The Lost Planet (Lost Starship Series Book 6)

by Vaughn Heppner

  Instead of commenting, Maddox stood, going to one of the slain androids. He did not study it in detail. He let his subconscious tell him—

  It was a Builder-made android. He was certain that was true. According to the android Yen Cho of last voyage, there were few of these kinds of androids in Human Space. Two dead ones here meant something vital.

  “You are quiet,” the sergeant said.

  Maddox ignored the comment. He went to the large aquarium with the floating metal skeleton. Had Ludendorff done this? Maddox suspected so. What had the professor hoped to achieve?

  “You have discovered something,” the sergeant said.

  Maddox glanced back at the construct. The sergeant aimed the over-and-under at him.

  “You don’t seem surprised,” the construct said.

  “At your treachery?” asked Maddox.

  The thing watched him. It seemed impassive now. Whatever program had run the “Riker” interface had stopped.

  “When did you realize I was not your sergeant?” the android asked.

  Maddox said nothing.

  “Do you want to die, then?”

  “No,” Maddox said.

  “The requirement to live longer is that you answer my questions,” the android said.

  “I think the opposite is true. Once I’ve given you the answers you desire, you will kill me to cover your tracks.”

  “In that case, I might as well kill you and leave. I do not know why, but I feel that this is an exposed position.”

  “You’re right about that,” Maddox said. “I wonder if that means you’re developing a sixth sense. Wouldn’t you agree that that would be a metaphysically interesting proposition for an android?”

  “Is that Ludendorff’s corpse?”

  “You already said it was,” Maddox replied.

  “Come now, Captain. You are not stupid like most humans. You have—”

  A high-pitched whine began in the room. It rose sharply in volume. Maddox clapped his hands over his ears, and he dropped to the floor.

  The android pulled the trigger. A grenade flew. It smashed against the aquarium, breaking through into a sludge-like substance. A tiny green glob oozed through the breakage. At that point, the grenade exploded. Something about the green sludge retarded the process. A bit more of the substance oozed through the breakage, while the rest of the aquarium glass starred. That was it, however. The android skeleton rode out the muffled explosion inside the aquarium.

  Maddox might have scrambled to his feet. The high-pitched whine had worsened, however. It made him lethargic, his muscles weak. Slowly, he looked at the pseudo-Riker. He expected to see the thing targeting him. Instead, the android stood frozen like a statue.

  At that point, a hidden hatch opened. A man, or possibly an android, stepped out. The individual wore a crinkling silver-suit with a fully enclosed helmet, one with a darkened visor. The suited person approached the frozen android. As he did, he withdrew a knife much like the monofilament blade Maddox carried. The suited individual made a deep incision in the back of the pseudo-Riker’s neck. Blood flowed, but less than there should have been if he’d been human. The silver-suited person took out a small tool, reached into the incision and wrestled with something at the base of the skull.

  Abruptly, the android collapsed onto the floor.

  The suited individual clicked something on his belt. Immediately, the whine cycled down until it ceased altogether.

  Maddox felt exhausted. Gingerly, he removed his hands from his ears and sat up slowly.

  As the captain did this, he saw the suited individual take hold of his own helmet. He twisted until it clicked, and removed the helmet from his head. It was Professor Ludendorff, or a perfect replica of him. The man was bald with a hooked nose and deeply tanned skin.

  “Well done, Captain,” Ludendorff said. “I do believe I have finally acquired the android I’ve needed for some time. I’m hoping you’ll assist me, though. We have to patch the aquifer before the solution drips out, and we have to scan the high-grade brain before it deteriorates beyond recovery.”

  Maddox worked his mouth, until he was finally able to speak. “There must be more androids nearby.”

  “Of that I have no doubt, my boy. Thus, you should take the construct’s weapon. Check the ammo supply, of course. Go seal the door afterward. It will take anyone some time before they can break through that.”

  “We’re trapped down here.”

  “Nonsense,” Ludendorff said. “I always have an escape hatch. Now get up, please. We have much to do and little time to do it in.”

