Releasing a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his chair, giving in only slightly to the protests his body was staging in reaction to his lack of sleep, Reyes said, “Tell me about it.” He reached for one of several data slates littering his desk and held it up for emphasis. “Have you seen this report from the Sagittarius? Captain Nassir broke up what was about to become a fistfight between a Tholian patrol ship and a Klingon D-5 battle cruiser.”

“An impressive feat,” T’Prynn said, bowing her head in appreciation, “considering the limitations of his ship.”

“It’s only limited if your enemy knows that,” Reyes replied, allowing a wry grin to creep onto his face. The Sagittarius,an Archer-class scout ship, was not equipped or armed for combat—particularly when outnumbered. Still, that had not stopped her captain from stepping into the line of fire, a decision which had yielded quite a lively after-action report. Nassir’s chief engineer had devised a “fake-out” whereby the small scout had appeared on the aged Klingon vessel’s sensors as a larger and far more intimidating Constitution-class starship. The tactic had proven effective to the point that the Klingon cruiser broke off its attack and retreated at high warp.

“Remind me to buy Master Chief Ilucci a drink when they get back,” Reyes said as he tossed the data slate onto his desk. “Unfortunately, head fakes and other cute tricks aren’t going to be enough for the long haul. We’re getting other reports of scuffles between Klingon and Tholian ships. So far it’s just isolated, limited engagements, probably because neither side has any appreciable ability to project force into the region, but you can bet that won’t last long.” He looked to Jetanien. “We need a permanent fix, and fast, Your Excellency. Any progress on the diplomatic front?”

The ambassador shook his head, the blunt beak of his mouth clicking in what Reyes had come to recognize as an expression of dissatisfaction. “To this point our overtures to the Klingon and Tholian delegations have been most disappointing.” Indicating the viewscreen with a nod of his oversized head, he added, “However, this incident may well have provided us with a unique opportunity. I have already been in contact with my esteemed counterparts, and both seem at least somewhat eager to explore some form of peaceful solution. Both the Klingons and the Tholians have agreed to send envoys to meet with me.”

“And this is supposed to make me happy?” Reyes asked, shaking his head at the thought of three headstrong ambassadors locked in a room for however long it took to broker a diplomatic solution to the touchy political situation they all faced.

Or kill each other— whichever comes first.

“There may be no better time to seize this initiative,” Jetanien said. “Further, if there is another, larger threat to consider, then it would seem to be a threat to all of us. Perhaps we might join forces against a common foe.”

It sounded good in theory, Reyes admitted, though his gut told him the reality of the situation would likely resist the ambassador’s good intentions. Regardless, he was confident Jetanien could handle whatever the Klingon and Tholian delegates threw at him. Besides, whatever he dropped, Lieutenant Jackson and the rest of the station’s security contingent would be there to catch. Reyes would see to that himself.

“Well, you’re going to have your hands full, there’s no doubting that,” Reyes said as he rose from his chair and made his way around his desk and crossed his office until he was standing once more before the viewscreen. Again his attention was focused on the computer-generated star chart depicting the solar system which once had been home to Palgrenax. “But, so are the rest of us, I think.”

“You are concerned that the ambassador’s theory might be correct,” T’Prynn said as she moved to stand next to him.

“That something else might be out there, and that it seems to be mad at everybody?” Reyes asked. “You’re damned right, I’m worried. It seems like for every rock we turn over out here, five more show up, and I end up not liking what I find under three of those.”

“Under at least one of those rocks lay the answers we seek, Commodore,” Jetanien said. “There can be no turning back now. Simply too much is at stake.”

Releasing a tired, humorless chuckle as he cast a knowing glance toward T’Prynn, Reyes turned from the screen. “I have to tell you, Ambassador, the more I hear that, the more I want to find out who said it first and beat them with a lead pipe.”

“You can be certain it was a politician,” Jetanien replied, offering the Chelon equivalent of a broad grin.

Reyes nodded. “I rest my case.”

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the intercom on his desk emitting its telltale tone. Looking toward the row of status lights embedded at the base of the small gray rectangular module which housed the comm unit, Reyes noted that the red light on the far left was blinking. He reached for the control pad set into his desk, entering a sequence of coded commands. “Computer, activate security encryption algorithm Sierra Delta-Six.”

There was a delay as his request was processed, after which the female voice that characterized Starfleet computer systems replied, “Security protocol enabled.”

Satisfied that the communication now was sheltered under an umbrella of protection, the commodore activated the channel. “Reyes here.”

“ Commodore, this is Dr. Gek,”said the nasally voice of the Tellarite scientist, the effect only enhanced from being filtered through the comm speaker. “ I’ve discovered something that’s most interesting, sir. Something you should know about.”

Exchanging intrigued glances with Jetanien and T’Prynn, Reyes leaned closer to the comm unit. “What is it, Doctor?”

Gek cleared his throat before answering, a sound that Reyes likened to a Grenthemen water hopper stalling after having its clutch popped. “ Sir, we have been going over the sensor data gathered by theEndeavour during the incident at Erilon. According to our findings, the power signatures emanating from the subterranean weapons emplacements appear to have at least a passing resemblance to Tholian technology.”

The silence that descended upon Reyes’s office was total, to the point that after several seconds, Gek felt compelled to ask, “ Hello? Is this unit functioning?”

“Fascinating,” T’Prynn said, her right eyebrow ascending nearly to her hairline.

Jetanien clicked and chirped before nodding. “Well, this seems to have become a new thing altogether. It should make the coming summit that much more interesting.”

Resting his head in his hands so as to better rub his now throbbing temples, Reyes said, “As always, Your Excellency, your gift for understatement knows no bounds.”

31

“Hands on the switch, newsboy,” Quinn said, sounding remarkably sober to Pennington as the pilot maneuvered the Rocinantearound for yet another pass at retrieving their target. “We’re pressed for time, here.”

“Now, whyare we doing this again?” Pennington asked, turning to look at Quinn in the pilot’s seat. Between pinpointing the location of the Klingon sensor drone T’Prynn had tasked the trader with obtaining and cocking up their previous attempts to snare the device, they had been jockeying about the thing for the better part of an hour.

“Because you screwed it up the first two times,” Quinn shot back, his attention focused on his helm console. “So keep your eye on the targeting scanner and quit looking at me.”

Clenching his jaw as he forced down his mounting frustration, Pennington said, “What I meant was, why do we have to bring the bloody thing aboard? Can’t you just scan it for whatever it is you need?” Of course, he knew that given the age and condition of the Rocinante’s sensor suite, they were lucky to be able to scan for entire planets.