FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY-ONE
EPILOGUE ONE
EPILOGUE TWO
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
HISTORIANS NOTE
This story is set in the middle of 2155, shortly after the founding of the Coalition of Planets ( Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Good That Men Do). The fledgling Coalition was born out of the actions of Earths Starfleet, who brokered several treaties between the founding members, proving that Earth was ready to join the interstellar community (the fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise).
PROLOGUE
The Year of Kahless 781 The Klingon-Romulan border
Y A V ANG , H O Dof the Imperial Klingon Battle Cruiser SImyoH,studied the main viewer in silence, watching with fatalistic equanimity as the winged specter of death stalked ever closer.
RomuluSngan, YaVang thought, nearly overwhelmed by his feelings of contempt. Cowards, accomplishing by sabotage and ambush what they never could through honorable combat.Given the improbable pattern of malfunctions that had cascaded through virtually every system aboard the SImyoHover the past kilaan,those green-blooded HaDIbaHcould only be testing some subtle new weapon of wara weapon that appeared to leave its targets essentially whole, yet largely nonfunctional.
YaVang was therefore unsurprised when the other vessel came to a sudden relative stop off the SImyoHs starboard bow, scarcely a thousand qelIqams distant. Despite the swirling emerald-and-ocher-tinged eddies that marked the boundaries of the SuDengNebula, YaVang could see that the hostiles weapons tubes were still hot. What remained of his own crippled vessels tactical systems could detect no sign that the other ship was attempting to establish another weapons lock.
If only as much remained ofour weapons systems,YaVang thought, his fists clenching involuntarily as the moment stretched into a seeming eternity.
“Why arent the RomuluSnganfinishing us off? asked Qrad, the callow young gunnery officer who had just taken over the duties of the SImyoHs first officer, RawI Qeq, whose corpse had recently joined the many others that still lay scattered about the smoke-filled, ozone-redolent command deck. Despite his disconcertingly smooth forehead and his lowly enlisted rank of bekk,Qrad had commendably risen to the occasion this day.
Using the back of his gauntleted hand to wipe away a crust of congealing blood from the crisped flesh of his chin, the HoDsquinted into the main viewer. Though the attenuated cloud of gas and dust that marked the SuDengNebulas ragged edge obscured portions of the hostile vessel, there could be no mistaking the dark, threatening markings that adorned her nearly flat belly. They were the shameful stigma of a lowly carrion-eater rather than the proud striations of an honor-worthy predator.
“Isnt it obvious by now, Qrad? YaVang growled. “Those petaQwant to take this ship.
“But they have not yet boarded us, Qrad said as he consulted the readout on a slightly charred nearby console. “Our intruder alert system still functions well enough to confirm at least thatmuch.
YaVang nodded, grateful that not every sensor system aboard his damaged vessel had suffered the same fate as the now-defunct autodestruct mechanism. Dealing with this treacherous adversary would have been much simpler were it still possible to blow up the SImyoHwith a single command. Or even to manually trigger an abrupt explosive release of the warp drives supplies of antimatter. Unfortunately, Chief Engineer Hojlach had jettisoned the entire supply of fuelstocks in the interests of safety after the SImyoHhad been essentially crippled by the cowardly RomuluSnganambush.
The overly cautious engineers corpse was presently tumbling through the void, following roughly the same trajectory as the precious supplies of positive Hapand negative rughparticles that he had squandered.
“Those RomuluSngan taHqeqneed not board us in order to triumph, Qrad, YaVang said. “At least, not before our life-support system fails entirely and the cold of space claims everyone aboard this ship who yet lives. He paused, peering toward the com consoles. “Are they still jamming our communications?
“They are, sir, Qrad said, his bizarrely Terangan-like brow wrinkling in barely contained frustration. “They must expect to simply bide their time and wait us out. They will win a cowards victory, and we can do nothing to prevent it.
An idea occurred to YaVang at that moment, like a thunderbolt hurled by one of the long-ago slain gods of QonoS.
“Perhaps, Qrad, he said. “But we need not make it easy for them.
Even though the SImyoHs artificial gravity had gasped its last shortly after both her main and backup life-support systems had flickered out, YaVangs combat pressure suitnow home to the only thing that still breathed aboard his vesselseemed to grow heavier and more oppressive with each passing kilaan. YaVang struggled with mixed success to avoid thinking about his asphyxiated crew, some of whom had expired in hard vacuum, the one foe that no Klingon warrior could hope to best by the batlethalone.
YaVang felt certain that he already would have joined his officers and men in death but for the dying Qrads persuasive argument that the SImyoHs commander had to remain behindaliveto surprise the RomuluSnganwhen their boarding party finally came to call in person. He clung to no illusory hopes of escape or of overcoming his enemies superior numbers. But he hoped, at least, to fall in honorable battle rather than meeting death like a spring bregitin some fetid, fear-redolent abattoir while his foes quietly bided their time and waited him out. Only by forcing deaths hand could he hope to redeem his fallen crew members, all of whom had died as a consequence of perfidy rather than of battle wounds; they deserved seats in Sto-Vo-Korat the right hand of Kahless nonetheless.
And, more important, he might yet succeed in keeping his ship out of RomuluSnganhands. Failing that, he could at least make their acquisition of a Klingon battle cruiser a very expensive proposition by taking as many of the fatherless bIHnuchwith him when death finally claimed him.