Stokes stretched out an arm, reaching for the pack of stimsticks down the table. His fingertips finally touched the pack and he brought them to his palm. Sitting back, shaking out a stimstick, the lieutenant colonel put an unlit one between his lips and inhaled it to life.

  “Not to put too fine a point on this,” Maddox said, “but you lied to the Lord High Admiral about keeping quiet concerning Drakos.”

  Stokes sucked harder, inhaling more until he began coughing and hacking. Finally, getting his breathing under control, he began to smoke at a more leisurely pace.

  Another realization struck Maddox. More than anything, Stokes wanted the Brigadier back at the helm of Intelligence. Stokes was loyal to Mary O’Hara.

  Maddox grinned. He could respect that.

  “You look like a slarn about to pounce with that maniac grin of yours,” Stokes complained.

  “I’m beginning to think that you engineered all this with that devious mind of yours,” Maddox said.

  Stokes looked away.

  “Admiral Cook probably wanted me on the Jupiter case.”

  Once again, Stokes inhaled hard on the stimstick.

  “I accept the mission, Lieutenant Colonel. Come what may, I’m capturing and questioning Drakos. Brigadier Mary O’Hara—” A feral light rose in the captain’s eyes.

  Stokes caught it and shivered inwardly. Maddox was many things. The most crucial was that he was the most dangerous man Star Watch possessed. Was the captain more dangerous than Lord Drakos?

  “Do stop any Vega Sector rebellion while you’re at it,” Stokes said. “It will strengthen my position if you do. If my position is strengthened, then I can better protect you, especially as I predict you will leave the reservation in your hunt for Drakos.”

  “I hope you realize that all this is more than just Drakos,” the captain said. “I suspect a new alien intelligence influencing events. The patterns I discerned while readings all those reports—”

  “You have your orders, Captain,” Strokes practically yelled.

  Maddox eyed the agitated lieutenant colonel. Had Stokes left him with the reports for a reason? Was the man playing an even more devious game than usual?

  Maddox nodded sharply as his respect for Stokes increased.

  Stokes stuck out his right hand.

  Maddox took it, shaking hands with the man.

  “Good hunting, Captain.”

  “Watch your back, sir. I want you to keep your new post at least until I return.”

  “That is something I fully intend to do,” Stokes said.

  -28-

  That might have been the end of Maddox’s briefing for his new assignment as he left the chamber under marine escort. But there was another…well, this other wasn’t strictly a person in the biological sense, but he was a thinking being in the accepted sense of sentience.

  The MPs marched Maddox through Star Watch Headquarters to a waiting air car on the roof of the large structure.

  Instead of an armored air car, however, was a small “bubble” flitter waiting. The plastic bubble was a canopy over the four seats in the flitter, two in front and two in back. Surprisingly, Sergeant Riker sat in the front seat at the controls.

  Maddox kept a poker face even as he recalled Riker being upstairs in Victory, in orbit around Earth. In spite of that, Maddox said, “Glad you’re here, Sergeant.”

  “Sir,” the being behind the flitter controls said. “I’m supposed to take you directly up to Victory.”

  “This isn’t an air car,” the marine lieutenant complained. “I was specifically told to put the captain aboard an air car.”

  “Wasn’t an air car in the spaceport park,” the sergeant said. “This was all they had available. I’m surprised no one told you.”

  “That thing isn’t even space capable,” the lieutenant said. “And his orders are to go directly to the starship,” the marine said, pointing at Maddox.

  “Isn’t it?” the gruff-voiced sergeant asked. “The captain has taken a model like this into space before.”

  The lieutenant glanced at a nodding Maddox. “Fine,” the marine said. “Get in and go upstairs. I’m sick of having to watch you like a mother hen.”

  “I would first like my sidearm back,” Maddox said, holding out his right hand.

  The lieutenant eyed Maddox before saying, “I thought you might.” He took a weapon from behind his back and handed it to the captain.

