Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [69]
“Hey, c’mon,” Natalia said, punching him gently on the shoulder. “At least she came back to throw out the first pitch.”
Gordon added, “Yeah, I heard she had to completely screw around her itinerary to make sure she was here on the right day.” Moving over to the control for the big screen, he said, “Anyhow, I’ll put it on if you want, but if we get complaints, down it comes.” He entered some commands, which would provide the FNS feed from the beginning of tonight’s Illuminating the City of Light installment.
“Fair enough.” Tim raised his Homebrew glass in acknowledgment of Gordon’s kindness.
Natalia stared at Tim. “You didn’t use to care about Federation politics all that much.”
“I don’t-I care about Governor Bacco. Sorry, President Bacco. I want to know what she’s doing that’s so great that she had to abandon us.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Tim, she didn’t ‘abandon’ anything.”
The screen switched from the postgame highlights to an image of five people sitting around a desk. The host was the usual Kriosian woman, Velisa, and sitting on the far left was Fred MacDougan, who’d been part of Bacco’s staff forever. Tim didn’t recognize the other three-a human woman, a Gnalish man, and a Bolian man. Several people in the Pub muttered complaints, but nothing too loud, mostly relating to interrupting the highlight reel. One person pointed out that the game only had one highlight worth watching, and they just saw it two minutes ago.
“Good evening. This is Illuminating the City of Light. I’m your host, Velisa. Tomorrow is the state dinner at the Palais de la Concorde as President Bacco and the Federation Council welcome the delegation from Trinni/ek, on the heels of the president’s highly successful goodwill tour of several Federation planets, incuding her homeworld of Cestus III.”
That mention prompted a ragged cheer from the patrons of the Pioneer Pub.
“With me tonight to discuss these issues are Fred MacDougan, chief speechwriter for President Bacco; FNS’s own Regia Maldonado; Councillor Gorus Gelemingar of Gnala; and author of The Ripple Effect: Trials and Tribulations of First Contacts, retired Starfleet Captain Rixx. Welcome, all of you. Fred, as one of the president’s chief policy advisors, what is your take on the Trinni/ek state dinner?”
Fred, a bald-headed man with a hawk nose, laughed at that. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a chief policy advisor. At best, I occasionally have her ear, but she usually just yells at me and tells me to stop being an idiot.”
Several of the panelists laughed at that. So did many of the Pub patrons-they knew of Bacco’s occasionally scathing style.
“As for the state dinner, my take is that it’s a great opportunity. Although it was a policy instituted under a previous administration, President Bacco has been a huge proponent of the Luna-class program, going back to when it was first floated almost ten years ago. Seeking out new life and new civilizations has always been the Federation’s mantra.”
“Yes,” Gelemingar said, “and we all know that a planetary governor’s support makes all the difference in a program initiated by Starfleet Command.”
Fred frowned. “That wasn’t my point, Councillor, I- “
“Of course it was your point. You were making a feeble attempt to attach the president to the tail of a program that she had absolutely nothing to do with. It was Captain T’Vrea and her crew who made the first contact, and the Diplomatic Corps who had the subsequent meetings that are leading to this state dinner. The president’s contribution to this endeavor consists of making a toast that you will be writing for her.”
The Gnalish’s words led to booing from the Pub.
“None of which was the point of what I said, Councillor,” Fred said with a sweet smile. “I was asked for my take on it, and what I said was that it was a great opportunity. Which it is. The Trinni/ek are a hardy civilization that survived the destruction of their homeworld’s sun and forged a new life on a new world. They suffered