“I do.”
Both of them looked back at Ludendorff. He was hurrying to a different part of the control chamber. He pushed the antigravity sled, taking his special equipment with him.
“He won’t admit it,” Meta said. “But he’s excited. He lives for moments like this.”
Maddox did not respond, as he stared at the ships in orbit around the heavy planet. If he had Victory, he could solve this dilemma in a moment. The starship could launch antimatter missiles that he would make certain got through. This was maddening and frustrating. The professor tinkered with the ring computers and controls. Would the Builder-loving professor come through for him this time? He didn’t want any more lectures about the Hormagaunt. He would free the ancient creature and then—
Don’t even think it, Maddox warned himself.
He exhaled as he stood before the huge screen. Meyers was out there. She had sworn to annihilate all humanity. By her actions, she wanted to start with Star Watch and the Commonwealth of Planets. Her former man, Surbus, had brought the mobile null region to the Solar System. Now that she was presumably back in control again—
“Damn,” Maddox muttered. Meyers would restart the process, wouldn’t she? She would move the null region, he bet. How would he do it, if he had Meyers’s goals?
Maddox’s eyes glowed with desperation. For a wild moment, he considered donning a thruster-pack and driving an antimatter bomb to those ships. He could attach it like an old-style limpet mine and maybe use the thruster-pack to escape. Yet, even if he succeeded, Meyers would still have the heavy planet, and thereby control the null region and the ring.
Should I head back to the Hormagaunt? What good would that be if I can’t explain how to set him free?
Despite himself, Maddox began to pace. Meyers is so close. Should he attempt to land on the planet and assassinate her? Surely, the Merovingians would protect her. They were tough customers, especially that stupid one named Dagobert Dan.
Maddox exhaled with exasperation. He flexed his gloved hands. How was he going to do this? He had one card, the photon suits. He was trying to use that card to play the other one, the Hormagaunt. That card might turn on him, though. The ancient creature might devour billions of souls, racing through the Commonwealth of Planets and killing humans by gorging and feasting—
Maddox struck his thigh. This was maddening.
You already know that. So, forget it. Think, man. Use the wits God gave you. There has to be a way to do this. You just haven’t found it yet.
Maddox sat down at the screen controls. He stared at the parked spaceships. He stared at the area of the planet where the masses of shuttles and landers had disappeared into the subterranean hangar bays. He stared and forced himself to run through any option he could conceive. There simply had to be a way to defeat Meyers and this ancient ultimate weapon.
-64-
Dag knelt on one knee before the Queen, with his head bowed and his lance ceremoniously laid at her feet.
Methuselah Woman Lisa Meyers stood in the main planetary control chamber. It was devoid of everyone but Dag, her soldier guards and her. She wore a tight leather outfit and thigh-high heeled boots with a great fur cape draped behind from her shoulders. She was gloriously radiant, with a face that could have launched a thousand starships. She held her baton, the one with the ruby, and looked down at Dag.
“Arise, Champion, and accept my salute,” she said.
Dag raised his head, and he stood to his towering height.
The Queen was tall, but she had to reach to tap him on each shoulder with the baton.
Behind her, watching, were seven soldier guards. Each one held a blaster, and each seemed ready to aim and fire at Dag.
He tried to ignore that and concentrate on the Queen.
“Tell me what happened,” she said. “Don’t leave anything out.”
He did as she ordered, and she only interrupted once.
“Captain Maddox is in the null region?” she shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
Dag licked his lips. He had no answer for that.
“Where was he last?” she asked.
“Near the rubble by the ring,” Dag said.
“The ring!” Meyers cried. “This is horrible.” She turned, swinging her fur cape, taking several steps from him. She glanced once at her guards.
They aimed their blasters at Dag.
Slowly, Meyers faced him again. “Continue with your tale, but hurry. We have decisions to make.”
Dag refused to act cowed. He told the rest of the tale, including how he stabbed Helga in the throat.
