Drakos racked the curl bar and stood before a mirror, raising both arms and making his biceps pop up.
That was beautiful. His arms were beautiful. He was beautiful the way a male lion in all his pride and glory was majestic. He was majestic—Drakos was thinking about himself now—because he was dangerous. There was no more dangerous individual in Human Space and probably in the wild Beyond as well.
I am going to show the Throne World how it is done. I am going to teach the submen that I am the true superior in every way. For too long, I have been nipping at the heels of the Commonwealth. I have done so in order to weaken them for this moment.
Drakos lowered his arms as he panted. He had worked out hard, training even as he flew to his battle against destiny. He had sought Thrax, and he had found him. Now, one hundred and thirty-five attack saucers maneuvered to his design, his great plan and ultimate victory. The four Juggernauts had been a fantastic extra prize, making all of this much more doable.
“Ah!” Drakos said, striking a dramatic pose as he viewed himself for the tiniest flaws. There were none. He was more than a superior. He was an ultimate.
“I am the ultimate,” Drakos told himself.
He lowered his arms a second time as he relaxed. That was enough body worship. He needed to refine his plans.
He walked through a hatch and picked up a towel, heading to the showers. He blasted himself with freezing water. It almost made him shiver. He would not allow himself that luxury, however. He would endure as he continued to hone himself into an even deadlier beast of prey.
Finally, he switched to hot water, gasping, letting the spray relax his muscles.
Finished, he toweled off and walked into his game room. This had a holographic board with many star systems. By voice command, he moved the symbols for his Joint Fleet.
Drakos stood there, thinking, pondering, wondering if he had thought of everything. Naturally, he knew about the Builder Scanner. It was a great technological marvel. The Far-Scanner was important, but that Builder Scanner…
Drakos exhaled. It wasn’t possible that Star Watch had failed to spot the Joint Fleet. Once the darter had found the Swarm colony world and they had failed to capture it, it would only have been a matter of time. Thus, Star Watch knew the location of the colony world.
Whatever else happened, Thrax’s colony would face antimatter missiles and possibly asteroid bombardment. The bug lord should have taken all his attack saucers with them.
Oh, Drakos could have told Thrax the reality, but the bug lord might have made a different decision then. No. Thrax’s colony world was finished. That was as good as fact. Thus, Drakos didn’t have to worry about letting the Swarm loose here in Human Space. Thrax and his attack saucers would not survive the coming cauldron of battles. But, then again, he had never intended that Thrax and the attack saucers would survive. They were merely a means to an end. So, in a way, Drakos was really aiding humanity in its long war against every other intelligent form of life in the galaxy.
The attack saucers had to survive long enough for Drakos to move onto his next stage. That stage was becoming Emperor of the Throne World. It was obvious, should have been obvious to any competent strategist. The attack saucers were doomed; thus, he needed more ships, another source. The most likely source was the war-hardy race of superiors.
Thrax had suggested they try a sneak attack against the Throne World. That wouldn’t have been a bad idea…if no Builder Scanner existed. Plus, Drakos needed the Throne World intact. All his talk about destroying it was just that, talk, expelled air making noise.
With a grunt, Drakos sat down at the holographic table and tried a new variation of space attack. He was trying to prepare for any and every contingency. A superior could act in the moment, and that was one of their greater powers. But a supreme strategist also attempted to think through all the possibilities in order to prepare.
Drakos now spent seven hours running through the new idea and twelve variations of it.
He sat back afterward, staring up at the ceiling. How many capital ships would Star Watch send? How many would the Emperor sent to help the submen? Where would the Allied Host face him? Certainly, they were going to try to ambush his force. Star Watch had the Builder Scanner. They would attempt to use that to full advantage.
Drakos did not make the classic mistake of thinking what he would do in their place. He was the master strategist. He would win gloriously if he were in their place. They were going to lose. Thus, they would do something other than he would do. In the first place, he understood the Lord High Admiral. The man thought of little else than protecting the Commonwealth. That was both his strength and weakness. Cook would send too few warships, believing that Captain Maddox could help the Allied Host perform a miracle.
