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Somehow, K’mtok resisted the urge to stand up again, as he knew it would be unwise. But he did bare his teeth at Kalavak. “All along, we knew that this was the work of a cowardly petaQ. We will- “

Kalavak interrupted, speaking to Bacco and ignoring K’mtok. “Admiral Mendak is a criminal whose actions are not sanctioned by the Romulan government.”

Livid at the Romulan’s words, as well as the fact that he’d both interrupted and ignored K’mtok, the Klingon bellowed, “You have been spinning those lies for some time now, Romulan!”

“They are not lies, Madam President, regardless of what some might believe.” Kalavak was still ignoring K’mtok. “Praetor Tal’Aura has consistently condemned the admiral’s actions, and had called for his execution.”

” ‘Had’ called?” Bacco said before K’mtok could rail against the Romulan again.

K’mtok reined in his temper. This toDSaH is trying to provoke a response by ignoring me, and I will not play his childish games.

“It is no longer necessary to call for Admiral Mendak’s execution, because Admiral Mendak is dead.” Kalavak picked a padd off the couch next to him, which K’mtok hadn’t noticed before. “I have here a message that the admiral sent to Praetor Tal’Aura.” He rose from the couch and handed the padd to Bacco.

To K’mtok’s surprise, Bacco did not view it at first. Instead, she said to K’mtok, “Mr. Ambassador, would you like to look at this with me?”

K’mtok’s instinct was to say that he had no interest in viewing Romulan propaganda, but he recognized that Bacco was treating him as an equal and showing that the Federation and the empire were partners in this. So he got up and walked to the president’s desk.

She activated the padd, and the smug face of Mendak appeared. In a deep, resonant voice, he said, “My name is Lhian Mendak. For eighty-five years, I served as a loyal Romulan soldier. In recent times, however, I found that I could no longer pledge my loyalty to the Romulan government. The coup d’etat by the Reman traitor Shinzon and the subsequent rise to power of his agent, Tal’Aura, exposed a corruption on Romulus that I could not tolerate. For the good of the empire, I refused to pledge my loyalty to a regime that would allow Klingons into our midst, and to grant concessions to Remans. To that end, I destroyed one of the moons that orbits Klorgat IV. For this, and for other actions, I have been condemned and branded a criminal. But I will not give Tal’Aura and her corrupt regime the satisfaction of arresting me, nor of executing me after a mockery of a trial. Instead, my crew and I choose to die as Romulans.”

K’mtok had to admit that it sounded very convincing. He also didn’t believe a word of it.

Kalavak added, “The message was found on the Rhliailu, which was adrift in the Vorni system alongside the rest of Mendak’s fleet. Everyone on all four ships was dead by their own honor blades.” The ambassador then stood up and, for the first time, looked at K’mtok. “The praetor has asked me to convey the deepest apologies to the Klingon Empire for the actions of this madman. Our only regret is that he cannot be extradited to you to be tried on Qo’noS, and for that, we also apologize. You can rest assured that this Romulan government will do nothing to impede the relocation of the Remans to their new home.”

With that, Kalavak turned on his heel and left the president’s office.

Whirling on Bacco, K’mtok said, “Surely, Madam President, you do not believe these lies!”

“Of course not, K’mtok, don’t be an idiot.” Bacco got up. “Gotta give ‘em credit, though-they played it just right. Let Mendak play the rebel for a few months, do some damage to Tal’Aura’s enemies while she’s condemning it the whole time, then, when he gets caught, sacrifice him to make yourself look good. Meanwhile, the actual goal of making a mess of Klorgat’s been accomplished-and, best of all, there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”

K’mtok had been about to compliment the president on her perspicacity, but the last phrase irritated him. “There are many