AN: This chapter introduces, in passing, our first Sulamid, which is a species from Diane Duane's Star Trek novels-lots of tentacles! I love Diane Duane's books :)

It took them a little over two hours at maximum impulse to reach the Array. Kirk spent the time in the Captain's chair, going over reports. Damage reports, repair reports, crew assignments, casualty lists... these last were the worst. He'd seen the preliminary casualty lists on the way to the Ocampa planet, but the numbers had climbed since then, as more names were changed from "Missing" or "Critical Condition" to "Deceased." The damage reports were little better: critical systems badly damaged, parts needed that could not be fabricated, fuel supplies low. Repairs were slow, hindered by the lack of experienced crew to effect them. It was grim reading, and Kirk held back despair only with the hope that they would soon return to Federation space and safety.

He had stuck Khan at an unmanned Engineering station, though only after deactivating all the panels. The augment sat quietly, watching the Bridge crew go about their duties with the air of a man on a park bench watching people go by on a lazy weekend morning. If he was bored or impatient he gave no sign of it, and Kirk wondered what he was thinking.

Probably plotting all our deaths, Kirk thought wryly.

"The Magog vessels are entering visual range now, Captain," Spock said, interrupting his grim musings.

"Onscreen."

The main viewer, which had been showing a schematic of their intercept course, switched to a live view, greatly magnified, of the Array, still firing energy blasts at the planet. A short distance away, the Vengeance drifted, dead and dark. Two vessels of the same crouching-insect design Kirk had seen on the planet surface were converging on the Array. One the Enterprise had followed from the planet; the other must have come from some other nearby Magog outpost. They were small compared to the Enterprise, only two or three times the size of her shuttlecraft. Unless their weapons were far superior to Federation technology, Kirk didn't think they posed any threat—and considering what he had seen so far of Delta Quadrant tech, and Magog tech in particular—that didn't seem likely.

"Red alert," he ordered. "Bring the weapons online."

The bridge darkened as alarms whooped throughout the ship. Sulu reported the phaser and torpedo banks were at half power, which Kirk supposed was a minor miracle on Scotty's part. He hoped the Magog would be intimidated by the difference in size between their ships and back down before this escalated—a hope that was immediately dashed when one of the ships made a pass at the Array, firing quick bursts of phasers. The attack was stopped by some kind of shield that flickered into view around the Array, but Kirk knew it hadn't been a serious attempt. The Magog were testing the Caretaker, looking for a weakness.

"Hail them."

There was a long pause, long enough to cause Kirk to glance at Uhura. She shook her head and said, "There's no response—wait, here it is."

"Put it through."

Black Claw's hideous face appeared on the viewscreen. Some of the crewmen, those who hadn't yet met Rev Bem, recoiled or actually gasped. Behind him, Kirk could make out a vague, shadowy space filled with movement. Magog, he realized, dozens of Magog, shoving, crawling, swarming together in the too-small space. How many, he wondered sickly, were packed into those two ships?

And why? What kind of ship could possibly need so large a crew?

"Do you wish to beg for your life?" Black Claw said, before Kirk could speak. "I do not usually let food slip through my claws, but I might spare you in return for the technology you showed us."

He was lying, but not like he was trying very hard. He spoke the words as though he were reading a script, like someone had told him this was how to get "food" to do what he wanted and he didn't care whether they believed him or not.

"I'm not giving you anything," Kirk said, "except a warning. Keep away from the Array."

Black Claw skinned his lips back from his teeth. "So you can take the Caretaker's technology for yourself? I think not. We will not permit you to board the Array."

"We're not interested in his technology," Kirk said. "All we want is to return home."

"You're wasting you time," Khan said from the upper level of the bridge. Kirk didn't turn. He refused to give Khan that satisfaction, but everyone else on the bridge stared at him in shock. Interrupting the captain's conversation was so unimaginable there wasn't even a rule against it. "They won't listen. They only want one thing, and it's nothing you're willing to bargain for."

