A Geometry of Choice
Posted on 07 Nov 2022 @ 11:42am by Lieutenant Moi'ra Kilrai
Edited on 07 Nov 2022 @ 11:45am
Drela sighed as her shuttle descended towards the capital of Romulus. If it had been anyone else she could have probably put off this temporary recall from the Irixidon; but when you have family in the Senate it gives them a bit more authority to ask you to return home.
Still, she had a hard time thinking about why her Uncle and Father wanted to see her specifically. The Vrius family was large, and had members across the whole spectrum of the Star Empire's government, but she was the youngest and a lowly Centurion in Romulan Naval Intelligence.
Drela really wished she had brought her guitar, playing it helped her think. Ah well.
The pilot announced they would be landing on the pad at the Vrius compound shortly. THAT surprised her a bit, as she had been recalled under her Uncle's authority as a Senator. Protocol demanded that Drela be taken to the Senate instead. She smiled back at the pilot and thanked him, her mind processing this information and growing suspicious.
The pilot swallowed nervously, nobles didn't thank the help, usually. He wondered if the rumors about the Vrius family being corrupted by the Federation were true and whether or not he should report it. Then again making an enemy of one of the more powerful Families probably wasn't worth the trouble it would cause and he dropped it.
***
“There's my favorite niece!”
“Uncle!”
The old Senator laughed as Drela gave him a brief, familial hug. If this had been outside the Vrius estate the greeting would have been more formal, but inside the estate, outside of prying eyes one of the rumors about the Family was true: that they tended to be more affectionate and close knit.
Most of the time.
Drela wrinkled her nose in disgust as her cousin Kolmer rounded the corner, scowling in his Tal Shiar uniform.
He took in the display with a slight note of disgust, “Is it too much to show some decorum? At least you didn't show up with that...human device.”
“'Hello cousin, how are you?' 'I'm fine! Had so much fun saving the Empire along the border!' 'Really that's great!'” Drela sarcastically replied, “I mean, that's how normal people talk to each other when they don't have a stick up their ass.”
Kolmer snarled and was about to retort when the Senator stopped them, “Children, please, we don't have time for this. Let's head to the conference room and I'll explain why you are here.”
Drela raised an eyebrow up at her Uncle as her cousin led the way, stiff backed and agitated, whispering, “Didn't we disown him when he joined sides with Sela?”
Her Uncle smiled down at her and patted her shoulder, “Publicly we had to but...wheels within wheels.”
He smiled as he caught the slight widening of her eyes and immediate return to a happy go lucky smile that hid what she was thinking. The old Senator almost chuckled, he doubted anyone else knew her tells. Honestly he was proud of his niece and his son...although he did wish the boy would relax when around family.
“But, won't his being here break his cover?”
“Oh no, he is here officially...to interrogate you.”
“Oh, how fun!”
“Trust me, my dear, you are in no trouble.”
Kolmer activated the door for the conference chamber, turning to glare at them, “Not yet, at least. Don't think your unromulan activities on that ship haven't gone unnoticed. Do you know how many reports I've had to suppress to keep you from being dragged in as a traitor?”
Drela actually stopped in shock, “Kolmer, I had no idea. I'm honestly touched. Thank you, I really AM a loyal servant of the Empire.”
He looked away, scowl still on his face, “Well, I didn't do it just for you. Just don't do anything so extravagant I CANNOT hide it.”
She smiled at him and stepped into the conference room, immediately using a scanner to sweep it for bugs, “What, are you going to tell me that this is useless as you had already done it, Kolmer?”
“In point of fact I have, twice. But I don't mind a second opinion.”
“Found one...inside the wall behind the grouting,” Drela looked up at him.
Theh Tal Shiar agent cursed and went over to it, scanning it with his own device, “I tell them every time we need to upgrade these things...that device isn't standard.”
“I made it myself, do you want one?”
He grimaced as he worked the grouting free with a knife, “Wouldn't hurt. Got it, looks like a monitoring device from the Ke'then Family”
The Senator groaned as he sat down, “No wonder he's been having some success trying to pin me down on the S'Thar matter. Take care of it, will you?”
Kolmer placed the tiny device on the table and smashed it with the pommel of his dagger, “Shall I get started?” At a nod from his father Kolmer turned to Drela, “We've received a warning from the Federation.”
Drela blinked, “Tensions are high but we haven't done anything serious enough for them to warn about war over.”
Kolmer grimaced, “It's not that. They found who was destroying our colonies. The ones your ship was investigating.”
Drela sat up straighter, “The strange cube ship? They confronted them? I hope they did more than offer them tea and asking them if they would kindly stop.”
The Tal Shiar agent leaned back, looking worried, “No. The USS Enterprise was apparently struck by some sort of anomaly, they are vague on the details on THAT, but were flung light years away. What is it about Federation ships that this happens to them constantly?
“Anyway, they encountered a ship matching the cube ship in your image. They attempted to make contact and the ship caught them in a tractor beam, beamed over a cybernetic probe (THROUGH their shields) that immediately started accessing their databases. When they attempted to stop it they were forced to kill it. It disintegrated using a self destruct and another one immediately appeared in its place and started accessing the database again. When they shot this one it...raised a shield absorbing the blast.”
Kolmer poured them each some water from a pitcher on the table, “It beamed back. My timeline may be iffy, but that's when the cube communicated with them. They called themselves the Borg, and that the Enterprise should surrender, give them all of their technology, and that 'Resistance is Futile'”
Drela listened with mounting horror as Kolmer went on, describing how the cube had cut a section of the Enterprise away, and how the stricken ship was able to escape, being pursued by the cube and that even photon torpedoes glanced harmlessly off of it.
“Luckily they appear to have stumbled into the same anomaly and were cast back into Federation space. The Tal Shiar is in an uproar over it. Some of the leadership think it's a Federation trick to get us looking towards the frontier instead of at the border. Sela and the others think this is an opportunity to secure technology that could give us an advantage in the war they think is coming.”
Her Uncle looked at her, “You've seen what this vessel is capable of. I wanted your opinion before I formed a decision in the Senate.”
Drela looked down at her hands, gripping the table, “The Enterprise is Starfleet's flagship, commanded by a veteran crew and as powerful militarily as a D'Deridex and has the most advanced technology the Federation can offer. And you are saying it had to flee from these Borg?”
Kolmer nodded, looking tired.
“The Federation is unwilling to engage in conflict but in my experience, humans especially, they fight as hard as Klingons and with more intelligence when pressed. Uncle, Cousin...that colony wasn't simply destroyed. It was scooped out of the ground entirely. Not bombarded, not disintegrated...scooped like a child getting a mollusk on the beach.
“To borrow a human phrase with these Borg...I don't think we should fuck around with them.”
***
Drela sat on her bed in her old room, strumming the guitar that she had left there quietly, thinking. Kolmer had ordered her not to share this with the Irixidon backed up with orders he had gotten from her own RNI superiors.
Luckily Kolmer and her Uncle had agreed with her. Even so the Senator and her Aunt were only two voices in the Senate, and Sela was getting her way more and more.
She abruptly stood up and walked to the window, which had a glorious view of the City. The Imperial Senate building dominating the cityscape. She briefly envisioned those Borg Cubes above, scooping it away like a child with a shovel. Drela shook the image away.
“Elements protect us.”
Tags: Romlins!
