“We saw a saucer ship in the distance. It was a glimpse from a passive sensor on the other side of the asteroid. Otherwise, we’ve seen nothing else.”

  “You don’t know how many Spacer ships are in the Paran System?”

  “We believe there are at least ten, perhaps more. But it is hard to be certain,” Honey said, “given the mass debris fields and the possible billions of asteroids and pieces of planetary rubble.”

  “What could have destroyed all the major planets like that?” Becker asked.

  “Do you want us to study the possibilities?” Honey asked.

  “No, no. For now, let’s stay hidden in the asteroid. I want all three of you to attend to me and to make sure I’m recovering properly. I’m about to attempt a great feat. In order to do this, I have to trust each of you implicitly. Can I do that, Honey?”

  “Becker, you know you can. We love you. We love you so much.”

  “Like a sister loves a brother,” Becker said, deciding to assess the situation.

  Honey laughed, and she had such wonderful teeth. “No, silly, we love, love you.”

  Becker blushed, and that surprised him. Did he feel guilty for tweaking their minds? Heck no, he didn’t. This was awesome. Well, maybe he felt a little guilty, but come on. He had to submerge that, which he proceeded to do.

  Honey soon left the wardroom.

  Becker now concentrated his mental powers. That caused a twinge in his brain, but that passed before it became a problem. He concentrated more and gathered his energies. He’d eaten tons, storing the calories. With his unique mentality, he focused on the mutilated section of his body that the Liss had snipped off.

  Using a unified telekinetic, pituitary gland effort, he gathered cells, beginning to re-build the lost sex organs. He had a mental image of what should be there. Now, the original genetic pattern from his development in his mother’s womb began to reassert itself. That meant testicles began to form particle by particle. Soon, the process accelerated.

  Becker remained at the post, as it were, pouring mental energy into the mighty task. He sweated. He groaned and his stomach growled as hunger struck him. Yet, he persisted in the great restoration. At last, exhaustion swept over him and he slumped asleep on the damp bed.

  He woke up with great anticipation. Had it worked? Gathering his resolve, Becker dared to lift the blanket to check.

  He’d accelerated the process for a reason. Maybe it hadn’t been the wisest choice. But who knew how much time he had left in this glorious situation.

  He raised the blanket, and lo and behold, he was like a lizard that had lost its tail, and the tail had regrown fresh, strong, and perfect. Only instead of a tail, he had a freshly regrown pair of testicles. This was perfectly awesome!

  Becker wept with joy. “I’m a whole man again.”

  This was so great.

  Limply, he devoured what was beside his bed. He would have called Honey to bring him more, but he fell into a deep sleep. His body needed time to recoup from the fantastic healing process.

  Oh, Becker thought as he drifted to sleep. I can do it. I can change myself through my mental acuity. Who knew where he would take this. Before he could consider that, Becker started to snore.

  -35-

  The human once known as Venna the Spy opened her eyes and stared at her hideous form. It was as if her skin had become charred tree bark. She could barely move, and it hurt when she did.

  Worse, pain radiated through her every moment she was awake. Did she feel this horrible pain when she slept?

  Venna was in a large, brightly lit chamber with many mirrors along the walls or bulkheads. Everywhere she looked, she saw her hideous features.

  Venna had once been the most beautiful woman in the Orion Spiral Arm. Men had stared at and longed to be with her. She could crook a finger, twitch a hip and have them begging for her attention. If that wasn’t enough, she had the ruby necklace to accelerate the process.

  Venna wanted to weep for what she had lost, but she realized she had been doing so for the past few days. How was she even alive after the transformation into this hideous form? It was because of the Phantasma Synth Crystals. Shards of the alien crystal had embedded themselves in her.

  She touched her charred forehead and felt a longing for the planet Ector. There, eons ago, the masters had developed and curated the crystals, imbuing them with such tremendous power and mystical twisting. Some of that was in her. Perhaps as interesting, she knew about events that had happened eons ago on Ector.

  One of the masters seemed to stare in her mind, speaking in the awful language of the Aetharians.

