‘We have the Devore on our sensors, Repository,’ Rourke said with a serious frown. ‘It looks like they’re breaking away from your defences, but there’s no telling what they’ve done. Do you want us to intercept?’

On the view-screen, Levellir took a big gulp from her rebreather. ‘If they run, hunt them. There’ll be a reward,’ she hissed.

‘I understand. Commander Rosewood, Lieutenant Beckett – return to the ship. Helm, move to intercept the Devore.’ Levellir was given a stern nod. ‘I’ll tell you when we have news. Endeavour out.’

The moment the viewscreen winked out, Valance called out from mission control. ‘Merlin reports Airex and Kharth are back aboard, with the package.’

‘Get the runabout back aboard,’ said Rourke. ‘Tell the Lancelot to hold out as long as they can, then jump to warp. We’ll follow in mock-pursuit.’

‘What happened over there?’ Lindgren’s eyes were wide.

‘Worry about that later. Pull the wool over the Repository’s eyes for now.’

‘We’re taking a bit of a roundabout route,’ warned Arys, ‘picking up the Merlin.’

‘We don’t need this to be perfect,’ Rourke reminded them. ‘Levellir can suspect us. She just can’t blame us.’

It had to have been long minutes manoeuvring around the junkyard, but felt like mere thudding heartbeats before Valance called from the rear, ‘Merlin and Bedivere are back aboard. Lancelot reports automated defences are almost on top of them!’

‘Tell them to go to warp,’ Rourke snapped. ‘Arys, set a pursuit course. We’ll give chase out of sensor range and eventually tell Levellir they gave us the slip.’

He did not breathe easy until he felt the deck surge as Endeavour went to warp. Only then did he sink back onto the command chair, only then did he close his eyes and let the muscles in his back loosen an iota. It was an imperfect mission.

But it was good enough.

‘I’ve got good news and bad news,’ Airex told the senior staff in the conference room six hours later.

‘You shock me,’ Rourke drawled. ‘Go on, Commander.’

‘The good news is that we recovered the rest of the archives Goravin extracted from the Vaadwaur colony on Palariven III. There isn’t a great deal there that Goravin didn’t already give us, because he’d spent some time analysing it before it fell out of his hands. But what he’d lost were small details, technical details – things he wouldn’t remember.’

‘That’s the bad news – it’s irrelevant,’ surmised Valance.

‘Not at all,’ said Airex, and reached for the central holo-display to bring up a regional map. ‘Because one of the minor details includes the coordinates for the development and construction station that sent Palariven its equipment. Including, by this, the Regulators.’ At the wave of a hand, the map zoomed in on a star some light-years away.

Rourke leaned forward. ‘What do we mean by “development and construction,” here?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Airex admitted, ‘but if the site can be found and if there’s anything that’s survived the centuries, I think there’s good odds we can at least acquire technical specifications on the devices. If not a device itself.’

Valance tilted her chin up. ‘Then what’s the bad news?’

He winced. ‘We weren’t the first people to access Goravin’s ship records.’

‘Levellir?’

‘Yes, but not just the Repository,’ said Airex. ‘By the time-stamp, I suspect whoever found the ship and tipped Abaddon’s off about possible salvage also accessed the records. They definitely saved a duplicate of the Vaadwaur files. But it’s impossible to know who it was.’

Rourke scratched his beard. ‘Let’s not borrow trouble,’ he concluded. ‘What do we know about this other Vaadwaur colony?’

Beckett leaned forward at that. He was comically far down the table, likely to avoid sitting anywhere near the other junior officers. Cortez was notoriously close to getting bingo again. ‘Nothing,’ he volunteered. ‘We didn’t know it was a Vaadwaur settlement until now. But it’s not that surprising, considering the state of Taxtose IV.’

At that, Airex thumbed his PADD to bring up the briefing document. ‘Starfleet hasn’t visited the system before. Local exploration has only gotten around to locations of high interest, and Taxtose is mid at best. Long-range scans suggest Taxtose IV’s atmosphere has huge levels of radiogenic particles, however.’

‘Which matches,’ Beckett jumped back in, ‘the conditions of most other confirmed sites of historic Vaadwaur activity. A whole lot of them were bombarded with plasma bombs when the Turei brought the Supremacy down.’

