Chapter Sixty-Nine: Trouble

Herschel and the Bellerophon intercept Will as he arrives via a secret WormNet system to evacuate thirty thousand Ever Onward members from Romulus. The evacuation begins successfully but is detected by FAITH authorities, forcing a confrontation with President Cranston. After Will convinces her that legal action would be futile and the evacuees are willing participants, Cranston allows them to leave in exchange for forfeiture of their Romulan citizenship. The group escapes toward a wormhole, narrowly avoiding military warships.

Herschel reports that the Bellerophon has been waiting cloaked and radio silent a million and a half kilometers from Romulus and Vulcan. Will arrives at the rendezvous point and reveals he used WormNet—a series of secret wormholes set up in the Kuiper and Oort zones—to reach them quickly. Will explains they must evacuate thirty thousand Ever Onward members, though Herschel notes that some are spies or reluctant participants and have been categorized separately. Will's ship, the Fargo, has been retrofitted with rotating cargo sections to house evacuees, avoiding a repeat of past transport failures. The operation begins with synchronized drone pickups at seven thousand locations simultaneously. The evacuation proceeds initially without detection, but military warbirds suddenly launch from nearby air force bases and pursue some transports leaving Port Henning. Will receives a hailing transmission from President Ella Cranston, granddaughter of Will's original nemesis Minister Elias Cranston. She is enraged, accusing them of kidnapping and demanding the citizens' return. Will responds that the evacuation was voluntary and offers to have his lawyers negotiate fines for airspace infractions. He threatens to tie Cranston in litigation longer than anyone's lifetime if she attempts to force the citizens to remain, invoking the Romulan and UFS constitutions. Cranston relents on the condition that evacuees forfeit Romulan citizenship and all associated rights, pensions, and properties—terms Will accepts. As warship groups launch toward them, Will leads their vessels toward a previously positioned wormhole that will be expanded just as they arrive, then collapsed again to prevent FAITH from following. Herschel learns that the wormholes are registered to a Vulcan company to protect them legally and that FAITH lacks the technology and control keys to operate them. Will warns that flying through an insufficiently expanded wormhole would result in catastrophic collision, likening it to a sausage grinder. The group accelerates away with Herschel noting their engines are overengineered and Will cannot keep pace.