Harbinger

Arranged in four neat rows, halfway between the small freighter and the wide hydraulic doors that led to an underground freight-rail loading platform, were the twenty-four cargo crates Qui

The doors opened. Broon, an unkempt bear of a man, lumbered in, his open trenchcoat fluttering behind him like a battle flag. He was followed by an entourage of ten surly-looking lowlifes, all of whom came carrying disruptor rifles.

Qui

“And you’re an idiot,” Broon said, his voice a guttural rasp. His men fa

With a nonchalant sideways puff of cherry-scented smoke, Qui

“If you had any brains, you wouldn’t have come at all.”

On the edge of his vision, Qui

“Oh, we’ll take the shipment, Mr. Qui

“Not until you pay for it,” Qui

Broon smirked. “I think you’ve misunderstood the nature of this transaction, Mr. Qui

“No, I understand perfectly,” Qui

No longer smirking, Broon made a slow, cautious gesture to his men to lower their weapons. He kept his eyes on Qui

“Make me an offer,” Qui

“First we need to set terms,” Broon said. “How is this going to go?”

Qui

“Ridiculous,” Broon said. “As soon as you’re clear, you’ll blow us to bits.”

Shaking his head, Qui

“Until Ganz sees you alive,” Broon said. “Then I’m a dead man.” He looked at his men. “We all are.”

A puff of cigar smoke passed through Qui

“Orions don’t believe in good faith,” Broon said. “They believe in contracts and revenge. My contract is to kill you.”

“And mine’s to sell you a bunch of guns. I prefer mine.”

Broon glowered at Qui

Qui

“Don’t open that crate,” Qui

“Or what, Mr. Qui

“Don’t make me tell you again,” Qui

Broon left one hand gripping the handle of the lid as he turned to face Qui

Qui

The detonator fell off the ultritium charge. Then the munition fell from the lid, revealing itself as a hollow fake.

Damn cheap glue, Qui

Broon reached for a pistol tucked into his belt. “Kill—”

Qui

He closed his eyes and fired blind. Multiple screeching rifle shots overlapped all around him. Half a second later, he was the only one firing. He took his finger off the trigger and opened his eyes.

All the gunmen lay stu

Surrounded by artfully wrought violence, Qui

T’Pry

A crueller man might have laughed.

A more noble man might have felt ashamed.

Qui

Kirk was unaccustomed to having so many people on his bridge when there wasn’t a crisis. The Enterprise was en route back to Vanguard under routine conditions, but in the twenty-five hours since Xiong had divulged the classified details of his mission, Spock, Piper, and Scotty had been engrossed in fevered research of the data stored on Xiong’s tricorder. Spock and Piper had busied themselves at science station one, while Xiong and Scotty had been working at the station right next to them. For Scotty and Piper, the yeomen hadn’t been able to fetch coffee fast enough this evening.