“All you have is the hearsay of two of your officers and the word of an obstreperous Tellarite doctor against mine. You’ve got no proof of anything–even with an empathin the room! So if you’re not prepared to arrest me and convene a general hearing, I respectfully suggest that you both let this matter lie.”
Picard watched as Batanides silently fumed. He realized that Zweller had outmaneuvered them. For now.
“All right, Corey,” Picard said at length. “I willput this matter aside. But only until Grelun or some of your colleagues from the Slaytoncan shed some more light onto it.”
“Thank you,” Zweller said, his emotions inaccessible.
“You are dismissed, Commander,” Batanides said icily.
Pained that his old friend would not reach out to him, Picard watched in silence as Zweller exited the ready room.
Feeling weary, Zweller entered the quarters Riker had issued him. Picard’s first officer had strongly suggested that he remain there pending the resolution of the political business on Chiaros IV. Noting that he didn’t actually seem to be under arrest, Zweller decided he was too tired to argue the point tonight. He’d take the matter up directly with Johnny in the morning.
Ensconced in his quarters, Zweller contacted La Forge to request information about the huge volume of space the Romulans were apparently concealing. Though the engineer had seemed a bit overworked and harried, he had promptly uploaded the relevant observational data into Zweller’s computer terminal. Though there was no conclusive information about what the Romulans were doing behind the vast invisibility screen they had constructed out in the Chiaros system’s far reaches, they were clearly using it to hide an artificial construct of some sort.
Zweller waded through the data late into the ship’s night, a worm of apprehension turning deep in his gut as he read. The Slayton’s crew had not detected the cloaking field before Zweller and his crewmates had taken the shuttlecraft Archimedesdown to Chiaros IV.
If they had, Zweller thought as sleep finally began to take him, then Section 31 might never have struck its deal with Koval.
Picard was not surprised in the least to learn that Romulan Ambassador T’Alik wished to meet with him. What didsurprise him was that the ambassador had waited an entire day to respond to his acquisition of the officially nonexistent Romulan scoutship.
It was shortly after 0800 when Batanides and Troi entered the ready room, where Picard was already seated behind his desk, sipping a cup of Earl Grey. Lieutenant Daniels signaled from the bridge that the Romulan delegation had been beamed aboard and was on its way.
Picard smiled over his teacup at the two women, who seated themselves on the ready‑room couch.
“This should be good,” Picard said, smiling mischievously for a moment before restoring the impassive demeanor of interstellar diplomacy. Troi and Batanides did likewise.
Moments later, a pair of security guards escorted T’Alik and her assistant, V’Riln, into Picard’s ready room. Picard noted that V’Riln was the very same Romulan whose life he had saved during the armed contretemps in HagratИ. V’Riln nodded curtly to him, but there was no hint of gratitude in his eyes. You’re quite welcome,the captain thought wryly.
Picard did not rise from his chair, nor did he offer T’Alik or V’Riln a place to sit. He knew there was nothing to be gained by making them unnecessarily comfortable.
“Madame Ambassador,” Picard said simply.
“Captain,” the Romulan responded, unsmiling.
“Allow me to introduce Vice‑Admiral Batanides of Starfleet Intelligence. And you have already met my ship’s counselor, Commander Troi.”
T’Alik bowed her head in courtly fashion. “Admiral. Counselor.”
V’Riln cast a sour glance at Troi. “I wish we had been advised of your intention to bring a Betazoid to this meeting, Captain. Perhaps we would have furnished a telepath of our own.”
“Surely that would be unnecessary, Mr. V’Riln,” Picard said, deliberately adopting the smile of a magnanimous host. “After all, what do either of us have to hide from each other?”
Troi’s expression told Picard that she could probably spend several hours answering that single question. Batanides, for her part, seemed content to let Picard do all the talking. She sat in silence, watching the Romulans closely.
“Please allow me to come to the heart of the reason for this visit,” T’Alik said.
“I would appreciate that, Ambassador,” Picard said. “We only have one day left before the planetary referendum, so time is fleeting. And I suppose you’ve read the polls.”
T’Alik almost smiled at that. “We are well‑aware of the referendum’s likely outcome. And frankly, I have come to ask you to concede those results sooner rather than later. After all, no purpose can be served by waiting until the bitter end.”
“The writing, as you humans say, is on the wall,” V’Riln said.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Picard said, smiling. He hoped to throw them off‑balance. “It might do my crew some good to leave this dreary region a day or so early.”
“That would be a great relief, Captain,” Troi said, falling in step.
Picard smiled at the counselor, well aware that the relief Troi had just registered was not her own; T’Alik was evidently both surprised and pleased to hear that the Enterprisemight be leaving early.
Perhaps she sees that as a sign that we won’t embarrass her in front of the Chiarosans by unveiling the unauthorized ship we captured.
That was the moment when V’Riln floored him.
“The Tal Shiar has informed us that you still have the scoutship you used to escape from the Army of Light’s Nightside compound,” the Romulan assistant said in a matter‑of‑fact tone.
Picard did his best to hide his surprise. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
T’Alik did not appear fazed in the least by her assistant’s revelation. Picard supposed that their presentation had been well‑rehearsed for maximum emotional impact.
“No, Captain,” the ambassador said with a faint smile. “I don’t suppose that you do. But I must tell you that I am delighted to hear you say it.”
“I’m sure if we wereto discover any unauthorized Romulan vessels on Chiaros IV,” Picard deadpanned, “it would greatly complicate your mission here.”
“Indeed it would,” T’Alik said.
Picard put on his most solicitous expression. “And it would probably place you, personally, in an extremely awkward position.”
“It would force the ambassador to protest the actions of her own government, Captain,” V’Riln said haughtily.
T’Alik began to look ever‑so‑slightly uncomfortable. “In the event of any such discovery, Captain, I would likely have no choice other than to resign my post. As a fellow diplomat, I’m sure you can understand that I cannot be a party to a treaty violation, either official or otherwise.”
Picard smiled broadly. “Madame Ambassador, as a fellow diplomat, I wouldn’t dream of placing you in that position.”
“I’m delighted that we understand each other so well, Captain,” T’Alik said, bowing her head fractionally.
And with that, the Romulan diplomats said their short but polite farewells, then allowed the security officers to escort them out of the ready room.
“Well,” Troi said. “Now we know that theyknow we have the scoutship.”
“Data was right,” Batanides said. “Whatever we decide to do with that ship, I suppose we can forget about having the element of surprise.”
“I’d already accepted that as a given,” Picard said, frowning. “But if there’s a way around that problem, Geordi and Data will find it.”
“For some reason, our continued presence is making the Romulans very nervous,” Troi ventured.
Batanides nodded. “It can only have to do with whatever the Romulans are hiding behind their cloaking field.”