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Toq said, “The Enterprise is firing!”

The device exploded in Aidulac’s hands.

Unfortunately, the explosion took Aidulac’s hands with it.

She screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. Never, in all her millennia of life, had she ever felt anything remotely like the agony she felt now.

But the physical pain was as nothing compared to the mental anguish of her failure. All my work for naught. I was a fool to think I could defeat the Mighty One. I never could then—why would it be different now?

She heard Malkus’s laughter in her mind.

It was a brave attempt, Aidulac, Malkus said to her. But I am Malkus the Mighty. With but a gesture, I destroyed entire solar systems. You are as nothing to me. The galaxy is as nothing to me. Soon, I will—

Then she heard nothing. It was as if someone had simply turned Malkus off in midsentence. His presence was completely gone from her mind, as much as it was before she deactivated the component.

Looking over at the table that the four Instruments sat on, she saw that they had suddenly gone dead.

The voice of the android Data sounded over the Gorkon’ s speakers. “I am reading no emissions from the Malkus Artifacts. They have been rendered inert.”

Toq added, “Confirmed. None of the mind-control readings are present, and neither are the Malkus emissions.”

The ensign at the engineering station cried, “Victory!” Several others followed suit.

Klag ignored the cries. Instead, he walked over to the body of Commander Tereth, still lying on the deck next to the helm control. Turning her body over, Klag pried open her eyes.

She had been the best of them, serving him well, working with the crew, being his eyes and ears and hands on the Gorkon. He doubted he would ever be able to properly replace her.

And how did she die? In battle, covered in glory?

No. She died saving the life of an undeserving animal.

Rearing his head back, Klag screamed.

Next to him, Koxx did the same.

After a moment, so did everyone on the bridge—almost a score of warriors, screaming to the heavens. Klag’s ears rang with it, and it prompted him only to scream louder.

The Black Fleet in Sto-Vo-Kor now knew that Tereth, daughter of Rokis of the House of Kular, was crossing the River of Blood to join them.

The screams finally subsided. Klag looked down at the empty shell that was once his first officer. Then he looked up to see Colonel Kira standing over them.

“I would have liked to have shared that drink with her,” she said.

“You and I shall share it in her honor,” Klag said as he got to his feet.

He did so by bracing himself with his right arm, and got to his feet gracefully.

Chapter Seventeen

WORF TOOK A LONG SIP OF PRUNE JUICE, wishing that the human beverage were more useful for driving out splitting headaches.

The ambassador sat in the Ten-Forward lounge of the Enterprise, perusing the report that Giancarlo Wu had sent along from Qo’noS. Wu had attended to the difficulty on Mempa V with his usual efficiency—the Tellarites were freed after paying a hefty fine, and escorted out of the Empire with all due haste—and the fifth draft of the Klingon/Tholian resolution had apparently met with approval by both sides.

“May I join you?” said a familiar voice.

Worf looked up to see Ambassador Spock, looking much as he had when Worf first saw him on the St. Lawrence. He had cleaned up and put on fresh robes to replace the blood-and-dirt-stained ones from the surface. In addition, he was walking like a Vulcan again instead of the ready-to-fight demeanor that Worf himself favored.

“Of course,” Worf said, happily putting the padd down as Spock took the seat opposite him.

“Forgive the intrusion, but I wished to inquire after your health. The mind-meld can sometimes be difficult even for native-born Vulcans, much less outsiders.”

“I am fine,” Worf said. “Although—” He hesitated.

“Yes?”

Worf took a bracing sip of prune juice before continuing. This wasn’t easy for him to say. “I would like to apologize for my behavior on the St. Lawrence.