“Dravek!” Maddox shouted.

  He couldn’t hear any answer. The noise from twisting metal and crisping circuits was too loud for that.

  Maddox coughed, covering his mouth with a sleeve. Electric-smelling smoke singed his nostrils. Some of the smoke must have entered his lungs. He hacked hoarsely, finally turning to the side and vomiting.

  Unbuckling his restraints, Maddox staggered through the cabin, accidentally colliding into a stanchion. He grunted as his jacket tore. Pushing off, Maddox stumbled again as the shuttle swerved. He crashed against a body. Dravek must have been unconscious, as he was unmoving. Maddox felt over him, clicking the buckle and tearing off the restraint. With Dravek in his clutches, Maddox staggered, dragging the other toward the hatch.

  An electrical fire raged on a control panel. The flames provided some illumination in the increasingly smoky cabin. Several screens showed a kaleidoscope of colors merging and bleeding apart. Air began to scream from a newly made bulkhead breach.

  Tightening his hold of Dravek, Maddox lurched and crashed against a bulkhead. The shaking craft, the swerves, the upending—anyone else would have lost his footing. Maddox barely kept his.

  Then, he reached the hatch, slapping the emergency control. The hatch opened with a screech. Maddox staggered through, dragging Dravek with him.

  The hatch closed behind them, smoothly this time.

  They both collapsed in the corridor as a klaxon began to wail.

  Fortunately, there was normal lighting in here.

  Dravek had a huge purple welt on his forehead. The man must have knocked himself unconscious against a panel.

  Working around him, Maddox grabbed Dravek under the armpits and dragged him to a different hatch.

  It opened, leading into a crew quarter.

  Maddox dragged Dravek to the cot, hoisting him into it. He found emergency restraints, tightening them around the man.

  That should keep Dravek secure for now.

  Maddox staggered out. The shuttle swerved and shuddered the entire time. He made it to an emergency pod on a bulkhead and yanked a lever. A section of the pod slid open. Maddox pulled out and donned a breathing mask, then grabbed a flashlight and a flame-retardant cylinder. The red cylinder had a short hose and handle for spraying.

  He reentered the control cabin. Even through the breather, he could smell the electrical stench. It was smoky dark in here, the only light from the screens and flames.

  With the cylinder spraying retardant, he put out the electrical fires. That actually made it smell worse in here. Next, he went to the controls, inspecting them and the screens with the flashlight.

  He was sure he could fix the burnt wiring given a day of repairs. Luckily, a few of the screens still worked. The shaking had stopped, although air still shrieked as it escaped through a fist-sized, jagged rent. According to a screen, there was damage outside to the shuttle’s exhaust nozzles. Could he go out there and fix that? Maybe given time.

  He tapped a panel and found that a main viewing screen still worked. He used it to view…the shuttle must have exited from a giant red opening hanging in space. They moved away from it. Was that a Laumer Point opening or something else? Other objects continued to spew from the round and glowing red opening into the star system.

  That’s right. This was a star system. There was a yellow dwarf star in the distance. Maddox clicked controls, wanting more data. The sensors were shot. He had no idea how far the star was, although he estimated it could be what Uranus was from the Sun.

  There were no purple energy swirls anywhere, no comet-like streaks. He didn’t see anything to resemble an exploded spaceliner and Leviathan warship. Clearly, they weren’t in that area of the Heydell Cloud anymore.

  If Maddox had to guess, he’d say they’d entered the vortex, traveled the length of a possible wormhole and exited through the red opening into the star system.

  How far had they traveled since entering the vortex? That was anyone’s guess. He searched for planets, spotting what must have been a Jupiter-like gas giant with many moons. The moons were perceivable dots around the gas giant. Were there other planets in the star system?

  It seemed likely but presently unknowable because he was strictly using visuals.

  Maddox would have to fix the sensors…if he could figure out how.

  Speaking of fixing—he headed to the bulkhead tear. Once there, he placed a thin, square piece of metal against the jagged rent. That would have to do for now, although some air hissed through. He’d need to find some sealant.