There were not going to be any miracles for Star Watch or Victory this time.
“The only miracles are going to be the ones I make,” Drakos said.
He also was not going to make a second classic mistake, and that was to overestimate his great abilities. Sometimes, great captains began to think too highly about themselves. He would never do that. He would think about himself exactly as he was: the best strategist in the game.
Drakos had proven that to himself many times. His plan had taken into account the enemy’s Builder Scanner and long-range Builder com devices. He was drawing them to him. They would believe him unready.
Drakos stood abruptly so the chair flew backward. It was time to pre-calibrate the first of his two secret weapons. He could only use this weapon once, so he had to make it count. Maybe that was why he felt nervous. If he misused it…
“No,” Drakos said, shaking his head. He was certain that the implementation of the first secret weapon should occur—Drakos closed his eyes, making the final calculations regarding its use. His eyes flew open. He would use the weapon in a little more than a week but not more than two weeks from now.
-3-
Maddox sat on a mat, breathing deeply as he practiced the Way of the Pilgrim. There was nothing in this room but the white bulkheads. Before entering the chamber, he had been speaking over the long-range Builder com device. What the Lord High Admiral had told him was upsetting.
The Patrol Fleet—in lieu of any better term—was almost through “C” Quadrant. It was racing now for the border into the Beyond. Maddox had crossed the border so often that he’d forgotten how regular Star Watch officers and personnel viewed it. To them, crossing the border meant heading into the great unknown. The Beyond frightened them. Given that truth, Maddox had been arguing with Admiral Cook. Maybe the Patrol Fleet should hit the Joint Fleet inside the border rather than outside.
“On no account,” Cook had told him.
The Throne World flotilla was on its way. The two forces would rendezvous in the Meden System, a place practically devoid of dust and debris, with two supergiant Jupiter planets. The huge gas giants had acted like vacuum cleaners for a long time, drawing all the excess comets, gases and particles from the system. Admiral Cook did not expect the battle to take place there, but deeper in the Beyond. Cook already had one system in mind, one with great quantities of dust and debris. After questioning Cook just a little, Maddox realized the old man hoped to use the Tau Ceti Plan all over again. He hoped to use hosts of missiles to soften up the enemy before withdrawing and sucking them into a trap.
Maddox knew Drakos would not fall for that, but after a few quiet words, he realized the Lord High Admiral didn’t want to hear it. Cook had his plan, and by it, Maddox understood a truth.
The captain sat on the mat and practiced the Way of the Pilgrim. It calmed his mind and allowed him to live with this excess energy. This new method did something else, as well. It gave him a serenity that he had never known before. How could that be? He seethed with life, but he knew greater peace because of the calming of his thoughts.
Drakos was cunning. Thrax had avoided the fate of the other Swarm creatures. Neither of those two worthies was going to surge through a mis
sile belt into order to hit waiting starships. That the Lord High Admiral could not see this, told Maddox a truth.
Cook mistrusted Admiral Byron. Cook did not necessarily think Byron was a poor officer, but the consequence of the coming battle was too big to leave to chance. Thus, Cook was making a classic mistake. He was trying to micromanage the campaign and possibly the battle itself, and all from Pluto. Cook had the Builder Scanner. He had several sets of long-range Builder com devices scattered in strategic locations, and he now thought he could manage the campaign from far back on Pluto.
Maddox shook his head. That was a mistake born of vanity. He couldn’t allow it, but he wouldn’t stop it his usual direct way. Yes, he was a man of action. That was what others expected from him. Well, though he was still a man of action, now he was going to do some deep and careful thinking as well.
As Maddox sat on his mat, calming his mind, he fanned the major personalities in his mind in the coming conflict: Cook, Byron, Ural, he believed, Drakos and Thrax. That was an interesting group. They were powerful men, and one bug, who seldom let others push them around.
