Precipice

“Diego was right about you,” Ezthene said. “You arean idealist. Most curious.”

A tight smile betrayed Gorkon’s waning patience with his guests. “I could say the same of you,” he replied. “You tried to seek asylum on Vanguard for the same reason I brought you both here. You want to find a new way forward, for all of us.”

“How noble of you,” Ezthene said. “However, did it occur to you that your method was somewhat less benign than ours? After all, this unofficial summit of yours is hardly conducive to producing any kind of lasting agreement among our respective nations. You abducted us and brought us to Klingon space, where you indubitably hold the upper hand.”

Reyes added, “He makes a good point. This is hardly what I’d call a meeting of equals, Gorkon.”

“Because I brought you to Klingon space against your will?”

“That, and the fact we’re not really playing at your level of the game anymore, if we ever were.” Reyes nodded at Ezthene. “He’s an exiled dissenter, an outcast from his people. If what he’s told me is true, they’ll try to kill him on sight. And me? For God’s sake, Gorkon, I’m a legally dead convicted military criminal. Not exactly a mover and a shaker, if you know what I mean.”

Frowning, Gorkon replied, “I am certain I do not.”

“Look,” Reyes said. “You sit on the Klingon High Council. You’ve been the chancellor’s right-hand man for years now. That puts you in a position to make a difference. Ezthene and I, on the other hand, aren’t exactly poised to make much of an impact on ourgovernments. So if you’re counting on us to bring your vision of the future to life, I think you’re in for a hell of a big letdown.”

Gorkon reclined, looked at the overhead, and chortled. “Of course,” he muttered. “How foolish of me.” He stood and planted his fingertips on the tabletop. “Please accept my apologies, gentlemen. I should have communicated my purpose more clearly when we first sat down together. I did not go to the effort and expense of bringing the two of you here so that I could send you back as envoys to your own peoples. You are not here because I believe either of you is positioned to influence the actions of your leaders or your deliberative assemblies.”

Feeling his headache getting worse the longer Gorkon talked, Reyes said, “Get to the point, will you?”

A forbidding scowl creased the Klingon’s brow as he replied, “You’re not here to sway yourgovernments. You’re here to help me sway mine.”

12

February 24, 2267

“I know it’s generally considered gauche to make comparisons between one’s former and current spouses,” Pe

T’Pry

Without betraying her regrets regarding their travel arrangements, she replied, “If you are referring to the chaste nature of our cohabitation, I should think it would have been entirely expected.”

“Actually,” Pe

“First, because I swore my marital vows under an assumed name, they are not legally binding. Ergo, you and I are not actually married, and no act of consummation should be expected.”

Cracking a rakish smile, Pe

“I doubt anyone is observing our activity here in our cabin, Mister Pe

“Bloody match made in heaven,” he mumbled, then shoveled the forkful of pasta into his mouth.

T’Pry

He stared at T’Pry

The rest of di

After placing his dishes outside the cabin door for the ship’s housekeeping staff to collect, Pe

“I have no doubt that your experience as an investigative journalist will serve you well in that endeavor,” T’Pry

Pe

Emancipated from her pseudo-husband’s inane small talk, T’Pry

She intially looked for any news related to Starbase 47 during the year of her absence. The first news items returned by the system had been published within two days of her mental collapse. At the top of the list was a story by Tim Pe

Next she read a firsthand account—also written by Pe

T’Pry

T’Pry

Then she read that Reyes’s transport had been destroyed by an unknown attacker while it was en route to Earth. Lost with all hands. Reduced to a cloud of gas and dust.

Diego Reyes was dead. Murdered.

The usual suspects had denied responsibility, of course. Even though the Klingons had placed a bounty on Reyes’s life after the Gamma Tauri IV incident, they insisted they had wanted him to stand trial on Qo’noS, not be granted a glorious death in battle. Figures linked with the various Orion smugglers who prowled the sector protested their i