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 web tightened so Maddox couldn’t breathe. He willed his finger to move again. It did. The long-barreled gun sent another slug at Villars. This round ricocheted off the floor by his right boot.
The web tightened even more, squeezing the captain’s chest. Maddox fired a third time. Villars was already backpedalling as he clutched his wounded shoulder. Blood trickled between the slarn hunter’s fingers.
Maddox would have fallen out of the hatch, but Dana yanked him back inside. Then, the captain blacked out…
Maddox woke up several minutes later. The hangar bay lights shined down on him. He must not be inside the shuttle anymore. He noticed Dana and Meta. They stood uncomfortably stiffly to the side. The professor must have webbed them.
From on the floor, Maddox stirred.
“Finally,” the professor said. “You’re back. Good. We need to speak, you and I.”
Waiting several seconds, Maddox summoned his energy and managed to sit up. The professor stood to the side, making minute adjustments to his flat device. There was no sign of Villars.
“Where’s the sadist?” Maddox asked.
Ludendorff frowned. “I do not appreciate your firing at my bodyguard. I take that as a personal affront. He will see it as the beginning of a vendetta. You’re making this harder than it has to be.”
“You should have known better than to bring Villars near Meta,” Maddox said. “I did the rational thing upon seeing him. The man’s unpredictable. I had to act before he did.”
“Forget about Villars,” Ludendorff said. “You used a scrambler in order to plot against me in secret. You should know better than that.”
“I’m afraid I don’t. You took my ship. Give it back, and we can start over.”
“Come, come, Captain, this petulance isn’t going to help either of us. It’s true I have command, at present. But that’s how it should be. I’m wiser and have more understanding of the situation than any of you do. I know what’s at stake and how to defeat the problem. In time, I’ll leave, and Victory will return to your command.”
Silently, Maddox disagreed most profoundly about who was wiser. Aloud, he said, “I understand your thinking. Yes, let us proceed then and put this behind us. If you would release my two crewmembers from your web, I’d appreciate it.”
Ludendorff glanced at Dana and Meta before regarding Maddox. “You were plotting against me, Captain. Worse, you did it with someone I find reprehensible. I no longer trust the doctor.”
“It hardly matters anymore. You destroyed her scrambler and nearly wounded one of us in the process. That was risky on your part.”