Maddox would have liked to point out that the Destroyer did two mighty tasks: defeat the Swarm and stop the Juggernauts from destroying all life on Earth. That was a good record for a ship, any ship. Nothing lasted forever. But Maddox was certain the Lord High Admiral didn’t want to hear that just now.

  Cook stared at Ludendorff. “I don’t know what to make of you, Professor.”

  For once, the Methuselah Man kept his mouth shut. Maybe the Lord High Admiral intimidated him. Maybe the security people outside intimidated him. Maybe he was playing it smart this time by not replying.

  Cook sighed, closing his eyes. He seemed to settle back in his chair. Finally, the old man snored.

  Maddox and Ludendorff traded glances.

  Cook’s second snore turned into a snort, and that made the old man’s lips blubber. Cook jerked awake as his eyes snapped open.

  Neither Maddox nor Ludendorff commented.

  “Where was I?” Cook asked in a slurring voice. “Oh, yes, I remember. We staved off the first wave of the Old One’s secret nightmare against Earth, against the Commonwealth. According to you, Captain, the Jotuns don’t exist.”

  “Not in any meaningful way to hurt us,” Maddox answered. “I suspect Doctor Meyers might attempt to revive some of them at a later date.”

  “Yes, yes,” Cook said. “That’s what I meant. The Jotuns are not a present threat. We destroyed the Android Fleet, the Juggernauts, and I’m about to unleash Victory at the Supermetals Planet. But it would seem that Lord Drakos presents a second threat. Could that threat come through pressuring the Emperor of the New Men to make another assault upon regular humanity?”

  “I doubt it,” Ludendorff said. “From every indication, that wasn’t the direction of Lisa Meyers’ thoughts.”

  “Oh,” Cook said. “And you’re privy to her inner thoughts, are you?”

  “I, ah, misspoke,” Ludendorff said.

  “Did you?” asked Cook, as he eyed the professor with some of his former strength.

  Ludendorff cleared his throat. “Now, see here—”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” Cook said, interrupting. “I want to preserve the Commonwealth and build up our societal, industrial and fleet strength. Who knows when the Sovereign Hierarchy of Leviathan will attempt to use nexuses to reach us? Who knows what secret plan Lord Drakos is attempting to hatch? If you fail to capture Lisa Meyers at the Supermetals Planet, Captain, where will she go to stir up trouble against us next?”

  “May I make a suggestion, sir?” Maddox asked.

  Cook stared at him before nodding.

  “Regroup the Fleet,” Maddox said. “Rather than putting warships in each system, pick two or three places and mass the Fleet there.”

  “You don’t understand,” Cook said. “The rumblings and troubles were coming from every direction in the Commonwealth. Mass riots, assassinations, space piracy—it was as if one world after another was going mad. The only thing left was spreading the Fleet thin to cover everywhere. I think many of the troubles came from the Yon-Soth nightmare ray. Star Watch marines have been forced to kill tens of thousands of rioters and other troublemakers on a hundred different worlds.”

  Cook frowned. “I think the nightmare ray has worn off some, or maybe those most susceptible to it are dead. But there are indications that many of our troubles were planned and well executed by hidden agencies.”

  “If that’s the case,” Maddox said, “that’s a job for Intelligence and a world’s local police force. The Fleet protects us from foreign invaders, while Intelligence and the local police root out domestic—”

  “Listen to me carefully, son,” Cook said, interrupting and leaning across the desk. “I did not call you here to lecture me on my job. I’m the one who called you here to lecture you on your job.”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddox said.

  Cook nodded, leaning back again. “The worlds were going crazy, or enough people were that the Fleet had to step in and keep order. We staved off the worst of the madness. But we haven’t found the perpetrators that stirred up chaos for foreign powers.”

  “I, ah, have a different thought, sir,” Maddox said slowly.

  Cook waited.

  “Perhaps we could have the Brigadier running Intelligence again,” Maddox said.

  Cook did nothing for several seconds, although finally he nodded. “I second your idea, but she is presently undergoing special therapy.”

  In alarm, Maddox sat straighter. “I’d like to see her, sir.”

