“I think I’ve come to the same conclusion.”

  His artificial eye studied me. “Really? You intend to stop these alien intruders?”

  “Yes, if I can. I’ll do what has to be done. I’m not enjoying every minute of it, mind you, but sometimes there are greater things in life than personal pleasures and immediate safety.”

  “I agree. Well, in this new light… I’d like to take back my resignation.”

  I smiled at him. “Good. Welcome back.”

  He offered me his strange, artificial hand. Apparently, he’d managed to reattach it without a problem. I shook his hand, and he left my cabin.

  * * *

  The next morning I groaned awake. There was something about the day after a great effort that made such times physically painful. While you were in combat, struggling for your very life, you seemed not to feel the abuse your body was taking. On the day after, however, when you could relax at least momentarily—that’s when the real pain hits you.

  “Captain? Captain, are you there?”

  The tapping at my door was persistent. That’s what had awakened me.

  I’d meant to sleep in. I’d taken the precaution of turning off all my normal alarms and chimes.

  I blinked at the door with bleary eyes. If this was a true emergency, the ship or the duty personnel on the bridge could override my barriers and blast me out of bed with a klaxon, if necessary.

  The fact this intruder hadn’t done so, but had instead decided to physically assault my door, indicated the matter wasn’t critical, but rather was important to them personally.

  Another spate of knocking ensued, and I decided I must act. Heaving a sigh, I got to my feet, grabbing at the walls for support.

  My muscles were stiff. Numerous small injuries on every limb made me feel like sitting back down. I resisted the urge, straightened my body as best I could, and opened the door.

  It was Rose. I hadn’t seen her much lately, not since I’d taken up with Morwyn. Could that be what this was about? Was she attempting to rekindle things so soon? After all, Morwyn had only just left the ship…

  “Oh…” she said, seeing my squinting eyes and bared teeth. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. What’s the problem?”

  Her eyes studied the deck for a moment. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Can I come in… for a moment?”

  That was it, then. She was trying to move in on Morwyn’s territory without hesitation. Perhaps she feared that Sosa or some other woman would beat her to it.

  Sighing, I stepped aside and let her in. The door closed quietly behind her.

  She looked around, wrinkled her nose, and looked at me with some disapproval. “You look like hell…”

  “Thank you. Could you get to the point, Rose?”

  “I… it’s about Dernel.”

  This caused me to frown. “Dernel? What about him? We left him back at the capital, and—”

  “No,” she said, grabbing my wrist and looking at me intently. She was whispering again. “We didn’t. He didn’t want to stay. Morwyn asked me to let him remain aboard, and so I did.”

  I looked at her and blinked a few times. “Don’t tell me he’s down in the secret cubby? What if he decides to release radiation?”

  “I don’t think he knows about that—but he’s not in there anyway. He’s in my cabin.”

  “He’s in your cabin? What were you thinking, girl?”

  “William… have you forgotten what Baron Trask did to the nests—to the Tulk soldiers? He killed them by the thousands! Do you think for a moment he’d hesitate to kill Dernel? He still has that Tulk thing in his body, you know.”

  “Hmm… I think that will have to be remedied.”

  Her hand had clutched my wrist, but it was suddenly snatched away. “That’s what I thought you might say. You’re as mean as the rest. Jort, Huan—they all think Trask did the right thing.”

  “Maybe he did…”

  “William, think long-term. Can we really beat the invaders without help? A whole cluster of stars, a hundred worlds full of those monsters?”

  I scratched and drank some water. “Probably not,” I admitted.

  “Right. So we just burned our only bridge, the only help we’ve ever found. By ‘we’ I mean us, foolish, short-sighted humans.”

  “All right, all right,” I said. “I won’t kill Dernel or smash his Tulk out of hand, but what would you have me do?”

  “Well… now that the fleet has pulled out of orbit, I—”

  “What did you say?”

  I grabbed her by the shoulders, and Rose looked up, startled.

