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Great, now she’s subscribing to conspiracy theories. Jorel had seen several publications that had advanced this theory. Most were of the type that also said that transporters murdered you and replaced you with a soulless duplicate, that replicators were being used to disseminate mind-controlling drugs, that the universe was one big holodeck, and that the citizens of the galaxy were just pawns in a giant chess game among beings of pure energy. All had circulation figures that were at best in five digits. “Ozla, you can’t possibly- “

“I have a source, Jorel. A reliable one who told me that Nelino Quafina, the former secretary of military intelligence under President Zife-and who, I might add, resigned when Zife did-brokered the delivery of those cannons to Tezwa via the Orion Syndicate.”

Jorel laughed. “Ozla, come on. You’re a legitimate reporter. In fact-and I’m not saying this lightly-you’re one of the better reporters in the room.” Jorel had to keep his eye from twitching as he said that; it went completely against his grain to compliment a reporter ever, much less twice in one conversation.

Testily, Ozla said, “You think I don’t know how crazy this sounds? Except it doesn’t, really, once you take a look at it. I know the Syndicate, and I know what they charge for this sort of thing. Tezwa didn’t have the money.”

Jorel already saw the holes in her theory. “Tezwa had a bankrupt economy, they probably borrowed- “

“Their economy was trashed because they bought ships from the Danteri. That’s what drove them to financial ruin. Even at their most economically stable, they couldn’t afford both the cannons and the ships.”

Not liking the turn this was taking, Jorel said, “Look, Ozla, that’s all well and good, but you can’t- “

“The cannons aren’t why Zife resigned. Zife resigned because Starfleet Admiral William Ross forced him to or they would have removed him from power.”

Now she was just getting silly. “And this is based on what, exactly?”

“I have a source who was part of the transaction. And I have the diary of one of the military leaders on Tezwa.”

“A source.”

Ozla regarded his dubious words with a nasty expression. “I have a lot of sources in the Syndicate, Jorel. Sources whose position in the Syndicate were improved by my expose and who feel they owe me.”

Witheringly, Jorel said, “How nice for you that you’ve helped criminals be upwardly mobile.”

“Upwardly what?”

“Never mind.” Jorel waved his hands back and forth. “This isn’t- “

“I have this story, Jorel. But- ” She hesitated. “You may have noticed I’m a bit thinner than I was the last time you saw me.”

“Yes,” Jorel said, seeing no reason to lie to spare her feelings at this point-nor, indeed, at any point.

“That’s because I haven’t been able to eat. This is killing me, because- ” She closed her eyes and let out a slow, long breath. “I know what’ll happen if I break this story. A Dominion War hero engineering a coup, a Federation president arming an independent planet-and the worst of all, the absolute worst, is that Zife knew about those cannons. You yourself said it in the press room when it happened, that the president himself ordered the U.S.S. Enterprise to escort the Klingon fleet to Tezwa to deal with Prime Minister Kinchawn’s threat to the Qi’Vol colony. That means that Zife sent a Starfleet ship to Tezwa knowing they had these brutal weapons-and didn’t tell them. That means Zife didn’t inform the Klingons that the Tezwans had these brutal weapons that proceeded to kill thousands of Klingon soldiers.” She clenched her fists. “Jorel, if I break this story-I don’t know what will happen.”

“There isn’t a story,” Jorel said forcefully. “Honestly, do you really think Zife or Ross is capable of such a thing?”

“Right now, Jorel, I don’t know what to think. But the information I’ve been presented fits the notion that Zife armed the Tezwans and that Starfleet found out about it and forced him to resign. And I can’t just carry that knowledge around with me and not tell anyone. I’m a reporter, this is my job.”

Jorel shifted uncomfortably