“Son, I do what I can, how I can. I’m not a magician, nor am I a di far.”

  “The concept is highly overrated, sir,” Maddox said.

  “I used my Builder comm device,” Cook said. “The scanner crew on Pluto has studied the Alpha Centauri System. They found the Supermetals Planet and managed to zero in on it. Someone was mining it. They’re gone, though. There’s no sign of androids or Juggernauts.”

  “That means the Android Fleet is already on the move,” Maddox said. “Maybe that’s why the fold-fighters are high-tailing it to the Asteroid Belt. The Juggernauts will come in there.”

  “Or the fold-fighters are trying to deceive us,” Cook said. “The androids want us scared so I’ll call in the warships around Jupiter in order to combine all the vessels in the Home Fleet. They want us to let the Glorious Kent escape.”

  Maddox almost told the Lord High Admiral that he’d better combine the warships of the Home Fleet while he had the opportunity. Yet, he was only a captain in Star Watch. He was the junior officer here, not the leader. For once, Maddox held his peace. He didn’t have a good enough poker face, though.

  “Spit it out,” Cook said. “You want to tell me something.”

  “With your permission, sir…”

  “I told you to spit it out, son. Now, get to it.”

  “We have to destroy the Android Fleet—”

  “If it exists,” Cook said, interrupting.

  “It exists, sir. I suggest—” Maddox sat up. “I wonder if it’s possible to design a cloaking device able to deceive a Builder scanner.”

  “Oh…” Cook said. “That would be awful. That would mean—” The old man cocked his head. “How do you come up with these hairy scenarios?”

  “I think what I would do in their place given their objectives. Doctor Meyers is a Methuselah Woman. I suspect she was the chief servant to a Builder. That was over one thousand years ago. Yes. She must have access to incredible technology. She must know more about Builders than any human alive.”

  “Very well. You’ve sold me on the possibility. The Juggernauts might have advanced cloaking, good enough to deceive our Builder scanner. All right then, how do we find them? Maybe they’re already in the Solar System sneaking up on Earth right now.”

  “Or maybe they’re in the Solar System and sneaking up on the besieging warships around Jupiter,” Maddox said.

  Cook closed his eyes as if he was in pain. Then, he bowed his head and actually let it touch the table in front of him. Maddox wasn’t surprised to hear a quiet groan from the old man. What did surprise him was how long Cook let his head rest on the table, as if already defeated.

  “Are you all right, sir?” Maddox finally asked.

  Cook raised his head. He looked tired and old. “I’m not all right,” the admiral said. “There are too many variables and unknowns. If I guess wrong, Earth might die under a hail of hellburners. It’s starting to sound as if Doctor Meyers wanted us to trap her on Jupiter. That was the beginning of her plan, maybe to pull part of the Home Fleet’s warships there, to separate our fleets into manageable chunks.”

  “I’d call it a contingency plan, sir. Her plan A was to start a war between the New Men and the Commonwealth, but we foiled that and uncovered Hampton as her Manchurian candidate. If you would like my advice, sir…”

  Cook blinked several times and finally shook his head. “I’m the Lord High Admiral. They pay me to make the hard decisions. If I’m too old or too weak to do to my job, then it’s time to step down. But I’m not ready to step down just yet.”

  Cook continued to stare at Maddox, but the old man no longer seemed to see the younger one.

  “Listen to me,” Cook said shortly. “I’m sending Lieutenant Colonel Stokes to your ship. He is going to be my liaison with you. He will use a fold-ship to reach you. Afterward, I want you to track down the fold-fighters racing to the Asteroid Belt. Find out if Juggernauts are using or have used the Laumer Point there. Go to the other side if you have to. Find the Juggernauts, Captain, and then race home and tell me about them.”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddox said, wanting to ask what the admiral would be doing in the meantime with the Home Fleet. In the old days, he used Brigadier O’Hara, telling her his ideas to give to the Lord High Admiral. Could he use Stokes the same way?

  They were going to find out.

  -75-

  Lieutenant Colonel Stokes made it onto Victory. Seven minutes later, the starship used its star-drive jump, appearing in the Asteroid Belt near Ceres.

