Vaughn Heppner - The Lost Starship

Until that dreadful day, no one had flown better than Keith Maker could. Afterward, he became sloppy in every way.

Before leaving the brigadier’s office, Maddox had commented negatively on the man, saying, “He strikes me as useless.”

“No,” O’Hara said. “That’s not what our profilers say. You’re going to need a daredevil, likely in more places than we can estimate. If you can get Keith Maker working again, there will be no one better.”

“And if I can’t get him working ?”

“Then you’re the wrong man for the mission,” O’Hara had told him.

Maybe I am, at that , Maddox told himself. Just how many broken or cracked tools can this mission absorb?

“What are you grinning about?” Valerie asked him.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re looking all serious as you plunge us to our deaths. Then you start grinning. What are you thinking?”

That I’m as cracked as the rest of you.

“The grin is the realization of how much I’m enjoying your company,” he said.

“Ha-ha,” she said, “very funny.”

Maddox braked, and he brought the flitter down onto a rundown parking pad. There was the good side of Glasgow and the bad. They were definitely in the latter. Most of the parked air-vehicles here were police cruisers and corporation meat-wagons that carried security personnel.

“We’re going to move fast while we’re in Glasgow,” Maddox said.

Frowning, Valerie stared outside at the dingy buildings.

“Worried?” Maddox asked her.

“This place looks worse than where I used to live in Detroit.” She scowled at him. “No. I’m not worried. Why, are you?”

“A little,” Maddox admitted. “The gun laws are enforced in Scotland. So, I can’t give you one.”

“What about that long-barrel under your coat?” she asked.

“I’m licensed to carry, at least for a little while longer.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“Didn’t the Lord High Admiral tell you how this was going to go?”

“Maybe I forgot,” she said.

Maddox examined Valerie, deciding against telling her that soon he would be a hunted ex-Star Watch Intelligence officer. He would be in the cold, outside any legal aid.

“We have to go in and out,” he said.

“With a struggling man between us?” she asked. When Maddox climbed out of the flitter without answering, she said, “I’m not sure I can help you with that.”

He looked back at her. “You have scruples against kidnapping?”

“As a matter of fact,” she said, “yes. I don’t believe in making anyone doing anything against their will.”

“That’s a noble sentiment, and it does you credit. Would you prefer to wait here, then?” That’s what he’d wanted from the beginning, but he wanted it to be her idea.

She glanced around. “How safe is this city?”

If he said worse than Detroit, she would probably join him to prove she wasn’t afraid.

Before he answered, she asked, “Is the parking pad dangerous?”

Maddox shrugged to indicate maybe .

“You don’t think I can look after myself?” she asked.

“It’s your funeral if you stay,” he said.

A hint of worry entered her eyes, and Maddox wondered if he’d miscalculated.

“I’ll wait here,” she said. “Give me the keys to your flitter. If it gets too rough, I’ll take it up.”

“Have you ever flown one of these before?” he asked.

“How hard can it be?”

Maddox hesitated before tossing her the control unit. “If you see that light flash,” he said, pointing at the instrument panel. “Take it up and come and get me.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Valerie asked.

“No.”

She hesitated before saying, “Sure thing. No problem.”

Maddox nodded once. He wasn’t sure about this. Yet he didn’t want her along in the pub. If she had cold feet about forcing Maker to join the team, he didn’t want her around.

“I’ll be back soon,” he said.

“Whatever,” she said, pressing a switch, making the canopy slid back into place.

Maddox strode to the tollbooth, swiping a false ID credit card through the slot. Afterward, he moved down the rundown streets. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the city creatures had begun to stir. The workers would leave their shifts soon, heading home. That meant the night people had begun to wake up. Already, the first gang members leaned outside their chosen residences. At least, he took them for crawlies.

Humanity had gone to the stars. That hadn’t eradicated poverty, overpopulation and sloth. Some people didn’t like to work. Some weren’t any good at it. Many preferred illegal trades, preying upon their fellow man, or woman as the case might be. Glasgow had its slums, congregated in its welfare island. Instead of an entire city given over to welfare, only half of the population accepted the dole.

Earth was unlike any other world in the alliance. It had a teeming population twenty times the size of the next three largest planets. Humanity had begun here, and it showed in countless ways. Seventy years ago, there had been enforced emigration. That hadn’t worked out so well and had eventually been discontinued. Now, the only involuntary emigrants were those leaving for a prison planet, in other words, the murders, rapists and other notorious criminals.

I wonder where Sergeant Riker is now. I’m going to have to free him from Loki Prime along with this Doctor Dana Rich .

Loki Prime was considered as the worst of the penal colonies.

Maddox zipped up his jacket, turned up his collar and used his right hand to mess up his hair. He still didn’t blend in. He knew eyes watched him, judging whether he would be worth robbing. The predators of this concrete jungle had finely tuned senses. Just like the lions on the Serengeti Plains, they could sniff out weakness. A strong person had little to fear this time of day.

A prickle touched between Maddox’s shoulders. Someone else watched him now, someone dangerous.

Long ago, he had learned to trust his senses. He resisted the impulse to look around. This type of predator wouldn’t scare off easily. He would— Ah. The feeling evaporated. Whatever greater beast had zeroed in on him, had decided this wasn’t the time or place to attack.

As Maddox hurried to his destination, he realized there were too many gaps in his knowledge. He was beginning to believe that neither the Lord High Admiral nor the Iron Lady had told him enough.

How had the enemy known to go after Lieutenant Noonan in the mall? That indicated there had been enemy agents in yesterday’s meeting when Noonan had told her tale. It might even mean the agents knew about his mission. Maybe they wouldn’t know the exact parameters, but they would have learned by now that something was brewing. That might mean killers beyond anything he’d faced before were after him. Octavian Nerva’s hitmen would be like Sunday school teachers in comparison.

Maddox’s gut squeezed. It hit him here, as it hadn’t before, the stakes involved. He was up against the toughest enemy he’d ever faced. Worse, he only had bits and pieces of the real picture.

I’m more out in the cold than I realized .

It might even be possible the Lord High Admiral had sent him on a red herring in order to lure the New Men agents in the wrong direction.

The thought threatened to bring Maddox to a halt. He shook his head. He was letting the enemy rattle him. The New Men weren’t gods. They were beings of flesh and blood. Stick a knife in one and the man would bleed.

Another thought occurred to him. The best place to stop something was in its infancy. If the New Men had an inkling of his prize, they would logically attempt to kill him now.