Ludendorff shook his head. “I can’t tell yet. In this situation, the only way is to go in and find out visually.”

  Maddox looked at Valerie.

  She shrugged.

  Maddox nodded. “Thank you. That will be all for both of you.”

  Ludendorff and Valerie stood up and left.

  Maddox sat at the conference table, contemplating and allowing his intuition to guide his decision. They were out here far from home and in an odd place. He didn’t care to plunge Victory into this dense rift. He wondered if he should take the Tarrypin, as he had before when they went to the planet Kregen, and head deep into the molecular clouds.

  Ultimately, Maddox rejected the idea. They were here with a mission. If nothing else, they would be ready to make a huge jump to leave the rift. Could there be vortices and other wild radiation that would cause a malfunction to such a massive star drive jump? Likely, they wouldn’t know until they tested it.

  Maddox stood, deciding. They were here. It was time to take the risk. This was why Victory existed.

  They never would have Victory if he and the others hadn’t dared long ago to search for a legendary starship. Now, they had a chance to find a legendary Prism Drive. It could mean everything to the future of Star Watch.

  Maddox exited the conference chamber. In the next few hours, they would surely learn a lot.

  -26-

  Three days later, Victory still maneuvered through the dense molecular clouds of the Aquila Rift. They followed the faint trail Ludendorff had spoken about. It hadn’t gotten any stronger, nor had it weakened.

  At times, the rift thinned out, but it did not improve their visibility much. They had to maintain the shields, at least at a minimum level, to protect against the constant background radiation that the molecular clouds generated. Mostly, they took tentative star drive jumps into the spread-out mass of gases, dust and molecules. There was a slight risk that they would appear too near a planet, or worse, within a planet or a ship. However, the odds of that happening were minuscule.

  Maddox decided to persist. Short hop by short hop, they traversed light year after light year, delving deeper into the Aquila Rift, chasing the elusive signal.

  “How could the Supreme Intelligence have detected it from the Library Planet?” Maddox asked.

  Maddox, Ludendorff, Galyan, and Valerie debated the question on the bridge, but none had a satisfactory answer.

  Valerie suggested, “Perhaps the equipment the Supreme Intelligence possesses is of such superior design and craftsmanship that it can do this.”

  “That is the obvious answer,” Ludendorff said. “It is not the only answer, however. Another theory is that the virus assault by Leviathan caused a malfunction in the greater part of the Supreme Intelligence.”

  “We should have visited the Library Planet and seen the evidence for ourselves,” Maddox said. “We might also have helped Ural verify the Supreme Intelligence’s soundness.”

  “I’m not so certain,” Ludendorff said. “I spent my youth on the Library Planet, training amidst the vast computers there. Running diagnostics through all its myriad corridors would take years. At the same time, it’s hard for me to believe that a virus assault would compromise the entire system so profoundly. No, we must operate on the assumption that the Seekers are in the rift. And now we understand why Leviathan, if it has been pursuing the Seekers for a time, hasn’t located them yet. The Aquila Rift makes it incredibly challenging to pinpoint anything.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said.

  Victory pressed on, following the faint trail.

  Ten days into the journey within the rift, Galyan declared, “There’s a planet dead ahead!”

  Every crewmember on the bridge became alert, trying to discern any hint of a planet through the haze on the main screen.

  “I can only detect its mass,” said Galyan. “Chief Technician, can you confirm what I have detected?”

  Andros’ pudgy fingers danced over his console. “Yes, I detect it, too,” the stout Kai Kaus said. “Excellent work, by the way, Galyan.”

  “Thank you,” Galyan replied.

  Victory adjusted its course and executed two, short, star drive jumps toward the potential planetary mass. Afterward, the sensors showed a clearer picture: a planet lay four point three light years ahead.

  Maddox ordered probes launched.

  “Should I take out the Tarrypin?” Valerie asked.

  “Not in this density,” Maddox said. “I fear that if we got separated that we’d never find each other again.”

  “I understand,” Valerie said. Did she heave a sigh of relief? It was possible.

