Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [88]
“This Federation is remarkable. We now have one hundred and fifty-four members, many of whom have more than one world under their purview. Think about it-that’s hundreds of planets. And the president’s job is to keep these worlds, populated as they are by the most diverse and, frankly, cantankerous collection of species you’re likely to find in this universe, from flying apart. Any president who comes to the end of a term with the Federation still intact, well, that president has done the job. I’ve only been in office for nine months, but in that time I’ve learned that that’s the only true test for success, and Jaresh-Inyo passed it.
“Jaresh-Inyo chose to run. He won. He served. And then he stepped aside for the next winner, leaving the Federation still intact four years later. For that, and for so much else, we honor him today. I am proud to be part of the same family as him, as President Amitra- ” Here she nodded at the other former president. “- as Presidents Thelian and Zife, who couldn’t be here, and as President Bral, and I close as I began, with her words: ‘What matters, in the end, is that the Federation endures.’ Because of Jaresh-Inyo, we’ve endured. Thank you.”
Wow. Fred MacDougan wrote that speech on the T’Maran while flying here, a journey that only took three hours. If there’s time with the whole Reman mess, I am making sure he gets some of my single-barrel Jack Daniel’s tonight.
” ‘Well’?”
Ashante Phiri had to resist a strong urge to beat her husband about the head and shoulders as they walked to the spaceport where the T’Maran and the al-Rashid were docked.
“How could she just drop that in there? It’s a rhetorically meaningless word, it threw off the rhythm of the sentence, and she sounded like an idiot.”
Ashante had known something was wrong when Fred had flinched during one part of the speech. Ashante hadn’t been sure when it was, exactly, as she’d been too caught up in her admiration for her husband’s work. President Bacco had insisted on giving her own eulogy, so Fred hadn’t thought about it, which was fine, as he’d had the Starfleet Academy commencement to worry about.
But then this morning, the president had announced that she hadn’t been able to think of anything, and could Fred take a stab at it? Since he’d been, as he’d put it, “abso-damn-lutely nowhere” with the commencement talk, he’d leapt at the chance.
“What does ‘well’ mean there? It’s a nonsense word.”
“Fred, darling,” Ashante finally said as they were approaching the doors to the dock, “I didn’t even notice it. I thought the speech was brilliant.”
“The speech was brilliant-then she put that damn ‘well’ in there.” He turned to glare at her. “And how could you not notice it? What I wrote was, ‘Any president who comes to the end of a term with the Federation still intact has done the job.’ It was a solid, declarative statement, giving the impression that she actually knows what she’s talking about, what with being president and all. But no, she said, ‘Any president who comes to the end of a term with the Federation still intact, well, that president has done the job.’ Now it’s not the authoritative declaration of an informed source, it’s just some gosh-wow, off-the-cuff opinion that probably doesn’t really mean anything.”
“Sweetie, how long are you gonna go on about this?”
Fred let out a long breath, puffing his cheeks. “I figure at least another hour.”
“Okay, then-just so you know, you’re gonna need a new audience in a minute.”
“Why?”
“Esperanza needs me on the T’Maran.”
Fred’s look of righteous indignation modulated into a look of concern and husbandly understanding. He also knew better than to ask why, since if she could say why, she would, and if she didn’t, it meant she couldn’t, at least not yet. “All right. Which of the guards are going on the al-Rashid?” When the president traveled with two shuttles, the security detail was split evenly between them.
“Kenshikai, Trrrrei, and Lillius.