“Captain, the Klingons learn from experience too,” Gannon said. “You can be certain General Gorkon and his crew have an equally improved understanding of how to fight a Pyotr Velikiy–class starship. And given Dauntless’s history with the Chech’Iw,provoking a hasty resumption of hostilities may be exactly what Gorkon—”
“You don’t get to lecture me on this ship’s history with Gorkon, Commander,” Reyes said coldly. “This crew has shed blood every time we’ve tangled with him, and I don’t recall youbeing there on any of those occasions.”
Sadler frowned. Kendrick and Brzezinski looked toward Reyes in surprise. So it isn’t just me,Fisher thought.
“Sir,” Gannon said, “with all due respect, this sort of situation is exactly why Starfleet Command recommended me for this assignment. My specialized training in Klingon culture—”
“—was part of a program specifically designed to produce officers who could advise starship captains during Klingon encounters,” Reyes finished for her. “All right, Gannon. What’s your recommendation?”
“Talk to them.”
Reyes stared at her. “I must have misheard you, Commander. Could you repeat that? For a second it sounded as if you suggested I open a dialogue with the ship that attacked a Federation colony.”
Instead of rising to the bait, Gannon called out, “Lieutenant Commander Brzezinski, is there any evidence to suggest the damage to the settlement was the result of Klingon ordnance?”
Brzezinski consulted her instruments before reporting, “Negative. Scans reveal no Klingon weapons signatures of any kind.”
“Is the Chech’Iwstill maintaining a nonaggressive posture?”
“Affirmative.”
Gannon turned back to Reyes. “Like you said, sir, the Klingons know we’re here. And that has to mean they know what we’re picking up on our scanners. They’re counting on this crew’s hostility toward them, especially after our . . . yourlast engagement, to make us rush to judgment. So, yes, Captain, I’m recommending we challenge the Klingons to explain their presence in Federation territory before we start shooting each other.”
Reyes’s eyes narrowed. He held her gaze while he spoke. “Ensign Jordan, are we maintaining a target lock on the Chech’Iw?”
“Aye, sir,” said the helmsman. “All banks locked on.”
“Arm photon torpedoes and target their command pod.” After Jordan acknowledged the order, Reyes said, “All right, Gannon. We’ll try it your way. But make no mistake. If Gorkon so much as twitches, I’m gonna blow him straight back to Qo’noS.”
“Mister Kendrick,” Gannon said. “Hail the Klingons. Send this message: I.K.S. Chech’Iw,this is the U.S.S. Dauntless.We are responding to a Federation distress call. You are instructed to withdraw all personnel from Azha-R7a and leave the area immediately.”
Kendrick tapped his board for several seconds, then lifted a hand to his earpiece. “Message received. They’re opening a channel.”
Fisher let out a long breath. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding it.
“On screen,” Reyes said as he returned to the center seat.
As the view of the Chech’Iwdissolved into a shot of its bridge, it surprised Fisher to see Gorkon was not the man sitting in its command chair. Whereas Gorkon was tall and lean and kept his upper lip shorn above an otherwise full beard, the robust Klingon facing the Dauntlessbridge crew sported a long goatee braided with a silver chain. “Captain Reyes. How unexpected. It seems not so long ago we watched your vessel limp away like a woundedHa’DIbaH.”
“I’m surprised you noticed through all the charged plasma you were bleeding after we perforated your starboard nacelle, Mazhtog,” Reyes said, and Fisher recognized the name as belonging to Gorkon’s executive. “But as nice as it is to reminisce, I don’t have time to waste on pissants. I want to speak to your boss.”
Mazhtog bared his teeth, and Fisher wondered how the translators had handled the insult. “General Gorkon is unavailable, Earther. And you will show proper respect to a soldier of the Empire.”
“Fine,” Reyes said. “The day I meet a Klingon worthy of the title, I’ll be sure to salute him. Until then, you’re trespassing in Federation territory and interfering with a rescue operation. You’ve got fifteen minutes to pull your people out of our colony and back the hell off. Failure to comply will be considered a hostile act and met with force.”
Mazhtog’s rictus widened into a grin. “So like a human. So arrogant.”He leaned forward, his face growing larger on the screen. “You come here prepared to attack, blind to the obvious fact that the crisis on the Arkenites’ asteroid is already under control; thatDauntless ’s assistance, solate in coming, is no longer required; and that it isyou who are trespassing here. And you dare to threaten us!”
Reyes stood up. “So that’s what this is? A land grab for your territory-hungry chancellor? Is Gorkon really stupid enough to believe I’m just going to sit back while he carries out the illegal seizure of a Federation settlement and the capture of its citizens?”
Mazhtog slowly leaned back into his chair, nodding to someone offscreen before turning his jagged smile back to Reyes. “You still fail to grasp what has happened here, Earther. We have stolen nothing. These Arkenites have given their asteroid and their allegiance to the Klingon Empire of their own free will.”
“Captain,” Brzezinski said, “the Chech’Iw’s tactical systems are coming on line! Shields up, weapons arming—”
“And we are prepared to defend them.”
3
2268
“I don’t know what went wrong,”Captain Hallie Gannon said from her log. “If I did, maybe I could have fixed it. But they aren’t even interested in talking anymore. They’ve denied permission to let anyone beam down to Kadru, and they’ve declined Commodore Reyes’s invitation to discuss their issues aboard Vanguard. Bottom line: the New Anglese told us to take a hike, and then they turned their backs to us.
“The worst thing is, there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it. Every decision they’ve made is totally within their rights. It’s their planet. They opted to go independent, and if they want as little contact with Starfleet as possible without even explaining why, we just have to live with it.”
“Computer, pause playback,” Desai ordered, making a notation on her data slate. She set down her stylus and rubbed her weary eyes, thinking she really should have allowed herself more than six hours of sleep last night.
She had wasted little time getting to work after she and Fisher boarded the Endeavour.First Officer Katherine Stano, a youthful lieutenant commander, met them as they came through the airlock, just seconds before the shipwide command came down from the bridge to seal all external hatches in final preparation for the vessel’s departure. Stano went through the standard formalities of welcoming them aboard, reviewing the facilities and services available to them during the two-day voyage to the Kadru system, and then proceeded to escort them to their individual quarters on Deck 7 of the Constitution-class starship.