The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3)

by Vaughn Heppner

  Cook slapped the table in seeming outrage. “There is no such covenant and no…Armageddon Protocol.”

  “Sir,” O’Hara said, softly.

  Cook turned to the brigadier in surprise. “You’ve heard of this nonsense?”

  “Yes, sir,” O’Hara said. “It’s in the Secret Orders Nine section.”

  “I don’t seem to recall…” Cook frowned. “Yes, now that you mention Secret Orders Nine, I think I do remember something about an ancient covenant. Aren’t there control words attached to its reading?”

  “Very good,” Ludendorff said. “Brigadier, if you would take your tablet, look up Secret Orders Nine, we could get started.”

  Hesitantly, O’Hara reached for a tablet on the table.

  “Check paragraph five,” Ludendorff suggested.

  “Go ahead,” Cook said. “Let’s see how crazy the professor really is.”

  The brigadier picked up the tablet, tapping the screen until she read script. Afterward, she stared at Ludendorff.

  “You’re wanting the controls words, I take it,” the professor said.

  She nodded.

  “Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning,” Ludendorff quoted.

  Cook’s deepening scowl put lines in his face. “Is that right? Are those the control words?”

  The brigadier nodded mutely.

  “You have a few control words for me,” Ludendorff told her.

  “He just quoted from the Book of Ecclesiastes,” O’Hara told the Lord High Admiral. “My response comes from the Book of Daniel.” The brigadier cleared her throat, reading from the tablet. “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”

  “Wonderful, wonderful,” Ludendorff said in a cheery voice. “And here is my final response to you from Daniel chapter twelve. Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. One of them said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled.’”

  “Well?” Cook asked O’Hara. “Was that also correct?”

  “To the word,” the brigadier said in a soft voice.

  “What are the instructions of this Armageddon Protocol?” the Lord High Admiral asked.

  “It doesn’t say,” O’Hara told Cook. “Instead, I’m to open a safe in an underground vault here in the building. The vault is in Room Twenty-seven. I’ve never heard of that room, sir.”

  Cook’s eyes grew large. He stared at Ludendorff in astonishment. The Lord High Admiral stood abruptly. “How do you know about Room Twenty-seven? Only a few in High Command are told about it.”

  “Yes, yes, I’m sure that’s true,” Ludendorff said. “I don’t care to divulge just yet how I know. Go and check the vault. Then come back and tell us what you’ve found.”

  Cook hesitated before standing and marching for the door.

  After the admiral left, Maddox studied Ludendorff. Despite the man’s seemingly cheery manner, Ludendorff struck him as strained, maybe even worried.

  “You chose well with him,” Ludendorff told O’Hara, as the professor indicated Maddox. “I’m impressed with the both of you. That was well thought out on your part.”

  The brigadier said nothing, although she pressed her lips together as if she worked to keep from talking.

  Ludendorff slouched in his chair, letting his chin drop to his chest. It seemed as if he fell instantly asleep.

  Time lengthened as the brigadier watched Ludendorff. Not once did she take her eyes from him. Maddox was content to sit quietly and wait. He was thinking about Strand, Ludendorff, Octavian Nerva and the Methuselah People. He also reconsidered the microwave-beam attack against the shuttle and the information someone had given High Command that suggested he was in the pay of the New Men. It felt to Maddox as if many secret threads were pulling together. The situation with the approaching doomsday machine was like a hurricane over a sea, but with just as many deadly underwater currents in play. The planet-killer was bad, but the hidden things held danger, too.

  Perhaps fifteen minutes after Cook’s disappearance, the big man strode back into the room. He held an old, yellowed folder.

  Ludendorff opened his eyes, sitting up. O’Hara tore her gaze from him and turned to Cook. The big man stared at the professor. The admiral seemed stunned.

  Slowly, Cook went to his spot at the table and slapped the folder onto it. Then, he tapped a spot on the table.

  The magnetic cuffs opened and dropped from Ludendorff’s wrists and onto the table. The professor rubbed his wrists afterward.

  “What does the Armageddon Protocol say?” O’Hara asked.

  Cook took his time answering, “We’re supposed to do everything the person who gives the correct coded responses says to do.”

  “Who are you?” O’Hara asked Ludendorff.

  Maddox nodded in agreement with the question.

  “The admiral told you a few minutes earlier,” the professor told her. “I’m a mystery wrapped in an enigma. We’ll leave it at that for now.”

  The brigadier blinked several times before she put her hands on the table as if exhausted. “Do we follow the protocol?” she asked Cook.

  “We’ve sworn to obey all lawful commands,” Cook said. “This is lawful.”

