JC: About 4 more chapters before the end. To everyone thank you for the kind comments on all of the stories. AG
Chapter Fourteen
Paris, France, Earth
United Federation of Planets
Dr. Khali craned his head to take in the sight of the gold-tipped Obelisk of Ramses II rising in the center of the Place de la Concorde in front of the Palais de la Concorde. The red granite obelisk, still displaying its ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and standing on the French pedestal with its gold images of how the obelisk was transported from Egypt and erected here, was flanked by the two Concorde fountains, splashing water. If he turned to his right, to the north, he'd see the old royal buildings of the five-star Hôtel de Crillon and its twin, the old French Naval Ministry, now serving as the Federation Ministry of the Exterior. Down the Rue Royale between the identical buildings, he could see the Church of the Madeleine built like a wide Roman temple.
To his left was the River Seine and the Pont de la Concorde allowing access across the river to the Palais Bourbon, now serving as a museum, and almost a mirror image of the Madeleine Church. In the near distance, Khali could see the famous Tour Eiffel reaching for the sky.
– All the same as Paris on his Earth. It was when he looked straight beyond Pharaoh Ramses II's obelisk that things were different. The oval-cylindrical glass façade of the Palais de la Concorde rose sixteen floors tall and housed the nexus of Federation government. . Wide arches raised the Palais to allow the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to run uninterrupted from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde underneath the Palais. Even now, a traffic of odd-looking, but sleek ground vehicles ran between the flanking statues of rampant horses on their high pedestals. Pedestrians, both Human and alien, walked everywhere. Some were clearly tourists, taking pictures of this and that with cameras unknown in the Earth Alliance.
Someone had told him that the Palais was built in the style of the French Third Empire. Khali could care less except that it informed him that where his France elected a totalitarian government some time before the Third World War, this world's France had an Emperor for the third time in its history. Yet more indications that both Earths had the same history until it diverged somewhere during the last year of the American President Bill Clinton's administration. Khali's Clinton had established a Commission on the Future while this Earth's Clinton did no such thing. He wondered whether the cloning of Earth occurred sometime in the 1990's.
Cloning, not copying.
Even if Federation Earth was a clone of Alliance Earth, there were several physical differences: Gravett Island near the Polynesian islands didn't exist on Khali's Earth; the Hermosa Earthquake in 2047 sank part of Los Angeles into the Pacific Ocean, which didn't occur on his Earth.
Speaking of the future….
Khali took a deep breath. Today was the day of the special session of the Federation Council. He strode across the plaza, passed one of the rampant horse statues and made a beeline straight for one of the four thick pillars holding up the corners of the Palais. He looked around anxiously. Where could his assistants be?
He fumed. He knew that he was early but they should already be here! He had specifically told Theresa Anderson and Samuel Vernon to meet him at the Palais entrance. Theresa could be so stubborn and it would be just like her to deviate from his specific instructions. It would also be just like her to bully poor Samuel into following her. He was a good student, that one. Never one to confront his mentor, but Professor Khali knew that he didn't have the strength of personality to resist the likes of Theresa. Still, he was ideal for molding. If he had his way, he'd flunk Theresa so hard no amount of brilliance on her part could ever admit her into any doctorate program in the Ivy League. Her family was very wealthy and influential, though. And she knew things, or thought she did…
He sighed peevishly, went through the entrance in the nearest thick pillar and swiped his ID through a scanner set on the desk in front of the Starfleet Security guard within. The guard nodded and pressed a button which opened the turbolift at the end of the marble lobby. Once Khali was in the lift, it automatically took him up to the first floor.
When the lift doors slid open, Khali saw that other people had the same thought as his: getting to the Council early. In the well-appointed antechamber with black marble floor, councilors, ambassadors and reporters milled while two helmeted and armored Starfleet Security guards flanked the monumental silver doors to the council chamber. There were aliens of all types, shapes and colors among the councilors and ambassadors: humanoid aliens with big hair; with leather head-bands wrapped like turbans; with netting on the face; with purple skin; with yellow skin and horizontal nose slits. Other aliens that Khali recognized to be Andorian, Tellarite, Vulcan, Deltan, Catullan, Tiburonian, Klingon, Gorn, Horta and myriad others. What he would do to have some time speaking to a Horta. The social history of living rocks would be worth several papers.
