Five Temple Savants had bellowed with outrage, charging. The second New Man had drawn a gun faster than Maddox could have done. Before anyone realized it, five Temple Savants lay dead on the ground with smoking holes in their foreheads.
“You act like beasts,” one of the New Men said. “So we will treat you as beasts.”
The torturing began soon thereafter. If the orbital missiles hadn’t struck, Meta was certain the golden-skinned devils would have slaughtered the entire tribe.
Had more of their kind truly invaded the Oikumene? Were the New Men as unstoppable as Maddox said? By her actions, Dana didn’t believe it. Meta also knew that Dana Rich considered herself the smartest person alive. For over a year, Meta had seen the truth of that. She wondered if Captain Maddox realized just whom he’d taken aboard his scout.
There came a rap at the hatch.
Meta sat upright. “Wait,” she said. “Let me get dressed.”
“I’ll give you thirty seconds,” Maddox said.
Meta had shed the fur bikini some time ago, dropping the pieces into a disposal unit. She now put on a bra and panties, pulled on pants and buttoned a blouse. It was a Star Watch uniform for a rating. On impulse, she pulled on socks and slipped her feet into shoes. Lastly, she checked herself before a mirror. Hmm, she pulled out a string and let her long dark hair cascade to her shoulders. Picking up a brush, she combed her hair.
“Meta?” Maddox called. “Are you presentable?”
She considered jumping him when he entered, knocking him out. But why make the attempt so soon? It would be better to regain her full health before striking. Until then, she would lull the man. Despite his cunning, that should be easy enough. He was young, and she had seen the way he looked at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice.
Sitting on the edge of her cot, she said, “Enter.”
The hatch opened and Maddox ducked in. He had his gun hand on the butt of his weapon. The pistol was in its holster. When he saw her on the bunk, he removed his hand and snapped the flap shut.
“It looks as if you’ve made the adjustment to ship life easily enough,” he said.
“What’s the situation?” Meta asked. “Has Dana cracked into the space beacon’s software?”
“Not yet,” he said.
“How long do I have to wear this?” she asked, pointing at the anklet.
“That depends,” he said.
Meta raised an eyebrow, and she forced herself to smile at him.
Maddox smiled back.
Men were so simple. Her teachers had taught her that.
“Meta, I’ll get straight to the point. I’d like your impressions about the New Men.”
His direction surprised her. “I’m not sure I know what you mean?” she said.
“You watched them in person. You observed the way they moved and talked. What did you think about them?”
Meta hadn’t expected this. Usually, a man would strike up a casual conversation, trying to get to know her so he could make his moves. Maddox struck her as all business. Did he think she didn’t know what he thought about her in his heart?
“I want your impressions because the Star Watch has scant information about the New Men,” Maddox explained. “The invaders seem to have penetrated deep into the Commonwealth government, and yet we’ve never caught one of their operatives.”
“Too bad you couldn’t capture the destroyer then. It’s full of people who have fraternized with New Men.”
I doubt that’s the case,” Maddox said. “I suspect the invaders have compartmentalized life aboard the destroyer. But that’s neither here nor there. What were your impressions about them?”
If this is what it took to lull the captain, so be it. “The New Men are decisive,” Meta said. “They act without hesitation, as if they know exactly what they’re doing at all times. A Temple Savant tried to assassinate one.”
“Who?” Maddox asked.
She explained the tribal name and told him what had happened upon the shuttle’s landing. Since Maddox kept asking, she told him about the five-person charge and execution by the other New Man, and she detailed how the invader had called them “beasts.”
“Interesting and telling about their attitude concerning regular people,” Maddox said. “Now give me your take.”
“Could you be more specific?” Meta asked.
“You’ve given me raw data. I want your assessment of them. What do you feel here?” Maddox asked, tapping his chest.
“Haven’t thought too about it much,” she admitted. Unconsciously sticking out her lower lip, Meta began to ponder the captain’s question. She shrugged shortly. “They’re tough, really tough, and they struck me as men who will do anything to succeed. A lot of people think they have what it takes to win.” She shook her head. “Most people are wrong. They have scruples. Things they would never do. Most people get scared too. Those two—they didn’t have any problem torturing, killing, whatever they needed. Yes. Now that I’m thinking about it, they treated us as something lower. They acted superior—arrogantly, but without the stupidity most arrogant people have.”
“You’ve had a lot of contact with arrogant people?” Maddox asked.
“You mean besides on Loki Prime?” she asked.
Maddox nodded.
“You’d better believe it. Starting with the foremen on the Rouen Colony—” Meta stopped talking. How much should she give away concerning her past? Despite his youth, the captain was clever. He didn’t need to know too much about her.
“You were saying?” Maddox prodded.
Meta shrugged.
Maddox seemed to shift tactics. It was a subtle thing, but observable to with someone of her training.
“Aren’t you grateful that I took you off Loki Prime?” he asked.
“Of course I am.” She smiled again to show him just how grateful.
“Then help me with this. I’m trying to stop the worst menace to ever hit the Commonwealth.”
“So you keep telling us.”
“Why would I lie to you?” Maddox asked.
“Since I know so little about you,” she said, “I have no idea. I can think of plenty of reasons, though.”
“Don’t you trust your instincts?” Maddox asked.
Meta most certainly did. She had become an excellent judge of character. In her line of work, it had been critical. She nodded.
“What do your instincts tell you about me?” Maddox asked.
She frowned, wondering where the man was trying to take this.
Maddox crossed his arms, leaning against a bulkhead, waiting.
“You’re sure of yourself,” Meta said. “Is that what you want to hear?” All men were egotists, so she knew that he did.
He said nothing, just grinned at her.
That upset her enough that she wanted to give him a rude gesture and tell him a Rouen Colony curse. Instead, she studied the lean man. There couldn’t be an ounce of fat on his frame. Did he have denser muscles just as she did? How could he have beaten her in hand-to-hand combat before? She remembered his strength but more his speed. Some of his determination leaked through his eyes, she noticed. This one would go through a force screen by sheer willpower to get to his prize. She reconsidered his actions on Loki Prime. He had faced overwhelming obstacles and had overcome them all.
“You have a purpose,” she said. “No. You’re driven.” Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Something haunts you.”
The grin remained, but the force drained from it. For a moment, Maddox seemed uncomfortable. Then the discomfort vanished, as if rejected by the owner.