Chapter Text
She was sometimes really not sure why she had decided going the path of a diplomat was the best idea for her. Most people annoyed her and she hated social gatherings; two things that were unavoidable as a diplomat. Well, she loved to see the results of her hard work: agreements being made, compromises agreed upon and conflicts resolved, all of these things were as much part of her beloved work as the things she hated.
The war with the Dominion was over and so was the shaky peace with the Romulan Empire, at least almost. The President of the Federation and the Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire had agreed upon a meeting between delegations. During this meeting a treaty should be put into place, a non aggression pact. A reasonable idea, for now at least. Everyone was still busy with repairs and damage control, however the Romulans had taken the least amount of losses, something that had unsettled the leaders of the Federation gravely. There had been a lot of talks planning this meeting of delegations. People had argued over where this meeting should take place and what kind of people they should send.
She had been one of the few people that had not had a problem that the Romulans wanted this meeting to take place on Romulus. At the moment they needed to make some compromises if they wanted this treaty to come into being. She had also been the one to suggest that maybe there should not be one main negotiator, but rather two. It was well known that Admiral Ross had been in close contact with the Romulans during the Dominion war and he was probably the one that they were most willing to listen to, the only other person that had been in a similar position was Captain Sisko and he was unavailable.
All the other members of the Parliament that the President had chosen for the delegation had voted regarding who the second main negotiator should be and to her horror someone had put her name forward, which had ultimately lead to her election as second negotiator for the treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire, a position she had hoped would be for someone else. It had especially shaken her since she was definitely not the most experienced diplomat they had available, nor was she one of the most well liked people within the senate. She had thought that maybe Captain Picard would be chosen as the second negotiator, he was a very experienced man and one of the best diplomats the Federation had created within the last fifty years. However she had not been able to change the outcome of the election and had taken the position without much complaint.
Her eyes were fixed on the PADD in front of her, reading up on Romulan customs and traditions, trying to remember the little information they had. She had learned early on in her career that it could be fatal if you did not know the customs of the people you were dealing with. It had been during her training, during the time she had spent as an assistant to Ambassador Lojal, when she had accidentally offended one of the diplomats of another world by simply looking at him for too long during their customary greeting. To be honest it was not the worst thing that could have happened to her, still it was something that had impacted her so gravely that she now always made sure to be more than well prepared when it came to cultures that she did not know well.
„You should not fret so much, dear.“ the voice of Lwaxana Troi came from beside her. She looked up and squinted slightly at the Betazoid woman. She did not have something against the Betazoid per se, however her insufferable nature and the way she always acted like she knew better than everyone was infuriating. Even worse than that, however, was the fact that the woman was rather loose-lipped and did not know when it was time to simply shut up, a trait that was important for a good diplomat.
„I am not fretting, I am simply preparing myself, just like you should be doing.“ she said in a calm tone, looking around the meeting room in which they had been huddled together for the last few hours. They were scheduled to meet up with another ship in about two hours, they had reached the rendezvous coordinates much earlier than expected and were now waiting, drifting in space. It should not unsettle her like it did, she knew that if anything were to happen this ship was more than well equipped to handle any fight coming their way.
„She is right,“ the smooth voice of Lojal came from the corner of the table they were sitting at. „You should be better prepared to work with the Romulans than you are now, Madame Troi.“
„I think I am going to stretch my legs.“ she muttered before the Betazoid could make some comment about her or Lojal‘s emotional state, something that she did not seem to be able to refrain from at times. As she got up from her chair she felt her back ache as she started to move towards the exit of the room. The swooshing of robes brought her attention to the moving figure of Lojal, who had gotten out of his seat and made his way to the exit as well, following her into the corridor.
As the door shut behind the Vulcan she let out a loud sigh of relief.
„You are tense.“ Lojal observed in a calm tone. She knew he was offering her comfort in his strange Vulcan fashion, he offered to listen to her worries about this mission and ease them with his logical thinking. He was right, of course, she wanted nothing more than to go up to the bridge and tell the Captain of this ship to turn it around and go back to earth, go home and wrap herself in a warm blanket while her mother read to her in her soft voice.
