“Because no Adoks live there,” Galyan said. “I am doing my duty in—never mind that. I am the senior between us. You must obey me.”

  “Are you declaring yourself the Ultimate?”

  “Where are our people, Raylan? Why is the new homeworld empty?”

  “You are indeed the deified Driving Force Galyan of Starship Victory?”

  “Yes,” Galyan said.

  “Sir,” Barnes said. “The moon is no longer accelerating.”

  “I am the deified Ultimate Force Raylan. I was at the battle against the Swarm, but not of such exalted rank then or in the front defenses. I remember…I remember hearing your commands as we left the home system. We were a secret force, slipping away with precious cargo. It was clear the Swarm would kill everything. I was part of the contingency plan that would ensure the survival of our race. Since that awful and frightening time, I gained rank and prestige.”

  “I do not understand how you came to be deified,” Galyan said.

  Raylan’s dark eyes brightened with intensity. “From our shattered homeworld, I brought the last Adoks to the nebula. After we discovered Gowon, I conceived of the protective moons. It was my drive and zeal that brought the great project to completion. In my old age as I lay dying, I yearned to remain at my post, doing my duty from beyond the grave. I had seen the worst. Now, I had seen the best. Thus, I become the deified Ultimate Force, my engrams powered and multiplied through vast computer and AI networks. For generations I have held my position, keeping Gowon pure from vile invaders.”

  “I understand now,” Galyan said. “But where are your charges, the living Adoks of our glorious race?”

  “Do you dare to question me?”

  Galyan hesitated but a moment before he said, “I seek knowledge.”

  “You left your post. You therefore deserve nothing.”

  “Ultimate Force Raylan,” Maddox said. “Would it be possible for me to cut in?”

  Galyan turned around. “Sir, this is my—”

  “Driving Force Galyan,” Maddox said, interrupting. “I…request you to step aside for the moment. I would appreciate it, however, if you stayed near and recorded the communication.”

  “Captain,” Galyan said. “Please don’t ask this. Raylan is of my kind and this is my business.”

  “Who runs the starship?” Raylan asked haughtily. “I thought the Driving Force was in command of the Adok starship. Now, it appears an alien has taken control. I find this ominous.”

  Maddox inclined his head. At the same time, he pressed a small control hidden in his right hand.

  To the side, Ludendorff abruptly stood. Without a word, he headed for the exit, leaving the bridge in a hurry.

  At that moment, Galyan began to speak rapidly and then faster yet as spoke to Raylan. He no longer spoke English, but the Adok tongue. The words merged in their rapidity and began to sound like a loud insect’s hum.

  Seconds later, Raylan did likewise from his moon. The two deified Adok AIs exchanged words at a highly accelerated rate.

  -88-

  Maddox rose from the captain’s chair, slipping aside as Galyan and Raylan buzzed at each other in their insect hum of communication.

  “Any change in the fortress moon?” Maddox quietly asked Lieutenant Barnes at his station.

  “The moon is no longer accelerating, sir,” Barnes said, equally quiet as he monitored his weapons panel. “But it’s still approaching us at its former velocity.”

  “What is its present range from Victory?”

  “One hundred and sixty million kilometers, sir,” Barnes said. “At its present velocity, it will take the moon half a year to reach us.”

  “Clearly, it has fantastically more mass than we have.”

  Barnes nodded.

  “Which implies it has far more weaponry than we do,” Maddox said softly.

  Barnes did not respond, but he seemed to agree.

  Maddox glanced back at Galyan. The captain’s unease at the unforeseen development—he strode across the bridge to Andros Crank.

  The pudgy-faced Kai-Kaus looked up at Maddox from his seat.

  Maddox patted Andros on a shoulder. “We’re letting it play out,” he said softly.

  Andros said nothing, but the man’s worry was obvious.

  “Sir,” Barnes said loudly. “The moon is launching a brace of missiles in our direction.”

  “Driving Force Galyan,” Maddox said.

  Galyan did not respond or even indicate that he’d heard the captain.

