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At the head of the table, President Ra-ghoratreii rose to his feet. “Gentlemen,” he said. “Both of your passions are admirable. And perhaps, years from now, these remonstrations will be studied with due reverence by the galaxy’s wisest men, benefitting from the gift of hindsight.” He pushed his chair under the table, and turned away, walking toward the large bay window that overlooked the skyline of ShiKahr. “However, on this day, we have only providence to guide us. And as the leader of the United Federation of Planets, my responsibility is to act decisively in the best interests of our peoples.”

He slowly turned around. “Admirals, as of this moment, your sole responsibility is the planning and execution of deployment of the Genesis device against the moon Praxis. Thelin, you will take the lead, and conduct the mission aboard the Katai. The three of you will report to me again here, in one week, to discuss the final timetable.”

He focused his gaze upon David. “Doctor Marcus, you are free to go. Please be aware that Starfleet Intelligence will monitor your movements and communications for the duration of this operation. That’s all, everyone. We are adjourned.” And with that, he slowly marched through the doors of the chamber.

Without a word, West and T’Pragh rose from their seats and followed the president out the door. Thelin remained seated, looking down at his hands.

Minutes passed as the two remaining men sat in silence. Motionless, David stared at the mosaic patterns on the surface of the conference table. He wanted to run…to get away from this place, to take a shower, to wash away any memory of what he had witnessed here this day. But he didn’t even know where to go. Back to a home that was just a glorified refugee shelter? He didn’t feel like he had a home. He didn’t feel like anything really mattered any longer.

In time, David managed to muster the spirit to make one final plea. “Thelin…You still have time. You can still talk them out of this.”

Thelin shook his head gently. “David…”

“Once you do this thing, the galaxy will never be the same. You’re opening Pandora’s box. You’re unleashing a power that can never be reined back in.”

Thelin continued to look down, unwilling to make eye contact. “I’m sorry, David. I truly am, but I have no choice. My only loyalty is to the Federation. I am Starfleet. It is…my family.” He stood, and finally looked over to David, but the human was staring down again, lost in his misery. “Thiptho lapth, my friend,” Thelin whispered.

And he departed, leaving David Marcus alone to contemplate his legacy.

The image of Praxis on the viewscreen grew steadily larger as the Katai, having finished scouting the area to Thelin’s satisfaction, began its final approach. At first glance, the moon was unremarkable-a fairly typical large rocky satellite, its surface pockmarked with evidence of ancient impacts. But the moon had been colonized for many generations, with surface settlements too small to be seen from orbit without strong magnification. And deep within the planet resided some of the galaxy’s most complex energy-mining operations, as the molten core at the center of the moon was tapped as a virtually inexhaustible source of power.

“Uhura,” Thelin said. “Are the comm channels quiet?”

“Yes, sir,” Uhura replied. “Just the normal interplanetary chatter.”

“Well, be thankful these Klingon cloaks are good enough to fool their own defense networks.” He turned his head down toward the helm. “Captain Sulu, put us into geosynchronous orbit around the moon, twenty thousand kilometers, equidistant from the two nearest sensor buoys.”

“Aye, sir.” The image of Praxis on the viewer shifted as Sulu turned the ship and settled into an orbital route. As it happened, they were positioned almost directly over the moon’s terminator, and with each passing minute the surface of the world beneath them slipped slightly further into darkness. And whereas the lighted portion of the surface appeared to be barren and lifeless, marked with craters and the remnants of long-dormant