“Perhaps they were the fortunate ones,” she said as she sipped from her glass. “They at least will be spared whatever fate awaits the rest of us.”
Turning in his seat, Ineti regarded her with a hard expression that Sarith frankly found intimidating. “It is unlike you to embrace such a negative attitude, even in private.”
Sarith nodded, feeling more than a bit ashamed. “Forgive me,” she offered, hoping the words sounded more convincing to her friend than they did to her own ears. “Fatigue appears to have gripped my tongue, as well.”
“When was the last time you slept?” Ineti asked.
Grunting in what she knew was inappropriate amusement, Sarith replied, “Probably the same time you did.” Glancing toward her sleeping area, the commander felt a new weight press down upon her as she regarded her still-rumpled bed. She had attempted a few dierhaworth of rest earlier in the evening, but that had proven to be a futile exercise. N’tovek’s familiar musky scent lingered within the sheets, mute testimony to the final ardent night of lovemaking they had shared. Those memories, and the knowledge that she never again would enjoy his presence and passion, had chased away any chance at sleep.
She suspected that Ineti understood what troubled her, but as usual he reserved his comments only to what was necessary to convey his concerns. “You cannot afford the luxury of allowing yourself to wallow in remorse or even loneliness. All of that must be left behind, buried, incinerated…now.”
He leaned forward in his chair until his face was less than an arm’s length from her. “More than ever, the crew requires you to be their commander and see them through this crisis.” Pausing, he cast his eyes down toward the floor before adding, “No matter how it is to end. If you cannot do that, then we may as well destroy the ship now, for without your leadership we are surely doomed.”
Despite the gravity she sensed behind her friend’s words, Sarith could not help but smile. “I can always count on you to offer a straightforward perspective, Ineti.” Such unfiltered counsel was one of the many qualities she treasured in him, not only as her second-in-command but also as her confidant and even as a means of seeking her own moral focus.
“Very well,” she said, draining her ale before rising from her chair to refill her glass. “Let us talk about our next steps. First, I want to dispatch a status message to Romulus in three dierha. Can we afford the power to generate the necessary signal strength?”
Ineti nodded. “We can, but there are other issues to consider. Without warp drive, we are unable to travel an appreciable distance from our point of transmission. We therefore risk detection in the event our communications are intercepted.”
You should have remembered that,Sarith scolded herself. As part of the procedures designed to maintain the Talon’s stealth while traveling through the Taurus Reach, communications were limited to encrypted burst transmissions executed at irregular intervals. Protocol called for the messages to be sent while in the proximity of a star, using solar radiation as a means of masking the signal’s origin point. Afterward, Sarith would order a high-warp route away from that location, minimizing the risk of detection by other ships that might be within sensor range.
Her vessel’s compromised and weakened condition made following that procedure impossible, of course.
Knowing the risk, she nevertheless had ordered a short message dispatched soon after the Talonhad sustained its damage in order to alert Command to the ship’s dire situation. It was too soon to know if the message had been received, and Sarith knew that the likelihood of receiving a response was minimal at best. Bearing that in mind, she and Ineti already had decided that once the appropriate time had passed—assuming they were still alive, of course—she would simply inform the crew that a rescue operation was under way. It was one of the few ways she could hope to maintain her people’s flagging morale.
There was also duty to consider, of course.
“We have no choice,” she said as she returned to her seat. “The Praetor must be alerted to the possible danger posed by forces in this region of the galaxy.” There was no denying that her government must be made aware of the potential threat posed by whatever as-yet-unidentified race that wielded the power to obliterate Palgrenax. Only with warning and ample time to devise strategy could the security of the empire be protected.
“That said,” she added after a moment, “our first priority is preserving our stealth, no matter the cost. The Federation must not be allowed to learn that we have struck out beyond our borders, not before the Praetor is ready to announce our presence with the proper authority.”
Rising from his chair, Ineti nodded. “Worry not, Commander. If and when the time comes, the crew and I will follow you wherever duty demands we go.”
Sarith smiled, confident in her friend’s loyalty as well as that of her crew.
The only question lingering in her mind was whether she was worthy of that allegiance.
35
“I will tolerate no more of this!”
Pushing out of his chair, his eyes wide with storied Klingon ire, Lugok lunged across the conference table, hands grasping for whichever part of Ambassador Sesrene around which he could wrap his fingers. The Tholian dodged the attack, his legs moving with uncanny speed as he skittered to his left and toward Jetanien’s end of the table.
Fearful that any damage to Sesrene’s envirosuit might compromise the delicate balance of gases comprising the ambassador’s internal atmosphere, to say nothing of exposing him and Lugok to the same, Jetanien jumped to his feet and rushed to position himself between the enraged Lugok and his quarry.
So much for progress,he mused as he leveled a withering gaze at the Klingon ambassador. After nearly thirteen hours confined within the meeting chambers, Jetanien for the first time was beginning to fear that his hopes for facilitating peace among the parties vying for interest in the Taurus Reach might well have been premature after all.
On the other hand, he seemed to be well on his way to inciting an interstellar incident the likes of which might remain unmatched throughout the remainder of his life.
“And you,”Lugok snarled, raising a massive gloved fist toward Jetanien. “You’ve done nothing but talk for hours on end, but you’ve yet to say anything I’ve found of value.”
Well,he admitted to himself, circumlocutionis one of my stronger suits.
Growling, Lugok bared his teeth as he stepped closer. “Since our first meeting, you’ve said nothing of the Federation’s plans in this sector. Do you truly expect us to believe that your sole interest in this region is colonization?” Waving a dismissive hand in Jetanien’s face, the Klingon turned to return to his seat. “Nothing you have said here today has changed any of that. How are we supposed to trust you when you operate behind a veil of secrecy?”
“ This farce has gone on far too long already,”came the Tholian’s translated vocal oscillations. “ Release us.”
“Or…defend yourself,” Lugok added, his d’k tahgappearing in his hand as if materializing from thin air.
Jetanien forced himself to remain composed in the face of the ambassador’s threat, which was to say it was an effort to refrain from laughing.
“You do not want to threaten me, Your Excellency,” he said firmly, maintaining his bearing while attempting to strike an imposing enough figure to match Lugok’s bluster. Klingons responded more favorably to confidence and even outright arrogance than to placation. It would require a deft hand in order to move past this interruption and get the meeting back on track.