Kane felt heat creep up his neck. That was anger. He must control the inner rage. The dominants would never release him for another mission if they detected such fury.
I’ve never had trouble controlling my rage before. The condenser ray should be helping me with this, which means the beam is definitely doing something else. Why have the dominants lied to me?
Kane debated the idea even as he yearned for another chance against the norms. He particularly wanted the opportunity in the hope that Captain Maddox would appear in his path again. Then—
Kane shifted on his chair.
He must forget about the Star Watch Intelligence officer and his woman. Meta’s delicious body and enticing features had goaded him the entire time he had been with her. He should have stripped off her garments and put his hands on her, entering—
No! Kane cared nothing about that.
Why am I lying to myself? I never have before. I want the woman. I desire to use her well and often.
Kane took a deep breath. He must rid himself of all rutting desires. Only climbing rank mattered. Only the—
Abruptly, the ray quit. Kane knew because his teeth stopped aching and his head no longer pounded. It left a dull emptiness in his mind, though, making it difficult to concentrate.
A noise alerted Kane. He found his reflexes were slow. He moved his head sluggishly as the chamber’s door slid up.
Commander Oran Rva, a golden-skinned dominant, stepped through the hatch. The commander wore a silver suit with a single purple emblem on his right pectoral. He had a weapon belt around his waist with a holstered blaster. Oran Rva was tall with a dark pelt of hair. The eyes, which were like swirling black pools of ink, fixated on Kane.
“Come with me,” Oran Rva said.
It took Kane three tries to rise. What had the invisible beam done to him? Finally, he stood up, only to go down to one knee. With a grunt of embarrassment, he struggled to his feet, finally staggering after the commander.
***
Kane stood in a large auditorium aboard the star cruiser. Oran Rva was behind a table that held a harness of thin straps attached to silver bands.
“You have failed in your deception missions,” the dominant said. “Analysis proves your decisions were lacking. A competent spy needs intuitive powers combined with daring. You have an insufficient quantity of the former but an abundance of the latter. Given your knowledge of Earth customs and ability to swim among the sub-men unnoticed, you are about to embark on a unique mission of straightforward violence.”
Kane said nothing, absorbing the information. Was this a demotion? It sounded like it. Yet, the gear on the table was clearly advanced technology. The dominants never let others use such weaponry, reserving those items for themselves.
“In essence, you will be a one-man commando team,” Oran Rva said.
The slightest of frowns touched Kane’s face.
“State your objections to this,” Oran Rva said.
Kane shook his head. “I have no objections, Your Excellency.”
“Remember that you have stated so. Now, remove your garments, put on this harness and I shall begin your training.”
Kane obeyed, soon fitting soft silver bands around his neck, torso, forearms, biceps, triceps, thighs, calves and other areas.
That Oran Rva, the commander of the initial invasion armada, trained him personally, was food for consideration. The New Men had different customs than the norms. There, an admiral would never teach a commando his trade. Here, the grade of the instructor indicated the importance of the task. That Oran Rva oversaw the training told Kane his commando mission was of supreme importance.
With the straps and bands in place on Kane’s person, Oran Rva indicated a tiny silver ball, with two deep indentations.
“Attach the power source to the harness there,” the commander said, pointing at a cord near Kane’s navel.
Kane plugged the ball to the harness. Instantly, the bands around his muscles buzzed pleasantly.
“You wear enablers,” Oran Rva explained. “They will excite your muscles, allowing you greater speed and strength. Are you ready?”
Kane nodded.
The commander ordered a sequence of exercises. Faster than Kane had ever done before, he ran around objects, leaped higher than he would have thought possible and engaged a fighting robot in a series of engagements.
At the end of the session, Kane removed the sweaty harness. He staggered, and his muscles quivered with exhaustion. In spite of his resolve, the Rouen Colony man collapsed onto the floor.
“Attend me,” Oran Rva said.
Kane concentrated, finding it difficult to focus. He managed to look up at the dominant towering over his prone person.
