by Lee Correy
"No apologies are necessary, Guardian Pallar. It's difficult to accept new information that may not totally agree with what one has previously believed to be true. My people have had to do it many times in their history as we have grown from savagery to the interabode civilization of the United Federation of Planets."
"I'm now very interested in your legend of the United Federation of Planets," Pallar replied. "I'd like to hear more about it."
"Please sit down." Kirk indicated the circle of chairs. "We'll show you what we've shown the Technic and the Proctorate. . . ."
Captain's Log: Stardate 5081.3
All three groups are aboard the ship now, although they're still isolated from one another. We know they're discussing the new situation among themselves. Thallan's asked to beam down to Mercan to talk with the other leaders of the Technic group. I permitted him to go, accompanied by Orun and Sulu. Apparently Prime Proctor Lenos has absolute authority within the Proctorate to make whatever decisions he determines to be best, which is understandable in a paramilitary organization. The Guardian group has not asked to beam down for consultations with their organization. I was probably correct in picking the four Guardians that we beamed up; they're the true leaders and top people in the Guardian organization.
I've asked each of the three groups to indicate to me when they're ready to meet with the other two. I haven't placed a time limit on this. However, if it drags out for more than several days, we'll begin applying pressure to hold the joint meeting. But I'd like to have each group work through their own position, using their own logic and their own intimate knowledge of their position in the Mercan culture.
Spock advises me that this is the best way to proceed. He cites the history of several planets as precedents.
Addendum here: I want this log to include a special commendation for both Lieutenant Commander Spock and Doctor Leonard McCoy, but for separate actions. Spock is to be commended for his bravery and behavior while gravely wounded in the right hand by a Proctor bullet; he was willing to continue to fight even though he was obviously in extreme pain and agony. On the other hand, Doctor McCoy is to be commended for the quick and professional action on his part in coming to Spock's aid under fire and for a marathon session of seven hours in surgery rebuilding Spock's right hand, a feat that required an unusual knowledge of Vulcan-human physiology and an extreme competency in surgery. Spock has been returned to duty, albeit with his right hand covered with plastiskin to accelerate healing.
There's nothing to do now but wait for the Mercans to assimilate the data we presented to them concerning the Federation and the possible options available to them in reorganizing themselves. At the moment, time is not critical. However, should news of the stabilization of Mercaniad manage to leak from the Guardians still on the planet or from the ranks of the Technic, some of whom may have already detected it, we might be faced with a time-critical situation. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen. I'd rather that the reorganization conference here on the Enterprise proceed without the pressure of an impending civil war. . . ."
The setting for the joint meeting was different from that for the meetings with the individual groups. Twelve chairs were arranged in a precise circle in the center of the room. Toward the forward end were four more chairs where Kirk, Spock, Scott, and McCoy would sit under the Seal of the United Federation of Planets on the bulkhead. And off to the side was Yeoman Janice Rand's desk and recorder. Kirk had deliberately not included the Federation contingent from the Enterprise in the circle of twelve Mercans.
The protocol had been of concern to Kirk. Who should be the first group to arrive? The last? Would the order of entrance imply ranking of a group?
Spock arrived at the most logical solution. There was basically no protocol to govern the situation, only logic, at which the Vulcan was most adept. When Spock had explained his proposal, even McCoy couldn't resist giving him the highest of all compliments, "Logical, Spock. Brilliantly logical."
Spock merely raised his right eyebrow because it was an unusual accolade from the ship's doctor.
It was ethnic full-dress Star Fleet uniform for Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scott, uniforms that were formal and similar to indicate that this was considered as an extremely high-level conference and with different dress to indicate a unity in diversity among members of the United Federation of Planets. And all four Star Fleet officers would be visibly armed, not with the Mercan sidearms, but with the hand phasers that were now recognized by the Mercans to be sidearms highly superior to those of the Abode.
Spock would escort Prime Proctor Lenos. McCoy would escort Guardian One Pallar. And Scott would escort Thallan, of the Technic Peers. Thus escorted, the three Mercans met for the first time aboard the Enterprise simultaneously at the turbolift that would carry them to Deck 11.
As anticipated, the atmosphere at the initial greetings at the turbolift were extremely cool but punctiliously correct in the Mercan fashion, even between Pallar and Lenos. But the three Mercans recognized that high protocol was being observed here, something that they now knew was as much a part of the Federation's culture as it was on the Abode. The Mercans knew and understood this protocol, even though it was strange to them.
The escorted leaders were met on Deck 11 by Captain James T. Kirk in full dress uniform. Within seconds, the second turbolift arrived with the remaining three members of each Mercan group, each group accompanied by a single protocol escort from the security division in full dress uniform. However, the protocol escort didn't leave the turbolift, which closed its doors after depositing the Mercan groups.
The meeting had been choreographed as precisely as a classical ballet. The three Mercan groups found themselves seated in a circle facing one another.
But before a single word was uttered, the anthem of the United Federation of Planets blared from audio transducers in the ceiling of the conference room. Simultaneously, Kirk and his officers came to attention and faced the UFP Seal.
