Commander Teral sighed and turned to the viewscreen. It showed the Klingon battlecruiser moving in the distance. A white beam shot out from its deflector grid and anch.o.r.ed a spinning piece of debris. The beam shortened, drawing the debris towards the cruiser.

"What are the Klingons doing here?" Commander Teral asked, following his gaze.

"How do you know that is a Klingon vessel?" Spock politely asked. "Romulans also employ the D7-type battlecruiser."

"The markings indicate it is Klingon." Teral had a slight edge of scorn in her tone. "What are they doing here?"

"Perhaps the Klingons are here to obtain the information on plasma-beam weapon that has been smuggled out of Romulan territory."

Teral lifted one brow and looked at him as if she hadn't thought of that. "Interesting idea. But it has nothing to do with me."

"The Klingons would undoubtedly detain your ship if you left the Enterprise now," Spock pointed out.

"That is my concern, not yours."

Spock was not convinced. "I have located the information," he informed her.

"Oh?" she asked, surprised. "What information?"

"The data is located in a subroutine concealed within your communications processor."

Her expression eased. "Oh, that. That's not the information you want."

Spock held up one hand to stop her from turning way again. "May I ask what it is?"

"Those are my... contact files, my black files. I keep them in the subroutine in case I'm searched. But most officials don't put this much effort into it." She glanced away in exasperation. "Starfleet! Have you got nothing better to do?"

"I must request the access codes so I can examine the data," Spock told her.

"No. That is my information."

Spock stepped closer. "Nevertheless, I must examine it. The data we seek are vital."

"Not to me," she said defiantly. The black kohl encircling her eyes made her stare seem piercing.

Spock was reminded again of how fierce yet composed Romulan women could be. "I do not believe you have any choice, Commander Teral. If you do not give me the codes, I will attempt to open the subroutine without them. Whether I succeed in obtaining the data or not, Captain Kirk will then be forced to deliver you to a Starbase for further questioning."

"So now the Federation believes people are guilty until proven innocent?"

"The subroutine would seem to be evidence of your guilt," Spock pointed out.

"That's Romulan thinking, Commander Spock. I thought Vulcans were different." She looked toward Kelley guarding the door. The security chief's strong-boned face was expressionless, but the phaser hanging on her belt was clearly visible. Teral was a prisoner.

She sighed. "The contact information is extremely sensitive. I would not like it falling into the wrong hands."

"If the subroutine does not contain the data on the plasma weapon, I a.s.sure you it will be returned to you intact and uncopied."

Teral tilted her head as if judging him. "A lifetime of contacts within Romulan territory are in that subroutine. Starfleet would love to get their hands on it. You could be lying to me."

Spock ignored his sense of deja vu. The other Romulan commander had also wondered aloud if he was lying to her. That time, Spock had a.s.sured the commander he was telling the truth.

This time, he said, "You do not have to believe me, Commander Teral. Your actions will prove your innocence or guilt."

After a moment, Teral turned and picked up a padd. "Here are the access codes. As you so logically pointed out, I have no choice."

She keyed in the codes and the proper sequence for opening the data seal. Before handing it over, she said, "Mister Spock, I hold you personally responsible for my files."

Spock inclined his head, retreating to the door. Security Chief Kelley stood down from parade rest, ready to follow him out.

"And Mister Spock," Commander Teral called out behind him, "when you conclude that I don't have the information you seek, please tell your captain that I want to speak to him."

Much later, Spock turned off the diagnostic display of the data in Commander Teral's subroutine. He sat in the captain's chair on the Barataria, his fingers steepled thoughtfully as he considered his findings.

The information was exactly what Teral had claimed it would be contact information, names, places, computer codes, drop points, and verification pa.s.swords. It was detailed, organized, cross-referenced, and did indeed contain a lifetime of smuggling experience. Spock wondered what this exceptional woman could have made of herself if she had put her effort into a legitimate pursuit.

Teral had contacts within the Romulan Senate and even with those who surrounded the Praetor's administration on Romulus. Spock speculated on the possibility that Teral had blood ties with the Romulan elite. That would explain her regal bearing.

According to the numerous other contacts detailed in the database, the captain had traveled widely. Spock had not heard of some of the places she frequented, such as "Ferenginar" and "Bajor."

The information served to build a convincing picture of a captain with a fast ship serving high-level clients with peculiar tastes. One of the entries under "preferences" was for a mature Orion animal woman with blue-green skin rather than the traditional olive green. Another entry was for a biannual delivery of half a kopec of Delavian chocolates. Another standing request was for an inverse-flux spectrometer. Apparently Commander Teral specialized in hard-to-find items. Some were legal in the Federation and in the Romulan Star Empire, but more than half would be considered contraband.

