Kirk smiled at the small but strongly built Andorian shen who had been his science officer before Spock, on the Sacagawea an embarrassing number of years ago. “Glad to see you back in one piece, Rhen. I take it the handoff went well?”

Sherev strode toward him easily. With the upgrades to her part-bionic leg over the years, her cane was no more than an affectation, but she liked the air of dignity it lent her—not that Kirk would ever consider her dignified after all the barhopping, poker hustling, and womanizing they’d done together on shore leaves over the years. “With minimal tension, considering the stakes. Nyota was a great help making sure there were no unfortunate mistranslations.”

Kirk glanced over her shoulder to where Commander Nyota Uhura, dressed in a stylish civilian jacket and skirt, had now stepped down from the Lemaître’s hatch after securing the shuttle. “Commander. Welcome back.”

“Glad to be back, sir. It was an intriguing opportunity to see another side to Romulan culture. I’m grateful that you and Captain Spock called on me.”

“It has been agreeable to work with you once again, Commander,” Spock said. Uhura flashed him a brilliant smile. Kirk was reminded that the two of them had always seemed to have a natural rapport, one that had begun to form under Christopher Pike before Kirk succeeded him as captain of the Enterprise.

“So the Sword of Renz Verus is on its way back where it belongs?” Kirk asked as he and Spock led Sherev and Uhura toward the starboard gangway.

“Only about twelve decades late, but yes,” Sherev answered. “It would’ve been sooner without all this diplomatic tiptoeing and pretense.”

“You understand why that was necessary,” Spock pointed out. “Given the heightened tensions of the past two years, direct involvement by the military on either side—”

“Yes, yes—no need to prove Bones right about your tendency to state the obvious,” Sherev told him, not without affection. She had known Spock almost as long as Kirk had, though only intermittently.

“You know patience isn’t my strong suit,” she went on as they passed through the door onto the gangway that ran along one side of the cavernous cargo bay. “I wish we could get to a point where we and the Romulans could just talk and work together, like Doctor T’Lesevek and I did down on Bright Tree.”

“It has traditionally been easier for the scientific communities of rival powers to trust one another than it has been for their governments or militaries,” Spock observed. “Hence the value of back channels.”

“I know. But if that kind of trust could’ve been extended much sooner, maybe we wouldn’t still be rivals today.”