It was a show loaded with schmaltz and ceremony … and it was deliberate on the part of the Star Fleet officers, who had planned it carefully. The Mercan groups knew right from the start that this conference was theirs, but that there was a higher organization, the UFP, looking over their shoulders. And, following the individual group briefings the Mercans had attended, all of them knew what the UFP was. The Mercans probably didn't understand what the anthem signified, because they'd heard the music only occasionally during the individual briefings, but they certainly understood manners, diplomacy, and protocol because of their armed, polite society.
Whether or not all the Mercans really accepted the reality of the UFP remained to be seen, insofar as Kirk was concerned.
As the music faded, Kirk remained standing. "I welcome the representative groups of Mercan, the Abode of Life, to the United Star Ship Enterprise of the Star Fleet of the United Federation of Planets," he began formally. "We are honored to host this conference that is so vitally important in the reorganization of the structure of the civilization of the Abode. We are at your disposal for assistance of any sort. Should you request it, we would be honored to provide a counselor of your choice from among the four of us to act as moderator of your meeting. However, since this meeting concerns the affairs of the Abode, we must decline to act in any manner to lead the conference or otherwise provide active direction of your deliberations. You have grave problems to solve among yourselves … and the solutions must be the ones that you arrive at because you and your people on the Abode will be the ones who must henceforth live with those solutions and their consequences. Please feel free to proceed."
The Mercans looked at one another wordlessly for a long minute after Kirk sat down.
Then Pallar stood. "I would speak privately with the people from the Abode," he told Kirk. "It is my understanding that none of you from the United Federation of Planets speak our language yet. If that is the case, would you be kind enough to turn off your language devices. If you do understand our language, I request that the
four of you leave the conference room, along with Yeoman Janice Rand, so that we may speak privately."
"We haven't had time to learn your tongue, Pallar. We'll turn off our language translators until you signal us that you wish them turned on again," Kirk replied, reaching down to switch off the Translator hung from a chain around his neck like a pendant. "Gentlemen," he told his officers, "please turn off your Translators."
Pallar immediately sat down, and a polite, soft-spoken conversation began between the twelve Mercans. Kirk was worried. He hadn't anticipated this.
"What's going on, Captain?" Scott wanted to know. "Why would they want to discuss something in private?"
"I don't know," Kirk said with an edginess in his voice. "Yeoman Rand, are the security guards standing by, just in case?"
"Yes, Captain," she replied. "Four of them are in the turbolift at this deck behind the closed doors. I have communication with them."
"Good. Gentlemen, I presume your phasers are on stun, just in case?"
"Captain," Spock put in quietly, "I don't think that this is an illogical act on their part at all. This is the first time that any of these people have had to face one another and talk their way through a solution. I submit to you that their request for privacy is an act of face-saving on their part. They do not wish to let us know of their weakness: inexperience at political and diplomatic bargaining and compromise."
"I agree with Spock's analysis," McCoy added.
"I hope you're right," Kirk told them.
"There is no other logical explanation," Spock reminded him.
"Spock, sometimes things don't proceed logically!"
Scott interjected, sounding strangely like Doctor McCoy. "The only things that play by the rules all the time accordin' to logic are engineering devices; they're rational! Haven't you learned that humanoids aren't rational?"
"I have, Mister Scott," Spock replied coolly. "Humans, for example, are not rational beings; they are rationalizing beings."
"I dinna ken whether I've just been insulted or not!" Scott muttered.
"On the other hand, the Mercans are more like humans with a Vulcan background," Spock went on, unperturbed as usual. "Their private discussion is rational."
"I still suspect trouble," Scott admitted.
Pallar suddenly stood up again and, using sign language, requested that the Star Fleet officers turn on their Translators.
"We must apologize for requesting privacy," the Guardian One began. "But we're completely unfamiliar with the protocol and means of conduct of a meeting such as this. The twelve of us therefore request the assistance of the representatives of the United Federation of Planets. Although you refuse to lead us, you've stated that you'll assist and advise. Is this correct?"
Kirk nodded, and since he was not certain that Pallar understood the gesture, added, "You're correct, Guardian One."
"Very well. It would be a great honor and we would be greatly in your debt if you would provide such assistance and advice. The Technic requests that Engineer Montgomery Scott join their group as adviser, while the Proctorate asks Lieutenant Commander Spock to sit with them. The Guardians would request that Doctor McCoy advise and assist us. Together, our three groups from the Abode request that Captain James Kirk preside over this meeting as moderator."
Simultaneously, all twelve Mercans rose, moved their chairs back to widen the circle, and left a place where the Star Fleet officers could place their chairs.
"This is a very unusual request," Kirk began.
"This is a very unusual meeting," Thallan added.
"And the circumstances are unique," Lenos put in.
"We don't ask you to violate your code of the Prime Directive and General Order Number One," Pallar went on. "You offered assistance. We're requesting it in a way that we jointly believe will help us the most."
