"You didn't do any such thing!" he murmured. "We're only here now because of you. You gave us our best shot. No one expects you to do more than that."

  "Of course they do! Don't lie! You wanted me to defeat DeWalt."

  "Then we'll just have to find another way."

  "There is no other way. If I can't beat him, we might as well take the fleet back to the fringes and disappear. We'll all just go back to the way things were before."

  "No," Eckhart snapped. "We won't do that. We can't. The Regiment is inches away from using DeWalt against us. We already launched this campaign, so they won't stop until they retaliate. You attacked Govax, and I attacked Oiwei. DeWalt knows about us now. If we don't finish this, he'll come after us, and the whole fringe population will suffer. I'm not going to let that happen, and you're not going to let that happen."

  "I can't do anything! I wish I could, but I can't."

  "That isn't true. You're Akkek Stratha. You're the greatest thief that ever lived."

  "I did all that because I'm an Akeix! I can't do anything without my power to change my appearance."

  "I don't think so. You might not be able to change your appearance, but you still remember how to trick people once your appearance has changed. We can change your appearance, and then you can do the same thing without your power. You can still help us, and we still need you."

  "I'm not so sure..."

  "I am. Now listen to me. Bing just told me that there's nothing wrong with you. Your neck is okay, which means you can leave the medical bay anytime you want to. I want you to come with me and Clifton here. We're going to Nenus to get DeWalt, and we need you to help us."

  CHAPTER12

  C lifton stepped into the elevator at Eckhart's side. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

  "I'm sure it isn't a good idea," Eckhart replied. "That's what makes it...what did Bing say? He said it was the most Eckhart plan that ever was."

  Clifton laughed much more easily now. "That sounds like a disaster in the making."

  "It will be, but hopefully, it will be a disaster for the Regiment instead of us."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm going to play it your way. DeWalt didn't attack you. He recognized you as a friend."

  "Actually, if you remember, he did attack me. He just didn't kill me."

  "Actually, if you remember, you were the one who attacked him. He would have killed you if he didn't recognize you as a friend."

  "So what am I supposed to do?"

  "Just talk to him, like you said. He fought Akkek because she was capable of fighting him. He saw her as an enemy and he treated her as one. He was out of his mind on adrenaline and endorphins when he threw you on the ground. Maybe you can reason with him if you get him at a calm moment."

  "How are we going to find him without another Staton helping us?"

  Eckhart shrugged. "I guess we'll figure that out once we get on the ground. All Regiment stations have the same layout. Maybe, by some miracle, Nenus will have an identical bunker underground where they're housing DeWalt."

  "That's beyond a miracle. That's pure fantasy, my friend."

  Eckhart laughed back at him. "You're probably right, but then again, getting through to DeWalt is pure fantasy, too."

  "And you still want to go through with it?"

  "Sure. I don't see any reason to launch this war without trying every other possible option first."

  Clifton faced the front of the elevator. "You're right."

  Eckhart studied Clifton's profile. "What you did on the bridge was heroic. I'm ashamed to say I didn't think you had it in you."

  Clifton still didn't look at him. "You're doing more than anyone to stop the Regiment, Eckhart. If anyone is a hero, it's you. No one can praise me for following your example."

  "I'm not a hero, pal. I'm a criminal, and now I'm taking Aistenz Trotaer's place. I'm the biggest criminal on the block."

  "That doesn't stop you from doing the right thing, does it? You're the one convincing all these people to follow you so you can stop the Regiment's plan. No one else is doing that. You are. That makes you a hero. You're a hero to all these people--all the fringe aliens. Don't you see the way they look at you?"

  Eckhart stared at a spot near Clifton's ear. He didn't hear the last part of Clifton's response. Eckhart's brain clicked, and everything fell into place.

  He seized Clifton's shoulders. "That's it! Clifton, you're a genius." Eckhart dove in and kissed Clifton on the cheek without thinking about it. "I owe you big time for this, buddy. Thank you." Eckhart burst out laughing in excitement.

  Clifton stared at him in something close to terror. "What's the matter with you?"

  Eckhart couldn't stop laughing. "It's perfect! Why didn't I think of it before?"

