The Perks Of Being A Romulan
Episode Name: The Perks Of Being A Romulan Written By: Belgarath Cast: Belgarath, K'net-mauri, Taevan and Ttomak. Produced By: Starfleet Directed By: Belgarath Aired On: Thu Aug 28 18:30:12 2003 Stardate: 53468.6
Time: Thu Aug 28 15:46:55 2003
Stardate: 53468.3
Through the wonders of modern medical technology, the wounds on the trio of Romulans were easily healed at the Romulan base. Pareth, on the other hand, was too far gone to be saved. A couple of days of rest, where the three could regain their strength and be rude to the medical personnel before going back to business. Once that time is up, off they went to one of the smaller conference rooms at the Romulan base. Inside was an oval table large enough for a dozen people. A Romulan male wearing the older naval uniforms is leaning against the back of one of the chairs, glancing over a PADD. He looks up upon the arrival of the three and stands up straight. "Ambassador K'net-mauri," he greets with a half bow. "Legate Taevan, Guard S'veralis. I am Sublieutenant Ttomak. Would you care for anything from the replicator?"
K'net-mauri shakes his head. "No thank you, Sublieutenant," he says dryly. He moves a few steps closer to the man, then nods to him, his gaze considering.
Taevan inclines his head briefly, following along smoothly. "No, thank you," is the response to the offer of refreshment.
S'veralis readjusts the new blade she has taken from storage on the warbird in transit here. She as well politely refuses the offer of refreshment as she stands near the door.
S'veralis reveals her Neca.
"Oh, please, have a seat if you'd like," Ttomak offers. "I understand your journey here entailed a rather taxing detour, so I'll just get right to business so you can go back to resting."
K'net-mauri eyes the man rather unkindly. "Indeed," he says. He takes the offered seat. "Enough time has been devoted to unwelcome detours."
"Much obliged," Taevan responds with a bitter purse of his lips as he sinks backwards into a seat.
S'veralis moves to one of the seat, listening attentively, she does not show anything on her face unlike KM and Taevan have about their little adventure, but she is still tired regardless of the rest they have had so far.
Ttomak hands a PADD to each person, not bothered by the displeased looks. Looking directly into the ambassador's eyes, the sublieutenant says, "Some time ago, you mentioned to Legate Voidrai about a Siinogan attack on Teirian soil. We've investigated that, and got some rather interesting findings." He picks up his own PADD, "Please turn to section two."
K'net-mauri meets the man's gaze sternly, until he's given the PADD. The cold annoyance fades from his eyes in favour of interest in the document he's just recieved.
Taevan pans down to the document in question, looking it over in silence.
The officer casually reads off the list, "Underground activity. Unnatural metal concentrations. Concentrated lepton readings." He tosses the PADD back down onto the table with a clatter. "In short, forget about all the rumors you might have heard about the Siinogans being extinct. They're very much alive, and building up their forces."
K'net-mauri lifts a brow at the PADD. He scrolls through the information, furrowing his brows but smiling with one side of his mouth. "I did not imagine those rumours were true," he says. "Who is monitoring this post?"
Taevan isn't smiling, just looking between the other two Romulans.
"We've got a ship in orbit," says Ttomak, leaning back in his seat. "The reason you're here isn't simply so we can give you the latest news, of course. We want to keep this a secret from the other powers. To exploit it. That's where you come in."
K'net-mauri eyes Ttomak over the edge of the PADD. "I should certainly hope so," he responds.
Alright. The game is up. /Now/ Taevan is smiling.
"Now granted, you don't have control over Starfleet or the Klingons," continues the sublieutenant. "But if anything comes up that might involve anyone going near this system, do what you can to steer them away without being too obvious about it. I'm sure you're very experienced in doing that, so I won't need to go into details."
K'net-mauri smiles faintly. "Since it is in the Neutral Zone, we should not encounter great difficulties in that matter." A short dry chuckle and his glance flickers to Taevan and S'veralis. "Though any stupid thing possible seems to be inclined to happen of late." He flicks through the files on the PADD, searching for information about the system and it's surroundings, and whatever attractions it might hold.
Taevan glowers at the stupid thing comment, looking down to his PADD. "Do we plan to permit it to continue existing?"
"The Klingon invasion into the Neutral Zone debacle comes to mind," Ttomak says with a slight smile. To Taevan, "Yes. The Siinogans are rather interesting studies. Do you know that they can biologically produce Ketracel White? Imagine the possibilities of adapting them to medicine. Or at the very least, as shock troops."