“With the enabler, you have reacted faster and with greater strength than you are normally capable of doing. The experience, as you can see, has left you exhausted. Instead of giving you a warning of the coming situation, I have let you experience the weakness directly. Never forget that extended exertions with the enabler will leave you powerless afterward.”
Kane said nothing. He was too tired. Finally, Kane sat up. Soon thereafter, time lost meaning for him. The dominant continued the training after injecting him with stimulants. Kane used other advanced weaponry, gaining proficiency with each, becoming lethal beyond his previous experience.
After two days of this, Oran Rva told him, “It is time for your departure. As previously stated, you are returning to Earth. There, you will acquire a critical item. You will bring it to the Throne World.”
Kane sat rigidly, ingesting the data.
“This is a category one assignment, as you will have already surmised,” Oran Rva said. “I am giving you a raptor identity along with a class one intent code. Five assassin teams will be on standby on Earth waiting for your word.”
These were unprecedented conditions. If Kane didn’t know better, he would guess the Throne World convulsed with worry over this item. That was incredible.
“You will use a scout and rendezvous with Exodus Eight,” Oran Rva said. “Because you are a commando now instead of an agent, you will practice a sub-aqua entry onto the planet. After you have gained the item, you will go to the Tango Point for a flash exit.”
In spite of himself, Kane’s eyes widened. This was more than convulsed worry on the Throne World’s part. This was panic. That would explain why the dominants were allowing him to use the highest-class weaponry.
“You will use the Nexus of course,” Oran Rva said.
For the first time, fear welled within Kane.
“You will leave in five hours,” Oran Rva said. “Before that, you will memorize the exact parameters of the mission. Are you ready?”
“I am,” Kane said.
“Stand,” Oran Rva told him.
Kane did so. The New Man stood taller. Kane was thicker and heavier. Even so, he knew the dominant was stronger than he was and could kill him in hand-to-hand combat—unless he fought Oran Rva while wearing the enabler.
Do not think such a thing in his presence. Act like ice. I am ice.
Oran Rva stared at Kane. The black eyes seemed to burn.
Kane feared the other knew his thoughts.
It seemed, then, for just a moment, that the faintest of smiles appeared on Oran Rva’s face. That vanished a second later.
“Follow me,” the dominant said, turning around.
Kane obeyed, struggling to understand what the hint of smug superiority and amusement he’d just witnessed could mean. The situation brought heat to his neck and anger washing against his mind. With everything in him, Kane attempted to throttle the fury. What was wrong with him? This was what he wanted, another chance to prove himself.
I am the commando. With my success, I will show Oran Rva he can trust me with tougher assignments. I must not ruin what might be my last chance for greatness.
***
Hours later, Kane sat in a scout, a nondescript spacecraft. It would be unremarkable in both the Commonwealth an
d Windsor League. The small vessel drifted toward a large silver pyramid many kilometers in diameter, the Nexus.
The pyramid was in a star system in the Beyond. No Star Watch vessel had ever been out here. This Nexus was beyond the Throne World in its distance from Earth. Like the Nexus hidden in the Commonwealth, the pyramid lay deep in an artificial asteroid belt. Unlike the Commonwealth pyramid, this one had several star cruisers in orbit.
Kane’s heart beat faster. He was about to transfer almost three hundred light years in a single bound. As far as he knew, this was the outer limit that one could travel in this way.
He dreaded the coming journey. Would the greater distance mean greater pain?
In order to drown his fear, Kane inspected the scout and its equipment. In doing so, he kept passing a hatch, one he hardly recognized as such. One time, he paused before the hatch. Vaguely, he realized he mustn’t go into the compartment. Then, something in his mind caused the hatch to disappear from his consciousness. He continued with his inspection.
After checking everything on the scout except for the “ghostly” compartment, Kane returned to the control room.