  “You used me as bait,” Maddox said, finally able to climb to his feet.

  “Please, no recriminations. I did what I had to. It worked, and I may have just saved humanity by doing so. You may negate my tremendous advantage if you dilly-dally, though. Thus, I encourage you to get moving, my boy. The clock is ticking on the human race, and I believe I am the only one with the brainpower to save it—with your help, naturally, and that of your wonderful ship.”

  Maddox studied the Methuselah Man. The professor had a plan. How much of it helped humanity and how much of it helped Ludendorff? The captain shrugged. He might as well get on with it, as the professor had suggested. When the Methuselah Man was like this, he loved to boast.

  Maddox went to the pseudo-Riker and picked up the over-and-under.

  “Did the android kill my sergeant?”

  “What?” Ludendorff asked. The professor had knelt and he was busy detaching the android’s head from its body.

  “Is Sergeant Riker alive?” Maddox asked.

  “That is an interesting question. Now, quickly shut the door. I feel naked with it open. Oh, quit fretting about Riker. We’ll find out soon enough. We have to interrogate the android’s circuits before the others realize I’ve tricked everyone. I have a clue, a tantalizing idea, but only the oldest androids can give me confirmation. That is why I’ve gone to such lengths to draw such a one to me.”

  Maddox made his decision, hurrying to the vault-like entrance and closing it. He wanted to know if Riker was alive, but he also wanted to know the professor’s plan. As far as he could see, this was the fastest way to finding out both.

  -4-

  Two days later, Starship Victory parked in Earth orbit.

  Captain Maddox had traveled as fast as possible from Titan once he’d learned Ludendorff’s plan. He had not sent a message ahead regarding the plan. He hadn’t dared to risk someone intercepting it.

  He had debated using the star drive to make the short hop from Saturn to Earth. Building up velocity the normal way and then decelerating wasted too much time. Valerie had argued otherwise.

  “If you use the star drive,” Valerie had said, “that will alert whoever is watching us that you’ve found something critical.”

  It was good thinking, and the captain had followed her advice.

  Fortunately, a few of Maddox’s assumptions in the Titan tunnels had been wrong. The android had been lying about Brigadier O’Hara being in Titan orbit. Nothing had happened to Sergeant Riker, either. Each was a relief, although Maddox had not informed anyone of his feelings in that regard.

  The captain did vocalize his concerns regarding android interference. Last voyage, Maddox had learned that the androids had competing factions. Some wanted nothing to do with humans, distrusting them intensely. The smaller but older group helped humanity from time to time. The androids were, for the most part, Builder-built. Those had escaped Builder service throughout the centuries and led independent lives. All of these androids wanted to continue that way. Thus, for the most part, the androids remained hidden, living their lives as humans. A couple of voyages back, some of the androids from an ancient Builder base at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean had moved openly. They had tried to take over Earth’s government, but Star Watch had eventually crushed them.

  Last voyage, Yen Cho—probably the oldest android in existence—had informed Ludendorff and Maddox that some of the oldest m
odels had lived as Methuselah Men.

  Maddox did not know Yen Cho’s present location. Yet, the captain was certain the old and cagey android had learned, or would do so soon, what had transpired down in the oldest Titan mine.

  “The brigadier is waiting to see you, sir,” Lieutenant Noonan said over a shuttle’s comm.

  “Roger that, love,” Lieutenant Keith Maker answered in lieu of the captain. The small Scotsman piloted the shuttle, lifting off Victory’s hangar deck and heading for space.

  Maddox sat in his seat, deep in thought. He wondered what the Iron Lady would make of Ludendorff’s proposal. She would have to go to the Lord High Admiral with this.

  “Shall I take evasive maneuvers?” Keith asked.

  Maddox nodded.

  “Are you expecting trouble, sir?”

  “We’ve always had trouble when we’re carrying delicate information like this,” Maddox said. “Why would it be any different now?”

  “Right you are, sir,” Keith said, grinning. “I suggest you hang on tightly then. This is going to be fun.”

