Chapter 67:

Starfleet reached a consensus on what Luna should do with her communications with the Vulcans. Without any warning, Luna would announce over her live audio program to interested Vulcans all of the information she had on how to find the Katra of Surak and the Kir'Shara. It was believed while it is possible that there would be factions on Vulcan that might want to destroy those, it would be more likely that those who do not believe in what Luna was saying would simply be suspicious of it, and would also want scientific study of the artifacts to disprove their authenticity.

There was also the security aspect for Luna. Any pre-announcement could give a reason to attack her. Just the fact that there were details that she hadn't given, but could, was also a danger. It was thought that Vulcans don't attack for vengeance, but as a precaution she would stay in protected places on Earth for a while.

At Luna's next audio broadcast for Vulcans she answered the question, "How can we find the Katra of Surak and the Kir'Shara?"

Luna described every clue in canon, especially how after finding the Katra and mind melding with it, Surak would help them find the Kir'Shara.

There was no diplomatic protest. Luna preemptively explained that she was providing knowledge that belonged to the people of Vulcan.

Within two weeks a Vulcan group called the Followers of the True Teachings of Surak found the Katra and mind melded with it. It only took days after that to find the Kir'Shara. Their group widely publicized everything they found. The teachings in the Kir'Shara needed translation from an archaic form of Vulcans to modern Vulcan. The group gave access to well respected scientists to verify the age of the Kir'Shara. They let them analyze the statue that held the Katra of Surak, but that analysis could not prove that the Katra was previously stored in that statue.

After that, Vulcan had a period of change. Most Vulcans wanted to follow the teaching of Surak, so having the true teachings verified and available overrode previous incorrect interpretations. It was also noted that no information that had been found contradicted what Luna had been teaching.

The Vulcan High Command wasn't disbanded, as it was in canon after the Kir'Shara was found. However, in canon there was a spy working for the Romulans in charge of it. While Vulcan didn't follow most things Starfleet told them, they did increase security, specifically looking for Romulan agents or infiltrators. It is not known if there were any attempts by Romulans to infiltrate Vulcan 134 years earlier than in canon, but none were found.

The Vulcan High Command was placed under the authority of the Vulcan High Council. The composition of the High Command changed and its authority to make significant foreign policy decisions was removed. The Voice of Surak as the katra mind-melder was called, had a major role in the Vulcan High Council. The leaders of the Followers of the True Teachings of Surak were also given roles, and it was assumed they would eventually become the elders of that council. There were many factions of Vulcans, from those that wanted extreme logic, to those that wanted to follow the earlier main interpretation of Surak before the new discoveries, to those who wanted emotions, to those who wanted to seek out and ally with the Romulans. However the major part of the Vulcans aligned behind the Followers of the True Teachings of Surak which became the ruling faction of Vulcan.

Luna continued her broadcasts to Vulcan, and answered questions. No-one on Vulcan seriously considered giving her any role in Vulcan governance, due to the obvious factors of her not being Vulcan and being involved in Starfleet. However, they did respect the honesty of what she told them before and continued to listen to her descriptions of Surak's teachings.

Starfleet and allied intelligence concluded that it would be a while before a new stable order was likely to be in control of Vulcan, and for them to decide on a new foreign policy. For now there was the same status which was a formal alliance between Vulcan, Starfleet, Tellar, and Andoria, but de facto it was an alliance of the three, sharing technology and cooperating closely, while Vulcan stood apart from it.

The ship construction program was underway. The first ships were nearing completion by Starfleet, the Tellarites, and the Andorians. Starfleet started the new ship construction at each of its Starbases, of which there was one around each star with a major population center. In addition there was a main construction area in Earth orbit, to make it easier for workers living on Earth to go back and forth. Spell casters could shuttle quickly to the station and be back home on Earth at the end of the day.

There was also much trading of ship components between the allies. Segments of the ship interiors, and most other components were shrunken and shipped, so factories could specialize in mass producing them. The Starfleet production ideal was not to hand build a ship, but to follow the model of making millions of mobile phones or millions of passenger vehicles. In both of those examples, there is an upgrade of the technology of the products every year or few years. Starships similarly frequently have new technology.

With the new ship platforms, however, the ships would be upgraded, not replaced. There were plans on how to replace the hull material, if a better material were to be found. There was a plan to have an industrial scale and speed upgrading process. Depending on the upgrades later needed, the ships could be rapidly disassembled and new components swapped in. Then the components themselves could be upgraded or recycled at a slower pace, without increasing the time it would take to get a ship upgraded and flying again.

