Dining with one's enemies - Part Two

Posted on 10 Jul 2009 @ 4:27pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

2,988 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: M2: Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Diplomatic facilities
Timeline: After the Freedom's arrival at SB 47

Continuation....

Andrew minded his soup, he hated diplomatic conversation, he preferred the black and white imagery of his former posting as a Chief Tactical Officer. He had suspected that he would find himself firmly in these gray areas but he didn't think it would be so soon. He finished his last bite of soup and pushed it away, wiping his mouth with his napkin and looking around to see where the conversation was going. He wasn't going to respond to the Ambassador, but rather let the Commander take things where they needed to go. If he had his way, she'd be elsewhere while he and the Commander enjoyed their first dinner as the Command staff of the Freedom.

With a swift glance to Elek Isha made everything that needed to be known about her opinion of the new 'first officer' clear with a briefly released thought; she did not ask him to approve her next offensive.

"So, Fineman ... was it not," she said deliberately butchering his name, "What is your opinion on our negotiations?"

Da`nal had been eating a large steak as the two had talked. Nodding here and there when he agree with what was being discussed. He turned his head to his XO as Isha baited him and posed her question.

Elek leaned back with some trepidation as he looked to Fienneman for his reply. He did not know the new exec, except that he had previously specialised in tactical operations, an area not know for its diplomatic niceties. He hoped he would not been needed.

I'm waiting, Isha thought, resting the tips of her fingers on the edge of the table; it seemed that she was not the only one who was interested to see how he would react, both to her question and to her attitude.

"My opinion mirrors the Commander's, Ambassador." Andrew replied professionally. He hated being baited, especially by an Ambassador whom he doubted had the best interests of the Federation at heart. Besides that, he wasn't particularly familiar with all aspects of things as they were. He had read the reports and details of their 'adventure' at DS5; particularly the part where the ship was nearly flown into three separate pieces. Outside of that, he knew there were deeper and more secretive pieces moving about but he had little idea what they were. In all honesty, he didn't really care to know. He was more concerned with operating this ship and her crew so that the Commander could handle these 'delicacies'.

Isha did not even blink. "Then perhaps you would care to summarise the thoughts of the Commander, for those of us who are not familiar with them," she said in a tone that suggested threads of gossamer woven in with duranium.

Elek flashed a warning over to the exec. *Don't get baited,* he thought at Fienneman. He then looked at Commander Da'nal.

*Commander,* he thought, *it may be the time to interject.*

Da`nal was about to come to Fienemann's rescue even as the counselor's words materialized in his mind. "Isha, do you really expect him to voice an opinion contrary to mine or the Federation's? To do so would undermine our position by displaying a lack of unity."

A smile tugged at the edges of Isha's mouth. "I am merely trying to get a feel for the man," she clasped her hands together in her lap and as she spoke she added an acquiesent nod of her head, however her agate gaze which she turned on Da'nal was anything but submissive.

"Games aside, I would like to know that there is no chance that your case will undermine my own position - I'm sure that at the moment your intentions are benign but if it should appear that the tribunal is reluctant to prosecute either party, which is a possibility particularly if they hold with current official line - the official line being that this is a House matter. What is to stop you from targeting your evidence at me in order to secure a verdict with which you can return triumphantly to the Federation? "

Elek leaned forward, shifting slightly so that the waiter could put down his main course in front of him. "Ambassador -" he began, but was cut off as Isha continued.

"I hardly think that Starfleet will be very happy if you travel all the way to ch'Rihan and find that having heard myself and Nniol speak all the tribunal have to say is Its a family squabble, put your own House in order, Hru'hfrih t'Illialhlae and stop wasting our time!. Case closed and the tribunal will have no interest in hearing the Federation's evidence. You may find this question rather more difficult to answer ... if that should happen, will you trust me to take the appropriate action against my husband's brother?"

"Alternatively, in order to force the tribunal to take the case seriously, hear your evidence and secure a prosecution and a little blood and vengeance for the attack on Deep Space Five will you alter your approach and attack us both? ... these are the sort of questions that I would like to have answered in advance."

Elek was more forceful this time. "Ambassador," he said, "I credit you with a great amount of intelligence. You must, therefore, know that Starfleet - and, by extension, the Federation - have similar, but not the same, value sets to yours. When you assume that military action will be our first recourse, it has, in fact, always been the last. The Federation negotiates, it talks, it ... tries to understand. Now, it doesn't always succeed, but it has a higher success rate than pure military might would do."