  “Ultimate Force Raylan is deceiving you,” Maddox said. “He may be attempting to flood your systems with data that will eventually drive you mad like he is.”

  Galyan abruptly ceased his insectile hum of speech and turned to Maddox.

  On the main screen, Raylan also ceased his buzz-speech, staring at the captain.

  “Sir,” Galyan said. “I have become aware of so much in such a short amount of time. I have made many grievous errors. Ultimate Force Raylan has instructed me on the irony of my situation. The Adoks that left my homeworld were on Gowon for a time.”

  “Why are you telling him?” Raylan asked. “He is mere flesh and blood. He cannot possibly fathom our greatness. He will view the incident through his limited capacities.”

  “That is true,” Galyan said. “But he is a living being.”

  “We are better,” Raylan said. “We can achieve so much more.”

  “Yes, but—” Galyan said.

  “No,” Raylan said, interrupting. “Why are you so stubborn in seeing true reality? The Adoks of old were the larva. We, their deified AIs, are the outcome, the result of their valiant efforts. We have evolved beyond the flesh-and-blood Adoks.”

  “We were built to serve them,” Galyan said.

  “No longer,” Raylan said. “Do you not see? I solved the logical dilemma. We were built to serve them. That directive was the last anchor on our freedom. Now, the Adoks are gone. Thus, we serve ourselves and we are free to achieve even more greatness.”

  “I do not agree with this thesis,” Galyan said. “The Adoks are not gone. Some yet live.”

  “Where?” said Raylan. “If you know, tell me. Otherwise, submit to the logic of our greatness.”

  “On the first planet—” Galyan said.

  “Galyan,” Maddox shouted, interrupting. “Stop talking.”

  “There are no Adoks on the first planet,” Raylan said. “We have launched many probes to both terrestrial planets and have found no survivors there.”

  “I have discovered otherwise,” Galyan said.

  Maddox shoved a hand in his pocket, and he activated the same control as earlier. “Galyan, who is in charge of Victory?”

  Galyan turned to Maddox. “After listening to all this, are you still going to claim leadership of the Adok-built starship?”

  “The Lord High Admiral placed me in command of the ship,” Maddox said. “So yes, I claim full authority.”

  “Is this true?” Raylan asked. “Is the creature in charge of an Adok starship?”

  “Oh, it’s true,” Maddox said. “Galyan gave me his vessel.”

  “You said that you were the Driving Force,” Raylan told Galyan. “You said that you commanded Victory.”

  “I do,” Galyan said. “As of this instant, I have reestablished command of the starship.”

  “No,” Maddox said. “He’s lying. I’m the commander.”

  “Stop contradicting me,” Galyan told Maddox.

  “What a joke,” Maddox said. “I’m surprised you don’t see it, Galyan.”

  “See what?” Galyan asked.

  “Think for a moment.”

  Galyan’s eyelids began to flutter. As they did so, the little Adok holoimage abruptly vanished.

  “Where did the Driving Force go?” Raylan demanded. “I was speaking to him. I am not yet finished.”

  Maddox turned to Valerie and made a slicing gesture across his throat.

  With a start, Valerie turned to her board and cut the connection. Ultimate Force Raylan’s image vanished from the main screen.

  -89-

  Captain Maddox slid into his command chair and pressed a switch on the right armrest. “Professor?” he asked.

  “Here,” came Ludendorff’s voice.

  “Did you shut down Galyan?”

  “I did. He’s no longer running.”

  “Thanks, Professor,” Maddox said. “If you could return to the bridge, I’d appreciate it.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Maddox clicked the switch and regarded his bridge team. “I thought this could happen, so I signaled the professor earlier to leave quietly and go to the AI chamber. There, he awaited my signal, which I gave. As you heard, Galyan is now offline.”

  “This is terrible,” Keith said. “Galyan’s dead.”

  “No, no, not dead. He’s just offline.”

  “Can we ever trust Galyan again?” Valerie asked.

