“Captain Maddox,” Cook said, “I do not want to have to say this again. I run Star Watch, not you. Just because O’Hara is no longer the Intelligence chief does not mean no one is. You are not a free agent who can do as he pleases. You are under orders and must obey them.”

  “I understand, sir,” Maddox said. “But if I might point out, you have a powerful weapon in threatening to expose the Prime Minister. If you fail to exploit your advantage, Hampton is going to outmaneuver you and possibly expel you from Star Watch. That means the androids might take charge of the Commonwealth and Star Watch through Hampton. You have to remember that we don’t need Sanders to have directly attacked you to impeach the Prime Minister. The fact that Sanders was an android is damning enough.”

  There were several seconds of silence before Cook said, “We’d have to tell the universe about Sanders then. That could shake people’s trust in the system, and that would be disastrous.”

  “Letting the androids control us would be even more disastrous.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening. What a mess. What a damned mess.”

  “Sir, you’d better get in contact with Great Council members. I’d start impeachment proceedings immediately. Hampton is dirty. That he’s threatening you like this proves it. In these affairs, striking first can be critical.”

  “Confound it,” Cook said. “Military affairs are easy compared to this. Political maneuvering is a wretched business. I gave you the android. Now, you have to give me something concrete. I can’t urge Council members to impeach the Prime Minister without real proof. Many could consider such a suggestion as treasonous. We could well find ourselves before a firing squad.”

  Maddox stared at the bulky device. Cook was a good man, although he lacked the devious nature needed for real political infighting. Who was behind Hampton? He needed to see Ludendorff and find out what the professor had discovered.

  “If you’re not going to play hardball, sir, I’d tell the Prime Minister that the android is on the way.”

  “Is it?”

  Maddox hesitated before he said, “Yes sir, it is.”

  “Good,” Cook said, sounding relieved. “I’ll tell him. When can the Prime Minister expect the android?”

  “About a half hour from now, sir.”

  “What? Then it isn’t really on the way, is it?”

  “Tell him I said it is.”

  “Captain Maddox—”

  “I need the extra minutes, sir. You can at least buy me thirty minutes, can’t you?”

  “Will it make a difference?”

  “That’s what I need to find out.”

  “Fine,” Cook said, sounding agitated again. “I’ll tell him, and I’ll try to sell it. What are you hoping to discover?”

  “I’ll know when I hear it, sir. In the meantime, I’d begin sounding out the Council members. I know you honor the office of Prime Minister. But you have to realize that our enemies have turned Hampton.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  That more than anything let Maddox know that Cook might have finally reached his limit. The Lord High Admiral had carried humanity on his shoulders through many harrowing ordeals. This last one, a political attack, might be more than Cook could withstand. What did that mean for Star Watch?

  “A half hour, sir,” Maddox said, “and I’ll give you my assessment.”

  “I’ll do what I can, son.”

  Maddox hoped it would be enough.

  -12-

  As Maddox entered the laboratory, Professor Ludendorff looked up with a scowl.

  The Methuselah Man looked like a fit, older man with tanned skin, a golden chain around his neck and thick white hair. He was a cunning scoundrel with knowledge gained over many centuries.

  The professor had been bad-tempered lately, as Doctor Dana Rich had left him and left the starship altogether, going back to her home planet of Brahma. She’d told the professor she needed time to think. Maybe they needed a break from each other. Ludendorff hadn’t agreed, but for once, he hadn’t gotten his way with her. The Bosks had mistreated Dana, using her in hurtful ways. Ludendorff had dragged her to the Bosk world looking for relief. She blamed him for what had happened to her.

  Maddox knew all this, and he was quite sure Ludendorff was still taking it badly, as was his wont when he didn’t get his way.

  The laboratory was big, with the shot-up Sanders android spread out over several tables, with many strange machines surrounding the tables and making various noises.

  Ludendorff had been examining a screen as Maddox entered. The professor now glanced at the captain, muttered under his breath and went back to examining the screen.

  “What can you tell me?” Maddox asked.

  “That you broke my concentration,” Ludendorff grumbled.

  “Have you determined the android’s faction?”

  Ludendorff looked up from the screen before muttering again and fiddling with the controls.

  “Professor, do you recognize the android model or not?”

  Ludendorff looked up again with a curious expression on his face.

  “We’re running out of time,” Maddox said. “The Prime Minister wants the android back and is putting the pressure on Cook to get it.”

  “I would think the Prime Minster would be running scared. He let an android run him. Hampton is through as Prime Minister.”

  “If Cook exposes him, agreed,” Maddox said.

  “Why wouldn’t—oh,” Ludendorff said, nodding. “Cook wishes to maintain public confidence in the political system. Yes…knowing how easy it is to control the highest leadership might cause the ordinary man to reassess. That is never good for those in charge. But if Cook fails to expose Hampton, he runs a greater risk.”

  “So, give me ammo,” Maddox said. “What have you found?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “You’ve had the android for over nine hours already.”

  “Yes, yes, I’m the miracle worker. Everyone expects wonders from me because I’m the smartest person in existence. Yet, sometimes I have to ponder and study, reassess and—”

  “Reassess what?” Maddox asked, interrupting.

