“I am?” Vokar asked. “By spying on Starfleet’s testing of a first-strike weapon? By conquering a weak, inferior race like the Koltaari? Or perhaps you mean that I drove you to do this by my attempt to protect my people from a Federation starship and freighter trespassing in our space thirty years ago?”
Harriman smiled without humor. “You don’t even believe any of that yourself,” he said. “You caused this by trying to find any excuse to go to war with the Federation—by trying to provideany excuse.”
“The superior will survive,” Vokar said, as though quoting personal doctrine. “Tell me,” he said, turning away and pacing back across the cell, “where is Lieutenant Akeev? Or have you left him in the middle of the shuttle compartment?”
“He’s in another section,” Harriman said, “in another cell, paying for his crime while he’s still alive.”
“Crime?” Vokar said, whirling around to face Harriman again. “Is that why you’ve brought me here, to exact some form of retribution for crimes you imagine me to have committed?”
“I just watched you murder one of your own crew,” Harriman said.
Vokar walked back to the doorway, until he stood only centimeters from the forcefield, his cold gray eyes glaring at Harriman. “What you call murder,I call discipline. Unlike Starfleet, members of the Romulan Imperial Fleet are trained to give up their lives when duty requires that they do so.” Vokar reached up and tapped at the forcefield. Harriman did not move as a flash of blue-green buzzed through the doorway. “Is that why you’rehere now?” Vokar asked. “To see me pay for my so-called crimes?”
“No,” Harriman said simply.
Vokar said nothing, apparently waiting for an explanation. When he received none, he said, “Then why are you here?”
“Just to tell you that I’ve relieved you of your command.” Harriman held up his hand before Vokar’s face. In his fingers, he clutched the long patch of stylized starbursts that identified the Romulan Imperial Fleet rank of commanding admiral. Harriman had removed it from the neck of Vokar’s uniform.
Vokar stepped back, reeling as though he’d been struck across the face. He reached for the collar of his uniform, and found his rank missing. He said nothing for a moment, and then seemed to force an expression of nonchalance onto his face. “You have no authority to relieve me.”
Harriman shrugged. “Nevertheless,” he said, and he dropped the rank patch onto the deck. Then he turned and walked away.
It required all of Sulu’s concentration not to display the anxiety mounting within her as Enterpriseapproached Foxtrot XIII. She resisted the urge to tap the arm of the command chair, or to stand up and pace the bridge. Still in shock at the audacity of Captain Harriman’s plan, she wanted to take action as quickly as possible, see it completed, and put it in her past.
“Captain,” Linojj said from the helm, “sensors just detected a vessel in the Neutral Zone.”
“Heading in which direction?” Sulu said, careful to ask the questions she should be asking, as though she knew nothing beyond what had just been reported to her.
“Toward Federation space,” Linojj said.
“Lieutenant Tenger,” Sulu said, “can you identify the ship? Is it one of ours?”
“Scanning,” Tenger said from the tactical station. “It is a Romulan vessel, Ivarixclass…it is Tomed.”
Sulu rose and stepped forward, both playing her role and finding an outlet for her restlessness. “Open a channel,” she said.
She heard the tones of the communications station being worked behind her, and then Lieutenant Kanchumurthi said, “Channel open.”
“Romulan vessel Tomed,”she said, “this is Commander Sulu of the Starfleet vessel Enterprise.”She peered at the main viewscreen, where the stars shot by as the ship sped through Foxtrot Sector.
“There’s no response,” Kanchumurthi said.
“Enterpriseto Tomed,”Sulu tried again. “You are in violation of the Neutral Zone and heading for the Federation. You must alter your course immediately and return to Romulan space.”
“Still nothing,” Kanchumurthi said.
“Lieutenant Tenger, course and speed of the Tomed?”Sulu said.
“The ship is traveling at warp nine,” Tenger said, “on a direct heading for Foxtrot XIII.”
Linojj looked up at Sulu. “They’re going to attack,” she said in a low voice, obviously horrified. The declaration actually underscored the need for Sulu’s next order.
“Ensign Tolek,” she said, “plot an intercept course.”
“At maximum warp,” Tolek said, “we will intercept Tomedjust as it reaches the outpost.”
“Set course, maximum warp,” Sulu said. Tolek and Linojj acknowledged the order and worked their consoles. “Are there any Starfleet vessels in the vicinity?”
“Agamemnonis on patrol there,” Tenger said.
“Captain, Foxtrot Thirteen and the Agamemnonare both transmitting warning messages to the Tomed,”Kanchumurthi said. Sulu glanced over and saw the communications officer reaching up to his silver earpiece, obviously listening to the transmissions.
“Let them both know we’re on our way,” Sulu said.
“Captain,” Tenger said, “there are indications of a singularity containment failure in progress aboard Tomed.”
“If containment fails at warp…” Linojj said, but she did not need to finish her statement. Almost everybody on the bridge would know that the introduction of a quantum singularity into a warp field would have devastating results.
“A few months ago, they installed those new defenses,” Lieutenant Kanchumurthi said hopefully. “Perhaps that will be enough to protect the outpost.”
“No defense known to Starfleet could withstand such an event,” Tenger said soberly.
“What can we do?” Sulu asked, already knowing the action she would take. “Can we evacuate the outpost? Can Agamemnon?”
“We’re not close enough, “Linojj said. “And even if we were, there isn’t enough time to beam up three hundred people.”
“We can attempt to destroy Tomed,”Tenger said.
“Too risky,” Linojj said.
“What if—” Sulu started, speaking to the entire bridge crew. “Can we get close enough to transport the microsingularity off of the Tomed,out of its warp field?”
“It seems unlikely,” Tenger said. “In addition to the highly condensed matter overloading the transporter circuits, we would be attempting transport from a vessel moving at warp speed.”
“Unlikely,” Sulu said, “but not impossible.”
“It may be impossible,” Tenger said, “but a thorough analysis would be required to determine that.”
“I’m going to try,” Sulu declared. “Xintal, I’ll be in transporter room one. You have the bridge.”
“Aye, aye,” Linojj responded.
Sulu walked over to the helm and made eye contact with Linojj. “If I’m not successful,” she said, “if there isan explosion, get the Enterpriseout of here immediately.”
“Understood,” Linojj said.
Sulu headed for the turbolift. She felt extremely uncomfortable at having to deceive her crew, but she could not think about that right now. Instead, she needed to concentrate on trying to save Captain Harriman.
“Thirty seconds until launch,” Vaughn announced, reading the chronometer in a panel set into the side bulkhead. He had moved to the second row of seats in the cabin so that Commander Gravenor and Captain Harriman could take the two forward positions. The captain would pilot the shuttle, while the commander would operate the cloaking device. Vaughn’s duty would be to monitor the time and the sensors, and then to transmit a disguised signal to the retreval vessel sent by Admiral Harriman—or by Admiral Sinclair-Alexander, he supposed, if the elder Harriman was still incapacitated.
“I’m bringing the warp engines to full power,” Harriman said, working his console.
“Initiating power to the cloak,” Gravenor said.