  A day later, they reached the lone planet but no star. Had the star exploded? If so, all the other planets were gone but this one. That would make this a rogue planet. It was Earth-sized and shrouded in heavy cloud cover.

  “Wouldn’t a planet like that be frozen?” Meta asked.

  “Not necessarily,” Galyan said. “There are a number of factors that could allow a rogue planet to remain warmer than one would think possible. First, if it were a young rogue planet, it may have retained the heat of its gravitational energy. Decaying radioactive isotopes inside a planet could also produce heat. The Earth’s interior is still warm for those reasons. If the planet has a moon or moons, the tidal forces, the pulling of each against each, could produce friction heat. A thick atmosphere, such as we have detected, would slow the cooling process as it better retains planetary heat. Volcanoes or tectonic activity would also produce heat. The molecular clouds could add to that. Dust or debris falling onto the planet would produce heat, while the cloud itself would act like a blanket, slowing the cooling process.”

  “There you go,” Maddox told Meta.

  “Thank you, Galyan,” Meta said.

  “Are you detecting any technological activity on the planet?” Maddox asked.

  “Yes,” Galyan said, “but it is barely existent. Yet there is something, Captain. We have discovered something.”

  “Let’s put the rogue planet on our charts,” Maddox said.

  “How can we do that, sir?” Keith asked. “We can’t see anything to triangulate its position.”

  Maddox frowned. “Are there any moons?”

  “I do not detect any other gravitational objects,” Galyan said. “The planet is it.”

  “Can the planet move at will?” Ludendorff asked.

  “What makes you ask that?” Maddox inquired.

  “I don’t know, my boy. The rogue planet strikes me as odd and strange. It’s a single planet drifting in the Aquila Rift. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”

  “I’m not sure what to expect.” Maddox’s intuitive sense was pinging, but he couldn’t pinpoint what bothered him. Was it the rogue planet, the Aquila Rift or something else?

  Keith maneuvered the starship closer to the planet as the anticipation grew tangible.

  “Have you computed its mass?” Maddox asked.

  “One point three Earth densities,” Galyan said.

  “Are there metals in it?”

  “Yes,” Galyan said, “fifty percent more metals than on Earth.”

  Maddox studied the planet. The main screen showed a dark object with semi-luminous atmospheric storms in the thick cloud cover.

  Galyan, Andros and Ludendorff scanned the planet repeatedly, but nothing extraordinary appeared on the monitors. Maddox ordered probes launched.

  The probes entered the lower atmosphere, their weather data diminishing, and then the probes’ signals were lost.

  “This is frustrating,” Maddox said. “I’m open to suggestions.”

  “We should go down ourselves,” Ludendorff said.

  “Go down,” Valerie said, “when every piece of equipment we sent fails?”

  “Sir,” Andros said. “I’m detecting something different on the planet, something definitely technological. Sir, look at this.”

  On the screen—the image sent back from a probe—appeared the wreck of a Leviathan assault vessel destroyed upon rocks.

  “So,” Maddox said, “those of Leviathan have been here. No doubt, that means there are clues to a Seeker or the Prism Drive here.”

  “Is that naturally a given?” Ludendorff asked.

  “Maybe not a given, but the probability that what we’ve been told is actually the case has increased,” Maddox said.

  “I suppose so,” Ludendorff said. “What then is the correct move?”

  “I don’t know about the rest of you,” Meta said, as she pulled off earbuds. “But I’ve been listening on various comm channels and there’s this eerie sound. The planet seems haunted. It seems…I’m sorry if that is an old-fashioned way to say it.”

  “No, no, my dear,” Ludendorff said, “we called it haunted even before we started. There is a quality of the eerie to this entire situation. Wouldn’t you agree, Captain?”

  “I would,” Maddox said, for his intuitive sense had latched on to what Meta had described.

  Maddox stroked his chin. What was the correct course? They were in the Aquila Rift, in its depths, unable to see anything else. There was a rogue planet where the probes failed soon after going deep into the atmosphere.