  "Because you're talking a bunch of bullshit. What the hell are you talking about?"

  "It's so obvious! He said they heard all about it. I didn't understand at the time, but I do now." Eckhart attacked the elevator controls, and in the end, he wound up pulling the emergency stop to bring the elevator to a halt.

  "You're out of your mind, Eckhart," Clifton muttered. "You're losing it."

  "I must be." Eckhart switched the elevator back on and reprogrammed it to go back to the medical bay.

  He found Bing talking to Akkek on her lonely bed in the corner. "Both of you are with me. Come on, Akkek. I need you to deploy right away."

  "Deploy!" she repeated. "Deploy where?"

  "I don't care. You go wherever you want to, as long as you leave right away. I need you to keep going with this mission of yours to mount an uprising among the fringe aliens. You did it on Imeliv H8. You can do it again. You already know everybody."

  "That was different," she replied. "I could turn myself into a member of any species. I could talk to them as one of their own species."

  "They'll still listen to you. You don't have to talk to them as one of their own species. You can talk to them as Akkek Stratha. You represent resistance against the Regiment, and you can tell them all to rise up. They'll follow you. The Regiment can't defend itself against so many aliens all fighting together."

  "That might be true, if only the Regiment was fighting the fringe aliens," Bing interjected, "but the Regiment has DeWalt now. He can wipe us all out in one stroke, no matter how many aliens we bring against the Regiment."

  Eckhart burst into a huge grin. "But they aren't going to have DeWalt. DeWalt won't be fighting for the Regiment, because our boy Clifton here is going to win him over to our side."

  Akkek and Bing both looked at Clifton. "How are you going to do that?"

  Eckhart clapped Clifton on the back. "He's going to do it by using his winning charm and stunning good looks."

  Clifton blushed bright red and slapped Eckhart's hand away. "Knock it off, Eckhart."

  Eckhart laughed again. He couldn't remember being this happy in a long time. "Listen. It's simple. Clifton and I will distract DeWalt at Nenus while you weaken the Regiment"--Eckhart thought fast--"at Guzion Station."

  "You're out of your gourd!" Clifton whispered. "Guzion is the biggest Regiment supply depot on the fringes. It's the most heavily guarded station in the whole galaxy, outside the Earth system."

  "Which is exactly why we need to hit it and take it down as soon as possible. With DeWalt out of the picture, taking out Guzion will weaken the Regiment more than anything else we can do. It's the perfect place to launch our campaign against Earth."

  The others gawked at Eckhart like he had four heads. "You want to launch a campaign...against Earth?" Bing croaked.

  "Of course. What better way to show them we're serious? If we stop short of Earth, they'll just send out more Regiment forces against us. Even if we defeated the whole Regiment, Earth would cook up another army to take us down."

  Eckhart heard himself talking about the fringe alien population as 'us' and 'we,' but that didn't bother him anymore. He was talking to two aliens and another Earthling. Alien or Earthling no longer mattered. There were only two sides in this war: the Regiment and everyone else. Eckhart no longer thought that being an Earthling made him an outsider. He was on the right side. What species he was didn't make any difference. What species anyone was didn't make any difference.

  Akkek blinked at him. "Okay. I guess we can do it."

  He touched her elbow. "Come down to the landing platform with me. You can take one of the Velocities and go...wherever it is you're going."

  "What do you plan to do once you get your alien army inside the Earth solar system?" Clifton asked. "Earth won't listen to you. They won't negotiate with aliens."

  "That's what they think. They'll have no choice once we finish off the Regiment. We could drive them all the way to the rings of Saturn and they wouldn't be able to ignore us anymore. We would force them to negotiate."

  "You're a dreamer, Eckhart," Bing countered. "Earthlings hate aliens with a passion. They'll never negotiate."

  "Then we can post our ships around their system and leave them there. The aliens can claim the fringes, and Earthlings will be confined to their own little corner of the galaxy. They'll have to learn to live with less while we ride off into the sunset."

  Clifton, Bing, and Akkek all cast sidelong glances at Eckhart, and he read the question on all their minds. He spoke about Earthlings as a different species from himself.

