Judgement – Status malus
by Lieutenant JG Taleria von Alesk & Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
Ekenda was fast beginning to wonder what it was that a Private Secretary did that was actually different from what she had done all along. Perhaps the difference was that she was now a being in her own right.
Just after the Ambassador had risen she had made a quick application and within fifteen minutes a messanger had arrived from the station's administrative offices.
"My dear servant arrived so late she did not wish to make a fuss," Isha had explained breezily, "You have all her details now," she had added as she took the small package and ushered him out of the door. The Ambassador had then given Ekenda something that she had never possessed berfore, her own comm-badge that registered her on the station's systems and an identity of her own - the latter still prickled like an unfamiliarly tight garment.
The Lestari, her skin glistening blue in the Consulate light went to receive the visitor. The visitor it seemed was a Romulan, but one wearing a Starfleet uniform. Ekenda passed no coment on that.
"You will come this way, Lieutenant," Ekenda said catching the first glimmers of the woman's aura as her electrostatic response to being addressed began.
Kreallia found something familiar about the woman, or rather her species, she couldn't quite remember the exact details. Most likely one of the species the Romulans kept in their service. No matter, Kreallia followed the almost glowing woman into the Ambassador's office, the Knapsack she usually carried on her trip to the consulate, was slung across her chest and Kreallia softly gripped the bottom of the contents as the doors approached.
"Your visitor, my Lady. Lieutenant t'Jay," she said, though the Ambassador knew perfectly well who it was, as the name had been announced before she had requested that Ekenda go and see her in.
"Ah yes," Isha said, "recently returned from ch'Rihan. I thought, Lieutenant that you had changed your mind about acting as Liaison Officer." She flicked up the padd between her fingers, glanced at it then let it fall onto the hard surface of the desk, "Am I to assume that I may give up my search for a replacement?"
Kreallia nodded with a small smile. "Rh'e llhei , my grand-mother can be very convincing with travel offers, she should have stuck with economics after the Fleet. A replacement will not be needed."
"Very well." Isha rose from behind her desk and gestured to the seating area closer to the door at one side of which a stand protected by a DNA coded field held her ancestral weapons. "DO sit," she said as she crossed the room, her feet silent and her steps obscured by the long gown she wore.
"Tea, Ekenda," she requested as she sat. "And how did you find ch'Rihan?" from an earlier conversation Isha recalled that t'Jay had not spent much time on the planet that bore her, or among her own people.
"Interesting Ambassador, interesting, I saw Ramnau, where my mother, her mother, and her mother before that were born. Beautiful city, you were born there correct?" Kreallia asked as she sat down, she was surprisingly open with the Ambassador but didn't find it that odd. It was nice to share these experiences, though she had reservations about this woman.
"Indeed. Though we long ago moved the focus of our power base we still retain a strong attachment to the area. My father's family owns the vineyard that ranges across the lower hills. As I'm sure you're aware they are the producers of the finest nnyyrh-ar’rl (laughing tongue). It never fails to pain me that our hosts here seem to think that all we have to drink is ale, that said, the supply of drinkable nnyyrh-ar’rl is too scarce to support a profitable export market, so it will remain a luxury item."
"My grandmother has a similar investment, it's small and she only uses it to impress guests but the wine is beautiful, nice body, excellent taste. I can't really tell you how that whole thing about Romulan Ale got started but most think it was due to my second cousin and the so called "Enterprise Incident", if not that then the treaty which allowed more open transfer of goods between the Empire and the Federation after the Romulan Civil War a century ago." Kreallia replied with a certain enthusiasm. She had nearly forgotten her feelings of yesterday of contempt and anguish over her deal with Isha, not it was looking like the bright side of things.
"My grandmother also says that she misses you on the Senate floor, and thanks you for getting me my position as Federation Liaison." She added.
"Thank you," Isha said as Ekenda placed a tray on the low table and withdrew. "And a hundred others are relieved by my continuing absence," she said returning her attention to her visitor. "I returned not long ago, I had hoped that my stay might be a longer one, but those of us who serve are not master's of their own time," she said wistfully. "I trust you did not spend all your time in the countryside? Ra'tleihfi is to be experienced."
