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Martok was, Picard knew, the person in charge of Klingon forces for this war. “News, it seems, travels fast. Pipe him through to here, Mister Worf.”

The grizzled face of a seasoned warrior appeared on Picard’s screen. The general’s eyes both stared intently at Picard even before the image came into focus. “Captain Picard. I have been informed that you are to lead the Starfleet forces that are supporting us in battle.”

“So I have been led to believe, General.”

“Chancellor Gowron specifically requested you, Captain. That is a great honor.”

“Indeed,” Picard said, though it was an honor he could have done without. “I should warn you, General, that our forces are a trifle depleted. We have just faced the Borg-”

“And you survived.” For the first time, Martok smiled. “Anyone who can defeat those cybernetic creatures is a worthy warrior, and one I would be proud to have at my side against the Romulans.” Martok shook his head. “They attack us without provocation, and we believe their lies that it is the action of a renegade. Then, when Captain Wogh seeks vengeance, as is his right, they declare war. They will learn their folly, Picard-and you will help us teach it to them.”

“Our fleet will assemble at Starbase 24 in three days, General. I’ll contact you then.”

“Very well, Captain. Qapla’!”

Picard simply turned off the viewer, unable to bring himself to wish Martok success-though he hardly hoped for failure, either. In truth, he did not want a war. The Sovereign-class Enterprise was far more suited to battle than the old Galaxy-class had been. The newer ship was built in the shadow of the Borg, after all. But Jean-Luc Picard still thought of himself primarily as an explorer, and the Enterprise-E was still designed for that purpose. Being sent to lead troops in a war wasn’t the mission Picard had signed on for.

But it was his mission right now, given to him by the president himself.

8

An Unnamed Starhopper Interstellar Space Cardassian Union

When Kira had first beamed onto the starhopper, her third emotion was gratitude that the refrigeration units were still active and had kept the ration packs fresh. (Her first and second emotions were also gratitude, the first for the still-functioning transporter console, and the second for the life-support system. The air was incredibly stale, but it was breathable. The hauler didn’t have any EVA suits-probably another budget-saving move-so if the atmosphere had been drained from the starhopper, Kira would have been in serious trouble.) The refrigeration units were also filled to the brim; whoever used the starhopper last had thought to restock before hiding it, which was standard procedure, but not always possible. The ship could only go to warp three, so it would take her a few weeks to make it to the Federation border, and she needed to eat.

Her fourth emotion was annoyance, however, because the warp engines were not quite up to snuff. According to a note left behind by a resistance fighter named Biroj, the intermix chamber couldn’t handle anything faster than warp one-point-nine. Kira had never met Biroj, though she remembered Furel talking about her and saying that she knew her way around an engine.

Which was more than Kira could claim. She had no way to find out if Biroj’s note was correct, since she didn’t know an intermix chamber from a waste extractor, so the best she could do was to keep the starhopper at warp one-point-nine.

That speed meant her arrival in Federation space would take months, not weeks. It also meant that Garak’s intelligence regarding patrols would be decreasingly useful as she went along. Shipping patterns changed, after all, and the farther away Kira got from the time when Garak received the information, the more likely it was to be amended.

After five days, she discovered something else that would delay her arrival further, something Biroj had forgotten to put in her note, but did program into the computer. Apparently, after five days of continuous warp, the engines overheated. Biroj had programmed them to automatically shut