Diplomacy at its Best

Posted on Tue Nov 13th, 2018 @ 2:28pm by Captain Horatio Refelian & Telhas thu'S'Terion Sa-Shasol'kor t'Cheleb-Khor

3,245 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Into The Breach
Location: Romulan Embassy
Timeline: MD02 - 1400

Captain Refelian was pleased to hear the Ambassador’s wife had been found and returned safe and sound. He’d been eager to pay his respects to them but also understood that they needed some time together after her ordeal. As he was passing the Romulan embassy he thought he’d pop in and see if it was a good time to speak with them.

The two Reman guards patrolling the area in front of the building looked at Refelian and recognized him as the person he was, but they neither greeted him nor did they pay too much attention to him. It was clear that their threat assessment designated him as harmless enough to let their comrades inside the embassy deal with him.

Refelian gave the two Reman guards a nod of respect as he passed them and entered the main building.

As soon as he entered the building, two Vulcan guards crossed their lirpas in front of him to stop him. At the same time, two Reman guards inside the room aimed their disruptor rifles, which had bayonets fixed as with all Reman guards, at him.

"Halt!" One of the Vulcans ordered. "State the reason for being here!"

“I’m here to speak to the Ambassador and his wife it’s its possible.” Refelian said, in a firm but neutral tone.

A young officer in a Reman uniform entered the atrium. She looked Romulan, with long black hair worn in a ponytail, yet she was as pale as a Reman. She hesitated for a moment until she understood what happened, then approached the Reman guards aiming at Refelian. "Shoulder arms!" she barked and once her order had been obeyed she continued "Order arms! Stand at ease!" Then she went to the two Vulcan guards barring the captain's way. "Same for you! Shoulder arms!" She ignored the anger showing in one of the Vulcan's face and continued. "One step back! Order arms!"

Then the officer bowed her head to Refelian. "My apologies, Captain. My orders seem to have been not clear enough. Welcome to the Romulan Embassy. I am Lieutenant cha'Havrannen, commander of the atrium guards. Please, follow me." She led him to the turbolift and once they entered she ordered "Hvi rhi."

“No apology needed. I understand after recent events.” Refelian replied. “A pleasure you meet, Lieutenant.” The Captain said with a respectful bow of the head before following the Atrium guards Commander.

"Thank you," the young officer replied with a shy smile.

It did not take long to reach the fifth floor. The turbolift doors opened and revealed a small room with a window to the atrium, a sofa and a wooden double door. "Please wait here for a moment," the lieutenant said and walked to the wooden door. She opened it only a little bit, looked inside and after a moment where she seemed very focused she signaled Refelian that he could enter, opening the door widely.

Inside the room Telhas stood next to a harp in the centre and Nevala stood next to a L-shaped sofa. They were in casual clothes. Telhas wore navy blue trousers of his House Guards' uniform, a grey T-shirt and grey socks, Nevala was dressed in a light green T-shirt and dark green shorts.

Telhas smirked. "Welcome to our home, Captain. I hope you do not mind us being under-dressed for any formal meeting. We just enjoyed some quality time together."

"He played the harp for me," Nevala added with a doting look to Telhas before she said "Please, have a seat, Captain. Can I offer you a beverage?"

The Captain raised his hand to decline the drink, “I won’t stay and ruin your time together. I understand you both need some together time. I just wanted to check in with you both. I was very pleased to hear you’d been found safe and well, madam Ambassador. I feel I must apologise for dragging you and your Government into this disagreement with the Faltan’s.”

"Please, take the seat and the drink," Telhas said and gestured towards the sofa. "I..." He looked at Nevala for a moment, then continued "We insist. Of all people on Faltan, you are the one with the least obligation to apologize. Please, accompany us for a while." He went to the sofa himself and settled next to Nevala.

“Thank you.” Harry said said as he perched on the edge of the L shaped sofa.

