“I’d rather not say.”
Leaning forward, his fists on his desk, K’mpec said, “You will tell me the name of your informant, or I will—”
“Do nothing,” Dax said quickly. The last thing he wanted to witness right now was these two men getting into a pissing contest. “We volunteered this information to you as a show of good faith and in the hope that our people’s good relations will continue, Chancellor. We are under no obligation to provide you with anything more than we have given you. Humans have a saying about not looking a gift horse in the mouth—I suggest you abide by it in this case.”
“If there is a leak in I.I.—”
Vaughn fixed K’mpec with a stern look. “Then it is yourduty to plug it, sir, not mine.”
K’mpec looked back and forth between the two men. Dax was worried that the chancellor would try to take this to the next step, which would be dangerous for all of them—most of all, though, for the Federation–Klingon alliance, which was only just being stitched back together after fifty years of fraying.
Finally, K’mpec sat back down. “Very well. The Klingon Empire is grateful to you for bringing this matter to our attention.” He leaned back. “Since both of you were—involved in the beginnings of this absurdity, it is only fitting that you be here for the end of it.”
Dax frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean, Ambassador, is that your arrival here has saved me the trouble of contacting you via subspace.” He touched a control on his workstation. “You will come with me.”
Without another word, K’mpec rose from his chair and left the office. A guard fell into step behind him as he proceeded to the Council Chambers, Vaughn and a bemused Dax right behind both of them. Whispering to Vaughn, Dax asked, “What do you think this is about?”
Vaughn shrugged. “You’re the expert.”
“Remind me to have you beaten before we leave, Commander.”
Soon they were in Council Chambers. Dax recognized some of the councillors from his last visit, knew others as Defense Force veterans who had been promoted to the Council. K’mpec took his place in the seat under the Klingon Empire’s trefoil emblem, a spotlight shining on his heavily lined face, and the other councillors stepped into place in a semicircle on either side of him.
As soon as he took his seat, the room quieted down. Vaughn and Dax stood off to the side, along with other observers.
K’mpec looked around the chamber for several seconds before speaking in a booming voice that belied his near-whisper back in his office. “As of this moment, the Klingon Empire cedes the world of Raknal V to the Cardassian Union.”
Dax’s own eyes went wide at that one.
“We are willing to discuss ways to obtain the Ch’gran relic through trade, but we will no longer sacrifice warriors in the wasteful manner that they have been cast aside because of the single-minded pursuit of this one insignificant planet. Governor Qaolin will relinquish his post and return to the Homeworld within one week.
“In addition, the ban on Cardassian citizens within the Empire is lifted. It is the wish of this Council that Cardassia do the same for our people—if not, the ban will be reinstated.”
Then K’mpec turned to one of the councillors, Ruuv. “What of the Romulan Empire’s response to the attack on Khitomer?”
Ruuv stepped forward. “Sir, Praetor Narviat has condemned the actions of the ‘traitors’ who have attacked Khitomer. He assures us that those responsible will be punished, and offers their lives to us.”
“As it should be,” said one councillor.
Another said, “We should consider making a formal alliance with them.”
“Are you mad?” said a third. “Do you believe these lies?”
Dax put a hand on Vaughn’s shoulder, and indicated the exit with his head. They both departed even as the Council’s squabbling started. “They’ll be at it for hours. I doubt that anything will come of it. Too many important Klingons owe too many important Romulans too much money. I suspect any conflict will be limited to isolated skirmishes.”
“Much like what the Klingons and Cardassians have been doing for the past eighteen years?” Vaughn asked pointedly.
Dax shook his head. “Much like that, yes. Well, if you’ll excuse me, Commander, I have to inform my superiors in the Diplomatic Corps that the Betreka Nebula incident has finally come to an end.”
Chapter 38
Cardassia Prime
Corbin Entek’s third trip to the Obsidian Order’s public headquarters proceeded in much the same manner as his first two. He approached the sixty-story building in the culde-sac—the renovations had just been completed the month before—and was told by the receptionist to report to Room 2552. Entek wondered briefly if this meant he was notgoing to see Tain—with the added floors, 2552 was no longer at the building’s epicenter—but apparently Tain liked the office for some reason.
This time a thin, white-haired man sat at the reception desk. He activated his comm unit and said, “He’s arrived.”
Tain’s voice once again sounded over the intercom. “Send him in.”
Tain’s viewer now showed a tactical map of the quadrant. It distressed Entek to see how small Cardassia’s territory—marked in yellow on the galactic map—was in relation to such other local powers as the Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Klingon and Romulan Empires, and most especially the United Federation of Planets.
“Greetings, Entek!” As always, Tain sounded like a grandfather saying hello to a child not visited in months. “Please, have a seat.”
Entek did so, hoping that the similarities to the previous two trips would remain intact. He had no desire to get on Tain’s bad side, not when his career had been going so well. Especially after he was able to handle Khitomer so deftly—though that was with some unknowing help from the Klingons themselves…
“You are no doubt aware that the Klingons have ceded Raknal V to us and allowed Cardassians back inside their borders. We have done the same for their people—which,” he added with a smile, “is probably the only drawback to the whole thing.”
Although he did not find the comment especially humorous, Entek was sensible enough to return the smile.
“Negotiations to restore that silly pile of wreckage to them have commenced. And we owe it all to you. I doubt we’d be at this point if the Romulans hadn’t obligingly attacked Khitomer when they did. Your manufactured ‘confession’ played right into the Romulans’ paranoid hands.”
Manufactured?“To give credit where it is due, sir,” Entek said respectfully, “it was the operative you assigned to leak the confession to the Tal Shiar who fed the paranoia. He did good work in convincing the Romulans of its veracity. I simply provided the documentation.”
“True, but the documentation itself was an exquisite piece of work.”
Entek smiled. He doesn’t know.For a moment, he debated not telling Tain—but no, if the head of the Obsidian Order learned that Entek held back such information, it could damage Entek’s chances. His career was at too important a turning point right now for him to take that risk, especially since the usefulness of the intelligence had now passed. “For that, you must credit the Klingon we captured. After all, he only spoke the truth.”
Tain’s mouth actually fell open at that. It took all of Entek’s training to keep the look of joy off his face. I have actually surprised Enabran Tain!“You didn’t know?” Entek asked innocently.
To his credit, Tain composed himself quickly. “I had simply assumed that the confession was false.”
“Not at all. However,” he added before Tain could react further, “it was an isolated incident.”