Prefect Jomar noticed her when he arrived. At first glance, he hadn’t given it much thought, assuming her to be a Vulcan. But as the reception wore on, his eyes returned to her, and he was sure now that she was a Romulan. The puzzling bit, though, was her uniform, one not of the Republic Navy but rather of Starfleet. He’d heard of those who’d joined Starfleet in their diaspora after the supernova, but to see one in the flesh was something else.

Lieutenant Commander Sena, for her part, made her way through the room, greeting delegates from the various ships on secondment as was her duty. She gave little thought to the pips on her collar, nor to the uniform she wore. She was used to playing the part, but more than that, after two years with Polaris Squadron, it had become almost natural. She had found purpose here, and some who even saw the galaxy in a more Romulan way than her own kind.

“Excuse me,” Prefect Jomar interjected as Lieutenant Commander Sena separated from a conversation she had been having with a young centurion. “May I speak with you, Lieutenant Commander?” His voice, especially the emphasis on her Starfleet rank, came off more sharply than he’d intended.

Lieutenant Commander Sena turned, giving him a once-over. He was a young Romulan dressed not in the garb of a soldier, but of a consular officer. “Absolutely. How may I be of assistance?”

Prefect Jomar studied her for a moment before responding. “If I may,” he said bluntly. “Why are you in a Starfleet uniform?”

“Because that is what a Starfleet officer wears when on duty,” Lieutenant Commander Sena shrugged as a matter of fact, not because she misunderstood his implication, but because she saw no reason to elaborate until the bureaucrat made his position more clear.

Prefect Jomar stared at her. Was she being serious? “I mean, why aren’t you in a Republic uniform? You are a Romulan, are you not? Or does this have something to do with that Human holiday, Halleen?”

“I serve our people in this uniform more than I suspect you do in yours,” Lieutenant Commander Sena replied disdainfully as her eyes narrowed on him. “Ask yourself, Prefect, if your Republic has done all it could for our people? If your answer is yes, and still our people suffer as refugees in Federation space, then it is a failed state. And if it hasn’t done all it could, well… what good would it do to serve such a state?”

Prefect Jomar’s face flashed with confusion, then hurt, before he recovered. “The Republic has existed for only sixteen years,” he said thoughtfully, still trying to figure out his rebuttal. “Sure, a lot could have been done during that time; however, with Rator falling only three years ago, the Free State and the multiple other Romulan worlds in between have not lent us a chance. How can you, a former Tal Shiar operative, cast judgment on a state you have not seen from the inside?” he finished, heaving as he tried to breathe but refused to break eye contact. How could this Starfleet officer know anything of the Republic?

“I have seen more than you could know, from without, and from within,” Lieutenant Commander Sena replied. “So too have I seen an alternate reality where men such as those you serve did not fail to preserve the continuity of government, where our Empire survived the test we failed.” The trip across the multiverse had only reinforced her understanding that the fragmentation of their great society in the aftermath of Romulus’ fall was a failure of their own creation.

Jomar didn’t respond, merely absorbing her words.

“But, you see, Prefect, it isn’t just the failings of our own making that brought me here. There’s something more,” Lieutenant Commander Sena said as she glanced around the room. “I am here, too, because these people, the Federation, they offer a future more than any I have seen on offer from the Republic, the Free State, or any of the other failed remnants of our once great society.”

“But…” he hesitated, uncertain of how she would respond. Perhaps she would take it as an insult. “…but you’re still a Romulan. I don’t understand how you can say that the Federation offers a better future for our people than the Republic if you have never given it a chance.” Or perhaps she wouldn’t. “The Republic has its flaws as I’m sure the Federation does. So I ask: how can you cast something that is still in its adolescence? Just because the Empire fell does not reflect how we have failed; it reflects how the old guard did. We are the new guard, a new day, a new age.”

In his eyes, she could see he believed, or at least appeared to believe, what he was saying, and while she remained skeptical, she would not belabor the point further. “I am a patient person, Prefect. You say your Republic just needs more time. Then I will wait, and I will watch. Maybe, some day, we will stand side by side, but until then, I will remain where I believe I can do the most good for our people.”

Prefect Jomar studied her for a moment, wondering what exactly she meant by her words. “I hope to see you under the Republic banners one day, Lieutenant Commander.”

“Hope did not save our people when the supernova came for them, and hope does not feed our people as they now lie scattered across the galaxy,” Lieutenant Commander Sena replied, a bite to her words. “You will have to do more than hope for that.”