Part 23 (1/2)
Abrik started to say, ”Ma'am, the Klingons- ”
”No, Jas, I mean, we need to investigate this. There's a third reason why the Romulans might want to do damage to the Klingons and the Remans, and that's to start a war with the Klingons. Nothing unites a fractured people faster than getting them behind a war effort.”
”It would be consistent with past Romulan behavior,” T'Latrek pointed out. ”Thirty-six years ago, Praetor Dralath ordered an attack on the Klingon world of Narendra III. It was an attempt to rally his people behind a war with the Klingons in order to stave off the economic depravations of his administration.”
Shostakova said, ”That type of thinking is consistent with the reports we have been getting regarding Admiral Mendak.”
”The last report we have of Mendak's activities,” Hostetler Richman said, ”from about a month ago has his fleet on a course that could take them to Klorgat. Of course, it could also take him to half a dozen other places that are actually in Romulan or neutral s.p.a.ce, and he could easily change course.”
”I take it that Praetor Tal'Aura is still denying any responsibility for Mendak's actions?”
Nodding, Shostakova said, ”Our latest report from Amba.s.sador Spock indicated that Mendak has officially been declared a criminal, and that any Romulan soldiers who see him are to shoot him on sight.”
Abrik rolled his eyes. ”That just means they want deniability. He hasn't done anything that's actually hurt Tal'Aura in any way-just the other factions.”
Bacco looked at T'Latrek. ”What do you think?”
T'Latrek raised an eyebrow. ”I believe that any attempt to speculate would be foolish without the benefit of an investigation.”
”Me, too. I'm gonna talk to K'mtok when I get back. Meanwhile, I want an S.C.E. team going over that moon with a fine-tooth comb.”
”The da Vinci is in the area. They'll be able to tell us exactly what happened.”
Ashante hoped that Ross's confidence was well placed. On the other hand, she had heard nothing but good things about the Starfleet Corps of Engineers and their ability to solve the insoluble, which this little mystery was shaping up to be.
”Good,” Bacco said with another nod. ”Amba.s.sador Rozhenko, while I'm selling this to K'mtok, you sell it to the High Council. I don't want anyone going off half-c.o.c.ked until we know for sure what happened.”
”Of course, ma'am. As it turns out, I'm having dinner with Martok and several councillors tonight, so we can talk about it then.”
Esperanza chuckled. ” 'As it turns out'?”
Rozhenko just smiled back.
Ashante shook her head. She had been leery of the notion of appointing someone so young, with minimal diplomatic experience, to replace Worf as Federation amba.s.sador, but Alexander Rozhenko of the House of Martok had proven as adept as his father at bridging the gap between the two cultures.
”Let's do this right, people,” Bacco said.
Several of those in the Monet Room thanked her, and the screen went dark.
”Thanks everyone,” Bacco then said to the other three, then she looked right at Esperanza. ”Now then, you wanted to talk to me about Xeldara's replacement?”
”Yes, ma'am.”
”Oh,” Bacco said to Ashante, ”and tell that husband of yours that he did a fine job with the speech.”
”Yes, ma'am,” Ashante said hesitantly.
Bacco smiled. ”Let me guess, he spent the entire walk from Squyres to the s.p.a.ceport whining about the way I changed some of the phraseology.”
”Just one, ma'am. When you added in 'well.' ”
”Well, you tell Fred that the holoprompter glitched for a moment, and I was just trying to cover it.”
Ashante blinked. ”Really, ma'am? Because it didn't come across that way-you covered very well.”
”Nah, it didn't glitch-I just changed the phrasing. But I want you to tell Fred that to shut him up.”
”That's a battle I gave up three years before we got married, ma'am.”
”Fair point. Now then, who've we got in mind for the new deputy?”
Chapter Seventeen.
CADET KARIN NOOSAR tried not to fidget in her seat. This year, as with most years, the Academy graduating cla.s.s was having its commencement in Golden Gate Park. It was a cool, pleasant day in San Francisco, as it often was even without aid from the weather net, with the sun s.h.i.+ning down on the gra.s.s and trees and the blindingly white dress uniform worn by Admiral Bernard McTigue, the Academy superintendent.
Normally, Karin didn't mind listening to Superintendent McTigue speak. Tall, elegant, and well spoken, he had a dry wit, friendly demeanor, and sharp mind.
But Karin had been listening to McTigue since his appointment three years ago. Today, in addition to throwing off the t.i.tle of cadet in favor of ensign, she and the rest of the cla.s.s of '80 were going to have their commencement address delivered by none other than President Nan Bacco herself.
Karin had grown up on several different Federation worlds, with most of her teen years being spent on CestusIII. While there, she had gone to one of then-Governor Bacco's town meetings as part of a cla.s.s a.s.signment. She had gone in there a bored thirteen-year-old hoping just to stay awake for the whole thing; she'd come out with a tremendous respect for Nan Bacco and a desire to grow up to be just like her.
