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“Comra to Damar.”

His head now pounding thanks to the lack of sleep combined with this absurd turn of events, the last thing he expected to hear was Comra’s voice, especially since he was supposed to have gone off-shift hours ago. “Comra, now’s not the-”

“Sir, we’ve located Garak-he’s in the fusion core!”

Picard rose quickly to his feet as he watched two Galor-class ships become consumed by fire. “Report!”

From behind him, Odo said, “It would seem that Garak got my message.”

Whirling around to look at the shapechanger, Picard saw a grim smile on Odo’s face. “You believe him to be responsible?”

From ops, Kadohata said, “It was the responsibility of someone-I’m picking up triceron in the debris. Someone blew those ships up on purpose.”

That they both exploded at the same time made that somewhat obvious, but the presence of triceron confirmed it. More death. More destruction. How much more of this must there be?

Still, for now it was a gift horse into whose mouth Picard was loath to peer. “Maintain course, Ensign.”

“Aye, sir,” Perim said.

“Sir,” Addison said, “I’m picking up three ships heading this way.” She looked up. “They match the configuration of the new Cardassian ships.”

“They’re not Cardassian,” Odo said. “That’s the Jem’Hadar, the Dominion soldiers.”

Retaking his seat, Picard again gripped the armrests tightly. Odo had briefed him and several admirals on the Jem’Hadar before they reported to Utopia Planitia. They were genetically engineered, drug-dependent creatures whose sole purpose was to fight the Dominion’s wars. They were relentless, devoted, and-as the Lexington, da Vinci, and Starbase 375 discovered-incredibly powerful. No doubt they have antiproton scanners as well.

Ro asked Addison, “ETA of the Jem’Hadar ships, Lieutenant?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Time to the Denorios Belt?” Picard asked Perim.

The Trill said, “Ten minutes.”

Kadohata peered at her console. “Sir, Terok Nor’s arming all weapons and raising shields. We’ll be in range of them in four minutes.”

Addison added, “Phasers are trained right on our position, sir-they know we’re here.”

“We’ve got to decloak and raise shields,” Ro said.

Picard winced. While it was true that an antiproton scan might be able to detect a cloaked ship, they didn’t know for sure. It was possible that Terok Nor didn’t know for sure that they were there.

But no, they just lost two of their ships. They’ll be on full alert, and they’ll fire first and ask questions later. While it was true that decloaking would give away their position, so would being destroyed by the station’s phaser fire. “Ensign Perim, if we change course to remain out of Terok Nor’s firing range, what will be our ETA at the Denorios Belt?”

Perim ran her fingers over her console to make the calculations. “It will add eight-and-a-half minutes to our travel time.”

Which means the Jem’Hadar will get here before we can destroy the wormhole. Which means the only alternative is to fight Terok Nor and hope for the best.

More death.

More destruction.

But if I do nothing, the only death and destruction will be my ship and crew. I cannot let them die without a fight.

Jean-Luc Picard had sat in the captain’s chair for more than three decades on three different starships. With all the difficult decisions he’d made, from when he first took command of the Stargazer when its captain was killed and the first officer incapacitated, to the order that led to Jack Crusher’s death, to ordering the destruction of the Enterprise in Earth’s past in order to stop the Borg, he found that none was as difficult for him to make as this.

“Lieutenant Addison,” he said in a low, raspy voice, “when we are within Terok Nor’s weapons range, decloak the Enterprise and raise shields. Prepare phasers and torpedoes for a simultaneous barrage. Mister Odo, if you would please assist the lieutenant in finding a firing solution that will do the most damage.”

Odo nodded without hesitation, got to his feet, and moved to stand next to Addison’s console behind Ro. For the entire three-and-a-half minutes it took to get within the