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“No.”

The Bajoran snorted. “Then what good does knowing that do?”

“If Koval’s in Tal Shiar headquarters, not a lot. But if we scan his mansion and find someone with a cesium-rubidium device in his neck-”

“Then it could be some other Tal Shiar operative,” Corsi said. “If he’s the head of intelligence for the war effort, he probably has other operatives going in and out of his house all the time.”

“True, but they’re unlikely to be there when he isn’t,” Eddington said. “Even if we find several agents in his mansion, chances are good he’s one of them.”

“Wait a minute,” Corsi said, “if this is a shapechanger, can’t we find him that way?”

“What way?” Primmin asked.

“Well, if he’s not really a Romulan-”

Kira shook her head. “They’re able to disguise their life-sign readings. Like you said, Lieutenant, they throw themselves into the part.”

“So they’re masking life signs and using the transponders?”

“They have to be,” Eddington said. “The disguise wouldn’t work otherwise.”

“It’s also possible,” Kira said, “that they’re able to change their shape so thoroughly that they actually do read to sensors as a Romulan.”

Corsi leaned back and shook her head. “And we’re supposed to beat these guys?”

“Yes,” Worf said bluntly.

Eddington set down his padd with a mild clunk on the table. “There’s a third place Koval might be. In fact, that would be ideal.”

Worf frowned. He had access to the same briefings as Eddington and knew nothing of this. “Is this from SI’s agent on Romulus?”

Shaking his head, Eddington said, “We haven’t heard from her in a couple of weeks, actually-which isn’t unusual, especially in times of war-but this came from another source, just before we left Mars. It’s reliable, believe me.”

“Go ahead,” Worf said very slowly. He was dubious about this source, especially since he did not know Eddington. Were Ro presenting this, Worf would have no doubts, but he’d also been working with Ro for years, and knew what she was capable of. On the one hand, Starfleet wouldn’t have sent Eddington if he wasn’t good at what he did. On the other hand, resources were strained; just because Eddington was the best person available didn’t mean he was necessarily all that good.

“Koval also has a mountain retreat, built into the rock of Kor Thon. According to my source, nobody still alive knows about it besides Koval.”

“And your source, apparently,” Kira said snidely.

“I trust this information. It came with a set of coordinates. The only problem is-it’s constructed out of sensor-proof plastiform.” Eddington sighed. “Look, if we find a transponder in Koval’s house, then we’re fine. We beam in, turn on Kira’s device, and hope for the best. We don’t even need Kira there to do it.”

“Yes, you do.”

Eddington closed his eyes and let out a long breath. “With all due respect, ma’am, you’re not a trained Starfleet operative. You’re a civilian and-”

“I’ve been fighting the Cardassians for my entire life, Commander. I’ve been part of the resistance since I could hold a phaser. Don’t tell me-”

Before this devolved into yet another argument, Worf said, “The subject is closed.” That quieted Kira and Eddington both. “Kira single-handedly escaped Bajor and defected to Federation space to bring us this intelligence. She is also responsible for exposing the president as a shapechanger. Her participation in this mission has already been approved.”

“Thank you,” Kira said pointedly.

“As you say, sir,” Eddington said in a tone that Worf thought of as a little too reluctant, but acquiescent nonetheless. “In any case, if Koval’s not at home, we should at least try the mountain retreat. The shapechanger probably knows about it, and it’d be a useful place to get away from it all.”

Worf didn’t like this. The retreat could very easily be heavily secured and rigged with traps. But then, beaming into a high-ranking Tal Shiar agent’s house wasn’t a low-risk operation, either. “We will see what the sensor data tells us when we arrive. Once we enter the system, we will go into orbit about Remus, then spend a full day examining the patrol patterns