There were two Vulcan men wearing dark grey robes with black linings and headdresses that reminded Khali of the Egyptian pharaoh's headdress, with a red triangular stone set in gold on the crown of the headdresses. The older Vulcan seemed stern, had a large ruby red square on his chest and an insignia that looked like a sword thrust into the type of a celestial globe. That identified the older man as the Vulcan councilor while the slightly less old man was his aide, wearing a gold squiggle, likely a symbol from the Vulcan language, in the middle of a large black triangle on the chest.
He'd like to avoid these Vulcans. The ones he'd met were too stubborn, to set in their ways, not open to new ideas or even self-evident truths. So many aliens. There was even a couple of that dwarfish alien race with the copper skin, the Ithenites. Khali had known that the Federation had one hundred or so member worlds but knowing and seeing were different things. To make matters worse, this special session was open to ambassadors from alien worlds that were not part of the Federation. Their presence would interfere with humanity's conversation. The Federation Humans needed to keep this in the family.
Despite the confusion of aliens, Khali easily spotted Ambassadors G'Kar and Mollari. As he made his way to them, he passed a Deltan councilor who wore a white robe, a jeweled string strung from the belt on the right side to the left shoulder, and an odd hat that looked like a collection of leaves made of gold leaf.
And Khali was imagining the Deltan man naked.
Gasping in shock at that, he quickly moved away from the bald alien man. Khali should have remembered that Deltans had powerful pheromones and their subconscious telepathy constantly worked on all those close to them.
G'Kar and Londo Mollari were watching Khali with knowing interest. Their aides stood a respectful distance behind them. One of the aides was making sure that his ostentatious brooch was arranged just right on his coat.
"How did you like that?" teased G'Kar.
Khali glared at the Narn ambassador.
Londo chuckled. "These Deltans are fascinating, yes? I would daresay that the goddess Li is the patroness of Delta IV. Dress their women in tight bodices, wide skirts, laces and some jewels and you'd mistake them for Centauri ladies but much more alluring, hmmm?"
"Much more compatible with my people than yours, Mollari," said G'Kar, grinning, before Khali could answer.
Londo feigned concern. "I was told that unprepared humanoids risk insanity by coupling with Deltans. Something about a total immersion of the minds." He looked as if a thought had just occurred to him. "I've heard that you've tried to bed some Deltans, G'Kar." Londo frowned at his Narn counterpart. "I completely fail to understand why you're so fascinated with bedding non-Narn women, especially Humans. And now Human-looking aliens, too. Then again, Narns are prone to seeking insanity." The Centauri ambassador bared his teeth in a grin. "Feeling insecure about your…compatibility with other Narns?"
G'Kar narrowed his red eyes at Londo. "It's not your business to know how I do things in bed, Mollari."
"Or fail to do." Londo smiled again. "I've heard that all of the Deltans have refused your advances. Something about…" Londo pretended to recall something difficult to remember, waving a hand by his head. "…being…'sexually immature', isn't it?"
While Londo was laughing, G'Kar shot back. "At least I don't spend time oppressing worlds and eat babies in my free time!"
"Look here—!"
Khali rolled his eyes at the two bickering aliens and sidled away from them. Sometimes he thought that they acted like a married couple. In fact they seemed to be overdoing it somewhat considering the present company. Apparently, the rumored deal between their two nations was being forced upon them and all they could do was snip at each other. He spotted Theresa and Samuel.
"There you are! I've been waiting for you! Why weren't you there at the entrance, Miss Anderson?"
"Professor, we—"
Khali cut her off with a raised hand. "Miss Anderson, it doesn't matter." He sighed as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. "We were invited to this council session. However, I was invited to speak in it. Not you. It doesn't matter if you show up or not. I can see that you're not motivated as my assistant. Mr. Vernon could take up your workload if you're so stressed that you cannot make it on time."
Theresa knew Khali meant she'd get a bad grade. Fire burned in her eyes. "We were on time. You were early. Right, Samuel?"
Samuel Vernon widened his eyes at the question. He never liked getting in the middle of these arguments. "Uh, well, I-I didn't know the time…." He trailed off lamely. More and more, Dr. Johnson's assistantship in psychology looked better and better. This stress was getting to him. He had to get out before they killed each other.
Khali speared the young male graduate student with his eyes. "What's your excuse, Mr. Vernon?"
God, how he hated being trapped between the two of them! "Well, I…I was organizing some of your notes and I…forgot the time." Samuel shrugged. "Theresa got me."
