***
The next couple of days passed uneventfully until finally they approached the Ezwal System.
Maddox was on the bridge. Valerie scanned the system from her station. Soon, she posted her findings on the main screen.
The white dwarf was a little bigger than the Earth but had the approximate mass of the Sun. The star was extremely dense, composed of electron-degenerate matter. Although the white dwarf was a star, it did not generate heat through fusion but through stored thermal energy. That made it comparatively dim.
“Do the nearest planets show any signs of a red giant phase?” Maddox asked.
The red giant phase would have occurred when the main sequence star expanded. That would have obliterated any tightly orbiting planets and seared others at farther orbits.
After a quick survey of the nearest planets, Valerie confirmed that they did indeed show the expected signs of red giant expansion.
The white dwarf had likely been Sun-sized once. Near the end of the red giant phase, the ejected ionized gas had likely turned into a planetary nebula. The black hole would have devoured the nebula, erasing all sign of it.
“I would like to point out,” Valerie said, “that so far, I haven’t detected any old Rull space stations.”
Maddox decided the system appeared safe enough. Thus, Starship Victory proceeded on course.
Sometime later, they turned on the Laumer-Drive, searching for jump-point entrances. While Ludendorff had gone on about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, it was essentially a longer Laumer tramline.
“I’ve detected an opening,” Valerie said. She turned around. “It’s near the black hole, sir.”
“Will that be a problem?” Maddox asked.
Valerie studied her panel. “It might. While our engines are strong enough to force us through, the nearness of the event horizon could cause a time distortion.”
“Can you estimate the extent of the distortion?”
Valerie tapped her panel. “It could add several weeks to our journey, sir. We won’t notice it right away, but an outside observer would notice that we inside the vessel were slowing down.”
“That would seem to negate the bridge’s utility,” Maddox said.
“Three hundred and eighty-four light-years would take us weeks to travel the normal way,” Valerie said. “We’ll still save time using the bridge. I’m sure you remember that the professor suggested there are old Rull artifacts along the way. Those artifacts will certainly make our journey more dangerous. We will avoid the artifacts and the danger if we use the bridge.”
According to the professor, Maddox thought to himself.
The captain studied the main screen. Was it wise to trust Ludendorff about this? He did not like approaching the black hole this closely. Yet, if Victory perished or sustained damage, that would harm the professor. If Maddox knew one thing about Ludendorff, the Methuselah Man loved his own skin more than he loved anything else.
“We will proceed to the Einstein-Rosen Bridge,” Maddox said.
***
The crew grew tense as the starship approached the black hole. They were alone in the Beyond, about to enter what could possibly be an unstable wormhole.
Maddox retired for a time, returning as the vessel neared the wormhole entrance.
“This is interesting,” Galyan said. “I am actively trying to estimate the slowing progression of time as it occurs to us.”
“We’re in the grip of the black hole?” Maddox asked.
“That is an imprecise statement,” Galyan said. “An immense gravitational force has begun to exert an influence upon us. Fortunately, the Laumer-Point draws near, giving us a means of easy escape.”
“Could the Rull have left surprises near the entrance?”
“I cannot conceive of a way for them to have done so,” Galyan said. “The black hole would have long ago drawn such a thing into it.”
That made sense. I should have thought of that. “How long until we reach the Laumer-Point?” asked Maddox.
“Fifteen minutes,” Valerie said.
Time passed slowly, and that wasn’t because of the black hole.
Soon enough, Maddox began the jump procedure. Everyone had taken his or her shots. The equipment was primed. On one side of the ship was primordial blackness. On the other side were the stars. Maddox’s gut told him to expect something bad.
We’ve made long-distance jumps before, Maddox told himself. It had been through a hyper-spatial tube, though, not an elongated tramline. Still, four hundred light-years, give or take, was a small jump compared to what he’d done before.
Maddox exhaled, wishing his brain would let his gut know there was nothing to worry about.
“Ten seconds to jump,” Valerie said. “Seven…four, three, two, one… We are entering the wormhole.”
-20-
For once, Maddox was aware of what was usually a split-second event. They entered the jump point. Everything became a blur of motion stretching…stretching…stretching. Maddox was aware that he held his breath. Could this really be happening? They traveled nearly four hundred light-years—
Maddox swayed on his chair. Victory exited the wormhole, expelled into normal space once more. They had made it, they…
Maddox frowned, trying to marshal his thoughts into a coherent line of understanding. The ship had begun in one star system and entered another… According to the chair monitor to his side, the system had a cool blue star and five terrestrial planets. The sensors, such as they were, indicated that the system lacked any gas giants whatsoever.
Maddox looked around. The bridge crew struggled to shake off what used to be Jump Lag. The modified drugs normally took off the edge. A few times, someone still had minor aftereffects. The machines also—
“Warning!” Galyan cried. “The ship is under a powerful sensor scan.”
Maddox sat straighter, attempting to concentrate more fully. A warning blare sounded on the bridge.
“Raise the shield,” Maddox said in a slow voice.
Valerie tapped her board. “The shield is not responding, sir.”