  Venna groaned as she looked around. That was when she finally noticed charred, burnt corpses on the floor around her. Some of the corpses still glimmered with a white tooth or two. What had happened here? This didn’t make sense.

  A hatch opened. A diminutive Spacer with black-tinted goggles walked in.

  “Mu 11,” Venna said, “you are Mu 11. What have you done to me?”

  Mu did the most amazing thing. Instead of answering, she fell prostrate on the floor with her arms outstretched and imploring.

  “Oh Great One,” Mu said, “I have come to see if you are well and if you need others.”

  “Need others?” Venna said. “What are you babbling about? What has happened here?”

  In the middle of the question, Venna’s eyes glowed. “You, Mu, inserted memories into me when I was Venna. Acting on those memories, I slew Lord High Admiral Cook and Brigadier Stokes, and I attempted to slay—”

  Venna looked up at the ceiling and raised her charred fists. She howled with rage. “The Iron Lady did this to me. I must kill her. I must destroy the Earth and crush Star Watch in retaliation.”

  Mu looked up from her prostrate position on the floor.

  It seemed to Venna that Mu looked at her with surprise. “What?” Venna said. “What have I said that has caused you surprise?”

  Mu stammered with incomprehension before she said, “That you remembered everything so quickly, Great One.”

  “You lie,” Venna said. “That isn’t what you were going to say.”

  “It was,” Mu said. “I abase myself before you, Venna. Anything you want, I shall do.”

  “What exactly do you mean by ‘anything’?”

  “Do you want me to bring others?” Mu asked.

  “Why do you continue to talk about others? Why do you berate me with this?” In a moment of cunning, Venna’s charred hand swept at the burnt corpses. “Does it have anything to do with those?”

  “Yes,” Mu said.

  “Why are they here?”

  “You wanted them as a reminder,” Mu said. “Don’t you remember giving the order?”

  “No! I want them gone.”

  “Would you like me to retire as well?”

  “No, you will stay,” Venna said. “Summon others with your Surveyor power. Yes. I know about that. Or had you thought I’d forgotten?”

  Mu stood and bowed her head. “You are the Great One. I obey you.”

  In moments, small Southeast Asian men wearing Spacer goggles and black uniforms appeared. At Mu’s direction, they removed the charred corpses. Others with mops scrubbed and waxed until the floor shone brilliantly.

  “Yes, yes,” Venna said, “that is much better. The rest can leave, but those three will remain.”

  The chosen three collapsed onto the floor in terror as they began to sob for mercy.

  “Silence them,” Venna commanded, “or I will do it for you.”

  “But—” Mu said.

  “Yes?” Venna said. “What do you mean, ‘but’?”

  To Venna’s surprise, she found that she had stood and stumbled across the waxen floor until she towered above the three cringing, pathetic little Spacer men. She loathed them. She had used such as these before. No, she had used gallant specimens that had great power in them. Still, in a pinch, these three would do.

  Venna held her hands out over them. They howled in despair as Venna extracted what etheric source their bodies contained. As vapors rose from their flesh, as they began to shrivel, char, and scream in agony, Venna drank their essence like a space vampire. She knew strength and fulfillment. Even better, her tree-bark skin turned smooth and lovely.

  “A mirror, a mirror,” Venna said. “I want a mirror.”

  “There,” Mu said, pointing at one of the many mirrors embedded in the bulkheads.

  Venna turned and disrobed as she strutted before a mirror, reveling in her marvelous beauty. This was what she remembered. This was who she was. She could turn any head. A crook of her finger would bring a battalion of men rushing to her. A thousand ships launched by the sight of the Helen of Troy—

  “Ha! I can summon ten thousand spaceships,” Venna gloated.

  Venna’s eyes widened as she spied the tiniest wrinkle on her skin. She whirled around and stared at Mu. “Why is that wrinkle there?” Venna pointed at her side.

  “The transformation only lasts for a short time, Great Venna,” Mu said.

  “What?”

