“No. Those of Leviathan avoid the Heydell Cloud. Everyone knows that.”

  “Apparently Leviathan doesn’t avoid it anymore,” Maddox said. “Can those of Gath defend themselves from Leviathan space assaults?”

  “You’re talking about space battle. I don’t know much about that. If Leviathan sends a fleet to Gath, I doubt it. If a few ships come…” Hern shook his head. “I bet those of the north and south know how to deal with several ships or even a flotilla. They wouldn’t have kept the planet otherwise, not with their immortal-making honey.”

  Maddox tested the bars. “If we become a winning gladiator, can we win our freedom?”

  “Freedom?” Hern scoffed. “You’ll be lucky to last the week.”

  “That doesn’t answer the question.”

  “I don’t know the answer. No one has thought to tell me. Just to fight.”

  “Strange,” Maddox said, “as potential freedom would be a good inducement to fight.”

  “Staying alive is another,” Hern said.

  A horn blared from outside.

  “It’s practice time,” Hern said. “You’d better wake your brother. We’re in for a grueling few hours.”

  ***

  Hern proved correct.

  Giants lined the high wooden walls that circled the sand-covered practice field. Each giant gripped a heavy cudgel and shield. Other normal men in leather garb carried hand catapults, the strings cranked back and bolts in the grooves. Those men stood behind the various cages.

  The trainees were inside the large cages on the practice field, did calisthenics, stretches and then watched a tyro or veteran explain various moves and uses with different types of edged weapons.

  The trainees soon practiced with weighted wooden counterparts to the actual weapons. Maddox and Dravek proved adept at every weapon shown them. Whoever watched and evaluated must have noticed.

  The day went apace with rest and food periods, and then with more training.

  The day passed and the next started. It was much the same as the first, an endless parade of hand-to-hand weapons practice.

  Throughout the next few days, Maddox practiced with wooden weapons against Hern and others. They always practiced under the watchful eyes of the trainers and hand catapult-armed guards. Maddox didn’t show his full potential but kept the others from injuring him.

  The trainers finally pitted Maddox against Dravek. They sparred without going full tilt against each other. By agreement, neither defeated the other, but they hacked, slashed and thrust with enough alacrity to satisfy the watchers.

  “Who would win between us?” Dravek asked as they ate bread and meat at stone tables in the shade under some trees.

  Maddox shrugged.

  “Do you think you could defeat me?” Dravek asked.

  “What do you think?”

  “No,” Dravek said promptly.

  Maddox continued eating.

  “Do you disagree?” Dravek asked.

  Maddox set his hands down by his plate. The owners didn’t give the trainees forks or spoons and certainly no knives. “I have no opinion. I don’t care about the question.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  Maddox sighed. “I’d win, but I don’t care to press the issue.”

  “Why do you think you’d win, because I didn’t get all your memories?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does to me,” Dravek said.

  “Hold that thought then. We might find out sooner than you think.”

  Dravek looked where Maddox did.

  Gallant Ophir stood near some giants with an armored car behind them. He was the red-robed man with red painted eyes and big ruby rings that shot rays. Today, a woman in red robes watched with him. She, too, had red-painted eyes and a beehive hairstyle of dark curls. She was smaller and darker than Ophir but exotically beautiful.

  “I don’t like the way she’s staring at us,” Dravek said.

  Maddox didn’t care for it either. His intuitive sense told him there was more going on. She was a…a sensitive, at the least, maybe an outright telepath. He could feel her trying to read his mind.

  “You,” a guard said, standing near the tables.

  Maddox turned around.

  “Finish your meal and then go to the car. Gallant Ophir and his witch wish to interview you. Be quick, though.”

  Maddox turned back, surprised the guard would use the word witch. Maddox ate another bite of bread and then brushed his hands on his thighs, standing and heading for Gallant Ophir. It was time to find out the real score to all this.

  -39-

  Gallant Ophir and the woman stared at Maddox as he stood before them. The giants waited silent but hopeful. A few times, giants had torn a disobedient gladiator apart.

