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“Which lends a bit more support to the third party theory,” the chief medical officer told them.

“At least among the Me’laa’kra,” said the Vulcan. “Perhaps we could examine a Qua-Sok weapon.”

The security chief reduced the ritual slaughter blade to its previous size and gave them a view of the entire collection. Tuvok studied it again, but nothing seemed to pop out at him.

“Pick something anyway,” Greyhorse encouraged him. “We had good luck with your last choice.”

Vigo planted a big, blue forefinger on the screen. “Here,” he said. “I’ll do it for him.”

As before, Joseph magnified the object-a small, black undetonated bomb. He glanced at the Vulcan. “Anything?”

Tuvok shook his head. “No. Perhaps if we were to see the aftermath of the incident, however…”

“Your wish is my command,” the security chief told him. As Crusher watched, he tapped out the requisite command on his keyboard.

A tableau came up showing a half-destroyed power relay station on Melacron VI. The ensign extended a dark index finger and pointed to a scrawled message on a broken wall.

“Would you please magnify this?” Tuvok requested.

Joseph did as he was asked. Abruptly, the message became large enough to take up most of the screen.

“What does it say?” asked Crusher, who had no idea.

“I do not pretend to be an expert in Cordracite languages,” said the Vulcan, “but I believe it credits the destruction of the relay station to the ‘fierce and terrible Qua-Sok,’ who only acted in ‘the most upright and justified’ fashion. Or something to that effect.”

“Worried about their image, are they?” asked Simenon.

“Culunnh said they were,” Crusher pointed out.

“What’s more,” Tuvok added, “they claimed responsibility for the incident. We should determine if anyone claimed responsibility for any of the more recent crimes against the Melacron.”

Vigo nodded. “Good idea.”

They went over each of the incidents-three of them in all. There was no sign of any scrawled messages at any of the sites. In fact, the perpetrators seemed to have gone out of their way to avoid leaving traces of their having been there.

“Another significant difference,” Simenon noted.

Finally, Joseph tried to call up a visual inventory of the weapons used in the previous two weeks. But after a moment, he sighed and sat back in his chair, an expression of bemusement on his pug-nosed face.

“What’s the matter?” asked Greyhorse.

“They don’t have any pictures of the weapons employed recently,” said the security officer. “Whoever used them took them along with them.”

“Sounds like the work of professionals,” Vigo observed.

“But the Melacron must have speculated as to what was used,” Crusher suggested.

Calling up the data, Joseph nodded. “They did. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get very specific. They weren’t familiar with the energy signatures they found.”

The Pandrilite weapons officer grunted. “Even more like the work of professionals,” he maintained.

“Well,” said Simenon, “the evidence-or lack of it, in this case-seems pretty clear. The First Minister is right. There is a third party involved in these attacks.”

“Trying to pick up where the Qua-Sok and the Me’laa’kra left off,” the security chief expanded.

“That would be my guess as well,” said Tuvok.

Crusher recalled that the Vulcan had disagreed with Culunnh’s conclusions down on Debennius VI. However, he now seemed quite willing to agree with them. I guess that’s one of the benefits of being without emotions, the commander mused. You never get too attached to a particular point of view.

He could see how the Vulcan’s bland yet somehow arrogant demeanor might seem a bit unsettling at times. But if Tuvok knew the Kellasian sector as well as he appeared to know it, Crusher would put up with his quirks from morning to night.

“Of course, that begs a question,” Vigo pointed out.

Joseph nodded. “If there’s a third party … who is he? And what does he hope to gain by killing innocent people?”

No one answered him, at first.

Then the Gnalish spoke up. “Arms merchants?” he suggested.

“I mentioned that as a possibility,”