The sound of a gong reverberated throughout the antechamber and the huge silver doors slid open. The councilors and ambassadors began to file into the council chamber.
Dr. Khali nodded. "All right" She got away this time. But he luck was bound to run out and when it did, he'd finally have an excuse to get rid of her. "At least you're here. I hope the both of you can learn from this session," he announced with supreme arrogance, something he could do since he had in essence their future lives in his hands. "You're very lucky to be here and I really hope that you appreciate that." That last sentence was directed at both students but Khali was looking straight at Theresa who showed that she understood by pursing her lips.
The professor turned and joined the crowd flowing through the open doors, followed by his young protégées.
Khali felt a mild thrill when he entered the huge chamber that took up most of the first floor of the Palais de la Concorde. Below the floor ran the Champs-Élysées, which the Palais straddled upon duranium arches. It was here in this room that much of the Federation government work was done. Though the building was cylindrical, the council chamber was rectangular. In front of the south wall was a marble platform reachable by three marble steps. On that and to the side was the glass podium emblazoned with the symbol of the United Federation of Planets, which matched the Great Seal put upon recessed red wall between flat marble pillars on the south wall itself. Also on the platform to the other side from the podium and set slantwise were three throne-like seats. That podium was where the leader of the session stood, and was where the Federation President stood during full council sessions.
This one was to be a full council session. The Federation President, an Efrosian man named Ra'ghoratreii, was standing at the podium, gazing at the milling crowd through delicate-looking spectacles. The blueness of his eyes was in stark contrast with his flowing paper-white hair and partial goatee, and his dark suit.
Khali swallowed and looked around. Why was he getting nervous? On the east wall were three rows of twenty seats each, with a matching set on the west wall. These one hundred and twenty seats were for the councilors, which currently numbered one hundred. Khali had learned that when the chamber was first built, there was only one row on either side. When the one hundred and twenty-first planet join the Federation, two more rows would be added to keep the room's balance, and allow for the next two-score worlds to be added to the Federation's members.
The north wall gallery above the silver doors was where spectators, including reporters, Starfleet officers and government staffers, were allowed to observe open sessions. Special guests and ambassadors, though, were sometimes allowed to sit in the empty seats in the councilors' rows. Klingon Ambassador Kamarag was already sitting in one of these empty seats, as far away from Romulan Ambassador Nanclus as possible.
In front of the marble stepped platform was the speaker's floor, centered on the Federation Great Seal set in the pure black marble floor polished to a reflective shine. With the exception of the President, no one could speak to the council except from that floor. Khali was told that councilors could speak to each other or via the workstations in front of them to people outside the chamber. In full council sessions, any official council statements for the record had to come either from the podium or the floor. Whoever designed the room had arranged the slant of the ceiling in such a way that the space was almost acoustically perfect. One could clearly hear every word from the floor no matter where you sat.
It was there on that floor that Khali and the other special guests would make their speeches.
As he made his way to his seat in the first west row with G'Kar, Londo and their aides, the Federation Council began with the usual tedious business, including taking a roll call. Ninety-six of the councilors were present. Those who were absent were away to investigate matters on their homeworlds. Starfleet Security guards in their ceremonial helmets and armor stood at intervals at the back of the south wall platform and flanked the entrance into the council chamber. Three high Federation officials were seated in the thrones on the platform. Khali recognized them to be Vice-President St. John Talbot, Exterior Secretary Adam Zagrin and blue-skinned Interior Secretary Amitra of Pandril.
Khali was interested to note that the Federation Council was arranged in a similar way to that of the old British Parliament which may itself have been based on the arrangement of the ancient Roman Senate. This was in marked contrast with the Earth Alliance Senate which was arranged like the old United States Senate in the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He wondered whether the arrangement would have any effect on how star nations could be governed.
Once the preliminaries were out of the way, the silver doors to the council chamber slid shut and President Ra'ghoratreii paused for a moment before speaking.
"Sixty-one years ago, the people of the Federation elected a Trill woman by the name of Madza Bral to be their President. She was the first person not from one of the five founding worlds to serve in that office. She served two terms and then declined to run for a third, citing exhaustion and old age. She said in what was essentially her retirement speech. This is what she said and I quote: 'The presidency is quite possibly the worst job in the Federation. The hours are long, the work is difficult, and the decisions that have to be made are unimaginable to anyone who has never set foot in the Palais de la Concorde. Your successes are unappreciated, your failures are blown all out of proportion, and your life disintegrates before your very eyes. And having said all that, I would never, under any circumstance, trade the last eight years for anything."
