“I would appreciate it if you got to the point,” Maddox told the sergeant.
“Could Meta have…listened to a hidden compulsion to free Per Lomax from confinement?” Riker asked.
“Yes,” Maddox said, exhaling. “The possibility exists.” He hated admitting this to himself or aloud.
“Gorgon found out what she was doing and tried to stop her. Meta bashed him. In her panic, she hit Gorgon hard enough to snap his neck.”
“Would she pause long enough to put the shock collar under the dead man’s shirt?” Maddox asked.
“I think she might, sir. Meta used to be an assassin. She might have paused long enough to plant a distracting clue knowing that later you would find it.”
The idea had a ring of plausibility. Meta had helped repair the ancient starship the first time. Could she have secretly caused the vessel to appear out of a star drive jump near the spatial anomaly?
“Galyan,” Maddox called. “I have to ask you a question.”
The holoimage reappeared before them.
“I am working swiftly, Captain,” Galyan said. “I have already checked twenty-eight percent of the hidden locations. Obviously, I haven’t yet discovered Per Lomax or I would have informed you.”
“Where’s Meta?” Maddox asked.
“In her sleeping compartment,” Galyan said.
“Is she alone?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Thank you,” Maddox said. “You may continue your search.”
A second later, Galyan vanished again.
Riker rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure I like having an ancient computer entity watching me while I’m in my room.”
“It has its drawbacks,” Maddox admitted. “Now, unlimber your stunner, Sergeant, and remain alert. We will work under the assumption that Per Lomax is still aboard the starship.”
“Yes, sir,” Riker said, in a resigned voice.
“Sergeant,” Maddox said. “It’s quite possible Per Lomax had inside help. Whoever else was involved is obviously still on the ship.”
“Unless this dead slarn trapper was Per Lomax’s inside help,” Riker said.
Maddox froze before cocking an eyebrow at the sergeant.
“What did I say?” Riker asked.
“Something profound,” Maddox said. “Now, come along. Our enemy is moving swiftly to accomplish something. We must move faster to stop him.”
***
Maddox knocked on Meta’s outer hatch.
“Who is it?” Meta called from the inside.
“The captain.”
“Are you alone?”
“No, Sergeant Riker is here. He will remain outside to stand guard.”
“Why would he have to stand guard?” Meta asked.
“Will you open the hatch?”
“Answer my question first,” she said.
In the beginning, the muffling from the hatch made it difficult for Maddox to tell anything from Meta’s voice. Now, it was clear. She was nervous.
“Per Lomax has escaped his holding cell,” Maddox said. “I also found Sten Gorgon. The slarn trapper is dead, with a broken neck.”
A second later, an inner lock clicked and the hatch moved a bare centimeter. One of Meta’s eyes peered through the crack.
“I’m tired,” she said. “Why don’t you come back later?”
Maddox put a hand on the hatch and pushed. It moved another several centimeters before stopping. Meta used one of her arms to block the hatch from opening farther. She had been born on a two G world and was denser than a regular human. Meta also happened to be quite nude. She had a voluptuous figure with tantalizing breasts. Her long blonde hair was up, tied in a knot. Maddox enjoyed the view, but he didn’t let her charms distract him. Speckles of blood were smeared against her throat as if she had wiped it but failed to rub all the blood away.
“Are you getting ready to take a shower?” Maddox asked.
“Don’t you have any manners?” Meta asked angrily. “I’m naked. Your sergeant is staring me.”
Maddox turned around to chastise Riker. The sergeant had his back to Meta. The closing hatch bumped Maddox forward. The lock clicked shut.
Maddox realized Meta had used a diversion against him to get the door closed.
“Meta,” he called.
“I’m busy. Go away.”
“You killed Sten Gorgon. It’s his blood I saw on your throat.”
“Leave me alone!” she shouted.
“Per Lomax has escaped his holding cell,” Maddox said.
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“Why didn’t you come tell me?” Maddox asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Meta?” he called.
“I wanted to tell you, but I…couldn’t.”
Maddox and Riker exchanged glances.
The sergeant tapped the side of his head, mouthing the word, “Teacher.”
Hatred for the New Men surged through Maddox. He’d been conceived in a genetic facility in the Beyond. His mother had escaped to Human Space, where he’d been born. Now, the enemy had tainted his lover. Had Meta really become so corrupted that she had aided a New Man against him?
“I’m here now,” Maddox said. “Unfortunately, the ship is in danger. I need your help.”
“I’m no good to anyone,” Meta said. “I can’t even trust myself. Just leave me alone.”
“Listen to me. You have to—”
The lock unlatched but the hatch remained shut.
“Wait here,” Maddox told Riker. “I don’t like the direction this is taking. Wait on the other side of the corridor.”
“Sir?” Riker asked.
“Call it a precaution.”
“Yes, sir,” Riker said, with a new, harder edge in his voice. The sergeant drew his stunner, and the tenor of his body language said he was worried.
Maddox opened the hatch and stepped into Meta’s quarters, closing the hatch behind him. The room was tidy and minimalist. Bloody clothes lay in the small container at the foot of her bed. Meta sat on the bed with a red silk robe covering her nakedness. Her right hand held the top closed, which hid her blood-speckled throat. She looked up at him, with moisture in her green eyes.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.
“You don’t want to comfort me first, hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay?”
Maddox sat down on the bed and put an arm around her. “It will be all right. Now, I need to know what happened. Time is of the essence.”
“We’re already out of time,” she said.
Maddox took his arm away and stood up, regarding her.
The hand holding the robe tightened. Slowly, Meta shook her head. “I don’t trust the jumps. You know that, right?”
Maddox had heard her say that before.
Meta waved her free hand. “The jumps negatively affect us and the equipment. I’ve been waiting for Per Lomax’s holding cell to short-circuit one of these times. The shield goes down every jump. The computers quit. Why would a holding cell’s force screen be any different?”
“A reasonable question,” Maddox said.
“I usually check on him after every jump.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I want to make certain he’s locked tight. What he did to me on the star cruiser…”
“Do you remember?” Maddox asked.
“No! But I feel it here.” Meta tapped above her right breast. “The New Men are monsters. Their plans are vile.”
Maddox had questioned Per Lomax once. The prisoner had told him the New Men planned to “cull” eighty percent of humanity, the so-called useless portion. Under the Throne World’s guidance, the remaining twenty percent would breed in genetically regimented ways, improving the human race.
“I’ve always felt we should have killed Per Lomax when we had the chance,” Meta said. “Now, it’s too late.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He escaped into the jumpfighter, didn’t he?”