Breakdown In Communication

JP - Breakdown in Communication

((SB118, Diplomatic Tower, Brek's Office)) Vreeya: =/\= Do your people fear us that much? ::closing her eyes for a moment.:: No escort I gave you would be an aid to you, Brek. Go without armaments and my people will set their fears aside for the greater fear of the disease. Go with a fleet and they will be more suspicious. I can give your mission my official recognition. Beyond that... I suggest you use the Commodore. =/\= Brek: =/\= I appreciate your suggestion, Senator. To have your official recognition, along with the help of Commodore t'Llweii will be of a great help. I'll have to sell this idea to my Captain, and after that hope that she can also sell it to the Federation. They will be the ones to take the final decisions, according to what steps we, ourselves, have taken. Can I, at least, ask you to have a word with t'Llweii? If she was to treat Nicholotti as an ally, rather than an enemy, both sides would gain time and we would be able to focus our efforts on the epidemic itself. =/\= Vreeya: =/\= I have already done so. A word of advice; do not assess her by the standards you might use to judge me, for instance. She is a soldier, not a diplomat. For her the dynamics of give-and-take have always involved demand and strength. I expect she came to your station with no thought but to treat this matter as she would any other; make a show of strength, make her demand, and wait for the other to decide that acceding is less troublesome than dealing with her hostility. But her treatment of all situations as enemy confrontations does not mean she is truly hostile. Proud and stubborn, yes, but she need not be your enemy if you show her you are willing to fight *with* her against the true danger. =/\= Brek: =/\= It is reassuring to hear you speak of the Commodore in such terms, Senator. Still, I'd much rather work with your own Fleet, and people I trust. Are you sure you cannot dispatch even just one vessel to help this medical expedition? The Federation is about to undertake an important mission, and it would truly be best if we have a partner on which we can rely on. At the moment t'Llweii is very much an unknown factor to us.=/\= ::Vreeya's composure disappeared so fast it seemed instantaneous. Suddenly she was yelling.:: Vreeya: =/\= My *vessels*, Brek, are busy harassing the cloaked Klingon vessels that are regularly attempting to make deadly expeditions into Thracian space! Or did you think that our little foray had put an end to that? I am maintaining that precious 'peace' that your Federation claims to value so highly by fighting hidden, unofficial hostilities with equally hidden, unofficial countermeasures, and I am doing so by the narrowest of margins, and you ask AGAIN for my ships?! =/\= ::Her hands were shaking. How could this be happening? She needed to get herself under control... but then the damned little Ferengi opened his mouth to speak and she found herself snapping at him again, before he could utter a syllable.:: Vreeya: =/\= I am not your pet Romulan, Commander Brek, to call upon at your will! I am one woman, one woman who has already done more to aid you than you know, and you know a great deal! One woman who is watching her Empire collapse from within! I must save my people, Brek. I WILL save them! And yet my people are dying by the thousands as we speak, and I have no resources with which to save them. I sit here, at this table, knowing that my people are dying in agony, and I can do NOTHING! Do not SPEAK to me of my failure to aid you more in this. My own failure is already speaking to me far louder than your voice ever could. =/\= ::She felt tears running down her cheeks. Tears! It wasn't possible. She did *nothing* that she did not choose, not the smallest movement. Even when she showed the truth of her feelings it was because she chose to do so! What was wrong with her?:: ::Brek stared at her, staggered by her reaction and when he saw tears, he immediately looked away. For a fleeting moment, he even felt like terminating their conversation on the false pretence of some technical difficulties. The Romulans could take their puny fleets to the Galactic barrier, and check if, beyond, space had something better on offer for them. He didn't want to care any more. They were always right, the Federation was wrong. And now this, actual crocodile tears!:: Vreeya: =/\= I.. I am sorry, my friend. You did not deserve that. You did not know. =/\= ::Brek took a quick glance at the screen. He was relieved to see that the tears weren't flowing any more. Yet, this time he was lost for words, well words of a decent kind. Because if being on friendly terms with her meant that he had to endure her tantrums, he would rather not have it, and be treated like a complete stranger. Thankfully, his diplomatic self finally took over, and he calmed down.:: Brek: ::Barely controlling his voice.:: =/\= It's me who is sorry for having pushed you to your limits, Senator. I know a lot of things, and yet not enough, apparently.