Terrell nodded. “All right. We’ll stay in the system for a few more days, just in case.” He smiled. “If nothing else happens, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity for some R and R.”

Ashrafi hopped off the bed. “Sounds good to me! When do we go?”

“Ah, yes, about that,” Chekov said. “Once Doctor Wilder reported your names, our communications officer notified your families.” He crossed his arms, taking in both Ashrafi and Kayros. “It seems that your parents have been wondering where you snuck off to. They’re on their way to pick you up.”

The mop-headed boy groaned and sank back onto the bed. “This is the worst vacation ever.”

Terrell caught his gaze. “Look at it this way, son: at least you get to go home from it.”

Chapter One

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701

Kaleb sector

“Admiral,” Captain Spock observed, “the work bee crews have been thorough in their inspections.”

Admiral James T. Kirk flushed slightly at his old friend’s words, a gentle reminder that his aimless fidgeting to distract himself could be taken as a criticism of the Enterprise’s diligent cadet crew. “Of course, Spock,” he said, abandoning his pretense of looking over the work bee bays’ charger connections. Returning to the Vulcan captain’s side, he gazed out across the landing bay’s wide floor, toward the open hangar doors at the rear and the stars gleaming through the nigh-invisible shimmer of the force field that held in the bay’s atmosphere. “I’m just eager for the Lemaître to return, so we can get this mission over with. It’ll be good to get back to the Academy.”

Spock threw him a skeptical look. “If your concern is for your duties at Starfleet Academy, then may I recommend that you employ more selectivity regarding which special missions you choose to accompany personally? The professor, the commander, and I could have easily completed this task without your presence.”

“I know, I know,” Kirk reassured him—not that Spock needed reassurance. “But for a sensitive mission like this, given what’s at stake…”

“Understood.”

Kirk smiled. “Besides, how could I pass up a reunion with my two favorite former science officers?”

As if on cue, Cadet Lawler’s voice sounded over the landing bay intercom. “Shuttlecraft on final approach. Stand clear.”

“Punctual as always,” Kirk said warmly.

A glint of light moving against the starscape soon resolved into a boxy, wedge-shaped shuttlecraft that slid smoothly through the pressure curtain. The Georges Lemaître settled on the deck in front of Kirk and Spock, who stepped toward it as it powered down, its hull creaking and popping slightly as it warmed in the bay’s atmosphere.

The side hatch opened, and a distinctive cane, its handle carved in the likeness of an Andorian atlirith, preceded its owner onto the deck. “Break out the good stuff, Jim,” Professor Rhenas Sherev said. “I feel like celebrating.”