Day Four, Month of et’Khior
Saturday, March 20, 2156
The Hall of State, Dartha, Romulus
THE CENTURION ENTERED VALDORE’S OFFICE, carrying a padd whose ominous deep green hue marked its contents as highly classified. From the uneasy expression on the young woman’s face, Valdore assumed that the tidings he was about to receive would make him no happier than had the initial reports of the Uaenn Ei’krih Outpost’s destruction two ch’Rihanturns ago.
“Admiral, the first detailed forensic report has just come back from the responders to the Uaenn Ei’krih attack,” she reported as she leaned across Valdore’s desk to hand him the padd.
At least the responders were able to gain access to the base’s remains, Valdore thought as he quickly scroll-skimmed over the text and tables the padd displayed, grateful for any stroke of good luck he could find in this unfavorable turn of fortune. We were fortunate that the Haakonans chose not to establish their own base at Uaenn Ei’krih. They seem mainly interested in eradicating our forward bases in Haakonan territory, and they appear content to withdraw homeward once they accomplish that.
At least that was how the Haakonans had operated so far. The future, however, was never certain, a fact that the padd in his hand now all but screamed at him.
“Has this been verified?” he asked.
The centurion nodded. “I presume you refer to the Vulcan energy signatures the forensic analysts discovered, Admiral.”
He threw her a hard glare.
“It has been verified, sir, multiple times,” she said, chastened. “The precise meaning of the findings is still being determined, however.”
“Thank you, Centurion. Dismissed.” With another nod, she made her exit.
Alone in his office, Valdore resumed studying the padd, more slowly this time. Whatever debates the intel specialists might be conducting at this moment, the meaning of this latest report from the front of D’deridex’s Haakonan war could not have been clearer: Vulcan was covertly supplying Haakona with weapons, and perhaps other technology as well.
Irrespective of the broader, more critical war with the Coalition, this revelation made it a military imperative to establish a new listening post at least as close to Haakona as the defunct Uaenn Ei’krih facility had been. Valore couldn’t afford to allow Haakona to attack from the rear just when his forces were about to become fully engaged with the higher-priority task of bringing Earth and her allies to heel.
Tossing the padd onto the desktop, Valdore keyed open one particular secure channel on his personal comm unit. The dark viewscreen before him suddenly brightened and displayed a cunning, familiar female face.
She did not appear surprised to be hearing from him. Given the nature of her work, that fact, in turn, did not surprise him either.
“T’Luadh,” he said. “I require your assistance.”
A predatory smile spread slowly across her face. “The Tal Shiar lives to serve, Admiral. I assume you are speaking of the intelligence that your people gathered during their sweep of the rubble of the Uaenn Ei’krih Outpost.”
Unwilling to volunteer any information that her reputedly omniscient spy bureau hadn’t already managed to gather on its own elsewhere, he said, “You tell me.”
“All right, Admiral,” she said, apparently not offended by his caution. “Haakona has come into possession of certain Vulcan technologies. You want me to get to the bottom of it.”
He was impressed, though again unsurprised. “Correct. I trust you understand the danger to the Empire that such a Vulcan-Haakonan connection would pose if it were allowed to continue.”
“I do indeed, Admiral. Therefore I shall apply my resources to the problem with the tenacity of a wild hnoiyika.”
Now that Valdore better understood the origin of her smile, he returned it; her grin did indeed make her resemble a ravenous hnoiyika about to sever the jugular of some terrified rodent.
“But I must caution you, Admiral,” T’Luadh continued. “Even the fiercest hnoiyika must be patient. Vulcans are quite clever adversaries. Tracking down and cutting off the specific supply line in question will take a great deal of careful intel gathering on the ground, and could take a considerable amount of time and effort.”
Valdore knew he was not renowned for his patience. But he was also a military man of a highly practical bent; he knew when it was time to bow to necessity’s nonnegotiable demands.
“In this instance, T’Luadh, results are far more important than raw speed,” he said. “But even if success can come only slowly, I trust I need not remind you that failure is not one of our available options.”
She nodded and vanished from the screen, leaving Valdore alone with his thoughts.
And vainly struggling to confine his worries to those matters he was capable of influencing directly.
Sihaer nnea Rrhiol ch’Chulla, Romulus
”Major, I have an assignment for you,” said the woman on the screen.
Talok tried to conceal how pleased he was by the prospect of the imminent alleviation of his between-missions boredom; such ennui was an occupational hazard that he didn’t like to broadcast, especially to his Tal Shiar superiors.
“I’m listening, Colonel T’Luadh.”
“It’s an extremely important assignment.”
Sure it is, he thought wryly as he nodded toward the screen. But they’re all critically important, aren’t they?
“This mission should be quite interesting to you, personally, Major,” she continued. “It begins on Vulcan.”
In spite of himself, Talok’s right eyebrow rose in a steep slope, wordlessly ratifying her presumptions. He hadn’t been to Vulcan since he’d almost succeeded in subverting that planet’s government, alongside the ousted Administrator V’Las, in preparation for an Andorsu war and a Romulan conquest, both of which, sadly, had been aborted two years ago.
“Tell me more, Colonel.”