= Presidential Building = Paris, France, Earth =
The main conference room of the presidential building could easily
hold up to a hundred people. That was usually the case when a
meeting by the president was called to order. Even selected media
would be allowed
to attend, shooting holophotos and such. But, in a rare case such as
this, only the key members of the Federation government and
Starfleet had been summoned, so the long table looked almost empty
with the
exception of the small gathering at the center. In addition,
representatives of the Erassian government had been asked to attend.
They were the only non-Federation personnel in attendance.
Retired Fleet Admiral Harold Malone entered the room, wearing his
civilian formal suit. On the lapel was a little Federation flag. As
Secretary for Defense, he was usually included in these meetings, but
this one had no preparatory notes, so it was clearly so top secret,
that no record of it should ever exist. He sat at the table, and
waited.
Ambassador Albritt, the el-aurian Secretary of State, preferred to
wear his usual long grey robes. His grey hair was kept close-cropped,
he hated it when it touched his ears. He was supposed to make a trip
to Cestus III to hold low-level talks with some Klingon
representatives today, but President Spock's meeting took priority,
and an undersecretary was sent in his stead.
Premier Joseph Lephren, the Head of the Erassian Alliance walked in
accompanied by General Morgan Eaglestone, Commanding Officer of the
Erassian Alliance Fourth Fleet. Premier Lephren wore an austere black
suit whilst General Eaglestone looked intimidating in his dark
military uniform. As they took their places at the table Lephren
speculated that their image might be that of Ravens come to feed on
carrion.
Commodore Martin Stone, Chief of Starfleet Operations, was summoned
to this somewhat special meeting as well. Martin wore is usual
Starfleet duty uniform of a flag officer. He was not a member of any
special units or intelligence, so his uniform was a standard flag
officer one. Through ordinary looking, underestimating Stone was not a
good idea. He was involved in almost all Starfleet operations, save
the MOST secret ones performed by SFI or Section 31.
Even as the people in the room talked amongst themselves, they
noticed the arrival of President Spock, who was wearing his
traditional white robes. Two security officers, members of Spock's
presidential security detail, followed the president in and stood at
the door. As Spock pulled out his chair, he looked around at the
others in the room.
"Please be seated," the president said in a calm, assuring tone.
The grey-haired Admiral Janeway, who'd been the first to arrive for
the meeting, sat down waited quietly as the other members who'd been
summoned took their seats at the table. It was remarkable the power
held by the handful of people assembled in the room; powerful enough
to decide the fate of the entire Federation.
"Before we begin, I must once again remind you that what is said here
today must not leave this room," Spock said.
Albritt shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Keeping secrets rarely
played well in his line of work, especially if those who the secret
was being kept from found out one was keeping it. It tended to sour
relations.
The Vulcan/Human president placed his hands in front of him on the
table, laying them palm flat on the table.
"The only two people in this room who are aware of what I am about to
tell you are Admiral Janeway and myself, and I was only informed of
this a few months ago. Years prior to the Dominion War, even before we
knew the existence of the Dominion or even the Bajoran Wormhole, the
Federation was involved in a high priority weapons research program.
Its purpose was to combat another threat that had arisen in another
part of the galaxy -- the Borg. Numerous technologies that came out
of that program are still in use today."
Spock paused for a moment before he continued.
"One such piece of technology that came from that program was deemed
too destructive that it was scrapped and any trace of it was erased
from all databanks. Even so, this device recently resurfaced."
The president leaned back and held his hands together.
Martin sighed without making any sound. This all was quite leading to
Intel stuff and knowing the whereabouts, this would need someone to
clean up the mess. Usually someone with no idea WHAT he was about to
do.
"This device, created by Doctor Trevor Wright, is called the TechEx.
It is a powerful technology inhibitor, more powerful than anything
ever conceived before or since. One that, when activated, may be able
to encompass an entire star system. In theory, no shielding or
atmosphere can protect against its effects, which are permanent."
The president waited for the expected response, which didn't take long.
