As he inched forward toward the edge of a storage cabinet, Trips hand brushed against a padd that hed evidently knocked to the floor when hed tackled Ehrehin. He picked it up and felt its reassuring heft. It was solid, square, and not too badly balanced. Taking care to remain silent, Trip rose to a crouch, clutching the little device nearly hard enough to shatter it.

More motion, this time coming from the right side in his peripheral vision. Without thinking, he turned and hurled the padd with every ounce of strength he could muster. Moving from a crouch to a full run, he wasted no time chasing the object hed thrown, shouting as he executed a flying tackle on the source of the movement.

He landed hard and found himself lying directly atop a supine humanoid bodyone that was very much alive and struggling. As he tried to grab and restrain his assailants wrists, he realized his adversary was female.

And as strong as the proverbial ox.

The Romulan woman sat up abruptly in spite of his strenuous attempt to pin her shoulders to the floor, and forced him relentlessly sideways and onto his back. Hot liquid dripped from her face onto his. He realized it was most likely blood; the missile hed thrown must have split her lip open, or perhaps clipped her in some other part of the head or face. Just nowhere near hard enough,he thought as she kept pushing him steadily backward and downward in spite of his best efforts to push in the opposite direction.

The rooms scant illumination gleamed at the threshold of visibility against the disruptor pistol she still clutched in her right handand whose barrel he saw she was trying to point directly at his head. His arms trembled with exertion as he tried to push back against her and keep the weapon away, succeeding only in slowing its inexorable progress toward him. He remembered his bureau colleague, a deep cover field agent named Tinh Hoc Phuong, whod been killed elsewhere in Romulan space by a blast from a nearly identical weapon. He forced that horrific recollection aside with an absurd transient thought about TPol, and how much fun an encounter like this might be in an entirely different context. If, that is, he ever got to see her again.

Trip felt as though he were in an arm‑wrestling contest with a piece of farm machinery. His biceps, triceps, and forearms quivered as fatigue toxins began to accumulate in his tissues. He knew he was getting tired out. And that she wasnt. Though he probably outweighed her by more than a few kilos, she nevertheless seemed to be at least marginally stronger than he was, no matter how much effort he expended. And in terms of endurance she appeared to have him flat‑out beaten. He was uncomfortably aware that even the most marginal advantage in a contest like this could end it quickly and decisively in favor of the least exhausted opponent.

Unless he changed the rules of the game, and damned quickly.

A number of small, hard objects clattered to the labs floor, presumably after having fallen from some pocket in the womans dark, formfitting garment. Taking full advantage of the momentary distraction, Trip suddenly stopped resisting her efforts to push him backward. Her disruptor hand swung directly toward Trips face, overshooting it before she could press the trigger even as both combatants abruptly crashed to the floor.

He exploited her surprised state further by delivering a savage head butt. She dropped her weapon, though he couldnt immediately see where it had fallen. He breathed a silent “thank you to Adigeon Primes avian plastic surgeons for the durable cranial implants theyd installed in his forehead when theyd altered his appearance to enable him to pass as a Romulan.

The woman shook her head, dazed, but nevertheless tried to get her feet back under her. Rising to a crouch, Trip responded with a rabbit punch and a hard right cross in rapid succession, both of which landed squarely upon the Romulan womans face.

She fell back to the floor hard, apparently unconscious.

Trip knelt to feel about on the floor for the womans fallen disruptor, but found only a handful of data chips, apparently the objects she had dropped just before losing her weapon.

These two didnt come here just to kill Ehrehin,he thought, realization dawning on him. They wanted to steal Ehrehins files after getting rid of us.

But there was no time at the moment to consider their assailants motivations, or on whose behalf they might be acting. He groped about the dark floor for a few agonizingly long moments until he found the assassins pistol, which he immediately snatched up and brought before him in a two‑handed combat grip.

The other one isnt on top of me already,Trip thought. Which has to mean that hedoesnt have night‑sight gear, same as his partner.

Which also meant that these people most likely werent career military personnel. They were acting on behalf of passion or politics, or perhaps simple greed.

Trip heard the sibilance of another disruptor blast, accompanied by a momentary nimbus of light that originated from the opposite side of the room. He caught sight of the shooters silhouette and took aim just as another searing bolt of energy tore through the cabinet beside him, reducing it to a collapsing heap of burning shards. He hit the floor in a diving shoulder roll, hanging on to the disruptor pistol like the precious lifeline it had become. He rolled up into a crouch and kicked over one of the worktables before him, sending a computer terminal and several stacks of paper flying. He immediately opened fire from behind the cover hed just created.

Trips weapon illuminated the room just long enough to confirm that he had indeed hit his target, taking the shooter full in the chest. He ran to a control pad that was mounted on a nearby wall and quickly activated the labs emergency backup lights.

A voice croaked weakly from somewhere behind him, down low. “Cunaehr.

“Sit tight, Doctor, Trip said as he hastened to disarm both attackers, confirming their condition in the process. The man hed just shot sported a disruptor burn that had thoroughly cooked every organ in his chest, killing him instantly. Damn these bastards for not believing in the “stun setting,he thought, not for the first time since his arrival in Romulan space. Although he knew full well that the gunman had left him little choice, he nevertheless couldnt deny the guilt he felt in situations like this one.

The woman, however, was only unconscious, not dead.

“Cunaehr, Ehrehin repeated, far more weakly this time. Trip rushed to the old mans side.

“Youre going to be all right, Doctor, Trip said as he knelt on the debris‑littered floor not far from the spot where hed left Ehrehin. He blanched as he noted that the old man was anything butall right, but he did his best not to display his feelings of shock and fear.

“Im sorry, Cunaehr, Ehrehin said, wincing as he cradled the badly burned right side of his torso. “Im afraid I didnt follow your advice about staying down. I got up to trigger the silent security alarm.

Trip tucked the disruptor into his belt. Very gently, he helped the old man into a more comfortable‑looking, half‑reclined position up against the leg of one of the lab tables. Ehrehins charred tunic was stained emerald with blood.

“Ill call for the medics, Doctor, Trip said, rising to his feet.

“Theyll never get here in time, Ehrehin said, shaking his head and coughing. Sea‑green froth bubbled at his lips. “Promise me something, Cunaehr.

Trip knelt again beside the old man and took his frail hand in a gentle two‑handed grip. “Anything.

“Dont let Valdore finish this project.

Tears stung Trips eyes. “Of course.

“And you cant let the Ejhoi Ormiinhave it, either.

Trip frowned. The Ejhoi Ormiinwas the Romulan dissident group from which Trip had recently helped rescue Ehrehin. Phuong had died on that mission. The Ejhoi Ormiinwanted to prevent Admiral Valdore from indulging in his imperial ambitions by stealing the warp‑seven drive project that Ehrehin had undertaken on behalf of the Romulan military.