Ludendorff lifted each arm, discovering the range of motion the magnetic cuffs were going to give him. “This is splendidly melodramatic,” he said, glancing at Cook. “Yet I wonder if it’s necessary?”
“Quite,” Cook said in his deep voice. The big man shifted in his seat and seemed to shift topics in his mind. “We’ve desired to speak with you for some time, as you know. For years now, you’ve rejected our requests to come to Earth or any suitable place in the Commonwealth. The captain’s information regarding you has added to our worst fears. Clearly, you are even more dangerous than any of us thought.”
“Nonsense,” Ludendorff said.
“Please, professor,” Cook said. “None of that is going to work here. You are a mystery wrapped in an enigma. We intend to learn why, and the sooner we do, the better it will be for you.”
“Do you know that’s what they used to say about Russia in the twentieth century,” Ludendorff told the admiral—“The enigma part.”
No one responded to that.
“This is a fine mess you’ve put me in,” Ludendorff told Maddox. “If you would have revived me on the starship, we could have forgone this silliness and gone straight to solving the problem.”
“That the captain had the foresight to put you in stasis speaks to his uncommon wisdom,” O’Hara said.
“It has little to do with wisdom,” the professor told her, “but everything to do with his suspicious hybrid nature.”
O’Hara’s mouth tightened. “I do not appreciate the comment. You will desist from making more in that vein.”
Ludendorff glanced from the brigadier to Maddox. “Ah, I see. This is interesting, quite interesting. I hadn’t foreseen that.”
The Lord High Admiral cleared his throat. “We don’t have time for your games, Professor. If Maddox is correct…” Cook glanced at O’Hara.
“I do not believe the allegations against the captain,” O’Hara told Cook. “In my opinion, we can trust him implicitly. I believe the new information against him came from tainted sources. We should put those sources under the microscope.”
Cook appeared thoughtful. “If the captain is correct,” the admiral continued, “an ancient doomsday machine is headed for Earth even as we speak.”
“The captain is indeed correct,” Ludendorff said. “The doomsday machine is on its way here.”
“According to the captain,” Cook said, “the evidence suggests the machine is a Builder vessel.”
“That’s a ridiculous notion,” Ludendorff said. “I’m surprised you could utter such an idea.”
“According to the captain, the Builders used the machine in the distant past.”
“Oh, the Builders most assuredly did use it,” Ludendorff said, “but they didn’t construct the machine. Frankly, I don’t know who did. So let’s avoid the subject as it’s a waste of time.”
The admiral studied Ludendorff. “I find it hard to believe you don’t know the creator of the planet-killer.”
“Believe what you wish,” Ludendorff said, “just as long as you don’t pester me with stupid questions.”
“Here, now,” O’Hara said. “This is the Lord High Admiral of Star Watch you’re addressing. You will keep a respectful tone when speaking to him.”
“Do you know what I find disrespectful?” the professor asked O’Hara. “These magnetic cuffs. Even more to the point, the ill effects of stasis have finally begun to wear off. Stasis shock is many times worse than Jump Lag, in case you didn’t know. It’s a fine thing to sit back here on Earth like a spider and quite another to run around in space, engaging in life and all its ills as I do. But I suppose that’s neither here nor there. The important thing is that it’s time to put the shoe on the other foot, as the old saying goes.”
The admiral looked annoyed.
Ludendorff noticed, sighed and sat back in his chair. “Don’t you understand the gravity of the situation? The doomsday machine could show up at any hour. There is only one way for us to deal with it. We must gain entrance—”
“Professor,” Cook said, sternly, interrupting the man. “I know you delight in verbal games, and you believe yourself the smartest man in the universe.”
“Guilty on both counts,” Ludendorff said.
“But I don’t enjoy frivolity when everything I hold dear is at stake,” Cook said. “According to the captain, you suggest the total destruction of the New Arabia System has occurred, the complete annihilation of the heart of the Wahhabi Caliphate.”
“I don’t suggest that,” Ludendorff said. “It is a truth, a fact of grim reality. Not only that, but the bulk of the Wahhabi Fleet is gone. The caliphate will not be joining humanity in its war against the New Men, which is a pity, as we’re going to miss their ships as the war begins in earnest. So far, the Commonwealth has merely faced an enemy probe attack. Heavier assaults are coming, although nothing more like the doomsday machine.”
“Your words suggest that you don’t believe the planet-killer can destroy Earth,” Cook said.
“Nonsense,” Ludendorff said. “The doomsday machine can easily demolish the planet and the protecting Home Fleet. But I expect yours truly”—he pointed at himself—“will save you from it. Well…That isn’t precise. I’m not setting foot on the terrible machine. But I’m going to give you the game-winning plan. The actual hero will be the captain here and several others I’ve yet to choose.”
Cook glanced at Maddox. “In your opinion, is the professor mad?”
“No, sir,” Maddox said. “He’s a Methuselah Man of considerable age. His ways are not our ways.”
“I should inform you that I feel myself giddy,” the professor told Cook, “which could account for my seemingly odd behavior. Coming out of stasis does that to me. I really wish you hadn’t put me under, Captain.” Ludendorff sat forward, concentrating on the Lord High Admiral. “We have to get on with it, though. Time’s a-wasting, yes?”
“Now see here,” Cook said.
“No!” Ludendorff said, in a voice suddenly devoid of humor. There seemed something menacing about the man now. “I am announcing the Armageddon Protocol. You will find it in the secret Gilgamesh Covenant of the Star Watch Constitution, section three.”
Cook glanced at the brigadier before staring at Ludendorff again.
The professor’s intensity vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He told them, “I can wait while you look that up.”
“What are you talking about, man?” Cook asked in exasperation.
“Come, come,” Ludendorff said. “Don’t tell me you’ve never read the Gilgamesh Covenant.”
Cook slapped the table in seeming outrage. “There is no such covenant and no…Armageddon Protocol.”
“Sir,” O’Hara said, softly.
Cook turned to the brigadier in surprise. “You’ve heard of this nonsense?”
“Yes, sir,” O’Hara said. “It’s in the Secret Orders Nine section.”
“I don’t seem to recall…” Cook frowned. “Yes, now that you mention Secret Orders Nine, I think I do remember something about an ancient covenant. Aren’t there control words attached to its reading?”
“Very good,” Ludendorff said. “Brigadier, if you would take your tablet, look up Secret Orders Nine, we could get started.”
Hesitantly, O’Hara reached for a tablet on the table.
“Check paragraph five,” Ludendorff suggested.
“Go ahead,” Cook said. “Let’s see how crazy the professor really is.”
The brigadier picked up the tablet, tapping the screen until she read script. Afterward, she stared at Ludendorff.
“You’re wanting the controls words, I take it,” the professor said.
She nodded.
“Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning,” Ludendorff quoted.
Cook’s deepening scowl put lines in his face. “Is that right? Are those the control words?”