Maddox felt his heart rate accelerate. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He already had trouble with many in Star Watch. Too many distrusted him because of his hybrid nature. One of his anchors through all this had been Mary O’Hara. In many ways, she had been like a mother to him. She defended him when everyone else was ready to burn him as an unnecessary risk. Now, the Spacers, or this Esquire Noble android had cast doubt on him in the Iron Lady’s eyes.

“I suggest Star Watch give me a complete physical examination, Ma’am. If the Spacers have switched the real me with an android, I would like to know it.”

Her features had become pinched. “I do not want to order this, Captain.”

“I want you to, Ma’am. If our enemy can make us doubt each other, they’ll be halfway to victory. Without trust…”

“You’re right, Captain. I want you to head to Geneva on the double.”

“Headquarters doesn’t seem like the right place. If I’m comprised—”

“Captain, I am not in the habit of having my officers argue with me. You will proceed here at once. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“I need my best people, now more than ever. We’re finally on the offensive in ‘C’ Quadrant. That means we must be doubly on guard back here on Earth.”

“I’m on my way,” Maddox said. “Is there anything else?”

She hesitated before saying, “No. Until then, Captain.”

“Ma’am,” he said, clicking off the comm-unit afterward.

Riker glanced at him in a peculiar manner.

“You have something to say?” Maddox asked.

“Wouldn’t you know if you were an android, sir?”

Maddox took his time answering. “I’m wondering if the Ludendorff android knew it was a fake. No. It’s possible I wouldn’t know.”

“That isn’t reassuring, sir.”

Maddox shook his head. “No, it isn’t.” He positively hated the idea of being a fake. Also, if he was an android, where was the real Captain Maddox? Was that why he’d felt so fuzzy before, because he wasn’t really himself?

“Can’t you fly this thing any faster?” the captain demanded.

Riker glanced at him uneasily before accelerating, leaving the glittering lights of Shanghai far behind.

-5-

Captain Maddox sat stiffly on a hospital couch, stripped to his briefs. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. In fact, he almost seemed too lean until he moved. Then his muscles showed to startling effect.

“Now I understand why the brigadier wonders if you’re a living machine,” the doctor said in a jocular tone. “I’ve never seen anyone in such a high state of physical conditioning.”

Maddox refrained from responding. The more he dwelled on the subject, the less he liked it. Wasn’t the ancient dictum, “I think therefore I am?” He thought. Yet, he could be a pseudo-person. He found that more discomforting than ever.

“This might hurt,” the doctor told him. The older man in a white gown used a handheld device, holding it against the small of Maddox’s back. The thing hummed and an area there became cold. A moment later, Maddox could no longer feel the spot.