Despite his career, Soval loathed diplomatic gatherings.
He found them utterly illogical, senseless wastes of time that accomplished little beyond existing as events allowing the participants to preen and pose in front of aides and fellow bureaucrats, all the while pretending they were more important than they truly were. As an ambassador, he'd made a point of attending such gatherings as rarely as possible and, when duty required his presence, he inevitably arranged for an 'emergency' to come up as soon as possible that would require him to leave. T'Pol had excelled at generating creative excuses and her absence was keenly missed.
According to the original plan, this particular gathering was intended to be official recognition and honoring of the two Starfleet crews that had been invalu
