“ANDROSSI VESSEL DETECTEDat bearing three hundred mark twenty-six,” reported Christine Vale from the tactical station on the bridge of theEnterprise. “Heading our way.”

Captain Picard rose from his command chair and walked behind the ops console. “Mr. Jelpn,” he asked, “do we have all of our technicians back from theJuno?”

“Yes, sir,” answered the Deltan. “The last shuttlecraft just entered the shuttlebay.”

Picard nodded with relief. “Shields up. Lieutenant Vale, hail Captain Leeden on theJuno and tell her we’re pursuing the Androssi ship. Lieutenant Perim, set a course to intercept that spacecraft.”

“Yes, sir,” answered the Trill, sounding energized. All of them were tired of sitting around nursing theJuno back to health.

Vale broke into his thoughts. “Sir, Captain Leeden says, ‘Good hunting.’ She expects to have impulse engines online in one hour.”

“I hope so,” replied the captain. He turned to his conn officer and said, “Engage as soon as you have your course.”

“Intercept course laid in,” answered Perim. “Half reverse.”

Under Perim’s careful guidance, the immense starship backed away from the crippled spacecraft and executed an abrupt turn. A few seconds later, theEnterprise was streaking through the boneyard, rubble frying against her shields and dust clouds scattering in her wake.

“TheVuxhal is in pursuit too,” reported Vale. “We’re right on course to intercept both of them, but we should get to the Androssi freighter first.”

“A freighter?” asked Picard curiously.

“From its dimensions, I believe it was once a Cardassian troop transport,” answered Vale, “outfitted with a new warp reactor and tractor beam.”

“They probably stole it from here,” remarked Deanna Troi, who was seated in the second-in-command chair. The counselor was looking at the viewscreen, and she suddenly jumped up and pointed. “There, I think I see it.”

In the distance, a boxy golden-hued freighter glinted in the sun for a moment before it made a bank that looked impossible for a ship that was so ungainly. Picard was about to order the image magnified when Jelpn anticipated his command, and the hexagonal hull of the Androssi freighter filled the viewscreen.

“I’m hailing them on all frequencies,” reported Vale, “but there’s no answer.”

Picard nodded grimly. “Target a quantum torpedo for standard warning round. Suppress fusion.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Vale, as she armed a torpedo that would light up the boneyard and get their attention, even if it was all show and no bang. They had fired so many warning shots on this mission that they had optimized the standard for firing in the battle site.

“Torpedo ready,” she reported.

The captain lifted his finger to signal her, but before he could execute the command, the lumbering freighter vented a glowing stream of plasma. This cloud caught an errant discharge and erupted into a wild arc that smacked a blackened derelict, which exploded into a spider vein of radiating bolts.

“Full stop!” ordered Picard, but they still caught part of the discharge, which jarred them but didn’t cause serious damage to the delicate bridge circuits.

“Shields holding,” said Vale, “but the Androssi are getting out of range.”

“Fire that torpedo,” ordered the captain, knowing that it was more of a gesture than a real threat. The foe apparently didn’t intend to be captured, because venting that plasma was a desperate and dangerous act under these circumstances. Now this could get tricky, because they couldn’t merely let these scoundrels get away with a warning, not after their attack on theJuno.

The torpedo streaked into the strobe-lit field of wrecks and energy discharges, adding to the unearthly light show. “Don’t lose them, Lieutenant,” said Picard.

“I’m on them,” answered Perim. They could see from the shifting image on the viewscreen that their prey was still in sight.

“Ready a quantum torpedo, Lieutenant Vale,” said Captain Picard grimly. “Target their engines and fire when ready.”

“Yes, sir,” answered the tactical officer. She worked her board with determination and pounded it with some urgency. “Torpedo away.”

This one they barely saw in the streaks of light, but it exploded in the distance like a volcano erupting. And they could see the Androssi ship spin out of control, its stern aflame.

“Ready second torpedo,” ordered Picard.

“Captain, wait a second,” said Troi, rising abruptly from her seat. “I think they realize they’ve been caught.”

“Theyare slowing down, Captain,” said Vale, working her board. “Now they’re answering our hail and coming to a full stop.”

