Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [11]
Archer watched as Soval addressed Minister Samuels, who stood at the central lectern. “I recommend we table the issue of Alpha Centauris admission pending a special meeting of this body dedicated to that purpose. We must move on to other essential business, most notably our collective security.
“Agreed, Minister Soval, Samuels said, nodding. He then turned toward the observation gallery and did his best to make his voice project to the back of the room. “I call Captain Jonathan Archer of Starfleet to address the Coalition Council on these matters.
Phlox offered an encouraging smile as Archer rose from his seat. “Good luck, sir, Hoshi said as he passed her chair and began making his way toward the nearby staircase that wound down toward the center of the council chamber.
As he stepped onto the central dais to stand beside Minister Samuels, Archer did his best to ignore the sheer terror that always gripped him whenever he was called upon to address the crowned heads and eminences of the Coalition of Planets. Is it too late to order Malcolm to shoot me? he thought. He could take some comfort, at least, in the fact that his slightly late arrival seemed to have come just in time to preempt a filibuster that might have lasted for days.
Samuels shook his hand warmly, gestured toward the lectern, and took a seat, yielding the floor to Archer. The delegates of four worlds, all of them once again seated behind a semicircular array of curved tables, watched him quietly, jangling his nerves further. Archer looked up and past them toward the gallery, where his senior officers sat watching him expectantly. Not far from them, Admiral Black, Admiral Gardner, and General Casey uniformly glowered at him over folded arms, like a trio of gargoyles. The light babble of applause that usually accompanied a guests ascension to the lectern was conspicuously absent, creating a lacuna of uncomfortable silence that Archers imagination filled with the stridulations of crickets and the low, warp core-like thrumming of his own anxious heartbeat.
Wishing he hadnt neglected to bring along the padd upon which he had organized his thoughts during the voyage to Earth, Archer cleared his throat and searched his mind for a way to get at what he had intended to say.
Before Archer had uttered a single word, Gral suddenly rose to his feet and shouted, “I object! Absurdly, Archer felt only gratitude for the interruption.
“I presume that surprises no one, Soval said, one eyebrow raised in what might have signaled droll Vulcan humor.
“Captain Archer has addressed this body more times than has any other military officer from any Coalition world, Gral continued, ignoring Sovals verbal jab. “This is yet another sign of creeping human hegemony.
“Again, I must agree with my Tellarite colleague, Thoris said, though he remained seated. “While I certainly respect the captains accomplishments on behalf of my world and other Coalition members, it is not appropriate for humans to so thoroughly dominate these proceedings.
Archer fumed quietly. So its all right to have me around only when you need somebody to keep Andoria, Vulcan, and Tellar from blowing each others fleets out of the sky.
“Gral is correct, Thoris said. “Under the Coalitions parliamentary rules, a member world cannot unilaterally call one of its own people to address the Council if that person is not a duly recognized planetary delegate.
“That is true, Minister Thoris, Soval said. “However, the United Earth government did not call Captain Archer here to speak. In fact, I have little doubt that the captains military superiors would prefer that he be elsewhere today.
Archer stole another glance at the admirals and the general, all of whose scowls seemed to deepen and intensify, confirming Sovals contention, if only inadvertently. Boy, Soval, you dont know the half of it, he thought, then allowed his gaze to drift back to the Vulcan minister