Akaar's voice was surprisingly subdued. "I believe the problem may be more fundamental than that. Since Shinzon's coup, the Romulan military is in disarray. Where once they were united under the political guidance of the praetor and the senate and the spiritual leadership of the emperor, they now have neither. Emperor Shiarkiek was a.s.sa.s.sinated during the Dominion War and never replaced, which created a crisis within the Romulan hierarchy that was made all the worse by the Watraii affair. Shinzon had some of the Romulan military on his side-and plenty of it against him. With their fleet already sundered, they have splintered even further with this new arrangement. There are at least five different factions vying for power-six if you count the Remans. Any action taken by a Romulan ship cannot be taken as sanctioned by the Romulan government as a whole because right now the Romulan government's authority is limited."

Bacco let out a breath. "This is just going to get worse when those Remans. .h.i.t Outpost 22, isn't it?"

"Probably," Piniero said.

"Definitely." Councillor Molmaan spoke with more finality than the chief of staff. "President Bacco, I think that we should send ships into Romulan s.p.a.ce. It's the only way to guarantee peace in the region."

"I must disagree with the councillor from Zaldan," Mazibuko said in a quiet voice. "Adding more armed ships to the equation is unlikely to guarantee anything resembling peace."

Molmaan glowered at Mazibuko. "I'd expect you to say that. But the only thing that will keep Klingon and Romulan pa.s.sions in check is the presence of the Federation. Otherwise I guarantee there will be a war."

"War's never a guarantee, Councillor," Bacco said, "and it's a last resort, not a first one."

"For us, maybe. Not for the Klingons, nor the Romulans."

"I disagree," T'Latrek said. "Where Klingons seek battle for its own sake, Romulans do not-they only seek battles they can win."

Abrik was about to point out that they were getting off-topic when Bacco did it for him. "Much as I'd love to dive into these philosophical waters, let's save it for when people aren't shooting at each other. Mr. Amba.s.sador, I need to know what the High Council's response to this is, and I need it yesterday."

"Yes, ma'am."

Bacco then looked around the rest of the Monet Room. "As for the rest of you, keep on this. Admiral Ross, I want whatever ships you can divert to the Romulan border to head there now. Make it clear that we're keeping an eye on things."

Ross nodded. "The Intrepid's already on the way. I can also send the Bellerophon, the T'k.u.mbra, the Malinche, and the Prometheus."

"The Prometheus is the one that can split in three, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. The Prometheus-cla.s.s is our best quick-response combat vessel."

Abrik said, "We should put ships near the Klingon border, as well."

"What for?" Piniero asked.

"To make it clear that we're keeping an eye on them, too."

Shostakova shook her head. "They are our allies."

"For now."

"They will view this as hostile," T'Latrek said calmly.

Again, Abrik snorted. "They view everything as hostile!"

"And they've been itchy since Tezwa," Bacco said.

Rozhenko spoke up. "I'm with Secretary Shostakova. Putting ships on the Romulan border is a show of support for the empire. Putting ships on the Klingon border'll just isolate us from both of them."

"If they fired first, we don't support them." Abrik was wondering why someone with only two months of diplomatic experience was doing anything in this conversation other than take instructions from the president.

"We'll stay off the border for now," Bacco said, "but meanwhile, I want K'mtok's a.s.s in a chair in my office first thing in the morning."

"He'll be there, ma'am," Piniero said. "We can slot him in at 0900."

"Make it later-I want you there, too."

"No need, ma'am. I can be there at 0900. Emra canceled. Said it was nothing, just a mistake on his part."

"Uh-huh." Bacco sounded dubious. "Maybe you should have Z4- " Then she waved her hand in front of her face. "Oh, forget it-the whole d.a.m.n thing was his idea in the first place. He wants to cancel, that's one less thing I have to think about."

Piniero smiled. "Down to only six billion, ma'am?"

Several of those around the table chuckled. Abrik was not one of them.

Neither was Shostakova. "The difficulty here is that we do not know if this is an isolated incident. Until we know who was commanding that warbird- "

"Everything that happens in Romulan s.p.a.ce right now is almost by definition an isolated incident, Madam Secretary." Akaar made the p.r.o.nouncement in his usual pompous tone.

"Hang on a second," Bacco said, "we've got the Federation's leading expert on Romulans right there in Romulan s.p.a.ce. Esperanza, tell Amba.s.sador T'Kala to get Spock for us."

Piniero shifted in her seat. Abrik wondered what that meant. Piniero was fairly comfortable with the president, so for her to react like that was telling.

