“We have a name for that in the Empire,” Ural said. “We call it: Nar’zulthar. Nar means warrior and Zulthar means fervor or fury. It has to do with blood vengeance and is part of your heritage. Clearly, it overcame you.”

  “I’m that much of a New Man, you think?”

  “Can you doubt it?”

  “I suppose not after what happened. How are things on the Library Planet?”

  “Yes,” Ural said, “That is what I wish to talk to you about. I’ve received harrowing information from the Supreme Intelligence, and I believe you should take notes.”

  “Actual notes?” asked Maddox.

  “Yes.”

  “Just a moment then,” Maddox said. “Let me call my wife, and she can take the notes while I listen.”

  “An excellent suggestion,” Ural said.

  Soon, Meta was in the chamber with a notepad, pen, and a recorder. She turned on the recorder and sat poised with pen and pad.

  Ural began to speak. He told them what the Supreme Intelligence had told him about the Seekers, how they were like the Destroyers of the Nameless Ones, only more sinister, able to replicate as they devoured matter.

  “Leviathan would be reckless to unleash such devices on anyone,” Maddox said.

  “I agree,” Ural said. “Yet, according to what the Supreme Intelligence discovered, those of Leviathan are hunting for Seekers. Why else would they do so unless they planned to use them?”

  “This is taking place in the Aquila Rift?” Maddox asked.

  “Correct.”

  “We can reach the rift with our hyper-spatial tube. Thus, the location shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “There’s something else.” Ural went on to explain about the Prism Drive.

  “What does a Prism Drive do?” Maddox asked.

  “I have not yet been able to determine that,” Ural said, “But in some manner, it will help against the Seekers.”

  Maddox glanced at Meta. She shrugged. Maddox stood and began to pace. “Tell me, have there been any Leviathan attacks on the Supreme Intelligence?”

  “Is this your intuitive sense asking?” Ural said.

  “So there have been recent attacks?” Maddox asked.

  “The Supreme Intelligence captured an assault vessel of Leviathan,” Ural said. “While he scanned it, the vessel launched a virus and glitch assault upon the planetary computers. The Supreme Intelligence with my assistance successfully defended against that. Do you think there are any correlations between that and the Supreme Intelligence discovering the faint signals in the Aquila Rift?”

  “The thought has crossed my mind,” Maddox admitted.

  “It also crossed the Supreme Intelligence’s mind,” Ural said. “He has run countless diagnostic checks on himself. Further, I am instructed to relay the evidence to you.”

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Maddox said.

  Ural began to recite long litanies of formula, coordinates and other information.

  For two hours, Meta scribbled and recorded everything.

  “What about these Precursors?” Maddox asked. “I’ve never heard anything about them before.”

  Neither have I,” said Ural. “But I’m sure there’s much we don’t know. Talk to Ludendorff about this if you’re still hesitant.”

  “I am hesitant,” Maddox said, “but I think it is worth taking a look, particularly if Leviathan has sent ships out there. Did the Supreme Intelligence give the coordinates as to where the Leviathan ships are?”

  Ural relayed the coordinates. “You should know this, though. Once in the rift, the Leviathan warships could be anywhere, especially by the time you reach there, if you go.”

  “I’ll have to take this up with the Lord High Admiral, and with my crew.”

  “I understand, Captain. It’s been good speaking with you. My throat is dry, and I’m tired of speaking.”

  “Thank you, Uncle.” After a brief pause, the connection was cut.

  “What do you think?” Maddox asked his wife.

  “Do you believe this Prism Drive exists?”

  “Something does in the Aquila Rift.”

  “What does your intuitive sense tell you?”

  That was the thing. Maddox wasn’t sure. He didn’t feel one hundred percent about this. Yet, as he stared at the ceiling in the direction of the Aquila Rift, seven hundred light years away, he realized something was out there. Something he couldn’t explain. Did he sense the Prism Drive? Could his intuitive sense be that powerful?

  “I don’t know,” Maddox said. “Those of Leviathan don’t strike me as being so reckless as to unleash such a harrowing device. Why assault our spiral arm if they only mean to leave it lifeless after unleashing these so-called doomsday devices? The Seekers appear to grow in numbers and deadliness. Afterward, those of Leviathan will have to contend against them.”