“You gave her your oath,” Meyers said. “Why, then, did you kill her?”
“I believed her a Star Watch spy,” he said promptly. “That canceled our agreement, as she had lied to me.”
“I doubt she was a Star Watch spy,” Meyers said after a moment. “But I accept your reasoning, and I suspect your instincts were correct. Helga played a hidden hand. That might have interfered with me. But you slew her, so I no longer need worry about it.”
Meyers glanced over her shoulder at the soldiers.
They lowered their blasters.
She eyed Dag anew. “I applaud what you’ve done, Champion, but I’m unhappy to learn that Maddox is in the null region. He must be using those photon suits Ludendorff created. Yes… That undoubtedly allows him to remain in the nullity. Clearly, he must be searching for a way into the ring.”
“We could use some photon suits,” Dag said.
Meyers eyed him critically and laughed. “You want photon suits?”
“Most definitely,” Dag said.
“Excellent,” she said. “Your wish coincides with mine. Maddox has a photon suit. I want Maddox dead. Therefore, you will take the Koniggratz and head for the ring. Search for Maddox. Find and kill him, and his photon suit is yours.”
“But…” Dag said.
“What? You refuse the assignment?”
“No, O Queen. I do need a way to resist the nullity better. It…devours a man’s soul, saps his reasoning.”
“Are you not the Champion?”
“I am.”
“Can Surbus surpass you?”
“No,” Dag said.
“Then tell me no more sob stories about how the nullity hurts you. Get up there to the Koniggratz and bring me Maddox’s head. If Ludendorff is with him, bring the Methuselah Man to me.”
“But…O Queen, how do I find a hiding shuttle?”
Meyers froze as she eyed him, and grim imperiousness radiated from her. With a thumb, she flicked her ruby-topped baton. She interposed her body between the ruby and her soldiers. Then, she twisted the baton, catching Dag’s eyes with it.
The rays from the ruby striking his eyes—his heart began to pound with desire. He stared at the Queen, and he envisioned stripping her of her garments and making passionate love to her. The lust in him grew inordinately. He took a step nearer.
“O Dag,” she purred. “Do you desire me?”
“Yes,” he said in a husky voice.
“Then do this thing for me. Win my affection by bringing me Maddox’s head.”
“I will,” he said, the words torn from him. He was on the verge of rushing her, pressing her breasts against his chest—
Her thumb flicked a switch on the baton. The ruby quit glowing.
Dag’s shoulders slumped, and he blinked rapidly.
The Queen cast an eye over her shoulder. “Go,” she told the soldiers. “Wait outside.”
They filed out, each of their eyes shining with lust for her.
She faced Dag.
He rubbed his forehead. He wanted to feel the desire once more. He wanted to yearn for her. It had felt so good, so dominating. He’d felt as if he could achieve anything.
“Are you my Champion?” she asked.
“I am,” he said, stepping closer.
“Have a care, Dag.”
“My Queen,” he said, his groin stirring with lust. Then he stepped n
ear her, grasped the back of her head, with her hair in his hands, and pressed his lips against hers, tonguing her, grinding his groin against—
“Enough,” she said with a laugh, pushing him away.
He stood there blinking, nearly overcome with desire. “What…what did you do to me?”
“Do you love me, Dag?”
“With all my heart,” he said.
“Then go. Find Maddox, and kill him for me.”
“And then?” he asked in a husky voice.
“Then I shall dance for you—naked.”
He reeled, wanting that right now.
“But if you fail me, Champion, I will leave you forever. You will never see me again.”
“No,” he pleaded. “Not that, anything but that.”
“Go, Dag,” she said, wondering if she’d used the power of her ruby at too high a setting.
He hesitated.
“Go!” she said. “Do as I’ve ordered. Win my affection by doing as I say.”
“Yes, O Queen,” Dag said, turning, stumbling for the door. He’d never felt this way before. It was a drug, a desire, a deep lust that he must sate.
