The Romulan War_ Beneath the Raptor's Wing (Book 1) - Michael A. Martin [44]
Soval remained convinced that T’Pau’s path would lead to incalculable suffering. Unfortunately, he also had to acknowledge that his own plans would yield similar results back home. The Romulans would see to that, even if the Coalition were ultimately to prevail.
Looking up at a black basin of stars that seemed nearly close enough to touch, Soval said, “We have tried to contain them almost from the moment they acquired superluminal flight. We owe them.”
“Indeed. However, we may have already paid that debt without realizing it.”
Soval couldn’t begin to understand her meaning. “How?”
“The technological backwardness we enforced on the Terrans may have enhanced their chances of dealing successfully with the Romulans’ new weapon,” T’Pau said, her words delivering an icy irony, yet absolutely no trace of humor. “And that advantage, intentionally conferred or not, must suffice. Vulcan’s security, and by extension that of the entire Coalition, demands that my decision stand.”
“Another choice must be possible.”
“None that aren’t more expensive than Vulcan can afford, Soval. But I do have faith in humanity’s ability to rise to the occasion, even under such dire circumstances as these. The humans have survived narrow passages before, just as we Vulcans have. And like us, they have emerged stronger on each occasion.”
Every sentient species had been tempered and honed by adversity, and sometimes had to overcome apparently insuperable obstacles. But such crises were much easier to discuss in a bloodless, academic manner when viewed retrospectively rather than prospectively.
“I often wonder what the humans will have achieved a century from now,” T’Pau continued. “That span of time is relatively inconsequential to us. But to them, it is long enough to replace their present population almost completely—as well as long enough to heal virtually any wound they might sustain today.”
“I, too, often wonder about the future,” Soval said. “Even as I wonder whether any humans at all will survive to see the next century. Or Vulcans, for that matter, should Earth fall to our Romulan cousins.”
“The humans will endure,” T’Pau pronounced, her smooth, youthful face a grim mask of determination. “I have faith that the humans will lead this alliance within a century’s time, or perhaps even sooner. And with our continued guidance, someday their vigor and vision may bring about the peaceful, galaxy-spanning society that Vulcan has always held as an ideal and yet somehow never achieved.”
She stopped again, facing her minister and bringing him to a halt as well. “They are like us, Soval—only far less susceptible than V’Las has proved us to be to the corruption that accompanies great power. Perhaps this is because they die so much sooner than we do, even without the curse of war to cut their lives short before the end of their natural spans.”
A twitch along her jawline revealed the barely constrained maelstrom of emotion she struggled to govern, albeit imperfectly, in spite of her devotion to the Kolinahr.
“Administrator, your ‘faith’ seems to be grounded more in emotion than in logic,” Soval countered, trying to communicate his adamant firmness while remaining respectful and deferential. “Vulcan cannot simply remain idle while Earth burns, regardless of the cost to us.”
Raising an eyebrow, T’Pau said, “Vulcan’s withdrawal from the front lines