Picard nodded, hoping that a surrender was imminent.

The lieutenant frowned at her readouts and said, “I’m getting too much interference to put them on screen. The best I can do is this audio.”

“Enterprise,we greet you,” said a monotone voice. “I am Overseer Undenni of the Androssi. We welcome this opportunity to explain any misunderstandings.”

“There is no misunderstanding,” replied Picard, tight-lipped. “You will stand down on your weapons, drop shields, and allow a boarding party to enter your vessel. Any further attempts to flee will be met with deadly force. Do I make myself clear?”

After a lengthy pause, Undenni said, “We wish to negotiate these terms.”

Picard scowled angrily. The Androssi were fortunate that they couldn’t see him. “You didn’t choose to negotiate with theJuno —you just fired on her—and we don’t choose to negotiate with you.”

“Captain, I’ve lost contact,” complained Vale. Then her eyes widened in alarm and she added, “They’re powering up weapons.”

“Ready phasers,” ordered Picard, as Counselor Troi stepped to his side.

“There’s something wrong here,” she said. “Please hold your fire.”

“The Androssi are firing,” announced Vale. Picard braced himself, but no phaser beams or torpedoes struck theEnterprise. Instead the Androssi’s beamed weapon shot far wide, off to starboard, and a brace of torpedoes answered them, streaking from this offscreen location.

“Adjusting view,” said Jelpn at the ops console, and the viewscreen showed the sleek silver triangle they had seen many times before—the Ontailian heavy cruiserVuxhal. The fin-shaped vessel fired round after round at the Androssi craft as it weaved through space, trying to escape.

“No!” shouted Troi. She cringed as if feeling every missile strike its target. “They’re killing them!”

“Hail the Ontailians!” Captain Picard barked. “Tell them to stop their attack!”

“I have,” answered Vale, furiously working her board, “but it’s too late. Three direct hits…the Androssi are breaking apart.”

The captain turned back to the viewscreen to see the disheartening sight of the hapless Androssi ship erupting with bright explosions all along the length of her hull. Various flaming chunks of the vessel shot into space like Roman candles, and a final rupture of gases consumed the ship in blazing flames. Seconds later, the former Cardassian troop transport was just another slowly expanding cloud of death and destruction in the Rashanar Battle Site.

“Ops, search for survivors,” ordered Picard somberly. He made a fist and slammed it angrily into the palm of his hand. “Tactical, I want to speak to theVuxhal. We were negotiating the Androssi’s surrender—didn’t they see that?”

Vale shook her short bob of brown hair. “We don’t know what transpired between those two ships.”

“That was mass murder,” breathed Deanna Troi, slumping back into her chair. Her eyes were wide and her breathing came in short bursts, as if she were still reeling from the impacts herself. “They were going to surrender.”

Captain Picard turned to the tactical station, and Lieutenant Vale anticipated his request. “The Ontailians aren’t responding to hails,” she told him, “but a subspace message is coming from theJuno. It seems that another Androssi ship is headed our way—another one of those who tried to steal the warbird.”

On the viewscreen, the great silver fin suddenly sliced away from them, and theVuxhal made a graceful bank and took off for parts unknown. Picard clenched his jaw as he watched the deadly attack cruiser leave the vicinity.

“Before this day is out, I’ll want some answers,” he swore. “That’s enough of this murderous sport for now. Lieutenant Vale, contact theHudson and see what has become of Data and La Forge.”

“That does it,” said Geordi La Forge, sitting back in his seat aboard theHudson. “I’ve sent theEnterprise our coordinates and told them everything we’ve done so far.” He looked worriedly out the viewport at a murky starscape interspersed with somber wrecks and floating mounds of trash. If there was a more eerie, more depressing part of the boneyard, he hadn’t seen it. “Do you think we’ll find them again?” asked the engineer.

In the pilot’s seat, Data nodded. “Given an unlimited amount of time, yes, but we do not have an unlimited amount of time. I believe that the Androssi have not used their engines for the last forty-three minutes, which may indicate they are committed to hiding.”

“Or ambush,” Geordi warned him. “Do you want to try another probe?”

