-51-
“I’m picking something up on my range scanner,” a scout radioed Sims.
Like before, the lieutenant failed to respond. Maddox had remained on the command channel, so he answered.
“What did you find?”
“It looks like some kind of dome, sir. Do you think it’s dangerous?”
“Possibly. Wait where you are.”
Maddox herded the others to the sole functioning scout. The marine was the youngest on the team. The captain wondered if that had something to do with his alertness.
In any case, the team reached the scout. Maddox ordered them to wait while he went with the scout to investigate the find.
Soon, the two of them reached the dome. In the darkness, it was hard to tell, but it looked to be nearly half a kilometer in diameter. Fungus was growing on it and clinging to the sides.
Maddox and the scout began scraping the wall with their power gloves. Sixteen minutes later, the scout reported he’d found something that looked like a hatch.
Maddox went back to the battle group, collected Ludendorff and brought him to the scout. The captain focused his helmet lamp for Ludendorff, as the glow-ball had become too dim. He checked his HUD. The suit had eighteen percent power left.
“Yes…” the professor said slowly, staring at the hatch. “I believe you have found a station. Good work, excellent work. Now, if I can just remember what the Raja told me. He confided in me, you see. He told—”
Ludendorff stopped talking as the captain pulled him away from the hatch.
The professor spun around. “What on Earth are you doing? I’m about to open the way. Don’t you want to find the treasure? Or would you like to remain in the darkness for the rest of your short and miserable life?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Maddox demanded.
“You sanctimonious prig, you over-confident New Man so full of your authority and self-righteousness—”
“Professor,” Maddox shouted, dialing his speaker so the words came out full volume.
Ludendorff blinked as if a blast of air had struck his face. “What? What is it now?”
“Can you open the hatch without setting off charges?”
“Who said anything about charges?”
“I thought you did a while ago.”
“I don’t recall that. Maybe the fungus, the spores or the toxins in the atmosphere are having a deleterious effect on my brain cells. I’m sure you didn’t notice.”
“Not in the slightest.”
“I am the most brilliant man alive, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I do agree. Now, can you safely open the hatch?”
Ludendorff stood there blinking. “I have no idea. But what other choice do we have?”
Maddox shrugged.
“Then let me work, my boy. Get out of the way.”
“Do it,” the captain said, stepping aside.
“Do it,” Ludendorff muttered. He staggered to the exposed hatch, peered closely, drew back, wriggled his fingers and stood stock still for a time.”
“Professor!”
Ludendorff started, leaned forward as if nothing had happened and began to tap experimentally on a box. Several minutes later, he unlatched the box to find a complex pad.
“I need the Raja,” Ludendorff muttered. “But he can’t help us now. Let’s see if I remember correctly.”
Slowly, the professor tap tapped, waited, and tap tapped some more. “This is frustrating, don’t you know.”
“I’m sure it is,” Maddox said.
Ludendorff tapped once more, and a hard clack sounded. The professor leaped back with his hands before his face.
“This is it, dear boy. I have lived a long and prosperous life. Who knew it would end like—”
The hatch slid up, revealing a large chamber inside. A few lights came on. The new illumination showed Maddox how dim his helmet lamp had become.
“I did it,” Ludendorff said brightly. “I opened the lair and we may proceed. After you, Captain. Age before beauty, they say. No, wait. It’s—”
Maddox clanked through the hatch with his shredder ready. He entered a chamber with masses of banks and controls. Panels lit up as he strode toward them.
“Professor,” the captain called.
The Methuselah Man did not answer.
With a sigh, Maddox went back outside. Ludendorff stood like a statue, his lips barely moving as he muttered to himself.
Maddox went to the scout. “How are you feeling?”
“Sleepy,” the marine said.
“Let’s get the others. We want everyone inside. Then let’s see if we can figure out if there’s a way to recharge our batteries.”
“We’re going to use alien power?” asked the scout.
“When in Rome,” the captain said.
“Sir?”
“Never mind,” Maddox said. “Just help me get the others.”
***
After herding everyone inside, Maddox figured out how to close the hatch. That started interior vents blowing. Soon, conditioners purified the air.
Meanwhile, the marines in their armor slumped against walls, resting. Meta, Keith and Ludendorff did likewise.
Maddox checked his dwindling power supply. If the dome proved to be a dead end, they were in serious trouble. He’d have to shed the suit once it lost power. Then what would happen?
Maddox waited.
After ten minutes, the professor raised his head. The Methuselah Man seemed clear-eyed. Slowly, he struggled upright. He shuffled to Maddox and motioned.
The captained lowered his faceplate.
“My head,” Ludendorff said. “It feels as if I have a hangover. But this dome air has helped. I can think again.” He looked over his shoulder at the machines. “I believe I recognize some of the architecture.”
“Builder patterns?”
Ludendorff nodded, squinted painfully and rubbed his left temple. “Pardon me, Captain, but I must get to work.”
“If I can help—”
“I shall let you know.” Still rubbing his temple, Ludendorff went to the nearest panel, beginning to examine it.
