Текст книги "The Sundered"
Автор книги: Andy Mangels
Соавторы: Michael Martin
Жанр:
Научная фантастика
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Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 24 страниц)
Chapter 22
Sulu was feeling weary as he and other members of the boarding party stepped down from Excelsior’swide transporter stage, then immediately scattered to attend to their various tasks. But he knew that he had to soldier on, fatigued or not. Too much was at stake.
Luckily, the next few hours went far more smoothly than he had imagined possible, which cheered him considerably. Though he still harbored no illusions that Drech’tor Joh’jym and his ever-vigilant visor Oratok were prepared as yet to embrace any initiative aimed at ending their war on the Tholians, the Neyel captain not only had decided to allow the boarding party to return to Excelsior,but he also had signed off on Sulu’s idea of exchanging engineering personnel between the two vessels.
After all, so long as both Excelsiorand the Neyel vessel remained trapped by the Tholian Assembly’s potent energy webs, both ships, both crews, both captainshad identical problems.
I just hope that Commander Azleya doesn’t talk any of those Neyel techies’ ears off,Sulu thought, sipping his still-warm tea as the turbolift deposited him on the bridge. He’d seen how distracted his gregarious chief engineer could become when guests descended upon the engine room in [259] which she took so much justifiable pride. He wondered what it would be like to have a chief engineer who spent more of her time yelling, both at subordinates and visitors.
From all the reports he’d received so far—including a scrambled subspace message from Jerdahn, who had stayed aboard Oghen’s Flameto assist the damage control parties working there—the two engineering teams seemed to be making excellent progress on a tandem escape tactic for both ships. It appeared that a modified version of Tuvok’s contingency plan—a limited disabling of the Tholian energy web by means of warp power channeled through the deflector grid—was going to prove useful after all.
With any luck, Excelsiorand the Neyel ship would both be safely across the interspatial rift before Yilskene’s fleet could do anything to stop it—and well before the deadline the Tholian admiral had given Sulu to prove that the Federation and the Neyel Hegemony were not allied against the Tholian people. Dr. Chapel had already reported that she was ready with theragen-based inoculations against the madness that close exposure to interspace was known to cause. (The Neyel were apparently far more resistant to the mind-damaging aspects of the phenomenon.) Soon, both Excelsior and the Neyel ship would escape into territory that, according to Joh’jym, was patrolled by enough Neyel ships to make Yilskene think twice about mounting a pursuit.
But Sulu still found one thing troubling: After we escape, haw can I ever convince Yilskene and the rest of the Tholian power structure that the Federation can be trusted? He’ll be more convinced than ever that we’re in bed with his enemies.
Unless, of course, a way could be found in the meantime to turn those enemies into something else entirely.
Seated at her communications console, Commander Rand responded to a silent, flashing alarm. Touching the earpiece that dangled at the right side of her head, she turned toward Sulu, a look of apprehension on her face.
[260] He sighed. He knew that things couldn’t go smoothly forever. Not with the clock steadily ticking toward Yilskene’s deadline—and Excelsior’sdestruction.
“Let me guess,” he said as Chekov relinquished the command chair to him and he seated himself. “Yilskene needs another hug.”
“Something like that, sir,” Rand said, smiling a very small smile.
Yilskene’s image appeared on the main viewer, rippled and distorted by his ship’s intensely hot atmosphere. Sulu thought that the Tholian admiral’s vaguely triangular, crystalline head looked like a sculpting student’s abstract study of the concept of outrage.
“Good afternoon, Admiral Yilskene. What can I do for you?”
“We have detected material transmissions being directed from your ship to the invader vessel,”Yilskene said without preamble.
Recalling Tuvok’s earlier warning that their transporter activity might not go undetected, Sulu decided there was no point in denying it. “We have been supplying humanitarian assistance to the Neyel crew, Admiral.”
“Then you admit to consorting with our foes?”Yilskene’s multilayered vocal chorus grew discordant as his anger escalated.
