The Romulan War_ Beneath the Raptor's Wing (Book 1) - Michael A. Martin [134]
Thank Erebus his ire is not directed at me this time, T’Leikha thought as she cast a discreet eye upon the uniformed military officer who stood beside her before the praetor’s dais. The years she had spent navigating the capricious world of Romulan senatorial politics had long ago taught T’Leikha when to keep her own counsel and when to speak plainly. Seeing the anger that seemed so evident behind Admiral Valdore’s blank expression and bowed head, she wondered if he understood that as well as she did. She certainly thought he should; after all, Valdore’s present position as the supreme commander of all the fleets of the Romulan Star Empire—the apex of a military career that would have ended in indefinite imprisonment had she not intervened recently to salvage it—had followed Valdore’s own tenure as a senator, which had ended prematurely because of his immoderate political positions regarding the bedrock necessity of perpetual Romulan territorial expansion.
Judging from the belittling tenor of the praetor’s disparagements of Valdore’s conduct of the war against the hevam Earthers and their allies, D’deridex—who had been a senior senator when Senator Valdore had delivered a particularly fateful speech questioning the need for unending conquest—remembered those times just as clearly as T’Leikha did.
“You could have attacked and occupied the core systems of this so-called Coalition of Planets khaidoa ago,” the praetor said, addressing Valdore as though T’Leikha weren’t even in the room. The old man’s dark eyes shone with rage commingled with the progressive ravages of the Tuvan syndrome he apparently still believed that his court physician had successfully concealed from the Senate. “Instead you bring me news of skirmishes near the Sei’chi Sei system, or word of occupations of entirely peripheral hevam outpost worlds like Isneih Kre, or D’caernu’mneani Lli, or Denevaei!”
To Valdore’s credit, he replied with apparent equanimity and deference. “Praetor, a multisystem operation on such a scale as this requires extremely careful logistical planning and preparation to achieve success.”
“Yes, yes, I understand that!” The praetor waved a hand dismissively, and the faint tremor in his bony forearm did not escape T’Leikha’s notice. “But instead of a glorious series of conquests in the very heart of hevam space, you have contented yourself so far with mere skirmishes. Explain yourself!”
“Respectfully, Praetor, there is a vast difference between taking a world and holding it,” Valdore said.
“I am well aware of that, Admiral,” D’deridex said. “Nevertheless, your operations seem to be requiring an inordinate amount of preparation time.”
The praetor seemed to master his frustration, at least somewhat. T’Leikha could sense that despite his decades-old political differences with Valdore, D’deridex felt a tremendous amount of respect—or was it envy?—for Valdore’s uniform and all that it represented; she knew that the old man was particularly sensitive about military credentials, being one of the few senators in Romulan history to ascend to the Praetorate without first having distinguished himself in battle.
“I can certainly understand how it might appear that way, Praetor,” Valdore said. “But the fleet and all of its matériel, including all the supporting ground bases and personnel, must be in position before the fleet can be fully ready to take and hold the core worlds of Coalition space, such as Thhaei, Sei’chi Sei, or the homeworlds of the hevam, the Andorsu, and the Tellarsu.”
Whatever misgivings Valdore might have had—or might even still harbor—regarding the Romulan Star Empire’s expansionist ethos, T’Leikha had no doubt that his careful, methodical approach to both strategy and tactics would succeed, ultimately visiting a crushing conquest upon each planet that the admiral had just mentioned: Vulcan, Alpha Centauri III, Earth, Andoria, and Tellar.