Instead of entering the secret world of espionage among the norms, he would practice a commando assault. He had never failed to beat the enemy directly. His failures had only come in grabbing the wrong people. This time, he couldn’t fail in that regard. The item was very particular and there were no substitutes in the known universe. He would go to Monte Carlo, to Nerva Tower, to snatch the item.
A light winked on his board.
Unlike the last time he’d made such a transfer, Kane hadn’t needed to enter the pyramid to set the coordinates. A dominant had done so for him.
With trembling hands, Kane worked the controls. The engine thrummed into life. He tried to think of some way to postpone the moment.
Then, a grim phenomenon occurred outside the spacecraft. A tiny pulsating glob of matter appeared. It shimmered and expanded, rapidly growing to a little more than twice the scout’s size. It was a transfer portal.
Kane could no longer draw air. With a shaking hand, he tapped the controls. The scout headed for the pulsating matter. Kane couldn’t tear his eyes from it. He knew the journey would cause him to ache as nothing else could. Kane tested his straps and made sure a water bottle was nearby in order to rinse out his mouth later. He was going to vomit on the other side, hopefully not any blood, though.
The portal grew larger.
“No,” Kane moaned. “I don’t want to do this.”
Then, the scout entered the portal, disappearing as it began the great leap across three hundred light-years…
-11-
Maddox was in a hangar bay, working with Meta. They attached a warfare pod to the underside of a shuttle. Once they reached the Xerxes System, Maddox was certain they would go the Nexus.
Maddox had gone over with Meta her time with Kane. The enemy agent had used a space-cycle to approach the silver pyramid. Maddox believed Kane had kept the scout from the Nexus’s immediate vicinity for a reason. What that reason was, the captain didn’t know. The point, to him, was to keep Victory away from the silver pyramid. That would mean using a shuttle to reach the relic.
They attached the warfare pod to the shuttle to ensure it had heavy enough armaments.
It had been several days now since the fight with Villars. Maddox had told Meta about it, and she’d wanted to ambush the man and finish it.
“Not yet,” had been Maddox’s reply. He wanted Villars to get comfortable first.
“You don’t know what it feels like being hunted.”
Maddox had assured Meta he did. That was why either Riker or he was with her at all times.
“I don’t need bodyguards,” Meta had told him. “I can take care of myself.”
“No doubt, but Riker and I are going to help you just the same. That’s what family does.”
Meta had finally accepted the proposition. Maddox had moved into her quarters. When they were apart, Riker took over guard duty. Ludendorff had his personal force field and web-field, but Villars just had regular means. Thus, the sergeant would use the stun gun and Maddox his long-barreled weapon to kill Villars if the slarn hunter tried to stalk Meta.
“Lift,” Maddox said.
Meta strained as she raised the main housing, pushing a joiner against the shuttle’s under-plate.
Maddox pulled a trigger, making his screw-gun whirr with power. He installed the rest of the housing to the warfare pod.
“Captain, could I have a word with you?”
Maddox turned around. Dana stood beyond the shuttle. She wore her white lab coat and an intense frown.
“Go ahead,” Meta told him. “I can finish up here.”
Maddox handed the drill to Meta before taking a rag from his pocket. He wiped grease from his hands, walking out from under the shuttle.
“Maybe we can speak inside there,” Dana said, indicating the shuttle.
Maddox shrugged and headed for a lift, climbing to the control compartment hatch. He stepped inside the shuttle. Dana followed close behind, closing the hatch.
That surprised Maddox.
Dana pulled a small device from a lab coat pocket. With the flick of a thumb, she turned it on, causing an audible vibration.
Maddox could feel the vibration strongest against his teeth.
“I doubt the professor is going to give us much time,” Dana said. “This is an anti-snoop scrambler. I made it myself.” She attached it to a panel.
“Ludendorff will know we’re plotting against him because it’s on,” Maddox said.
“I’ve already indicated as much,” Dana said. “Now listen. I know where Ludendorff must have put the backdoor to the AI. Do you remember when the computer tried to gas us several months ago?”
