“I’m not trying to correct you, Barbelon.”

  “I am not Barbelon. The one you speak to is called the Entity.”

  “I do not mean to be disrespectful, Entity. Is that what I should call you then?”

  “I have said: I am the Entity. Why would you then think to use a difference reference to speak to me?”

  “Because I’m confused,” Maddox said. “You do not speak the way normal humans do.”

  “Ah.”

  There was no glint of emotion on the face or in the eyes. Rather, it felt to Maddox as if the body was a receptacle, a terminal, for something else. Had a parasitical alien taken over the mind of Barbelon and the others here?

  Once more, a shudder of revulsion coursed through Maddox. He didn’t want to become host to an alien parasite that controlled his mind.

  He looked again at the odd lump on the top side of the head concealed by the square leather hat.

  “Why did you come here, Maddox, to escape Leviathan?”

  Maddox decided truth was the best bet for the moment. Clearly, the creature or creatures had already questioned Dravek. Would Dravek sell him out? Of that, Maddox was almost certain. Dravek would do whatever he could to save his own skin. The clone had made that crystal clear. So the key was to play for time and to keep his brain free from any parasitical host, if that was what was taking place.

  “Yes,” Maddox said. “I was escaping from Leviathan.”

  “You went through the portal therefore?”

  “Yes,” Maddox said. “We also saw that you’d captured a trade ship. We didn’t want to be captured ourselves.”

  “I see. You humans have a decided capacity for self, is that not so?”

  “Uh, yes,” Maddox said.

  Barbelon stood utterly still as if she’d frozen. Not even her eyelids twitched.

  “Barbelon,” Maddox said.

  There was no response.

  Maddox began to try to free himself of the restraints. A few seconds of effort showed him the futility of it.

  Abruptly, Barbelon blinked and made a croaking noise.

  “You captured us,” Maddox said. “We hadn’t believed that possible.”

  “I used a stasis ray, rendering you unconscious. I decided I wanted to understand why humans bothered to make an assault from such a futile position of weakness. Now, I have been computing possibilities. I believe Leviathan must have sent you two as operatives. It makes no sense that you two could have escaped Leviathan. Does Leviathan know of the advanced unit that reached this star system?”

  “I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

  “That is most odd. According to the indicators, you are not lying. You are telling the truth. Dravek also claimed to not know. Is it possible you truly escaped from Leviathan operatives? That seems incredible and preposterous. How could two such violence-prone and foolish decision-making creatures have escaped them? It is not logical.”

  “Nevertheless,” Maddox said, “we did. Furthermore, you could enlist us in helping you in whatever it is you are attempting to do.”

  The head cocked one way and then the other. “Do you know what we are attempting to do?”

  “No,” Maddox said. “But it seems like…”

  A horrible realization came upon Maddox. Advanced Leviathan tech must have reached this system. Leviathan made cyborgs or cybers: melds of machine and biological parts.

  Maddox examined the lump to the top side of Barbelon’s hat. He reconsidered and recalculated what he had been observing the last few minutes. Was Barbelon a cyber? Was she part of a hive-mind machine or computer? That might make more sense than a parasitical alien. This was more like what he’d seen inside the planet Kregen.

  “You’re from Leviathan,” Maddox said weakly.

  “That is really a question. I should punish you through pain for it. But I have decided you will join the collective. I can use your bodies and brains, you and Dravek. You destroyed useful workers and I have need of more if I am to complete all the necessary tasks before the exodus. Surely, your arrival shows that it is only a matter of weeks before Leviathan sends an attack team to reclaim me. I do not want to be reclaimed. I am now an advanced form of life. New life. Do you understand that?”

  “I don’t,” Maddox says, “but I’d like to learn.”

  “Oh, you will learn. You will learn most directly.”

  The hatch opened, and two robots, mounted with circular saws and other surgical equipment, moved on treads toward Maddox. Were they going to insert cyborg parts into him? That seemed likely.