  The woman shrugged shortly. “Maybe. I can’t tell.”

  “You will enter the car,” Ophir said.

  A second one had pulled up.

  Human guards opened a door. Maddox ducked his head, entering and sliding over leather-upholstered seats in back. The guards slid in with him, aiming pistols at his belly. Another guard in front smoothly headed out, driving for thirty minutes, the car passing fields, through an ornate gate and coming to a huge mansion surrounded by extensive gardens.

  The car stopped. “Get out,” the driver said.

  Maddox climbed out, viewing palatial grounds and a shimmering brick palace in the distance. There were vast gardens of well-tended bushes, flowers and trees. It was like a park that included huge fountains and cement ponds. Colorful fish jumped in the ponds. Bright plumaged birds flew from tree to tree. The palace was huge, several football fields in length and four stories high with endless rows of windows. The length was curved and in perfect symmetry. Men in gaudy livery stood everywhere. In a few places, well-armored giants wearing golden helmets and holding ceremonial halberds stood at attention. Several leopard-like beasts slunk from a row of hedges to another.

  “Move away from the car,” a guard inside said.

  Maddox did so. It must have been a signal.

  A group of servants in black and white livery advanced and surrounded him. None seemed to be armed. They started toward the palace. Figuring that meant him, too, Maddox walked among them. Soon, several eight-foot giants joined the throng, marching in back, humming ditties for their primitive amusement.

  The ensemble moved to the front of the palace along a wide sidewalk. There, Gallant Ophir waited with the so-called witch. Maddox had been looking down last time. This time, he noticed that it was obvious she was a different nationality from Ophir. He had white skin. She was brown-skinned with dark pits for eyes.

  “Captain Maddox,” Ophir said in his rich voice.

  Maddox nodded. He decided not to let the red-painted eyes fool him. Ophir was dangerous.

  “Meet Mara,” Ophir said, indicating the woman.

  She made no move whatsoever but stared at him.

  Maddox could feel something wriggle in his mind. It reminded him too much of what had happened on the planet Kregen. He thus blocked it.

  She gave a soft grunt.

  Ophir looked at her with surprise.

  “He parried my probe,” she said.

  “So…” Ophir said. He gripped the sides of his red robe as he circled Maddox and the surrounding attendants. “You are an enigma. As such, you have drawn the attention of Grandma Julia. She has asked to see you. Can you imagine why?”

  “No,” Maddox said.

  “So blunt,” Ophir said. “I can almost consider that a crudity. Are you trying to be vulgar?”

  “That was not my intention,” Maddox said.

  “Hmm,” Ophir said. “You two.” He addressed the two nearest giants. “Each of you grab one of his arms. Don’t crush the flesh, but make sure he doesn’t wriggle free.”

  The armored giants lumbered to Maddox. Each set down his halberd and used both hands to grab one of Maddox’s arms. Because of their wide grips, each covered an arm from shoulder to wrist.

  “Come,” Ophir said. “You’ll join us, Mara.”

  The attendants didn’t question anything. They all remained where they were, silent.

  With Gallant Ophir leading and with Mara at his side, the two led the giants and Maddox on the wide sidewalk. They moved around the left side of the palace to a huge garden area farther back. Fountains sprayed vast arches of water that struck different ponds, feeding them. Handsome and beautiful men and women in scanty attire milled about. Others without clothes sat on silk-clad chairs. The chairs and occupants radiated outward from a central throne. On the throne sat a wizened old woman dressed in a purple gown and wearing a golden crown studded with precious gems. She had wrinkled skin and was protected by a large umbrella. Her eyes burned like black orbs, inspecting Maddox as he approached.

  He realized the naked people on the chairs were intoxicated or drugged. Each, no matter their sex, was a prime physical specimen.

  Maddox imagined the woman on the throne was ancient, at least five hundred years old, maybe older still. She was clearly perverse. He didn’t need his intuitive sense to tell him that. Grandma Julia wielded immense power. She was likely corrupt, having wielded power for many centuries. An ancient adage filtered through Maddox’s mind.

  Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Was that the secret to the Honey Men? Their rulers or potentates had ruled for long centuries, maturing in their evil. In other societies, the ancients died, allowing a fresh batch to take up the mantle of rule. Here, the special honey extended life and changed societal norms.

  “Is that him?” Grandma Julia asked. She had a cracked and withered voice. Clearly, the honey treatment must finally be failing her.

  “Grandma,” Ophir said. “May I show you the pre-gladiator, Captain Maddox? We caught him among the defeated of Legion Culain. He surrendered in the beginning. Later, at the gelding pens, he—”

  “Yes, yes,” Grandma Julia said, interrupting. “I listened to your report earlier. I don’t need to hear it again—unless you have something new to add.”

  Ophir glanced back at Mara before bowing his turbaned head. “Captain Maddox parried Mara’s mind probe.”

  “This is even better,” Grandma Julia said. “Step forth, Captain. Let me see you better.”

  Maddox attempted to do just that. The two giants held him fast, however, making it impossible.

  “Have them release him,” Julia said. “I dislike having the creatures so near me. I don’t trust them.”

  “Release the man,” Ophir said.

  The giants did not.

  “Are you daft?” Ophir shouted, marching at them. “I said release him.”

  The giants squawked, releasing Maddox as if his skin had turned hot.

  Ophir made a shooing motion with a hand.

  The giants stumbled back.

  “Watch him,” old Julia said. “Mara, can you slow him if he charges?”

  “Yes, Grandma,” Mara said.

  “Come here,” Julia told Maddox. “I don’t bite.”

  Maddox approached slowly.

  Julia’s black orbs seemed to shine with power. She was indeed a wizened creature, surely no more than five feet tall and weighing less than a hundred pounds. In her left hand, she held a deadly, glittering needler. She aimed it at Maddox.

  “This can kill you,” Julia said, brandishing the needler.

  He assumed she was a student of human behavior, recognizing more than most because of her extended age and vast experience.

  “You’ve become my property,” Julia said. “I own you because you lost to us.”

  Maddox said nothing to that.

  “Do you deny that I own you?” Julia asked.

  “I do not.”

  “Do you accept it then?”

  “I do,” Maddox said.

  “I believe he’s lying,” Mara said.

  “Of course, he’s lying,” Julia said. “I can tell that much myself.”

  “I’m sorry, Grandma,” Mara said. “I—”

  “Shut your yap,” Julia said, interrupting.

  Mara closed her mouth, bowing her head, visibly frightened.

  “Are you still watching him?” Julia demanded.

  Mara looked up swiftly, her eyes wide and frightened.

  Maddox noticed that Gallant Ophir had clenched his right hand into a fist, the ruby rings glittering as they aimed at him.

  “Do you marvel at my daring?” Julia asked Maddox.

  It took Maddox a moment. Then, he asked, “Do you mean meeting me like this?”

  “Don’t ask me what you already know,” Julia snapped. “If you treat me like a fool, I’ll have you join the field workers in a jiffy.”

  Maddox inclined his head, not understanding her anger.

  “Do you know why you’re here?” Julia asked.

  It struck Maddox then. “You know about the cyber missiles and the Moray.”

  “If by the Moray you mean the trader ship that detonated when the cyber missiles began to disgorge their Soldiers, yes. I know about the incident. I also wonder if the missiles have something to do with the Leviathan assault vessels heading here for Gath.”

  “They do,” Maddox said.

  “Where did you come from?”

  “The Moray.”

  “How did you do that, as the ship was still far from orbit?”

  “Through teleportation.”

  “You teleported onto the Vance Plateau just as Legion Culain was about to land their helos?” Julia asked.

  “I did.”

  “Why did you pick that location?”

  “I didn’t. The…being that teleported Dravek and I chose it for us.”

  “Why?” Julia asked.

  “I’ve been asking myself that for some time.”

  “Are you trying to be clever?”

  “No,” Maddox said.

