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“It would be best if we . . . if I did that work in the central computer core, Commander.”

Duffy winced at Soloman’s slip. He’d done so well adjusting generally to living up to his new designation that the Bynar’s occasional lapse into thinking himself as part of a two-person team was fairly jarring.

“We shouldn’t split up,” Corsi said sharply.

“Actually, we’ll have to,” Nog said. “If we’re going to extract the core, I’ll need to get deeper into the system in order to see what, exactly, the Androssi have done to the core.”

“I strongly recommend against it, Commander,” Corsi said to Duffy. “The Androssi might be boarding the station at any minute. We have to be ready for anything, and splitting us up will make us considerably more vulnerable.”

Before Duffy could make a decision, he saw a bizarre transporter effect in the midst of the platform. It was one he’d seen before, on Maeglin—it was faster and quieter than Starfleet’s transporters.

Five Androssi appeared in the midst of the catwalk. Like all Androssi, they had brown- or sepiatoned skin, with long hair of either blond, gold, or brown, and wearing beige jumpsuits; the men also all had thick beards. They were probably the most nondescript aliens Kieran Duffy had ever seen in his career. Two of them wore three nose rings, two wore none, and one wore four. Duffy recognized the last of those, who stood in the center: Sub-Overseer Howwi, Biron’s second-in-command.

Corsi and her people moved as one—each of them stood between the Androssi and a member of the S.C.E. team, with Friesner standing beside Nog. Corsi herself stood by Stevens, which surprised Duffy—he had expected the chief to go to the second officer’s side. Not that he cared one way or the other, but it was the kind of protocol thing that Corsi usually followed pretty religiously.

Duffy shot Corsi a look, and she gave a quick nod back—they wouldn’t fire unless Duffy himself gave the order. They did, however, all point their weapons.

Okay, he thought, let’s see if we can get through this without trying to kill each other. Duffy did not like the idea of a firefight breaking out on this ever-more-crowded catwalk, but it was looking inevitable.

“Lieutenant Commander Duffy,” Howwi said upon sighting him. “This is the second time you’ve interfered in a legitimate Androssi operation.” Duffy noticed that the Androssi appeared to be unarmed, but with their dimensional-shifting technology, those appearances were quite deceiving.

“That’s your interpretation, Howwi,” he said, trying to maintain an amiable tone. “We were the ones who were asked by the Maeglin authorities, and we have as much claim to Empok Nor as you do.”

“Perhaps. But we have a mission to fulfill.”

Duffy smiled grimly. “So do we. In fact, thousands of lives are counting on us to get this fusion core to one of our space stations.”

“In fact,” Nog said, to Duffy’s surprise, “that’s all we need. Can’t we negotiate this? Most of your systems are tied into other parts of the station. Surely you can supply your own power source? We can extract the fusion core, and you’re welcome to the rest of it!”

Duffy glowered at the little Ferengi. Dammit, kid, we don’t work like that! But he didn’t say that out loud—the last thing he could afford to do was show weakness of command in front of Howwi. Of course, Nog had never dealt with the Androssi, so he perhaps didn’t know what, precisely, they were dealing with. But even a Ferengi should know that there was no possible way that a weapons platform of this magnitude could be used for any good purpose.

Howwi shrugged. “Why do these lives you wish to save concern us?”

Duffy blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“We are performing a mission for the Elite. You wish us to hamper that mission in order to preserve the lives of irrelevant aliens. I’m afraid that this negotiation would serve no purpose. We have nothing to gain by allowing you to take the fusion core.” He turned to his people. “Kill them.”

Dammit, dammit, dammit, Duffy thought as he ducked to his knees behind Drew.

One of the Androssi wearing no