  ***

  With the Eastern Coast of the United States showing below them, Keith maneuvered the shuttle as if they were an eccentric comet. They burned through the atmosphere, juking, releasing decoys and making sudden and nearly impossible redirections. Otherwise, the ride was uneventful. No androids, no New Men spies—if any were left on Earth—made any attempt against the shuttle.

  Faster than ordinary, Keith landed in Geneva, Switzerland.

  Maddox unbuckled and headed for the hatch. Just before exiting, he said, “Take her back up, Lieutenant.”

  “No shore leave?” Keith asked.

  The slightest of frowns touched the captain’s brow.

  “Aye-aye, sir,” Keith said. “Straight up is where I’ll go.”

  Maddox nodded before exiting. The ease of the landing had surprised him.

  He drew his long-barreled gun once on the tarmac and he sprinted for the buildings in the distance. He ignored the hovers heading for the shuttle, deciding to use misdirection and surprise just in case the androids were being subtle in their approach.

  ***

  An hour later, divested of all his weapons, Maddox waited in a chamber deep under Star Watch Headquarters. He had undergone a thorough scan—the new procedure when Star Watch personnel suspected an android double might be involved.

  The captain sat at a large round table. There were several chairs and many screens on the walls. Otherwise, the chamber was bare.

  He disliked having this kind of paranoia directed at him. For too long, he had been the outsider in Star Watch. His dual heritage made many powerful people uncomfortable with him. He had learned to live with that, but he didn’t like it. Now, though, someone doubted his real identity.

  Maddox kept himself perfectly still. Of course, observers watched him through some of the screens. He thus attempted an android-like stillness. In his heart, he resented this suspicion. Thus, he stoked it. Galyan would have undoubtedly told him he did this for nefarious psychological reasons.

  A door slid open and Mary O’Hara, the head of Star Watch Intelligence, walked into the chamber. She had an unassuming appearance, with gray hair and a matronly image, slightly offset by her uniform.

  She stopped and studied the captain.

  Maddox sat perfectly still, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

  The Iron Lady motioned to someone unseen outside the chamber. The hatch slid shut and O’Hara headed alone toward the round table.

  As she neared, Maddox twisted his head slowly, allowing himself a slow blink, but keeping his features impassive.

  O’Hara sighed. “It isn’t what you think, Captain.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “We had to examine your data first,” she said. “Although, I do wish Ludendorff had come himself. Sometimes his paranoia against us is tiring. Where is the professor, anyway?”

  Maddox unbent, shedding the robotic manner. “I’m afraid I can’t say, Ma’am.”

  “Nonsense,” she said.

  “I gave him my word I’d keep mum.”

  “You took an oath to Star Watch first,” O’Hara said.

  “In this instance, the two do not conflict,” Maddox said.

  “And if they did?”

  Maddox stood, gave her a short bow and pulled out one of the chairs for her.

  “Please,” O’Hara said, sweeping past the chair to him. She gave him a hug like a mother would to an errant young boy.

  Maddox endured the hug, his features never changing, although he did pat her lightly on the back. He had never told anyone, but he would go through fire for Brigadier O’Hara. He would hunt down like a dog anyone who ever harmed his…former commanding officer.

  O’Hara released him, looking up into his face. The smile slowly drained from her features. She nodded and finally sat down.

  He helped push in her chair before going back to his own.

  “An android would act happier if I gave him a hug,” O’Hara complained. “Your robotic response confirms the tests. I am speaking to the real Captain Maddox.”

  He realized those words were not for his benefit, but for whoever watched the exchange on the screens.

  “Professor Ludendorff sends you his regards,” Maddox said.

  O’Hara frowned slightly before snorting out a small laugh. “I suppose the professor is wise to keep his distance. In this way, I am not tempted to run a battery of tests on him.”

  “I’m sure he agrees with your assessment, Ma’am.”

  “Do you trust him?” O’Hara asked suddenly.

  “That is a loaded question. If you mean, do I trust his motives for wanting to join the projected expedition, the short answer is no. If you mean, do I believe his idea is a sound and reasonable one, then the answer is yes.”

