The Lost Starship Read Free

trying to stop him from crippling you. Anyone could see there was a pause in the duel. He took unfair advantage of the air-cars.”
    “I’ll get you out of this , Sergeant. Not to worry.”
    Riker reversed the grip o f the stunner, handing it to Maddox. Tired resignation filled the sergeant’s voice. “I don’t know how you could possibly help me, sir. I just killed Octavian Nerva’s heir. I’m doomed.”
    Riker was right. The sergeant was doomed. But Maddox refused to leave Riker to his fate. The problem was that he had no idea how to save the man.
     

-2-
    Captain Maddox fought the urge to shift uncomfortably on his chair. He had been sitting here, anticipating the worst, for what felt like hours. Instead, he maintained his rigid posture before the large desk.
    He was in Star Watch Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The air-car had rushed him here. All the Star Watch marines knew was that the so-called New Men had struck again, hard. The Fleet was on high alert.
    Maddox frowned. The marines had taken Sergeant Riker to a detention center deep underground. Likely, that was for Riker’s immediate protection.
    The Nerva security personnel would have already informed Octavian Nerva about his son’s death. The tycoon might demand a trial. It was more likely his magnificence would want a bloodier solution.
    The Methuselah Treatment was greatly extending the age of those who took it. Some recipients had already reached three hundred years of age. Such elders were rare, as the process was ongoing and incredibly expensive. The treatment had its drawbacks, as well, at least according to certain psychologists.
    Those who reached such extended ages often experienced stagnation and magnification of character traits and behaviors. In Octavian Nerva’s case, he’d been punishing those who angered him for so long that nothing short of torture satisfied him. Thus, to avenge his son’s murder, he would undoubtedly hire man-hunters to kidnap Sergeant Riker, and the magnate would probably come after Maddox, as well.
    He and the sergeant could conceivably face a prolonged existence on a hidden habitat orbiting Saturn or Neptune. Certainly, Octavian Nerva would visit them to test new forms of agony against their persons.
    Because of this, Sergeant Riker was in the deepest cell possible. The marine guards were supposedly incorruptible, but Nerva might go to considerable lengths to investigate the truth of this belief.
    Captain Maddox could not afford to consider these details as he waited before the desk. Instead, his mind had fixated upon news of the New Men.
    Behind the large synthi-wood furniture, Brigadier Mary O’Hara of Star Watch Intelligence massaged her forehead. Many called her the Iron Lady. She had gray hair, a matronly image and never lost her temper. It was possible Maddox’s duel had tested her famous calm. A sigh escaped from her compressed lips.
    Believing it was time to explain, Maddox cleared his throat.
    B rigadier O’Hara looked up sharply, her glare like whips.
    The words died on Maddox’s lips.
    She blinked several times. Each flicker of her eyelids seemed to lessen the intensity of her stare. Finally, she appeared to have regained the composure of the Iron Lady.
    “This is a fine mess you’ve dumped into my lap,” she said.
    Maddox nodded, saying, “I take full responsibility for it, ma’am.”
    “First, Captain, let me say that your words are meaningless. Like it or not, Sergeant Riker will soon be leaving for Loki Prime.”
    The extreme jungle world was the worst of the prison planets. Sentencing to such a habitat had replaced the old-fashioned death penalty.
    “Given that,” the brigadier continued, “ I fail to see how your so-called responsibility comes into play.”
    “ Sent into exile? Ma’am, that is ridiculous.”
    “ Is it, Captain?”
    “ Quite,” Maddox said. “Caius Nerva had a prosthetic arm.”
    “ No,” the brigadier said. “Now, you’re being ridiculous.”
    Maddox