Meta climbed to her feet fifteen minutes later. The professor noticed and summoned her. Maddox nodded that it was okay. Meta went to the Methuselah Man, tapped controls when he asked and watched consoles at other times. Soon, Keith rose and began to help as well.
Nearly an hour later, Ludendorff breached the second hatch. He discovered an energy source in the second chamber they could use.
The marines hooked up emergency cables and began charging up their suit batteries. As they did, Ludendorff sat at a master panel.
Maddox clanked to him and was astounded as he saw words flashing across the screen. Ludendorff sat transfixed before the console. Maddox concentrated. Soon, he could pick out a word here and there. He could not read the script, though, because he didn’t recognize the language and the words moved too quickly across the screen.
Abruptly, Ludendorff looked up at Maddox. The professor glanced at the moving script again, fingered the gold chain around his throat and tapped the screen. The script froze in place.
“I’m not sure I understand this—”
“Don’t bother,” Maddox said. “I saw you reading it. That you could comprehend at that rate—”
“Yes, yes, I have advanced training. The Builders modified me. Please, don’t make more of it than necessary. Speed-reading is one of my many talents. I’m still as human as the next man.”
“That’s why you’ve lived so many centuries, I suppose, your normality.”
“I am the professor. But enough about me. Are you interested in what I learned or not?”
“Tell me.”
“That’s the spirit. We’ve found a power station just as I told you we would. This is not the elevator the Raja originally found, but I believe there is an access route we can use to get there.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Maddox said. “I saw schematics of the pyramid base in
the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. The old Builder base seems similar to this place.”
“Naturally,” Ludendorff said. “It has similar architects.”
“This is also a secret base?”
“It was always an open secret,” Ludendorff said. “That’s the main difference with the Mid-Atlantic base from this one.”
Maddox shook his head. “Are you telling me there are more androids down here waiting to awake up?”
“Oh my,” Ludendorff said. “Can that be the androids’ reasoning for coming here? Are they hoping to replenish their numbers?” He turned back to the console, tapped it and sat absorbed as the script flashed past as fast as ever.
Maddox clanked to Sims for a status report.
The lieutenant told him everyone had flushed their suits, expelling any spores or microbes belonging to Sind II. The marines were now revived. Each squad leader had counted ammo and decided on strict fire-control schedules from here on out.
“Send a scout to the entranceway,” Maddox told Sims. “We’re becoming lax and must reverse the trend. This is far from over.”
“Can you give me a clue as to what the scout should be looking for, sir?”
“I’m guessing androids—humanoids of any kind.”
“Roger,” Sims said. “I’m on it.”
Maddox went back to the professor. The Methuselah Man continued to hunch over the console, speed-reading the flashing script.
“This is looking grim,” Ludendorff said.
Maddox waited for him to expound on the idea, but the professor did not.
“Sir,” Sims said over the short-range. “There’s motion far out in the ferns.”
“Tectonic activity?” asked Maddox.
“I’m beginning to think its troop movement.”
“Explain?”
“There’s no wind, no earthquakes,” Sims said. “But troops moving through the ferns would cause them to shake. I’d have to send a scout out there to make sure. I’m not sure I want to do that, though. This place…a man shouldn’t go anywhere alone out here. But sending more than one scout seems…I don’t know what I mean.”
“I’ll be right there,” Maddox said. The spores or the seeping toxins were still affecting the men, despite the fresh air.
He opened the hatch to the first chamber and clanked to the lieutenant who stood by the open entranceway. The two armor-suited men stepped outside the dome.
The scout stood there, using his long-range sensors. “I can’t tell for sure what’s causing the disturbance,” the corporal said. “Do you want me to go take a look?”
Maddox could hear the fear in the scout’s voice. Sims was a little better off, but this place seemed to have gotten to the lieutenant as well.
“I’ll go,” Maddox said.
“Sir, no,” Sims said.
Maddox started clanking away.
“You don’t have the right kind of suit for this,” Sims radioed. “You have a battle suit. The scout—”
“Guard the dome, Lieutenant. If I radio you, you can come running to the rescue. Make sure the professor is safe. Since losing the Raja, I suspect Ludendorff is the only one who can show us the way.”
“Yes, sir,” Sims said, “But—”
“That will be all, Lieutenant. Guard the fort. I’ll be back soon.”
With that, Maddox continued into the darkness, relying on his sensors, feeling a welling sense of fear wage war against his equilibrium.
“Not to worry,” he whispered to himself. “I’ll be just fine.”
-52-
Maddox didn’t blame the lieutenant or the scout. This nether world played on everyone’s nerves. His were simply a little stronger than most. The dome and the recharged batteries had brought a semblance of normalcy back to the marines. He didn’t want to test them just yet. He wanted them to gather their resolve. They had been through much, including a nerve-shattering battle against terrible odds. He wanted to save them now for the critical moment.
The captain halted. He stood on the path they’d created earlier with towering fungus-ferns all around him. Looking back, he could see the light from the dome’s open hatch. Should he radio the lieutenant and tell him to close it?
Maddox decided against the idea. He might need the light as a beacon in order to return. Licking his lips, deciding to do this before his own nerve gave out, the captain tramped toward the detected motion. He could see ferns waving in the distance.