“There were many injuries and casualties aboard the Neyel ship,” Sulu said, hoping to calm the admiral with dispassionate reason. “Because of our biological similarities, we were far better equipped to render such assistance than you were.”
The port side turbolift doors hissed open, and Sulu’s eyes flicked momentarily toward the noise. He silently noted the arrival of Aidan Burgess and Lieutenant Akaar. With a grace that belied his size, Akaar silently crossed to the tactical station and began studying the displays there. The ambassador approached the railing that curved around the bridge’s lower section, her eyes riveted to the main viewer.
[261] “We are not in the habit of offering succor to those who would kill us,”Yilskene thundered from the forward screen.
Sulu kept his manner polite, but not obsequious. “We would have done the same for you, Admiral.”
“Your continued fraternization with our enemies does not inspire my confidence, Captain. I believe you are attempting a deception.”
“We’re still trapped in your energy web,” Sulu said, “We can’t go anywhere. What good would it do to try to deceive you?”
In actual fact, Sulu hadn’t lied to Yilskene at all. Dr. Chapel and a medical team hadgone aboard Joh’jym’s vessel to treat the injured. Some of the most severely debilitated Neyel patients had been transported back to Excelsiorfor more intensive treatment than the medics could provide on-site.
He’d merely neglected to mention the Neyel engineers who had come aboard Excelsior,and vice versa, to work on their mutual escape plan.
Hoping to move on to a possibly more fruitful topic, Sulu said, “Other than the safety of my ship and my crew, all I want is to find a path to peace for each of the parties involved in this situation: the Federation, the Tholian Assembly, and the Neyel Hegemony.”
“And peace is the sole reason why I am aboard this ship,” Burgess said, descending to the lower section of the bridge, to stand beside the captain’s chair. Though Sulu found her intrusion irritating, he knew he couldn’t accuse her of meddling. He had just made a diplomatic gambit, and she was the ranking diplomat aboard; he had to remind himself that hewas poaching in herterritory.
“I have a proposal to make,” she continued, still addressing Yilskene.
The Tholian regarded her in silence for a moment. Sulu wondered if the admiral was assessing how far he could trust [262] the human diplomat who had already broken with her own people’s protocols to give him beneficial information.
“I am listening,”Yilskene said.
Burgess stood ramrod straight, looking every inch the confident statesman. “I wish to set up a three-way discussion, to include you, me, and Drech’tor Joh’jym of the Neyel Hegemony Fleet Cruiser Oghen’s Flame.”
“We have attempted to initiate communication with these beings ever since our first encounter with them. They appear incapable.”
“Members of your own science caste have concluded that we humans are closely related to the Neyel. Am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“Since you and I are now conversing, Admiral, I must assume that you do not think of us as mere brutes who lack the power of speech. So why would you make the same assumption about the Neyel? Why not suppose instead that their mode of communication is simply greatly different from your own?”
“That is as may be, Ambassador. But whether they be dumb or articulate, our adversaries clearly lack the translation devices with which you communicate with us.”
Burgess nodded. “Our universal translator has gone a long way toward bridging the gulf of mistrust that has for so long separated us. I believe it can do the same for you and the Neyel.”
Yilskene moved forward, and his face grew even larger on the main viewer. “Such devices may indeed prove useful. Principally in dictating the terms of their surrender after we annex their space, destroy their warfleets, and begin Tholia-forming their worlds for colonization. Yilskene out.”
The admiral’s image vanished.
“That went better than I expected,” said Chekov, who was leaning on a railing to Sulu’s right.
“Damn,” Burgess said. “I thought I had him.”
[263] “It was a good try, Ambassador,” Sulu said.
“Not nearly good enough. Yilskene’s just as bad as Joh’jym. I’m beginning to think that the only way to get them talking is to lock the two of them in a room equipped with a universal translator.”
