Maddox scowled at Admiral Jellicoe. “Sir, you can take your—”

  Meta cleared her throat.

  Maddox looked at his wife at the comm station. Perhaps no one else could have checked him to the same degree. Maddox had almost told Jellicoe to stuff it up his pipe.

  “I’m waiting, Captain,” Jellicoe said on the main screen.

  Maddox swiveled back to face him. “Respectfully, sir, I am not a New Man.” Or,” Maddox glanced at Meta before looking at the main screen again. “Or, if you like, sir, I can refer to you as the ass. Is that what you prefer?”

  Admiral Jellicoe stiffened with outrage. “Captain, I am considering relieving you of your duties.”

  “What was that,” Maddox said. “You’re about to relieve yourself?”

  Jellicoe purpled with rage, and he pointed a finger, opening his mouth to speak.

  “If you’ll just remember this, sir,” Maddox said, speaking first. “I don’t care to be called a New Man. If you want my help: treat me with respect.”

  “Do you know who I am?” Jellicoe finally shouted.

  “Of course, I know who you are. Do you know who I am?”

  “You are a captain under my command—”

  “Sir,” Maddox said, interrupting, “if you will reread your orders, I’m in charge of the Patrol scout vessel, and I have an independent command. If you want to take that up with the Lord High Admiral when we get back, hey, you be my guest.”

  Jellicoe’s eyes seemed to burn. “You’re digging your own hole, you half-breed.”

  Maddox said nothing in response, and his demeanor remained unchanged. Those on the bridge, however, winced and could see Maddox was poised to strike.

  “Is there anything else, Admiral?” Maddox asked, his tone mild.

  “You didn’t like that, did you?”

  Maddox said nothing.

  “No, nothing else,” Jellicoe said. “Tell me as soon as you know how to recreate the hyper-spatial tube back home. And next time, watch your mouth when you address me, or it’ll go poorly for you. I’m in charge of the expedition. You may have an independent command, but you come under my authority. Do not forget that, Captain. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddox said. “I understand perfectly.”

  Jellicoe glared a moment longer and then made a chopping motion.

  The connection cut.

  “That could have gone better,” Ludendorff said.

  From his command chair, Maddox shrugged.

  Meta looked worried.

  “I do not like the new Lord High Admiral or his main officers,” Galyan said. “They have much to learn regarding right conduct.”

  No one commented on that.

  “Right,” Maddox said. “Now, let’s get to work.”

  -37-

  Senior Dax, the Leviathan cyber, awoke and peered right, left, and then down. He didn’t see his body. This meant his head was arched awkwardly away from his body, rendering him helpless. Nevertheless, he attempted to move his arms and legs. His original assessment held. He was helpless.

  One thing was different, though. The chamber appeared larger than before.

  Then he saw himself in a wall mirror. He was stretched out on a metal table, his body behind his head, and his head thrust at an awkward angle. There were flesh and tendons connecting his head to his neck. But the outlook was not good for him. The neck would need rehabilitation and strengthening after this, provided he survived.

  Why had he ever agreed to go on this stupid mission? He’d only taken one cyborg trooper along while among the Spacers. He should have brought a ship contingent with him while aboard the Spacers’ ships. He should have brought along six or seven of them aboard the phase ship and kept them in active mode at all times.

  That was another thing. The Spacers had confiscated the phase ship he’d brought from Leviathan. That had turned out to be too much of a prize to dangle before them. How had Grand Strategist Enigmach ever tricked him into this rash mission?

  Enigmach exploited me through my greed. The Grand Strategist was a clever trickster. He should have seen that sooner.

  The problem was that Dax had always thought of himself as brilliant and conniving. Maybe with regular people he was. The Spacers of the Third Fleet were weird. Worse, the Phantasma Synth Crystals hadn’t been regular technology but something decidedly sinister and possibly evil.

  Dax closed his eyes, realizing he needed to focus on the immediate problem. Internal whining wasn’t going to change anything.

  He opened his eyes and carefully studied his surroundings, looking for any advantage. The chamber was huge, with a shiny floor and mirrors all around. The metal table and nearby machine were the only pieces of furniture.

