“Yes, Bekk.” He turned to Narrk. “You have the bridge, Commander.”

Then he turned his back on Yovang and went into his office. If Yovang wished to follow the captain, that was, of course, his right. He made it clear that he did not consider Yovang to be a threat. Yet he had not actually challenged Yovang’s authority on the bridge.

As an added bonus, he had not permitted Narrk to hear the communication, leaving him on the bridge. The commander needed to be taught a lesson.

Unsurprisingly, Yovang did follow him into the office. Qaolin sat at his desk and called up the communication that the bekk had transferred to his workstation.

The message was text only, with sensor data attached to it. “They have found the remains of a Klingon ship!” Qaolin said in surprise. “The wreckage appears to be at least one thousand years old.” The captain fell backward in his chair. “A thousand years…” He looked up at Yovang, who remained as still as a statue. Worse,he thought after a moment. At least a statue is generally posed heroically.“You do realize what this probably is? We are not far from the Betreka Nebula…”

“Our mission is not to draw conclusions, Captain Qaolin. Our mission is to gather information. You can rest assured that when—”

Angrily, Qaolin stood up. “The Cardassians may have found the remains of Ch’gran! We cannot simply let them—”

“I will decide what we can and cannot do, Captain.”

Qaolin hesitated. Then he leaned forward. “We are talking about our history, Yovang. Ch’gran has been one of the great unfinished stories of our people. We cannotallow it to fall into the hands of outsiders!”

“Do you challenge my authority, Captain?” Yovang asked.

Again, Qaolin hesitated. I.I. agents were, in theory, exempt from challenges—such matters were handled internally. In reality, of course, they were challenged all the time. However, they were also well enough trained that one only took on an agent if one was supremely confident in one’s ability to win. Qaolin considered himself second to no warrior, but if he won, he’d be in a difficult position with I.I., and if he lost, his ship would be entrusted to Narrk—neither a particularly pleasant outcome.

But that exemption cut both ways. Just as Qaolin was not permitted by tradition or law to challenge an I.I. agent, no I.I. agent could issue such a challenge. (Then again, they hardly needed to. They had other methods of achieving their goals.) So Qaolin was able to speak words he could not normally utter to a superior. “I suggest that you reconsider, Yovang. The mission is yours, and if you order me to keep this information from Command, I will obey that order. But you would be unwise to give it.”

“Would I?”

For the first time since the agent came on board, Yovang’s tone altered from the monotone. Qaolin, however, refused to let it affect him, not when he knew he was right.

“I would not wish to be the one, Yovang, who informed the High Council that we stood by and let one of the greatest discoveries in Klingon history be taken from us.”

The monotone returned. “And I would not wish to be the one, Captain, who embroiled us in a war with an enemy we know far too little about. The Cardassians are a military dictatorship, but we still have little information as to the strength of that military. Even if we did know, there is no common territory between our two nations, so any conflict would be a difficult and costly one, as it would require diverting forces away from the Empire at a time when we cannot afford it. The Empire is still replacing the resources lost in the destruction of Praxis. This mission’s purpose is to obtain information about the Cardassians because we believe that they may pose a threat—in the future.”

Qaolin shook his head. “I had an instructor once who referred to I.I. as bloodless, and now I know what he meant. Look past the analysis, Yovang, and think like a Klingon for a moment. What happens when word of this discovery becomes public knowledge? Do you truly think the Cardassians will keep it quiet? I have seen many artifacts of Cardassia’s history in museums on non-Cardassian worlds because they have proven themselves more than happy to sell their past to the highest bidder. Do you think they will treat ourpast any better?” Qaolin stood up. “And when that happens, Yovang, how do you think the Klingon people will react? Do you think they will take kindly to our bartering with outsiders over financial compensation for one of our sacred treasures?” He walked around to the other side of his desk, throwing all fear of reprisal to the wind. “When you were a child, Yovang—and I assume that even youwere a child once—did you not dream of being one of the Empire’s great heroes? I know I did.” He looked up, as if seeing a vision in the ceiling. “I wanted to be the one who would bring glory to our people by finding the Sword of Kahless. Or the Hand of Kull.” Then he pointedly looked at Yovang’s unreadable face. “Or the Lost Colony of Ch’gran. And all those children who grew up to be soldiers of the Empire will notstand for Ch’gran being in any hands but Klingons’. And then, Yovang, you will have the very war you seem to think we should not have.”

Yovang then did something Qaolin never expected: He smiled.

“Your argument is well taken, Captain. And also anticipated. I have already sent a tight-beam transmission to the Homeworld requesting more ships to take Raknal from the Cardassians.”

Oh, it is a good thing I.I. is exempt from challenges, Yovang, or you would be dead by now.Qaolin was wise enough not to say that out loud, but reining in his temper was almost a physical effort; as it was, his hand moved almost unconsciously to the d’k tahgon his belt. “You could not possibly—”

“I knew the contents of the Cardassian transmission the moment it came in and acted accordingly. I only ordered your crew to decipher it to provide you with the illusion of control—and to see how youwould respond to the discovery of Ch’gran, and to my authority.”

“Your deception offends me, Yovang.”

Yovang nodded in a conciliatory manner. “That was an unfortunate consequence. But I.I. is only effective as an aid to the Defense Force, not a hindrance. Our purpose is to gather information—not just on our Empire’s enemies, but on the Empire itself. Our methods are not always honorable, but they serve the cause of honor.”

The agent was interrupted by a beeping sound on a padd he carried in a pocket of his all-black outfit. He removed it and activated its display. “Commander Narrk is about to report that Command is sending two ships to rendezvous with the Wo’bortashere with orders to fire on the Sontok.They will arrive in ten hours. A fleet will be assembled in the Betreka Nebula within two days. If we have not driven off the Cardassians within those two days, the fleet will take Raknal by force.”

“Good.” Qaolin went back to sit at his desk. “This is now a military engagement, Yovang, and therefore no longer an I.I. mission. If I see you on my bridge, I will have you forcibly removed. Now get out of my sight until I summon you.”

It was a risky position to take, but every word Qaolin spoke was true. While Yovang no doubt could make Qaolin’s life miserable, the captain had no desire to further weaken his position on the ship—nor did he have any desire to make life easy for Yovang after his deception. My control over this vessel is more than an illusion, Yovang,he thought, fervently hoping that it was true.

The agent simply nodded. “As the captain wishes. I will be in my quarters if you require any assistance from Imperial Intelligence.”

Yovang left Captain Qaolin wondering if he had won a victory or simply played his role as a piece on Yovang’s game board.

He stood up. For the moment, it didn’t matter. In ten hours, there would be battle. Narrk would at last get his wish to engage the Cardassians, and Qaolin—