Trip didn't know how long it had been, but in all the time theses squabblings had been going on, (a damn long time as far as he was concerned) nothing productive had transpired. When they weren't mad at each other, they'd get pissed at him, at least they knew how to work together he dryly mused. Raised voices were being elevated at a scary rate, shouting was in the near future. "Look, jus-"
He was cut off again, Shran going into another tirade.
This had to end, and Trip was probably going to regret his method but at the moment he was beyond caring. "Shut Up!"
Antenna and pointy ears tilted in his direction, as if befuddled, he didn't care if they were surprised, or shocked, or outraged, he honestly didn't care right now.
"You're acting like children for god sakes! How hard can it be to pretend you're civilized for five minutes?"
He took a shuddering breath, before practicing some Vulcan breathing techniques. He'd been studying them in the ships database, they were actually surprisingly useful.
In calmer tones he continued, "Look, all I want is to speak to your respective governments, I don't wanna pick sides here, I'm not gonna sign anything with the Vulcans until the Andorians agree to it as well, and vice versa."
Shrans eyes were squinted, antenna erect, "why should we trust you, either of us?"
Trip sighed, "Alright, if you want to keep fighting each other for the next fifty years, be my guest, I'll take my ship away and you'll never see us again." He paused, taking the time to eye each of them personally.
"How long have you been in this stalemate? How many innocent lives have been lost over petty arguments? How many have you sent to their deaths, just to win the day?" Trip took a breath, his eyes shifted away from their stares, looking into the table, face contorted with emotion. "I'm offering you a chance to end this, to end the needless death, it's your choice." His speech done, Trip sat back in his chair, fairly satisfied with his argument, now if only they could see past their blasted arrogance, something good might come of this.
Shran's Perspective:
The pinkskin words had affected him deeply, not that he'd ever tell anyone that, least of all the Vulcans. But perhaps he had a point, Andoria might be a planet of warriors, but that shouldn't mean sending the best of their young to die, year after year in a war that always seemed to be going nowhere. In reality, how much had they gained, a few planets by the ruthless battles taken place on their now charred surfaces?
No, Shran would do his best to make sure the council endorsed this Human's idea. And if the pinkskin was lying, well, then Captain Tucker would wish with his utmost power that he were dead, Andorian executions were not pretty.
Soval's Perspective:
The Human had expressed an exceedingly logical argument, the illogic of waste was a fundamental teaching in the words of Surak. Actually, Captain Tucker had shown a basic grasp of many of Surak's lessons, whether he knew it or not. Although Soval suspected he might be keeping more to himself then he was currently letting on. For one, himself and most assuredly T'pol had noticed Tucker's use of Vulcan breathing exercises, a simplistic version but none the less it showed his knowledge of their culture, one which was a mystery to most all other species besides Vulcans themselves. Yet another reason for T'pol's infiltration.
For now he would concede to the Humans terms, but logic dictated there was another force at work here, and Vulcan would not be the one to fall prey to it…