Zadoury’s rheumy old evil eyes widened with disbelief. “You’ll be meat for the dreadfangs unless you speak up quickly, you dolt.”

  Maddox laughed, shaking his head. “Surely, you jest, Shofet. If I’m dead, how can I tell you my wonderful knowledge and thereby increase your lifespan?”

  Zadoury sat back, his breathing labored.

  “If anything, you need to insure my conditioned survival,” Maddox said.

  Several Old Ones in the rows stood up and shouted at Maddox, shaking their fists at him for his insolence. Others yelled for him to divulge the secret this instant or face dire repercussions.

  Maddox held out imploring hands to Zadoury. “Shofet, surely you realize that owning such a secret as this, I desire compensation for revealing it. Is that not fair practice?”

  Zadoury leaned over the bench to glare down at Maddox. “This has nothing to do with fair practice, you cunning deceiver. This has everything to do with power and pain. You will receive more pain than you can bear until you’re screaming out what we want to know. Otherwise, I’ll believe that you’re a fraud, telling us what we want to hear.”

  Maddox chuckled.

  “Shofet Zadoury,” Julia said, “I’d like to make a point before we continue.”

  “Silence!” Zadoury thundered to everyone in the chamber. “Sit down, all of you.” He pointed at the standing Old Ones.

  They sat down as the room quieted.

  Zadoury turned to Julia, nodding.

  “Captain Maddox claims he can take his own life with a thought at any moment he chooses,” Julia said.

  “What arrant nonsense is this?” Zadoury said.

  “I’m inclined to disagree that he speaks nonsense,” Julia said. “Given everything else we’ve learned of him, I believe he is capable of the feat.”

  “Are you serious?” Zadoury asked.

  Julia nodded solemnly.

  Zadoury glared at Maddox. “You expect us to believe such drivel?”

  “Believe what you want,” Maddox said indifferently. “I’m tired of this existence. After I die, I’ll be reborn in a better position, having learned from this one.”

  “What?” Zadoury said.

  “You’ve surely heard of reincarnation in this backwater planet of yours, have you not?”

  Zadoury stared at Maddox.

  Maddox kept himself serene, knowing this was the knife-edge moment. He didn’t believe in reincarnation. But he did believe in using whatever tool was at hand to achieve his goal. In this instance, he lied freely to the treacherous Highland Old Ones. It was all he had left in his arsenal for a battle for his life.

  “Suppose I agree you know this secret knowledge,” Zadoury said slowly. “And that you can take your life with a whimsical thought. How can we induce you to tell us about the extended life treatments?”

  “This is all about trust, Shofet.”

  “Don’t tell me—” Zadoury forced himself to quit talking. The old man looked away, working to compose himself, no doubt. He pasted a fake smile onto his withered face as he regarded Maddox anew. “Yes, this is about trust,” he said in a brittle voice.

  “I feel the best way is to show you the evidence at the proper time,” Maddox said.

  “Meaning what?”

  “We retrieve the ancient weapon from the desert—”

  “Impossible,” Zadoury exploded, his face turning red.

  Maddox shook his head, waiting for the old man to calm down. What would happen if the Shofet had a heart attack and died? That might complicate matters.

  Finally, though, the pallid color returned to Zadoury’s wrinkled face as he breathed evenly again. He nodded for Maddox to continue.

  “We retrieve the weapon from the desert and ready it to face the assault vessels,” Maddox said. “Once we board the remaining vessel, I will instruct whoever you like in Leviathan’s longevity art, using a cyber as illustration.”

  “You think we’ll let you board an orbital assault vessel?”

  “If you desire to learn the knowledge, I do.”

  Zadoury looked at Julia. “What’s your opinion about this?”

  “We take the risk,” Julia said. “The prize is worth it.”

  Zadoury opened his mouth and then closed it with a snap.

  Maddox supposed the Shofet had been about to say, “If he’s telling the truth.”