Since the ship designs were the same, much of the training for how to be a crew member were the same. We were at the start of a long term plan for how to combine training. Starfleet Academy was ready to welcome a few Tellarites and Andorians. They would need to be fluent in English before starting classes. They would agree to follow orders of Starfleet Academy.

It was September 2020. At Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore retired from his position of Headmaster due to declining health at age 139. He was still the ICW Supreme Mugwump. There was some maneuvering to replace him when he would at some point retire from that, but no move to remove him before that. His position as co-director of Section 31 would remain. We would consult with him by video-conference or by visiting him at his home in Godric's Hollow in England.

McGonagall was getting on in years herself, but was named Headmistress of Hogwarts, with no other positions. It was understood that she would retire within a few years, but that it would be an insult to bypass her and hire someone else. Flitwick was named Deputy Headmaster. Sirius Black needed to exert his political influence to allow that to happen as some of the traditionalists did not agree with someone not fully human from being in charge of Hogwarts, with Flitwick being part goblin.

Renée was on her first mission cruise. She was on a Starship, one of the refitted NX01 size ships, searching through systems in Starfleet controlled space for life and any resources not found by the initial survey and drone investigations.

Jean-Laurent and his wife Victoire lived in a new wing added to the Picard house in Napa Valley. He planned to complete his masteries in the next two or three years, and then to start the process of making Picard Manor in France habitable and live there and restart its winery.

The new government of Vulcan was ready to talk to others again. We invited them to Earth, along with the Tellarites and Andorians.

Our security team prepared Luna for the meeting. Our custom was to not object or even check for the armaments of our diplomacy partners. This was the preferred way of the Andorians as well, and we didn't want to establish a precedent where our spell caster's wands would not be allowed. We also wanted to show our general comfort level with our allies being ready to fight. In the case of the Vulcans we actually were worried about them attacking us. Canon showed examples of Vulcan fringe elements engaging in attacks against humans. The security team assured Luna that her shield charms would withstand all known Vulcan handheld weapons and explosives.

Starfleet leader Quahog said, "As I have said in previous meetings, it would not be logical to be diplomatic with each other. Let us express our true interests and goals and see where we might have common tasks."

The Vulcan lead envoy Sered said, "That would be agreeable Chief Quahog. We have two misgivings in this alliance. One is the ever present possibility of this alliance collapsing. Two is that Vulcan has peace as a goal. This alliance has an aggressive expansionist aspect to it that could be incompatible with the ideals of Surak which are now the governing ideals of Vulcan."

The Andorian envoy Thynaab said, "Your options as part of an alliance are lead, follow, or get out of the way. We have no actionable quarrel with Vulcan, we accepted and still accept the freezing of our competing claims. We agree with Starfleet that it is more important to gain strength and territory as an alliance. It would be logical Sered to accept this goal as a mutual one."

The Tellarite envoy Churkas said, "You are being illogical Sered. Pacifism cannot be a goal unless you have superior strength. You already saw that with the Klingons, you were strong, so you could end fights without causing or receiving casualties. This is what our alliance needs, to be strong."

Sered answered, "There is logic in what you said. It is why, for now, Vulcan cannot give unrestricted technology to the rest of the alliance. In addition we want to see that we are not dragged into wars with neighboring groups due to aggressive expansion on your part."

Luna said, "The situation now is very unlike that of the Vulcan Time of Awakening. We are not warring groups that need to be convinced of peace in order to survive. We are also not groups sharing a background that made the peace envoys sent by Surak ultimately successful. For that matter we do not contain within ourselves groups that become separatists due to following the wings of the raptor, nor the need for unusual intent based magical weapons such as the Stone of Gol to bring about separation instead of war. However, it is logical for you to want to see common ideals besides simple expedience of alliance against unknown dangers.

For that matter the non-Vulcan part of this alliance needs some assurance that when the Romulans will be contacted, that while working for peace with them, we know that if war were to occur, that Vulcan would fight against their related people, who followed the raptor."

Quahog said, "We will not ask for a technology sharing agreement for now. We will also not offer help to develop your magical potential for now, which would be offered as part of a general technology sharing agreement. We also think that we as an alliance should agree on how to approach future neighbors and consult with each other. Clearly situations emerge when ships and planets meet, with no time for consultation. Therefore agreed rules of engagement would help our alliance so as to reduce the possibility of one of us causing all of us to be at war with an outside force."

I added, "I want to emphasize as we develop rules of engagement, that at our present level of technology, territory leads to strength, and the greater strength our alliance can develop, the more peaceful we can afford to be."

A long series of negotiations started, trying to come up with a combined rules of engagement that would work for logical Vulcans and emotionally volatile Andorians.