Two thousand years with known record loss implies lack of details regarding old-style T'Khasan psionic disciplines. They likely have precautions, but not well-targeted ones. Cardassians are oddly similar to T'Khasans, but there would be little reason to pretend to be an alien species if not doing so to fake your real capabilities.

T'Khasans disguising themselves is more likely if it hasn't been two thousand years. A small delay in waking the pods could lead to colonists in a highly unstable position, with more to hide. Aliens more likely if two thousand years have actually passed. Less reason to lie about that in particular, even if they're hiding other information. Examination of the cryopod will likely be definitive. Astronomical data could be conclusive if it could be accessed without room for interference. Brain damage scenario looks less likely, thoughts are recovering at expected rate for waking from cryosleep.

Information about "Vulcans", "Romulans", and the "Cardassian Union" is still predictive noise. No cause yet to believe Gul Ocett has said anything without careful tuning and consideration of expected interpretations, and checking up on those details will be difficult in the short-run.

This is a high-risk environment where additional data could be very valuable. No time for a proper healing trance. Better to only reduce brain activity partially, maintain subtle consciousness while handling regeneration actively. Slightly less efficient, but six hours should still be sufficient recovery for light activity and moderate-scale psionic workings. Time to rest, but not to sleep.

"Tell me how this will work, Ocett."

"I will be the first to acknowledge the danger inherent in this strategy, Executor Rejal. However, if we can win her trust, she may well build us a weapon that can wipe out a Klingon orbital station in a single shot."

At a frown from Rejal, Ocett quickly continues, "Certainly I am in full support of our current response to the presence of Klingons within our borders ma'am, but that strategy is primarily based on the tremendous reduction in our fleet. It can't be a long term strategy. The people are already suffering from the raids and the reduction of trade throughout the sector. It may take time, but it already seems as though many of the legends about ancient Vulcans are vastly understated. She was asking coherent questions about the universal translator within 20 minutes of waking from millenia in unpowered cryostasis. The personnel file embedded in her cryopod identifies her as an engineer, the intended governor of the colony, and the daughter of a militaristic emperor. She almost certainly knows how to build the ancient psionic weapons that forced Vulcan back to a pre-space-travel technological level."

"And what exactly is supposed to prevent her from turning these weapons on the State, Gul?"

So far Legate Hoval had remained silent, Ocett refocuses her attention to his side of the screen.

"As I said sir, there is significant risk in the strategy. Whatever the Klingon Empire may claim, we are at war, and we are about to be in another one, possibly at the same time."

"I outlined proposed security procedures in my report, this program will require a higher degree of flexibility than many historical projects the military has undertaken, and we still need to conduct more research which will hopefully lead to even more options. The goal is to make her a loyal subject of the Union, failing that we hope to make her a powerful ally, and if we succeed in either of these, we will have drastically shifted the galactic balance of power in favor of the Union."

"Hoval, I am inclined to approve this proposal. So far, it seems to offer the best ratio between necessary resources and possible gain, of any military research proposal I have heard since returning to Union Space, and State knows that we could use anything that we might be able to prepare before the Dominion attempts retaliation for the Omarion Nebula. If you have any specific misgivings, this would be the time to share them."

Legate Hoval lets out a deep sigh, "I think this is a bad solution to a terrible problem, but we haven't come up with anything better yet. At least in theory, we should go through with this."

"But can we at least move this project out of the capital city?"

"Many of the project's current precautions are only possible because we are using a former Order installation. If there is a similar facility further from major cities, then I would be happy to transfer the project there in a few weeks, once R'vneh has recovered further, and we have a better understanding of the specific risks."

"If there's one in the Mekar Wilderness, it would be easier to explain to her as something for her benefit, and might even improve her opinion of us."

Legate Hoval buries his face in his hands, coming back up to speak, "There is such a facility, and it has been an absolute nightmare."

"Getting teams and resources out there has been hard enough, but the traps have been devastating. We're still not sure what the facility was designed to hold, but whatever your princess is capable of, that place should be able to contain it. We'll raise the priority of clearing it, I want you ready to start the  transfer as soon as the Mekar installation is cleared. Even with the entire military working on it I doubt we'd be ready before you."

Time to think.

Top-weighted branch is that it's actually been two thousand years and the Cardassians are actually aliens. This branch is also conservatively pessimistic, implies fewer resources. No political power, no trade goods, outdated technology.

How accurate is each of those? No political power is very likely. No good sense of local politics yet, but while polite, they have not been deferential in a way which implies innate weight. Chair still seems locked, after all.

Possibly they will recognize ownership rights over the remnants of the ship. Cryopod is missing, and crown, and both contain useful tools. The cryopod computer even has details that can't otherwise be recovered. Its memory banks are larger than even an augmented mind. But if the Cardassians have the military upper hand, they have no reason to purchase what they already possess. Firsthand historical records are more plausible and harder to steal. Only viable with free contact with the sorts of intellectuals who will value such things. Still the best option if wealth is needed.

