"That will be good. Thank you for your expediency on this matter. Watson
out." He signaled to close the channel. He then turned to the council
members-thinking he had handled a touchy situation well he said, "It seems
we have a lunch date." He looked at the Plantoc and others...
Melora stood there looking fairly uninterested. She was here because she
needed to be rather than really wanting to be here. Golan had earned
whatever he got. He knew the laws of his people and the consequences of
not following them. She saw no reason to get involved.
The Plantoc stepped forward. "You did well, Ambassador Watson. Now we
can only wait for the appointed time and hope that all is well with Mr.
Dulath."
Rilg had spent most of the time studying his Cardassian peer. She was
trying to seem uninterested, but it was clear that she was paying attention
to the details. He looked to the others. "The real question is what we
are going to do if we find that he is not enjoying his homecoming as much
as we have been led to believe."
"We will deal with that if it comes to that, Grand Proxy Rilg," responded
T'Kresh. She hoped that was not the case for two reason. One, she did not
want that to be the case for her friend, and, two, she did not know that
there was really all that much that could be done.
"Why can't we just take him and leave. One of our governments could claim
amnesty for him," answered Valtris. Sometimes it seemed like the most
obvious options were missed by her fellow diplomats.
The Aqualish representative just shook her head. "It would not work. The
Cardassian government would just claim that we abducted him. It would
worsen the political situation."
"But it would remove Golan Dulath from danger," continued RIlg. "And he
could claim amnesty. It would be his word against there's. Wouldn't
people believe the alleged victim more?"
T'Kresh and her people had had a great deal of experience with the
Cardassians due to the occupation of their homeworld. The Cardassians were
not that easily thrown off. "They would claim that the speaker was an
imposter or had been brainwashed. You forget how devious these people can
be."
Melora glared at the Plantoc. "I object to that characterization of my
people," she stated firmly. "It borders on racism, Madam Plantoc."
Deep purple eyes took in the sight of Melora Damesh as the Council Chair
considered her response. "Miss Damesh, your people have earned that
characterization of deviousness. Before the Dominion War, Cardassians had
conquered a large number of planets in their section of space and raped
pillaged them of their people and resources. I don't want to hear your
pathetic claims at victimization and mischaracterization. I will admit
that your people have suffered greatly as a result of the Dominion War, but
that does not release you of the debt you owe the galaxy for the evils done
in the name of the State."
Melora's mouth popped open and closed as she kept tried to come up with an
appropriate response. She ended with just a "Hrumpf!" before turning and
walking off the Bridge.
Rilg felt a smile tug at his lips. It was nice to see the woman made so
uncomfortable after all the trouble she had put him through. It was from a
surprising source. One would have expected Valtris to be the one to slam
Damesh down, but it was the quite and diplomatic Ra'aj that put her in her
place. Somehow, that seemed so much more appropriate.
Valtris had to bite her tongue to hold in the cheer that was bursting to
come out. She had never accomplished the feat of forcing the Cardassian to
voluntarily leave.
Captain Annan was surprised at the interaction. He had not expected such a
scene to occur among the leading representatives in the Quadrant. He was
pleased to see that his crew went about their business. "Is there anything
I can do to help with your preporations, Ambassadors?"
T'Kresh looked back toward the other ambassadors to see if there was
anything they thought the Captain might provide.
"Captain, if you have anyone with special knowledge in Cardassian anatomy
and medicine, it might be helpful to have him or her join us. While
Ambassador Watson has agreed to initially accepted the Cardassian medical
reports, it would be nice if someone who had a better chance of noticing
something amiss were with us."
(response?)
}}}=) Lisa
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