Kreallia eagerly nodded. "Yes it's beautiful, such architecture, such beauty, monochromatic but beautiful none the less. I saw the Senate hall, and the great Shiarael t'Rllaillieu gave me the entire story about her Aunt and her rise to power, and her war stories from a century ago, for a hundred and twenty give or take, she looks remarkable, still early fourties by human standards. She told me about her Serona on the great Bloodwing and other family exploits, it's quite a tale." She added as Kreallia took a sip of her tea.
"Oh I love this blend." Kreallia said as she continued with her tea as she carefully watched Isha's response.
"Most stories are," Isha replied simply, she had no intention of getting into competitive and undignified references to history and its presentation. t'Jay appeared to exhibit less reticence about her heritage than the last time she had had an interview with Isha. Isha wondered how long it would be before the novelty became tarnished by internal conflict.
"Were you not in the least bit tempted to stay?" Isha enquired, knowing that Ekenda would be monitoring the exchange, reading the reactions and responses in the spectrum that only she could see.
Kreallia considered the statement and was reminded of those feelings of contempt and anquish early this morning and yesterday. Her feers that Isha would prey on these feelings were realized, but she kept a bit of composure. "To stay? No. to maybe buy a summer home? Possibly." She replied with a diminished enthusiasm.
Isha noted the crease of her visitor's brow, "But of course you have your life to return to! How I wish to return to mine. But I digress. Loyalty is a virtue, and you have that bond with your adoptive family, and you are sworn to serve Starfleet. I am not here to subvert you, merely to guide you. I asked for a Liaison Officer because I thought it might help expand Starfleet's understanding of the Stelam Shiar, and through it, that of the wider Federation. I do not require your loyalty, only your discretion."
"My adoptive mother wants to meet with my grandmother when they both visit next week, my grandmother also wants to talk to you, provided she has time, but she'll have to see you anyway as a visiting Senator so she'll find time then. But moving onto business," Kreallia said as she laid back into her chair and took out her PADD and prepared to get down to work after the pleasantries had been dispensed. "So what issues to you have for Command? What will be the next mission of your warbird? Any concerns?" She asked.
"My Warbird is under the command of my niece and is currently leading a joint operation with Starfleet and the Klingons to combat the recent increase in pirate acivity in this area," Isha replied. She gave one chance, a second attempt to dictate the path of conversation would not be tolerated. How t'Jay reacted to her response would tell Isha a great deal about her intentions, "until that issue is resolved there will be no further mission. The station's command staff are fully briefed, just as you would be if you had read the document that was supplied to you."
"That document was four weeks out of date, I have yet to recieve the update." Kreallia replied, tension was starting to mount between the two women and it appeared Isha was turning the conversation towards reactions that served her purposes. "Anything else?" She asked with tension in her voice, holding back a reaction to jump Isha.
"However it is the valid text," Isha said. t'Jay was very, vary tense. "If you wish for an update, you must approach the Commander of the Dhelan; when I defer authority, I also give responsibility."
Kreallia slowly relaxed without an exhale, trying to get back on better terms with Ambassador t'Khellian. "So you feel that there are no concerns to be passed up the chain of command?" Kreallia asked with a tone of calm, though not exactly peace.
"I have no concerns about the state of current relations between the Federation and the Stelam Shiar," Isha said. "We have conceded to abide by the decision of their court in the matter of Gabriel, and they have accomodated our demands in return. It will be an interesting trial. If I feel that there is something that must be communicated, I will do that myself, directly to the top of that chain of command. You appear to be mistaken about what you are here for, t'Jay. You may, of course report back whatever you wish."
Kreallie gave a brief nod. "Perhaps," She said as she leaned slightly closer closer to Isha, turning her eyes to an area slightly above the floor. "Do you think you can convict Gabriel? Can't say I surprised at the recent turn of events, in fact I think I welcome them."
"The Federation's legal system is as convoluted as it is cruel. Gabriel is unlikely to win," she said.
