Lucas peered at her through narrowed lids. “Is that what you believe, Presider?”
Her reply was apologetic. “It is what I am concerned the electorate would believe, Jeremy. The opposition is threatening a vote of no confidence against our coalition. They are backed by a growing popular movement that wishes to sever our trade deal with the Federation and expel all aliens from our world.”
“But we can prove that belief is based on M’Tezir propaganda! Lies!”
“And do you really think so many would be ready to admit they were so gullible? More likely they would choose to believe you were the liars. It would only inflame matters.”
“Then what are you suggesting, Presider? That we just let Maltuvis keep spreading this plague and holding the planet hostage to his half-cure?”
Moxat rose and moved around her desk, speaking more softly to mollify him. “Of course we will distribute the cure—and let its existence and availability reveal the lies in Maltuvis’s words. Believe me, there is no one who wants to reclaim our lost territory from that petty tyrant as much as I do. But . . . forgive me, Doctor . . . it is best if we present the cure as a Saurian breakthrough. It will be more readily accepted planetwide if its true origins are not known. And we can wage the rhetorical battle with M’Tezir more effectively if we focus on the issues where we can gain ground without inflaming matters further . . . which means that, for now, it is best if we stay quiet on the issue of alien acceptance.”
Lucas seethed, but he held back the caustic reply he had in mind. He reminded himself that, however much contempt he felt for politicians and their self-serving games, he was still a healer first. If Moxat’s political maneuvering had impeded the availability of the cure, he would have fought it to his last breath. But as galling as it was, Moxat had a point: this bit of political compromise probably was the best way to get the cure distributed as widely and swiftly as possible. Maltuvis had gotten Sauria so stirred up with xenophobia that many would reject the cure if they knew it came from Federation doctors—even if all those doctors had done was purify the watered-down medicine the M’Tezir were already using.
“Consider the long game, Jeremy,” Moxat said. “With Maltuvis weakened and the plague defeated, in time the fear of offworlders will subside. The League will maintain its trading ties and its current policies toward offworlders for as long as my coalition stands. Eventually matters will normalize again.”
Lucas huffed a breath, ruffling his mustache. “I hope you’re right, Moxat. But something tells me Maltuvis isn’t just going to take defeat lying down.”
Basilic Palace, M’Tezir, Sauria
Maltuvis paced slowly around the globe of N’Ragolar—“Sauria,” as the offworlders called it—and examined the lay of the land. The color of the lights illuminating Veranith from within the globe had finally changed to solid orange, indicating that the last active opposition had been silenced and the country was now firmly in M’Tezir control. That made fourteen nations, twelve of them former Global League members, that had now fallen under his rule.
Unfortunately, Veranith would be the last nation gained through the plague stratagem. “My spies tell me that the Federation has given the Global League the cure,” he told his visitor. “They’ve begun mass-producing it and will distribute it to affected nations promptly.”
Harrad-Sar crossed his muscular green arms. “You don’t seem too upset,” the Orion merchant prince said.
Maltuvis flicked a hand as though shooing off an insect. “I knew it was only a matter of time before they obtained a sample. You and your mistresses may love your games of deception, Orion, but the truth has a way of coming out eventually, and the successful conqueror plans for the contingency.” He gestured to the field of orange-hued states on the globe. “I chose the nations to infect carefully. M’Tezir has now gained a clear advantage in resources and strategic positioning. I have pincers around many of the Global League’s key states and a wedge driving between the two largest.”
“If you can hold on to the nations you have,” the Three Sisters’ lackey countered, “now that they’ll be told you lied about the cure.”
“I’ve already mobilized my medical troops to begin releasing the real cure, ahead of the League. I’ll tell them it’s a new breakthrough, one the League copied from us. Any claims to the contrary can be spun as more alien lies.” He directed a snide smile at Harrad-Sar. “No offense.”
The Orion simply glared from beneath those ridiculous hunks of metal he had driven through his scalp. “And what if they don’t believe you? You said the truth will come out eventually.”