  Maddox checked the blaster. “There’s no charge, Lieutenant.” He opened it up as he said that, finding it lacked a power cell.

  “And there’s not going to be a charge until you’re back aboard your starship,” the lieutenant said. “Those are my orders.”

  Maddox eyed the lieutenant, shrugged and put the blaster in his empty holster and climbed into the flitter’s passenger seat.

  The sergeant activated the controls, closed the bubble hatch and lifted off the roof of Star Watch Headquarters.

  Maddox leaned against the bubble canopy, looking down at the MPs shrinking as the flitter rose almost straight up. As he looked down, he slipped a hidden power cell from a concealed location on his person. The MPs hadn’t found it earlier when they’d frisked him. He took out the blaster, opened it and softly clicked the power cell into place.

  He watched the energy light on the blaster. It flickered and then stayed green. Maddox straightened in his seat, glanced at the pilot and aimed the blaster across his body at the being.

  “You’re an android,” Maddox announced.

  The Sergeant Riker lookalike nodded in agreement as the flitter gained altitude.

  “I’ve activated the blaster,” Maddox informed the android.

  The thing with a Sergeant Riker face glanced at the weapon in the captain’s right hand, probably noticing the green light because Maddox twisted the blaster so he could see.

  “Clever,” the android said in a different voice from the one he’d used as a fake Sergeant Riker. “When did you realize?”

  “Immediately,” Maddox said.

  “What gave it away?”

  The captain said nothing.

  “I had clearance in case the lieutenant checked with HQ Control,” the android said.

  “Covered your bases, did you?”

  The android glanced at Maddox. “I’m here to warn you.”

  “So, warn me,” Maddox said. “I’m listening.”

  The android paused, and then said, “I’m a Yen Cho model, if that helps. I belong to those of us who want to help humanity.”

  Maddox said nothing, although his mind was racing.

  Two missions ago, the oldest of the Yen Cho androids had boarded Victory as they hunted for Strand clones. That Yen Cho had proven treacherous at just the wrong moment. That Yen Cho had helped a Builder cube turn into a real Builder. Did this android’s appearance validate the idea that a rogue Builder was behind all this?

  One thing was certain, the android had his own agenda, and likely, that agenda was at odds with the captain’s orders.

  “You and I have never met before,” the android was saying, “but I feel as if I know you. You are a remarkable human, Captain. This is a privilege—”

  “Let me interrupt you,” Maddox said. “First, land the flitter at Geneva Spaceport.”

  “Why?”

  Maddox grinned in a predatory manner. “Because I’m not going with you to wherever you’re heading.”

  “We’re going upstairs to Victory.”

  “Uh-huh,” Maddox said, unconvinced.

  “I’m here to help you.”

  “You said warn me.”

  “That, too,” the android said.

  Despite his certainty that the android was lying, Maddox considered the ramifications that the android might be telling the truth, or part of the truth anyway. “I’ve had dealings with you Yen Cho models before,” he said. “I’ve found the times unsettling in the extreme.”

  “I do not belong to that faction.”

  “Which faction?” asked Maddox.

  “The one two missions ago when you were hunting for the Strand clones,” the android said.

  “You’re well informed.”

  “Which is why I’ve come,” the android said. “You’re going to need help, need help desperately this time.”

  “How do I know that you’re really a Yen Cho model?”

  “I can explain later. Time is critical now.”

  “Okay…” Maddox said. “I’ll bite. What’s the warning? Is it concerning Lord Drakos?”

  “Oh, no,” the android said, “but about the new aliens, the ones in the hauler hiding on Jupiter.”

  Maddox’s manner did not change, but something happened behind his eyes. Should he fire and be done with it, killing the thing? Would it really take him to Victory? If so, who did the android plan on contacting later to sabotage the mission?

  “What about these aliens?” Maddox finally asked.

  The android glanced at him again. “You don’t believe that I’m here to help you.”

