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walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Anything I can do to help?” she asked.

  “Not unless you can buy me more time, somehow,” said King. “The captain’s mutation is advancing, and I need more time to figure this out.”

  “Dr. Tucker not having any success, either?”

  “No.” He sighed. “I don’t want to lose the captain.”

  “I know,” said Beck. “Neither do I.”

  King considered her tone, and looked up. “You have personal feelings about him?”

  Beck sighed. “Ever since I was assigned to the Raptor, I’ve felt drawn to him. I’ve tried to ignore it, but when he got shot, I realized how much I’d miss him.”

  “Huh,” chuckled King. “I always thought you had a thing for Sammons.”

  Beck rolled her eyes. “Sammons is a jerk. Yeah, I dated him once – twice actually – and that was all it took for me to find out that he’s a self-absorbed idiot. That was a long time ago – right after I got out of school.”

  “Oh. Johnny’ll be glad to hear that,” King mumbled.

  “What?”

  “Um, nothing,” King back peddled. “Listen, I really have to keep working on these scans. I’ll talk to you later.”

  ۞

  The Raptor’s Shadow arrived at Earth’s primary Orbital Docking Station with the huge Gravani ship in tow. A squad of tugs emerged from ODS1 and Beck transferred control of the pirate vessel to the squad. The tugs used small magna-pulse bursts to guide the Gravani ship to a secure hangar inside ODS1. The Gravani ship slipped in through the gaping hangar doors, barely fitting between them, and filled an interior space normally reserved for several dozen craft.

  Once docked within, a team of military specialists took over, entering the ship to remove the prisoners and make way for the science team to begin full analysis of the alien technology.

  Humans, along with some of their local trading partners, had had many run-ins with the Gravani pirates over the last few years. The pirates were a deadly foe, their ships larger and more powerful than anything else in this region of space, and the Gravani themselves a bloodthirsty group with no ethical boundaries. This was the first capture of one of their ships, and the Raptor’s Shadow was met with a celebratory homecoming.

  Benjamin and his senior officers made their way through the docking corridor and into the heart of ODS1. They were greeted by the top brass.

  “Captain Benjamin,” said a smiling Admiral Ames. She extended her hand to shake the captain’s. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

  “Thank you, Admiral,” said Benjamin. “The kudos should go to my crew. They did all the hard work, while I just sat around and nursed my wounds.”

  “Speaking of which,” said Ames. “There’ll be a medal in that for you.”

  Benjamin actually blushed. “Oh, that’s not necess – ” he caught the Admiral’s stern expression and changed his course. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”

  “Come on,” said Ames. “Let’s get you all debriefed. Then tonight, we celebrate.”

  ۞

  Benjamin, King, Beck, Vrosky, and Sammons stood at attention before the crowd, on stage and decked out in full dress uniform. The room was filled with top officials from the Global Space Agency, as well as world leaders and leaders from neighboring systems. All held a glass of celebratory beverage (different drinks for different species), and a classical blues band played on the side stage. Admiral Ames motioned for the music to stop, and addressed the dignitaries.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate your attendance tonight. This event marks an auspicious occasion – our first victory over the Gravani!” The crowd applauded. “This intrepid and resourceful team has done the impossible – they have captured a Gravani vessel – intact. We have sixty-two Gravani prisoners and a fully-functioning ship that we can study and learn from.” She paused for dramatic effect, then raised her glass. “Thanks to the Raptor’s Shadow, the tide has turned!”

  A cheer erupted, and it took Ames nearly a minute to regain the floor.

  “In addition to the awarding of medals tonight, we have a surprise for Captain Benjamin and his team.” She turned to Benjamin. “While you were away saving the galaxy, the Science Echelon completed development and production of a handheld version of the tool that made all this possible. Tonight, we issue the very first Pauser pistols to you and your senior officers.”

  An aide brought her a presentation box, which she opened and offered to Benjamin. Benjamin reached in and slowly lifted the weapon from the case, feeling its weight and admiring the glossy chromium shine of its barrel.