  Venna stared the charred remains of the Spacer men on the floor. She saw a few gleaming teeth. Then it slammed home to Venna what she was. She’d become the space vampire or whatever you wanted to call it. She could drain the essence from these fools and regain what she had been for a short time.

  “I’m going to make the universe suffer for this,” Venna screamed.

  A few seconds later, Mu said quietly, “May I offer you a suggestion, Great One?”

  “What?” Venna snarled.

  “Destroy Earth. Destroy Leviathan. Or better yet, use Leviathan for your purposes.”

  “What do you mean?” Venna said.

  Mu began to explain her plan.

  As Mu spoke, Venna began to cackle like an ancient hag, a witch in the forest known for luring and devouring children.

  “I love it,” Venna said. “I love it. You will be the last.”

  By the stark look of fear on Mu’s face, it was clear she understood what Venna meant by the sinister comment.

  -36-

  It struck Maddox as odd that General Mackinder of Intelligence wanted to come on the expedition. Mackinder was like a spider that spun its web, catching its prey with sticky strands. Mackinder did not hunt by heading into and exposing himself to danger. Then why did Mackinder want to join the expedition?

  Maddox didn’t believe Haig wanted Mackinder on the expedition, nor that it was Haig’s will pushing Mackinder to go. No, Mackinder was the key to this. Could Mackinder be the key to the new Lord High Admiral?

  Maddox didn’t have time to study the idea, even though Victory and company waited two days as Mackinder and Haig collected the warships and hunted for the admiral to lead the mission. Why did it take so long? What did all this mean? The longer they waited the less chance they had of apprehending Becker or finding the Spacers at the other end of the hyper-spatial tube.

  Finally, Mackinder found an admiral, a man named Jellicoe. Eleven Conqueror-class battleships would go, along with the auxiliary spaceships, escorts, and destroyers. It was a powerful task force, although not a nation-destroying task force or one that could beat a full Spacer fleet. It was a big exploratory task force, though.

  “In that sense,” Maddox told Meta, “the task force is too big to run or hide easily. It is cumbersome, and I don’t think Admiral Jellicoe will issue precise or decisive orders. He’ll check with Mackinder first, and Mackinder is anything but a fighting admiral.”

  “Then why is Mackinder doing this?” Meta asked.

  “I’ve been asking myself that. I’ve even debated secretly sending Galyan to some of their meetings.”

  “Oh no,” Meta said. “You shouldn’t do that. If they found Galyan spying on them…”

  “I shouldn’t do that,” Maddox said, “but it might be wise. I suspect they’re using everything they can to shield themselves from Galyan.”

  Later, Maddox spoke with Galyan. “Thank you, my friend. I appreciate your sticking up for me in the Lord High Admiral’s office.”

  “No, Captain,” Galyan said, “you’ve stood up for me so many times, done wonderful things for me, and been a great friend. I was angry at what Haig said to you. Why are Mackinder and Haig so short-sighted?”

  Maddox threw his hands into the air even though he knew the reason. It was the Humanity Manifesto Doctrine. He thought Cook had stamped it out, but apparently, these people knew how to hang low. Maybe there weren’t that many, but because Haig and Mackinder leaned that way, others joined that camp. Most people were followers. Few stood up on their own hind legs and said what they really thought if the main group was against it. Most people waited to see what the leader would say and then said likewise. But why complain? That was the nature of most humans.

  In any case, after the two days of preparation, the task force headed for the Laumer Point. Victory went through first, per Admiral Jellicoe’s orders, indicating Mackinder’s influence.

  Nothing was waiting for Victory in the Barnard’s Star system. Soon, the entire task force was through and headed for the third terrestrial planet. Victory jumped ahead of the rest, with Maddox sending down a team into the comet. Ludendorff headed the team.

  Inside the comet, Ludendorff studied the Builder device in person. According to him, it was a one-way tube as first discovered by Galyan. Whether they could find a way back on the other end was open to question.

  “Two hundred light years the hard way would be easy for Victory,” Ludendorff said. “For the rest of the task force…” he shook his head.

  “Why do you say that?” Maddox asked.

