“But you already know what the higher‑ups will say about that theory, Archer said. “Wheres your proof?We cant change our entire defense posture based on nothing but assumptions and speculations.

Hernandez set her glass on the desktop, then moved to sit down next to Archer, who was perched on his bed. “If you were in Admiral Gardners shoes, would you have it any other way, Jon? It seems were rushing headlong toward an interstellar war, and weve only just started getting out into the galaxy in the first place.

“And the galaxy has turned out to be a much more dangerous place than any of us realized, Archer said, staring down into his nearly empty glass. On the other side of the room he could see Trips tequila bottle.

He immediately regretted having let his last few words slip out.

“You still miss him, dont you? Erika said quietly, backing away slightly, giving him some room.

He nodded silently.

“I know how close the two of you were, she said. “Commander Tucker didnt serve aboard Columbiaall that long, but I worked with him long enough to know what a good sounding board he could be. And thats something a captain needs almost as much as air and gravity. That big chair on the bridge can be a very lonely place.

Archer chuckled, but without any humor. “Especially lately. But I dont suppose either of us needs any lessons about how isolating command can be.

“No, we dont. But it does sounds as though Ineed to remind youto reach out to some of your other senior officers for guidance. Youre pretty tight with your tactical officer, Lieutenant Reed, right? And Id be willing to bet that even your Vulcan XO would be a good listener in a pinch.

He shook his head. “Theyve both been a bitpreoccupied lately.

Erika frowned then, and for a moment Archer feared she might ask why she hadnt seen either of them during the past days of repair and recovery layover that had followed the fight over Draylax. Instead, her frown softened. With a small shrug, she said, “Well, theres always Doctor Phlox.

Archer raised his glass, and some of the tequila nearly splashed out. “To Phlox. Maybe Starfleet wont post bartenders aboard our ships, but a chief medical officer is usually the next best thing.

And theres always Chef and Porthos to fall back on if Phlox ever decides to steal the other shuttlepod and pull a disappearing act of his own,he added silently as he downed a considerable fraction of what remained of his drink.

He noticed a beat later that her frown had returned with a vengeance. “Im a little worried about you, Jon. I havent seen you like this since we went rock‑climbing right after the Xindi crisis.

No more eager to discuss that topic than he was to open up to her about what was really going on with Trip, TPol, and Malcolm, he said, “You dont have to worry about me, Erika.

She folded her arms across her chest, her eyes narrowing in that familiar look of you‑cant‑kid‑a‑kidderskepticism. “Oh, good. Im glad thatssettled. Im completelyreassured now.

Archer spread both arms and one hand in a gesture of peace, nearly spilling the remnants of his drink in the process. “Sorry. Look, I just dont do the whole self‑revelation thing particularly well. Maybe TPol has been rubbing off on me.

He paused for a moment, grateful for her patience while he tried to gather his thoughts. “Its just that I came out here to explore the galaxy, he said at length. “I didnt sign up to become a soldier. Thats why I joined Starfleet and not the MACOs, for Christs sake. He raised his drink again.

She gently took the glass from his hand before he could finish emptying it. “Youre right, Jon. We shouldbe explorers and ambassadors, seeking out the things no one has ever seen before. In peace, and with open hands. And I have faith that we willdo that, one day. She offered him a wan smile. “If not our generation, then the nextone, or the one after that.

Archer looked into her dark eyes, which were as soulful and sympathetic as he remembered. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to hold her, to be held by her. But that ship had left spacedock long ago. Besides, he was a canny enough drinker to realize that the impulse might have originated in the depths of Trips bottle of Skagaran tequila.

“Im glad oneof us is still optimistic enough to hang on to a little hope, he said after the silence had stretched for a while.

Hernandez moved her hand to his shoulder, squeezing it gently. “As long as we breathe, Jonathan Archer, there will always be hope.

TWENTY‑ONE

Romulan Scoutship Drolae

A LTHOUGH THE SCOUTSHIPS DAMPING SYSTEMeffectively canceled out any noticeable inertial‑acceleration effects, Tucker found he couldnt keep his heart from lodging itself firmly in his throat. As he contemplated the velocity gauge on his copilots console, it occurred to him that he had never before traveled so fast in his life, not even aboard Enterprise.In fact, he might just have become the fastest human who ever lived.

Trip had picked up enough of the Romulan Empires dominant written language to understand the meaning of the text displayed on the speed readout before him. In his mind he pronounced the sounds that the blocky, angular Rihannsu script would make had he chosen to speak them aloud: avaihh fve ehr rhi.

Warp six point five,he thought, translating those alien sounds into English. Plasma flow is up to eight thousandkolem, with twenty‑two thousandmelakols of pressure in the intermix chamber. Damn.

Even during the Drolaes swift voyage from Romulus to Cheron, Terix had not pushed the little scoutships warp drive nearly so hard as he was doing now. Once the Cheron mission had revealed Taugus III to be the most recent known location of the Ejhoi Ormiincell responsible for Doctor Ehrehins murder and the theft of his warp‑seven data, the centurion had seemed absolutely hell‑bent on either reaching the dissidents enclave as quickly as possible or perishing in the attempt.

The little ship shuddered briefly, revealing what was probably an eddy of turbulence in the tiny, barely stable warp field that surrounded the vessel. He could only hope the unaccustomed vibrations didnt portend some impending catastrophic failure; at such high speeds, a sudden warp‑field collapse could reduce a vessel to a light‑year‑long string of vaporized debris in a matter of moments. And with the propulsion systems under so much obvious strain, the margin for error within that superluminal bubble of survival was probably too small even to measure.

“Do we really have to ride this poor beast so hard, Terix? Trip asked, taking care to keep both Alabama and Florida out of his diction.

“We have no way of knowing for certain how long the Ejhoi Ormiinwe seek will remain at the coordinates TLuadh provided, the centurion said. His gaze was focused straight ahead at the warp‑distorted vista that rushed ceaselessly, and at unimaginable speeds, toward the scoutships forward windows. “We must reach the Taugus system before they find another hiding place.

“All this speed wont do us much good if we blow ourselves clear to Erebus getting there, said Trip. “Besides, if we can generate this much speed with such a small warp core, I have to wonder why its worth taking such risks to recover the data these dissidents stole from Doctor Ehrehin in the first place.

Terix turned to face Trip and looked at him as though he was being deliberately obtuse. “Look at the readouts on this ships support systems, Cunaehr.

With a shrug, Trip did as the centurion asked. A moment later he realized that both the life‑support and structural integrity systems were redliningor rather greenlining, since the emerald‑blooded Romulans had their own unique take on which color best signified imminent danger.