  A hatch opened. Dax looked there. Mu 11 entered the chamber.

  Should he beg for mercy no matter how undignified that might be?

  Yes, Dax told himself, beg, do whatever you must. You need to escape this horrible situation and retrieve your ships. Do whatever you must to leave this hell-scape. The Spacers are vile and treacherous, unnatural.

  “Hello, Dax,” Mu said. “I trust you’ve been recuperating?”

  “Yes,” he heard himself say from an artificial larynx.

  Through the mirrors, he spied a cord plugged into a brain slot. His real larynx wasn’t doing the talking. His mouth didn’t open, as opening it might have caused his head, perched on the table, to tip because of the moving jaw. Instead, he spoke through a robotic box. This was blasphemy, a parody of his true self. He was a cyber, a combination of flesh and machine, but this was too far and grotesquely undignified.

  He needed to regain mobility and flee to the Python, the flagship of his three Kraken-class warships.

  “I’ll provide you with whatever you want, Mu,” Dax said through the box. “However, I’d like to see a show of good faith on your part. If you could reconnect my head with the rest of my body, returning my motive ability, that’s all the favor I ask.”

  Mu smiled in an obviously mocking way.

  Dax would have liked to rage at her, promising dire vengeance. Instead, he knew stark fear and humiliation. He was so dependent on her goodwill. This was worse than ridiculous. This could be the end for him. The only thing that gave him hope was that she hadn’t killed him yet. That meant she wanted something from him. That meant if he was clever, if he kept his wits and courage about him, he could bargain his way out of this.

  “You’re a poor, stupid cyber, aren’t you?” Mu said.

  Dax saw no need to retaliate with insults. She had the upper hand. He would take the abuse—for now.

  “Well, Dax, you can make this easy or you can make this difficult. Which do you prefer?”

  “The easy way,” Dax said.

  “Good,” Mu replied. “I’m glad you said that. Tell me where all the Leviathan assault fleets are stationed.”

  “Excuse me?” Dax said.

  “Leviathan assault fleets ready for the invasion of the Commonwealth. Surely, that was why we did what we did. You’ve helped in weakening Star Watch. I assume that was to help with the massive strike from Leviathan. That is your empire’s method for these things.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dax said meekly. “but I can’t reveal such information.”

  “Oh. That means you want to do this the hard way.”

  “Look,” Dax said in a let’s-be-reasonable tone, or the best he could do through the box. “Reconnect me. Make everything ready for my exit and I’ll tell you all you want to know just before I leave. I swear it.”

  “I’m not interested in your swearing,” Mu said. “I’m interested in the information. I suggest you make your choice: easy or hard. This is a binary situation. Which do you prefer?”

  “I told you which,” Dax said. “Let’s make this easy.”

  “Then tell me where the assault fleets are waiting,” Mu said.

  Dax would have liked to sigh, but he wasn’t breathing. Instead, they were feeding his brain enough energy to keep him awake, and probably enough to keep his body working. These impulses—

  Oh, Mu held up a hand for his attention. “We will proceed to the hard way,” she said.

  Dax wanted to scream and beg. Would Mu use her interior Builder devices, her modifications, to coerce him? No. She turned away and reverently clasped her hands. Then, Mu bowed her head, waiting.

  Once more, the hatch opened.

  Dax watched with dread and then sick horror.

  A hideous, perhaps partially reptilian, though humanoid creature, shuffled in. It wore a long flowing robe with a cowl. The back of the hands showed the creature possessed tree-bark-like skin.

  Dax was appalled. What kind of monstrosity had the Spacers found to use against him?

  “Behold,” Mu told Dax, “Venna, who you so basely manipulated, so she has become like this.”

  “What?” Dax said. “That thing is Venna?”

  The hag creature removed the cowl. It had Venna’s luxurious hair, but the horrid features…

  If Dax could have shown his feelings through facial maneuvering, his face would have twisted with revulsion and repugnance. This was awful.

  “What happened?” Dax said through the box.

