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P’Trell’s ears flattened. “That may be a bit of a problem, Madam President.”

“Why, where is she?”

“Her location is not the problem. She’s stationed at Starbase 1, in orbit of Earth.”

Nan frowned. “So what is the problem?”

“She refuses to perform the procedure.”

That surprised Nan. Her eyes wide, her mouth constricting into a line under her nose, she said, “Say that again, please.”

“She refuses- “

Slamming a hand on her desk, Nan said, “What the hell happened to ‘First, do no harm’?”

Esperanza looked pained. “Ma’am, Dr. Emmanuelli was a prisoner of the Tzenkethi for four years. She was captured during the war, and they kept her alive because of her skill as a surgeon, and while a prisoner she saved fourteen Tzenkethi from cal-tai. They told the Federation that she’d died in prison so they could keep her out of the prisoner exchanges after the armistice. A civilian group called Liberation Watch obtained evidence that she was still alive, which they turned over to Starfleet. The Saratoga went to investigate further, and the Tzenkethi turned her over rather than risk another war.”

Nan relented. “Yeah, okay, I can see why she’d be a little peevish.” She sighed. “How old is this boy, anyhow?”

“Only two,” Z4 said.

P’Trell added, “But Tzenkethi mature to full growth when they’re five, so that’s not as young as you might think.”

“Chirurgeon- ” She hesitated. “Ghee, can anyone else perform this operation?”

Again, the flat ears. “Tzenkethi biology is not common knowledge. Dr. Emmanuelli never published anything about her work on Tzenketh because she didn’t wish to relive the experience.”

“Can’t blame her for that, either. So there’s no one else?”

“It’s a spinal operation, Madam President. A single wrong move, and the patient will die. Even Dr. Emmanuelli didn’t have a one-hundred-percent success rate-although she saved fourteen, seven died under her care as well.”

Softly, Esperanza said, “Sixty-seven-percent odds aren’t bad.”

“No.” P’Trell fixed his gaze on Esperanza. “But those odds are reduced to less than ten percent with any other surgeon.” Turning back to Nan, he said, “Madam President, I have tried to convince Dr. Emmanuelli that this is the right thing to do. I’ve done everything short of ordering her to, and I’ve not done that only because she’s made it clear that she will resign before she followed that order, and I’m not about to lose a fine physician over this.”

Nan drummed her fingers on the desk. “Admiral, what’s the Sugihara’s travel time back to Earth from Temecklia?”

“Five days.”

She nodded. “All right, then. We won’t know a damn thing for ten days, and we’ve got two weeks to convince Dr. Emmanuelli of the error of her ways. Chirurgeon, keep talking to her.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Admiral, get the Sugihara out there. And- “

Jorel interrupted. “Excuse me, ma’am, but there is one other thing.”

“What?”

“My staff has picked up some reports from some of the Tzenkethi press. Until Brek showed up this morning, I didn’t really think anything of it, but- “

“But what?”

Jorel tugged on his earring, a gesture that suddenly reminded Nan of Xeldara. “They’re talking about how the Federation is attempting to kidnap Tzelnira Zaarok’s son in an attempt to start another war-oh, and that the summit next week is so you and the Klingons can plan the invasion of Tzenketh that will follow your snatching of the boy.”

Nan leaned back in her chair.

Esperanza said, “Now this seems a little more like a setup.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Z4 said. “Zaarok’s gone rogue, I’m sure of that. He couldn’t get it done in January, so he pulled Emra back, but now he’s desperate. He’s high enough among the ministers to have the ability to do this quietly, but if someone else picked up on it, they’d be more than happy to use it as Federation propaganda.”

“Honestly,” Jorel said, “it’s only different from what the Tzenkethi press says about the Federation insofar as it has some vague bearing on reality for a change.”

Nan chuckled mirthlessly. “So we’ve got what is at worst a setup for an attack on the Federation, and at best an anti-Federation