  “So you think this…junkyard planet of his exists?”

  “I do.”

  O’Hara put a small blaster on the table. That surprised the captain. He had not noticed it in her hand before this. The Iron Lady could be more devious than he realized. It also showed that she might have had a smidgen of doubt concerning his identity, despite the screening.

  O’Hara cleared her throat. “I, on the other hand, am unconvinced that Ludendorff’s idea is sound.”

  Maddox waited.

  Professor Ludendorff had made an incredible discovery. The germ of the idea had come from Yen Cho’s data “gulp” last voyage. Victory had gone into the Deep Beyond, finding a Golden Nexus. Before escaping the nexus, the advanced android had downloaded ancient data stored in the Builder computer. Yen Cho had given Victory’s crew the data “gulp” in exchange for a head start from Star Watch Intelligence. So far, little of the data made sense. A few Kai-Kaus chief technicians had had the most luck deciphering certain files. Galyan had also helped in that regard. The best translator of ancient Builder data had been Ludendorff.

  Unfortunately, Ludendorff did not trust Star Watch. The professor had reams of priceless knowledge in his head. He was certain Mary O’Hara would like nothing better than to get him in a small room and pump him of all his knowledge. The brigadier’s words suggested that the professor was correct in thinking this. The skittishness on Ludendorff’s part meant he’d only had limited access to Yen Cho’s data “gulp.”

  Deep underground in the Titan tunnels, Ludendorff had downloaded the latest captured android’s knowledge. The professor had run an extremely delicate and advanced program on the captured brain, and had hit upon the location of what the professor had termed, “The Junkyard Planet.”

  This planet was far from Human Space, out in the Beyond. As the name implied, it was full of junk, of derelict machines and equipment. Only…these were old Builder machines. The Builders were ancient and highly advanced aliens, responsible for the Methuselah Men, jump technology, nexus pyramids floating in space, the victorious war against the Destroyers millennia ago, a thousand burned Swarm worlds…the list of their accomplishments was lo
ng.

  “Ludendorff cannot know he will find this…scanner on the Junkyard Planet,” O’Hara said. “It is a fancy, a dream, a—”

  “Do you distrust him personally?” Maddox asked.

  O’Hara looked up sharply. “Yes! He has schemed endlessly for his own goals. He has—”

  “Helped give us Starship Victory,” Maddox said quietly.

  “That is imprecise,” O’Hara said. “His notes proved critical. But the professor did not acquire the alien starship in person. You did that.”

  “Without his notes, it would have proved impossible.”

  O’Hara studied the captain. It seemed as if the question was torn out of her. “Do you think we should race off to this derelict world?”

  “I think Starship Victory, the Destroyer, the Kai-Kaus and their fund of high technology have all greatly aided us in one way or another. Each of those things came about in part because of the Builders.”

  “I cannot deny that,” O’Hara said.

  “The Swarm is out there,” Maddox said, remembering the terrifying fleet he had seen last voyage. He shook his head. “Star Watch, all the human races combined, cannot face the full might of the Swarm. Victory was able to race home last voyage because of the Golden Nexus’s hyper-spatial tube. What if the Swarm conquers the Golden Nexus, taking it from its Chitin defenders? In time, Swarm scientists could discover how to create their own hyper-spatial tube. Commander Thrax Ti Ix could already have taught the Swarm the means of using nexuses.”

  “That is a guess,” O’Hara said.

  “Yes,” Maddox said, “but not altogether an unreasonable one.”

  Mary O’Hara stared at her wrinkled hands.

  The captain sat back, waiting.

  Commander Thrax Ti Ix, he mused. He’d encountered the modified Swarm creature on the Builder Dyson sphere Victory had visited two voyages ago. Thrax had infected the Builder on the sphere with Swarm viruses. That Builder had helped Thrax and many of his modified Swarm creatures escape the exploding Dyson sphere. Thrax had led his small fleet into a hyper-spatial tube, fleeing to the Swarm Imperium.