  “Not yet,” Cook said.

  Despite his reprimand a few moments ago, Maddox asked, “What is this special therapy?”

  Cook pursed his lips as if choosing his words carefully. “I’d like to tell you, son, but I can’t. If it helps you any, she wanted to undergo this. It was her decision.”

  Maddox’s face had become blank. He didn’t like any of this.

  “I know you two are close,” Cook said. “I appreciate that. Ask me about her in six months’ time. Then we’ll know one way or another if the therapy is going to work.”

  “Does she only have six months to live, sir?” Maddox asked in a strained voice.

  Cook’s head jerked back in shock. “Confound it, son. Why would you ask something like that?”

  Maddox waited tensely.

  Cook took a deep breath. “She’s fine physically. It’s…it’s her mental condition. I’m asking you, Captain, give us six months. Besides, you don’t have time to see her now. I need you to race to the Supermetals Planet. If Meyers isn’t there—well, catch her if you can. If you can’t, kill her. Afterward, I need you to go to the Vega System.”

  “My original assignment,” Maddox said.

  “This is critical,” Cook said. “According to our best intelligence, there are hints concerning Lord Drakos in the Vega System. That’s the last place we know he went, anyway. And there’s something else going on at Vega II that ties in with some of the other worlds. For certain there’s a big money leak in the Vega System helping to fund other rebellions in other systems.”

  “Victory might not be the best—”

  “Son,” Cook said, interrupting. “You’re our best Intelligence agent. I need you to check out Vega II. That’s provided you capture or kill Lisa Meyers.”

  Maddox looked away. He wanted to see Mary O’Hara now. He had questions to ask, things to say to her. But if she was mentally…unwell, maybe six months from now would be better.

  “What about him, sir?” Maddox asked, jerking a thumb at Ludendorff.

  Cook became stern. “Given his past record—”

  “I should go with Maddox,” Ludendorff said quickly. “My superior intellect has saved Victory more than once this mission. Besides, the captain needs me if he hopes to catch Doctor Meyers, and I can undoubtedly help him crack the Vega Case.”

  Cook’s nostrils flared. Finally, he faced Maddox. “It’s your choice, Captain.”

  “The professor is treacherous,” Maddox said. “But he knows a thing or two the rest of us often don’t. I can still use him, provided I don’t have to put a bullet in his brain first.”

  Ludendorff held his peace, but it looked difficult for him.

  “Good luck, son,” Cook said, standing, holding out his hand. “I hate to send you on your way like this. We’ve won an important battle. You’ve brought home priceless data about more of our galaxy. But we must capture or kill Meyers, and I don’t know who else can crack the Vega Case.”

  “This has been a long one, sir.”

  Cook nodded as he released the captain’s hand. He eyed Ludendorff. “I have mixed feelings about you, Professor. Your selfishness almost killed everyone on Earth.”

  “Now, see here—” Ludendorff said.

  “No!” Cook said harshly. “Don’t say it. Otherwise, I’m summoning my people. Do I make myself clear?”

  A half-abashed Ludendorff gave the barest of nods.

  Cook stared at the professor a little longer and finally turned away with a sound of disgust. “Go,” he said, without looking. “And heaven help you if you ever harm Captain Maddox or his crew.”

  -86-

  Victory moved through the Alpha Centauri System, heading toward the Supermetals Planet. Every sensor strained to detect any cloaked vessel or hidden mine.

  Maddox had been in contact with the Lord High Admiral via the Builder comm device. Cook had been in touch with the people on Pluto running the Builder Scanner. The Glorious Kent had risen from the depths of Jupiter and hauled butt through selected folds, heading toward the Alpha Centauri System. The last sight the people on Pluto had was the Glorious Kent parking in orbit around the Supermetals Planet. Soon thereafter, the strange hauler had simply disappeared from their screen.

  “The hauler entered planetary orbit,” Maddox said from his captain’s chair. “Presumably, Meyers sent shuttles onto the planet, and her people collected supermetals, bringing them upstairs. Afterward—poof, the hauler was no longer visible.”

  “Are you asking for opinions?” Ludendorff said.

  “If you have them,” Maddox said.

