It was Jarvis who demanded, "Well-what's wrong with it?"

Bosinney gulped, but held his ground. "It's the wrong power level-too low for this connection."

"That would just mean it would blow out and have to be reset," said Jarvis.

"But on this voyage," said Dare, "the Weapons Room staff have changed almost daily."

"That's right!" said Yar. "I was scheduled to two watches here, then on to auxiliary power."

"How often would that breaker go out?" Jarvis asked.

"Each time there was an overload," Bosinney replied. "It'll be in the log-" He went to the computer terminal, calling up charts and graphs that flicked by too fast for Yar to make sense of what was not her field.

"On the average," said Bosinney, "the breaker was reset every two point six days. Actually, it formed a random pattern ranging from zero point eight to five point four. And here," he indicated a low point following a spike on one of the graphs with one hand, and the Weapons Room Log entries with the other, "where it blew twice in one day, it was not while the same person was on duty."

"But how could a power loss every couple of days damage so many weapons?" Yar asked. "They're all on backup circuits."

"I think I know," said Bosinney, and began calling up more graphs. "Yes-that's it. Power fluctuations decreased the life of the storage batteries. They were partly drained until someone noticed and reset the breaker, but never fully drained and then recharged. Once or twice wouldn't hurt, but this pattern of a small drain followed by recharge occurred repeatedly. Finally it damaged the batteries, and they allowed the booster handles to discharge."

"Replace those damaged batteries," said Captain Jarvis. "Mr. Adin, how long will it take to recharge the booster handles?"

"Not more than-"

He was interrupted when warning lights began to flash.

The intercom clicked on. "Yellow alert. Unidentified vessel approaching-does not respond to hailing frequencies. Captain to the bridge, please. Yellow alert!" The voice was young and female, high-pitched with tension.

Darryl Adin and Enid Jarvis, experienced line officers, looked at one another for one moment. Dare's frown was ominous. "I do not believe in coincidence. Advise systems checks of all weaponry."

Jarvis went to the intercom. "Jarvis here. Go to red alert, shields up. Run check of all weapons systems. I'm on my way."

Before the Weapons Room door opened at the Captain's approach, the klaxon began sounding, and the flashing lights changed to red. The voice on the ship's intercom shook now, but sent out the message: "Red alert. All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. Red alert."

Then Dare was at the intercom. "Security personnel to Weapons Room." He turned to Yar. "Ensign-take the Security post on the bridge. I must decide who gets what weapons we have operational. Who's up there now?"

Yar glanced at the posted roster. "Henderson."

Dare handed her two phasers. "He's not our best shot, but he's tough and he doesn't panic. Keep him with you. You can always hide behind him, come to that."

"Dare-you can't think there's any danger of being boarded!" Yar exclaimed.

"We must prepare for any eventuality. You have your orders, Ensign."

What happened in the next hour would always have for Tasha Yar the quality of nightmare, far more so than the induced illusion of the Priam IV test. The Starbound was a small training vessel, not a battleship. Even though Dare's suspicions proved unfounded, and the external weapons worked perfectly, Starbound's armament was intended as a deterrent only for such slight dangers as were occasionally met within Federation s.p.a.ce. Despite a generation of peace and plenty, political or religious disputes still occasionally erupted into war or terrorism-although Starbound's itinerary kept her well away from disputed territories.

Then there were the smugglers of contraband-forbid something on one planet, and someone would bring it in from another. "Free traders," of course, could be found anywhere, but as they used very small, very fast ships, they could not carry armament to attack a Starfleet vessel, even a small training ship.

So, there ought to be nothing in this area of s.p.a.ce hostile to the Starbound. When they had loaded the dilithium a month ago, Starfleet Security had a.s.sured them that no one could even know about their precious cargo. But what, then, was a deep-s.p.a.ce vessel doing on an intercept course with them at warp speed, refusing to answer their requests for identification?

When Jarvis and Yar reached the bridge, the young crew were already nervous. Jarvis took the central chair, to the obvious relief of the trainee holding the position. Yar went to the Security post. Jack Henderson stepped back gladly to give her room to study the board, saying, "D'you think we should call for Mr. Adin?"

"He's busy in the Weapons Room," Yar replied. "Here-I brought yours."

He stared at it. "He thinks we might need-?"

"Be prepared," Yar replied. The board before her showed the identification request broadcast to the oncoming vessel on all frequencies, translator circuits on so that it would be picked up in virtually any language. "No response on any frequency, Captain," she reported.

On another screen, sensor readings of the oncoming vessel were displayed in three dimensions, detail increasing as the distance between them decreased.

"Their communications may be out," Jarvis said calmly. "Helm, change course to zero zero seven, mark six."

"Course locked in."

"Oncoming vessel has changed course to compensate," Yar reported as the information came up on her screens. "Still on intercept course."

"Can you identify?" the Captain asked.

"No ident.i.ty beacon," Yar replied. "Shape indicates a standard deep-s.p.a.ce vehicle, approximately three times the size of Starbound. No visible characteristics identify origin. Ms. Sethan," she said to the tiny Hemanite Science Officer, "can you get life-form readings?"