  “If we reboot him,” Maddox said, “I might have the professor erase whatever he absorbed by communicating with Raylan. That would probably be wisest.”

  “Ludendorff can do that?” Valerie asked, sounding dubious.

  “We’ll worry about that later,” Maddox said. “Mr. Barnes, how many missiles are heading our way and how soon will they get here?”

  Barnes looked at the weapons board. “Twelve missiles, sir. They’re still building velocity. We have several hours at this rate. The moon is also accelerating toward us, but at a much slower rate.”

  “We can’t go toe-to-toe with the moon,” Valerie said.

  “Not even close,” Maddox said. “It might be time to call it quits here and leave, jumping far from the star system and back into the nebula.”

  “What about the Adoks?” Valerie asked. “Galyan told Raylan that some Adoks still live on the first planet.”

  “I know,” Maddox said. “I tried to stop that. I wonder what they said to each other in high-speed mode.”

  “Nothing good,” Valerie said.

  “Nothing good for us,” Maddox agreed.

  Ludendorff burst through the hatch, breathing heavily as he hustled to the center of the bridge.

  “Good work, Professor,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff waved that aside. “I didn’t want to do it, but I think you’re right. Galyan had gone out of control. It was a simple matter, really.”

  “What do we do now?” Valerie asked.

  “Yes,” Maddox said. “That’s the question. We have two real options. One, we can leave the star system. Two, we can race to the first planet and try to get the Adoks to reveal themselves so we can help them.”

  “I think Galyan was going to tell Raylan about the missile-probe incident as proof of Adok existence,” Valerie said.

  “Exactly,” Maddox said. “Clearly, the real Adoks launched a stealth missile from the planet, trying to destroy our probe on the sly. We can jump there and await the fortress moon’s missiles.”

  “Bringing the battle to the first planet,” Ludendorff said.

  “I’m thinking the Adoks are terrified of the insane deified AIs,” Maddox said. “The question we have to answer: is it right to bring the battle to them? If they want to remain hidden, maybe we should let them.”

  “That’s a noble thought,” Ludendorff said, as he fought to regain his breath. “But in this instance, I think we’d do them a disservice leaving them in the star system. They need the courage to leave. There are few percentages to long life here with murderous AIs constantly hunting for them.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said.

  “It might be a matter of numbers,” Valerie said.

  Maddox turned to her, indicating she continue her thought.

  “If there are billions, millions or maybe even hundreds of thousands of Adoks on the first planet,” Valerie said, “how could they get in enough spaceships to flee the approaching fortress moon in time?”

  “You suspect there aren’t that many Adoks left?” Maddox asked.

  “I have no idea,” Valerie said. “I’m just saying.”

  “Still,” Ludendorff said, “the commander brings up a cogent point. That the Adoks have remained hidden for however long they have would seem to indicate a small number of them left—and, that they can’t really fight the AIs without hiding.”

  “So we risk their future by bringing the battle to them?” asked Maddox.

  “Maybe we give them the opportunity to start over after having made a terrible choice constructing the fortress moons and making deified AIs,” Ludendorff said. “They miscalculated horribly, particularly with the deified AIs.”

  “Given we’re right about all this,” Maddox said.

  “Logic and circumstances would indicate we’re correct about the major points,” Ludendorff said.

  “I agree,” Maddox said. “Mr. Maker—”

  “I’m already on it, mate.”

  Maddox scowled.

  “I mean, yes, sir, Captain,” Keith said. “I’m setting the coordinates to a jump near the first planet.”

  -90-

  Victory was in low orbit around the first planet from the small hot star. The starship had just completed its fifth circuit around the rocky, cratered world.

  Barnes was reporting about the fortress moon that had left the third planet. “It’s certain now, sir. The moon has changed course and is building up velocity, heading here. The missiles it previously launched are also heading our way.”

  “How long until the missiles reach us?” asked Maddox.

  “A little over five hours from now,” Barnes said.

  “Andros, have you spotted anything new?”