"Especially when relations with another government are at stake." Kreallia replied. "At least Romulan justice is swift..."
"It is merciful," Isha said, "What sort of a people makes there own wait for weeks, months, sometimes years for a decision? They are given no opportunity to prove their innocence, or to speak for themselves - they are simply made to wait! Its barbaric!"
Kreallia had no choice but to agree, swift justice was in her mind the best thing, and to have justice minored in politics isn't the way the Federation was supposed to handle these trials. "And the sentence is always the ame, a few years in a prison colony or for the last stages, a rehabilitation camp. Extreme measures are rarely taken."
Isha looked at the younger woman, it was a somewhat naive assumption. "Sometimes nothing less than extreme measures will do," she said. "take the late Senator Rhiu ir-Ainleth, Hru Hfirh Arrhae i-Nn'Verih t’Rehu and her husband H’daen ir-Ainleth (Rhiu's brother), and my son Fveirrolh tr’Illialhlae - they conspired to take over the Fvillhaih and to lay the blame at my door."
If those events effected her, the emotion did not show in Isha's tone - it had been little over a month since she herself had faced the same tribunal that had convicted the others and come away cleared of all charges. Little over a month since she had publicly offerred her son the chance to regain a shred of lost honour offering his own blade to him and inviting him to take his own life.
When he refused it, Isha turned her back on him and walked away. She had watched what followed with indifference; an act which had once again cemented her reputation for loyalty to the Stelam Shiar above all else.
"They died, as traitors should, in public in the plaza, by the sword and bereft of rank and title - that was truly swift and merciful justice. My husband's brother too was a traitor, but he was treated with greater leniency for whilst he was part of their plot, he was to have been scapegoated as my co-conspirator so that those four ambitious and ungrateful children would emerge from the chaos and have someone to blame. Nniol was executed in private on his own estate. His lands came to me."
Indeed, merciful, if ever the public spectacle, many a similar story had been told to Kreallia by her grandmother, perhaps a warning to the confines of power and the entangling and corrupting webs of politics and power. "Death is the most merciful way to die for the traitors that would carry their shame with them and those around them for the rest of their lives..." Kreallia recited. "One of my professors at Oxford used that to describe ancient justice systems when I was studying history and political science. He said it was merciful to both sides when no one waited for a sentence to be handed down."
"Something the Federation have long lost sight of," Isha said lifting her cup to her lips, "sometimes, nothing but blood will rebalance the record," Isha added before she sipped. That is what it would take to redress her own balance and when the time came she was going to enjoy taking it. "So what guidance have you been given, t'Jay about what your Starfleet superiors expect of you as Liaison Officer?"
"They expect me to be objective and loyal when it comes to my reports, they might have reservations about my new experiences with my culture but some believe it does nothing but help me understand the Rihannsu and their ways, less friction when it comes to customs I suppose." Kreallia replied as she followed Isha's move to her tea and in turn took a sip. The tea was still very warm and hadn't lost it's flavor, something Human tea's lacked, they lost flavor too easily to changes in temperature and Kreallia's slightly more sensitive taste picked up on it far too often.
Isha nodded. "Of course you are too late to go with the Dhelan on this pirate hunt, but my Consulate is open, within reason. We have made great inroads in establishing trust between the Empire and our hosts, and do not plan to let this unfortunate trial unwind what we have acheived. What do you think Starfleet would most like to know of?"
Kreallia pondered the question for a few moments. "They would love to know why you have taken interest in this case, why and how you've made such grand social connections with the staff on the base, and other trivial matters that they send me to make me feel important, no nothing important will ever come across my desk in the weeks to come, they're testing my faith in the Federation first." She replied with another sip of her tea.
"The answer to the first item is very simple. My government requested I bring the case, no reason beyond that - for all his surly manner and intrusive behaviour, the acts of a Federation Security Officer have caused me no personal offence," Isha replied holding her cup in her lap, lightly balanced between her palms. "Have I made any grand social connections?" Isha continued, her brow slightly creased as though she was trying to work out who t'Jay might mean.
