Rihannsu Book Five: The Empty Chair

At last, the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire have agreed to try and resolve the tangle of intrigue and conspiracy that began with the hijacking of the USS Intrepid many years ago. As Kirk and crew attempt to renegotiate a delicate peace, and Romulans attempt to restore their tarnished honor, it becomes increasingly apparent that their only course of action is to prepare for the war they hoped to avoid...

ONE WhenEnterpriseandBloodwingdropped out of warp together in the Artaleirh system, the tension onEnterprise'sbridge was considerable. The ship was on red alert for safety's sake, though Jim had told Uhura to kill the siren, which was no longer doing any good as regarding alertness, but only getting on people's nerves. Spock was bent over his scanner, intent, and as the warp drive's hum faded down into silence, Jim said, "Report." "Long range scan shows no other vessels incoming at this time," Spock said. McCoy, standing behind the center seat, gave Jim a thoughtful look. " 'What if they gave a war and nobody came?' " "Fat chance," Jim said. "We're just early. Now we have to see what use we can make of whatever extra time we have." He looked at the schematic of the system that the front viewscreen was now displaying, courtesy of Spock. Artaleirh was a big star, an F0 "demigiant," with a big solar system: twelve planets, mostly sunbroiled rocks or gas giants of various sizes and types, along with the asteroid belt that was the system's main source of wealth, in the third orbit out from the sun. The planet in the fourth orbit, also called Artaleirh, hung small and bright and faintly green in the distance -- just visible from here, maybe a hundred million miles out, as a small, very bright disc with the same kind of morning-star albedo that Earth showed from about the same distance. "I'm receiving a hail from Artaleirhin system control," Uhura said. "They know who we are, but all the same they're welcoming us to 'Free Rihannsu' space...." Uh-oh,Jim thought.The first salute.He remembered how much trouble the poor Dutch governor had gotten into, six centuries or so ago, when first the flag of a country three weeks old had been dipped to his fort in San Juan harbor -- and how dipping his fort's flag back, thus officially recognizing the salute as that of another independent nation, had plunged the Netherlands into a diplomatic broil that led, however eventually, to war.Well, this is the reverse of that situation,Jim thought.But they will know what an answer, or the lack of one, means. Then again, if we haven't caused a diplomatic incident yet, probably this is the time.This was one of the things the Federation had been waiting for: to give the enemy of an enemy a chance to prove that it was a friend. "Thank them, Commander," Jim said, "and tell them I hope to have time to talk to them more about their new name for themselves and their space later on." Asking questions like,And how are you planning to defend yourselves after this initial engagement is over?For one battle was no war; if the Romulans really wanted to take this system back, they had the resources to do it. "Bloodwingis hailing us, Captain," Uhura said. "Put her on." The screen shimmered into a view ofBloodwing'slittle bridge. Ael was standing there; behind her, Jim caught a glimpse of something on her command chair that surprised him. He shot a glance at Spock, then said, "The locals seem surprisingly friendly, Commander." "They have reason to be, Captain. They see you as part of their salvation -- though it comes in an unexpected shape." "And how do they see you?" Ael's look was fairly wry."Oh, some of the epithets being bandied about right now are embarrassing enough. Not to mention premature. For my own part, I refuse to be hailed as 'savior' of anything until it has actually been saved. Especially since I am, at best, a convenient excuse. Meanwhile, we have other business. Maintaining so high a speed on the way here has given us some slight advantage that we must now quickly determine how to use, for those nine Imperial ships are incoming." This was an update which Jim had very much been wanting. "When?" "The Artaleirhin local-space command an