He reappeared behind the oleander bushes, relative to the house, as a barely discernable holoimage. He saw two men. One was huge: six-eight, weighing at least three hundred pounds. He had a big tube, a launcher, on his shoulder and wore metallic armor like an old-style Roman legionary. The other was much smaller and had a comm device, speaking into it.

  “What’s next?” the huge man asked.

  “We may have to fire the mortars,” the smaller man said, looking up at the big man.

  “I thought you wanted Maddox alive, taken captive.”

  “We do. But it’s likely Maddox took out the two fools we sent in. If—”

  Galyan had heard enough. He activated an advanced machine in the center of Victory. It created an energy pulse and transferred it down to him, which he discharged from his holoimage with extreme prejudice.

  The energy pulse struck the two humans. They both collapsed, falling to the ground. The smaller one trembled for several seconds before he stopped breathing. The big one groaned, tried to rise and then fell back down.

  Sounds came from the fallen comm device from the smaller man. Galyan listened. It was the mortar team asking if they should fire.

  “I must not let that happen,” Galyan said to himself.

  The holoimage did not vanish and reappear at the mortar team’s position. Instead, he used Victory’s sensors, pinpointing their exact coordinates and then seeing them via ship teleoptics. Galyan activated an antipersonnel laser on the starship. The sniper weapon fired, the beam passing through the atmosphere to stab the three-man team—and their mortar for good measure. A second look with the teleoptics showed three charred corpses and molten slag.

  “Captain,” Galyan said, calling him via the starship’s comm.

  “Yes,” Maddox said.

  “If you could hurry, sir, I’ve incapacitated the big one.”

  “He’s the leader?”

  “Sir, there is more taking place. If you’ll take charge of the prisoner, I can continue to monitor the situation without having to worry about you, Meta and your daughter.”

  “Are there others outside?”

  Galyan used the starship’s teleoptics. “I do not see any.”

  “What about surveillance devices?”

  “I’m searching, but not seeing any yet.”

  “I’m on my way,” Maddox said.

  As Galyan continued to search for surveillance devices, he also began an analysis program. Someone had tried to harm his family. Maddox, Meta and Jewel weren’t the only members he considered his family, but they were the most important. The attack on them made the AI angry, and that meant he was going to get to the bottom of this as quickly as he could.

  -3-

  Near the oleander bushes, Maddox took one look at the big attacker lying on the ground with his legionary-like armor and launch tube. He’d seen the type before: a Merovingian. They’d been altered shock troops for Methuselah Woman Lisa Meyers.

  Meyers was dead, sentenced by the Lord High Admiral and executed by firing squad, her flesh annihilated in an incinerator so every particle had been turned to ash so no one could use the DNA to fashion a Meyers clone.

  Did the Merovingian lying here mean Meyers was alive in some manner? Maddox shook his head. He didn’t think so. Knowledge of the process or technique of altering normal people—usually men—into Merovingians, could well have escaped the Crowder System. In fact, the big man lying here pointed to the Crowder representatives in Geneva, Switzerland Sector.

  Likely, in the original Crowder System, some of Meyers’ people had gotten off the molten moon Moloch and slipped onto a vessel in the refugee fleet that had jumped over two hundred thousand light-years with Victory.

  Maddox had just gotten word about the Crowder reps grumbling about his report concerning their strange ways. Would they dare to try to kill him, his wife and daughter for that? He wouldn’t put it past them.

  “Sir,” Galyan said.

  Maddox whirled around, his gun jerking into line— “Oh, Galyan,” he said. “It’s you.”

  “I forgot, sir. You weren’t expecting me to just pop into sight. I’m sorry for surprising you.”

  “Never mind about that. Do you have something to report?”

  “I do, sir. I’ve spoken with the Lord High Admiral. He’s appalled at what transpired here tonight. He believes the Crowder reps are responsible for this action.”

  Maddox nodded. He’d given that a seventy-five percent probability. What about the other twenty-five percent, though? He needed to check that as well.

  “The Lord High Admiral suggests you move your family into a secure location. Then, he would like to see you immediately.”

  “In Geneva?” asked Maddox.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why there?”

  “I believe he has an assignment for you.”

  “What are you talking about? He’s been trying to turn me into a desk jockey. You’re talking about an assignment aboard Victory?”

  “I am, sir.”

  Maddox turned away as police sirens blared in the distance. In truth, he’d been getting antsy with nothing to do but relax. He needed action. His New Man heritage mandated that he keep moving or it started to feel as if his entire body was itchy. Meta would want him to remain home, now more than ever. But the action tonight showed him—

  He turned back to stare at the Merovingian. Who had fashioned the brute? The two in the house had struck him as criminals. Their speech patterns, the way they’d answered his questions—

  “Galyan, I’m taking the prisoner.”

  “The police are almost here,” the holoimage said.

  “Do you want to argue or help me protect my family?”

  “You are on shore leave, sir, remember?”

  “Don’t give me excuses. Just make your decision.”

  “You are taking the prisoner. What should I tell the police? They are almost here.”

