There were clicking sounds from outside, which meant there was still a bit of atmosphere in the hangar bay. The atmosphere carried the sounds.

  Dravek reached up and flipped a switch. The cabin lights went off.

  The bigger shuttle slid toward the open bay doors, doing so in the same manner the others had exited.

  “Do think this will confuse the cybers for long?” Maddox asked.

  “No, as the cybers are thorough. Given enough time, they’ll beam everything. We just want to be last on the list.”

  The bigger shuttle slid out of the bay doors into space. There were nearly a hundred shuttles floating out here near a long, a massive spaceliner. Some of the shuttles were wreckages already, most still intact.

  Maddox leaned forward, staring out of the big curving port window. In the distance was an oval. It was difficult to tell its size, as he didn’t know its distance from them. Maddox recognized the type, as they’d faced such a warship before in the Omicron 9 System. The warship would have iridium-Z-hull armor and obviously used fusion cannons for offensive action. It was a Leviathan vessel.

  “The cyber that spoke to me said they had orders to capture me unharmed,” Maddox said. “Why are they beaming the shuttles then if they want us alive?”

  “He didn’t give you the full scoop,” Dravek said. “He meant capture you unharmed—if they can. But if that proves impossible, destroy or eliminate us.” He stared back at Maddox.

  “What do we do now?”

  “From what I’m seeing,” Dravek said, “Leviathan doesn’t like you much.”

  Maddox shrugged. There were a lot of people or beings that didn’t like him. Maddox couldn’t care less. His own people counted to him. The rest of the universe could shove it as far as he was concerned. That included the Sovereign Hierarchy of Leviathan.

  “You must have a plan,” Maddox said.

  “I do. Given our present drift…it’s time to see if this works.” Dravek had faced forward and pressed a switch.

  The shuttle lurched. That was it, though. There was no sustained thrust.

  Maddox kept staring out the large, curved port window. The shuttle slowly moved away from the others, sliding under the massive spaceliner from which they’d launched. Soon, Maddox lost visual of the Leviathan warship. The giant spaceliner blocked a direct-line-of-sight to the enemy vessel.

  That must have been what Dravek had been waiting for. His fingers flowed across several boards at once.

  The shuttle shifted direction as side-jets activated. Soon enough, however, those ceased.

  “Hang on,” Dravek said. “Here’s where it could get rough.” He manipulated a panel.

  Thrust began, propelling their shuttle. The thrust quickly increased. Maddox and Dravek sank into their respective cushioned seats as more acceleration took place.

  Soon, Dravek stared intently at a board.

  Maddox craned his head. The other watched a timer.

  “Now—” Dravek pressed a switch.

  Acceleration stopped. The shuttle drifted.

  “Here’s what’s happening,” Dravek said, leaning back and pointing at a screen.

  Maddox leaned over and studied the screen. The huge spaceliner blocked the Leviathan warship’s view of them. They drifted away from the spaceliner and presumably farther a-way from the distant iridium-Z-hulled warship. Clearly, Dravek was using the spaceliner to shield them as long as he could from the Soldiers.

  “We’re going here,” Dravek said, as he pressed a switch.

  The screen switched images. Maddox saw purple energy swirling and zigzagging like lightning bolts. Nearer them, comet-like objects streaked with speed.

  “Is the area dangerous?” Maddox asked.

  Dravek snorted. “It’s more than that. Technically, we’re already in the Heydell Cloud, in its outer fringe, anyway. It gets much worse the deeper one goes into it.”

  “What exactly is the Heydell Cloud?”

  “I’m getting to that,” Dravek said with an edge to his voice.

  Maddox understood. If Dravek were anything like him, Dravek didn’t care for others questioning his choices or interrupting his explanations.

  “The Heydell Cloud is a nearly unnavigable region of space, under regular conditions. The cloud is huge, over a hundred light-years across in all directions. Inside the cloud are some interesting planets: interesting in terms of minerals found that a few use in high-tech operations. When traders enter the region, they usually use a seer to help them navigate the spatial anomalies.”

