Valance found her throat tensing with apprehension as the Romulan warbird rose before Endeavour’s viewscreen. Although everything had identified it as a ship of the Romulan Republic, their neighbours and allies, her encounters in past years had been more hostile than not.

‘ID is RRW Ihhliae,’ Kally said, a little breathless. ‘Republic.’

Kharth’s head snapped around. ‘Did you check against our records?’

‘I… no.’

‘Always check, Ensign.’

You really are learning how to be an XO, Valance thought mirthlessly, before shaking her head. ‘Just patch us through.’

Kally nodded, abashed, and the viewscreen changed a moment later for the stern, sharp features of a Romulan woman in the uniform of the Republic Navy. The bridge behind her looked worn, with obvious repairs over metal – nothing fresh, but clearly, they could not acquire standard parts to replace what was lost over time. ‘This is Commander Morvith of the Romulan Republic. I’m surprised to see Starfleet venturing further than their fortification.’

‘Captain Valance, USS Endeavour. As discussed with Republic sector command, Starfleet’s here to aid in the rebuild of the Midgard Sector -’

But before she could elaborate, Morvith had swept a hand. ‘The Mesea Storm does not seem in much need of rebuilding. Let’s not fork our tongues, Captain. You’re here, like we are, for the signal.’

Valance tried to not bristle. ‘We are.’

‘Whatever’s emitting it is far closer to Republic space than Starfleet. We share responsibility for the sector now, Captain. My ship has this.’

Kharth stepped forward before Valance could answer. ‘This is a moment where what our superiors negotiated might not reflect the reality of being out here, Commander. Do you want to come aboard so we can discuss this properly?’

Morvith’s eyes raked over her. Valance suspected she’d assumed Kharth was a Vulcan and was taken aback by being proven wrong. At length, she nodded. ‘I’ll beam over. Ihhliae out.’

Kharth blew out her cheeks as the screen went dead. ‘She didn’t come to play.’

‘Do you know her?’ Valance asked, then narrowed her eyes at Kharth’s suspicious look. ‘By reputation or reports, Commander; I’m not asking if you know all Romulans.’

‘No,’ Kharth said. ‘But she lured you into justifying Starfleet’s presence in the sector so she could imply you were covering up why we’re here and look like the one being open and honest. I think she’ll try to claim the moral high ground in this salvage mission.’ Then she winced. ‘Be prepared. She’s looking at you like a Klingon.’

Valance rubbed her temple. ‘Report to Transporter Room 2 and welcome her aboard, Commander. Cortez, Logan, you’re with me. Airex, study their ship; if they know this plasma field enough to name it, they may have made preparations we could learn from. Shep – you have the bridge.’

Only once they were in the Conference Room did Logan speak. ‘Where do you want me, Captain? And how vocal?’ She glanced at him, and he shrugged. ‘Am I a stick, your security-Borg showing you’ve got skin in the game, or am I an expert you want weighing in?’

‘An expert,’ Valance said quickly. ‘I’m not here to lie.’

Logan winced. ‘Don’t let the Republic’s commitment to democracy obscure the fact they’re still Romulans. I’m not saying they’re duplicitous, but… they’ll play to win.’

Cortez winced. ‘We’ve already nearly gotten ourselves killed playing with Borg tech, and Starfleet knows more about it than anyone. This stuff in the wrong hands…’

Valance nodded. ‘I know. We’ll see what she has to say.’

The doors slid open soon, and in came Kharth and Commander Morvith. She was a tall woman, almost as tall as Valance, in the more rough-and-ready uniform of the Republic but with a severe haircut and beady eyes. She glanced at the rest of the attendees. ‘I didn’t realise you’d bring half your staff, Captain.’

Yes, you did, Valance thought, and sat up. ‘This is Commander Cortez, Corps of Engineers, and Commander Logan, Chief of Security. Please, have a seat.’

‘Ah,’ said Morvith, easing into the chair across from the Starfleet officers. ‘I understand; you want your experts around you.’ She made it sound condescending but pressed on before the point lingered. Looking Valance in the eye, she said, ‘Starfleet doesn’t have the right to all Borg technology.’

‘I didn’t say we did. But there’s nothing in any of our agreements with the Republic about proximity dictating authority, either.’

Morvith shrugged. ‘Of course there is. With Rator collapsed, this area is nothing but a wilderness and you know it. That’s why we’re here. But we have, just as you do, a right – a duty – to protect our borders. It looks like Starfleet has its hands full enough near Lockney. Why extend yourselves this far out when we can deal with it?’

‘That’s very thoughtful of you,’ said Valance. ‘But we’re here now.’

‘I see.’ Morvith leaned back and shook her head with a gleam of disbelief Valance assumed was affected. ‘As ever, Starfleet plays high and mighty with the secrets of the universe. You’re fresh off the Borg compromising half your fleet, but you’re the only ones who can be trusted with their technology?’

‘I’ve no interest in dictating the Republic’s access to Borg technology.’

‘Your superiors clearly do, or you wouldn’t be here.’

Cortez leaned forward at that, and Valance tried to not flinch as she plainly read her uncertainty and stepped in. It was unlikely anyone else could see through her masks, especially not Morvith, but it was a vulnerability she didn’t want in this moment. ‘This technology is incredibly volatile, especially as it’s active enough to send out a signal. It shouldn’t be chased or used lightly.’

