Changes: The Romulan Way

Revision as of 16:08, 11 March 2017

For other uses, see The Romulan Way.

The Romulan Way is a 1987 Star Trek: The Original Series movie-era novel by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, the second book of the Rihannsu series.

Duane and Morwood wrote the book in seventeen days while on their honeymoon.

Introduction (blurb)

They are a race of warriors, a noble people to whom honor is all. They are cousin to the Vulcan, ally to the Klingon, and Starfleet's most feared and cunning adversary. They are the Romulans - and for eight years, Federation Agent Terise LoBrutto has hidden in their midst.
Now the presence of a captured Starfleet officer forces her to make a fateful choice - between exposure and escape; between maintaining her cover - and saving the life of Dr. Leonard McCoy.
Here, in a startlingly different adventure, is the truth behind one of the most fascinating alien races ever created in Star Trek:

The Romulans.

Summary

The Romulan Way is framed as a "subjective-conceptual history" text by Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto, published in a Federation scientific journal under the title The Romulan Way. It tracks two narratives, one a recounting of Romulan history from the Sundering to the aftermath of the Earth-Romulan War and the creation of the Romulan Star Empire, the other set in the present day and told from the perspectives of LoBrutto and Leonard McCoy. The book alternates chapters between the two stories.

In the present day narrative LoBrutto, a human anthropologist surgically altered to appear Romulan, is undercover on Romulus as Arrhae i-Mnaeha t'Khellian, hru'hfe (household manager) to Romulan nobleman H'daen tr'Khellian. McCoy, taken prisoner in a Romulan raid on a Federation starliner, is brought to the Khellian estate before his trial in the capital city Ra'tleihfi for crimes against the Romulan people. In reality it is a false flag operation by Starfleet Intelligence to check up on LoBrutto, who has not reported in for some time. Due to the dictates of mnhei'sahe McCoy is treated more like an honored guest than a prisoner slated for execution.

Eventually the Khellian household travels to the capital with McCoy in tow, and McCoy is tried and convicted by the Imperial Senate and sentenced to death. He demands the Right of Statement, a Romulan judicial practice intended to create the appearance of a fair trial by allowing the defendant to speak in their defense, and proceeds to turn it on its head by talking for hours on end about everything from the lack of rigor in Romulan jurisprudence to barbecue sauce recipes. The delaying tactic pays off and allows USS Enterprise crew member Dahai Iohor Naraht, a Horta, to burrow his way across Romulus from his insertion point (he had been dropped from orbit and survived unharmed on account of his physiology) and into the Senate chamber. With the diversions in place, the exiled Khre'Riov Ael t'Rllaillieu lands her warbird ChR Bloodwing on Senate's roof to retrieve McCoy and Naraht. McCoy offers to extract LoBrutto under the cover of taking her hostage but she declines, saying that she's grown to love living on Romulus despite the danger. They stage a dramatic escape for her from McCoy's attempt to take her hostage.

Commander Ael takes the Sword of S'task from its place in the Empty Chair, stating that the Tricameron had ceased to be worthy of it, and she and McCoy beam aboard the Bloodwing and make a fighting retreat from Romulus.

In the aftermath many are executed in an attempt to cover up the colossal political embarrassment to the Tricameron, and LoBrutto's Arrhae t'Khellian cover identity is ennobled: she becomes Arrhae i-Khellian t'llhweiir and a senator in her own right.

Referenced

Characters

Dhiemn • Dini • Ejiul • Ekkhae • Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto • Hanaj • HHirl • Khoal • Ron Luks • Mike Maliani • Leonard E. McCoy • N'alae • Dahai Iohor Naraht • Nniol • Stephen C. Perry • J. Michael Reaves • Johnny Russell • S'anra • S'harien • Nnerhin tr'Hwersuil s'Khellian • S'task • Sarek • Surak • t'Hrienteh • t'Hwaehrai • Hloal t'Illialhlae • Hvaid t'Khaethaetreh • Arrhe ir-Mnaeha t'Khellian • T'maekh • Jaeih t'Radaik • Vriha t'Rehu • Ael t'Rllaillieu • Eviess t'Tei • Thue • Nveid tr'AAnikh • tr'Aimne • Maiek tr'Annhwi • tr'Hheinia • Giellun tr'Keirianh • Lhaesl tr'Khed • H'daen tr'Khellian • Lhaesl tr'Khev • Aidoann t'Khnialmnae • Llhran tr'Khnialmnae • Vaebn tr'Lhoell
Referenced only: B'tey'nn • G. Brickner • E. Bryant • Charvanek • d'Artagnan • Elements • Elizabeth I • K. Farey • N. Farey • B. Ferguson • D. Friedman • C. Gamble • D. Gamble • God • H'rewiss • Robert A. Heinlein • Hirad • Adolf Hitler • T. Johnson • Jussac • Kh'Avn-Araht • T. King • James T. Kirk • Matilda • B. Meacham • W. Meier • W. Meier • Powers • Raven • Sadek • R. Sepulveda • K. Siegel • s'Khnialmnae • Spock • T'Eleijha • T'Leia • T'Pehr • Ael t'Rllaillieu • T'sahen • T'thusaih • Tafv • Talv'Lin • Lai i-Ramnau tr'Ehhelih • LLunih tr'Raedheol • Jocelyn Treadway