“And a squad of armed guards,” said Chekov. Turning to Rand, he asked, “How much time do we have left to make our case to Yilskene?”
“A little over three and a half hours,” Rand said.
Yilskene made his ultimatum more than eight hours ago,Sulu realized, his fatigue catching up with him. No wonder I feel so wiped out.
Tuvok rose from the main science station and faced Burgess. “With respect, Ambassador, perhaps it was a tactical error to remind Yilskene that he will require our assistance if he wishes to speak with the Neyel.”
She bristled. “Really?”
Tuvok seemed unaware of, or at least unfazed by, her evident anger. “Indeed. As a member of the warrior caste, his pride may be exceedingly vulnerable. I have witnessed similar reactions in numerous non-Vulcan spec—”
“I wasn’t aware that you were a credentialed expert on exopsychology, Lieutenant,” Burgess snapped, interrupting him.
He blinked at her, now seeming to comprehend the ambassador’s nettled response. “Perhaps you have helped underscore my point, Ambassador.”
“All right,” Sulu said, stepping on Burgess’s rejoinder. “Perhaps a consultation with an expert is just what we need right now.” He pushed a button on the right arm of his command chair. “Captain Sulu to Lieutenant Hopman.”
“Hopman here, Captain.” From the somewhat higher timbre of her voice, Sulu could tell that she was once again in her female phase. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to pick your brain about how to make nice with members of martial cultures.”
[264] “I gather that Yilskene still doesn’t believe that we come in peace.”
“No. And he’s liable to believe it a whole lot less once we break out of his energy web. Any thoughts?”
“I’ve spent the last few hours poring through everything the library computer has on the Tholian warrior caste. Maybe ‘making nice’ isn’t the right way to win him over. If logic won’t persuade Yilskene of our benign intentions, then a little calculated violence might do the trick better.”
“Explain.”
“For centuries, members of the Tholian warrior caste have lawfully settled disputes with a ritual that translates roughly totruthcombat.”
“Somehow I get the feeling that we’re not talking about filibustering in the government chambers.”
“That’s right, Captain. It’s an ancient form of Tholian dueling.”
“Pistols at dawn?”
“Something you’ll like even better:swords. Thetruthcombat ritual reflects the warriors’ belief that the right or wrong of any dispute can be ascertained most accurately through personal struggle. The fight is resolved when either one party yields, or when one is dead.”
That sounded pretty straightforward—and not necessarily lethal, provided Yilskene’s desire to survive trumped his anger. And provided I can beat him.
“Doyou think Yilskene might agree to make the release of Excelsiorand the Neyel vessel contingent on the outcome of this ... truthcombat?”Sulu asked.
Hopman hesitated, evidently already having surmised where his questions were headed. “I can’t say for certain, Captain. You’re not a Tholian, after all, so he might not regard you as a ‘peer’ with whom he can do lawful combat. But if hedoes accept atruthcombat challenge, he’ll be bound by both caste honor and Tholian law to abide by the results.”
[265] Akaar moved toward the center of the bridge and spoke. “Captain, I respectfully request that I be allowed to represent Excelsiorin this ritual.”
“Request denied. Excelsioris my ship, and her safety is my responsibility.”
An uncharacteristic look of concern crossed the huge Capellan’s face, but he relented. “Aye, Captain.” The words seemed to cause him physical pain, but he was too disciplined an officer to argue with direct orders.
“Captain, I can see no logic in dueling with Admiral Yilskene,” Tuvok said, evidently not quite so concerned as Akaar with protocol. “The weapons would no doubt be some variant of the monoblade which Muskene used to assassinate Ambassador Kasrene. Even a glancing blow would be lethal. Logic suggests—”
“Opinion noted, science officer.” Sulu rose from his chair and glared at the Tuvok. Though he appreciated his instincts, he did not enjoy having his orders questioned, especially right out on the bridge in front of everyone. “Now do I have to send you to Dr. Chapel to have your hearing checked?”
