Despite whatever misgivings she might feel about Harriman’s plan, Sulu could not prevent herself from smiling widely. “Welcome back, Captain,” she said.
“It’s good to be back,” he said, stepping down onto the deck. “I wasn’t sure they’d send you and Enterprise,but I thought they might.” Sulu understood the veiled reference; Harriman’s expectation of her involvement in the mission had come from his mentioning Iron Mike Paris to her twice. The captain hadn’t been able to reveal the highly classified details of the mission—or even its existence—to her, but he’d obviously hoped that she would come to discover it on her own. “What’s the situation?”
“The Tomedis heading for the outpost, its containment field failing,” Sulu said. “It should happen any time now.”
Harriman gestured toward the transporter console, toward the center section that housed the sensor controls. “Let’s take a look,” he said.
Sulu operated the panel at once, bringing up the sensor readings of Foxtrot XIII. Harriman walked around the console to stand beside her, and Gravenor and Vaughn descended from the platform and joined them. They had to wait less than a minute before the readings changed dramatically, numbers and measurements spelling out the unleashing of the singularity at warp, and the subsequent destruction of the outpost. Even knowing that nobody had died in the maelstrom, the vastness and speed of the destruction chilled Sulu.
She looked from Harriman to Gravenor to Vaughn. Whatever satisfaction each of them felt must have been muted by their obvious exhaustion. Noticing again Vaughn’s sling and bandages, she asked him, “Do you need a doctor?”
“I’m fine,” Vaughn said, although he did not sound particularly convinced of his own answer.
“The lieutenant probably does need a doctor,” Harriman said, “but we’ll have to treat him ourselves right now. Have you got quarters ready for us?”
“Yes,” Sulu told him. “There are three adjoining guest cabins on deck seven, all secured. I can beam the three of you there, unless you’d like me to beam you to your own quarters, Captain.”
Harriman offered a wan smile. “Much as I’d like you to, the three of us need to talk.” He walked out from behind the console and mounted the transporter platform again, followed by Gravenor and Vaughn. Sulu reset the transporter with the new coordinates. “Once we’ve beamed into guest quarters,” Harriman said, tapping at a small device attached to his belt, “we’ll reactivate our sensor veils.” As far as the Enterprisecrew were concerned, Captain Harriman was still aboard the Romulan space station, and that would have to continue to be the case. “I’m sure you know what comes next,” Harriman said.
“Yes, sir,” Sulu replied. Admiral Mentir had provided all the details of the actions she would need to take at this point.
“Then I’ll see you at Algeron, Demora,” Harriman said. “Energize.”
Sulu nodded, then reached across the console and pushed the slide buttons forward. In seconds, she stood alone in the transporter room once more. She inhaled deeply, not sure how she would get through the next few hours, the next few days. She had trained for many situations during her years in Starfleet, but not for something like this. She had trained for the reality, and not for the artifice. Still, even if only she and Captain Harriman and a handful of others knew the truth, at least nobody had actually died in the destruction of the Foxtrot Sector.
She erased the logs of two transports she had just performed. Then, knowing that she now had to finish this, Sulu steeled herself and headed back to the bridge.
Stillness filled the Enterprisebridge. Seated in the command chair, Linojj could not seem to tear her gaze from the image on the main viewscreen. In front of the ship, which now held station outside the Foxtrot Sector, space had been transformed. No, not transformed,she thought. Devastated. Ruined.
Space looked like a rumpled black cloth, tattered and frayed. It seemed somehow to have holesin it, with a strange blue-gray tone visible in clumps through them. Sensors provided evidence that the space-time continuum had been both misshapen and torn. Pockets of subspace emerged through the tears, rendering warp travel impossible in the region. Linojj doubted that any type of space travel would be feasible.
Her emotions swung like a pendulum, from profound sorrow to unspeakable rage. The unprovoked attack on Foxtrot XIII—on allthe outposts—recalled for her the initial invasion of her homeworld thirty-five years ago. And while she had lived a childhood in which the death of the innocent had been commonplace, the mass murder of four thousand people still seemed unthinkable.
“Ramesh,” Linojj said, “open a channel.”
“Commander,” Kanchumurthi responded quietly, the terrible destruction they’d just witnessed clearly affecting him. “To whom?”
Linojj heard the turbolift doors open, but she did not look over, instead keeping her eyes on the viewer, on the twisted remains of space-time. “To Starfleet Command and all Starfleet vessels in the vicinity of the Neutral Zone,” she told Kanchumurthi. “Transmit the following message. For reasons surpassing rational comprehension, the Romulan flagship Tomedhas launched a wanton attack on all Federation outposts in the Foxtrot Sector. All outposts—repeat, alloutposts—have been destroyed with all hands.” She hesitated, wondering if her level of authority would permit her to say what she had thought to say. Right now,she told herself, you command theEnterprise. By leaving her in charge of the ship, Sulu had given her the authority to take action. “The Romulan Empire has committed a heinous and cowardly act of war. All available Starfleet vessels, proceed to the Neutral Zone.” Linojj knew that a segment of the fleet traveled with battle plans specifically designed for the outbreak of war with the Romulans, including in circumstances such as an unexpected attack. “Lieutenant Commander Xintal Linojj, in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise.”
“Belay that,” a voice said. Now Linojj peered over to the turbolift doors and saw that Commander Sulu had entered the bridge, returned from her obviously unsuccessful attempt to transport Tomed’s singularity off of the ship. “Lieutenant,” Sulu said to Kanchumurthi, “broadcast the message not only to Starfleet vessels, but on all Klingon and Romulan frequencies as well.”
“Romulan?” Kanchumurthi asked.
“Yes,” Linojj said, standing from the command chair. “Unlike the Romulans, the Federation does not launch sneak attacks.”
Sulu walked over to the command chair, looking aft toward the tactical-and-communications console. “The message is from Commander Demora Sulu, in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise.”
“Yes, Captain,” Kanchumurthi said, working his panel.
Sulu turned to Linojj. “Take us to the edge of the Neutral Zone,” she said. “Maximum warp.”
“Aye,” Linojj said, and she relieved Ensign Verant at the helm. She waited for Tolek to plot their course, then took the ship to warp. On the main viewscreen, she saw the mutilated space of Foxtrot Sector sweep away to port as Enterpriseheaded for the Romulan Neutral Zone. After all of the political tensions of the past years, and amid all the desperate hopes for peace, war had finally arrived.
Beneath the red glare of alert lighting, Sulu stood beside Tenger and peered over his shoulder at the tactical display on his panel. Icons representing a sizable assemblage of Starfleet vessels extended along a red ribbon denoting the Neutral Zone. As she watched, another icon—the thirty-seventh—appeared and maneuvered to the flank of the battle group. Enterprise,the first ship to arrive, had taken point.
On the other side of the Neutral Zone, an even greater number of Romulan ships—forty-eight at last count—had taken position.