“WE’RE PUTTING A STOP TO THIS.”

SULU SAID. “NOW.

Asher, take us into the path of those blasts, between the Neyel ship and the Tholian settlement.”

Chekov moved toward the command chair and leaned in. “Please tell me you a have a plan,” he said quietly.

“If we lost only seven percent of our shield capacity from the previous attack, then we ought to be able to sustain another few direct hits without serious damage. And that may buy some time for the Tholians down there.”

“You hope,” Chekov finished for him. “If that first volley they fired at us really was only a warning shot ...”

“I can’t just allow the wanton slaughter of those people down there, Pavel. And if we can stop the attack without having to open fire ourselves ...”

“Big gamble,” Chekov said.

“I know,” Sulu told him. He studied the viewer as the Neyel ship, with its long, weapons-festooned hull, loomed steadily larger in Excelsior’sflight path. He wondered for a moment if any sort of parley or peace was even possible with such apparently hate-filled people. After all, the Neyel with whom he had spoken had referred to the Tholians as an “infestation.”

I just hope I’m not placing my ship and my crew in jeopardy over a lost cause.

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POCKET BOOKS

New York London Toronto Sydney Singapore Oghen

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the authors nor the publisher have received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

An OriginalPublication of POCKET BOOKS

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 POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 2003 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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 STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures.

This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., under exclusive license from Paramount Pictures.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-7434-6401-X

First Pocket Books printing August 2003

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POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Cover design by John Vairo, Jr.

Manufactured in the United States of America

For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or business@simonandschuster.com.

For the gallant crew of STS-107, the proud handful of achievers who flew into Eternity aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia:Michael Anderson; David Brown; Kalpana Chawla; Laurel Clark; Rick Husband; William McCool; and Ilan Ramon. Your courage is writ large across the sky, through all the eras, lost or otherwise.

—MAM.

For Kehvan Zydhek, a good friend and a pretty darn good webmaster as well. Thanks for your friendship, support, and help. Live Long and Prosper!

—A.M.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

HISTORIAN’S NOTE

PART 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

PART 2

Chapter 8

Chapter 7

Chapter 9

PART 3

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

PART 4

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

PART 5

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

PART 6

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

PART 7

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

PART 8

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

PART 9

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

PART 10

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT THE E-BOOK

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors’ heartfelt thanks go to Dr. Al Globus of the NASAAmesResearchCenter. His keen insights into the construction of off-world orbital habitats was invaluable to us both.

Thanks are also due to the dean of science fiction, the late Robert A. Heinlein, for penning the novellas Universeand Common Sense,and the short story “The Green Hills of Earth,” which is (mis)quoted very briefly in Chapter 25 (granted by permission of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust).

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

—ANDRÉ [PAUL-GUILLAUME] GIDE (1869-1951)

If it were all so simple!

If only there were evil people somewhere

insidiously committing evil deeds,

and it were necessary only to separate them

from the rest of us and destroy them.

But the line dividing good and evil

cuts through the heart of every human being.

And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

—ALEXSANDR SOLZHENITSYN

HISTORIAN’S NOTE

This story is set in the year 2298, five years after the presumed death of Captain James T. Kirk aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-B in Star Trek Generations,and sixty-six years before the launch of the Enterprise-D in “Encounter at Farpoint.”

PART 1

ALIENS

Chapter 1

After bowing respectfully before his opponent, Captain Hikaru Sulu straightened, tensing his wiry form as he raised his épée to the ready position. “En garde!”he shouted, then lunged forward, the slender blade flashing before him.

With a grace that belied her considerable size, Lieutenant P’mu’la Hopman deflected Sulu’s foil toward the captains left with a deft parry sixte. Sulu tried to conceal his surprise at how quick the muscular exosociology specialist was on her rather large feet. Though less than twenty years Sulu’s junior, Hopman moved like someone far younger. On top of that, she was in her male phase this morning. Sulu had become accustomed to sparring with Hopman when she wore her female form, which was more equivalent to Sulu’s own mass.

Recovering quickly, Sulu renewed his attack, stepping forward, then back, then forward again, all the while probing his opponent for weakness or hesitation. He thrust, cobralike. Hopman countered him once again with a quarte parry, melding fluidly into a forward-lunging riposte that Sulu easily sidestepped.


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