“Do you need to see Dr. Morell?” Sulu asked, the concern in her voice plain. Fenn knew that the first officer had been informed about the metamorphosis Frunalians underwent during their lives, and Fenn had even spoken with her about it on two occasions. Sulu must therefore have understood the significance of what had just happened.

“I’m all right,” Fenn repeated, though still without much conviction. She felt anxious and even scared, despite the amount of education she had received throughout her life about this event and how she could and should deal with it. One of the things she knew, though, was that the first shedding of a section of exomembrane preceded the main stage of the Shift by three to six months. For now, at least, she could continue to function in her duty.

Sulu leaned in very close to Fenn. “Borona,” she said gently, “you don’t sound or look ‘all right.’”

Fenn wanted to protest, wanted to stay at her post, a means of attempting to deny what had just happened, she supposed. Instead, she said, “I do think I need to go to sickbay.”

“Go ahead,” Sulu said at once. “I’ll let Dr. Morell know you’re on your way. We’ll cover for you here.” She reached a hand up and grasped Fenn’s forearm reassuringly. “It’s going to be okay, Borona.”

Fenn forced a smile onto her face, then stood and headed for the turbolift. Her thoughts and emotions whirled. She would have to take a leave of absence from Enterprise.She would also have to find the strength to endure the pain of the Shift, a menacing prospect that, until now, had always been safely hidden away in the remote future. How am I going to get through this?she asked herself as she entered the lift. How would she be able to cope with the complete loss of her exomembrane, or with any of the other numerous changes both her body and mind would experience? Her skin would toughen, she would lose the raised ridges on the backs of her shoulders—the vestigial remnants of wings, some Frunalian biologists believed—her quartet of mammary glands would mature, as would her internal sexual organs, and she would develop a new sensory appendage, which would stretch from her brow, across the top of her head, and down her spine, like a fleshy mane. And she could not even begin to know how she would be able to deal with the major hormonal and chemical changes that would occur.

“Sickbay,” Fenn said in the turbolift, and now she could hear the uncertainty in her voice. Uncertainty, and fear. And as the lift doors slid closed, one question glowed in her thoughts like a supernova in a dark nebula: when her Shift was complete, would she still be herself, or someone else?

Sulu thumbed the comm channel closed after letting Dr. Morell know about Ensign Fenn’s situation. Sulu liked Fenn a great deal, and appreciated the consistently high quality of her work, as well as the enthusiasm with which she carried out her duties. She hoped that the young woman would be all right. Years ago, when Ensign Fenn had been assigned to Enterprise—the only Frunalian aboard, then and now—Captain Harriman had been told about the hemimetabolous phase that she would one day go through, and he in turn had enlightened his senior staff about the process. Sulu therefore knew something of what Fenn would be facing—and she’d also spoken with Fenn herself about it—but she certainly could not comprehend what it would be like to live through such an experience. Childhood and puberty were hard enough,she thought wryly.

Sulu sat down at the sciences station and took a quick inventory of the readouts. She familiarized herself with the data being transmitted to Enterpriseby the probes, noted Universe’s unique sensor profile, along with the life signs of its skeleton crew of fifty-one, then turned and looked toward the captain. He was already peering in her direction, evidently having noticed Ensign Fenn’s departure from the bridge. The captain raised his eyebrows, asking a question without having to speak it: Is everything all right?Sulu nodded her head.

“All right,”she heard a voice say—a deep, harsh voice she immediately recognized as belonging to Admiral Harriman. “Confirm four-way comlink and ship readiness.Universe?”

“Universe confirms comlink,”said a voice Sulu did not know, but that must have been that of Adrienne Kuwano, whom they’d been told would captain Universeduring the flight trials. “We are at full readiness and await final confirmations.”

“Acknowledged,”Admiral Harriman barked. “Canaveral?”

“Canaveral confirms comlink and ship’s readiness,”said Captain Jack Breshar, an old space dog Sulu had known for many years, and who had once been a colleague of her father.

“Enterprise?” the admiral asked.

Captain Harriman responded in the affirmative, then asked Sulu to establish a visual of Universefrom the probe nearest to it. She turned and operated the controls of Fenn’sconsole, then looked up at the main viewer to see the unusual form of the experimental starship sitting motionless in space. Finally, the admiral called out the name of the ship on which he was himself stationed; the repetition of his words made him sound to Sulu like an automaton. The captain of Ad Astra,Saren-Sah, gave the appropriate confirmations.

“All right,”Admiral Harriman said. “It’s your show,Universe.”

Sulu felt her stomach jump with excitement. Once these test flights had successfully been completed, dramatic and thrilling changes would be in store for interstellar exploration. And although she had not spoken to Captain Harriman about it, she understood that a significant improvement in warp-engine performance, even short of hyperwarp drive, could easily have a positive impact on the precipitous state of affairs with the Romulans and Klingons.

“Universe acknowledges,”said Captain Kuwano. “All our boards show green. Engineering, helm, and navigation preparations are complete. We are beginning sixty-second sequencing to hyperwarp… now.”

As Universewarped out of sight on the main viewer, Sulu turned back to the sciences console and checked the readouts. “The first probe has begun telemetering data,” she reported. “The Enterprisehas the Universeon long-range sensors.”

“Warp one,”Sulu heard a woman say, and she assumed it was Universe’s helm officer, Lieutenant Seaver. Sulu had taken a glance at Universe’s personnel roster earlier today.

“All three hyperwarp computers are engaged,”came another voice, a man’s, probably that of Universe’s chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Chernin. “Primary and secondary hyperwarp computers are in synchronous operation.”

“Fifty seconds to hyperwarp,”Captain Kuwano said.

Sulu felt her heart race, gripped by the moment. Fifty seconds away from a revolution,she thought. She did not know the specifications of hyperwarp, but her imagination sent her soaring across the Milky Way.

“Warp two,”said Seaver.

“Articulated dilithium matrices are focused and aligned,”Chernin said.

“Forty seconds.”Captain Kuwano.

Sulu saw another set of readings begin to register on her panel. “The second probe now has the Universein range,” she said.

“Warp four.”Seaver.

“We have matter entering the flux chamber. Warm-starting antimatter flow.”Chernin.

“Thirty seconds.”Kuwano.

In these breathless moments, Sulu thought of her father. She recalled how, when she’d been attending Starfleet Academy, he would send her recorded messages telling her stories he had wanted to share with her: the first sustained powered flight by the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hill, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin setting down on Earth’s moon, Verna Mitrios surviving the first landing on Mars, Zefram Cochrane traveling at warp in Phoenix.