Tea

Posted on Fri Mar 29th, 2019 @ 5:18pm by Nevala thu'S'Terion Ko-Shasol'kor t'Cheleb-Khor & Telhas thu'S'Terion Sa-Shasol'kor t'Cheleb-Khor & Rakena Kejaad

2,574 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Into The Breach
Location: Romulan Embassy
Timeline: MD05 - 1550

After all the other guests had been properly said good bye, Telhas led Rakena and Gul Reskat to his private suite. Discretely he had signaled a guard to inform Nevala in time so that everything would be prepared. When he opened the wooden double door to the suite, which led directly into the living room, Nevala stood there, dressed in a blue jacket and green trousers, with shiny black shoes. The room was decorated with sideboards and shelves at the walls, containing many books, some plants and holo-pictures showing Romulan people in different places. Almost in the middle was a big, L-shaped sofa with a coffee table and not far away was a chair at a harp. The coffee table carried two teapots on warmers, four cups, four plates and a bowl with cookies. Nevala smiled radiantly, as if her best friends just arrived.

"Lady Rakena, I am so happy that you found the time to accept my invitation," Nevala greeted the Cardassian lady, "I hope the meeting was fruitful?"

“As much as one can be with a starfleet involved.” She shook her head slightly.

"Gul, a pleasure to host you as well," she bowed her head slightly before turning to Telhas. "Do you have any preference, my Love, or are we free to choose our seats?"

"Please, my Dearest, you are the host," Telhas said with a fond smile.

"So, please, take a seat where you feel comfortable." Nevala took a seat near the angle of the sofa so that she would be in the middle, and gestured at the place at the other side of the angle. "Lady Rakena, would you mind sitting next to me?" Being seated that way, it would be much more comfortable to talk as both women would sit in a right angle to each other.

Rakena smiled. She quickly turned to Reskat to retrieve the gift she had brought for Lady Nevala. Taking the leather bound book, she seated herself next to Nevala. “I brought you this.” She handed the book to the Ambassador’s wife. “It’s a Cardassian classic. Meditations on a Crimson Shadow by Eleta Preloc.”

Nevala took the book, smiling brightly, and thumbed through it for a moment, cross-reading some pages. Her smile became beaming when she turned to Rakena. "Thank you so very much. I am most delighted. How did you know that I am interested in literature?"

"I had a hunch." Rakena was pleased with herself. " This is one of my favourites, and I've given you my personal copy. It's rather worn."

"This makes it so much more valuable," Nevala said, smiling even more. "It adds the personal value it has to you to the material value. I am... I really do not know what to say." She thought for a second and just said "Thank you so very much."

"I'm glad you like it." She smiled at Telhas. " I would have brought you a gift as well Ambassador, but it's my observation that spouses are often overlooked and under appreciated for their roles in what we do."

"I totally concur, Ambassador," Telhas said with an honest smile.

Nevala smiled happily. "Since we are here for tea... I made two kinds, Romulan Kae'raktar Tea, and Terran Darjeeling. The first is more spicy, the latter rather mild. The cookies are a selection of Vulcan, Terran and Bolian pastries. Personally I like the Terran ones. They have an ingredient called chocolate. The Vulcan ones are more salty, and the Bolian ones are sweet. Oh, and of course I have milk and sugar for the tea. Lady Rakena, which tea do you prefer?"

Rakena remembered the first blend fondly from her time on Romulus. “I think I should like the Kae'raktar Tea,thank you.” She smiled warmly at her hostess.

"My favourite tea, by the way," Telhas said with a polite smile.

"But only because you are a Kae'raktarha, my Love," Nevala said while she filled Rakena's cup. Smiling at Rakena she explained "This tea is really good, but it reminds Telhas of his home, the Kae'raktar Mountains. So he is a little biased."

The Cardassian woman smiled warmly as fond memories of her own husband flashed in her mind. She took the cup and sipped. “ Just as lovely as expected.”

"Thank you," Nevala replied while filling Telhas' cup. "You have been to Romulus when it still existed. How did you like it?"

“I was there for quite some time actually, I serve as the Union’s Ambassador to the Star Empire in Ki Baratan.” She sipped her tea and then set it aside on the table. “Romulus was one of the most beautiful planets I ever served on.”