"By the way, you did not drag us into this disagreement, as you call it. We have our own disagreement, but not with their government. Ours is with Miss Saracenti, and hopefully settled." Telhas could not hide his concern and he noticed Nevala wincing when he spoke the name of Death Squad's leader. "Nonetheless, the cases are connected, but I have not been able to determine how. Time will tell."

“We do have an Intelligence team investigating what’s going on. We are still getting a picture of the structure of Death Squad and other organisations. But every piece of evidence we find opens half a dozen new leads. This will take some time to unravel.” The Captain explained.

"If you need any support from our side, feel free to ask," Telhas stated.

"I hope you bring them to justice. But at least they did not injure me," Nevala added and looked at Refelian for a moment before she asked "But how are you? Did you recover well? I have heard your condition was critical?"

“Thank you for the offer, I’ll mention it to our team leader when they next check in. I’m sure they’ll be pleased to have Romulan help if needed.” Refelian replied to Telhas before looking at his wife. “I’m pretty much recovered, I still get an ache in the shoulder every now and then, Doctor Aereen tells me it’s all psychological as there’s nothing there.” He said as he rubbed the shoulder in question. “I was very lucky to survive, I’m thankful the culprit wasn’t a good shot.”

"I cannot imagine how it is to be shot," Nevala confessed honestly, "but if you should need someone to talk, someone who has gone through another extreme situation, I will listen. Not now," she looked at Telhas, "sorry, my Love, but this would not be for your ears," turning back to Refelian, "but if you ask me, I will be there." Nevala had her own demons haunting her, the shooting, the explosion, this cold, yet civilized person of Vic. Maybe she was the right person to talk with. She just wanted to help, do something useful with her life.

“Thank you, madam ambassador, perhaps we could both talk about our experience over a drink. Perhaps after the ceremony.” Refelian said in agreement.

"Please, call me Nevala," she said with a warm smile. "I am not the biggest fan of formalities, you know?"

“My apologies.” Harry said with a smile. “I prefer Harry myself, but one can’t command people when they think he is their friend.”

"Than let us exploit the advantage that we are in different chains of command, shall we?" Telhas said smiling. "Although I know what you mean. For my House Guards, we are Duke and Duchess, or Lord and Lady. And for most Romulan citizens I am either Senator or Ambassador, but my Dearest can be simply Nevala for them. This helps a lot in reducing barriers and learning about the true concern of our people. For foreign relations I think it may also be advantageous to keep some informal channels open, where all formalities are unnecessary. Yet, your XO is already one such informal channel, and a person I fully trust, both her honesty and her skill."

Nevala nodded. "You know, he told me that she kept him from bombarding the planet when he considered me killed. This is quite an achievement. Plus I am sure that it saved my life. So, please tell her I am personally grateful and that I would love to meet her in person. Or..." she looked at Telhas for a moment as she thought 'Would you mind inviting both, Captain and XO, for dinner, my Love?'

Telhas read her thought and sent her his thought, smiling 'No, please, I would be most honoured, my Love.'

Nevala turned to Refelian again. "So, uhm, Harry, I may call you Harry? Would you mind accompanying us for dinner together with your XO? Maybe in one of the days after the re-opening ceremony?"

Refelian smiled, “Harry is fine in these situations.” He then wondered if they knew he and Mint were an item or whether it was a professional invitation. “That would be lovely, I’ve always been keen to try Romulan cuisine. After the ceremony will be perfect. I assume you got your invitation’s and are attending the event?”

"I have security concerns," Telhas said, "but I am sure I can find a solution together with your head of security. Besides that, yes, we will be attending. Both of us. Perhaps one note. I am a Vulcan duke. Although this means no power or any specific privileges, it has an impact on diplomatic protocol as soon as Vulcans are involved. They can be astonishingly conservative in this regard. It is an old duchy, in rank slightly below the priests of Mount Seleya. If this requires any specific seating of your Vulcan guests, please arrange accordingly."

Nevala looked at Telhas, then at Refelian and smiled. "It is an interesting story, maybe he should tell you one day."