  “Do you know that you have an annoying habit of always latching onto the—bah!” Ludendorff threw his hands into the air. “I’ve run into a snag, and I don’t understand it.”

  Maddox studied the Methuselah Man. Ludendorff had bags under his eyes and looked…distressed. Clearly, having Dana run off had struck at the professor’s core. The man was unsettled. Maybe his vaunted concentration wasn’t as powerful as usual. His great insights weren’t there to the same degree.

  “Don’t give me any of your pity,” Ludendorff muttered.

  “I wouldn’t think of it.”

  “Then, get that stupid expression off your face. It’s infuriating. If anyone needs help, it’s you.”

  Maddox waited.

  “That’s just what I’m talking about, that insufferable smugness that you think you know what in the hell you’re doing. Well, you don’t. Trust me on that. None of us does.”

  “You need some sleep, Professor.”

  “Bah!” Ludendorff said. “Sleep is overrated. Besides, I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about—never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Give her some time,” Maddox said.

  “You’re giving me sex advice?” Ludendorff asked in outrage. “I don’t need sex advice. I am the world’s most skilled lover. I am—”

  “Professor,” Maddox said sharply.

  Ludendorff stared at him open-mouthed.

  “No one doubts your sexual prowess. This is about love, not sex. Give Dana time. She’s hurt, deeply hurt.”

  “I know,” Ludendorff said in an agonized voice. “I know. How I wish…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

  Maddox could not pat the professor on the shoulder, as that was not his way. He saw the hurting man, and thus turned away to give Ludendorff a moment to get it together.

  Soon, Ludendorff cleared his throat.

  Maddox turned back as the professor pointed at the android brain case. He’d opened it to expose millions of tiny circuits.

  “Earlier, I energized the mechanical brain,” Ludendorff said, “but it wouldn’t fire up. There is a tripwire, so to speak, somewhere inside the computer core that won’t allow it to energize. That is unique to an android brain core. There are other modifications as well, ones I’ve never seen before.”

  “Oh?” Maddox asked.

  “You mentioned the model or make of android. It appears to be a Builder Type C android in most ways…” Once more, Ludendorff trailed off and shook his head.

  “What’s bothering you?”

  “I haven’t accessed any of its memories or been able to energize it enough in order to let it ‘talk’ to me. There is an internal barrier blocking such a thing. That barrier is not of Builder make.”

  Maddox rubbed his left check. Long ago, the Builders had constructed most of the present-day androids. Many of those androids had been kept in storage, periodically activating and secretly entering society.

  “What does this barrier mean to you?” the captain asked.

  “Obviously, someone has tampered with this Type C android. This tampering has…improved the android.”

  “Improved how?”

  “Oh, not while it was on,” Ludendorff said, “but while it is inoperative. I am unable to access it in any way. That is the giveaway.”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t you see?”

  Maddox shook his head.

  “The improvement—who can improve on Builder technology?” asked Ludendorff.

  “You mean we, as in humans or New Men, haven’t been able to improve on Builder technology.”

  “Correct.”

  “That implies others, as in, aliens, have done the improving.”

  “Correct again,” said Ludendorff.

  “What kind of aliens are we talking about?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Yon-Soths?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Nameless Ones?”

  “New aliens,” the professor said, “hidden aliens.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Maddox said. “Because you can’t access the inoperative android, you suspect alien modifications, new aliens of a kind we haven’t seen before?”

  “That along with a few other things,” Ludendorff muttered.

  “For instance?”

  The professor picked up a thin metal rod, walked to a different table and pointed at a tiny device the size and shape of a thumbtack.

  “What’s that?” Maddox asked.

  “I’ve run a few tests, although they are not conclusive. Still, I suggest that was a persuader.”

  “You mean the device helped the android persuade…”

  “Prime Minister Hampton and others to do exactly as the android wished.”

  “Is it a Spacer item?”

  “Negative.”

  “You’re positive on that?”

  “One hundred percent,” Ludendorff said. “That is alien technology of a kind I’ve never seen before. It’s why I’m having trouble figuring out what it does.”

  Maddox fingered his chin. “The alien-modified Sanders android ran Hampton.”

  “I’d say so.”

  “Do you think Hampton has woken up to that?”

  Ludendorff shook his head. “I doubt it works like that.”

  “What about Doctor Meyers?”

  “Who?” asked Ludendorff.

  Maddox shook his head as he fingered his chin once more. “I have to go Stockholm,” he said.

  “To see the Prime Minister?”

  “To question Meyers,” Maddox said. “Sanders said that he vetted her…” The captain spun on his heels and headed for the hatch.

  “Don’t you want to hear my theory?” Ludendorff asked.

  Maddox stopped short and turned around, staring intently at the professor.

  “Aliens abducted the android, modified it and ensured that Daniel Hampton became Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Planets.”

  “Why did aliens do this?”

  “Unknown so far,” Ludendorff said. “But I would think for the usual reason.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Conquering humanity, of course,” Ludendorff said.

