The Lost Starship by Vaughn Heppner Page B

the formula sustainable?”
    “I doubt they do. We must have a far larger population and industrial base.”
    “Hang on,” Maddox said.
    She glanced at him, not getting it.
    “Hang on,” he repeated. “We’re going to turn.”
    Oh. She grabbed an armrest and hunkered low er.
    Maddox banked the flitter, and he took them down fast.
    “Where are we headed?” she asked.
    “Scotland.”
    “Any particular reason?”
    Maddox nodded. “We have to get our pilot.”
    “Who is he?”
    “Keith Maker.”
    “Where in Scotland is he?” she asked.
    “At this time of the day,” Maddox said, cocking his head. He seemed to be thinking. “He should be in a pub in Glasgow, beginning his afternoon beer. He likes to take his time with those. Later in the evening, he’ll start on the whiskey shots.”
    “What kind of pilot is he? ” Valerie asked. “The man sounds like a drunk.”
    “ Indeed,” Maddox said.
    She gave him a dubious look. “You’re kidding me, right? We’re not really going to recruit a drunk for the mission.”
    “By recruit, you mean get him to voluntarily join us?”
    “What else would I mean?” she asked.
    “Ah. I see. No, we’re not going to recruit him.”
    “Well, that’s a relief. Then what are we going to do with a drunken pilot in a Glasgow pub?”
    “Kidnap him,” Maddox said.
     

-9-
    Maddox let the flitter drop toward Glasgow. He’d taken himself off the traffic control net as they’d lifted from Paris. Because of an advanced anti-tracking device, the machine would be incognito for an hour, maybe two hours if he was lucky.
    Given enough flight time, there would be an anomaly somewhere. That would alert the planetary tracing system. A clock would begin ticking then: the countdown. At that point, it would only be a matter of time before the tracing system cracked his invisibility. He had to be gone from Earth before that happened, or it would jeopardize the entire mission.
    The kidnapping attack against Lieutenant Noonan deeply troubled him. The brigadier had suggested the New Men had infiltrated the Star Watch with agents. The strike against Noonan would seem to prove the enemy had burrowed much farther than he’d believed possible after leaving the Lord High Admiral. It made more sense now why Cook and O’Hara had set up the operation the way they had.
    Humanity was up against a deadly enemy. If the New Men were smarter than people, as regular humans were compared to chimpanzees, what chance did humanity have?
    Is humanity the old breed, the obsolete model? How do you defeat a superior foe? The New Men know us, but we don’t know them. Right now, our advantage appears to be numbers. Are they using the women on Odin, Horace and Parthia to breed vastly more soldiers? Will they outnumber us in twenty years?
    Maddox scowled. He needed to concentrate on the task before him. He’d read the personnel files in the brigadier’s office. It gave him a rundown on the candidates. He didn’t really know them yet. Their files helped him to know what to look for.
    Lieutenant Valerie Noonan clearly had issues. Who didn’t , though? He’d observed her in the mall dealing with the first kidnapper and the second. The woman knew how to handle herself in a tough spot, although she wasn’t a professional in that department. He had begun to take her measure during their conversation during the short flight.
    In his opinion, Lieutenant Noonan wanted acceptance. She keenly felt herself as the outsider. She also carried a two-ton chip on her shoulder. Maddox found it telling that she didn’t rely on her beauty. It told him she likely didn’t believe herself to be beautiful. The concept was preposterous, but there it was, blinking like a neon sign.
    From what he’d read, observed and heard from her own lips, he believed she must be an excellent navigator. She might prove to be a difficult companion in the scout, though. Valerie had not liked his running speed or his competence. It threatened her. He