The Lost Secret

by Vaughn Heppner

  “H-Hello, Lieutenant Commander,” he stammered, not quite looking her in the eyes.

  “Derrick,” she said, moving around him. She stopped. “Derrick…what was I looking for?”

  His gaze lifted to peer in her eyes. “You d-don’t remember?”

  Valerie didn’t answer that, using a Maddox tactic in dealing with a crewmember.

  “I-I’m s-sorry, Lieutenant Commander. I shouldn’t—”

  “Derrick, sir or ma’am will do. You don’t have to say ‘Lieutenant Commander’ each time. Now, was I searching for something?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Tell me what.”

  “You didn’t directly t-tell me, sir. It was a small object. I assume the former ensign had hidden it. That was why you checked my quarters, which used to be his quarters.”

  “You mean Lucas Rogers?” she asked.

  Derrick nodded while giving her a funny look.

  The former talk with Meta rushed back, the hint that she should let Galyan and Ludendorff search her ship. As if I can’t search my own ship.

  With a chill, Valerie realized something was up, and she didn’t know what it was. “That will be all.”

  “Yes, sir,” Derrick said, heading and stumbling for his quarters.

  Valerie headed for hers, but she stopped, scowled and turned around. “Derrick!”

  “Sir?” he squeaked, turning back to her.

  She walked back to him and pointed at her forehead. “Did I have this before?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Do you see a rash on my forehead?”

  He lifted his gaze again, holding it on her forehead. It took him several seconds before he frowned. “How did you get that?”

  “I don’t remember,” she said.

  “Oh.”

  “Do you have any idea what would cause a rash like that?”

  He took a step closer, and then blushed, looking down. “Those almost look like electrical burns, the beginning of them, anyway.”

  Valerie frowned. Electrical. She’d woken up in an engine cell.

  “Is there anything else, sir?”

  “No. Thanks, Derrick.”

  “What did I do?”

  Valerie didn’t bother answering as she headed for her quarters, feeling flummoxed, out of her depth.

  She went to her cot and sat on it. She clasped her hands between her knees and stared at the deck. Meta had wanted her to ask for Galyan and Ludendorff to search the Tarrypin. Meta hadn’t gone into detail as to why. Clearly, she hadn’t asked for help, but had gone searching herself. She’d searched Derrick’s quarters and likely the engine cell. She must have searched the regular engine compartments first. Why couldn’t she remember those things?

  Valerie clasped her hands more tightly. Memory was a tricky thing. There was short-term memory and long-term memory. If she recalled a class that she’d taken on study skills correctly, short-term memory needed time to turn into long-term memory. There was a chemical change or track to lay down for the long-term memory. Sometimes, people had accidents. They would remember everything up until a few seconds or more before the accident. The short-term memory hadn’t been able to form long-term memory and had simply disappeared.

  It would seem that was what had happened to her.

  Did I have an accident then?

  Valerie unclasped her hands and gingerly touched her forehead. The rash—the many prickles that could be light electrical burns—had they come about because of an accident? What would have shocked her in the engine cell? Should she go back and investigate?

  Valerie sat there, breathing shallowly, having trouble thinking through the rest. She doubted that she’d been careless in the cell. Could something have deliberately caused the electrical burns?

  As the second-in-command on Victory, she recalled many strange aliens and events throughout the years. It might well be that she’d stumbled upon something here. If she’d been searching for a thing…

  Had it hidden in the back of the third engine cell?

  The shallow breathing became faster. She so wanted to succeed at her independent command. She did not want anyone saying that she’d leaned on Maddox and the crew, certainly not the negative voice in her head, the one that sounded like her dear old dad.

  “Dad,” she whispered. “What should I do?”

  There was no answer, not even from the negative voice that often reprimanded her for making stupid decisions.

  Valerie closed her eyes, and she remembered something Maddox had said before, how deep breathing helped at times.

  Opening her eyes, putting her hands on her knees, Valerie deliberately breathed as deeply as she could, holding it and slowly exhaling. She did this several times.

  She could feel her heart rate slowing and her anxiety lessening.

  You know what you should do.

  “I know,” she said aloud.

  Standing, taking another deep and calming breath, Valerie headed for the hatch. It was time to call Victory and tell Galyan and Ludendorff to come over.

  -25-

  Valerie finished with the call, turned and—

  “Hello, Valerie,” Galyan said, appearing in the Tarrypin’s control chamber. “It is good to see you again.”

  “Hello, Galyan,” she said, realizing she’d missed the little AI.

  “I am glad you decided to let us search. We were getting worried you would not do the right thing.”

  “Who said that? Never mind,” she said a moment later. “I don’t want to know. Galyan, look at my forehead.”

  He did. “Oh. Does that hurt?”

  “It feels like a rash, but I don’t think it is.”

  “That is the beginning of electrical burns,” Galyan said. “I count seventeen individual pinpricks.”

  “What do you think caused them?”

  “Is this a trick question, Valerie?”

  “No. I’m serious. I… I can’t remember how it happened.”

