"No," he said, and there was a bit of a sigh in it. "No, thank you, Guinan. I think I'll turn in. I've got about three hours before alpha shift begins."

"Sleep well, then, Captain," Guinan said. "Come on down some night when there's not a crisis brewing. We'll raise a gla.s.s to a few old friends."

"I look forward to it," Picard said. "Good night, Guinan." The captain turned to leave just as the doors slid open to admit several couples who had come to unwind a bit following beta shift. He nodded pleasantly to them as he pa.s.sed.

Guinan watched her friend go with eyes that seemed as old as s.p.a.ce itself. Then she greeted her newest guests.

The Enterprise was under way again three hours and two minutes later.

There was the usual quiet buzz of practiced activity on the bridge as the starship rapidly pulled away from Nem Ma'ak Bratuna. "Half impulse, sir," Ensign Ro confirmed. "Distance to craft identified as Krann flagship is presently five hundred eighty-six million kilometers at bearing one hundred eighty-seven mark twenty-one. We'll be standing right off the bow of the flagship in just over one hour."

"They are still ignoring our hails, Captain," a frowning Worf reported, "as they have been since we initiated them yesterday."

"Keep on knocking, Mr. Worf," Riker said, "and they may let us in yet."

Picard frowned at the viewscreen. "I guarantee it. Mr. Worf, are there any signs of unusual activity among the Krann fleet?"

"None, sir. The elements of the fleet are proceeding as before. Most ships are decelerating to arrive at Nem Ma'ak Bratuna in four days, while thousands have diverted to take up a Brunckhorst-style attack position against the planet sooner than that." The Klingon frowned. "Use of the Brunckhorst maneuver makes it impossible to establish a likely ETA."

"I'm curious about one thing, sir," Riker began. "The Lethanta know the Krann are coming and that they plan to attack. We've already seen that the Lethanta are armed to the teeth. So why aren't they doing anything about the Krann?"

"That's been bothering me as well, Number One," replied Picard. "There's been no response by the Lethanta whatsoever, not even to yesterday's attack on their government headquarters. I must admit that I admire their restraint, but it is not logical."

"Perhaps the Lethanta are waiting for the Krann to draw closer before doing anything," Data said.

"Why would that be, Mr. Data?" Riker asked.

"I do not know, sir," the android replied. "Perhaps the Lethanta prefer to make a stand closer to their own world."

"That's odd," Riker said. "If you're going to make a stand, leave yourself some room in which to fall back-even if it's to be a 'last stand.'"

"If you're going to make a stand at all," Troi said, almost to herself.

"Eh?" Picard said, turning in his seat. "What's that, Counselor?"

"I'm not sure, Captain," Troi said, slowly shaking her head. "What Commander Riker just said made me realize something. Nothing I've been picking up throughout our meetings with the Lethanta leadership suggests to me that they intend to fight an all-out battle with the Krann."

"Do you actually believe that the Lethanta are not going to resist the Krann with everything they have?" Worf asked, clearly shocked. "Aside from the disgrace involved, there is the fact that the Lethanta are quite adequately prepared for battle. They have weapons and the people to use them. They apparently have the need and justification to defend themselves against attack. Why would the Lethanta not fight?"

"I don't know, Worf," Troi replied. "All I know is what I feel."

"Is that really what you're getting from them, Counselor?" Picard asked.

"Yes, Captain. The Lethanta seem-well, it's almost as if they're resigned to their fate somehow."

"Another d.a.m.ned mystery," Picard groused. "Well, I hope we'll get some answers from the Krann, forthcoming as they've been so far."

A few hundred million kilometers farther out from Ma'ak Indawe, thousands of delegates to the Fleet Congress watched the main monitor in the Great Hall located at the center of the Krann flagship. The vast monitor occupied the entire wall behind the congressional rostrum. It showed a real-time computer reconstruction of the Enterprise heading straight for the flagship, her white hull aglow with the golden light of the sun astern. The greenish orb of Nem Ma'ak Bratuna was shrinking rapidly behind the ship.