"I sometimes find myself in agreement with President Bral."
There were a few chuckles in the council chamber.
"However, the presidency gives me the enviable job of welcoming new species to what I hope will be a long and fruitful relationship with the United Federation of Planets. My friends, we are here to welcome the delegations from the Earth Alliance, the Centauri Republic and the Narn Regime."
Applause rose within the council chamber as Khali, G'Kar and Mollari stood, bowing their thanks. When the applause died down, Ra'ghoratreii continued.
"The first speaker for this special session of the Federation Council is Dr. Amir Rajiv Khali, a noted specialist in xeno-psychology and xeno-politics and an accredited professor of the Earth Alliance's Harvard University, an institute that is just as highly respected as our Harvard University in the Federation. Without further ado, the podium recognizes the delegate from the Earth Alliance."
Was it Khali's imagination, or did Ra'ghor sound slightly pained when he opened the floor for him? He put that out of his mind as he stood up, walked down the steps out of the councilor rows to stand right in the center of the Federation Great Seal on the floor. He took a deep breath and began:
"Ex astris scientia. Those words are the motto of your Federation Starfleet Academy. It's from an old Human language called Latin. Nobody's spoken it conversationally for several hundred years but we like to use it once in a while to make ourselves sound more interesting. For those who do not have the benefit of Human classical education, it means, 'From the stars, knowledge.'
"The thing about the stars is that they do provide knowledge, but that comes with a concomitant risk. Nothing underlines that risk more than the fact that we are at war with an alien species bent on genocide and other crimes against sentience. The Federation Starfleet, due to the unfortunate accident of the Minbari misidentifying Regulus as a distant Earth Alliance colony, contacted my people. Starfleet proceeded to save us from the Minbari juggernaut.
"Or did they?"
There were murmurings among the audience in the council chamber. At the podium, Ra'ghor adjusted his spectacles with concern. Dr. Khali continued to speak.
"There's an old Human saying: knowledge is power. Another one says that power corrupts. While we were in transit through what you call the Courtor-Terra Superhighway, we came into contact with starships from the future of an alternate universe. From them, we found out that in that alternate universe, the Minbari surrendered at Earth's very doorstep. That fact leads us to the amazing conclusion that my people survived the Earth-Minbari War without the Federation's help. In fact, the Federation's help escalated the present war to a point beyond anything in that alternate universe. That point resulted in the prolonging of the war and in the Minbari nuclear bombing of my people's colonies such as Beta 9. From these facts and more besides, we must come to the inescapable conclusion that the guilt of the slaughter of innocents must be laid at the doorstep of the Federation Starfleet."
The murmurs grew a little louder as councilors, ambassadors and government staffers turned to each other in shock and surprise. In the spectator gallery above the massive closed doorway into the council chamber, reporters furiously jotted down notes. In the front councilor row, Theresa Anderson threw her face into the palm of her hand.
"We must also come to another inescapable conclusion: alien influence is detrimental to Humanity."
The murmuring among the alien ambassadors and councilors grew much louder at that until President Ra'ghor banged a gavel on his podium, calling for order and quiet. Several councilors had to resist the urge to turn on the light in front of them, signaling a desire to come to the floor and verbally spar with Dr. Khali. In their high-backed chairs, Secretaries Adam Zagrin and Amitra whispered to each other while Vice-President St. John Talbot gripped the arms of his chair hard.
"From those starships from the future of an alternate universe, we found out that an ancient race known simply as the Shadows imposed undue influence on the peoples of my region, including the Earth Alliance. In that universe, Senator William Morgan Clark, God bless his soul, became President of the Earth Alliance, and the Shadows proceeded to dupe him into causing a disastrous civil war among my people.
"This is not to say that we, I, do not appreciate the invaluable assistance you have provided so far for the Earth Alliance. Far from it. However, the blood that the Minbari has spilled so far in this war is on your hands. No one can wash their hands and claim innocence.
