‘We’re entering the periphery of the field,’ called Lindgren at helm. ‘Reducing our speed.’

Valance sat up in the command chair. ‘How fast do we expect we can push it?’

‘Warp three,’ Airex reported grimly. ‘Four on the outside.’

In the XO’s seat, Kharth sighed and rubbed her temples. ‘That could take days. How’s the signal?’

‘That’s the only good news,’ said Airex. ‘We’re still picking it up loud and clear.’

‘Depending on your definition of good news.’ Logan spoke in a low voice, but it was enough to turn all eyes on him. ‘The Borg put that signal out there in the expectation that it will be answered.’

‘All the more reason we get there first,’ said Valance with a confidence she didn’t entirely feel. ‘Take us in, Lindgren.’ She had never been to the Badlands, that vast expanse of a plasma field on the Cardassian border, but she had seen images. The Mesea Storm looked very similar, a maelstrom of gold, hued silver by the flashes of ion storms in its depths. Though considerably smaller, it had still played a role similar to the Synnef Nebula and checked the expansion of both Federation and Republic borders. Difficult as it was to have a phenomenon like that in unclaimed space, nobody wanted to be responsible for it.

The deck began to rumble as they eased in, and the clouds began to turn bronze around them. After a moment, Airex said, ‘The Ihhliae has also entered the field. They’re taking a different route.’

‘Do they know something we don’t?’ Thawn wondered aloud.

‘I doubt it,’ said Valance. ‘This ship has the most sophisticated sensor suite in the sector. Set a course for the signal and advance as quickly and safely as you can, Lindgren. Commander Airex, continue to monitor our route to keep us out of trouble.’

Progress was slower and worse than their expedition into the Synnef Nebula over a month ago. The size of the nebula still turned them upside-down, and this time they had the Borg homing signal to pursue, but as a former pilot, Valance took one look at the navigational conditions in the Mesea Storm and knew she was pushing her crew hard.

After some time, she stood. ‘These are operational circumstances requiring high and constant concentration. I’m going to move us onto shorter shift rotations with the relief officers. Take breaks, people.’ She looked to Shepherd. ‘Commander, draw up a rota. I don’t want officers going more than two hours without taking a break.’

‘Yes, Captain.’ Shepherd paused, lips quirking. ‘That includes you?’

Valance sighed. ‘Me too.’

‘Captain.’ Airex looked up from his controls. ‘I’ve lost the Ihhliae on sensors.’

‘Did they cloak?’ wondered Lindgren.

He shook his head. ‘Their cloak would disguise us from their sensors, but the mass of the ship moving through the plasma field would be detectable.’ He sounded like he’d been preparing for exactly this possibility.

Valance nodded. ‘Then we focus on ourselves and that’s it.’

Shepherd made good on her promise to include Valance in the rota, but she stood firm and made sure she only took a half-hour break. It was still interrupted by Kharth only ten minutes in, letting herself into the ready room. ‘I’m assuming,’ her XO began with little ceremony, ‘we didn’t hear anything from Rourke.’

Valance had a raktajino in her hands and was wondering if she’d end up over-caffeinating before this was over. ‘No. It seems we are too far out.’

‘Right.’ Kharth clasped her hands behind her back but shifted her feet aimlessly. ‘So it’s on us, if it comes to it, to make decisions which could critically impact our relationship with the Republic. And not just in the Midgard Sector.’

Valance sighed and set the mug down. ‘Get a drink. And sit.’

‘I don’t -’

‘Sit.’ Valance stabbed a finger at the empty chair. ‘This mission puts you in a tough position.’

Kharth snorted as she grabbed a black coffee from the replicator. ‘I told you. I owe the Republic nothing. If this was the Empire -’

‘I feel confident that the Klingon Empire will still be here in ten years. My father, my brother, their House, will be fine. What will be the state of the Romulan people in a decade?’

‘You’re acting like we’re a monolith -’

‘You’re not, and that’s part of the problem. You’re a diaspora in a deeply dangerous frontier, or you live under the oppressive regime of the Free State, or you live in the Republic.’ At Kharth’s face, Valance tensed. ‘I’m not trying to explain your people’s circumstances to you. I’m saying you know all of this and you’re pretending not to.’

‘Have I ever,’ said Kharth, jaw tight, ‘indicated my allegiance is to anything but Starfleet?’

For a moment, the topic – the words – hung on the tip of Valance’s tongue, and it was as if she could see them dangling between them. Kharth knew what she might say but stood steady, almost daring her to speak, and at length, Valance did. ‘The Erem.’

‘Captain Rourke killed fifty-three people –’ The lack of change in Kharth’s expression belied the outrage in her tone. She’d known this was coming.