Starships and vehicles

Akif-class • flitter • K'hanakh-class • K't'inga-class • Varrhan-series flitter

Vulcan/Romulan starships

Blacklight • Bloodwing • Corona • Firestorm • Forge • Gorget • Lance • Lost Road • Memory • Pennon • Rea's Helm • Shield • Starcatcher • Sunheart • T'Hie • Vengeance • Warbird

United Federation of Planets starships

USS Balboa • USS Carrizal • USS Enterprise • USS Excalibur • USS Inaieu • Kobayashi Maru • USS Nelson • USS Stone Mountain • USS Valiant • Vega

Romulan Star Empire starships

ChR Avenger • ChR Battlequeen • ChR Bloodwing • ChR Javelin • ChR Rea's Helm • ChR Talon

Locations

Areinnye • Hell • Iuruth

States and organizations

Governments and political

Councillory • Grand Council • Inshai Compact • Klingon Empire • Klingon High Council • Nonaligned Planets of Southern Orion Congeries • Romulan Senate • Romulan Star Empire • Ruling Queens of Kh'reitekh • United Federation of Planets • Yhri faction

Social and military

Command Conditioning • Duthulhiv • House Khellian • House Khnialmnae • House Lhoell • House s'Annhwi • Kihai • LLunih • Nn'verian • Orion • pirate • Romulan High Command • Romulan Imperial Intelligence • Romulan Imperial Military • Ship-Clans • Starfleet • Tricameron • United Federation of Planets Starfleet Intelligence Corps. • Vulcan High Council

Companies and institutions

Ford Motor Company • Rolls-Royce • Starfleet Academy • Vulcan Academy of Sciences

Other references

A/G linear • Ahkh • Alice in Wonderland • Anglish • Art Deco • Bode's Law • Bronze Age • Bussard ramjet • cesium clock • cloaking device • Contribution • cowboy • credit • Deirr modern • deity • DistArbGalCore • Doric order • duotronic • Empty Chair • First Romulan War • GalLat • GalLong • ghost • Hamalket second T'r'lkt era • Heinlein's Law • Hellenic period • Hfehan • Hlai-brained • I.C.X. Medical Journal • Index Xeno Medicalis • intradermal translator • The Journal of the Federation, Institute for the Study of Xenosociology • Last Song • Late Great Unpleasantness • lehe'jhme • Levaeri V incident • logic-solid • Lunglock fever • lyre • mindtree • Non-Apology • Old High Vulcan • Old West • prime transfer authority • protodeity • radio • Right of Statement • Romulan Golden Age • Romulan language • The Romulan Way • ryill •scraping-stone • seheik • silk ribbon • Statement of Intention of Flight • Steheht mode • A Study of Socioeconomic Influences on Vulcan Space Exploration • Sundering • T'sahen's Stricture • Ten Lordships of the Thaha Dynasty • Treaty of Alpha Trianguli • tri-D • Vehe'rr Ihlan • Vulcan Reformation • War Between the States • wiltleaf • Worldfall

Ranks and titles

antecenturion • commander • commander general • knight • Ruling Queen of the Two Worlds • senior centurion • subcenturion • subcommander • Ten Lordships of the Andorian Thaha Dynasty

Clothing

boot • kilt • singlet • sock

Food and drink

alcohol • bean • bologna • bread • egg • flatroot • fondue • gruel • Kentucky bourbon • kheh • lemon • lemonade • meatroll • milk • mint • mint julep • pizza • Romulan ale • Saurian brandy • sushi • Tex-Mex chili • wine

Weapons

blaster • dart-spear • disruptor • knife • planetcracker weapon • Sunkiller bomb • sword

Animals

camel • cat • crab • guinea pig • hawk • Hlai • Hlai'hwy • horse • lion • mouse • sehlat • wolf

Substances, minerals and elements

Aerosal • aspirin • danegeld • glasteel • ochre • ruby • salt • silk • sugar • teflon • wool

Vulcan dates

Ahhahr • Irhheen

Information

McCoy's full name is given as Leonard Edward McCoy.
Federation Standard is called Anglish.
Both Romulus and Remus are quite habitable. (This was later contradicted by TNG movie: Star Trek: Nemesis.)
Despite at least three large seas on Vulcan, those who became Romulan were surprised by the oceans on Romulus and Remus.
According to the Romulans, Starfleet began the Earth-Romulan War when the USS Carrizal scanned Romulus.
According to Starfleet, the Earth-Romulan War began three years later when the USS Balboa was destroyed.
The Earth-Romulan War lasted twenty-five years.
The United Federation of Planets was engaged in this war when first contact was made with the Vulcans. (This was later contradicted by TNG movie: Star Trek: First Contact.)
Upon the Vulcan entry into the United Federation of Planets, they were asked why Romulan corpses were similar to Vulcans. The Vulcans avoided the question.
Prior to the Reformation, Vulcans worshiped over 600 gods, demigods, animaes, geniuses, demons, angels, golems, powers, principalities, forces, noeses, and hypersomatic beings.
Chapter Four states that the Rihannsu ships of the Sundering used artificial gravity, but Chapter Twelve implies that they spun for gravity.
In Chapter Thirteen H'daen tr'Khellian has "a blue-brown bruise" under his eye, but in Chapter Eleven a bruise on his face is "greening", which is more believable since Romulan blood is green.
At the beginning of Chapter Fourteen McCoy "wiped his hands briskly on his pants legs", even though his hands were bound by a ribbon containing a monofilament that would cut his hands off if any pressure was applied (Chapter Thirteen).
In Chapter Fourteen Ael refers to the Senate Chamber as "this old place that S'task built", but according to Chapter Eight the chambers were demolished and rebuilt by Vriha t'Rehu, the Ruling Queen. According to Chapter One of TOS - Rihannsu novel: Swordhunt, the building "[incorporated] what remained of the older structure on the same site".

