Thinking at the Table

[Brian Graham 0]

Chief of Security's Log

Lt. Brian Graham Recording

USS Excalibur

Stardate 200506.08

 

Brian was still sitting in one of the chairs surrounding the Round Table, listening to all of the conversation going on around him. There was a lot of news being reported, however none of it was good. Romulan treachery (figures), Vorta underhandedness, Vorta death, Klingon aggression. Jeez, does everyone decide to kill each other whenever the Excalibur is not around?

 

Thoughts began flashing through Brian's head. Some he was able to swell on, others just presented themselves and then moved along for others to take thier place. The Romulans. How could they expect to carry out an extensive campaign on the Dominion's side of the galaxy? Especially when this, so far, appeared to be a unilateral undertaking? Heck, even the Dominion had made alliances and pacts instead of taking on the Alpha Quadrant by itself. The Romulans must have something brilliant planned, because Brian doubted the Klingons would let the Romulans expand. The Federation...that could go either way. having just come off of an extensive conflict, the Federation Council may oppose any conflict. On the other hand, if the Romulans made any move toward any Federation territory, they would undoubtably get involved. The Federation may not even wait for that, since this overly aggressive posture was not acceptable, at least to Brian it was not, and he didn't occupy any seat in the Federation Council. Then there was the Dominion. Perhaps with their trouble with the Hundred, the Romulans gambled that the Dominion would not get involved. But Brian beleived that there was no way the Dominion would tolerate this kind of behavior from an Alpha Quadrant power. It had already been difficult getting them to agree to allow the Allies to use the Avalon system, and that was through negotiation, not distruptors. They had even responded violently to the colonies that founded whent eh wormhole was first discovered. Therefore, the Romulans had to face a war on two fronts, minimum, and Brian hated to admit it, but that was a pretty tall order, even for the Federation. The Romulans may have dug in one the one planet they were able to take, but the Dominion still commanded a formidible force in this quadrant, and if they could mobilize it entirely, the Romulans would have a difficult time holding on.

 

But if the Dominion did get involved, Brian hoped they wouldn't use this as an excuse to clear everybody out of the Gamma Quadrant. The death of a Dominion administrator at the hands of a Klingon, preepmtive seizures by the Romulans; if the Dominion felt this wasn't working, they'd close the Gamma Quadrant for business if foreigners got too annoying. Unless there was more to it than Romulan plans for territory, power, and glory. This didn't sit right. What did the Romulans hope to gain? How could they expect to make any headway in a conflict with the Dominion, in their home territory even. Unless this really wasn't a Romulan decision. Brian reflected on the Founder's ability to sway public opinion of their enemies to make them do what they wanted, placing operatives, even sometimes in the upper echelons of the governments, to influence others to suit thier ends. Brian wasn't sure if the Dominion was involved in this. The Hundred seemed more likely. Perhaps the Allies were getting close to finding them, and wanted to lose the pusuers. They knew the Dominion couldn't find them on their own, otherwise they would not have allowed the Allies to aid them in the search. Turning the Allies against one another would break the partnership, possilby convincing the Dominion to make the newcomers leave, taking the Hundred back to the situation it had been dealing with before, just concentrating on their activites aginst the Dominion without the interference of these Alpha Quadrant solids. It was only a theory, of course, and may not be what was happening at all. He shouldn't let his imagination run away too much, and keep everything in practical terms.

 

In fact, this whole operation may be a 100% Romulan controlled initiative, in which case the situation was just made worse.

[STSF NDak 0]

::cackles::