Harold was shocked that something like this could've been kept secret
for so long. He'd been Captain of the USS Bellephron during the Borg
incursion into Sector 001, and had known the lengths the Federation
had gone to protect itself. But to create something like this… with
such scope… it was like the Genesis Bomb all over again. "President
Spock, as a man who witnessed the after-effects of the Genesis device,
even yourself being reborn from it, can you not see the potential for
harm this device could do, once the universe knows of its existence,
and reverse-engineers it?"
"I agree, Mr. President." Albritt chimed in. "If knowledge of this
leaks, it would damage relations with even our other allies. The
Klingons and Romulans would no doubt try to match our capabilities."
"After all the moral posturing of the Federation during the
negotiation of the Mutual Defense Treaty it is reassuring to know all
our expectations of Federation hypocrisy are being met. Your diplomats
argued that our own weapons research and development was destabilising
the region and our defence policies incited aggression from other
races. At least our weapons kill outright with your tech inhibitor you
are potentially sentencing billions to death by slow and painful
starvation." Premier Lephren said.
"I believe that the only way to end this war without unnecessary loss
of Federation, Erassian or any other allied life is to use this
weapon," Spock said. "It may be the only logical way we can force the
Romulans to accept a surrender on our terms."
Albritt frowned. "Without working replicators, millions on Romulus
would starve. There's just not enough arable land on the planet to
support its population. And they wouldn't be able to scramble enough
resources to feed everyone." He paused, making eye contact around the
table. "It would be a humanitarian disaster."
"I know the loss of Romulan civilian life will be high," the
president responded. "My wish since the day this war began was to
spare the lives of as many civilians as possible, even the Romulans
who I still consider my brothers and sisters. I still believe
reunification is possible. The alternative is to commence in the
invasion of key Romulan star systems, including Romulus itself. The
loss of allied and Romulan life will be high. So, logic would suggest
that we strike at the Romulans in a way that will keep at least our
casualties to a minimum."
"It would render Romulus completely unfit for habitation as well."
Harold said. "We would effectively be depriving them of the right to
use technology again. We'd essentially be destroying their home, and
perhaps making them nomadic."
"Need I remind you of V'Tar, Harold?" Janeway interjected. "That was
the home of millions of Federation citizens; the Romulans didn't
hesitate to destroy it."
"If the Romulans do surrender in a relatively short time frame, then
we will be able to provide substantial aid to save as many lives as
possible," Spock said.
General Eaglestone responded "President Spock with all due respect I
don't think you quite have the grasp of the big picture here. Now
before I'm dismissed out of hand by the people gathered here as young
and inexperienced I'll admit I'm likely not as traveled or
experienced as half the people in this room. That aside I'm a top
flight strategist and I know the workings of war better than probably
all but one person in the Alliance. To make the Romulans surrender you
would have to take out seventeen systems minimum and I'm not talking
about minor colonies, outposts and the like. I'm talking about Systems
with primary shipyards, major planetary and
orbital bases, intelligence hubs, major resource centres not to
mention long established colonies with large populations. In short
very well defended and surrounded by the latest long range sensor
grids. If you wanted a highly likely cessation of hostilities it would
be twenty four systems, and for guaranteed twenty nine systems. I know
this because we already looked at this option, our estimates for
population was One hundred and Nine Billion Romulans and assorted
species over the twenty nine systems. We are no longer in the realm of
escalating warfare to an unsustainable level, we're now talking mass
genocide on a scale never seen before."
President Lephren spoke next. "Given the huge numbers involved even
if the entirety of the Federation fleet was dispatched for aid
missions to the affected systems, the death toll would still be around
twenty billion. That's not even taking into account the fact that
these strikes would still leave large numbers of Romulan warships
roaming around and with a headless leadership their first retaliatory
targets would be those aid ships."
Sariania Nox, the Trillian Federation Council Chairman had remained
quiet throughout the meeting, perhaps more of a state of shock than
anything else. Even so, she could not keep quiet any longer.
"Mr. President, I find the existence of such a weapon deplorable,"
Nox, who was living in her eighth host said. "The fact that you would
even consider use of such a weapon goes against everything the
Federation stands for. Have we declined to such a level that this is
even an option?"
