Beside Maddox, Keith wheezed. The bubbling in his throat sounded worse than before. The pilot turned his head and spat red-stained saliva. Maddox wondered if Keith realized the significance of the color. He hoped not. He wanted the ace upbeat for as long as possible.
“This way,” Dana said, indicating a faint trail.
Flintlock fire had intensified again, although it remained muffled in the distance. A heavy assault rifle opened up. A person screamed. It was a shrill and continuing noise.
Keith swore under his breath as he shifted his shoulders.
Dana noticed with seeming interest—Maddox watched her sidelong. He digested her awareness, trying to figure out what it meant. He didn’t care for the screams either, although he could compartmentalize his unease so it didn’t interfere with his present task. The point to remember was that this was Loki Prime. Here lived some of the most ruthless people in the Commonwealth. Many of those would use what they considered as squeamishness or weakness against a person. Dana was a hardened denizen of this place. Maddox knew it was important never to forget that.
Ahead of them through the undergrowth, a hidden man muttered incoherently between wheezing inhalations. With a sting of recognition, Maddox realized it was Sergeant Riker.
Dana must have heard him too. Her step slowed.
“Hurry,” Maddox said.
She did, and in seconds, they came upon a gargantuan flattened bush and trampled ground. There were two crushed lines through the spider grass. Maddox frowned until he realized those were wheel marks.
The flitter—it was gone! How were they supposed to get out of here now?
Calm, stay calm—think. By the signs, someone had taken the flyer. They hadn’t taken the sergeant, however. Maybe he knew what had happened.
Riker sat on his rear with his back to them. He fiddled with his arm, muttering, trying to—
The sergeant woke up. He found the package. Keith had asked him about the box earlier. The packet had held Riker’s prosthetic arm. The sergeant had become lucid enough to fit the arm into his socket. Now, it appeared as if he was trying to turn it on, maybe make adjustments.
“Sergeant,” Maddox said.
Riker’s head lifted, but he didn’t turn around.
“Keith,” Maddox said. “Help him.”
The pilot shoved his pistol through his belt and walked in front of Riker. The sergeant shouted in surprise, pressing his prosthetic arm. It hummed, and from the shoulder, it raised threateningly as Riker remained seated. The other arm moved. Riker grabbed a cloth and put it before his mouth.
“Walk around him please,” Maddox told the women. “Keith. Back away. The sergeant doesn’t remember who you are.”
Dana and Meta complied until they walked before an even more astonished Sergeant Riker.
“Sit,” Maddox told them.
Meta and Dana did. Maddox didn’t think they would try anything now. They were too interested in getting off Loki Prime. Still, it paid to be cautious.
“Sergeant,” Maddox said in a commanding voice.
Riker’s head swayed. He kept his mouth covered, and the rag was red. The poor man’s real eye was horribly red-rimmed and glazed. He must be running a high fever.
“It’s Captain Maddox,” Maddox told him.
“I know who you are, sir,” Riker said in a wheezing voice.
“You found your arm, I see.”
“Yes, sir, and I got it working. Who are these, these—” He began hacking, sounding wretched. He had to bend over and finally wheezed air down.
“It’s no use for him,” Dana said. “You need to—” She sliced a finger across her throat. “The swamp spores are deadly. They can spread fast.”
“Ha-ha,” Riker laughed drunkenly, staring at her. “Cunning witch, aren’t you? Old Sergeant Riker isn’t going to lie down to death so easily as that, though. Captain Maddox may be overly ambitious, but the lad needs a steadying hand like mind. He gets carried away otherwise. No, I’m not quits just like that. So, you can stop scheming. The young captain will see through your cunning, you can count on that.”
“Never mind her, Sergeant,” Maddox said. “Who took the flitter? Why didn’t they shoot you?”
“Me?” Riker asked, sounding indignant. “Why not shoot me? Oh, no, sir,” he said. “I woke up, I did. I took my arm and crawled out of the flitter. I hid because I heard them coming. I saw him too.”
“Saw who?” Maddox asked.
“The golden-skinned killer, sir,” Riker said. “He had people hooked up like oxen. A woman was with him. She had an assault rifle. They forced the others to lift the flitter onto the wagon. It was a big old cart, sir. I couldn’t believe they lifted the flitter. It ain’t light, you know?”
“Strange,” Maddox said.
“Then I noticed their eyes, sir,” Riker said. “The ones hooked to the cart like oxen. They looked drugged. Some of them cried out as they lifted the flitter. I think some of their muscles tore, or shoulders popped out of their sockets. The others kept right on lifting your flyer onto the cart. I wondered if they had super-strength.”
“Or a New Man drug to give them such strength,” Maddox said. “Hysterical strength, I believe it’s called. I wonder if that’s part of their secret.”
“Sir?” Riker asked.
“Never mind,” Maddox said. “What else? Do you have anything else to report?”
“I do indeed, sir. Old Sergeant Riker has been paying attention to your sly ways. I thought to myself, ‘What would that young hothead do in a situation like mine?’ Then it came to me, sir. I knew exactly what to do, and I did it on the spot.”
“Do you care to tell me what that was?” Maddox asked.
Riker blinked his red eye, and he started coughing. Finally, after a twenty-second bout, he wheezed down air like a dying man.
“Sir,” the sergeant said, “before the others reached the flitter I called upstairs.”
“You used the flyer’s radio?” Maddox asked.
“I did, sir.”
Maddox went cold inside. Had Riker called the destroyer or the scout? “Who did you speak to?” he asked.
“Some pretty girl, sir. She sounded worried, though. She asked about you.”
“Do you recall her name?”
“She wouldn’t give it to me. Said something about the enemy able to hear over the radio, she did. And, sir, she’s coming down to get us. She said regulations demanded she ignore your original orders in order to rescue the landing party.”
Maddox had no doubt then. Lieutenant Noonan was going to bring the scout down into the prison planet’s atmosphere. Perhaps she was already on her way. If Riker had used the flitter’s radio, Valerie would likely home in on it. That meant she was flying down to the New Man, because he now had the flyer.
“How long ago did you send the message?” Maddox asked.
“It’s hard for me to tell, sir. Some time ago.”
Maddox’s eyes widened. “She could be here right now.” He took out his comm-unit.
“If your sergeant used the radio,” Dana said. “It’s possible the destroyer intercepted the signal.”
Maddox nodded. “Come in, Lieutenant Noonan. This is Captain Maddox. Do you hear me? Come in, Lieutenant.”
He feared jamming. If the enemy jammed, it would be clear the New Man understood that the scout descended. Maddox tried to fit the various pieces together, the Saint Petersburg, the New Man, the orbital missiles— Valerie must have used my security code on the orbitals if she’s taking the scout to the surface. It’s a good thing I gave it to her. Otherwise, the orbitals would shoot her down. A new thought struck and Maddox wanted to curse. The New Man has my flitter. Its computer has my security code embedded in it.