The Lost Starship (9 page)

To the side, a man stood throwing darts.
He thunked a red one into the “6” area. Other beefy individuals sat at the wooden bar, talking and sipping from their pint glasses.

A small man sat at a table, sucking on
a stim stick, making the end glow as he carefully examined his cards. He wore a suit and tie as if it was his uniform, and he looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had sandy hair, a ready grin and mischievous blue eyes. On a right hand finger, he wore a ring with an onyx stone. He sucked the stim stick again, lowered his cards onto the table and grabbed the handle of his pint glass. He sipped golden beer, and for a moment, the merry eyes became hooded.

“Are you in or out, Keith?” a
man at the table asked.

The other three card players were bigger
and heavily muscled. Maddox took them for debt collectors, experts at breaking bones.

“What will you have?” the bartender asked.

Maddox turned away from the game and moved to the bar, putting a shoe on the foot railing. “Give me your house beer,” he said.

The bartender filled a pint, put a napkin before Maddox and clunked the glass before him. The captain sipped, glanced at the bartender and nodded.

“Haven’t seen you here before,” the bartender said. He was a thick man with a shiny dome. “Have a sense about people, I do,” the bartender said, stroking the side of his nose. “You’re trouble.”

“Oh?”

“You watched the card game too closely. Took a keen interest in it.”

The talking at the table stopped. Maddox glanced at the
players. All four men stared back at him, Keith Maker having twisted around to do so.

Maddox
might render the debt collectors, the dart player, the men at the bar and the bartender unconscious. It would take some doing, though. The easier method would be to shoot them dead, maybe drug Keith Maker and guide the stumbling man to the flitter. Maddox did not intend to kill innocent people, however.

He mentally shuffled through
his options. The number of people in the bar at this hour surprised him. After a moment, Maddox decided on his approach and picked up his beer, beginning to guzzle. When he finished the glass, he gasped and clunked the container onto the bar.

“Now give me a whiskey,” Maddox said. “No. On second thought, line up three shot glasses.”

“Do you have the credits?” the bartender asked.

Maddox took out his credit card and slid it to the man.
The bartender ran it through a device and slid it back. With his thick fingers, the bartender plucked three shot glasses, pressing them from the inside. He grabbed a bottle, uncorked it and poured until the liquid brimmed to the top of each glass.

The card players still watched, saying nothing.

Maddox grinned, nodded to them and picked up the first shot glass. He made certain not to spill a drop. With a practiced flip of his wrist, he tossed the contents down his throat. It was fiery going down, and the sensation exploded into his brain. In quick succession, he did the same with the other two glasses. His eyes bulged for a moment on the last gulp.

“That’s quite a thirst
you have,” Keith said.

With a single finger, Maddox indicated for the bartender to approach. The man complied and opened his mouth to ask something.
Before the bartender could get out the words, Maddox poked an index finger into the man’s mouth, rubbing the tip against the fellow’s teeth.

The bartender jerked back, outraged. Maddox caught
the big man by the shoulder, dragged him closer and wiped the wet finger against his shirt.

“Next time,” Maddox said, “keep your fingers out of my shot glasses.” He pushed, making the bigger man stumble away.

As Maddox turned, two of the debt collectors stood up angrily. He pretended not to notice, grabbing a chair, bringing it to the card table.

“What do you think you’re doing?” one of the standing
men asked.

Maddox laughed good-natured
ly, and he lightly punched Keith Maker on the shoulder. “Just making a point, you know. I believe in doing things in a sanitary fashion.”

“You okay, Bernie?” Keith asked the bartender.

The man glowered and spit on the floor. “I say we beat the tar out of him. He’s trouble, Mr. Maker. I can feel it.”

This is Danny’s Pub. Danny was the name of Keith’s brother. He must own this place. Why wasn’t that in the file?

Keith seemed to consider the bartender’s suggestion, finally shaking his head.

The two enforcers sat back down,
sliding their chairs to make room for Maddox. He scraped his a bit farther away from Keith.

The small pilot in his suit
and tie squinted one-eyed at Maddox. Keith took the stim stick out of his mouth and mashed it against an ashtray.

“Bernie’s right,” Keith said. “You stink of death. Maybe you should move along.”

“Want us to
make
him move?” one of the bone breakers asked.

Keith kept looking at Maddox as he shook his head. “He’s carrying, Pete. This bloke is a tiger
, and you’re a junkyard dog. He’d eat the three of you like that.” The pilot snapped his fingers.

Maddox’s estimation of Keith rose.

“Why are you here?” the man asked.

Maddox reevaluated his plan, and changed it
on the spot. “Could I have a word with you in private?”

“Did the
Wallace Corporation send you?” Keith asked.

Maddox shook his head.

Keith squinted, peering more deeply into Maddox’s eyes. “That’s quite a trick,” he said thoughtfully.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Maker,” one of the bone breakers asked.

Maddox had the feeling Keith understood that whatever the whiskey had done to him was quickly dissipating.

“Okay,” Keith
told Maddox. “I’ll talk.” He stood, picked up his pint and moved toward a back booth. “Don’t touch the cards,” he told the others.

Maddox followed the small man, listening as the three
enforcers muttered among themselves. He slid onto the other side of the booth as Keith.

“
Let’s make this quick,” the ace said.

Maddox spread his hands palms up onto the table as if he was laying down his cards. “Have you
ever heard of the New Men?”

