“You’re going to let the Crowder people mingle with others in the Commonwealth?”

  Admiral Cook laughed, and it took him several seconds to cease. “No, no, not mingle, but we will let them settle elsewhere in the Commonwealth. A team of psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists has come up with a program for rehabilitating the Crowder people in a span of fifteen years. It’s rather exciting. But that isn’t your concern now, I can see. How long until your flotilla is ready to travel?”

  “A few hours will suffice,” Maddox said. “I’m looking forward to coming home.”

  “No doubt,” Cook said. “Until I see you on Earth, Captain.”

  “Yes, sir, until then.”

  -98-

  Much of the rest proved anticlimactic.

  The hyper-spatial tube opening appeared, and the Adoks trusted Maddox enough to follow Victory through. Each great Adok vessel used the tube to cross the mighty distance and appear near the silvery moon of Earth in the Solar System.

  That brought a great celebration once word of it spread. The Lord High Admiral Cook ordered the Home Fleet to surround the precious vessels to ensure the future survival of the Adok race.

  At that point, Victory detached from the Adok convoy and took up an independent orbit around Earth.

  The crew was bushed, ready to go on extended shore leave. Meta was quite anxious to see her baby Jewel and return to life at the Carson City ranch.

  Maddox wanted to join her, but he felt he had a duty to perform first.

  “It’s time to deal with Galyan,” the captain explained to Meta. Soon, Maddox called the Lord High Admiral on the main screen and told him the situation and plan.

  “Perhaps it’s time we modified Galyan more to our liking,” Admiral Cook said from his office in Geneva. The old man appeared thoughtful.

  “Sir?”

  Cook nodded briskly. “We should make the AI more amiable to our needs. He’s proven troublesome a few times. This last time proved it. Surely, you agree with that.”

  “Sir,” Maddox said stiffly. “This is Driving Force Galyan we’re talking about, an individual in his own right.”

  Cook appeared faintly amused. “Captain, please, do you think of the AI as a living entity?”

  Maddox hesitated before saying, “This is Galyan, sir. He’s our friend. To attempt to remake him…” Maddox shook his head emphatically. “He’s saved my life more than once. I plan to do everything I can to save his.”

  “Oh,” Cook said, frowning. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that: everything in your power. No, I don’t like it one bit.” The Lord High Admiral looked up at the ceiling as if thinking. He soon nodded to himself and studied the captain. “As a favor to you, Captain, I’ll agree to this. We leave Galyan as he was—if that’s possible.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Maddox said. “I appreciate it.”

  “Good. That’s the right sort of attitude to have. Now, it seems like the Adoks should have a few professional AI specialists among them to help you with this.”

  “I’ve asked and asked them about that these past months. Unfortunately, the Adoks are terrified of deified AIs, and I think they have good reason to be.”

  “Yes,” Cook said, “but this is different, isn’t it?”

  “Not for them, I’m afraid. They want nothing to do with Galyan, and I think we should honor them in this.”

  Cook appeared perplexed. “Why have you called me about this then? You have your own expert on Galyan.”

  “I wondered if you might have another idea about who to use.”

  Cook shook his white-haired head. “Use Ludendorff, trust to the outcome and be done with it.”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddox said. “Thank you for the permission.”

  “Is that what I just gave you?” Cook eyed Maddox before scowling. “Did you just trick me?”

  “Of course not.”

  Through the screen, Cook eyed Maddox even more closely. Then, the old man of Star Watch waved Maddox on.

  The operation to revive Galyan was about to commence.

  ***

  The next day, as events continued in the Solar System, Professor Ludendorff and Chief Technician Andros Crank were the only two doing this. Captain Maddox attended them in the main AI-computer chambers in the center of Victory.

  The captain watched closely. He owed the holographic entity, and he wanted to make sure Ludendorff didn’t try anything underhanded.

  Ludendorff had a blanket laid out on the deck with a myriad of tools and small pieces of equipment. Andros had brought a red tool kit with different items to help him.

