“Mine.” Keith turned to the table, went around the long way—to avoid being near her, no doubt—leaned on the felt and made his shot. His striped ball stopped just short of the side pocket.

  “Here we go,” Valerie said, forcing cheer into her voice.

  She concentrated, making three shots in a row. When she looked up at Keith, she found him frowning. “What’s wrong with you? Afraid I’m going to win?”

  He sneered.

  That made Valerie angry. She studied the balls and she made every shot, sinking the eight ball into the side pocket where she’d pointed.

  “That was fun,” Keith said in a neutral tone. “I’m going to turn in.”

  Valerie watched him put up his cue stick: and she almost let him go. He was being petulant, a baby about this.

  He hesitated as he let go of the stick. Then, his shoulders stiffened and he started for the exit.

  “Keith, wait,” Valerie said.

  He took two more steps as if he hadn’t heard her. Then, he stopped abruptly, but he didn’t turn around.

  That made Valerie angry again. What was wrong with him? In her mind’s eye, for just a moment, she could see Meta sipping coffee, nodding and listening. Meta thought it would be a good idea for her to get back with Keith.

  “What do you want?” Keith said, without turning around.

  “To talk to you.”

  Keith turned then, touching his chest with his left hand. “Me? You want to talk to me?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “You beat me at pool.”

  “So? Is that a problem for you? I can’t ever win?”

  His face was blank, and then animation filled it as if a dam broke and flooded him with emotion. “You’re a lieutenant commander. I’m just a lieutenant. Surely, I’m too low for someone like you.”

  Valerie frowned. “Is that the problem between us?”

  “What problem?”

  She approached him, and she held out her hands.

  Keith hesitated again, but then he reached out and took hold of her hands.

  That felt good. He hadn’t done that for a long time. “I’ve missed you,” Valerie whispered.

  Keith stared into her eyes, and he squeezed her hands. A second later, as a thought must have intruded, he frowned.

  “What’s wrong now?” Valerie asked.

  “You’re winning. I’m losing.”

  “What? You mean the pool game?”

  “That, and our careers,” Keith said. “I know women don’t like dating beneath their status.”

  Valerie blinked several times. “Is this about your pride?”

  His eyes became hot. “Maybe.”

  She nodded, but she didn’t let go of his hands. “You’re the best pilot in Star Watch.”

  Keith cocked his head. “You know, it’s funny. These days, others tell me that, but I don’t tell them. And if it was true, you’d think I’d get a promotion.”

  “Have you lost your confidence?”

  Keith frowned. “I know I’m still the best. But…but maybe I have lost a step, or whatever.”

  Valerie didn’t know how to reply to that. So, she sidestepped the topic, and said, “I miss you.”

  That seemed to take him by surprise. “I miss you,” he said, with a burr in his throat.

  “Can…can we try again?”

  “I’d like that—if you’d like that.”

  “I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.”

  “No. I guess not.”

  They stood there, holding hands, not saying anything, as if they both had to work at it to look into each other’s eyes.

  “We’ll work through this,” Keith said suddenly.

  “You mean my higher rank?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I suppose…I suppose no one can match me at piloting. That makes me good enough for you.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  He frowned, looking down.

  Valerie shook his hands. “Keith. I was joking. Where’s the cocky bastard I once knew? What happened to him?”

  Keith’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. “Let’s find out,” he said, with a sudden mischief in his voice that hadn’t been there for a time.

  “How and where?” Valerie asked archly.

  “Come with me,” Keith said, releasing one of her hands and tugging with the other.

  Valerie giggled, letting him pull her out of the rec room.

  -81-

  Sergeant Riker wore sweat pants, a sweat suit and sneakers as he walked down ship corridors. He’d been out of medical for a time, the chief medical officer telling him that his heart was looking better than before.

  “You still need to take it easy, though,” the doctor had said.

  “For how long?”

  “I’d say the rest of your life.”

  “I can’t strengthen my heart compared to what it used to be?”

  “Oh, you can do that. Or even get an artificial heart. But isn’t it time to do something else with your life?”

  “Like what?” asked Riker.

  “That’s for you to decide.”

  Riker was thinking about that as he walked with a quick gait down various corridors. He’d been walking for weeks already, and he’d been watching his diet, too. He’d come upon intermittent fasting. It was actually fairly easy compared to his other diets.

  It amounted to stop eating at six p.m. and not resuming until ten in the morning the next day. That gave him sixteen hours of fasting. That gave his body time to unclog, as it were, and begin to work upon his fat stores, consuming them. The trick was to avoid sugar and too many carbohydrates. Otherwise, he could eat what he wanted during the rest of the time, well, within reason, anyway.

  He’d been doing this for several weeks already and had lost two pounds and was feeling better. He wasn’t as hungry all the time, either, which made the diet easier. He’d even been picking up energy.

  Still, taking care of himself was key. He still took the heart pills, but he was thinking about giving them up. He would exercise, eat right and try to avoid too much stress.

