The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [6]
Archer turned his attention back to the ring of observers, which suffused the air with a low gabble of anticipatory murmurs. Thanks to the broad circular skylight built into the chamber’s high, vaulted ceiling, the room was bathed in an early afternoon light that saturated the sections of the room not illuminated by ceiling-mounted fixtures.
An odd feeling of deja vu seized Archer at the scene now unfolding below him and his crew. He turned to Phlox and spoke quietly. “Didn’t we just do this two days ago?”
Phlox smiled sagely and pitched his voice as low as Archer’s. “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, Captain, that the Terra Prime attacks have strained relations between many of the founding members of the Coalition of Planets.”
Archer returned the doctor’s good-humored smile with a rueful grin of his own. “You’re right, Phlox. Some things aren’t forgotten very easily.” Or forgiven, he added silently. Terra Prime, whose avowed purpose was to evict every alien from Earth and move into the galaxy pursuing a doctrine of humanocentric force rather than inter-species cooperation, certainly deserved to be forgotten, and belonged in the dustbin of history. But Archer knew in his heart that the misbegotten terror group had to be remembered, in order to avoid a repetition of its shortsightedness and violence.
It was forgiveness that Earth and her allies had to seek, rather than forgetfulness. Earth needed remembrance, not amnesia.
Archer had seen Terra Prime’s agenda up close, had lost a member of his crew to its fanatical “Earth first for Earth’s people” agenda, and had nearly asphyxiated on Mars while apprehending the radical movement’s founder, John Frederick Paxton. Staring such naked hatred and xenophobia directly in the face had been one of the most harrowing experiences of Archer’s Starfleet career. And he knew full well that his friend Phlox had been on the receiving end of xenophobia himself, during the crew’s shore leave on Earth immediately after the resolution of the Xindi crisis that had gripped the entire planet for almost a year.
“I imagine that each of the Coalition envoys feels an urgent need to reinforce everything they already agree on as they start negotiating some of the Coalition Compact’s stickier points,” Phlox continued. “It’s quite a testament to the goodwill of all the parties involved. Not to take anything away from the persuasive power of the speech you gave in front of the delegates the last time we stood in this room, of course.”
“I never claimed that public speaking was my strong suit,” Archer said. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that the Terra Prime incident frightened the Rigelian government into withdrawing from the Coalition, regardless of everything I said to try to stop it. And the Rigelians weren’t the only ones, Phlox.”
Phlox shrugged. “There would have been still more withdrawals had you not spoken, Captain. And the ones that did opt to leave will be back one day, you mark my words.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I just hope I didn’t make things worse by shooting my mouth off.”
Phlox offered a sniffing chuckle that was clearly meant to dismiss Archer’s doubts as absurd. “Far from it, Captain. From what I’ve observed, your words did indeed inspire the remaining delegates to work even harder to prevent this new Coalition from self-destructing before it can truly begin. In fact, you might be the main reason why these people are gathered here today instead of warping back homeward to explain their withdrawals to their respective governments.”
Archer was rapidly growing uncomfortable with the drift of this conversation, and his forehead and cheeks had begun to feel entirely too warm. He waved his