  What would happen to him if he actually succeeded in confining Earthlings to the Earth solar system while aliens claimed the fringes for themselves?

  Dallas could never go back to Earth, but what about Eckhart himself? Would he ever give up all this to go back to Earth the way Clifton had first suggested?

  What would Eckhart be back on Earth? He could be whatever he wanted there. No one on Earth knew about his life of crime or his poor upbringing or any of the ruthless jobs he'd pulled in between.

  Maybe he even had family back there. The thought sounded so strange. He couldn't imagine a bunch of Earthlings sitting around trying to be nice to him.

  He had a family, and they were all aliens. He had Rixby and Bing and Alice and Dallas. He had Akkek and Squids and Innyria and all the other aliens he'd made friends with over the years.

  He didn't feel strange thinking about spending time with them. He felt comfortable with them. He had nothing to hide from them and nothing to prove. He couldn't leave them for a bunch of strangers.

  The four of them stepped onto the landing platform, and Eckhart escorted Akkek over to one of the Velocities. It was Squadron Leader Two--Alice's old ship.

  Eckhart ran his hand down its sleek, silver side. He couldn't imagine a better ship for Akkek to take to trigger the alien uprising against the Regiment. The ship would launch a thousand rebellions--the one rebellion to end all rebellions.

  "Are you sure you want me to do this?" she asked.

  "I'm sure. The alien population needs to do this, with DeWalt or without DeWalt."

  "What if you can't win him over? What if he turns on you?"

  "Then Clifton and I will kill DeWalt."

  Clifton gasped, and his jaw hit the floor. "We will? How?"

  "I'm sure we'll find a way. I'll leave orders with Squids and Rixby to take the fleet to Guzion. They'll meet you there to launch the assault. We'll continue to fight until we get the job done. You leave DeWalt to us."

  Bing shook his head. "This is suicide."

  "Which is why we need Yakit standing by. You stay here, Bing."

  "Oh, I don't plan to go anywhere. I'm all finished going undercover with you, Eckhart. You played your last sell-the-Yakit card."

  Eckhart laughed, and Clifton and Akkek joined in. All at once, Akkek threw her arms around Eckhart's neck. "Thank you, Eckhart. You really gave me something to fight for."

  "All right, all right. Get out of here and get back to Guzion on the double."

  She beamed at him and climbed into the cockpit. She strapped herself in, still grinning in excitement while the Velocity powered up.

  A second later, she rocketed out of the hatch and vanished. "You really are crazy, Eckhart," Clifton murmured. "You know that, right?"

  "I might just be crazy enough to make this work. Come on. You and I are late for Nenus."

  CHAPTER13

  E ckhart checked all the controls on his Velocity. "Squadron Leader One ready to launch on your command."

  "Stand by, Squadron Leader One," Rixby chirped. "Coordinating with Tictus now."

  Eckhart pricked up his ears. "Is everything under control there?"

  "Affirmative, Squadron Leader One. Tictus is mobilizing for Guzion Station now."

  Eckhart relaxed and went back to his pre-flight checks. He did his best to calm the adrenaline eating away at his guts.

  He was about to go out against DeWalt with nothing but a wing and a prayer. Maybe Bing and Clifton were right, and this was the stupidest plan he'd ever come up with.

  Clifton's voice came from the seat behind Eckhart, bringing him back to the present. "Any word from Nenus, Rixby?"

  "Regiment records list Coleman DeWalt registered and deployed on the station, Squadron Leader One. He's there waiting for you."

  "Yay," Clifton muttered to himself.

  "You're clear to launch, Squadron Leader One," Rixby told Eckhart. "Tictus mobilized and en route to Guzion."

  "Launching."

  Eckhart punched the throttle, and his Velocity hurtled out of the Atera's hatch. He plunged into open space and pulled the ship on course for Nenus Station. He and Clifton had a date with DeWalt.

  He barely got his ship turned around when a catastrophic explosion blasted the world apart right next to his head. He whipped around in time to see the Paostea erupt in flame.

  "The Paostea is hit!" Rixby screeched in Eckhart's ear.

