Confluence: Power, Knowledge and the Price of Conscience

[NDak 0]

Rain fell softly on ch'Rihan, and the lights of the capitol city—heart of all that was Romulan—lit the night sky in an array of colors. The streets were filled with shuffling of people coming and going from their work, some on their way to evening diversions, others to labor, and still others to family and friends waiting on them. Some walked alone, and others walked in throngs—talking, discussing the days events, the weather, politics, anything that burned the soul. The day was passing into night, much as it always did on Romulus.

 

The menacing figure of the Tal'Shiar headquarters sparkled in the rainy night, a monolithic reminder to the people that their loyalty was enforced by the cold steel fist of the Tal'Shiar. D'Lvon N'Dak walked down the narrow street that led to the main entrance of one of the most feared buildings in all of Romulus. He'd been here of course, before, but today it seemed as imposing as the first time he'd entered the building, all those years ago.

 

That was years ago though; then he'd been a timid young officer who'd been chosen out of his class at the Galae Retor to become trainee for the Tal'Shiar. He came from a noble and affluent family, his father had been one of the highest ranking officers in the Galae, as had his grand father before him, and his aunt had been Director of this very facility during the Earth-Romulan War. It had not come as a surprise when the recruitment officer showed up in his dormitory offering him placement with the shadowy, intimidating organization, what had surprised him was the amount anxiety the very presence of the building, what it stood for, and what lurked inside it produced.

 

Now he was a powerful Senator, head of his house, and no longer a wet-behind the ears trainee and after a while the power of the building had faded to him, but today the lingering fear had returned, but for a different reason. He'd once been afraid because he knew not what they planned, what they were planning and what they were already doing; now he was afraid because he knew the answers to those questions.

 

In the past months, the Tal'Shiar had grown powerful. Their plots had become more insidious and their will to dominate stronger. Their grip on the Senate was strengthening each day as they bought Senators, either with the ring of latnium or the grip at the throat. This was troublesome. More troublesome was the drive to unseat the Galae from power.

 

For as long as their had been a Galae and a Tal'Shiar, the two stood opposite each other, a begrudging check on the other. And even through Civil War and Coup, the two had never outright challenged the other, obeying an unspoken rule that if the two powers were to wage war upon each other, the very fabric of Romulus would unravel.

 

Something had caused the agreement to be...changed. The Tal'Shiar and the Galae now clashed more openly in Senate hearings; political officers rose in authority in ships across the Fleet; Galae officers who spoke ill of the Tal'Shiar found themselves facing serious career set backs. The Tal'Shiar was even building its own fleet, and in secret massing supplies with their new allies the Sheliak.

 

D'Lvon knew all of this and more, but he did not know why the Tal'Shiar was making this play, bold even for them. He'd went along with their schemes, he'd taken their offers, helped them when he could, and he'd so far been rewarded for his efforts. t'Rexan was the most obvious of these rewards, as was renewed status with the elite.

 

The price till now had been worth the rewards, but as he looked towards the conclusion he was coming to, he wondered if the price he would pay in conscience would be worth the reward? That was the question he was on his way to have answered.