‘I don’t want to re-litigate it,’ Valance said sharply. ‘I don’t even need an explanation from you. Obviously, there was a moral argument for refusing that order; Rhade did, too. But I believe you were motivated at least in part by the fact that they were Romulan lives.’

Now Kharth’s nostrils flared, and she looked away. ‘Are you planning on blowing up the Ihhliae if they get to the Borg technology first?’

‘No,’ Valance said firmly. ‘The situation with the Erem was different. I know that now, and I’m not authorised to explain to you why. But this might become an ongoing situation with Endeavour’s assignment to the Midgard Sector.’

Kharth looked like she might make a sharp comment, but instead said, ‘Dealing with the Republic. If you knew that, why’d you pick me as XO?’

I’m getting very tired of you expressing that, Valance didn’t say. ‘Commander, my issue isn’t what you think. My issue is that you’re acting like there isn’t an issue. That doesn’t instil confidence.’

‘What do you want from me here, Valance? Do I have to spill my guts before you drop this?’ Her expression twisted. ‘I was fourteen when I was evacuated from Romulus. I’ve no affection for or loyalty to any Romulan faction or government. The Republic might not be as oppressive as the Free State, but they might also be too weak to live, and I’m not hitching myself to that star. The likes of Morvith are old Galae Command officers who picked a side and then set about trying to build a government – a, a major power.’ Kharth slammed her mug down on Valance’s desk. ‘They’re not doing shit for the millions, billions of people who’ve ended up on backwaters the galaxy is trying to forget about.’

‘The Republic took in considerable territories of the Velorum sector,’ Valance said carefully, ‘and inside their borders are a lot of formerly fringe worlds -’

‘Worlds they needed to back them to get set up in the first place,’ Kharth snapped. ‘To give themselves legitimacy. Now, they reach out to worlds that have something for them. The industry of the Velorum sector was a gift to the Republic, as was the support of the Remans. What have they done for Teros, right on their door? Nothing.’

‘Do you expect them to have the resources to help everyone?’

Kharth’s eyes narrowed. ‘I know they don’t. Don’t patronise me, Valance. They have to be pragmatic, but that also means they aren’t the future for the Romulan people. Just the ones they can, or choose, to help. So I don’t really give a damn about whether they get this Borg technology. Happy?’

The tone stirred that old frustration in Valance’s chest, an annoyance that had been there since Kharth had reported for her very first staff briefing aboard two and a half years ago. But now they weren’t XO and security chief, they were captain and first officer. This had to be different, and she was the one who’d poked Kharth in a sensitive spot.

She let out a slow breath. ‘That was what I wanted to know, yes,’ she said, softer. And, because she knew she had to give something in return, ‘If we refuse to acknowledge our biases, that’s when they can control us. And I know that because I’ve lived that, Kharth.’

Kharth hesitated. ‘You hate it,’ she said, ‘when anyone treats you like “the Klingon officer.” I’m not thrilled when I’m treated as “the Romulan officer,” either.’

‘But I can’t pretend I’m not part-Klingon, raised for a time in the Empire, with several years of service in the KDF,’ Valance said levelly. ‘That’s something I’ve had to learn. And it does mean I sometimes get reactions from Klingon officers very similar to the reaction you received from Commander Morvith.’

‘She can think what she likes,’ said Kharth, rolling her eyes, and for once, Valance appreciated her XO’s determined refusal to give a damn for almost anyone else’s opinion. She was, at least, consistent. ‘Fact remains, we need to get to that signal so we can find out what the Borg were doing. That’s more important than what they’re up to.’

Valance nodded, allowing her to turn the conversation further to the mission itself. ‘Do you think that if we have to try and negotiate access, we tell the truth?’

‘I expect Morvith won’t admit that it helps, but it will probably help. She doesn’t want Borg running around in or near Republic space, either. She’ll act like you’re being all superior Starfleet, not trusting her with critical information. But it’s a better negotiating position than letting her believe Starfleet just thinks nobody else should have this technology.’ Kharth hesitated. ‘Even if Starfleet does believe that.’

‘And it’s not our position, said Valance, getting to her feet, ‘to try to rewrite policy.’

‘No,’ Kharth allowed, also standing. ‘But right now, out here? It’s just us. And if policy’s not fit for purpose, we’re going to have to go off-book. Are you ready to do that?’

Valance looked sharply at her, ready to be defensive. Kharth’s gaze was level, though, and she sighed. It was, considering how she had projected herself for years as an officer, a fair accusation.

‘We have our mission,’ said Valance, ‘and it’s to find that signal. But we’re here to keep the Midgard Sector safe. Weakening the Republic doesn’t help that, either.’

‘Good,’ said Kharth, but her gaze turned wry at once. ‘Now let’s see how it goes if we have to choose.’