“Regrettably, we were unable to return him to Tholia prior to the advent of the current crisis.”

“Then perhaps you should include the ambassador in this conversation. I am convinced that he knows far more about the Neyel—the ‘invaders’—than either of us do.” Sulu considered mentioning his belief that it was Neyel-related information that had motivated Mosrene to assassinate Kasrene, but decided against it.

After another brief pause, Yilskene said, “I will confer with the diplomat presently, Captain. But if you attempt either to escape or attack us in the meantime, we will not hesitate to destroy you.”

The screen abruptly went dark as Yilskene interrupted the transmission. His image was replaced by that of his aggressive-looking warship and the energy web that radiated from it.

Sulu considered the deadly grid of energy that surrounded both his ship and the Neyel vessel. If necessary, [189] Excelsior’sshields might withstand a direct attempt to run the energy gauntlet. Then again, they might not, considering the beating they’d just taken; he sincerely hoped he wouldn’t have to find out the hard way.

“What now?” Chekov asked.

Sulu returned to the command chair and sat. “Now that the warriors have gotten the preliminaries out of the way, maybe it’s time to bring ourdiplomatic caste back into the proceedings.”

Chekov shrugged. “Ambassador Burgess? I suppose crazier ideas have worked before.”

“You don’t think she can make Yilskene see reason?”

“I might be biased, but I don’t think she’s exactly the easiest person to get along with.”

Sulu smiled grimly. “Maybe that’s why she was picked for this mission in the first place—she already has something in common with the Tholians.”

By the time the two semi-anthropoid security guards finally agreed to conduct Aidan Burgess to the bridge to see the captain—an armed escort being necessary because the escaped Neyel still had yet to be recaptured—the Federation ambassador was in a stomping, crimson fury. Ever since the incident in the pathology lab, she had been under virtual house arrest in her quarters, ostensibly for the sake of her safety. When the ship went on red alert again, the security guard posted outside her quarters had evidently received orders not only to protect her from the unexpectedly resurrected Neyel, but also to keep her safely out of Captain Sulu’s hair for the duration of whatever new crisis had arisen.

“What the hell is going on?” she demanded of Sulu before the bridge turbolift doors had even finished opening.

“And a good afternoon to you, Ambassador,” Captain Sulu said, smiling as he turned his chair toward her and rose to his feet.

[190] She fumed at his lighthearted manner. You’re only going to make it harder on yourself, Captain.

“I need your help, Ambassador,” Sulu said.

Burgess stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t have been more surprised if he had suddenly dropped to one knee and made an earnest proposal of marriage. Things must really be getting desperate up here.

“What’s happened?” Burgess wanted to know.

Chekov stepped away from the console at which Commander Rand was seated and approached Burgess. “Here’s the short version, Ambassador: Admiral Yilskene thinks we’re in league with the Neyel.”

“And he’s seriously considering destroying us,” Sulu added with no discernible emotion. “We’re currently snared in a Tholian energy web, along with the Neyel ship.”

She swallowed. “Oh. I thought for a minute something really serious might have come up.”

The glowering young Vulcan rose from an upper-level console to address Sulu. “Captain, I have conferred with Commander Azleya. She and her senior engineers concur with my opinion that we can disable the Tholian energy web by channeling warp power through the deflector grid. If, as our sensor scans indicate, Yilskene’s ships cannot match our maximum speed, we can effect an escape before they can bring any of their weapons to bear.”

“Are you insane?”Burgess roared. “We don’t want to provoke them any further.”

“The Tholians have already initiated hostilities by deploying their energy web,” the Vulcan replied evenly. “Provocation is hardly an issue now.”

“Since we’rethe ones who are guilty of espionage and trespassing, Lieutenant, it seems to me that we’ve already given them more than enough reason to distrust us.” Burgess whirled on Sulu, her hands balled into fists. “Surely you can’t actually be considering running away like a band of pirates.”

[191] The captain held up both hands, as if to placate both Burgess and his aggressive young officer simultaneously. “Stand down, Mr. Tuvok. We’re going to have to play our hand the ambassador’s way.”

Tuvok focused his steely gaze on the captain. “Breaking the Tholian web and running may be our best and only hope of survival.”

“Maybe,” Sulu said, apparently not angered in the least at Tuvok’s near insubordination. “But it would be pretty shoddy diplomacy, Tuvok. We’re not here to start a war. Besides, I have no intention of leaving the crew of that Neyel ship to Yilskene’s tender mercies. I won’t simply abandon these human offshoots before we’ve even found out how they got out here and what they want. So we’re staying put.”

Burgess stared at Sulu, her eyes wide with surprise. All this time, she had pegged him as an old-guard officer of the shoot-first-and-ask-questions-laterschool. The universe certainly contains no end of wonders.

Then she reminded herself that this was the same man who had tried to conceal his military espionage mission from her while she had been trying to negotiate in good faith with the Tholians.

Sulu lowered his hands and approached her. “Ambassador Mosrene is still aboard the Jeb’v Tholis.We were hoping that the two of you might be able to buy us some time to find a peaceful way out of this crisis.”

Burgess nodded. “All right. Let’s do it.” No pressure.

Sulu smiled. “Hail them, Commander Rand.”

“Aye, sir.”

As Rand set about her work, Burgess turned to face the viewer. Sulu and Chekov stood on either side of her. A moment later, a pair of larger-than-life Tholians were regarding them with their unfathomable crystalline expressions.

“Ambassador Mosrene,” Burgess said, addressing the figure on the left. “I must speak with you. It is imperative that [192] you understand that our mission here is a peaceful one—and that we are not allied with your colony’s ... antagonists.”

Mosrene’s white eyespots were twin geodes set inside a face like that of a stone cobra. “You have always dealt honestly with us, Ambassador. I believe you. However, my belief is not the decisive factor in this situation. The preponderance of the evidence—your illegal presence in our space, Captain Sulu’s espionage activities, and your apparent genetic oneness with our foes—supports Admiral Yilskene’s contention that you harbor ulterior motives inimical to the security of the Tholian Assembly.”

Burgess found that it took a supreme effort of will not to scowl at Sulu, whose Starfleet-issue subterfuge was largely responsible for this mess.

Keeping her eyes on Mosrene, she said, “With your permission, we would like an opportunity to gather evidence of our innocence.”

“I would welcome any such evidence,”said Mosrene.

“We’ll need time,” Sulu interjected.

Yilskene finally broke his silence. “Very well, Captain Sulu. In the interests of the nascent peace between our two civilizations, I will grant you twelve of your hours to persuade me that you are not allied with the invaders.

“Should you fail to do so by that time,I will destroy both your vessel and that of your invader confederates.”

The Tholians abruptly vanished from the screen.