“Look out!” Riker shouted, dropping to the floor.
With the flat of his hand, Maddox swept the device off the table against a bulkhead. He drove onto the floor, covering his head as the tablet exploded. It sent hot shards of plastic everywhere, but missed the captain and the sergeant, who had each positioned themselves behind a bulky object.
Riker raised his head. So did Maddox. Acrid smoke drifted into his nostrils. He glanced at the sergeant’s detection gear.
“It didn’t spot anything,” Riker admitted.
“I doubt that should surprise us. Clearly, the professor has access to advanced technology.”
Standing, Riker glanced at the flat device still on the table. “Do we try to hack into it next?”
“No,” Maddox said, who headed for the exit. “I’m locking the room. We’ll leave the last two items here.”
Once outside the room, they headed for the cafeteria. As they did, the ship’s intercom clicked on.
“Attention,” Valerie told them. “We’re approaching our next Laumer-Point. We’ll jump in another half hour. That is all.”
***
After recovering from Jump Lag, Maddox sat at his desk in his quarters. He thought about the silver object Ludendorff had carried out of the Builder base. So far, no one had been able to figure out what it was. Should they crack it? Maddox agreed with Dana they should save the Builder egg for the Star Watch experts back home.
The captain pondered other things, including his interview with Per Lomax and the Throne World’s desire to “improve” humanity by culling eighty percent. That turned his thoughts toward the origin of the New Men.
Whoever had come up with the idea of creating superior humans had changed Maddox’s life. Without the idea, his mother would never have been a test subject in a genetic laboratory in the Beyond. There never would have been New Men to begin with. He wouldn’t be a hybrid, a half-breed, an outsider among his own people.
Leave that black hole for now. Don’t let it suck you into useless speculation. Concentrate on solving mysteries.
Maddox thought about Meta’s close contact with the enemy. The New Men had questioned her in Wolf Prime orbit. He wished he knew what those questions were. It might give him a better insight into the enemy and clues to the doomsday machine.
The professor had wondered if HE had been aboard the vessel. That must refer to the teacher. Who would have a close connection with Ludendorff and the New Men? The teacher…clearly, the mind-manipulating bastard had gone to great lengths to keep whatever he’d done to Meta hidden.
Who is HE? I’d dearly like to know.
Abruptly, Maddox headed for the exit. Had the professor planted the clue in the tablet in order to get him to chase shadows? It was possible. Since he had nothing else to go on, Maddox decided it was worth a try to discover the answer. Besides, as smart as the professor was, he didn’t think Ludendorff would plan for his own failure. The man didn’t think like that. Therefore, Maddox believed it was a genuine clue.
***
Meta practiced in the ship’s gym, snap kicking a heavy bag. Upon Maddox’s entrance, she stepped away from the bag and picked up a towel, drying her face. Draping the towel around her neck, she smiled at him.
“I’ve been thinking about the origin of the New Men,” Maddox told her.
Meta’s shoulders deflated. “You’re not going to ask me questions about them, are you?”
“I’d like to,” he said.
“I’m sick of the subject.”
“I realize that,” Maddox said, “but it could be vital.”
Meta looked away, sighing. Finally, she stepped close to Maddox, peering up into his eyes. “I’ll do it for you.”
“I appreciate that,” he said, as he brushed her hair back.
She nodded.
Maddox had already decided how to broach the difficult idea. He would circle it first before asking. “You once spoke about Per Lomax being Kane’s spy chief, isn’t that right?”
“I did,” Meta said.
“On the enemy star cruiser, what happened after Kane spoke to Per Lomax.”
Meta’s lips tightened. “I don’t remember.”
“Which part?” Maddox asked.
Meta gave him a funny look. “If I can’t remember, how could I tell you?”
Maddox spoke easily, even though he chose his next words with care. “Per Lomax sent you somewhere.”
“Yes. He sent me to the teacher.”
“What happened with him?”
Meta massaged her temples. “I want to remember for you. You say it’s important, and I believe you. But it was a terrifying time. I want to forget it. I—Wait!” Meta lowered her hands, looking at Maddox with surprise. “I seem to recall a spinning table. The teacher twisted my mind while—” Meta groaned as she scrunched her brow. “I already told you what I know. Why are you asking me this all over again?”
Maddox held her shoulders. He disliked causing her pain. More than ever, though, he believed the professor was onto something. The captain had to follow this single clue.
“I know this is difficult for you, and I’m sorry for that,” Maddox said, meaning it. “You’re doing well. If you can push just a little more, I need to know what the teacher looked like?”
Meta frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
“The teacher hid himself from your memories. I’m beginning to think he did so for a reason.”
“What reason?”
“Yes,” Maddox said. “That’s the question. Why would the teacher hide himself? You were to go down onto Wolf Prime afterward. You would go to Ludendorff—” Maddox stopped as if surprised.
“What?” Meta asked.
“How do you feel about taking truth serum?”
Meta’s stricken look gave Maddox the answer he’d expected.
He stroked his chin as if thinking. “What if Dana spoke to you again, using hypnosis as she did before?”
Meta hesitated before saying, “I hated the process. But I’ll do it if you think it might help against the planet-killer.”
“I don’t know for certain that it will help, but there is a possibility.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Maddox admitted. “This is one of my Intelligence hunches.”
Meta considered that, finally nodding.
“I need to talk to the doctor,” Maddox said. “Thanks, Meta. I appreciate this.”
She nodded again.
Maddox turned and headed for the hatch.
***
Maddox found Dana in the cafeteria, eating ice cream. He sat down across from her.
“I’ve been thinking about the New Men,” Maddox said without preamble. “I feel as if I’m closing in on a truth about them, but I need a few more clues. Their goal has begun to strike me as too strange. Why should they worry so much about improving the human race? What propelled them to think in such a direction in the first place?”
Dana slid a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, savoring it before aiming the spoon at Maddox. “It’s an interesting question. Why are you telling me, though?”
“Several months ago, Kane took Meta onto a star cruiser in Wolf Prime orbit. Per Lomax then sent Meta to the teacher. This teacher went out of his way to hide himself from Meta’s memories. I’d like to know why and see what it shows me.”
“Maybe the teacher is a cultic figure among the New Men,” Dana said. “Part of his mystique is that no one remembers talking to him.”
“I don’t believe that’s the answer.”
Dana shrugged. “What would you like me to do?”
“Hypnotize Meta again and see if you can break through the blockage.”
“I failed last time. Why do you think I’ll succeed now?”
“I don’t know that you will,” Maddox said.
Dana considered that. “You have a hunch about the teacher, don’t you?”
“I suppose I do.”
Dana stirred her half-melted ice cream. “Why don’t we ask the professor about the teacher? That sounds easier and more productive than this.”