Tuvok’s eyes bored into Sulu like mining lasers. “No, sir,” he said, then returned to his station.
“Um, Captain?”It was Hopman’s voice, coming from the intercom on Sulu’s chair. “Not that I’m questioning your judgment, but I think you might not want to rush into this.”
Taking his seat once again, Sulu massaged his temple, which was beginning to flare with an incipient headache. “Lieutenant, there’s not much time left. My only other options are either to protect the Federation’s honor by waiting around for Yilskene to destroy us, or to damage our reputation even further by escaping into Neyel territory through interspace.
“I like the idea of a straight fight a lot better than either of those choices. Report to the bridge immediately. Sulu out.” [266] He punched a button, cutting off contact with Hopman. Then he turned his seat aftward, toward the communications station.
“Commander Rand, open a channel to the Jeb’v Tholis.”
“I accept, Captain,”Yilskene said. “I will be gratified to see this matter settled decisively.”
Exchanging a quick glance with Lieutenant Hopman, who had arrived on the bridge a few minutes earlier, Sulu tried to conceal his surprise at how little time the Tholian admiral had spent considering his challenge.
“As will I,” Sulu said.
“My compliments, Captain, for your willingness to follow the precepts of Tholian law,”Yilskene continued.
Under other circumstances, Sulu might have basked in the admiral’s compliment. But considering that he and Yilskene would shortly become embroiled in a duel that could well leave them either maimed or dead, he decided that it was far too late to concern himself with diplomatic brownie points. The next few hours would be about survival, plain and simple.
“When in Tholian space, one does as the Tholians do,” Sulu said.
“Well said, Captain. Then I trust you are aware of the privilege of the challenged. The choice of venue for ourtruthcombat is mine.”
Looking to his side, Sulu saw Hopman’s slight nod of affirmation. “I understand,” he said. “When and where?” Sulu hoped that the scheduling of the truthcombat might buy Excelsiorat least a little additional time.
“Where is here, aboard theJeb’v Tholis. When is at the expiration of my original twelve-hour deadline. Will that give you sufficient time to craft an environment suit capable of sustaining your– life processes while you are aboard my flagship?”
“Three and a half hours will be ample,” Sulu said. He was grimly aware that his skill with a blade would at least be [267] as crucial to maintaining his “life processes” as would his EV suit. He wondered how badly the suit would encumber his motions. Luckily, from what he’d observed of the Tholians, their own physiology didn’t permit them to move very quickly. Though Yilskene wouldn’t need to wear an EV suit in his own ship’s environment, the high pressure there would doubtless slow the admiral’s movements down even further.
Suddenly Chief Engineer Azleya’s pleasant voice sounded from the intercom. “Azleya to the captain.”
“Stand by, please, Commander,” Sulu said, pressing the mute button. The last thing he needed was for Azleya to let Yilskene know about their escape contingency plans.
“Then let the record reflect that thetruthcombat challenge has been lawfully given and accepted,”Yilskene said. “My communications specialist will send you the precise coordinates to program into your transporter. I will see you at the appointed time, and will furnish the weapons.
“You will be remembered long in the Tholian Assembly, Captain Sulu,”he added. “I shall see to that personally, following the destruction of your ship and the invader vessel.”And with that, he vanished from the screen, leaving a view of the Tholian colony world in his place.
“He sounds pretty confident about winning,” Sulu said. “Maybe too confident.”
Still standing at Sulu’s side, Hopman nodded. Speaking barely above a whisper, she said, “He’s not the only one, sir.”
Doesn’tanybody on this ship think I can win this?Sulu thought. Whispering also, he said, “You’ve sparred with me plenty of times, Pam. You know I can handle a blade. Why the pessimism?”
“I’m not questioning your skills, Captain. They’re world-class, and I’m not just saying that to sweet-talk you into promoting me. It’s just that you’re about to compete in a very [268] different ‘world.’ We’re not talking about the Inner Planets championship here. And a monoblade is a whole lot less forgiving than an épée.”
