IDIC IV

Disclaimer: Please see Part One

Monday, August 13, 2012

Part 66 Check Mate

Garak sat alone in the room and considered with care the tour he had received. It was both enlightening and frightening at the same time. He could clearly see that there was more going on in the ship building facilities then he had been shown. In fact he had to admire Mestral's rather devious nature. The facilities he and Sarek had toured were some of the finest ship building situations he had ever seen. However, that was simply too easy. It was more than clear that these facilities were merely a faint a decoy. The ships being designed here were clearly meant for the human's Star Fleet and perhaps the Federation but….that was the faint. They were clearly not the main facility. Garak was many things but he was not a fool. His education had been extensive and like his Vulcan cousins he had studied several fields. Engineering was something he enjoyed though it was not his primary area of study. However having had the experiences he did he could tell that the facilities he toured were merely the tip of the iceberg as the humans would say. Clearly there were more in depth hidden facilities. It was rather impressive to think about and even disturbing. The People of this town clearly were far more than they seemed. Just as they hid in plain sight among the personnel of Star Fleet and the humans Garak suspected a second and maybe even a third or fourth facility for building space craft existed. The question was how extensive that facility was and how the hell did they remain hidden and how many ships did the Grayson family actually command. His hands flew over the key board as he was reading the annual reports well the public ones and tried to figure it out. Somehow he had a bad feeling that Grayson shipping was far larger and more powerful than he had been led to believe. He frowned and sat back. His mind did not really want to comprehend what he had figured out. '

Damn…they have a private fleet that makes ours seem like a backward reserve. This is so not good. If we went to war with them and the people of Carbon Creek became involved….the Empire would surely lose…..because we would be facing over twice the number of combat ships then even we ever calculated. This Mestral…he commands a fleet of ships that could give us a run for the money and if they are even half as powerful as those Federation ships….we would lose and lose quickly. The Empire would never be able to match them we would fall. Hell, it's almost enough to make me thing Adrianna's forefather was Romulan.'

Adrianna came in and took the padd from her mate. She shut off the computer screen and sighed. "You just had to keep digging. Garak there is no conspiracy and no need for you to worry. I mean we are not planning on starting a war."

He looked up into her eyes."No but if one started….."

"We would defend our Mother Earth with all that we are as you would defend Romulus and Remus. Sorry if that worries you. There really is a simple reason, we are in shipping and the galaxcy is a dangerous place. Of course our ships are well armed and we do have several colonies as well. Pirates can be an issue."

Garak snorted at that, "Ah huh, yeah right."

Adrianna giggled at that oh so human snort. "See being human isn't so bad."

Garak glared."I have to report something."

"I know, that is why Mestral gave you the tour. He assumed your superior would want to know about our ship building for Star Fleet. After all that what they think they would be facing in a fight. The rest well that is just the family business."

Garak glared but realized his wife was right. It really was all he needed to report. It was all he could confirm. The rest well that was speculation and he hated to speculate. He liked his reports honest accurate and confirmable. Besides, his own people had private ship builders as well. Ok none as powerful or as….damn it…I am justifying myself.

Adrianna kissed Garak. His worries fled as he suddenly had other things to worry about.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mestral was pensive. It had been a calculated risk taking Garak and Sarek on the tour of the ship building facilities. However he had to have them both know that Earth was well defended by far more than those short sighted idiots in the government. He did not like that they had to remain hidden and he hated having to play games. Politics was often dark and to his mind counterproductive to his goals. However the needs must. He had to ensure that Garak would warn the Romulan Empire that taking on Earth would be difficult and costly. He hated war but, with luck it could be avoided. Self interest was important and dedicated self interest could encourage peace. If war was too costly peace became a viable option. Even warriors could see some fights were futile. While Mestral longed to ensure IDIC and to perhaps facilitate the reunions of all of the children of Vulcan he was no fool. He knew that all sides had to see the value of peace. It had to be the best chance at survival. If that meant he and his family had to have a war fleet and be the best warriors in the universe then that is what they would do. Then when the time was right they would make all those in the galaxy an offer they could not refuse. Peace or war that would end them. He just hoped that peace would by choice and perhaps by family ties. He had high hopes that Garak and Adrianna's union would help pave the way to connect with Romulus. Garak was clearly the key to getting his superiors to consider peace. The children that would soon be born would help heal the breaches and with luck…the matches made would ensure that peace was their family legacy.

TBC….