The Altian Plague by DM Arnold (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📖

“Maybe there are differences in Floran brain chemistries that have evolved over the past five thousand Earth years.”

“Or, maybe it's me. I can't handle it. I make an ugly drunk, too. Don't ever let me go over my limit drinking.”

“It should be easy since alcohol is prohibited here. How would I know when you've hit your limit?”

“I shouldn't drink more if my cheeks turn red. I get a flush right before I hit my limit. Mom and Daddy used to know I'd been drinking when I came home with red cheeks. Just say, 'Suki -- you can't drink any more because your face is red.' I'll know to stop.”

“It's too bad your face didn't turn red last night.”

“It turns red now -- every time I think about it. Nykkyo ... tonight -- can we just stay here and make out?”

18 -- Detente

Nyk scanned his wrist as he entered the public entrance to the High Legislature assembly building. An attendant regarded the scanpad display and motioned him toward a vestibule. He passed through an arch, scanning his wrist again and found himself among a crowd. Andra's white hair caught his eye and he worked his way toward her.

He found her with Senta, Helsyn, Aahhn and Kronta. “Where's Sirk?” he asked.

“He's with the Altian delegation.”

“And Pring?”

“He'll be in the President's box.”

“Look at this mob.”

“There's a bigger one forming in the public gallery,” Andra remarked. “They know Wygann's due to speak. He's not popular in the HL, but his bombast makes for good theatre. It's enough to create a circus atmosphere.”

An archway into the High Legislature chamber was sealed by a pair of sliding doors. Nyk nodded in its direction. “Just think, Andra -- if things had worked out a bit differently, you might be behind that door now.”

“Nyk,” Kronta said, “I saw Wygann. I'm amazed he's recovered so quickly from that wound.”

“He was never injured. The assassination attempt was a ploy to buy time for that last shipment of vaccine. It was Janna's idea. Mykko thought it would be amusing to blame it on one of the Altian ore-workers -- to throw his opposition off-balance. Wygann enjoys a good game of brinksmanship.”

“Why didn't you tell me this?”

“We were disseminating information on a need-to-know basis, Illya. Remember?”

A tap on his shoulder startled him and he turned to see Dyppa with an older woman. “Nyk -- this is my mother.”

“A pleasure,” he replied.

“Thank you for helping my daughter,” she replied.

“Your daughter has helped herself. She's helped all of us.”

“Really?”

“Didn't she tell you how?” Dyppa shook her head.

“No, she didn't.”

“Ask her. Ask her how she came by that medallion she's wearing. Maybe some day she'll tell you. You're sitting with the Altian delegation, no doubt.”

“Yes -- I always travel with the senator. I was pleased to discover my daughter here on Floran.”

“Nyk and I returning to Earth together...” Dyppa started to say.

The sliding doors opened. An announcement quieted the crowd in the vestibule -- visitors would be seated by delegation. First the Altian...

“I'll see you afterward,” Dyppa said.

“You'll come to Sudal with us.”

“Of course.” She waved and turned to join the others filing through the archway.

Nyk stood with the others as the Deltan, Floran and Gamman delegations were announced. Then -- Lexal.

Nyk followed the others toward the door. He scanned his wrist and an attendant verified his credentials. Inside the arch an usher led them down an aisle.

The assembly hall was a semi-circle divided into terraces. Each terrace was cut into sections, one for each of the twenty-one colony planets and one for the homeworld. Inside each sector were desks for the planetary delegates, a larger desk for the head of each delegation and a podium. To the side was a gallery of benches for visitors. Nyk slid down the bench and sat between Andra and Senta.

“How are you feeling?” he whispered to Senta.

“I'm all right.”

Janna approached them wearing a jewel-studded long gown and an iridescent tiara. Andra stood, embraced and kissed her. “Mykko and I are so happy you could join us.” She worked her way down the bench, shaking hands.

Nyk scanned the hall. He leaned to Andra. “Look at all the ax'amfinen. Every delegate has at least one white-haired beauty with him. Can you tell from which school they come?”

“Not from this distance,” Andra replied. “I can always spot a Vebinad grad in person.”

“Maybe someone you know is here -- a classmate.” He glanced across the semicircle toward the Altian delegation. He saw Sirk conferring with an official. In the visitors' gallery there he saw Dyppa, scanning the crowd. He made eye contact and she waved.

Andra poked Nyk with her elbow and pointed to a circular area in the center of the hall. An older woman stood, flanked by two tall, pale young women with the characteristic oat-straw hair of ax'amfinen. “Isn't that the High Chancellor?” she asked.

“I can't see,” he replied. “It might be. She doesn't usually attend these, does she?”

An older man in off-world official dress stepped into the Lexalese box and took a seat in the visitor's gallery at the end of the bench. Nyk glanced at him. “Who's he?” he whispered to Andra.

“I don't know,” she replied. Mykko's wife approached the man and spoke to him. “Whoever it is, Janna knows him.”

A middle-aged man stood at a podium in the center of the hall. He pressed a control and a chime sounded. The crowd quieted. “This session is called to order,” he announced. Wall-sized images of him materialized behind the podium. “This session was requested by the Lexalese and Altian delegations to discuss mutual grievances.