"Some high at command know of your relationships with the crew, the would love to know how a Rihanna made friends with the command staff, the chief medical officer, the wing commanders past and present, and why a Romulan counselor who previously never wanted anything to do with her culture, regularly meets with you even before this assignment." Kreallia said with a slightly more relaxed tone, resuming her tone of the first part of the conversation.
Isha's laugh was very soft and breathy, "Why they made friends with me," she replied blandly. "As an Ambassador my role is to foster an amicable relationship with the Command staff - should I sit here in state and issue missives rather than speaking in person with the Captain of this Station?" Isha's laughter deepened. "Dear Doctor Adams had no idea who I was when she knocked me almost off my feet on the promenade - unless she is secretly an agent of your Section 31 charged to make contact with me, it was no more than chance that brought us together."
Kreallia had wanted to ask 'what?' at the end of the last sentence but knew better. "That's quite the meeting, and your niece?" She asked, knowing the answer but it is her duty to ask follow up questions. She had learned that much at college and had the degree in political science to prove it.
"As to Monteros, she is a blood relative I did not previously know of. I have a duty to give her the facts about her family. As to the Romulan counselor who previously never wanted anything to do with her culture ... you are the best person to provide the answer to that question."
"Yes, quite." Kreallia said with a sip of her tea and a slight smile. "But I suppose that might partially lie with you from a certain paranoid perspective."
"I might have left the door ajar - that again is my duty, but I did not force you to open it and to walk through. I am not responsible for what you may have found on the other side."
Kreallia nodded, she continued to sip her tea in silence, simply reviewing where the conversation had lead, and where her developing relationship with Isha was heading, if anywhere.
"You're still not comfortable with this, are you?" Isha asked, quite looking forward to the review session with Ekenda who would give her own particular perspective on the interview.
Kreallia gave a slight sigh. "No, it's not...easy to accept this." She said softly. The whole notion that she was talking to Isha t'Khellian was even more unnerving, though it felt almost right to talk about this to her, Romulan to Romulan, as if she almost knew what she was going through.
"We rarely are allowed to choose which burdens we must carry, but carry them we must," Isha said, "everything balances out in time, even though right now we may not be able to see it."
"Words of wisdom from the Ruling Passion?" She asked.
"From a childhood mentor, but words of wisdom all the same."
"So they are..."
"There are two meeting rooms in the corridor that leads to this office, you should take one so that you have a base when you need to be in my Consulate," Isha said. "I'm sure that you will find it interesting to talk with some of the senior diplomats."
Kreallia looked at Isha for what could have been hours, or seconds. This woman was inviting her into the Consulate and with near nothing in return, giving her access to both personel and records for her duties, limited most likely but access none the less. And to think that Isha was aiming the offer at her made it even more profound.
"Thank you Ambassador, I'm sure some conversations with your staff might prove useful for both insight into the Rihannsu mind and the inner workings of the diplomatic process, I'm really quite interested in your forms of political science, they're much more... fluid then those of the Federation." She explained
"Quite. I suggest you choose one of those rooms and register the requisition with reception and security," Isha replied, "That way you will not find it occupied."
"The most senseful of solutions." Kreallia said with a nod. "I'll requisition it for tomorrow after the trial, that should make for interesting conversation. Provided I do have the date right, it is tomorrow correct?" She asked, though she had read something about it earlier but had forgoten in the mountain of paperwork that was on her desk most of the time.
"It will be when it will be," Isha said, that depended on the outcome of the application for an injunction and the time that verdict took to deliberate. Isha looked at Ekenda then nodded to her Private Secretary.
"My next appointment is due, Lieutenant," she said. "I bid you good day."
Kreallia gave a slight nod of her head as she stood up, but may have acted as a respectful bow if she were anyone else, and not so defiant in ways. "Good day Ambassador." She said as she turned gracefully on her heel and proceeded towards the reception desk to make sure one of the rooms was avaliable without another word.
