Elle made it to the ready room in record time. "Captain?"

"Ah, Elle. We've received a message from HQ. I want you to hear it as well."

Elle stood behind his shoulder. "Yes, sir."

"Computer, key access four one two mark eight zero. Picard, Jean-Luc. Starfleet priority code Gamma. Decode. Begin message."

An unknown admiral appeared on screen. "Captain, we have received an official protest from the Romulan Empire demanding the return of your defector. Obviously, we are refusing to comply. I join in your scepticism, but if it is a deception, the Romulans are certainly making a good show of it. The Federation Council has convened in emergency session. There is no doubt in my mind that this will eventually fall on your shoulders, Jean-Luc. You've got him. You must decide if he's telling the truth. For now, I suggest you proceed along the Neutral Zone border toward a Federation position proximate to Nelvana Three." And that was it.

Picard looked at Elle.

She looked back at him. "There's not a base on Nelvana Three."

"Even if there is not, if we hand him over, he's a dead man."

Ah yes. Must remember to tell Dr. Crusher about the secret poisons. We still have time, though, Jarok wants to see this through. Elle refocused. "We can't hand him over."

"And we can't take the risk that there might be a base," Picard countered, and sighed.

Elle fidgeted and clasped her hands behind her back. "Captain, I... I think I can find a way to get proof. I don't know if it'll be enough proof for Star Fleet, but it'll be proof enough for us not to start a war."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "If this involves rogue shuttles you're fired."

Elle blinked. "What? No. I'm going to call someone."

Picard gave her a wry smile. "Apologies. I'm used to people making rather more insane suggestions."

"Sorry captain but the last thing I want is to hand myself over to the Romulans."

"Sensible," Picard deadpanned. "Carry on. And ask Lt. Worf to come in here, please."

"Yes, sir." Elle hurried out. "Lt. Worf, captain wants to see you."

Worf nodded to her and disappeared into the Ready Room.

Elle detoured by Sickbay to have a word with Dr. Crusher, and then went back to the secure comm room.

The same lieutenant crossed paths with her. "Back again?" they asked.

"Have to call my cousin," Elle said, stretching the truth so thin it nearly snapped.

"Ah. Time differences are the worst."

Elle went into the comm room and locked the door. "I really hope this is who I think it is, and not an actual cousin in the House of Surak because that'd be really awkward," she muttered, punching in the comm code.

The comm went through. The vid screen cleared, and showed- the Empress of the Romulan Empire, wearing a robe thrown over pajamas. "Ie?" she asked, squinting at the screen.

"Hi," Elle said. "Sorry. If I woke you. I don't know the time difference between here and ch'Rihan."

Ael's jaw dropped. "Elle?"

"Yeah." Elle waved. "Hi?"

"You're- you're still a child!" Ael leaned forward, her dark eyes analyzing every inch of Elle's face. "How is this possible?"

"I honestly have no idea," Elle said. "I've, uh, been here for a few months already. It's nice to see you."

"You as well," Ael said, giving her a smile. "We despaired of ever seeing you again. I'm sure Spock was thrilled."

Elle smiled. "Yes."

"Although you're not calling from Vulcan, are you?"

"No," Elle admitted. "I'm on the Enterprise."

Ael's eyebrows went up. "I see." She inclined her head. "You have spoken to Admiral Jarok, then?"

"Yes," Elle said. "He said he was a low-level technician."

Ael laughed. "And you corrected him."

"Yes I did." Elle grinned. "I learned like, a bunch of swears though, so that's cool."

Ael gave her a stern look. "Do not repeat those."

Elle stifled a laugh. "Yes, khre'riov."

Ael's stern look softened. "No one has called me that in a long time, child."

"No one has ruled the Rihannsu as long as you have," Elle replied.

Ael met her gaze head-on. "Why did you call?"

"Nelvana Three," Elle said. "Is there a base there for attacking the Federation?"

"There is not," Ael said.

Elle heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay."

Ael's eyebrow went up. "You take me at my word?"

Elle raised her own eyebrows. "Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

Ael smiled. "You've studied well under this new captain of yours, Elle. Your wordsmithing has sharpened."

Elle grinned sheepishly, remembering all her previous, ahem, blunt moments in life. "Well it couldn't get much worse, could it?"

Ael smothered a grin. "There is a time and a place for a hammer, as there is for a saber," she said.

Elle nodded. "Why are you demanding him back if he's not a bad guy?" she asked.

"He is a defector," Ael said simply. "And if I did not demand him back, my senate would have my head on a pike. They would like it there anyway, but I will not give it to them over so simple a matter."

"But do you actually want him back or can we keep him?"

"You may keep him, if he decides to live," Ael said slowly. "He is loyal to the Empire."