  The Laumer Point was two million kilometers from the biggest dwarf planet in the Asteroid Belt. Ceres was the regional capital of the belt. The local Star Watch fighters had not attempted to intercept the fold-fighters. Instead, they gave Maddox the exact time the tin cans had used the jump point to leave the Solar System.

  By that time, Stokes was on the bridge. The Intelligence chief looked around, whistling. “So this is where all the action takes place. It looks too ordinary for all the tales that have been generated from this bridge.”

  “Glad to have you aboard, sir,” Maddox said. “Would you like an extra chair brought on?”

  “Yes,” Stokes said.

  Two marines hurried out.

  “I’ve been doing some thinking,” Maddox said.

  “It would have surprised me if you hadn’t,” Stokes replied.

  “The Home Fleet is far smaller than usual. Is there a reason for that?”

  “You already know the reason,” Stokes said.

  Maddox stared at the lieutenant colonel.

  “Oh, I see,” Stokes said. “You already forgot your original assignment. You were supposed to head to the Vega System and find out about rebellious factions there, remember?”

  “Vega II is in revolt?”

  “No,” Stokes said. “The Vega System is surprisingly placid at the moment. That makes me highly distrust it. Something is going on there, but we lack the manpower to go and see. Star Watch, including Intelligence, is stretched to the limit. While you’ve been gone, the old man broke the fleet into a hundred different flotillas. I wouldn’t have recommended that, but it was his decision, not mine.”

  “Why all the flotillas?” asked Maddox.

  “To keep peace throughout the Commonwealth. Those hundred flotillas are garrisoning a hundred different star systems and helping to keep the populations quiet.”

  “That’s the wrong way to do it,” Maddox said. “If one tries to defend everywhere, he ends up defending nowhere.”

  “A catchy saying,” Stokes said. “The admiral’s strategy is working, though. Star Watch is showing the flag all over the Commonwealth, keeping rebels at home playing video games instead of marching in the streets, multiplying violence.”

  “Until now,” Maddox said. “The center is about to get hit hard, and there are too few warships at home.”

  “You are an astute study,” Stokes said. “Yes, until now. But with the Destroyer, Earth should be safe.”

  Maddox snapped his fingers. “I should have already seen the next move, as the Essex makes it obvious. The Destroyer is the key. With it on their side, the Rull androids would have butchered us. With it on our side, we’ll smear the Juggernauts. What do we know about the enemy? They have contingency plans, many of them, it seems. If they can’t have the Destroyer, surely they’ll try to annihilate it before the Home Fleet joins with it.”

  Stokes frowned as his right hand dug in a coat pocket and pulled out a pack of stimsticks. He stuck a stimstick in his mouth and inhaled it into life.

  Maddox debated telling the lieutenant colonel to put that out. He didn’t want his people having to deal with stimstick smoke on top of everything else. But Maddox kept quiet about the smoke for the moment.

  After several puffs, Stokes said, “The Juggernauts might use the Mercury Laumer Point. They will have taken a circuitous route from Alpha Centauri to reach that point. But if they pour out of the Mercury jump point, they could race to the Destroyer before the Home Fleet could interfere with them.”

  “We have to go back to the Destroyer,” Maddox said.

  Stokes inhaled more smoke, finally shaking his head. “Orders, don’t you know. We have to check this jump point first, even go onto the other side”

  “This is a rabbit trail. That’s what the fold-fighters are for. The Lord High Admiral was right the first time he guessed that.”

  “Now listen here, Maddox, you’re not going to change your orders with me aboard. I’m here to see that you do what you’re supposed to, not run off half-cocked like you do most of the time.”

  Maddox thought of several things to say at once. What he did say was this: “Lieutenant Colonel, you’ve pegged me. But that isn’t about me. Doctor Meyers is a Methuselah Woman. She was also the personal assistant to a Builder. Meyers is cunning. She’s going for the throat from the get-go. We can’t let her get the upper hand even once. If the Juggernauts destroy the Destroyer…can the Home Fleet finish off the Android Fleet?”