A lone, dark figure walked up to the lectern located at the center of the rostrum, just in front of the monitor screen. A spotlight slammed on, outlining the form of Presider Hek.

"They are coming," Hek told the delegates in a booming voice that hardly needed amplification, even in that enormous hall. "The alien ship is on a course that will intercept the flight line of this vessel. The aliens will make rendezvous with us in less than an hour."

"Are they going to attack us?" came a worried voice.

"Probably," the Presider said.

Hek knew better, of course. He had heard every single hail from the Enterprise over the past day and more, and he had ignored them. Hek knew that this captain, this Jean-Luc, wanted to negotiate, to talk peace-but there was no point in informing the Fleet Congress of that fact. Hek wanted the members of the Congress excited, scared, and apprehensive. Indeed, spurred by this manufactured crisis, the Congress was about to cede to Hek what power remained to it "for the duration"-a duration that Hek and his inner circle knew would be effectively unlimited.

"What can we do to stop them?" asked a delegate. "My ship will fight valiantly, of course, but we've all seen the energy readings on this alien craft. Even our entire squadron would be hopelessly outmatched."

"We've also seen this ship wheel about and accelerate without regard for physical law," said another."There's no ship in the Fleet that can match the maneuverability and speed of this alien craft."

Hek watched and listened, hiding his pleasure.

"Why does this have to happen just at the moment of our triumph?" a third delegate cried. "Our people have a right to deliver Retribution!"

It was all going according to script.

"Perhaps it is fate," another delegate called. "Perhaps we are not intended to deliver it at all."

Hek frowned.

"Traitor!" someone spat, and the Presider brightened. There was a sudden flurry of fists around the dissenting delegate. When it ended, the delegate had disappeared.

"I've spent my whole life preparing for this," a burly delegate snarled. "My forefathers lived and died to bring me here. Are seven thousand years of suffering, sacrifice, and privation to be wasted just as we are about to achieve Retribution?" The delegate suddenly stood on his seat and waved a fist above his head, howling the rest of his speech.

"No!" he cried, just as he had rehea.r.s.ed it with Hek's closest advisors a few hours before. "My ship will never surrender! We will not disappoint our ancestors! We will not squander their sacred devotion to duty! Let our forebears continue to drift easy in their orbits! I don't care about these alien friends of the Lethanta! Let them come! We'll send them and their Lethanta friends to the Black Drifts together! Death to the Lethanta! Death to the aliens! Death! Death! Death!"

Instantly there came a giant, unreserved roar of approval, an instinctive cry from the guts of nearly every delegate in the Great Hall. Soon there came a chant: "Guide us, Hek! Guide us! Give us Retribution!" The incantation was quickly taken up by others. The few who dared say anything in opposition, even those delegates who appeared merely unenthusiastic, were mobbed and brought down as the mad demonstration went on uninterrupted.

The Krann were in full cry.

The Presider looked out over the thousands of delegates in the Great Hall, left and right and center, and then he held out his arms to them, as if to embrace them all. It was the gesture of a savior, and the delegates responded to it with yells and cries for his intercession. They beseeched Hek to secure for them a vengeance that had been so long denied.

Hek let them go on for several minutes, knowing that they were his now. With just the proper amount of solemnity, the expression on his face utterly commanding, Presider Hek made the motion himself and called for the vote.

Chapter Nine.

Captain's log, stardate 45527.9. We have been standing five kilometers off the bow of the flagship of the Krann fleet for nearly twenty hours. The Krann have ignored every one of our hails, but neither have they made any aggressive moves toward us. Meanwhile, the front line of their fleet continues to draw ever nearer to Nem Ma'ak Bratuna, and the Lethanta have become more and more apprehensive.

We know the Krann are receiving our signals. Every time we hail them, several of the Krann step up to the windows on the bridge of their flagship to stare out at us for a while in curiosity and, it seems, a bit of fear. It turns out that the Krann are indeed humanoid. They are built rather like the Lethanta, but they seem pallid-just as you might expect, I suppose, from a race that has remained confined within walls of steel for much of its recent existence.

