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“I beg to differ,” Mendan replied. “These Starfleet people… they said you had no intention of making me heir to your new empire, Father.” He leaned forward in his seat “They told me that once you had gotten what you wanted, you were going to kill me-that you wanted a son of noble lineage, not some poor, stupid bastard.”

The boy fairly spat out the word, making Thul feel as though a knife had been twisted into his gut. And now his officers were exchanging wide-eyed glances, putting the pieces together for themselves.

But then, they would have found out his intentions eventually, the governor told himself. If it came a little sooner, what difference did it make? None at all, Thul reflected.

More importantly, Mendan’s vessel was well-armed for its size, and the governor’s ship was an easy target at the moment. If the boy acted out of anger and resentment, without thinking…

Thul shook his head. “No, Mendan,” he said, hoping his sincerity would come through in his voice, “it’s not true. I don’t know what these Starfleeters told you, but they are the liars-not I.”

He searched his son’s face, to see if his protest had had any effect. But the hardness in Mendan didn’t seem to have gone away.

The governor swallowed away a dryness in his throat. “I swear on my life,” he said. “I could never betray my own offspring.”

Still the boy remained silent, inscrutable.

“You have earned your place at my side,” Thul assured him. “More than earned it. You know I will not live forever. Who better to guide my empire after I am gone than the only son of my flesh?”

Mendan continued to stare at him-and for the space of a heartbeat, the governor was certain that his bastard would destroy him after all. Then, finally, the boy nodded.

“I believe you,” he told his father in a more animated voice. “In fact, I never doubted you for a moment.”

Thul’s eyes narrowed. “Then why …?”

“Why did I tell you all this?” asked Mendan. He smiled, and for just a moment, the governor thought he saw the child he had shunned and neglected shining through the eyes of the adult. “Because I wanted to hear the truth from your own mouth, Father.”

The governor was relieved, to say the least. “And now you’ve heard it,” he told his son. “The truth entire.”

“I thank you,” said Mendan. “But there’s another reason I wanted to tell you about the Starfleet officers, Father. You see, I need to make amends-and I wanted you to understand why.”

Thul tilted his head. “Amends …?”

The bastard frowned. “These Starfleet people-they were able to surprise me, to get themselves free and…” He paused. “And kill my friend Wyl. Then they escaped and warned this Starship.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the Stargazer.

The governor grunted. He was beginning to understand why Picard had tracked him there.

“You would have arrived here unopposed if it weren’t for me,” said Mendan. “You would have been watching this shipyard burn by now. As it is, the Starfleet beasts were able to stop you.” His mouth twisted with what was clearly a thirst for revenge. “But now they’re helpless, unable to defend themselves. This is my chance to even the score.”

“Abbis’s ship is coming about,” Kaavin announced. “It is approaching the Federation vessel.” She looked at the governor, clearly uneasy with this turn of events.

He’s going to attack it, Thul realized numbly.

“My lord,” said Kaavin, “it is inadvisable for our… ally to fire on the enemy ship, even in its crippled state. He will need to let his shields lapse in order to power an effective disruptor burst, and the Federation vessel may still have some tactical capability of which we are unaware.”

They hadn’t severed contact with Mendan, so he had heard Kaavin’s warning. But it didn’t seem to faze him-far from it. The reckless grin that was so sickeningly familiar to the governor spread across the youth’s face.

“I’ll take my chances,” he chuckled.

“No!” Thul was out of his seat and striding in the direction of the screen, as if his son were standing there on