"Nevertheless, I come to you, not to antagonize you but to repay you in kind by personally helping you. If history's any guide—and it usually is, political entities that involve such disparate alien species and cultures cannot stand serious scrutiny. Left to themselves and deprived of any great menace with which to unite them, union is difficult at best unless a dominant species steps forward to take up the burden of governance and guidance. The Centauri knew this. The Narn are finding this out. The Romulans and the Klingons know this. In this Federation, Humanity is the glue that holds you together and the Vulcans are the peacemakers among you. Take them away, the Federation would not, cannot, exist. The more the Federation grows, the more difficult the task of governance and guidance becomes.
"One of Isaac Newton's laws is that what goes up must come down. Empires, no matter their form and type, all rise and fall. That is a fact of history, however much we might not like it for our current nations. Usually, a large interstellar empire needs one single dominant species to maintain it—look at the Centauri. At the height of their power, the Centauri controlled over one hundred fifty star systems. And now, the Centauri Republic is down to twelve systems and a thousand monuments to past glories, living off memories and stories.
Londo Mollari shifted in his seat. He wasn't sure he appreciated Khali using the Centauri as an example and a warning of the Federation's possible future.
"The Federation hasn't had a real war since the Four Years War almost fifty years ago and that was just a war to repel Klingon invaders from Federation territory. Just twenty-five years ago, you had thirty member worlds, not counting colonies. Now, with the recent entrance of Betazed into the Federation, you now have one hundred member worlds, again not counting colonies—a seventy-percent growth rate. Seventy-percent growth rate in just twenty-five years."
Khali shook his head as if he was amazed. "Such a rapid expansion over two decades cannot be stable or sustainable for any star nation. As the Centauri found out centuries ago and you will discover, there is a size limit to any interstellar political entity. Granted, Centauri rule was stable for two hundred years before worlds began to slip through their fingers, but that was just one dominant species governing all. You have one hundred different worlds all equally involved in Federation government. I have never seen such a political entity as the Federation before, though there is a resemblance to the League of Non-Aligned Worlds—a collection of cold wars between worlds that constantly backstab each other and look for ways to get the upper hand over each other. That example does not make me optimistic about the future outlook of the Federation. Having a multi-species nature in a government is a recipe for political and military disaster. The Federation's rapid growth will push you to the point where the Federation flies apart. One day, the Federation will polarize into factions, and that in itself provides the potential for civil war."
Ra'ghor raised his white eyebrows at that and took off his spectacle to clean it with a handkerchief, softly muttering to himself under his breath as Khali continued speaking.
"The Federation has been holding itself together due to threats of the Romulan and Klingon Empires. The Klingons, as a threat, are gone and replaced by the Minbari. Remember what the Soviet propagandist Georgi Arbatov said when Soviet Union fell in the late 20th century: 'We're going to do the worst thing we can do to you. We are going to take your enemy away from you.' You need enemies as a reason to exist. The Federation exists because of the Earth-Romulan War. Of course, your ideals are all good but they're too abstract to be the only reason to exist. Your Starfleet has starships that have sufficient weaponry to lay waste to entire planets—not really much of a peaceful message of your ideals, is it?
"There are many reasons for the continued existence of the Federation as a cohesive political entity, one of which is the Helsinki Complex."
Again, murmurs rose among the audience in the council chamber. This time, it was quieter and full of confusion and puzzlement.
"The Helsinki Complex," repeated Khali to emphasize the point. "It is like Stockholm Syndrome except that it is applied to associations with aliens. As we meet more advanced aliens, we'd have cases where people adore, even worship, those aliens. This worship eventually becomes a kind of self-hatred where the worshipper tries to be like those more advanced aliens and make others around him do the same. Though you do not know this theory that prevails among the Earth Alliance intelligentsia, you acknowledge it with the Prime Directive. The Prime Directive protects your pre-FTL worlds from the Helsinki Complex, at least until they achieve faster-than-light travel technology. The fact that no major star nation has joined the Federation is very telling. All of your member worlds have been small non-aligned planets that were attracted to the Federation and were lured into joining. It would appear that the Federation is taking full advantage of that psychological aspect to expand and maintain such a huge territory.
"You might deny that, even criticize it. Remember the old axiom: If you want to know about water, do not ask a fish.
