Part 18 (2/2)
”She refused to help them when they needed it.”
Fred rolled his eyes. ”She hadn't refused anything yet.”
”Oh, and you were in those meetings, were you?” Gelemingar asked. ”I was, since I'm actually on the security council, and I can a.s.sure you that the president had no intention of granting those Remans asylum, despite being implored to do so by myself, by Starfleet, and by her closest advisors.”
Velisa pursed her lips. ”That's a very strong accusation, Councillor.”
The Gnalish folded his scaled hands on the desk. ”I but speak the truth.”
More boos at that, as well as cries of, ”Get him outta there!” and the like.
Maldonado smiled and held up a padd that Tim hadn't noticed before. ”It's interesting that you say that-yesterday parts of the security council session were unsealed.”
Fred grinned. ”You weren't at yesterday's council session, were you, Councillor?”
”I was in transit from Gnala.” The tone in Gelemingar's voice sounded to Tim like someone had just told him his mother was sick.
Now reading the padd's display, Maldonado said, ”Well, according to the transcript, President Bacco listened to all the options, it was a Starfleet officer who actually first proposed the notion that the Remans had ulterior motives, and you're completely silent. Councillors T'Latrek, Mazibuko, Gleer, Tomorok, and Krim all contributed to the discussion, but no record of any imploring by you. Were they made during the parts that have remained sealed for security reasons, perhaps?”
Now the Pub was filled with cheers. ”If that woman's ever on Cestus,” Gordon said, ”she gets a Homebrew no matter who won that day.”
Tim smiled. The only people who ever got Homebrew when it wasn't right after a Pioneers win were Nan Bacco and any Pioneers players or staffers who came by, so that promise indicated the depths of Gordon's happiness with the reporter's skewering of the Gnalish councillor.
”The president,” Gelemingar said in that same mother's-sick voice, ”is aware of my feelings on the matter.”
”We've gotten a bit off the subject,” Velisa said, prompting some jeers from the crowd, who wanted to see Gelemingar get some more of what was coming to him. ”Captain Rixx, what can you tell us about the Trinni/ek, and do you think that an ongoing relations.h.i.+p with the Federation is in our future-possibly even members.h.i.+p?”
The old Bolian smiled. ”We are getting very far ahead of ourselves, Velisa. First contacts come in many different shapes and sizes. The Trinni/ek are, based on the reports from the Io, a very friendly people-and they also have the capability of traveling faster than light. They had never encountered any other sentient species, but the galaxy is a big place.”
”Do you feel optimistic about the future of relations between the Federation and the Trinni/ek?”
Rixx smiled, bunching up the ridge that ran down the center of his face. ”Well, the Io's captain is a Vulcan, and they are not known for exaggeration. If she says they're friendly, they probably are.”
Maldonado, Cestus III's new hero, said, ”It doesn't hurt that Trinni/ek has a lot of medicinal plants and minerals that are of use-hovrat grows there, as does semtek, and they've got uridium, some dilithium, topaline, and, best of all, kellinite.”
Velisa smiled. ”Are you saying that President Bacco's motive for trading with the Trinni/ek is to make up for the loss of Aligar as a trading partner, Regia?”
Before Maldonado could respond, Fred spoke up. ”That isn't the reason, Velisa, mainly because Aligar no longer being a trading partner is not a loss. That trade arrangement was long overdue for cessation. And as for Trinni/ek, that's just a fortuitous side effect.”
”Yes,” Gelemingar said, ”but I'm sure this president will hammer that point home.”
”It's what we do,” Fred said with another sweet smile.
”You're certainly doing it now. What's next, declaring war on Aligar?”
Before Fred could reply, Velisa said, ”Councillor, you have gone on record as opposing President Bacco's just-completed goodwill tour.”
”Yes. It was an unconscionable waste of time, forcing her to be absent from several important council sessions. The president needs to be present at the seat of government, or she risks losing all touch with the process.”
”I can't agree,” Maldonado said. ”President Bacco's tour is a continuation of something she did while she was governor of Cestus III.”
The entire pub cheered, drowning out the rest of Maldonado's statement, but from what Tim could hear over the noise, she was just explaining about Bacco's town meetings.
”What possible use,” Gelemingar asked, ”could that be?”
Fred chuckled. ”Call me crazy, but it seems to me that a government that doesn't listen to the people isn't much of a government.”
”Very well then, I shall call you crazy,” Gelemingar said, prompting more boos from the pub. ”The people spoke when they elected me councillor. If they decide they dislike the job I'm doing, they can vote for someone else when my term expires. If they like it, they will reelect me. That is how the process works.”
Leaning back in his chair and putting his hand to his chin, Fred said, ”I find it interesting, Councillor, that you say that it's so unconscionable, considering that just five minutes ago you revealed that you missed an entire council session in which the vote to unseal the record of a session you partic.i.p.ated in took place. The only person in this discussion that's lost all touch with the process is you.”
”All right,” Gordon said over the cheers that followed that statement. ”He gets a Homebrew, too.”
Tim said, ”He's local, you know-been on Bacco's staff since she was a representative.”
”Really?” Gordon sounded surprised.
Fred was still talking. ”Meanwhile, President Bacco has talked with the people of Ventax II, of Lembatta Prime, of Taurus III, of New Paris, of Kessik IV, and, yes, of Cestus III about their concerns.”
A few whoops at the mention of the homeworld.
”Did you know, Councillor, that the New Parisians have been trying to get a new medical treatment approved? It's a treatment for Irumodic Syndrome that they've had excellent results with. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to get the attention of anyone in the FMA.” To Velisa, Fred added, ”The president intends to talk with the head of the FMA and Starfleet Medical and see what- ”
Gelemingar interrupted. ”Incredible. Mr. MacDougan, neither the FMA nor Starfleet Medical nor the Federation government has time for such nonsense, and I'm amazed that the president would create an agenda based on a conversation in a large hall.”
It was Maldonado who said, ”Actually, that wasn't what she based it on. I was part of the press tour that accompanied the president, and she went after the meeting to a local hospital and saw the results. It's definitely worth pursuing if it means the possibility of a cure for all the humans over the age of eighty who suffer from the disease.”
”If it works.” Gelemingar now sounded sulky.
Rixx laughed again. ”And how is that to be determined if it isn't tried, Councillor?”
At that, Gelemingar was finally silenced. ”Take that!” one of the crowd cried. After a second, Tim realized that it was Natalia.
”Can we please turn this c.r.a.p off?” someone else asked. ”If I wanna be put to sleep, I'll watch a Cubs game.”
Tim and Natalia and several others laughed. The New Chicago Cubs were the only franchise who, due to their city name, were allowed to use a team name from the city on Earth after which they were named. The Chicago Cubs were one of the longest-running franchises on Earth, having been one of the charter members of the National League in 1876, and remaining in that league until Major League Baseball died on Earth in 2042. That team had a history of perennial failure, leavened by occasional bursts of success; their namesakes on Cestus III had only managed the first part so far, as they had remained at the bottom of the Northern Division standings for a decade.
”All right, all right,” Gordon said and turned FNS off.
Tim looked at Natalia. ”Wanna go get some dinner?”
Natalia smiled. ”Sure. How about we go to that new Bajoran restaurant. I hear that Kornelius Yates likes to eat there after games. Maybe we can catch him.”
Smiling right back, Tim said, ”Sure.”
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