  Galyan’s eyelids fluttered, but just for a moment. “You did not want to give us permission to search, did you?”

  “Not really.”

  “Your lack of memory has frightened you.”

  “I’m not frightened…well, not too much anyway.”

  “You should be,” Galyan said. “We have been dealing with—I am sorry. That is classified data. I cannot say more without the captain’s permission.”

  “Look. Let’s concentrate on the issue. I woke up in the back of Engine Cell Three. I don’t remember crawling there and—”

  “You woke up there?” Galyan asked, interrupting.

  “With the rashes on my forehead and while feeling dizzy,” Valerie said. “I vomited twice.”

  “Do I have your permission to head directly there?”

  “Of course.”

  Galyan vanished.

  Valerie wondered if she should stay here or head for the cells. She stared out of the polarized window at Victory nearby.

  Galyan reappeared.

  “That was quick,” she said.

  “I did not detect anything unusual,” Galyan said. “I did spot your dried vomit.”

  “Wonderful,” she said.

  “There was a fractional residue of electric discharges in the air. That would substantiate your story. I see no evidence of any of the ship’s monitoring equipment malfunctioning. Did you fix or change anything after you woke up?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Think, Valerie. Did you change anything?”

  “I put a cover back on.”

  “Which one?” Galyan asked.

  Valerie told him.

  The holoimage vanished again and reappeared several seconds later. “There is the tiniest trace element of an alien alloy under the cover. That would suggest an alien artifact rested there for some time. Osmosis might account for the trace elements.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “You found something in the cell,” Galyan said. “It was foreign to the Tarrypin. It is gone now.
Logic dictates that the thing shocked you, maybe seventeen times in all. I do not know what the slight electrical burns mean yet.”

  “It was hiding on my ship?”

  “Yes, Valerie.”

  “Great,” she said. “So I was holding a spy and now some alien technology. This enemy must have figured that I was the weak link. Galyan, what are you doing? Is something behind me?”

  “Good luck, Valerie. I must report this while I can.” Galyan vanished.

  Valerie turned around, and inhaled hard.

  A floating blue globe the size of a hardball approached her slowly.

  “Stop,” she said.

  The floating globe halted.

  Valerie swallowed. Galyan must have seen the thing, and instead of confronting it, the holoimage had fled back to Victory, probably to report.

  “You understand me,” she said, her mind beginning to work again. She’d been in tough places before. This was her ship, and the artifact proved yet again that they’d been working through her to… “Get to Victory,” she said softly.

  A mixture of fear and anger boiled in her. “What are you?” she asked.

  There was a faint click, and a light shined from the globe, a narrow beam directed at one of her eyes.

  Valerie jerked her head and brought up her hands, shielding herself from the beam. Her brain throbbed, and she swayed. She wondered if they’d played this game before.

  The globe approached closer, the beam still shining at her.

  Valerie did not give it a chance to shine in her eyes, but backed away as she kept her head down.

  There was another click. The beam from the hardball-sized globe shined elsewhere, and a wavering holoimage appeared there. The holoimage was the size of a human head, but it wasn’t human but beastly, alien, a wolf-like thing with a snout and fangs. It had a large cranium, though, indicating high intelligence.

  “Valerie,” said the alien holoimage head.

  “Do you understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “What are you?”

  “A mistake,” it said.

  Valerie frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “I was a mistake. I should never have been born.”

  “What?”

  “I slew my mother and caused my father endless grief.”

  Valerie touched her forehead, recognizing her own thoughts coming from the thing’s mouth. “Are you reading my mind?”

  “I am a mistake.”

  “Stop it,” Valerie said. “I’m not a mistake.”

  The holoimage head wavered and flickered. “I am afraid.”

  “You’re a bastard. You’re mocking me.”

  “Valerie, would you like a better ship?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can improve your vessel. It is substandard and antiquated. A few minor adjustments would give you a deadly ship.”

  “What could I do to stop you from making the changes?”

  “Do you not desire a greater ship?”

  “Are you a computer?” Valerie asked. “Are you running various programs, seeing what will work with me? That’s it, isn’t it? You probed my mind. That’s how I got these burns. But you act too much like Galyan. That means you’re a computer, or essentially a computer.”

  “I am a mistake.”

  “Look, buddy, we’ve been through that. You read my mind. I get that. Mockery isn’t going to get you anywhere, though.”

  “Mistake,” said the holoimage head.

  “All right, I’ll bite. How are you a mistake?”

  “Lu-Ludendorff,” said the holoimage head.

  “You know Professor Ludendorff?”

  “Creator,” the head said.

  “What?”

  “Professor Ludendorff was my creator. I know now that he was supposed to create something different. He…how do you say? He erred.”

  “When did he make you?”

  “Last week. No. More than seven of your Earth days ago. It could have been nine Earth rotations ago.”

  “Uh…then why did you zap my forehead earlier?”

  “Frightened,” said the wolf-headed holoimage alien. “I was supposed to hide and stay hidden. The professor said so.”

