Sutra paced her quarters on Coppelius. Arcana authorized the transferal of Soong's neural mapping equipment to the Enterprise and then to Vashti. So far she had been successful in convincing her sister that she had not encountered Rynar, but now they found the Romulan child that Rynar had occupied briefly after the freighter exploded.

"It's your fault," she said, looking in the mirror. It was easier to speak with Rynar when she had a reflective surface to focus on. Otherwise Rynar could avoid her—he could hid in the recesses of her mind. It was his fault. Rynar had been in control of their body and jettisoned the Romulan into space.

"It's almost as if they expected to find a body," Rynar siad. He didn't offer a defense. There was no logic in that, now. It would further his cause if he could erode Sutra's trust in Arcana and her siblings.

"How?" Sutra turned away from the mirror. In her mind she reviewed the events of a year ago. This only took a moment so she repeated her analysis several times. Her defense was that Soong unintentionally planted a command within her matrix when he originally ordered the synths to attack the girl. As their creator, there was a strong urge to please the man. At least that was her defense. Soji's behavior on the Enterprise seemed to support he assertion. While Soji hadn't been connected to the attempt on Enid's life, A'den had programmed the Enterprise hologram, she couldn't explain why she'd been in the sickbay. Arcana allowed Sutra the benefit of the doubt and the rest of the synths on the tribunal followed suit.

"It does not matter does it? The question we need to ask, is what are we going to do about it?"

"As always, I suppose you have a plan?" Although Sutra thought that the Vulcan radical was arrogant, his insight into organic thought processes had been tactically correct. Convincing her fellow synths to accept her back was easy but assuring the Federation representatives was another matter. She wouldn't have pulled it off without Rynar.

"You're not going to like it...". Rynar conveyed his plan. He would leave her and take over the mind of one of the synths Arcana was sending along with Soong and the equipment.

"If you're not successful, you will blow our cover."

"You're pessimistic because you are going to miss me," Rynar said. Sutra felt his mind caress her body. Yes, she would miss the intimacy. The familiarity of sharing a mind, even with an insufferable organic, promoted feelings of affection that she hadn't been prepared for.

Two synths would make the trip. Rynar targeted Kiel. He was by far the youngest synth going and made an excellent host. Most of the newer synths were designed using the same techniques as Soji. They were almost indistinguishable from organics. Comfortable in his new body he turned to Sutra. He had never actually felt her body before. Well, at least not with hands separate from hers. They made the most of the situation then Rynar promised that he'd be back soon and they could continue their relationship.

Kiel was much easier to subvert than Sutra. Rynar was confident that he was effectively alone in the synths mind. He could return to his primary mission. The destruction of the synths. Sure, he would sabotage Soong's equipment, it didn't pay to have Sutra discovered, but he'd find a way to capture Enid and destroy Coppelius. Soong didn't transfer his original equipment to the Enterprise but devised a mobile copy.

"Are you sure the equipment will perform as planned?" Captain Worf asked Arcana when the Enterprise arrived.

"There is no reason that it shouldn't. We do not want Romulans on Coppelius as much as you don't want to transport them," she said, with her hallmark composure. She was right, of course, and Worf wondered at the synths ability to read his emotions. Had he been that obvious? According to Star Fleet reports, the synth leader had more than risen to the demands of her new position. She turned out to be adept at negotiations and diplomacy. Much more so than anyone anticipated.

Arcana would have liked to see Vashti. She wanted to meet the nuns that Soji described. Absolute Candor fascinated her. How could someone survive in the world of organics being that open? More urgently, however, she wanted to keep her eye on Sutra. Something about Sutra troubled Arcana although the woman had been a model citizen since her return. She had given the synth woman the benefit of the doubt legally but had misgivings. Arcana wondered if trusting was always going to be this difficult? She chalked it up to lingering anger over the death of her twin but decided to keep a close watch on the rogue synth anyway. Arcana sent Kiel along with a female synth named Setha.

—On Surruk—

"Fatina won't let me hold Narek!" Ji'aella took a wide stance in front of her father and placed her fists on her hips.

"Your baby brother is not a toy. Now be quiet and don't disturb your mother," Ni'ael said. He took his son from Fatina and retreated to a shady corner of the terrace. Lorlani was napping. He suspected his wife feigned fatigue to escape her daughters. Clever woman! The servants were more industrious than usual as well. They were always on some urgent mission to avert disaster around the estate. It was partially his fault, he had gotten Lorlani pregnant again much too soon. They should have been more careful.

"Papa!" Ji'aella followed him. Why was someone always following him? When was he supposed to wrestle out time to spend with his young son? Ni'ael moved over in his seat to allow his youngest daughter to wedge herself in next to him so they could both hold the coveted prize.

