Though the words almost sounded sincere, there was no mistaking Lugok’s expression. The Klingon either was lying about the destruction of the freighter or was simply regurgitating whatever story had been fed to him by a superior. Either way, the ambassador appeared not to care.
“Trust, you say?” Jetanien countered. “Is this the same trust that involves placing an undercover agent aboard this station? Within my own staff?”
Again, Lugok shrugged, appearing to be considering a nap. “Opportunity presented itself, Ambassador. Are you suggesting that such action is beneath your vaunted Federation?”
The revelation that the late Anna Sandesjo, one of his trusted aides, had actually been a Klingon intelligence operative surgically altered to appear human had come as a shock to Jetanien. Other members of his staff had discovered Sandesjo’s true identity even before it had come to T’Prynn’s attention. He had been considering just what to do with the covert agent, whether to expose her and have her arrested or find some way to monitor, if not direct, her activities for his own uses. T’Prynn had beaten him to that decision, further surprising him by converting Sandesjo into a double agent working for her.
For all the good that ended up doing for us.Given the length of time Sandesjo had served on his staff, how much damage had she caused to Federation security interests before Jetanien had discovered her and T’Prynn had converted her? Despite the precautions T’Prynn was sure to have taken, could they be sure that the Klingon agent had not continued providing real, actionable intelligence to her superiors? Jetanien was certain that all of the ramifications of this security breach had yet to be felt.
“Jetanien,”Lugok said, “we appear to be dancing around the important issue dangling before us. At first, we believed that your unrestrained expansion into the Gonmog Sector was carried out for the Federation’s usual arrogant, selfish reasons, but of course, we both now know the real purpose of your presence here.”He pointed one large finger at Jetanien, and the Chelon imagined it coming through the screen to poke him in his chest. “Your fumbling and indecisiveness have angered an enemy that threatens both our peoples. You can hardly fault the empire for pursuing its own interests in the region, especially now that we may well be searching for some weapon with which to defend ourselves from this adversary you’ve provoked.”
As irritating as Lugok could be, Jetanien knew he was right. Starfleet’s mission to uncover the truth behind the Shedai had come with tremendous, unforeseen costs. The demonstrations of their power on planets throughout the Taurus Reach, including most recently the staggering disappearance of the entire Jinoteur system, was sending shock waves throughout the Federation and beyond. Now, with the Klingon Empire aware of the secrets buried within the Taurus Reach, Starfleet’s original mission to determine the origin of the meta-genome had changed. The quest for unparalleled scientific discovery was now a mad dash to secure technology and weapons with the potential to shift the balance of power throughout the galaxy, possibly for centuries to come.
“Well, as you say, the Shedai are a threat to both the Federation and the empire,” Jetanien said, his beak punctuating his words with rapid staccato clicks. “To that end, it would seem logical that our peoples come together in joint defense against this menace.”
Throwing back his head, Lugok released a hearty, thunderous laugh, which seemed determined to overload the viewer’s audio ports. Once he settled down, he leaned back in his chair. “Yes, that’s quite a fine idea you have there, Jetanien. We will join hands and stand up to our mutual enemy. Assuming we prevail, what are we to do in the aftermath of our glorious victory?”
“Surely,” Jetanien replied, “this unprecedented alliance to protect our common interests might be viewed by any rational person as the foundation for a stronger, longer-lasting relationship between our two peoples? There is much good we can accomplish, Lugok, if we could only pledge to work together rather than against each other.”
Once more, Lugok smiled. “You’re at your most entertaining when you propose such fantasies, Jetanien. We Klingons are not fools; we understand that you only now come to us after your failed attempts to hoard the alien technology for yourself. It is but the latest in a string of deceptions foisted upon the rest of the galaxy by your Federation. They are a gang of weak cowards who lack the fortitude to face their enemies in battle. Instead, they would rather attempt to defeat their foes by boring them to death with their words, hiding behind lies and treachery.”Once more, he leaned forward, his eyes boring out from the viewer as they locked with Jetanien’s. “It has not worked for you on any other front, Ambassador, nor will it work for you here.”
Forcing himself not to react to Lugok’s baiting, Jetanien still could not discount the words of his counterpart. The divide between the Federation and the Klingon Empire had been widening for some time, long before the latest developments here in the Taurus Reach. Even now, as he conversed with Lugok, teams from the Federation’s Diplomatic Corps were locked in protracted negotiations with similar representatives from the empire. Key among the many issues being debated were agreements with respect to territorial expansion by both parties. For years, Klingon officials had maintained that the Federation’s outward growth threatened to constrict the empire’s ability to do the same. Instead, they were being forced in directions where the possibilities of finding planets rich in the various natural resources required to maintain their society’s standard of living dwindled. In the Klingons’ eyes, this was tantamount to an attack on their very civilization, and while the Federation struggled to reach some form of mutual accord that might avert interstellar war, the Klingons, of course, seemed all but eager for what many on both sides saw would soon devolve into inevitable, open conflict.
Jetanien knew this was to be expected, given the empire’s long heritage of enhancing its power and influence through conquest and enslavement and the great honor Klingons placed on the warriors who served as the instruments of that expansion. If Federation diplomats held any hope of bridging this massive ideological gap, it lay in finding some form of common ground, some means of earning the Klingons’ respect. Jetanien also was certain that as negotiations ran on longer, the likelihood of winning that appreciation through words rather than demonstrative action grew very slim indeed.
“This discussion is getting us nowhere,” he said after a moment. “Lugok, you and I may not be friends, but at least we have cultivated a respectful professional rapport. The fact that you and I continue to correspond when our governments would have us turn our backs on each other is proof enough of that. Surely, there must be something we can accomplish, some example we can offer our peoples to show that war does not have to be our destiny.”
As he raised his massive hands, Lugok’s face for the first time took on an expression of regret. “There are limits to my influence, Jetanien. Circumstances have changed, both here and elsewhere. It seems that fate would prefer the course we now travel.”He looked off to his right, as though someone or something else had caught his attention. “There are other matters to which I must now attend, Ambassador, but with luck, we may soon revisit this discussion.”Without waiting for any acknowledgment, Lugok severed the connection, his image on Jetanien’s viewer now replaced with the seal of the United Federation of Planets and the words “Communication Ended.”