Sending a Message

Posted on Wed Oct 17th, 2018 @ 2:23pm by Captain Horatio Refelian & Telhas thu'S'Terion Sa-Shasol'kor t'Cheleb-Khor & Dreyem Taga

2,036 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Into The Breach
Location: Government Building, Faltan City
Timeline: MD02 - 2000

Telhas had waited till evening before his visit. He beamed to a street near the government building and made his way to the building. He would appear to be Faltan to everyone, but not because of a disguise. He simply changed his appearance in the mind of everyone crossing his way. The way into the government building was similar. The guards considered him a VIP with an appointment with the governor. For that purpose he did not even alter his appearance in their minds. They stood at attention when he passed, which would make it totally convincing for anyone checking the surveillance cameras that he was there. He could not change the camera recordings, so this was the best way. He had left his sword at home, but his Rod of Kel was with him. But who would care of a sceptre-like item? When he reached the governor's floor he waited outside her office until her previous appointment left and she was available. Her secretary had already left and the guard in front of the door saluted and let him pass. It was just too easy being the only mind lord on a planet of non-psions.

When he entered the room he appeared to Governor Taga to be Faltan, but as soon as the doors closed behind him he saw no reason to keep the illusion. But now, with only one person to influence, he could focus most of his will on her. He prevented her from moving and speaking. "Governor, so kind of you to welcome me at such a late time. I am happy that we finally meet in person. I hope you are well?" He waited for a second for a reply, then he continued, looking a little embarrassed. "Oh, so stupid of me to forget that you cannot move or talk." He smirked.

Fear took over the Governor as the Romulan stopped her from moving or talking. ’How could he do this?’ She thought to herself.

"So, Dreyem... I may call you Dreyem, may I not?" He looked at her for a moment, then smirked, "I knew you would agree. So, Dreyem, just to avoid any misunderstanding. I am not here to do you any harm, but should you call for help or try to run or try to attack me, I am afraid that you will get insane with no cure for it. So, if you are willing to keep this meeting face to face, please give me a sign." He gave her enough freedom to either nod or shake her head.

She considered lying to the Ambassador just to be free and get away from him but she was also curious to what he had to say. She gave an obvious blink of her eyes to agree to his terms.

Telhas reacted with a slight nod of his head. He loosened his telepathic grip on her, allowing her to move and talk again. Yet he kept his senses aware, making sure he could always react to her thoughts before she could put anything into action. "So, let thus keep this an unofficial meeting without any need of diplomacy, shall we?"

Taga nodded slowly, still very much aware of the power the Romulan Ambassador had.

"Then where shall I start." Telhas went to Taga's desk and leaned his hands on it, leaning forward and staring dangerously into her eyes. "You are hosting terrorists, Dreyem. Terrorists who bombed my embassy, killed twelve of my guards, and abducted my wife. I can barely imagine this happened without your consent. And to be honest, I doubt that you have any idea how close I have been to bomb your species into extinction." His voice had become lower and lower, and more and more hissing, as he talked. In the end, an intimidating anger was in his eyes. Then, abruptly, he stood upright again and continued talking calmly, his anger all gone. "You have to thank Starfleet that they talked me into letting your people live." Smirking, he added "I like the irony of that."

“Ambassador, I can assure you we are not harbouring any terrorists. I know there are extremists work against me and my Government who support the Federation. They probably are the ones responsible for the attack on your embassy and death of your people. You said it yourself you came very close to destroying our planet, it would be very silly for us to sanction such a stupid act.” The Governor said. “We are taking steps to find and eliminate this extremist group.”

"You mean groups like Red Guards and Sacred Bones then, I guess?" Telhas said emotionless.

Dreyem was surprise by the Ambassador’s knowledge of the underground groups. There must be a leak somewhere. I’ll need to fix that. she thought to herself. “You have done some digging haven’t you, come across anything else of interest?”

Telhas could read her thoughts clearly. They were too much conscious to be hidden. Although he triumphed inwardly, he did not show this. His appearance stayed emotionless. "As you refused to assist me, I have been forced to dig a little myself. And yes, indeed, there is something of interest. Is it a general tradition in your culture to sacrifice people to your gods? Or is this just reserved for specific circumstances, like, say, a plague?" His demeanor appeared completely curious, without any accuse.

“What are you talking about?” Taga said defensively. “You came here to talk then talk, don’t talk in riddles!”