“Touché,”he said. “But I still have to go ahead with this. I’m committed now.”
Azleya’s quizzical voice returned to the intercom, evidently over an alternate comm channel. “Is everything all right up there, Captain?”
He pressed another button. “Sulu here, Commander. Report.”
“We’re all set down here, Captain. The tractor beam and deflector grid are powered up, andExcelsior’s shields are ready to be extended around the Neyel vessel. Once you give the word, I’ll have both ships out of the web and across the rift before Yilskene can react.”
“Acknowledged, Commander,” Sulu said, smiling. “Good work. Continue standing by, however. We’re also working on an alternate plan.” He clicked off the channel.
“Captain?” Chekov asked. “Now that we can get both Excelsiorand Oghen’s Flameto safety, there’s no need to follow through with the duel.”
“We must also consider the crew of the Neyel vessel,” Tuvok said. “Leaving their fate to be decided by the outcome of a one-on-one physical altercation may needlessly cause their deaths.”
“We can’t run now, not after I’ve made a lawfully accepted truthcombatchallenge,” Sulu said, shaking his head. “If we do that, then Yilskene will only have further reason to think the worst of us.”
“That’s not necessarily so,” Hopman said. “We won’t be in violation of the laws governing truthcombatuntil and unless you fail to show up for the contest. I found nothing in Tholian law to suggest that we couldn’t take a little side trip in the meantime.”
“Well, then,” Sulu said, heaving a sigh. “That calls for a [269] change of plans.” He looked carefully around the bridge at Chekov, Rand, Akaar, Tuvok, Hopman, Burgess, and Lojur, who was silently running the forward navigator’s station. All of them, save for Hopman, seemed visibly relieved.
That’s because Pam understands that I haven’t actuallycanceled the match. I’ve only postponed it.
Turning toward Rand, he said, “Inform Drech’tor Joh’jym that we’re nearly ready to make for the rift.”
“Aye, sir.” Her hands moved across the console with the skill of a concert pianist.
Sulu punched one of his chair’s comm buttons. “Sulu to Azleya.”
“Azleya here, sir,”the engineer said, sounding eager. “Is the word given?”
Sulu smiled at the chief engineer’s can-do demeanor. “Affirmative, Commander. Coordinate with your counterpart on Oghen’s Flame,and make for interspace as soon as you’re both ready. Alert the bridge before you hit the switch.”
We’ll be fine,Sulu thought. Just as long asExcelsior gets back here within three and a half hours.
Chapter 23
“I think that about does it,” said Lieutenant Commander Terim Azleya, grinning as she watched the flow of diagrams and numbers that scrolled continuously across her screens. Along with the data describing the output of Excelsior’swarp drive, tractor beam, and shield generators, as well as the deflector-grid throughput, she was monitoring corresponding telemetry coming via a subfrequency scramble directly from the engine room of Oghen’s Flame.
Several junior and senior engineers, including a pair of awkward-looking but surprisingly graceful Neyel, looked on, the rhythmic switching of their tails the only evidence that they might be at all nervous about what was to come. Nodding to the assembled technical personnel, the chief engineer signaled that she was at last satisfied that all was in readiness.
“Bridge,” Azleya said after touching a companel on the bulkhead. “Confirming that all is green for ‘go.’ ”
“Acknowledged, Commander,”came Sulu’s smooth bass voice in response.
A moment later, the ship lurched slightly.
Sections of one of the bulkhead suddenly looked transparent. She wondered whether the shot Chapel had given her was affecting her mind; either her eyes were playing [271] tricks on her, or else Excelsiorhad just roared straight down into the gullet of interspace.
“Admiral! They’ve vanished!” exclaimed Ruskene [the Sallow], the Officer of the Watch in the main cryoneural cluster, the command center of the Tholian Assembly Flagship Jeb’v Tholis.
