“Yes,” Kage said. “I understand your viewpoint. But how, precisely, would you define a ‘metaweapon’?”

Again, Kamemor felt her eyebrow climb. She had not anticipated the question. “I don’t have a ready answer to that,” she told Kage, “but I’m certain that we could construct a definition satisfactory to all.”

“Perhaps,” Kage said noncommittally. “But it is an important question, one that begs an answer priorto any discussion of this issue.”

Irritation welled within Kamemor, and behind that, anger. With no substantial progress in these talks recently, she had thought that they could be advanced by the settling of even a single minor point. She had raised the matter of metaweapons—at the suggestion of one of her subconsuls—because she had believed it one on which all parties could easily agree.

Diplomacy is a charge for the forbearing,Kamemor reminded herself. Still, she remained angry, and so she stood up, using the movement to cover her emotions. “I’ll try to respond to that, Ambassador,” she told Kage, then walked along the table, past her subconsuls, and over to the viewing ports. She peered out at a line of objects shining against the darkness of space like gems against a jeweler’s cloth. She raised her hand and lightly touched her fingertips to the port. A dull melancholy washed over her, drowning her choler in a tide of memories. Even all these years later, she could not escape the anguish she had felt—that all Romulans had felt—when the tragedy had occurred.

“A planet once orbited out there,” she said. “A planet that—” She stopped. She had been about to describe the scope of the disaster by referring to the size of the colony’s population. But not only was it not her place to reveal such information to outworlders, she also did not wish to speak of the horrific details. “A planet that no longer exists,” she went on, “because of an isolytic subspace weapon.” The planet—Algeron III—had not even been fired upon, but when a nearby enemy ship, fighting a losing battle against a bird-of-prey, had unleashed the weapon, a rent had formed in the fabric of subspace. The tear had been drawn to the power sources on Algeron III and had sliced through the planet with devastating result. The home to so many Romulans had been reduced to ruin so quickly that there had been no possibility of defending against it. At the same time, the force of the destruction had sealed the fissure, and had also crystallized many of the resultant planetary fragments, which now orbited the system’s star and refracted its light into the colors of the spectrum. The effect was magnificent to behold, but it also marked the graves of millions.

Kamemor turned to face Kage, her hand still on the port. “This is your answer,” she said. “This is what we must prevent.”

“Ambassador, I am terribly sorry for your loss, for the Romulan people’s loss,” Kage said with apparent sincerity. “But I must point out that my people did not—”

“No, they didn’t,” Kamemor snapped, cutting him off. Then she paused, slowed her breathing, dropped her hand from the port. She concentrated on regaining her composure. “Nor am I suggesting that any sane Klingon, any sane individual or group, would commit such a monstrous act.” Her words began to come quicker, reflecting the passion of her resolve. “But there are insane Klingons, insane humans, insane Romulans.If we could be assured that no such weapons would ever be used, because none were ever made, would we all not breathe easier?”

“Ambassador Kamemor,” Kage said, “I do understand your view. And my colleague misspoke a few moments ago when he implied that a Romulan presence at a Klingon weapons facility would be unacceptable. Under appropriate circumstances, Chancellor Azetbur would welcome Romulan representatives—and Federation representatives as well.” Next to Kage, the young aide lifted his hands up onto the table, tensing them into fists, and Kamemor thought that he might actually strike the ambassador; instead, he simply looked away. “The difficulty I see,” Kage continued, “is that there are powers beyond our three. The Gorn are certainly capable of developing metaweapons, as are the Tholians, and even the Tzenkethi. By agreeing never to do so ourselves, we would therefore be allowing these powers to create such weapons and attack us without fear of commensurate retaliation.”

“Pardon me, Ambassador Kage,” Endara said, “but that’s hardly the case. The might of the Klingon Defense Force could be brought to bear. Or the might of Starfleet or the Romulan Imperial Fleet. We could even consider a mutual defense pact.”

“But of course, metaweapons could potentially cripple the fleets,” Kage argued. “Do not misunderstand me. The Klingon Empire opposes any employment of these weapons, and even the construction of them. But we do not want to sign a treaty that we might one day have to break in order to survive.”

“At the risk of introducing another intractable issue into these proceedings,” Kamemor said, “I submit that this is worth exploring.”

“I agree,” Endara said. “Standing Federation policy dictates that we would favor the inclusion, in any treaty, of a covenant to ban the production of these weapons.”

“PetaQ,”Kage’s aid muttered. Kamemor recognized the Klingon invective.

“Ditagh,” Kage chided, almost inaudibly.

“No,” the aide responded loudly. He stood back up again, though not as quickly this time, and his chair remained upright. “This petaQ—” He pointed a thick finger toward Endara. “—hurls lies at us and I’m not supposed to speak of it?”

“Ditagh,” Kage repeated, more firmly. “These are diplomatic proceedings. You will therefore conduct yourself diplomatically.”

“Wait,” Kamemor said, stepping away from the outer bulkhead and into the center of the room. “What lies?” She had seen no reason to respect the peevish Klingon aide, but none of his churlishness, his inexperience, or his status as somebody’s pawn precluded his statement from being true. Kamemor had worked for months to fashion an agreement for a meaningful and prolonged peace among the three powers, but if she was being lied to, she wanted to know it.

“Federation representatives sit here spouting peace—” He waved a hand dismissively in the direction of Endara and his staff. “—while at the same time they’re trying to develop a weapon to wipe out the Klingon Empire.”

Endara stared at the aide with what Kamemor could only interpret as a complete lack of comprehension. “Ambassador Kage,” Endara said at last, expressly addressing the statesman rather than his subordinate. “The Federation has been a friend to the Klingon Empire for years—for decades.What’s just been suggested is not only patently false, but absurd in the extreme.”

“How would you know?” the Klingon aide barked, finally turning toward Endara. “Does Starfleet keep you informed of its—”

“Ditagh,” Kage interjected. He rose slowly from his chair as his aide spun in his direction. The ambassador fell well short of the young Klingon’s height and build, but Kamemor still thought the older man seemed the more formidable of the two. “Sit down,” Kage ordered. The aide hesitated only briefly, and then he returned to his seat, evidently realizing that, no matter who pulled his strings, he was on his own right now, in this room.

“My apologies,” Kage said, looking around to include both Kamemor and Endara. “Ditagh does not speak for our people. He is my aide, and obviously…enthusiastic. But I am the official Klingon representative at these meetings.”

Kamemor bowed her head, acknowledging Kage’s declaration. “Perhaps, though, it wouldbe best to recess until after the midday meal,” she said.

Kage opened his mouth as if to protest, then looked down at his aide and seemed to change his mind. “A fine idea, Ambassador.”

Kamemor looked to Endara for his approval. “I have no objection,” he said, then rose, his staff collecting the reference materials they’d brought to the meeting and spread out on the table. At the same time, the young Klingon got up and hurried out of the room, and the second Klingon aide, silent throughout the meeting, followed. Kage took the time to excuse himself, then exited too. A few moments later, Endara and his staff also departed, leaving Kamemor in the room with her two subconsuls.