“And that is what?” Maddox asked.
“We must go to the asteroid belt near the Nexus. There, we must search for a control unit. I happen to know the doomsday machine was parked there for thousands of years.”
“And that’s why you hijacked my starship?” Maddox asked. “To go there?”
The professor nodded.
“Why not come to me first and tell me about this or better yet ask for our help?”
“I have my reasons,” the professor said.
Maddox did some quick thinking. Finally, he said, “I’m not going to agree to help unless you give up the backdoor to Galyan. Either I run Victory, or I will consider myself your prisoner. As a prisoner, I refuse to help my captor.”
“You’re in no position to bargain,” Ludendorff said.
“But I am. You want my help. To gain it, that’s the price.”
“I could simply lock you in your quarters and do this myself.”
“I don’t think so,” Maddox said. “You like to use proxies. That’s why you sent Per Lomax after the planet-killer. You as good as murdered him. I’m beginning to think he had no chance but for wildest luck.”
Ludendorff scowled. “I’m growing weary of your insults, Captain.”
“You mean to say that the truth can still prick your conscience. That means for all your faults, you haven’t yet become inhuman.”
After a moment, Ludendorff shook his head. “You’re a brash young fellow, but that’s the kind of officer I need. I don’t have time to search for someone else to do this. Thus, I’ll give you a concession. I will retain the backdoor to Galyan. But, I will refrain from using it unless I inform you first.”
Maddox pondered that. Could he get more? “Tell me this,” the captain said. “What is our destination?”
“I already told you.”
“What are the stellar coordinates?” Maddox asked.
Ludendorff shook his head. “I will keep that to myself for now.”
“Why bother? We’ll know once we get there.”
“As I said before, I have my reasons.”
Maddox became thoughtful. “I agree,” he said at last.
“Excellent,” the professor said, tapping the flat device.
The web field disappeared, and Maddox could move again. He stretched and scratched his back, but there was no use drawing his gun for a quick shot. The professor still wore the personal force field.
“I feel compelled to warn you,” the professor said. “This will be your hardest assignment yet.”
“Right,” Maddox said. It would be difficult because he had to find a way to regain control of the starship. He had to surprise the professor, which he would do at the first available opportunity.
-8-
Valerie paced in her quarters.
Ludendorff had taken over the starship. He and his people used the various interior ship systems to watch them, had been watching them for some time. The captain had called a short meeting after the seizure, letting the others know the situation. Maddox had been guarded in his speech because he knew Ludendorff watched and analyzed everything they said.
During the meeting, the captain had brushed aside her question about their exact destination. As the starship’s navigator, Valerie wanted to know where they traveled. Maddox had smiled as if bored with her question, but he might have winked. He’d done it so quickly, though, that she still wasn’t sure.
At first, Valerie had resented the brushoff. Too many times during her Space Academy days, the clique of rich-kid cadets had done just that to her during the group study period. Instead of trying to form her own study group, Valerie had done what she always had and had gone inward. She became a group of one, and out-studied all of them. In fact, Valerie discovered she had a knack for research, finding the little clues that others often missed.
As Valerie paced in her cabin, she wondered about that. Sometimes, life’s hardest trials later proved to have been a blessing. It forced the person to grow, to expand, and discover they could do more than they’d realized.
The lieutenant stopped pacing. A sad smile stretched her lips.
It’s silly to keep worrying about my cadet days. I need to get over it. Doomsday machines and a vicious species war against the New Men are the real threats. I need to stay focused on what’s important.
Valerie decided to use her strength. She was going to find Victory’s destination and find out why Ludendorff hadn’t told them. With that in mind, she marched from her quarters and returned to the bridge.
Keith sat in the pilot’s chair. The second lieutenant was in his mid-twenties, with sandy-colored hair, a ready grin and mischievous blue eyes. The small Scotsman was the best pilot there was, and he liked to make sure everyone understood just how good he really was.
“Lieutenant,” Keith said in way of greeting.
Valerie nodded, going to navigation.
They chatted for three quarters of an hour. Finally, Keith stood, stretched and said he was off to bed.
Valerie waited to do what she planned. Ludendorff could be spying on her. If so, she would bore him to tears before attempting her real endeavor.
Two hours after Keith’s departure, Valerie began to use the computer, checking various navigation routes. She ran through a series of nonsense diagnostics. Sprinkled between those were her serious studies. As she did this, Valerie looked up various data. Most of those searches meant nothing.
For the next several hours, she studied old battles, the size of Laumer-Point openings and gravitational dampeners.
Each Laumer-Point was different. Some had large openings into the tramlines. Some were narrow and dangerous. Star Watch categorized the Laumer-Points into various classes. The largest jump gates could accommodate the biggest battleships and Spacer haulers. The smallest would only allow probes to squeeze through.
Valerie studied the starship’s heading and the various star systems along the way. She recalled Meta’s story of her time with Kane. They had exited a Cestus hauler and used a small Laumer-Point to reach the system with the Nexus.
After four and a half hours of research, Valerie believed she had pinpointed the vessel’s destination. She didn’t stop working, though, but continued to follow the same procedure for another hour. Finally, the lieutenant looked up facts on the targeted star system. What she found shocked her.
Later, Valerie yawned, bleary-eyed and sleepy. Keith returned to the bridge. She bid him goodnight and stumbled off to her quarters. She knew she had to find a way to tell Maddox her findings.
On her cot, Valerie lay awake for over an hour, worrying about how to do that before the answer finally dawned on her. That worked like a drug, eliminating her restlessness. She fell asleep five minutes later.
In the morning, Valerie dragged herself to the cafeteria. She ate several strips of bacon and drank two cups of coffee. During the meal, she noticed something strange from one of Ludendorff’s people, who had finally been released from their quarters.
The sight made her shiver with dread. To hide further reactions, the lieutenant stared at her empty cup.
I have to tell Maddox about this. Meta’s life may be in danger.
Valerie got up several minutes later. She wouldn’t look at the professor’s man. She didn’t dare. This was bad. The lieutenant headed for the bridge, realizing she would have to let the captain know about this new danger as well.
***
Maddox and Lieutenant Noonan were on the bridge. Today, Galyan helped the professor fully repair the disruptor cannon. Thus, the holoimage wasn’t at its usual location on the bridge. Under the professor’s guidance, the technicians and his Wolf Prime people constructed a heat-bleeder and de-atomizer. If they succeeded, Maddox would be able to use the disruptor cannon normally in combat without having to worry it would overheat and blow up, destroying Victory.