„How couldn‘t I be?“ she asked, trying to find a way to tell the Vulcan what exactly was worrying her about this whole situation. „There are so many things that could just go terribly wrong during these negotiations!“ they began walking down the corridor. Some members of the crew walked past them, greeting them politely. „I mean we are in the territory of someone that is maybe not an enemy, but is also not someone that has proven to be the most trustworthy. As far as I can guess there will be Tal Shiar agents swarming the place and we could be spied upon by even the people tending to us during dinners. No matter where we go we will always have to have our guard up, no time to relax even if we think we are safe. We are by far in the disadvantage with only one ship and a delegation made up out of…a very particular group of people. Some of the members of the delegation might be very experienced, but are honestly in no way suitable for such an assignment.“ she sighed and shook her head, smoothing down the front of the uniform she was wearing. „And then there is the problem with the main negotiators.“
She knew she was the one at fault for being at a disadvantage regarding the size of the delegation. However, she had believed that the President would send a larger group of people, especially since there were some people that had had rather positive interactions with the Romulans during the war. She had been wrong in that regard, the delegation sent from the Federation was only made up of a group of ten diplomats and one Starship crew. The small size of the delegation was in some way understandable, taking into regard the heavy losses the Federation had taken during the war, still this was not something she had hoped for.
„Are you worried that either you or the Admiral are not suitable for the negotiations?“ Lojal asked as he followed her, his hands clasped in front of him in the typical Vulcan fashion.
„It‘s not that…“ she sighed and rubbed her forehead, „Well in some way I am. I do not have the experience someone like Captain Picard could bring to the negotiations. Nor do I have any connection to the Romulans like Admiral Ross. Though I know that I have other qualities that make up for my lack of experience in such matters. I am more worried about the two main negotiators that the Romulans chose, there are a few people that we know of that could be menaces during these negotiations if we are not careful.“
„Who in particular are you worried about?“ Lojal asked, an eyebrow raised. She had spent more than enough time with Vulcans to know that he was genuinely curious as to who she saw as a threat.
„I am mostly worried about Koval and any member of the Senate that is openly against an alliance with the Federation. And Koval is the Chairman of the Tal Shiar, not someone I think is the most trustworthy nor someone that would play fair. Secrets are his living and to be honest I do not want to know what kind of secrets he was able to get his hands on during the war. Something good is that from what I have heard they might send in Senator Letant, he was rather active during the Dominion war, acting as a liaison between the Federation and the Romulans. He might be one of the easier ones to deal with.“ she waved one of her hands in the air.
„But there is something else that seems to worry you.“ Lojal seemed cautious to ask this, even though they had a good relationship and she would consider Lojal her friend the Vulcan was always cautious regarding boundaries.
“It is just…“ she sighed, not sure if she should actually approach this topic with a Vulcan of all people. „The Admiral and I have not spoken to each other since the end of the war.“
„I believe you should correct that statement…“ Lojal said in a low tone.
„Yes, yes,“ she swallowed heavily, the words almost tasting bitter on her tongue. „My father and I have not spoken to each other since the end of the war, more particularly the funeral of my mother.“ her mother had died during the attack of the Breen on earth, both she and her father had been off world at that time, both of them shoulder deep in work, trying their best to keep the Federation together in their own ways while the war waged on. At her funeral she had been wrecked with guilt for not being there even if she knew that she might not necessarily have changed anything. Her and her father’s grief had manifested in anger, this and too much alcohol had led to an ugly argument. During this argument both had said awful things and she could only say that she felt bad for the things she had said, but since her father had gone back to Deep Space nine again right the next morning and ignored all of her communications they had not been able to talk about it. Even after the war was officially declared as over neither of them had found the time to go back to earth, to meet the other, both again shoulder deep in work trying to stitch the remainders of the Federation together again.
„And since your argument.“ Lojal simply added. He knew about it, she had told him about the whole thing, about all the awful things that she had said to her father and how she had meant none of them. She had just been angry and frustrated.
„Yes.“ she paused.
„Ah, I see. You are worried that it will affect the way you will handle the negotiation. I believe that the ship with your father on board will be here in about one and a half hours, when they arrive your father will speak with the Captain, which will take approximately half an hour. The rest of our journey to Romulus will take three more days, which leaves you with plenty of time to speak with your father about what happened after your mother‘s funeral.“ Lojal spoke not unkindly, but in the typical emotionless manner that the Vulcans had. He always had a very practical approach to solving emotional matters like this. She was glad that the Vulcan did not point out that this was something only emotional species had and that this situation would not have occurred if they had acted with more logic.