Whatever the reason for their reluctance to speak with us, I must overcome it. We must try to avert the coming war between the two races. With some five billion sentient lives at stake, I am game to try something new-a gambit that I think the Krann might respect.

TEN-FORWARD WAS AGAIN CLOSED, but this time Guinan was not present. Picard, Riker, and Troi stood just before the frontmost window in the lounge. They could see the huge Krann flagship quite clearly. According to the sensors on the Enterprise, the flagship was by far the largest s.p.a.cecraft in the Krann fleet, the next largest being just over half its size. The spidery little constructs keeping station near the flagship-its tenders, Picard thought-were quite a bit smaller, only about a twentieth of the flagship's size. That made the tenders merely gigantic, about the size of the Enterprise herself.

"I always did think the view from here was rather remarkable," Picard said. "I never seem to have enough time to enjoy it." He looked down that part of the Krann line that was starboard of the flagship, his eyes drifting to the point far away where the ships grew too small to the naked eye to appear to be anything more than points of light. "This is a rather remarkable formation, don't you think?" Picard asked Riker. "They're holding a line that's several hundred million kilometers across."

"Given their technological limitations, sir, I would have thought it impossible," Riker replied. "It shows they have enormous control over their vessels."

"And they possess enormous skill in flying them," Picard added. "Lord knows they've had enough time out here to learn how to handle a s.p.a.cecraft. Well, we've had a bit of experience to that end, as well-as the Krann are about to find out." The captain paused. "Picard to Commander Data. Execute the pending program."

"Aye, sir."

The line of the Krann fleet tilted and disappeared from the lounge windows as the Enterprise began a roll to port.

The part of the Krann line that lay to port of the flagship came into view as the Enterprise completed half its end-over-end roll. The Krann were much closer now.

"They're scared, Captain," Riker reported. "Running-around scared."

"They probably think we're going to hit them," Troi said.

"Not if Mr. Data is as capable of handling the ship as I know he is," Picard said. "Let the Krann be a little scared, Number One. So long as they don't go to their weapons, everything will be fine."

"Completing maneuver, Captain," Data reported. "We're ready, Mr. Data," Picard replied. The three of them stood straight in front of the frontmost, centermost window in Ten-Forward as the bridge of the Krann flagship suddenly swung up into view not three meters away. The Enterprise and the Krann flagship were flying nose to nose, precisely as Picard and Data had planned it.

Data killed all ship motion at that instant, and Picard found himself looking straight through the Krann ship's large forward viewport and at-someone. While all the other Krann standing around him on the bridge appeared nervous and fearful, this particular individual stood there, his arms crossed. He appeared supremely confident. He was even grinning, perhaps in admiration of the Enterprise's deft maneuver.

"That one's the leader of this bunch, or I'll eat that chair over there," Picard said.

Troi frowned. Emptiness. "I'm afraid that I can't read them, sir."

"I was afraid of that, Counselor. Picard to Worf. Hail the Krann flagship one more time."

"Channel open, Captain."

Picard stared across three meters of s.p.a.ce and straight into the eyes of the one he took to be the Krann leader. "Krann flagship, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. I wish to discuss with your leaders the increasingly dire situation between yourself and the residents of the third planet of this star system. We wish to offer our services as mediator. We have no interest here other than to avert needless bloodshed between your two races. We are fully prepared to listen to your side of the story and, if necessary, seek redress for you from the native population of this system. We await your prompt reply."

The three Enterprise officers stood by silently, doing their best to appear patient. After a moment, Picard saw the Krann leader gesture.

"Incoming message, Captain," Worf said. "Coming through now."

"Captain Jean-Luc, this is Hek Portside Hull Patcher, Presider of the Fleet Congress. I'm the one you want to talk to."

"A pleasure, Presider Hek Portside-"

"'Presider' or 'Presider Hek' will do, Jean-Luc Captain. We need not be formal with each other."