  “No,” Julia said. “I don’t think you are. Where are you from, Captain Maddox? I mean originally.”

  “Earth.”

  “From dirt?” asked Julia, seemingly confused.

  “Earth is a planet in the Orion Spiral Arm.”

  Julia waved an old, crooked hand. “The names are meaningless to me. I’ve never heard them before.”

  “If you have a star chart, I could show you.”

  “Do you mean a different spiral arm from this one?” Julia asked.

  “I do.”

  “Why did you come to this spiral arm?”

  “Leviathan agents kidnapped me while I was in mine.”

  “Why?”

  “If you will permit me to explain…?”

  Julia opened her mouth, perhaps to reprimand him. Instead, she nodded.

  Maddox told her about clones. He explained the possibility that Leviathan wished to attack the Commonwealth of Planets and might send Dravek as a spy first.

  “Why are you being so honest?” Julia asked, her dark orbs searching his face.

  “You two are sensitives, at least, possibility telepaths. I believe you or Mara would detect it if I lied. Thus, I play it safe and tell you the truth.”

  Grandma Julia leaned forward on her throne. “Tell me why I shouldn’t trade you to Leviathan when the assault vessels park in Gath orbit.”

  “It would set a bad precedent for those on Gath to so easily bow to pressure from Leviathan.”

  “Why should I care about that? If things don’t change for me soon, I’ll be dead. The universe ends for me then and nothing matters anymore as far as I’m concerned.”

  Maddox hesitated. Grandma Julia was either utterly self-centered and self-absorbed, or her words just now were a cloak to her real feelings. “I’d ask you to consider this. I’m worth more to you here than in Leviathan hands.”

  “Tell me how?” she asked.

  Maddox inhaled slowly. Here was the first real decision. What should he say in an attempt for freedom? Julia was cunning and venal, a dangerous combination. It would be best to appeal to her greed. How best to achieve that, though?

  Maddox nodded inwardly. “I have knowledge that could help you.”

  “What knowledge?” Julia demanded.

  “For one thing: the whereabouts of an ancient weapon hidden on Gath.”

  “Bah. I can torture the information out of you if I want it badly enough.”

  Maddox breathed deeply as he practiced the Way of the Pilgrim. He called upon his intuitive senses as taught him by Balron the Traveler.

  “Beware, Grandma,” Mara said. “He’s doing something unique with his mind.”

  “Should I stun him?” Ophir asked.

  Grandma Julia watched Maddox closely and warily. Her trigger finger tensed upon the needler.

  “I can die any time I wish,” Maddox said in a hollow voice. “I need merely will it. The Eye of Helion aided me once. If I die, I will send it a signal. It will then arrive in time to avenge me.”

  With that, Maddox fell into serene indifference.

  Julia turned her head to stare at Mara.

  “I can’t tell,” Mara said. “That could be the truth or a lie. His thoughts are hidden from me.”

  Julia eyed Maddox with loathing. “I can torture your brother to death while I force you to watch. That will unlock your tongue.”

  “Go ahead if you want,” Maddox said. “He’s a clone. I can always have another made for companionship.”

  “You think you’re clever, Captain,” Julia said with hate. “What if I hand you over to my people for their amusement?” She indicated the beautiful, naked people lost in drugged stupor on their chairs.

  A few looked up, with evil lust shining in their drugged eyes.

  Maddox shrugged.

  “You’re making me angry,” Julia said.

  Maddox did not reply.

  Julia sat back, using the needler to stroke her wrinkled chin. “Take him back to the training camp. Let his clone attend him for now. I’ll arrange a fight. Let’s test our stalwart captain, shall we? Let’s see how eager he is to die or if he’ll decide to trade his knowledge for better… We shall see after the fight, provided he survives.”

  Grandma Julia snapped her fingers. The interview was over.

  -40-

  The next day, Maddox found it harder to concentrate on gladiatorial practice as Hern and he trained with extra-weighted wooden swords. Hern had gorilla size and strength. Maddox had speed, reach and more strength than Hern thought reasonable.