Part 30 (1/2)
Goodwin rolled his eyes. ”Oooh, great wisdom there. 'The Federation's a big place.' For the love of kimchee...”
Velisa asked, ”What, exactly, do you think she's done wrong?”
Tran smirked. ”How long do you have?”
”Give us an example.”
”Why do that?” Goodwin asked. ”Much easier to take shots without giving specific examples.”
McCall glowered at his roommate. ”Will you shut up, please?”
After thinking about it for a moment, Tran finally said, ”Well, just for one example, the Reman refugee situation. That was bungled from the outset and resulted in a s.h.i.+p full of dead Remans who should've been under Federation protection.”
Kav made a snuffling noise. ”That is not what happened.”
”Oh, you were there, were you?” Tran said snidely.
”I did not need to be,” the Tellarite said with a huff, which Goodwin had never seen anyone do in real life. ”I read the reports, including the transcripts of the security council's discussions with various senior staff members and diplomats and Starfleet officers on the subject. The president did all that she could-the Remans chose to kill themselves instead.”
”Fine, even if you give her that one,” Tran said, ”her appointments to the sub-councils have been a joke. First she appoints Artrin, then she calls for his resignation-and replaces him with Eleana, of all people? I have nothing but respect for the councillor from Delta, but she's got entirely the wrong temperament for judiciary. Tomorrow, the new session begins, and judiciary'll be listening to the B-4 case. That needs a rational legal mind, not Eleana and her bizarre interpretations of law. And I don't see how anyone can think it's a good idea to put so new a councillor as Krim on security. On top of that, she's done nothing to keep the peace on Romulus. She actually signed off on a plan that puts Klingon s.h.i.+ps in the home star system of the Romulan Empire. It's a miracle that interstellar war hasn't broken out.”
Before Velisa could follow up, Quinn said in a gentle voice, ”But, Rina-war hasn't broken out. Don't you think it would have by now if it was going to? Besides, sending the Remans to Klorgat IV was an idea born in the Palais, and done in such a way as to keep the Klingon alliance intact.”
”Actually,” Tran said, ”I question the wisdom of going to such trouble to do so. The Klingons have certainly done nothing to encourage keeping the alliance intact.”
Kav snuffled again. ”I would think that the people of the Federation made their feelings on that quite clear by electing President Bacco. Special Emissary Pagro had a much more aggressive strategy toward the Khitomer Accords and made it clear he would abrogate them if the empire did not change their way of doing things. If the people wanted to sunder the alliance, they would have voted for him, no?”
Tran waved her hand. ”There were other issues besides the Klingons.”
However, Kav wasn't finished. ”And the Reman refugee situation at Outpost 22 could have been prevented if Starfleet had done its job properly. There was a stars.h.i.+p at the outpost and a fully crewed base, yet they were almost destroyed by a handful of Remans in a s.h.i.+p that was one step away from flying apart?”
”Oh, please,” McCall said. ”Like that jacka.s.s has ever been out in s.p.a.ce, facing the real dangers out there. I'd like to see him in the middle of nowhere with a cranky warp drive or facing a Romulan warbird with s.h.i.+elds down-or be stuck on a shuttle in interstellar s.p.a.ce with no communications and fading power-or- ”
Goodwin had had enough. ”If I recall, Cadet, the only time you set foot off Earth is when you went to Luna for training exercises, plus that one trip to Jupiter Station last year. Have you ever even been out of this solar system?”
In a small voice, McCall said, ”That's not the point.”
”Uh-huh.”
”Shut up, I'm watching.”
Tran was back to talking. ”Look, I accept that she beat Pagro, but just because the people spoke a year ago doesn't mean they're right a year later. What about the Trinni/ek? They humiliate the Federation at a state dinner, and the president invites them back?”
”What a dip,” Goodwin said even as Kav started defending the president. ”Why are we watching this c.r.a.p?”
”Shut up, I'm watching,” McCall said again.
Goodwin pointed at Tran. ”Come on, this idiot has it in for Bacco. The Trinni/ek were sick, it was all over every-where. She's just got an agenda-or, at least, her boss does, and she's towing the party line.”
Kav was finished saying whatever he wanted to say, then Quinn stepped over Tran's reb.u.t.tal. ”The thing you have to understand about first contacts is that no two of them are alike. When you're dealing with an alien species, none of the rules apply, because the rules are being written as you go. n.o.body knew about the effects of the Trinni/ek's sun's magnetic field. There was no way to know. It was a simple error, one that would've been made regardless of who was in the office on the fifteenth floor of the Palais de la Concorde.”
Tran snorted, sounding frighteningly similar to Kav. ”Well, if it doesn't matter who sits there, why bother even having a president?”
Velisa turned to the viewer behind her. ”President Thelian, you've been quiet so far. Do you have an opinion on how President Bacco is doing?”
”Yes.” Thelian's voice was barely audible. ”I spent very many years in Starfleet. When I retired, I decided to get into politics. My reasons were very simple: I had met many politicians in my time. I thought I could do better.”
”Yeah, well, that wouldn't take much,” Goodwin muttered.
”Will you please for the love of cole slaw shut up?” McCall asked.
This time Goodwin wound up to throw the padd at his roommate, but again he declined to actually make the toss.
”That thought proved to be baseless. As Ms. Tran said earlier, the Federation is very large. It is proportionately difficult to run. There have been days when I thought the job to be impossible. Most of those days were when I was president.”
Several people chuckled at that, and even Goodwin had to admit that it was funny.
”The point is that the job is difficult. The main reason for that is not because of how one deals with the expected. President Zife was elected because everyone knew we would be at war with the Dominion. Under his leaders.h.i.+p, we were ready. President Jaresh-Inyo was elected when no one knew of the Dominion. He proved unable to handle that crisis. That is why his presidency is remembered so poorly. When President Bacco was elected, she was expected to be able to keep the Klingon alliance intact. So far, she has done that. But she also was not expected to have to deal with the fall of the Romulan government. No one saw that coming. Such a catastrophe could have sent the quadrant into chaos. But it did not. For that, we have to give at least some of the credit to the leaders.h.i.+p of President Bacco.”
”So you'd say she's doing a good job?” Velisa asked.
”All right, that's it,” Goodwin said.
”Goodwin- ”
”No, I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. He just spent half an hour talking, and that host still can't figure out if he said whether or not she's doing a good job? How can you watch this?”
”Look, Goodwin- ”
He got up. ”No, forget it, McCall, I'm leaving. I'll go to the lounge, the library, the commissary, anything so I don't have to listen to this garbage.”
”Hey, if you're stopping at the commissary, will you pick me up something?”
Goodwin opened the handled door that led to the hallway. ”Sure, what do you want?”
McCall smiled. ”I'd love some kimchee.”
This time, Goodwin did throw the padd at him.
Chapter Twenty-Three.
KANT JOREL WAS ABOUT READY to poke his eyes out with hot pieces of metal when Zhres's voice came over the intercom. Jorel didn't understand it-he had done everything he could to alienate Zhres, same as he had every other a.s.sistant, yet the Andorian had now lasted a full year in the position, which shattered the previous record. Not only that, but Zhres even still had his will to live. It vexed Jorel no end.
”What could you possibly want right now?”
As unflapped as ever, Zhres said, ”Ozla Graniv is here to see you.”