Elle ended up in Ten-Forward. From here you could see the Neutral Zone, the line of sensor buoys and warning posts that lined the Federation side. The 24th century version of a barbed-wire fence, and twice as dangerous. Crossing it meant, well. They had almost gone to war a month ago. Nobody wanted to destabilize the quadrant.
Elle sighed.
Guinan materialized at her side with a fruity iced tea and a bagel sandwich. "That's a pretty hefty sigh for someone who successfully broke down a Romulan," Guinan said.
Elle sighed again. "I wish I could talk to Ael. She could tell us what to do with him. With this whole scenario." Even now, Elle knew that messages were flying back and forth from HQ to the entire sector, mobilizing units, accessing spy networks, putting the fleet on high alert. The Romulans would surely register it on their own sensor buoys across the Zone, and they would respond in kind.
"I'm sure she could," Guinan said. "What would she tell you?"
Elle thought of the commander, of her wiliness, her drive to do what was best for her people, that one game of chess she had played with Captain Kirk - and won. Elle sighed. "I don't know. Whatever she's playing at, whatever each Romulan faction is playing at, it's beyond me."
"Is it?" Guinan asked. "Or do you just not want to think about it?"
Elle groaned. "I don't wanna think about it. It's so complicated."
"Everything is complicated," Guinan said, "until it's not."
Elle chewed her bagel sandwich pointedly. "That's a very Jedi-ish answer, Guinan."
Guinan gave a serene smile. "Gives people something to think about."
Elle sighed. "Okay. Let's break it down. What we know of Romulan politics, Ael's retiring soon, new hot-blooded peeps are comin' in, this guy's one of hers, probably, and he's got a good rep, so the trigger-happies want him out. Ta-da."
"And?" Guinan prompted.
"And none of that actually tells us if there's a base on Levana Three," Elle said, biting into her bagel with more force than strictly necessary. "They could be double-double-switching it. There might be a base there, and as soon as the Enterprise goes to investigate, bam! We go up like a firecracker, the Rihannsu tear the Federation to shreds."
"Do you think that's likely?" Guinan asked.
Elle gulped at her iced tea. "No," she said, after a minute. There was a sesame seed stuck in her teeth. She took another sip of tea. "No, I don't think so. Ael wouldn't let them get away with it. She wouldn't let something this big happen, not on her watch, not if it led to the destruction of the empire." She shook her head. "And besides, there was no base in the episode. We would've seen it. There would have been signs. We have spies and informants all over the place, as do they. We would've heard something by now."
"There's your answer then," Guinan said.
"But I knew all that. We need proof." Elle sighed. "I really wish I could talk to Ael, she would tell me."
Guinan leaned on the bar and raised her eyebrows. "On the level of influential people, isn't there one closer to home you can call?"
Elle contemplated the strawberry floating in her glass. "You think Spock has a way to contact her?"
"Do you?" Guinan asked.
"Thank you for lunch," Elle said, in reply.
-/\-
There were five secure communication stations on the ship. One in the captain's ready room, one in the Briefing Room, one behind the Communications Array room, one in the Auxiliary Bridge, and one in the depths of Engineering somewhere with the lockdown bunker.
Elle went to the one behind the Comm Array. She had authorization to do so, but even still, it felt strange to sit at the comm console and type in Spock's personal code. "Alexa, can you make sure this is the most secure line you can get?" she asked.
"Super-duper secure," Alexa assured her.
"Thanks." She twirled her spinny chair as she waited for the call to connect.
The call went through.
Elle faced the screen. "Spock."
"Elle-kam," he said. "I am pleased to see you. This is not a scheduled time, so I must assume something has happened. Are you well?"
"I'm fine," Elle assured him. "There's a Romulan. A defector." She outlined the situation, and the events of the episode.
"I have heard nothing of this base," Spock said. "But it sounds as though everything will work out. What worries you?"
"The shift in Romulan policy that this entire thing is leading towards," Elle said. "If whoever comes next is determined to fight with the Federation, how are we supposed to help them when the time comes? How are we supposed to win the Dominion War?"
"The what."
Elle choked on her spit. Oops. "Uhhhh, never mind that," she said hastily.
"Elle," Spock said, in that patented stern parental tone he swears he didn't inherit from Sarek (he inherited it from Amanda, don't tell Bones).
