan High Council's military sub-council. He had hinted at an important finding in Federation space they all would very much be interested in hearing. The young officer had just commenced his presentation and it had already started going downhill. The Commander normally possessed a confidence that easily spilled over into arrogance. He had accomplished more in his young life than most; his current position as assistant at large to the military council was a testament to that. Today was different. Literally thousands of lives, and the very future direction of the Romulan Empire depended on his getting these three men to agree to his proposal. Despite the preventatives he had employed, sweat was threatening to break out on his forehead. If he was not successful, his life would be the first forfeit, and in less than an hour he noted ruefully. He had started his argument by bringing up a story about the origin of Romulan civilization and had been immediately challenged by the head of the council, General Ralaa. Not a good sign.
"Commander S'Talla, we already know the myths regarding our origins in Federation space. Did you bring us all here today to share more children's stories from that crazy cult you insist on keeping company with?"
The General's comment was a surprise. The Commander didn't know anyone had any idea he had been talking to the "cult". He quickly composed himself however.
"I can assure you sir, what I have to tell you is anything but. As you have just pointed out, there are many myths associated with our origins. The one constant between all of them is that there was one planet of origin somewhere in what is now Federation space."
"A consistent myth is still a myth."
"You are correct of course Admiral Sarine, but on this point our historians and scientists do agree. We indeed, did originate from one planet somewhere in Federation space."
"And this is significant why? Even if we concede the truth of what you are saying, the news is surely significant to academics only," Admiral Valdran said with barely concealed disdain, "People who have chosen to live their lives in stuffy buildings instead of serving the empire aboard a bird of prey, like any self-respecting Romulan should. In fact, why should we care what these parasites say at all?"
"With all due respect councilor, these "parasites" have given us cloaking technology, and the means to travel between the stars. Our empire would not exist save for them."
Feeling he might have overstepped, he became more conciliatory.
"But as always, your point is well taken. The information I have presented to you so far merely provides context for what I wish to share with you next. I have personally reviewed the following information and found it compelling. So let me answer your question; why do we care?
"Many of the myths as you know, talk about advanced technology the ancients supposedly possessed. Transporter capabilities from planet to planet, faster than light travel; much faster than we are now capable of to name a few."
"S'Talla, you are trying our patience; again, myths…" said Valdran.
The Commander interrupted him.
"We have found the planet."
Admiral Valdran was dismissive.
"What of it? As we've said before…"
"And the Federation has sent a major expedition led by Admiral Mifune to it."
This news brought the councilors up short. Admiral Mifune had enough of a reputation that they all knew he would not have been sent to the planet unless there was something of significance to be found.
"Shall I continue?"
When no one spoke, he went on.
"About six months ago, one of my assets close to the Admiral, noted that he had been summoned to a meeting with Starfleet leaders. As you know, the 'cult' of the Five Families, among other things, is obsessed with finding the planet of our origin. They feel that if they did find and explore it, they would find a kind of spiritual salvation of sorts. They are also not unaware of the legends of advanced technologies I alluded to earlier. With that in mind, a few years ago they secretly mounted an expedition to this planet."
Valdran was shocked.
"They risked war with Federation to pursue this nonsense?! I knew we should have exterminated those fanatics a long time ago! Sarine, I don't know why you insist on keeping them alive! I've told you countless times that there are too many of our citizens starting to listen to them!"
"And I have told you these families are not without influence and have shown no inclination to be involved in politics. Until this stunt, I considered them harmless."
"Not so harmless now are they? Well, when this gets out someone is going to pay and it will not be me!"
"No? You are in charge of intelligence, as oxymoronic as that sounds, are you not? Why were you not aware of this breach of security? Hmmm?"
Valdran turned red and looked like he is about to lose it. General Ralaa stepped in.
"Gentlemen enough! What's done is done! I suggest we listen to what this young man has to tell us. Continue S'Talla."