=/\= ::What he was about to say felt bitter, but he pressed on.:: =/\= I'll have the wisdom, from now on, never to ask for your Fleet again. Instead, I'll rely on the certainty that if you can help, you will. I... =/\= ::He hesitated, not wanting to risk another outburst.:: =/\= Vreeya, can I speak to you openly? =/\= ::Vreeya was regaining control, her traitorous body submitting gradually to her will once more.:: Vreeya: ::more calmly::=/\= Yes, of course. =/\= Brek: =/\= Thank you. You will tell me I'm wrong, and despite my position, I certainly don't have as clear a picture of the Romulan situation as you have. Still, all your struggling doesn't look terribly effective to me. You act pretty much on your own, and it looks very much like even the Trinity sector is slipping away from your influence. For proof, on SB118 we have a Romulan saboteur. Their motivations are still unknown, but with a crate of Vitali 7 on the loose, it's not too difficult to make assumptions. =/\= ::It was no more than the truth, but here, now, when she was at her most vulnerable, it felt like an attack. Something inside of her strained to get free, to rage at the fat little creature and his oh-so-carefully-chosen words. But that would not do. She would not be Vreeya, if she did that.:: Vreeya: =/\= No one can control the actions of every member of their race, Commander. If this saboteur you speak of was of a Federation race, would it mean Starfleet's control was slipping? It does not follow. =/\= Brek: =/\= I know that. But I maintain what I've said. And if on top of this you shed tears when a Ferengi diplomat rambles a little bit about this and that, then it's a sure sign that you need to take a vacation. Go somewhere nice to recharge your batteries. The Romulan Empire is crumbling with or without you around. =/\= ::She felt no urge to clench her jaw. Good. That was good. This, whatever it was, this aberration, was passing.:: Vreeya:  ::with a small chuckle:: =/\= It is certainly a broadening experience, speaking with you and your fellows on 118. No Romulan would suggest this. I understand your concern. But I am, as you have said, on my own, and in my hands, for better or worse, seems to lie the fate of my people. Their fate is vastly more important than my own. Vacation is a luxury not afforded to me. =/\= Brek: =/\= I disagree and I insist: Despite all you efforts, the Romulan Empire is not getting any better. You need to adopt a different strategy. Make new contacts. Learn to use the Federation more effectively. Milk it for all its worth. After all, it's not as if you didn't have good contacts within it. =/\= Vreeya: =/\= I understand what you are saying, Commander. It is a fine line to walk, however. In a way, the more I utilise Federaton contacts the more precarious my position with the Empire grows. We are... not inclined to look favourably upon others outside of our own people. =/\= ::a half-shrug:: But you know this. =/\= It concerns me that you believe my efforts have made things no better. We have new neighbours which we are trading with, aiding both of our economies. We may even be heading towards allying with the Thracians, in time. Many of our more outspoken xenophobes and warmongers are... no longer in power. The Reikara are a washed up, powerless remnant. And we have not fallen to the Klingons. I have played a part in all of this. Do you truly feel I have not made the Empire better through my efforts? =/\= Brek: =/\= Of course you have made good changes Senator. I never meant to be so harsh. You took me off guard, and I'm afraid you saw my Starfleet side at its worst. I sometime forget what it's like to live outside their sphere of influence. Maybe that, after all, I should be the one to take a vacation far away from here. =/\= Vreeya: =/\= I will think on what you have said, Commander. Please feel free to call on me at need. Simply know that I have no *military* support to give at this time. =/\= ::She closed the line and sat there, still looking at the communicator. She had much to think about. Foremost, how to prevent it ever happening again. Secondarily, what to do about the fact of it having happened at all. Brek had seen her unguarded. That made him the most dangerous variable of all. What was to be done?:: ::In the end, she resolved, that would depend largely on how he took it. Would he see it as merely an attempt at manipulation?:: ::She hoped so. If so, she would not have to kill him.:: ::Long after the screen had gone blank, Brek was still staring at it, wondering what exactly had happened here? He wasn't used to that sort of thing... tears... No adult should resort to them. They messed everything. He had like her until this outburst, but now... now he hoped he wouldn't hear again from her for a long while.:: ::At length, he got to his feet, and readied himself for his next task: Find a way to more or less 'hypnotize' Nicholotti into accepting what Vreeya had proposed they do.:: tbc JP by: PNPC Senator Vreeya As simmed by Lieutenant Commander Katy Orman, Chief of Security, Starbase 118 and Lt Cmdr Brek, Chief Diplomatic Officer, SB118