  "It's more than hit!" Clifton countered. "It's gone! What the hell is going on, Command?"

  "I don't know!" she squealed back. "There's nothing there!"

  Eckhart searched the darkness on all sides. He didn't see anything either--until a second later, when the next ship in line exploded in a deafening boom.

  The impact struck Eckhart's Velocity hard to starboard. He scrambled to stabilize the engines and, at that moment, a blinding light flashed in the blackness right next to the Atera.

  "No!" Clifton whispered.

  "Launch all squadrons!" Eckhart ordered. "Arm all battlecruisers and attack! Fire at will--Triorium drive--all ships!"

  Eckhart jammed the throttle down, driving the ship straight for DeWalt, but he already knew it was useless. The whole power of Aistenz Trotaer's fleet couldn't stand against DeWalt.

  At the same instant, a giant hole ripped in the fabric of space and disgorged a massive fleet of Colossuses and Banshees. The Regiment tore through the gap and launched a punishing assault against the alien fleet.

  "How did they find us?" Rixby shrieked.

  Eckhart didn't answer. He already knew how DeWalt had found them. He must have tracked the fleet the same way Rixby tracked him to Nenus Station.

  DeWalt hung suspended in space, spitting lasers everywhere. The Regiment ships launched into the fleet, shooting fast. Only the alien fleet's Triorium drive saved it from the onslaught.

  Eckhart dove into the mix, shooting everything in sight. He spotted DeWalt between blasts. Eckhart tried to get near him, even though he couldn't do anything against DeWalt. This wasn't the way he'd envisioned winning DeWalt over to his side.

  Eckhart couldn't get near DeWalt, no matter what he tried. The Banshees kept dodging into his path. He thought at first it was just random battle confusion. After a few minutes, he had to admit they were deliberately protecting DeWalt. The Banshees did the same thing to every other ship on the field, including their own.

  Eckhart made another circuit of the battle, firing on every Banshee in sight. Each fleet battlecruiser launched its fighter squadrons until the Velocities outnumbered the Banshees, but still no one could get close enough to land a shot against DeWalt.

  DeWalt hung in one spot. His black shadow flickered at the center of a blinding halo throwing off hundreds of lasers.

  DeWalt targeted the Atera specifically, and the ship's Triorium drive deflected most of his shots. The Atera rotated backward and trained its guns on DeWalt, but the burning ring of light around him absorbed every blow.

  Eckhart veered between two Colossuses. He glanced right and left and saw his chance. No Banshees were near enough to block him.

  He gunned his engines and sprinted for DeWalt's halo. Eckhart had no idea what he would do if he got through, but it didn't matter in the end.

  The Velocity struck the halo, and a crushing smack sent the fighter reeling backward. The Velocity smashed into the Atera's hull. The fighter's hull creaked, and tearing sounds set Eckhart's teeth on edge.

  "Squadron Leader One, report!" Rixby screamed in his ear. "Squadron Leader One, do you read?"

  "I'm... We're all right, Rixby," Clifton replied. "Eckhart! Are you hurt?"

  "I'm..." Eckhart didn't finish speaking before a curling lick of power unfurled from DeWalt's ring.

  It coiled around the Velocity and ripped it off the Atera. DeWalt didn't move inside his protective bubble. That rippling tendril whipped the Velocity back over DeWalt's head and smashed it down even harder against the Atera's unforgiving sides.

  "Squadron Leader One!" Rixby screeched.

  The instant the Velocity's crumpled form hit the ship, DeWalt yanked it back for the second time. "Okay!" Eckhart yelled. "Time for Plan B!"

  "Which is what, exactly?" Clifton hollered back.

  Eckhart's head reeled as DeWalt hauled the Velocity back for another brutal strike. "Fall back, Atera! Get out of range."

  "No!" Rixby shrieked.

  "Get out of here!" Eckhart bellowed. "That's an order!"

  The Atera reacted instantly. It skidded away from DeWalt, and he hurled the Velocity into a patch of empty space.

  The fighter wheeled ass over teakettle, spinning away from DeWalt. Eckhart made a snap decision and hit the engines with every particle of speed the fighter still had.

 

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