The heavy oaken doors that separated the central auditorium from the small private conference rooms at the rear of the building opened with an echoing impact that made al‑Rashid believe that the metaphorical hammer had fallen at last. Momentarily glancing away from the senior representatives from Andoria, Tellar, and Vulcan who were striding purposefully through the doorway at the opposite side of the chamber, he saw his own internal feelings of tense anticipation reflected on the faces of the humans who sat at the table with him: United Earths Prime Minister Nathan Samuels and Centauri IIIs Ambassador Jie Cong Li.

Like al‑Rashid, both of his fellow humans had opted to have no staff members or junior functionaries accompany them to todays special closed‑door meeting, in hopes of blunting the prevalent nonhuman perception that Homo sapienswas attempting to dominate Coalition business. In the same spirit, al‑Rashid and his human colleagues had all agreed not to apply undue pressure on the nonhuman Coalition members to close the current human‑nonhuman political rifts in favor of Earth and Alpha Centauri.

Despite the new compromise proposal that the representatives of both the United Earth and Alpha Centauri governments had signed off on yesterdayand the looming conflicts it would no doubt engenderal‑Rashid still had no reason to think that anything had changed since the last time the full Council debated the issue; so far as he knew, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar still vehemently opposed Earths initiative to confer full Coalition membership upon the human‑inhabited Alpha Centauri settlements, citing as unfair the resulting “species voting bloc that would favor humanitys interests over the Coalition Councils nonhuman world.

Its going to take a long time for us all to learn to really trust each other,al‑Rashid thought as the Vulcans approached the table, followed by the Andorians, the Tellarites, and Grethe Zhor, the official diplomatic observer from Draylax. Feeling dispirited by the nearly constant birth agonies that the nascent alliance continued to experience, he tried to buoy his sense of hope by reflecting on the manifold difficulties humanity had already overcome over the past century on its painful way to resolving Earths internal strife and numerous social evils; his own people, for one, had both bled and shed the blood of others for generations prior to the eventual peaceful resolution of the long‑standing and bitter Israel‑Palestine conflict. If humanity could find peace among its own, then surely it could do so again out among the stars.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in that closed‑door meeting they just came out of,al‑Rashid thought, rising to his feet along with his human colleagues to face their nonhuman counterparts as they reached the opposite side of the semicircular ranks of the council tables.

But as the assembled delegates from six worlds acknowledged one another with silent and respectful nods, al‑Rashid found his eager anticipation slowly morphing into a gradually deepening sense of dread. What if today is the day it all finally falls apart?he thought, not relishing the prospect of Earth suddenly finding itself standing friendless and alone against the heavily armored belligerence of the Klingon Empire.

Although the somber Vulcan contingentwhich consisted of Vulcan Minister Soval, flanked by Ambassadors LNel and Solkar, his senior aidesreached the council table first, they remained standing until each of their colleagues had taken their seats. The hirsute Ambassador Gora bim Gral of Tellar and his two all but indistinguishable aides were the first to sit, followed by Andorian Foreign Minister Anlenthoris chVhendreni and his somewhat younger adjutant, Ambassador Avaranthi shRothress, and finally Grethe Zhor of Draylax.

“Thank you all for agreeing to attend this special meeting today, said Nathan Samuels, addressing all the nonhuman delegations simultaneously once everyone had taken their seats. Casting a significant glance at the woman from Draylax, he added, “I know I speak for everyone here when I offer my sincere hopes for our success in maintaining interstellar peace, especially beyond the present boundaries of Coalition space.

Not to mentioninside them,al‑Rashid thought, taking comfort in a bit of gallows humor.

But no amount of humor, gallows or otherwise, could contain his mounting impatience to discover the outcome of the nonhumans just‑concluded meeting‑within‑a‑meeting. Addressing his alien colleagues, al‑Rashid said, “Have you come to a decision yet about how to deal with Draylaxs, ah, Klingon problem?

Samuels scowled, evidently not comfortable with such a blunt frontal assault, while Li seemed only mildly surprised at the forwardness of al‑Rashids question. Fortunately, none of the nonhumans present appeared offended. Gral, Thoris, and Grethe Zhor merely looked silently toward Minister Soval, almost as though they had all agreed to make the phlegmatic Vulcan their spokesman regarding the matter.

Steepling his fingers contemplatively before his pursed lips, Soval said, “Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar have each agreed to defer their final decisions about whether to declare war on the Klingons until after Earths military experts present us with a new intelligence briefing on the issue.

Minister al‑Rashid nodded, thankful for whatever restraint the other Coalition membersparticularly the Andorianswere willing to exercise.

“This decision is only a provisional one, of course, Thoris said in a cautioning manner. “As far as the Andorian government is concerned, at any rate. My people are not in the habit of allowing threats of incursion to grow unchecked, whether they arise near our homeworld or our colonies. But my government has agreed to stay the hand of the Imperial Guard for the momentat least until we have more complete information about thisKlingon problem.

“Thank you, Samuels said. Coming from the notoriously touchy Andorians, this was practically a declaration of pacifism.

Lets hope their restraint lasts long enough for us to find a way to keep the whole Coalition from being dragged into a major shooting war,al‑Rashid thought. And to keep our allies at our backs in case diplomacy with the Klingons fails at the end of the day.

“Regarding the other matter before this body, Soval said, “I believe we have come to a far more definitive decision.

“You are referring to Minister al‑Rashids compromise proposal regarding Alpha Centauris petition for Coalition membership? said Samuels.

The prime ministers gaze broke with Sovals long enough to communicate very clearly to al‑Rashid that there would be hell to pay if the Coalition continued tearing itself asunder over this extraordinarily sensitive issueparticularly with a Klingon war apparently looming on the horizon.

“Indeed, Soval said. “We have all decided to accept the interior ministers compromise offer. Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar will support Alpha Centauris admission to the Coalitionif Earth and Alpha Centauri will both support the simultaneous admission of Draylax.

Li displayed a smile of gratitude that gave every appearance of utter sincerity. “Alpha Centauri will be pleased to share with the Coalition of Worlds all the mutual defense responsibilities to which we have already committed with both Draylax and Earth, she said.

Just as our nonhuman allies will no doubt be delighted to share in Alpha Centauris shipbuilding resources via the Coalition,al‑Rashid thought as he cast a grin back at Li. It would certainly suit their individual governments interests better than allowing humanity to keep those resources all to themselves via exclusive Earth‑Centauri arrangementseven if they still dont much like the idea of humans getting more than one vote on the Coalition Council.