Summon the Thunder

Once more unto the breach,Jetanien mused.

“Good afternoon, gentlebeings,” the ambassador offered by way of greeting as he made his way toward the table. Behind him, the doors slid closed and locked in accordance with his prearranged instructions. Now they were able to be opened only by use of the keypad set into the wall next to the entrance or by command from one of the security officers stationed just outside.

“On behalf of the United Federation of Planets,” he continued, “I extend to you greetings and our sincere thanks at your decision to gather here today, particularly in light of current events.” Stopping before his glenget, he turned to face the assembled audience. “Simply coming here is a gesture of faith and hope, my friends. Let us all do our best to ensure your efforts are not wasted.”

“ tojo’Qa,”spat Ambassador Lugok, a response mirrored by his attaché, Kulor. “How dare you force me to sit here with nothing better to do than stare at these taHqeq.” The Klingon waved a large, gloved hand across the table, indicating the Tholian delegation.

Well,Jetanien thought, that didn’t take long.

“Please excuse my tardiness, Ambassadors,” he said, extending his hands in a gesture of supplication. “I was unavoidably detained.” With that, he lowered himself down upon the perch that had been constructed to accommodate his ungainly physique.

“ You present no excuse,”replied the voice of the room’s universal translator, offering a clipped rendering of Ambassador Sesrene’s words amid the muted but still audible screeches issuing from within the Tholian’s silken envirosuit. “ Such disrespectful behavior is unacceptable.”

Knowing that his tactics played against the Tholians’ near-obsessive penchant for punctuality, Jetanien chose his next words with care. “Not an excuse, Ambassador, but instead a reason that I hope you both will find satisfactory. I have been meeting with Commodore Reyes to review the latest information regarding the destruction of the planet we know as Palgrenax.” What he did not mention was that the meeting had concluded several hours earlier, and that he had spent the interim secreted in his private office, refining his strategy.

Besides, the longer you two sit in silence and allow your anger to fester, the more likely you are to forget any rehearsed stories and react honestly to what I have to say.

“Bah!” Lugok barked. “What can you tell me that I do not already know? That planet was claimed by the empire, in the same way that we have established ourselves on other worlds in the Gonmog Sector. The Tholians take issue with our actions and attack us without honor!”

“Cowardly toDSaH.”

Though Kulor had uttered the words under his breath, Jetanien nevertheless had heard him. Grunting loud enough to catch the assistant’s attention, the Chelon hoped the glare he leveled at the Klingon was enough to forestall any such further comments.

“And now,” Lugok continued, his voice louder and more intense now, “they have created a weapon capable of destroying a planet and have unleashed it against us!”

“Unfounded accusations do not become you, Ambassador,” Jetanien said, almost besting the Klingon in tone and volume. “Do you have evidence to substantiate these claims?”

Lugok glared at the Chelon, his eyes seething. “I challenge the Tholians to offer evidence to the contrary,” he said, the words hissed from between gritted teeth.

Occupying the position at the table opposite the Klingon diplomat, Ambassador Sesrene reached out with silk-sheathed appendages toward both of his attachés, his gesture mirrored by his companions in what Jetanien knew was the precursor to the activation of their habitual touch-telepathy link.

As he witnessed the communing, Jetanien once more wished for a better understanding of the Tholians not merely as politicians but as individuals. Not even the Federation’s leading xenobiologists and sociologists could lay claim to any real insight into the acutely secretive race, their very nature isolating them from introspection by other species. He had known upon taking the assignment to Starbase 47 that doing so would provide him with an unequaled opportunity to study what he considered to be one of the most fascinating societies he ever had encountered.

If I can’t find a Tholian expert, I’ll simply become one myself.Jetanien was certain that someone somewhere would find such a distinction useful. After that, who knew where such unparalleled knowledge and expertise might lead?

Sesrene folded his arms back against his body, turning his oversized head until Jetanien could make out the yellow slits cut into the helmet of the Tholian’s envirosuit.

“ We do not have any offensive weapon such as the Klingon describes. It isthey who destroyed the planet, likely as an example to other worlds that do not bow down before them. If left unchecked, the Klingons will continue to unleash havoc upon all who oppose them. Their reign of violence and terror must be halted immediately.”

“Ambassador,” Jetanien began as he looked at the Tholian.

Rising from his seat, Lugok stabbed a finger in Sesrene’s direction. “The empire has made no moves against any world inhabited by your kind, and yet your vessels attack ours without provocation. It is obvious you seek to do battle.”

“ We have acted only in self-defense,”Sesrene replied. “ We are well aware of the Klingon Empire’s thirst for power and conquest. It will not be tolerated. Go back from whence you came and war can be avoided.”

Both hands placed flat atop the conference table, his lips pulling back to reveal uneven rows of sharpened teeth, Lugok glowered at the Tholian diplomat. “Are you claiming the Gonmog Sector as your own? By what right do you assert that authority?”

“Fellow sentients,” Jetanien called out, acutely aware that he was in danger of losing control of the meeting, “this is hardly the sort of constructive dialogue which will lead us to mutual understanding of the issues and how they affect us all. Might I…”

“He is like the rest of his kind,” Kulor said, pointing at Sesrene. “Liars, all of them. The galaxy would do well to see itself rid of their…infestation.”

Before Jetanien could react, Karumé rose from her seat at the ambassador’s left hand and strode with undeniable purpose toward the Klingon attaché. Kulor looked up and offered a wolfish grin, but Karumé ignored it, instead stepping forward until she was able to deliver a vicious punch to his face that almost made Jetanien flinch.

“Still your profane tongue, tu’HomIraH,”she growled even as Kulor’s right hand moved toward the d’k tahgknife at his side. The action did not go u

“That is enough!”

The words exploded from Jetanien’s mouth, accompanied by the slamming of his hand against the top of the conference table. Everyone in the room fell silent, all eyes now locked once more upon him, each person now regarding him with an expression of unqualified shock.

Of those surprised by the outburst, none were more so than Jetanien himself.

“This bickering is pointless,” he said, the words delivered in a measured cadence designed to convey that he would tolerate no interruptions. “It is obvious that we have much work ahead of us if we are to forge any sort of understanding here. Lies, half-truths, exaggerations, and hyperbole serve only to undermine our efforts, and they ca

Turning to face the Chelon, Kulor began, “You accuse us…”

“I accuse no one,” Jetanien said, cutting off what he sensed was another imminent diatribe. “The simple facts are enough to illustrate the issues we face. Even while your governments send envoys here to meet in peace, acts of aggression continue in the Taurus Reach. Tholians attack Klingons, Klingons attack Tholians, and Tholians attack the Federation.” As he uttered those last words, his gaze fell upon Ambassador Sesrene. He knew a reminder of the tragedy that had befallen the U.S.S. Bombaywas necessary, but still he drew satisfaction from seeing the Tholian diplomat shift his stance as if discomfited by the remarks.