  “As cyborgs themselves, perhaps Leviathan has the key to defeating the Seekers,” Meta said.

  “That could be it. In any case, we’re not doing much good just parked in Earth orbit. And I’m feeling stale after the excitement of the duel.”

  “Oh, darling.” Meta crossed the room and grasped his hands. “You can’t abide to sit still. We should go to the beach for months, with you engaging in strenuous activities, spear fishing maybe. We should spend time with Jewel. Let us just enjoy ourselves for once, as you keep active this way.”

  “Do all this on the eve of an inter-spiral war?” asked Maddox.

  “We don’t know that’s the case,” Meta said. “Yes, Leviathan has sent spies. It kidnapped you three years ago. It sent a virus and glitch against the Supreme Intelligence. But that doesn’t mean a horrid war is beginning.”

  “Meta, listen to you. Something is up.”

  “We don’t know that for certain.”

  Maddox released Meta’s hands and maneuvered his in the air so a holographic stellar map appeared. It showed the Aquila Rift in the direction of the Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm. The Aquila Rift would be a good staging area if Leviathan sent a battle fleet, being seven hundred light years from Earth.

  “I don’t know,” Maddox said. “Something is off about all this. And yet, something is on target. We’ll speak with the Lord High Admiral, and the crew.”

  “Yes, dear,” Meta said, her shoulders slumping.

  Maddox nodded. It was time to begin relaying this new information to others.

  -24-

  A week after Ural called Maddox, there was a conference aboard Victory. Present were the Lord High Admiral, General Mackinder of Intelligence, Brigadier Mary O’Hara, Maddox, Galyan, Professor Ludendorff, and Valerie Noonan. Maddox had insisted on Valerie’s presence. Perhaps he viewed it as payment for her having put up with his ways lately.

  Maddox opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Then he sat down.

  Professor Ludendorff stood with a clicker in hand. He projected a holographic star map so all could see it. Ludendorff began to share the history of the Aquila Rift from the perspective of the Commonwealth.

  “We have sent three expeditions to the Aquila Rift throughout the years,” Ludendorff said. “By ‘we,’ of course, I mean the Patrol Arm of Star Watch. Two of the missions never returned. The one that did had a sole survivor. Everyone else was dead. To this day, she’s in a lunatic asylum.”

  “I didn’t know that.” The Lord High Admiral sat at the head of the table where Maddox usually resided. “Perhaps it’s a bad idea to send anyone to the rift.”

  “Possibly,” Ludendorff said. “I’ve checked the records and have spent many hours trying to recall anything I learned during my time with the Builders. What I recall, albeit not clearly, is this: The Aquila Rift is a haunted region. Do any of you recall the Xerxes System of old?”

  “That’s going back,” Valerie said. “Those were among our first voyages in Victory.”

  “True,” Ludendorff said.

  “If I recall,” Maddox said, “you and I were at loggerheads during those missions.”

  “I admit, my outlook was different than it is now,” Ludendorff said. “But like the Xerxes System, only possibly more so, the Aquila Rift is a haunted and mysterious region of space. I should add that I don’t remember ever hearing about Precursors, but there were other races before the Builders. We discovered, when we visited the Kregen System, that the Mastermind and the Cosmic Computer had once battled there. The Yon Soths also were involved with that. Maybe the Aquila Rift is infested with Yon Soths or Morags like Grutch, who kidnapped the captain two and a half years ago.”

  Several people inhaled as if to speak.

  Ludendorff raised his hand. “Let me finish. My point is this: I’m skeptical about the Supreme Intelligence’s data. While he might have seen something in and around the rift, the fact that a virus from Leviathan has recently compromised him makes me wary. Wouldn’t Leviathan love to send Captain Maddox and Victory to this haunted, or even cursed, region of space at this time?”

  “Does Leviathan even think of Maddox and Victory?” General Mackinder asked. “Would the rulers of a distant spiral arm go to such trouble—I mean, concerning one man?”

  “That part does strike me as peculiar,” Ludendorff admitted. “And the Supreme Intelligence might be right. He possesses knowledge and resources far beyond ours. For instance, without him, we wouldn’t have stopped the recent abduction scheme from the Empire.”

  “Yes,” the Lord High Admiral said. “You did well in that, Captain. You might have compromised a few Intelligence resources, but the lives saved are a testament to your efforts.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Maddox said.

  “Should we be thanking him?” Mackinder asked the admiral. “Surely, the Empire will continue its search for suitable females in order to expand their population. The captain merely poisoned relations with his reckless duel.”

  “Maybe,” Maddox said, “but I hope you’ll be more committed to halting the abduction operations from now on.”

  The Lord High Admiral and Mackinder exchanged glances.

  “Yes, of course,” Mackinder said, though he didn’t sound convinced.

  “In any case,” Ludendorff said, “I believe Victory, under Captain Maddox’s command, should venture to the Aquila Rift. If the Supreme Intelligence is correct and Leviathan intends to deploy these ‘Seekers’, which act like enhanced Destroyers from the Nameless Ones, then we must intervene. That is doubly so if there’s truth to the existence of the Prism Drive. From what I’ve gathered, it resembles the phase-shifter Strand used years ago.”

  “You mean when Strand could fade, as it were, and move through objects?” Maddox asked.

  Ludendorff nodded. “I think the Prism Drive has such a component. It strikes me as the only type of device that would be able to help us defeat a Seeker. If it operated along a phase-shifter’s lines, we could enter a Seeker using it, find its weak spot, and set a detonation device or cause a short circuit, or what have you.”

  “That is interesting,” the Lord High Admiral said. “You think such a drive exists?”

  “It exists because we have seen one like it before,” Ludendorff said. “It’s one of the many devices that we’ve used and then were destroyed in the process.”

  “A pity,” the Lord High Admiral said.

  “Be that as it may,” Ludendorff said, “that’s what I can tell you about the Aquila Rift. The little we know tells us there are many vortices and storms within the rift. There are also dense molecular clouds, perhaps forming stars, wild energy, and gravitational forces. It’ll be an adventure just entering the rift. But if this drive is there, if those of Leviathan can activate these Seekers, I believe it’s our duty to attempt to stop them. Normally, I’d suggest other Patrol ships join us. In this instance, I think an upgraded Tarrypin, maybe even a larger ship commanded by Lieutenant Commander Noonan, with an upgraded crew, is all I’d send with Victory.”

  “And why is that?” the Lord High Admiral asked.

  “I, too, am curious,” Mackinder said.

  “Victory has proven to be a unique vessel,” Ludendorff said. “Only it would’ve survived many of the dangers we’ve faced. A secondary vessel, especially a potent one, has always been an asset. But I fear other ships wouldn’t survive the Aquila Rift. Galyan and the components the Adoks installed have been crucial to Victory’s survival. Thus, we should only take a secondary vessel we can keep in Victory’s hangar bay.”

  “Yes, yes,” the Lord High Admiral said, drumming his thick fingers on the table. “What do you say, Captain? Is this a Patrol mission you support?”

  “I’m of two minds,” Maddox said. “Part of me senses something different and strange out there. Perhaps ‘haunted’ is the best word, as Ludendorff described. Will whatever we find help in our war against Leviathan? If Leviathan is trying to awaken Seekers, then I think we should risk it.”

  “Do you think you can stop Leviathan vessels in the Aquila Rift?” the Lord High Admiral asked.

  “I don’t know,” Maddox said. “We’ve had a few successes in our previous journeys.”

  There were appreciative chuckles from the others.

  Maddox nodded. “Provided we take care, I support the mission. I also suggest going sooner rather than later. Those of Leviathan haven’t moved openly that we know of. But I believe they’ve been working against us on the sly. Actually, we know that part is true. I expect a Leviathan battle fleet anytime. We’re prepared, but if Leviathan deploys forces we don’t understand, such as Seekers…”

  The Lord High Admiral cleared his throat. “If Seekers exist, you must find them before Leviathan can deploy them against us.”

