EPILOGUE 

Giant rocks tumbled lazy through space as light from the twin suns pierced the dust and haze of the asteroid field. A catlike silhouette stood silent in-front of a large window and watched the rocks and dust drift by. Despite the radiant glow R’Tor felt  fortunate his fur kept him insulated against the cooler temperatures of  the Port Umbria station. 

They do not teach cadets everything at the academy, sometimes you just have to make choices. So, call it tactics or luck, but it worked. As the remnants of the Bird of Prey burned in space the Adventure limped its way to the designated coordinates. After landing a quick assessment determined it was clear that the ship needed a lot of help. None the less the mission of delivering Lieutenant Kozan to this  peace meeting was complete. The rest would be up to Kozan and the leaders of this fledgling independent system. 

R’Tor shook his head, but as he thought about it, but he had no idea why the Klingons would want to poke their nose into an internal Romulan conflict, other than the Klingons and Romulans hated each other for centuries. It was something he would discuss with Starfleet Command, perhaps they would have some insights. 

By the end of the second day, Colt apologized, but explained it would be quite impossible for the Adventure to return to

Starbase 47 under its own power. Four days later when an Odyssey Class starship arrived, R’Tor was walking through the halls when he overheard a few of his officers grumbling about having to be rescued by another ship. But R’Tor understood the Aquarius Class ship was not designed to operate on its own, but respected that his officers held such pride for their little ship. 

He also understood it would be unsafe for the ship and his crew, especially for an unknown number of Klingon ships prowling the area. 

R’Tor stood patiently at the Port Umbria transporter bay. When the Reman delegation arrived with Koz, R’Tor couldn’t help but see the Reman as an ugly shaved version of the Kzinti. He held little regard for those distant cousins, but he would follow Starfleet’s orders. 

“Well?”  R’Tor asked of Koz when the delegation had departed. The translator warbled as he began to speak. 

“We have a beginning.” 

R’Tor’s tale swayed back and forth, and he gave Koz a sideways grin. “Well, that is something.”

In the days that would come there would be many questions asked about the Klingons, many more questions about how the Federation would protect this new independent system. But there was no doubt that Starfleet would protect the system the same way they protected Bajor. 

But when the Federation places a startbase in the area, R’Tor would submit his name for consideration to become the commander of that base. 

These Romulan and Reman, no matter their past, deserve a future with the freedom to chose their own destiny. 

END