Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [76]
On the way, several people complimented Esperanza on how good she looked, including Councillor Enaren. Being telepaths, Betazoids rarely paid attention to how humanoids looked, as they were more concerned with more thoughtful matters, so the fact that Cort Enaren took note of her outfit made Esperanza feel a little better about having to wear the outdated clothing.
When she arrived at the table, the president waited until the anthem ended before speaking. “Everyone please have a seat.”
Esperanza sat at the seat to the president’s right. She herself remained standing.
“Thank you all for coming. I have to admit, I’ve been waiting for a decent excuse to have a state dinner, and I’m grateful to the Trinni/ek for providing me with one.” Several people chuckled at that. “This room was named after President Hiram Roth. During his administration, a vicious probe attacked our planet, causing massive floods and weather changes and power outages all across our world. The recovery from that attack was long and hard, and President Roth was right in the thick of it. In fact, he worked so hard that he got sick, refusing to take better care of himself because, as he put it, ‘There’s still work to do.’ He died in 2288, on the very day that he won another term in a landslide. Unfortunately, much as we’d wish it otherwise, when doctors tell you to take it easy, they often know what they’re talking about.” More chuckles. “I’ve always been a great admirer of Roth, who lived by the tenets of a human leader who lived in the pre-unification times named Theodore Roosevelt, who said, ‘Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.’ Hiram Roth lived by those words, and, sadly, he died by them. A special election had to be called for one month after his death, one of only two such special elections in Federation history. That election gave us Ra-ghoratreii- the second one, of course, gave you me, thus giving me the opportunity to run off at the mouth right now.”
Yet more chuckles. Esperanza noted that Fred was shaking his head and laughing. This was entirely off the cuff, filling time until the Trinni/ek arrived. The toast to the alien delegation had been written by Fred over the course of the previous week. Normally, a toast wouldn’t take that long to write, but Fred wanted to make sure he got this one just right. Plus, he was using this toast as an excuse to procrastinate over the commencement address that the president was going to be giving to Starfleet Academy at the end of the month.
Esperanza also noticed Sxottlan giving her a nod. She nodded back and gently touched the president’s leg.
“It also gives me the enviable job of welcoming a new species to what I hope will be a long and fruitful relationship with our United Federation of Planets-and that, my friends, is most definitely work that’s worth doing. Please-if you’ll all rise and welcome Speaker Ytri/ol and his party from Trinni/ek.”
As Esperanza-and everyone else-got up from their chairs, they watched the doors slide open again, to reveal eight figures. One was human-that was the slim figure of Colton Morrow-and the others were most definitely not. They ambulated in a manner similar to some Earth primates: propelling themselves with their outsized arms as well as their legs. They never stood entirely upright, but rather at a forty-five-degree angle to the ground. Their bodies were covered with dark skin that ranged from an oak brown to obsidian, and absolutely no hair. Their clothes were bright and colorful, with sparkling beads on the shoulders, which differed from how they’d been dressed when Esperanza had spoken with them over subspace. But then, I’m not dressed the same as I was for conversation. We all have our notions of formal wear. Just wish mine allowed me to breathe properly.
Most everyone in the room applauded as the doors slid open. Although they were capable of moving quite fast, the Trinni/ek delegation moved slowly-one might say languidly-toward the table.