Spock had run cross-checks on the subroutine as well as on the routines it was nestled among, searching for buried layers of information or subsubroutines. But there was nothing.

Spock downloaded the summary of his report. Mainly it contained negative findings on the searches that had been conducted on the Barataria. The Romulan ale was the only concrete evidence they had found. As he had promised Commander Tend, Spock did not include the data contained within the subroutine, since it was not pertinent to their primary mission.

Spock proceeded directly to the bridge, where he knew Captain Kirk would be waiting for his report.

Spock was aware that every officer on the bridge was watching him as he approached the captain. On screen was the Klingon battlecruiser, maneuvering closer to a piece of nacelle debris from the destroyed bird-of-prey.

"Did you find anything, Spock?" Kirk asked.

He didn't bother to lower his voice. "Sir, I was unable to locate the information on the plasma beam weapons."

"No?" Kirk's brow furrowed in concern. "Are you sure, Mister Spock?"

"Yes, sir." Spock clasped both hands behind his back, standing at attention near Kirk. "Commander Teral operates a small smuggling operation specializing in rare or illegal luxury items. Fifty-five bottles of Romulan ale were located inside a concealed compartment The manifest and navigational logs are consistentthe destination was an Earth Outpost in sector 7449, on the border of Federation territory."

"What about that subroutine?" Kirk asked. "Didn't you find anything in it?"

"The subroutine merely contained Commander Teral's contact information."

"She must have the weapons information ...," Kirk murmured, "that's why the Klingons are here."

Spock cleared his throat slightly. "Sir, Commander Teral has requested permission to speak with you."

Kirk acknowledged, knowing he would have to wring the information out of the Romulan himself. Kirk thought that Spock was acting strangely. Maybe it was because he hadn't found the data they were looking for... Spock was a perfectionist, so he was probably irritated by bis failure, though he would never admit it.

"You have the bridge," Kirk told Spock. But as he got out of the chair, he hesitated. 'Tell me, Spock, what do you think of Commander Teral?"

Spock stiffened slightly, as if returning to attention. "Commander Teral is a highly efficient individual."

"I understand," Kirk said, even though that was not the descriptive term that immediately leaped to his mind when he thought about Commander Teral. Kirk noticed the others were listening in curiously. "Carry on."

In the turbolift, Captain Kirk ordered, "Deck 6."

After a moment, he told the computer, "Captain's log, supplemental." He knew he couldn't wait any longer to file his log. The next dispatch would be sent to the relay soon, and he must keep Starfleet Command notified. "In spite of the fact that the Klingon battlecruiser is in the area, we've continued our salvage operation of debris from the Romulan bird-of-prey. We are conducting scans on each piece of debris, trying to locate primary components. Thus far, we've only found one important piece of debris, about the size of a communicator, that came from the plasma-flow integrator. We dropped shields to beam it on board. There was no reaction from the Klingon vessel, so we believe they did not notice the microsecond interruption, due to scanner disruptions within the sensor shadow of the Badlands. We continue with repairs and to search for the specs on the plasma-beam weapon."

Kirk signed off on his supplemental log, sending it to communications to be posted along with the others. He had postponed his log in hopes that Spock would discover the plasma-beam specs.

Their situation had not improved much in the past few hours, though the flow of sick crew members had finally stopped at forty-seven. According to reports from sickbay, the injured crew members were stabilized but still incapacitated. Nurse Chapel had confided that Dr. McCoy was finally asleep and resting comfortably.

At deck 6, Kirk nodded to the trio of security guards. Perhaps there didn't need to be so many.

"I'm here to see Commander Teral," he told the chief of security.

"Aye, sir," Kelley said.

Kirk stopped Kelley before she could manipulate the door control. "Did you scan Commander Teral for weapons?"

"Aye, sir, and Dr. McCoy gave her a bioscan."

Kirk nodded. "You can wait out here."

"Acknowledged, sir."

When the door opened, Commander Teral was sitting on the sofa under the viewscreen. One leg was tucked underneath her, and she was sitting back, her arm lying on the back of the couch. Her metal-mesh jumpsuit was open at the collar.

She slowly stood up, bringing her face out of the shadows. He hadn't taken a good look at her in the shuttle bayhe had been too busy watching her gun hand and wondering whether there were other Romulans hiding in the Barataria.

Now he could see her full lips, and the way her dark brows were so finely curved. She was different from the last Romulan woman he had encounteredthe other Romulan commander. He hadn't meant to capture that commander after he had stolen the cloaking device from her ship. But she had been in their custody until they transferred her to Starbase 12, where she was probably still waiting to be returned to her own people.