  The lights were out in here. The cabin wiring likely needed an overhaul. He doubted Dravek knew more about repairs than he did, seeing as the man was his clone with only some of his memories.

  After making one last check and walking to each station, Maddox determined there was nothing else he could do at the moment.

  He exited the cabin and tore off the breather. Checking the thing’s meter, he saw that he’d only had a few more minutes left.

  He put the breather back in the emergency pod and checked on Dravek. There was no more shaking or swerving, just zero gravity drifting for the shuttle.

  Dravek slept soundly. The purple welt had grown, though. It was a hell of a bump. Should he wake Dravek and find out if he was still coherent?

  Maddox shook the man’s shoulder.

  Dravek hadn’t woken up.

  Maddox shook harder.

  Dravek stirred and his left eyelid flickered, possibly allowing some light to strike the eyeball. Dravek moaned and tried to curl into a fetal ball. The restraints held him in place, though.

  Maddox left him after that, returning a little later.

  Dravek snored, having eased out so he lay stretched out on the cot. Did the awful welt indicate brain damage? It was a grim possibility.

  Once more, Maddox retreated. While in the corridor, he decided to search the rest of the ship. He entered an engine room where the generators rattled. That didn’t sound good at all. Checking, Maddox discovered that the Laumer Point Detector had burned out. Maybe going through the vortex had done that.

  The sick-sounding generators—Maddox shrugged. Without the generators, they’d die once the air recycler used up the emergency battery power. He’d have to check a manual or the computer and see if he could repair whatever was wrong with the generators. That was going to be an iffy proposition at best.

  He inspected the rest of the shuttle. It was twice the size of a regular Star Watch shuttle. There was nothing in the cargo bay. The other rooms were crew quarters. They all contained zip. In a corridor locker near the airlock, he found a spacesuit and repair kit. There might be more tools outside on the shuttle hull.

  What Maddox needed was Andros Crank or Professor Ludendorff.

  He finished the survey by checking the foodstuffs in a tiny cafeteria. They had plenty to eat and drink. Unless they traveled for half a year, they should be okay with sustenance.

  Maddox cocked his head, considering. At best, they were still in the Heydell Cloud somewhere. Would the system star steady or block the various anomalies outside the star’s gravitational pull?

  He didn’t know, but he did decide to fix the shuttle’s detectors. First, he’d eat, drink and sleep some.

  Upon waking up later, he discovered the computer in the control room still worked. That was critical. He found that Dravek must have set it up for English. After some computer searching, he found the shuttle manual and repair possibilities.

  Six hours of tedious work with tools and under three different consoles produced a miracle. Maddox repaired the shuttle detectors.

  He checked on Dravek afterward. There was no change except for the color and size of the welt. It had black amidst the purple and was twice as big as before. The skin was stretched, seeming as if it might rip.

  Maddox touched the welt gingerly.

  Dravek groaned, turning his head from the contact.

  Maddox went to a computer terminal in the bedroom. He found a med page. According to it, Dravek needed fluids and rest. Pain pills would be iffy for him now. It would also be better if Dravek were awake. According to the med advice, the man had likely received a concussion.

  Maddox thought about that and gently tried to wake Dravek. He could not. Thus, he retired from the quarters and went to the control cabin. He’d found sealant and used it around the metal patch. The hiss of constantly escaping air ceased.

  With light from the screens, Maddox sat and began to scan with the detectors, using passive systems.

  Beyond the gas giant were several terrestrial planets. The one nearest the star—

  Maddox’s jaw dropped. He detected a small spaceship in orbit around the farthest terrestrial planet. As he scanned, he discovered a city, a spaceport. Another vessel headed down to it. Over the city in the atmosphere were circling planetary jets.

  Maddox debated sending a distress signal. His intuitive sense bade him to wait.