  “Do you see his lack of remorse, Great One?” Mu said. “The cyber is arrogant and pretentious. Even stretched out like this, he has dared to utter threats against me. That was before your arrival.”

  “No,” Dax said, “that’s a lie. I haven’t uttered anything against anyone. I’m ready to cooperate.”

  “You see how he equivocates, prevaricates, and attempts to sully the situation,” Mu said.

  “I do,” Venna said in a scratchy voice.

  “Wait a minute,” Dax said, thoroughly horrified and frightened. “Let’s be reasonable. I brought you the phase ship. I brought the crystals.”

  “You see,” Mu said. “He admits it. Know, Great One, that it was Dax’s idea to put all those false memories in you. The supposed memories twisted you so you’d do his dirty deeds. Perhaps not his deeds specifically,” Mu said, “but for those of Leviathan he represents. The cybers are users, Great One. They are the corruptors of what is good and right. That is why they sent the Phantasma Synth Crystals to us and ultimately to you.”

  “Enough,” Venna said. “I understand what you’re doing. I’m also not completely upset with the turn of events. I’ve been, how do you say, released from Spacer captivity? I also comprehend how the ancient masters of Ector made the crystals. It’s much more cunning than I’d originally envisioned. They gave the crystals life after a fashion. Now that life is alive through me.”

  What did the hag babble about? Dax was confused. She was clearly insane as well as ugly as sin. Seeing her was an even worse punishment than being disengaged from his body.

  No, no, Dax told himself. You must think clearly. You’re a cyber, even though you’re disconnected from your calming glands. You must be logical and think this through. Your biological brain boils with emotion. Quell it and think. Your voice is a weapon. You must use it as a weapon, the only one you have left.

  “If I’ve done any of these wretched things that Mu accuses me of,” Dax said, “I’m here to repay for them.”

  “Indeed,” Venna said. “And how would you repay me?”

  “I can give you the assault fleet designations of the various Leviathan formations ready to invade the Commonwealth,” Dax said. “That is what you want, isn’t it?”

  “In part,” Venna said.

  “Of course, it would be better if I could receive at least a small piece of mercy for this, an act of goodwill from you,” Dax said.

  “Oh?” Venna said.

  “If you could start by reconnecting my body to my head,” Dax said.

  “Is that what you think I’ll do for you?”

  “It’s such a small thing,” Dax said, “especially for one of your magnificence.”

  “I’m not quite ready to do that,” Venna said. “I think, rather, you should understand what it is you helped to create.”

  Venna turned around, and when nothing happened, she faced Mu. “Send them in.”

  Mu must have done something, because the hatch opened. Three poor sods were thrust into the chamber so they staggered and stumbled. When they caught their balance, they stared in dread at Venna. In seconds, they fell to their knees, clasping their hands before her, pleading for mercy.

  Venna took an odd stance, and stretched out her hands toward them.

  Power, Dax could see power emanating from her in waves.

  The poor Spacers didn’t jump up and rush her, trying to fight for their lives. Instead, they sobbed and begged until they collapsed, and writhed in agony.

  Dax was horrified to see vapory substances lift from their bodies as their bodies shriveled. The essence entered Venna and she transformed into the beautiful, lovely Venna the Spy of before.

  The beautiful Venna looked at him and smiled in a reptilian, predatory way. “Do you understand?” she said in such a lovely voice.

  “I don’t know what I’m supposed to understand,” Dax said, striving to maintain his rational mind, “but I see you’ve gained impressive abilities.” His gazed darted to Mu. “Did you cause that to happen to Venna?”

  “Silence,” Venna said. “Mu did nothing. It was you who did it by bringing the crystals to us.”

  Terror might have stolen Dax’s wits. He was truly petrified. Instead, in this instance, the fear sharpened his rat-like instincts for survival. “May I say, Great One, that Spacer Intelligence had much to do with that. Mu was instrumental with how they proceeded. Isn’t that right, Mu?”

  Mu had bowed her head and knelt on the floor before Venna. “Great one,” Mu said. “I have no words. You are the one who decides everything. This man, this mechanical creature, is such a liar, such a rat, and a rascal. Do you hear how he strives to twist thoughts and ideas to his advantage? It is really rather pathetic. Don’t you think so, Great One?”