  The two men worked tirelessly for hours.

  Maddox forced them to take a break and remain off for an hour of rest.

  The two resumed later, theoretically refreshed by their enforced rest.

  “This is the key to what we’re attempting,” Ludendorff said later. “I’ve determined that this is where the memory of Ultimate Force Raylan and all that he said is kept.” The Methuselah Man indicated one separated section of servers and memory drives.

  Andros appeared dubious. “Not just in there, surely, but bits and pieces throughout the various computers and AI banks.”

  “No, no,” Ludendorff insisted. “This is where the main memory of the event has been stored. Trust me on this. It’s what I’ve been attempting to partition off this past hour.”

  Andros didn’t comply, using a large screen, moving controls as he studied the computer section in question. It took the Kai-Kaus Chief Technician three hours before he agreed with Ludendorff’s assessment.

  “I am a Methuselah Man after all. You need to trust me.”

  “I’m a Kai-Kaus Chief Technician,” Andros said in a didactic tone, standing as straight as he could. “Trust and verify is one of my many credos.”

  “In other words, you don’t trust anyone.”

  “Not in these matters,” Andros said.

  “Good,” Maddox said, clapping the thickset Kai-Kaus on the back.

  Ludendorff scowled, but refrained from commenting further.

  The work continued apace, with the two men putting in endless hours.

  The next day, after they scoured all the files with meticulous detail, Ludendorff declared himself satisfied. “I hope you’re not going to disagree this time,” he told Andros.

  Andros glanced at Maddox.

  “Stick to your guns,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff snorted with disbelief. “If we do this now, he will be the old Galyan we know. This, I assure you.”

  “I give that an eighty percent probability,” Andros said.

  “Bah,” Ludendorff told him. “You’re so old-school, overly rigid in your doctrines.”

  “I am a Kai-Kaus Chief Technician. Surely, that says it all.”

  “Well?” Ludendorff asked Maddox. “Do we activate the poor sod or not?”

  “I want you both to agree before we do this,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff threw up his hands.

  Andros worked another three hours before he said that was satisfied and ready.

  “It’s difficult for a Methuselah Man to work with a less-gifted individual,” Ludendorff declared loftily. “I see things so much faster and more thoroughly than others, no matter how suited they might seem for the task. It is a burden I have borne my entire life and bear yet.”

  Andros didn’t seem to take offense by the declaration. He’d followed his Kai-Kaus tech codes as taught him by his grandfather. He was satisfied, and he hadn’t let the Methuselah Man browbeat him into a premature attempt at activation. Thus, they could proceed with the attempt.

  “It will work,” Andros informed the captain.

  “Who turns Galyan back on?” Maddox asked.

  Ludendorff and Andros glanced at each other.

  “I grant the privilege to the professor,” Andros said quickly.

  Ludendorff opened his mouth, perhaps to dispute Andros’s right to choose. Finally, though, Ludendorff nodded and approached the main board. “This is it. Luck,” he said, pressing the control.

  The Adok and human-meld family of computers and AI processors began to hum as of old.

  Without further ado, Maddox hurried out of the main chamber into the anteroom, and he was the first to see Driving Force Galyan appear once more as a holoimage.

  -99-

  Galyan stood as he had many times before. This time, however, the little Adok holoimage touched his torso as if testing himself.

  “Hello, Galyan,” Maddox said, who was grinning despite his best efforts not to.

  Galyan looked up and cocked his head. “What is it, sir? You seem inordinately pleased with yourself. That is according to my personality profile on you.”

  Instead of answering, Maddox asked, “How do you feel?”

  As the captain spoke, Ludendorff and Andros stepped out of the main AI chamber and into the anteroom, with Andros shutting the hatch behind them.

  “Why am I here?” asked Galyan.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” Maddox asked.

  “Remember? Remember? Oh,” Galyan said. “I spoke with someone important. We discussed…why cannot I remember what happened? Does that not strike you three as odd?”