Byron was an unknown.
“Sir,” Galyan whispered.
Despite his calm, Maddox started, jumping up and taking a combat stance.
“I am sorry for disturbing you, Captain,” Galyan said in a soft voice. “But Professor Ludendorff has begun screaming. He wishes to talk to you.”
Maddox stared at Galyan, and a stinging retort came to his lips. He suppressed the response, continuing to stare.
“I know, I know,” Galyan said. “I feel awful. This is worse than a verbal tongue-lashing. I should have sent Riker. He would have knocked on the hatch and preserved your privacy.”
“Come with me,” Maddox said softly.
“Sir?”
“We’re going to see Ludendorff.”
“You want me to come with you?”
“I do.”
“May I ask why, sir?”
“Yes.”
Galyan waited until, finally, he asked, “Why are you taking me?”
Maddox did not answer but hurried from the room. Galyan caught up with him in the corridor, popping into existence and floating beside the captain.
“You gave me permission to ask,” Galyan said.
“I did, but I didn’t say I would answer.”
“Then, why let me ask?”
Maddox shrugged. He didn’t know why. Maybe there was a perverse sense of humor locked in him. It was difficult to let it out while he maintained the Way of the Pilgrim. This was a calmer, if meaner method of playing a prank of letting his perverse sense of humor out.
Maddox cocked his head. Would it be mentally harmful to him to try to restrain his dark humor? Maybe the humor was a release valve in him.
“You are quieter than you used to be, sir.”
Maddox nodded, accepting that as a truth.
“Is this going to be your new personality?”
Maddox smiled. “I have no idea, Galyan. Only time will give us the answer.”
Galyan sighed wistfully.
“Are you pondering about time?” the captain asked.
“Why, yes, I have been. How could you tell?”
“I notice more while I’m calm.”
“That is interesting.”
“What was Ludendorff screaming about?” Maddox asked.
“No words. Just raving and shaking his fists. Oh, wait: I do recall him shouting profanities at Doctor Dana Rich.”
“Is he hallucinating about her?”
“I doubt that, sir,” Galyan said. “I believe he is blaming his present problems on her. He is shouting that if she had not left him, he would not have to be resorting to his new tactics.”
“So, he is speaking coherent words.”
“Oh. Yes. I stand corrected, sir.”
Maddox nodded, and he began to jog. Then, he broke into a sprint. When the captain ran like this, only a New Man or Galyan could keep up.
-4-
Maddox stepped through the opened hatch into Ludendorff’s solitary cell. Galyan floated through as well, dodging the captain as Maddox closed the hatch with a click.
Ludendorff sat on the middle of his cot with his face in his hands and his feet on the floor. He did not look up, although he flinched upon the closing sound.
It was a midsized room, and it smelled better than it had a right to. For a shouting, possibly crazy man, it was quite tidy in here. There was no mess in the side sink. The restroom door was open, and there were no unpleasant odors emanating from there.
“What do you want, my boy?” the professor asked, with his face still pressed against his hands. “Have you come to gloat?”
“Hardly,” Maddox said. “Galyan told me you were shouting.”
Ludendorff looked up. His eyes were red-rimmed and his face was flushed. He did not seem his confident self. Had solitary confinement broken his normal self-esteem?
“You’ve done the worst thing possible, I’m afraid,” Ludendorff said. “I’ve had far too much time to think. I’ve begun to put various factors together, making connections. I’ve also seen errors, my own, this time. That is a rare occurrence for me. I have come to know…regret is likely the correct word. Yes. I have regret and do not like it.”
“Galyan said you shouted accusations against Dana.”
Ludendorff eyed the little holoimage. “You’re the Adok tattletale, are you?”
“I am performing my task,” Galyan said.
“Is that your excuse?” asked Ludendorff. “I was merely following orders?”
“I have said it was my task,” Galyan replied. “That of course means I was given orders. Why do you use your tone on me as if I have done something wrong?”
