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The screen exploded in white light that burned its way onto their retinas for a moment. When they could see again, small pieces of drifting wreckage were all that remained to mark where one of the mightiest vessels hi the Romulan fleet had been.

"This is your doing, Little Dagger," said the Empress.

Startled, Jekri turned. "My doing, Excellency?"

"Yours," repeated the Empress. "This project has been under your auspices for the last several years. It was you who permitted Telek R'Mor to escape. You did not foresee what his wormholes would do to our mighty warbirds."

Jekri did not even try to defend herself, though outrage flooded every cell. She stood even taller, taking the undeserved tongue-lashing the Empress for some strange reason saw fit to dole out in front of the entire Senate. She listened only with half an ear to the accusations of sloth, of carelessness, of not knowing things she had no way of knowing.

Finally, like an ancient toy whose key has finished its revolutions, the Empress wound down. She pressed a slim, elegant hand to her temple for a moment and closed her eyes.

She was obviously on edge. They all were. Jekri had been a target for a frustrated, alarmed young leader, that was all. Jekri hoped that if she could recognize it, the others assembled would as well.

After a long, awkward moment, the Empress raised her head. "So the last warbird that went against the Federation Starship Voyager has been consigned to the emptiness of space," she said. "Those who crewed the ships are all either dying or dead. I will not cast a false sheen of some token glory over this terrible incident. We lost, and we lost badly."

She rose to her full graceful height. There was a scraping sound of chairs being pushed back as the seated Senate rose with her.

'This must not happen again. We must investigate what went wrong and see to it that it does not recur. Ambassador Lhiau has offered his knowledge, which exceeds ours in such matters. Like the ancient Earth creature the phoenix, we will rise from these dark ashes to our eventual triumph. Lhiau, attend me."

She swept from the hall in a shimmer of blue gossamer material, striding down the long stone hallway with her proud head held high. Lhiau followed her at a respectful distance.

Jekri watched them go with narrowed eyes. She was not sure whether to be happy or regretful that the unfathomable yet utterly untrustworthy ambassador had chosen to cleave unto the Empress instead of the chairman of the Tal Shiar. She despised him and was glad of his absence, but wondered why he had taken this sudden interest in the Empress. She was beautiful and powerful. Could it simply be that?

Jekri didn't think that Lhiau would be involved with anything simple.

The silence was profound. Jekri almost laughed. The Empress had never before risen and left in such an abrupt fashion, and all these senators didn't know what to do under the circumstances.

She glanced at the Praetor and lifted an eyebrow. He nodded slightly.

"This assemblage is dismissed," he said in his high, too-frail voice. "Long live the Empress!"

Everyone present saluted the absent Empress and repeated, "Long live the Empress!"

"Long live the Empire!"

"Long live the Empire!" Now the hall, which had been so still a moment ago, was alive with murmurs and echoes as the Senate began to disperse.

As Jekri began to stride down the hall, intent on returning to her own ship, the Tektral, to begin another set of hushed meetings with her second, Sub commander Verrak, the Praetor stopped her.

"I admired your restraint, Chairman," he said. "The Empress's words were unfounded."

"Thank you, Praetor," said Jekri. She again started to leave, a touch impatient.

"Although," continued the Praetor, matching her stride for stride as they walked down the enormous corridor, the colorful banners of every noble Romulan house hanging above their heads, "she did raise some interesting questions."