That’d look good in somebody’s report.

“Once we figured out what these things could do,” Nogura continued, “we started hunting for their source, or at least someplace where we could find more. Xiong figured if we could get enough of them, we might be able to construct an array or other device to use against the Shedai. Well, the Eremar system was our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Sagittariusended up bringing back more than five thousand of the Mirdonyae artifacts.”

Kirk’s jaw went slack. “Five thousand? Each of them with the same power as the ones you already had?” Even with his limited knowledge of the Shedai’s true nature, he still was able to appreciate the magnitude and potential not only of the technology they once had wielded but also that of anyone else who may have created a weapon with the power to defeat them.

Nogura nodded. “Closer to fifty-five hundred, actually. As for what they could do, hell, we still don’t know the full extent of their capabilities. Xiong and his people were guessing right up until the end. It took them a bit, but they finally figured out how to build a contraption that definitely got the Shedai’s attention. They were able to tap into the conduits the Shedai used to move through space, sort of like interspatial or even interdimensional passages. They could move from planet to planet the way you and I walk across a room, and now we had access to that technology.”

Becoming more animated, the admiral began to move his hands as he spoke. “Can you imagine what we could do with that kind of ability? Putting aside the military applications, the possibilities for opening up avenues for exploration were incredible, and that’s just talking about the Taurus Reach. What if we were able to adapt what we’d learned and push farther out? Star systems and even other galaxies, centuries away by our standards, now close enough to touch.” Sighing, Nogura shook his head. “Yes, the tactical potential was important, too, particularly with the Shedai breathing down our necks, but it could’ve been so much more.”

“So what happened?” Kirk asked.

Nogura’s lips tightened for a moment before he replied. “What always happens in situations like this: somebody higher up in the food chain gave orders, and the rest of us had to follow them. Starfleet Command wanted that thing operational as soon as possible, despite almost continuous protests from Xiong and Doctor Marcus. I agreed with the notion, at least in part, and up until we were able to capture the Shedai.”

The statement was offered in such a matter-of-fact manner that it took Kirk an extra second to comprehend it. “So you were able to capture a Shedai?”

The admiral shook his head. “No. We captured allof them. After using Xiong’s new toy to locate every last Shedai, he was able to . . . transportthem into the array he’d built. Snatched them right from wherever they were in less time than it just took me to tell you that.”

“All of them,” Kirk repeated, the words barely a whisper. “Damn.”

“It scared the living hell out of me, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Nogura said. “Scared a lot of other people, too. The power requirements to keep them contained inside that thing were staggering, Kirk. But now that we supposedly had all of the Shedai under our thumb, so to speak, that started giving people all sorts of ideas. If we could blow up planets by accident with just one under our control, what might allof them, working in concert, be capable of?”

Kirk, his mind already racing to conjure those possibilities, felt a cold chill run down his spine as he imagined the Klingons, the Romulans, or other Federation adversaries coming into possession of such unchecked power. “So these other people, the Tkon, were able to do something like that?”

Nogura shrugged. “We don’t know. So far as Xiong was able to determine, the crystals largely were meant as prison cells for the Shedai. Whether they later attempted to exploit whatever advantage this gave them is anybody’s guess. Of course, the Tkon have been dead for thousands of years, too, so maybe they did try something and paid a heavy price for it.”

For the first time, Kirk was beginning to see the real reasons behind the climax of the battle at Starbase 47. “It’s no wonder the Tholians wanted to get their hands on the array, and the Shedai.”

Nogura, to Kirk’s surprise, laughed. “Hardly. They didn’t want the array, but our having it definitely pissed them off. You had your own taste of that, didn’t you?”

Kirk nodded. “Yes, sir. We certainly did.”

SEVEN

Stardate 5821.3

U.S.S. Enterprise

“Red Alert! Red Alert! All hands to battle stations! This is not a drill! Captain Kirk to the bridge! Repeat, this is not a drill!”

Already walking from his quarters toward the nearest turbolift, Kirk sprinted forward in response to Lieutenant Uhura’s summons. Hearing or seeing his approach, members of his crew cleared a path for him while making their way to their own assigned stations. The ship’s alarm klaxon began wailing for attention as Kirk plunged into the waiting turbolift car.

“Bridge,” he called out, reaching for one of the lift’s control levers. The car began its rapid ascent, already working under a command override that gave him priority access to the fastest turboshaft route leading to the Enterprisebridge. Willing the lift to move faster, Kirk slapped the activation switch on a nearby communications panel. “Kirk here. What’s going on?”

Instead of Uhura, it was his first officer who replied. “Spock here, Captain. Our sensors have detected four Tholian vessels on an intercept course. However, the direction from which they changed in order to come after us indicates they were on a course for Starbase 47.”

Damn it, Kirk thought. Nogura was right.“Are you sure?” he asked, frowning as the turbolift began to slow.

The Vulcan replied, “Affirmative, sir. All four vessels identify as Tholian warships.”

The turbolift came to a halt and the doors opened. The car was filled with the sounds of heightened activity as Kirk stepped onto the bridge. His eyes moved to study the main viewscreen, which at present showed only a field of streaking stars as the Enterprisemade its way through subspace at maximum warp. Though he had left Spock with the conn in his absence, the command chair was vacant as the first officer busied himself at his science station. Noting the captain’s arrival, Spock turned from his console as Kirk approached.

“Nogura suspected something like this might happen,” Kirk said by way of greeting, “which is why he ordered us to get back to the station as fast as possible.” The potential for Tholian incursion had been a constant threat for the past few years, dating back to Starfleet’s earliest probes into the Taurus Reach. From those first days, the Tholians had made no secret of their displeasure at having outsiders moving about this region, for reasons they of course chose not to provide.

Starfleet had since figured out the cause of the Tholians’ unrest, with its discovery of the Shedai and that ancient civilization’s array of advanced technology, as well as the millennia-old connection it shared with the Tholians. The reclusive, xenophobic race’s discontent only deepened the farther into the Taurus Reach Starfleet explored as it acquired more knowledge about the Shedai. Aggressive action already had been taken by the Tholians against Starfleet, including the destruction of the U.S.S. Bombayand their recent attack against the starships Endeavourand Sagittarius, in ongoing bids to force the Federation to reconsider its interests in the area. According to reports Nogura had given him—each of them incomplete and heavily redacted to remove any information deemed beyond the scope of his own security classification—Kirk knew that the Tholians would not hesitate to unleash even greater offensive sanctions if they believed Starfleet’s continued presence constituted a threat to their sovereignty and security.