| “ | I will never see my child smile again. She will grow up believing that her father is a traitor. But she will grow up. | „ |
| ~ Jarok, on why he defected. |
Alidar Jarok was a minor Romulan hero from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Defector.
He was portrayed by James Sloyan.
An officer in the Imperial Navy, Jarok had been long time friends with Che'sik Tal, who had encountered the Federation ship Enterprise in the 2260s.
By the 2360s Jarok had come to believe that continual war was futile, and that the Empire would have to change its ways to survive. Convinced that another war with the Federation would destroy the Romulan people, Jarok tried to warn the government, but was censured and reassigned to the frontier.
The Romulan Navy began an elaborate operation to determine if Jarok was a traitor. They began feeding him information about a base being constructed on Nelvana III, in the heart of the Neutral Zone. Convinced that the Romulans were about to go to war, Jarok defected to the Federation, and was intercepted by the Starfleet vessel Enterprise under the command of Jean-Luc Picard.
Telling them that he was Sublieutenant Setal, Jarok briefed the Enterprise senior staff on the Romulan's apparent plans. Picard was skeptical. Feeling that he could not convince the Enterprise crew Jarok gave up the ruse and revealed that he was Jarok. Jarok was able to provide intelligence to Picard, enough to convince him to investigate Nelvana III.
After arriving at Nelvana III and finding no base, the Enterprise was intercepted by Romulans led by Tomalak, who revealed the deception they engineered against Jarok. Tomalak intended to take the Enterprise as a trophy, but Picard had the foresight to have a substantial Klingon force follow them into the Neutral Zone under cloak, and signalled them to decloak. Now outgunned, Tomalak reluctantly let the Enterprise go.
Realizing that his defection had been for nothing, Jarok took his own life a short time later. Jarok wrote a letter to his wife and young daughter before committing suicide, hopeful for the day when the letter could be delivered to his family by the Federation. Picard was able to deliver the letter in person to Jarok's family in 2374.
What Jarok did not realize was that he was not the only Romulan who wanted to see the Romulans come to peace with its neighbors. In the years following his death, a reunification movement assisted by Ambassador Spock would pave the way for the Romulans to peacefully reunite with their Vulcan cousins and return home after the destruction of Romulus.