"Sic semper tyrannis. Another Latin phrase which means 'thus always to tyrants'. It holds special meaning for those Humans who are aware of the histories of Rome and America. It is also a warning for all who hears it. Should any species seek to dominate an empire, the local species and races will resent their rulers or government. You are cognizant of that danger by enforcing the Prime Directive. Sic semper tyrannis. The Minbari have used terror to tyrannize us. A basic tenet of civilized behavior is to treat others as you would have others treat you. Since the Minbari treat us with contempt and genocidal hatred, they will receive the same treatment in kind—"
In the rows where several of his Federation contemporaries were, he saw to his immediate shock that some of them were openly laughing at him! Laughing! He expected shock, even hostility coming from them, but not laughter! By some unnamed reflex, he glanced at his grad students. Miss Anderson's face was filled with contempt, something that was far too common coming from her. But there was also something else. Embarrassment. But then he mused, what did she know?
In the councilor rows, one of Londo Mollari's two aides stood up, causing Khali to pause in his speech to look at him in affronted surprise. President Ra'ghor banged his gavel once more, saying, "I am aware that many of you desire a rebuttal of Dr. Khali's speech, but you must have the patience and politeness to wait until he is finished."
"I doubt that my good friend, Turo Condari, will rebut me," Khali said with a smile. A friend in a room filled with the ignorant and confused was most welcomed. "In fact—"
***
He couldn't stand it any more. Khali's prattling insulted him and his people to no end. The choices of the Minbari were the Minbari's alone! For good or evil, they took responsibility for their actions, not blamed others. Besides Khali's conclusions were incredibly wrong. Apparently the universe of that other ship didn't have a Federation to go to war with it. That vessel and the Klingon warship were from yet another universe. The variables were comprehensively different. If the learned professor had been able to see beyond himself for just ten seconds, he might have realized that. But he was just a Human and a sad excuse for one at that. However he had served his purpose and all eyes were upon him, allowing the perfect cover for the dagger to strike before anyone could do anything about it. Here he was in the very heart of the Federation seat of power to do with as he will.
Nur could have detonated the explosives at any time; however a point had to be made. Before they all died, they had to know that the Minbari were a power not to be trifled with. Even at death's door they could strike, sending a final knife into the very heart of their enemies. If Minbar fell, then there would be no glory for these who allied themselves with darkness. They would know in their final instants of life that the light always prevailed.
Turo Condari spoke quietly, but thanks to the council chamber's acoustic design, all could hear him and Khali was interrupted yet again. "Death rides on my shoulder, death walks in my footsteps. I am death."
Londo Mollari was trying to shush him and order him to sit down. But then Turo gripped his left hand with his right hand, shouted, "For the vengeance of the Blood Knives and to Minbar's glory!" and twisted it down hard so that his wrist broke. The snap of bones breaking was quite audible in the council chamber.
The people gathered within the chamber and watching the proceedings on view-screens outside it were shocked. But no one was more shocked than the Centauri ambassador.
The helmeted and armored guards stepped forward toward Turo.
When nothing happened as Turo expected, he snarled, snatched a brooch off of his coat and grabbed Londo's neck with his left arm, holding the brooch's pin to his neck.
"Stop! The pin has instant poison!"
The guards paused.
G'Kar launched himself across Londo's body and quickly grabbed hold of Turo's intact hand holding the brooch, and twisted the broken hand with his other gloved hand. Turo screamed at the unexpected pain and G'Kar used the opportunity to send the brooch flying out to the floor between the councilor rows. Twisting away from G'Kar, Turo stumbled backward and the Klingon Ambassador Kamarag backhanded the agent so hard he fell over the barrier to the floor.
Before Turo could reach the poisoned brooch, one of the guards fired a phaser at him, stunning him.
The Romulan ambassador merely sighed. Incompetence bored him, although in this case it might have proven to be a good thing for everyone here including himself if what he suspected was true.
***
Khali watched all this with his mouth hanging open. As he tried to recover, mouth opening and closing like a fish, the guards picked up Turo's unconscious body and carried him out of the chamber.
Kamarag looked up at the assembled dignitaries and shrugged at those who were looking at him, including Nanclus.
The light in front of the female Betazoid councilor lit up. Shakily, Ra'ghor noticed and banged his gavel for attention. "The podium recognizes the councilor from Betazed."
Instead of coming down to the floor, Reida Suder, First Mistress of the Betazoid Parliament, stood up and wondered aloud, "Why did he break his wrist like that? If he wanted to kill somebody, that's a very pointless way of going about it."
President Ra'ghor shakily turned to one of the guards, "Do you have any explanation?"
