Liam fled from Maddox, grounding itself at the foot of the bright marble column.

  “Great Id,” Liam said in its squeaky voice, “I abase myself before thee. Captain Maddox asked me to join him, and I felt it would be ungracious to say no. Thus, I am here. I hope you do not mind.”

  A beam shot from the column, hitting and obliterating the mote of metal until it was slag.

  Maddox realized he was dealing with a needlessly cruel entity and that he was helpless before it. That meant he needed to focus. He also needed to release his hatred of the column. He needed a clear mind. Liam had called the pillar “Id.” Did that mean the pillar was Id or the entire spheroid?

  Maddox approached cautiously, attempting to put his mind in the right frame. The needless destruction of the mote spoke about Id’s arrogance.

  “Yes,” a voice echoed in his head.

  “Did you just speak to me, great Id?” Maddox asked, his voice booming as the pillar of light flashed. Maddox wondered if he should bow or bend the knee. He couldn’t make himself. Instead, he observed the pillar through narrowed eyes.

  “You are too proud and arrogant,” Id declared verbally. “I can quash you as easily as I did the mote. It disobeyed me. That’s why I destroyed it. None defies me on my spheroid. Here my will is law. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Maddox said, as he nodded to himself. This was like dealing with an enemy warship commander. That helped frame this, and his response. “I indeed comprehend. I run a starship, and on its bridge, my word is law.”

  “You are a man of authority, then,” Id said.

  “Yes, and you are an entity of authority.”

  “I control everything on this spheroid. It is all me.”

  “Are you the hills and rivers as well?”

  “Not that,” Id said. “They are flotsam I’ve allowed so creatures can live on me, so I can study and play with them. I’ll toy with everyone on Victory in time. They are mine to toy with as I see fit. You destroyed my three hunters. That was not right, Captain.”

  “I understand and respect your position and thinking. However, they attacked me, and they would have killed me if I’d permitted it.”

  “I can do much worse,” Id said.

  “I have no doubt. You are, after all, Id. You’re in control here. Are you an organic creature or something else?”

  “Halt your incessant questioning. I am in command. I decide. You’re less than an insect to me. A microbe, or perhaps even less than a virus.”

  “I see,” Maddox said. “You used the word virus on purpose, I think. You knew Omegan?”

  “I knew of him.”

  “You had no communication with him?”

  “Again, you question me, Captain. I’ve told you I won’t tolerate questioning. Do you wish to die the way Liam did?”

  “I don’t wish to die at all,” Maddox said. “And as per your command, I’ll refrain from questioning you. I’d like to gain your favor.”

  “I doubt you can do so unless you choose to be a hunter. Yes. Choose two amongst your crew on the ship, those swift of foot and ready to kill and eat their prey.”

  “It seems that you’re implying the hunters would have eaten me.”

  “That’s a question,” Id said.

  Light flashed from the pillar, the light enveloping Maddox, causing intense agony as if his skin and muscles were on fire. When the light ceased, Maddox sagged to his knees, struggling to breathe.

  “That was the merest touch of my displeasure,” Id said. “You will conform to my will, or you will die, or you will suffer. You will suffer for as long as Omegan has practiced his arts in the other place.”

  “I understand,” Maddox said in a gasping voice. “You are powerful. I have made an error in questioning you. I have made an error in trying to stand against you.” Maddox paused, then bowed his head, got onto his hands and knees and placed his forehead on the ground.

  “An act of submission,” Id noted. “I am pleased. Yes, you will be my hunter if you will devour my foes.”

  “Indeed I will,” Maddox said. “I wonder—and I only ask this if you permit it—as it may bring greater joy to you if I can learn this thing.”

  “Very well, speak. But if you try to interrogate me so as to bring advantage to you, you will know more pain.”

  “I do not want to feel any more pain,” Maddox said. “But there are other ships nearby with Inkari in them.”

  “The Inkari,” Id said. “They have escaped me for long eons. I have built pools to keep them, and there I would toy with them. But Omegan has protected the Inkari from me.”

