“Fascinating,” she said, her voice carrying no emotion at all. “I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you.”

  “Had what?” I gasped, still catching my breath.

  “The killer instinct.” She studied Pendance’s corpse with seemingly clinical detachment. “He was useful, but hardly irreplaceable. Perhaps you’ll prove more… entertaining.”

  She gestured casually, and an invisible force slammed against me, pinning me against a bulkhead.

  “Now then,” she said, “let’s get down to it and discuss the Negator, shall we?”

  -52-

  The invisible force pressing me against the bulkhead felt like a giant’s hand crushing my chest. I could barely breathe, let alone move. Blood from my fight with Pendance was still seeping through my shirt, and every muscle in my body ached.

  The High Polarion woman stepped over Pendance’s corpse without a glance, her starlight gown flowing around her like liquid mercury. Behind her, I could see Bill and Gorrax sprawled on the deck, unconscious or stunned, maybe dead.

  “Now then,” she said, stopping in front of me. “The Negator. Where is it?”

  “Which one?” I wheezed through the pressure on my chest.

  Her perfect eyebrows arched. “Don’t be tiresome, little man. There is only one, and you know precisely what I mean.”

  I studied her face, trying to buy time while my brain worked this out. She looked exactly like the woman from the fountain in the Dreadstar’s game system, and the one who’d been in my dream the other day. But that had been a digital construct and a fantasy. This woman was flesh and blood. I could smell her perfume and see the subtle rise and fall of her breathing.

  She figured I was a brute and a lowlife. Maybe I could play on that, stall longer.

  “You know,” I said, trying to be as casual as I could, “last time we talked, you were just a computer program.”

  She scowled with obvious contempt. I might have just hit on the right move against her.

  “I was never just a computer program,” she said. “I was a carefully preserved consciousness stored in digital form. Don’t you understand the astronomical effort it took to do that?”

  “Sure, sure, but now you’re—what—a real girl? How’s that work, exactly?”

  She gestured angrily.

  The force pressing against me increased as she sneered. “I told you not to be tiresome. The Negator, where is it? I want it now.”

  “See, that’s what I don’t get,” I said, fighting to keep my voice casual despite the crushing pressure. “Back on the Dreadstar, you were also this wise old woman in a cave, talking about the greater good and all that philosophical stuff. Now you’re Miss Universe with superpowers. Which one’s the real you, huh?”

  Her blue eyes flashed with annoyance. “I am who I have always been. The cave, the fountain, those were mere constructs to communicate with primitives like you in terms you could understand.”

  “Primitives,” I repeated. “I get that. So this is your true form then?”

  “This is flesh,” she said, running a pale hand along her arm as if marveling at the sensation. “This is real, living flesh. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this—how long I yearned and dreamed about it?”

  To my surprise and sudden hope, I felt the force holding me waver, weakening just a bit.

  Stalling had been the right tactic. I wondered if she was getting distracted, maybe caught up in her own transformation story. I had to keep this going if I could.

  “That must be weird,” I said. “Being digital for so long and then suddenly having to deal with a body again. Blood flow, breathing, all those messy biological functions. I bet it takes some getting used to.”

  “It is…” She paused, maybe searching for the right words. “It is overwhelming at times. The sensory input alone—”

  “Yeah, I bet,” I said, interrupting. “And these new powers of yours, they must be tricky too. It must be like learning to drive stick shift after years of an automatic.”

  Her concentration must have slipped further as the invisible force loosened enough that I could take a deeper breath.

  I needed it.

  She eyed me and sneered again. “I know you think you’re clever. I know you’re trying to distract me with this idle chatter—”

  “I’m not trying to distract you,” I said. “I’m trying to wrap my head around this. It’s not every day you meet someone who used to be a computer program.”

  “I was never just—” She caught herself, lips pressing into a thin line. “I’ve had enough of this foolishness. I want the Negator now. This is your final chance.”

  “Look, even if I wanted to tell you, which I don’t, I’m not sure where it is right now.”

  “You’re lying.” She made another gesture. The force slammed me harder against the bulkhead than before.

  “I’m not lying,” I gasped. “Think about it. Do you really think I’d keep the most dangerous weapon in the universe just lying around in my sock drawer?”

  “That makes no sense. It is surely locked away for safekeeping.”

  “You’d think that, right? The reality is that it could be anywhere—locked in the ship’s vault, maybe. Or maybe one of my crew has it hidden somewhere. It could also be booby-trapped to explode if someone tries to steal it.”

  She studied my face as if looking for tells. “I see. You’re stalling, trying to prolong your miserable existence. No matter. Your crew will tell me what I want to know.”

  “Good luck with that. Bill’s an android and doesn’t feel pain. Gorrax is a warrior who’d die before betraying his captain. And Alina…” I tried to shrug but failed. “She’s tougher than she looks.”

  The woman’s perfect features tightened. Sweat appeared on her forehead. Wait a second. Her breathing had increased since we started this. Maintaining her telekinetic force must be taking more effort than I’d realized.