Yilskene found the discordant quality of Ruskene’s voice-chorus alarming. It evoked cascades of fear colors, yet conveyed no more content than the barking of the gray savages the humans had dubbed Neyel.
“Speak intelligibly. Whathas vanished?”
The fear colors oscillated, brightening and darkening by turns. The emotional chiaroscuro was beginning to affect Yilskene’s own equanimity.
Ruskene [the Sallow] began to regain some composure. “Both of the captive vessels, Admiral. They are gone. And their disappearance coincided with momentary gaps in the energy web. Perhaps they disrupted it in some manner, and then escaped.”
Yilskene blazed in rage colors. Human deceit. The Terrans and the Neyel are indeed alike.
He decided that Captain Sulu should not have to wait any longer for his appointment with death.
“They must be heading for the rift into the OtherVoid at the system’s edge, with their invader allies,” Yilskene declared, his bodyplanes grinding against one another in outrage. “Inform the fleet. We shall mount pursuit.”
Let’s hope this works,Sulu thought.
The bridge lights dimmed as Excelsior’sdeflector grid brought the output of the mighty starship’s warp core, tractor beam, and shield generators to a sharp focus on four of the energy web’s nearest vertices. With Oghen’s Flamesecurely enfolded in both her shields and tractor beam, Excelsior[272] surged forward at high warp, suffusing the bridge with a deafening whine of labored systems and the smell of ozone.
On the main viewer, the nearest portions of the Tholian web curled away and vanished, like leaves caught in a gale. At Sulu’s order, Akaar changed the image to an aftward view, confirming that the oblate cylindrical shape of the partially repaired Oghen’s Flamewas following about ten kilometers behind Excelsior,riding on a slender beam of refulgent tractor-beam energy.
“We’re coming up on the interspatial boundary in ten seconds, Captain,” reported Lojur from the forward navigation console.
Precisely ten seconds later, Sulu experienced a brief sensation that was not unlike freefall—only the effect seemed to be confined primarily to his stomach. With merciful swiftness, the discomfort passed.
“Status report,” Sulu said, leaning forward in his command chair.
In front of him, Lojur swiveled his seat backward and met Sulu’s gaze. “Navigational monitors confirm we have entered interspace,” the Halkan said impassively. “At this velocity, we should make contact with the far terminus of the interspatial rift in approximately seventy seconds.”
From the Tholian back forty to the Small Magellanic Cloud in just over a minute,Sulu thought, sparing a moment to marvel at the feat his crew had just performed. Not bad at all.
From tactical, Akaar said, “I read positive tractor beam contact with Oghen’s Flame.Shields are holding, though they are attenuated because of their coverage of both ships.”
“Well done, people,” Sulu said, speaking to the entire bridge. He felt a surge of pride, but put it aside. The ship was by no means out of danger.
Turning his chair toward starboard aft, he addressed Tuvok and Rand simultaneously. “I want an aft sensor [273] sweep. Check for signs of pursuit. Monitor any Tholian comm traffic that might be spilling into the rift.”
“Aye, sir,” both officers said in tandem, reminding Sulu of the way the universal translator rendered Tholian speech.
Sulu pointed his chair once again toward the main viewer, which displayed an impressive hash of colorful static. He leaned forward again, resting his hand on his chin. “Clean that up for me, Rand. I want to get a good look at what’s out there.”
The static quickly rearranged itself, revealing a bland, gray expanse. They might have been flying through the interior of a storm cloud on Earth.
Then Sulu saw that the vista before him was not entirely devoid of detail. Randomly scattered dark shapes, no doubt visible only because of enhancement by Excelsior’smain computer, were becoming visible.
“Commander Lojur, increase magnification by a factor of ten,” Sulu ordered. A moment later, the dark spots became easier still to resolve against the gray background. He thought he could make out an assortment of wedge shapes, juxtaposed against long, roughly cylindrical objects. He knew at once what it was.
