“Terix, I know we need to sneak up on these people, Trip said, grateful for the flight harness that prevented his bucking seat from ejecting him like the Romulan equivalent of a cowboy taverns mechanical bull. “But did you really have to cut it thisclose?

Seated at the pilots console to Trips left, the centurion only laughed indulgently as he pulled back on his control yoke with one hand while entering attitude corrections with the other. If he was at all concerned about Trips outburst, he showed no outward sign.

“As you have already noted more than once, we must provide our quarry with as little advance warning as possible, the Romulan said. His words were punctuated by loud bounces and vibrations as the sturdy little ships belly slammed hard into the planets rarefied upper atmosphere.

Trip attempted to draw some comfort from the clear evidence hed just seen that human pilots had no monopoly on insanity. Before today, he had never brought a ship out of warp so close to the surface of a planet. Starfleet regulations strictly prohibited such stunts except in the direst of emergencies, presumably not only because they were hard on ships, but also because they could cause untold havoc planetside. The still‑burning surface of Coridan Prime stood as a mute testament to the wisdom of those flight regs. He breathed a silent prayer of thanks that the Romulan recon vessel had not only survived the punishing high‑warp voyage all the way from Cheron to Taugus more or less intact, but had also somehow resisted being torn to molecule‑sized pieces by the stress of Terixs brutally abrupt deceleration.

Now he feared that the reallydangerous part of this mission still lay ahead.

Terix quickly leveled out the Drolaes descent as he continued to bring her down. The propulsion system gradually quieted, though its din was replaced by the nearly deafening howl of the steadily thickening nimbus of ionized atmosphere that surrounded the friction‑superheated hulls ventral surfaces. Still trading velocity for heat as it plunged ever deeper into the atmosphere, the scoutship roared across the terminator, passing very quickly from impenetrable night into a cloud‑decked but brightly illuminated dayside.

The scout punched through the bottom of the cloud deck moments later; despite the deep band of haze beneath the clouds, the planets upper mesosphere evidently admitted more than enough light to allow Trip to see that what hed thought of only moments earlier as Taugus IIIs western limb had now become its sunward horizon.

Only about fifteen kilometers of intermittently turbulent atmosphere now separated the little vessels still‑glowing hull from the planets forbidding rocky surface.

“Do you have a fix yet on the dissidents camp, Cunaehr? Terix asked, the rest of his attention completely absorbed by his buckboard‑style piloting.

Trip had already been fully engaged in trying to pinpoint their target before the centurion had asked the question. “The passive scans are giving me some ambiguous results. Im not sure its a good idea to risk tipping these people off by putting the sensors into active mode, though.

Terix nodded. “I agree. Im locking in on TLuadhs preprogrammed coordinates to make our approach. Can you handle the sensor controls?

“I think so, Trip said, though he was wary of rousing Terixs suspicions by appearing to be toofamiliar with Romulan military hardware.

“Good, said the centurion. “Continue making passive scans. Be on the lookout for any heavy concentrations of refined metals.

Trip nodded, working his console and keeping a weather eye on the passive sensors displays as the scoutship continued its rolling, bumping descent. He felt grateful that he wasnt prone to motion sickness.

An orange light flashed, followed by a column of numbers in Romulan script. Trip paused the figures and read them over twice to make absolutely sure he wasnt simply misinterpreting the alien characters to which he was still trying to become accustomed.

“This doesnt make a damned bit of sense, he murmured.

“Youve found something? Terix asked, still preoccupied with keeping the bouncing Drolaenearly level and more or less stable.

“I picked up a strong signature of paesinaehhrr,Trip said, using the Romulan word for duranium.

“Was it located at the preprogrammed coordinates?

Trip shrugged. “Im not sure. Its gone now, and the sensors werent in contact with it long enough to localize it. In fact His voice trailed off as he ran through one of the columns of figures yet again.

“Yes? Terix said, sounding somewhat irritated.

Trip looked up from his console and faced the centurion. “It might have been a reflection from an object in a low orbit around the planet.

“Another ship? Terix ventured, raising an eyebrow as he continued making his rapid approach to the surface. “An Ejhoi Ormiinvessel preparing to attack?

Spreading his hands in frustration, Trip said, “This planet has a pretty electrically active ionosphere. Maybe it was only a reflection from the surface, or a sensor ghost. Or maybe it was an orbiting surveillance drone set up by our friends down on the surface,Trip thought. An alarm system thats designed to give them just enough time to roll the welcome mat out for usand to be just small enough for us to miss on our way in.

Another light flashed on the sensor console. “There, Trip said, pointing. “Now Im getting a definitivereading of refined metals. Right at the spot where TLuadh said wed find our, ah, friends hiding out.

Terix nodded with a grunt. “Ill set us down in the rough country, there, he said, pointing at a tactical schematic displayed on one of the console readouts located conveniently between the pilot and copilot stations. “Our landing site will be only two, perhaps three matdrihfrom the dissident compound.

Thats maybe three, four klicks, tops,Trip thought after performing a quick numeric conversion in his head. Fortunately, neither the atmospheric composition nor the temperature would require either man to be burdened with heavy environmental gear during the hike to the dissident enclave. Hand‑to‑hand combat in pressure suits could be damned inconvenient.

Terix set the Drolaedown with surprising gentleness, and Trip was delighted to note that death had not begun to rain down upon them from their nearby target, or from whatever had created the orbiting ghost the sensors had thought theyd seen.

Not yet, at least.

“Can you handle a hand disruptor, Cunaehr? the centurion said as he unstrapped himself from his seat and moved immediately aft toward the weapons locker.

“I did a bit of hobby shooting back at the university, Trip said as he undid his own flight harness and followed Terix into the rear of the ship. After watching the centurion open the locker and arm himself, Trip silently accepted the heavy silver pistol that Terix handed him.

“This is the dangerous end, right? Trip said, pointing at the weapons tapered, hand‑length barrel.

Terix only scowled, then checked and holstered his own weapon before handing Trip an empty holster belt.

Again, no stun setting,Trip thought as he gave the weapon a quick once‑over, making certain that the safety was on. He hoped to hell he wouldnt have to fire one of these things in combat again anytime soon, though he knew that was probably far too much to hope for. After all, they were about to raid the stronghold of a cold‑blooded killer who had already proved he had no compunctions about killing.

Strapping on the holster belt, Trip thought, Lets hope my old friend Sopek is getting careless in his old age and left a window open for us.

TWENTY‑FIVE

Shuttlepod Two

S O FAR AS M ALCOLM R EED KNEW, the name of the aquamarine planet that turned slowly several hundred klicks below the shuttlepod had never been recorded on any Earth star chart. In fact, it was one of the farthest‑flung worlds that human eyes had ever beheld.