The Lost Starship by Vaughn Heppner Page B

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?”
    The smaller man sat back, his gaze fixed on Maddox. “You’re a bloody bastard. If I stay in Glasgow, you’ve made sure I’m a dead man.”
    “If you believe what I’m saying is true,” Maddox said.
    “So , in your own devious way, you actually are kidnapping me. You’re using force to twist my arm.”
    “The force of persuasion only,” Maddox said.
    “You’ve boxed me in so I can only make one move. You would have made a deadly fighter pilot.” Keith picked up the pint glass, draining the rest of the beer and belching as he put it down. “You must believe I’m crazy, though. I’m supposed to get up and go with you now, right?”
    Maddox nodded.
    Keith looked away. He snorted, shaking his head. “Do you know what I’m feeling right now?”
    “No.”
    “I’m stupidly excited. I’m feeling… alive . I want to drink to celebrate. But that’s what I yearn to escape. At first, I drank to drown out Danny’s death. Now, the alcohol has become my dark abyss. I’m falling deeper into the abyss every day, Mr. Star Watch Intelligence officer. You’re throwing me a rope and shouting for me to grab hold. You’ll drag me out of the abyss. I like the booze too much, though. I’m not the man I was.”
    “I’m leaving in a minute,” Maddox said. “Either you come with me , or we’ll have to do this without you.”
    “You are a bloody bastard. I’ve never told anyone what I just said. You simply ignore it.”
    “I heard you ,” Maddox said. “I understand what you’re saying. We’ll have months ahead of us for you to explain your pain in detail. You can tell me everything you want to confess. But there’s one other thing. If you join, you have to agree to take orders from