  I needed to keep this going.

  “You will tell me,” she said, “or I will tear this ship apart piece by piece until I find it.”

  “That could take a while,” I said. “A scout ship like this has a lot of hiding places. By the time you search them all, who knows what kind of company might show up? The Ick, maybe. Your father’s enemies. Heck, maybe your old man himself.”

  I was running out of things to say, grasping at straws.

  Fortunately, at that point, the cargo bay hatch opened and Alina rushed in, the Negator raised in both hands.

  “Let him go!” Alina shouted. She must have been watching on the ship’s interior sensors, or the AI might have told her what was happening.

  The High Polarion spun toward Alina, her concentration shattered. The force holding me vanished and I dropped to the deck, my legs nearly giving out.

  Alina must have shouted to confuse the enemy as she fired.

  But the High Polarion was already moving, dodging and screaming at Alina to drop the Negator.

  Instead, Alina lined up another shot and fired again.

  This time, the High Polarion began to shimmer with golden teleportation light.

  “This isn’t over, Kane Hunter,” she told me. “I will have that weapon.”

  Then the High Polarion was gone, leaving only the smell of ozone and the fading sparkle of transport energy.

  I slumped against the bulkhead, breathing hard. “Thanks for the rescue.”

  Alina lowered the Negator, her hands shaking. “I don’t get it. I know I aimed right at her. Why didn’t she negate?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I I’m just glad you showed up.”

  Alina turned to me, and the wheels seemed to turn behind her eyes. A second later, she nodded.

  “The AI told me what was happening. I figured the Negator was the only thing that would help.”

  “You figured right,” I said.

  Alina stared at the Negator in her hands. Then she crouched and carefully set it on the deck.

  I gave her a look.

  As she straightened, noticing me staring, she said, “There’s something… off about this thing. I don’t want anything more to do with it.”

  I nodded and then looked at the colonel’s corpse and at my bloodstained hands.

  “Are you all right?” Alina said.

  I tested various body parts, pressing them. Everything hurt, but nothing seemed broken. “I’ll live. I wonder if Bill and Gorrax are okay.”

  As if summoned by his name, the big Tokari groaned and started to sit up, shaking his massive head. Bill’s optical sensors flickered back to life a moment later.

  “What happened?” Bill asked, sitting up and looking around.

  “We had visitors,” I said. “Pendance wanted payback, and he got it, but not in the way he figured. The High Polarion came close to winning, but Alina took care of her. I doubt she’ll be back anytime soon.”

  “What about the other starship?” Alina said. “It’s still out there, you know.”

  I groaned, starting for the bridge, wondering if the other starship would try to destroy the Theron.

  -53-

  I rushed to the bridge, still aching and worn from the fight with Pendance. I didn’t see any phasors slashing across space as I looked through the viewport. I eyed the pilot seat, wondering what it would cost me to use it.

  I sat down and found that interfacing with the neural plates wasn’t a problem. That must have been due to the ring. I doubt I could have handled a headache about now, so that was good.

  Through the ship’s sensors, I saw a sleek vessel holding position about twenty-seven thousand kilometers away. We were both in the massive gas giant’s gravitational influence. The other ship was further out than the Theron, though.

  The enemy vessel didn’t strike me as a military ship. It seemed too small and elegant for that. Maybe it was some kind of spy ship, the reason it had used a cloak before. Why was it just sitting there, though?

  “I don’t detect any weapons charging,” Alina said from her console. She’d run behind me the entire way to the bridge. “It just seems to be sitting there.”

  I nodded.

  “Any sign of the High Polarion woman?” I said.

  “Not here,” Alina said. “She must have teleported back to that ship. I mean, there’s nowhere else she could have gone, right?”

  “None that we can see,” I said.

  “Roger that,” Alina said. “I’ll keep scanning for her.”

  Since the other ship wasn’t actively getting ready to attack us, I slumped in the pilot’s chair, my throat still tender from Pendance’s bionic grip. Through the neural interface plates, I could feel the Theron’s systems humming with readiness. We could fight or run. What was the right thing to do? I might have known, but my brain felt sluggish after the death match and dealing with the alien psycho-girl.

  At that point, the comm system crackled to life.

  “Kane Hunter,” a soft-voiced person said. His voice seemed to be filtered through some kind of breathing apparatus, making it sound wet and mechanical. “I believe congratulations are in order.”

  I scowled. I knew that voice, but from where?

  A second later, I realized it was the Collector. He was the small alien who’d been with Pendance on the Dreadstar. He had decided Pendance and I should explore deeper in the prison ship. I’d found the ring during that journey. The Collector had sent an android along, no doubt to watch out for his interests.

  I never did figure out what the Collector or Collectors were after on the Dreadstar. They’d been enemies of the Ick, so that was something to consider. Pendance had beaten two prisoners to death because they’d had contact with the Collectors. Why had these mystery aliens been on the prison ship? What were they after?

  The alien cleared his throat.

  He was after something now, I bet. The question was, what? Pendance and the High Polarion woman had clearly teleported from his spy ship—

  It hit me.