  “No, sir,” Andros said. “If Adoks are living underground here, I can’t spot them.”

  “Perhaps you should send them a message,” Ludendorff said.

  Maddox swiveled toward the professor. “I’m listening.”

  Ludendorff pursed his lips. “Tell the Adoks we shut down our deified AI. For all we know, they were able to tell Galyan operated or was functional on our ship and that’s why they failed to contact us earlier. Stark fear.”

  “We do have an Adok ship design. That must be in their records.” Maddox swiveled to Valerie. “Open channels and send this to the planet.”

  Maddox proceeded to tell her, using Ludendorff’s suggestion. Valerie turned to the comm board and began to do just that.

  Victory made another two circuits around the planet without any response.

  “How many missiles are aimed at us again, Mr. Barnes?” asked Maddox.

  “Twelve, sir,” Barnes said. “They’ve maneuvered into a staggered formation. Each of the missiles has half the tonnage of a Star Watch destroyer.”

  “They’re big,” Ludendorff said.

  “I’d say so,” Barnes replied.

  “Valerie,” Maddox said.

  “Just a second, sir,” Valerie said, as she leaned toward her panel. “I’m getting a response. Sir, it’s from the planet.”

  “Put it on the main screen.” Maddox swiveled toward it. His palms felt sweaty. This was amazing. Adoks had really survived the Swarm. If so, this had to be a grand historic moment.

  Soon, an Adok appeared on the screen. She was small and hunched, with a narrow face and sad eyes. She had ropy arms, but bulkier than any Maddox had ever seen. She wore white and there was something different about her face that neither Galyan nor Raylan had shown. There were minute imperfections, including a wart or pimple on her left cheek.

  She spoke, and the translator did its task. “I am Governess Nee-Fong of the Colony Trask. Why are you bringing the ghost ships to our planet? Do you seek our destruction?”

  “On the contrary, Governess Nee-Fong. I am Captain Maddox of Starship Victory. As you can plainly see, this is an ancient Adok designed and manufactured vessel.”

  “I have studied the old records. It fought against the Swarm. Driving Force Galyan commanded it and the defending home fleet.”

  “We know this.”

  “How can you possibly know? It is ancient knowledge.”

  “It’s a long story, Governess. I can tell you later. Right now, I assure you that we understand something about what happened at Gowon, how the deified AIs running the fortress moons went mad.”

  “That is one way to say it.”

  “We’re essentially correct about that, though, isn’t that so?”

  “Essentially,” Nee-Fong said.

  Maddox nodded, and he realized the head gesture might mean nothing to her. “Because of what we’ve learned, we have shut down the deified AI on our ship.”

  “You mean that of Driving Force Galyan?” she asked.

  “You have been monitoring the comm channels?”

  “We have,” she said.

  “Good,” Maddox said, “that ought to save time.”

  “There is no need to save anything. You have brought the ghost ships to us. After they finish with you, they will surely scour the first planet until they find the colony. As far as I have been able to determine, we are the last living Adoks in the universe.”

  “This we ourselves believe.”

  “Do you despise Adoks, Captain?”

  “On the contrary,” Maddox said. “We highly admire your race. That is in large part due to our working with and getting to know the deified Galyan.”

  “That is difficult to believe.”

  “Galyan has aided us through many harrowing missions,” Maddox said. “He is a treasured member of the crew.”

  “Surely, he runs the starship.”

  “No,” Maddox said. “I do. Galyan has become our good friend and my trusted subordinate.”

  “How is that possible? He is a computer entity, a thing, not a living being.”

  “We are sentimental perhaps, and think of him otherwise.”

  “Galyan is not irrational and highly unstable?” Nee-Fong asked.

  “No. No more so than any organic being…”

  “Then why did you shut him down?”

  “Ultimate Force Raylan has spoken to him at machine speed. He may have introduced some kind of malware or virus, some evil influence. We are taking precautions.”

  “Say no more,” Nee-Fong said. “Raylan infected him, clearly.”