“Those are going to hit, sir,” Valerie told Maddox in the control chamber.
Maddox stared at her screen. They had expected the move. At his orders, they had previously dismantled the scout’s two cannons, freezing them and their autoloaders on the back of the comet.
“When the time comes,” Maddox said, “Ensign Maker will have to shoot down the missiles.”
Valerie gave him an unreadable look.
More time passed. The destroyer rapidly closed the distance. The two missiles zoomed toward destiny.
Finally, Maddox ordered Keith to his station.
The ace flexed his fingers. “I have this,” he told them. “They’re coming so fast there’s no way they can maneuver out of the way of my shells.”
With the primitive targeting system they’d frozen into the comet, Ensign Maker selected the lead missile. He began long-distance firing.
At thirty thousand kilometers from the comet, he struck the hardened nosecone. It should have shredded the warhead, but the thing held together. At twenty-one thousand kilometers, Keith nailed it again. The missile and its warhead died.
“I told you!” Keith shouted.
The last missile bored in. It had better ECM, and Keith failed to lock onto it. The shells sped past it as the missile kept coming.
“Blimey cocker,” Keith hissed under his breath. “I ain’t missing this close.”
Before he could hit it, at nine thousand kilometers from target, the warhead ignited. The EMP blast and heat did its trick. All but one comet-frozen engine malfunctioned and kept spewing exhaust.
“Shutdown the last engine,” Maddox said. “We don’t want to skew our entrance trajectory.”
The comet no longer accelerated, but drifted at its present velocity for the approaching Laumer-Point. Behind them, crossing the plane of the brown dwarf, Saint Petersburg made its last run. The destroyer traveled at high velocity. It would reach the Laumer-Point at almost the same instant as the comet.
“Sir,” Valerie said. “We’re being hailed.”
Maddox massaged his chest, taking his seat. He debated with himself for all of three seconds. Decision made, he clicked on the comm equipment, letting his features appear to the other side. What did it matter now?
His screen showed the inflexible face of a New Man. The eyes were like swirling black ink, the skin like golden ivory. Gigantic haughtiness faced him.
“I know you,” Maddox said, thinking to recognize the face. He’d had a momentary glimpse on the prison planet’s surface and would never forget the man.
Despite the words, the enemy’s masklike features never changed.
“I beat you on Loki Prime,” Maddox said. “I shot you to the ground and took your weapon. I’ve kept it as a memento in my trophy case.”
“You have failed,” the New Man said.
The deep voice shocked Maddox. It was so utterly controlled and confident. He envied the New Man that.
The other cocked his head and seemed to peer through the screen with greater interest. “I detect an anomaly. You are not like them.”
“What’s he mean?” Keith whispered.
Lieutenant Noonan shushed the pilot, tapping her index finger against her lips.
Maddox sat frozen in his chair. He yearned for the New Man to elaborate. Was he a failed experiment? Had they used his mother as a breeder, putting their exalted seed into her womb?
Am I like them? Maddox wondered.
“Surrender,” the New Man said. “There is no need for you to die.”
“Why would you care?” Maddox asked.
“You have information I would like to confirm.”
Maddox mulled that over. The New Man hadn’t said, “You have information I need.” Instead, the haughty New Man wished to confirm a thing.
“What’s your name?” Maddox asked.
The New Man frowned. “You young presumptuous pup of the Star Watch, you have insulted me for the last time.”
“What insult? I just asked you your name.”
The New Man stiffened before he said, “Know that your mission will die with you, Captain Maddox.”
Maddox’s eyes widened with surprise.
“We always know more about our targets than we need to understand. Thus, I know you and your inefficient crew.” The New Man leaned closer. The black eyes seemed to burn with passion. “You were always doomed to fail, Captain. It was inevitable. We have arrived to halt the madness of your species’ chaotic inconsistencies. You should surrender to us as gods coming in judgment. Homo Sapiens’ era of rutting and ugliness will finally cease.”
“Are you saying you’re no longer human?” Maddox asked.
“Your conceit is ill-reasoned,” the New Man said. “Homo Sapiens have risen little higher than the brute beasts around them. Perhaps you have something more personally compared to the common ruck of your Orion Arm herd. I would like to examine your DNA to discover what this difference is, but it is a small matter. We of the Race have arrived at genetic perfection. That makes us human. You and your ilk are something lower on the evolutionary scale.”
“Yet we can communicate,” Maddox said, “which disproves your theory.”
“How you strive to reason like a man. It is pitiful to watch. Attend my words, Captain Maddox. A cow lows to let its master know it is hungry. A farmer shouts to guide the cow to the waiting grain. They communicate, but they are far from equal. Can you grasp the point?”
“I do,” Maddox said. “Your arrogance will destroy you.”
“I see a half-beast wishing to ape humanity. You practice what you conceive as self-awareness. We of the Race are true to ourselves—what you perceive as arrogance.”
“Did you call me to gloat?” Maddox asked.
“How you struggle to understand me. To you, I am Per Lomax. Know then that I have degraded myself to give you an opportunity to surrender and save your genes for study. I also require Professor Ludendorff’s notes. Do this, and live. Refuse, and go into an eternity of oblivion, never to know again.”
“You don’t believe in an afterlife?” Maddox asked.
“Show me the evidence you’ve complied of such a state.”
“Humanity’s sacred books all teach this,” Maddox told the New Man.
“Do not speak to me of the cries of a terrified subspecies. The Race is humanity. Our books do not speak of pale illusions needed to soften the realities of existence.”
“Per Lomax is like calling you master?” Maddox asked.
“As I said earlier, you are a grade above the others of your herd. Bravo, you can see to a limited degree. Now, the moment is upon you, Captain Maddox of the Star Watch. Surrender or die. You will not have another opportunity.”
With his heart pounding, Maddox put the comm on mute. He turned to the others. “How much time until we reach the Laumer-Point?”
“Ten minutes,” Valerie said. “We don’t even know if the scout’s Laumer Drive can activate the tramline through all this ice.”
“Lasers!” shouted Keith. “Saint Petersburg is firing.”
“Blow off the first engine,” Maddox said.
With a forefinger, Keith stabbed his board. The great mass of the comet meant that down here no one felt the explosion that ripped away the engine, hurling it behind them.
On the screen, Maddox watched an engine tumble from the comet. At the same time, the twin lasers stabbed into the ice, burning deeper and deeper.
The lasers boiled ice into water and vapor. As the lasers kept digging, they boiled away more and more. Finally, that created a cloud. The cloud dissipated some of the lasers’ strength. Unfortunately, the temporary situation wouldn’t last.
“According to my calculations,” Valerie said, “the lasers are going to dig through to us. Once the beams reach the scout’s hull, the game will be up.”