A Time for War, a Time for Peace - Keith R. A. DeCandido [26]
And sitting at the large chair on the far side of the room was the short, stocky form of Esperanza Pińiero, her raven hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a severe outfit that might as well have been a Starfleet uniform, for all that it had no insignia. You can take the woman out of Starfleet
she thought, not for the first time. The outfit and tied-back hair served to harden what would otherwise have been a very soft face, as even all Pińiero’s years in Starfleet couldn’t put lines in her smooth olive skin.
“Remind me,” Nan said without preamble as the doors whooshed shut behind her, “whose cockamamie idea was it for me to run for president?”
Esperanza smiled. “Yours, ma’am.”
“No, it was my idea to run for president next year when the election is supposed to be held. I know that was my idea. I distinctly remember having it, and planning out an entire strategy that would involve months of campaigning. It’s this whole thing where I get five minutes to run for office that I don’t remember agreeing to.”
Ashanté set her teacup down on the table in front of the couch. “Not like you had a choice. Hell, if you didn’t jump on it now, it’d be four more years before you’d have another shot.”
“And a lot can happen in four years,” Fred added.
Helga smiled, the jelly filling from one of her donuts staining her teeth. “Yeah. For example, four years ago, Min Zife was sufficiently popular that he’d win reelection unopposed less than a year later. Today, he’s resigning under dubious circumstances.”
“What’s dubious?” Ashanté asked. “Hell, I’m amazed he made it this long. Trill, the Ontailians—”
Fred picked it up. “—the holostrike, the Genesis wave—”
“—that Iconian con job,” Ashanté continued, “the Selelvians.”
“Which brings us nicely to the first order of business,” Esperanza said.
That’s why I keep her around, Nan thought with amusement as she ordered a third cup of coffee from the replicator and took a seat in the large chair on the opposite side of the room from her campaign manager. Helga took a seat next to Fred, while Bral remained standing. Guess when you have three legs, being on your feet isn’t so bad.
Esperanza continued. “We’re going to get hit with questions on everything Ashanté and Fred just mentioned. If, say, a planetary government is found to be mentally manipulating other Federation worlds the way the Selelvians did, how would President Bacco handle it?”
Nan rolled her eyes. “Oh, for pity’s sake.”
“Governor, it’s something we’ll have to face.”
“And I suppose I can’t just say, ‘How the hell would I know?’ “
M’Tesint bared her teeth. “You could, Governor, but that would significantly decrease your chances of being elected.”
“Right, ‘cause God forbid I should tell the truth.”
“Gee, Governor,” Fred said with a cockeyed grin, “I thought you’d been in politics long enough to know better.”
“She does.” Esperanza smiled at Nan. “She just hasn’t had enough coffee yet.”
“She’s right,” Fred said.
“What,” M’Tesint asked, “about the coffee?”
Fred shook his head. “No, I mean when the questions do come, we need to be ready. We’re supposed to have contingency plans.”
“Like more thorough examinations of planets that apply for Federation membership,” Ashanté said.
“We can throw the Evorans in their face,” Fred added. “The Zife administration let them in during the war, and they turned out to have a huge anti-alien faction on-planet, one that almost succeeded in overthrowing the government.”
“How does that help with something like the gateways crisis, though?” Helga asked. “There was no way to see that coming, and the Federation’s response was pretty good, all things considered.”
Ashanté snorted. “Tell that to all the people who got screwed by all those gateways opening at once.”
M’Tesint straightened in her chair, stretching her already tall form even more so. “I believe we should make