  Maddox stood. “We could take down the Tarrypin. It is the strongest of our landing vessels.”

  “Captain, I think I should go down first,” Galyan said.

  Maddox pointed at Galyan. “Of course, I should have already thought of that.”

  Galyan disappeared and reappeared almost immediately. “Sir, something stops me from going down. I do not know what kind of field it is, but I cannot go more than several kilometers from the starship.”

  “Now that is interesting,” Ludendorff said. “Maybe a Seeker is parked down there.”

  “We do know there’s a crashed assault vessel of Leviathan down there,” Valerie said. “Why should we think the Tarrypin would do any better?”

  “Good question.” Maddox sat back down. His intuitive sense warned that it would be wisest to flee this place. Yet, he was loath to do that.

  “Well, my boy,” Ludendorff said, “what are we going to do?”

  Then Maddox knew. “We’re going to sleep on it, Professor. After we’ve all had a good night’s sleep, we’ll make our decision.”

  -27-

  As Maddox, Ludendorff, Valerie, and others went to sleep, unbeknownst to those standing watch on the bridge, a mote of light launched from the planet and zoomed upward. There didn’t seem to be any detection on the part of those on Victory. Perhaps just in case, this mote of light became darker as it neared Victory.

  In moments, the mote entered the starship like Galyan going through a bulkhead. No alarms went off. Galyan didn’t suddenly shout, “Warning, warning!” Instead, the dark mote roved silently through the corridors, unseen by anybody aboard Victory.

  It approached many crewmembers, including those in their quarters. It went through bulkheads again like before. When it came to Maddox, the mote touched him lightly on the forehead. It did the same to Meta, Professor Ludendorff and finally Sergeant Riker.

  Soon, each awoke in a semi-torpid state and donned his or her uniform and other articles, and walked slowly but sedately down the corridors to a particular hangar bay. No one stopped them. No one questioned them. No one even seemed to notice as each walked past.

  Soon, the selected personnel entered a hangar bay and headed for the Darter Tarrypin.

  The darter was shaped like a bomber with a delta wing. It could land on a planet and had light armaments, several 20mm guns, a few anti-missiles, and one offensive missile. It lacked energy weapons and normally did not possess an electromagnetic shield. One had been installed for this mission, however. It also had a special polymer hull that enhanced its stealth capabilities. It had a star drive jump, but did not have a Laumer Drive. Overall, the darter was a unique and interesting vessel, much larger than a Star Watch shuttle.

  Soon, Maddox, Ludendorff, Meta, and Riker filed aboard the Tarrypin.

  It was most strange. Maddox didn’t come to his senses. None of them did. Ludendorff went to the piloting controls, and all the while, Galyan remained unaware inside Victory. No one on Victory seemed aware what was happening.

  Soon, the Tarrypin lifted off from the hangar bay deck, exited the opened outer hatch, and descended down to the planet. Those in the Tarrypin acted like automatons, perhaps zombies. No doubt, the touch of the mote still affected them.

  Maddox, for one brief moment, appeared to struggle and look around. However, something on his forehead pulsated, and that awareness dimmed until he sat again, waiting.

  The Tarrypin passed through the various layers of atmosphere. Dark craggy terrain appeared below. There was no plant growth anywhere on the surface, although there were a few low ruins of ancient buildings.

  The bomber-shaped craft flew into a shrouded, foggy valley at the bottom of a deep planetary canyon. There was little light anywhere except for a distant glow at the bottom of a cliff.

  Once the Tarrypin grounded and the engines shut off, those inside rose and, like sleepwalkers, donned vacuum suits. They exited a hatch on the Tarrypin, climbed down a steel ladder, and walked upon the ancient stony surface of the long-dead planet. They headed toward the lit area on the side of a cliff. What was it? None of them attempted to look or tried to decipher what it was. Instead, like sleepwalkers, they moved toward the area. Was it near the crashed assault vessel of Leviathan?