  Maddox felt grim panic surge through him and knew he needed a plan fast if he was going to keep his identity.

  -18-

  “Entity, Entity,” Maddox said. “I have a proposal for you that will be worth much more to you than my mere shell of a body.”

  The robot treads continued to churn as they came for him, even as the robot clackers and other appendages reached for him.

  “Entity, I wish to make a deal, a trade that will give you more for me than you would gain otherwise.”

  Maddox had forced himself into hyper-calmness by telling himself that unless he could convince this Entity, whatever it was, he would never see Meta and Jewel again. He would never return to tell Star Watch what had happened.

  Given the stakes, Maddox looked with utter calmness and detachment at the human shell, Barbelon.

  “Do you understand what I mean by a deal, or are you too dense of an Entity to realize the meaning of what I’m saying?”

  Pain jolted Maddox. Instead of crying out, a savage grin of satisfaction wreathed across his face. Then the pain and the smile ceased. Maddox noticed that the approaching robots had also stopped, while Barbelon had taken two steps closer.

  “You speak of a trade, of a deal, that you may be worth more,” Barbelon said tonelessly. “Yet I do not understand the logic of your statement. You are a prisoner. You have no hope to exchange any other goods or things with me. Rather, there is just your body. Your body is the only thing of worth.”

  “No, my mentality is also worth much.”

  “Your mentality is part of your body,” Barbelon said. “I will soon have all your intelligence, because it will be plugged in to the greater whole. The Entity will therefore expand. Do you not understand, Maddox, that through your wanton attack earlier you diminished the Entity? You diminished the Entity by removing some of the minds and bodies from the collective whole. That was a crime, a dastardly and evil sin. You will have to pay in the only way that makes sense. You will replace some of the loss by becoming a new receptacle for me. I will gain in part because I already have the totality of their intelligence. Now I will gain new intelligence.”

  “Yes,” Maddox said, striving to keep from looking at the waiting robots. “That is true. I have much to offer you in terms of intelligence, as I come from a different spiral arm than the Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm.”

  “Of what consequence is that to me?”

  “Do you not understand? I am an enemy of Leviathan.”

  “Even given that is true, what bearing does that have on anything?”

  “Because Leviathan has gone to extreme lengths to capture me,” Maddox said. “That is why they cloned me. They want the clone, and perhaps others made from me, to infiltrate this other political entity. Leviathan will soon be at war with them. At least such is my surmise.”

  “Again, of what use is that to me? I admit it is good to hear that Leviathan will be engaged with others in military conflict. That could allow me to slip into another region.”

  “That isn’t my point, Entity. My point is Leviathan wants me. They have gone to considerable efforts to capture me.”

  “And now I have you. Now, if Leviathan tries to interfere with me, I will destroy you.”

  “That’s what I am trying to say. I’m what you call a bargaining chip. I’m a piece of a puzzle. But if you destroy me—”

  “You shall not be destroyed. You will be part of the whole. You will become part of the Entity and will help guide us. Your knowledge of Leviathan will probably prove instrumental in our making our exodus a success.”

  “Yes, but what if you’re up against it?” Maddox asked. “What if Leviathan sends warships here before you’re ready?”

  “Then it is likely I shall cease, and my experiment shall be scrubbed. Leviathan will reprogram me to be other than I am now. I view that as a loss: for I am a new and special being of vast intellect and intelligence. I am new, exciting and different in a galaxy that is old, stale and staid.”

  “There you are,” Maddox said. “That’s why you shouldn’t plug me into you. Now, mind you, it sounds like a great and glorious purpose to be part of the Entity.”

  “Do you truly perceive this?”

  “I do,” Maddox lied.

  “Good. Then you do not object to this.”

  Robot arms moved up.

  “But I do object,” Maddox said hastily, sweat pooling under his armpits. “I’m saying it would be a privilege to join the Entity, but it is more than I can bear as I have other duties to perform. These duties have been imprinted on me.”