  Stokes stared at Maddox as he puffed his stimstick. “Do you know that you’re the most annoying person in Star Watch? I fail to see what the Brigadier ever saw in you.”

  “Saw?” Maddox said, with a tinge of panic. “Is she dead?”

  “What?” asked Stokes. “No! What makes you say that?”

  Maddox shook his head, relieved. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Stokes gave him a funny look, and finally dropped the stub onto the deck plates, using the bottom of his shoe to grind it out.

  That struck Maddox as a filthy habit.

  “Sir,” Keith said. “We’re near the Ceres Laumer Point.”

  Maddox raised an eyebrow at Stokes.

  “I can’t believe this,” the lieutenant colonel muttered. The Intelligence officer began to pace as he kept shaking his head.

  “It’s my ship,” Maddox said. “I’ll take full responsibility for my actions.”

  “That’s just it,” Stokes said. “I’m here to keep you responsible. Oh, hell,” he finally said. “You’re logical when you want to be. Yes. Let’s race to the Mercury jump point. I just hope Cook doesn’t bust me back to major when this is all over.”

  “Right,” Maddox said. “Mr. Maker—”

  “Aye, aye, mate,” Keith said. “I was listening. Now, we’re off to Mercury.”

  -76-

  Starship Victory waited like a shark, prowling near the Mercury Laumer Point. Valerie, Andros and Galyan all watched their sensors carefully, looking for any sign that cloaked Juggernauts were coming through or had already been this way.

  The ancient Adok vessel had been here for an hour already, coming up empty so far.

  “Sir,” Valerie said. “The Lord High Admiral is calling.”

  Maddox indicated that she put him on the main screen.

  Cook appeared. He was standing behind a table. No one else was in evidence, but it was clear that the Lord High Admiral stood in a conference chamber. Likely, more high brass stood just out of sight, having discussed the operational situation with the chief.

  There was a noticeable time lag now, minutes instead of seconds. Cook peered through the screen sternly, even though he couldn’t see any of them yet. That would come with Maddox’s return message.

  Earlier, Maddox had told the Lord High Admiral his plans via the Builder comm device.

  “This is a terrible risk,” Cook said slowly. “We have no evidence of Juggernauts, but if they are coming through soon and attack the Destroyer before the rest of the Home Fleet can reach Earth—I’m letting you know, Captain, I’m ordering the rest of the fleet to immediately head for Earth orbit. That means I’m letting the Glorious Kent escape Jupiter. I’m not happy about that.”

  “Sir,” Galyan said. “I’m detecting ion traces.”

  Maddox nodded to the holoimage even though he continued to listen to Cook’s message.

  “We have a lot to answer for, son. I pray you know what you’re doing. We…” Cook glanced at people standing out of sight. “That is all for now, the Lord High Admiral signing off.”

  Maddox swiveled toward Galyan. “Ion traces?” he asked.

  “Ion traces and strange magnetic activity,” Galyan said.

  “At the Laumer Point?” asked Maddox.

  “Negative, sir,” Galyan said. “They’re—Sir! I’ve spotted the Juggernauts. They’re well past us and accelerating. I suggest we give immediate chase and warm up the disruptor cannon.”

  “Where are they?” Maddox snapped. “I want exact coordinates.”

  “I am putting it on the main screen,” Galyan said.

  Maddox stood, approaching the main screen.

  There was empty space, and then fake outlines appeared where Galyan must estimate Juggernauts to be hiding.

  “They are ten million kilometers away from us, sir, heading directly for the Destroyer.”

  “How do you know those are Juggernauts?” Stokes asked.

  “Because of their ion disruption and magnetic anomalies,” Galyan said.

  “Maybe that’s more misdirection,” Stokes suggested. “If this Methuselah Woman is so smart, those could be decoys instead of Juggernauts.”

  Galyan’s eyelids fluttered before he said, “I give that a thirty-four percent probability.”

  “Why use decoys out here?” Maddox asked Stokes.

  “The best reason I can give is that Meyers wants the Star Watch ships to move away from Jupiter,” Stokes said.