  “I thought you knew… The Brothers have left Vindar. They’re heading back to Gladius. Trask intends to gather all his men and assault Flamberge. He intends to wipe out the Tulk once and for all among the Sword Worlds.”

  Sliding her out of the way, I rushed up to the bridge.

  Sosa met me with curious eyes at first. “Sleeping in, I see?” But then she spotted Rose, who lurked in the shadowy passages behind me. “Ah… I get it. Never mind.”

  Sosa sounded disgusted, but I didn’t care. Let her think what she wanted. I had to know if Rose was speaking the truth.

  A few minutes later, after making several calls, I’d confirmed it all.

  Rose was right. Trask had pulled out with his army and all the Sword Brother ships. It gave him quite a fleet. With Count Harkaman’s troops destroyed, he now controlled every ship we’d brought with us. Back home on Gladius, he’d find more support. He could then launch a force at Flamberge that was three times the size of the garrison fleet Harkaman had left behind to guard the planet.

  I shook my head in disbelief. Trask was a cunning, ruthless man. I chided myself to never underestimate him again.

  Within a few weeks’ time, the old pirate might well command two entire planets. Would that be the end of his ambitions? Would he dare to crown himself a king?

  I didn’t know, but I no longer put anything beyond his calculating reach.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  After all the stunning revelations of my morning, I eventually got around to thinking of Dernel again. I sighed and headed for Rose’s cabin. I supposed it was time to figure out what to do with the crazy old goat—and the alien in his guts as well.

  When I arrived, I found an argument was in progress. Rose stood in front of her cabin door, while Huan and Jort confronted her.

  It was a strange moment of bravery for the girl. She’d never been the sort to stand up to conflict. Her natural manner was mild and pleasant.

  Not today, however. She had a determined cast to her stance and a shrill volume to her voice. She wasn’t screaming at the men—but she wasn’t backing down, either.

  “What’s going on, crew?” I asked.

  They all turned to look at me. Rose took the moment to slip into her cabin and slam the door.

  Jort growled and reached for the door. I knew his hands were strong enough to twist off the lock, and for a moment, he looked like he might be planning to do exactly that.

  I cleared my throat loudly. “What’s this then? A lover’s quarrel?”

  Huan’s organic eye and Jort’s own startled orbs turned to stare at me.

  “What? No… no, no, Captain,” he said. “We fear she’s been taken by a Tulk. She won’t let us examine her guts or her cabin.”

  “The possibility seems remote,” Huan said, “but something is wrong with her. I’ve studied her behavior patterns for months. She’s behaving in an unusual manner.”

  “See?” Jort said, jabbing a thumb at Huan. “What he said goes double for me!”

  I thought it over for a moment. What if Dernel’s Tulk—or another one, for that matter—had managed to infest Rose? Wouldn’t that have given her good reason for appealing to me for protection? After all, the Tulk were a species that had been hunted almost to extinction here on Vindar.

  “All right, I’ll handle it.”

  I stepped forward and seized the cabin door handle.

  Neither of my two crewmen moved away. They were both blowing heavy breath at my back. This made me frown.

  “Don’t you two have duties to attend to?”

  “What if the thing jumps you, sir?” Jort demanded. “I know you think she’s just a harmless girl, but how better would a Tulk sneak up on a man? Your guard is down with her. Everyone knows you slept with her last night, and—”

  “All right, all right. Step back and shut up.”

  I used my captain’s passcode. The door clicked and swung open.

  “Dammit!” Rose called out. “Don’t let those murderous brutes in here, William. If you do, I’ll never kiss you again.”

  “Ah-ha!” Jort roared. “You see? She admits her plan!”

  “Stand down, Jort,” I said.

  He was again blowing hot breath on the back of my neck. The man had never been good with the concept of personal space.

  Something moved behind Rose—something lanky and pale of skin.

  “Who is that?” Jort demanded. His thick arm reached into the cabin, gripping the doorframe. “What have you done, girl? Are you breeding abominations in here? Must we stick a pin into the captain again to make sure he’s clean?”