“Before we get to that order of business -- I would like to make a statement regarding the recent terrorist attack on Lexal and the subsequent eviscerating of the organization known as The Seven. I'm sure all of you are aware of the details. I wanted to say, as President of the High Legislature, that all of us deplore violence, that terrorist acts will not be tolerated anywhere within the Floran Hegemony, and that we rejoice in the elimination of a terrorist threat.”

Polite applause filled the hall.

“The chair yields to Mykko Wygann, Chancellor of the colony of Lexal.”

The delegates and crowd murmured in anticipation.

Wygann stood at his podium, surveying the crowd and now his image filled the screens. “Before I begin,” he said, “I want to take a moment to address some of the rumors swirling about. First -- regarding concerns about the treatment of offworld visitors on Lexal at the time of the attack: All I will say is anyone doubting Lexal's care and compassion for innocent visitors who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time should seek one out and ask him how he was treated.

“Second -- the report that Lexal is stockpiling the virus for use as a counterattack is rubbish. We deplore its creation and we believe no one has a legitimate reason to possess it. We will not rest until every trace -- every vestige of the virus is eradicated from Lexal.”

Wygann paused and manipulated his handheld vidisplay. “Now,” he said, “to the agenda at hand...”

Nyk leaned toward Andra. “Here it comes...” he whispered.

“As the honorable President indicated in his opening remarks, recently Lexal was the target of a vicious and unwarranted terrorist attack -- one which through the efforts of many was thwarted. However, I must differ with you, Mr President, on one issue. The actions of courageous individuals here ... on Lexal ... on Altia ... on T-Delta ... on Gamma-5 ... on Myataxya did not eliminate a terrorist threat. The threat has only been neutralized ... temporarily.

“The other day I had the opportunity to speak with one of those courageous people. I made the same mistake as you, Mr President -- I rejoiced in the elimination of a threat. 'No,' he said. 'You may eliminate these individuals, but until we solve the root problems -- it is only a matter of time before others step forward to carry on.'

“I mulled over those words as his shuttle took off to return him and others to Floran. I saw the truth in it. I made a vidphone call to my peer -- Prime Minister Kel Kyle of the Colony of Altia. I'm sure he thought I was calling to ... to curse him out for letting such a cancer grow on his colony.” Wygann shook his head. “I called to be educated on what were conditions on Altia and what were the challenges he faced. I received an earful. Overcrowding, undernourishment, a low standard of living, and lack of opportunity are what our fellow beings on Altia suffer.

“I accepted an invitation to visit him. I met Mr Kyle and toured Altropolis. I also met some of the men and women of that remarkable city. Then, he and I returned to his offices and began talking. We talked through the night. By morning we were friends.” He turned toward the Lexalese visitors' gallery. “Isn't that right, Kel.”

The man at the edge of the bench stood. “Absolutely, Mykko.”

Wygann beckoned Kyle to the podium. The two leaders shook hands and embraced. “We looked for ways Lexal could help the Altians overcome some of their handicaps. In the end we agreed to a three-pronged approach.

“First... Kel and I have entered into a mutual non-aggression agreement, in which both our colonies forswear any hostile actions against each other.

“Second... After the insurrection of two years ago -- one supported by the then legitimate government of Altia -- Lexal was awarded reparations, to be paid by Altia over a ten year period. The second installment of those reparations will be due at the end of this standard year.

“I have agreed to cancel the reparations and forgive the current Altian leadership of that debt, for it is one they did not incur. In addition, I have issued an executive order to our manufacturers that they are to use Altian raw materials exclusively, and to pay a ten percent duty on them. This duty will be returned to Altia to help fund domestic improvement projects.

“Finally... I have ordered my Agricultural Minister to open additional land for food production, the fruits of which will be offered to Altia at a significant discount. And, since Lexal lacks the population to cultivate this soil, I am offering guest worker status to unemployed Altians willing to come to Lexal and work the land.”

Nyk whispered to Andra, “Bringing guest worker onto Lexal is a dramatic departure from Wygann's policies.”

“It's his gesture to help build trust between the colonies,” she replied.

“Don't you think this will be hard to sell on Lexal?”

“If anyone can sell it, it's Mykko. It'll be harder to sell on Altia. Many won't brook the notion of their prime minister breaking bread with Wygann, much less accepting charity from him.”

“Canceling the reparations will help, don't you think?”

“Help, yes... Shh...”

“These measures will cost Lexal some progress and some prosperity,” Wygann continued. “I don't view it as an expenditure, but as an investment. Priming the Altian pump, as it were. Lexal is a small colony, and our contribution must be proportionately small. I call upon the other colonies -- the High Legislature -- the entire Floran Hegemony to follow the Lexalese lead.”

Wygann paused and looked around the hall. “I think many of you were expecting -- dreading -- one of my lengthy harangues. This is all I have to say today. I hope you are not too disappointed.”

With that, he sat down.

The hall was silent. Delegates and spectators looked around at each other. After several moments the HL presiding officer took his podium. “Would anyone else like the floor?” A grey-haired woman in a Floran tunic with lifxarpa embroidered in gold stepped to the podium. “The Chair recognizes the High Chancellor.”

“Delegates and friends -- secretly behind the scenes over the past thirty days a task force assembled to combat a terrible and vicious biological weapon -- a weapon that threatened not just a single colony but us all. I would like to take a moment to recognize that team. Would Mr Illya Kronta please approach.”

An usher stepped to the Lexalese box and escorted Kronta