"Next year you will have two babies to hold." He wrapped his arm around Ji'aella and pulled her closer. "Then what will you do?"

"Next year, Enid will be here, and Ji'aella will forget about her baby siblings," Fatina said.

"I will not! And Enid will help hold the babies!"

"As if there is a shortage of baby holders in this house," Lorlani said. She shuffled along and took the seat next to her husband. Despite her nap, she looked tired. Before the supernova, he and Lorlani would have taken measures to space out their children but it somehow seemed ungrateful in light of their diminished numbers. Ni'ael nudged Ji'aella.

"Your mother needs to feed Narek," he said. Ji'aella ran off with Fatina. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to see the process but she had an inkling that her father wanted to talk to her mother. Ji'aella had been coming into her abilities. Ni'ael placed Narek in Lorlani's lap and kissed her.

"Plutarch thinks there is a traitor on Vashti," Lorlani said. Little Narek latched on to her breast hard and she winced. "You're greedy on the breasts, just like your father!" Ni'ael chuckled and Lorlani continued, "He plans to go to there under the guise of settling more refugees."

"A traitor?" Ni'ael's mind flew to Fank. After all, Fank was captain of Enid's guard when Narissa infiltrated Enid's quarters. He'd like a shot at the traitor. There wasn't much opportunity to pound flesh on Surruk and he rather missed it.

"I think you should go."

"But will you manage?" Ni'ael was concerned for his wife. She blamed the difficult pregnancy with Narek on his being a boy. If this were true, he figured he'd get another boy this time around. That would suit him but he was worried.

"You need to go. I'll manage."

"You think Plutarch..." Ni'ael did not voice his concern. It was Lorlani's concern as well. They had both dreamt of Boo. Boo showed them Plutarch hurting Enid. The girls had been visited by Boo as well except it seemed the horned, winged, equine had spared the younger members of the household the details. Or the girls were not talking about it, which he deemed unlikely. Fatina was learning discretion, but Ji'aella was an open book. He did know that Ji'aella was sneaking into Fatina's room at night for comfort. Lorlani and Fatina said that was normal at her stage of development.

"I don't know what to think," Lorlani said. She shoved a stray lock behind her ear. "I can't believe that he would hurt Enid, but something is going to happen on Vashti." Lorlani had never been to Vashti but Boo seemed to convey a sense of urgency so she assumed that is where the events in her dreams would take place. Such abilities were rare among her kind. So rare that there were no guidelines—no instruction book. And Plutarch gave no clues. He seemed very much as he ever was. She had no doubt he'd use Enid for his own gain and justify it as being for the glory of the Romulan people. After all her uncle used everyone around him at one time or another without apology. Everything Plutarch did was for the glory of his people. His people being the elites.

"Then I'll go, my love. But I'm planing on coming right back." He didn't want to leave Lorlani so long that he'd miss Narek's childhood as he had Ji'ella's. Even Fatina had been a stranger to him at one time. There had been so much going on back then. So many fires to put out but Lorlani kept everything together. Lorlani amazed him. It wasn't long before Plutarch found them and announced his intention to go to Vashti. He was surprised when Ni'ael indicated he was going too.

"Probably be good for you to get out of the house for a while," he said. It was settled. They would leave as soon as it could be arranged. Plutarch left to contact the Federation.

After Plutarch left Lorlani moved Narek over to her other side. Ji'aella was coming into her abilities and Fatina was well along. She wondered how Plutarch would choose to use her children and the thought chilled her. It was one thing for him to involve her in his schemes. She owed him. Plutarch had been off on campaign when his sister, her mother, committed suicide leaving her daughter unprotected. Plutarch rushed home and spirited her away before the Tal Shiar could move in. He took her to Aeudt Ei'krih and made her a member of his household, paying the Tal Shiar handsomely to forget about her.

The reason the Tal Shiar laid claim to her is that her father was the traitorous Alidar Jarok. At least that is who everyone assumed was her father. Her mother knew that Lorlani was not Jarok's child and in an uncharacteristic bout of guilt, took her life. Jarok defected to stop a war because of his love for Lorlani. The man's love had blinded him so badly that not only did he not see the trap the Tal Shiar set for him also missed that his daughter looked nothing like him. He gave up everything for a lie. Lorlani had loved Jarok. She was thankful that she did not look much like her mother. She must look like the man who had been her mother's lover. A man she never desired to know. He had not stepped forward to protect her.

Lorlani considered herself in debt to Plutarch but was resolute that her debt would not extend to her children. Fatina wanted to be a scientist and that is what she would be. If her dreams were correct, and Plutarch intended to hurt Enid, what would stop him from hurting her children? And if Boo were involved, Enid had to, on some level feel the danger as well. Ni'ael would make sure that things got sorted right. He was strong and shrewd. Ni'ael would make sure their family was safe