"Never mind," Telhas grinned. "You can investigate yourself." He did not really care if the Faltans killed each other. "Back to why I am here. First, something for you to know. I will stay on Faltan, as does my embassy. Not because I or the Star Empire have any interest in this planet. You can have it for yourselves, nobody wants a planet like this." He smiled excusing. "Well, at least unless you are born on this planet, I guess. No offence intended. But, unfortunately for you, this place is almost equally far away from all theatres of interest to the Star Empire. This is why the embassy stays, as I will do. However, I can promise that you can do whatever you want with your people. Terrorize them, benefit them, I could not care less. You can accept this or declare war. Your decision. My suggestion is that you ignore me and my staff, and we ignore you and your people. Is this acceptable?" Despite the politeness, his voice had something threatening to it. Something that did not accept a 'no'. It almost seemed as if a second voice was hissing the question just as Telhas spoke the words.

’Maybe for now we’ll leave you alone.’ The Governor thought to herself surpressing the urge to smile at the thought. “I’m still not sure why you are here to tell me this. Stay or leave, leave would be more preferable if I’m honest but I have no care for you or Starfleet.”

Again he could read her thought, but he did not show it. "As I said when we talked the first time, I feel sympathy for your isolationist approach. We Romulans also prefer to be left alone. Anyway, there are two things left I wanted to tell you. Number one, just a piece of information. The next successful bombing of my embassy will turn this planet into a black hole within the same second as the bomb detonates. I had to install a reactor to the embassy, and you know we are using quantum singularities. So please take my advice and encourage your security forces to do whatever it takes to prevent the local terrorists from bombing my embassy again. It is in everyone's interest."

“We aren’t isolationists, we just prefer to choose our own company. I’m sure you’ll see what I mean in the time to come.” The Governor replied. “Again, I don’t know why you’re telling me, I have no wish to hurt anyone. We simply wish to be left alone.”

"And now, the most important reason for my visit. I have to ask you a favour." Telhas smiled politely. "My wife has recently been a guest of a person whom I am very sure works for you. So, would you please tell Miss Victoria Saracenti that I am personally grateful for the grace and the hospitality she granted my wife and that I totally agree to the result of her discussion with my wife? I am sure that Miss Saracenti will be most pleased to receive this message, and that she will also be grateful towards you. I am also sure that she would be rather disappointed if you will not forward this message to her. I would have loved to inform her in person, but unfortunately I do not have her current address."

’Saracenti and I need to have a talk about this. Too much information is being spilt and leaked.’ Dreyem thought to herself. “I’m afraid I don’t know who your talking about, is that someone within this Government?”

It had just been an assumption that she knew Vic, but Dreyem's thoughts had betrayed her. So you want to play. Nice, then let us play, Telhas thought. "Too bad, my mistake," he said and created the illusion of Vic entering the room in Dreyem's mind. He also looked briefly at the doors to give some reality to his illusion.

Suddenly Saracenti walked through the door, “Saracenti! What the hell are you doing here? Are you working with the Romulans?” She blurted out.

Telhas smiled coldly as he let the illusion fade. "It seems you remember. Yes, exactly this miss Saracenti I have been talking about. Then you can deliver my message. Do not forget this, because if I need to come back I may be less polite." He forced her arms and legs to stop moving, just in case she wanted to do something stupid.

“Yes I know her, for all my sins. What’s the message?!” Taga snapped.

"I hate to repeat myself," Telhas said angrily, "So this time, listen carefully, and make sure you memorize every single word. Tell Miss Saracenti that I am personally grateful for the grace and hospitality she showed towards my wife, and that I fully agree to the result of her discussion with my wife. And my compliments for her skill. Have you got everything?"

The Governor simply nodded.

As Telhas was not convinced that the message would be delivered properly, he decided to burn the words into Dreyem's mind. She would never forget these words, nor would she be able to alter them. He continued to stare into her eyes for a moment after he finished, then he smiled politely. "Well, Dreyem, thank you for your time. Unfortunately, I have to make sure that you do not act stupid. Our talk showed me that you are not trustworthy, so we will end as we started. Do not worry, you will be able to move and talk again in a few minutes. It may be that your limbs feel a little numb for a while, but this should fade. It is a pity that our technology still has these side effects. I will talk to my engineers to fix it, just in case we meet again. Anything you want to say before I leave?"

Dreyem Taga silently shook her head. The meeting with the Romulan Ambassador would surely stay with her for the rest of days.

Before Telhas left the room, he turned to the governor again. "Out of courtesy I will send you an invitation for the opening of my embassy, whenever this may be." He smiled coldly. "I expect you to decline." He stared at her for a moment before he finally put her in the state of neither moving nor talking.

He left the room and the building, making sure that he would not look suspicious. Back in the street, he walked into a smaller street, where he ordered his ship to beam him back on board.

 

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