Ill-Advised Postures

[Sorehl 0]

From his vantage near the large three-dimensional display amid the Command Center of Camelot Station, Captain Sorehl glanced up at Semil, loyal operative of the Dominion.

 

Only moments earlier, the Vorta had asserted his right to visit the prisoner being held in the unusual confines of Holodeck One. That prisoner was yet another Vorta named Armante, one who had seemingly switched allegiances and now claimed loyalty to the insurgent Founders who called themselves ‘the Hundred.’

 

Before the interruption, Sorehl had been studying the data obtained in the continuing interrogation. With the aid of a neurocortical simulator, a device itself of Dominion design, the captured Vorta was being led through a illusory reality where he had been summoned to explain his betrayal to the Founders. From his responses, Sorehl believed the Allies could learn the motivations for the rebellion, a method for contacting the Hundred, perhaps even the location of the forces they were marshalling.

 

Of course, they could also learn important intelligence about the Founders themselves and the orders given in their absence to the Vorta administrators. No doubt this was exactly what Semil was eager to prevent.

 

True to form, in defending this possible benefit, the Romulans were overplaying their hand and demanded exclusive access to the prisoner once the interrogation was complete. Semil had raised immediate objections. That there were equally valid objections from both Klingon and Federation partners was of increasingly little concern to his racial cousins. As the Alpha Quadrant power least injured during the great war, largely due to their hiding behind a carefully crafted non-aggression treaty, the Romulans were taking their improved galactic standing as sign of a new ascendance. And they were acting accordingly, even in this quadrant.

 

Confident in their own superiority, the Romulans continued to act as if the Dominion was no longer in firm control of a region of space they’d commanded for more than two thousand years. This despite the fact that, except for the reinforcements they’d “lost” in the Bajoran wormhole, the Dominion home fleet numbered in the tens of thousands was undiminished. Although dormant by Founder order, Sorehl questioned the wisdom of waking a sleeping giant.

 

Now, the Romulans were missing. The fleet they had committed to the defense of Starbase Avalon had abandoned its assigned patrol posts. Governor K’Vorlag had assumed this abdicated responsibility and deployed his own ships in their absence. But that had added another challenge. The Klingon diplomat had insisted that he be present for any meeting between the two Vorta. With him off-station, that posed a particular problem for Semil’s request.

 

Sorehl would not make the error of unduly dismissing the Dominion operative. Although an inner voice confirmed that Semil’s indignity was feigned, he knew the starbase’s existence ultimately depended on Dominion benevolence – no matter what the Romulans believed. He would never have survived either command at Aegis or at Empok Nor if he hadn’t understood the delicate nature of such balances. As a Vulcan, he was free to respond without the concern of ego or pride or mnei'sahe to burden him.

 

He nodded toward the Vorta, speaking at last. “Given the situation," he offered, "how can I be of assistance?”