Tuvok turned toward Vale, and both of his eyebrows went aloft simultaneously. “Praetor Tal’Aura.”
Troi could sense Will’s self-confidence rising, outpacing the background of apprehension he was still emanating. She couldn’t help but be reminded of the many poker games during which he’d tried, without complete success, to conceal the fact that he was holding a very, very good hand.
“Put her on the screen, please, Mr. Tuvok. Let’s have a three-way conversation.”
Tuvok entered a command into his console, and Donatra’s face moved into the lower right-hand corner of the viewscreen, displaced by a similarly sized square at the top right that contained the images of both Praetor Tal’Aura and Proconsul Tomalak.
“Captain Riker, how dare you intervene on behalf of the Remans?”Tal’Aura snapped angrily. “You have over-stepped your authority.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time, Praetor.”
Once again, Troi felt a surge of confidence waxing within her husband and captain, as though he’d just been dealt a hand containing four aces. I hope you know what you’re doing, Will.
Troi hardly needed her empathy to see that Tomalak was nearly beside himself with fury, and that Will seemed to relish his old adversary’s discomfiture. “This is outrageous!”Tomalak roared. “The Remans have just launched a sneak attack against us—and now you attempt to prevent us from punishing them for their treachery! Why have you taken their side?”
“The only side I’m on, Proconsul, is that of peace,” Will said, then nodded to Tuvok. “Hail the lead Reman ship, Mr. Tuvok, and patch the colonel into this conversation.”
Tuvok entered several commands into his console. The cutout images on the viewscreen moved again to accommodate the appearance of yet another face.
A fierce, glowering Reman face: Colonel Xiomek.
On the remainder of the viewscreen’s image area, Donatra’s warbird—and a second warbird that Troi presumed to be the flagship of Commander Suran—continued closing on the eighteen or so battered Reman-controlled vessels that had survived the fighting in the skies over Romulus.
The outcome of the nextimpending battle—if it proved unavoidable—seemed by no means certain, though it promised brutal deaths for many. And the very real likelihood of the start of general Romulan-Reman warfare that could spread like a brushfire across the entire Romulan Star Empire as other breakaway vassal worlds, such as Miridian or Kevatras, joined in on the Remans’ side.
“The Klingon vessels escorting us have just veered off from our convoy, Captain,” Tuvok said, a look of concern etching his dour, bruised features. “They appear to have begun chasing Commander Donatra’s ships.”
Troi’s heart sank. “So much for hoping that Khegh will stay out of the fight,” she said quietly.
Everything seemed to be spiraling very rapidly out of control. She looked at Will. Almost instinctively, her empathy reached out toward him, drawing strength from his unflappable aura of resolve and confidence.
And she silently prayed that he had a solid reason to feel that way.
“Commander Donatra,”Tal’Aura said in a tone of icy command. “Under the authority of the praetorship of the Romulan Star Empire, I order you to take down the Reman flagship. Do not allow the Klingon dogs who are pursuing you to interfere with what you must do.”
On the screen, Donatra was speaking inaudibly with someone outside the view of her visual pickup. Battle preparations,Troi thought.
Troi struggled to keep herself calm. Seated beside Will, she placed her hand on his, and he responded by grasping it gently. She noticed only then that he, too, was experiencing some nervousness, though he still seemed far less apprehensive than everyone else present, except perhaps for Ambassador Spock.
“The Klingons are still closing on the Romulan vessels, Captain,” Tuvok said. “Their weapons are charging.”
“Let’s hope that’s just Klingons being Klingons,” Vale said in a near-whisper. “And not the start of a very long and nasty war.”
Donatra suddenly resumed looking straight ahead into her visual pickup. “Excuse me, Praetor, but I do not recall the Romulan military announcing its formal support of your praetorship as yet.”
“Commander Donatra, I could order you executed,”Tal’Aura said, almost growling. “This is insubordination.”
Donatra smiled. “It would be.If I were your subordinate.”
Will released Troi’s hand and stood before his command chair. His face was almost as emotionless as a Vulcan’s as he addressed the Reman whose visage still scowled down from the upper left corner of the main viewer.
“Colonel Xiomek, I would be honored if you would inform the praetor and the proconsul of the bargain you have just made.”
Xiomek nodded, then replied in low, sepulchral tones. “I, Colonel Xiomek, commander of the Reman Irregulars’ Kepeszuk Battalion, speak on behalf of the entire Reman people. The planet Remus has just accepted temporary protectorate status.”
The notion of a Federation protectorate inside Romulan space stunned Troi momentarily. But she did her best not to show her intense surprise, taking a cue from an admirably poker-faced Vale.
Tal’Aura jabbed a finger toward whatever apparatus was sending her image to Titan. “You have goneentirely too far, Riker! The Federation Council couldnot have authorized you to establish a protectorate within Romulan territory—even a temporary one.”
“Besides, Captain,”said Tomalak, “we overheard your initial offer of protectorate status. Xiomek rejected it out of hand.”
Will held up a hand in a placating gesture, his expression mild and reasonable. “You’re absolutely right about that, Praetor, Proconsul. I assure you both, the Federation has no intention of establishing a protectorate here.”
“And even if we wanted to do that,” Troi said, “we couldn’t—not without violating both the Armistice of 2160 and the Treaty of Algeron.”
“You are contradicting yourselves,”said Tomalak, continuing to fulminate. And Troi clearly sensed that Will was greatly enjoying the proconsul’s discomfiture. “Is it too much to ask that you start makingsense ?”
“Fair enough, Proconsul.” Will turned momentarily toward Tuvok. “Patch in General Khegh, please.”
A moment later, Khegh’s grinning, snaggletoothed visage appeared on the lower left quadrant of the viewscreen. “Perhaps Captain Riker was not making himself plain, Praetor Tal’Aura, Proconsul Tomalak, Commander Donatra. Humans use many words when few would serve far better. It seems to be an all-too-common flaw among Federation nationals.”
Tal’Aura sniffed. “You seem rather discursive yourself, for a Klingon,”voicing the very observation that had just occurred to Troi.
“A fault no doubt acquired during many years spent away from Qo’noS, serving in the Klingon Diplomatic Corps.”
“A Klingon diplomat,”Tomalak said. “Now there’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one,”Troi realized only now that the proconsul and the Klingon officer had encountered one another before; from the mutual antipathy she sensed, they had almost certainly faced off in battle, either literally or across a negotiating table.
“No more so than ‘Romulan nobility,’ ”Khegh replied, with a smoothness that might have impressed a Vorta.
Troi understood only then that she had badly underestimated Khegh. As, no doubt, had everyone else present. Except maybe for Will.Clearly, he wasn’t the only player here who liked to keep his cards very close to his vest—until the time to show his hand inevitably arrived.