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  “Uh, we’re out,” Valerie said. “I can feel it. I feel normal again.”

  “Where to, sir?” asked Keith.

  Maddox sat back in his seat. Starship Victory was intact. His crew had survived the ordeal in the null region. The giant Ring Accelerator was or should be inoperative as an asteroid-hurling device. Dag was dead. The Koniggratz…what had happened to it? Lisa Meyers appeared to have gotten away. The Hormagaunt wasn’t going to terrorize the Commonwealth of Planets. It had left for the center of the galaxy. Maddox hoped he never had to deal with the ancient creature again. There was the problem of Strand, the Emperor and a Builder library fifteen hundred light-years from Earth…

  “Head for Earth, Mr. Maker,” Maddox said. “I need to talk to the Lord High Admiral. If there are any loose ends left about this affair…I imagine he’ll be the man to ask.”

  “Aye-aye, Captain,” Keith said. “I’m setting course for Earth.”

  “You need to go to sickbay,” Meta told her husband.

  Maddox looked up at Meta, saw the glint in her eye and knew she was right. He struggled up, with her helping him.

  “You’re worse off than you appear,” Meta said.

  “Lieutenant,” Maddox told Valerie. “You have the bridge. I’ll see you—”

  “Go,” Meta said, interrupting. “I want you in sickbay pronto, mister.”

  Maddox smiled. He’d beaten Dag. He almost couldn’t believe it. He’d saved—he’d help win the day. It was good to be back aboard Victory. It was good to see his crew, and he was glad that he was alive to be with Meta.

  “Let me help you,” his wife said.

  “Not on the bridge,” Maddox said, straightening. “I can walk off it myself, thank you.”

  “Your shoulder is bleeding again,” Meta said. But she didn’t try to help him while they were on the bridge.

  With his pride intact, Maddox made it through the exit. Afterward, he felt Meta’s strong arm around his waist, and he was grateful for that, grateful for his wonderful wife.

  -77-

  It wasn’t over, though, not for Maddox or the crew of Victory, and not, it turned out, for Commander Kris Guderian.

  After the doctor patched him up, Maddox headed straight to the Long-Range Builder Communicator. Valerie had called the Lord High Admiral through normal channels and given him a preliminary heads-up. The null region would not be firing any more asteroids, icy planetesimals or other objects at the Earth or anything else. Captain Maddox, Ludendorff and Meta had taken the ancient Builder weapon offline.

  Cook had wanted to know more, but had grown frustrated with the lag of the speed-of-light messages.

  Soon enough, Maddox sat in the Long-Range Builder Communicator Chamber. He looked scrubbed and wore an extra captain’s uniform. There was darkness under his eyes, and if one looked closely enough, they would see he seemed gaunt and tired.

  “Lord High Admiral,” Maddox said through the Long-Range Builder Communicator, with the microphone in a hand. “The mobile null region weapon is inoperative.”

  “Just like that?” asked Cook. “It fired 16 Psyche at Earth. My people barely diverted it enough to miss the planet by the Moon’s distance. Now, you say it’s inoperative?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Tell me how you achieved this.”

  Maddox began the story. He’d eaten before coming here, and he’d drunk some strong coffee. Even so, his voice grew hoarse, and he had to stop several times to guzzle water.

  At the end of it, the Lord High Admiral asked, “You don’t think some of this was your imagination?”

  “No, sir,” Maddox said.

  “A Hormagaunt, you called it?”

  “This is correct, sir.”

  “So…if what you’re saying is accurate—”

  “It is, sir.”

  “Please don’t interrupt me, Captain.”

  “Your pardon, Admiral.”

  “Now, where was I? Oh, yes, given these things as true, the null region is still in, or under, the Inner Asteroid Belt?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “The Ring Accelerator still works, obviously, because you left the null region through it.”

  “I believe the Hormagaunt powered it, sir.”

  “I heard your story, Captain. I’ve taken notes and recorded everything. That doesn’t alter the fact that given a power source, the Accelerator could be still operative.”

  Maddox said nothing.

  “It’s a dagger at Earth’s throat.”

  “Not in its present condition, sir.”