Abrik wasn't the only one to notice; Bacco picked up on it right away. "What is it, Esperanza?"

"They found T'Kala in her apartments, dead. Suicide."

Now why don't I like the sound of that? Abrik thought glumly.

"We sure it was a suicide?" Bacco asked.

Hostetler Richman nodded. "We're sure, ma'am. T'Kala did it in full view of the security cameras at the emba.s.sy. Used her honor blade and everything."

"In that case," Akaar said, "it was an honorable suicide. To be expected given that the government that a.s.signed T'Kala no longer truly exists."

Sighing, Bacco said, "I'll bet anything that the first question Jorel gets tomorrow is if she killed herself in embarra.s.sment over what happened with the travel office. Look, I don't care how we get Spock here, but get him here. Right now we're talking through our hats. I want someone who actually knows what he's talking about, which pretty much rules out everybody in this meeting." Several people chuckled at that also. Abrik was a.s.suredly not one of them. "All right, I'll be back in the Palais in two hours. I don't care if you know anything or not, I want a report every two hours from each of you."

"You'll have it, ma'am," Piniero said.

"Good. See you all soon."

Everyone in the room, with the notable exception of Molmaan, said, "Thank you, Madam President."

Abrik himself only said it because it was proper and it was expected. It certainly wasn't a sign of respect. He had a feeling that President Bacco was going to lead the Federation to ruin.

March 2380 "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Winston Churchill

Chapter Seven.

COME ON, ALREADY! Sephara directed the thought at her roommate. It's going to start!

Using her voice, Gira said, "I'm coming, I'm coming," from the other room.

Sephara sighed. For some reason, Gira always preferred to use clunky vocal communication instead of speaking telepathically like any sensible Betazoid. It wasn't as if they were dealing with weird flatbrain aliens who could only communicate verbally.

But then, ever since Enaren University's housing department had seen fit to put Gira and Sephara together, the latter had spent most of her time wondering about the eccentricities of the former.

Gira came in holding a bowl full of hilrep fruit in her right hand. "Okay, I'm ready."

Sephara's face scrunched up in annoyance. I'm allergic to hilrep!

"Ow!" Gira put her left hand to her forehead. "You don't have to broadcast so loud."

You could have brought a fruit that I can eat.

"You said you weren't hungry." Gira fell, more than sat, on the couch, her body language echoing her thoughts, which indicated irritation with her roommate.

Well, Sephara had plenty of irritation to throw back at her. Giving up on speaking telepathically-honestly, it was like talking to a child-she said, "I said I didn't want a meal. There's a big difference between eating a meal and munching on fruit while we watch ICL."

"I'm sorry, but hilrep is all we have in the pantry."

"I thought you were going shopping."

Sephara read guilt in Gira's thoughts as she said, "I never said that."

Aghast at so bald-faced a lie, Sephara sat down in the easy chair, as far from Gira as possible. Since the war, replicators on Betazed were at a premium, and university dorm rooms didn't have them as a power-saving endeavor. Sephara had always found that ridiculous, but n.o.body had asked her.

Fine. I'll just sit here and eat nothing while you munch on your filthy hilrep. Sephara then picked up the remote unit and activated the holo unit that would show them the discussion program they needed to see as a requirement for their political studies cla.s.s.

The image in the center of the room lit up with four people sitting at a desk: the Kriosian host, Velisa, along with a female human in a Starfleet uniform, a male human wearing a suit that Sephara found hideous, and an Antedean of indeterminate gender who looked just like Sephara's seafood dinner last night. Behind them, a viewscreen was visible, showing a Vulcan woman.

"Good evening. This is Illuminating the City of Light, I'm your host, Velisa. Originally, we were going to be spending our time talking about the war between President Bacco and the rest of the Federation Council that has been going on for the past six weeks-however, this morning, FNS broke the story that a ship full of Reman refugees is heading for Federation Neutral Zone Outpost 22 at low warp and will be in Federation s.p.a.ce within a few days. We'll be getting to the president's problems with the council soon enough, but we'll be discussing the Remans first. With me tonight to do that are Admiral Kathryn Janeway of Starfleet; Edmund Atkinson, a political reporter for the Times; Councillor Selora Quintor of Antede III; and, remotely from the Palais de la Concorde in Paris, we have Sorlak, a.s.sociate counsel in the Palais legal office. Welcome, all of you."

The panelists all made indications of acknowledgment, except for the Antedean, who seemed to just wiggle. Sephara found it gross.

"Sorlak, I'd like to start with you," Velisa said, looking back at the viewscreen. "What are the legal ramifications of these Remans asking for asylum?"