As Dag left the chamber, he passed the soldiers, who eyed him like a pack of angry dogs. He hated the nullity, but he yearned for the Queen’s embrace even more. He would take Rock and his best men, and he would search for Maddox, or he would die trying.
-65-
Maddox marched across the ring’s control chamber. Meta waved for him to hurry. She was near Ludendorff, who had sat back as he stared through his visor at the latest bank of panels he studied.
Maddox finally reached his wife. She pointed at Ludendorff. He glanced at the Methuselah Man.
His inner helmet comm crackled.
“I can’t believe I did this,” Meta said over the helmet comm. “I’ve had my helmet set on private link with the professor, by mistake. You haven’t heard a word I’ve said to you, have you?”
“About what?” asked Maddox.
“We were on a private channel?” Ludendorff asked.
“Don’t you remember asking me to do that?” Meta said.
“By George, I do. I mean I did forget, and I did ask for some private consolation. Maddox, my boy, do you know why I called you here?”
“Anytime you’re ready to tell me, I’ll listen,” Maddox said.
“We’re moving,” Ludendorff said.
“Ah…what do you mean?” Maddox asked.
“The mobile null region is moving,” Ludendorff said.
“I see,” Maddox said. “Can you determine where we’re moving?”
“Indeed, indeed,” Ludendorff said, “inward toward the Sun.”
“Oh really?” Maddox said. “Meyers is moving into an attack position against Earth?”
“That’s a logical deduction, and I quite agree with you.”
“Has she…ingested any asteroids?”
“Not yet,” Ludendorff said.
“Is the ring trying to gather up any of the nearby debris?”
“Negative,” Ludendorff said.
“You say she’s heading for the Sun?” Meta asked.
“I don’t know if that’s Meyers’s ultimate destination,” Ludendorff said. “The null region is going in-system, which naturally means closer to the Sun.”
“She could be piloting us anywhere,” Maddox said.
“If I were running the show,” Ludendorff said, “I’d go to the Asteroid Belt.”
“Of course,” Maddox said. “Professor—”
“Now, now, my boy, you mustn’t get excited just yet. There’s nothing I can do about any of this.”
“Maddox!” Meta shouted. “Look at the screen.”
All three of them turned to the giant screen. It showed the heavy planet, the parked orbital spaceships and the Koniggratz heading away as it zeroed in on the ring.
“Meyers must know we’re in here,” Maddox said.
“How can she possibly know that?” Ludendorff asked.
Maddox pointed at the Koniggratz. “That’s all the evidence we need to know she knows.”
“You could be right,” Ludendorff conceded. “I have practiced with a few controls. Surely, though, the Koniggratz could be heading for the ring to exit into normal space. Besides, if Meyers knows we’re here, why hasn’t she contacted us?”
“Contact us for what purpose?” asked Maddox.
“Our surrender, for one,” Ludendorff said.
Maddox nearly shouted in anger at the Methuselah Man, barely biting back the words before he uttered them. He turned away from the old coot and took a step closer to the huge screen. The Koniggratz was definitely heading for the ring. Did that necessarily mean Meyers knew they were inside the ring? Maybe Ludendorff had a point.
“I need Victory,” Maddox muttered. “I need the rest of my people.”
“What was that, my boy?” Ludendorff asked. “You’re mumbling. I can’t understand you.”
Maddox faced the professor. “If you could—see if you can…refine your accuracy as to the null region’s whereabouts in the Solar System.”
“Yes. That’s reasonable. I’ll do just that. What will we do if the Koniggratz docks with the ring?”
“You hold up your end, Professor. I’ll take care of the Koniggratz.”
“Care to tell me how?”
“In truth, I don’t know yet,” Maddox said. “But once I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
***
Maddox started pacing again. The agitation in him had grown. He was in the null region. He was in the ring. The Hormagaunt held Victory and the rest of the crew hostage for his good behavior—according to the Hormagaunt’s viewpoint. Now, the Koniggratz headed here.