"Numerous life forms," Sethan reported. "At this distance the instruments cannot yet distinguish-"

"They're firing at us!"

The shout came from the helmsman.

"Shields up," said Captain Jarvis. "Arm photon torpedoes. Send out a distress call to any Starfleet vessel within range: Training ship Starbound under attack from unidentified vessel."

Yar got out "Message sent," just before the first shot hit them.

The ship rocked with the blow, but the shields held-for three volleys.

Starbound fired back, but its torpedoes spent themselves futilely against the attacker's shields.

"Captain," Yar reported, "they're jamming subs.p.a.ce radio!"

"Just keep sending the message, Ensign," Jarvis said calmly.

Yar left the signal on automatic. "Front starboard shield thirty-five percent functional," she advised.

"Change course," ordered the Captain. "One zero three mark seventeen, warp three. Let's see if we can outrun them."

The maneuver placed the undamaged aft shields between the Starbound and her attacker. However, the enemy ship pursued, easily matching their speed through warp four ... five ... five point eight- "Warp engine overload!" came the warning from Nichols at the Engineering console. "Bosinney, what the h.e.l.l're you-?"

"Bosinney's in the Weapons Room, sir," Yar told him.

"d.a.m.n! Get him down to nurse those engines! If anyone can get warp six out of them, he can."

By the time Yar turned, the Captain was looking at her. "Do it."

The ship shook from another blast.

"Only three torpedoes left," the helmsman reported in a frightened voice even as Yar relayed the message to send Bosinney to Engineering.

"Go, boy!" she heard Dare tell Bosinney, then his voice just a bit clearer as he turned back to the intercom, "Security armed and deployed to transporter and shuttle bay, and at least one phaser issued to each department. I'm on my way to the bridge with arms for all of you."

The Starbound was too small to have a turbolift. By the time Dare reached the bridge, Jarvis had deployed the last of the torpedoes and only the shields stood between them and the enemy.

One of Yar's screens whited out with overload. When it came back, she reported, "Aft shield out, Captain."

"Captain," reported Sethan, who had kept at her controls all this time, "I have life-form identification on the hostile ship. Copper-based blood. From size, body temperature, ship's atmosphere, and attack pattern-" she swung around in her chair, a doll-like figure p.r.o.nouncing their doom, "- they can only be Orions."

This isn't happening, thought Yar. It's another test-it has to be! Orions never come this far into Federation s.p.a.ce- But as the back of her mind tried to deny it, the foreground kept her to Starfleet efficiency. "Engineering reports damage to portside warp engine in that last blast, Captain. We're losing power."

"Losing speed," reported the helmsman. "Warp four point six. Warp four. Warp three point five ... and holding."

"Hostile ship closing!" Yar reported.

"Surrender," said Captain Jarvis.

"Captain?" Yar spoke without thinking.

Jarvis spun her chair to face Yar. "Surrender, Ensign! We've no weapons left, our engines are damaged, and our distress signal is jammed on all channels. If Orions take us alive, Starfleet has a chance to ransom us."

Yar clamped her teeth over the automatic response, If they can find us.

"Better alive," said Dare, although his thunderous expression told how much he hated to admit defeat. "Always better alive."

He was right, of course. There was only one reason for Orions to take such an incredible risk: they had to know about the dilithium. Slaves were not worth an incursion so deep into Federation territory ... which meant that the people were expendable. If they did not surrender, the Orions would simply blast the crippled Starbound to rubble, and from the remains sift out the impervious dilithium crystals.

Before she had even thought it through, Yar's reluctant hand had set the surrender signal broadcasting.

There was ... "No response!" she reported in astonishment. "Captain-they don't acknowledge our surrender!"

"What the h.e.l.l?!" demanded Dare, pushing Yar away from the Security console. He double-checked the signal. "It's broadcasting, and the visual light display is active if their jamming keeps them from picking up the radio signal. What can they want beyond surrender?"

What the Orions wanted, apparently, was to cripple the Starbound totally. They sent another barrage of torpedoes against the helpless training ship, then came alongside and boarded via a docking tube to the shuttle bay hatch. Since their surrender had not been accepted, Security and other armed personnel met them there. With only Phaser One operative they had little chance against the Orions' disruptors, phasers, and blasters.

"Dare," Yar objected as they watched the slaughter on the ship's monitor, "shouldn't we send the personnel from the transporter now that-"

"That's just what they hoped we'd do, Ensign!" he interrupted. "There they come!"

Sure enough, Orions were now transporting aboard-and the Security trainees Dare had placed in the transporter room blasted them before they were recovered enough to move. "Good work!" he told them over the intercom. "Stay there for a moment-"

"Dare!" Yar gasped, directing his attention to the viewscreen that showed the chaos in Engineering. Orions were beaming in there-obviously they had scanned the Starbound thoroughly now, since her shields were down, and did not have to aim for the transporter pad.