OFF
Ambassador Isha e-Khellian i-Ramnau t'Illialhlae
Kreallia t'Jay
Chief Counselor
Deep Space Five
by Lieutenant JG Taleria von Alesk & Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
| Title | Status malus | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant JG Taleria von Alesk & Commander Isha t'Vaurek | |
| Posted | Sat Mar 05, 2011 @ 10:14pm | |
| Location | Romulan Consulate | |
| Timeline | SD 37. 06:45 |
Just after the Ambassador had risen she had made a quick application and within fifteen minutes a messanger had arrived from the station's administrative offices.
"My dear servant arrived so late she did not wish to make a fuss," Isha had explained breezily, "You have all her details now," she had added as she took the small package and ushered him out of the door. The Ambassador had then given Ekenda something that she had never possessed berfore, her own comm-badge that registered her on the station's systems and an identity of her own - the latter still prickled like an unfamiliarly tight garment.
The Lestari, her skin glistening blue in the Consulate light went to receive the visitor. The visitor it seemed was a Romulan, but one wearing a Starfleet uniform. Ekenda passed no coment on that.
"You will come this way, Lieutenant," Ekenda said catching the first glimmers of the woman's aura as her electrostatic response to being addressed began.
Kreallia found something familiar about the woman, or rather her species, she couldn't quite remember the exact details. Most likely one of the species the Romulans kept in their service. No matter, Kreallia followed the almost glowing woman into the Ambassador's office, the Knapsack she usually carried on her trip to the consulate, was slung across her chest and Kreallia softly gripped the bottom of the contents as the doors approached.
"Your visitor, my Lady. Lieutenant t'Jay," she said, though the Ambassador knew perfectly well who it was, as the name had been announced before she had requested that Ekenda go and see her in.
"Ah yes," Isha said, "recently returned from ch'Rihan. I thought, Lieutenant that you had changed your mind about acting as Liaison Officer." She flicked up the padd between her fingers, glanced at it then let it fall onto the hard surface of the desk, "Am I to assume that I may give up my search for a replacement?"
Kreallia nodded with a small smile. "Rh'e llhei , my grand-mother can be very convincing with travel offers, she should have stuck with economics after the Fleet. A replacement will not be needed."
"Very well." Isha rose from behind her desk and gestured to the seating area closer to the door at one side of which a stand protected by a DNA coded field held her ancestral weapons. "DO sit," she said as she crossed the room, her feet silent and her steps obscured by the long gown she wore.
"Tea, Ekenda," she requested as she sat. "And how did you find ch'Rihan?" from an earlier conversation Isha recalled that t'Jay had not spent much time on the planet that bore her, or among her own people.
"Interesting Ambassador, interesting, I saw Ramnau, where my mother, her mother, and her mother before that were born. Beautiful city, you were born there correct?" Kreallia asked as she sat down, she was surprisingly open with the Ambassador but didn't find it that odd. It was nice to share these experiences, though she had reservations about this woman.
"Indeed. Though we long ago moved the focus of our power base we still retain a strong attachment to the area. My father's family owns the vineyard that ranges across the lower hills. As I'm sure you're aware they are the producers of the finest nnyyrh-ar’rl (laughing tongue). It never fails to pain me that our hosts here seem to think that all we have to drink is ale, that said, the supply of drinkable nnyyrh-ar’rl is too scarce to support a profitable export market, so it will remain a luxury item."
"My grandmother has a similar investment, it's small and she only uses it to impress guests but the wine is beautiful, nice body, excellent taste. I can't really tell you how that whole thing about Romulan Ale got started but most think it was due to my second cousin and the so called "Enterprise Incident", if not that then the treaty which allowed more open transfer of goods between the Empire and the Federation after the Romulan Civil War a century ago." Kreallia replied with a certain enthusiasm. She had nearly forgotten her feelings of yesterday of contempt and anguish over her deal with Isha, not it was looking like the bright side of things.
"My grandmother also says that she misses you on the Senate floor, and thanks you for getting me my position as Federation Liaison." She added.
"Thank you," Isha said as Ekenda placed a tray on the low table and withdrew. "And a hundred others are relieved by my continuing absence," she said returning her attention to her visitor. "I returned not long ago, I had hoped that my stay might be a longer one, but those of us who serve are not master's of their own time," she said wistfully. "I trust you did not spend all your time in the countryside? Ra'tleihfi is to be experienced."
