Precipice

The dozen or so Klingons in the street split into two squads and charged at their attackers—one at Stretch’s squad, one at Qui

None of the De

The last Klingon dropped to his knees with a smoldering hole in his tunic and metallic sash. He gasped “ PetaQpu’!” before falling facedown in the dirt.

Qui

All at once, the street was silent again. Only the faintest hush of a breeze and the soft crackling of flames disturbed the blissful quiet.

“Check the bodies,” Qui

Across the street, Stretch and his squad fa

“Good work,” Qui

He led them through the ruins, sticking to concealed paths and long stretches of old sewage tu

“How’d it go?” Bridy asked as Qui

“We kicked some ass,” Qui

Bridy motioned for him to follow her inside the Rocinante. “We have an unexpected visitor,” she said. “She claims she followed one of our recon patrols, and I believe her. Which means your boys need to work on their stealth skills.”

They stepped onto the main deck of the Mancharan starhopper. Seated on Qui

“Yeah, that’s us,” Qui

“I am Lirev, shahzadiof the Goçeba. My tribe has been enslaved by the Klingons at the temple.”

Qui

“The Klingons brought something to the temple last night,” Lirev cut in. “A gem the size of a skull.”

Bridy and Qui

Lirev’s eyes burned with equal measures of fear and fury. “It is not a decoration—it is a vessel of pure evil.”

“What makes you so sure?” asked Bridy.

The nomad replied, “Because when the Klingons brought the stone inside the precursor temple, the world trembled in fear.”

As he put the facts together, Qui

Qui

“I give you my word,” she said. “Truce and safe conduct.”

“Okay,” Qui

39

Trudging over one dune after another, Pe

“This is brilliant,” he muttered as they lumbered through the shifting sands. “More desert. Our three-day hike on Vulcan wasn’t enough for you?”

She answered without looking back. “I did not choose the location to which the Klingons transported their artifact.”

“No, of course not,” Pe

T’Pry

He joined her at the crest of the dune and squinted into the glare of sun reflected off a vista of pale sand. “Maybe,” he said. “But sometimes I get the feeling you just like walking in the desert.” He met her placid stare. “For the record, I don’t.”

“I gathered that,” she said.

They continued walking east. A gust of hot wind-blown sand scoured Pe

Over the howling wind, T’Pry

“And how far have we gone?”

“Since leaving the Skylla,we have traversed one-point-six kilometers of open desert.”

Pe

“If memory serves, you said quite clearly you were looking forward to spending some time outside the ship.”

“That was when I thought outsidewould mean grass or trees or water, or something besides sand.”

T’Pry

He waved his arms in wild exasperation. “Or maybe it stems from having to tromp across a bloody desert!” Pe

“Your reactions do provide a break from the monotony.”

“In other words, I entertain you.” He shook his head. “Is that all I am to you? A clown?”

“No,” T’Pry

He fell into step beside her. “That’s fu

“You confuse wit with humor,” she replied. “A common mistake among humans.”

Scrambling to keep up with the long-legged Vulcan woman, Pe

Several minutes later T’Pry

Even silence is no defense,he brooded. He let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, I can tell already,” he said. “Your companionship will make this forced desert march just flyby.”

“You are welcome to turn back and go wait in the ship.”

He looked toward the fiery orb that was hammering his head with scorching heat, then glared at T’Pry