  “Let’s not do that,” I said.

  Seeing the situation was out of hand, I decided to make a rare move: I would be honest and appeal to reason. “Here’s the situation. Dernel is still aboard the ship. Rose has been hiding him here in her cabin.”

  Jort’s eyes bulged. “What? That’s evil! She’s one of them, I knew it!”

  “May I inspect the suspects, Captain?” Huan asked me. “I’m immune to Tulk infection.”

  “You are?”

  “Says who?” Jort demanded.

  “My anatomy is to blame. I’m part cyborg—as you might have noticed. Certain critical organs in my body have been replaced by artificial parts. Because of this, the Tulk don’t find me to be a tolerable host.”

  “Hmm… All right. But don’t kill anyone—not even a Tulk. On my ship, I decide who and what is executed.”

  “Very well.”

  Huan slipped between Jort and me, which was quite a feat. Jort was again crowding the doorway.

  “This is a bad idea,” Jort complained. “There will be three of these demons in a moment!”

  Ignoring him, I watched Huan work. He first examined Rose, who squawked a bit until I reminded her she’d set all these events in motion. Baring her belly, she allowed herself to be examined.

  Huan used his mechanical hand. It had instrumentation in the fingers that I’d never noticed before.

  “I don’t detect a symbiotic presence here,” Huan announced.

  We all turned then to regard Dernel, who was attempting to hide behind the door. This was virtually impossible, as the cabin wasn’t more than three meters in any dimension.

  “Step into the middle of the cabin and let my man examine you, Dernel.”

  “What’s the point, Gorman?” he asked. “Are you going to space me or not?”

  “Right now, with all this lack of cooperation, I’m leaning toward a ‘yes’ on that. But perhaps you can change things.”

  “You don’t have to space him,” Jort said in a practical tone. He’d produced a narrow, stiletto-looking weapon. It reminded me of a thick stylus with a sharpened tip. “I’ve gotten good at digging a Tulk out of a man’s guts.”

  I put up a cautioning hand. “That’s enough, Jort. Huan? Check him.”

  Dernel’s eyes were wild, but he let himself be examined.

  Huan looked at me, and he nodded. “This man has an entry wound—an old one. There is no sign of an exit.”

  “Right. Okay then, all of you—leave us.”

  Huan marched out as ordered. Rose lingered however, looking anguished. “Don’t hurt him, William—not even the Tulk.”

  “I’m just talking to them for now.”

  At last, she walked away. That left only Jort, who showed no sign of making an exit. He was snarling at Dernel, lifting his upper lip menacingly. I wasn’t sure he was even aware of it.

  “Jort?”

  “Huh?”

  “You too—out!”

  “What? Are you crazy, Captain? I thought you meant those two weaklings. This man isn’t a man, sir. Not really. He’s a freak. He’s cornered, and he knows—”

  “Out, Jort.”

  Grumbling, the big man left. I heard him mutter in the passages about how I wasn’t a smart man until I closed the door on him.

  When he was gone at last, Dernel looked a little less crazy. I knew from experience that the Tulk were a race that felt more terrorized by physical threats than most humans did. They were easily frightened, and in such situations, they often lost some of their self-control. Sometimes, they fought in a berserk frenzy. On other occasions, they ran and hid, even if it was hopeless to do so.

  “So, my Tulk friend… what are we going to do with you?”

  Dernel’s eyes rolled in fear. He didn’t look at me directly, but rather cast me frequent side-glances.

  I sighed heavily. “All right, you have good reason to be upset. I get that. But if you can’t sit down here and at least fake being calm, it’s going to be hard to have a serious conversation.”

  “What conversation might be had? I’m in your power. You have slaughtered my kind treacherously. Is this to be an interrogation? An inquisition? A—?”

  “No, we’re not going to torment you or even kill you. I am thinking of pulling you out of Dernel, however. I don’t think it’s right that we’ve left you in his body this long.”

  “He assures me that I’m a welcome guest.”