That ambition had tempered as she'd gotten older and realized that it was Starfleet, rather than politics, that was her true calling, but her admiration for Bacco had never flagged, and Karin had actually done a little bit of campaigning for her-as much as had been possible, what with her studies-when she'd run against Fel Pagro for president. It had been difficult, since most of her cla.s.smates had actually been for Pagro, though some had changed their tune when Admiral Ross had come out for Bacco.
Now, Karin failed in her attempt not to fidget as she waited for McTigue to shut the h.e.l.l up and let President Bacco talk.
At last, the superintendent said, ”And now, cadets-who will not be cadets much longer-I am especially proud to present to you all your commencement speaker, President Nanietta Bacco.”
Thunderous applause echoed off the surrounding trees of the park as the small-but-impressive-looking white-haired woman approached the podium. She shook McTigue's hand, then turned to look out at the throng of Karin's cla.s.s. Karin thought, oddly, that she looked smaller than she had nine years earlier, though that was probably due to her being farther away. The town hall used for her gubernatorial town meetings was much smaller than a San Francisco park, after all.
” 'Ex astris, scientia.' Those words are on that flag over there.” The president pointed at the Academy flag, which hung on a pole right next to the other pole that had the Federation flag. ”It's from an old human language called Latin. n.o.body's spoken it conversationally for several hundred years, mind you, but we like to trot it out every once in a while to make ourselves sound more interesting. It means, 'From the stars, knowledge.' Which makes it kind of a funny motto for a place that has you spending the bulk of your time right here on Earth.”
Karin smiled. She remembered some of her friends from the cla.s.s of '79, all of whom had been dreading the commencement speech, which had been given by the novelist H'jn Sowell, a great writer but an awful public speaker. The year before that, it had been some s.h.i.+p captain or other, who had been even more boring. We lucked out in that department.
”The thing about the stars is that they do provide knowledge-but that comes with a concomitant risk. Nothing underlines that risk more than the fact that you are the first Academy cla.s.s in quite a while to have gone through your entire tenure at the Academy when the Federation wasn't at war. And that, my friends, is something to be celebrated, because the cla.s.ses before yours either came as first-years when we were at war, or were cadets when the war was declared, or joined when they thought war was pretty d.a.m.n likely. But you all are the first to come through without that particular Damoclean sword hanging over your collective heads.”
Two of the cadets-neither of them human-gave each other confused looks, only to have the cadets on either side of them explain about the Sword of Damocles.
”There's an old human saying-not in Latin, you'll be happy to know-that says that knowledge is power, and another one that says that power corrupts. Since its founding two hundred and nineteen years ago, the Federation has tried to bring a message of hope and of knowledge to the galaxy. The galaxy, unfortunately, hasn't always been impressed. We may not be at war anymore, but the possibility always, tragically, exists. The people who sat in those seats seven years ago were embroiled in a war six months later when the Dominion took Deep s.p.a.ce 9.
”But the purpose of Starfleet isn't to fight the Federation's wars. That is their task-and that might be your task-when it's required, but it's important for all of you to remember that it is a last resort, not a first one. Starfleet was formed when the Federation was, but it grew out of Earth's s.p.a.ce exploration arm, and they had a Latin motto too: ad astra per aspera. It means 'to the stars for hope.' And every time we go to the stars, we're filled with hope-no matter how many times it would be better to be filled with dread. Their job then, and your job now, is to seek out new life and new civilizations. Some of those will be like the Klingons or the Romulans or the Carda.s.sians or the Tzenkethi or the Tholians, none of whom were kindly disposed to us at first, and some of whom still aren't. Some of those will be like Bajor or Evora or Cairn or Delta Sigma IV, all of whom joined the Federation in the last decade. Regardless of who you do meet out there, though, you will bring the hope of peace.”
Bacco smiled then. ”It sounds funny, doesn't it? You'll be flying around in s.h.i.+ps that have sufficient weaponry to lay waste to a planet-not really much of a peaceful message, is it? When we've had to, we have fought, and we have bled, and we have suffered, but it's because with this Federation, we've found something that's worth fighting for, worth bleeding for, worth suffering for, and yes, worth dying for. And we've also found that the hope we come to the stars for must be tempered with a willingness to defend what we have, because if we don't, there are plenty of people all over the galaxy who'd be more than happy to take it away from us.
”Every day I go down to the first floor of the Palais de la Concorde, and there are over a hundred and fifty people in there. Each one is from a wholly different world than the person in the next chair, and both are from worlds wholly different from the person in the chair behind them. Yet they come together, they argue together, they discuss together, and they work together to make this Federation better than it already is. It would be easy to fall into old patterns. Before the Federation formed, Vulcan fought against Andorian, Tellarite fought against Klingon, human fought against Xindi, Romulan fought against pretty much everybody. But now, worlds stand together instead of apart.