  “That’s a supposition,” Cook said. “Yes, I understand that this heavy metal planet must have had a vast power source. If one could reconnect the planet and ring, one could use the mobile null region again.”

  “Those are mighty big ifs, sir.”

  “You may be right. This is going to take study and exploration. Star Watch is going to need Ludendorff’s photon suits.”

  “He wasn’t the suits’ only inventor.”

  “That doesn’t matter here, Captain. I fail to see why you’re staring at trees when the forest is on fire.”

  “Uh…sir?” asked Maddox.

  “Methuselah Woman Lisa Meyers is free. Maybe we wrecked her latest plan, but she’s still out there. You weren’t able to capture her.”

  “That is a problem, I agree.”

  “But that isn’t what I meant by a forest fire. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that the Grand Fleet did not arrive to protect Earth?”

  “I suppose—why yes, sir, that is strange.”

  “I’ve had to break up the Grand Fleet to send strong Star Watch flotillas to various planets and sectors. There are insurrections and rebellions flaring up everywhere. That’s due to the damnable ideas pushed by the Humanity Manifesto people who thrived under Fletcher and the alien Liss cybers. Brigadier Stokes has run into countless obstacles I hadn’t envisioned. Josef Becker caused several hiccups… I know you warned me about the man. I’ve since had the Brigadier put Becker back into stasis. In any case, some of the problems might indicate we haven’t slain all the Liss cybers or that someone else had moved into the vacuum and is stirring up many former HMD people. I heard Commander Kris Guderian’s report…”

  “She’s with us, sir.”

  “I know that, Captain. I know that. Why do you think I’m telling you these things? Part of HMD theory is that sports like you—freaks, they say—cause disruption to the Commonwealth. We’re stamping out HMD influence as best we can. Yet, I’m sorry to say that even at this late date many star bases are still rife with HMD personnel. One of those places is Alpha Sigma 9 under Commodore Smits. Stokes is too tied up at the moment to go there, and I don’t know that I want to see anyone else going there. I certainly want all these Conqueror-class battleships to remain at Earth. What if Meyers suddenly reappears in the null region, with a method to use the Accelerator again?”

  “She can’t,” Maddox said. “Maybe a Builder, or a team of them, could fix things in the null region. Lord High Admiral, we rendered the mobile null region inert for years, maybe decades and maybe forever.”

  “Humph,” Cook said. “Believe me, I want to trust your judgment. Anyway, you’re a free agent again, and I do trust Guderian. She’s a hero. I always liked her. I want you to go to Alpha Sigma 9 and root out these HMD people. I shouldn’t ask you to do this, as you’re one of their hate objects, but the star base is too close to Earth to allow this infestation to continue.”

  “When should we leave, sir?”

  “Immediately sounds best,” Cook said. “I know you’ve just completed a rough mission. But Meyers is still loose. I don’t want her to learn about Alpha Sigma 9 and Smits. This is something that should have already been fixed. But with the troubles we’ve been having… Captain, are you up for this?”

  Maddox nodded.

  “What was that?”

  “Yes, sir. I’d like to stop at Earth first and see my grandmother.”

  “No!” Cook said. “You’
re off to Alpha Sigma 9.”

  Maddox sat back, wincing as he leaned against his wounded shoulder. Was Cook giving him this assignment to keep him off Earth, to keep him from seeing his grandmother?

  “Is Mary O’Hara all right?” Maddox asked.

  “Of course, she’s all right,” Cook said, a little too quickly, it seemed.

  “Could I speak to her?”

  “She’s not at headquarters. Now, look, Captain. This is critical. You and your crew performed marvels in the null region. I’m very grateful for all you’ve done. Now, this is an emergency. We need to stamp out this HMD fire before its blazes into an inferno. Look at the ex-Star Watch ships and personnel Meyers had at Tortuga. Alpha Sigma 9 has been bothering me for some time. Not as much as having 16 Psyche flash past Earth, mind you. But you say that danger is over for now.”

  “It is,” Maddox said.

  “Then get to Alpha Sigma 9 and stamp out the HMD mess, and make sure Guderian is reinstated with true purpose and power.”

  “I’m going as an Intelligence agent?”

  “No, as my personal representative,” Cook said. “I’ll wire it to you over the Builder Communicator later. Get moving, Captain. This is important.”

