Dana discovered the tiniest of protrusions. She put the chain over her head and let it rest against her neck.
She took a deep breath and pressed the protrusion. She felt a vibration, while the smell of ozone became noticeable. She moved her arm, and she felt a slight difference.
How could one tell if the force field had activated? She needed to test it.
Opening a drawer, she found a small tack and threw it at her arm. The thing deflected away, sliding around just before touching her skin.
It works. Then how am I able to breathe? Does the force field only stop speeding objects?
Because she knew so little about the personal force field, she turned it off and slipped the chain from her neck. Clearly, the professor hadn’t worn it when he went to the Builder base. There must have been a reason for that. Perhaps it didn’t work while one wore a vacc-suit.
Setting aside the tiny item, she searched for the flat device. Some of the fire had departed her by then, but she wanted to see if she could figure that out too. If she waited, she’d get scared and wouldn’t search for it. It had been a strange but powerful device.
Dana found the flat device hidden in a cache in his desk. She examined it for some time. It had fifteen various knobs.
What had he done to enmesh them in a force web? Would the device explode as Maddox had wondered if she tried to use it?
Dana laughed a moment later. She retrieved the chain and force field emitter, slipping it back onto her neck. After turning it on, she began to experiment with the flat device.
It took her a half hour to activate it. Then, it took her three hours before she figured out the combination that webbed an object in the force field.
There wasn’t a booby trap. That was interesting. Hadn’t the professor been worried this would fall into the wrong hands? It would appear not.
Suddenly, as she realized what she had done, Dana’s knees became weak. Pulling out a chair, she sat down, resting her elbows on the table.
She’d just risked her life in a foolish experiment. Maddox hadn’t tried these objects because he’d been convinced the professor had rigged them to explode. Why would she have done this then?
Wearily, Dana folded her arms on the table and lay her head on her arms. She shut her eyes.
Ludendorff was gone again. Either he had always been a machine man, or he had switched the android for himself, and the likeliest spot had been in the now-destroyed asteroid base. Where in the galaxy had Ludendorff discovered that sort of technology?
Are there more machine men out there?
It was a chilling thought. But soon, emotionally exhausted, Dana fell asleep.
-34-
Maddox woke up feeling refreshed. He hadn’t slept this well for some time. He presumed it was because he’d slept on Earth for the first time in a long while.
Since he was already at Star Watch Intelligence Headquarters, he soon found O’Hara.
“You’re just in time, Captain,” she said.
He followed her into a medical theater. It reminded him of the time he’d been with Nerva Security agents in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. O’Hara, Major Stokes and him looked down on the technicians.
The android’s killer lay on a medical cot, with many wires attached to his head and body.
“This is a ghastly business at times,” O’Hara said. “I dislike this end of it.”
Maddox looked on as the technicians went to work, questioning the shooter, watching the mind probe screens as he mumbled answers.
An inspiration struck the captain. Maddox leaned near the brigadier. “I just thought of something, Ma’am. It seems incredible I’ve overlooked it until now.”
“Yes?” she said.
“I suggest we use the best teams and begin searching orbital Cestus Haulers from top to bottom. Begin with those that came to Earth…three days ago and work backward in time from there. I’d also search any haulers leaving Earth and those near any Laumer-Points.”
“We’ve already been doing that,” the brigadier said.
“Oh?”
“Captain, I listened to your story. It was a treasure trove of information, believe me.”
For the next thirty minutes, the experts worked on Hicks. He had many mental blocks and went into cardiac arrest three different times. The doctors brought him back each time for further questions.
Finally, the technicians received a vital clue. It was one word: Strand.
O’Hara turned to Maddox. “I thought Strand was far away in space.”
“Meta saw him on an enemy star cruiser,” Maddox said. “That was several months ago now.”
“You’re certain about what she saw?”
“I am,” Maddox said.
“Perhaps Strand returned the same way he left,” O’Hara said, “using that silver pyramid of theirs.”
Maddox digested the idea. “Why would a Methuselah Man come back to a world doomed to die?”
“That is an excellent question,” O’Hara said. “Captain, I believe you should head to Nerva Tower. On second thought, we should storm it with space marines. After the building is secure our best snatch team can grab Strand, if he’s there, and Octavian Nerva.”
“Do you think Octavian is guilty of espionage against Earth?” Major Stokes asked.
“Whether Octavian has orchestrated anything or not, I don’t know,” O’Hara said. “Clearly, Strand ran the murder operation against Ludendorff. Likely, Strand sent the signal to Pluto Command and engineered the microwave beam attack against the captain. I’d like to know if Octavian knows who and what Strand really is.”
“Ma’am, I’d like to lead the snatch team that grabs Strand,” Maddox said.
“Really,” Stokes said. “I think that’s a bad idea.”
“Why’s that?” the brigadier asked the major.
“Too many people are suspicious about Maddox,” Stokes said.
“I beginning to think that Strand planted the evidence that compromised the captain,” O’Hara said.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Stokes said. “Still, the agents will feel distrustful toward him until his name is officially cleared.”
“There it is again,” O’Hara said, “a constant lack of trust among us. Our enemy is stymieing Star Watch with it.”
“If it’s all the same,” Maddox said, “I’d still like to go.”
“Of course,” O’Hara said.
“Before I go, though,” Maddox said. “I’d like to make a call to Victory.”
“Why is that?”
“Before I enter Nerva Tower, I want someone with me who trusts my decisions, which means I’d like Sergeant Riker with me on this one.”
It took O’Hara three seconds to deicide. “Make your call, Captain. The sooner we attack the nest of vipers, the better I’ll like it.”
***
Despite a great deal of hurrying, Maddox delayed joining the assault force against Nerva Tower. He stood outside a grounded air-car on a grassy hill. From his vantage, he spied the city in the distance. With a pair of binoculars, he studied the giant Nerva Conglomerate Building, which towered over the rest of the city.
Riker raced down from Victory and should arrive in another few minutes. Until then, Maddox was content to wait by the air-car.
Checking his watch, Maddox realized the initial assault teams would be reaching the tower in another few minutes. Space marines in power-armor would lead the assault. The Lord High Admiral had decided Star Watch wasn’t going to worry about constitutional niceties at a time like this.
Of course, Octavian had some of the Commonwealth’s best lawyers on his payroll. What would any of that matter once the Earth was a smoldering lake of lava, though? The doomsday machine had struck the Wahhabi Caliphate. Earth was—in Maddox’s opinion—likely the next target.