  I laughed. “And how can I tell whether that sentiment is from Dernel’s half of your mind, or the forced impressions of a Tulk rider?”

  Relaxing somewhat, Dernel at last stepped out from behind the door. He walked to the only seat available—Rose’s bunk—and sat down. He still watched me with vast distrust.

  “You’re not going to kill me?”

  “No.”

  “But you intend to turn me out of my home. I’m not capable of survival for long outside of a mammalian body, you know.”

  “Yes, I understand that. That’s why it’s so difficult to decide how to handle this situation.”

  Dernel seemed to ruminate upon that for a moment. “Does Baron Trask, that fiend, know that I still exist?”

  Shaking my head, I assured him that he didn’t. “If he did, I think he might shoot down this vessel.”

  Dernel’s rolling eyes surveyed me. “You are risking your own life—your own crew—to talk to me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “It isn’t out of love, let me assure you. It isn’t even out of loyalty for a comrade in arms. Lucas Droad told me your fellows had intentions to destroy us the moment our shared goal was reached. The Sword Brothers simply struck first.”

  Dernel studied his fingers. They were roving again, the way they used to when I first met him. “That’s unfortunate. If I had been in command, perhaps—but no. What’s done is done. The human-Tulk alliance never lasts for long. It’s a pity. We did so well together.”

  “We did. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how to keep you alive. You are the only Tulk I know. You were a commander in their forces. I’m certain an occasion will rise again where we need one another.”

  “Ah! I see your plan now. Cunning, evil…”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You plan to keep me in a jar of nutrients. A prisoner until such time as you need me. I will warn you, a Tulk so isolated for years might well go mad. In such a state—”

  “No,” I said, interrupting his growing tirade. “I wasn’t thinking of a jar. I’ve been thinking of, perhaps, putting you into some kind of local animal.”

  The Tulk-infested man squirmed. “That wouldn’t be suitable.”

  “Why not?”

  “For the same reason you would take a human woman, rather than a pig, to sleep in your bed. The process is highly intimate. The mind of a primitive animal…” here, Dernel shuddered. “The very thought is disgusting.”

  “Hmm… what would you suggest?”

  Dernel stopped squirming and dared lean toward me. “You would be a suitable vessel, Captain. I’ve always admired—”

  “Forget it.”

  “What, then?”

  I thought about it for a time before I came up with a plan. “You’ll have to exit Dernel. Once he’s free of your influence, I’ll talk to him. If he truly wants to continue allowing you to reside inside his body—I’ll allow it.”

  The Tulk inside the man stared at me intently. I thought at first that he was thinking—thinking hard. But then, as ten seconds, then fifteen passed, I became concerned.

  I waved a hand in front of his face. He never even blinked. Then I grabbed his shoulders and shook him lightly.

  “Dernel? Are you okay in there?”

  At last, the man came back to life. He closed his eyes, which were weeping from the dryness of exposure.

  “Dernel has agreed to the procedure. I require a bowl of body-warm blood.”

  “You’ll get lukewarm water and like it.”

  Eventually, the Tulk agreed to my terms. The process of exiting the body was disgusting and presumably painful for the host. At last, it was done.

  Dernel lay back on Rose’s bunk. He was groaning and there was a dark wet patch under him. I figured Rose was going to want to wash her bedding after this.

  The Tulk slipped into a bowl of water I’d gotten from the ship’s mess, and he sulked in there like an angry cat. He was little more than a spiny ball.

  Dernel coughed, rasped, and tried to speak. He failed.

  My eyes strayed to the Tulk. There was blood in that water. It was pinkish and vile.

  For a long second, I thought about spacing him. It would have been so easy to do. Every cabin was fitted with a waste chute. Just spill him into it and slam home the lock—he’d be flushed into nothingness. He’d freeze out there in the void, a lump of matter that would orbit Vindar for years, possibly.

  With an effort of will, I stopped myself from doing it. The Tulk had been true to his word after all—so far.