The guarded nodded. "Yes, Mr. President. He thought that by breaking his wrist, he'd trigger a chemical bomb inside his body. Starfleet detected it and removed it while beaming Mr. Condari in a transporter. If the bomb had been intact, there would have been a detonation in the sub-nuclear range."
Khali blanched as he realized that meant the Palais and a large part of Paris would have been destroyed, killing all within and a sizable portion of the general population. And he immediately realized that he was friends with a terrorist. But why?
A light lit up in front of the Tellarite councilor.
"The podium recognizes the councilor from Tellar."
The Tellarite stood up and shouted in anger, "The Centauri wanted us all dead! This means war! I move that we punish the Centauri for this!"
Many other councilors nodded and loudly murmured their assent. Londo's face went pale.
Another light lit up, signaling a desire to speak.
Surprised at the identity of the person who requested the right to speak to the Council, Ra'ghor banged his gavel again for quiet and attention. He said, "The podium recognizes the ambassador from Narn."
G'Kar stood and loudly said, "Despite their numerous acts of unrestrained barbarism towards my people and many other peoples throughout our regions of space, I can't see Londo Mollari or the Centauri people perpetrating such a heinous act against those whom they have established positive political and economical ties with."
Everyone in the chamber stared at G'Kar with surprise. All knew about the antagonism between the Narn and Centauri and about the seemingly personal antagonism between G'Kar and Londo.
The guard had been whispering into Ra'ghor's ear while G'Kar was speaking. The President banged his gavel once for attention and said, "Very commendable, Ambassador G'Kar. In fact, you're right. Mr. Condari is not Centauri. He's a Minbari genetically and cosmetically modified to infiltrate the Centauri embassy in order to carry out his mission against us."
That was the last straw for Dr. Khali. Not only was Turo a terrorist but he was actually a Minbari with whom he felt friendship! He fainted.
***
Londo gazed up at G'Kar. It touched him that a Narn like G'Kar whom he had once dreamed would kill him in the future would defend Londo and his people. When G'Kar looked back down at him, Londo opened his mouth, trying to find words.
After a moment, Londo finally said softly, "I still hate you." He couldn't help it.
Victory! G'Kar smiled, wanted to bow, but managed to refrain himself. For this glorious occasion only one word seemed best to sum exactly how he felt at this moment.
"Good."
USS Monroe
Archanis IV
It was night when the Federation ship arrived over Archanis IV. Twelve visitors the Sheridans, General Lupinsky, Captain Sinclair, PsiCorps specialist Toni Williams, Psicop Alfred Bester and six Federation personnel beamed down to the middle of the busy square. They young people stopped and stared, laughing at the queasy looks on some of the visitors apparently having trouble adjusting to the transport procedure.
It was late evening but the city of twenty thousand was packed with people going about their business. Sinclair was impressed by the buildings and the architectural structure surrounding him. The night sky was absolutely spectacular with the entire view filled with stars and even a couple of nebula visible to the naked eye. He was still gaping at the scenery as two young men approached them.
One of them gave a slight nod. "Captain Miller? Distinguished guests, welcome to Archanis IV colony."
The captain of the Monroe returned the nod. "Thank you, James. It's good to see you again. How are the kids?"
"Growing like weeds. Kennedy lost her tooth."
"Good for her. I have a gift for her I'll give to you later. I believe the governor is expecting us."
"Yes, if you will all follow me?"
As they walked into the building, Miller commented on the improvements since his last visit.
"Ah, yes. We've had several new immigrations in the last few months including a small group of Tellarites," he smirked. "We also had the Earth Alliance escapees and their telepaths. They've had a few problems adjusting but they're doing fine."
"Those untrained telepaths are dangerous," Tony interjected much to Sinclair's irritation. "Are you keeping them isolated from the rest of the community?"
"Why would we do that? We've not had any problems with them. The social workers and Vulcan specialists have been helping them adjust to their new situation. They're doing a bit better than the Earth Alliance colonists are to them. There's some type of prejudice between them but it's been fading that the kids are here in the city doing quite well."
"They're not doing well," Tony huffed. "They hijacked an Earth Alliance ship during a time of war. They subverted the crew and violated dozens of Earth Alliance regulations. They're not stable and need to be home where they belong."
"Well, you'll have to talk to the governor about that. In the morning we'll be able to talk to their representatives."
Sinclair remained silent, glancing at John and David during the short, terse exchange. It was blatantly obvious that the PsiCorps rep had no interest in talking. This was going to be a problem.
***