“Captain, as I’ve said, the New Men have sent spies and envoys to many worlds. They speak soothing words, hoping to divide humanity, perhaps even gain allies among us. News of the Pan System Battle has made some people cautious toward antagonizing powerful enemies. We need proof as to what’s happened on Odin, Horace and Parthia.”
“With the new systems in Victory—”
“Ah,” O’Hara said. “You can duplicate them in our ships?”
“Me? Certainly not, ma’am. I’m not an engineer.”
“Reverse engineering a system takes time, Captain. Duplicating it takes even longer. We have to build new starships. Unfortunately, building an ordinary battleship normally takes three years. That’s with systems everyone knows how to construct. How long will it take our shipyards to build alien weaponry that works?”
“Maybe you should repair Victory and use her as she is in battle.”
“We are exploring all options,” O’Hara said. The brigadier closed her mouth and set her hands on the desk. Lines appeared in her forehead. She smoothed those away and smiled sadly.
“I’m sorry,” the Iron Lady said. “You don’t deserve to hear my gloom. You have accomplished an amazing feat, Captain Maddox. I’m proud of you. With the alien starship in our hands, we have a chance against the New Men. We have hope. You’ve given us that. One way or another, it is going to be a monumental struggle. The New Men have exposed some of their prime assets among us in trying to destroy you when you left and then when you returned with your prize. Still, we have heavy work ahead of us. Your debriefing might take longer than you like. We have to know everything you can remember about them. We must find weak points that we can exploit.”
“I’ll do what I can, ma’am.”
“I know you will, Captain. I have faith in your abilities. After the debriefing, you will leave on another dangerous mission.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to hear about it, ma’am.”
“No,” she said. “I suppose not.”
“You know,” Maddox said. “I do have a suggestion about the starship.”
“Yes?”
“You must find and recruit Professor Ludendorff. Most likely, he can tease useful information from Victory that no one else could.”
“I’ll keep your suggestion in mind. Do you happen to know where we can find the professor?”
Maddox studied the brigadier. The way she asked that… “I have no idea,” he said.
“Hmm… well, never mind. We’ll concentrate on your debriefing. Before you go, Captain, the Lord High Admiral would like a word with you.”
He nodded.
Brigadier O’Hara stood. She was a small woman. She came around the desk. Maddox stood to his feet. She held out her hand and shook his.
“Well done, Captain. I’m proud of you and very glad you made it back in one piece. Don’t ever repeat this to anyone, but sending you on this hopeless mission has given me many sleepless nights. I didn’t truly think you could do it.”
She squeezed his fingers. Then, she released his hand and straightened her tunic. She almost seemed embarrassed. Heading to a hidden door, pressing a switch, she caused it to open. “Go down the hall and to your left. The Lord High Admiral is waiting.”
Maddox blinked several times. A tightening of his chest made it impossible for him to speak. Instead, he inclined his head and then marched into the corridor. Behind him, the door shut softly.
Epilogue
After leaving Victory and the Oort Cloud and landing on Earth, Ensign Keith Maker went to the Star Watch London debriefing center. There, for six weeks, Intelligence experts went over what he thought of as his excruciatingly detailed recollection of the journey.
Keith underwent many tests, and he found them interesting. The truth was he liked the attention. Finally, he left the center and received official notification that Star Watch wished him to remain with the Fleet. Would he consider a bump in grade to Second Lieutenant and attending the advanced strikefighter school on Titan?
“Bloody yes, I will,” Keith told the commodore who asked him. “Do you want me to be an instructor there?”
“Ah… no,” the commodore said. “You’d be a student for an elite strikefighter arm we’re building.”
Keith frowned.
A big man with a thick chest, the commodore studied him keenly. “There something else I should tell you. The new strikefighters have to do with the alien starship.”
“I don’t understand what that means,” Keith said.
“It’s a new idea and it’s going to take extremely individualistic and egocentric men to pilot the experimental craft.”
Keith began to have an inkling what this was about. “You’re talking about a new secret weapon, aren’t you?”
With his thick fingers folded on his desk, the commodore said no more.
Keith had been with Maddox long enough to interpret certain signs. The commodore had just given him a hint. Star Watch wanted individualistic pilots for something fancier and more dangerous than mere strikefighters.
“I’m in, mate. I’ll go to Titan.”
“We thought you would,” the commodore said. He opened a drawer and pulled out a single paper. “If you’ll sign this, you’ll be on your way.”
Keith barely glanced at the official Star Watch paper. With a flourish, he put his signature on it. That evening, he left for the fighting school that would forever change his life.
Lieutenant Valerie Noonan went to a Star Watch debriefing center in Cleveland, Ohio. She spent four weeks there. Lord High Admiral Cook spoke to her at the end of her stay. They walked in the outer garden, tossing breadcrumbs to quack-begging ducks.
“I’m impressed with you, Captain,” the Lord High Admiral said.
Valerie might have pointed out she was a lieutenant, but this was the Lord High Admiral speaking. She tossed a breadcrumb to a mallard. No. It sat wrong with her that he didn’t even know her rank.
“Excuse me, sir,” she said. “I’m a lieutenant not a captain.”
The white-haired man smiled at her, causing deep wrinkles in his red face. “I see. You believe I’m so old that I don’t know the rank of the person I’m speaking to, eh. You dare to correct me. Good. That means I’m making the right choice.”
“Sir?” she asked.
“I’ve just given you a promotion, Captain. Congratulations,” he said.
“Thank you, sir,” Valerie said, shaking hands with the Lord High Admiral of Star Watch. “Uh, does this mean I get a ship of my own?”
“Not yet,” Cook said. “I’m putting together an advisory team on the New Men. I want you on the team, Captain.”
What Valerie wanted was her own command. She had no desire to become a staff officer.
Maybe the Lord High Admiral sensed this. “I’m going to insist on this for the moment,” he told her. “There are a handful of people who have seen, spoken or listened to a New Man. You’re the most responsible of those.”
“Do you mean the members of our group, sir, those who have seen a New Man?”
“I do indeed,” the Lord High Admiral said.
Valerie thought about that. Finally, she asked, “Will I ever get a line command again, sir?”
“That might happen sooner than you think,” he said.
“Then I would be happy to join your team, sir.”
“Splendid,” he said. “You’re leaving with me, then. I have a meeting in Geneva to attend. You’ll be at my side listening. We’re planning our next step against the New Men.”
Captain Noonan of the Star Watch nodded, following the Lord High Admiral to a waiting armored air-car.