  “The traders use a prophet?” asked Maddox.

  “What?” Dravek scowled. “No, no, they don’t use a prophet. Why don’t you shut up a minute and listen to what I’m saying?”

  “Just one minute,” Maddox asked dryly.

  Dravek glared until he chuckled ruefully. “You understand, don’t you?”

  “If you mean about others questioning your decisions and explanations, yes, I do.”

  “I learned much of this from the scientist Dravek. He was from a planet in the Heydell Cloud, a planet named El Dorado.”

  “That’s an Earth name,” Maddox said.

  “I noticed that, too,” Dravek said. “We’re in the Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm, but this region is nearest the Orion Arm. The Heydell Cloud is theoretically outside the jurisdiction of the Sovereign Hierarchy of Leviathan. The Soldiers and others of Leviathan don’t care to enter the cloud. I’m not altogether sure why not. They do send agents at times, bounty hunters, possibly.”

  “We can navigate in the cloud?”

  “Our shuttle can use Laumer Points. It lacks a jump capacity on its own, however.”

  “Do you have a seer’s capabilities?”

  Dravek shook his head. “A Heydell seer is blind and possesses a psionic ability to sense gravitational masses and energy fields. The scientist told me a seer can see those things the way a normal person sees visible light. How that’s possible, I have no idea. In any case, the Heydell Cloud has weird gravitational masses, strange energy fields, space vortexes and such.”

  “Meaning it’s a highly dangerous region of space as you said earlier.”

  Dravek nodded. “It’s especially dangerous for big costly warships. The trader vessels are usually small for just that reason. I’m hoping the warship won’t follow us any farther in. If we enter a vortex, we probably won’t have to worry about the warship anymore, as we’ll have too many other problems to worry about.”

  “When you took the spaceliner, you deliberately headed for the Heydell Cloud.”

  “I figured Leviathan would come after us sooner or later. Once they did, I didn’t believe I could fool them for long. Thus, I went for the one area they feared to go.”

  “Would you have taken the spaceliner into the cloud?”

  “It was too big for that,” Dravek said.

  “Did you hijack the spaceliner?”

  “Hijack is a technical term. I didn’t use any armed forced to make others obey me. So no, I didn’t hijack anything.”

  “Did you have a crew to help you…relieve the spaceliner from its docking bay?”

  “Originally,” Dravek said.

  “What happened to them?”

  “There was a misunderstanding among us. They paid the price for that.”

  “They’re dead?”

  “What else?” asked Dravek. “I was in a desperate situation.”

  Maddox studied the other who was so much like him. Yet, he’d already detected differences between them. “Did your partners want to take the spaceliner somewhere else?”

  “That they most certainly did.”

  “Do you have my intuitive knack?”

  Dravek seemed momentarily confused by the question.

  That gave Maddox the answer. Dravek didn’t have his intuitive sense. He doubted the other was a di-far either. The other also wouldn’t have the Erill spiritual energy. Those were all critical differences.

  “Did you plan to acquire a seer before navigating the cloud?” Maddox asked.

  Dravek sighed. “She was part of the original crew, the only one who sided with me, I might add.”

  “They hurt or killed her,” Maddox said, reading the signs. “That was why the others died.”

  Dravek stared at him. “Do you know that it’s unsettling talking to you? It’s as if you’re reading my mind. You’ll know I don’t like that.”

  “I know.”

  “Still, I need your help. So we’re stuck with each other, for a while at least.”

  “To do what?” asked Maddox.

  Before Dravek could answer, a green light blipped repeatedly on a nearby screen. Then, the screen became blizzard-like.

  Dravek tapped controls. “The bastards are overriding the comm.”

  At that point, the screen blizzard diminished until a strange Soldier of Leviathan appeared on it before them.

  -6-

  The Soldier had a narrow face that was as much polished metal and hardened plastic as flesh. He had shiny silver metal eyes that moved smoothly in black plastic sockets.

