Summon the Thunder

Assuming the unlikely duo managed to accomplish the comparatively simple feat of capturing the sensor drone, T’Pry

As for that sensor data, what would it contain? Of that, T’Pry

That notion was revised even before Starbase 47 itself had become fully operational, when it was discovered that a series of rampant, unexplained malfunctions aboard the station were not due to onboard systems errors as might be expected aboard a starship or starbase that had been rushed through construction and into active service. Instead, the anomalies had been caused by interference from what specialists from Starfleet’s Corps of Engineers had described as a “carrier wave” emanating from somewhere within the Jinoteur system, all but imperceptible except by sensors specially modified to detect it.

Computer analysis eventually had determined that the wave was in effect a previously unknown variety of communications signal. Further, translation software also had offered the theory that the signal might in fact be transmitting a warning. Station and corps engineers had devised a means of answering the signal, after which the carrier wave abruptly had ceased its transmissions. Yet, even after several months of continued analysis, the reason for the strange signal—as well as the identity of those responsible for sending it or any intended recipients—remained a mystery.

Was there a co

There was only one way to find out—though doing so carried with it a need for care and stealth so as to prevent attracting the unwanted attention of either the Klingon Empire or the Tholian Assembly. Both powers were making their own forays into the Taurus Reach in response to Federation expansion into the region, though by all accounts the Klingons appeared to have been taken in by the extensive disinformation campaign currently in play. Dozens of colonies and remote outposts, all of them genuine efforts on the part of Federation citizens, were springing up throughout this area of space. Only a handful of people knew that some of those colonies were in fact providing cover for research operations tasked with studying artifacts of ancient alien technology and construction, chiefly to determine whether there was any co

It had taken significant effort on her part to infiltrate Klingon communications networks in order to determine the routes and timetables related to the array of unma

Submit.

The voice sliced through her thoughts with the force of a keenly sharpened blade, ringing in her ears and her mind.

Without her conscious control, T’Pry

You are weak. The words goaded her, though this time she could not be sure if the voice was Sten’s or her own. Eventually, you will have to surrender to me. It is inevitable.

Ignoring the patent threat, T’Pry

If only I could erase you as easily,she thought as she returned the protoplaser to her bureau. She thrust the taunt into the deepest recesses of her mind, where she knew the enduring consciousness of her onetime betrothed still lurked, waiting for the moment when she was at her most vulnerable so it could seize control and finally achieve what it had demanded for so long.

Submit,the voice said again.

“Never,” she said aloud, tossing the bloodied hand towel into the matter-reclamation slot near her lavatory door, before turning on her heel and marching out of her quarters.

9

Squinting into a desk-mounted viewer, Lieutenant Ming Xiong ignored the gritty sting of his tired eyes as they played across yet another chromatographic analysis of samples taken from around the Erilon encampment site where he had lived and studied these past weeks. His mind fogged a moment as he sca