  “Why will you trust us to act fairly while you’re in the last Leviathan assault vessel?” Zadoury asked.

  Maddox shrugged. “I’ll have my people with me, and you’ll have yours. I imagine you’ll also have planetary missiles ready to launch at me if I renege on the deal. I’m going to trust you then that joy at greater extended life will still any ill actions against me.”

  “Who are your people?” Zadoury asked.

  “Those who will help me to recover the weapon in the desert. I’ll take my clone and Primus Hern, and a few others I plan to pick from your latest batch of field workers.”

  “You want gelded ones to go with you into the desert?” Zadoury asked in surprise.

  Maddox nodded. There was no one else he might conceivably trust among the Honey Men Highlanders.

  “Why would you come back to us from the desert?” Zadoury asked.

  “For the obvious reason that I imagine you’ll send people with me into the mid-world desert that would make it difficult to do otherwise. Besides, I desire a spaceship for travel, one I command. Leviathan possessed the vessels and I suspect I’ll need your assistance gaining one.”

  Zadoury sat back, pondering as he plucked at his lower lip. He looked down at Grandma Julia. “Would you agree to this?”

  “I would and do,” she said.

  There it was, Maddox knew. Her desperation for longer life was clouding her judgment. Shofet Zadoury must want longer life as well. Their greed for more, their fear of death—heightened by their long lives—would weigh against their logic. Would it be enough, though?

  Zadoury gazed at the Old Ones in the padded seats. What did he see from them? Likely the same desperate desire to live even longer from the oldest. Soon, Zadoury began to nod. “If you think to flee without telling us your secret, Captain—”

  “Play fair with me,” Maddox said, interrupting, “and I’ll play fair with you.”

  Zadoury’s rheumy eyes burned with hatred. He choked it down, though. “Grandma, I want to discuss this with you in private.”

  Julia struggled up, the two bald women helping her down from the dais.

  Then Julia and Zadoury retired to the room behind the bench, leaving everyone else waiting for their verdict.

  -44-

  It was obvious Julia and Zadoury wanted greater life extension. All the eldest among the Old Ones must feel this way. They were all likely reaching the age limit that the unique honey had provided them. Thus, they agreed to Maddox’s plan with a few provisions.

  He could take four men with him as his people. His team would drive its own hover-car once they reached the mid-world desert. The expedition would leave in two days. They would travel by dirigible, two being collected from the latest failed legion raid.

  Two companies of Highland soldiers would join the expedition, meaning two hundred in all. One third of those would be Grandma Julia’s men. One third would be Shofet Zadoury’s men and the last third would be a collection of several other clan leaders. Gallant Ophir would command, taking Mara and several other telepaths along.

  Grandma Julia informed Maddox that ballistic missile sensor arrays would always watch them. If he successfully practiced treachery, the missiles would launch, and nuclear detonations would annihilate his pretentions.

  “Gallant Ophir would die in the blasts with me,” Maddox pointed out.

  “If you got that far through treachery, Ophir would already be dead.”

  “How can you talk like that about your grandson?”

  Julia sneered. “Ophir is my great-great-great grandson. Those before him all proved deceitful and paid the ultimate price for it. I loathe deceit, Captain. I have maintained my position as clan leader because I can sniff out liars and protect what is mine with ruthless efficiency.”

  They spoke in a private chamber in her palace. Maddox had already picked his team, instructing them and listening to their advice.

  “This is a small risk on my part,” Julia said from behind a huge desk. She aimed a needler at him the entire time. “I realize you could be lying about these things. The possibility you’re telling the truth, however, opens vistas I hadn’t believed existed. Even if only the desert-hidden weapon exists, this will be worth it. However, if you’re lying and prove false about the extended life, I will take great pleasure in personally torturing you before you leave this life. I will also destroy everyone you consider your friend.”

  “Please, Grandma,” Maddox said in a bored voice. “Your threats are tiresome and tedious.”

  “No matter. You will hear me out.”

