And then they turned, traveling directly toward the Starfleet battle group.

“We’re being hailed by several—make that many—Starfleet ships,” Kanchumurthi reported.

“Open a general channel,” she ordered.

“Channel open.”

“This is Commander Sulu of the Enterprise,”she said. “All Starfleet vessels, maintain position and hold your fire.” Then, wanting to be sure, she said, “Tenger, sensors. Are the Klingons arming weapons?”

“Scanning,” Tenger said. She waited, staring at the viewscreen as though she could see all that was transpiring across the vast distances of space. Finally, Tenger said, “Negative.”

After a few minutes, Kanchumurthi said, “Several of the Klingon vessels are entering visual range…including NuH Bey’.”

“Let’s see it,” Sulu said, expecting that the general’s actions would provide the lead to the other ships.

On the viewer, the tactical graphic winked off, and a Klingon warship appeared in space, heading toward Enterprise. NuH Bey’swooped in, then arced away in a tight turn. It slowed, then came to stop directly ahead of Enterprise,its bow pointed in the direction of Romulan space.

“The Klingons are now powering their weapons,” Tenger said. “All of their vessels are falling into formation with ours.”

As relief flooded over Sulu, she turned toward Kanchumurthi. “Lieutenant, send to General Kaarg: the Klingons are people of their word, and you are a man of honor.”

“Yes, Captain,” Kanchumurthi said, a smile on his face. Sulu realized that she was not the only one who felt relief.

She sat down in the command chair, knowing that it only remained to be seen what action the Romulans would now take. But Sulu knew: it was over. The praetor and the people surrounding him might believe in the natural superiority of the Romulan genome, but they also understood numericalsuperiority; if not for the uncertainty about what the Klingon Empire would do, the Romulans would have attacked the Federation long ago. Now, faced with a combined Federation-Klingon force, the Romulans would move away from their ambitions for war.

An hour later, they proved Sulu right. “Captain,” Tenger said, “the Romulans are disarming weapons and pulling back.”

All eyes on the bridge turned to Sulu. “We’ve won?” Linojj said.

Sulu smiled, but she said, “No. We haven’t won. But with our new allies, we just guaranteed that we won’t lose either.” Linojj nodded, apparently satisfied, and turned back to the helm. “Lieutenant Kanchumurthi, open a channel to all Starfleet and Klingon vessels.”

As Sulu prepared what she would say, she thought about Linojj’s question. And she thought that maybe the Federation had won after all. And so had the Klingons and the Romulans. There would be no war now, thanks to Captain Harriman.

Ambassador Kamemor fixed her gaze on the standing figure of the Starfleet officer, but only so that her eyes would not be drawn to the far wall, to the multihued patterns of the Algeron Effect glowing there. She sat at the conference table, listening to the statements of Commander Sulu with only half an ear. Already, Kamemor had heard all that she had needed to hear. That the Federation and the Klingons offered ample proof of their claims mattered little at this point. The crews of several Romulan starships had witnessed Tomedstreaking through the Neutral Zone, heading directly for the Federation outpost, and wiping out an entire sector. Tomed’s own crew, rescued after a power-source problem had forced them to flee into space, had disclosed that they had expected their ship to be destroyed only minutes after they had evacuated it. But the ship had survived enough hours beyond that to take it into Federation space, and the fact that six of the crew—including Admiral Vokar and three engineers—remained unaccounted for pointed to their obvious complicity in the plot. There seemed insufficient cause for anybody to declare that the act had not been deliberate.

At the end of the table, Federation Ambassador Endara and his staff listened in rapt silence to Commander Sulu’s descriptions of what had taken place. All of them seemed affected by the words, appearing alternately disbelieving, sad, and angry. Even the normally reserved Endara had paled.

Ambassador Kage and his two aides also concentrated on the commander. In Kage’s case, he looked less engaged emotionally than interested in the diplomacy that would necessarily follow from here. His belligerent young aide, though, seemed more confused than anything else, as though he did not know how to react to the situation without direction.

As she spoke, Commander Sulu raised the padd she carried in her hand, drawing Kamemor’s attention back to her. “There was no price paid higher than that in lives,” the Starfleet officer said. “But there were other costs.” She reached forward and set the padd on the table, its display faceup.

Kamemor glanced down and saw the strange, grayish masses she had seen in another image, one captured from a Romulan vessel at the Neutral Zone. The picture disturbed her. Like the shimmering fragments of planet that marked the tragic end for the inhabitants of Algeron III, the splintered ruins of space would be a constant reminder of catastrophe.

“Thank you, Commander,” Kamemor said, looking up. “We appreciate your time in sharing your experience with us. We also empathize with you for your loss.”

“Thank you, Ambassador,” Sulu said. She turned and retreated across the room, taking a seat against the far wall between a Klingon general and Captain Harriman. “General Kaarg,” Kamemor said, “we would like to hear from you now.”

The Klingon officer stood and lumbered across the room, hauling his hefty frame to the spot where Commander Sulu had delivered her statements. Kamemor raised her eyes to meet his. “During the time of which we speak,” he began, “four Klingon warships were on patrols near the borders—”

As the general continued, Kamemor noted that her aides, Subconsuls N’Mest and Vreenak, grew restive. Seated to either side of her, the two shifted several times in their chairs. Vreenak in particular moved excessively—not that he moved very much, but the somber circumstances called for quietude. Kamemor wondered which caused his unrest, the calculated murder of four thousand people, or that the crime had been perpetrated by a man she knew he had admired.

Or perhaps he is not entirely comfortable feigning sorrow for the deaths of beings he considers inferior to Romulans,she thought cynically. In the brief time she had known Vreenak, Kamemor had come to appreciate his quick mind and his willingness to commit to an opinion—something many young diplomats failed to do—but too often his opinions seemed motivated by an unflagging belief in the preeminence of the Romulan people. While she disagreed with such biases, and vigorously opposed employing them as the basis for Romulan policy, she had not dismissed Vreenak from her employ, because she hoped to guide the young man from his narrow views. Her experience had demonstrated to her that the world of diplomacy required expansive perspectives. When all factions in a negotiation considered issues from all sides, and not simply from the standpoint of their own needs and desires, much could be accomplished. Although the months of negotiations prior to the Tomedincident had failed to produce a treaty, she felt that progress had been made, in large part owing to the consideration of the larger picture by the Klingon and Federation ambassadors.

Captain Harriman possessed a wider view as well,she thought, not taking her eyes from General Kaarg, but keenly aware of the captain’s presence across the room. After what had happened at the Foxtrot outposts, the concerns that she had harbored about helping him—transporting him and his two colleagues onto Vokar’s ship—had vanished. Harriman’s claim that the admiral had intended to commit an act of violence against the Federation had been borne out. She did not know how the captain had survived the ordeal, but he obviously had, though he had just as obviously failed to prevent Vokar’s attack. She had not yet had a chance to speak with him privately, but when she had first seen him upon his return to Algeron, he had looked at her with an expression that she had interpreted as acknowledging both his gratitude for her assistance, and his torment for his failure.