“Perhaps over the dinner you mentioned.” Harry said with a smile before turning his attention back to Telhas. “I understand you would have reservations about the security of such an event but I can assure we have security at the top of the agenda. If we wish to speak to Lieutenant Masters then please feel free.”

"I guess I have to, otherwise Knight Commander Maiek will kill me for not doing so," Telhas smirked. "The old man can be very strict when it comes to my safety."

“I can understand that. It’s his job to keep you safe after all. Perhaps take him with you so he can ask the Lieutenant any questions he may have?” Refelian said, as he adjusted his seating position slightly.

"He kept me safe since my birth," Telhas said thoughtfully. "I should take him with me when I talk to Lieutenant... Masters, correct?"

“Correct, he has just taken over from Lieutenant Damon.” Replied Harry.

"Is there anything we could do for you, Harry? Anything to help you make the re-opening a success?" Nevala asked. It was her sense of diplomacy.

“Show up and play nice.” Harry said with a laugh.

"You heard that, my Love, we shall play nice," Nevala said grinning impishly, "We better play Duke and Duchess then."

"My Dearest, you say better play crazy nobility than mean politician?" Telhas laughed.

Nevala giggled. "You know," she leaned to Refelian and whispered, "he always complains I take all the fun away from him." She tried to look serious, but could not help laughing. Her bell-like laughter made Telhas laugh as well.

Harry laughed as well. “It’s good to see you both smiling and joking after what happened.” Refelian said as he glanced around the room. “And the finished article of the embassy is very impressive.”

"I could afford it to marry an excellent architect," Telhas said grinning.

Nevala beamed with pride. "If one gets the chance to plan such a building, one should excel."

“I’ll bare that in mind, Nevala. If we ever need to design and build another building I shall enlist your services.” Harry said as he continue to take in his surroundings. “Is it a mix of Romulan and Vulcan styles?” He asked curiously.

"Yes, it is," Nevala smiled radiantly, "Maybe I should explain? The stone in the facade gives an evolution from ancient Vulcan through ancient Romulan to modern Romulan architecture, showing the cultural evolution of our people as well as our foundation being on ancient Vulcan. The glass is made reflective outside so that whenever you look at it, it shows you the surrounding station somewhat incorporated into the stone colonnades. This shall display our connection to each other. See the other civilization, and you reflect on your own. The very promise of good diplomacy, is it not? And inside, you see a synthesis of Vulcan and Romulan styles."

Harry nodded intently as Nevala explained, “I have to admit I’m not expert in this field but some things I recognise from buildings I’ve seen and visited on Vulcan and I guessed the rest were of a Romulan design. I’ve never been in a Romulan building before, only ships and stations, and that was mainly when Hobus went super nova.”

"Then you missed the outstanding pieces of our architecture," Nevala said, "like the Senate complex, the Old Quarters of our capital, S'Task University Campus, and several more." There was a sadness in her voice.

As soon as Harry mentioned Hobus, Telhas left the sofa and went to a shelve at a wall and took a holo-image. When she had finished her words, he talked. "And you missed this." He went back to the sofa and handed the image to Harry. One could see two Romulan Commanders, a man and a woman, a younger version of Telhas in a Tal Shiar uniform, ranking sublieutenant, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, both in civilian clothes. They stood in a street leading to a castle on the flank of a mountain above them. The castle seemed ancient, of dark grey stone, but with white pillars decorating the walls. The mountain continued above the castle, snow started covering it maybe one hundred metres above the castle and the peak was still far away. "Forget about the people, you can still meet two of them, but the castle is lost, as well as Mount Varinor."

“My apologies, I should have been more tactful.” Harry replied somberly. “It looks very picturesque.” He said looking at the hologram.