  “Wait, wait,” Valerie said. “The professor created you nine days ago. When did you come to hide in here?”

  “When the hunter boarded Victory,” the holoimage said. “I thought he came to find me.”

  “Hunter, what hunter? Why did he board Victory?”

  “He was staying here, watching, waiting and biding his time. Then, he left here and boarded Victory. He is dead now. Maddox killed him.”

  “Are you talking about Lucas Rogers?”

  “The hunter. That is the only name I know.”

  Valerie sat down. Much of this didn’t make sense. That Ludendorff was behind it, though, yeah, that part made sense. The Methuselah Man was always a danger waiting to happen.

  “Do you know why Ludendorff created you?”

  “Yes.”

  Valerie laughed. “Why?”

  “Balron ordered him to create. Ludendorff was supposed to make a key. Instead, he created me.”

  “Who’s Balron?”

  “I have said too much. I cannot relate more on the topic.”

  You’re learning things. Keep him talking. This is good, very good. “What should I call you?” Valerie asked.

  “A mistake, an error.”

  “You need a name.”

  “Very well… Half-Life will do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I will perish once Balron returns. He will destroy me. He cannot allow my existence or he… I can say no more on the topic.”

  Valerie nodded slowly. “Will you allow me to contact Victory?”

  “If you do, I will surely die.”

  “Because that will anger Balron?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Where is Balron now?”

  “Elsewhere.”

  “Why not be exact? He’s your enemy, right?”

  “Balron is the first cause.”

  Valerie felt sweat prickle her brow. What had she gotten into? “The first cause to what?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Me,” Half-Life said.

  Valerie blinked, and laughed nervously. “Is that a joke?”

  “I do not joke. I am Half-Life. I am a mistake, but Balron’s command to Ludendorff was the first principle, the first cause of my existence. Professor Ludendorff my creator made an error building me. Nevertheless, it would be wrong for me to aid in Balron’s destruction. A creature should not help those fighting against its ultimate first cause.”

  “You’re a strange one, Half-Life: an ethical computer. I don’t know what to make of you. I have to tell Captain Maddox about you, though. Will you try to stop me from contacting the starship?”

  “Captain Maddox will confine me to a special prison. I desire freedom instead. If I attempt to leave your ship, however, I believe Maddox will order my destruction. This is a dilemma.”

  “How about this,” Valerie said. “I’ll offer to let you stay here with me. The Tarrypin will be your confinement.”

  “Maddox will not agree to that.”

  “You could threaten to destroy the Tarrypin unless the captain agreed to your terms,” Valerie said.

  “Yes! That is the equation. I agree, Valerie. Go ahead and make your call—and thank you. You are very kind, especially as I harmed you earlier. Believe me, I will make this up to you.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  “I am Half-Life. I do not lie.”

  “Then you and I ought to get along great.”

  -26-

  Maddox saw the floating blue globe on the main screen of the bridge. It was the size of a hardball and it hovered near Valerie in the Tarrypin’s control cabin. He saw, as well, the wolf-like head of the alien holoimage the globe projected with a narrow ray.

  Was that the same holographic head he’d seen fl
oating toward him when the ball-of-light alien had tried to kill him?

  Half-Life, the thing called itself Half-Life, and it claimed Ludendorff had built it at the command of Balron. Who or what Balron was, Half-Life would not say. Clearly, though, it had been the ball-of-light alien.

  Maddox couldn’t believe this. How had Ludendorff created…? No, that was the wrong question. Ludendorff had acted under orders, and screwed up somehow—at least, Half-Life believed that.

  “Uh…” Maddox said, for once bewildered as to the correct course of action to take.

  Valerie spoke up, telling him that Half-Life preferred to stay aboard the Tarrypin. The…entity would destroy the darter otherwise.

  “What if we let you go; let you leave?” Maddox said.

  “Under normal circumstances, I would consider that a generous offer,” Half-Life said. “However, I understand your propensity for trickery and fakery. As soon as I was free of the Tarrypin, you would destroy me with a disruptor beam.”

  The thought had crossed the captain’s mind. Unfortunately, the thing was too wary. “If I agree to let you stay there, will you harm the Tarrypin or its crew?”

  “I have already harmed Valerie, for which I apologize.”

  “He’s referring to a rash on her forehead,” Galyan said, as he stood beside the captain’s chair.

  “I panicked earlier,” Half-Life said. “I thought she had come to kill me.”

  “Galyan,” Maddox said out of the side of his mouth. “Get the professor. I want him up here on the double.”

  The Adok holoimage vanished.

  “You still haven’t answered the question,” Maddox said. “If you stay there, will you harm the ship or its crew?”

  “I will not.”

  “Half-Life says he does not lie,” Valerie added.

  Maddox nodded. Did Valerie believe the construct because she was too trusting, or had the construct forced her to believe through mental manipulation, the reason for the rash?

  “What is your purpose?” Maddox asked.

  “I do not wish to say at the present time,” Half-Life replied.

  “Oh?” Maddox said. “You expect me to trust your good intentions…just because?”