"I know." Elle rested her chin in her hands. "What about his family?"

"They will suffer the price of his defection, as my family did for me, once upon a time."

"Can we have them, too?" Elle asked.

Ael shook her head. "They will be watched. If they stay loyal, they will not be harmed."

"Loyal to you, or loyal to those who caused his defection?" Elle asked.

"An important distinction." Ael folded her arms on the table. "To the empire."

Elle nodded slowly. "I heard a rumor..."

"Are you already planning my jubilee celebration?" the empress asked her, grinning.

Elle blushed. "Well, you are kind of old."

"The only way they will take this seat from me, is by pulling my cold corpse from the throne," Ael said calmly. "And that is a threat."

Elle stifled a giggle that was half-relief, half-nerves. "Good. Because I need to give you some spoilers."

Ael's eyes widened. "Are you allowed, Star Fleet mission consultant?"

"I'm a civilian, and we're not at war," Elle said. "Besides. I'm just hypothesizing about some theoreticals, to one of my cousins... from Vulcan..."

"I see," Ael said. "And what would these theoreticals consist of?"

Elle met her gaze through the screen. "A race of shapeshifters from the Gamma Quadrant will declare war on the Federation. You can't join them."

Ael's lips quirked in a smile but she held her solemn expression. "That sounds like an excellent opening for the Romulan Empire to defeat the Federation once and for all."

"It would be," Elle said dryly, "if the shapeshifters didn't afterwards target all their supposed allies immediately afterwards."

"Ah. It is easier to shoot a friend in the back than an enemy in the front."

"Yup."

"Any time frame?" Ael asked.

"Trust me, you'll know," Elle said.

"And this other theoretical?" Ael asked.

"ch'Rihan's star will go supernova in about 25 years," Elle said.

Ael gaped. "It's not even large enough to go supernova, how is that possible?"

Elle sighed. "I don't know. I died before we could get any additional information on it, and Star Trek: Picard wasn't dropping any spoilers. But I think," she bit her lip. "I think it was sabotage. I think, it had to have been Romulan scientists themselves. There's a game that says, it's not canon, but then neither are you, that a nearby star went supernova and caused ch'Rihan to explode as well. But either way, it will probably be the empire's own scientists."

Ael grimaced. "We destroyed the Sunseed program at Levaeri. It would have taken this long to recreate it, if they were determined."

"And another 25 years to escalate from creating ion storms to triggering supernovas?" Elle asked.

"Possibly." Ael blew out a breath. "You have given me much to think of, Elle, with your theoreticals."

"Sorry."

"No, you're not." Ael smiled at her. "You remember your Mr. Tanzer's game? 4D chess?"

"Yeah?" Elle asked.

"It has become quite popular, on our homeworlds," Ael said blandly.

Elle hesitated. It's always a game of chess with them, isn't it? Picard had asked. "I'm glad?" she said. "I bet Harb Tanzer retired off the profits alone."

Ael snorted, but her gaze was still sharp. "There are times in chess, when a sacrifice is made by one side, to reveal the plans, and the pawns, of the other side."

Elle nodded slowly. "Are you talking about the Federation or the ones who don't agree with your neutral stance?"

Ael smiled, equally slowly. "There is an option, added quite early on, for three-way chess."

"Two birds with one stone," Elle said.

"Yes. The response of all parties will be quite telling, won't it?"

Elle nodded. "Happy hunting, I guess?"

Ael laughed. "Thank you, my dear." She settled into a grin. "You are one of those pieces, who have timed back in to cause a marvelous shift in the game's dynamics. One can never counter the moves of a knight."

"I'm not a knight," Elle scoffed.

"No, miss time traveler?" She gave Elle a significant look. "We will not start a war today, will we?"

"No," Elle replied. "We won't."

Ael smiled. "Well then. Until next time, my dear. I am not so young as I was, to stay up half the night talking. Say hello to Spock, and Dr. McCoy, of course."

Elle nodded. "Yes ma'am. Thank you."

The comm channel closed.

Elle deleted the call from the log, and Alexa wiped the entire thing from the room's cameras. She leaned back in her chair, and exhaled. 4D chess, indeed.

-/\-

Elle entered the bridge and winced as all attention swung to her.

"Anything?" Riker asked.

"I have, uh, information on the situation," Elle said.

"Well?" Picard asked, a tad impatiently.

Elle gestured to his ready room. "Uh, classified, information? Ish?"

Picard ushered her into the ready room, replicated himself a cup of tea, and sat at his desk. "You made your call," he stated.

"Yes, sir." She settled into an approximation of parade rest, tugging at her sleeves. "I have confirmation that there is not a base at Nelvana Three and the Rihannsu, the Romulans, are not going to invade the Federation."

