Tzenkethi
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The Tzenkethi are a space faring race from the Alpha Quadrant. The Tzenkethi homeworld is called Tzenketh, the capital planet of the Tzenkethi Coalition. The seat of the coalition's government is Ab-Tzenketh, possibly an orbiting moon (ST novel: Day of the Vipers).This would make sense given the strict class hierarchy among Tzenkethi (ST novel: Articles of the Federation); the ruling caste literally looking down upon the populace on the planet below.
The Tzenkethi language is Tzikaa!n, which includes dialects for different castes. (DS9 short story: "Infinite Bureaucracy") The government is headed by the Autarch of the Tzenkethi Coalition, under whom serve a number of appointed ministers, or Tzelnira. (novel: Articles of the Federation). The Coalition appears to spend a great deal of its time making a scapegoat out of the United Federation of Planets, twisting all intergalactic news to make the Federation appear ruthless, dangerous and immoral.
The Tzenkethi are technologically advanced; Klingon Ambassador Kage considered them capable of building metaweapons as early as 2311, also demonstrating that the Coalition was known to the Klingons and the Federation by at least this date. The Federation had arranged a summit on Tzenketh the next year (ST novel: The Fire and the Rose), but this early overture does not appear to have gone well. The Tzenkethi would later respond to the Federation's efforts to encourage trade by starting a war (ST novel: Articles of the Federation). Tzenkethi were known to raid other nation's space, and were engaged in acts of piracy in Cardassian territory as early as the 2310s. In the mid-2320s, Skrain Dukat arranged an elaborate conspiracy to fake a Tzenkethi attack on Bajor, in order to encourage the Bajorans to accept Cardassian aid. (ST novel: Day of the Vipers).
The Tzenkethi tried to invade the planet Bactricia at least three times prior to the mid-24th century. A fourth attempt was repulsed when the Bactricians appealed for intercession by the Federation. (DS9 short story: "The Music Between the Notes") The Tzenkethi and the United Federation of Planets waged war some years later. (see: Tzenkethi War)
In 2371, the Dominion attempted to spark a new war between the two powers in order to destablize the Alpha Quadrant. (DS9 episode: "The Adversary")
The Tzenkethi were briefly considered as the possible culprits behind a series of malfunctions aboard Deep Space 10 in 2376 and 2377. (CoE eBook: Troubleshooting)
In 2380, a two-year-old Tzenkethi named Zormonk, the son of Tzelnira Zaarok, was diagnosed with cal-tai and covertly sent into Federation space for treatment. However, the disease was too far advanced, and the child died in surgery. (ST novel: Articles of the Federation). The Tzenkethi propaganda machine was delighted to have evidence of the dead body of a Tzenkethi child in Federation hands. They insisted he had been kidnapped, and tortured in medical experiments. The Coalition recalled its ambassador soon afterwards (ST novel: Mere Mortals). Ironically, this ambassador, Emra, was actually rather forward-thinking for a Tzenkethi official and had previously attempted to open trade with Federation member worlds such as Nasat. His attitude made him unpopular, presumably why he was given the job of ambassador to the Federation, a posting the Coalition did not take seriously. (ST novel: Articles of the Federation).
The Tzenkethi Coalition was a founding member of the Typhon Pact in 2381.(ST novel: A Singular Destiny).
[edit] External Links
- Tzenkethi article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
