The group emerged onto the open square, crowded with Yrythny waiting for admission to the Colonnade. Shar split off from his Yrythny escorts, knowing if he followed them into the throng, he’d never find Keren. “Thank you, Nensoh!” Shar yelled over the cacophonous crowd. He waved farewell.

Puckering his face strangely, Nensoh raised his hand, mimicking the unfamiliar gesture.

And then Shar saw it. The starburst mark.

“Wait!” he called, running after Nensoh.

Nensoh paused when he saw Shar coming toward them. “Shar?”

“The mark on your hand. I’ve seen it before.”

Nensoh shrugged. “It’s not unusual. It appears on the palm of a fertile Yrythny as they enter their reproductive period. My guess is, were you to check the palms of all of these Yrythny, most would bear the mark.”

Shar nodded absently, his mind racing through questions. The night in Keren’s apartment haunted him. In subsequent discussions with Keren, he’d asked about the mark, but she shrugged off his concerns, believing Shar had scared off the invader and thus any potential threat. At least the mark’s commonness made it less likely that Keren was protecting a specific individual. Still…

“Thirishar! Over here!”

Seeking Keren’s faint voice, he narrowed her location to the fringes of the plaza. He squinted, discerning that she had climbed up onto a bench, enabling him to see her over the tall Yrythny. Fixing his bearings on her location, he wormed his way in and out of the tight, packed-in crowds, relieved to emerge from the claustrophobic gathering. Before he could greet her, she jumped down and said, “We can’t stay. There’s an emergency.”

“What is it?” He followed her away from the plaza, jogging toward the seaside path.

“Jeshoh contacted me. The Perian authorities believe the mating grounds are being raided. They’ll be launching the patrols as soon as they can, but all the visitors have blocked the harbor with their watercraft.”

Damn.Without hesitation, Shar tapped his combadge. “Ch’Thane to Dax. We have an emergency.”

With the first moon hidden behind clouds and the second still rising over the mountains, there was little natural illumination as the Sagan,once again carrying Shar, Dax, Keren and Jeshoh, came within visual range of their targets.

“Increase resolution,” Ezri ordered.

Shar tapped in a few commands, sharpening the visual sensors’ acuity by compensating for the diminished light.

Within the small screen on Shar’s console, three hovercraft skimmed in and out of the reed patches of the mating grounds while another paused in the very thick of the sea grasses. Shar zoomed in on a cloaked figure leaning over the railing, plunging a long pole, with a net attached at the end, into the water. Beside him, another cloaked figure thrust the nose of a long tube into the reeds, pumping a handle mounted on the end.

“Clever,” Jeshoh muttered. “I’ll wager they’re spraying the reeds with tetracoxiclan to melt the adhesive seal between the reeds and the egg sacks.”

“Second one follows behind with the net and scoops them out of the water,” Keren said, finishing his thought. “But who among us would steal fertilized eggs?” She frowned, disgusted.

“Computer, identify life-forms in Vanìmel sector zero-four-seven,” Ezri said.

“Eighteen Yrythny life-forms in grid zero-four-seven.”

Imagining the anguish his own people endured while trying to procreate successfully, Shar was struck by how having an abundance of offspring shifted one’s paradigm. Wondering about the reasons behind such a choice, he asked, “Why would Yrythny want to strip eggs from the mating ground?”

“Why would Yrythny blow up an aquaculture village?” Keren countered. “It’s a mind game. With House Perian hosting the Compromise announcement, the eyes of Luthia and Vanìmel are focused on this hemisphere tonight. Stage it well and they’ll have the attention of every Yrythny.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Dax said firmly. She turned to Shar. “Options, Ensign?”

He’d been mulling over how to immobilize the raiders since they’d arrived. “It seems simple enough. The Perian authorities will be arriving here within the hour. In the meantime, we immobilize the hovercraft, secure the eggs in our custody and hold the criminals for the proper authorities.”

Ezri nodded her approval. “Disable their engines with phasers. Make it impossible for them to move anywhere. They’re far enough from shore that they can’t swim to land. We’ll beam-out the eggs. Proceed, Ensign.”

“Aye, sir,” Shar said. “Targeting phasers.”

The cloaked figures on the first hovercraft scrambled for cover from the phaser fire, waving their arms to clear away the smoke churning out of the rear of the craft. Sensors indicated phasers had destroyed the engine and caused a minor water leak. But the authorities would arrive before the hovercraft sank.

Shar repeated the process, disabling both remaining hovercraft within minutes of each other. The fourth one, trying to avoid its companions’ fate, led them on a brief chase; the hovercraft was no match for a Starfleet shuttle.

Circling the area in the Sagan,Shar double-checked sensors to make certain that no other raider craft had entered the area. Save the official vessel coming from Perian, the seas were clear.

“What about the eggs?” Jeshoh asked finally.

“We’ll beam them out now,” Ezri said.

Shar’s scans revealed that only one vessel had successfully stripped eggs out of the mating grounds. Ezri beamed out the small storage crates and went with Keren to the rear of the shuttle to secure and properly store their cargo. Allowing viable eggs to be damaged now would be unconscionable.

Programming an elliptical trajectory around the mating grounds, Shar switched the navigating systems to auto and focused on keeping track of the criminals trapped on the hovercraft. Making a meaningful contribution to the final leg of their away mission satisfied him deeply. He hadn’t wanted to admit it to Lieutenant Dax, but he did feel like his research efforts had been for naught. While rescuing fertilized Yrythny eggs from unscrupulous raiders didn’t equate with making a scientific discovery that might have changed the planet’s destiny, he would savor his small victory.

From around a peninsula jutting into the bay, a Perian hovership churned into the mating ground. Shar dispatched a directional flare, pointing the authorities to where the disabled hovercraft bobbed in the water.

“Shuttlecraft Saganto the Perian authorities. There are four unauthorized hovercraft in the area. Transmitting locations of craft to you now. We have secured the harvested eggs and will be returning them to House Perian.”

“Acknowledged,Sagan. We have received your transmission. See you back home.”

Shar tapped Perian’s coordinates into the navigation panel when Jeshoh touched his arm. “What can I do—” his voice trailed off at the sight of an Yrythny sidearm trained on his head. Jeshoh held the weapon flush against his chest, obscuring it from Dax and Keren’s view. From the rear of the shuttle, Shar heard the women rearranging equipment to accommodate the eggs. They talked quietly between themselves.

“These crates belong to an acquaintance of mine,” Jeshoh whispered. “We’re going to deliver them. I’ll provide you with coordinates. Once we clear Vanìmel’s gravity well, you will set course as I direct and go to warp. We’re running late, so please don’t pull any tricks to provoke me into shooting you or Lieutenant Dax.”

Locking out his adrenaline surge, Shar nodded. Where does Jeshoh fit into the puzzle? I’ve never sensed hostility from him. He’s Houseborn, what could he possibly want? Unless…He wanted one answer before surrendering to Jeshoh’s control. “Show me your hand.”

Jeshoh smiled, raised his left arm to the square, palm forward.