“Tell me, Ambassador,” he said after a moment, “before accepting the honorable mantle you now bear, I assume you spent some time in service with the Klingon Defense Force?”
His chest swelling with pride, Lugok nodded. “Of course I did, fool. I fought in many campaigns, including battling Starfleet at Donatu V. It was a glorious victory for the empire.”
“Indeed,” Jetanien said. Knowing that the battle between Federation and Klingon forces had been fought to a virtual standstill, he nevertheless was pleased to see that his rudimentary attempts to deflect Lugok’s anger already were beginning to have an effect. “And in your storied career, have you ever battled a member of my species?”
The ambassador regarded him as a hunter might study a potential quarry before offering a leering smile. “There’s always a first time.”
“I fear it would also be your last,” Jetanien replied. “When attacked, Rigelian Chelons have an autonomic defense mechanism which manifests itself as a deadly toxin secreted from our skin.”
Lowering his blade, if only slightly, Lugok scoffed. “Poison is a coward’s weapon.”
Jetanien nodded. “I’d never argue a point of honor with a Klingon, Ambassador, but there is little I can do to prevent it. Within hours of exposure, you would suffer a quite agonizing and inglorious demise, and then where would we be?”
“It is a ruse,” Lugok said, turning to face Sesrene. “The Chelon is nothing but bluster.”
“ Feel free to test your assertion, Ambassador,”the Tholian replied. “ I would await the outcome with interest.”
Growling in irritation, Lugok returned his blade to the sheath on his left hip. “I do not dance on the request of my enemies.” He turned his attention back to Jetanien. “Not that his suggestion is an unsound one.”
Jetanien raised his hands, open and away from his body to demonstrate to Lugok that he had no intention of initiating hostilities. “Friends,” he said, sensing that he may have found a clumsy yet effective way to navigate this latest obstacle, “we have not been asked to serve our respective peoples because we are the best at squabbling. We are the best at negotiating, and at agreeably reaching clear-minded concessions so we all can exist in harmony. We have an obligation to carry out our sworn duty. May we proceed?”
To his surprise, Lugok turned and moved back to his seat, though he did so only after offering a parting snarl. Sesrene likewise returned to his position at the table, uttering an indecipherable series of chirps and clicks.
Perhaps all hope is not lost after all,Jetanien mused as he also moved to his place at the head of the table.
“Shall we revisit the point yet again?” Lugok asked as he settled into his chair. “How much longer are we to argue over who has the right to assume control over unclaimedspace? The Tholians have staked no claims in the Gonmog Sector, and yet they block our every move to do so for ourselves.”
Sesrene clicked his appendages on the floor before responding. “ As I have already stated, our motivations are our own.”
“And as I have already demanded repeatedly,” Lugok countered, “explain yourselves!”
Jetanien rapped his webbed digits on the table. “One might argue that the Tholians are within their right to protect the indigenous races of this region from being exploited by unwanted and aggressive interlopers.”
“So,” the Klingon sneered, “the Federation supports this policy? Allow the Tholians to dirty their hands, or their…whatever they have, while you prop yourself up with your vaunted standard of non-interference.”
“ The Federation does not dictate our actions,”Sesrene said. “ My people have no intentions of establishing control over the territory in question.”
Jetanien schooled his features to offer no visible reaction to the Tholian’s comments. How curious he would admit that now, at the very time when it appears his people may have more at stake here thanany of us.
“Once more, you offer lies,” Lugok said, his eyes narrowing in renewed suspicion. “Your people have always asserted territorial control whenever and wherever it suits you. Why is the Gonmog Sector to be any different?”
Tapping one of his appendages on the table for emphasis, Sesrene replied, “ I offer truth and facts. Our presence in this region and our actions against your expansion efforts reflect only our desire to leave this space undisturbed.”
“And so you all but declare war on the Klingon Empire?” Lugok roared.
“Ambassador, please,” Jetanien pleaded, fearful that Lugok’s ever-present invective would only serve to send Sesrene back into his figurative shell, particularly now that it appeared the Tholian might be prepared to offer details about the odd actions his people had taken in recent weeks. Turning to Sesrene, he said, “Your Excellency, if you could elaborate, I think it would be most helpful for all of us. The Federation wants only to understand the Tholian people’s motivations so that we might better respect your concerns here.”
Sesrene did not answer at first, and Jetanien wondered if the ambassador might be once more communing with his envoys. “ I…cannot comply,”he said after a moment. “ This place is…”
There was another pause, and Jetanien thought that perhaps the conference room’s universal translator might be having trouble interpreting some heretofore unencountered aspect of Tholian speech.
When Sesrene spoke again, Jetanien was sure the translator was broken, with the ambassador’s vocalizations sounding more like metal grinding on metal. When a translation finally was offered, it provided the Chelon with more questions than answers.
“ This place is…Shedai.”
Frowning, Jetanien shook his head. “I’m afraid I do not understand, Your Excellency. This place is taboo? Quarantined? Forbidden?”
“ From long ago,”Sesrene said, “ our people have avoided this place. It is believed the unspeakable occurred here. Of all places, this is where we are not to be.”
Lugok released a hearty laugh, one Jetanien recognized as derisive. “Folk tales,” he said. “Stories to frighten the meek and mewling. These Tholians truly are cowards.”
Jetanien, however, found himself listening with intent to Sesrene’s words. Could this supposed fable have a foundation in ancient fact? Might the ambassador’s seemingly ingrained fear of this space possess roots to a danger so dreadful and frightening as to leave an impression lasting millennia?
What if they fear whatever it is we’re looking for? What if the very builders of the artifacts— the originators of the meta-genome— have struck millennia of terror in the Tholian people?All of this is connected. It simply has to be.
It has to be.
So focused was the ambassador on this new train of thought that the sound of the conference chamber’s doors unlocking and parting all but startled him out of his chair. All three diplomats jerked their heads in that direction to see Commodore Reyes entering the room with powerful strides and a grim expression darkening his human features.
“Commodore!” Jetanien blurted, caught off guard by the untimely interruption. “I ordered this room sealed. How did you get in here?”
Stopping at the opposite end of the table, Reyes replied, “It is mystation, Your Excellency.” He looked first to Lugok and then to Sesrene before speaking again. “I’m here to inform you that this summit and all further discussions between the three delegations are hereby terminated.”