  “Tell them about the two in the house. Keep watch for enemy surveillance and then protect Meta and Jewel. Can I count on you?”

  “With my life, sir,” Galyan said.

  Maddox started for the unconscious Merovingian. He halted and faced Galyan. “You’ve done well. Good work.”

  “Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Are you sure it is wise to take the prisoner? It is highly irregular and against many regulations.”

  “They tried to kill my family.”

  “That does not answer the question.”

  “If you think about it long enough, it does,” Maddox said.

  Galyan’s eyes began to blink rapidly as his computer processors worked harder.

  Maddox heard the nearing sirens. It was time to get started. He crouched, wrestled the huge lug to a sitting position and maneuvered him onto his shoulder. He straightened, glad he’d continued to do dead lifts. Then, he staggered toward his pickup, needing some seclusion so he could have a talk with the Merovingian.

  -4-

  Maddox drove out of the long driveway onto the side street and then turned onto Broadway as four police cruisers with flashing lights roared for his house.

  Technically, he should stay to give a report. Meta and Galyan could do that. He sped away as the sirens blared in earnest.

  Maddox glanced at the big man slumped in the passenger-side seat. It was a risk taking him like this. He’d fought against Merovingians before, and lost more than once. He’d won, though, when it had counted.

  The sirens abruptly ceased, which meant the police had arrived at his house. Meta could reach him via comm, and he didn’t plan to go far.

  In fact, Maddox turned three times before he drove onto federal land. The tires kicked gravel as he headed for a nearby water tower, a fat cylinder that stored rain and snow water.

  There were hundreds of trails on federal land for horse riding, walking and motorcycles. From here in Northern Nevada, he could theoretically use the dirt backcountry trails all the way to Las Vegas in the south.

  But he wasn’t going that far tonight.

  Maddox braked, put the truck into park and shut off the engine. He climbed out, walked around the front and opened the passenger-side door. He’d expected the Merovingian to slump toward him.

  Instead, the man lunged out, grappling, growling as if drunk. The Merovingian was strong, stronger than Maddox. He tried a wrestling hold—

  Maddox twisted free, backpedalling.

  The armored Merovingian fell onto the ground.

  There was no artificial lighting here, just the full moon and plenty of stars. The elevation approached five thousand feet above sea level. That meant a bright moon, giving them a ghostly landscape.

  “Bastard,” the Merovingian slurred.

  Maddox charged the big man, who had climbed up onto his hands and knees, and he kicked, connecting with the chin. The Merovingian collapsed onto the dirt, breathing hard but still conscious.

  “You’re tough,” Maddox said—

  The Merovingian cursed, and once more began to rise up to his hand and knees.

  “—But you’re as dumb as a post.”

  The huge man raised his head. He had bruises on his face and puffiness around his eyes. “You’re stupid to have let me live.”

  “Think about that a second,” Maddox said.

  The Merovingian scowled.

  “I should have killed you for trying to kidnap my women.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Because you’re nothing but a tool,” Maddox said.

  “Yeah,” the Merovingian said, “a hammer.”

  Maddox frowned. Something was off with the brute. The process that developed a Merovingian dulled their intellect. This one didn’t sound like a retard, but had ordinary intelligence. That was interesting.

  “Who hired you?” Maddox said.

  A grin slid onto the Merovingian’s face. “Your enemies.”

  “Do you want me to pry the information out of you?”

  “You and what army?”

  “Maybe you’re not as smart as I figured. You’re a tool like I said, a hammer that failed. Don’t you know your employers will kill you to cover their tracks?”

  The big man pushed himself to a sitting position. He touched his nose, and then wiped it with the palm of a hand, wiping the blood onto his pants.

  “In other words,” Maddox said, “you’re disposable.”

  “They said you’re tricky. They were right. You’re trying to trick me.”

  “Nothing I’ve said is a trick. It’s the truth. What’s more, you know it. I can tell by how you’re listening. You’re a disposable hireling.”

  “I guess I am. So what?”

  “Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll see that you get off easy, maybe end up on a prison planet instead of six feet under.”

  The Merovingian looked up at the stars. He shrugged and regarded Maddox. “Don’t know much. A little man gave me my orders. He squinted a lot while talking to me, like he had trouble with the light. When I say little, I don’t mean just compared to me, but little compared to Del.”

  “Who’s Del?”

  “The gunman working with me. He coordinated the strike against your house. I should have led it.” The Merovingian shrugged.

  “What do you mean by gunman?” asked Maddox.

  “Del was a criminal, a gunman, a hitman. He bragged about it to me. Said he’s killed seven people so far for money.”

  “What did you do before this?”

  The Merovingian frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. I should, but I don’t.”

  “I do,” Maddox said in a tired voice.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “You were an ordinary man. Someone gave you drugs to transform you into a Merovingian. You’ve kept most of your intellect—that’s my guess anyway. But the process stole your memories.”

  The big man scowled. “That’s a hell of a thing to do to a guy.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said.

  “Well…”

  Maddox could see it coming a kilometer away. The Merovingian thought he was being clever. The man had told the truth because maybe he understood that Maddox could tell the difference. The brute had been trying to lull him, though. To test the theory, Maddox stepped closer.

