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However, he reminded himself, he still had the upper hand.

“And you are here … why?” asked Thul, allowing a note of disdain to color his voice. “Not in an attempt to stop me, I hope.”

“That is precisely why I am here,” Picard confirmed, his resolve evident in his eyes. “The game is over, Governor. Stand down and surrender, or I warn you, I will have no compunction about destroying your vessel.”

The Thallonian lifted his chin. “Forgive my ignorance,” he said with studied calm, “but I thought your hands were tied. Did you not tell me it was the Benniari alone you were ordered to look out for?”

The human frowned. “Under the circumstances,” he answered, “I don’t think the Cordracites will object if I save their fleetyard and their base crew from obliteration. Do you?”

Thul chuckled dryly. “I see your prime directive is subject to your convenient interpretation of the circumstances.”

“No,” said Picard. “It’s subject to reason alone-and reason dictates that only a fool would stand by while you do to this fleetyard what you did to that Melacronai research colony.”

The Thallonian shook his hairless head. The human had been thorough, hadn’t he? “I will miss your mind, Captain, and that’s not something I find myself saying very often. It’s a shame you and I came down on opposite sides of this conflict. In another life, another set of circumstances, we might have been allies … even friends.”

The captain shook his head as well-but more firmly. “No, Governor. You and I could not have been friends in any life. You see, I don’t tolerate the company of murderers.”

Thul was stunned by the boldness of Picard’s invective -not to mention the ringing sincerity behind it. For just an instant, hot shame coursed through him… but it rapidly became anger.

“All right,” he told the captain, doing his best to keep his voice free of emotion. “Have it your way.” Then he glanced at his weapons officer again. “Target the Stargazer, Ubbard. Weapons to full intensity.”

“Aye, sir,” came the obedient reply.

The governor turned to Picard, wishing to see the human’s face as he gave the order. “All stations …fire!”

Abruptly, the Stargazer was buffeted by twin blasts of fiery blue energy. Her shields absorbed the brunt of the impact, but Thul knew that they couldn’t do that indefinitely.

“Fire again!” he snarled.

But this time, the Federation vessel was on the move, veering to the Thallonian’s right. As a result, Thul’s azure bursts missed their target and vanished into the vastness of space.

The governor smiled thinly. “All right, then,” he said. “I like a game as well as the next fellow.”

But he was confident that it wouldn’t go on for long.

“Red alert!” Picard ordered, leaning forward in his center seat. “Lieutenant Asmund, evasive maneuvers!”

They wheeled as the red glow of the alert lights filled the bridge. A blue burst of energy glowed for an instant on the viewscreen, but the Stargazer managed to avoid the impact this time.

“Shields down twenty-four percent,” said Vigo, his face grim as he bent his massive frame over a control panel.

He barely got the words out before another volley struck the ship, sending it lurching dizzily to starboard. It was only the armrests on the captain’s chair that kept him in his seat.

“Fire phasers!” he bellowed.

Twin shafts of red fury sped toward the Thallonian vessel. As Picard watched, they slammed savagely into the enemy’s shields.

“Direct hit,” said Vigo.

But in the same heartbeat, another barrage from the Thallonian sent the Stargazer staggering to port. One of the aft consoles blew up, spewing sparks and billows of thick, black smoke across the bridge.

“Report,” Picard demanded.

“Shields down fifty-eight percent,” the Pandrilite told him, hanging onto his console for all he was worth. He glowered at his monitor, his face bathed in its ruddy glow. “But we barely made a dent in their deflectors, sir. We can’t match their firepower.”

The captain nodded as Mun Asmund wove her way through an elaborate maneuver, eluding another series of devastating energy discharges.

“Hard to