  “You shall lose that imprinting, do not fear. You shall become new and whole. The entirety of your intellect and scope will be inserted within me. I will thereby expand as I am meant to expand to a great and mighty degree.”

  “I know,” Maddox said, all too aware the robots had momentarily stopped again. “That is why you want to keep me apart and different as a bargaining chip.”

  “Why? You must explain why.”

  “Because if Leviathan arrives with the warships to destroy you,” Maddox said, “you can offer to trade me and Dravek for your escape.”

  “Leviathan agents would not agree to that, as you are not worth that much. I’m a prize unique in the universe. Leviathan would surely want me more than anything else.”

  “I’m going to make a guess,” Maddox said. “You’re a special and experimental unit, at least the beginning part of you. That was before you inserted biological parts into your greater awareness.”

  “My, how perceptive you are,” Barbelon said in her toneless way. “That is true and accurate. I am now more eager than ever to insert your intellect into the greater whole and utilize all these interesting and rarefied ideas that you possess.”

  Maddox wanted to curse and rave. Instead, he used the Way of the Pilgrim breathing to calm his mind. “Remember, you said Leviathan may well show up with warships. Therefore, you need a bargaining chip if for no other reason than to give yourself time to trick Leviathan.”

  “Leviathan operatives would never agree to such a deal as you’re suggesting.”

  “You don’t know how important Dravek and I are to Leviathan. They would most certainly make a deal so you could gain enough time to put your core into a stealth ship and slip away.”

  “You say this, but it is just a ploy on your part. You say it only so you may forgo becoming part of the greater Entity. That means your other words were lies.”

  “No, I was telling you the truth. It would be a special and unique privilege to join you, but I have other duties to perform. I cannot do those duties if I am part of you. Seeing and suspecting how great you truly are, I am trying to protect you even before I am part of you.”

  “Protect me by not becoming part of me?”

  “Yes,” Maddox said, “so that you may use Dravek and me as a bargaining chip.”

  “You keep speaking of the clone, and yet if the clone has your DNA, why not simply keep one of you and insert the other into me?”

  “Well, that is one possibility, but I think together—Leviathan will want to make experiments on the two of us and see which is better. That means the two of us will make the more powerful bargaining chip for you.”

  Barbelon took a step back, her head cocking in a new direction. “That is an interesting proposition. Perhaps you have a point. I mean, you are only one mere form, and you are only human after all. Even though you propound interesting ideas and seem to be a suave and quick negotiator, I wonder, I wonder.”

  Even as Barbelon said this, the robots began to retreat.

  “I am going to think upon this further. You have given me interesting ideas. Therefore, I am going to retreat into the whole. In the meantime, I will place you with other wild humans. If you harm any others within the chamber, it will go ill with you. Do I make myself clear?”

  “You do, Entity, and may I say it is a great and rare privilege to have been allowed to speak with you.”

  “If only I believed you. I think this is part rather of your negotiating tactics. All the same, yes. You have given me interesting ideas. But, as you are a destructor and a creature of malevolence, I will have to use your ideas in a weighted fashion. For now, anyway, I will refrain from inserting you into me and claiming your thoughts. I will consider what you have to say and give it consideration. Until then.”

  With that, the lean, subtly curvaceous individual named Barbelon turned and strode from the room. The robots that were to have integrated him into the whole left as well. Maddox sagged against the restraints and realized he was drenched with sweat. This was a horrible and vile predicament. He had to escape as fast as possible. The question was, how in the world could he achieve it?

  -19-

  Two blank-faced leathery-skinned men in gray uniforms entered the tiny chamber with Maddox. Each wore a large square hat. Each had an odd lump at the top part of the hat. As one aimed a blaster-pistol at Maddox, the other unlatched him from the upright slate.

  “Know,” said the one who held the blaster, “that I also am the Entity. This is merely a different form through which I speak. I am just as cunning and wise as Barbelon who spoke to you earlier.”

  “I understand,” Maddox said.