"It is my home," Telhas explained. "Mount Varinor, the mountain you see, reached more than eight thousand yards above sea level. The way in front is the pass that connected the plains with the cities and villages inside the Kae'raktar Mountains. It was not the only pass, but the only one you could use in winter. The castle was my home, and the home to my people since planetfall. It saw battles and celebrations. And billions of tourists. The group of people are my closest family. My parents, Valkis, who took our seat in the Senate just after this holo had been taken. He died when Shinzon killed the senators. My mother, Verelan, of House T'Rehu, a descendant of the Ruling Queen in Romulus' early history. She died when her warbird had been destroyed in battle with Shinzon's troups. But at least she took out three warbirds. My sister, Ariana. She took the Senate seat when it had been restored after Shinzon's death. I ordered her to do so, because I did not feel ready for the task and she had been my father's assistant. I took the seat after Hobus. Ariana currently chairs my family foundation. And my brother Argelian, youngest of my siblings. When it was clear that not everyone could be evacuated before the Hobus shockwave hit Romulus he decided to stay with the people. He sent me a message explaining his reasoning. My House is now reduced to three. Myself, Ariana, and my cousin Khoren. We have been extinction many times in our six thousand years long history. We still exist. And this castle, Shield of the Kae'raktar, was a symbol to this. It protected the people, our enemies were crushed at its walls, and it stood there, despite avalanches, falling rocks, mudslide and earthquakes. Strong and invincible. Just as we are." He had no idea why he was telling all this, maybe to get Harry a feeling for the person he dealt with. "We are mountaineers," he added with pride.

Refelian nodded, “It sounds like you are a very proud and noble family. I’m sorry for the lost of your castle. I would have loved to have seen it in person.”

Telhas gave him an acknowledging nod. "Thank you, Harry. What you can still see, however, is Fort Aba'kur on Vulcan. It is the residence I own on Vulcan, and the original ducal residence of the Dukes of Cheleb-Khor. It took me quite an amount of discussion and resources to get it into my holding and fully restored. More than two thousand years ago my ancestors resided there, before they left the planet. Now, the Clan of S'Terion is back on Vulcan." He sounded extremely proud. "The sands of Vulcan are different than the mountains on Romulus, but I somehow feel at home there. We spent our honeymoon in Fort Aba'kur." He shrugged. "Well, a part of our honeymoon. You are always welcome there."

Harry took a sip of his drink as Telhas spoke. “Thank you, Telhas, I’d be honoured to visit your Vulcan home. When duty allows, of course.”

"The usual constraint," Nevala said with a warm smile.

“Tell me about it.” Harry replied with a chuckle. “I’m hopeful that after this ceremony is over we can get into routine and Station life can tick along without too much interference.”

"May the Gods hear your hope and support it," Telhas said, "Although I doubt it as long as Faltan's government stays as it is."

“I agree, I suppose I’ll need to reach out to them again after the ceremony. I want us to live together in peace.” Refelian said with a sigh. “But as you say, with the current government I doubt we’ll get that.”

"Maybe I should visit the governor," Telhas said with an evil smile.

“I doubt a Romulan Ambassador knocking on her door will get her attention either. We just need to find some common ground to build on.” The Captain said with a sigh. “Perhaps I should have invited the Governor to the ceremony.”

"The only common ground you could gain would be leaving Faltan," Telhas said and thought for a moment before he changed the topic. "Anyway, let us hope for a good opening ceremony tomorrow, without interference from the Faltans. But for today, I would like to spend some time with my wife alone." He smiled gently.

“Perhaps you’re right, I’ll leave the Faltan’s out of ceremony and contact them afterwards.” Refelian said before finishing his drink and standing, taking the gentle hint of the Ambassador wanting to spend time with his wife. “Thank you for your hospitality, I’ll leave you both to enjoy your time together.”

Both, Telhas and Nevala rose to their feet. "Thank you, Harry. We will meet at the opening ceremony." Telhas said smiling.

“Excellent, I look forward to seeing you both there.” Harry said with a smile and nod.

Nevala extended her hand. "You are always welcome to our home, Harry. Thank you for visiting us." She smiled gently.

The Captain took Nevala’s hand and gently shook it. “Thank you for your hospitality. Enjoy the rest of your day together.” Harry said before turning and making his own way out of the embassy.
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