Welcome to Star Trek Simulation Forum

Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content, while also communicating with other members via your own private inbox, plus much more! This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Sorehl

Your Move

The following log takes place aboard the starship Reliant, inbound toward Earth, having departed the Avalon system nearly a week earlier under some secrecy.

 

“It’s your move,” Weyoun prompted.

 

Sorehl glanced up from the kotra pieces to meet the gaze of his Vorta passenger, blinking. “I am aware that turns traditionally alternate between players,” he offered reassuringly. Inside the cramped bunkroom of the starship Reliant, the Vulcan captain leaned in closer toward the board, examining his possible responses.

 

Quarters were always at a premium aboard a Defiant-class escort. No formal staterooms were available to accommodate the dignitary of a foreign power; Reliant had never been intended for diplomatic service. But the Dominion representative had not complained when told he would be housed in such modest facilities or even that, due to the highly sensitive nature of their mission, he would need to confine himself there. Most of the crew didn’t even know Weyoun was aboard.

 

It had taken formal permission from the Federation Council, courtesy of Ambassador T’Salik, to allow this particular Vorta through the wormhole – no small task considering that treaty terms had explicitly declared him persona non grata in the Alpha Quadrant. The decision to allow him contact with the Founder Leader being held at the Starfleet penal colony in New Zealand was equally sensitive. Secrecy remained paramount.

 

Concessions, of course, had been made. Weyoun traveled alone, with no Jem’Hadar escorts. The most stringent Dominion Isolation Protocols had been enacted to ensure that no shrouded soldiers or shapeshifters had stowed away. He was allowed no outside communication. Since none of the cabins were equipped with replicators, Weyoun had insisted that he receive daily contact and a report when meals were brought to him. Knowing his own restraint, Sorehl had given that distasteful duty to himself. The Vorta, in turn, had drawn out the visits, first insisting on being joined for his meals, then on challenging the captain to a nightly game.

 

“A pity I wasn’t able to visit Deep Space Nine again,” the Vorta lamented, waiting for the Vulcan’s next move. “I grew a certain fondness for the Bajoran people. I think I came to understand why Captain Sisko was so taken with the place.” He rolled a kava nut in his hand before nibbling it.

 

Sorehl shifted one of the playing pieces, looking up. “I cannot imagine a welcome response to such a visit,” he opined. “You must realize that to many of them, you represent the face of the Dominion War. Less emotionally controlled species might be inclined to react violently to your presence.” He withdrew his hand from the board.

 

“They could never understand the order the Founders were offering them,” Weyoun mused. With barely a pause, he slid a small dark pebble across the full length of the playing surface.

 

“The Bajorans barely survived four decades of Cardassian order,” Sorehl noted. He stroked his beard, considering.

 

“Really, captain,” Weyoun admonished. “We both know the Cardassian version is not real stability. The Dominion has stood for two thousand years.”

 

Sorehl set one of the multi-faceted crystals near the center of the board. “So far,” he noted.

 

The comment actually elicited a smile from the Vorta. “Listen to us,” he prompted. “Two architects of the last war jockeying for position in a Cardassian game. We’re practically competing over the same territories, repeating the same dialogues.”

 

Sorehl folded his arms, leaning back. “Perhaps the dialogue bears repeating. In any case, you exaggerate my role in our past conflict,” he corrected. “I commanded a single starbase along the border.”

 

“Yes, but the one that launched the undeclared attack on our shipyards at Torros III,” Weyoun noted, “the very pre-emptive strike that started the war.”

 

An eyebrow went up. The game, it seemed, had risen above the board. Here, at least, in the private confines of a cramped cabin, Sorehl did not consider himself bound by the strictures of diplomacy. “On the contrary, I believe it was your assault” – he meant the pronoun personally – “on DS9 that initiated hostilities between our two powers.”

 

“After the Federation illegally blocked our shipping by mining the wormhole, yes,” Weyoun agreed. “One wonders how Starfleet could have counted on reaching Torros, unless it had planned an aggressive move to draw our fleet toward Bajor and compel us to attack. It was a well-calculated strategy – bold and decisive.” He gestured toward the game pieces. “The Federation likes to forget it started the so-called ‘Dominion War,’ but then, histories are still written by the victors.”

 

“Operation viSo’Be was a response to Dukat’s military threats. He had already swept over the Klingon colonies…”

 

Weyoun raised a finger. “Ill-gotten terrritories you know were seized from Cardassia on a false pretext,” he pointed out.

 

“…conducted a massive buildup of arms, and placed warships in the DeMilitarized Zone in direct violation of treaty,” Sorehl finished.

 

“A treaty your own citizens hardly accepted. How many Starfleet officers defected to the Maquis over it?” Weyoun noted. “We both know the Federation was uncomfortable with the Dominion annexation of Cardassia and were simply willing to go to war over it.” He reached over to the board and traded two pieces, taking one in his hand.

 

Sorehl watched the Vorta remove the first casualty. “Your characterization is hardly inclusive,” he replied evenly. “It ignores the Dominion agents working to destablize the quadrant as a prelude to invasion.” He reached in to touch a translucent cylinder near the center of the board.

 

“And yet it was your quadrant that invaded our space,” Weyoun insisted. “If we had not had those agents, we might not have discovered the planned attack on our Founders’ homeworld by the Obsidean Order and Tal’Shiar.”

 

“How unfortunate that the settlers at the first New Bajor colony had no such warning.” Sorehl swept the cylinder in an arc, knocking over one piece, then another. “Or the crew of the starship Odyssey.” He withdrew his hand, removing the toppled pieces. “The war was your own creation; the only surprise was that you lost.”

 

Weyoun surveyed the damage to his forces. “That’s an unproven assertion.”

 

The captain looked across at him. “I am not one prone to logical fallacies.”

 

An appeasing smile spread across the Vorta’s expression. “That we lost, I mean.”

 

Sorehl could not surpress an eyebrow raising.

 

“Of course, our venture into your quadrant was frustrated.” Weyoun pulled an onyx tile back to a safer position. “But our original territories in the Gamma Quadrant were unspoiled. As for our casualties in Vorta and Jem’Hadar, well, we can make more.”

 

Sorehl eyed his opponent, noting the retreat. “But the war introduced the idea that you can fail. The Hundred and your internal struggles have been the result.”

 

Weyoun looked up at him, almost fearful. “Yes,” his voice wavered. “A development I cannot allow. I serve the Founders, but this time, I must learn to be an architect of peace.” He narrowed his weak eyes. “And your people must decide whether to help or hinder me.” The Vorta glanced down at the board. “Your move, captain.”

Edited by Sorehl

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0