  They were on Victory’s bridge, as Ludendorff and the rest of the team had returned from the comet. He seemed to have been invigorated by it, as he walked with a sprier step.

  “The rest of the task force people are amateurs compared to us,” Ludendorff said.

  “No,” Maddox said, “they’re Star Watch professionals.”

  “They’re rated as professional Star Watch officers,” Ludendorff said. “Now tell me how many have fought in combat? I doubt many of the higher officers have. I’ve been checking the roster. They are Humanity Manifesto people or have those leanings. Many haven’t been in combat for quite some time, if ever. Thus, I say they’re amateurs. We don’t know what they’ll do when the firing starts.”

  “I imagine they’ll do what any Star Watch officer is trained to do,” Maddox said. “They will fight gallantly.”

  “You have a better opinion of the new pipsqueak Lord High Admiral than I do.” Ludendorff rubbed his hands as if warming to the subject. “The enemy knew what he was doing when he assassinated Cook. Cook had his faults, but he knew whom to trust, and he knew who to give leeway. You, for one.”

  Maddox said nothing to that, even though he agreed with Ludendorff. Was there something different about the Methuselah Man? Maddox couldn’t place what, but… Oh, he had other worries to occupy his thoughts.

  Soon, the task force gathered by the third terrestrial planet. Admiral Jellicoe appeared on a wide channel, giving his instructions. “Captain Maddox, you will open the hyper-spatial tube and go through first to make sure it is safe for the rest of the task force.”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddox said from his command chair. He even saluted in an exaggerated manner.

  Many on Victory’s bridge frowned. Admiral Jellicoe on the main screen also frowned. It was evident Maddox was being sarcastic to the nth degree.

  The broad channel communications ended.

  Maddox gave the order to proceed.

  Galyan switched on the Builder device, which created a preset hyper-spatial tube 200.08 light years long.

  “Go to it, Lieutenant,” Maddox said.

  “Aye, sir,” Keith said from the helm.

  Victory entered the opening, and as had happened on so many occasions, Victory zipped along the hyper-spatial tube. In seconds, it popped out onto the other side. As so many times before, Maddox shook off the jump-lag-like effects first.

  Andros confirmed what Galyan found. There were masses of stellar debris, gases, and planetary chunks everywhere.

  “I remember this look,” Galyan said. “All this reminds me of my long guard duty from so many years ago.”

  “Right,” Maddox said. “Don’t let that fact confound you, Galyan. Let’s remain in the present. Do you detect any saucer ships?”

  “Not yet,” Galyan said.

  “How about any saucer ship exhaust?” Maddox asked.

  “There are traces,” Andros said.

  “Yes, traces,” Galyan said. “I will agree that Andros found those traces before I did.”

  “That’s great, Galyan,” Maddox said. “Thanks for being so good about it.”

  “Oh, thank you, sir,” Galyan said.

  “All right,” Ludendorff said. “All this congratulatory talk is getting on my nerves. Let’s just do it, eh?”

  Maddox glanced at Ludendorff.

  “Sorry for speaking out of turn, Captain,” Ludendorff said peevishly.

  Maddox nodded instead of saying anything more. Was it strange that Ludendorff should apologize so quickly? Or maybe the old goat was learning after all this time. That was a good thing, right?

  The rest of the task force came through the hyper-spatial tube. In the meantime, the science officers aboard Victory cataloged the debris, that the star was a red giant, and that they were 20 AUs from it. The Paran System was a harsh place. Something had destroyed the planets ages ago. An enemy fleet could easily hide here.

  Shortly after that, the hyper-spatial tube disappeared, having closed.

  “Sir,” Meta said from the communications station. “There’s a call from the admiral for you.”

  “Put him on the main screen,” Maddox said.

  Admiral Jellicoe appeared. He had square features with thick dark sideburns. He was a bluff man in his late fifties, sporting a chest full of medals.

  “How do we get back home?” Jellicoe asked Maddox.

  “For now,” Maddox said, “the long way, one star-drive jump at a time.”

  “I don’t want your humor, New Man,” Jellicoe said sharply. “I want to know how we get back in a pinch.”