Chapter 51: Calm Before the Storm
A/N: Hi romulanlover, thank you very much for your review! The joke is about male Romulans looking down on male Humans in the sexual department. Romulan men (according to fandom/fanart) have ridges on many parts of their bodies, in contrast to Human men. As Asha thoroughly enjoys these little "extras" when she's intimate with her Romulan partners, Thorek and Vreenak are rather smug at the notion of being able to satisfy their Human mate so well. They believe that Human men are woefully lacking without ridges on certain parts of their anatomy. Furthermore, since Asha avoided intimate relationships with Human men, but chose to have relationships with two Romulan men, Thorek and Vreenak are quite convinced of their superiority to Human men, and they like to tease her about it :-) In addition, Romulans are very curious about Humans (especially since Humans have outsmarted them several times), so I could imagine them being interested in just about everything concerning Humans, including their sexuality.
Valar morghulis, Alaya Karangalan :-) Thank you for taking the time to review despite your assignments, and best of luck for your classes!
Asha did a lot of hard thinking before choosing a relationship with Vreenak. She realised which responsibilities she would have to accept, such as Vreenak's political career coming first, his crowded schedule, and the secrecy of their love. Having aspects of her life separate from his and also from Thorek's is very important to her. I think if Asha were the needy and clingy type who requires tons of reassurance from other people, she'd have a very difficult time in relationships. Fortunately, she is very independent and while Vreenak's schedule is not easy for her and being with two men is a challenge despite the advantages, she knows she has to deal with the consequences of her decision.
"Fvai" means "worm".
Vreenak scrolled through the second PADD Letant had given him. His face grew dark as a thundercloud. Finally, he slammed it down on the table and got up.
"Neral is a fool!" he hissed. "He will be the death of us, he and the Tal Shiar! It might lead to interstellar problems!"
Letant said softly: "We had suspicions that the attacks on our outposts were not to blame on the Federation, Merken. Many of our colleagues were and are merely looking for a convenient scapegoat."
Vreenak clenched his jaw. "And if this information is true, then it will be impossible to deal appropriately with the Borg. The Borg cooperate with no one. Not with the Federation, not with the Klingons, not with us. Their technology surpasses ours. Romulan Intelligence is not merely harvesting non-functional Borg drones and their implants. They are using prisoners to experiment on with Borg technology."
"And construct a super-army consisting of Romulan and Borg technology. The best in the universe." Letant's voice was heavy with irony.
"Asha!" Vreenak whispered. "They could have made her…" he broke off the sentence.
"Merken," Letant said, "they are not only trying to make a Borg super-army. They are trying to make them procreate. Because in order for the Borg to grow their numbers, they need to assimilate. It's quicker and easier for the Borg than to create children and raise them. But according to this data, the Tal Shiar think that if the Borg can procreate, they can breed their own army on Romulus without assimilating various species across several quadrants. The children won't be children for long, with technology-enhanced growth procedures. From what you have told me, Asha underwent surgery to prevent procreation."
"Yes."
"And her friend, Christine t'Jo'rek, suffers from an endocrinological problem. Both were married off to our people."
"Because they couldn't procreate, and our doctors were unwilling to waste resources on restoring their fertility," Vreenak said slowly. "So they decided to…use…them differently. Maybe on the off-chance that if they did manage to procreate, the progeny would still be at least partially Romulan and useful for our society."
"Yes," Letant said again.
"This is a corruption of family, of the four elements, of every Romulan principle in existence!" Vreenak spat. Then he began to remove his senatorial robes.
"Merken, what are you doing?"
"I have to see Asha."
"Now? She may not be available-"
"I have to see with my own eyes that she is safe-"
Letant placed his hand on Vreenak's shoulder.
"She'll be fine," he said soothingly.
"For how long?" Vreenak almost shouted, tugging at his tunic. Letant placed his hand over Vreenak's.
"I know you love her. Which is all the more reason that you have to keep it secret."
Vreenak stopped fumbling at his robes, but his eyes were still flashing.
"I lost my wife and unborn child during that Klingon raid. I refuse to lose Asha to my own government and superiors!"
"I will do what I can do help you, my friend. I am fond of that little lady and would hate to see her suffer."
Vreenak took Letant's hand and pressed it. "Thank you."
The next days brought even worse news. The other rathakir modified by Letant had picked up information concerning Praetor Neral. Who was not only aware of the rathakir, but had also organised the whole spy operation with Vice-Proconsul Hiren (as Proconsul Terik disapproved of such tactics), using Borg technology implemented by the Tal Shiar. The worst part, however, was that Tal'aura was involved. The Senator who liked to keep to herself, surround herself with mystery and hatch out plots in silence. They had needed guinea pigs to test-run the rathakir. And they didn't want to waste resources by choosing just any guinea pigs. And so they had picked Senators who they thought were not loyal enough to the Empire. Targeting Letant made sense. He was a vocal opponent of Reman slavery and the Empire's isolation, and many of the younger Senators agreed with him, as did Senator Cretak.
And, of course, they had also chosen Asha. Brought to Romulus against her will, chances that she would be unfailingly loyal to the Empire were small from their point of view.
In the meantime, Vreenak send an encrypted message to Asha, asking her to meet him. She responded promptly enough, and when she came to visit him, Vreenak embraced her tightly and kissed her passionately. He didn't want to let go, and Asha sensed that he was upset.
"Merken?" she said softly.
"You are here, and safe," he murmured. "The rathakir at your home have been thoroughly eradicated?"
"Yes, completely. Merken, what is it?" she asked, touching his cheek lovingly. He looked at her sweet face and dreaded that it would vanish from his life as suddenly as it had appeared.