This was a totally new slant to the meeting, and it placed it in a completely different perspective insofar as Kirk was concerned. It put him in charge of running the meeting, a position that he'd attempted to avoid. And it put his officers in the difficult position of having to advise the Mercan groups. It was not the way Kirk would have wanted to see the meeting proceed. He saw himself in the conquistador role again, and he didn't like it.
On the other hand, the Mercans themselves had requested it after private consultations among themselves. No wonder Pallar had asked for privacy in discussing it; the Guardian One had been afraid that the other groups might not agree, and this would have been viewed by the Mercans as an insult to the officers of the Enterprise.
But why had they jointly agreed to it so quickly, for it had taken them less than five minutes? And why was the meeting progressing so smoothly right from the start? Why weren't there more objections from various factions? Why wasn't there any obvious argument? And why had the Mercans agreed to—and in fact insisted that—the officers of the Enterprise assume such an active role in the discussions?
"I'll agree to act as moderator of the meeting, which is a position in which I won't be forced to impose my cultural biases on the rest of you," Kirk replied with caution. "However, I can't speak for my officers. It's up to each of them to individually agree to advise and assist the Mercan groups as you've requested. But before I ask them, please answer a question for me … and don't be afraid to speak truthfully, because I won't take offense at the truthful answer. Why have you requested us to step in to advise and assist you in the reestablishment of your cultural organization when you know that we believe you must do the job yourselves?"
Pallar spoke first. "We of the Guardians have never had to do this before. We don't know how to do it. We've discussed matters with the Proctorate before, but we've always been the ones who have given the final directives, even though those directives may have been based on the recommendations of the Proctorate."
"We don't know where to begin," Prime Proctor Lenos went on. "We're like children who have just become learning-old."
"We never expected that the awesome responsibility of having to reorganize our civilization would ever fall upon our shoulders," Thallan added. "In the Technic, we were interested only in arriving at the truth about ourselves and the Universe. We had no anticipation that our role would grow to the point where we'd be called upon to actually run the Abode."
"But why the sudden agreement to cooperate?" Kirk wondered aloud.
"Didn't you want that when you established this meeting and went through the protocol as you did?" Pallar asked in return.
"Of course. But I didn't think that you'd agree to agree this quickly," Kirk admitted.
Thallan smiled the broad, toothy grin of a Mercan. "Ah, just as we once underestimated you, now you have underestimated us, James Kirk."
"This is the only rational approach toward solving the problems," Lenos pointed out. "The other approach is to fight … and we haven't fought for a long time. And I really don't want to fight, as we once discussed, James Kirk."
"And since it's the only rational approach, did you believe that we would be any less rational than you humans and Vulcans, once presented with irrefutable data?" Pallar admitted. He looked at Scott, Spock, and McCoy. "Come, join us, we have much work to do. It will not be easy. We will not always agree with one another in the process of establishing the solution. But we need and want your help because you have, in your own cultures, solved some of the problems we face. We may not adopt your solutions, but we want to know how and why you arrived at the ones you did."
"It will be an honor to help you work toward a logical solution," Spock told them.
"I'll also consider it a personal honor and a deep responsibility to advise you as best I can," McCoy agreed.
"I'll also consider it a high honor to participate with the Technic group," Scott put in.
Under the circumstances, Kirk was very glad that Janice Rand had her tricorder running to make a record of these proceedings. He was once again concerned over General Order Number One, but the record would show that the people of the Enterprise w
ere asked to step in and help. They took their positions in the circle.
Then there was dead silence while the Mercans simply looked at Kirk.
"Citizens of Mercan, begin," the Captain of the Enterprise remarked uneasily.
"Where?" Pallar asked.
"How do we start?" Thallan asked.
"What should be discussed first?" Lenos wanted to know.
It was Kirk who didn't answer immediately.
How do you write the Constitution for Utopia?
He recalled the Star Fleet Academy class in xenosociology in which they'd tried to do just that, and it started out the same way: where do you begin?
At the beginning, of course, he realized.
"The Guardians and the Proctorate didn't always exist on the Abode," Kirk pointed out. "Go back into your legends and stories. Tell us what happened and how the civilization of the Abode was established as it was when we arrived. Then, we'll go on from there. Correction: you will go on from there, because then you'll know how to start and in which direction to go."
Chapter Fifteen
Captain's Log: Stardate 5099.5
It seems incredible that we've done it in ten short days. It took fifty-five delegates one hundred and twenty-two days to draft the Constitution of the United States of America in 1787 … and even then it was an imperfect document that required continual alteration for centuries thereafter. And it took over a hundred people, accompanied by staffs totaling more than a thousand assistants, nearly two years to draft the Articles of Federation of the UFP on Babel. More years of work were needed to come up with the statutes for the Interplanetary Court of Justice and those regulating interplanetary commerce.
But the twelve Mercans, assisted by four officers of Star Fleet Command, one yeoman, and the library computer of the USS Enterprise, have, in ten days, drafted what the Mercans proudly call the Enterprise Agreement.