"Form a circle!" Dare instructed at once. Not even Captain Jarvis questioned the order, and they were all at the perimeter of the bridge when a knot of Orions appeared in the middle. With a cold smile, Dare was the first to fire, but the rest of the bridge crew were not far behind, and the boarding party fell as fast as it materialized.

For a few glorious moments, Yar thought that the crew of the Starbound might yet drive off the pirates.

But Orions were materializing everywhere now, and still coming steadily through the shuttle bay. And where they entered, they killed.

On the monitors, the bridge crew followed the progress of a contingent of Orions toward the bridge. As the enemy approached, the Starfleet members prepared. They had locked the doors to the corridor, of course, but it didn't take long for a barrage of phaser and disruptor fire to melt them away. Orions surged onto the bridge.

Sheltering behind the central consoles, the bridge crew gave a good accounting, but without full weaponry they had no chance. Henderson went down, then Captain Jarvis. Chief Engineer Nichols swore loudly as he drilled one of the Orions full center in his breastplate-but his voice cut off abruptly as another's shot took off the side of his head, blood and brains spattering Yar and Sethan.

Dare was shooting coolly, every shot counting-but for what?

Yar's phaser was discharged. She dropped it, scuttled behind the Captain's body to find the one she had dropped-and shouted "Dare-look out!" as one of the fallen Orions in the center of the bridge moved, aiming a disruptor at the Security Chief.

Dare turned, felled that Orion, but was exposed to one of those by the doors, who shot him in the back.

As her fiance fell, Yar felt something inside turn to ice. She rose to her knees, took aim at the one who had shot Dare, and drilled him through the forehead. And she kept shooting until that phaser was discharged, and she was the last of the bridge crew taken, backhanded by the Orion who finally captured her. She struck the wall, and blessed oblivion overcame her.

Tasha Yar came to in the Starbound sickbay with the worst headache of her life. She had a concussion, Dr. Trent informed her, and applied an instrument behind her ear which quickly dispensed with the headache.

But not her heartache. "Doctor-what happened?" she demanded.

"The Orions are gone," the doctor said grimly. "They took the dilithium crystals-turns out we were carrying some consignment Starfleet Command thought would be safe aboard because no one would expect it here-d.a.m.n their little bra.s.s hearts!"

"But ... they left us here?"

"Starfleet personnel don't make good slaves," the medic said bitterly. "Too strong-willed and determined."

"How many survived?" Yar asked, the scenes of slaughter returning to her reluctant memory.

"Most of the trainees, for all the good it does us."

"We're alive," Yar said, pushing out of her mind the fact that Dare was not. "We can still get back to Earth." She sat up. "Who's in command? The Captain-?"

"Dead. They killed every experienced officer except Adin and me, and since he's unconscious I guess that leaves me in command."

Yar heard only one thing in the doctor's statement. "Commander Adin's alive?! Where is he?"

"Hey-you shouldn't get up yet!" the doctor began. Then, "What the h.e.l.l-we'll all be dead in a few days anyway. Adin's over-"

Yar found Dare in one of the sickbay life-support beds, waxen pale and barely breathing. One of the nurses told her, "The setting the Orions use kills instantly if the target is the brain. But if they hit somewhere else, the person can be revived with life support-if he's worth bothering with." She looked sadly from Dare to the other patients in the same condition. "Slavers' mentality, I suppose. After twenty or thirty minutes the victim is brain-dead." A tear slipped her control. "We lost at least ten people because we didn't have support beds or personnel to save them!"

But the immediate losses were not the worst of it. Once a.s.sured that Dare would not regain consciousness for hours yet, although he would survive unimpaired, Yar set out to discover the condition of the ship. The few people moving about had been conscious to the end-and their reports were grim indeed.

The Orions had left most of the medical personnel unharmed, but it was a brutal kindness. They had removed not only the dilithium crystals from the cargo, but those from the Starbound's own warp engines-and then methodically wrecked the impulse engines, the single shuttlecraft, and the life capsules. They had also removed irreplaceable components from the subs.p.a.ce radio, so the ship could not call for help. Finally, they had gone through the severely stunned victims of their attack and shot all the officers in the head-except for the chief medical officer and two experienced nurses.

When the pirates had gone, the medics worked their hearts out to save as many lives as they possibly could ... only to learn that they had doomed them to a lingering death. With neither the warp engines nor the impulse engines operational, battery-operated life support would fail in six days-and by the time Starfleet began to wonder why Starbound was late for her next planetfall, everyone on board would be many days dead.

Yar roamed the corridors, anguishedly searching for someone-anyone- with an idea to save them. But the trainees were too stunned to think, and there were no experienced officers left to guide them.

Except Dare.

How had he survived? All Yar could remember was his being struck in the back. He had fallen forward over some others of the bridge crew. Perhaps the Orions had not turned him over to see his face or insignia. However it had happened, Yar breathed a prayer of thanks to any G.o.d who might have had a hand in saving him. Even if only so that she and he could die together.