Picard's eyebrows rose. He took a sip of tea. "And from whom did you receive this confirmation?" he asked.

"The Empress of the Romulan Star Empire. Sir."

To his credit, Captain Picard did not choke to death on a mouthful of tea. He swallowed, cleared his throat, and set his teacup down just a tad too hard. "You spoke to her?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have her personal information?"

"It was given to me," Elle said.

"By whom?"

Elle gave him a look. "Who do you think?"

Picard pinched the bridge of his nose. "And she wasn't lying?"

"No, sir."

"How do you know she wasn't lying?"

"Because if there was a base and an invasion she would've told me to go to Vulcan and stay there. She said there was no base, and she sacrificed Jarok to weed out the warmongers among them. And to see how we'd react, as a bonus."

"She told you all this?"

Elle shifted. "She, implied."

"Implied." His tone was flat.

"Through a metaphor of 4D chess."

Picard sighed again.

"No really," Elle said. "There's nothing on Nelvana Three."

"I believe you," he said, and took a sip of tea. "I have no wish to start a war any more than you do. I will inform HQ."

"Then what?"

"Then we wait."

-/\-

Admiral Jarok, upon being told the situation, went very quiet. Disturbingly quiet.

Riker, after informing him, left.

Elle hovered near the door, unwilling to leave Jarok by himself, but equally unwilling to eavesdrop on a person's grief.

"So I served the empire, after all."

His voice made her jump. "Yes," she said softly. "And I'm sure the empress is honored by your loyalty."

"And yet the result is the same," Jarok said, staring out at the stars. "I can never go home again."

"I'm sorry," Elle said. "But you can make a life, here."

"As a Romulan?" He laughed bitterly. "I know what you people think of us. And I will not make a life with my enemies, I will not be given charity."

Elle winced, thinking of the future Romulan survivors. "Why not? You did the Federation a great service. Why shouldn't they repay you?"

He scoffed.

Elle couldn't bring up Commander T'Cael. She couldn't. It was probably still classified beyond belief. "You could go to Vulcan," she suggested instead. "They would accept you, and they wouldn't press you for state secrets."

He scoffed again. "Pacifists," he spat.

Elle smirked. "You've never seen a Vulcan fight, have you?"

"Have you?"

"Just because they're peaceful doesn't mean they're harmless," Elle said. "Or if that fails, you could become a pirate. You know, you could make a killing smuggling Romulan ale or wine."

"I shall consider it," he said, finally turning from the window. He regarded her for a moment. "Tell me, devil child, what are you?"

"Not a devil child," she quipped. "Just a girl with too many parents."

"My daughter is around your age," he said.

Elle sobered. "And she will know you did everything you could to keep her safe. Even if your names are banished, she will know."

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know about that?"

"I told you, I've met Rihannsu before." Elle gestured to the door. "Shall we go? I have some friends on Vulcan, we could scope out the possibilities."

He offered her the tiniest of smiles. "Let me finish my brooding in peace. When I've decided, I will come find you."

"Yes, sir."

"And if you are wrong," Jarok said.

Elle paused at the threshold. "Yes?"

"Nothing."

-/\-

The next 21 hours passed in tense anticipation. Nothing happened. No Romulans. Another four hours passed. Nothing. No attacks on any planets, no gathering of forces on the Romulan side, no sensor breaches of the Zone.

Picard relaxed fully into his chair. "Congratulations, Elle," he said. "We've just won the longest game of chicken anyone's ever played with the Romulans."

Elle eyed the sea of sensor buoys strung across the Neutral Zone. "We're still playing it," she said darkly. But she accepted the celebratory "yay, we didn't start a war!" hug from Troi just the same.

They found Admiral Jarok dead in his cabin two hours later. He'd eaten something from the replicator keyed only for Denebians, unsafe for humanoid consumption.

Riker came to tell her the news.

"I didn't even know his names," Elle realized, with a sinking heart.

"His, names?" Riker asked.

Elle shook her head. "Never mind. I'm not surprised, though" she said, scrubbing her hands over her face. "It's just, I thought I'd convinced him, you know?"

Riker gave her a hug. "You are not responsible for the actions of others," he said. "Ultimately, it was his choice."

"Even if he was dumb," Elle sniffed. "Just lay down and die in the face of the inevitable. That's something they share, you know, Vulcans and Romulans, that tendency. Have to watch out for that."

"Unlike our human tendency to fight even death," Riker said dryly.

"Exactly," Elle said. "Space cockroaches, that's what we are."

Riker wrinkled his nose. "Isn't there anything else you can compare us to?"

"A very hearty slime mold," Elle said, recalling Bones' lecture about mold adaptations.

Riker sighed. "Good enough."