  The funny thing was that thinking about quitting Star Watch for good was the most stressful thing he could conceive. So, for the moment, he did not plan to quit or to take up deskwork, as that would also stress him out. He liked being in the field, occasionally called upon to work with the youngster, Maddox.

  Given that, he needed to be in better shape. In the coming weeks, Riker planned to ride a bicycle through the larger hangar bay corridors. That would get his heart pumping, strengthening it for the moment he needed to sprint.

  Maybe he was too old to sprint. But if he gave it up for good, then he really would be old, and he didn’t want to be that. If trying to remain younger killed him, then so be it. If trying to be younger kept him in better shape and spirits—that was the goal.

  What was the point of puttering around in his garden on Earth or going to the pub in the city for a few beers? What did retirement really bring a man? Many men died soon after retiring. The ones that did best had an absorbing hobby. Other than his trees, Riker didn’t have a hobby. This was his hobby. This was what he’d keep doing so he’d keep going.

  Riker smiled.

  “What is so funny, Riker?”

  The sergeant didn’t turn around to see who’d spoken because he already knew whom it was. “Are you following me, Galyan?”

  “I am. Are you angry with me?”

  “Not a bit,” Riker said, glancing over his shoulder at the drifting holoimage. “Is something wrong?”

  “I am not certain, Riker. I think so.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “I would like that very much. Do you have the time?”

  “I do. Walk with me, Galyan.”

  “Can I drift beside you instead?”

  “Don’t be so literal,” Riker said.

  “I will try.” The little Adok holoimage drifted beside the fast-walking Riker.

  “So, what’s the matter?”

  “It is our present mission,” Galyan said.

  “Finding the Adoks?”

  “That is correct.”

  “What has you concerned: that we won’t find them or that we will?”

  Galyan turned and stared in amazement at Riker. “I suppose this is why I picked you. No one else would guess that finding the Adoks might trouble me.”

  “Go on.”

  “I…Have I been acting differently lately?”

  “By asking the question, you’ve already answered it.”

  “Yes?” asked Galyan.

  “Yes,” Riker said with a nod. “You’ve been acting differently.”

  “I thought so. I believe when I took command of the starship, when I formally took over, that did something to my programming.”

  “You mean when Meta made you the acting captain?”

  “Correct,” Galyan said.

  “Why would that be the case?”

  “I do not know, and that is bothering me.”

  Riker nodded sagely.

  “You understand then?”

  “What?” Riker asked. “No, nodding in this case simply means I’m acknowledging I heard you. I’m just listening to you.”

  “You are good at that.”

  “I’ve had to be,” Riker said. “The captain often doesn’t care for conversation, but to voice his thoughts as he works through them.”

  “I think I am afraid the Adoks will chastise me,” Galyan said. “They will believe I have failed in my programmed task.”

  “Guarding your homeworld?”

  “Correct,” Galyan said.

  “Your homeworld was destroyed, though.”

  “The planet was turned into rubble, but it is not gone.”

  “Same difference,” Riker said.

  “I am not sure the Adoks would view it that way. I was given a charge, a holy mission: that of guarding the homeworld. I have left it and thus failed in my duty.”

  “We came and got you after you’d guarded the pile of rubble for over six thousand years.”

  “It was still my decision whether to work with you Earthlings or not. In the end, after some glitches, I have done so, leaving my old mission behind.”

  “Well…if we find the Adoks, it will be due to you.”

  “That is true. But they might not want to be found.”

  Riker shook his head ruefully.

  “Did I say something stupid?” Galyan asked.

  “No. You’re having a very human moment. You want something, but now as the possibility looms, you’re not so sure it will be good for you—or if you even want it still.”

  “Yes. That was well said.”

  Riker nodded again.

  “What if the Adoks wish me to destroy all of you for causing me to desert my post?”

  “Are you like Adoks?”

  “I have believed that I am.”

  “Then, I doubt that will be the case,” Riker said. “I’m guessing the Adoks are good aliens, at least from our human perspective. I think Adoks and humans will get along.”

  “I dearly hope so. You are my family. For six thousand years, I existed alone. Now, to lose my family—”

  “And maybe gain your race,” Riker said.

  “I do not want to hurt any of you.”

  “You know, Galyan, sometimes one can worry too much. Sometimes, the best thing is to go with the flow and see what happens. Did you know that most things that we humans worry about never come to pass?”

  “Are you saying that worrying is foolish?”

  Riker chuckled. “You ever hear of Jesus Christ?”

  “The Son of God?” asked Galyan.

  “That’s the one. Jesus once said, ‘Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?’”

  Galyan’s eyelids fluttered for a time. Once finished, the holoimage stared at Riker in surprise. “That is a brilliant observation. Worry brings stress to humans, and it is possible it has been causing small malfunctions to my programming.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a kick,” Riker said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “That a computer… No,” Riker said. “I was thinking about you wrong. The Adok AI system is far more advanced than anything we’ve been able to achieve. You have…human-like qualities that seemingly defy simple computer programming.”