  Maddox sat back, stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles, and folded his arms, staring at her.

  “If this is an act on our part,” she said, “it’s a marvelous one. I will add this, however: my desire to kill you is nearly overwhelming. Why do you think this is so?”

  Maddox uncrossed his arms, faked a yawn and then examined his fingernails.

  Julia clicked the needler to a higher setting.

  Maddox looked up, with his eyebrows raised.

  “Do you think me incapable of killing?” Julia asked. “Is that why you appear bored?”

  “I know you’re a killer, having no doubt about that.”

  Julia lowered the needler, frowning at him, obviously thinking. Finally, “I imagine this is all about the assault vessel. You need it. You said as much to Zadoury.”

  “To return to the Orion Spiral Arm I need a spaceship. The assault vessels are fast approaching. I don’t see a better opportunity to acquiring one.”

  “How will you cross thousands of light-years in an ordinary assault vessel?”

  “I take one problem at a time. As you may have noticed, I have unparalleled concentration and ability. I trust myself to see a way through the next problem after the one I’m dealing with is conquered.”

  “You’re a supremely arrogant man.”

  “Or a very competent one,” Maddox said. “For you, that’s a plus. When I’m done here, you’ll have the chance to live another few centuries. Instead of berating me about trivia, you should be on the floor kissing my feet.”

  Julia squinted at him.

  “You know it’s true,” Maddox said. “Your pride keeps you from making the proper gestures of gratitude.”

  “Enough of your buffoonery,” Julia said hoarsely. “Yes, I want another few centuries of life. I admit that. If I gain it, your coming will have been fortuitous. If you’re a charlatan, I will gain from having believed extended life possible. It is a glittering prospect. Now, though, get out. I’ve had more of your company than I can stand.”

  Maddox stood and bowed at the waist. “It’s been a pleasure, Grandma. I hope to see you again within the week.”

  “That soon?”

  “The assault vessels are fast approaching. They lend a certain stimulus to all this.”

  Julia frowned again, nodding slowly.

  Maddox turned and started for the door.

  “Captain.”

  Maddox faced her.

  “Good luck.”

  Maddox nodded and then exited the chamber.

  -45-

  Two monstrous dirigibles floated upward from near the stadium where Maddox had defeated the dreadfangs.

  Maddox found the airships incredible. Each silvery behemoth had been constructed in the north using lightweight composites. Each stretched a little over one thousand feet or three hundred and five meters in length. That was three times the length of a fully-grown blue whale. Each had a diameter of three hundred feet or ninety-one meters. The shape was what he would have expected, like an enormous cigar.

  The dirigibles were lined with flexible solar panels. That helped power many onboard systems and would recharge the batteries.

  No wonder the legions used these to cross from one pole to the other. They traveled high enough that sunlight shined all day. The batteries saw them through the night.

  Inside the airship’s envelope were many cells filled with lighter-than-air helium. The cells increased safety, as all would have to pop simultaneously to cause the airship to crash catastrophically.

  Under the envelope was the elongated gondola. It housed the cargo, crew quarters, and control cabin.

  For maneuvering, the dirigible used electrically driven propellers. They were attached to the envelope rather than the gondola. That provided a wider base, allowing greater control of movement.

  The desert hover cars were in the first dirigible. Most of the people were in the second. That included two crew quarters assigned to Maddox and his men.

  He kept one cabin for Dravek and him. The other held Primus Hern, Centurion Gricks and Sub-Centurion Eddings.

  Hern had been surprised that Maddox had picked him. The Primus found it difficult to show gratitude and had acted surly most of the time.

  “You’re a man,” Maddox had said before they entered the dirigible. “You’re tough and don’t give up. I admire those traits.”

  “I’m not going to kiss your ass because you chose me,” Hern said.

