ROBERT DESOTO WAS NOT LOOKING forward to this impending conversation.

About two hours after Tuvok left, he had put in a formal request to Starfleet Command to enter the Demilitarized Zone. He then awaited the call back from Admiral Nechayev denying the request. All according to plan. If Tuvok was able to find the artifact, or if the artifact made its presence known in some more overt manner, the plan might change, but for now Tuvok needed a clear path to get on the Maquis's good side.

Instead, Nechayev's small face with its even smaller features appeared on the screen on the desk of his ready room and informed him that she needed to get back to him, and she would contact him again in one hour on a secure channel, along with Gul Evek.

Voyskunsky had been in the ready room with him when Nechayev's call came in. She frowned. "That wasn't part of the plan, was it?"

DeSoto shook his head. "What's the old saying? The plan of action is usually abandoned three minutes into the mission?"

"Something like that, though my experience says that estimate is often generous."

Smiling, DeSoto said, "Obviously the board has changed shape somewhat."

The captain decided to take the second call alone in the observation lounge. A secure channel from Alynna Nechayev meant captain's eyes only-he'd judge afterward how much Voyskunsky needed to know, though his instinct would be all of it. It was never a good idea for a captain to have to keep things from his first officer.

The more s.p.a.cious observation lounge, with its viewscreen on one of the walls, gave DeSoto more room to walk around, which he had a feeling he was going to need. Since this promised to be a long talk-Evek and Nechayev both were overly fond of the sounds of their respective voices-he wanted room to move to disguise the fidgeting.

One hour and twenty-five minutes after Nechayev said she'd get back in touch in an hour, Dayrit said, "Incoming transmission from the U.S.S. Nimitz. It's Admiral Nechayev-priority alpha."

Voyskunsky grinned toothily. "Nice to know that the admiralty's reputation for promptness remains nonexistent."

Merely rolling his eyes in reply, DeSoto got up from the command chair. "Pipe it through to the observation lounge, Manolet, and make sure it's secure on our end, too. You have the bridge, Dina."

Still grinning, Voyskunsky said, "All our hopes and dreams go with you, sir."

DeSoto snorted. "That makes it all worthwhile."

As soon as he arrived in the observation lounge, DeSoto activated the viewscreen. It revealed a split screen, with Admiral Nechayev's pinched features on the left and the rectangular head of Gul Evek on the right.

"Thank you for waiting, Captain," Nechayev said.

DeSoto came within a hair of saying something offhand about needing the nap, but with Evek on the line, he needed to present the front of the outraged ship captain who'd lost an officer to the Maquis. "I didn't have much choice, Admiral."

"I understand. But I hope you understand that this is a delicate matter-even more delicate than you might realize. Captain Robert DeSoto, may I present Gul Evek of the Sixth Order."

"From what Admiral Nechayev tells me, Captain," Evek said without any kind of preamble, "the catastrophe on Nramia relates to this artifact of yours."

DeSoto's head swam. Technically, he wasn't supposed to know anything about an artifact, since Tuvok's cover story had the information wiped from the Hood' s sensor logs. Conveniently, he also had no idea what Nramia was or what manner of catastrophe was involved. So his confusion was genuine when he said, "Excuse me?"

"My apologies," Evek said, sounding completely unapologetic. "I had a.s.sumed the admiral briefed you."

"That was the purpose of this call," Nechayev said primly. "Captain, it seems that another one of the Malkus Artifacts has surfaced. You're familiar with them, of course."

"Of course," DeSoto said.

"Apparently, the Maquis have discovered a third artifact. And it's capable-"

Evek shifted in his seat. "It's capable of destroying a planet, Captain. Right now, my entire fleet is engaged in rescue operations to evacuate Nramia because your terrorist friends warped the weather patterns sufficiently to make it uninhabitable. I can a.s.sure you, our response will be appropriate."

Nechayev said quickly, "They're not our 'friends,' Gul Evek."

"Not hardly," DeSoto said, trying to sound bitter. "They abandoned Federation citizenship. Admiral, I've already requested permission to enter the DMZ to pursue Lieutenant Tuvok. If a Malkus Artifact is in Maquis hands, that's two reasons. General Order 16 is very clear on the subject."

Before Nechayev could speak, Evek said, "The general orders of Starfleet are of little interest to Central Command, Captain. What we want is revenge for the indignities-"

"What you want is to escalate the situation," DeSoto said, "and start a war."

"You surprise me, Captain. The Maquis declared war on us when they blew up the Bok'Nor at Deep s.p.a.ce 9 months ago. It will end when they're all dead."

DeSoto didn't like the direction this conversation was taking. "Admiral-"

"Don't worry, Captain," Nechayev said quickly. "We don't plan to escalate this situation. Right now, I think it's in the best interests of both Central Command and Starfleet to send one ship from each fleet into the zone to try to locate the Malkus Artifact and confiscate it."

"I don't agree," Evek said sharply, then softened. "But I have been overridden. The Vetar will join you in the Demilitarized Zone in three days, once we have finished overseeing the evacuation of Nramia."

