Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [1]
Ele’er peered at the images. Such identification quizzes usually were the purview of biology lessons, not political ones, but it was characteristic of Mother to throw in queries from other disciplines to keep Ele’er on her toes.
The one on the far right with the dark skin looked like she was a native of Earth, so Ele’er pointed at her and said, “Human female.”
“Correct.” Mother made a note on her padd.
Next to the human was Nitram, and next to him was a female with spots encircling her face just under her hair-line. Ele’er knew that there were two species with that characteristic, but she couldn’t remember either of them. Taking a wild guess, she said, “Betazoid female?”
“No. That is a Kriosian female, though I would have credited you if you had said Trill, since you have never seen this segment and are not aware that its host is from Krios. The next one?”
This was a person with blue skin and no hair. She remembered that Andorians had blue skin. “Andorian chan.”
Mother’s lips pursed for the first time since she arrived, which meant her displeasure was even worse. She made several notes on the padd, and Ele’er feared she was setting a record for demerits this lesson. “No, that is a Bolian male. Andorians have antennae.”
And I was so proud of remembering the Andorian genders. Ele’er tried not to sigh.
“The final one?”
This last one she knew: “An Efrosian male.”
“Very good. I will now play the recording of the show, and you will watch it. When it is over, I will quiz you on its contents. If you have a question at any point, I will pause the recording and you may ask.”
Ele’er stared intently at the hologram.
The Kriosian woman spoke when Mother started the playback. “Good evening. This is Illuminating the City of Light, I’m your host, Velisa. It has been two months since Federation President Nan Bacco took the oath of office, after winning a close election against Ktarian Special Emissary Fel Pagro. Tonight on ICL, we’ll be examining President Bacco’s first eight weeks in office. Is she taking the Federation in a new direction after seven years of Min Zife? Is she simply treading water? Or is she floundering on the galactic stage?”
Velisa started introducing the panel, starting with the Efrosian and going down the line.
“With me tonight to discuss these issues are Ra-Yalix, a foreign policy advisor for Presidents Amitra and Jaresh-Inyo; Sovan, the chief Earth correspondent for Bolarus and You; Federation Councillor Nitram of Bre’el IV; and retired Starfleet Admiral Taela Shanthi. Welcome, all of you.”
Each of the panelists made some kind of acknowledgment. Shanthi bobbed her head once, Sovan muttered something Ele’er couldn’t make out, and Ra-Yalix smiled. Nitram, naturally, brought his fists to his chests, as was proper.
“Admiral Shanthi, how do you feel Bacco is handling the Romulan crisis?”
The human woman folded her arms on the desk in front of her. “I believe that the solution that was brokered by Captain Riker of the U.S.S. Titan was one that will eventually lead to stability in the region.”
“And I think you’re out of your mind,” the Bolian said.
“Sovan- ” Velisa started.
“No, Velisa, this is ridiculous. The Romulan Empire’s a disaster area. Most of the senate was assassinated by a Reman, who later got blown up by Starfleet, and now you’ve got fifty factions vying for power, and what’s Starfleet’s brilliant idea? Bring the Klingons in.”
Ra-Yalix spoke up then. “The Remans wouldn’t accept being a Federation protectorate, Sovan. What else were they supposed to do? The Remans engineered a coup d’etat on a scale unseen in recent history. With Shinzon and most of his inner circle dead, they don’t have the resources to govern themselves, but they were hardly about to go back to being slaves.”
“I’ll grant you that,” Sovan said, “but to give them protectorate status under the Klingons?”
Shanthi scowled. “The Klingons will do what they promise.