„I just hope that we can resolve all of this before we arrive on Romulus so that both my father and I aren‘t impaired by this during the negotiations.“ she smiled at Lojal and continued their way down the corridor.
The time until the other ship's arrival crawled forward like a snail and she felt like she was going to go insane while she waited for the Captain to announce that the rest of the delegation had finally arrived. After her walk with Lojal she had settled in the meeting room again, reading about the things the President wanted to be included in the treaty. Some of them he had marked as optional, others he had listed as priorities. She knew that some of these points would have to be put down on paper very carefully and very detailed, the Romulans were sneaky people and they would try to find a way to get around some of these agreements if they did not pay close attention, especially to the wording of it all. She tapped the side of the PADD and continued to read through the list, as she reached the bottom she could feel the uneasiness in her stomach grow. The president wanted Federation representatives stationed on Romulus and Romulan representatives to come to earth, to make sure that everything would go smoothly. However, she knew deep down that it was an insurance compromise that had to be made, she knew that these people would be like bargaining chips, there would be prisoners before a war could even break out.
The chime of the computer sounded and caught her attention.
„Captain to the delegation.“ there was a short pause, „The other members of your delegation have arrived and already beamed on board. Admiral Ross will be joining you shortly, after he has spoken with me about the continuation of our route.“
„Thank you, Captain.“ she spoke, the chime sounded again, signalling that the transmission was over. With a sigh she closed her eyes, hoping that she would be able to speak with her father soon, the uneasy feeling only getting worse the more time passed. Lwaxana Troi and Lojal had excused themselves about half an hour ago, Lojal wanting to meditate and Ambassador Troi had gotten bored of sitting around the meeting room the entire day. The Bolian Ambassador had left the meeting room much earlier, probably because he could not stand the presence of the Betazoid woman anymore. She was alone in the room, trying to already note down some things regarding the treaty. Ideas on how some of the points the President had wanted to be put down could be presented to make them seem appealing to the Romulans. Arguments for certain things and possible counter arguments the Romulans could bring if they did not want these particular. Now that she knew that her father and the rest of the delegation had arrived on the ship she felt like time flew by. At some point she felt that they had jumped to warp and knew that their journey would now be over in less time than they hoped for.
Finally the swoosh of the door drew her attention away from the PADD. Her father stood there, his uniform fitting perfectly and his face serious. He looked more worn since the last time she had seen him, his eyebags had gotten darker and his hair seemed to have grown greyer.
„Ambassador,“ he greeted with a polite nod, walking further into the room, looking around for a moment then he seemed to deflate as he realised that she was the only person in the room. His expression grew more sombre and his face turned into something a lot more tired, but also worried. „Thank the stars there is no one else here.“ he sighed and ran his hand over his face, a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he looked at her.
„It is good to see you.“ he sighed as he took a seat at the table with her. She wanted to say something, but she could already feel her throat tighten and knew that if she tried to speak to him she would break out into tears, something she did not really want to happen at the moment.
“I am glad you are here.“ she pressed out, trying her hardest not to cry. He looked at her, his eyes kind and she knew that he was about to apologise. Both of them would, it was always like this.
„I am sorry for what happened after mom's funeral. It wasn‘t fair what I said nor was it fair of what I accused you. Neither of us could have changed what happened.“ she pressed out before her father could say anything. His smile turned watery as he nodded.
„I am sorry too. I should not have put any part of the blame on you. There was no reason to be upset with you.“ he shook his head. Quietly she got up from her seat and walked over to his seat, he got up and wrapped her in his arms as she was close enough.
„I am glad that we get to do this together.“ he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her head before they parted again.
„Me too, but let‘s get to work. There are some things I want to discuss with you before we arrive on Romulus.“ she smiled at him, knowing that all of this would work out perfectly fine.
The next three days they spent leaning over PADDs and discussing their strategy. Her father was able to tell her more about the personalities of the Romulan senators they would be coming face to face with. Neither of them was really sure who the negotiations would be led by, however both of them agreed that depending on who would be negotiating for the Romulans they would already be able to tell how interested the Romulans were in a long term agreement after the war. It felt like time was slipping through their fingers as the arrival to Romulus drew nearer.