Kreallia eagerly nodded. "Yes it's beautiful, such architecture, such beauty, monochromatic but beautiful none the less. I saw the Senate hall, and the great Shiarael t'Rllaillieu gave me the entire story about her Aunt and her rise to power, and her war stories from a century ago, for a hundred and twenty give or take, she looks remarkable, still early fourties by human standards. She told me about her Serona on the great Bloodwing and other family exploits, it's quite a tale." She added as Kreallia took a sip of her tea.
"Oh I love this blend." Kreallia said as she continued with her tea as she carefully watched Isha's response.
"Most stories are," Isha replied simply, she had no intention of getting into competitive and undignified references to history and its presentation. t'Jay appeared to exhibit less reticence about her heritage than the last time she had had an interview with Isha. Isha wondered how long it would be before the novelty became tarnished by internal conflict.
"Were you not in the least bit tempted to stay?" Isha enquired, knowing that Ekenda would be monitoring the exchange, reading the reactions and responses in the spectrum that only she could see.
Kreallia considered the statement and was reminded of those feelings of contempt and anquish early this morning and yesterday. Her feers that Isha would prey on these feelings were realized, but she kept a bit of composure. "To stay? No. to maybe buy a summer home? Possibly." She replied with a diminished enthusiasm.
Isha noted the crease of her visitor's brow, "But of course you have your life to return to! How I wish to return to mine. But I digress. Loyalty is a virtue, and you have that bond with your adoptive family, and you are sworn to serve Starfleet. I am not here to subvert you, merely to guide you. I asked for a Liaison Officer because I thought it might help expand Starfleet's understanding of the Stelam Shiar, and through it, that of the wider Federation. I do not require your loyalty, only your discretion."
"My adoptive mother wants to meet with my grandmother when they both visit next week, my grandmother also wants to talk to you, provided she has time, but she'll have to see you anyway as a visiting Senator so she'll find time then. But moving onto business," Kreallia said as she laid back into her chair and took out her PADD and prepared to get down to work after the pleasantries had been dispensed. "So what issues to you have for Command? What will be the next mission of your warbird? Any concerns?" She asked.
"My Warbird is under the command of my niece and is currently leading a joint operation with Starfleet and the Klingons to combat the recent increase in pirate acivity in this area," Isha replied. She gave one chance, a second attempt to dictate the path of conversation would not be tolerated. How t'Jay reacted to her response would tell Isha a great deal about her intentions, "until that issue is resolved there will be no further mission. The station's command staff are fully briefed, just as you would be if you had read the document that was supplied to you."
"That document was four weeks out of date, I have yet to recieve the update." Kreallia replied, tension was starting to mount between the two women and it appeared Isha was turning the conversation towards reactions that served her purposes. "Anything else?" She asked with tension in her voice, holding back a reaction to jump Isha.
"However it is the valid text," Isha said. t'Jay was very, vary tense. "If you wish for an update, you must approach the Commander of the Dhelan; when I defer authority, I also give responsibility."
Kreallia slowly relaxed without an exhale, trying to get back on better terms with Ambassador t'Khellian. "So you feel that there are no concerns to be passed up the chain of command?" Kreallia asked with a tone of calm, though not exactly peace.
"I have no concerns about the state of current relations between the Federation and the Stelam Shiar," Isha said. "We have conceded to abide by the decision of their court in the matter of Gabriel, and they have accomodated our demands in return. It will be an interesting trial. If I feel that there is something that must be communicated, I will do that myself, directly to the top of that chain of command. You appear to be mistaken about what you are here for, t'Jay. You may, of course report back whatever you wish."
Kreallie gave a brief nod. "Perhaps," She said as she leaned slightly closer closer to Isha, turning her eyes to an area slightly above the floor. "Do you think you can convict Gabriel? Can't say I surprised at the recent turn of events, in fact I think I welcome them."
"The Federation's legal system is as convoluted as it is cruel. Gabriel is unlikely to win," she said.