"Very well, then, Presider. Please do call me Captain Picard, then."

"I am honored, Captain. Well, then, what can we do for you, Captain Picard?" His tone was amused. "Let me a.s.sure you that you have our full attention."

"As we said, Presider Hek, we would like to offer our services as mediator between your people and the people of the third planet in this system-"

"Oh, Captain," Hek said, and Picard and the others could see him smile. "I appreciate that you are trying to show some regard for our sensibilities without really knowing what they are, but you really can say the word 'Lethanta' if you want to. We won't be offended."

"All right, then, Presider Hek," Picard said. "We are offering our services as mediator between your people and the Lethanta. May I suggest a meeting between my top officers and your people, to be held at a location of your choice? We would, of course, welcome you aboard our ship if you should choose to come here-"

Hek held up a hand. "As I am sure you'll understand, I can't leave my post at this critical time, Captain Picard. You and your people are, however, welcome over here at any time. I presume you can dock somehow with this ship?" He grinned again. "Or run a gangplank between here and there, perhaps?"

"We can come over there by shuttlecraft, Presider Hek," Picard said. "We can be there soon, if you like."

"Time does seem to be of the essence," Hek said, and they saw him grin again. "Shall we say, eh, thirty minutes? Our intrafleet docking facility is located amidships, and it should be adequate to handle a shuttlecraft the size of the ones you use-the very one you used to visit our friends on Nem Ma'ak Bratuna, for example. We'll set indicator lights for you to guide you in."

"That should be fine, Presider. We will see you in thirty minutes, then."

"I look forward to our meeting," Hek said. "Out." He waved at them and, turning, walked away from the bridge window. Several Krann followed him, but most of the others moved closer to the windows to stare at Picard, Riker, and Troi.

"They are off the air, Captain."

"Thank you, Mr. Worf. Computer, opaque these windows in front of me." The windows instantly went dead black.

"Well, what do you think?" Picard asked his two officers.

"Interesting how he let you know that he knew about your visit to the Lethanta," Riker mused. "He even mentioned the use of the shuttlecraft on Nem Ma'ak Bratuna."

"He's just trying to spook us, Number One," Picard said dismissively. "I'd expect anyone with a halfway decent sensor array to be able to detect gross phenomena such as a shuttlecraft launch from a starship I'd been keeping a close eye on since I first spotted it." He sighed. "Do either of you think we might be able to deal with this Hek person?"

"He only seems approachable, Captain," Riker said. "I think it's an act."

"That's certainly a possibility, Will, but the question is, will he do a deal with us? Can we still avert this attack by the Krann on Nem Ma'ak Bratuna?"

"Yes," Riker said, nodding. "Yes, Captain, I think we can-if not by convincing Hek, then perhaps by persuading his a.s.sociates."

"One way or the other," Picard said. "Picard to Worf. Get yourself to Justman as quickly as possible, Lieutenant. We're leaving for the Krann flagship-you, the counselor, and I. You'll serve as shuttle pilot. Given the circ.u.mstances, I want Mr. Data to remain here with Commander Riker."

"Aye, Captain."

"Picard out. Number One, you have the conn. Take the ship back out to five kilometers and maintain station there."

"Aye, sir," Riker acknowledged. "Good luck."

Picard nodded grimly as he and Troi left Ten-Forward together.

"It is a huge s.p.a.cecraft," Worf observed as he flew Justman slowly along a heading designed to allow the three of them to eyeball the huge Krann flagship while still pretending to follow the indicator lights along the length of its hull. "However, it does not impress me very much."

"Why not, Mr. Worf?" Picard asked.

"I mean, sir, that this design is haphazard. There is no elegance to it at all, not even the elegance of form following function. The other ships of the Krann fleet appear to be the same, only smaller. They appear to be constructed of a bunch of dissociated parts put together almost in random order. In addition, many of the ships seem to have suffered moderate to severe hull damage, which has gone unrepaired."

"Your conclusion?"