[17] But after Khitomer, the Federation’s self-definitions had been forced to adapt to changing circumstances. Change can be frightening. And if change can frighten key Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan officers into betraying their governments, then it can frighten just about anyone into doing just about anything.

Sulu glanced quickly at the poker-faced Chekov, who appeared to have watched his entire exchange with the security chief. Looking to Burgess, he saw that she and most everyone else present seemed to have focused all their attention on the empty transporter stage.

Sulu turned to nod at the transporter chief, who immediately busied herself touching the console’s control surfaces. The chamber began resonating with a whining hum that rose to a swift crescendo.

Five figures began shimmering into existence on the pads, bathed in golden columns of light as their molecules coalesced and solidified within the harsh radiance of the confinement beam. A moment later, a handful of enviro-suited Tholians stood aboard Excelsior.

Sulu’s hackles rose involuntarily as he regarded his guests, who looked for all the world like giant space-suited scorpions with large, polyhedral heads. The Tholians’ amber-colored suits seemed to be made from a material similar to that of Burgess’s gown, and ballooned up from the internal pressure of the dense, superhot atmosphere necessary to sustain their lives. The movements of their multidirectional, arthropodlike joints evoked an instinctual revulsion within Sulu, who presumed he wasn’t the only one present who felt it. He forced the emotion down, immediately ashamed of it.

This is only a little taste of the diversity and mystery that the Universe still has in store,Sulu reminded himself, and a sense of wonder gradually began to eclipse his initial reaction to the physical presence of the Tholians. This is why[18] I worked so hard to become a part of Starfleet in the first place.

Thanks to Ambassador Burgess’s input, Sulu had taken the precaution of dispensing with the traditional electronic boatswain’s whistle that was used to “pipe aboard” new arrivals. Tholians, Sulu had learned during the ambassador’s briefings, were notably sensitive to loud, high-frequency sounds. Sulu was never one to object to the shucking of ceremony and protocol whenever an opportunity to do so presented itself. Especially if said protocol might have been regarded as an insult, or perhaps even an act of agression.

Despite his efforts to overcome his first impression of his alien guests, Sulu felt his entire body tense involuntarily as Burgess approached the foremost Tholian. The creature stood nearly two meters tall on its hindmost legs, its great, lethal-looking tail switching to and fro behind it.

Though Sulu found the five Tholians virtually indistinguishable one from another, he assumed the individual in front had to be Kasrene, the Tholian ambassador. Like Commander Loskene, the first Tholian Sulu had ever laid eyes on, Kasrene and her retinue seemed to exude menace, despite the fact that their protective garments almost entirely obscured their bodies.

Burgess stopped less than a meter from the great insectile creature and bowed her head.

Kasrene’s tail flashed like a whip, attaching itself to the Federation ambassador’s back. Akaar tensed, his hands moving toward his concealed phaser. Sulu locked eyes momentarily with the huge Capellan, shaking his head.

I’m trusting you, Ambassador,Sulu thought, noting that Burgess seemed unsurprised by Kasrene’s movements. I just hope my trust doesn’t get you killed.

A pair of Kasrene’s multijointed forelimbs reached out, unfolding like twin construction cranes. The Tholian gathered two clawfuls of Burgess’s gown. Akaar’s left hand [19] twitched. Sulu was glad he’d forbidden him to wear his kligat—a traditional triple-bladed Capellan throwing knife—as one of his dress-uniform adornments.

Still following your lead, Ambassador.

Burgess remained apparently unfazed. With the utmost calm, she straightened from her bow and looked directly into the creature’s inscrutable, faceplate-obscured eyespots. With a rock-steady hand, Burgess touched the silver brooch she wore at her neck. When she spoke, a chorus of distorted, alien sounds that no human throat could have produced rolled from her pale lips.

Vocoder,Sulu realized, wishing he had taken the time to stage a complete dress rehearsal of this meeting beforehand. She probably knows the Tholian language well enough, but she wouldn’t be able to make their speech-sounds without some technological help.

Kasrene froze, though her claws remained entangled in the front of Burgess’s gown. Akaar and Chekov both appeared ready to ride to the rescue. Sulu placed a finger against his lips, and both men relaxed somewhat.

“Twice you have honored us already this day,” Kasrene said at length, withdrawing her claws and returning a quadruple-jointed approximation of the human ambassador’s bow. Although the Tholian’s speech made a cacophony similar to that of Burgess, the universal translator rendered it into intelligible Federation Standard. “You greet us with our own voice—and have fashioned garb from our own secretions.”

The gown is made of Tholian silk,Sulu thought, finally understanding the real urgency behind Burgess’s sartorial demands. Why couldn’t she have justexplained herself?He fumed in silence as Burgess and Kasrene commenced an exchange of highly ritualized Tholian greetings, almost as though they were performing a sort of interspecies opera-cum-ballet.

[20] Sulu felt a gnawing suspicion that an even more complicated job now lay ahead of him than simply observing, monitoring, and cataloguing the Tholian Assembly’s new weapons programs.

Looks like I’d better keep a pretty close eye on Ambassador Burgess, too.

Chapter 3

After less than an hour of the required exchange of diplomatic pleasantries, Burgess, Chekov, and Akaar had shown the visiting Tholians to their specially modified quarters on Deck Eight. Satisfied that Kasrene’s diplomatic team was settling in satisfactorily—they were evidently preparing to meet again in earnest with Burgess and her party later in the day, now that the bare preliminaries were out of the way—Sulu proceeded to the bridge.

As he stepped out of the turbolift, he looked toward the main viewer, which showed Admiral Yilskene’s long, dagger-like flagship hanging in space. Like its wedge-shaped predecessors of thirty years earlier, the vessel looked sleek and deadly, and possessed no discernible external engine nacelles. The dim illumination of its running lights revealed a hull that bore a mix of mottled hues: red, orange, yellow, and green.

Studying the other vessel, Sulu felt as though the watchful eyes of the entire Tholian warrior caste were trained squarely upon him. Though the continued presence of the Jeb’v Tholiswas no doubt comforting to the Tholian diplomats now temporarily ensconced aboard Excelsior,it was having quite the opposite effect on Sulu. He didn’t relish the thought of Yilskene’s reaction should the Tholians become [22] aware of Excelsior’sclandestine surveillance on the far reaches of Assembly space.

Chekov rose from the captain’s chair at Sulu’s approach. Rather than take his seat, Sulu gestured toward the situation-room door at the rear of the bridge. “Pavel, I need a tactical update.” He looked up toward the science station and caught Tuvok’s eye. “I want your input, too, Lieutenant. Commander Rand, please have Lieutenant Akaar join us.”

“Aye, sir,” Rand said.

Followed by Chekov and Tuvok, Sulu entered the room and headed toward his customary chair, at one side of the octagonal table. The situation room was a relatively new addition to Excelsior,part of a redesign that Starfleet had begun introducing to many of Starfleet’s ships of the line in recent years. Sulu had to admit that for quick bridge-officer meetings, the small chamber was certainly handier than the full-size conference room on Deck Two. Of course, the senior staff still used the larger conference room for more formal meetings, such as the diplomatic proceedings involving Burgess’s party and the Tholian contingent; the big room had recently been outfitted with colors and decor calculated by Lieutenant Hopman to calm the Tholian delegates. The violent red-and-ocher color scheme down there made Sulu more grateful than ever to have an alternative space in which to conduct his staff meetings.