“Warp‑core overloads, said Fletcher. “They must be doing it deliberately.

Damn!Hernandez thought. She focused her gaze on the panoply of gutted and still‑burning ships that now drifted across the central viewer. Several were still sustaining grievous, scorching phase‑cannon hits, courtesy of the most recently arrived Vulcan vessels.

A few moments later, the fusillades ceased; the reinforcement vessels turned, their impulse engines flaring a brilliant Doppler red as they left their victims behind.

“Im reading runaway reactor cores on allthe damaged ships now, el‑Rashad said. “Theyre going to start going off like a string of firecrackers in two, three minutes, tops.

“Of course, Hernandez said. The Romulans who must actually be piloting those ships need to cover their tracks, whatever it takes. They cant afford to risk letting us discover anything that might vindicate the Vulcans.

“Back us away, Reiko, Hernandez said, facing the helmsman. “Take us to a safe distance, best speed at impulse. Turning toward the aft com console, she added, “Sidra, keep hailing the, ah, newcomers. Let them know we could use some assistance.

The word “newcomers felt increasingly awkward in Hernandezs mouth, inasmuch as those ships had already put thousands of kilometers between their sterns and the flotilla to which theyd laid waste.

“Aye, Captain, the communications officer said. “Ive been repeating our hail ever since they arrived, but theyre still not responding. On top of that, our subspace transmitter is kind ofbalky at the moment. Maybe the Vulcans just arent receiving us.

“Theyre going to warp, Akagi said. A moment later, the retreating Vulcan vesselswhich Hernandez assumed to be the only truly genuine articles Columbiahad encountered todayvanished in a rapidly collapsing nimbus of light.

How very Vulcan of them,Hernandez thought. Theyll go to the trouble of saving your life, but they wont stick around to ask if you need any help fixing your flat tires.

“I guess we cant blame the Vulcans for not wanting to stay around to chat, Fletcher said. “After all, its got to be embarrassing as hell when your ships go rogue and start attacking your allies.

Hernandez nodded. The Vulcans must be atleast as embarrassed about this as the Klingons were when the same thing happened to them at Draylax.

Sitting pensively in her command chair, she watched the viewer, upon which each of the hostile vessels exploded like distant eruptions of ball lightning, each blast separated from the next by only a few seconds.

And hoped with all her heart that the detonations didnt symbolize the gradual self‑immolation of the Coalition of Planets.

Valerian cried out from the com station. “Captain! Im receiving something from Starfleet.

Hernandez spun her chair hard in Valerians direction. “Youve got the com system up and working again. Good work.

“Reception is still iffy, Captain, and transmitting anything is out of the question until I can get the entire com system pulled out for an overhaul, Valerian said, sounding apologetic.

“One thing at a time, Sidra, Hernandez said. “What does Starfleet have to say?

The com officer adjusted her earpiece, staring straight ahead as she concentrated, no doubt trying to focus past a great deal of static to make sense of what she was hearing. “Theres another attack just like this one in progress elsewhere in Coalition space, Captain. The target is the Earth outpost at Calder II.

Unlike Alpha Centauri, which had sizable human populations and at least somedefenses, Calder II was home only to a small, all but unprotected science station.

“Whose ships?

“Vulcan ships again, Captain.

Piloted by more Romulans, no doubt,Hernandez thought. Romulans who probably took over the very ships the Vulcan High Command assigned to discourage piracy in the Calder sector.Horror jolted her almost like an electrical shock as she projected what the attackers were almost certain to do next with their purloined fleet.

“I dont get it, Thayer said from the tactical console. “Why attack a small target like Calder II?

“Isnt it obvious, Lieutenant? said Fletcher, her ashen face telling Hernandez that her exec was thinking along exactly the same lines as her captain. “It wont take the Romulans long to wipe out a couple hundred scientists and their families. Then theyll have the whole planet to use as a beachhead for attacking Vulcan, Alpha Centauri

Hernandez interrupted. “And Earth.

ShiKahr, Vulcan

“I have just received word that the hijacked vessels attacking Alpha Centauri have all been neutralized, Minister, said Minister Kuvak, desert sunlight streaming in from behind him through the partially open office door.

TPau, first minister of the recently reconstituted global civilian government now known as the Confederacy of Vulcan, nodded a silent acknowledgment to her silver‑haired aide. She could sense from the tension in his posture that Kuvak had not yet finished delivering the latest newsand that what he had yet to report would prove even less pleasant than the tidings from Alpha Centauri.

“And what of the assault against Calder II? TPau asked as she rose from behind her simple yet gracefully curved desk. Although Calder IIs scientific outpost was primarily populated, staffed, and administered by humans, the Vulcan government had taken a strong interest in the settlement for decades.

As the lower‑ranking government minister took a moment to assemble his thoughts, TPau studiously avoided commenting upon his all‑too‑evident lack of composure.

“Starfleets forces may have arrived too late, First Minister, the middle‑aged Vulcan said a moment later. “As have ours, apparently. Early reports are sporadic, of course. But the hostiles may have already succeeded in establishing a military toehold at Calder.

Hostiles,TPau thought. It is a fine euphemism.

TPau stood stock‑still in the center of her office. The sparsely appointed stone‑veneer walls, bare but for a single minimalist meditation tapestry, now seemed somehow too busy, too stimulating to look upon as she struggled to master her own rising fear and agitation.

“Summon all the senior enriovof the High Command, she said. “And alert the entire High Assembly, as well as the Coalition Security Council.

“I shall do so at once, Kuvak said just before he disappeared through the same doorway hed used to enter the office.

TPau continued to stand alone in the rooms center, feeling a bereft sense of desolation she hadnt experienced since Syrran had died protecting Suraks katrafrom the predations of Administrator VLas, TPaus ousted predecessor.

Surak had always believed that the logic of peace transcended all other considerations. TPau, however, was becoming bitterly aware that such logic often broke down when one was beset by uncompromising, rapacious hostiles such as those who had just attacked Alpha Centauri and Calder.

Especially when those hostiles were Romulans, misguided cousins of Suraks children, bent on destroying everything that Vulcan and her allies had worked so hard to create.

FORTY‑SIX

Gamma Hydra sector

T HE MORE TIME HE SPENTon the busy bridge of Sopeks bird‑of‑prey, the warier Trip felt.

Why hasnt the bastard just tossed me into a cell?Trip thought as he ran a hand slowly over the bridge console to which the Vulcan‑Romulan double agent had posted him. Since the console was out of orderits lone functioning monitor displayed a blood‑green pictogram proclaiming that it had been closed down temporarily for diagnostics and repairTrip assumed that Sopek didnt expect him to be able to do much harm here, right out in plain sight, no less.

But why is he letting me anywhere near any of this stuff, whether its working or not? It cant be because hes decided hetrusts me all of a sudden.