“Do you think I’m an imbecile?”

“Not in the slightest,” Maddox said. “What you might not know was that there was a battle near the Odin System, near in terms of jump routes. The actual fight happened in the Pan System. Star Watch had a battle group. The New Men had three cruisers. The three destroyed everything and lost nothing.”

“If that’s true, how do
you know about it?”

Maddox wondered if the other files were as wrong about the rest of the candidates as the one had been about Maker.
“A lieutenant escaped in a lifeboat and hid behind an asteroid. After the New Men left, she made it back to Earth.”

Keith ticked off his fingers as his lips mouthed soundlessly. Then he looked up. “That would have happened at least a month ago.”

“Yes.”

“Just saying,” Keith muttered. “Well, s
upposing all this is true, why tell me? Why would that bring you here?”

Maddox grinned because now he knew how h
e was going to do this. “We can’t beat their ships.”

“By ‘we’ you mean…?”

“The Commonwealth, the Windsor League—humanity,” Maddox said.

“The New Men aren’t human?”
Keith asked.

“Great Danes are dogs, but they probably wouldn’t treat Fox Terriers as equals.”

“No,” Keith said. “I suppose not. Yet, that doesn’t answer the question.”

Maddox leaned closer and told the ace about the destroyed star system and its last
alien sentinel.

“I’ve heard
a similar story somewhere,” Keith said. “Not with quite the same details, but I’m aware it means nothing.”

“
I’m from Star Watch Intelligence,” Maddox said quietly. “I’m going after the sentinel because Earth needs the ship in order to face the New Men on better footing. There’s a professor who has been to the system, and he took notes on his observations of the sentinel.”

“Have you seen those notes?”

“Some,” Maddox said.

Keith pursed his lips, looking thoughtful.

“The professor believes that certain types of individuals have a better chance at breaking into the alien vessel than others do.”

“
How would he know that?” Keith asked.

“You were supposed to be a great pilot
,” Maddox said, hedging.

“I got by.”

Maddox grinned. “That’s not what your file says. You were something of a miracle worker when it came to strikefighter combat.”

Keith said nothing.

“My point is that some men are fantastic pilots. Some are fools at the controls. If the fool asked you, ‘How do you fly so well?’ What would you tell him?”

“Don’t know that I could tell the fool much that would help him
,” Keith said.

“Compared to the professor, we’re all fools when it comes to the alien sentinel.”

“In other words, you don’t know how he knows,” Keith said.

“That’s right.”

“I see,” Keith said. He appeared wistful. “I remember taking some tests in high school. They found I had an incredible aptitude for flying. Went into a special combat program, I was going to join. Then the Tau Ceti thing broke out. Had uncles living there. Anyway, I went AWOL, took a liner to Tau Ceti and told them about my specialty. They let me teach my brother, thinking he must have been as good as me. He wasn’t, but Danny could fly rings around most others.”

Keith adjusted his tie, blinked himself out of his reverie and studied Maddox. “Y
ou think I’m one of those the professor spoke about?”

“Yes.”

“That means you’re here to recruit me.”

“I hadn’t planned on
it,” Maddox said.

“No?” Keith asked
, frowning.

“I was going to kidnap you.”

“Oh. I see. What changed your mind?”

“You did,” Maddox said.

“How did I do that?”

“You called me a tiger earlier. I see you’re one
, too. Even if I could kidnap you, it wouldn’t help the cause. Either you’ll come freely, or you won’t be any use to me.”

“Why do you want me
on this?” Keith said. “What’s my specific task supposed to be?”

“
Pilot,” Maddox said. “You also have the right brain patterns.”

“
Do you think I do?”

“I have no idea. I’m taking the brigadier’s word for
brain patterns being important, and she’s taking this professor’s word.”

“I’ve already fought in one war
,” Keith said. “I don’t relish the opportunity to join another.”

“I understand. Yet
, I should point out two important features you’d do well to consider before you say no.”

Keith picked up his beer, sipping. “
Go on. I’m listening.”

“The New Men have agents on Earth. If you elect to stay
behind, they’re going to be calling on you. Don’t ask me how, but they’ll know I talked to you. One way or another, they will make you talk to them.”

Keith’s eyes tightened. He nodded.
“What’s your second point?”

“You
once fought to help miners gain their freedom from corporate injustice. This time, you’d be in a fight for the survival of the human race.”

“Do I look like an idealist to you?”
Keith asked.

“Not
anymore,” Maddox admitted.

“Thank you.”

“You should think about it in practical terms,” Maddox said.

“How so?” asked Keith.

“If the New Men can win as easily as I think they can, you’re done here. We all are. That might take them three years. It might take ten. A practical man, one owning property, no less, would want to stop that.”

Keith made a fist, and he rubbed the onyx against the sleeve of his suit. Then he aimed the ring at Maddox.

The captain almost ducked, wondering if the ring was a hidden weapon. He decided that no, it was just a ring. Keith was attempting to make a point.

“Do you see this?” Keith asked.

Maddox nodded.

“I was
never an idealist, but I wanted adventure. There were tons of Scots miners at Tau Ceti. Anyway, my kid brother tagged along, and now he’s dead. I think you’re trying to get me to tag along with you.”

Maddox could see he wasn’t going to talk the man into anything… Either Keith Maker would join or not.

First clearing his throat, Maddox said, “I’m officially asking you. Will you join me on the search for the alien sentinel?”