“I do have another concern, Commander,Stillwell said.

Im all alone on Romulus, the center of a hostile galactic nation‑state, a place where I dont dare trust anybody,Trip thought. What the hell is there to be concerned about beyond that?

“And whats that, sir? he said aloud.

“I have to consider the possibility that the Romulan intelligence apparatus has compromised your disguise, and is deliberately allowing you to continue to operate.

Trip frowned. “Why would they do that?

“To feed you disinformation to report back to us, of course. You must have considered the possibility that something other than good luck intervened on your behalf.

“Of course I have. I just seriously doubt that Admiral Valdore thinks Im stupid enough to fall for a gag like that. Especially when you can test at least some of the information from my mission briefing independently.

“What kind of information?Stillwell said, raising an eyebrow.

“Okay, why dont you take a close look at a detail from the written report Im about to file?

“All right, Commander. But give me the short version now.

Trip nodded. “A Romulan outpost recently observed what appeared to be an Earth Cargo Service freighter being attacked and destroyed by a Klingon battle cruiser. The attack occurred somewhere in the Gamma Hydra sector, where the ECS probably doesnt have very many ships operating at any one time. It shouldnt be too hard to check this out, or at least get confirmation if any freighters in Gamma Hydra are overdue or missing.

“My people here will run that down immediately, Commander,Stillwell said. “Ill transmit our findings via a subspace burst as soon as possible. In the meantime, let me wish you Godspeed on your mission.

“Stillwell out.

Trip continued staring into the screen for long, uncounted moments after the display had faded to black. All he could do at this point was hope that Stillwell could verify the data hed been given before the time came to embark on an extremely hazardous mission.

A mission that would be dangerous enough if it were completely on the level, rather than merely part of some hypothetical trap set for him by a wily Romulan admiral.

“I am ready to begin the next sequence of real‑time tests, Admiral, Nijil said, gesturing toward the labs central holo‑projector, which had created a free‑floating three‑dimensional representation of one of the three Klingon battle cruisers his long khaidoaof continuous effort had finally succeeded in acquiring for the illustrious Praetors fleet. “The remote‑control tactical system should be ready for practical operation very shortly thereafter, should everything go according to plan during the next round of trials.

Valdore watched the virtual ship as it slowly turned through every conceivable degree of pitch, roll, and yaw, and silently thanked all the gods of Erebus for the coming culmination of his painstaking work. Both Praetor Dderidex and First Consul TLeikha had lately been applying an uncomfortable amount of pressure on him to produce results.

They would soon see results beyond their wildest expectations. Valdore was beginning to feel sure of it, even though years of finely honing his instincts gave him a general distrust of such complacent certainties.

“Very good, Nijil, he said, nodding appreciatively at his chief technologist. “But remember, both the klivamvessels and the personnel we captured along with them are to be considered expendable should anything go wrong after we launch the attack.

“Of course, Admiral, Nijil said, fist clenched and elbow bent in a crisp salute. “I will see to it that their brutish lives are spent profitably in the defense of our Empire. And that theirs are the only identifiable fresh corpses anyone will be able to recover from the wreckage.

Soon, Earth and her Coalition partners would have all the proof they might need that the slope‑browed ahlhwho infested the Klingon Empire represented a far more imminent danger than did the Romulan Star Empire. Despite his ingrained, pragmatic aversion to wish‑fulfillment fantasies and his hesitancy to believe in best‑case scenarios, Valdore grinned as he considered what was to come.

Particularly once the Coalition weaklings set their vigilant eyes upon the wrong part of the sky and became preoccupied with the phantoms that would shortly be planted in their distracted field of view.

With a little help,he thought, from my newest loyal servant, Cunaehr.

TWELVE

Thursday, July 17, 2155 Enterprise NX‑01

A LTHOUGH SHE HAD APPEAREDon the bridge during the alpha watch just long enough to request that Captain Archer excuse her from her duties for unspecified personal reasons, TPol had really done so to show Ensign Sato that the captain had no issues with her earlier unauthorized transmissions. As she had anticipated, he had honored her request that he refrain from prying into the specifics that lay behind it. That was perhaps for the best, since TPol knew she had never mastered the fine art of lying. Misdirection seemed more credible, at least in theory, but had proved only marginally easier in practice.

Though he didnt insist on it, Archer nevertheless seemed to wish to discuss the matter further; TPol ignored the instinct that impelled her toward forthrightness and duty and walked away from him. He had already made it abundantly clear in sickbay that he had no intention of rescuing Trip, which meant that her plans simply didnt fall into line with the captains.

The feeling was odd. She had defied authority before, but usually in the service of the needs of the many. This time, however, she knew that she was acting largely to satisfy her own deeply personal needs, no matter how she might seek to justify them using arguments about the urgency of the encroaching Romulan menace.

Life calls to Life,she thought, using the immortal words of the Third Analectsof Surak to validate her all but irresistible compulsion to come to Trips aid. In doing so, she knew she was brushing aside one of the ancient Vulcan philosophers even more fundamental axioms: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.She didnt care.

Once safely within her quarters again, TPol triggered a subspace signal burst to Denak, who had signaled already during the brief time she had been on the bridge. Even with the knowledge of her transmissions shared now by Archer and Sato, TPol still took the precaution of activating the scrambling device as Denaks incoming signal announced itself with a series of beeps on her desktop computer terminal. Its preferable for them to think Im discussing personal medical issues with a doctor on Vulcan than to learn what Im really doing,she thought.

Denak appeared on the screen, his eyes tinged with green and his skin visibly ashen even across the many light‑years that separated them; he clearly had not been sleeping well. “Ive succeeded in getting you a ship, TPol, but it has not been easy. Lets just say that youve exhausted every debt Ive ever owed you.

TPol nodded slowly, acknowledging her old friends implied warning without allowing herself to appear intimidated by it. “Will the ship be capable of getting me into Romulan space?

“It can get youin, but notout, Denak said ominously. “You will need to rendezvous with this vessel using a ship of your own near the periphery of Romulan space. I presume you will not be usingEnterprise to do this.

“I feel certain that I will be able to find some kind of craft, TPol said, ignoring Denaks sarcasm as her mind quickly worked the problem of acquiring a small auxiliary craft on short notice.

“The ship I have secured for you can take both you and whatever small craft you arrive in well past the Romulan Star Empires borders. As long as you dont encounter any Romulan patrol vessels along the way, you should be fine.