He pressed her against his chest.
"Secrets, a'rhea, state secrets I may not speak about. Those rathakir were made with technology which is not ours. Sophisticated and unknown technology. They are full of further secrets." He sighed. "Asha, I thought Praetor Neral was blessed with outstanding intelligence. I was mistaken. He is an imbecile with a fvai eating up his brains."
Asha's eyes widened. To hear a high-ranking Senator criticise the head of the government was not only unusual. If unkind ears overheard such a crushing comment about the Head of the Romulan Empire, Vreenak would be arrested and thrown into prison.
Vreenak looked at her and smiled. "There are no rathakir over here. Delon's house is clear, but he has become a little paranoid. He shot down a bird in his garden and had it dissected."
"He thought the bird was a spy?"
"Yes. He said it was such a mundane songbird that it was bound to be a spy. He had it cooked for supper afterwards, but he said it tasted terrible."
"Cooked?! I know Romulans hate waste, as do Humans, but that is just a bit too much, I feel very sorry for the poor bird," Asha said, with a little smile. Then she became serious. "Merken, can you imagine a Romulus without paranoia?"
"I can't, a'rhea. It just doesn't work that way in our society."
She took his hand in hers. "And yet, in the middle of all this, trust and friendships can be established. Why can't it be like that overall?"
"You are endlessly optimistic, with a strong touch of idealism," he remarked, but his tone was affectionate instead of disdainful.
"Naturally. Who wants to put up with a Debbie Downer?"
"A who?"
Asha explained.
"Ah, I see. And what is the male equivalent?"
"Bob Bummer. Alliteration has always been the rage."
"On Romulus, too," Vreenak agreed. He kissed her forehead and smiled. "When you're here with me, you take even the dread out of state secrets."
Secrets he longed to spill to her, but which he knew he couldn't. Not only due to his loyalty to the Empire he served, but also for the sake of Asha's peace of mind.
She went on tiptoe and kissed him softly, and he lost himself in the sweetness of her lips. They went to his bedroom.
"I'm menstruating," she said. She had explained to him that it was very individual if a Human woman wished to be intimate with her partner during her period or not. She herself was usually too bloated and sore for energetic activities between the sheets.
They lay down on Vreenak's bed, kissing and hugging each other slowly. He warmed her abdomen with his hand, and she relaxed under his touch. Then he slid his hand lower, diving underneath her underwear, captured a drop of her blood on his finger, and marked his brow ridges with it.
An outsider unfamiliar to Romulan customs would have been confused, maybe even disgusted. But Asha knew what was behind the gesture. When Romulans married, the priest or priestess would make a small nick in the forearms of the couple, remove blood and mix it in a vial which was given to the newlyweds after the ceremony. A drop of the blood was also used to mark the foreheads of the couple, and this was what Vreenak was reenacting, thus telling her that he regarded her as his mate and equal. His gesture moved her deeply, and her eyes brightened with tears as he took her hand and pressed it against his chest.
The mark came off when they bathed together afterwards, lying in herb-scented water. Asha played with a ring he often wore on his middle finger. It had been in his family for generations. His father insisted it had existed since the Sundering. It had a large green gem and suited his hand well.
As usual, they were reluctant to leave each other. This time, however, Vreenak hardly wanted to let her go. When he released her from his embrace and she began to leave the villa, he reached out, caught her hand and pulled her back into his arms. She kissed him tenderly and caressed his face.
"E'lev, I really must go," she said. "I'll be there the next time we meet."
"Yes," he whispered. "Go then, a'rhea."
He stepped back, and she left, though she turned her head to look at him on her way out, and their eyes exchanged a last gaze with the intensity of a passionate kiss.
"You are thoughtful, my ailhun," Thorek said to her gently in the evening. Asha snuggled up to him.
"Merken is worried about what he calls state secrets, Thorek'ev. It's not like him to be worried. It must be very grave, and from the sound of it, it might affect me, or even all of us. He was concerned for my safety when I visited him."
"It is probably is connected with those rathakir, Ashaya."
"Something is happening, my deyhhan. Something is brewing and waiting to explode. I can feel it. Merken said the rathakir were made with highly sophisticated technology which is not Romulan. He even criticised the Praetor to me."
Thorek raised his eyebrows. "Then it must be grave indeed for a high-ranking Senator like Merken tr'Vreenak to criticise the Head of the State he serves."
"I've made a home here with you and my loved ones. I don't want to be scared on my home," she said, tightening her arms around him. "The Tal Shiar are behind this. So much spying is going on. Every gesture of kindness seems to have an agenda behind it. Hiren's bug-infested flowers have made me so jumpy."
He stroked her hair. "The Tal Shiar are the bane of our existence, and although we now share a life because of them," and he smiled at her, "they could not foresee that we would one day do so most willingly. That we would come to love each other is something they had never counted on."
She chuckled. "Yes, we've really defied them that way." Her spirits rose. But at the back of her mind, Vreenak's restlessness and his reluctance to let her out of his sight remained a troubling presence.
It was like the Apnex Sea growing choppy during the frequently windy autumn season. Storms on Romulus were violent, with purple or orange flashes of lightning, including sphere-shaped lightning which were always followed by deafening claps of thunder. One of her poems was about Romulus's storms, and had received much praise. Rhian had recently informed her that a distinguished Romulan family preparing for the wedding of their son wanted to book her for a poetry reading. She was making the very best of her life on Romulus, and after all her battles, she hoped against hope that no such storm would descend upon her and the people she loved.