She grimaced. "It's, there's a wormhole, genocidal shapeshifter-ing slavers, it's a whole thing. We have some time. Romulans now, Klingons and Borg later, Cardassians, Romulans, Klingons, then the shapeshifters. It's fine. Probably."
"That is mostly likely knowledge that should not be withheld," Spock said, frowning at her.
Elle sighed at him exasperatedly. "I know, but it's a very delicate balance I've been working on. Logic says, tell somebody that this problem is going to come up. Other logic says, you know that Star Fleet is going to go poke it with a stick regardless of any warnings, because that's literally your job descriptions. And other-other logic says, it's gonna happen on the gods' timetable whether you like it or not!"
Spock blinked. "Whose gods?" he asked slowly.
Elle waved a hand. "They live in the wormhole. They've got their own agenda. It's a whole thing, I'm telling you."
Spock gazed at her with compassion. "Elle. One person cannot solve all the problems in the galaxy."
She slumped in her chair. "I know, but-" She sighed. "If I have all this knowledge, how am I not supposed to use it?"
He steepled his fingers. "You were not this, frantic, towards problems eighty years ago."
"I didn't think I was going to die," Elle replied. "I thought I had time. But the big things I was worried about didn't even happen."
His gaze was too piercing, through the video screen. "Are you worried you're going to die again?"
"No," Elle said, although the answer was actually 'yes.'
Spock sighed. "Elle..."
"I'm not afraid," Elle said hastily. "I'm just resigned, whether I die tomorrow or a hundred and fifty years from now, but, I don't want anyone to suffer because of my inaction now."
He smiled at her, a small, fond smile. (Definitely his mother's son). "I am very proud of you," he said, which was not what she was expecting him to say.
Elle blushed, warmth blooming in her chest. "Spock," she protested.
"And Jim was very proud of you, as well," he continued, ignoring her, "as were every one of your guardians. And they, and I, do not want you to drive yourself crazy attempting to do everything at once."
"I'm not," Elle protested.
Spock raised an eyebrow. "In the words of Surak, time is a path from the past to the future and back again. The present is the crossroads of both. You have time, Elle, and you have changed more things than you think, simply by being there. The outcome of our actions is entirely out of our control. Only intent remains entirely within our control. Do everything you intend to do in the spirit of peace and compassion, and trust that time will do the rest."
Elle took a deep breath, let the two quotes from Surak sink into her soul. "So you're saying I need to let the Enterprise get the proof it needs, and trust in future diplomacy to save the Romulans and the rest of the quadrant?"
"I'm saying," Spock said, raising a teasing eyebrow, "that in a few moments, after we have signed off, I am going to send you an extremely classified piece of information which you will memorize and then destroy."
"And then what?" Elle asked, startled by the abrupt turn from proverb to practical.
"And then do with it what you will," Spock said.
"Uhh, can I get a hint?"
"Be yourself," he advised serenely.
"Is this going to get me in trouble?" Elle asked.
"I believe it will do the opposite," Spock said. "I must go. You must come visit sooner rather than later, Elle. I have missed you."
"Love you," she said, smiling at him. "Bye, Spock."
He bowed his head, and signed off.
Elle leaned back her chair. Had he really grown that cryptic, or was he just messing with her? She'd have to ask Bones. The comm beeped with an incoming priority transmission.
It was two lines. "Our honorable distant cousin's home phone, as it were. Use it wisely." Thus followed a list of numbers. A comm frequency.
Elle gaped. "You're kidding... is this what I think this is?"
"I'm not allowed to look, remember?" Alexa snarked back.
Elle stared at the comm message, muttering to herself furiously until she managed to memorize the string of numbers. Then she deleted the transmission, and had Alexa do a deep-clean just in case.
She fixed her hair, tugged her shirt free of wrinkles, and began to type in the first few numbers.
"Elle to the captain's ready room," the comm whistled.
She jumped a foot in the air. "On my way," she responded, pressing a hand to her thumping heart. She left the secure comm station, startling a passing lieutenant.
"What were you doing in there?" the lieutenant asked, eyeing her.
"Talking to my adoptive dad," Elle replied.
"Oh. Nice." The lieutenant smiled at her and went on his way.