  Behind him were a thousand lights flickering on wall-to-wall computer banks.

  “I am Sub-Commander Mune,” the Soldier said in an emotionless voice. “We have detected you on our sensors. You will immediately redirect your course and head for the warship.”

  Dravek opened channels. “I’d be happy to comply, sir. Unfortunately, I have a malfunction—”

  “We are aware of your unsophisticated use of ploys,” Mune said, interrupting. “You must comply or die. In this instance, the choice is yours.”

  “In that case, can you send someone out to help us fix the shuttle controls?” Dravek asked.

  Maddox nodded with approval. The clone used the right techniques.

  “Your ploy is a waste of time,” Mune said. “If you do not comply—”

  “Yes,” Dravek said sharply. “I’m changing course. I don’t want to die.”

  “I do not detect any deviation in the shuttle’s flight,” Mune said a moment later.

  “Your detectors must be malfunctioning then,” Dravek said. “I have definitely changed course.”

  “No…” Mune said. “A tech just ran a diagnostic on our detectors. The detectors are working perfectly. You have not changed course.”

  “I’m not trying to be contradictory,” Dravek said. “I’m sure your detectors are working perfectly. Remember, though, this is the Heydell Cloud. The energy surges here may be affecting your detectors in ways you cannot…perceive. Frankly, I’m not surprised your tech failed to discover the anomalies. I have most certainly turned back and am now headed directly for your warship. That is an irrefutable fact.”

  “It is barely conceivable that you have a point,” Mune said. “However, given your proclivity for using subterfuge in these situations, I must conclude your words are a ploy. Your ship hasn’t turned back. It is not headed here. Thus, you should prepare to die.”

  “Wait, wait,” Dravek said. “I’m coming in now. You’re right. I wasn’t headed for you until this moment. Your threats are taken at face value here. I fear what you’ll do. I swear to you my ship is already changing course. I desperately want to live.”

  On the small screen, Mune looked away and checked something. Soon, he looked at Dravek again. “This is another lie. You are continuing your present course. I am charging the fusion cannon.”

  “Mune,” Dravek said. “I have Maddox with me. He’s my prisoner.”

  “That changes nothing.”

  “Doesn’t Leviathan want Captain Maddox?”

  “Of course,” Mune said.

  “I claim the reward for his capture,” Dravek said. “I’m short of funds and ask that you promise to enrich me and let me go after I give you Maddox.”

  Mune stared silently at Dravek. “No. This is part of your ploy. I am firing.”

  “You bastard,” Dravek said. “I’m trying to surrender. Why are you making it so difficult?”

  “Me?” Mune said, almost sounding offended. “I have given you every opportunity to comply—”

  The connection cut. At that moment, the great spaceliner detonated, kilometers of ship all down the line.

  Dravek shouted triumphantly. “Finally! Hang on, Maddox. We’re going to accelerate. I hope we’re far enough away that the debris doesn’t kill us.”

  Maddox sank into the cushioned chair, the acceleration immediate and building.

  “Do we have gravity dampeners on this thing?” Maddox said.

  “Nope,” Dravek said.

  The G-forces built up as the shuttle continued to accelerate. Behind them, a part of the shredded mass of the exploded spaceliner headed for them. Red fusion beams burned into the expanding mass but failed to reach any designated targets.

  Likely, Dravek had set timed explosives inside the spaceliner to detonate and provide cover for them in the shuttle. It was what Maddox would have done in his place. It was a welcome thing to watch a truly competent operator at work.

  “How did we come to be here?” Maddox asked suddenly.

  Dravek snorted, shaking his head, perhaps in wonder.

  Maddox scowled.

  Perhaps Dravek noticed. “Listen, we should concentrate on surviving first. If we do, there will be plenty of time to talk about the other stuff. If we don’t survive, none of the other stuff will matter anyway.”

  “How did we reach the Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm?”

