Ramifications

[Capt Ayers 0]

Blood and destruction shall be so in use

And dreadful objects so familiar

That mothers shall but smile when they behold

Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;

All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:

And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,

With Ate by his side come hot from hell,

Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice

Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war

--Marc Anthony, William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

 

 

 

 

Nick frowns as a sense of dread settles somewhere in his stomach. Actually the dread was already there, it had started forming when the message from Starfleet alerting all ships and stations to go to "Code Factor 2" alert status. The "Code Factor" alerts were roughly analogous to the United States Defcon alerts of the 20th and 21st centuries after the invention of the atom bomb. Code factor 2 meant that the Federation and Starfleet believed that an attack and invasion were imminent.

 

Nick had seen more then his share of Code Factor 2 alerts over the twenty some years he had spent in Starfleet. From the invasion of the Borg, the Cardassian wars, the Dominion war and others...and now the Romulans. The one question that hasn't been answered yet was why. Why would the Romulans choose to take this path now?

 

He knew about the depredations of Praetor Shinzon..about what he had done. That the mad Reman had nearly destroyed Earth and that his subsequent death had left a large power vacuum within the Romulan Empire. And that several different factions within the Empire were vying to fill the hole and claim power for themselves. One of those factions was what could charitably be described as nationalistic and militant. They believed that what the Empire should do is invade and conquer the Federation. Nick had little doubt that at least part of the motivation for that line of thinking was the ages old adage that one of the main ways tyrants hold onto power was to bind the people together with fear..that what the Empire needed was an enemy to fight and to conquer and that would bind the Empire together in the aftermath of the loosening ties that Shinzon had so ruthlessly stretched to the breaking point and beyond. It meant that the Empire was in danger of falling apart and while in a way that was a good thing..it also meant that a large portion of known space would be thrown into chaos and that a lot of Romulan military technology would likely fall into the hands of people that could possibly make Shinzon look tame by comparison.

 

Nick glances up at the view screen and his frown darkens. If this was just the militant faction exercising it's power Nick had to admit that it was impressive...and frightening. Currently there is nearly two dozen warbirds hovering just outside weapons range of the Station and Nick is sure there is likely to be more on the way. Nick can't even remember seeing that many warbirds in one spot at any time..not even during the Dominion war. If shooting started Nick is sure that while the Station and the Starfleet task force that had also arrived would put up a strong and ultimately futile defense unless Starfleet sent considerably more ships to help. And if shooting did start the next question became of how much value was Starfleet going to put on defending a Starbase in a system that did not even belong to the Federation. During the Dominion war Starfleet had to decide between trying to protect everything and thus being stretched too thin or retaining enough strength to defend some of the Federation while sacrificing the rest. Nick glances at Ethan briefly at that, knowing that her father's home world had become a victim of that choice.

 

The other possibility was that the power vacuum within the Empire had been filled and that whoever had filled that vacuum had promptly turned their attention to perceived external threats to the Empire. That possibility in a way was worse then the first one. It meant that the Federation, with whatever allies, would be facing the full brunt of the Empire's strength and the Federation, after two decades of going from one war to another, was weary and not fully prepared for another war. Even Nick, as much a solider as any of his people ever became, was tired of the seemingly constant fighting. What he wants is peace..at least a long enough peace to give the Federation time to rebuild and to regroup. Nick sighs and murmurs "A peace to go home and start a family and just simply enjoy life."

 

There is, of course, the third possibility. That the Federation and the Empire were being manipulated by some as of yet unknown person. Nick can name off the top of his head at least a half dozen powers that would see opportunity in further weakening the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Some of them were known to both sides like the Gorn, the Dominion..even the Cardassians and the Breen. And some like the Chodak were far more enigmatic or only known to his own people.

 

Nick glances around at the people around him on the Control Tower, knowing that if this became a war some or all of them, including himself, may not survive.