Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [18]
If it wasn’t for adjectives, I could write twice as fast.
Right now he was working his way through the speech that President Bacco would be giving in two weeks’ time when he went to Andor to meet with their genetics council. The trip was opening with an address to a gathering of Andorian scientists who were struggling with the Andorians’ population issues, and Fred wanted to get it just right. True, it didn’t need to be finished until the trip-of which Andor was but one stop-started the next Monday, but he wanted to nail it and at least get a draft into Esperanza’s hands by the end of the day. Andor was a founding member of the Federation, and three years earlier their genetic crisis had finally been made public. The president had to support their research, and it was important to show that every effort was being made-not just on Andor but throughout the Federation-to help them along. Zife had done absolutely nothing in this regard; he hadn’t visited Andor once in the past three years. Fred was glad that the president had taken the initiative to rectify that oversight of her predecessor.
The intercom beeped. Sighing, he activated it. That sigh was leavened by the sight of a beautiful dark face framed by intricately braided waist-length hair. “Hey there, babe,” he said to his wife before he realized that Z4 was standing next to her at her desk.
“Fred, c’mon, we’re on the job.”
“Right, sorry.” He grinned. “Hey there, Deputy Babe.”
“Much better.” Ashante shook her head. “What’re the president’s next few speeches?”
“Tomorrow at 2000-1100 local time-she’s dedicating the Dominion War memorial museum on the Golden Gate Bridge.”
Z4 made a tinkling noise. “I thought that was at noon.”
Fred frowned. “Hang on, let me check.” He called up the president’s schedule for the following day on another screen. “Yeah, sorry-the event’s at noon local, which is 2100 our time, but she’s leaving the Palais at 2000.”
“Why is she leaving the Palais an hour early? Is there another stop?”
“No.”
“Then why- ?”
Fred rolled his eyes. His wife was a lovely woman and a world-class political mind, but sometimes she missed the obvious stuff. “Because that’s how long it takes to get to San Francisco from Paris by shuttle.”
“It takes five seconds by transporter, and she’s got one right next to her office.”
“Uh- ” Fred blinked. She’s not the only one who misses obvious stuff, I guess. “Yeah, good point.”
“I’ll get on that,” Z4 said. “It’s probably the travel office again.”
Ashante chuckled. “That’ll give Xeldara something new to complain about, at least. In any case, that won’t work for what we want. What’s next?”
“It’d help if I knew what you wanted.”
“We need to have the president show her support for her nominees-starting with Artrin.”
“Ah.”
She pointed at the screen. “What about the trip next week?”
Fred didn’t need to consult the schedule for this one. “She’s going to Vulcan for the annual FTC meeting on Monday.” The Federation Trade Council had its annual meeting on a different planet every year. The previous three years, it had been Bajor, Betazed, and Pacifica-all garden spots. So, of course, my first year going, and they hold it on a desert. “Then we go to Rigel to talk to the couriers, then to Andor for- “
“Hang on, why is she talking to couriers at Rigel?”
“They won’t upgrade their warp drives.”
“So?”
“About ten years ago, a couple of Hekarans discovered that existing warp engines were damaging the fabric of space. All vessels had to stay at warp five or lower until they found a solution-which Starfleet did, inside of about six months, and within a year, all Starfleet ships were upgraded. Within three years, so were most civilian ships.”
Z4 made another of his noises. “What does- “
Ashante put a hand on one of Z4’s legs. “Let him work through it-it always takes my darling husband three times as long as is absolutely necessary to explain himself. It’s part of his charm.” She