  For the next three hours, Maddox scanned the star system. Toward the end of the time, he detected a small ship—maybe twice the shuttle’s size. It slid past the biggest moon of the Jupiter-like gas giant.

  How had it escaped detection until now? The ship must have stealth equipment. Why would it bother with a stealth approach?

  The answer soon revealed itself.

  From behind the moon emerged a much larger ship. Drones launched from it. The drones burned hot for the nearing and smaller stealth ship.

  This was interesting. The detectors indicated communication chatter between the drones and stealth ship. Ten minutes later, a beam burned from the stealth ship. One of the drones exploded. The second drone launched miniscule missiles.

  The stealth ship’s beam destroyed three of those. The fourth missile struck the small ship and detonated. The vessel began to tumble end over end.

  At that point, the larger ship began to maneuver toward it.

  Two hours later, the larger ship docked with the no longer tumbling smaller vessel. It began to tow the smaller ship for the moon.

  Maddox decided the larger ship was a pirate vessel or a military ship. The bigger ship with its prize maneuvered out of sight, sliding behind the gas giant’s largest moon. Maddox didn’t see either ship after that.

  Was there was secret base on the moon?

  Maddox sat back thoughtfully. He soon nodded. It was time to repair what he could of the shuttle’s motive power. He’d wait on the generators, first repairing any nozzle damage. Then, he’d have to decide what the best option would be after that.

  -8-

  Maddox donned the vacc suit. It was a tight fit, which suggested the shuttle had been made for smaller people than him. He was able to lengthen the suit enough that he felt confident it would remain intact while he was outside.

  This was it. There was no help if he got into trouble. He exited the airlock, activating magnetic clamps on the soles of his boots.

  As the shuttle drifted toward the main star, he clumped on the shuttle’s hull. He used the helmet’s lamps, finding more damage than he’d anticipated. Frankly, they were lucky only the control cabin had been breached. There was rock scoring everywhere.

  Oh. He found a gaping hole. Squatting, looking down with the lamps, he eyed a littered cargo hold. There was another hole in the back. Most of the debris or smashed cargo was gone. Perhaps whatever had been in the hold had softened the impact enough that it hadn’t obliterated the entire craft.

  Perhaps sheerest chance or luck had saved them. Could Dravek have anticipated that the vortex would lead them into this star system? What were the odds Dravek had accidentally steered them into an inhabited system?

  Dravek must have found something with the sensors before approaching the vortex. That luck had brought them here—Maddox shook his head. He doubted it was luck, as that was stretching probabilities too far.

  He continued across the hull until he reached the back thruster nodules. He visibly inspected them, soon scowling. The damage was greater than he’d realized earlier.

  He’d have to clear these if he hoped for any expelled propellant to push the shuttle.

  He supposed the side-jets could give them a tiny bit of thrust. They needed more than that, though, if they hoped to reach the inhabited planet near the dwarf star. They’d need less thrust if they hoped to reach the gas giant and the pirates there. If they weren’t pirates, they’d be military personnel, possibly maintaining an embargo on the distant terrestrial planet.

  How much trade occurred in the Heydell Cloud? Maddox shook his head. He didn’t know.

  How had Dravek learned about any of this? Had the scientists told him? Did it matter right now?

  Maddox sighed. Gingerly, he crawled over the back hull and to the nearest nozzle. Then, he crawled in it. Through a laborious hour of work, he was able to take off one of the main plates and inspect the damage.

  This was big time iffy. He lacked a welder and used sealant to fix what he could. Then he used clamps, wrenches and other tools to clear away smashed junk. For the next two hours, he worked until he was damp with sweat and his limbs ached with fatigue. Zero-G work was more daunting than he remembered. It often took greater effort to make the equipment do what he wanted than if he’d had gravity to assist him.

  Finally, he began the laborious process of returning to the airlock. He paused during the journey to look at the dwarf star and gas giant with its multiple colors. He didn’t see the pirate ship. It would be less than a speck from here using his naked eye.

  He started again, reached the airlock and reentered the vessel. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see Dravek standing there aiming a weapon at him, but such was not the case.