Kirk wondered if that was Spock's problem. He had apparently become quite... intimate with the Romulan commander. But Kirk knew that Spock hadn't spoken to her while she was in custody on board the Enterprise.

Teral was even more imposing than the Romulan military commander had been, quite tall and commanding, with an arrogant expression.

"Yes, Captain?" She crossed her arms. "Did you come just to have a good look at me?"

He ignored her fighting stance and grinned. "You asked to see me."

"I am waiting for an apology." Her expression was distant, as if she really didn't care whether he apologized or not.

"I'm still not convinced you're telling the truth." Kirk continued smiling, because Teral was not.

Teral glared at him for a moment longer. Then she sighed, lifting one hand as if in defeat. "I should have expected you would not admit you were in error." Suddenly she smiled back at him, as if she had been caught doing something she knew she wasn't supposed to do. "I've been trying to figure out what's going on."

"There are many things I would like to know, too," Kirk agreed. "Such as, why was that Romulan bird-of-prey chasing you?"

"Sit down, Captain," she said, gesturing to the sofa. She sat down, too, absently tucking her leg underneath her again. Only one pointed ear and the side of her face caught the light.

"Captain, I believe the Romulans were under the same impression that you are, that I was carrying the plasma-beam data."

"Explain," he demanded, leaning forward to see her eyes better in the shadows.

"I believe I was hired to be a decoy."

"Then you admit being involved in something more than smuggling Romulan ale?"

"Yes, but I didn't know it involved this."

Kirk sat back, considering this new twist. Could there possibly be another ship, and the Barataria just a decoy? "If that's true, then where is the other ship?"

"It must have been behind me, watching to see who followed me. It could be anywhere by now." Her hand turned palm up. "All I know is that I was ordered to go straight through this system while I was making a run to drop the ale. And I was paid well for it, through an anonymous contact."

"But the Klingons are here waiting for the smuggler," Kirk said.

"If you hadn't been here, I would have pa.s.sed through this system with the bird-of-prey behind me. The other ship could have easily met the Klingons."

" You have a point," Kirk admitted.

"Now they will have to set up a new contact meeting. It will take more time, but the most difficult part is over. served as decoy for the other ship to get out of Romulan territory. served as decoy for the other ship to get out of Romulan territory. am the one who almost got pulverized by a plasma beam. 7 am the one who was captured by you. They certainly got their money's worth out of me." am the one who almost got pulverized by a plasma beam. 7 am the one who was captured by you. They certainly got their money's worth out of me."

The explanation seemed airtight, but a little too convenient. He studied her faceher watchful eyes, her calculated smile. In spite of it all, he wanted to believe her.

Then a sudden realization brought him up short. Why was he so eager to give her the benefit of the doubt? He heard sincerity in her voice, in the way she moved, in the way she looked... perhaps that was it she looked like Spock, whom he trusted implicitly. His belief hi Spock's honor and integrity was so deep that it was affecting the way he felt about this woman. Many of her mannerisms, her subtle expressions, and especially her facial characteristics were similar to Spock's.

"Let me go," she told him, leaning forward to press her point. "The Klingons will give chase, and you can stay here and pick up the wreckage."

"If I let you go, the Klingons would stop you exactly as we did."

"The Barataria is a fast ship, captain. You only caught me because you ambushed me." Her voice grew harder. "It is my choice. I have already stated I will pay the fines for smuggling Romulan ale. If you do not bring further charges against me, then you must let me go-Kirk was beginning to wonder about that himself. He was bending the law quite far already, nearly to the point of unlawful detention.

But he shook his head. She had already admitted some involvement in smuggling the plasma-beam data. He couldn't let her go. Besides, if she had managed to somehow conceal the plasma-beam data, she would hand it over to the Klingons once they captured her. "I can't let you go until I have proof one way or the other. You have to give me something."

"What can I give you?" she asked, her eyes pleading. "I have only the truth to give."

They couldn't leave until then* warp drive was back on line, and he couldn't let her go to get caught by the Klingons. If she didn't have the information they sought, the Klingons wouldn't content themselves with simply scanning her.

She saw his grim expression, and realized she wasn't going to be released. She looked down at her hands in her lap as Kirk got to his feet. He couldn't see her expression.

"I'm sorry about the inconvenience," Kirk told her.

She looked up, a light glinting off her eye. "You could lessen the inconvenience by not charging me for smuggling Romulan ale," she told him. "And give me back those bottles. Then it will not be necessary for me to complain about this."

Kirk's mouth opened slightly. "That would be against Federation regulations."

"So is holding someone without informing them of the charges," she pointed out.

"That's an interesting proposition," he told her. "Can I think it over?"