  “I do,” the professor said. “Clearly, Meyers has ancient machinery aboard her vessel. Likely, much of that machinery no longer worked. Enough did, however, to allow her down into Jupiter.”

  “Get to the point,” Maddox said.

  “Meyers or her people used the supermetals to fix the hauler’s cloaking device. Who knows what else they fixed or are in the process of fixing?”

  “Yes. That makes sense,” Maddox said. “Valerie, Galyan, Andros, I want the three of you working overtime. Find the Glorious Kent before it surprises us.”

  “And if the hauler has already left the star system?” Ludendorff asked.

  Maddox shook his head. “I don’t think it has.”

  “What do you base this on?” asked Ludendorff.

  “Vengeance, hatred, the desire to get even with us on Lisa Meyers’ part,” Maddox said.

  Victory slowed its velocity as it neared the dark and mysterious chthonian planet. Once, this had been the core for a Jupiter-sized gas giant. In those days, the core would have never known the colds of space or allowed anyone to see it naked like this.

  Not so very long ago, Alpha Centauri had been a multi-star system. Alpha Centauri “A” had possessed a mass 1.1 and a luminosity 1.519 times that of the Sun. Alpha Centauri “B” was a smaller and cooler star. The double stars had orbited a common point between them that had varied between a Pluto-Sun to Saturn-Sun orbit. Alpha Centauri “C” or Proxima Centauri was a red dwarf. It had been gravitationally bound to the other two, but had orbited 15,000 AUs from the others. That was approximately 500 times Neptune’s orbit.

  Now, though, the star Alpha Centauri “A” was no more. It had gone supernova when a wounded Ska had entered it for healing. This, then, had become a binary star system, with the fluctuations from the event having finally sorted themselves out.

  When going supernova, the star Alpha Centauri “A” had slaughtered billions, destroying ships, habitats, nearby planets and blasting the distant Jupiter-sized gas giant. The supernova had blown away the planet’s gases, leaving the core intact. Heavy molecules from the exploding star—created through nucleosynthesis—had struck the core, creating or lodging supermetals in abundance on and under the immediate surface.

  A mysterious force had scrubbed the radiation that had bathed the entire binary system. Alpha Centauri was usable by humans once more.

  “I have detected an anomaly,” Galyan announced.

  “Where?” asked Maddox.

  “In orbit around the dark planet.”

  “Can you measure the anomaly’s mass?”

  “Negative. I just know its position.”

  “What do you think, Professor?” Maddox asked.

  “Before I answer that—Galyan, where are the mines?”

  “Are you referring to the likely planetary supermetal mines?” Galyan asked.

  “Precisely,” Ludendorff said.

  “I have not searched for them and thus do not know their location,” Galyan said.

  Ludendorff glanced at Maddox.

  “Do so now, please,” Maddox said.

  Galyan’s eyelids fluttered.

  “Sir,” Valerie said, “I’m detecting something fast and semi-cloaked heading for us.”

  “Strengthen shields,” Maddox said. “Galyan, find the cloaked missile—if it’s a missile. Then target it with the neutron cannon.”

  “I am on it, sir,” Galyan said.

  “How far is the thing from us?” Maddox asked Valerie.

  The lieutenant studied her panel. “Three million kilometers and closing, sir.”

  “Galyan,” Maddox said.

  “It is a missile,” the holoimage said. “It—”

  At that moment, an antimatter explosion burst on the main screen. It was three million kilometers away. The warhead must have possessed nosecone-targeting rods, as hard gamma radiation speared three million kilometers and struck Victory’s strengthened shield.

  “The shields are holding,” Andros reported.

  Another explosion from almost as far away heralded another gamma radiation strike.

  Maddox leaned forward on his chair as a third explosion from a different area of space, but a margin closer, did the same thing.

  “The shields can’t withstand these hits forever,” Andros said.

  “Increase velocity, Mr. Maker,” Maddox said. “Head for the anomaly orbiting the planet.”

  “The anomaly is no longer in stationary orbit,” Galyan said. “It appears to be circling the planet, possibly to use as a shield against us.”

