Jolantru everybody.

The production team released a few tasty predictions for the upcoming second season of "Enterprise." We'll see more of Archer and T'Pol, Mayweather and Phlox get better screentime, and the early forces forming the Federation start to swirl. And yes, after something of a faint-hearted denial (or decoy) early on, the appearance of Romulans has been confirmed. We probably won't get a good long glimpse of them for awhile, but what we do see will likely be enough.

In fact this dreaded nemesis of humanity hits both the big and little screen quite soon. (The upcoming re-release of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan might even contribute - wonderful stuff, that Romulan Ale.) Fan clubs are booming and this is true around the world. I enjoy playing 3D chess with the chessmaster of the S'Task University. His eddress indicates the Terran country of Germany but the depth of his allegiance gives me little wonder where he would point towards the familiar stars of home.

The tenth movie may or may not move the pointer much. From what I've read there are Romulans in it but it doesn't teach much about them. TOS featured Romulans in only a handful of episodes. Fortunately in that small lot, powerful and detailed portrayals left an indelible place for their race in Trek. TNG brought brighter light to bear on them, including the peaceable pressure of Spock's "Reunification" effort, none of which concerns the prequel series.

Chekov's admonition in "The Deadly Years" - they do not take captives - could have meant that captives just don't live long. The commander in "The Enterprise Incident" was ready to kill Spock there instead of shipping him back for interrogation. (Or that may have to do with how little they expected to pull out of an stubborn Vulcan.) Beyond that, the canonical restrictions don't seem all that bad.

The enemy force in "Silent Enemy" were not seen. The warbird in "Balance of Terror" did not warp but must have been FTL capable to outrun NCC-1701. That Spock knew nothing about them, or at least didn't appear to, only begs the question: How much do the Romulans remember? The writers have considerable room to move. The merciless brutality seen so early in the original series leaves a delicate set of ends for ENT to match, yet we are promised "airtight continuity" so I trust them to give us a good show.

It can all mean only one thing. The war is coming. What a great time to be Romulan.