To Storm Heaven - Esther Friesner [74]
The Ne’elatians could no longer pretend that their interference there was a harmless thing, yet they did not appear to feel remorse, only resentment.
The Masra’et were not the only ones at the conference table. Legate Valdor was seated to Udar Kishrit’s right, his son Hara’el beside him. He was deep in whispered conversation with the Ne’elatian headman, a close counsel that he broke off abruptly when Geordi and Ma’adrys entered. Captain Picard headed the table as always, Mr. Data at the far end of the board, with Lt. Worf standing ready to oversee that the proceedings remained orderly, if not civil.
Is it my imagination or did Udar Kishrit just do a double take when he saw Ma’adrys? Geordi wondered.
He tried to focus on the Ne’elatian’s face, but the moment had passed, if it had ever happened at all. He shrugged it off, escorted Ma’adrys to the lone seat opposite the Orakisan embassy and the Masra’et, and took his place behind her. He was confident that once his beloved spoke, telling firsthand of all the harm that Ne’elat’s misguided use of Ashkaar had done, her revelations would so move the Masra’et that they would immediately move to right the old wrongs.
They might be able to convince themselves to doubt Data’s word, but they won’t be able to put hers aside so easily. He caught himself smiling over how simple it would be.
He was a man in love; all problems seemed to have a simple answer for him. But Udar Kishrit and the Masra’et were not in love with Ma’adrys, as Geordi soon discovered.
“—think this means anything to us?” Udar Kishrit’s lip curled. If Ma’adrys’s appearance had ever had any unsettling effect on him, it was well and truly gone now. He regarded the Ashkaarian girl with disdain.
“Are you denying any of what she has said?” Captain Picard asked.
“No,” Udar Kishrit replied. “Why should we? The Ashkaarians are barbarians—” “The Ashkaarians have had no other choice.” “Bah!” Udar Kishrit waved Picard’s statement aside. “It is in their nature. The volcanic activity on their planet releases atmospheric gasses that forever bridle their mental development.” “Those conditions no longer apply,” Picard countered. “I’ve had my chief medical officer examine this woman.” He gestured at Ma’adrys. “She found her intelligence to be equal to that of any of our own people.” “That does not speak very highly of your people, then, does it?” Udar Kishrit drawled. His fellow counsellors chuckled.
Captain Picard took a deep breath. “I must remind you that what you have done to the Ashkaarians will be made known,” he said carefully. “Any aspirations your world has for joining the Federation will be considered accordingly.” For an instant, Udar Kishrit blanched. Then he recovered himself and gave a short, dry laugh. “You may work to exclude us from the Federation if you like. You have that power. But you have no say over how we choose to conduct our lives. How we have always conducted them and how we will continue to conduct them,” he added deliberately, showing his teeth in what should have been a smile.
Picard met him glare for glare. “You have seen the Enterprise, “he said. “Are you so certain that we have no say?” The other members of the Masra’et drew in their breath and began to chatter anxiously among themselves. They had indeed seen much of the Enterprise—Picard had taken pains to offer them a tour of the ship’s most impressive features while the rest of the crew still stationed on Ne’elat were being transported home again—and they knew that here was power not to be trifled with. They had no way of knowing that the Prime Direct/ve— “—forbids you to do anything,” Udar Kishrit said triumphantly. To Worf’s consternation, the Ne’elatian laughed aloud and added, “My good friend and brother, Legate Valdor, has told me much. If you bar us from your Federation, we shall simply have to content ourselves with membership among the union of Skerrian daughterworlds.” “Legate Valdor?” Captain Picard turned a