  “If nothing else, you’re perceptive.”

  “How can I convince you to believe me?”

  “There is a way,” Maddox said, “but you’re not going to like it.”

  The android peered at him again. “I see,” it said. “I think I know. You want Ludendorff to open me up and check my circuits.”

  The android surprised Maddox with the answer, as that had been exactly what he’d been thinking. That also made him more suspicious as to how the android had known the answer.

  “I hit the mark,” the android said, glancing at him.

  “If you’re willing to agree to a Ludendorff diagnostic, I’d imagine that you’re rigged to explode and kill him along with me.”

  “Please,” the android said. “I love life to the same extent you do. I am not suicidal. I volunteered for this mission, by the way. I’ve wanted to meet you for some time. Are you familiar with the Spacer concept of di-far?”

  “You know I am.”

  “I have come to wonder if the Spacers might have a point regarding you.”

  “And you want to dissect me to see what causes this unique nature?” Maddox asked.

  The android appeared shocked, shaking his head. “On no account, as that would be foolish and unproductive. With such a thing as di-far, I would imagine that the product is greater than the sum of his parts. No. I am inclined to the idea that there is something mystical involved.”

  “Androids believe in mysticism?”

  “Certainly, as there have been many mystics throughout human history. The concept is self-evident.”

  “That’s not what I meant by the question.”

  “No,” the android said. “You must be asking if I believe there is a power that supplies the mystic with true…abilities.”

  “Something like that. By the way, we’re still heading up. The flitter cannot maneuver in orbital space. It has to drift up there, and that for only a limited time. I’m not going to trust you enough to let you drift with me.”

  “We are at an impasse then, as I will not land at Geneva Spaceport. If I do, there is a seventy-four percent probability that I will cease functioning. There are still android agents of the new aliens working among you. In fact, there is at least a one in three chance that you shall die if we land at the spaceport.”

  Maddox eyed the android, knowing they could move incredibly fast. He might kill it if it attacked him, and he might accidently destroy the flitter controls in the process.

  “Hover at his location,” Maddox said, “and contact Victory.”

  “Shouldn’t you contact Victory?”

  “I’m keeping my blaster targeted on you. If you twitch wrong, I’m killing you. That being the case, I cannot afford to take my concentration off you.”

  “Yes, that is wise, given your belief concerning me.”

  Maddox tensed, figuring this was the perfect moment for the android to launch a surprise assault.

  Instead, the android slowed the ascent and fiddled with the comm controls. Soon, Valerie was on the line.

  Maddox kept his eyes focused on the android, but said, “Lieutenant, run an analysis on my voice. If you’re convinced on my identity, send a fold-fighter to pick us up.”

  Valerie began to speak.

  “Listen,” Maddox said. “There’s a reason I’m not giving my identity.”

  “I understand,” Valerie said a moment later. “As I was about to say, a fold-fighter will arrive soon. I am certain I know who this is.”

  “Interesting,” the android murmured. He slowed the flitter even more.

  “You’re going to have to eject the canopy,” Maddox told the android, “as it won’t open at this height.”

  “I had not anticipated this maneuver,” the android said.

  Maddox was primed for a swift and sudden android attack. Perhaps neither of them was ready for what happened next, as a beam of destructive energy flashed just ahead of the flitter—where the flitter would have been if the android hadn’t slowed them yet again.

  The android cried out and changed heading, diving and twisting the flitter, no doubt to present a more difficult target.

  The maneuver caught Maddox by surprise, and to his dismay, the blaster flew up out of his grip to hit the plastic canopy ceiling as the flitter plunged earthward.

  -29-

  The android reached up and grabbed the blaster faster than Maddox could recover his equilibrium. The captain gathered himself, when he found the blaster shoved in his face.

  “Hold onto this,” the android said.

  Maddox grabbed the blaster, wondering what kind of ploy this was. The next second, the side of his head smacked against the bubble canopy as the android violently shifted the flitter the other way.