  “I have destroyed Omegan.”

  “You?” Id said. “How is that possible?”

  “I will relate the process to you if I have your permission.”

  “Yes, speak,” said Id.

  Maddox recounted what had happened, detailing how he and Meta had gone to the Great Station, planted the Prism Drive Bomb, and destroyed the interdimensional drill.

  “How fascinating,” said Id. “This means the Seekers will not come through. I am pleased. Yes, I am greatly pleased. However, with Omegan’s destruction, he will no longer draw spaceships to Bluemar. I will not be able to pick off a few. I will have to sustain myself for years and millennia with just those on Victory. You have done me harm, Captain, through slaying Omegan.”

  “May I address your lordship with a different possibility?” Maddox asked.

  “Speak, worm. You disgust me, you foul piece of filth. I should destroy you. No, I want to see you suffer for ages.”

  “The Inkari—perhaps I could help you capture them.”

  “You?” asked Id. “How could you help me?”

  “By using Victory to draw the Inkari to you”

  “Oh, you sly dog, you cunning worm of a human,” Id said. “You seek to reach your starship and leave me, using subterfuge against me.”

  “I cannot leave underspace without the Prism Drive.”

  “Ah, I perceive,” Id said. “You cannot escape this realm. That is good to know. But why would you draw the Inkari to me?”

  “To gain your favor,” Maddox said, “to be the last one brought down to your planet.”

  “You think I will agree to this?”

  “You will do as you wish. I merely seek to raise my status from worm and dog to one who pleases you.”

  “Maddox, you are clever and devious. I know what you’re planning. You will try to go anyway and leave me. But I no longer care because you have ceased to amuse me. And do you know why? Because of the Inkari. I have longed to capture and toy with them, and pull their tentacles from them. With Omegan gone, their protector is gone. I shall finally have my way with them. I will do as I please. You are no longer a worm, Captain. You are glorious. I have long wanted to destroy Liam, but I set myself limits. I allow creatures to cross those limits, and then I pounce with relentless fury. I am Id. I do as I please and when I please. In this place, I am the most powerful of beings. Now, I will grant you leave if you can worm your way through underspace.”

  “Could you grant me a drive to push through the phases of underspace?” Maddox asked.

  “No,” Id said. “You’ll have to do this through your own tenacity, your own genius. Perhaps one among your crew thinks he is clever. Let him or her, as the case may be, do this. I desire to torment the Inkari and can hardly think of anything else.”

  “May I ask a different question which is only to satisfy my own curiosity about your greatness?”

  “Ask, ask,” Id said. “I find that I am in a wonderful mood.”

  “Are you from Dimension X?”

  “I am indeed. I slipped through the natural opening. I was once a—never mind who I once served. He is not coming. I am all-powerful here. Do you understand that, Maddox? I rule. And I believe, you sly worm, you glorious piece of filth, that you will bring me more ships because you will tell them of me and some will travel through underspace to study me. Then I will snatch them. Besides which, you earned this. You slew the three hunters. I had grown bored of their antics. The Inkari—ho, ho. You may wonder why I don’t keep you and the Inkari. It is because of balance. I understand the cosmic properties, yin and yang, right and wrong.

  “So now,” Id said, “I am sending you back to your starship. I no longer need you. I anticipate the Inkari swimming in my pools and struggling to escape my plots. For eons, the Inkari have mocked me, passing in their saucer ships, fleeing and sending bitter messages to me concerning my impotence. But now, now that Omegan is gone, now that you have unleashed me and the rest of us from underspace, thank you, Maddox. You did us a great service, though I suspect in the years to come, you will be sorry that I released you.”

  Maddox had a vague feeling of dread. Had he released the mad Id from underspace? If so, how had he done it?

  In the next instant, Maddox no longer stood before the pillar. He stood on the bridge in Victory. Lights were coming on. People who sat motionless at the controls slowly began to awaken. Moments later, Galyan appeared before him.

  “Captain Maddox,” Galyan said, “this is unwarranted. How…I thought…this doesn’t make sense.”

