“Our advocacy for Alpha Centauris admission as the fifth member of the Coalition of Planets is hardly a bid for galactic domination, Samuels said with a mild smile, meeting the hostile glare of Grals dark, beady eyes without flinching. “Frankly, Earths Coalition delegation finds it surprising that the government of Tellar has chosen to make such an issue of it. Unless, of course, Tellar would prefer to make its own deals for access to Alpha Centauris abundant ship‑building resources rather than allow them to benefit the entire Coalition.
But Gral clearly wasnt buying that line of argument today. Brushing off Samuelss question, he said, “Do you deny that the world you call Centauri III would be empty of sapient life but for the presence of a handful of cities built and inhabited by Earth humans and their descendants?
“Of course not, Ambassador Gral, Samuels said. “The history of Earths first extrasolar settlement is common knowledge.
Gral fairly snarled his response, pounding the table again for good measure. “Just as it is common knowledge that the admission of Centauri III to this body will give humans twovotes, rather than the one each to which Tellar, Andoria, and Vulcan are entitled, in both the general Coalition Council and Security Council. Why should the other members of the Coalition stand idly by while the human species effectively doubles its influence over every future decision taken by this alliance?
Haroun al‑Rashid, the interior minister of the United Earth government, folded his hands atop the table nearest to Samuelss lectern. Still seated like the other Coalition delegates, he began speaking, his smooth voice carrying an equanimity that Samuels couldnt help but envy.
“And why should any of the other members of this body assume that the human species is a monolithic entity that always achieves unanimity on every issue? al‑Rashid said. “I think we humans would be making a grievous error were we to harbor the same presumption about yourspecies, Ambassador Gral.
The Tellarites only vocalized response was a guttural, harrumphing growl, which may or may not have been a Tellarite curse that the rooms universal translator system had mercifully failed to recognize. Ouch,Samuels thought, suppressing a triumphant grin.
“The interior minister makes an important point, Ambassador Gral, he said aloud. “Moving in lockstep is not something that comes naturally, even to us humans. Im sure I neednt remind anyone here that it has been only five years since the last of our worlds great independent nation‑states finally agreed to join the global government of the United Earth.
As he watched the grave nods that passed among the Vulcans and Andorians, the latter group displaying a potent mix of emotions via their writhing antennae, Samuels thought, I cant believe Im trying to mollify these people by pointing out how bad humanitys r й sum й looks when it comes to playing well with others.
Ambassador Jie Cong Li of Centauri III rose from her seat, the slightness of her form doing nothing to negate the quiet dignity of her bearing. The rooms assemblage of scowling Andorians, grumbling Tellarites, and stonily impassive Vulcans made no move to interrupt as the prime minister nodded to yield the floor to the Centauri representative.
“I do not wish to risk appearing overly agreeable with the ministers of the United Earth government, the Centauri woman said, filling the room with the round, resonant vowels that characterized her peoples dominant accent. “But I must point out that New Samarkand, Alpha Centauris capital, is a good deal more remote from the center of Terran power than was Australia, the last of this planets nonaligned nation‑states to allow itself to be enfolded into the UE government. I therefore implore all of our friends and allies from here to 61 Sygni and Procyon and 40 Eridani A to mark this occasion well. It may be the last time in the careers of everyone assembled here that the Earth and Centauri governments agree on anything. Her grim smile provided the only clue that her words werent entirely serious.
Great,Samuels thought, his guts churning as the Centauri delegate quietly reseated herself. If Li and I keep this up much longer, these people are going to start wondering why the hell they signed the Coalition Compact in the first place.
The moment of discomfiture passed, however, dispelled by a wave of politely indulgent laughter, apparently started either by Ambassador Avaranthi shRothress or the newly promoted Andorian Foreign Minister Anlenthoris chVhendreni. The encouraging sound rippled quietly across the rest of the usually taciturn Andorian delegation. Vulcans contingentthe recently promoted Minister Soval, flanked by Ambassadors LNel and Solkarreacted as one with gently surprised expressions that probably would have been polite laughter had the Vulcans belonged to just about any other humanoid race with which Samuels was familiar.
In the VIP observation area located behind the semicircular array of diplomatic tables, Admirals Samuel Gardner and Gregory Black, along with Captain Eric Stillwell, the man in charge of Earths new warp‑seven stardrive development program, and General George Casey, the iron‑haired commandant of Earths Military Assault Command Operations, all looked like still‑life studies with their medal‑bedecked coats, folded arms, and grave attentiveness. From the press area positioned behind the Starfleet and MACO officers, several members of the mediaincluding, Samuels noticed, that entirely too persistent female reporter Gannet Brooksused the holocams that rested on their shoulders or in their heads to soak up every word and gesture. Grethe Zhor, the observer from Draylax, sat behind the press corps, taking in the entire tableau with an unreadable expression.
Samuels clung to the hope that Zhor would prove to be the key to working through the Coalitions current difficulties, the keen blade that would slice through the tangled dual Gordian knot of galactic one‑upmanship and cutthroat domestic politics.
A flash of motion in the observation gallery momentarily caught Samuelss eye. When he recognized the small group of people moving quietly toward the balcony railing, he felt simultaneously relieved and disappointed that the newcomers werent yet another group of xenophobic former Terra Primers out to assassinate him in the name of God, Earth, and the late John Frederick Paxtons obsession with human racial purity. Instead, Samuels found his eyes drawn to the one person he knew besides Grethe Zhor who might help bring the current unsettled situation to a satisfactory resolution: Captain Jonathan Archer, a man whom hed once heard Minister al‑Rashid describe as “a crisis that walks like a man, perhaps because wherever he went both peril and opportunity seemed inevitably to follow. Samuels could only wonder which of those two aspects Archers presence here today augured.
“The Centauri representative is as clever a talker as the Terran prime minister, Gral continued, apparently as unmoved by the words of Ambassador Li and Earths ministers as by the Andorians uncharacteristic good humor. “And I do not doubt the truth behind anyones claims of human contentiousness, which no doubt fuels the obstinacy of both Earth and Alpha Centauri on the issue of the admission of Centauri III. With that, the senior Tellarite diplomat sat, leaning back from the table with his arms folded truculently before him.
Anlenthoris chVhendreni of Andoria, known to most of the other diplomats present simply as Thoris, rose and began to speak before either of Earths ministers had time either to formally give him the floor or to interject any response of their own.
“Indeed, Thoris said, his antennae flattening aggressively backward along his well‑groomed, white‑maned skull. “Could this stubbornness be born of the fear that whatever remains of the outlawed Terra Prime movement might pressure the United Earth government to withdraw from the Coalition absent some guarantee of a human parliamentary advantage over the other members of this alliance? Centauri IIIs admission would appear to represent just such a guarantee.