"Thank you General. As I was saying, they secretly visited the planet and found some interesting ruins, but to avoid discovery, they had to leave prematurely. When I found out about the expedition, I confronted one of their leaders, had him brief me on their findings, and forbade them from doing any such thing again. I led them to believe I was sympathetic to their cause."
Admiral Valdran was nearly apoplectic and shouted.
"And you didn't execute the lot immediately!? Much less report this to me?!"
"Well I thought it more prudent to keep the families as an asset. They now know that a word from me would mean they would cease to exist. Besides, it was my idea in the first place. I provided the ship; anonymously of course; they did not know it was me."
The three councilors could not hide their shock and surprise, and were at a total loss for words.
General Ralaa was the first to recover first and started laughing heartily. The other two councilors looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses, especially after he started clapping.
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Young man, in all my years, I have never heard a more skillful political maneuver as that! Congratulations! Before this, I would have never thought I could have this much fun in one of these meetings. You will, of course, be executed within the hour, but still."
The Commander was the picture of calm when he continued.
"Of course General, I understand. But since I am to be executed regardless, perhaps I could finish what I came here to say? Maybe I can provide you fine gentlemen with some further amusement?"
"Certainly young man; a dying wish if you will."
S'Talla bowed and could not keep a hint of sarcasm out of his voice.
"Thank you General, you are most considerate. As I was saying, the expedition did not have time to do a thorough exploration, but they did find some inscriptions that my experts assure me were made by a group of people who were indeed our ancestors. Proof that we were once there, but certainly not proof that this was our planet of origin.
"And there the matter stood. You are not aware of this, but the families had good information indicating that our origin planet was in an area of space 700 light years across that included this planet, along with six others. My sources within Starfleet told me that there was nothing of importance on any of the planets and further, that although the Federation had mapped and explored them, they had showed no particular interest beyond the normal trading and manning of outposts etc.
"Until about three months ago. That was when my people noticed activity centered on Admiral Mifune. A month previous to that he had been called into a special meeting with Admiral Lucas Brown, head of operations for Starfleet."
Admiral Valdran was eager to redeem himself.
"That in and of itself is not unusual; they are both admirals and Mifune has led many operations."
"Yes, but the operative word is led, as in, in the past. He is an academic now, has not been involved in day-to-day operations for over five years, and is semi-retired. In any case, I noticed they met and would have just kept an eye on him were it not for the fact that within a week of that meeting, he took a leave of absence from the academy and immersed himself in the Starfleet archives. This was a bit unusual so I pressed my contacts and they reported that he was looking into of all things, Romulan history. And I noticed a few other things as well. It appeared that there was also interest in the nearby nebula, and the sun as well. A number of scientists, in various disciplines, were all of a sudden huddling around Starfleet HQ, looking into one particular system. You have to wonder, what was so important about this system and Romulan history to call an important admiral out of retirement, not to mention to get all of these other people involved?"
"Do tell Commander," said Sarine.
"I'll be perfectly honest Admiral. I do not have definitive information on exactly why Starfleet is interested in this planet. What I do know is that there is a confluence of circumstances indicating that there is something in this system that may have empire wide ramifications. Consider councilors: our legends tell of advanced technologies possessed by our ancestors. Our historical records confirm that our origin planet resides in a region of space this planet occupies."
Admiral Valdran interrupted.
"I am persuaded there is something curious going on in this region of space. I do not believe, however, that there are enough facts to warrant our doing anything other than continuing our monitoring of the situation."
"Councilor, again you grasp the heart of the matter and I understand fully your wish to be cautious. There is additional cause for concern however. Less than a week ago, Admiral Mifune was tasked with heading up a scientific expedition to the area to study the system. Two days ago, the Enterprise was ordered to make all possible speed to the system. They had been on a priority mission a quarter of the way across Federation space at the time."
Both Admirals begin to speak but were interrupted by the General. They both shut up as their superior spoke. He was all business now, no hint of the amusement he had exhibited earlier.