  In fact, they walked past the assault vessel, and none looked at it. None noticed that some of the cyber crew lay dead in their spacesuits on the ground around the assault vessel. None paid the cybers any attention.

  Did a supernatural force compel those of the Tarrypin to continue marching toward the brightening light? It would seem not. Rather, a force had gained control of their mental faculties, and now each proceeded to enter a large cavern and stand before a huge, four-story cube that pulsated with energy, with an eerie and ancient power.

  The ancient cube had a hunger, a desire for excitement, life, and interest. Narrow beams speared from the giant cube, touching the helmet of each of the sleepwalkers. Additionally, it touched their brains and fed upon memories.

  Maddox faintly stirred in his vacc suit. Something was happening, but he couldn’t quite tell what. He felt as if memories were being lifted from him.

  Maybe that was happening to the others as well.

  Given Maddox’s strong personality, it’s possible that the ancient, gigantic cube was particularly fixated on him. Perhaps the duel against Archduke Artaxerxes Par had a particularly potent place in Maddox’s recent memories, for Omegan seemed to absorb the idea of it.

  Omegan—the giant cube—hummed as light fixated upon each of the suited sleepwalkers. Abruptly, they vanished. Not in death, but some sort of teleportation. It caused each to appear in his or her suit upon what seemed to be a couch in a chamber. Ancient machinery hummed around them.

  Swirls of light, portals perhaps, appeared near each. Then, each winked away. Their suits remained empty upon the couches. Where had each gone? That was the question.

  -28-

  Maddox slowly became aware of his surroundings. At first, he didn’t realize that this was different from where he had been. By degrees, however, he realized he should be on Starship Victory, in his quarters, in bed. Instead, as he looked around at…

  He noticed that he was wearing a metallic-type garment, his regular boots, and a hat screwed onto his head. He held onto a long metal rake. Beside him, Meta was similarly attired and held a rake as well.

  A vast plain stretched as far as he could see in every direction. The plain was composed of glassy, obsidian rock. Upon the obsidian were rubies, millions, possibly billions of them, many fist-sized or larger, scattered like stones. There was a small, hot sun in a green, cloudless sky. The star was perhaps a quarter of the size of Earth’s sun. It gave off heat and was like a brilliant pink gem.

  Maddox inhaled. The air tasted wrong. It had a metallic taint, and something else he couldn’t identify.

  Beside him, Meta, in her close-fitting metallic garment and hat, looked scrumptiously beautiful but also tired. She raked rubies into piles. In fact, the two of them had made fifty or so such glittering piles.

  Had they been raking for a time then? It would seem so.

  It took several tries, but finally Maddox said, “Meta.”

  She ignored him.

  He called her name several more times.

  Finally, slowly, Meta looked up at him.

  “What are you doing?” Maddox asked.

  Meta blinked several times.

  “What are you doing?” Maddox asked again.

  “Raking,” she said.

  “Why are you raking?”

  “Because,” she said.

  “Why because?” Maddox asked.

  Meta frowned. “Why am I raking?”

  “That’s right.”

  She frowned more and then went back to raking.

  Maddox found that more than disconcerting. Instead of belaboring her, however, he examined his rake. It was of one piece with eight tines on the end. He knew what he wanted to do—set down the rake—but something in him resisted. In fact, a struggle took place in his heart. It was like a teenager looking at a case of beer, wanting to buy it but knowing he was underage. In this case, Maddox wanted to throw the rake away. Just like the teenager who finally snatched the beer, but in an opposite way, Maddox hurled the rake from him. It clattered against black volcanic rock.

  Meta looked up sharply. “No. You mustn’t do that.”

  “Why not?” asked Maddox.

  Meta hesitated, then finally said, “You’ll be punished.”

  “Who will do it?”

  Meta cocked her head and looked perplexed. “I don’t know who, put please…” She walked to his fallen rake, bent down and scooped it up. She thrust it at him.

  Maddox reclaimed his rake, and as she turned away, he snatched hers as well.

  Meta gasped, reaching for her rake.