"It is premature to speak of such things, Velisa, until such a time as the Remans actually do so."

Adopting a supercilious tone that Sephara found rather enticing, Atkinson said, "So you haven't talked to them yet?"

"I am not in a position to speak to them, Mr. Atkinson, as those communications are being made by the personnel at Outpost 22. However, since you are no doubt speaking figuratively, I can only say that several attempts have been made to contact the vessel that is approaching the outpost, but they have yet to respond. Sensor scans indicate that their communications systems are only operating at a low power level, and it is possible that they are using their minimal power only for internal communications."

Velisa said, "Well, let's a.s.sume that they do ask for asylum. What happens then?"

"The pet.i.tion will be reviewed by the legal office and a decision will be made."

"And what would that decision be?"

Sephara thought that while Velisa was being a bit too aggressive in her question, the Vulcan lawyer was being ridiculously obtuse.

"Until the actual pet.i.tion is reviewed, it would be the height of illogic to speculate as to what the legal office's decision would be."

The Antedean spoke in a high, squeaky voice. "It should be added that the legal office's decision is only a decision for the legal office. It will then take the form of a recommendation to the council, and the council will make a decision."

"Councillor Quintor, do you think that the Federation will grant an asylum request-if that's what the occupants of this ship are after?"

"I'm not entirely convinced that that is what they're after, but a lot of it would depend on the reasons for the asylum request."

Atkinson chuckled without mirth. "I should think that would be obvious, Councillor-they've lived as slaves for centuries, and violence between Klingon vessels protecting Remus and Romulan military vessels has been escalating since the incident in the T'Met system two months ago, and the settling of the Remans in the Ehrie'fvil colony has not gone especially smoothly. Just yesterday a dozen Remans were attacked in their homes by supposedly unidentified attackers."

"It should be pointed out that the Remans are not slaves now, so if that is their only reason, they would not be granted asylum."

"That's ridiculous!" Atkinson said. "They're being attacked in s.p.a.ce, they're being attacked on Romulus. What other reason do they need?"

"One which actually applies, Mr. Atkinson."

Velisa spoke up before Atkinson had a chance to respond to that. "Admiral Janeway, you look like you want to say something."

Janeway hesitated for a moment. "I'm sure, of course, that certain legalities need to be worked out, and I can understand Ms. Sorlak's reluctance to commit to any course of action-but the Federation was founded on the principles of freedom, of self-determination, of equal rights for every sentient being. I can't imagine that the Federation would turn away refugees who have suffered oppression in an enemy nation for so long. When I commanded the U.S.S. Voyager, and we were trapped in the Delta Quadrant, we took in several people who had separated themselves from the Borg collective. One of them is at Starfleet Academy now. They were in the same situation as these Remans, and if they want to seek a better life in the Federation, who are we to turn them down?"

The Antedean councillor wiggled again. "You make a very compelling argument, Admiral, but there are several flaws in it. One is that the Romulan Star Empire is not an enemy nation. They have not been our enemies since they joined forces with us and the Klingons during the Dominion War six years ago. And, indeed, the Romulan Star Empire barely exists as a political ent.i.ty right now."

"The kind of chaos that results in the fall of a government," Janeway said in a tight voice, "is exactly the sort of situation into which the Federation must provide humanitarian aid."

"What an ethnocentric term," the Antedean said.

Atkinson joined the conversation again. "The word's root may come from the word human, Councillor, but the meaning has evolved. Are you and Ms. Sorlak really going to sit here and tell us that the Federation is going to turn away refugees from its border?"

"I have said no such thing," the Vulcan woman said archly. Sephara decided she didn't like her. "And the Federation has, in fact, been providing aid to many parts of the Romulan Empire for the past three months. But there are several factors at stake, not the least of which is that the presence and/or status of the Romulan Star Empire is wholly irrelevant to this discussion."

"How is that, exactly?" Atkinson sounded annoyed, not that Sephara could blame him. How could the Romulans be irrelevant to a discussion about Reman refugees?

"Because the Remans are a protectorate of the Klingon Empire. If we grant them asylum, we risk endangering the Khitomer Accords."

Janeway said, "These Remans may view the Klingons as simply exchanging one oppressor for the other."

"They may, yes. That is why I cannot speculate as to what the legal office's decision-or, rather," she added with a look at Quintor, "recommendation will be."

There was a very brief pause, which Velisa filled in quickly. "Obviously this is a more difficult issue than one might think. We could probably go on for some time, but I would like to cover what we originally invited you all to discuss."

"That's it?" Gira asked, and Sephara could read her roommate's irritation. "They barely started covering the issue."