Slamming his hand on the control that would close the hatch, Vaughn got into the pilot seat and noted that T’Prynn had already run the preflight sequence—all that was left was for the hatch to close and for Vaughn to engage the engines. Pausing only for a half a second to smile at his comrade—a pause he needed to take while waiting for the hatch to seal in any event—he then lifted off, the sound of Cardassian phaser fire hitting the shuttlepod’s hull with the same intensity that the rain was hitting it less than half an hour earlier.

Now let’s hope we’re small enough to stay off the sensor screens of those big ships in orbit—which are now looking for a small Starfleet shuttlepod. Well, nobody said this job would be easy.

Chapter 20

Cardassia Prime

It had been fifteen years since Corbin Entek had set foot in the Obsidian Order’s fifty-story public headquarters in the cul-de-sac. Back then, he was being debriefed by Enabran Tain himself on the disastrous Raknal V negotiations. Since then, Entek had thrived, becoming a top operative for the Obsidian Order.

In all that time, he had never again laid eyes on Tain. He had simply received instructions from assorted supervisors and then carried out his assignments. He had the feeling that soon he would be one of the supervisors rather than the supervised, and in fact he’d hoped that this summons would be a prelude to that.

A different receptionist sat at the main desk, of course, and instead of a retinal scanner, he now had to place his hand on a device that would verify his DNA.

Once again, Entek was to report to Room 2552. Tain again.Entek was pleasantly surprised.

When he arrived on the twenty-fifth floor, Entek saw that a different woman, this one with longer, blacker hair, now sat at the workstation outside Tain’s office. As her predecessor had a decade-and-a-half earlier, this woman activated her comm unit and said simply, “He’s arrived.”

“Send him in.”

Entek entered Tain’s office to find that, unlike the identity of his assistant, very little had changed. The office was still sparsely furnished, the east wall still contained a large viewer—this time the image was of the Dakhur Hills on Bajor. Entek chose to take this as a good sign. He knew that there was a supervisory position open administering Order affairs on Bajor, and he had hopes for it. Central Command had, typically, let the situation on Bajor get out of hand. The resistance movement was growing in strength and needed to be crushed. Central Command’s more overt methods were not getting the job done, and it was Entek’s considered opinion that more subtle means were required.

Of course, it was also possible that Entek was not here to receive good news. One thing he had learned in his time as an agent of the Order: it was best notto come to the attention of Enabran Tain if you could avoid it. If he had known fifteen years ago what he knew now, he would have approached his Tain-led debriefing following Raknal with a great deal more trepidation.

One other thing had changed over the years: Tain was a lot bulkier around the middle than he had been. I suppose that comes of working in an office rather than out in the field.

“Come in, Entek, come in, have a seat,” Tain said.

Entek sat down, noting that the guest chair was of a different type than the one from fifteen years ago, and yet it felt the same: neither particularly comfortable nor uncomfortable. It served its purpose as a chair, no more, no less.

“The last time you were in this office, you asked me if you would be assigned to Raknal V. I told you then that you were too young, too raw to take such an assignment.” He chuckled. “I never imagined that the situation would still be an issue fifteen years later. How closely have you followed the situation with the Klingons?”

“As closely as duties have allowed,” Entek said honestly. “I do know that no Klingons have been permitted on our worlds and that the Klingons have done the same to our people in their territory. Border skirmishes have been on the up-swing.”

Another chuckle. “That is an understatement. Any time a Cardassian ship and a Klingon ship are within a parsec of each other, there’s a good chance of torpedoes being exchanged sooner rather than later. The Grannal,the Pa’Dan,and the Baknabhave all been engaged by Klingon ships in the past month alone. The Klingons still blame us for the Chut’s destruction, and they’re very good at holding grudges. In addition, relations with the Federation have gotten worse since that incident with the Enterpriseseven years ago.” Tain shook his head. “There was a confrontation just yesterday—the Alkargot into a running firefight with a Federation ship, the Stargazer.Every attempt at trade talks with the Federation have failed, and Central Command insists on being aggressive with them and letting the situation grow worse. An all-out war is one thing, but these hostile skirmishes with both powers without a formal declaration pick away at us.”

With that, Entek had to agree. He also was starting to suspect the true reason for his summons. “It does not bode well. There are also rumblings on Romulus. Praetor Dralath is losing popular support, and their emperor has become little more than a figurehead. It is quite possible that they may come out of the shell they have been hiding in since Tomed and strike at either the Klingons or the Federation—or even us.”

That seemed to intrigue Tain. “What leads you to that conclusion?”

Entek shifted nervously in his seat. He had made a report to this effect only the previous week, and his new assumption was that it had come to Tain’s attention, hence his summons here. “Dralath is not an imaginative man. The Romulan economy is failing, the people are disaffected. Successful Romulan politicians tend toward long-term planning, but every indication points to Dralath being an unsuccessful one. His profile is one that prefers simple short-term solutions.”

“You believe he will start a war.”

It was not a question. Perhaps hehas read the report.“It is a common solution to declining popularity among ineffectual leaders. And we would be a ripe target—an upstart power that is already in conflict with the Klingons and the Federation.”

“A fine observation.” Tain smiled. “To answer your unspoken question, yes I read your report. It is a very canny analysis, and indicates that we need to do further study of the Romulans, especially while Dralath remains in power.” Entek tried not to be too obvious in letting his pride show.

“In the meantime, however, there is the matter of our continued difficulties with the Federation and the Klingons. If the Romulans are planning an assault on us, we need to be prepared, not engaged in petty squabbles. Federation–Klingon relations are not at their best at the moment, but they might well unite to fight a common enemy in us.”

A thought occurred to Entek. “The same might be true if the Romulans attack one of them.”

“If they choose to go that way, yes.” Tain leaned back. “What we have here, Entek, is a powder keg, one that will explode in the face of Cardassia no matter who lights it. What we need to do is apply some water. The root and cause of all our difficulties with the Klingons is Raknal V. Central Command insists that all is well on the planet. I’m more skeptical. Our last operative on-world was killed in what appears to have been an accident—certainly the planet has had enough of them. However, it was probably an assassination by one of Prefect Monor’s lackeys.”