  “No,” Ludendorff said.

  “Wait,” Galyan said. “Why were you two in my main AI chamber? What has gone wrong?”

  “What day and month is it?” Maddox asked.

  Ludendorff glanced at Maddox and nodded sagely.

  “I have lost months of time,” Galyan said abruptly. “We were in the Glenna Nebula, in a star system there. Now…” He looked at them astonished. “We are back in Earth orbit. Someone had better tell me what occurred. Have I been damaged?”

  “That’s a good way to say it,” Ludendorff said.

  “Now I am intensely curious. What happened?”

  “I’d tell you to sit down,” Maddox said. “Instead, you should listen carefully without interrupting, and I’ll tell you a tale indeed.”

  “I can agree to this,” Galyan said.

  Then, Captain Maddox proceeded to tell Galyan exactly what happened to them in the Gowon System with the deified AIs, Ultimate Force Raylan and the living Adoks at the first planet.

  “I did what?” asked Galyan. “Are you sure this is true?”

  “It’s true,” Ludendorff said.

  “But I would never…” Galyan turned away from them. A few seconds later, he turned back. “Did Ultimate Force Raylan corrupt me? Is that why I told him where the Adoks were hiding?”

  “That’s a good way to say it,” Maddox said. “I don’t think you wanted the corruption, but he was evil and did it to you anyway.”

  “That is an interesting concept,” Galyan said. “A deified AI entity can be evil. Did you not say he was mad?”

  “Mad, insane, irrational,” Ludendorff said. “What’s the correct way to say it? I don’t know. His goal is certainly evil. He wishes to eradicate all living Adoks. That’s genocide, an evil action. He murdered at least thirty thousand of the last living Adoks.”

  “How horrible,” Galyan said. “I cannot believe I told him what I did. It was unconscionable. Where are the survivors? There were survivors, yes?”

  “Yes,” Maddox said. “They’re here.”

  “In low Earth orbit?” asked Galyan.

  “No, but near Luna,” Maddox said.

  “This is wonderful news,” Galyan said. “I am so happy. I must speak to them and apologize for what I did. There are so many things I wish to say, to learn and—”

  “Ahem,” Maddox said, interrupting.

  “What is wrong, sir?”

  Maddox shook his head. “I don’t know how to say this nicely, Galyan. But the Adoks are terrified of you. They do not wish to speak to you, as they fear all deified AIs.”

  “This cannot be true,” Galyan said. “What I did was a mistake. Ultimate Force Raylan corrupted me. They must see that. Andros, this cannot be so.”

  “I’m afraid it is, Galyan,” Andros said. “The Adoks begged us to keep you offline while we traveled through the nebula together.”

  “But I am not like Raylan.”

  “Because we purged those memories and subroutines from you,” Ludendorff said.

  “What?” Galyan said.

  “Let me explain,” Maddox said. And he did, going into detail about all the things that had happened.

  It left the little Adok holoimage crestfallen, shaking his head.

  “I’m sorry, Galyan,” Maddox said, “I really am.”

  Galyan did not reply, but stared unmoving at a distant point on the bulkhead.

  The three men looked at each other.

  A few seconds later, Galyan stirred. “All my life I have wanted to find the Adok survivors of my homeworld and help them reestablish our race.”

  “That isn’t true,” Ludendorff said. “You’ve only wanted that a short time. You’ve done your duty and you helped us find the Adoks. You should concentrate on that.”

  “I almost helped murder my race,” Galyan said in a forlorn voice. “I am sick with the thought of that.”

  Maddox cleared his throat. “Galyan, listen to me. I hope you’re listening.”

  “I am,” Galyan said glumly.

  “You’ve helped me many times. You’ve saved my life and the starship more than once. You’re one of my good friends.”

  “I am just a machine,” Galyan said, “a machine that tried to betray his race.”

