“Of course it is. An investigation by Starfleet and a Federalist diplomat! It’s sure to be decided in the Federalists’ favor.”
“Come on, Mikhail, think it over.” That was Selina Rosen, the olive-skinned woman who served as Earth’s ambassador. As she and Kamenev came from neighboring planets, they had a familiar, if contentious, relationship. “How could an attempt like this have done anything other than make the Federalist side—if you accept the premise that there is one—look bad?”
“That’s right,” Ambassador Baur put in, shaking a pudgy finger. “If anything, this attempt was probably staged to do just that!”
“What are you accusing us of?” Kamenev demanded.
The Tellarite ambassador gestured in triumph. “How revealing that you immediately conclude you are the ones to be accused!”
“Baur, stop it,” Rosen said, putting a calming hand on the ambassador’s wrist and casting a glance toward the petitioners—Jahlet and Hemnask of Rigel and Tamara Ann Arouet of Vega Colony—who sat uneasily along one side of the conference table. “Nobody’s accusing anyone of anything. That’s not what we’re here for. Now, Ambassador sh’Rothress has raised an interesting point about the standards for admission, and I’d like to hear the petitioners’ thoughts on—”
Kamenev spoke over her. “Nobody’s being accused? What about Jonathan Archer, whose DNA was on the scene?”
Sh’Rothress emitted a hissing sigh, her antennae pulling back in irritation. “Mikhail. Take a breath. Calm down.” The shen caught the Martian’s gaze and held it firmly, her force of will compelling him to listen. “Consider what you’re proposing. Whatever our disputes with his position, this is Jonathan Archer we’re talking about. The one being who is most responsible for convincing our separate empires and nations to look past our differences and work together in peace. The man who was sent on a mission of war against the Xindi and single-handedly persuaded them to cancel their annihilation of the human race. The man who assured victory over the Romulans at Cheron, not by weapons alone, but through the years he spent building alliances and restoring the frayed trust among Earth and its allies. The man who prevented the Malurians from dragging us into manufactured wars with the Tandarans and the Vertians.”
Ambassador Fell sniffed. “She has a point,” the gaunt, middle-aged Centaurian acknowledged. “Not that I have any great trust toward Starfleet . . . but Archer has managed to rein in some of the military’s excesses. I must admit, it is hard to believe he would attempt crude violence against a political rival.”
Kamenev appeared reluctant to let his accusation drop, but the lack of support from his own faction had robbed him of impetus. “Well . . . then . . . if it wasn’t Archer, then who? Who would benefit from Thoris’s death?”
“Perhaps Thoris was not the target,” T’Rama said. “The type of weapon employed is precise, and the Councilor was not in rapid motion when the shot was fired.”
“That’s right,” Rosen said. “This could’ve been staged to implicate Archer, to turn public opinion toward Thoris. If he were elected—or even if our recriminations caused this conference to fall apart—it would prevent Rigel’s admission.”
“If I may.” It was Director Hemnask. The cinnamon-haired Zami Rigelian leaned forward, taking a moment to choose her words. “I would not put it past the First Families to attempt something like this. We know they have taken Starfleet personnel hostage, along with sensitive state secrets that they could use to undermine the Trade Commission.”
“Indeed,” Ambassador Jahlet affirmed. “As we’ve agreed, applying Federation law throughout the system would cripple their illicit activities.”
“Yes, but there’s more to it than that,” Hemnask went on. T’Rama noted that the Jelna ambassador found her words unexpected, but merely listened curiously. “We have seen the sheer brazenness of the Families’ recent acts. And our intelligence suggests that they may have garnered the support of some extra-Rigelian hostile power seeking to gain a firmer foothold in our system. It is conceivable that the Families are gearing up for war against the member worlds of the Commission. If those worlds became members of the Federation as well, then any attempt to conquer the system would be met by the full force of Starfleet, and their victory would not be as easy as they would wish.”
“Wait, wait,” Kamenev said. “Are you suggesting that if Rigel joins, the Federation could find itself dragged into another war?”