“How?” Galyan asked.
“I have no idea,’ Valerie said. “Frankly, I’m not interested right now. We should head for the shuttle. It possible some of them could need medical attention.”
***
In space, Maddox eased Meta through the open shuttle bay. Gently, he floated her toward the emergency medical cot.
“I’m in the control room,” Keith radioed.
“Give me a few more minutes,” Maddox said.
“Aye, Captain,” Keith said.
Maddox hated this feeling of helplessness. He was safe, the doomsday machine was gone, but Meta could be failing. He increased speed.
Finally, Maddox pushed Meta onto the cot. Behind him, Riker sealed the hatch.
“I’m pumping atmosphere into the chamber,” Riker radioed.
Maddox nodded, waiting impatiently.
“Okay,” the sergeant said.
Maddox peeled off Meta’s vacc-suit. When he saw the blood, his hands began to tremble.
If ever I needed my calm, now’s the time. Don’t think of it as Meta.
Such was the captain’s concentration, that his hands stopped trembling. He hooked Meta to the cot and began fastening the life-support systems onto her.
Finally, he radioed Keith. “I’m done. Let’s head for the starship.”
“Aye-aye, Captain, easy does it.”
The gravity generators came online. Then, the shuttle accelerated for the starship looming in the near distance.
***
An hour and a half later, Dana came out of the medical station aboard Victory.
Maddox looked up from where he had been pacing.
The doctor smiled. “She’s going to be all right. She’s lost a lot of blood, but I’ve given her enough transfusions to last until we reach Earth.” Dana paused. “She’s asking for you.”
Maddox headed for the hatch.
Dana stopped him by grabbing a forearm. “Captain, she’s been through a lot. Don’t excite her too much.”
“I understand,” he said. “And doctor?”
Dana raised her eyebrows.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
Dana nodded.
Maddox glanced at the hatch, and it seemed he would hurry through it. Instead, he paused, looking at Dana again.
“If it’s any consolation,” Maddox said, “I think he’s still alive.”
Dana didn’t ask whom he meant.
“I don’t know how Ludendorff did it,” Maddox said. “But if anyone could have made a switch like that during a battle in the Xerxes System, it would be the professor.”
“I think you’re right,” Dana said, softly. “I wonder, though, if I’ll ever see him again.”
“Do you have any doubt?”
Dana stared at Maddox. “Right now, I’m filled with endless doubts.” She smiled sadly. “Go see Meta. We can worry about those things later.”
Maddox looked as if he would say more. Then, he headed for the hatch, going through, closing it behind him.
Meta lay on a medical cot, with tubes hooked to her. She looked pale and withdrawn. Then, she turned her head, seeing him. The smile—
Maddox grinned back in turn, striding to her and taking one of her hands. He bent down and kissed her. Her lips were chilly.
“How are you feeling?” Maddox asked.
“Tired,” she whispered.
“You have to quit leaving me like that,” he said.
“I know.” Her features clouded. “What happened to Kane?”
Maddox frowned for just a moment. He never should have made the promise. Yet, Kane had saved their lives by sacrificing his. He had to tell Meta. Was this the wrong moment?
“What is it?” Meta asked. “Did you kill him?”
Maddox shook his head. “No. Kane…Kane told me to tell you something.”
“He did?”
This was hard, but Maddox said, “Kane saved our lives.”
“You’re kidding? How?”
The captain told Meta what had happened. He told her how he’d captured Kane with the professor’s web-field generator. The captain also explained how Kane had escaped from the shackles and armored vacc-suit.
“He sacrificed himself,” Maddox said. “He purposely took Oran Rva’s blade into his body in order to hold the enemy down long enough for me to kill the New Man.”
“Amazing,” Meta said.
“It reminds me of an old saying,” Maddox said.
“What’s that?”
“Greater love has no man than this, that he lays down his life for another.”
“That’s beautiful,” Meta said. “Who said that?”
“An ancient carpenter named Jesus,” Maddox said.
Meta stared into the captain’s eyes.
That’s when Maddox realized he would fulfill his promise. “Meta,” he said. “Kane had a message for you. He said he did those things because…because he loved you.”
“What?” she whispered. “You’re kidding me?”
Maddox shook his head.
“Kane loved me?”
The words coming from Meta shocked Maddox. He recalled what Kane had told him at the end. They had been the man’s last words, heavy with meaning. Kane had told him to stop being a fool. Did the dying see things others couldn’t?
Maddox squeezed Meta’s fingers. “So do…” He was going to say, “So do I.” But that didn’t sound right. “Meta,” he said. “I…” The words stuck in the captain’s throat although he couldn’t figure out why.
Maybe Meta could see his dilemma. “You silly fool,” she said. “I love you. Do you know that?”
Maddox stared into her eyes.
“I’ve loved you for a long time, Captain, but do you hold it against me for having traveled with Kane for so long?”
Maddox shook his head.
Meta smiled, and tears welled in her eyes. It made her features look even more drawn.
She was so beautiful, and he had almost lost her.
“Meta,” he whispered.
Her eyes became bright.
“I love you,” Maddox said.
She beamed up at him while squeezing his hand.
He leaned low and kissed her. She clutched his head, whispering, “Maddox, Maddox.”
Finally, he disengaged from her. “You should sleep,” he said.
“Will you stay and watch over me?”
“Of course.”
Meta closed her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you…” Before she could finish her thought, she was asleep.
Maddox gazed down at her for a time. It was crazy that it had taken the admonishment from an agent for the New Men for Maddox to say the words he felt in his heart. Love, it was a strange emotion. But once one had tasted it, nothing else compared.
-48-
Several days later, Maddox found himself back in Geneva, in the brigadier’s office.
Meta was healing rapidly. One of the world’s best surgeons had already operated to repair Oran Rva’s damage. The captain had been surprised to learn how much wreckage a single knife-thrust had been able to achieve. Thank God for modern medicine.
Dana was planning a surprise party for Meta. Maddox was supposed to drive Meta there in a few hours. He hoped he could get out of Geneva in time.
Behind the desk, O’Hara lowered a tablet she’d been scanning. The Iron Lady looked tired. It showed in her eyes and the hunch of her shoulders.
“That was far too close, Captain,” O’Hara said. “Another half hour and the Lord High Admiral would have engaged the doomsday machine. According to Commander Guderian’s report, that would have ended the Home Fleet.”
“How is the commander?” Maddox asked.
O’Hara’s tired eyes became haunted. “It’s too soon to say. Strand…I wonder if Lieutenant Noonan spoke with the original.”
“I suspect she did,” Maddox said.
“Do you care to elaborate on that?”
“Certainly,” the captain said. “These past few days, I’ve been sorting through what everyone knew. I’ve come to believe that the original Strand manipulated Oran Rva.”
“Is that possible?”
Maddox smiled wryly.