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 and 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.