  “In addition to bravery, this crew has shown excellence in handling this technology, as well as creativity and expertise in establishing new applications,” said Ames, followed by more applause. “It’ll be about a year before the Pauser pistol is issued across the board to all GSA officers. But you, Captain Benjamin, and your team, have earned first dibs. Congratulations.”

  A final round of applause broke loose, while each of the officers was presented with a Pauser pistol. As the crowd continued to clap, the honorees hefted and examined the new weapons. Beck and King seemed fascinated on a scientific level, Vrosky seemed to stare at his with respect, and Sammons grinned like a boy with a new Christmas toy.

  Benjamin, meanwhile, gently placed the weapon back in its box, forcing back a pang of apprehension as he thought of the mutation that was rapidly spreading through his body.

  ۞

  King stood at the large glass wall aboard the Raptor’s Shadow, watching his old friend practice racketball in one of the ship’s courts.

  But this was no ordinary practice.

  Benjamin was doing repetitive drills, hitting the ball at the wall at such speed that it was barely even a blur. The first time he’d tried it, he’d busted his racket, so his new racket was strung specially to accommodate his enhanced speed.

  King knocked, then stepped inside the court.

  “Hey, Ioban! Did you see that?”

  “I did,” said King. “Guess there’s no chance I’ll ever beat you now.”

  “Come on, there was no chance before,” said Benjamin, smiling and mopping the sweat from his brow.

  “True,” King admitted. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you. I’ve been thinking about, well, you know.”

  “My fatal disease?”

  King nodded. “I think I’ve come up with a third option.”

  “You mean, other than amputation or the equivalent of death?” Benjamin said with a chuckle.

  King could tell that Benjamin was trying to avoid the seriousness of his situation – trying not to face the truth by making light of it.

  “Look, if the mutation consumes you, you’ll be lost in time. Remember what it was like, over there on the Gravani pirate ship? You’d live the rest of your life watching all of us frozen in time. For us, you’d simply disappear into a hyper-temporal realm.”

  Benjamin turned serious. “That sounds like torture, Ioban, watching you all stand there like statues for the rest of my life, unable to interact. But the reality is, it’s too late to take my arm – Frank says it’s in my bloodstream – it’s systemic.”

  “Remember when we were on our way back from the Sigma Draconis Sweep, what happened in the mess hall with the salt shaker? After you told me about how you can control the movement of your arm in super-time, I started working on a plan. I’ve been working on it for three months now.”

  “And?”

  “What if you could control your whole body in super-time?”

  Benjamin thought for a moment. “Well, that would be great, but how could you separate my mind from my body? Wouldn’t all of me end up hyper-accelerated?”

  “That’s just it. I’m developing a shunt – a way to isolate your consciousness from your physical body.”

  “Isolate?”

  “I’ll need Dr. Tucker’s help to fine-tune it, but basically it’s a chemical-b
ased application that protects the gluons that make up your neurons. It shields them from the quantum phase shift.”

  “Sounds pretty amazing. You say it’s chemical based. Would I need to take a drug for the rest of my life?”

  “Yes. You’d need to administer the drug every couple of months, so that it could bond with your ever-changing neural chemistry.”

  “I see.”

  “If I’m right about this, you’d live in normal time, but your body would not be restricted by normal time – you’d be able to move about the way you are now able to move your arm – in super-time.”

  “So, I’d be some kind of time-phased mutant superhero? Able to leap right past you without you even seeing me, eh?”

  “You’d be alive, Johnny.”

  Benjamin shrugged. “Well, can’t complain, then, can I?” He smiled and slapped King on the shoulder with a tight grip. “Get working with Frank, and let me know when you’re ready to experiment on me.”

  “Actually, we’re going to need you right away – we’ll need to start with a full brain scan so we can map your neurons for fine-tuning the chemical shunt.”

  “Well, you know what I say – there’s no time like the now!”

  ۞

  “Mind if I sit down?” asked Beck, standing over Benjamin, holding her dinner tray with one hand and a racket ball racket case with the other.

  Benjamin had been deep in thought. “Oh, yes, sure, I mean, please have a seat, Lieutenant.”

  She placed the racket case under the table as she sat down.

  “You play?” asked Benjamin, indicating the