“Captain, we are being hailed,” Kanchumurthi said. Sulu peered over and saw him operating his communications console. “It’s the Tomed.”

Sulu looked back around at Fenn. “Borona, I’m on alpha watch tomorrow,” she said quickly. “Let’s have dinner.” Fenn nodded, and Sulu gave her shoulder a pat.

“How long until we reach the Neutral Zone?” Captain Harriman asked. Sulu stepped down into the lower, central portion of the bridge and walked over to stand beside him.

“Twenty-seven minutes,” Linojj answered from the helm.

Harriman looked at Sulu. “Sooner than Vokar wants to see us, I’m sure,” he said. “Put him through, Ramesh.”

“Yes, sir,” Kanchumurthi said. Then, after a moment, he added, “Captain, it’s not Admiral Vokar.”

Sulu felt her brow furrow in confusion. Had something happened to remove Vokar from command of the Romulan flagship? Had he perhaps been injured, or even killed?

“Put the message through,” Harriman said.

“Yes, sir,” Kanchumurthi replied, and the starscape on the main viewscreen disappeared, the image of a lean Romulan woman appearing in its place, the dark, green-tinged setting of the bridge on which she stood visible behind her. She wore the insignia of a subcommander, the color of tactical operations, and the guise of command. Her cheekbones sat high on her narrow face, her flesh extremely pale and yellowish, even for a Romulan.

“Captain Harriman,” she said.

“Of U.S.S. Enterprise,yes,” the captain said. “And you are?”

As Sulu watched, color rose in the woman’s cheeks, an olive tone that clearly marked her ire. “I am Subcommander Linavil,” she said evenly. “First officer of Tomedunder Admiral Vokar.” Sulu remembered Harriman’s report of his experiences on the planet of the Koltaari, and that this woman had struck him and knocked him to the ground, then threatened him with a knife.

“Subcommander,” the captain said, and Sulu noted an almost imperceptible curl along one side of his lips. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

For a tense beat, Linavil said nothing. What can she say?Sulu wondered. Any attempt to remind Harriman that the two had met previously would simply have underscored how she had apparently made no impression on him. If Vokar had intended his absence during this communication as an insult to Harriman, the captain had clearly returned it to the admiral’s executive officer.

Finally, Linavil said, “Once Enterprisereaches the Neutral Zone, you will reduce velocity to warp factor five and lower your shields.”

“We are not traveling with our shields raised,” Harriman responded. “We expected there to be no need for us to defend ourselves. Our mission here is one of peace.”

Linavil’s lips parted and she expelled a short burst of air, the Romulan equivalent, Sulu supposed, of derisive laughter. “Whatever your mission,” the subcommander said, “you will reduce your velocity and continue with your shields down. Tomedwill escort you to Space Station Algeron. You are not permitted any communications while within Romulan territory.”

“Even with your ship?” Harriman asked, and Sulu thought she could see the mischief behind his eyes.

Again, Linavil paused, her features tensing, her rage seeming barely contained. “At the first transgression of these requirements, Tomedwill fire on Enterprise.”The subcommander turned her head sharply to one side, clearly looking to somebody offscreen, and an instant later, her image vanished, the stars ahead of Enterpriseappearing once more.

Sulu looked at Harriman, who returned her gaze. “I don’t think she likes you very much,” she said.

“Funny,” the captain said. “I just don’t seem to be able to make friends among the Romulan military.”

“No, sir,” Sulu said. Directly ahead of her, the doors to the starboard turbolift opened, and Lieutenant Trent and Ensign DeYoung stepped onto the bridge, the computer scientist and the tactical officer now obviously arriving for beta shift. Others would also be appearing shortly, she knew.

“Do as Linavil…ah, requested,” Harriman said. “When we reach the Neutral Zone, keep the shields down, reduce speed to warp five, and maintain radio silence.” He stood up from the command chair. “And let me know immediately if anything seems suspicious to you, Demora.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. As Harriman made his way to the turbolift, Sulu took her place in the command chair. She still did not feel comfortable about Starfleet providing the Romulans and Klingons with the hyperwarp-drive specifications, and she certainly did not trust either power. But she did trust John Harriman, and as Enterpriseheaded for hostile territory, she tried to focus on that fact. For eighteen years, the captain had commanded Starfleet’s flagship through uncounted dangers, and always, he had successfully protected the ship, the crew, and the Federation itself. Right now, she simply had to trust that he would so one more time.

“Here are the research notes, the design specs, and the sensor logs of all the testing,” Harriman said. He stepped up to the conference table and set down one of the three personalaccess display devices he carried. On its screen, numbers, letters, and symbols marched in formulas along the bottom, below an animated line diagram that described warp fields being generated around an accelerating starship frame.

Harriman stepped back and glanced around the room. All eyes, he saw, had found the padd. At first, nobody said anything, reinforcing Harriman’s conviction that Ambassadors Kamemor and Kage wanted to believe what they had just been told by the Federation envoys, and that both wanted to do what they could to avoid war.

“And you wish us to trust you?” Admiral Vokar asked, his voice thick with skepticism. He stood behind the table, near where the Romulan ambassador and her staff sat. In addition to the Federation, Romulan, and Klingon diplomatic parties to whom the special UFP envoys were making their presentation here on Algeron, Harriman had joined the summit to represent Starfleet; Vokar had subsequently demanded permission to take part in the meeting as well. One of the Klingon ambassador’s aides, a large, imposing figure named Ditagh, had also made noise about wanting a Klingon Defense Force representative present, but Kage had quickly shut him down.

“No, Admiral, we actually do not expect you to trust us,” said the lead Federation envoy—in reality, Commander Gravenor. Lieutenant Vaughn stood behind her, to her right. Both wore raiments befitting their alleged professions, Gravenor in a dark blue jacket and skirt over a white blouse, and Vaughn in a dark gray suit, also with a white shirt. “That is the purpose of our visit here,” Gravenor continued. “That is why Starfleet has agreed to furnish both the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon Empire with all data relating to our hyperwarp project. It is our hope that your scientists will confirm what we’ve told you, and for you to see that what the crew of the Tomedwitnessed was not the trial of a new weapon, but the tragic loss of a starship and crew testing the experimental drive.”

“And what happens when we confirm something different than that?” Ditagh snapped. Ambassador Kage looked at his aide, but did not stop him from going on. “What happens when we confirm that Starfleet wasconducting tests of a metaweapon?”

Kage peered over at Gravenor. “That is a legitimate question,” he said.

“For you, yes, it is,” Gravenor allowed. “But not for us. Because we know that Starfleet has created no such weapons, we expect that your scientists will be able to provide the necessary verification. There is nothing else that they can verify.”

“So you claim,” Ambassador Kamemor said carefully. “It is clear that the Federation understands the repercussions of their developing and testing a metaweapon; I trust you further understand the repercussions of then attempting to lie about it.” Harriman watched her as she spoke, trying to measure the woman he saw now with the one he had met fifteen years ago at another diplomatic summit. Back then, he and Kamemor had established a rapport, one that had grown during four succeeding encounters. Harriman had even provided her with some guidance for her son regarding the young man’s then-fledgling military career, guidance which had served the son well, Harriman had later found out. Now, though, Kamemor seemed to studiously avoid his gaze. Even when he had first entered the room and been introduced by Federation Ambassador Endara, her attention had passed quickly over him, as though even the slightest acknowledgment of their prior relationship could foul these talks—which, Harriman supposed, might well be true. “If the Romulan Empire is unable to authenticate the Federation’s claims,” Kamemor went on, “the consequences will be severe.”