  “Galyan, fire up the engines and start plotting a course out of underspace.”

  “Sir,” Galyan said, “the spheroid entity below—”

  “Don’t think anything, but do exactly as I say. Do you understand, Galyan?”

  “I do, Captain. I do.”

  “Hurry then and do as I’ve commanded.”

  Galyan hurried.

  Soon, Victory continued its journey through underspace, seeking to reach normal space.

  -77-

  Galyan, Ludendorff and Andros working together found the path that had brought Victory many levels up through underspace. In one hour and twenty-seven minutes, Victory reappeared in normal space. They were in an open area in the Aquila Rift. This area or region had no star or planet.

  “We did it,” Maddox said.

  He’d been in a cold sweat ever since leaving Id. He never wanted to go back into underspace. He didn’t see why anyone would. Had Id been right and would some of the underspace beings escape that realm, especially now that Omegan no longer anchored or used them? If so, maybe these beings would continue to haunt the Aquila Rift. If so, Maddox never wanted to be in the Aquila Rift again.

  Using the Long-Range Builder Comm device, he spoke to his grandmother, who was at Pluto, operating the Long-Range Builder Scanner. He gave her their coordinates.

  “I see you, grandson, I see you.”

  “We want to come home,” Maddox said. “Could you speak to those at the Builder Nexus near Earth?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  “Before you do that, have you seen any sign of Leviathan’s battle fleets near the Commonwealth?”

  “None,” Mary said.

  “I suspect they’ll appear first at Omicron 9.”

  “We have thought likewise,” Mary said, “but so far there has been no sign. Our main fleet has been gathering near Earth and is ready to launch against Omicron 9 the moment Leviathan’s fleet appears.”

  “That sounds like a fine strategy,” Maddox said. “Now, grandmother, as quickly as you can, can you tell them to bring us home.”

  In two hours and fifteen minutes, a hyper-spatial tube appeared. Victory entered it and left the Aquila Rift.

  The starship appeared near Earth.

  There were hundreds of warships gathered for a strike against wherever Leviathan showed itself.

  Soon, Victory was in close orbit around Earth. Teams began to come aboard as the crew headed for debriefing on Earth.

  Maddox flew down to Geneva and found himself in the office of the Lord High Admiral. There he related all that had taken place. Soon, the chief of Star Watch Intelligence joined them, huge General Mackinder. Maddox continued with the tale, filling in details where needed. Cook and Mackinder listened closely, Mackinder scribbling notes from time to time.

  Cook rose and went to his window, staring out even as Maddox continued to tell them what had happened.

  “Fascinating,” Cook said once.

  At last, Maddox sat back in his chair, exhausted. He wanted some rest and refit, all right. It still was amazing to him that he was no longer on that strange spheroid of Id but on Earth, home sweet home.

  “So,” the Lord High Admiral said, “Leviathan tricked us. They lured Victory into this Aquila Rift. The Seekers—would they have ever come through if you hadn’t gone?”

  “Oh, yes,” Maddox said. “The Seekers would have come through.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at the Lord High Admiral. “I wonder if that is exactly what Leviathan was waiting for.”

  “What do you mean?” Cook asked.

  “These Seekers sound dreadful,” Maddox said. “Perhaps they have vast maneuvering capabilities. Clearly, we would have fled from them if we had survived in any way and headed for the Commonwealth. Would the Seekers have followed us? If so, Star Watch would have thrown its warships against them. Perhaps that is what Leviathan is waiting for. Perhaps,” Maddox said, “they wished for us to unleash the Seekers. Unleash them at the Commonwealth. Whoever found them first, perhaps the evil one would have interrogated and ripped apart all thoughts from their mind and gone against that empire. Leviathan did not want to be struck first. Therefore, they set us up so that the evil one and his Seekers would come at humanity first, and then Leviathan would swoop in.”

  “What do you think?” Cook asked General Mackinder.

  “Devious and clever,” Mackinder said. “Clearly, the cyber aliens have not attacked us yet. They’re waiting for something. That could be it.”