How are they withstanding the nullity? Maddox asked himself. He stared thoughtfully at the ex-Star-Watch battleship. Did the Koniggratz heading here mean Meyers knew their exact location? Or could it mean that Meyers had learned about Surbus’s attacks and figured this general area was the best place to start searching for her enemies?
“Yes,” Maddox said softly.
Abruptly, the floor began to quiver.
The captain whirled around and marched to Meta and Ludendorff. “What’s happening?”
“That should be obvious, my boy,” Ludendorff said. “The ring is activating.”
“To send the Koniggratz to normal space?” asked Maddox.
“That’s one possibility.”
“The other?”
“According to these instruments, the null region has parked in the Asteroid Belt. Do you remember—?”
“Has Meyers picked an asteroid?”
“Not yet, not yet, my boy. I think she’s having trouble deciding on the type.”
“What do you mean?” Maddox asked.
“The belt consists of three primary categories of asteroids,” Ludendorff said in a didactic tone. “There are the C-type or carbonaceous asteroids. They’re carbon-rich and dominate the belt’s outer region. That puts them farther from her target. They comprise over seventy-five percent of the visible asteroids. The S-type or silicate asteroids are more common toward the inner region of the belt, within two point five AUs of the Sun, which is closer to target. They’re about seventeen percent of the asteroid population. Lastly are the M-type or metallic asteroids. Those would make the best missiles for her purposes. They’re about ten percent of the population and are mostly composed of nickel-iron. The closest are two point seven AUs from the Sun. Now, if she’s—”
“Please, Professor, that’s quite enough thank you.”
“Humph,” Ludendorff said. “I’m simply trying to educate you on the subject. Oh,” he said, glancing at a panel. “I believe Meyers has picked her asteroid.”
“And…?” asked Maddox.
“Let me calculate quickly—yes, it’s as I suspected. She has picked an M-type. In this instance, I believe it is 16 Psyche.”
“What?”
“The name of the asteroid,” Ludendorff said. “It’s over two hundred
kilometers in diameter, making it a heavy and solid nickel-iron asteroid. It should be sufficient to crack and smash the Earth into pieces at a single blow.”
Maddox wanted to tear his hair out, as the professor sounded so calm about all this.
“Ah…” Ludendorff said. “The Accelerator is quickening.”
The shaking in the control room worsened.
“Professor,” Maddox shouted. “Isn’t there something you can do?”
“Like what?”
“Like stopping this from happening,” Maddox said. “Meyers is targeting Earth from the Asteroid Belt with a major missile that will travel at one-quarter light-speed. If we don’t have battleships in place, a lot of them, she’s going to destroy the Earth.”
“Confound it, you’re right. I should have been concentrating on a different part of the controls.” Ludendorff stood, looking around as if he were trying to decide. “Over there,” he said, marching there.
Maddox glanced at the main screen. He noticed something. It appeared the Koniggratz no longer advanced, but had slowed its velocity to a crawl. What was the crew seeing from the Koniggratz? Maddox would have dearly liked to know.
-66-
Dag sat forward on the captain’s chair of the Koniggratz as he studied the ring on the main screen. The thing glowed with a hellish red color and it tore open a way to normal space. This time, visible blue tractor beams pulled a huge asteroid from normal space, dragging it toward the glowing ring.
Despite the grimness of the nullity, Dag didn’t feel the horrible effects as much as before. That must have something to do with the Queen’s ruby-topped baton. The same couldn’t be said for the bridge crew, although few had complained. He could tell their state by the sour looks on their faces.
The huge asteroid floated toward the ring. It was astonishing to see the ease with which the ring did this. Here was truly fantastic alien technology. Nothing in human science could compare to this. The asteroid must weigh an incredible amount, yet the ring pulled it into the null region, the opening to normal space closed, and the asteroid settled in what looked like the exact center of the Inertialess Accelerator.
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