Rourke nodded and looked at Airex. ‘We’ll set a course, then. Start making plans on how to safely deploy an away team in these conditions.’ He turned to Kharth. ‘I want long-range scans keeping an eye out for the Devore. Near us or anywhere near Taxtose.’

Her eyebrows raised. She had not said very much since returning to the ship. ‘You think they got the data off Goravin’s ship?’

‘They knew about him, they chased him to Markonian. If they didn’t get it themselves, it’s possible they bought or took it off whoever did.’ Rourke turned back to the rest of the table. ‘Speaking of, where are we at with Abaddon’s?’

Lindgren gave a taut smile. ‘I contacted Levellir and gave our apologies that the Devore gave us the slip. If she didn’t believe me, she didn’t let on.’

Commander Rosewood nodded enthusiastically. ‘It looked like she bought it when we were aboard. And like you said, Captain, we didn’t need to be perfect. We just needed her to not point the finger at us.’

‘Convenient that the Devore are so damn evil we can dump anything on them and they deserve it,’ muttered Kharth.

Sadek gave her a sidelong look. ‘Not so convenient for Sub-Lieutenant Brennos and his friends.’

Rourke lifted a hand before Kharth could respond. ‘We’ve got what we wanted and the mission went smooth. Let’s be satisfied with that. Nate, keep an eye on reports to see if Abaddon’s changes its stance towards Starfleet, but don’t worry – I’ll notify the DEI of what we’ve done.’ Beckett looked relieved. ‘Otherwise, let’s stay on the trail. You’re dismissed; Commander Valance, get us underway for Taxtose; Kharth, Airex, I want a word.’

He did not waste time studying anyone’s expressions as the bulk of his senior staff trooped out. Only when the last left, Lindgren gently complaining to Thawn that they needed new bingo rules as the doors shut on them, did he tilt back to Kharth and Airex and draw a deep breath. ‘What happened over there?’

Kharth stared at the table, which was not what he expected, but Airex’s gaze was guileless. ‘Sir?’

‘Come on. We were halfway through the mission before Goravin’s ship powered up and almost blew the whole damn op.’ Silence met his words. ‘I’m not looking to play the blame game; I’m finding out if there’s anything I need to know.’

Airex gave the faintest frown, and Rourke was just about to snap at him to not even try to dissemble when Kharth spoke. ‘It was me,’ she said quietly, still staring at the desk. ‘Or – it was blood dilithium.’

Rourke’s shoulders sank. ‘Go on,’ he said softly.

‘I’m not trying to hide it, sir, it’s just – we only just got back, I’m trying to make sense of it, I was going to talk to Carraway.’ Her voice was quieter than he was used to, and Rourke’s back tensed as he realised how apprehensive she was, how vulnerable. Adversity did not normally make her shrink. ‘I was just so angry.’

Airex leaned forward, earnest eyes on Rourke. ‘Commander Kharth only momentarily lost control. It was a lapse, not a complete succumbing to the telepathic effect -’

Again Rourke raised a hand to bring silence. He looked from Airex to Kharth. ‘Talk to Carraway. Tell him everything. And we’ll take it from there.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t mean to be insensitive, Commander, but I didn’t expect Romulans to be so susceptible?’

‘That likely,’ said Airex quickly, ‘is part of why Commander Kharth was able to reassert control -’

Rourke would have happily cut Airex off again, but it was a chirrup of Kharth’s combadge that interrupted him this time, the gruff tones of Endeavour’s ranking brig officer coming through. ‘Vakkis to Kharth – we’ve got a situation with the prisoner.’

All apprehension fled Kharth’s eyes at a professional demand on her attention, and at last she made eye-contact with Rourke as she smacked her combadge. ‘Explain.’

‘Brennos has been attacked – medical’s here, I just arrived, Doctor Sadek’s working on him but he’s – I think he’s dead…’ Even the sturdy Vakkis sounded shaken.

Rourke snapped upright. ‘Who attacked him?’

There was a pause, Vakkis’s day bad enough without the commanding officer suddenly being in on the call. At last the Tellarite’s voice came back, even more strained. ‘…Lieutenant Rhade.’

Rourke’s gaze again locked on Kharth. ‘We’re on our way.’