  Venna cocked a hip and put a hand saucily on it as she looked at Mu. “Maybe I should revive the cyber. Maybe that’s the right idea.”

  “Oh, Great One,” Dax said. “I applaud your mercy. Whatever you want, I will give you for this.”

  Venna raised a hand and aimed her fingers at him. It felt as if a switch clicked in his brain.

  “Now you will tell me the dispositions of all the formations Leviathan has assembled in the Orion Arm, ready to invade the Commonwealth. Are you ready to speak, Dax?”

  Dax found himself pouring out information. He tried to still the flood of words, but he couldn’t. He gave every fleet disposition he knew. He even gave the name of the high officers in charge of each assault fleet.

  Dax then told Venna the grand plans of the strategists. He went into detail piece by piece. He even explained his assumptions regarding what Leviathan would do to the Spacer Nations afterward. Would Leviathan leave the Spacer Nations intact? Hell no, they would not. Leviathan was going to use the Spacers and then devour them. They would turn many of the highest-ranking Spacers into cybers. In that way, the new cybers would be obedient to the great and wonderful plan of Great Leviathan. That was what was in store for the Spacer Third Fleet.

  Venna raised a hand again.

  Dax became aware that he no longer babbled about his opinions. The speech must have taken time. Venna had started to look nasty and vile again, with her tree bark-like skin.

  “Sweet Venna,” Dax said, thinking fast, “I’m so glad I told you all this. I’ve wanted to unburden myself for some time. The ways of the Spacers—”

  “No,” Venna said, interrupting. “I don’t need to hear your lies. Instead, Dax, you’re going to perform a mighty service for me. You will be instrumental in unleashing one of the assault fleets of Leviathan to do my bidding?”

  “N-No,” Dax stammered. “I was not aware of this privilege. I’m ready, though. If you’ll just reassemble me, I’ll be on my way for you.”

  Venna laughed in a manner worse than any smoker could do. “It’s not quite that easy. There will be some…what shall we call it? Modifications to your personality? Modifications to your brain? Do you comprehend what I’m saying?”

  “Uh, not precisely,” Dax said. “But whatever you want, you name it and I will give it.”

  “Yes,” Venna said. “You most certainly will give it. Mu, let him sleep for now. His brain is tired. Then give him the nutrients he needs and prepare his brain for the chemical bath.”

  “What?” Dax said. “You’re not talking about…” He dared to say it. “Removing my brain, are you?”

  “Yes,” Venna said, “I am.” She smiled in a malicious, evil, vampiric manner.

  Dax howled with despair, feeling utterly defeated. He had no idea how to get out of this. He was in the hands of vicious harpies, and it looked like it was the end for Senior Dax of the Sovereign Hierarchy of Leviathan.

  -38-

  Becker was having the time of his life. He maneuvered through the small darter in a bathrobe, usually wearing just that—sometimes tied closed, sometimes open to exhibit what he had created through his mental powers and pituitary gland. Honey and the others dressed to please him, provocative combinations indeed.

  This was a delight. Becker had envisioned a time in his life like this for as long as he could remember, and now it was really happening.

  The only drawback was his physical weakness. The girls could scamper, cavort, and giggle with such exuberance and athleticism that he marveled at them. He was jealous, if you want to know the truth. He could only shuffle along, constrained by his condition. And he always had to be careful because his head was so damn big and heavy. If he bumped it, that could ruin everything.

  Becker roved through their minds to make sure about their thoughts and attitudes. He pushed mental levers and froze them in place, enforcing his desires on them.

  A small part of Becker balked at this. But that was stupid. This had to be love, right? The girls said they loved him. They felt adoring love for him. Maybe in one tiny sense he’d manufactured that, but when you thought about it, wasn’t that how people had always acted? A man bought a woman a meal, he acted nice, and drove around in a fancy car or big truck, and he lifted weights so he had big muscles. He did all those things to manufacture the love of the woman for him. Was that any different from what he did with his telepathy?