Isha waved her main course away, "My thoughts of your possible actions were rather more personal than that, Lieutenant," she said, "the legal mind twists in ways that others cannot comprehend in order to obtain a satisfactory resolution; I meant attack in that sense."

Elek smiled. He left his main course untouched. "And that would be different ... how, Ambassador? Surely that's not an exclusivity the Federation can claim? Our legal system is based on fairness, equality and logic. Those are the roles we are bound by. Is there something wrong with your food?"

"Not at all," Isha said, in truth she often neglected to eat and the prospect of a slab of meat was just too daunting, "It smells wonderful, but I'm afraid my appetite does not agree with my nose. The soup was quite delicious. I confess that in my youth I practiced the law, indeed my reputation was built on it, I served as Auethnen to my mother's House for a number of years before my marriage. I know the ways of lawyers quite well, Lieutenant Elek."

"My second wife was a lawyer," Elek said, and smiled sardonically. "Imagine having to live with one."

"I think I'll stop telling you stories, Lieutenant, you seem to be able to produce a wife to counter every one of them," she said wickedly. "A wife for every occasion ... now even my husband would have approved of that. He always complained in the nicest possible way that it was dangerous to take me anywhere because I would never, ever keep my mouth shut ... an alternative would have given him much more scope."

"Hmm," Elek replied. "My fourth ..." Elek stopped, and raised his hands in defeat. "I apologise, Ambassador. It's a force of habit. Let me speak to Chef, get you something else ordered."

"I don't require anything more, thank you," Isha said, "and please don't apologise, and please don't stop. That is as close as I will come to begging," she added with a quirk of one eyebrow.

Elek inclined his head, and continued eating. He would possibly kill to get to the chocolate course, but decided to refrain. He decided to use his eating as an excuse to stay silent for a moment, and gather his thoughts.

Da`nal found it easier to listen when these two got together. So far the track record between himself and the Ambassador could hardly be called diplomatic. However her concerns for the Federations interests interested him. Lifting his glass before taking a drink, he offered a suggestion. "Perhaps if we join forces....present the Federation's case in conjunction with yours."

Isha tilted her head as she considered his suggestion, "I will not utterly dismiss that option - We would risk giving our opponents the opportuntiy to present me as a tool of another power, and thus as a person unfit to have control over what is arguably one of Romulus's wealthiest and most powerful Houses - my words would be considered tainted, and myself a mouthpiece for another power ... depending on who is chosen to sit on the tribunal that could be fatal, literally, for me, anyway."

Returning his glass to the table he nodded, not that he cared one way or the other....however she had proven herself honorable, despite her name. "then pehaps we should hold him aboard the Freedom until our position has been heard. As far as the Federation is concerned he is guilty of an act of terrorism. His release to Romulan authorities was conditional on the Romulan Governments 'cooperation' into the investigation of those who may have supported the attack. We could simply press that point. The internal dispute within the family is not of interests to the Federation. Even if I personally have interest in the outcome I cannot allow that to come into play....officially."

Elek raised an eyebrow, Vulcan-like. He had hoped that any personal relationships wouldn't be mentioned over dinner - it was difficult enough during this mission to keep the different sides working together, without the personal differences being raised. He kept silent for the moment, but remained ready to cut in.

"If you look into the details you will find that the condition of co-operation has and is being filled - you are sitting here discussing options with an ambassador of the Rihannsu Stelam Shiar, an official representative of the government." Isha glared hard at Da'nal, "And to correct your false assertion - as far as the Federation is concerned he is suspected of an act of terrorism - thus far you have failed to present evidence that is anything other than circumstantial, I could take the same evidence and make as good a case against myself. Perhaps, Da'nal your time would be better spent finding that evidence than gnawing on hunks of meat and making polite threats over dinner.

"Both Nniol and myself will be required to address the Tribunal before the Federation is heard, to attempt to hold him here would be a violation of his right to present his defence in a publicly recorded trial. There are three likely outcomes,†she counted them off on her fingers as she spoke, “first outcome, the Tribunal conclude that the attack on DS5 is a House matter and I had no involvement, in which case it will fall to me to deal with it as I see fit … we can discuss the details of that later but if the tribunal makes this ruling then anyone in the background who might object to Nniol’s treatment will have no legal recourse, I can press for a full trial or if you prefer give you Nniol and then you can take him back to the Federation and try and make those charges of terrorism stick in your own time. Alternatively, and as the second likely outcome, the tribunal may find the exact opposite and find Nniol free of guilt and myself unfit to lead my House.â€