  “You were watching Pendance and the High Polarion after they teleported here,” I said.

  “It saves us time you realize this,” he said. “I must say, your performance against Colonel Pendance was quite instructive. One point in particular surprised me, though.”

  “Yeah?” I said.

  “You trusted another of your crew to handle the Negator. I’m quite surprised you allowed this.”

  “Life’s full of them,” I said. “For instance, I’m surprised you’re running a mission for the Ick.”

  “Is that what you think?”

  “It’s what it looks like,” I said.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” he said.

  “All right, enough of this. Where’s your new friend, the High Polarion princess?”

  There was a pause before he whispered, “I believe she is recovering. Her transformation was recent, you see. I believe doing the things she has requires tremendous energy. My guess is that she’s depleted for the moment and thus resting.”

  That made sense.

  “How did she turn from a computer program into what she is now?” I said.

  “That is interesting, I agree.”

  “You’re not going to tell me?” I said.

  “I don’t know, and if I did… well, I’d want payment for telling you.”

  I thought about that. The Collector’s very name indicated what they did. Did they only collect things or also information? Maybe this was a clue as to what these little bastards really wanted.

  “Do you understand?” he asked.

  I frowned. “You’re hinting, aren’t you?”

  “You’re not the imbecile you pretend to be,” he said.

  “All right,” I said. “Why not put your cards on the table so I know what you want.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. What do you want?”

  “Perhaps we could speak privately,” he said. “Open ship to ship communications can be intercepted by interested parties. I propose a direct channel, encrypted, between you and me.”

  That didn’t make sense. Who could hear us out here? Who—? Oh, I think I knew.

  “You want to do this so the princess can’t overhear,” I said.

  There was another pause. “She has strong opinions that might interfere with productive negotiations.”

  I cocked my head. These sneaky Collectors obviously had their own agenda. I dearly wanted to know what it was. Hmm…

  “Let’s do this through visual communication,” I said. “I want to see you while we talk.”

  “That is acceptable.”

  I turned my head to show myself and see him.

  Our main screen shifted, and there he was. The Collector sat in what looked like a captain’s chair designed for someone half the size of a human. He still wore that cloaked garment and the snout-like breathing apparatus that covered the lower half of his face. His goggles reflected the lights of his bridge displays.

  “That’s better,” I said. “Now, what’s this about?”

  “I am encrypting this,” he said.

  “Yeah, yeah, me too,” I said, although I wasn’t.

  After a moment as he checked his controls, he looked up, and said, “I wish to trade information.”

  “That’s it,” I said, “information?”

  He shook his head. “Information is the most valuable commodity in the universe. Surely, you know that.”

  “Look, dude, you don’t have any information I need.”

  “What about the ring you wear?” His goggled eyes seemed to focus on my right hand. “Do you even know what you carry?”

  I flexed my fingers, feeling the ring’s weight. “Of course I know. It helps me interface with Polarion technology.”

  “That is like saying water helps with thirst. It is true, but hardly comprehensive.”

  Could he know more about the ring? Was there more to know?

  “So enlighten me,” I said.

  He tilted his head. “I will prove my good will toward you, show you that we Collectors deal fairly and openly. In other words, this one is for free.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “The High Circle rings were not mere symbols of authority,” he said. “Yes, there is more than one, three to be exact. Each has its own purpose. The one you wear is particularly important.”

  “How so?” I said.

  “Tell me, have you noticed how the ring responds to extreme situations? How it protected you from the Burnt Polarion’s mental intrusions?”

  I thought about my dreams, how the ring had burned hot enough to set my sheets on fire while driving out the Burnt Polarion’s presence.

  How could the Collector know about that? This was getting suspicious.

  “The ring comes in handy,” I said.

  “Handy.” The Collector made a sound, perhaps of frustration. “You use one of the three prime artifacts of the High Polarion Empire and call it handy.”

  “What do you want? You didn’t call to give me a history lesson.”

  “You are direct, as always. I appreciate that about your species. Very well. I want to know what you found on the moon.”

  “Why would I tell you?”

  “Because I can tell you things about the ring that might save your life,” he said. “And about the T-suit. And about what happens when the Negator is used on a being of the Burnt Polarion’s magnitude.”

  That got my attention. “Keep talking,” I said.

  “Everything in the universe has consequences,” he said. “But the Negator… when you erase something from existence, you create a void. Nature abhors a vacuum. Something always fills the empty space.”

  I leaned forward. “What fills this particular void?”

  The Collector glanced to the side, then lowered his voice. “That depends on what was erased and who does the erasing. The ring you wear—it’s not just an interface. It’s a receptor, a focal point. The Polarions built fail-safes into everything, even their greatest weapons.”

  The Collector paused, his breathing apparatus making a wet, thoughtful sound. “The Burnt Polarion wasn’t always mad, you know. I’ve studied the records, traded for fragments of history. He was brilliant, yes, and ruthless, but functional. Then he found the Null Equation.”