"Ki-Ba was a wonderful city," Nevala said while memories of the capital, which was of course lost with the planet, came to her mind, "Have you visited Torek's Theatre?" The old theatre had been a place where the more progressive citizens went for entertainment. It often had plays with criticism on Romulan society, enough to make the Tal Shiar suspicious, but not enough to cause it to take action.

“I never had the opportunity sadly.” The Cardassian woman fluttered her eyelashes.. “Speaking of Theatre, that was quite the show in there.” She directed her comment to Telhas.

"Unfortunately yes," Telhas replied. "I remember the time when Starfleet officer received a good training in diplomacy, regardless of their branch. It seems that now even their diplomats are not properly prepared for negotiations. It is a pity, but good for us. What is your assessment of the meeting?"

Rakena sighed. “Where to begin?” She said rhetorically. “To start, the disconnect between the old man playing dress up and the boy is glaringly obvious. The young one can’t seem to see past parties and impressions to actually do his work and on top of that he can’t seem to decide how to dress.” She thought of his mixed uniform. “The Klingons , as always, are pliable. T’daroh will do whatever needs to be done or ensure it gets done.” She sighed again. “You and I seem to be the most forward thinking of the bunch. But that come with experience of course.”

Telhas nodded. "The young one seems to extremely inexperienced. Also, when I talked eye to eye with him yesterday, he seemed to be emotionally distracted. I am not sure if he is the right person, but if the Admiral insists that we accept the Lieutenant as his representative, why should we reject that? In my opinion, this can be advantageous for us. The most important thing is that we two are keeping good relations. If we stand united, we can influence Kincaid. This will make things easier for us, especially as I doubt we will compete in this sector. For the Senate, there is little interest in the Raeya Block. I can act most freely."

“ I am her only because the Council knew that your Government and the Klingons would be represented here.” She shook her head. “ Cardassia has no need for such a distant and conflicted area.”

"We have no need for this area either, but unfortunately it is in our neighborhood," Telhas said with a polite smile. "If it would be up to me, this planet would have been obliterated after Nevala's return. Yet, the Senate has a different point of view. And my wife as well."

Nevala gave him a disapproving look. "You know that I do not support the punishment of entire populations for the misconduct of their government. Conquest would be all right, to grant them a better government."

"What is your opinion, Ambassador?" Telhas asked politely to get their guest back into the discussion.

“The Cardassian way generally lends itself to your view.” She smiled and picked up her cup to sip again.

Telhas smiled triumphantly. "As I told you, my Dearest. Sometimes you have to punish, even if it causes collateral damage."

"Maybe." Nevala forced herself to smile. "Something else where your opinion would be welcome. What do you think of a pact, as long as we are on this planet? We can call you for help, and you can call us for help, should these..." Filthy bastards ruling this world. "Should any of the Faltean groups decide to attack one of our embassies?" She sipped some tea.

Rakena made eye contact with Gul Reskat. “I believe that sounds more than fair.” She smiled and returned her gaze to Nevala.

"You will get a secure encryption to contact us," Telhas stated looking at Rakena for a moment, then at Gul Reskat. "Should it become urgent, there will always be a cloaked ship of me in orbit. For ground support or evacuation. Gul, you may always call Knight Commander Maiek tr'Sahen. He is my head of security."

Reskat cocked his head and took in everything that was said. He returned a curt nod in response.

"I would like to inform you of another action for security I am going to take," Telhas said, addressing Rakena again. "The land granted to our Embassies is not that much, and insufficient for a defense perimeter which deserves that name. As such, I will claim a radius of two miles around my embassy and install force fields, mine fields and more defensive equipment. We are ten miles off Faltan Station and the land between the Embassy and the Station is only waste land. Personally, I would recommend that you take similar action."

Rakena nodded to Reskat, as if to say that he should see to that. “ I appreciate the tip.” She said softly. Suddenly she shook her head. “My My, where have we come?” Quickly she offered Nevala a smile to ease any discomfort in the room.

"If I remember correctly, this should have been a cosy chat while drinking tea." Nevala smiled her brightest smile. "I am sorry that it developed into that direction. Nonetheless, it is good that we have spoken about increasing security. So, where was our chat before we came to that topic? Oh yes, theatre. Or maybe we could extend the topic a little to all fine arts. I have read that Cardassia has a rich culture with many outstanding examples of fine arts. Besides literature, it seems you produced many excellent composers of music. Can you recommend some?"