  “That’s the hauler,” Maddox said. “Ready the disrupter cannon—”

  “Captain,” Ludendorff said. “Are you forgetting about the hauler’s deflection field? If you fire at the hauler—”

  “I’ve forgotten nothing,” Maddox said evenly. “Now tell me this. Why are they running? I’ll tell you—because we can hurt them and they’re afraid.”

  “Logical,” Ludendorff said. “But hurt them with what?”

  Maddox considered that. “Are you suggesting missiles would be better than beams?”

  “I wasn’t,” Ludendorff said. “But that might be what Meyers’s fears.”

  Maddox stroked his chin. If he fired missiles from this range, the cloaked enemy missiles—if there were any left— might take out the Star Watch missiles. Was Meyers enticing him to use the disrupter cannon on the Glorious Kent? That seemed probable. Would the disrupter beam deflect back against Victory?

  “Galyan, find the rest of the cloaked missiles. We’ll concentrate on taking those out first.”

  “What about the Glorious Kent?” asked Ludendorff.

  “Professor,” Maddox said. “You stick to your area of expertise, and I’ll stick to mine.”

  “Meaning you don’t have a method yet,” Ludendorff said.

  Maddox debated having marines escort the professor off the bridge, but decided against it. He might need the professor’s expertise soon.

  “The neutron beam is firing,” Galyan said.

  Maddox watched the main screen. The purple beam struck at seemingly nothing. Seconds later, the “nothing” ignited.

  “Scratch one hidden missile,” Galyan said.

  “Good work,” Maddox said.

  “Thank you, sir,” Galyan said. “I appreciate that.”

  Seconds passed.

  “Sir,” Valerie said. “We’re being hailed.”

  “Galyan got her attention,” Maddox said. “Go ahead, Lieutenant, put Doctor Meyers on the main screen.”

  -87-

  On the main screen, Doctor Lisa Meyers, the Methuselah Woman, wore a silver suit like a New Man. She did not look like a New Man, however. She was stunning in her silver outfit, with her prominent breasts and long blonde hair that framed her breathtaking features. The eyes were the most amazing, compelling and captivating part of her.

  “Was I right, or was I right?” Ludendorff muttered. “She’s a beauty, all right. One of a kind.”

  “Captain Maddox,” Meyers purred in her sexy voice. “You are a resourceful soldier. It is a pity we are on opposite sides. Perhaps we should…remedy that.”

  “I’m happily married, thank you.”

  “Then why are you staring at me so lustfully?”

  “You mistake my look, Doctor.”

  “No. I don’t think I do, as I happen to know that look anywhere. You wish to remove my garments and mount me. At least have the decency to admit it.”

  Maddox smiled. “Mount you on a wall as a hunting trophy… I suppose you’re right. I would like that.”

  “Don’t be crude.”

  “You’re my enemy, Doctor, as you wish to destroy what I love. It isn’t crudity that causes me to speak like this, but simple honesty. You are a menace to civilization—”

  Purified hatred swirled in Meyers’ eyes. The intensity and suddenness of it shocked the captain into silence. The look was a palpable force that crossed the ether. In that moment, she didn’t seem human, but a demon wearing a human disguise.

  “Do you call your puny society a civilization?” Meyers mocked. “No! You are parasites, scavengers feeding off a greater civilization’s petrified carcass. You ape your betters but are no better than dogs wearing clothes. You are disgusting.”

  “You’re human just like us,” Maddox said.

  “I was human, but now I am something much greater.”

  “What are you?” asked Maddox, frankly curious at what she would say.

  “I have evolved much higher than human, Captain. When the New Men talk about being superior, it is what I really am.”

  “I didn’t realize.”

  Meyers shook her head. “You think you’re so clever. I have been away a long time, but I’m back, Captain Maddox. Your puny Star Watch may have thwarted me this time. It will not go so well for you next time.”

  “Why not help us, Doctor? Help mankind to—”

  “Do you believe me such an ingrate to the Builders that I would leave their service in order to help parasites rummaging through the carcass of their betters? Never! I will show the Builders my eternal gratitude for having chosen and bettering me. I will help them return to their former greatness.”