Summon the Thunder

What could a lone sensor drone of admittedly inferior capabilities offer that Starfleet’s own sensor arrays could not?

Curiouser and curiouser.

There was also the point to consider that the Rocinante,being a civilian merchant vessel, would conceivably be able to move through the Taurus Reach without attracting too much in the way of official attention—particularly if Qui

With Qui

While the story he had fed to Qui

What really happened to the U.S.S. Bombay,and who was responsible? Further, why did Starfleet already possess these answers while taking extraordinary steps to keep that truth from the public?

Pe

For Oriana,he thought, reminded once again of the captivating woman with whom he had shared a bed. That loss and the pain he still felt were made worse by the fact that he had been unable even to say goodbye to Oriana D’Amato before she had left on what turned out to be the Bombay’s final mission. The unexpected arrival of the U.S.S. Enterpriseat Vanguard, aboard which her husband served as a geologist, prevented him from seeing her in the days leading up to her ship’s departure.

While her death gnawed at him, Pe

He had been set up. Deliberately. Everything was a fraud.

Not everything,he reminded himself. It can’t be.

Pe

Part of him understood the reasons for the cover-up. Any open acknowledgment of the Tholians’ role in the destruction of the Bombaywould damage the diplomatic relations the two powers currently enjoyed, which doubtless were already strained by the simple fact that Starfleet knew the Tholians were guilty and had called them on it. Pushing the issue would almost certainly lead to war.

Still, it made no sense to Pe

Well, that’s just not bloody good enough,Pe

He was pulled from his thoughts by the unmistakable shift in the Rocinante’s engines as the freighter’s warp drive engaged. Beyond the cockpit’s canopy, he watched the stars stretch and distort into multicolored streaks as the ship entered subspace. Such would be the view, he knew, for however long it took to get to wherever Qui

Turning in his seat, Pe

“Three days to get there,” he said. “Maybe you could spend some of that time straightening up around here, mate.”

Qui

“Twelve days?” Pe

Several moments passed before Qui

“You’re kidding.” In the month that had passed since first meeting Qui

When Qui