“Why tell me this, and why tell me now?” she asked.
“It should be obvious,” he said. “The New Men have infiltrated our domain. After Lieutenant Noonan’s report yesterday, someone with their blood will become suspect. Before intelligence runs me down like a dog, I thought to tell you my suspicions.”
“Given your allegations to be true,” the brigadier said, “we might lock you away.”
“Yes,” he said. “I realize that.”
O’Hara leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers as she studied him. “You’re certain you’re a New Man? There are no doubts?”
“I’m not one hundred percent certain, no. It’s simply that, given the evidence, it seems like the most logical possibility.”
“Yes, I suppose it might, at that.” O’Hara put her hands on the desk. “Sit back, if you would. You’re making me nervous perching on your chair like that.”
Maddox slid back, placing his forearms on the rests as if he expected cuffs to appear and lock him down.
“Captain Maddox, since you feel so inclined to share your suppositions with me, I will tell you a secret few know. It has weighed heavily on me and a few others for many years now.”
She rocked slightly. “Starting twenty-five years ago or so, certain events began to take place that troubled a few of those in the highest ranks of the Star Watch. How old do you think I am, Captain?”
“I wouldn’t care to guess.”
“Nevertheless, do so, please.”
“Hmm, you must be in your fifties, ma’am.”
“Which means you believe I’m in my sixties,” she said. “If you add several decades to that number, it would be right.”
The answered surprised him. “You’ve taken the Methuselah Treatment?”
“Just the initial procedure,” she said. “The Star Watch cannot afford more. Besides, there are serious drawbacks to those who become too old. I am nearing my retirement age. We have decided that ninety-five should be the cutoff point.”
“I had no idea.”
“Good. That means few others will have either.”
“I also don’t understand why you would tell someone like me.”
“I’m getting to that,” O’Hara said. “I’ve been around for some time. That’s my point. I’ve seen these reports gather.”
“What reports?” Maddox asked.
“The special ones that have made us uneasy for the last two decades,” she said. “At first, they appeared random. Then, they coalesced into a pattern. We couldn’t see the pattern at the time, mind you, just feel it tightening around us.”
“Us,” Maddox said, “as in the Commonwealth of Planets?”
“No. Us as in the Oikumene. I have spoken with the top Windsor League intelligence people, although I haven’t had those conversations with my Wahhabi or Spacer counterparts. We now believe these hidden maneuvers were the work of the New Men. It is my belief that they were laying their groundwork.”
“For an invasion?” asked Maddox.
“We don’t know that part yet, but it’s possible. Let me rephrase. After the lieutenant’s story, I’d say it’s likely.”
“By ‘we,’ you mean Star Watch Intelligence?”
“No,” O’Hara said. “Several Windsor League officers, the highest ranks here and a few people above us.”
“Clearly, the New Men have invaded the Oikumene,” Maddox said.
“Are they invading? Are you sure?”
“What do you call the conquest of Odin, Horace and Parthia?” Maddox asked.
“It could be conquest. It could be extermination. It could be assimilation.”
“What does the last part mean?”
“Let me lay my cards on the table,” the brigadier said. “After much research, we believe the New Men are the result of genetic experiments. Nearly one hundred and sixty years ago, some colony ships from the Thomas Moore Society headed for deep space. They were peopled with utopians, those certain they could perfect humanity. Now, we can’t be sure, but the majority of us in the know believe the Thomas Moore Society colonists were the genesis to the New Men. Among the utopians was a group who wrote that the easiest way to achieve their dream was to modify man. Could they have gained the ascendency out there in the Beyond? Did they practice simple genetic selection or experiment with gene-splicing? Did they use the scientific techniques we have to produce better tomatoes or hybrid wheat and transform people?”
“I have no idea,” Maddox said. “Why do the New Men have golden skin?”
“Maybe as a mark of their superiority?” the brigadier said, “maybe because they settled a world with a hot star. I don’t know.”
“What did you mean when you said assimilation earlier?”
“Taking the conquered people and selecting those with superior genes for breeding. That is one idea. There are others more repugnant.”
“Such as?” Maddox asked.
O’Hara fixed her gaze on him. “Maybe they place a fertilized gene-modified egg into a captive woman’s uterus. The captive becomes a breeder for the New Men, a brood mother, if you will.”
Maddox’s eyes widened. “Do you think that’s what happened to my mother?”
The brigadier shrugged.
“How can you be so calm about this?” he asked.
“Please, Captain, use your intellect. Even though you’re our youngest, you’re also our best operative. Lately, however, you have become far too emotional. I want my former star officer to reappear for duty.”
Maddox and the brigadier stared at each other for a long moment. She looked away first. Slowly, the truth dawned on him.
“You’ve known about my mother for some time,” he said. “In fact, it’s likely you covered her trail in Brisbane.”
“Likely?” the brigadier asked.
“You did cover it.”
She nodded. “Why did we do so?”
“Because the trail led into the Beyond,” he said. “You wanted time to figure this out. That meant you couldn’t have people going about it half-cocked, giving away the game that you knew.”
“Good. You’re thinking again. It’s about time.”
“Where in the Beyond did the trail lead?” Maddox asked.
“That we don’t know,” she said.
“What do you know?”
“After listening to Lieutenant Noonan’s story, it appears we didn’t prepare well enough. Oh, we have a far larger Fleet, given the level of peace before the invasion. It’s possible our enemy recognized our awareness. In fact, now I believe that is a certainty. We have battled their agents in secret, but they are impossibly clever. Yes, we’ve won a round or two, but they have outmaneuvered us time and again. Their abilities are terrifying. Some of us have begun to wonder if there’s any hope for humanity.”
“I have two questions,” Maddox said. “Why have you let me run free until now, and why are you telling me this?”
The brigadier smiled. “I’ve known about you a long time, Captain. I have championed your cause against some who seriously distrust you. We haven’t told you any of this because some among us fear you. Some doubt your loyalty, after yesterday’s story, more than ever. But this should be made clear to you. Until we actually capture a New Man and test his DNA, and then compare it to yours, we can’t know for certain that you have their blood.”
“But—”
“Your skin isn’t golden,” the brigadier said. “You have Caucasoid pigmentation and features. Yes, you have some heightened abilities. Does that mean you’re one of them?”
“It means I’m a half-breed.”
“I don’t like the term, Captain.”
“Nevertheless—”
“Don’t mistake a possibility for an actuality,” O’Hara said. “And even if you have half of their genetics, so what? Why does that make such a difference as far as your loyalty goes?”