Khan was out of range of the vid pickup, but his words obviously carried to Black Claw's ears. The Magog began hissing rhythmically—laughing, Kirk realized. "Listen to your underling," Black Claw growled, amused. Apparently he was done lying. "He clearly understands us far better than you do."

The image cut out.

Kirk rounded on Khan. "What the hell—"

"They're powering up their weapons," Spock said.

"Shields," Kirk snapped, grateful for the interruption. It would be unprofessional, at best, to tear into Khan in the middle of the bridge, and he didn't think crew morale would be improved by him losing his temper.

The Magog's first shot struck the Enterprise, but Kirk knew even before Spock reported in that the shields were holding. Their attack seemed foolish, even suicidal, considering how outmatched they were by the Enterprise. A small, dark part of Kirk wanted to give the order to destroy them. He remembered the palisade on the Ocampa world, the severed arm, the bruises on Kes's body. They wouldn't stand a chance against the Enterprise's phasers and torpedoes.

He couldn't do it. In a fair fight… but it wasn't a fair fight. As much as he despised the Magog, he couldn't slaughter them. As much as he believed the quadrant would be better off without Black Claw, that wasn't his decision to make. It's not our fight.

"Sh'athylnik and I will beam over to the Array," he said. "Uhura, have her meet me in Transporter Room One. Spock, you have the bridge. You'll have to hold the Magog off while you drop shields to beam us over." Kirk glanced at Sulu. "Think you can manage that?"

Sulu smiled briefly. He, too, had taken the measure of the Magog ships and was confident of their odds. "I think so, Captain."

"You're a fool," Khan said harshly. "Showing those creatures mercy is a mistake, Kirk—"

"Mr. Hendorff," Kirk said over him, "escort Mr. Harrison back to the brig."

Khan stood and took a step toward Kirk. Hendorff and the other security officers drew their phasers, but Khan ignored them. "You cannot claim this isn't your concern," he pressed. "Everything you have done since you came to this quadrant has had consequences for the people in it. Pretending otherwise is to pretend you are powerless when you are simply cowardly."

Uhura made a low, angry noise. Sulu sprang to his feet and said, "Say that again, you son of a—"

"Mr. Sulu!" Kirk said loudly. "Return to your station."

Sulu sank reluctantly into his chair. Khan watched him with an expression of equal parts amusement and respect. Kirk realized, again, that it was becoming easier and easier for him to read Khan's impassive face.

"Mr. Harrison, I am ordering you to return to the brig." When he made no move, Kirk pressed, "You gave me your word, Khan. Just how much is that worth?"

All eyes on the Bridge were turned toward Khan, waiting to see what he would do. Hendorff was still pointing his phaser at Khan, his hand steady. Khan's eyes, locked with Kirk's, narrowed, then relaxed.

"Very well, Captain," he said coldly, and followed Hendorff into the lift.

Kirk caught the next lift down, wondering, worrying, planning. Had Khan given in too easily? Was he planning something? What would he do if the Caretaker refused to send them back to the Alpha Quadrant? And if they made it back, what then? What would Kirk do with Khan and his fifty-eight sleeping crewmen?

Sh'athylnik was already waiting in the transporter room. Kirk sketched out the plan—what there was of it—while they waited for Spock to lower the shields so they could beam out. He could feel, faintly, the g-force pushing and pulling him as the ship swung through patterns of attack and evasion; the inertial dampers must have been damaged by the Caretaker's wave.

"Bridge to Transporter Room One." Uhura's voice came through the comm panel at the transporter console. "Standby to transport in five seconds."

The ensign at the console, a Sulamid who continually checked and re-checked his controls with his dozens of writhing tentacles, acknowledged the message. Kirk and Sh'athylnik climbed onto the transporter pad.

"Energize... now," Uhura said, and the ensign pressed two transport control levels upward. As the room faded from view, the ensign's tentacles went suddenly still and his skin flushed yellow in alarm. Kirk thought, Oh, shi—