  “I’m on my way, sir. You can count on me.”

  “Good, and good luck, Captain. I hope you don’t need it, but I’m thinking you might.”

  -78-

  Maddox stared up at his dark bedroom ceiling. Every time he shut his eyes, he saw Dag roaring berserk as the Merovingian charged, or he saw the man yank the blade from his stomach as the blood began to pour out. Thus, Maddox kept his eyes open, as he didn’t want to see either of those things.

  Meta made soft sleeping sounds beside him.

  Maddox frowned. It was so strange being in his quarters aboard Victory. It almost didn’t seem right. The nightmare in the null region, facing the Hormagaunt—

  “Forget it,” Maddox said, too loudly, it turned out.

  Meta smacked her lips, and she reached over, touching him. “Are you asleep?” she asked sleepily.

  “No.”

  He could hear her part of the bed creak. No doubt, she raised her head to stare at him in the darkness. She rolled over and laid her hand over his blanketed stomach. “What’s wrong, darling? Can’t you sleep?”

  “Not so far,” he said.

  “What’s troubling you?”

  “Several things,” Maddox said. “I think the Lord High Admiral is trying to keep me off Earth.”

  “For what possible reason?” asked Meta.

  “Maybe so I don’t talk to my grandmother.”

  Meta remained quiet.

  “Do you think I’m right?” Maddox asked.

  “Maybe.”

  He exhaled. Now, he’d never get to sleep.

  “But maybe Cook is genuine,” Meta said. “He needs help stamping out these HMD fires for good. You’re free, so he’s sending you to Alpha Sigma 9. Besides, Kris is with us and knows the place. If you think about it, it’s a sensible order.”

  “I’ll have to talk to Kris tomorrow, see what she thinks about all this.”

  “You’ll need your wits, so try to get to sleep.”

  “I don’t know, Meta. This time…it feels wrong. We beat an impossible monster, a creature from the dawn of time. We thwarted an incredibly evil and clever attack by Lisa Meyers. And now—” Maddox snapped his fingers. “We’re dealing with a side issue.”

  “It doesn’t sound like the Lord High Admiral looks at it like that. The Liss cybers used a lot of people when they were in power, playing on fears and prejudices. The Political Intelligence Division did great harm, too, and so did Captain Becker.”

  “All true,” Maddox said, sounding sleepy finally. “I hated to fight Dag the way I did. The Hormagaunt used the two of us. Dag was a great warrior. He deserved a better contest and a better end.”

  “Is that what’s bothering you?”

  “I ran, Meta. I stuck him—got a lucky strike, really—and then ran out the clock.”

  Meta reached up and touched a cheek. “I’m glad you did that, dear. It was the right choice.”

  “It seemed so at the time, but doesn’t feel like that now.”

  “I know. You’re Captain Maddox. You’re the di-far. Usually, you win boldly and stylishly. This time, you had to fight down and dirty.”

  “Maybe all this is getting to me.”

  Meta stroked his cheek again. “We need to take a vacation, a really long and extended vacation. You need to rest. This racing about everywhere…you might be burning yourself out. Have you ever thought of that?”

  Maddox yawned. He rolled over and put a hand on one of Meta’s cheeks. “I’m so glad you’re my wife. I love you.”

  She wriggled closer, moving the blanket out of the way.

  Maddox laughed.

  She kissed him, and he kissed her. Then, for a time, they made love.

  Meta lay back afterward. She fell almost instantly asleep.

  Maddox lay down, with his hands behind his head. He was getting tired, and when he closed his eyes…Dag was there, but not as solid as before, and there was no sound. It didn’t bother the captain to have his eyes closed. After a time, Dag disappeared. There was just the dome in the battle chamber. In his mind’s eye, Maddox saw the great silver ring through the dome. He saw the speck of the Koniggratz. What had happened to the battleship? Had the Hormagaunt slain or eaten the crew?

  I should have made a deal that if I won, he’d eat Meyers, too. That was a mistake. I’ve been making too many of them lately.

  Maddox’s breathing evened out. His wounded shoulder was sore, but healing. He had a task to perform. It might be a good task, helping Star Watch and Kris Guderian. Her hard and clever work in the 82 G. Eridani System had made saving the Earth possible. She needed a break…

  Before Maddox could reason out more, he fell asleep.