“I doubt if they will fall for that ruse again,” answered the android. “We must have some good fortune to find theCalypso, especially if they are out of sensor range.”

“Right,” murmured La Forge, “and this place doesn’t suggest ‘good fortune.’ ”

The engineer stared into the gloomy space cemetery, seeing the bright primary colors, shapes, and textures that were representative of normal sight but were unique to him. The enhanced images generated by his implants often possessed more detail and relevancy than the scattered reflections seen by a human eye. He could also program his perceptions to see heat and cold, electromagnetic fields, water vapor, and certain types of radiation. Only the black emptiness of space looked the same to Geordi as it did to a conventionally sighted person.

He had no particular idea what he was looking for when he spotted two derelicts hovering side by side, some distance to port. That wasn’t unusual in this blasted graveyard, because many ships had died in each other’s clutches. But these two were perfectly identical, at least to his specific vision. No two derelicts in this place ought to be identical, thought La Forge, because they were a long way from being fresh out of the shipyards.

“Data,” he said, “to port at about ten o’clock, there are two small ships. Do you see them?”

“I do now,” answered the android, deftly changing course so that they were making straightaway toward the twin relics. “What is suspicious about them?”

“They’re identical,” said La Forge. “And they’re about the right size to be the captain’s yacht.”

The android cocked his head and looked at his friend. “Do you mean the same class of ship? How could they be identical?”

“Exactly,” said Geordi. “Let’s just get there and see what we’ve got.”

The closer they got to the two squat spacecraft, the more eerie the scene became. Geordi La Forge kept expecting to see some minute difference. There was none. Both elliptical shuttlecraft were in slow orbit about fifty meters away from each other, and they looked lifeless, hanging in space. Incredibly, both were the captain’s yacht,Calypso, and both had had their IDs removed. Crude torpedo bays were prominent on the underbelly of each vessel. TheCalypso had no such weapons until the Androssi added them. Scratches where the fresh paint had been scraped off were identical on both hulls. La Forge felt a shiver down his spine.

“Do they look the same to you?” he asked in a whisper.

“They are the same,” answered Data matter-of-factly. “I never doubted you, Geordi, but it is inexplicable. I detect the same number of life signs on each vessel—two—but very faint.”

La Forge had a moment of dread. “It could be a trick,” he warned. “They’ve done it before.”

“This is a very impressive trick,” answered the android, flipping through screens full of sensor data. “In their present condition, neither one of these ships appears to be a threat to us.”

His companion made this observation just a moment before all the lights in the shuttlecraft went out, and both instrument panels went dead. Fortunately, Geordi didn’t need light to see. He reached instinctively for his helmet. “What the heck is going on?” he asked. “Data, this is no time forus to play dead.”

He turned to see the android frozen, staring ahead, his hands hardened like claws over his instrument panel. In panic, La Forge grabbed Data’s forearm and shook it, but it was like grabbing a pole covered in cloth. The life was gone.

“This isn’t funny,” he said, thinking he had better put on his suit or he would freeze to death. La Forge could feel the artificial gravity in the shuttle going. Life-support would not be far behind. As soon as he got his helmet fastened to his suit, he started to work on his console, to see if he could bring the shuttle back to life.

That was when his ocular implants began to fail, and the vivid images he depended upon faded to black and white and finally gray. A minute after the deterioration started, the human was totally sightless.A distress signal, he told himself,I’ve got to send out a distress signal. But without sight or even any audible feedback, his hands flailed at the controls.

The instruments aren’t responding, anyway,he had to admit to himself.Blind or not, I’m in big trouble.

Then a shrill, high-pitched tone sounded in his ears…or was it his mind? The whine grew louder, and Geordi doubled over in pain. He gripped the sides of his helmet and cracked it open, but nothing brought him any relief. It was all he could do to stay in his chair, and he wanted to roll into a fetal position and whimper. He looked to Data for help, but the android was no more than a lifelike statue. Finally the horrid hum was more than La Forge’s senses could take: blinded, panicked, and out of his mind, he hurled himself against the window, trying to escape from the noise and the fear. He thudded hard and bounced backward, already unconscious by the time he began to float in the weightless cabin of the dying shuttlecraft.