Technology? Mechanical portions of the chair and door look like they might use finer circuitry than standard T'Khasan variants, but the difference isn't enormous. Though the walls are harder to read than the chair. More opaque, beyond just the thickness and density. Possibly an active precaution against farsight? Or psionic senses in general. They don't seem defended against amplified pulses, gravitic shear, or even standard telekinesis, supporting the theory of inferior psionic potential, but suggesting they have some experience with the whole concept. Psionic weapons can be useful even if you have nukes. Some of father's best designs were even primarily defensive, and thus significantly safer to trade with weakly-allied military. Perhaps designs for amplifiers could be adjusted to function as psionic prostheses, providing standard abilities to this less-capable species? If it were simple the Romulans would likely have developed the technology already, but it's worth checking.

So, limited options for resource acquisition, but not none. Recovery is continuing successfully, but highest priorities are proceeding with regeneration, and obtaining more information about the area. If the Cardassians become aggressive, escape might be possible using the discipline of warfare. If they start looking for compensation, offer historical records and float ideas like self-defense weapons or psionic prostheses. Workable plans for scale of hours and days.

Great, wonderful, she still hasn't slept. The medical staff has been quite clear that Romulans need approximately as much sleep as Cardassians, apparently there are rumors that Vulcans need 30% less, but all of the doctors have said that they think it's only a rumor. That does nothing to change the fact that while Ocett has been writing reports, meeting with Legate Hoval and the head of the civilian government, reviewing her anti-telepath techniques, and developing over 200 different contingency plans, Princess R'vneh has been awake, staring at the wall and occasionally glancing around the room.

If she ever gets the chance to write a scholarly paper on this experience, Ocett is going to need to find another way to describe Ancient Vulcan physical capability, because right now the only word she can think of is terrifying.

She takes a deep breath before leading the way into the recently implemented security zone.

The three of them walk into the room, and the workmen quickly begin assembling furniture behind R'vneh. "Good evening, Princess R'vneh. How are you feeling?"

"Much improved, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to rest. Yourself?"

"Oh, I'm doing quite well. I've been looking forward to another opportunity to speak with you."

"Apologies for the noise, we thought your recovery would take a bit longer and that we'd have more time to prepare your room."

"Oh, don't mind me. I'd be happy to step out for a moment, give the boys a chance to work."

She smirks.

"It'll be a little while till I'm fully recovered, though. I can feel my fingers again, but I don't think I'll be ready to exert myself for a while."

"I'm sure the medical team will be glad to hear that they haven't been entirely wrong." She smiles back.

"This seemed like a good time to discuss the rooms amenities, unless you had other priorities?"

"That works for me, if it's the priority you advise. You remain the one with most-detailed context, here. What amenities are under consideration?"

"Well," she presses the button on a small remote on her belt, and the restraints in the chair slide back, "if you'd care to join me over here, I thought we could start with the replicator."

"Oh, please get started. I'll just be a minute."

...A stretch to check core and limb function. Still less than ideal. Relax blood vessels in legs, increase heart rate, start triggering muscles group by group. A minute is an accurate estimate to standing up.

"Of course, take your time. Your recovery has already been absolutely miraculous, don't rush yourself on my account."

"The replicator is a common method of food preparation, it creates synthetic food out of energy according to programmed patterns and can be activated either verbally or with the display."

"Well, I'm not sure I'm comfortable calling it miraculous myself, yet. This is interesting, though. It creates the food purely out of energy? How detailed are the patterns? Do you store the energy beforehand, or do you need to generate it on-demand?"

"The patterns go to the molecular level, most people find the results indistinguishable from non-replicated versions, and there are no detectable differences, until one starts examining the subatomic differences. There's a sizable power cell that is gradually filled from the facility's power system, but it can also recycle anything it might have produced."

"Do you have any dietary preferences we should keep in mind? Right now we only have native Cardassian foods, but I can check our xeno-cultural libraries for anything you particularly want."

"My micronutrient reserves have not been excessively diminished. It is possible my biology will react poorly to large quantities of your proteins, I presume they are not overly similar to mine? Do you know whether your world's food is edible to Romulans or Vulcans under normal circumstances? If it is, I am happy to sample your culture for the time being."

"Excellent. I believe that Regova eggs give Romulans indigestion. Vulcans would only find some of it edible, but that has more to do with the fact that they are all strict vegetarians, avoiding even replicated meats."

"It is for the best, the enzymes in Regova eggs are nearly impossible to program correctly, and I have yet to hear of a truly acceptable pattern for them."

"You may experience indigestion regardless for a few weeks, but Romulans and Vulcans both adapt quite well to other species' cuisines. The medical staff has recommended against gelat for the time being, as it contains a high dose of stimulants. However they have admitted that you may be in a better position to determine the risks for yourself. Yamok sauce is a common addition to savory dishes, if you find something to be lacking."

She has managed to raise herself to her feet, though she's still leaning against the chair.

"I will keep this advice in mind, thank you. I will avoid stimulants for now, my own neurology is having enough trouble as it is. What makes an enzyme more difficult to program than another?"