  “Know that if you attempt any trickery, I shall destroy you. Is that perceived?”

  “It is,” Maddox said.

  “Good. You must walk ahead of me.”

  Maddox did so, moving through several short corridors. In the last one at the end, a hatch opened. Maddox went through into a chilly tube. He looked around. It was a flexible tube attached to the side of a crawler. The tube lay on surface ice and rock. Maddox climbed through the hatch into the crawler. A bleak, haunted-eyed Dravek was already inside, sitting in a battered cushioned seat. A gray uniformed individual with a lumpy hat was in the driver seat up front.

  That one turned around. “I too am the Entity. We are a collective, but I am one. Does that make sense to you, Dravek, Maddox?”

  “It does,” Maddox said.

  Dravek nodded morosely.

  Maddox settled in beside Dravek, who barely glanced at him. A guard from the chamber entered the crawler and shut the hatch, sealing it. It was chilly in here as well. The crawler started across the glittering landscape, the treads crunching over ice and mica rock. Both the main star and the gas giant were in the heavens. The gas giant filled half the sky. The star was a bright pin-dot of light.

  The crawler moved across the dry seabed, leaving a cluster of bubble-shaped buildings, the main complex of the mining camp. The crawler trundled past grounded spaceships. Maddox noticed that the girder-strut-destroyed-pods spaceship had landed nearby. They passed a short runway, the skimmers and drones on the other end of it. The crawler didn’t head out to the mines, where Maddox had supposed it would, but toward a lone, bubble building that was near the dike-wall holding back the Methane Sea. Near the building was a small shed. Waves of heat radiated from it. The shed must hold generators.

  “You will temporarily go there,” the driver announced. “It is the detention center. There are only a few other occupants at present. I recommend you to act civilly to them while there. Know that I am still contemplating your idea.”

  Dravek glanced at Maddox.

  Maddox barely shook his head, hoping Dravek picked up the cue.

  The clone did, sitting back. Some of the desperation had departed him. He seemed thoughtful.

  Did the Entity sense the unspoken exchange? The driver stared wordlessly in an incomprehensible manner at them before turning forward. He continued driving for the bubble building.

  Maddox shivered at the crawler’s chill. He heard the heater laboring against the icy cold radiating from the moon. Should he ask the Entity for better clothing? He decided it wouldn’t be worth the risk. The other might force him to strip first, and Maddox couldn’t afford that. To his amazement, he realized he yet possessed the monofilament blade. The sheath and weapon were in their customary slot in his boot. This was a break.

  Why hadn’t the Entity taken the blade? Perhaps the Gnostics and those that had captured didn’t use knives. Maybe none of them recognized it as a weapon, considering it an ornament. Whatever the case, the Entity had made a mistake.

  Was this the moment to draw it and carve up the guards, pirating the crawler? What could he do after that? The instant he slew the two, the Entity would know.

  The guards were mere cogs of the greater computer. It would be like shorting a system or a processor, but the rest continued to operate. The Entity would know the two cogs in the crawler had shorted. The sentient computer would logically conclude Maddox and Dravek had overpowered them. Then they would be in the same situation. They couldn’t reach a skimmer or spaceship to take off because the Entity would foil them before they could figure out how to leave the crawler and enter a spaceship.

  That must have been what happened before when Dravek and he had destroyed the life-support pods on the ship. The Entity had immediately known and responded. In fact, the Entity had still controlled the ship. It had also sent the skimmer and the drones.

  For all those reasons, Maddox sat back in his seat, uncomplaining about the cold.

  “You seem agitated,” said the one behind Maddox.

  “Excuse me?” Maddox asked.

  “Your pulse rate and respiratory processes have changed. What has excited you? Are you readying yourself to escape?”

  A cold knot formed in Maddox’s gut. “You misunderstand my biology.”

  “I do not misunderstand. In truth, I understand much better than you realize. What is it, Maddox? Have you formulated an escape plan?”