“Galyan—”
“I am working on it, sir,” the AI said. “I have discovered the problem. Along with the sensor scan, a foreign wavelength interference is attempting to overload our ship’s systems.”
“Lieutenant,” Maddox said, speaking more crisply. “Can you activate the main screen?” It was presently blank.
Valerie worked on her panel, and abruptly gave up. “I don’t understand this,” she whispered lethargically.
Maddox was up out of his chair. In three strides, he was at her station. He manipulated her board as she sat inert. A second later, the main screen activated.
“I have an idea that could help, sir,” Galyan said.
“Do it,” Maddox snapped.
“Do you not wish to hear my idea first?” Galyan asked.
“Do it,” Maddox said. “That is an order.” He looked up at the main screen.
What seemed like bright flares moved across the screen. They were streaks of light gaining speed. Behind the lights—exhaust plumes from something, Maddox thought—was a large dark planetoid.
A loud whooshing sound occurred. It rocked the bridge. Maddox staggered, grabbing a station, holding on until the shaking passed.
“What was that?” the helmsman shouted.
“A powerful defensive pulse,” Galyan said. “An unknown enemy is trying to cause more malfunctions to the ship. I knocked down their attempt, but it caused some disturbance to Victory. In case you are wondering, sir, they are still scanning us.”
“Whatever your pulse was, it worked” Valerie said. “I’m raising the shield.”
Maddox saw that, as a ghostly nimbus appeared on the screen, showing the electromagnetic protection around Victory.
“Raising our shield has blocked their scan,” Galyan announced.
“Where is the scan’s origin point?” Maddox asked.
“The armored spheroid,” Galyan said.
“Do you mean the planetoid ahead?”
“That is not a natural object, sir,” Galyan replied. “It is a vessel, a massive ship, and it appears—lasers, sir, heavy lasers are warming up.”
Bright points of light appeared on the vast sphere. A moment later, lasers poured out of a half-dozen apertures.
“The enemy vessel is approximately twenty kilometers in diameter,” Valerie said. “It’s huge.”
The streaks on the main screen had picked up velocity.
“Those are missiles,” Valerie said. “They’re homing in on us, sir.”
“Target them at once,” Maddox ordered.
The enemy sphere’s lasers struck the shield more forcefully. The shield held, but the lasers began turning the targeted points red and then brown.
“The wattage of those lasers is most impressive,” Galyan said. “They are several factors greater than Wahhabi Scimitar-class warships can fire.”
“Try hailing the vessel,” Maddox said.
“It is an automated ship,” Galyan said. “I do not believe there is anyone alive to hail.”
“Is this another Destroyer?” Maddox asked.
“Negative, sir,” Galyan said. “I believe it is a primitive Builder robot-ship or possibly a Rull vessel. Certain functions lead me to the former conclusion.”
“What is its purpose?” Valerie asked.
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Maddox said. “Target those missiles. Destroy them before they get too close.”
Seconds later, Victory’s neutron beam struck the first missile.
“It’s shrugging off the beam,” Valerie said in amazement.
“Activate the disruptor cannon,” Maddox said.
“Sir,” Galyan said. “I am having qualms concerning this battle. I believe Victory could be outclassed. Perhaps—”
“Lieutenant,” Maddox said. “Can the ship use the star drive yet?”
“In five minutes or so, sir,” Valerie said. “There appears—”
“Five minutes,” Maddox said. “That should be enough. Galyan, is the disrupter cannon malfunctioning?”
“Checking…checking…I see the problem. Would you like me to tell the cannon operators—?”
“Go, inform them,” Maddox said.
The holoimage disappeared from the bridge.
The starship shook. On the screen, large anti-missiles accelerated toward the incoming drones.
“What is that sphere?” Maddox said.
Galyan reappeared. “The cannon will be operative in three minutes, sir.”
The large enemy missiles bored in. The neutron beam continued to hammer the first missile. The thing’s outer alloy seemed utterly resistant to the beam.
“What is the enemy missile made of?” Maddox asked.
“I do not have a name for it,” Galyan said. “I have never run across its like. This is most interesting.”
“Have you recorded it composition?”
“Affirmative,” Galyan said. “I have also run several internal tests. This might revolutionize Star Watch’s ship armor.”
“Only if we survive the battle,” Maddox said.
Finally, the disrupter cannon came online. The powerful beam hit the nearest incoming missile.
“The alloy is heating up,” Galyan said. “It is—Warning! The missile is about to detonate. The warhead—”
“Emergency jump,” Maddox said in a commanding voice. “Helmsman—”
“The drive is not yet fully operational, sir.”
“Jump anyway,” Maddox said.
The helmsman twisted a ring on his finger.
Maddox strode to the helmsman’s station and shouldered the man aside. The captain manipulated the board. From deep inside Victory, the antimatter engines whined near overload.
On the screen, an enemy warhead ignited. At nearly the same time, Starship Victory slipped away with the star drive. As the ship did so, power surged throughout the vessel. That did the impossible. It shorted the star drive.
Victory fell out of the jump before moving far. It placed the starship nearer to the gigantic spheroid. Now, only several hundred kilometers separated them.
