The Romulan Connection

Posted on Wed Apr 20th, 2011 @ 12:54am by Lieutenant Antoine Théroit

Mission: Renegades
Location: Various

Antoine Theroit sat at a vacant table in the officer's mess with his tray with food. He had built up an appetite after the Arizona had fallen attack by an unknown foe. Probably the raiders they were on the hunt for but they turned out being the hunted, the prey. He took a sip of the ice cold cola he had ordered along with his meal.

Two junior officers sat down near him with several others. "Hey man, did you hear who the hell attacked us?"

"Yeah, man. Those Romulan bastards," another one replied.

"Cowards. Running off with their tails between their legs!" The crowd laughed.

Theroit overheard. He frowned at that the Romulans had attacked them. One of the junior officers looked over at him, "What the hell are you looking at?"

"Nothing," he turned his head away at the window nearby at the stars. He thought of the Romulan military officer he had a romantic entanglement with during his time on Romulus. He remembered the discussions they had and the time they spent together. He hated the thought that she or her homeworld could be involved in such a sinister plot. They had developed the framework to strengthen diplomatic ties between the Romulans and the Federation. He rose to his feet and he had some stares from the table of younger officers.

[Diplomatic Office]
[Ten Minutes Later ]

Antoine rushed into the "lobby" of his small office. He looked over to his yeoman Petty Officer Victoria Denman
rose to her feet from her small office, "Welcome back Lieutenant. That was an awfully quick lunch."

Antoine nodded his head, "Yes, yes it was Petty Officer Denman." He regained the compusture he had lost at the mess hall and took in a deep breathe. He exhaled deeply before continuing, "I know you are suppose to be due for lunch in twenty-five minutes Petty Officer. However something is important." He took off his commbadge on his uniform and set it on his desk. "If I get any communiques, please take messages. I don't want to be disturbed. No one except for me goes into my office. Understood?"

Denman nodded, "Yes Lieutenant."

"Thank you Petty Officer." Antoine walked into his office and waited for the door to close. He inserted his authorization code stating that his work was sensible. He sat down behind his desk and took in a deep breathe while he powered on the terminal. He inserted the dialing algorithim before calling the computer, "Computer. Hail Centurion T'Rehu Merek. Secure and sensible diplomatic cable."

He waited for the hail frequency to connect. He fiddled with his thumbs before the beautiful short raven black haired Romulan military officer answered the phone, "Aefhkhiv. Lieutenant Antoine Theroit. Is this a personal or a business call?" Her lips parted after she bit her lower lip while she noticed his Starfleet insignia commbadge wasn't attached to the uniform, "Or have you called to defect?" She released a laugh.

Antoine shook her head. She insisted that she assign him a Romulan name (against his better wishes of course) "No unfortunately I am calling on a delicate matter-"

"Oh what a shame Lieutenant Theroit..." The Romulan military officer continued, "what delicate matter are you calling in regards to?"

"I have been reassigned to the USS Arizona. We are currently in the Gavarian Corridor. We were assigned to investigate unusual activity and to track down on piracy in the expanse. We have recently came under weapon's fire."

"Oh?" The Romulan leaned in, "I hope you are alright?"

"Twenty-two souls were unfortunately not so lucky, T'Rehu."

"Oh dear. Who attacked you?"

"You have no idea?" Antoine asked her.

"No, of course not."

"We were attacked by the Romulans."

Silence settled on both sides of the conversation.

"Are you positive? I'm not even sure that we even have military assets let alone merchant craft in that vicinity of space."

"Yes, I'm more than positive." Antoine looked through his system before he accessed the encounter log. He gave it a quick read to ensure that there wasn't any Federation nor Starfleet secrets in the report before sending it.

T'Rehu looked over the report and nodded her head, "I will see what I can find. As far as I'm aware Antoine - the Star Empire is not even interested in the Gavarian Expanse. I will get back to you as soon as possible."

Their conversation terminated. Antoine waited for thirty minutes before getting out from behind his desk to order an Americano he was going to need it.

[Hour Later.]

The terminal chirped. Antoine without hesitation answered. He ensured that the security algorithim was still secure. T'Rehu nodded at him, "I was able to obtain information from my Tal'Shair contact. There is no operation on the books in the Gavarian Expanse. The Imperial Navy doesn't have any form of assets. We don't even have longrange scout-detect ships within that vicinity. My contact said that there is a possibility of rogue element operating and they maybe very likely responsible for attacking the Arizona.
"Commander Stelam Neral disobeyed direct orders from High Command nearly seven years ago. He is a wanted war criminal and has connections with the Shinzon Uprising. He is wanted for crimes against the state for treason and dereliction of duty. We don't know his current crew compliment is. However his men were loyal to their cause. I am sure there was opposition but more then likely they were dealt with. The Romulan Star Empire is very interested in hoping that the USS Arizona can bring him to Romulus for justice if it's possible. That's all of the information that I have. Sorry I can't do anymore."

Antoine nodded his head, "I will bring your request to my Captain. I again thank you for your cooperation on this matter, Centurion Merek."

"Likewise," Merek answered, "and if you're ever on Romulus Antoine..."

Antoine just nodded his head, "Thank you again. Theroit out." He disconnected the call and rose to his feet immediately. He deprogrammed the algorithim. He exit his quarters. He offered his yeoman a smile, "I'm sorry Petty Officer Denman. You can have the rest of the day off. Again, I thank you for all you've done today."

"Not a problem. You didn't get any comms," she rose to her feet and passed him his commbadge, "Will you be needing this?"

"Yes," he took the commbadge and attached it to his uniform, "Theroit to the Captain. I have something to report. I'm on my way to your ready room." He took a PADD off the yeoman's desk and began to write up his report.