Ludendorff took a deep breath and let it out. “That isn’t our excuse, is it, Captain? You and I make our own errors. We cannot pass the blame, because we seldom follow orders we don’t like. I have yet to discover this new source of zeal in you. It is quite remarkable.”
“Have you ever heard of Erills?” asked Maddox.
Ludendorff cocked his head. “There is a legend, yes. It is quite old, though. The Builders had to repair the damage the stupidity of the Havens had brought about. The Havens were an ancient race that died out… Wait a minute, old boy. You’re not suggesting you actually found the city of pyramids. That the city is real.”
“All too real,” Maddox said. “I faced and slew an Erill on the extinct planet of the Havens. We’ve been calling it the Haunted Planet. I should rephrase one thing. I killed the Erill while aboard the Reynard and while we were in the upper atmosphere.”
“Impossible.”
“Not so,” Maddox said. He explained about the Builder glyph that had drifted to him in the strange realm where he faced an alien creature.
“So the Builders infected you, too, eh? I should have known. The Builders were great busybodies.” Ludendorff shook his head. “Galyan, you could have ruined everything by your hasty stupidity. If I’d been awake, Captain, I could have stopped you from almost releasing a great terror upon humanity.”
“If…” Maddox said.
“I know,” Ludendorff said. “I realize I made a mistake aboard the Reynard. I cost myself the hard-won trust of the crew. Before that, I drove Dana from me. What a costly error that has proven to be.”
“You could go get her,” Galyan said.
“It’s too late for that,” Ludendorff said.
“You are a fool, Professor,” Galyan said with heat.
Both Maddox and Ludendorff stared at the holoimage in surprise.
“What did you say to me?” asked Ludendorff.
“I will tell what is too late,” Galyan said. “I cannot talk to my wife again, because she died over six thousand years ago. That is too late. I cannot feel like I did when I was a flesh and blood Adok. That is far, far too late. Someday, Captain Maddox and the others will be dead. Then, it will be too late to tell and show them how I feel about them. But Doctor Dana Rich—it is
not too late for you, Professor Ludendorff. If you really think so, then you are a great fool.”
“No more of your moralizing and emotionalism, you pile of circuitry. I will not—”
“Professor,” Maddox said in a commanding voice.
Ludendorff stopped short, looking at the captain.
“Take heed, sir,” the captain said. “Driving Force Galyan has given you excellent advice. Here’s more from me. Do not insult Galyan in a manner meant to hurt him.”
“Are you serious, my boy?” asked Ludendorff. “He’s only a—”
Maddox took two steps closer to Ludendorff.
The Methuselah Man stopped talking. Did he sense the seriousness in Maddox’s poise?
“You truly care what Galyan thinks?” Ludendorff asked in surprise.
“He’s my friend,” Maddox said.
“Thank you, Captain,” Galyan said.
“No, Galyan. Thank you. You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”
“That makes sense,” Ludendorff muttered.
“That is high praise indeed, sir,” Galyan told Maddox.
“I’m going to talk to Ludendorff alone for now, though,” Maddox said. “He’s in a bitter mood. If he wants to insult me, fine. But I don’t want to strike him for insulting you in your presence.”
“I will leave at once, Captain,” Galyan said, disappearing.
Ludendorff peered at Maddox, with the wheels obviously turning in the Methuselah Man’s mind. “An emotional little AI, isn’t he? Who would have believed it?”
“The Builders were exceptional technicians,” Maddox said. “Everything they touched was superlative. That would include a deified Adok AI.”
“And Methuselah Men, my boy?” asked Ludendorff.
“There are no more dangerous troublemakers than Ludendorff and Strand, and no specialists that have helped elevate humanity to its present technological status than you two.”
Ludendorff rubbed his chin. “Are you still going to keep me in here?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Ludendorff turned away, soon muttering to himself. He grunted as he pushed up to his feet. “Maybe Galyan’s right, I should go to Dana. I don’t know how I can while locked up in here, though. First, I must clear myself with you, I suppose.”
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