Vreenak
Vreenak was a male Romulan politician of the 24th century Romulan Star Empire. He became an influential member of the Romulan Senate.

Personal life
Vreenak enjoyed drinking the Romulan beverage kali-fal. When offered a Starfleet-replicated drink in 2374, he noted it was, "lacking in aroma", and should, "forcibly open one's sinuses well before the first sip." ()

Career
Vreenak rose to the position of senator in the year 2360, later becoming vice-chairman of the Tal Shiar,  of the War Plans Council, and one of Proconsul Neral's most trusted advisers. In 2371, Vreenak was nominated by the Romulan Senate Council for the prestigious Praetor Colius Award, becoming the youngest nominee ever.

Two years later, he was responsible for negotiating the non-aggression pact between the Romulan Star Empire and the Dominion. One of the most ardently pro-Dominion senators, Vreenak had very little faith in the Federation-Klingon Alliance's chances during the Dominion War.

In 2374, Vreenak attended a high-level diplomatic meeting with the Vorta official Weyoun on the planet Soukara. During his return journey, he was convinced to make a secret detour to Deep Space 9 to meet Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko in order to view supposed evidence of a planned Dominion invasion of Romulan space. In reality, Sisko had worked with Elim Garak who set out to have a holographic record forged of a secret meeting showing Weyoun and Legate Damar discussing the invasion. Garak obtained a genuine optolythic data rod for the task. It was Sisko's hope that Vreenak would return to Romulus and convince the Senate to join the war against the Dominion.

Upon examination of the data rod, however, Vreenak discovered that the evidence was forged, and headed back to Romulus threatening to expose the plot. However, due to sabotage by Garak, Vreenak's shuttle exploded while en route, killing the senator, and at least two of his guards. The subsequent investigation by the Tal Shiar uncovered the fabricated evidence, but its defects appeared to be the result of the explosion. The Romulans logically concluded that the Dominion had assassinated Vreenak to prevent him from returning to Romulus with the evidence, rationalizing the Dominion's subsequent protests of its innocence as corroboration of that conclusion since they themselves would have done the same. As a result, the Romulans joined the Dominion War on the side of the Federation Alliance. Both Garak and Sisko shared the guilt of his death to a greater good. ()

Memorable quotes 

"So you're the commander of Deep Space 9. And the Emissary of the Prophets. Decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor, and... oh, yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller..."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
"To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low that you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me."
 - Vreenak and Benjamin Sisko

" I look forward to seeing your station, while it's still here, that is. The way the war's going with the Federation, it may not be around much longer."
- Vreenak, to Benjamin Sisko

"You are persistent, captain, I'll grant you that. But dogged determination isn't enough to change the reality of your situation. Time is definitely not on your side. The Dominion shipyards are working at one hundred percent capacity, yours are still being rebuilt. The Dominion is breeding legions of Jem'Hadar soldiers every day; you're experiencing a manpower shortage. But most important, the Dominion is resolved to win the war, at any cost."
- Vreenak

"It's a fake!"
- Vreenak, to Benjamin Sisko after discovering the data rod is a forgery

Appendices

Background information
Senator Vreenak was played by actor Stephen McHattie.

The script for "In the Pale Moonlight" gave the pronunciation of Vreenak's name as, "VREE-neck". Of his introductory scene, it describes him as being "a little bemused by this whole adventure and we get the feeling it may be hard for him to take Sisko seriously."

Apocrypha

Vreenak is mentioned in a number of apocryphal works.

The Star Trek: The Lost Era  Serpents Among the Ruins gives his first name as "Merken", and indicates he was in public service around 2311, the year of the Tomed Incident. He is shown as one of the senior aides to the Romulan ambassador during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Algeron, and is a staunch Romulan nationalist and supporter of the novel's antagonist, Admiral Vokar.

Vreenak is also mentioned in the Tales of the Dominion War short story "Blood Sacrifice", which takes place immediately before and during the events of "In the Pale Moonlight". During a conversation between Ambassador Spock, Kimara Cretak and two of the story's characters, Ruanek and Amarik, Amarik tells the others of Vreenak's death.

The Pocket DS9 novel Hollow Men bridges the gap between "In the Pale Moonlight" and , with Sisko and Garak traveling to Earth to take part in Allied talks between the Federation, the Romulans and the Klingons. During their visit, Sisko informs Starfleet of the extent to which he and Elim Garak were involved in the death of Senator Vreenak. 

According to the The Sky's the Limit short story "Suicide Note", Koval later succeeds Vreenak as vice-chairman of the Tal Shiar.

In an alternate universe as established in the Star Trek: Myriad Universes novel A Gutted World, Starfleet considers Senator Vreenak to be one of several high ranking Romulan officials to have been replaced by Changelings.

It is mentioned in the Star Trek: New Frontier novel series that the Romulans eventually discover the truth of Vreenak's death, leading to what will be called the Third Great Earth-Romulan War in 2575.

External links

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Romulans
Romulan government officials
Tal Shiar personnel