“Ilani Tarn.” Rakena said without hesitation. “ She was regarded by many as Cardassia's greatest, and her use of the trikolat is unparalleled.” The Cardassian could speak about the arts forever. She was a keen supporter of the arts in all forms.

Reskat shifted slightly. “If you want contemporary mastery, Grijik Lep is on the rise.”

Rakena was surprised that Reskat had an opinion on such things.

Nevala gave Telhas a look and he handed her a PADD. She noted the names, smiling happily. "I will definitely listen to the music of both. Both, Telhas and I, share our interest in the fine arts." She looked at her husband for a moment, who smiled gently at her. "Maybe I am a little more interested than you, my Love?" She turned to Rakena again. "Perhaps because I am an architect? You know, one should have at least a little of a feeling for music to design a good performance hall. Unfortunately, the Grand Opera in Ki Baratan is no more. It had the perfect sound."

In truth, Rakena had cherished her time on Romulus and regretted that she would never experience it again. “Well, if you ever find your way to Cardassia, I would be honoured to host you and show you the sites.” She smiled. “My status would get us a long way on Cardassia.”

"This sounds wonderful!" Nevala smiled radiantly. "Thank you for the offer. I could offer to show you Rator III, should you ever make it there, but honestly, it is not my favourite planet. Maybe Vulcan would be interesting? We have an estate there, and there is so much more to Vulcan than their dead-like logic. They have a very interesting history, at least before they became android-like.”

“Luckily I’ve had few interactions with them.” Rakena sipped her tea. “Although, you seem to have quite a few running around.”

Nevala grinned. "Well, they are... different." She shrugged and looked at Telhas, thinking that he should reply.

Telhas received her thought. "The Vulcans here belong to my House Guards. Actually, the Vulcan government is happy that I took care of them. They are outcasts, rejecting the way of pure logic. They do not try to get rid of their emotions. They face them, deal with them, enjoy them. It was a part of my agreement with the Vulcan government. In return, they accepted my claim on my Vulcan titles and returned some of the land to me that belongs to the titles. My duchy and my county are both on Vulcan. To modern Vulcans, these titles mean nothing. To me, they are important. And in diplomatic protocol with Vulcans they are also important."

“Fascinating.” Rakena said with feigned interest. In truth, she had a file that was compiled on each of her counterparts on Faltan, which she had studied vigorously prior to arriving.

Gul Reskat tapped his standard issue chronometer embedded in the wrist of his uniform.

Rakena took the sign. “I’m so sorry, it seems I’ve let time get away from me.” She set her cup aside. “ I’m due to liaise with the Detapa Council on today’s proceedings before the evening casts.” She waved off Gul Reskat.

The Gul stood and nodded to the hosts before exiting the room to call the Ambassador’s skimmer around.

“I must thank you both deeply for having me.” Rakena spoke graciously. “I mean to have an evening of light hearted entertainment at my own Embassy hopefully soon.” The Cardassian looked to Telhas. “I will discuss the increased fortification around the perimeter of my Embassy further with my security staff. I thank you for the suggestion.” She stood.

Both, Nevala and Telhas stood as well. "I will guide you to your vehicle," Telhas said smiling politely. It was an old tradition, originally meant to show that the host himself ensured his guest's safety.

"Lady Rakena, you are a most welcome guest," Nevala said with a bright smile. "I am looking forward to seeing your Embassy. And hopefully Cardassia one day."

The Cardassian smiled sincerely to both her hosts. She hoped that relations between them would continue to be smooth. They walked together to the main entrance of the Romulan Embassy. “I will be in touch soon. Thank you both, once again for having me today, and for hosting the meeting earlier. I can only hope this is resolved quickly and without further incident.” Rakena nodded to Telhas as her skimmer stopped, Gul Reskat exited and stood in wait for the Ambassador.

"So do I," Telhas replied and watched her enter her skimmer. She stood in front of his Embassy's entrance until the vehicle was out of sight. Another tradition, to show that one would protect the guest as long as possible. It had been a good idea to invite Rakena for tea, he thought. It seemed they were at good terms, something he wanted to improve further. And he was happy to see how much Nevala had grown into a her role as ambassador's wife. He never doubted that she would do, but he was surprised how quick she did.

 

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