Maddox halted. His suit sensors indicated…life forms. They were humanoids.
“Right,” he said. Chinning a control, Maddox caused the faceplate to whirr open.
Once more, the damp, dank odors slammed against his face. The darkness seemed supernatural. It oppressed his soul.
Maddox heard men shouting. He cocked his head, but couldn’t make out the words. Had some of Victory’s crew come down? Should he signal them by firing his shredder? No. That was foolish. He needed to investigate first. Why then couldn’t he march forward to do just that?
Maddox looked back at the dim light of the dome’s entranceway. He wanted to go back. These alien spores—
With a whirr, the faceplate slammed shut. He found that he did not want to leave sight of the dome.
I am Captain Maddox.
What did that even mean? Why would he repeat that to himself?
Maddox made an inarticulate sound in the back of his throat. He forced a servo-motored boot to move, then the other. Soon, he found himself parting fungus ferns as he approached the humanoid sounds.
With some trepidation, he slowed his rate of advance. He tried to put his armored boots down as softly as possible.
Finally, after several minutes, he halted and let the faceplate open again. The dank odors struck, but now he could hear distinct voices and the sounds of motors and crushed funguses. Then, he heard crackling sounds. Looking carefully, he could see flickering lights ahead of him.
Did the crackling sounds come from burning torches?
Once more, Maddox clanked forward. At last, he realized he recognized the sounds: Vendels. Those were aliens headed this way.
Could these Vendels be from the underground city they’d just invaded?
Perplexed, Maddox moved carefully. Finally, he reached an area of crushed funguses where the battle group had stopped earlier.
Maddox waited. The first sight shocked him. Giant cannibal Vendels—eight-foot tall mutated creatures—burst out of the fern-line. They moved on all fours, sniffing like bloodhounds. That wasn’t the crazy thing. The cannibals wore collars with long leashes. Three normal Vendels apiece held each leash, dragged along by the eager savage.
The sniffing savages—five of them—dragged their handlers into the crushed area. The eight-foot monsters raised their fanged heads and howled with delight.
A moment later, torch-carrying Vendels appeared. Among them were priestly soldiers with rifles. Following them were lumbering power-wagons. The wagons crushed everything before them. Each wagon carried a cannon. Long-robed priests appeared after the power-wagons. Behind them clanked strangely armored space marines.
Maddox couldn’t believe it. Were those Vendel space marines? Why hadn’t those faced them earlier in the city?
The captain counted as more and more Vendels appeared. There must be hundreds all told. Had they all come from the city? Wasn’t this the terrible nether world to them? What motivated the Vendels to march so deeply into a forbidden zone?
Suddenly, more eight-foot savages appeared. They bayed wildly, straining in their collars. Their faces were pointed in his direction. Could they have sensed him?
A robe-wearing Vendel with a tall purple-feathered hat appeared. The soldiers spoke to him and pointed in Maddox’s direction.
It was time to leave. Maddox drew back, turning—
Shots rang in the darkness. One bullet pinged off his armor. The sounds of the baying savages grew louder. They were coming for him.
Maddox almost whirled back around to fire his shredder at them, taking down a fe
w cannibals. He decided against it. If he fired a shredder, the Vendels would know it was the marines. It was better to have them wonder what the savages had scented.
That left flight as the only real option.
Maddox started to run, letting his Kelchworth 350s open wide. After building up a head of steam, Maddox began to leap. The landing jolt snapped his teeth together the first time, and he thought he might have chipped a tooth. Keeping his mouth closed and his teeth pressed together, he bounded again. He felt like a fox chased by hounds.
“Sims,” he said over the short-range. “Sims, do you hear me?”
There was silence in his headphones. Had something happened to his people in the dome? If androids had attacked his people while he’d been away—
“Don’t get paranoid,” Maddox told himself.
Maddox leaped again, looking for a light in the darkness. He saw nothing. He didn’t even see the dome. Once more, he leaped, looking around.
Could he have gotten lost?
Maddox used his HUD, finally seeing the dome to his right. He wondered if he’d been foolish to open his faceplate earlier. Eventually, the spores would get to him. He needed to be more careful.
Pivoting the next time he landed, Maddox turned toward the dome. He saw the pin-dot light. How had it gotten to be so far away?
“Concentrate,” Maddox told himself.
“Captain,” he heard faintly in his ears.
“Sims?” he said.
“No. This is Galyan.”
“Galyan, what’s going on?”
“We are under threat, sir. More Juggernauts have entered the star system.”
Maddox ingested the news.
“Strand has contacted us,” Galyan said in a small voice. “He has suggested we work together against the Juggernauts.”
“What?” Maddox asked. This was incredible.
“Valerie does not want to trust him,” Galyan said. “But she does not know what else to do. What do you think, sir? What are your orders?”
“Galyan,” Maddox said. “Listen to me.” More Juggernauts in the Sind System and Strand offering a temporary alliance—this was a crazy situation. He needed more information before he could decide.
As Maddox readied himself to ask, the growling sounds returned to his headphones. “Galyan, can you hear me?”
The Lost Planet (Lost Starship Series Book 6) Page 28
