[116] “Then let’s become a Tholian ship,” Sulu said. Aside from a subtle, nearly imperceptible change in the vibration of the deck plates, nothing on the bridge was altered. But Sulu knew that Azleya and her crew had made some critical modifications to Excelsior’swarp generators. Now, anybody actively scanning the ship—or even passively examining her warp trail—would encounter only the telltale traces of a Tholian military vessel. The disguise Azleya had concocted was calculated to withstand all but the closest scrutiny.

“Take her right up to the far edge of the interspatial filament, Mr. Lojur. Don’tlet us dip into it, but make best speed alongside it until we reach the region of conflict at the far edge of Tholian space.” And let’s hope this region of space doesn’t force Christine to shoot us all up with theragen just to keep us from going insane and murdering each other.A chill ascended his spine as he recalled the horrible way Defiant’screw had died.

Enough worrying about the questions I can’t answer,Sulu told himself. It’s time to concentrate on the ones I can.

Sulu rose again and turned to Chekov. “You have the bridge, Commander. I’ll be in sickbay, checking on Tuvok.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Then I’ll look in on Ambassador Burgess,” Sulu added as he stepped into the turbolift.

The doors closed on Chekov’s silent, sympathetic, Go- with-Godexpression.

Tuvok sat on the biobed, doing his best to meditate in the bustle of sickbay. One orderly was still cleaning up the trauma area where Chapel and her crew had tried to save the Tholian ambassador, and being none too quiet about it.

Turning inward, he tried to find the thoughts and memories which Ambassador Kasrene had placed there. Could she have transferred part of herkatra to me?He rejected the stray thought almost as quickly as it had come. No, that is not[117]   logical . The concept ofkatra is a myth. Kasrene merely transferred some of her memory engrams to me, nothing more. I must find a way to access them.

He closed both sets of eyelids tightly. As he dug more deeply into his subconscious, the darkness was broken by flashes of color mixed with long, steady bursts of light. The discharges were random and chaotic, and Tuvok knew on some instinctive level that these were the messages from Kasrene. But how do I decipher them?

Tuvok envisioned himself as an immaterial form within the spaces of his own mind, and reached out with an imaginary hand toward the ever-changing displays of multicolored, fractally complex lights. At first, they passed through his hand, but then one stuck, as if glued there. Moments later, more colors swirled about his hand, wending their way down his arm. Then he began to see other flashes ...

... warm orange between trapezoidal structures ...

... a Tholian, still and unmoving, suddenly shattered by a blow from another Tholian, its thousands of shards commingling with crystals of every imaginable color in rolling hills constructed of great heaps of multiplanar gemstones ...

... Captain Sulu introducing his crew to the Tholians in the transporter room, amidst a glowing green hue ...

... vaguely humanoid figures lying on dull brown pedestals, their rough, gray skin peeled back from elongated chest cavities as Tholian doctors dissected them ...

... cool crimson fluid washing down the side of a metal wall ...

“Tuvok?”

And then, the lights fled from him, splintering into ever-tinier shards, as he felt himself being pulled out of his meditative state. With a shudder that might have been imperceptible to any but the most highly attuned Vulcan Master, Tuvok awoke. Opening his eyes, he saw Captain Sulu and Dr. Chapel regarding him with apparent concern.

[118] “Sorry to wake you, Mr. Tuvok,” Sulu said.

“I was not asleep, Captain. I was in a deep meditative state, attempting to discern what Ambassador Kasrene was trying to tell us just prior to her death.”

Sulu nodded. “Did you find anything new?”

“I found many color-intensive visual elements that were unfamiliar to me,” Tuvok said. “And when I attempted to examine them, I saw other images nested within them. I still have yet to make sense of them. However, I believe it is safe to assume that these are the specific memories the Tholian ambassador implanted in my mind.”

Chapel leaned forward and pried open Tuvok’s outer eyelids, peering intently into his pupils. Apparently not satisfied, she then began scanning him with a handheld tricorder. “Go ahead, Tuvok,” she said without looking up. “I’m just double-checking your neurological readings. Relax.”

But Tuvok felt anything but relaxed. His inability to completely access the memories Kasrene had placed into his mind had left him feeling restless and frustrated.

“What do you make of the images so far, Lieutenant?” Sulu asked quietly.

“I have yet to find any imagery that seemed specific to our current situation,” Tuvok said. “But I remain convinced that the reason behind Kasrene’s murder—and the explanation for the Tholian military buildup—remains locked within me. And I am equally certain that some tangible danger threatens both the Tholian Assembly and the Federation, and that Kasrene wanted to warn us of this.”

Tuvok was surprised by the harsh voice he heard directly behind him, from the sickbay’s opposite entrance. “Perhaps it’s the threat of imminent war that had Kasrene worried,” Burgess said.

Tuvok watched as Sulu and Chapel turned to face the ambassador, whose arms were folded across her chest. She appeared to be almost livid with restrained anger.

[119] “Ambassador, I had planned to speak with you alone when I was done with Mr. Tuvok,” Sulu said.

“I see,” Burgess said, speaking with the exaggerated politeness humans often used to signal that they were actually quite angry. “I suppose that was when you intended to inform me that my outgoing communications capabilities have been disabled. And perhaps you were also going to explain why this ship is now headed deeperinto Tholian Assembly space, risking the lives of everyone aboard. Not to mention jeopardizing any chance for a Tholian-Federation peace agreement.”

Sulu stared at her for a protracted moment, as though carefully weighing how best to handle this volatile personality. Tuvok found it odd that she should accuse the captain of jeopardizing lives, when she had already done that herself by revealing Excelsior’ssurveillance activities to the Tholians.

“Since you’ve saved me the trouble of scheduling a private meeting with you, Ambassador,” Sulu said at length, “I’ll brief you and my science officer at the same time.”

Chapel moved away from Burgess and closer to Tuvok, holding her tricorder up again. But Tuvok noted that the doctor seemed to be paying the device scant attention, evidently repeating the same scans she had just completed. She was clearly uncomfortable with Burgess, and Tuvok could understand why. The diplomat was highly emotional, more so than most other humans he had encountered so far. She seemed unhappy not just with the way her diplomatic mission to the Tholians was unfolding, but also with something more fundamental. She seems discontent with her very life.

“Outgoing communications have been disabled for all but command-level Starfleet officers because we are currently on yellow alert status,” Sulu explained to the ambassador. To Tuvok’s ears, the captain’s politeness sounded every bit as forced as the ambassador’s. “We are now engaged in a highly sensitive mission that could easily be [120] compromised by accidental—or intentional—communications leaks.”

Burgess’s eyes widened. Tuvok surmised that she had taken the captain’s last statement as a reprimand for her earlier unauthorized revelations to the Tholians.