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“ ‘It is far better to conquer than to exterminate,’” Valdore said, quoting the great Commander Amarcan, whose Axioms was still required reading at the Romulan Military Academy.

Khazara responded at once with his own Amarcan quote. “‘It is no dishonor to admit exhaustion of the heart.’”

“Do you believe I have become... exhausted?” Valdore said, scowling. Khazara had just become entirely too candid.

“No, Admiral. But I know about the enormous energies the Haakonans have learned to tame since our occupation of their homeworld ended—and I have seen but a fraction of the Haakona intelligence reports that you have. You know better than I do that we cannot rely upon continued good fortune when it comes to such a powerful and patient adversary.”

And vengeful, Valdore thought, recalling the recent Haakonan reprisals at Uaenn Ei’krih and Artaleirh. You mustn’t forget vengeful.

Momentarily putting aside his personal revulsion at the thought of creating another Coridan Prime, Valdore said, “I am not in the habit of leaning upon luck, whether it be in my dealings with the hevam or with the Haakonans.

“Therefore I shall consider your suggestion, Khazara, very carefully indeed. Valdore out.”

EIGHTY-ONE

Early in the month of ta’Krat, YS 8765

Monday, June 21, 2156

Government district, ShiKahr, Vulcan

HIS HANDS FOLDED TOGETHER before him, lost in the long, bulky sleeves of his diplomatic robe, Foreign Minister Soval addressed the small woman who sat behind the heavy desk and the gray-haired, gravemannered man who stood facing him beside her. Being posted on Earth, Soval did not visit this austere yet august chamber very often.

“Thank you,” Soval said, speaking in his most deferential tones, “for agreeing to meet with me, Administrator T’Pau. Minister Kuvak.”

Dressed in robes similar to Soval’s, T’Pau rose from behind the desk and began to pace her office’s stone floor. “Not at all, Minister,” she said. She came to a stop a short distance from Soval. “My apologies for having allowed myself to become so... preoccupied of late.”

“No apologies are necessary, Administrator, I assure you,” Soval said.

“Please state the reason for your visit, Minister,” Kuvak said, his tone unemotional yet somehow peremptory as well. “The administrator is extremely busy.”

“Of course,” Soval said, nodding to acknowledge Kuvak. There would be no logic in making this meeting last any longer than was strictly necessary. “I have come at the behest of Captain Jonathan Archer and Commander T’Pol.”

“I see,” T’Pau said, making it clear that she had his full attention.

“I find myself in agreement with their assessment that Vulcan should apply its military power to the cause of Earth’s war effort against the Romulans.”

“You have mentioned this to me before, Soval, a number of times. Have I not explained my logic adequately?”

“Respectfully, Administrator, your logic may bear reexamination in light of the catastrophic fall of Kaferia yesterday.”

“Mind your place, Mister Foreign Minister,” Kuvak warned smoothly.

“I speak only as a servant of Vulcan,” Soval said to Kuvak, maintaining his poised deference without yielding any ground. Addressing T’Pau, he said, “I entreat you to reconsider your decision to maintain Vulcan’s neutrality vis-à-vis the Romulans. The mutual defense clause of the Coalition Compact—”

“Is always subject to renegotiation and amendment,” Kuvak said, interrupting.

T’Pau raised a hand toward Kuvak, who subsided into silence.

Soval took this as a signal to press on. “The Coalition Compact is no longer the only matter at issue. Now that the Romulans control the Tau Ceti system, they are in a strong position to conquer Earth itself. Can Vulcan really afford to risk the possibility of the Romulan Star Empire creating a stronghold a mere sixteen light-years away?”

Kuvak interposed himself again. “A better question,” he said, “might be this one: Can Vulcan actively make war and still remain Vulcan?”

Soval had wrestled with that very question. “I do not know,” he