  “I want to do the right thing,” Galyan said. “I want to do the right thing by any living Adoks and by my adopted family.”

  “That’s a noble sentiment.”

  “Thank you, Riker.”

  “It makes me think you’re going to do just fine.”

  Riker fell silent afterward, as he continued to march rapidly down the corridor. Galyan kept pace, floating along.

  After a time, Galyan said, “I am attempting now to initiate new protocol. I will not worry about what is going to happen. I will work to achieve our quest: finding the Adoks. I am not going to fear what happens after that—or I am going to attempt not to worry about it.”

  Riker nodded briskly.

  “Thank you for your time, Sergeant. I believe it was well spent.”

  “You’re very welcome,” Riker said.

  With that, Galyan vanished.

  Riker shook his head again. If he retired, he would miss times like these. Thus, he would stay on until they kicked him out of the service or until he died in the harness.

  Interestingly, Riker found himself grinning widely. Would they find Adoks? After all this time, had a group of them survived the centuries?

  “Huh,” Riker said. “Imagine if we find them.” He was looking forward to it, and he wondered how long the captain would continue to sweep the nebula in search of Adoks.

  -82-

  Victory star-drive jumped from the dense nebula into the outer system of the star twelve light-years from Remus.

  Upon arrival, it was obvious this system was different from the others. The star was hotter but smaller than the others in the nebula. But like those stars, this one had either consumed or driven off any excess nebula matter.

  What proved interesting were the planets or lack thereof. There were no comets, asteroids or gas giants in the outer system. It was barren of anything, which struck the crew as odd.

  “What are we looking at in-system?” Maddox asked from his command chair.

  Andros was busy at his science station. Galyan stood still, his eyelids fluttering. Lieutenant Barnes studied his weapons panel.

  Maddox waited. They were approximately the same distance from the star as Saturn in the Solar System was from the Sun.

  “There are three terrestrial planets within the inner system,” Andros declared. The inmost two are small, each a little bigger than the planet Mercury.”

  “The third planet from the star is like the Adok homeworld,” Galyan said. “It has twelve moons of unusual composition, each equidistant from the other and orbiting the planet at the same speeds and distances. All the moons are identical, of the same mass, about a quarter that of Luna around Earth. Captain, that isn’t a natural phenomenon.”

  “I wouldn’t think so.”

  “I’m detecting communications, industrial output and powerful sensors scanning in all directions,” Andros said.

  “Coming from the third planet?” Maddox asked.

  Andros tapped his science board before studying a screen. “No, sir,” the Chief Technician said. “These signals are all coming from the moons.”

  “I don’t like this,” Valerie said.

  “How can you say that?” Galyan asked, sounding wounded. “We have surely found the missing Adoks. This is incredible.”

  “The Unity sent us here, remember?” Valerie said.

  “I propose that in the end, in their desperation, the Unity was dealing with us in earnest,” Galyan said.

  “How likely do you think that was?” Valerie asked.

  “Sir,” Galyan said, ignoring Valerie, “we must head in-system and see this planet. My people could be there.”

  Maddox studied the main screen.

  “This is it,” Galyan said. “We have succeeded.”

  Maddox turned to him. “How do you know?”

  Galyan raised his ropy holographic arms. “It makes sense. The Unity dealt fairly with us because they were desperate to survive Remus and return home with their data.”

  “Maybe,” Maddox said, unconvinced. “We’ll study the planet and its twelve moons from out here. Then…we’ll see.”

  “Surely, you cannot be thinking of leaving the star system without checking the third planet,” Galyan said.

  Maddox fixed the holoimage with a stern gaze, but in the end decided to forgo a reprimand for questioning him.

  ***

  After a twenty-four-hour period of scrutiny, without any signs of planetary life—although automated industries produced something—Maddox decided to bring the starship closer to the third planet.

  Using the star-drive jump, they appeared in the region the Asteroid Belt would be in the Solar System. The third planet here was halfway between what Earth and Mars would be at home.

  Once more, Andros, Galyan, Barnes and others studied the planet and its twelve moons.

  Despite its greater heat, the star did not spew more radiation than Earth’s sun, but a similar amount.

  “The moons are constructions,” Galyan declared after the third hour of study. “I am convinced each of them is hollow. The outer metal seems to be like an armored spaceship’s hull.”

  “I’d agree with that,” Andros said.

  “What about the planet?” Maddox asked.

  Andros shook his head. “I haven’t detected any signs of life. What about you, Galyan?”

  “Alas, I have not either,” Galyan said.

  “I think the moons are orbital fortresses,” Lieutenant Barnes said. “In fact, I suspect the moons would destroy us if we approached too closely.”

  “And now we know why the Unity sent us here,” Valerie said. “They hoped we’d be destroyed.”

  “That is not known,” Galyan said.

  “It might not be one hundred percent,” Valerie said. “But it’s where I’d place my bet.”

  Maddox glanced at her.

  “The Unity has shown universal hostility toward us,” Valerie said. “By suggesting we come here, they have remained true to form.”