"Chairman Nox, I ..." Spock was then interrupted. Prior to this
meeting, such an interruption of a man as esteemed as Spock would have
been unheard of.
"Please, Mr. President, I'm not finished," Nox continued. "While the
council can not stop the use of this weapon, we can begin criminal
proceedings against yourself and anyone else in the government or
Starfleet that would promote use of this device."
"Chairman, I have not yet approved the use of this device. Yes, it
has become an option, but for the time being, it will be just that, an
option," Spock remained calm. "If we are fortunate, it will not be
necessary. But, we must plan for such an eventuality." Spock took a
look around the table, "As for the risks, I am quite aware of the
risks."
He turned to face the Joint Defense Command commanding officer.
"Admiral Janeway, there is a star system on the far end of Federation
space from the Romulan Star Empire. It is a failed colony in which
numerous structures are still in place and can easily be activated.
This system will be used as our test site. Doctor Wright will head up
the science team on this project. Give him anything, or anyone he
needs. I want the test to take place within the next month."
"Of course, Mr President," Janeway nodded.
Nox slammed her right fist down on the table, "Mr. President. I must
protest. Even testing such a weapon could open a Pandora's Box that we
may never be able to close."
"Councillor, if you would forgive my objection," Janeway interrupted
the Trill councillor. "While I would be the last person to condone
genocide, the time has come to take a decisive stance against the
Romulans. Take a look at our history of them. All evidence suggests
that this war will take a toll greater than that of the Dominion War
if not ended quickly. Millions of Federation and Erassian lives have
already been lost, far greater than the Romulan casualties. Our
intelligence has proven that the Romulans are not acting alone. They
have the Breen under their control, almost succeeded in collapsing the
Klingon Empire into civil war and have been collaborating with a
number of species that we did not even know existed. Do you want to
wait until another world is destroyed, billions dead? Perhaps we
should wait until Andor has fallen, or perhaps Trill, before we take
decisive action."
"Come now Kathryn." Harold said, firmly. "The chairman does have a
legitimate point, even if it is somewhat naïve." He said. "Whilst
every fiber of my being is against such an attack, we cannot deny that
we may be forced to take this action if all else fails. We are talking
about the Romulan's here. They are not going to back down if they feel
they can still claim a victory."
Just then, an aide walked in and whispered something into Spock's ear.
"Admiral, make preparations to test the TechEx. We have a nearly
completed device already in a secure location. Doctor Wright will need
to make whatever adjustments he deems necessary," Spock then stood.
"Unless
another option is presented to me that will force the Romulans to a
surrender on our terms, then we may have no other choice than to use
the TechEx. While the loss of Romulan lives would be high, allied
losses have already been unacceptable. Now, if you will excuse me."
Spock walked out of the room with his aide and security following.
As they walked out, Janeway turned to Secretary Malone and said,
"Harold, each time I see you I'm reminded why you make a good
politician: I can never tell whether you like me or not."
Martin was not asked for opinion and he gave none. He was indeed
aware of the TechEx existance. It was not long ago that the prototype
of TechEx was discovered at a certain long not used Starfleet
shipyard. The device was brought back to Starbase 234: UNITY where it
was dismantled by order of Commodore Guzman. Guzman was indeed
thinking in a small frame of this command responsibility and not
thinking about the big picture of Starfleet security. It was good to
know that the TechEx was still somewhere to get, no matter what Guzman
did. Martin was indeed supporting the idea of using the device.
Romulans were ferocious enemies and Martin had to read daily reports
of casualties taken in the Romulan war. {Let them taste their own
medicine} he thought.
= End Log =
President Spock
President of the Federation
(Butch)
Secretary Harold Malone
Secretary of Defense
(Frankie)
Ambassador Albritt
Secretary of State
(Rojac)
Admiral Kathryn Janeway
Joint Defense Commander
(Bren)
Commodore Martin Stone
Chief of Starfleet Operations
(Muma)
Premier Joseph Lephren
Erassian Alliance Premier
(Ixus)
General Morgan Eaglestone
Commander of Third Fleet
(Ixus)
Councillor Sariania Nox
Chairman of the Trillian Federation Council
(Butch)