  “Yes,” Cook said, “they’re waiting for something. What do you suggest, Captain? What do you think we should do next?”

  “The same,” Maddox said. “It’s a waiting game as each hopes the other makes a terrible mistake. Leviathan clearly knows more about us than we know about them. They have been sending spies for some time.”

  General Mackinder of Intelligence scowled.

  “I was kidnapped several years ago,” Maddox said. “Leviathan has infiltrated the Commonwealth on all sorts of levels. We have gone there twice. Well, I have. Perhaps, it is time I reunited with Dravek in the Heydell Cloud and caused havoc and trouble for Leviathan.”

  “Use those of the Heydell Cloud?” Mackinder asked.

  “I don’t know about using them, but maybe work out an alliance,” Maddox said.

  “What about these crystals of Helion?” Cook asked.

  Maddox nodded. “That’s another possibility.”

  “Are you suggesting we should send Victory to Helion?” Cook asked.

  “Not quite yet,” Maddox said.

  “I wonder if we should send a team to the Library Planet,” Cook said.

  “The Supreme Intelligence won’t want us there,” Maddox said, “but I do think it would be good if he were to teach us how to move the Builder pyramids.”

  “Meaning what?” asked Cook.

  “Perhaps we need to move the Builder Nexus out of the Omicron 9 System and bring it elsewhere,” Maddox said. “We don’t want Leviathan getting hold of it to send raiding fleets throughout the Commonwealth.”

  Cook sat at the desk and drummed his thick fingers on it. “Your grandmother is in charge at Pluto. I’ll have her scan and search ever farther afield. It takes time to search all the different places, but we need to find exactly where Leviathan is waiting and what they plan to do next. It would be good to know more about their numbers, armaments, and ship types. If what you say is true, Captain, they know what kind of weapons we have and what kind of armor our warships possess.”

  “Exactly,” Maddox said. “We need more information about them.”

  “You’re sure these Seekers cannot break through?” Cook asked.

  “I’m sure, sir,” Maddox said.

  General Mackinder and the Lord High Admiral exchanged glances. Cook cleared his throat and pointed at Maddox. “You did well, Captain. You were— I won’t say lucky, because you seem to wield luck as a weapon. Perhaps that is what it means to be a di-far. In any case, you and your crew are on leave for the next few weeks. It’s time for you to take it easy and recoup from a harrowing and bizarre mission.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Maddox said. “If you hear any word or if Leviathan strikes and there’s a battle—”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Cook said, interrupting. “We’ll bring together every ship we can. But until then, Captain, you’ve earned some rest and relaxation. I want you to go with your wife and daughter and enjoy yourself. If wanted, we will supply you with a security detail.”

  “Not necessary at the moment, sir, but thank you.”

  “Good. You may go, Captain.”

  Maddox stood. He saluted sharply, and then took his leave.

  They had made it back after all the harrowing adventures, even that strange interlude with Id. It was too bad that Id had destroyed Liam. It would be good to know what the little mote of metal could have told them. But for now, he would go to the debriefing room, and then he would head home to Carson City. It was good to be home and to have brought everyone back with him, to have nipped in the bud this terrible possibility of the evil one and his Seekers.

  Maddox yawned, feeling dreadfully tired.

  -78-

  Far from Earth, on the Library Planet, deep in its bowels, Golden Ural stood before the large screen that showed the Supreme Intelligence with his Medusa-like braids of hair.

  “So, Ural,” the Supreme Intelligence said, “would you like to know the latest?”

  “Indeed,” Ural said. He had been working the past few weeks at continuing his epic debugging efforts. That meant moving through endless corridors of computer banks and other machines that made up the gargantuan Supreme Intelligence. He had found evidence that the Leviathan virus had seeped through here and there, particularly in sensor-node readings concerning the Aquila Rift.

  “I have read your report,” the Supreme Intelligence said. “You wonder whether Leviathan wanted me to send Captain Maddox and his crew to the Aquila Rift.”