K'net-mauri lifts a brow at Ttomak's comment on Siinogan biological abilities, but says nothing, continuing to look over the PADD.
Taevan furrows his brow. "They could be formidable as assault forces, yes, but there is the matter of controlling them. They are extremely xenophobic, no? Believing themselves superior to all other sentients?"
K'net-mauri says dryly, still poking at his PADD. "They are, I understand, eusocial insects. Whatever they believe, acting as a hive is a weakness as much as a strength."
Taevan nods slowly, kicking around the idea. "Control the queen, control them all."
A nod, "Thus the studying. We won't run blindly into this, of course, but this is really a bit off topic." Ttomak glances at the PADDs, "You can keep those for the duration of your stay and trip back to Station 419. But given the information held within, I'm sure you can understand that we can't allow you to bring them onto the station and risk discovery."
K'net-mauri glances at Taevan, "Even that may not be necessary. Ordinary insects of that sort tend to regulate their cooperative behavior by a chemical vector. It's rather easy to interfere with that. The results can be quite amusing. But we will leave that to the experts observing these Siinogans." Mauri looks back at Ttomak, "Of course not."
Taevan nods. "That should not pose a problem. If you have any ideas as to a method to slip two or three disruptors aboard the station, I would be most interested in hearing them."
"That's it," Ttomak says to finish off one of the shortest meetings in history. He looks at Taevan, "Sneaking disruptors onto the station, are we?" He grins. "Doesn't sound like a very diplomatic thing to do."
"Neither is getting shot with arrows, but there is a first time for everything," Taevan notes. "The Federation do not wish to allow them, so we must procure them in another fashion."
K'net-mauri smiles faintly. "Take them apart," he says, "And transport the peices with other things." He seems more interested in the Siinogan information than he is in smuggling disruptors.
Ttomak's eyes look up at the ceiling for some seconds as he considers the possibilities. "That is one way, yes," he says in regards to K'net's idea. "But unless I'm mistaken, Station 419 use passive scans on diplomatic packages to search for anything obviously dangerous. They would most certainly detect the power cells. Find something that a disruptor's power cell can be adapted for use on. A modified coffee maker, if nothing else. And have the parts of the disruptor shipped in from another package at a different time, without a power cell. If anyone asks, say it is just for decorating your quarters. After all, there's no power cells with that package, so you couldn't possibly use the disruptor once it's assembled."
"That's what I said," replies K'net-mauri, without looking up from the files.
Taevan nods slowly. "Can you be trusted to arrange this? It should not be difficult, and time is not a pressing concern."
"So it is," Ttomak says to the ambassador, the shadow of a smile crawling up the edge of his lips. He says to the adjutant, "I'm working on another project right now. The engineers checking out your downed shuttle seems to think that it was an accident. I would tend to agree with the ambassador's conclusion in his report of the Trelab incident. But," a shrug, "as you say, it is but a minor task. Request for a couple of packages from your home. Personal items. I'll make sure the power cells and disruptor parts find their way into them."
K'net-mauri lifts a brow, looking at Ttomak. "Do they? I should like to see their reports. It seemed an awfully convenient accident."
Taevan smiles somewhat. "Thank you, Sublieutenant." Mauri gets a raised brow, and a curious glance.
"You'll have to go through the normal channels," says Ttomak. "Of course, they're not saying that they're absolutely certain it was an accident. These are skilled people. It's just that preliminary scans show that it looked very much like a natural problem."
K'net-mauri chuckles dryly. "I am sure if this 'accident' was skillfully arranged, it would look very much like a naturally occuring problem," he remarks. He rises slowly to his feet.
Taevan follows suit. "My requests will be forthcoming, sublieutenant. Again, my thanks for your assistance."
"Ah, before you go," Ttomak reaches down beneath the table and pulls up three objects. "Souvenirs from your visit to Trelab." He slides them across the table. One is a universal translator, another a neca, and the last is a pin embedded with jewels.
K'net-mauri looks down at the objects. He doesn't seem particularly happy to see them, and he makes no move to pick them up. He will leave that to their proper owners. He does fix a gaze on Ttomak, again, thoughtful.
Taevan reaches to retrieve his translator. "Still working. A testament to Lux's suppliers," he notes to Mauri with a smirk.
K'net-mauri smiles rather ironically at Taevan, "Don't tell him."
"Have fun on that Federation station," Ttomak says. With a bit of a smirk.
K'net-mauri just gives Ttomak a sardonic look of black amusement. "Jolan'tru," he replies, and heads for the door.