“Of course,” Maddox said. “It was right after the de-bugging, after you and Ludendorff rid Galyan of the Swarm virus.”
“Exactly,” Dana said. “I’ve been thinking of that moment. It’s always bothered me. Why would Galyan have gassed us at the precise moment we helped him most?”
“I have no idea,” Maddox said.
“Neither did I. So, I asked myself, who gained the most from that? Ludendorff did. He’d done something in the chamber he didn’t want anyone else to find out about.”
Maddox considered the idea. “You’re right. That’s an excellent deduction, Doctor.”
Dana looked down, perhaps to hide her smile at the compliment. When she looked up again, her features were composed. “So, all we have to do is break into the chamber, find the backdoor and take it out. Then Galyan will follow you as the AI has indicated it will do, and you shall control Victory again.”
“Ludendorff will likely have protective devices in the core chamber,” Maddox said.
“Yes,” Dana said. “Gas, for one thing. A suit and rebreather should take care of the problem.”
Maddox nodded thoughtfully.
“The professor could have put more fail-safes in place, but—”
“Just a minute,” Maddox said, interrupting Dana. “Our time is ticking. Ludendorff is going to notice your scrambler soon, if he hasn’t already. Now we know where the backdoor is. When the time is right, we’ll break in, search for it and deactivate the device. You’re going to have to think deeply about where exactly it’s hidden.”
“Yes, yes,” Dana said, impatiently. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
“Before you go into that,” Maddox said. “I want to know how you successfully mutinied against Ludendorff the first time in the Adok System. The man is deceptively clever and devious in the extreme. How did you defeat him?”
“How could that possibly matter now?” Dana asked. “That happened years ago. It’s old history.”
“Knowing will help me figure out how to beat him this time around,” Maddox said.
“Believe me, it won’t,” Dana said. “He’ll never fall for that trick again.”
“Maybe, but knowing will show
me one of his weaknesses. That’s always good to know.”
Dana looked away, her features twisting with distaste.
“We don’t have the luxury of being fastidious,” Maddox told her. “You did something secretive many years ago. It fooled Ludendorff. I must know what you did, but time is of the essence, Doctor. Learning it later isn’t going to help.”
“Oh, very well,” Dana said. “I was Ludendorff’s lover. There, are you satisfied?”
Maddox kept his features blank. Inside, he was nodding. He should have already seen the answer. It helped explain her hostility toward the professor.
“Mutinying against him was one of the hardest things I ever did,” Dana said in a monotone.
Maddox could almost hear the words she didn’t say, “I wish I’d never done it.” The captain didn’t get that from her face. Dana’s features were stiff, with her eyebrows raised and her nostrils flared. The captain’s understanding about the doctor’s feelings toward Ludendorff was a gut instinct. Maddox was certain the event had been decisive in Dana’s life. He would like to know the mutiny’s details. What impact had her treachery had on the professor?
The opposite of love wasn’t hate but indifference. It would seem Doctor Rich still isn’t over Ludendorff.
“Let me—” Maddox said.
The scrambler vibrated louder than before. A second later, a blue nimbus shined from it.
“Down!” Dana shouted, as she dropped to the floor.
Maddox followed her example. As his chest touched a deck plate, the scrambler exploded, blowing hot shrapnel everywhere, tearing the fabric from the nearest seat.
“Ludendorff worked fast,” Maddox said from the floor.
“He always does,” Dana said.
Maddox scrambled to his feet, drawing his gun as he pushed open the hatch. Villars stood on the hangar bay floor, staring intently at Meta under the shuttle.
Without hesitation, Maddox aimed and began to squeeze the trigger. The captain felt the force web begin to tighten around him. Then the gun discharged. The bullet plowed through the surrounding web. It must have wobbled in flight, taking it off course just a little. The slug tore through Villars’s left shoulder, twisting the slarn hunter. It didn’t throw the man onto the floor, but it did cause him to stagger back.
The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3) Page 9
