Thanks to the universal translator protocols Uhura already had engaged, everyone on the bridge was treated to the Tholian’s posturing as it said, “This is not over. You have meddled with forces you do not understand—and you will all pay for your interference.”No sooner did the Tholian finish speaking than the transmission ended, returning to the screen the view of multicolored streaks of passing stars as the Enterpriseplunged through space at high warp.

“He doesn’t sound very happy, does he?” Sulu asked.

Kirk said, “I don’t care what he sounds like, as long as they keep heading home.” Even with the Endeavour’s comprised condition, it, along with the Enterpriseand the Sagittarius, would be able to hold its own against even a dozen Tholian vessels. Abandoning a potential firefight and running for safe ground was the best solution for all involved. “Spock, track their course until they’re out of sensor range. Helm, proceed on course to rendezvous with the Endeavourand the Sagittarius.” He looked over his shoulder toward the engineering station. “Scotty, they’ll probably need some help once we get there.”

“Aye, sir,” Scott replied. “We’ll take good care of them.”

“It’ll have to be fast,” Kirk said as he turned to look at Sulu and Chekov. “Start computing a new course to Ariannus. Let’s hope this delay won’t end up costing us too much time. Scotty, we’ll need those engines of yours to keep pouring it on for a while longer yet.”

Once again, the chief engineer nodded. “Not a problem, sir.”

Kirk turned his attention back to the main viewscreen. “All right, then. Lieutenant Uhura, hail the Endeavour.Let’s see what kind of shape they’re in and get this over with. We all look to be in a hurry, after all.”

Though he knew his own mission to Ariannus was of the utmost importance, Kirk still wondered what had prompted Admiral Nogura to send the Endeavourand the Sagittariusinto harm’s way, and what was so critical that it was worth risking the Tholians’ ire.

Whatever they’re up to, it’s something big. Damned big.

SIX

Stardate 5829.6

Starbase 12

Leaning back in his chair, Kirk studied Nogura’s face as the admiral sat in silence, listening to the recounting of events. The older man had said nothing during Kirk’s recollection of the encounter, most of which already was recorded in the official report the captain had filed after the conclusion of the Enterprise’s role in the incident.

“After rendering assistance to the Endeavour,” Kirk said, “and escorting it and the Sagittariusto our rendezvous with the Buenos Aires, we proceeded with our mission to Ariannus to carry out the decontamination protocol.”

His hands clasped before him and with both index fingers extended so that they joined at the tips, Nogura looked almost Vulcan as he regarded Kirk. Then, in a manner that was very much not Vulcan, the admiral smiled. “And even that wasn’t such smooth sailing, was it? I read your report on that, too. Tell me, Kirk, is trouble naturally drawn to you, or do you have some innate talent for finding it with such ease and regularity?”

Kirk returned the smile. “I imagine it’s a bit of both, sir.” The temporary delay in the Enterprise’s journey to Ariannus resulting from its encounter with Lokai and Bele, two beings from the planet Cheron, had almost resulted in the ship not arriving at the planet in time to carry out the critical process of neutralizing the raging bacterial attack on its atmosphere. The aliens’ incredible story, with Bele, a political officer charged with apprehending those deemed to have committed treason against his planet’s people, having hunted Lokai from system to system across the galaxy for more than fifty thousand years, was one Kirk still found hard to believe. There had been no mistaking the antagonism and raw hatred Bele and Lokai felt for each other. After Bele forced the Enterpriseto return him and his charge to Cheron, it was discovered that such hatred—much of it fueled by racial bigotry—had brought about the destruction of its entire civilization. Lokai, escaping the ship, transported down to the dead world, and Bele, still driven by that same rage, continued his chase. There was no way to know for certain what had come of the pair, but Kirk held on to the theory he had submitted with that after-action report: Bele and Lokai had fallen to the same fate as the rest of their people.

Such a waste.

Kirk leaned forward until he could rest his forearms atop the desk. “The Sagittarius, sir. What was it carrying?”

“Our salvation,” Nogura said without hesitation. “And, as it happens, our doom. The system I sent Captain Nassir to investigate, Eremar, contained thousands of crystalline artifacts created millennia ago by a civilization that called itself the Tkon Empire. As it turns out, they and the Shedai had gotten on each other’s nerves more than once, and the Tkon figured out a way to defeat them or, rather, keep them at arm’s length. The crystals acted as a sort of trap for the Shedai, each able to hold a Shedai’s particular noncorporeal essence within itself. The trade-off is that the artifact becomes a potential power source, and when channeled through other Tkon technology or—in our case—whatever our engineers could cobble together, it can be used for all sorts of things, including some pretty catastrophic applications.”

Kirk’s brow furrowed. “Such as?”

“Such as blowing up planets,” the admiral snapped. “We learned that one by accident. The damn thing blew up eleven planets just from us trying to scan it. Thankfully, none of them were inhabited. How the hell we managed not to kill anybody, I’ll never know.”

“Good Lord,” Kirk said. Even imagining that level of devastation, unleashed with such ease, disturbed him. He had known—or surmised—that one of Starfleet’s primary motivations in seeking out any remnants of the Shedai and their technology was to prevent its being found first by one of the Federation’s enemies. What he had not dared to consider was the true immensity of that threat in this context.

“We’d already lucked ourselves into finding a couple of the things,” Nogura continued. “Xiong actually came across the first one, while he was a . . . guest of the Klingons on Mirdonyae V. When we rescued him from that, we also retrieved the artifact. Xiong and his staff were studying the thing, which contained a Shedai entity he’d managed to trap when it attacked the station. He and a team from the Corps of Engineers from the Lovellwere trying to communicate with the Shedai inside when it broke loose.”

“The Lovell,” Kirk said, putting it together and recalling the all-but-ancient Daedalus-class ship that for a time had been assigned to Starbase 47. “The official report said it was destroyed due to a failure in its warp engines.”

Nogura nodded. “A plausible enough cover story, considering the ship is older than I am.” He waited, as though expecting Kirk to be so reckless as to offer a joke or other observation on that point. When Kirk held his tongue—despite being unable to prevent just the slightest hint of a smile—the admiral said, “Your restraint has earned you another glass of my brandy.” Without asking, he refilled Kirk’s glass and slid it back across the desk.

Taking a pull from the glass, Kirk closed his eyes, relishing the warmth of the brandy as it coursed down his throat. He and Nogura had been savoring the spirits as they talked, and Kirk was beginning to feel the cumulative effects of the alcohol on his system. He imagined the look on the face of Commander Haystead or whoever else might wander into the office only to see him and Nogura drunk and either giggling like children or just sitting asleep in their chairs.