  Maddox went to the crew quarter. Dravek slept. The welt—had the blow dented the skull underneath it? Maddox hadn’t thought to check.

  Well, there was no use worrying about it now. If the other had become imbecilic because of the blow, then he was on his own. He’d been in such a place before.

  Taking the breather, he entered the control cabin. The burnt electrical stench had diminished some. He went to the controls and used the passive sensors for three hours. He had to take off the breather eventually. The stench was worse, but he could bear it. There was no trace of the pirates. Neither did he see any other ships land on the terrestrial planet near the dwarf star.

  He focused on the terrestrial planet. Other than the one city, he didn’t detect any other technological or industrial site. Was the city an outpost such as the Phoenician traders of old had constructed in different parts of the Mediterranean?

  He studied the planet more, checking its composition. According to the sensors, it had a breathable atmosphere and would likely be Earth normal in gravitational terms. Most of it appeared to be desert terrain except for the two pole regions.

  According to what Dravek had said earlier, Leviathan didn’t control the cloud. Independent traders sought costly minerals from hidden worlds in the cloud. Occasionally, Leviathan hired bounty hunters to go into the Heydell Cloud and seek wanted people.

  Would Leviathan send in some of their own traders? He recalled the alien Dhows from the planet Kregen. The Dhows had been planetary traders to Jed Ra’s people. The Dhows had paid fees to Leviathan for the privilege but hadn’t seemed to be beholden to the cybers.

  Maddox doubted that Leviathan sent any Soldiers on trade mission anywhere, and surely not into the Heydell Cloud. Maybe some traders paid fees to Leviathan for certain privileges elsewhere. The traders might even sell a hostage to Leviathan. But, it also seemed that such a trader might accept payment for passage elsewhere. Would such a trader take him to a place outside the Heydell Cloud? The trader might if it was profitable enough.

  How would one reach the Commonwealth of Planets from anywhere in the Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm? How would one reach Omicron 9, likely the closest outpost to Human Space from here he could find?

  Maddox cocked his head. He’d have to solve each problem at the proper time. If he couldn’t exit the Heydell Cloud, none of the rest would matter. First, he had to reach the terrestrial planet out there or hijack the pirate ship near the gas giant, if indeed that was what it had been.

  Could he hijack a ship like that on his own? It seemed doubtful. Did it possess a human crew? He lacked sufficient data to know. He needed a fit Dravek to help him, as that would double his effectiveness.

  As he sat at the sensors, Maddox calculated distances and speeds. At the present velocity, it would take ten months to reach the Jupiter-sized gas giant. That was too long. He’d need the booster.

  Could Dravek take any thrust in his present condition?

  Maddox sighed. He’d have to take some calculated risks. He wasn’t even sure the thrusters would work.

  Okay. Before he started the next phase, he’d eat and rest. Only then would he make his major decision.

  -9-

  After waking up, Maddox made the decision. He engaged the generators, using the remaining fuel and propellant, initiating a three-hour burn. Afterward, Maddox shut off the generators.

  There was perhaps a half-hour supply of fuel and propellant left. That was it for the shuttle until it received a resupply.

  Maddox recalculated. Given their new velocity, it would take three months and several days to reach the gas giant. More than three times that to reach the terrestrial planet near the dwarf star.

  That didn’t consider the fuel and thrust needed to slow down enough to land or even dock with any gas-giant stationed ship. This was all a desperate gamble at this point.

  What was behind the gas giant’s biggest moon? The idea haunted Maddox. Was it a pirate ship or a military vessel enforcing an embargo on the terrestrial planet?

  He could try communications to find out. Maddox studied the recording from the short battle near the gas giant. Unfortunately, he was unable to decode the military encryption. This wasn’t Victory. It was a civilian shuttle with a civilian computer.

  He decided silence was the better bet, forcing the other to investigate the lone shuttle. He literally had no bargaining points, and he didn’t know enough about the other.