J'mpok mounted the steps and turned to face the assembly. "The matter is resolved," he declared. "Let us have the official wording out of the way, first. A joint task force of KDF and Starfleet vessels has engaged and destroyed the renegade Captain Klur in the Alpha Trianguli sector. The renegade's vessel was completely obliterated in the action."
There was still silence from the Councillors. J'mpok continued. "Physical evidence has been retrieved, and will be presented in due course, implicating certain persons in the... unauthorised action... at the Federation world of Bercera IV. One of those implicated is Councillor T'Jeg, who is - regrettably - unable to attend and answer these allegations." His voice dropped. "The evidence gathered by my agent, though, is enough to satisfy me. We can play this farce to the end, of course, with formal trials by the Council, examinations of records, speeches for the prosecution and the defence... but I grow tired of this business." His voice rose again. "Councillor Darg. Explain yourself."
"I -" Darg drew himself up. "I do not know what you mean, Chancellor."
J'mpok's lips pulled back from his teeth. He spoke with heavy emphasis. "Do not prevaricate with me, Councillor."
"I... reserve my rights. My rights to fair examination and fair judgment by the full Council. I admit nothing," said Darg. "But I will say, now, as I have always said. This war with the Federation is being mismanaged. It is being made an affair for dilettantes, almost a game, a patchwork, occasional, honourable, sportsmanlike war. And it should be no game! We should prosecute the war with every weapon, every stratagem, so that our enemies fear us! Total war will cow the Federation like the weaklings they are! It will bring us total victory! And if - someone - has chosen to force the Chancellor's hand, has pushed us down that path towards total victory - then so much the better!"
"Do not ever presume," J'mpok said, "that you can force my hand. Still, your position has at least one merit - that of consistency. You do not speak one thing and do another - unlike some in this Council. Is that not so, Councillor K'tag?"
"Oh," K'tag said, mildly, "I fear you do me an injustice, Chancellor. I have always spoken, to this Council, exactly what was in my heart and my mind. I concede, in private dealings with Councillor Darg, I may have dissembled, somewhat...."
"What?" Darg exclaimed.
"Dissembled," said J'mpok. His eyes flashed. "How much dissembling has there been, K'tag?"
"Oh, no," said K'tag, "no, neither Darg nor myself is of the qa'meH quv - at least as far as I know. No, this is entirely a Klingon affair... oh, be quiet, Darg. A player in a hopeless position should resign the game, that is only good manners. Was it the freighter? The freighter became a loose end.... Never mind."
"I will take your head for this slander!" Darg screeched.
"If you wish my head, esteemed colleague, you need only look atop my shoulders to find it," said K'tag. "Yes, I conspired with Darg in this matter, and together, by various means, we convinced T'Jeg and the ambitious Captain Klur to become a part of it. Darg has explained his motives, and I think you can understand mine. I have spoken nothing more than the truth to this Council."
His tone grew bleak, his face seemed to age with each word he spoke. "Darg is a fool, and it pleased me to use him. He believes this suggestion that the Federation will retreat in the face of overwhelming force. Absurd. Did they retreat at Aznetkur, to name but one example?" He looked directly at J'mpok. "But you, Chancellor, are not a fool. You are a proud man, but not a fool.... Faced with the consequences of Darg's style of unrestricted warfare, you would have drawn the natural conclusions, and ended this foolish, wasteful conflict. In simple terms; if we crammed enough deaths down your throat, you would have wisdom enough to choke on them."
He sighed. "It should have worked better than it did. I can only conclude that some in the Federation realised they were being baited, and therefore refused to take the bait. Even with my little additional provocations in Yll-Torica... If Klur had managed to survive, to carry out a second atrocity, then they might have lost their heads. But it was not to be...." He shook his head, and the glance he shot at the Chancellor was a sharp one. "Understand this, I regret very little. Not the deaths at Bercera, not the loss of Klur and T'Jeg. My one regret is that it failed. Because I fear, Chancellor, that your sportsmanlike war, of which Darg speaks so slightingly, will in the end consume many more lives, many more worlds, than the short, sharp dose of Armageddon which I tried to achieve."
Darg had subsided into an angry muttering. No one else spoke.
J'mpok turned, and went to the wall of the Great Hall. He took down a bat'leth from its ceremonial mountings, then another, then a third. He strode to the steps, laid one weapon down on them, then advanced on the Council, one bat'leth in each hand.
He stopped. He raised the weapons over his head, then drove them suddenly down. The points bit into the ancient stonework of the floor with a sudden shrieking, grating sound. When he released them, the two weapons stuck there, quivering, in the floor.
"Conspiracies," said J'mpok. "Conspiracies and counter-conspiracies... let us have no more of such machinations. You disagree with each other, you two?" He pointed to the two bat'leths. "There are your weapons. Take them, and settle your differences like Klingons!"
Darg gaped at him. K'tag smiled. "And, to the victor?" he asked.
"One of you sought discreditable war. The other, an equally discreditable peace." J'mpok turned. "Someone must uphold Klingon honour." He picked up the third bat'leth. "The victor faces me."
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