Maddox shoved the helmsman completely off his chair, taking the man’s place. The captain’s fingers blurred across the board.
In seconds, every point-defense cannon on the Adok starship opened up. The shells hammered the alien spheroid. At the same time, Maddox launched more missiles and aimed the neutron and disrupter beams at the huge, automated vessel.
“Galyan,” Maddox shouted. “Find out what happened to the star drive. We have to get out of here.”
The holoimage disappeared.
Maddox studied his panel. According to the readings, the giant enemy auto-vessel had the same strange alloy as its outer skin. The PD shells bounced off the hull, although many left dents. The neutron beam had no apparent effect. Only the disrupter beam chewed into the highly resistant alloy.
“The enemy spheroid is finally beginning to react,” Valerie said.
Maddox used his board, searching for a vulnerable point on the enemy vessel. It did not appear to have one. Even so, he would act as if it did. With a few taps, he focused every weapons system on one location. He hammered that location ruthlessly, hoping to break through. The only hope was to cause a massive explosion inside the enemy spheroid.
“Get me Ludendorff,” Maddox said.
The seconds ticked away.
Enemy beams now smashed against Victory’s shield. The ancient Adok vessel had the best shield in all of Star Watch, but it turned an ugly purple color almost immediately.
“Captain,” Valerie said. “Professor Ludendorff is on channel two.”
Maddox switched to it, seeing a harried-looking professor on his tiny helm screen.
“You must disengage at once,” Ludendorff said. “That is a Rull Juggernaut. I doubt Victory can defeat it.”
“You knew about this ship?” Maddox asked indignantly.
“I did not know it was at this location, if that is what you are suggesting,” the professor said. “I assure you that this is a grim surprise to me as well. My advice is to use the star drive. Jump out of danger.”
“Captain,” Valerie said. “I detect enemy tractor beams.”
“Yes,” Ludendorff said, nodding on the tiny screen. “Those are indeed tractor beams. The auto-ship is trying to lock us into place. If it is successful, the Juggernaut’s shearing beam will begin to cut our hull into ribbons.”
Maddox’s face screwed up. With several taps, he located the focus of the shearing beam. He redirected the disrupter cannon, firing there.
At that moment, Victory shuddered.
“The shield is about to collapse,” Valerie said. “Enemy shells have begun breaking through. If they manage to slip a thermonuclear warhead through, we’re finished, sir.”
Maddox studied his panel. The enemy tractor beams were growing stronger. If the shield fell and the beams gripped the starship—
“Sir,” Galyan said. “I suggest you reactivate the star drive.”
“It works?”
“Yes, sir.”
Maddox thought about that. “Won’t the star drive cause an explosion if we try to jump while locked into place?”
“I give the maneuver a thirty-two percent probability of success,” Galyan said. “That is several factors greater than if we remain to fight the spheroid toe-to-toe.”
“Captain,” Valerie said, “your instincts are correct. You can’t jump with the tractor beams locking us into place. That would tear the ship apart.”
“Thirty-two percent,” Maddox said. That meant there was a sixty-eight percent chance of failure. Steeling his resolve, Maddox activated the star drive.
“Where are we jumping to?” Valerie shouted.
Maddox didn’t bother to look. He—
A terrible grinding noise sounded. Explosions rocked the bridge. Victory shuddered.
“The tractor beams have caught us!” Valerie
wailed. “We’re doomed.”
At that moment, everything blacked out as darkness enfolded the bridge. There was a shaking sensation. Then, silence made the darkness ten times more terrifying.
Are we dead? Maddox wondered. He didn’t think so, because the dead didn’t think…he thought, not knowing for certain of course. But if they weren’t dead, what and where were they?
-21-
“Where did they go?” Strand asked angrily.
None of the New Men on the Argo’s bridge answered or even acknowledged that they had heard the question.
Strand’s star cruiser was in the same distant system where Victory had battled the automated spheroid. Strand had observed the fight with interest and relish. He had half-believed he was about to witness the destruction of Starship Victory and his nettlesome colleague, Professor Ludendorff.
Strand did not care for Captain Maddox. But he did not hate the captain to the same degree that he despised Ludendorff.
Now, the starship had vanished. It had jumped, clearly, breaking away from the clamping tractor beams. That was extraordinary.
The Rull Juggernaut was something else. If he could collect enough of the ancient relics, perhaps he could create his own fleet.
Strand studied the main screen, watching the Juggernaut. It was nothing like the Destroyer in size or capability. In that regard, it was a minnow compared to a Great White shark. Still, every warship in this region of the galaxy was a minnow compared to a Destroyer. If he could gather enough mutated minnows—Rull Juggernauts—he could defeat any other school of warships.
“Detection,” Strand said. “Is the starship still in the system?”
A New Man tapped his panel. “I can find no sign of them, Master.”
“Give me your estimation of the possibility that they are hidden somewhere in the system.”
The New Man sat quietly, tapping his board for a long moment. “There is a seven percent chance they are hidden in the star system, Master.”
“Keep searching,” Strand said, as he stood. “Contact me the instant you discover them.”
“Yes, Master,” the New Man said.
The Lost Planet (Lost Starship Series Book 6) Page 11
