The Romulans send a fleet of six starships to contact the Federation about getting back Ael, the stolen bird-of-prey Bloodwing, and the sword Ael took. The Federation suspects that this is a possible prelude to a Romulan attack, and sends the Enterprise to meet with Ael and to head up the meeting with the Romulans. Kirk suspects that there may still be a Romulan agent on Ael’s ship, so when the two ships arrive at their declared rendezvous, they are not surprised to find seven warbirds decloak around them, but they are able to destroy the warbirds using the Romulan Sunseed technology. Onboard the Enterprise, Scotty and K’s’t’lk are trying to work out a way to neutralize the Sunseed technology. In the Romulan Empire, some frustration with the dominant Praetors is growing, especially among the Romulan colonies, which are suffering through Klingon attacks, and Ael is considering trying to develop and lead a popular rebellion. Meanwhile the Romulan diplomatic fleet is on its way to contact the Federation about the return of Ael, and Praetor Tr’Anierh has Senator Arrhae (a Federation agent previously known as Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto) assigned to the group, as she has had previous contact with McCoy.