  -79-

  Maddox interviewed Kris the next day as Victory left the Solar System on its way to the Alpha Sigma 9 System. They spoke in a lounge area, sipping coffee as Meta took notes.

  Commander Guderian told her tale. She had before, but she went into more detail this time. She’d been imprisoned for refusing to denounce Captain Maddox while the Lord High Admiral Fletcher had been in charge of Star Watch.

  Maddox raised his eyebrows upon hearing that. “They made this personal,” he said.

  “You stood for a fully integrated Star Watch,” Kris said. “I…simply couldn’t take an oath against that—especially as you’ve helped me before.”

  “I’m touched,” Maddox said. “Please, continue.”

  Kris did, talking about her months in military prison, and later as they began executing people by firing squad.

  “They did this in the prison?” asked Maddox.

  “Yes,” Kris said. “It was terrifying listening to those volleys from my cell. I was certain they were coming for me next.”

  She told him how two prison guards had marched her out of her cell toward the place of execution. A chance comment on her part had changed everything. Corporal Johan called the warden, who ordered them to take her to the commodore. Johan tried to kill her later on the Bombay—Kris shook her head, telling Maddox she was getting ahead of the story. Anyway, they flew her to the commodore of the star base, to Commodore Smits.

  She told Maddox about her conversation with Smits, how he’d blamed everything on a Colonel Borneo of the then Political Intelligence Division. Smits had sidestepped any responsibility for his time under Borneo’s dominance. She was sure they had shot the PI colonel in the prison yard, and any others that might have implicated those of Star Base Alpha Sigma 9. In the end, Smits had sent her away to check on the 82 G. Eridani System, with a skeleton crew aboard the Bombay, a frigate-sized science vessel of the India-class. While on the Bombay, Johan and one other named Spengler had attempted to assassinate her, although Spengler had made the first attempt.

  “Tell me what happened,” Maddox said.
/>   Kris did, with tears beginning to fall. Meta got up and returned with tissues so Kris could blow her nose and wipe her eyes. Kris told them how she’d killed crewman Spengler and put the stowaway Corporal Johan in the brig. Johan and the other two crewmembers must have perished when the Ring Accelerator sucked them up in the null region while aboard the Bombay. Kris, of course, had escaped in an emergency pod.

  “And that’s the whole of it,” Kris said, ending the tale.

  Maddox had been absorbed with the story, and he remembered that the mobile null region had taken out the 650 million people on Olmstead. Had there been a connection between Meyers and Commodore Smits?

  “That’s all quite impressive, Commander.”

  “It didn’t feel like it at the time,” Kris said.

  “I would even call it heroic.” Maddox put a finger against his lower lip. “Let me ask you a few questions about how they ran Alpha Sigma 9. I mean while Colonel Borneo was in charge.”

  “He wasn’t in charge of the star base,” Kris said. “Smits still had his commodore authority, which theoretically overruled the colonel.”

  “Interesting,” Maddox said. “Well, tell me about Borneo and what else significant happened during his time.”

  Kris told him everything she could remember. It had been a difficult time, as it had seemed that everyone at the star base agreed with the Humanity Manifesto Doctrine but for her.

  “Did any Liss cybers arrive in the system?”

  “Who?” asked Kris. “Oh. You mean the secretive aliens from Jarnevon?”

  “That’s right.”

  Kris shook her head. “No… I don’t remember seeing or hearing anything about Liss cybers, other than afterward when Star Watch smashed them in the Solar System, hunted them throughout the Commonwealth and slew the last of them on Jarnevon.”

  “Huh…” Maddox said, as he pinched his lower lip.

  “What are you thinking?” Meta asked.

  “Just gathering facts,” Maddox said. “I’m trying to build a picture in my mind. Why is Star Base Alpha Sigma 9 such a holdout? Smits appears to have cleaned house, in this instance, by murdering the most powerful HMD people there, sweeping the dirt under the rug, as it were. That should have made everyone there eager to see Stokes’s people give the base the okay. Instead, it appears to have done the opposite. That’s strange, and I suspect isn’t mere happenstance.”