Star Trek(11)
“I have perceived no indication of that,” T’Pol said. “For myself, I have no reason to doubt her appreciation of the proper chain of command. Any problem you have with her, Commander . . . I suggest you resolve with her.”
• • •
When Thanien arrived in sickbay, still mulling over his talk with the captain, he found Doctor Phlox feeding the menagerie of strange creatures that the physician kept on hand for medicinal purposes. Generally Thanien liked to time his arrival to coincide with the end of the feeding process; he found several of the creatures unnerving and didn’t like to lose his appetite just before taking the doctor to lunch. He knew he’d been on time as always, so Phlox must have been delayed. Perhaps the news broadcast playing on the main sickbay monitor was the cause.
“Ah, Thanien!” the cheery Denobulan called. “Forgive the delay—I’ve been caught up in listening to the news. A major development in the presidential race today—T’Nol is throwing her support behind Councilor Thoris!”
The news was startling enough to make Thanien’s antennae recoil slightly. “That seems unlikely.”
“Listen for yourself,” Phlox replied, gesturing to the monitor.
Indeed, the subspace news feed was replaying a press conference held earlier in the day (according to the caption) by Professor T’Nol, leader of the Vulcan Anti-revisionist Party and—until today—one of multiple candidates for Federation president in the election that would be held later in the year. This would be the first presidential election under the rules recently ratified by the Federation Council, the first whose winner would serve a full four-year term. And the sitting president, Thomas Vanderbilt of Earth, had chosen not to run for re-election. Thus, the stakes were high and the field was wide open. Every group with an agenda had someone in the race, making for a lively campaign.
But this was the last development Thanien had expected, and the question asked by Earth journalist Gannet Brooks reflected his own thoughts. “Professor, your movement up to now has advocated rolling back the post-Kir’shara reforms on Vulcan and restoring the High Command and its policies—including its antagonistic stance toward Andoria. How do you reconcile that with backing Councilor Thoris’s candidacy?”
T’Nol, a stern-featured and rail-thin Vulcan woman just past middle age, gave a measured reply. “It is true that there are many points of conflict between the traditional Vulcan values we represent and those of the Andorian Empire. But one thing on which we agree is our right to preserve that very freedom of dissent—the right of every world, every species, to retain its unique and separate identity. On every world in the Federation, movements have arisen in protest of the haste with which the union was imposed upon us. Yet the voices that advocate greater consolidation and homogenization of our disparate societies have the intrinsic advantage of being united behind a single movement, a single candidate. Those of us who seek to defend our racial independence against that spreading federalism cannot hope to succeed so long as we act separately. Thus, the logical solution is to cooperate in standing against that which we all oppose, at least until we have succeeded in its defeat.
“I have assessed the relative standings of the various Planetarist candidates and have determined that the candidate with the highest probability of victory over Councilor al-Rashid is Councilor Thoris. He is an experienced and respected statesman and is better known on an interstellar stage than other candidates such as myself. He has a sizeable coalition backing his efforts already and a well-organized support structure for fundraising and message promotion. If the Anti-revisionists, Lechebists, and other Planetarist and pro-independence factions combine their support behind Anlenthoris ch’Vhendreni, our estimates show his odds of victory to be at least sixty-one percent, based on currently known variables.”
“Quite a stimulating twist, isn’t it?” Phlox asked with relish. “I wonder if they’ll actually be able to make a partnership work, or if their traditional rivalries and resentments will scuttle the whole thing.”
“People like that are generally poor at tolerating those they disagree with,” Thanien replied, his current mood inclining him to cynicism. “I doubt it was so easy for the Anti-revisionists to set aside their hatred of Andorians. I’d just bet that T’Nol’s ‘logical’ calculation was helped along by some generous concession or payoff from Thoris’s camp.” Phlox simply chuckled at his cynical assessment and continued feeding his Calrissian chameleon.