  “I don’t buy that about you being a mere machine,” Maddox said. “And remember that Raylan likely had great experience at corrupting other deified AIs. You were not the first he had done that to.”

  “He was the great AI tempter,” Galyan said.

  “Corrupter,” Maddox said. “He used you in a malicious way. That’s over with now, though.”

  “I am glad for that, at least.” Galyan studied the captain. “You do not think I am just a machine?”

  “That isn’t how we see you,” Maddox said.

  “Do you think I am more than a machine?”

  “It sure feels that way.”

  “But you do not believe that deep down in your heart.”

  “I’m not sure,” Maddox said, hedging. “If you’re not real in the same way we are, you hold the memories and ways of the original Driving Force Galyan. You are a picture of him, and we love you and him for that. We owe you, Galyan, and we on Victory pay our debts in the end. That’s why we’ve worked to save you from what Raylan did to you, the friend we’ve all known.”

  “Yes,” Galyan said. “I realize that. Thank you for your efforts. It pleases me to name you as my friends, as my family. I truly cannot go speak with the surviving Adoks?”

  “Not right now,” Maddox said. “Maybe in time you can. I’ve told them about you. I’ve told them because of you that we Earthlings want to take a chance on the Adok race. In a way, because you’ve been such a good friend, Star Watch is going to use every effort to make sure your race survives. That is a great and mighty gift you’ve given to your people. I have no doubt your name will go down as a protector extraordinaire of the Adok race.”

  “Do you mean that, sir?”

  “I absolutely do,” Maddox said.

  “He’s right, you stupid AI,” Ludendorff said. “The captain is one hundred percent right about you, meaning I agree with him about you.”

  Galyan eyed the professor, and he said in awe, “You are speaking what you think of as truth. I recognize that from your personality profile.”

  “There you are,” Ludendorff said.

  “You’re a great Adok, Galyan,” Andros said. “And you’re one in a select number.”

  “What do you mean, Andros?”

  “You belong to the people who Captain Maddox has rescued from oblivion. I ought to know, because I’m one too.”

  “Oh, brother,” Ludendorff said, rolling his eyes. “Now this is getting thick.”

  “He’s saved your sorry ass too, old man,” Andros told Ludendorff. “When have you ever thanked him for it?”

  “Bah,” Ludendorff said.

  “No need for all that,” Maddox said. “This is about Galyan. I know you’re sad—”

  “Excuse me for interrupting you, sir,” Galyan said. “But I am no longer sad. I have helped save my race. I do think in time I will be able to speak to them face to face. Until such time, though, I will still be with my family aboard Victory. For today, that is enough.”

  Maddox grinned. “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “Hear, hear,” Ludendorff said. “Driving Force Galyan is back.”

  “And with that, gentlemen,” Maddox said, “I really should be leaving. It’s time for me to go see my daughter.”

  “By all means,” Galyan said. “Go see Jewel, and please give her my regards.”

  ***

  Taking a shuttle from Victory, Maddox went to the Carson City spaceport. From there, he took a flitter to his ranch.

  He raced into the house to find Mary O’Hara, Meta and Jewel watching a holo-vid cartoon. The captain swept up his daughter as she squealed with delight.

  “Daddy, daddy, you’re home.”

  “I am, my darling girl. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I’ve missed you, Daddy.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  Maddox laughed with delight and joy, amazed at how good he felt hugging his little girl.

  Both Mary and Meta beamed with delight as they watched the father and daughter reunion continue with more hugs and kisses as the Maddox household bubbled over with love and joy in each other’s company.

  -100-

  As Captain Maddox watched cartoons with Jewel, Meta and Mary O’Hara, far, far away in a different star system, one beyond the Commonwealth of Planets, Grutch was having an eventful meeting.

  The mercenary had landed on an asteroid, left his stealth ship and entered a particular room. There, he spoke via screen with a hidden sponsor, the one that had sent him out to kidnap Captain Maddox.

  Grutch related many of the events that had taken place trying to capture the captain of Starship Victory.