While there was no way to know for certain whether the new offensive system would work perfectly in actual use, the tests thus far had given Nijil every confidence that the fleet would experience no significant problems with it.

Which meant that there was only one thing Nijil could afford to say. “It is ready, Admiral. The Coalition vessels we have just acquired with the system will provide all the cover we need, in addition to illustrating the need to apply the telecapture technology more generally against all our adversaries.

Nijil was aware, of course, that the enemy ships the fleet had taken most recently hewed to the same general technological principles as did the Romulan fleet. But he also had the good sense to avoid mentioning that fact to Valdore, who was obviously in a mood to hear answers that were as positive as they were unequivocal.

Valdore nodded his acknowledgment, looking well pleased. “Good, Nijil. Outstanding.

The scientist was well acquainted with Valdores moods when he was notpleased. Indeed, he had encountered the mans disruptor‑like glare just this morning, after another subordinate had failed to discover anything new about Centurion Terixs apparently failed mission to recover the avaihh lli vastamstardrive data the Ejhoi Ormiinassassins had stolen from the late Ehrehins labradicals who had paid Nijil rather handsomely in exchange for his giving them access to the late scientist.

Nijil rejoiced at the fact that hewasnt among those who had to deal with the admirals bad side. At least, not recently.

The admiral continued, “Our advance forces will mobilize just as soon as you finish verifying the installation and calibration of the attack fleets telecapture units.

“My people can complete the last of the settling‑in adjustments in an eisae,Nijil said, nodding. “Perhaps less. I only wish we were able to produce and install more than two telecapture units per squadron in the time allotted.

“Two per squadron will suffice, Nijil. A broad smile spread across Valdores face. It was a rare sight, and a welcome one. “The fleet will move against the Isneih and Seichi systems, right on schedule.

Nijil nodded. From those beachheads, the Romulan fleet would face few serious impediments to its ultimate goals, provided it maintained the advantage of surprise. Even if the Coalition were to discover prematurely what was coming, they could do little to keep the point of the Empires spear from reaching the worlds that constituted the very beating heart of the Coalition of Planets.

The alien lloannmhrahelwho populated the vast regions of space that lay beyond the Avrrhinul outmarches that marked the Empires present‑day borders would no longer be safe, assuming all went well as the very near future began to unfold. Not even ancient, ruddy ThhaeiVulcanitself could stand for very long against Romuluss most glorious onslaught in recent memory.

“I have more news for you, Admiral, Nijil said.

The admiral raised an eyebrow.

Scarcely able to contain his excitement, Nijil began to explain the warp‑speed breakthrough his theoretical people had just stumbled upon. “The technology division may very soon render Centurion Terixs mission moot.

THIRTY‑SIX

Romulan Scoutship Drolae Near Romulus

A S THE OVERSTRAINED LITTLE SHIPobediently transitioned from nearly warp six to a relatively sluggish warp two, Trip breathed a new prayer of thanks to any deity who might be monitoring such things anywhere in the vast empty spaces between Romulus and Earth. He was grateful not only that the vessel around him had successfully endured yet another brutal bout of rapid acceleration and decelerationnot to mention the sustained hard use it had suffered in between those extremesbut also for the simple fact that, as one of Trips automotive‑engineer ancestors might have put it, Centurion Terix had apparently left his keys in the scout vessels ignition, so to speak.

That simple, unaccountable fact also proved to be a source of nagging disquiet from the moment Trip had left the Taugus system until now, when Romulus was already becoming visible on the long‑range sensors as a small but brightly shining cerulean bauble, locked in a perpetual gravitational dance with the ruddy wasteland of Remus, an ugly, blotchy orb that appeared to be perched on the blue planets shoulder like some grimly vigilant gargoyle.

Despite his relatively trouble‑free passage to Romulus thus far, Trip still continued to worry that Terix had set some sort of elaborate trap for himone whose jaws still had yet to spring shut on him. Talk about paranoid,he thought. All Terix had to do was rig the warp core to lose containment once I started accessing the helm station. He really didnt need to set any traps more complicated than that.

But he still had his nagging doubts. For one thing, it just wasnt like Terix, a man who clearly did not give his trust easily, to be so sloppy. But not only had the Scoutship Drolaeapparently notbeen rigged to explode in the absence of a special surreptitious abort code, the sturdy little vessels com system had actually allowed him to maintain constant surveillance over the subspace frequencies being used by the Romulan fleet, apparently thanks to Terixs simple failure to log off of the com console just prior to disembarking for the Taugus raid.

But most fortunate of allnot to mention most suspicious of allwas the fact that this blunder had left Trip with access to many of the fleets highest‑security channels.

As he initiated his sublight approach to the steadily growing sapphire planet, rehearsing the verbal report he would make to Valdore all the way, some of the chatter he was hearing on the secure com channels began to both intrigue and frighten him. For starters, the Romulan fleets technology division appeared to have just made an unspecified but apparently significant breakthrough in following up on the late Doctor Ehrehins warp‑seven stardrive research.

Trip wasnt at all sure what that meantlet alone how they had managed it without Ehrehinif the news turned out to be anything other than a hopeful rumor. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later,he thought. After all, somebody else would have built the first airplane back in the early twentieth century if Orville and Wilbur had decided to throw in the towel early.

The other messages he intercepted soon afterward began to chill him to the depths of his soul. Disciplined‑sounding voices familiar to anyone with military training, regardless of language, had begun speaking in clipped, determined phrases of fleet movements. Largefleet movements, which were being discussed only on what Trip had identified as the highest‑security channels to which he had access. All of the fleet movements were apparently covert.

And all of them were headed away from Romulan space, proceeding in the general direction of the core Coalition worlds.

Two specific destinations, which he assumed were Romulan place names for Coalition locations, had already recurred frequently enough to draw Trips attention. Isneih, Seichi.He hadnt heard either name before, so he couldnt translate them readily into their English equivalents. But he imagined those places wouldnt be hard to locate using the data files on the Drolaes nav computer. After activating the autopilot, he immediately set about doing just that.

Isneih. A supermassive white star located about nineteen light‑years from another marker, which Trip had already designated as Earths solar system.

Trips heart raced as he compared his own mental star map to the one displayed on the nav console. The Calder system,he thought, his spine chilled as though suddenly exposed to a total vacuum. Thats getting a little too close to Andoria and Vulcan for comfort.