"Especially when relations with another government are at stake." Kreallia replied. "At least Romulan justice is swift..."
"It is merciful," Isha said, "What sort of a people makes there own wait for weeks, months, sometimes years for a decision? They are given no opportunity to prove their innocence, or to speak for themselves - they are simply made to wait! Its barbaric!"
Kreallia had no choice but to agree, swift justice was in her mind the best thing, and to have justice minored in politics isn't the way the Federation was supposed to handle these trials. "And the sentence is always the ame, a few years in a prison colony or for the last stages, a rehabilitation camp. Extreme measures are rarely taken."
Isha looked at the younger woman, it was a somewhat naive assumption. "Sometimes nothing less than extreme measures will do," she said. "take the late Senator Rhiu ir-Ainleth, Hru Hfirh Arrhae i-Nn'Verih t’Rehu and her husband H’daen ir-Ainleth (Rhiu's brother), and my son Fveirrolh tr’Illialhlae - they conspired to take over the Fvillhaih and to lay the blame at my door."
If those events effected her, the emotion did not show in Isha's tone - it had been little over a month since she herself had faced the same tribunal that had convicted the others and come away cleared of all charges. Little over a month since she had publicly offerred her son the chance to regain a shred of lost honour offering his own blade to him and inviting him to take his own life.
When he refused it, Isha turned her back on him and walked away. She had watched what followed with indifference; an act which had once again cemented her reputation for loyalty to the Stelam Shiar above all else.
"They died, as traitors should, in public in the plaza, by the sword and bereft of rank and title - that was truly swift and merciful justice. My husband's brother too was a traitor, but he was treated with greater leniency for whilst he was part of their plot, he was to have been scapegoated as my co-conspirator so that those four ambitious and ungrateful children would emerge from the chaos and have someone to blame. Nniol was executed in private on his own estate. His lands came to me."
Indeed, merciful, if ever the public spectacle, many a similar story had been told to Kreallia by her grandmother, perhaps a warning to the confines of power and the entangling and corrupting webs of politics and power. "Death is the most merciful way to die for the traitors that would carry their shame with them and those around them for the rest of their lives..." Kreallia recited. "One of my professors at Oxford used that to describe ancient justice systems when I was studying history and political science. He said it was merciful to both sides when no one waited for a sentence to be handed down."
"Something the Federation have long lost sight of," Isha said lifting her cup to her lips, "sometimes, nothing but blood will rebalance the record," Isha added before she sipped. That is what it would take to redress her own balance and when the time came she was going to enjoy taking it. "So what guidance have you been given, t'Jay about what your Starfleet superiors expect of you as Liaison Officer?"
"They expect me to be objective and loyal when it comes to my reports, they might have reservations about my new experiences with my culture but some believe it does nothing but help me understand the Rihannsu and their ways, less friction when it comes to customs I suppose." Kreallia replied as she followed Isha's move to her tea and in turn took a sip. The tea was still very warm and hadn't lost it's flavor, something Human tea's lacked, they lost flavor too easily to changes in temperature and Kreallia's slightly more sensitive taste picked up on it far too often.
Isha nodded. "Of course you are too late to go with the Dhelan on this pirate hunt, but my Consulate is open, within reason. We have made great inroads in establishing trust between the Empire and our hosts, and do not plan to let this unfortunate trial unwind what we have acheived. What do you think Starfleet would most like to know of?"
Kreallia pondered the question for a few moments. "They would love to know why you have taken interest in this case, why and how you've made such grand social connections with the staff on the base, and other trivial matters that they send me to make me feel important, no nothing important will ever come across my desk in the weeks to come, they're testing my faith in the Federation first." She replied with another sip of her tea.
"The answer to the first item is very simple. My government requested I bring the case, no reason beyond that - for all his surly manner and intrusive behaviour, the acts of a Federation Security Officer have caused me no personal offence," Isha replied holding her cup in her lap, lightly balanced between her palms. "Have I made any grand social connections?" Isha continued, her brow slightly creased as though she was trying to work out who t'Jay might mean.