‘How the hell did this happen?’ The corridor outside the quarters where Brennos was being held had been sectioned off, with Petty Officer Tarran letting the captain and chief of security past the perimeter without question. He was probably relieved to do so, as it meant Kharth was now thundering at the officers stood at the doorway.

Vakkis stood next to a rather sallow-faced Crewman Griffin, and stepped out to intercept, hands raised. ‘Lieutenant Rhade’s a bridge officer and the Hazard Team leader,’ he said, clearly calmer, clearly ready to bear the brunt of his chief’s fury. ‘When he told Griffin he had your permission to speak to the prisoner, he didn’t question it.’

‘I just – I let him in, then a minute later heard the scuffle.’ Griffin sounded distant, disconnected. ‘Stuck my head in and the lieutenant were beating him with one of the lamps. Had to stun him.’

Rourke frowned. ‘Where’s Rhade now?’

‘Sickbay,’ said Vakkis. ‘Sedated. Under Chief Kowalski’s watch.’

‘Good,’ Kharth snarled.

‘It looked like – I saw the Merevek recording, Commander,’ Griffin said, at last looking up at them both. ‘That weren’t Lieutenant Rhade in the pilot’s seat. That were blood dilithium.’

‘You’re not the judge of that,’ said Kharth, but Rourke was ushering her past them and towards the door to the small guest quarters where Brennos had been confined.

They entered to find a small medical team bent over the still form of the young Devore officer. When Sadek finally stood and turned to them, Rourke rather wished she hadn’t. Now he could see what Lieutenant Rhade had done to him.

Sadek shook her head. ‘He’s dead,’ she said, voice thick. ‘Lieutenant Rhade’s a strong guy and had something solid in his hand. Caved his skull in.’

Rourke set his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling. ‘Son of a bitch,’ he groaned at last.

Kharth gave a sharp inhale through her nose. ‘Sir, it’s time.’ He looked at her, and her expression set. ‘Telepathic staff can’t be allowed to go about their business unsupervised. Not to anywhere restricted or sensitive.’ She hesitated. ‘And you have to suspend from duty anyone who’s had their behaviour affected by blood dilithium.’

When Rourke swallowed, his mouth was dry. ‘Commander…’

She reached up to remove her combadge. ‘Lieutenant Song’s very capable, Captain. He’s got sound judgement -’

‘No, hold on.’ Rourke grabbed her wrist. ‘One step at a time. You’re right in the first part – restrictions on telepaths. But that’s letting nobody be unaccompanied anywhere they can do damage. And sure, someone who’s compromised is suspended from duty. But you need to have a conversation with Carraway before we figure out if you’re compromised.’

‘Sir, I lost control on that mission -’

‘And here you are, doing your job. Meanwhile, more powerful telepaths than you have suffered worse. Our most powerful telepath seems fine. We can’t make assumptions about this. You recovered control over there. Keep Song by your side if you want, but I’m not benching you unless Carraway recommends it.’

Kharth looked like she might make another argument, then her shoulders sank. ‘As you say, sir.’

Sadek cleared her throat slightly. ‘Heartwarming, but this was a hell of a mess, Captain.’ Rourke could almost hear her fighting to speak professionally in front of her medical team and Kharth, heard her wanting to unload personally. ‘People under our care shouldn’t have this happen to them.’

Rourke scowled. ‘I know.’

‘And Rhade is going to be…’ Sadek sucked her teeth. ‘Assuming he recovers from this, he’s going to be traumatised. He broke in here and beat a helpless prisoner to death.’

‘I know.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Get the Devore lad to the morgue. I’ll have Rosewood and Nate see if we can find any information on his people’s funeral rites. The least we can do is give him a respectful end.’

Sadek sighed, anger dissipating for grief. ‘I know he was our enemy. But he was young. And people aren’t born hating, they’re taught it.’

‘Maybe,’ said Kharth, voice a little distant. ‘But the ghosts wrecking Rhade’s brain didn’t think Brennos’s age got him off the hook.’

‘No,’ said Rourke, cutting in with another sigh. ‘But there’s a reason victims don’t get to decide punishments in a court of law.’ He looked at the body, then turned on his heel. ‘Vengeance and justice aren’t the same thing.’