Continuity

The Romulan Way's version of the Earth-Romulan War was largely contradicted by later canon established by Star Trek: Enterprise and the subsequent Romulan War novel series. In this book's version of events the Federation discovered the Romulans as a non-warp-capable people. Due to the disastrous historical contact with the Duthulhiv pirates which led to the Sundering, the Romulans assumed the worst of the Federation and built a sublight space navy that swarmed and captured the next Federation exploration vessel to approach Romulus. From this they reverse-engineered weapons and deflector shield technology, as well as warp drive. In ENT the Romulans were already a spacefaring people with an interstellar state at the time of first contact, and the Federation did not yet exist.

The Romulan Way and its sequels were also contradicted on the nature of the Remans and Romulus' sister planet Remus by Star Trek Nemesis. In this series they are a different ethnicity of Romulans, and Remus is a verdant, primarily agrarian planet whose inhabitants face racial discrimination from the natives of Romulus. In canon the Remans are a different Vulcanoid species originating from a tidally locked wasteland of a world.

Connections

The Romulan Way article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.

published order
Previous novel: Dreams of the Raven	TOS numbered novels	Next novel: Star Trek: Worlds Apart, Book 2: How Much for Just the Planet?
Previous novel: Strangers from the Sky	TOS novels	Next novel: Star Trek: Worlds Apart, Book 2: How Much for Just the Planet?
Previous novel: My Enemy, My Ally	Rihannsu novels	Next novel: Swordhunt
Previous novel: My Enemy, My Ally First Star Trek novel	Novels by: Diane Duane Peter Morwood	Next novel: Spock's World Rules of Engagement
chronological order
Previous Adventure: Timetrap	Pocket	Next Adventure: Swordhunt
Previous Adventure: Timetrap	The Continuing Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)	Next Adventure: Swordhunt
The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2276. The Pocket Books Timeline places events from this story in six other timeframes:
Previous Adventure: The Devil's Heart Chapter 13	249 Chapter 2	Next Adventure: Vulcan's Soul Book 1: Exodus Chapters 2, 4, 6 , 7 , 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 & 18
Previous Adventure: Vulcan's Soul Book 1: Exodus Chapter 19	285 Chapter 4	Next Adventure: The Lost Years Prologue
Previous Adventure: Vulcan's Soul Book 1: Exodus Chapter 21, 23 & 25	300 Chapter 6	Next Adventure: Vulcan's Soul Book 2: Exiles Memory
Previous Adventure: Vulcan's Soul Book 1: Exodus Chapter 2	750 Chapter 8	Next Adventure: Kahless Even Chapters
Previous Adventure: Kahless Even Chapters	846 Chapter 10	Next Adventure: The Long Night Prologue
Previous Adventure: Horizon	2153 Chapter 12	Next Adventure: The Breach

@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 *Prior to the [[Vulcan Reformation|Reformation]], [[Vulcan]]s worshiped over 600 [[god|gods]], [[demigod]]s, [[animae]]s, [[genius]]es, [[demon]]s, [[angel]]s, [[golem]]s, [[power]]s, [[principality|principalities]], [[force]]s, [[noes]]es, and [[hypersomatic being]]s.
 *Chapter Four states that the [[Rihannsu]] ships of the [[Sundering]] used [[artificial gravity]], but Chapter Twelve implies that they spun for [[gravity]].
+*In Chapter Thirteen [[H'daen tr'Khellian]] has "a blue-brown bruise" under his eye, but in Chapter Eleven a bruise on his face is "greening", which is more believable since [[Romulan]] [[blood]] is green.
 *At the beginning of Chapter Fourteen McCoy "wiped his hands briskly on his pants legs", even though his hands were bound by a ribbon containing a [[monofilament]] that would cut his hands off if any pressure was applied (Chapter Thirteen).
+*In Chapter Fourteen [[Ael]] refers to the [[Hall of State|Senate Chamber]] as "this old place that [[S'task]] built", but according to Chapter Eight the chambers were demolished and rebuilt by [[Vriha t'Rehu]], the [[Ruling Queen]]. According to Chapter One of {{n|TOS|sub={{st|Rihannsu}}|Swordhunt}}, the building "[incorporated] what remained of the older structure on the same site".
 ==Continuity==

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki