There the rocks changed texture, made up of iron and magnesium combined with silicon and oxygen. It was called olivine rock, with a thickness of 2900 kilometers.
With incredible speed and destructive power, the teardrop ship’s beam sliced into and annihilated olivine rock. Such a thing should have been impossible. Yet, the beam churned and burned, digging into Al Salam until finally it reached the planetary core.
Because of the melting properties of the iron alloy core, the outer core was molten while the inner core was solid.
At this point, the beam quit.
On Al Salam, molten iron from the planetary core shot up to the surface, spitting onto the red sands like a super volcano geyser. Behind the molten iron followed hot olivine rock. Surface sand burned, atmospheric air ignited and havoc raged in a widening, billowing circumference.
In space, the giant ship minutely changed its trajectory. Minutes passed. Then, the beam flashed from the orifice and began drilling into Al Salam once more, repeating the performance in a new location hundreds of kilometers from the first planetary drilling.
“Can you tell what’s happening on the planet?” Artemis asked weakly.
“Yes,” Kris said in a soft voice. “Death and destruction. I finally understand why Al Gaza is hot and radioactive.”
“The planet-killer beamed into its core?” Artemis asked.
“There’s no other reasonable explanation,” Kris said.
“How long will it take the alien vessel to destroy all life on Al Salam?” Artemis asked.
“At the rate it’s firing, I imagine it will be done in hours.”
“Do you think the alien craft will attack Riyadh next?”
“Don’t you?”
Artemis stared at her dull-faced. “The ship means to destroy the heart of the Wahhabi Caliphate.”
“I think that’s right.”
Artemis shook her head. “What if the vessel heads for the Commonwealth?” the pilot asked in a horrified whisper. “What if it journeys to Earth?”
Kris gave the pilot a stricken gaze. “We have a new objective. We must race to Earth and warn them about this. Go, Lieutenant. Take us through the Laumer-Point. We have to get out of here.”
Osprey engaged its engines as Artemis warned the crew. Soon, the Laumer-Point became visible in space. The frigate headed straight for it.
As they neared the jump point, Kris’s board gave a warning beep.
“What’s wrong now?” Artemis asked in a panic.
Frowning, Kris adjusted her panel. For just a moment, her sensors showed a ship even farther out in the New Arabia System than they were. What was the vessel doing, and why had it been hidden until now?
As Osprey plunged toward the Laumer-Point, Kris’s fingers played across her board. Even as she attempted to learn more about the mysterious ship, it faded from her screen, just disappeared.
Kris ran a fast analysis on the ship’s dimensions. She’d been recording those brief seconds it had been visible. “This can’t be right,” she muttered.
Artemis gave her a worried glance.
“According to the computer,” Kris said, “I just saw a cloaked star cruiser.”
“The New Men,” Artemis whispered. “The planet-killer must belong to them.”
“How could a star cruiser have gotten into New Arabia without anyone knowing about it?” Kris asked. “It couldn’t have used the same Laumer-Points Osprey did. The Wahhabis would have destroyed the star cruiser at a jump point long before it reached the home system.
“Is it coming after us?” Artemis asked fearfully.
Kris checked the sensors. The space out there looked empty now. The enemy must possess an advanced cloaking device. That was terrible news all by itself.
Would the New Men on the star cruiser know she had seen them? Would the star cruiser come after them?
Before Kris could worry too much, Osprey entered the Laumer-Point, heading to a new star system.
-7-
Maddox and Valerie were on the bridge breathing heavily as they waited for their Jump Lag to wear off.
Since the ion storm and sighting the fifty-kilometer mystery vessel several days ago, they had raced even faster for Earth. At Maddox’s orders, they waited a shorter duration between Laumer-Point jumps and the use of the star drive. The accelerated travel schedule had left everyone exhausted and irritable from too much Jump Lag too quickly.
Maddox stirred on his command chair. He breathed deeply, stretching his chest muscles. A minute later, he moved his jaw. It felt as if someone had punched him in the face. He might have to wait several hours before the next jump. If he felt this badly, the others must feel even worse.
Valerie had been moving sluggishly for the past few minutes. Now, she straightened, tapping her panel with greater purpose. She stared at her board for some time.
“Trouble?” Maddox asked.
Valerie swiveled around. Her eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep. Keith had been sick for the last few days, meaning the lieutenant had double duty.
“The professor must still have access to the AI,” Valerie said. “That’s the only way I can explain this.”
“Explain what?” Maddox asked.
The lieutenant tapped her panel. A star chart appeared on the main screen. It showed the Commonwealth Laumer-Point routes, a bewildering array of bright dots and red jump routes. Another tap against the panel took a small section of the chart, expanding it as the rest disappeared. With a quick manipulation, Valerie highlighted the Nicholas 89 System.
“We should be in this star system heading on this route.” The lieutenant highlighted a series of tramlines that led to the edge of the screen. “The path eventually leads to Earth. Instead, we’re here,” she said, tapping the panel again.
The Nicholas 89 System and star route went dim as the QV-7 System brightened on the chart.
Maddox frowned at the screen. “You’re saying we’re not in the right star system?”