  “Understood.” Maddox looked around at the others. “Are there any other questions, any ideas?”

  No one spoke.

  “Well, then,” Maddox began, but stopped, looking at the Lord High Admiral, “Excuse me, sir.”

  “No need, my boy. This is your ship. It’s your domain,” the Lord High Admiral said, placing his hands firmly on the table, “If there are no objections, we’ll end this meeting and begin preparations for your starship’s voyage to the haunted Aquila Rift.”

  No one objected, so the meeting ended.

  -25-

  After four days of preparation, Victory and the crew were ready to launch upon a Patrol reconnaissance into the Aquila Rift.

  Captain Maddox was on the bridge, seated in his chair as the crew prepared. He gave the order, and the Builder Nexus personnel created a hyper-spatial tube.

  Victory entered the tube and traveled 648 light years in one fantastic bound. They appeared near the Aquila Rift, the portion where the Supreme Intelligence had detected the faint signals.

  Galyan stood near the captain’s chair, using the ship’s sensors to scan. Andros Crank was at the science station doing likewise. Ludendorff was in his science chamber with a link to various ship sensors.

  “Let’s move closer to the rift,” Maddox said.

  Keith piloted the starship with a two light year jump, building up regular velocity the entire time.

  On the main screen, the familiar stars were obscured by the edge of the molecular clouds. The way ahead became a shadowy haze. The gas and dust particles together with the molecules were a dense agglomeration of spread-out matter compared to the vacuum of space.

  For a time, Maddox was content to let his sensor teams collect data. There was a faint signal near the rift, or the molecular clouds. Otherwise, there was a huge and intense blot of darkness—the expanse of the molecular clouds blotting the way ahead. Behind the starship were the stars of the Commonwealth, over 600 light years away. They were in the Beyond, having traveled in the direction of the Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm. They were alone, as they had been on many other occasions, trusting and relying solely on their own competence to recognize danger and to avoid or defeat it in time.

  Once more, the mantle of command settled upon Maddox. It was never quite the same when they went into the Beyond, particularly on a mission such as this. He gave orders.

  Soon, Lieutenant Commander Noonan and her team launched in the upgraded Tarrypin. The darter left Victory and headed into the molecular clouds of the Aquila Rift.

  Those in the starship waited sixteen hours. Finally, with a sigh of relief, the Darter Tarrypin reappeared. It landed in a hangar bay, and Valerie exited to report to Maddox in the conference chamber.

  “Sir,” Valerie said, “inside the rift, it isn’t as dark as it appears from the outside, at least initially. It’s like passing through a misty veil. The ambient light from other stars soon dims, though. It’s like traveling through ghostly half-light.”

  “How does all that affect the sensors?”

  Valerie nodded. “Sensor data is limited by the gas, debris and molecules. The background radiation makes it worse. My sensor operator searched for masses and gravity nodes instead. We found none, but were ready to avoid anything bigger than a stone.”

  “What about radio waves?” Maddox asked.

  “As from a star?” asked Valerie.

  Maddox nodded.

  “Nothing as far as we went,” Valerie said. “We did hear a low-frequency hum. That came from particles hitting the shield. Because of that, we didn’t move as fast as we normally do. I’d almost say it was like being in a submarine in Earth’s waters. In the end, though, it’s eerie, and frankly feels haunted.” Valerie shuddered with a look of fear in her eyes. “I don’t know, sir. We could launch a thousand probes, and most would get lost in time. The molecular clouds, gas and dust make the rift a nightmare.”

  “And the faint trail the Supreme Intelligence found?” asked Maddox.

  “It seems like a will-o-wisp, sir?”

  “Did you sense any other radiation besides the blanket radiation from the molecular clouds?”

  “We did not, sir. However, there was one faint signal. I believe the professor has already gone over it.”

  Maddox summoned the professor, who soon joined them in the conference chamber.

  “The commander’s signal came from many light years away,” Ludendorff said. “It leads through the rift, doing deeper into it.”

  “Could the signal originate at a planet?” Maddox asked. “Or could it be a Seeker or a Leviathan battle fleet?”