‘You mean,’ said Morvith, gaze sliding over to her, ‘only Starfleet has the technical know-how to handle the Borg? I suppose that’s only true since Federation citizens destroyed the Artifact.’ She shrugged. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’ve no qualms with the Free State losing access to such a potential weapon. But it was awfully convenient for Starfleet, too, wasn’t it?’

‘This isn’t about politics,’ said Logan, chin tilting up. ‘The Borg are -’

‘Dangerous?’ Morvith’s eyebrows went up. ‘Thank you for the warning, USS Endeavour. This is a very dangerous place with very dangerous technology. I shall take all due care, just as I’m sure Starfleet has with debris that’s much more your problem. Do you have anything to say besides trying to scare me off?’

Valance looked about her senior staff with a sharp look to shut them up. ‘This isn’t about scaring you off, Commander. My orders are, like yours, to answer these homing signals and make sure they’re secure. I’d be failing in those orders if I didn’t come out here.’

‘Ah yes, the part where we’re both creatures of duty, bound by our unfeeling superiors.’ Morvith waved a hand like she was conducting a tune. ‘The truth is that your unfeeling superiors think that my unfeeling superiors are backwater scum, allied to the Federation only because we’re preferable to the Romulan alternatives. That we’re in a scientific dark age from the fall of Romulus, and can’t possibly be trusted with these dark secrets any more than you’d trust a pre-warp primitive with a phaser. Is this one of your Prime Directive moments?’

‘This has nothing to do with the Prime Directive -’

‘I assumed that was why the USS Endeavour destroyed the Erem at Teros?’ As the room went stiff, Morvith cocked her head. ‘Was that also not to stop dark powers from falling into the wrong hands – non-Starfleet hands?’

Since becoming a starship captain, Valance had given little time or thought to the matter of the Omega Directive. Nearly two years ago, the particle had appeared near Teros, breaking down their humanitarian mission and setting in motion the chain of events that had left its people in their most recent swathe of distrust for Starfleet. ‘This has nothing to do with the Erem.’

‘I see. It was your last commander who did that. And nothing to do with you.’

Valance leaned forward and looked Morvith in the eye. ‘On the contrary. I fired the shots that destroyed it.’ She’d not known what Omega was, then. She’d only had her captain’s unfathomable orders and followed him in a leap of faith that had kept her up at night. Understanding his decision years later was little comfort for how she’d acted without even half the truth.

Morvith’s gaze took on that condescending glint again, and Valance was sure her eyes went to her forehead ridges. ‘Of course you did. An honourable victory?’

‘This is different,’ said Valance, not rising to the bait.

Morvith watched her a moment. Then she pushed back from her chair. ‘In which case, I see no reason my ship should not continue on its mission into the Mesea Storm and answer the signal. If all you have is some thinly veiled threats and some domineering presumptions of Starfleet supremacy, this primitive is going to go play with fire. Thank you, Captain.’

Grimacing, Valance stood. ‘Endeavour will proceed to intercept the signal, Commander.’

‘Do as you must. I appreciate your honesty on that, at least. Thank you for the meeting.’ Oddly, Valance thought Morvith sounded sincere. Then, her eye turned on Endeavour’s XO. ‘I particularly liked the part where you, Saeihr t’Kharth, said absolutely nothing at all as the Federation shuts doors in the face of your people’s only hope for a free future.’

Logan glanced back and forth at that. ‘I’ll escort you out.’

‘Very good,’ said Morvith, then looked him up and down. ‘You must be very grateful Starfleet has the access it does to Borg technology. You look in a remarkably better state than the many xBs who live in the Republic. Imagine what we could do for them?’

‘I understand what you’re doing,’ said Logan with a wince. ‘But I’m the wrong audience for that tack. I’d rather be crazy or dead than Starfleet used any Borg tech.’

‘Ah. You do have unfeeling superiors.’ Morvith clicked her tongue. ‘Terribly sorry, Commander. Carry on.’

Cortez closed her eyes as the two left. ‘…it is Starfleet policy, right now, that we hoover up Borg tech first and worry about the politics later. We’ve got no damn clue what’s on the other end of that signal.’

‘I know,’ said Valance. ‘And if I told her the truth, she’d want access to what we know, and we’re not allowed to share that, either. But she’s right: we’ve no moral high ground to enforce this position. We’re just lucky the Alpha Wreck didn’t end up another few dozen light-years along and crash into Republic territory, or we’d have a second Artifact on our hands.’ She looked over at Kharth, and her jaw tightened. ‘Commander?’

‘I’m here, don’t worry.’ Kharth was looking at the door, stony-faced. ‘I’ve no allegiance to the Republic any more than you do to the Klingon Empire. Less. I never lived there.’

But the future of the Klingon people isn’t in any doubt. Still, Valance nodded. ‘I’m going to contact Rourke. I can’t negotiate access to the technology without giving Morvith something, and I need permission for that. But in the meantime, I think we’ve got a race on our hands.’

Cortez frowned. ‘If we’re hot-footing it into the Mesea Storm to get there before the Ihhliae, that gives us basically no time to get an answer back from Lockney. There’s no way we’ll pick up a signal in there.’

‘I know,’ said Valance. ‘But I have to try.’

‘Which means, realistically,’ said Kharth, ‘we’re on our own in there.’