Part 10 (1/2)

”Any ideas on how to fix this?”

That caught Esperanza off guard. She had twelve other things on her mind at the moment. ”I think we can just ride this out, and- ”

”We can't afford to ride this out. The government's grinding to a d.a.m.n halt.” Bacco thought a moment, then said, ”I'm gonna apologize.”

Her eyes widening in surprise, Esperanza said, ”Really?”

”What, I'm not allowed to apologize?”

”Well, it's not typical, ma'am. Of the president of the Federation or-well, of you.”

”Then it's time I started being atypical, 'cause typical ain't gettin' the job done. I'll take the floor at the next session and fall on my sword.” She sighed. ”I a.s.sume Raisa's gonna talk to me about the Remans?”

Grateful for the change of subject, Esperanza said, ”Yes, ma'am. No new news yet, obviously, since they're still running silent.”

Shaking her head, the president said, ”This d.a.m.n thing's been hanging over us for two months now. I'll be glad when it's over. Anything new from the Klingons?”

”No. They still say they haven't made any aggressive moves, that the Romulans have always fired first.”

”And the Romulans?”

Smirking, Esperanza said, ”Depends who you ask, and what time of day.”

”Yeah.” The president let out a long breath. ”Oh, and I think Artrin'll be ratified soon. Honestly, they were ready to take a vote, finally, but Severn-Anyar said she hadn't finished reading through all of Artrin's magisterial decisions.”

Esperanza frowned. ”She's had months to do that.”

”Yeah, that's why I think it'll be over soon-the delaying tactics are getting particularly feeble. One other thing that was introduced was a resolution to continue the water supplies to Delta until they hammer out their nonsense with Carrea. Speaking of which, should I take it as read that the Wescott Room continues to be a source of contention?”

This time it was Esperanza who rolled her eyes. In addition to the president's office, the fifteenth floor of the Palais included two large meeting rooms-the Ra-ghoratreii Room and the Wescott Room, both named after past Federation presidents. These two in particular were the ones who'd signed the Khitomer Accords and the Organian Peace Treaty, respectively, and their portraits hung on the respective walls. The latter room had been the site of the regular meetings between the Deltan and Carreon delegations for two months now.

”Yeah, they're still going at it. The latest is that the Carreon are asking for exclusive trading rights to eeriak.”

Frowning, the president said, ”Isn't eeriak their biggest export?”

”Yeah, and it's not replicable. Delta's economy will collapse if they only trade to Carrea, since they can't possibly import enough to make it worth Delta's while to go exclusive.”

”Talk about feeble delaying tactics. When do you think I should get into it?”

”Another couple of days, I think the Deltans are gonna walk out, so I'd say within a couple of days.”

”All right. Well, at least Delta will have water for another month, thanks to a handy one hundred and fifty-one to one vote.”

”I a.s.sume Delta was one of the two who abstained?”

”Yeah-the other was Ontail who, once again, didn't show up.”

Esperanza blew out a breath between her teeth. After the incident at the Rashanar Battle Site, the Zife administration had managed to keep the Ontailians from leaving the Federation altogether. However, Councillor Lo had only been at two council sessions in the year and a half since Rashanar.

That, however, was a discussion for another time. ”Who was the one negative vote?”

Glowering, the president said, ”Who do you think?”

”Quintor?” Esperanza asked with a wince.

”I tell you, Esperanza, I'm starting to relax my enthusiasm for appointing her to government oversight.”

”If it was anything other than government oversight, I'd agree.”

The words hung between them for a moment.

”You realize,” the president finally said, ”that it probably won't matter. What Zife did probably won't even come out during my presidency-and even if it does, that won't matter to the current council. Honestly, do you really think I'd do something as depraved as what Zife did on Tezwa?”

”If you'd asked me the same question about Min Zife two years ago, I'd have said the same thing I'd say about you now. But who the h.e.l.l knows? And the point is, we have a responsibility to make sure that sort of abuse of power can't- ”

Waving her hand in front of her face, the president said, ”All right, all right, I know-I'm the one who gave you that speech after we found out about Zife, remember? And I know that Quintor will question everything, which is what you want in that position, but- ” She let out another breath. ”I'm just hoping that particular council gets very little work.”

”I'll do everything I can to make sure that happens, ma'am.”

President Bacco nodded. ”Good. Anything else?”

Esperanza smiled. ”Eleven to ten, huh? Real pitchers' joust, wasn't it?”

”It's pitchers' duel, you heathen.” But the president returned the smile. ”All right, it's 1815, so I'd better start seeing my 1800 appointment. What was it again?”

”Sivak said it was Secretary Kolrami.”

The president leaned back in her chair. ”Oh joy, I get to be lectured at by the agriculture secretary. Why did we appoint her again?”

Esperanza got up from her seat. ”Because she's the Federation's leading expert on agriculture, and she's been criticizing the Federation's position on several issues for ten years now, and you thought her arguments were cogent.”

The president shook her head. ”Yeah, well, that was before she was directing them at me. Now I just think they're tiresome. I'm starting to question our methods of choosing a cabinet. Next time around, let's just pick people who don't know a d.a.m.n thing about the subject-this way I can have fewer meetings.”

”I'll look into that, ma'am,” Esperanza deadpanned. ”You want me or one of the guys here when you talk to Fred about the speech?” Esperanza had taken to referring to her four deputies as ”the guys.”

”Send Ashante-she's better at keeping Fred focused. Besides, they make a cute couple, and after eight hours with the council, I need all the cute I can get.”

Chuckling, Esperanza turned to leave. ”Thank you, Madam President.”

Chapter Nine.

BEY TOH'S STOMACH was growling and his head was pounding as he entered Sisko's Creole Kitchen in New Orleans. As he walked in, the smell of cayenne peppers and Cajun spices and tomato sauce managed to at once alleviate the headache and make the stomach growl more.

When Fred MacDougan had offered him the job as a member of President Bacco's speechwriting staff, he had done so in this restaurant. Toh had been serving as the speechwriter for the Federation amba.s.sador to the Klingon Empire, but when Fred had made the job offer, he'd found it irresistible.

It hadn't hurt that Fred had made the offer in this restaurant. Until that interview, Toh, a Bajoran by birth, had never set foot on Earth, and had had no idea that they had such magnificent cuisine.