"Some high at command know of your relationships with the crew, the would love to know how a Rihanna made friends with the command staff, the chief medical officer, the wing commanders past and present, and why a Romulan counselor who previously never wanted anything to do with her culture, regularly meets with you even before this assignment." Kreallia said with a slightly more relaxed tone, resuming her tone of the first part of the conversation.
Isha's laugh was very soft and breathy, "Why they made friends with me," she replied blandly. "As an Ambassador my role is to foster an amicable relationship with the Command staff - should I sit here in state and issue missives rather than speaking in person with the Captain of this Station?" Isha's laughter deepened. "Dear Doctor Adams had no idea who I was when she knocked me almost off my feet on the promenade - unless she is secretly an agent of your Section 31 charged to make contact with me, it was no more than chance that brought us together."
Kreallia had wanted to ask 'what?' at the end of the last sentence but knew better. "That's quite the meeting, and your niece?" She asked, knowing the answer but it is her duty to ask follow up questions. She had learned that much at college and had the degree in political science to prove it.
"As to Monteros, she is a blood relative I did not previously know of. I have a duty to give her the facts about her family. As to the Romulan counselor who previously never wanted anything to do with her culture ... you are the best person to provide the answer to that question."
"Yes, quite." Kreallia said with a sip of her tea and a slight smile. "But I suppose that might partially lie with you from a certain paranoid perspective."
"I might have left the door ajar - that again is my duty, but I did not force you to open it and to walk through. I am not responsible for what you may have found on the other side."
Kreallia nodded, she continued to sip her tea in silence, simply reviewing where the conversation had lead, and where her developing relationship with Isha was heading, if anywhere.
"You're still not comfortable with this, are you?" Isha asked, quite looking forward to the review session with Ekenda who would give her own particular perspective on the interview.
Kreallia gave a slight sigh. "No, it's not...easy to accept this." She said softly. The whole notion that she was talking to Isha t'Khellian was even more unnerving, though it felt almost right to talk about this to her, Romulan to Romulan, as if she almost knew what she was going through.
"We rarely are allowed to choose which burdens we must carry, but carry them we must," Isha said, "everything balances out in time, even though right now we may not be able to see it."
"Words of wisdom from the Ruling Passion?" She asked.
"From a childhood mentor, but words of wisdom all the same."
"So they are..."
"There are two meeting rooms in the corridor that leads to this office, you should take one so that you have a base when you need to be in my Consulate," Isha said. "I'm sure that you will find it interesting to talk with some of the senior diplomats."
Kreallia looked at Isha for what could have been hours, or seconds. This woman was inviting her into the Consulate and with near nothing in return, giving her access to both personel and records for her duties, limited most likely but access none the less. And to think that Isha was aiming the offer at her made it even more profound.
"Thank you Ambassador, I'm sure some conversations with your staff might prove useful for both insight into the Rihannsu mind and the inner workings of the diplomatic process, I'm really quite interested in your forms of political science, they're much more... fluid then those of the Federation." She explained
"Quite. I suggest you choose one of those rooms and register the requisition with reception and security," Isha replied, "That way you will not find it occupied."
"The most senseful of solutions." Kreallia said with a nod. "I'll requisition it for tomorrow after the trial, that should make for interesting conversation. Provided I do have the date right, it is tomorrow correct?" She asked, though she had read something about it earlier but had forgoten in the mountain of paperwork that was on her desk most of the time.
"It will be when it will be," Isha said, that depended on the outcome of the application for an injunction and the time that verdict took to deliberate. Isha looked at Ekenda then nodded to her Private Secretary.
"My next appointment is due, Lieutenant," she said. "I bid you good day."
Kreallia gave a slight nod of her head as she stood up, but may have acted as a respectful bow if she were anyone else, and not so defiant in ways. "Good day Ambassador." She said as she turned gracefully on her heel and proceeded towards the reception desk to make sure one of the rooms was avaliable without another word.
OFF
Ambassador Isha e-Khellian i-Ramnau t'Illialhlae
Kreallia t'Jay
Chief Counselor
Deep Space Five