  “I don’t want that. I want a man I can trust. But if you love the Honey Men more—”

  “Screw them! I hate their guts. They castrated my men. If I could cut their stomachs and yank out their—”

  “Let me give you a piece of advice,” Maddox said, clutching one of Hern’s muscled arms, interrupting the tirade. “Telepaths are joining the expedition. Try to keep your hate of the Honey Men to a minimum. The telepaths will pick that up and it might cause trouble we don’t need.”

  Hern twisted his arm free of Maddox and sneered. “You love the Honey Men for giving you this chance?”

  “I’d rather be hunting for the ancient weapon than fighting dreadfangs in the arena.”

  Hern glared at Maddox until he nodded, grumbling under his breath. He added, “Why did you choose Gricks and Eddings? They let the Honey Men cut off their balls.”

  “For all that, they’re still men.”

  “Cowed and beaten things wearing the guise of men,” Hern said.

  It was true that Gricks didn’t have his former bluster. He’d lost weight as well and could no longer look Maddox in the eye. It was worse with Eddings. Both Gricks and Eddings would flinch if he said something too loudly. Maybe he’d made a mistake picking them, but it was too late to change his mind now. Could he restore some of their pride? He’d have to wait and see. Hern was too belligerent to trust. But the Primus would fight. Events had proven that.

  At first, Maddox kept to the cabin. He couldn’t believe they were no longer in the Highlands. Still, the airship was full of Honey Men soldiers. Ophir would always watch him closely, using Mara and the other telepaths to help keep track of him.

  “What’s the plan anyway?” Dravek asked when Maddox woke from a long nap.

  Maddox sat up on his cot. “We must remember how to reach the ancient weapon site. The one that you found on the Moray’s computer.”

  “You told them about that?”

  “How do you think I got them to agree to the dirigibles and letting us go along?”

  “Why did you do it?”

  Maddox raised his eyebrows. “You want to stay in the Highlands, fighting in the arena?”

  “Hell no,” Dravek said.

  “Neither do I. The Highlanders fear Leviathan and need a weapon against the assault vessels. We need a weapon against them to remain free.”

  “We don’t know what the weapon does. Are you sure it will help against the assault vessels?”

  “There’s only one way to find out, right?”

  “I guess so,” Dravek said.

  “Do you remember what the computer said about its exact location?”

  Dravek thought about it, and they compared notes.

  “That’s a little different from what I told Grandma Julia,” Maddox said. “I’m going to the control cabin to tell Ophir.”

  “Want me to come along?”

  “I want you to watch Gricks and Eddings.”

  “You think they’ll come out of their cabin long enough for that?” Dravek asked.

  “If they do, I want you to help restore their confidence in themselves. We might need them later.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” Dravek asked.

  Maddox slapped his chest. “I could do it. And if I could, you should be able to, right?”

  “Sure,” Dravek said.

  Maddox stared at him. “It could mean the difference later.”

  “Right,” Dravek said, staring at him. “I understand.”

  With that, Maddox strapped a holster and heavy caliber pistol to his hip. He had the monofilament blade again, hidden in a sheath in his right boot top. He wore a uniform and jacket, and military hat. They were of legion make and design. He certainly didn’t want to wear Highlander gear. He had the others dress the same, figuring it might help his team’s morale.

  After leaving his quarters, Maddox strode down a narrow corridor, passing endless cabin doors, each made of lightweight material. He was back on a ship, this one an airship on a world. It turned out the Honey Men Highlanders had parks upon parks of captured legion equipment.

  The three Leviathan assault vessels were still coming fast for Gath, as least as far as he knew. Finding the ancient weapon site—how hard could it be? He needed to learn everything he could about the deep desert. The Highlanders wouldn’t want to tell him, so he would need to trick the information out of them. His best bet was Gallant Ophir.

  As he headed to the control cabin, Maddox practiced his serenity. He was surprised he’d gotten this far already with his duplicity. This mission was more hair-trigger than most, as he worked from such a lowly position. He also lacked his usual help. If he could have had Galyan, Ludendorff and Valerie with him, most of his problems would have already been solved. If Victory were here, he’d just destroy the assault vessels.