"Commander, you have our attention. Maybe we'll push that execution out until tomorrow. Let's put aside for now, how you seem to know so many details of the Federation's confidential operations that our own intelligence people have no inkling of. And make no mistake, that discussion will take place shortly, but for now, I assume you would not have brought us here if you did not wish our approval for some course of action. What do you propose we do about the situation, other than what my colleague has already suggested?"
"Yes General, as a matter of fact, I do have some ideas that I hope will meet with your approval. As has been mentioned, I have remained in close contact with certain members of the five families. They remain keenly interested in finding out what secrets may lie with this origin planet although they are more interested in the origins of our race than anything else."
"Why all this interest in our origins? How can that knowledge possibly benefit them?"
Admiral Sarine had expressed what they all were thinking. This type of knowledge was not generally considered of any practical value in modern Romulan society.
"Some people value such spiritual knowledge for its own sake. The families feel that to fulfill their destiny and attain final enlightenment, they must discover our planet of origin and read from the Fountain of All Knowledge. They believe this "fountain" will show them the way."
"Cults! I knew we should have gotten rid of the whole lot a long time ago!" Said Admiral Valdran.
In a droll and exasperated tone S'Talla continued.
"As you have indicated on many an occasion councilor. This time however, we can take advantage of their interest to find out what's got the Federation so worked up about this area of space."
Not to be dismissed so easily, Valdran said.
"And how can a group of borderline crazy people possibly help the empire do that?"
"We send them there to find out."
The Admiral was aghast.
"You would entrust the fate of the empire to a bunch of fanatics?! Have you taken leave of your senses young man? General, I must protest! We have indulged this upstart's fantasies long enough! I strongly suggest we not waste any more time on this subject!"
"Admiral Valdran, your points are important, but I want to hear more."
"I agree Valdran. We should let the Commander finish. I must note however, this appears to be a rather bold and risky plan given what you have told us so far. What are you not telling us S'Talla?"
"It's nothing really; speculation and rumor at best."
"Indulge us."
"Please understand councilors, my intelligence sources on this are at best third hand. I am diligently looking, but have yet to find any hard evidence for what I am about to tell you."
He paused.
"Remember I said that our histories talk of the ancients possessing advanced technologies? Well, I think the Federation may have found something in the system."
This really got the attention of the councilors.
"And you want to go and see if these, at best, rumors, are true?"
"As you know General, in intelligence, there is no such thing as certainty, just probabilities of one thing or the other being true. In this case…"
"You have a high degree of confidence that the Federation has found something."
"High would be a bit too optimistic maybe, but yes, they may have found one of the technologies I spoke of earlier. I am concerned that if the Federation were to acquire one of these technologies, it would seriously compromise the stability of the empire."
"It would indeed. What makes you think they might have acquired something?"
"Again, I am not sure if they have anything, but let me tell you what I have found out. You have all heard of James Kirk. He was the Federation captain who first made face-to-face contact with our empire. Well, one of his missions led him to a parallel universe."
"A parallel universe? That doesn't sound plausible."
"It is true. It was verified a few years after it happened. All attempts to access the alternate universe by our scientists have failed however. Go on Commander."
"Yes, and the details of that mission are classified 'need to know' to the highest levels of Starfleet. We do know the files on that mission are rarely accessed. As far we can tell, the Federation has had no luck in gaining access to the parallel universe either."
"Do we have any idea what's in those files?"
"We do not Admiral Sarine."
"So why the concern then?"
"It is not widely known in the empire, but Admiral Mifune wrote a biography of James Kirk and has always had an interest in his exploits. Well, as part of his research on the system, he accessed that classified file."
"Why?"
"I don't know that either Admiral. But I do know that shortly after he did, he requested an urgent private meeting with the leadership of Starfleet, and shortly after that he was tasked with leading an expedition there. Within a week of that, the Enterprise was sent there. So the bottom line is that we need to send a covert mission to this planet, or we risk certain annihilation if Starfleet gets its hands on any of the technologies described in our histories. I have developed a plan, which will maximize our chances of discovering any relevant secrets, while at the same time minimizing the chance of starting a war with the Federation. The choice is straightforward gentlemen. What is it going to be?"