  “Are these aliens working in concert with Lord Drakos?”

  Ludendorff shook his head. “If I’m correct about hidden aliens, I doubt Drakos knows about them. However, he could be working with those he considers an android faction.”

  “These aliens—the evidence for them is extremely thin.”

  “To you and others,” Ludendorff said. “But not to me.”

  Maddox nodded slowly.

  “If this Doctor Meyers is connected to these hidden aliens, I would only approach her with great caution.”

  Maddox considered that. If Meyers was connected to hidden aliens able to abduct androids and win Great Council elections—he spun around, hurrying for the hatch.

  -13-

  Maddox headed for Stockholm, coming down from Victory in a shuttle piloted by Keith Maker.

  Keith was a small man with sandy-colored hair and a cocky grin. In his own estimation, he was the best pilot in Star Watch. His exploits throughout the years made it a reasonable boast. He flew fast, coming through the atmosphere at a steep angle, causing the shuttle to shake.

  Neither Maddox nor his sergeant, Riker, complained. Riker was an old fellow already, a gruff man who constantly thought about retirement. He had a bionic eye and arm to complement his real eye and arm. He had saved Maddox more times than he could count. Mainly, he didn’t like to count because his didn’t always trust his memory. It wasn’t as good as it used to be, but Riker could still fire a blaster as steady as any space marine. The sergeant also possessed old-fashioned common sense, which wasn’t as common as most people believed.

  In any case, the shuttle roared toward Stockholm as Europe spread out before them.

  “Incoming message, sir,” Riker said, pointing at a blinking red light on the comm panel.

  “Lieutenant,” Maddox shouted. “Ease off, would you?”

  “Roger that,” Keith said.

  The shaking ceased immediately, the ride becoming routine and smooth.

  Maddox pressed a switch and stared at the small comm screen. A second later, Doctor Meyers’s fabulous features peered at him from the screen.

  Keith, who had leaned over, whistled in admiration. “What does she want with you, sir?”

  Maddox frowned at his pilot.

  “Oops, I know,” Keith said. “Mind my own business.”

  Maddox gave the pilot the barest of nods before he addressed Meyers.

  “Yes, Doctor,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

  “Do you have the…” She checked herself. “Are you bringing Bill Sanders down as ordered?”

  Riker sucked in his breath.

  Maddox glanced at the sergeant.

  “That’s an amazing voice,” Riker muttered.

  “What was that, Captain?” Meyers asked.

  “My sergeant was struck by the beauty of your voice, Doctor. Just as my pilot—”

  “Captain Maddox,” Meyers said, interrupting, “this is official business. You will instruct your men to act with proper decorum.”

  “I’ll pass that along,” Maddox said.

  “Are you bringing Sanders?” she asked again.

  “Do you mean the android?”

  Maddox wasn’t sure, but he thought to detect the faintest stiffening.

  “A simple yes or no will suffice,” Meyers said.

  “No,” he said.

  “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “No,” Maddox said, “I am not bringing the android.”

  “But—” She stared at him, and for once, she did not have the piercing gaze. It reappeared a second later as she seemed to shoot lasers into him. “The Prime Minister demanded that you—”

  “I don’t have it,” Maddox said, interrupting her again.

  “But…your Lord High Admiral informed us that you had assured him you were bringing it.”

  “It’s what I told Cook, yes,” Maddox said.

  “You lied to your superior officer?” she asked, puzzled.

  “No,” Maddox said.

  “What? But…you just said…”

  “I know what I said, Doctor. I want to speak to the Prime Minister. It’s vital I see him.”

  “You’re not making any sense,” Meyers said. “He ordered you to bring Sanders. This is a serious breach. You are in violation of the chain of command.”

  “We had a breakthrough,” Maddox said. “My people made some interesting discoveries concerning the android.”

  “W-What kind of discoveries?” asked Meyers.

  “That’s why I need to speak to the Prime Minister. Has he been feeling any headaches lately?”

  Meyers did not appear surprised by the question. She studied Maddox, and finally nodded.

  “Why do ask about headaches?” she said.

  “You know why.”

  “I assure you I don’t.”

  “Right,” Maddox said. “You expect me to believe that?”

  She frowned. “Get to the point. Do you have a point with these questions?”

  Maddox merely smiled.

  The quality of her gaze intensified. “You’re a paquat,” she whispered.

  “What’s a paquat?” Maddox asked.

  Her head jerked.

  “Was that a slip, Doctor?” Maddox asked.

  Her lips thinned. Abruptly, her image vanished as the communication broke.

  Maddox sat back thoughtfully.

  “Are you done talking?” asked Keith.

  Maddox did not answer.

  “What was that about, sir?” Riker asked. “I don’t recall we’ve learned anything about the android.”

  “You are correct, Sergeant. But she doesn’t know that.”

  Keith laughed, shaking his head.

  Riker looked from Maddox to Keith, and back to Maddox. “I don’t understand.”

  “He was faking,” the pilot said. “He acted like he knew something to see what she would do.”

  “Is that right, sir?” Riker asked.

  Maddox gave his sergeant a feral grin. “She’s worried.”