Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [135]
Esperanza nodded. “That about sums it up.”
Standing up, Nan said, “Well, I can’t kill myself worrying about what the Tzenkethi press think of me-I have enough problems worrying about what the people in Jorel’s room think. And ultimately, the only thing I really give a damn about is saving a two-year-old boy’s life. Let’s get this moving and see where it takes us.”
“Thank you, Madam President,” Esperanza said, and everyone got up. However, while most folks headed for the exit to the turbolifts, Esperanza and Myk, who hadn’t said anything the entire meeting, approached the president’s desk.
“What’s up?” Nan asked.
Myk said, “Ma’am, I’ve been looking into something for the last few weeks, and I think it’s something you’ll want to mention at the summit.”
Nan shot Esperanza a look. “If we have to add something else- “
Esperanza held up a hand. “I know, I know, the Diplomatic Corps will put arsenic in your soup or whatever horrible retribution diplomats visit on sitting presidents when they annoy them, but I think this is worth it.”
“Actually, they’ll probably just talk me to death.” Nan looked at Myk. “What is it?”
Myk handed her a padd. Nan read it over, then looked at the Zakdorn woman. “You sure about this?”
She nodded. “That’s why this is so last-minute- Esperanza said she wouldn’t bring it to you until I was absolutely sure, but I’ve spoken with about a dozen people who are involved in the project, including some of the Klingons. This is for real, but it’s in danger of falling apart at the seams unless the governments step in.”
Nan turned to Esperanza. “You think Martok’ll go for it?”
“I know he won’t if you don’t ask him.”
Smiling, Nan said, “Yeah. All right, I’ll work this into the third meeting. I pull this out in either of the first two, I risk scuttling the whole thing.” She looked at Myk. “Good work on this.”
Favoring her with a rare smile, Myk said, “Thank you, Madam President.”
Martok, son of Urthog, head of the High Council, chancellor of the Klingon Empire, wasn’t sure what to expect from Federation President Nan Bacco.
He had dealt directly with her predecessor, Min Zife, during the Tezwa crisis and had found him to be an irritating coward-about what one would expect from someone elected by the masses. Martok had always found democracy puzzling; power came from the judgment of one’s peers, not the adulation of one’s lessers.
Prior to this, his impressions of Bacco had come mostly from that petaQ K’mtok. Zife’s going straight to Martok during Tezwa had given the hardliners on the High Council all the excuse they’d needed to call for replacing Ambassador Lantar with K’mtok, an ally of Martok’s biggest enemy on the council, Kopek.
Tellingly, K’mtok’s impressions of Bacco had changed as time had gone on. At first, K’mtok-whose reports had mostly gone to Kopek-had spoken of her dismissively and categorized her as weak. However, more recently he was reporting to the entire High Council that Bacco was a shrewd and worthy leader.
Over the past few days, they had sat in a dull, beige-colored room on Mount Dalwik, a high peak on Grisella. The room, like the planet itself, was a neutral party in galactic politics. The Grisella government had agreed to host the summit in the hopes of fostering peace, which was one of several reasons why the empire had had little use for the Grisella in general.
Each leader had been permitted two guards. Two of Martok’s personal guards now stood at attention behind him, just as two Starfleet security officers stood behind Bacco, and two centurions stood behind Tal’Aura. Aside from that, they had remained undisturbed during the session, for which Martok was grateful. The presence of Federation journalists had annoyed Martok-Klingon news-gathering organizations were not permitted on such trips-but he recognized it as a necessary evil when dealing with the Federation, and he didn’t mind as long as they stayed out of his way. Mostly they had, thanks to the chancellor’s personal guard.
The summit had brought Martok around to the