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Vralk acknowledged the order and set a course.

“Toq, inform me if the warp signature changes.”

Within a few minutes, Toq said, “Warp signature lost, Commander.”

That was fast, Tereth thought. “Feed the coordinates where you lost it to Lieutenant Vralk. Bring us to that position and then full stop, Lieutenant.”

Both Toq and Vralk acknowledged and carried out their orders.

At the coordinates, Vralk said, “All stop, Commander.”

Tereth got up and walked over to the operations console. “Toq?”

“I have the signature, Commander.” He looked up from his readings. “The heading is 211 mark 1.”

Vralk turned around to look at Toq. “That brings them right to the Laktar system.”

Tereth blinked. The Battle of Laktar was one of the more vicious skirmishes of the Dominion War. Captain Huss’s fleet had arrived at the tail end of it, but the battle was over by then: it was a victory for the Empire, but the radiation that infused that system from the sheer volume of destroyed ships made any kind of sensor scan impossible.

Anticipating Tereth’s question, Toq said, “The warp signature goes right through the radiation, Commander. We cannot track them any farther.”

Tereth muttered a curse.

“Something else, Commander,” Toq said. “The discrepant reading that was found on Earth and Bajor is also here. It was not present when we first encountered the shuttle’s warp trail, but it is here now.”

“Have you determined what that reading is?”

Abashedly, Toq said, “Not yet, Commander.”

Tereth kept her smile to herself. Toq took great pride in his work, something Tereth had done her best to encourage. He had the makings of greatness in him. “The next time I ask that question, Lieutenant, I expect a different answer.”

“Yes, sir!” Toq said.

Leaving Toq to his work, Tereth walked over to the helm control. “Vralk, project the shuttle’s course ahead. I want to know all the possible places they could have gone.”

Vralk punched up a display on his console. “I am afraid that list is very long, Commander.” Tereth was pleased that Vralk had already projected the course, but had not been foolish enough to volunteer the information before Tereth was ready for it. “The course takes them directly through the Ch’grath Stellar Cluster.”

Tereth growled low in her throat. Vralk said, “Commander, I—”

She waved him off. “It’s not your fault, Vralk.” She bared her teeth. “If my displeasure was with you, you would not be able to apologize.”

“Yes, sir,” Vralk said quickly. The boy had only been assigned to the Gorkon for a week. He will learn the protocols soon enough, she thought, or he will be reassigned. She smiled, remembering Bekk Kelad’s thoughtless burst of laughter at Captain Klag’s unfortunate—and temporary—difficulties adjusting to his new limb. Tereth had thought her captain to be courageous in putting his own ability to fight over outmoded medical practices and allowing Dr. B’Oraq to give him a new limb. An adjustment period was to be expected, and it hadn’t affected his ability to lead them so far. If it did, Tereth would deal with it, as any first officer would—and as long as it didn’t, any who dared to mock the captain would pay for it.

Kelad certainly had been paying. His assignment to waste extraction was not due to end for another two months.

Since Toq was occupied with his sensor sweeps, Tereth went directly to the ensign at the communications console to Toq’s left. “Send to all ships, planets, and outposts in the Ch’grath cluster to be on the lookout for the captain’s shuttle.”

“Yes, sir,” said the ensign.

Again, Tereth looked around the bridge. Vralk kept the ship in position for Toq to make his sensor sweeps. Next to Toq’s operations station, Lieutenant Rodek stood impassively at the gunner’s position, presumably ready to go into battle if needed. Behind the two of them, the four gunner positions sat empty for the moment. The other secondary stations remained staffed and occupied.

At this point, Tereth realized, she needed to inform Klag of their progress. Until Toq found something substantial—or something