“The third outcome is that the tribunal rule that this is, indeed a matter that needs full judicial attention – if my government have decided that they wish to unequivocally distance themselves from the attack. This I think is the verdict that the Federation would prefer and will see both myself and Nniol on trial for our alleged involvement in the act of terrorism against your people – the Federation would of course be the party bringing the case against us. If your prosecution is successful and if you have provided no conclusive evidence linking Nniol to the attack you will have condemned both of us – you will forgive me if I am reluctant to strengthen a case that would lead to my own public execution.â€

Letting out a frustrated breath, ~why does everything I say to this woman anger her?~ "I think you misunderstand my intentions. I have no problems with you, even though you are a member of a family that has been at odds with mine for longer than either of us have been alive. In fact I would much rather see you in control of your family than Nniol. You do both me and the Federation a dishonor if you think we want to see you on trial. If that was the case you would have been expelled, and the Romulan government would have had to request Nniol's extradition. This was not the case. You chose to defend the station against attack by warning us with the details of the pending attack and likelihood of sabotage.

"Should the Senate choose to distance themselves, as I would think likely, we have all the evidence we need. Nniol was taken from a vessel that was involved in the attack on DS5, after kidnapping you and federation officer I might add. The communications logs show that he was the one giving the instructions to the other vessels, placing him clearly in command of the ships involved, or did you forget that. His stance that he only acted to extract you does hold water. If that were the case and you were guilty of whatever he is accusing you of he could have pressed your government for your recall in order to disgrace you and have himself installed as the head of your family. To my knowledge he didn't do that. Instead he chose to take you by force under the guise of a theft. And as the Romulan Senate has labelled the attack as a action not sanctioned by the government, House matter or not, that falls into the realm of terrorism. The only one the Federation want to see tried, and I think Mr. Elek can confirm this if you doubt me, is Nniol. Our hope is that his trial, not yours, might expose those that may have supported him."

Isha raised her glass to her lips and sipped, “I think that you are woefully unfamiliar with the intricacies of Rihannsu law – I am attempting to make you aware of the likely complications we will encounter. We cannot know for certain until we know who will sit on the tribunal and that will not be known until the day of the trial – it means there is no time to mobilise a contrary motion in the senate or such. I appreciate that it is his trial that you seek, not mine but I must make you aware of the full implications for myself regardless of what your intentions are,†she chose not to comment on Da’nal’s reference to their own family history that would only make a complicated issue more impenetrable.

Elek sipped his Altair water, suddenly wishing it was Romulan Ale. "I think the depths of Rihannsu law elude the vast majority of people, madam Ambassador. Sadly, the Federation and the Empire have never gotten close enough to perhaps ... understand each other better in that respect." He sighed, knowing that Isha would have something to say about that. He brightened considerably as the dessert was served.

Da`nal glanced in Elek's direction nodding slightly. "That is quite true Lieutenant, and I think that lack of understanding extends to much more than Romulan law."

Picking up his spoon, he went on, "I despair, Ambassador. You're missing out on the most important part of any meal. The dessert. Please, you must try some."

He glanced over at the waiter and raised an eyebrow, nodding to Isha.

"Of course I'll try it, Lieutenant," Isha said, "though I may have to insist that you help me finish it," she added.

"I won't have to be convinced on that one, Ambassador."

Da`nal too began to eat the chocolate dessert that had been placed before him. ~Well this could have gone better,~ he thought to himself. Taking his time to prolong the peace that Elek's 'rescue' had brought.

Isha raised an eyebrow, "Good, as a rule we prefer food that is rather more tart." She helped herself to a spoonfull, "but bitter chocolate certainly has its appeal," she remarked as she swallowed. "Have we a preferred strategy then?" she asked, "preferably one that does not condemn me."

Elek paused, and leaned back in his chair. "We should go to Romulus and present the case before the Senate," he said, thoughtfully. "Then, we can consider our options."

A sigh was allowed, Isha thought. "There are ways that the Tribunal could be bypssed," she said moving her fork through the thick chocolate pudding, "though it could reflect badly on me as I requested a tribunal originally - I thought I would recieve a certain degree of suport from certain quarters ... I am no longer so certain. Still, it is possible to go directly to the Senate. I will consider it as an option, Lieutenant Elek."

Elek inclined his head, and returned to his dessert. He knew Isha would be true to her word, and so there was no point in labouring the issue. And besides, he really would kill anyone who tried to interrupt his chocolate fix.

------------------------------------------

Cmdr Da`nal
Commading officer

Ambassador Isha e-Khellian i-Ramnau t'Illialhlae

Lieutenant (JG) Termin Elek
CDO / Counselor

Lt Cdr Fienneman
XO

 

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