"Gee, Evek, I thought you were in a rush to get revenge." Despite DeSoto's tone, he was glad to see that the Carda.s.sian was putting saving the lives of those on Nramia over vengeance. That kind of att.i.tude was the only way there was to be any hope of peace along the Carda.s.sian/Federation border right now.

"I think we all agree that safeguarding lives is of utmost importance," Nechayev said before Evek could respond.

"Bridge to Captain." That was Voyskunsky's voice.

"Hold on a second, please, Admiral, Gul." DeSoto then muted the video and audio feed to Evek. Nechayev's face now took up the entire viewscreen. "Go ahead, Dina."

"Captain, we've reacquired the emissions from the Malkus Artifact." Now DeSoto was glad he'd muted Evek. The use of the word "reacquired" would not have jibed with the cover story they'd given the Carda.s.sians. "It's in motion, heading for the Slaybis system."

DeSoto turned to Nechayev's image with a questioning look. "Why do I know that name?"

"There are two Cla.s.s-M planets in that system. One is a Carda.s.sian colony. The other is a human colony." Nechayev hesitated.

"Slaybis IV," DeSoto said, finally putting it together with a Starfleet Intelligence dispatch that he and Voyskunsky had read as part of their briefing prior to being posted to the Carda.s.sian border. For that matter, they had shared the contents of that briefing with Tuvok prior to his departure. "SI has an operative there, doesn't it?"

Nechayev nodded. "Obviously, this information should not be shared with Gul Evek."

"Yeah, but the artifact going to Slaybis should. This might be just what we need to give him a kick in the tail." He brought Evek back up on the screen. "Gul, that was my bridge. They've detected a signal that matches the records of the Malkus Artifact-and it's heading for the Slaybis system. I believe there's a Carda.s.sian colony on the second planet?"

Evek spoke with a sarcastic disdain. "After a fashion. The colonists on Slaybis are a group of fanatics, Captain. Cultists who think that technology has ruined their lives. They flew to Slaybis in a s.p.a.ceship that they proceeded to dismantle and now live a peaceful, agrarian lifestyle unsullied by the evils of replicators and other such equipment." Evek hesitated. "Captain, do you mean to tell me that those murderers of yours are headed for Slaybis II?"

"We don't know where they're headed, just that they're on course for that star system."

"They're not even a formal part of the Carda.s.sian Union! They've rejected any form of aid from the government-it's funded by a few rich eccentrics." Evek spoke in a tone of voice that told exactly what he thought of oddball projects funded by wealthy civilians.

"That makes it less likely to be a target, if there's no military value," DeSoto said. "Of course, there's a human colony there, too."

"I think we can safely rule out a Maquis attack on a human colony, Captain. If the Maquis are targeting a completely unmilitary-one might even say anti military-target, then-"

DeSoto saw an opening. "Then, Gul Evek, we need to go in now. We can't afford to wait three days for you to finish your evac. Let the Hood go to Slaybis-we can be there within twenty-four hours."

Until this moment, DeSoto had never seen a Carda.s.sian grit his teeth. It was not a pretty sight. "Captain, the term 'demilitarized zone' means a zone with no military. The treaty-"

"-can be flexible up to a point," Nechayev said.

"We cannot allow a Starfleet presence in the zone without an equivalent Central Command presence." Evek's words were sure, but his tone was weakening. DeSoto tried not to smile. His white pieces were surrounding Evek's black ones oh so slowly but surely.

"What if we promise to share all intelligence we gather on the Maquis?" Nechayev said.

Evek leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "What a.s.surances do I have that you'll share all your data gathered?"

Nechayev's lips moved only infinitesmally, but it definitely qualified as a smile. "I never said we'd share all our data, Gul, only that we'd share our intelligence on the Maquis. You won't have unexpurgated access to Captain DeSoto's logs, but you will be provided with useful intelligence. And all we ask in return is for one ship to go unescorted into the DMZ just long enough to save a planetful of Carda.s.sian cultists."

Unfolding his arms, Evek glared at the screen. DeSoto once again had to keep himself from smiling. The gul was making a show of thinking about it, but DeSoto knew when the other player was ready to resign. And, as little as Evek might have thought of the people who formed the colony on Slaybis II, it would be politically unwise to condemn them to death over a technicality in the treaty.

"Very well-but I expect a complete sharing of intelligence on the Maquis. I am determined to make sure this ragtag group of terrorists are wiped from the face of the galaxy once and for all!"

Evek punctuated his outburst by cutting off the communication at his end.

"Very dramatic."

Nechayev actually chuckled. "I'm surprised. Evek doesn't usually go for those kinds of histrionics. But this is a difficult situation."

"True. If that's all, Admiral, we need to get the lead out." DeSoto moved as if to cut the connection.

"One thing, Captain." DeSoto's finger hovered over the control. "The most important thing right now is retrieving the artifact. We can't afford to let it fall into Maquis or Carda.s.sian hands. It's far too dangerous."

"We'll get it back for you, Admiral. Hood out."

As he walked out to the bridge, he shook his head. Gee, Admiral, thanks so much for explaining to me what I already knew.