“It’s a graveyard of ships,” Chekov said from a secondary science station. “I’m reading dozens of Tholian and Neyel vessels. Maybe hundreds.”
“Increase viewer to full magnification,” Sulu said.
“Full mag,” said Lojur.
Almost at once, the drifting shapes of the fallen ships, a mass astrogational cemetery for two great cultures, grew even more distinct. It was a mute testament to the last several years of sustained Tholian-Neyel conflict, a war as old as the first contact between the two species.
Suddenly, amid the tumble of dead, forgotten vessels, Sulu found his eyes drawn to a still more distant, yet familiar, shape. It lay just on the ragged edge of his visual resolution, but for an instant he was utterly certain of what he’d seen.
[274] A saucer, connected by a narrow pylon to a bulbous secondary hell, from which depended a pair of graceful outboard nacelles. It betrayed no sign of light or life. For it had been wandering here, a tomb within another tomb, for three decades.
“Defiant,”he whispered, the pang of loss commingling with the exultation of discovery. For a fleeting moment, the Neyel and the Tholians were forgotten, lost in the desire to bring the long-dead starship home.
Two alarms blared almost simultaneously, from the main science and tactical stations respectively. The tumult prodded Tuvok, Chekov, and Akaar to frenetic activity.
“Two proximity alarms, Captain,” said Tuvok evenly.
“I read four Tholiàn vessels approaching us aft,” Akaar confirmed. “Yilskene must have decided to chase us.”
“Then we’d better lose him,” Sulu said. Defiant’sdrifting corpse would have to wait for another day, another ship. “What’s the other alarm about?”
Chekov hunched over a hooded scanner at the secondary science station. “It’s about what’s ahead of us. A large grouping of Neyel power signatures. More ships than I can count. Far bigger than the Tholian contingent.”
Sulu grinned at his first officer. “Whatever else Yilskene may be, he isn’t stupid. Once his sensors pick up what’s ahead of us, I don’t think he’ll be bothering us for a while.”
But he also knew that this begged a more important question: How will the Neyel react to us?
The thoughtcolors of Ruskene [the Sallow] had grown even more offensively shrill and strident. “Sensing Units have touched additional invader vessel signatures.”
“Quantity?” Yilskene asked.
“More vessels than we possess. Many more. We are far overmatched.”
Yilskene’s righteous anger became viscous and fluid, like [275] the volcanic Underrock upon which Tholia’s three great continents floated. He tried to force the colors of calm and equanimity upon himself, but had little success.
“Turn Jeb’v Tholisabout,” he said at length. “Inform the others that all vessels are to reverse course. And summon reinforcements. We will take up station once more at the rift aperture. Captain Sulu will not wish to live out his days in the remote places from which the invader infestation comes.
“ Excelsiormust return the way it came. And we will welcome it appropriately when it does.”
“Reaching the far interspace terminus ... now,” Lojur said, bracing himself against his console.
Sulu felt Excelsiorlurch again, just as during the initial passage into interspace. He watched as the gray nothingness on the screen vanished, to be replaced almost instantaneously by a far more familiar-looking starscape. But against the velvet backdrop of trackless space, the stars were more densely packed than any other region of space Sulu had ever visited.
Then he noticed that some of those stars weren’t, in fact, stars at all.
“Ships. Neyel ships.” Sulu turned to Tuvok and Chekov. “How many are there?”
“I am reading several dozen Neyel vessels, massed along the edges of interspace,” Tuvok reported, crouching over his scanner. “Long-range sensors show hundreds more in a nearby system. There’s a class-M planet there that appears to be the source of these vessels. The Neyel Hegemony must have established a substantial shipbuilding operation there.”
“Right near their side of the interspatial rift,” Chekov said, staring at the viewer’s magnified images of row upon row of armed, cylindrical vessels built along the same general lines as Oghen’s Flame.
“What better place is there for mounting a massive invasion than your mortal enemy’s backyard?” Sulu said.
