Precipice

Either way,Zett decided as he brought his warp drive online, whoever they are, they know too much. And that makes them my problem to sort out.

Interlude

36

August 24, 2267

A lot of time had passed, and Jetanien and Lugok had run out of interesting things to say to each other.

“These are three months of my life I will never get back, Jetanien,” Lugok grumbled over di

Between slurps of his pungent broth, Jetanien replied, “It’s not as if you were doing anything that will be missed.”

They had taken to eating outside their respective ships, though not necessarily together. The Chelon and the Klingon sat several meters apart, facing each other only indirectly. Both of them were middle-aged and not especially athletic, so the sport of choice atop their shared mesa had become volleying insults.

“I can smell that swill in your mug from here,” Lugok said. “What did you say it was called?”

“ N’v’aa,” Jetanien said. “It’s a Rigelian fruit cocktail.”

“Stinks like pest repellant.”

“Regrettably, it is no such thing. If it were, it would have driven you back into your ship long ago.”

The two diplomats went back to eating in black-mooded silence for a while. Jetanien finished his broth and opened a package of pickled Keesabeetles. He knew not to offer any to Lugok, who months earlier had made a tremendous fuss about the repugnance of consuming dead food.

As Jetanien savored the acidic tang of the preserved insect crunching between his mandibles, Lugok said apropos of nothing, “He’s not coming, you know.”

After swallowing his mouthful, Jetanien replied, “He might. Passage out of the Romulan Star Empire is anything but simple.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lugok said. “Three months late? Whoever heard of such a thing? Why are we even here?”

Spearing another beetle with his fork, Jetanien said, “I would not presume to speculate on your motives for remaining. Mine are my own.” He paused before pushing the next forkful into his maw. “However, if you find yourself inclined to share something of substance to offset your months of inane bluster—”

“Forget I said it,” Lugok cut in.

Di

In truth, Jetanien had speculated at length as to why Lugok continued to bide his time on Nimbus III. For all the man’s complaining, he had not once threatened to leave. His repeated demands for Senator D’tran’s whereabouts, or his assertions the Romulan statesman would never arrive, did not seem to be sincere declarations of belief. Rather, they appeared to be invitations for Jetanien to reassure Lugok that their patience would be rewarded—if only they waited a while longer.

They concluded their evening meal as the sky turned dark. Jetanien passed the early night hours reading a classic work of Tellarite literature entitled The Blood Country. It was far more violent than he had expected, but the writing had been gravid with subtle metaphors and hidden meanings.

Jetanien knew it was time to go to bed each night when Lugok yelled across the gap between their ships, “Give me a good reason not to cut your throat tonight, Chelon.”

Every night, Jetanien shouted back his reply, “Because I would slay you in kind, and then there would be no one to greet Senator D’tran when he arrives.”

“Sleep well—if you dare,” Lugok called out.

“Good night, Lugok.”

Each night they turned off the exterior lights of their ships and retired behind unlocked doors to rest themselves for another day spent in idle anticipation.

That night would be different.

A great thunder of engines shocked Jetanien back to consciousness just before sunrise. He scrambled off his sleeping platform with all the haste his heavy, carapace-covered bulk could muster and lumbered outside into the chilly predawn air. Lugok was already out of his ship, staring straight up at the massive vessel descending toward them.

As it neared the mesa, the new ship shifted course and continued past them. A few kilometers from the mesa it hovered over a small hill. Broad doors on its underside opened outward with a great clamor and whine of machinery. Light flooded out of the belly of the long, podlike vessel.

Lugok and Jetanien wandered together toward the mesa’s edge, both watching the metallic leviathan hovering nearby, waiting with hope and anxiety to see what would emerge through the enormous starship’s ventral doors.

A flurry of loose matter fell from the ship. The dark cascade struck the small hill beneath the ship and spread over it like a fluid. For several seconds the torrent continued, a steady outpouring of solid debris.

As the purging ended, a cold breeze carried the odors of rotting garbage and chemical waste across the mesa.

The big ship closed its cargo bay doors, climbed into the sky, became a shining speck among the stars, and vanished into the night.

Jetanien and Lugok stared at the festering hill of garbage.

The portly Klingon laughed. His guffaws were loud, hoarse, and rich with bitterness. He continued his cynical cachi

Jetanien found this turn of events to be an apt metaphor for his career.

And on that note, he went back to bed.

PART THREE

One Little Victory

37

September 9, 2267

It was one of the most impressive bits of piloting Pe

“Anchor deployed,” she said, turning toward the sensor suite. “I am tracking the Zin’za. Monitor the communications between it and the vessel in orbit of the third planet.”

Pe

He slipped a small transceiver into his ear and patched it in to the passive subspace ante

Captured in mid-sentence, the first voice said, “… continues on schedule. How soon can the artifact be delivered?”

“We will beam it down as soon as we reach orbit. Send final coordinates for transport.”

“Acknowledged,Zin’za. Transmitting coordinates now.”

T’Pry

“They are moving into orbit,” T’Pry

“Already done,” Pe

“We wait,” the Vulcan said.

“And after that?”

His question seemed to vex her. “The Zin’za’s mission seems to be limited to delivering an artifact to the planet. We will remain on this asteroid until the Zin’zacompletes its business. After it departs, we will wait for the other Klingon vessel to move to the far side of the planet from our position. Then we shall make a precision warp jump into orbit and try to reach the surface before they detect our presence.”