"Dina," he said to Voyskunsky as she vacated the command chair for him, "if I ever turn into a hidebound desk-jockey type, please don't hesitate to shoot me in the head."

"Noted and logged, sir."

"Anyhow, we've got our free pa.s.s in the DMZ. Baifang, set course for the Slaybis system, warp nine. Jose, keep an eye on those readings. If the artifact changes course even a micrometer, I want to know about it. Manolet, arm phasers and load torpedo bays." He gave Voyskunsky a small smile. "We're the lone white piece in a sea of black pieces."

A chorus of "Aye, sir's" flew about the bridge.

Hsu added, "Course plotted and laid in, sir."

"Hit it."

When the Liberator came out of warp, Cal Hudson was surprised to see an intact hull.

"Pull in to forty thousand kilometers," he told Mastroeni, and then did a full scan. The sensors explained the seeming discrepancy between the hull-buckling sounds in Chakotay's distress call and the image on the viewscreen: Hudson was reading severe damage to the inner hull, and also extreme temperature variations throughout the small vessel. "Looks like Tuvok's weather controller got loose inside the ship."

"The emissions are still in motion, about two light-years ahead and traveling at warp three." She looked over at Hudson. "Their course takes them right to the Slaybis system."

"Slaybis?" Hudson racked his brain, and then came up with a match. "There's a human colony on the fourth planet and a bunch of Carda.s.sian farmers on the second. Neither of them's much of a target. Why would whoever has the artifact be heading there?"

"You can ask Chakotay himself," Mastroeni said, looking down at her console. "He's hailing us."

A dark face appeared on the tiny viewscreen. The captain of the Geronimo had determined features, accented by a featherlike tattoo over his left eye, and close-cropped black hair. "This is Captain Chakotay of the Geronimo. You must be Captain Hudson."

"Cal is fine," Hudson said. He'd left ranks behind when he quit Starfleet, and being referred to as a captain-particularly given that he was "only" a lieutenant commander when he resigned-just brought back bad memories.

Chakotay smiled grimly. "Normally, I'd be wary of the two of us talking like this." Maquis cell leaders deliberately avoided contact with each other as a security measure.

Returning the smile, Hudson said, "Hey, if you want us to turn around..."

"That's quite all right. We've got thirty-eight people here and a ship that's buckling at the seams. My engineer tells me we'll implode inside of fifteen minutes."

"You can give me the details once we get you settled over here. Hudson out." He then instructed the transporter room to start beaming Chakotay's people over, as well as whatever cargo the Liberator had room for. There turned out to be very little of that; most of Chakotay's people's personal belongings were in a safe place that Hudson didn't want to know the location of.

It only took ten minutes to complete the transfer. From the transporter room, Chakotay said, "If you've got the weapons to spare, Hudson, I'd like you to destroy the ship. I'd rather a stray Carda.s.sian didn't come across any useful remains."

"Understood." Hudson nodded to Mastroeni, who loaded the torpedo bays. Within two minutes, the Liberator' s photon torpedoes had reduced the Geronimo to components far too small to be of any use.

Hudson then joined Chakotay in the cargo bay, where thirty-five of his people were gathered. The other three had been taken to sickbay-a small room that consisted of two beds, a medical tricorder, and a mishmash of medikits. Two had been stunned by phaser fire, and the other had three broken ribs.

"The ship's been scuttled," Hudson said. "I'm sorry we had to do that."

Chakotay nodded. "That's all right-it was my fault, really, for giving her that name. The real Geronimo fought the good fight, but came to a bad end. Next time, I'll think more carefully."

"So what happened?"

Quickly, Chakotay summarized his rescue of three of his people from a desolate planet in the DMZ, with the added bonus of a black box of some kind-the Malkus Artifact. The Geronimo then attacked Nramia, but what Chakotay had ordered as a strike against the capital city turned out to be a planetwide disaster.

"This Tharia person," Mastroeni said, "doesn't normally act like this?"

Before Chakotay could reply, a Bajoran woman stepped forward. "Like a complete lunatic? No, he doesn't. That d.a.m.n box must've done something to him."

A woman with Klingon-like features spoke up. "He could've just cracked. The man lost his entire family."

Hudson flashed on a mental image of Gretchen, which he forced out of his mind. "What happened?"

"His three mates died in a Carda.s.sian attack," Chakotay said. "He took it fairly well-maybe too well. Sometimes it just takes a little longer to grieve-or to fall apart."

"Or maybe just the right tool," the part-Klingon woman said. "This weapon is incredibly powerful."

Hudson nodded. "We saw what it did to Nramia. In fact, it's why we found you." He then quickly filled Chakotay in on his own reasons for being here, and on their prisoner and potential recruit in the mess hall.

"I'd like to meet this Tuvok," Chakotay said.

"Of course." Hudson was about to lead Chakotay to the mess hall when a Betazoid stepped forward.

In a soft voice, the dark-eyed man said, "Excuse me, sir, but there's something I think you should know."

"What is it, Suder?" Chakotay asked.

The Betazoid hesitated. "It wasn't anything I could put my finger on, but-well, since you rescued Tharia, B'Elanna, and Gerron, there's been something-"