“You’re kidding,” Jackson said, his eyes wide. “We think Ganz might know where those things come from?”

T’Prynn replied, “That, or he can lead us to someone who does. Given what Doctor Marcus and Lieutenant Xiong and the rest of the research team have discovered about the Mirdonyae Artifacts and the power they control, particularly with respect to the Shedai, it is vital that we find the objects’ origin before anyone else.”

“Agreed,” Nogura added. The two artifacts currently were being stored in the Vault, the secret research facility hidden within the bowels of the station and dedicated to studying all aspects of the Shedai and their technology. Each of the artifacts held a Shedai trapped within its crystalline confines. Despite what had been learned about the ancient, all-powerful alien race to this point, the research team had not yet found a way to communicate with the entities contained within the objects. Further, simple guesswork and experimentation without any true understanding of the artifacts had come at an appalling cost. After learning that the team’s use of the objects in attempts to make contact with planets suspecting of harboring Shedai technology resulted in the obliteration of eleven worlds, testing on the artifacts had been suspended.

Even the Shedai themselves seemed afraid of the power the things contained, if the attack on Starbase 47 itself by a Shedai entity was any indication. That much, at least, seemed to make sense, given Lieutenant Xiong’s theory that the crystals looked to have been constructed by some race, possibly as a weapon to be used against the Shedai. The alien that had attacked the station in an apparent quest to get at the artifacts had wreaked considerable damage, from which Xiong and the Vault team were still recovering. Though much of the exterior repairs to the station were complete, work continued in some areas of the Vault. As for the crew and civilians residing aboard the starbase, the overwhelming majority of whom were unaware of the Shedai’s true origins and power, they had resumed their normal schedules, but Nogura knew an air of apprehension remained. Would other Shedai come? There was no way to know the answer to that question, just as there was no easy solution for how the station might deal with another, perhaps larger assault. It was only through the most fortunate stroke of luck that Xiong had figured out how to employ one of the Mirdonyae Artifacts to capture the alien. Since then, it had been learned that each of the crystals was imprisoning up to a dozen of the creatures in similar fashion.

Who knew what other abilities the objects possessed, either individually or working in concert with others of their kind? It was clear they represented something of a threat to the Shedai, which made finding their source and learning more about their capabilities a matter of paramount importance. Even in their most innocuous state, the Mirdonyae Artifacts represented unparalleled power that could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

The main problem with that, Nogura mused with no small amount of cynicism, is that there’s no guarantee ours are the right hands.

“With all due respect to everyone in the room who outranks me,” Jackson said after a moment, “that being everyone, we need to be sure we all understand what we’re talking about here. If we get Commo … Mister Reyes to help us, and he gets caught, the Orions won’t show him anything even remotely resembling mercy.”

“He will not be caught,” T’Prynn said. “The situation we face here is far more controlled than when we sent Cervantes Quinn and the late Commander McLellan to infiltrate the Orion freighter captured by the Gorn. We will be able to anticipate and react to unforeseen complications with greater speed and resources than what Quinn and McLellan had available on their mission.”

Nodding, Nogura replied, “That’s certainly true.” After an Orion freighter had been damaged by an unknown gravitational anomaly in Gorn space, it was determined that the phenomenon it had encountered had displayed elements of the Jinoteur Pattern, an energy waveform that, when employed in concert with the Taurus Meta-Genome, appeared to be the key to decrypting the massive artificially engineered raw genetic material created by the Shedai. The pattern had received its name from Lieutenant Ming Xiong, who had employed the moniker in reference to the equally enigmatic solar system determined to be the source of the Shedai and all the technology and power the ancient race once commanded. Though it had fueled much of the research and discovery conducted by Operation Vanguard since the top secret project’s inception, all traces of the waveform appeared to vanish along with the Jinoteur system itself at the hands of the mysterious entity known as the Shedai Apostate. The powerful alien had engineered the staggering feat as a means of preventing the other surviving members of his race from regaining control over their technology and the immense power it once had given them.

As for the damaged Orion ship, it had been captured for study by a Gorn military vessel. Operating with the clandestine support of the U.S.S. Endeavour, Quinn and McLellan attempted to obtain sensor and navigational logs of the anomaly that had crippled the freighter. During their operation they almost lost the valuable data to a Klingon spy who also was pursuing the information. The covert agents ultimately were successful in their mission: preventing the Klingons from obtaining knowledge of the Jinoteur Pattern reading or its source. They also had received information from the Shedai Apostate about the existence of even more of the artifacts, which might be the key to defeating the rest of the astonishing being’s race.

If only McLellan had been so lucky on her next assignment, Nogura mused, with no small amount of regret. The retrieval mission had spawned yet another assignment for Quinn and McLellan, with a similar goal of keeping out of Klingon hands not only Shedai technology, but also that of the Tkon, another ancient, long-dead race, and the one responsible for the Mirdonyae Artifacts. It was while carrying out that demanding task that McLellan had given her life in order to preserve the mission objective.

“There’s a larger issue,” Moyer said. “If the Orions catch him, they’ll turn it into a public relations nightmare for us. They’ll broadcast whatever show trial they decide to hold for him across subspace, and they’ll execute him in front of the entire quadrant.”

Jackson added, “The Klingons would provide a clean execution, but not these thugs.” He paused, shaking his head. “That’s no way for anybody to go.”

“Then we should probably take steps to ensure that doesn’t happen,” ch’Nayla said.

Nogura rose from his chair. “That would be my preference, Commander.” Crossing his arms, he began walking the length of his office, aware of his officers turning to watch him. “However, let us make no mistake, if we enlist Mister Reyes in this effort, the priority must be obtaining any and all information that might help us to track the source of the Mirdonyae Artifacts. His safety, as well as any black eye the Orions could give the Federation if they were to capture him, would regrettably have to be viewed as secondary concerns.” Halting his pacing, he turned to T’Prynn. “Lieutenant, are you certain he’s willing to take on such a risk?”

“I am, Admiral,” the Vulcan replied without hesitation. “I believe Diego Reyes to be incapable of shirking his duty, regardless of his current standing.”

Nodding in agreement with her assessment, Nogura reached up to stroke his chin. He was no stranger to difficult decisions, and this certainly would not be the first time he issued orders that put people at risk. So, why did this feel different, and for reasons he could not explain?