  The Merovingian scrambled up, roaring as he charged.

  Maddox had crouched during part of the talk with the man. He’d picked up a hand-sized rock then. Now, he struck the Merovingian a hard blow across the forehead, using the rock as his tool.

  Once more, the big man thudded onto the ground, unconscious.

  Maddox looked at the Merovingian, deciding he’d get no more from the man. It was time to turn him over to the police and then talk to Meta.

  -5-

  Back at the house, in the living room—minus the captured operatives—Meta stared at Maddox in disbelief. He’d returned in time to give the Merovingian into police custody.

  That hadn’t gone over well with the policeman in charge. But they’d taken the big man just the same and eventually left.

  Maddox had just finished telling Meta the news that he was going to see the Lord High Admiral.

  “You’re going to Geneva tonight?” Meta asked.

  “We’ve been over this. Why belabor it then? I need to—” Maddox quit speaking and shook his head. He wasn’t going to keep explaining. Meta knew the score. It was time for her to accept it.

  The lights were on in the house. Jewel was upstairs, sleeping. Meta had tied her long blonde hair behind her head. Her eyes were puffy but fixed on him.

  “You’re going to leave Jewel and me to fend for ourselves just like you did when you fled to the Crowder System?”

  “I didn’t flee to anywhere,” Maddox said, annoyed.

  “No?” Meta asked, with whiplash in her voice.

  “Look. I’m not suited to just sitting around shuffling reports in an office. I need to act, to have action.”

  “Then join a city-league basketball team or a hockey team.”

  “I crave meaningful action, not simply playing a game.”

  “You listen to me,” Meta said. “You have to—”

  It struck Maddox then, the way out of his dilemma. “You should come with me. I don’t know why I haven’t seen it before. You and Jewel can come with me aboard Victory.”

  Meta stared at him.

  Maddox grinned, delighted with himself. It was a great idea. He wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore. He’d know exactly where they were.

  As Meta watched him, the anger and sorrow drained from her face as compassion took over. She stepped closer and took one of his hands. “That’s a generous offer. But do you really want your only daughter on a Star Watch attack vessel? Do you think that’s wise?”

  “In most cases, no,” Maddox said. “But in this case, I do, yes, I sure do.”

  “No. Jewel can’t go with you. I won’t have my baby thrown into danger because her father is too…I don’t know, too proud to know when—”

  “Meta,” Maddox said, perhaps harsher than he intended.

  Her face stiffened.

  Maddox recognized the look and had been married long enough that he realized what he needed to do. “Meta,” he said, putting his arms around her, pulling her against him. She felt so good. She was such a beauty with curves in all the right places, wonderful breasts, and—he loved watching her walk the most of all. “Meta, we’ve been over this. I’m a man of action, a doer. Until I’m too old or crippled, I’m going to continue to do and act. You should join me this time. I need you with me.”

  “And Jewel?” asked Meta, with a warning note in her voice.

  “Either bring her along or leave her with my grandmother.”

  “With Mary?”

  “Mary would love the chance for this,” Maddox said. “Besides, I’m sure this is a short mission. We’ll only be gone a few weeks.”

  “You have no idea if that’s true or not.”

  “Call it a gut feeling.”

  “Like the last time you ran out the door?”

  “I didn’t run,” he said.

  “Okay, you didn’t run. But you were glad to get away.”

  “I’m a doer,” Maddox said stubbornly, sidestepping the issue. “I love being at home. I love you and Jewel. But I also love my work. I wish you could understand that.”

  “Maddox—”

  “For millennia, men have left home to work,” Maddox said. “It’s the way things are. You make our home worth having. I make the home possible. But most of all, a man must work, must provide.”

  “You can provide just as well working a staff job here on Earth.”

  Maddox shook his head. “I’m an active member of Star Watch, a front-line fighter. It’s what I do. If you take that away from me…” He shook his head again. “I’d go stir crazy.”

  Meta wriggled out from his embrace. She turned away as she hugged herself. “I know,” she said softly. “I realize all that you’re saying. But I…I need you with me.”

  “Then come with me this time.”

  “And leave my baby?”

  “She’s three and a half,” Maddox said. “A short vacation might do you good. We’ll only be gone a few weeks.”

  Meta whirled around. “How can you know that?”

  “I don’t,” Maddox admitted. “But it seems reasonable.”

  Meta searched his eyes, sighing in the end. “All right, go to Geneva and speak to the Lord High Admiral. When you get back…I’ll give you my answer then.”

  Maddox grinned, realizing that he was itching to be away on a mission. He pulled out a comm device to contact Victory. He’d have Keith use the tin can to fold to outside Carson City and then fold him to Geneva. He wanted to catch, to punish, the people who’d authorized the attack against his home, his family. He was certain the Lord High Admiral would give him the information he needed to track the bastards down and deal with them his way.

  -6-

  Five hours later, Maddox was ushered into the office of the Lord High Admiral of Star Watch. The old man never seemed to change. He was a big oak of a man with thick white hair, a white uniform and a visage that demanded respect.