Or it might be Riftspace closing ever inward on us. A sign that even now the damned Devils are preparing to lower the Riftmouth into the very sky of Oghen and set their fleets upon us before we can react.

Faraerth recalled a time aboard Slicerwhen the Efti’el drive had malfunctioned, leaving the ship stranded in a fractured region of space that closely bordered the Riftmouth itself. Fully half his crew had begun to go mad during the half-day it had taken to repair the engines sufficiently to escape the Rift’s pernicious influence.

[305] Would such a fate eventually befall everyone on Oghen as Riftspace invaded the inner system? He imagined a sacred world transformed into a place fit only for madmen and Devils. The thought made Faraerth shudder.

Peering beyond the forest of spires that made up the great city’s skyline, Faraerth lowered his gaze to the horizon. Although the sky was still bright, he could see Holy Vangar, the longtime home of all Neyel prior to the historic Oghen Planetfall, as a gleaming pinpoint. Lately he had begun fantasizing about piloting the Great Rock itself out of its current orbit. He vividly imagined attaching a forest of Efti’el nacelles to its surface in order to fly it back to its original place—the womb of Auld Aerth’s stable Elfive Point.

The recurring fantasy buoyed Faraerth’s spirits. Maybe the unlikely survival of one named after Far Aerth is an augury,he thought as he resumed his steady march toward the War Complex offices.

Should the Riftmouth set every Devil alive against us, Neyelkindwill regain the ancestral homeworld of Aerth.

PART 9

RECONCILIATION

Chapter 27

“It’s beautiful, is it not?” Jerdahn said, leaning on the railing that overlooked the aft observation deck’s huge window. “Holy Vangar, the Great Rock, never ceases to inspire. For me, it symbolizes both the timelost past and a future in which that past might be regained.”

Burgess couldn’t help agreeing, and she was glad that Jerdahn had come aboard to view the famous O’Neill habitat with her. Though half an hour of watching the huge object’s stately procession across Oghen’s face had gotten her used to Vanguard’s reality, she still felt like a medieval pilgrim who had just touched an aged sliver of the True Cross.

Though she was farther away from her birthworld than she had ever been before, she felt, paradoxically, as though she had come home.

It was time.

“Commander Rand, please hail Drech’tor Joh’jym,” Sulu said.

“Aye, Captain.” Rand set about her business in her usual efficient manner.

A second or so later the image of the Vanguard Colony vanished from the main bridge viewer, to be replaced by the faces of Joh’jym and Oratok.

[310] “My thanks for allowing Excelsiorto visit Oghen, if even for a short time,” Sulu said. He knew it couldn’t have been as simple as “allowing” Excelsiorto orbit his homeworld; he had no doubt that Joh’jym must have convinced some very important and powerful people that Excelsiorwas not a threat or some secret weapon sent by the Tholians. Joh’jym had to be an influential figure within the Neyel power structure.

Sulu continued: “I regret that we lack the time to visit the surface of your world, and to get to know your people better.” I would have loved to get inside Vanguard, too,he thought wistfully.

Joh’jym looked grave. At least, Sulu thought he looked graver than usual. “So you remain determined to return to the Devils who would destroy you?”

“I assure you, there are any number of things I would rather do than fight the Tholians,” Sulu said. “But I’m afraid we can’t stay here any longer. We must return to our own space.”

He omitted mentioning that far more than the welfare of Excelsiorwas at stake. As slender as it was, the only hope for averting the bloodbath for which the Neyel were now preparing was to convince the Tholians to sue for peace. And only by meeting Yilskene in truthcombatwould he have any chance of broaching the topic with the Tholian political and diplomatic castes.

Then, a way had to be found to convince the Neyel to call off the dogs of war. But even Joh’jym, as friendly as he had proved to be since Yilskene had trapped Excelsiorand Oghen’s Flame,seemed unable to consider any peace that wasn’t preceded by the complete annihilation of the Tholians.

The current grim situation took him back to his StarfleetAcademy days, when he’d taken the no-win Kobayashi Marutest. He had opted then to allow the few hundred personnel aboard the doomed freighter to die rather than risk war with the Klingons.

[311] Compared to today’s circumstances, that Kobayashi Maruscenario had been a picnic in Golden GatePark. Even if I manage to save the lives of my crew, war is still just about a foregone conclusion.

Weariness and despair threatened to engulf him as he considered just how long the odds were, not just for himself, but also for two societies, and maybe even for Earth itself.

“Would that our invasion fleet was ready to leave this day,”Joh’jym said, snapping Sulu back to full alertness. “You would have aught to fear from the Devils on your way home.”

“Thank you. But my purpose here is to preventa war, if at all possible.”

Joh’jym laughed as though Sulu had just cracked a joke. “I tried to convince my superiors to allow me the use of several warships to escort you safely through the Devil phalanx. I regret that I failed in that attempt. Some of the high drech’tors inside the War Complex distrust your motivations, it seems, in spite of my intercession on your behalf.”

Sulu nodded sadly, though he counted himself fortunate that the Neyel military hadn’t tried to blow Excelsiorout of the sky. “There’s a war on,” he said. “I understand your people’s need for caution. Excelsiorwill depart as soon as your traffic authorities grant us clearance. In the meantime, we will return Jerdahn to your vessel with our transporter.”

“That is premature, Hikarusulu. Jerdahn need not return to us until your vessel and mine are ready to part company.”

Sulu blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“I said I failed to assemble an escort fleet. However, I still commandOghen’s Flame. Thanks in part to the assistance of your engineers, she is now quite spaceworthy.”

Sulu was incredulous. “We inflicted considerable damage on your ship, Drech’tor Joh’jym.”

“We Neyel are long accustomed to dealing with far more catastrophic damage. Repairing our most critical systems was not difficult, especially with your Commander Azleya and her[312] crew helping us. Now we are ready. When do we depart for the Riftmouth?”

“We fired on you, remember?” Sulu said.

“And we fired on you,”Joh’jym said with a shrug. “But that was before we understood one another so well. You later savedOghen’s Flame from the Devils’ trap. It is a debt I must repay.”

Sulu shook his head. “I can’t allow you to put yourself and your crew at risk on our behalf.”

A smile spread across Joh’jym’s hard features. “They are my lives to risk, Captain.”

Sulu wondered for a moment whether the Neyel commander was actually concealing a different, more sinister, agenda. Perhaps his real plan was to have another crack at the Tholian colony that Yilskene’s ships had come to defend.

Then he decided to take Joh’jym at face value. Peace, after all, had to begin with trust. And if he returned to Yilskene accompanied by a Neyel drech’tor, perhaps Ambassador Burgess could at last find an opening to get a Tholian-Neyel dialogue started after all.

Hope rising within him, Sulu returned the Neyel commander’s smile. “Thank you, Drech’tor. Take us out of orbit, Mr. Lojur. Lay in a course for the rift.”