  Dravek shook his head. “You reached this region, probably coming from the planet of the Adoks. I’m thinking this was the region of my genesis. I started here, which means I came from here and didn’t travel all this way like you did.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh,” Dravek said. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  Maddox blinked thoughtfully, wondering how much he should trust Dravek.

  “After all I’ve done for you,” Dravek said, “you still don’t trust me?”

  Maddox cleared this throat. “I was approaching the refugee planet of the living Adoks.”

  “You mean Galyan’s people?”

  “Yes.”

  Dravek glanced at Maddox. “There are Adoks who survived the Swarm attack on their home planet?”

  “You don’t know about that?”

  “Friend, I already said. I don’t have your full memories. That was what the scientist told me anyway.”

  “Dravek the Scientist?”

  “Yup.”

  “And you took his name?”

  “Do you want to call me Maddox instead? We could do that.”

  “Definitely not,” Maddox said.

  “I didn’t think so. Hence, I took the name Dravek for your convenience.”

  Maddox considered that. “I appreciate it.”

  “Good. Because it feels weird hearing you call me that. Oh, oh.”

  Maddox craned his neck, studying the screen Dravek did. “Are those missiles?”

  “They sure are.”

  “Do we have any counter-fire batteries, any flares or decoys?”

  “You’re welcome to look. This is a civilian craft, so I doubt it. Maybe you can improvise something, which would be great, by the way.”

  Maddox swiveled in his seat. The acceleration hit him the wrong way then, but he endured as he studied a computer manifest. Finally, he swiveled so the seat helped him endure the continuing acceleration again.

  “Find something?” asked Dravek.

  “No.”

  “That’s a pity.”

  “How long can we continue speeding up like this?” Maddox asked.

  Dravek checked a gauge. “A few hours max, providing we dodge the missiles.”

  Maddox studied the missiles. “They’re going to be here in minutes.”

  “I noticed that, too. So… You see that vortex over there?”

  Maddox squinted. It looked like swirling dark space. What caused that? No. That didn’t matter. It was there.

  Are you taking us in?” Maddox asked.

  “I don’t know what else to do.”

  Maddox nodded. “I don’t either. Your decision strikes me as wise, as it’s better than being blasted apart.”

  “Those are my feelings exactly,” Dravek said. “We should reach the vortex…several seconds ahead of the missiles. I hope it’s enough.”

  “The cybers might detonate the warheads prematurely.”

  “Agreed,” Dravek said. “So what do you think? Do we accelerate so we black out or do we hope the cybers are nice and give us those few extra precious seconds?”

  Maddox tightened in his grip on the armrests.

  Dravek noticed. “That’s what I thought. Better to face the unknown like Hannibal crossing the swamps than die by blast.”

  Maddox remained silent, waiting.

  Dravek glanced at the rapidly approaching vortex, his knuckles turning white on the controls. “Hang on,” he said, a note of grim determination in his voice. “We’re about to test our toughness.”

  In seconds, the shuttle dramatically increased acceleration.

  Maddox fought for consciousness. Did the comm blink again? Did Dravek shout an aphorism? Perhaps one of the warheads detonated. Maddox had no idea, and then he blanked out because there wasn’t enough blood and oxygen in his brain to keep him awake.

  At that point, the shuttle aimed directly toward the swirling dark mass, the anomaly in space. Beyond it, purple energies churned and white particles flew like comets.

  This was the Heydell Cloud, an infamous region of space for reasons Maddox had no idea.

  Tense seconds passed. The missiles jumped acceleration, racing faster. One warhead detonated, its energies expanding at the speed of light.

  Maybe it was too late to make any difference. The shuttle was gone. It disappeared as soon as it entered the vortex. Did some of the gamma and x-ray radiation also zip into the vortex?

  It was impossible to tell from here. The blast did nothing noticeable to the vortex, as it continued to spin as it had for the past one hundred and sixty-eight hours.

  -7-

  Inside the shuttle, lights flashed and metal groaned as the vessel violently shook. Controls and circuits burned, producing a harsh electric stench as smoke billowed within the cabin.