  Another red beam flashed past the craft, the intense glare of its color putting sparkles in Maddox’s eyesight.

  “Who’s firing at us?” Maddox shouted. He used both hands to grab his seatbelt and hang on while also hanging onto the blaster.

  “I believe that it is the agents of the new aliens,” the android said.

  “Do you have a name for these aliens?”

  “Jotuns.”

  “I’ve heard that name before.”

  “I am unsurprised, as the name is from human mythology during the time of the Vikings. According to myth, Jotuns were the giants who fought the Norse gods.”

  “Okay,” Maddox said. “Why did you choose that name for the new aliens?”

  “Hold on,” the android said, maneuvering violently once more.

  “Captain,” Keith said over the flitter’s comm board. “You’re not in the correct position.”

  Maddox looked up and could make out the fold-fighter. He fought the Gs pressing against him and reached out, pressing a comm switch. He didn’t chide the ace for using his rank out in the open, but said, “Down here. We’re below you. Someone is firing at us and we’ve had to dodge and weave.”

  Maddox twisted toward the android. “Are the spaceport’s defensive batteries firing at us?”

  “I doubt it, but someone clearly knows about me.”

  “You,” Maddox said. “I thought they were firing at me. I’m the one supposed to be heading to Victory.”

  “I see you, mate,” Keith said over the comm. “A fusion beam site is targeting you. I’m getting help.”

  The android turned the flitter and headed up instead of down, putting terrible G strains against Maddox. His eyesight dimmed, which meant he might be blacking out. Like a New Man, he could take more Gs than a regular human could, but he could not take as many as a full-fledged Superior.

  “Oh,” the android said, glancing at him. “I am turning too sharply at too high a speed.”

  “There,” Keith said over the comm board. “I’m coming down some. You should try to come up more, mate.”

  Maddox wanted to reach for the comm, but he didn’t have the strength or the force of will to do so again.

  “Up even more, he says,” the android complained. “Does he want me to cease existence?”

  The fusion beam flashed again, and the edge of the ray caught the edge of the flitter. A portion of the craft vaporized, and heat flooded the rest of the small flitter.

  Maddox couldn’t help it, but he groaned at the hot pain.

  The android pressed a switch. What was left of the canopy ejected, and wind howled around them. Maddox tried to bring the blaster around as android fingers plucked at him.

  “Don’t fight me,” the android shouted, his voice barely audible in the shrieking wind. “I’m trying to help you. Your ace is folding.”

  Maddox looked up as wind tore at his eyes. What remained of the flitter began to spin and turn upside-down.

  “That is not helping,” the android said. He tore Maddox’s harness from him, pried the captain from his seat and gathered him like a giant baby. Then, the android propelled the two of them from the upside-down flitter. Both beings shot out of and to the side of the craft.

  Seconds later, another fusion beam reached up from the surface and hit the badly damaged flitter directly. Maddox saw it disintegrate as the android and he tumbled earthward. Then he realized a shape was near him. It was the box-like tin can, the fold-fighter.

  “We are doomed, I am afraid,” the android said. “I did not grab a parachute.”

  “Keith,” Maddox shouted.

  “Do you mean your pilot?” the android shouted back.

  “Yes!”

  “Not even he will be good enough to catch us with a fusion beam firing up.”

  The android would have made a lousy weatherman, as his prediction was way off. A different beam shot down from space, the sniper beam from Victory and targeted by Galyan.

  Then the fold-fighter was underneath them, pacing them and slowly inching upward.

  “Incredible,” the android said.

  Soon, a marine popped up from a special hatch. As the wind howled around him, the android handed Maddox to the marine. The man helped Maddox slide through the hatch and inside the fold-fighter.

  Maddox felt spent and ridiculous. Still, he forced his limbs to work as he climbed down the rest of the way. Soon, the android and marine joined him as the hatch above closed.