Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [102]
From there, the trail had led her back to Deneva, mostly thanks to the information in Meboras’s diaries, which Yalno had let her keep, combined with Ozla’s own knowledge of the Orion Syndicate. Most of the sources of her expose hadn’t been mentioned in her articles, and Ihazs’s earlier words confirmed that they hadn’t found all her sources, since the people who’d been arrested had not been the ones who had given up information to Ozla.
“Now then, here is what I want in exchange for providing you with this information.” Ihazs started counting off items on his thin fingers. “One, I will let you go free on the condition that you are off Deneva as fast as you can get dressed, pack, and secure a flight off-planet. Two, you do not reveal this particular piece of information unless you can confirm it from another source.” Now his tone changed from one of false politeness to very real menace. “If you do so, I will have you killed, and damn the consequences.”
Ozla swallowed, then cursed herself for betraying that kind of weakness. “Anything else?”
“Remember those setbacks I mentioned? One of them was the resignation of President Zife. While I never dealt with the esteemed leader himself, of course, I did quite a bit of business with Secretary Quafina. He was one of my best clients, in fact. With Zife out of power-and, I might add, before I was able to receive the final payment for our last shipment to Tezwa-I no longer have that client. When that happened, I took steps to discover who, precisely, was responsible for the removal of President Zife from power.”
“Nobody removed him, he resigned.” Ozla was starting to see why Zife had taken so radical a step, if he had been involved with this….
Now Ihazs laughed, which prompted the two bodyguards to do likewise. “No no no, my dear Ms. Graniv, it’s not that simple. You see, there was no reason for the truth of our little arrangement to become public. If anyone in Zife’s office talked, it would mean war between the Federation and the Klingons, plus a scandal on Zife’s head, since he knew about the cannons and didn’t tell Starfleet or the Klingon Defense Force. If anyone in my organization talked-well, I believe I already outlined the consequences of free talk inside the Syndicate.”
Ozla tried not to shiver, which was hard while sitting naked in a dank room while two thugs aimed energy weapons at her. “So who did find out?”
“The only other party involved who had no hidden agenda: Starfleet. One of their admirals, a human named William Ross, forced Zife to resign at phaserpoint.”
Now Ozla’s head was spinning. “That’s ridiculous.”
Ihazs laughed. “Of course it’s ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as the president of the Federation secretly arming an independent world with powerful weapons and sending his own troops, as well as troops from an allied nation, to that world without telling them that those weapons were in place and covering it up afterward.” Opening his arms wide, he repeated, “Ridiculous.”
The room was silent for a moment. Ozla’s rear end was starting to ache from sitting exposed on the crate. She was sure she was going to catch something from being in this room.
Ihazs then stood up. “That is all. My guards will escort you back to your hotel. You have been given the terms. If you follow those terms, you will be able to write quite a story. If you don’t follow those terms, you’ll be dead less than twenty-four hours after you violate them.” He walked toward the door, stopped, and turned around. “You really are quite lovely. A pity about all those spots.”
Then he left.
If I didn’t need a shower before, I do now, Ozla thought as the Balduks grabbed her by each arm and started to carry her forcibly up the stairs. This time she didn’t resist, figuring it would just be easier this way.
I shouldn’t have bothered interviewing Tawna….
“Aleph, what’s happening here?”
Smiling at Ashante from across the table in the dining hall on the second floor