“Correct,” Valerie said. “If you’ll notice, QV-7 is nine light-years from Nicholas 89 where we’re supposed to be.”
“That means we didn’t change course in one jump.”
“That’s right,” Valerie said. “We’ve be using the star drive for the last three transfers, making a three light-year jump each time.”
Maddox studied the chart. Although it was only a nine light-year difference, the direction of travel was like a right turn. The Laumer Drive tramlines from QV-7 lead away from Earth.
“Galyan had to have changed the coordinates after I entered them into the star drive for three jumps now,” Valerie said.
“The AI must have also tampered with your earlier sensor readings, too.”
“Agreed,” Valerie said.
Maddox pressed a button on the arm of his command chair. It was time to clip Ludendorff for good. “Sergeant,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” Riker replied several seconds later.
Before Maddox could order the man to meet him near the professor’s quarters, the captain snatched his hand away from the control. The plate on the armrest had become unbearably hot.
“Captain!” Valerie shouted.
Maddox looked up. The lieutenant sat frozen in place, stiff and unmoving, her eyes wide with fear as she stared past him.
Maddox whirled around.
Ludendorff stood just inside the hatch. The man’s bald dome looked slick, and he panted heavily as if he’d been sprinting. He held a flat device with one hand, the other fiddling with the controls on it.
With an oath, Maddox reached for the gun under his jacket. He jerked his hand away from it. The handle was red-hot.
Maddox slid off the chair, charging Ludendorff, hoping to take him down before the professor could finish with his device.
“I’m afraid not,” Ludendorff said, tapping his gadget.
Maddox slammed into an invisible force field, his face striking against it. The field tightened, wrapping around him. The invisible web against his face disapp
eared, however, allowing him to breathe. But he was trapped, at the mercy of Ludendorff. The same thing must have just happened to Valerie.
“Don’t be alarmed, Captain,” the professor said smoothly. “This is a mere precaution. I can’t allow you to shoot me, after all.”
Maddox’s mind churned. Galyan must have been allowing the professor to monitor them. The older man looked winded. He must have burst out of his quarters once he realized Valerie had discovered the flight deception.
“This is alarming,” Maddox said in an even voice. “First, you freed Per Lomax several days ago. I put you in confinement, which you’ve apparently rejected. Now you’ve hijacked Victory. What I don’t understand is why you helped us during the Battle of the Tannish System. It’s clear you’re an enemy agent, a deep plant.”
“Your conclusion is quite wrong,” Ludendorff said. “I don’t fault you for that, as you’re unaware of the greatest danger to humanity in a millennium. I’d hoped to forestall the problem on the sly. I truly hate taking direct action like this. But, now I’m afraid I must.”
“You’re claiming there’s something worse than the New Men?” Maddox asked.
“Oh, much worse, I assure you.”
Maddox considered that. “And it has something to do with the ghostly vessel Valerie and I saw in the ion storm several days ago?”
“Oh, yes, quite,” the professor said.
“You’re admitting, then, that you timed the starship’s appearance with the ion storm, freed Per Lomax and sent the New Man to it in the jumpfighter?”
“Yes,” Ludendorff said. “I freely admit it. I had a key of great antiquity. I gave it to the New Man, which allowed him entry to the doomsday machine.”
“You gave our enemy a doomsday machine?” Maddox asked.
“Of course not,” Ludendorff said. “It was a one-way mission with no hope of return. Per Lomax would gain entry to the control chamber and turn off the machine. Doing so, though, would cost him his life.”
Maddox studied the professor, trying to determine if the man was mad. “Why would Per Lomax turn off this doomsday device for you? Why not take control of it?”
“Not for me,” Ludendorff said, “but for his people, for the Throne World and maybe even the race of New Men.”
“Here we go again. You want to help our enemy?”
“I don’t want to commit genocide against them,” Ludendorff said. “But that’s neither here nor there at the moment. The planet-killer is…is beyond our science. Shutting it off was the easiest expedient.”
“Doomsday machine, planet-killer,” Maddox said. “Why do you call it that? It was a big ship, I grant you. What you’re suggesting…”
Ludendorff looked away. After a time, he moved farther onto the bridge, past Maddox.
The captain strained to move but found it impossible, leaving him winded. The invisible web was strong. He managed to crane his neck, though. The professor laid an unconscious lieutenant onto the deck plates.
“What did you do to her?” Maddox demanded.
“Don’t fret. I merely used a property of the web field to put her to sleep. She’s fine. And this is better all the way around, believe me. I don’t want to have to scrub her mind later so she forgets what she heard.”
Scrub her mind. Ludendorff had used the term before, referring to what the teacher had done to Meta aboard the star cruiser in Wolf Prime orbit.
Ludendorff sat down in the command chair, facing Maddox.
“You have questions,” the professor said. “I understand. Let me explain concisely and quickly to save us time. The planet-killer you saw in the ion storm has already destroyed all life in the New Arabia System. That means it has destroyed the home system of the Wahhabi Caliphate. I believe the machine has also been set to destroy the capitals of the Windsor League and the Solar System, specifically, Earth.”
Maddox struggled to understand. “You said Per Lomax attempted to turn off the planet-killer. Who turned it on?”
“It is safe to surmise that the leadership of the New Men agreed to the expedient.”
“Then why suggest Per Lomax would turn it off for you?” Maddox asked.
Ludendorff frowned. “You must realize every group of humans has factions struggling against each other. It’s in the nature of humanity to quarrel. Not even the New Men have been able to breed that out of their genetic heritage. That means some among the New Men are against the planet-killer. They realize the danger in unleashing it.”
“If you’re right, that suggests you understand the inner workings of the New Men.”
“I’ve had a few years to figure it out,” the professor said.
“Then why haven’t you shared the knowledge with Star Watch?”
“I am,” the professor said, “with you right now.”
“No,” Maddox said. “There are too many flaws in your argument. The lieutenant and I saw the planet-killer several days ago. New Arabia is over one hundred and fifty light-years away. The doomsday device couldn’t get to New Arabia in that time. It would take weeks of travel at best. There’s another problem. Even if the machine could get there that fast, how could you receive a message from one hundred and fifty light-years?”
“Don’t equate ignorance with brilliance, my boy.”
“What does that mean?” Maddox asked.
“Quite simply,” the professor said, “that you lack knowledge to speak coherently on the subject.”
From where Maddox stood, he noticed the slightest movement as the hatch began to open. He remembered calling Riker. Was that the sergeant over there?
Ludendorff paused as he became more alert. Did the professor sense the sergeant’s approach?
“I questioned Per Lomax once,” Maddox said in a bland voice, trying to draw the professor’s attention without alerting him. “He said the New Men didn’t want to destroy all human life, just the dross. This doomsday machine doesn’t seem as if it will distinguish between good and bad human stock.”
“It most certainly won’t,” Ludendorff said.
“That means the New Men didn’t turn it on.”
“Are you truly that daft?” the professor asked.
Maddox only half heard the question. Riker appeared by the open hatch. He gripped his stunner. The sergeant’s good eye widened with surprise. Riker aimed and fired an energy bolt. The globule sped true, sizzling an inch from Ludendorff’s skin, stopped by something, an invisible force field perhaps.
“Ah-ha!” Ludendorff cried, jumping off the command chair, turning to Riker.
“Run!” Maddox shouted.
Riker didn’t run, but fired again. It had the same useless effect as the first shot.
Then the sergeant was toppling onto the deck plates, frozen in the same kind of web field that had caught Maddox.
Ludendorff turned, giving the captain a quizzical study.
Maddox waited. Regaining control of Victory was going to be harder than he’d imagined.
“Let me suggest some possibilities to you,” the professor said, no doubt deciding to ignore the interruption. “The personal force field protecting me and the web I can project onto others are science of a high order. Let me posit the possibility that these items were made by the Builders.”
“Who are they?” Maddox asked.
“The ones who constructed the Nexus and modified the planet-killer,” Ludendorff said.
“Yet another ancient race?” Maddox asked.
“The triad that is the Swarm, Adoks and Builders,” the professor said. “Now, let us banish your objections, shall we? You spoke of traveling vast distances in a short amount of time as being impossible. Yet the silver pyramid allowed Kane and Meta to travel over one hundred light-years in a single jump. The same race that built the pyramid had access to the planet-killer. In other words, the doomsday machine has an incredible propulsion system.”
“Which accounts for the ion storm?” Maddox asked.
“Precisely,” Ludendorff said.
“Then
how are we supposed to stop this doomsday machine? With Victory’s disruptor cannon?”
“No. The planet-killer has neutroium armor. The disruptor cannon will not breach its hull.”
Maddox felt his skin go cold. Neutroium? That was incredible.
“I’ve seen the machine,” the captain said. “I can believe that part. I’ve also seen the ion storm and the strange opening the planet-killer dropped into, which could be its traveling mechanism. What I don’t understand is how you know what happened in the New Arabia System.”
Ludendorff sighed, adjusting the flat device. A wavering light shot out of it, beaming a holoimage before Maddox. The image showed the New Arabia System. The captain recognized the planets.
Maddox glanced at the professor.
“I’m magnifying,” Ludendorff said.
Maddox watched the battle between the doomsday machine and the Wahhabi Home Fleet. Later, he observed the giant beam punching holes into Al Salam’s surface, drilling down to the molten core. Afterward, the captain observed billowing iron lava flowing over the red sands of Al Salam, destroying everything. The doomsday machine performed a similar horror to Riyadh, annihilating all life on the industrial planet.
Finally, Ludendorff switched off the holoimage.
Maddox grew thoughtful. “Are you expecting me to believe that’s actual footage of a real attack?”
“Footage, as you put it, that happened two days ago,” Ludendorff said.
“The giant ship jumped to New Arabia?”
“Not directly from the system where we saw it, but yes,” Ludendorff said. “Permit me to explain how I know this. The New Men possess a handful of interstellar communication artifacts. One of the relics was aboard a star cruiser in the New Arabia System that witnessed the destruction I just showed you. I happen to have one of these incredible devices myself and received the images a day ago.”
“This communication device is aboard Victory?” Maddox asked.
The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3) Page 6