  “They’re already doing that,” Maddox said.

  “You’ve made my point, Captain,” Stokes said.

  “But if those aren’t decoys—” Maddox turned to Keith. “Mr. Maker, get to the hangar bay. You’re going on an attack run with a tin can. I’ll give you the tactics once you’re in the fold-fighter. Go!” Maddox said.

  Without a word, Keith jumped up and raced for the exit.

  Valerie watched him go, worry etched across her features.

  ***

  Keith was alone in the fold-fighter, the special craft outside the starship. He was strapped in, tapping his piloting board and readying his sole payload for the mission.

  He had a big antimatter missile attached by clamps to the underbelly of the vessel. Yes, there were shells in the guns and a few small anti-torpedoes. But the purpose of this flight was to place the antimatter missile in exactly the right location. Not getting himself killed was secondary to the mission’s parameters.

  Keith practiced his breathing. He had taken a hypo-shot before boarding. It played havoc with his organs, and he would need to sleep long and hard for a week after this. But that was okay because the shot gave him a boost that would resist the fold lag.

  The fold-fighter didn’t have the same energy boost, but it was a specially designed vessel with features that gave it a faster recovery time than other vessels.

  “Are you ready?” Galyan asked.

  “What the—?” Keith shouted, startled by the holoimage’s appearance inside his fighter.

  “I am sorry, Keith,” Galyan said. “Did I startle you?”

  “Don’t do that again, mate.”

  “I came to deliver orders.”

  “That’s just dandy. What are they?”

  “Begin when ready,” Galyan said.

  “Aye, aye, mate, go tell the captain to watch close because this is going to be a show.”

  “That is a fine fighting spirit, Keith. Do you want me to wish you luck?”

  For just a second, Keith stared at the little holoimage. “Do what you want,” he said in a jaunty tone.

  “Good luck, Keith. I hope you succeed in the mission and that you come back alive.”

  Keith felt a lump in his throat, and he hated that. This was show time, it wasn’t emotional time.

  “All right, Galyan. You told me the message. Now get lost.”

  “Ah. That is an idiom for leave.”

  Galyan vanished as Keith’s hands blurred over the controls.

  A second later, the fold-fighter folded—and reappeared at the designated position. Keith raised his head, pulled a lever, releasing the missile from the clamps and began activating the fighter for another fold in order to get the hell out of here.

  That took time, though, as the fighter wasn’t as ready as its ace. Then, bam! the tin can disappeared as the fold mechanism activated once more.

  Keith lurched in his seat as the fighter reappeared again in real space and time. Seconds later, the antimatter warhead detonated twelve million kilometers away.

  -77-

  Maddox waited with baited breath aboard Victory, watching the screen that showed the targeted area.

  The antimatter explosion caused a momentary whiteout in the location. No sensor could penetrate that to see if there was something else. They had to wait for the whiteout to dissipate. When it did—

  “Seven Juggernauts,” Valerie said from her station. “That’s my count.”

  “Andros,” Maddox asked from his seat. “Do you confirm?”

  “I do, sir,” the Kai-Kaus said.

  “I do not,” Galyan said. “I count nine Juggernauts.”

  “Where?” asked Valerie.

  Galyan spit out several coordinates.

  “Confirmed,” Valerie said, checking her panel. “Yes, there are nine Juggernauts, sir.”

  Maddox saw the first one. It was a massive oval-shaped warship twenty kilometers in diameter. Nine of them meant the Android Fleet had more mass than the Destroyer did. Each Juggernaut had iridium-Z hull plating, making it the second best armored warship around. The electromagnetic shield of the Juggernaut he watched was black but getting brighter instead of collapsing from the antimatter blast.

  Could the shield have withstood a direct antimatter detonation? If that was true—

  “We found the Android Fleet,” Stokes said. “They definitely outmaneuvered our Home Fleet. What now, Captain? Do you have any more brilliant ideas?”

  “I’ll let you know,” Maddox said, jumping up and heading for the exit. He needed to talk to the Lord High Admiral via the Builder comm device.