  “Yes,” the brigadier agreed, “but to just cede control to him like this…”

  “I know,” Cook said. “Is seems wrong. Yet, I’ve followed Star Watch all my life. I intend to finish what I started.” The Lord High Admiral faced Ludendorff. “What are your orders?”

  The professor smiled. “That was hard, wasn’t it? I can’t say I blame you.” The smile vanished as Ludendorff looked at Maddox. “This little incident has caught you by surprise, I’d warrant.”

  Maddox said nothing. Among other things, he was thinking about Villars and Meta. What would the professor do with his newly acquired power? How had the man set up a situation where old protocols gave him the power to do as he liked at a time like this?

  “Very well,” Ludendorff said. “I’ve had my fun. It’s time to get to work.” He pointed at Maddox. “Here’s my first order.”

  Before the professor could finish, one of the guards drew his gun and pulled the trigger.

  -31-

  Slugs tore into Ludendorff, knocking him off the chair, hurling him onto the floor. The gunman took two steps to the left, pumping another two rounds into the professor’s head, shattering it.

  Seconds earlier, when the guard first reached for his gun, Maddox noticed the motion. There had been too many surprise attacks against him today for him to sit comfortably with that. The gunman had caught everyone flatfooted except for Maddox. He thought the guard intended to kill him, though, not the professor.

  The first boom caused several fellow guardsmen to flinch in surprise.

  By that time, Maddox had already made his decision. He’d analyzed his options, deciding against quivering in fear as he tried to hide his last few seconds in life. Crouching behind the table wouldn’t save him. Therefore, the captain chose to attack.

  At the second boom—with the second bullet riddling the professor like the first—Maddox leaped onto the table. By the third boom, he crossed the table and leaped airborne.

  The professor tumbled to the floor. The gunman shifted position and managed two headshots. At that point, Maddox finally reached the man.

  Incredibly, the gunman didn’t pay Maddox any heed. There was hypnotic determination in the man’s eyes. Thus, the gunman didn’t dodge or turn the weapon against Maddox. Instead, the gunman fired at the professor’s broken head once again.

  Maddox hit the killer in the face as hard as he could. It catapulted the gunman backward so he slammed against the nearby wall. The assassin slid down the wall, letting the smoking gu
n drop out of his quivering hand. The shooter’s eyes fluttered. Then, his head slumped to the side.

  Two other guards finally drew their weapons, aiming at Maddox. A second later, the rest drew their sidearms to do likewise.

  Carefully, slowly, Maddox backed away from them. He turned to the admiral. “Better put the shooter on ice, sir, keep him unconscious.”

  “What?” Cook asked in bewilderment. “Why? What are you talking about? That bastard just killed the professor.”

  “Of course,” O’Hara said, as if figuring things out. “The shooter is a kamikaze. Yes, no doubt he is supposed to die after killing the target. Good work, Captain. Instead of letting him commit suicide, you’ve rendered him unconscious for us.”

  “Do you mind if I check on Professor Ludendorff?” Maddox asked the Lord High Admiral.

  “What?” the old man asked. “He killed the professor. He—”

  “Sir,” Maddox said, interrupting the admiral. “May I check on Ludendorff? I want your permission so your guards don’t gun me down for approaching the professor.”

  The white-haired, old admiral stared in shock at the remaining guards, each of them with a drawn gun. “I don’t understand this. You’re, you’re an elite group, the best in security. No one could have infiltrated your ranks.”

  A first sergeant holstered his gun and stepped up to Cook. The sergeant saluted crisply. “I don’t understand this any better than you do, sir. That was Hicks. He’s…I’ve been in tight places with Hicks before. There’s no one better, sir. This makes no sense to me.”

  Cook scowled at the first sergeant.

  “B-But it happened, sir,” the sergeant said. “I can’t explain it.”

  “Outside, all of you,” Cook said. “No. Belay that. You stay right here. But I want all of you to put your guns on the table.”

  “I don’t suggest that, sir,” Maddox said. “Keep your guards armed.”

  “You don’t suggest it?” Cook asked explosively. “Do you realize—?”

  “Sir,” O’Hara said, softly, interrupting him. “Do you think I could have a quick word with you?”

  “What about Ludendorff, Ma’am?” Maddox asked.

  “He’s dead,” O’Hara said. “Forget about the professor for a moment. We have more pressing worries.”

  “Let me check him please,” Maddox said.

  “Go, do it then,” O’Hara said, as she tugged at the admiral’s sleeve.

  “Yes, check,” Cook said absently. He bent his head afterward, listening to the brigadier whisper to him.

  Maddox moved to Ludendorff, telling himself to examine the evidence and subdue his thumping heart. This called for cool concentration. Yet, he found himself shaking.

  The first thing Maddox noticed was the lack of blood. There was some, but considering the number of slugs that had torn into the body, it was a pitiful amount. Maddox knew about head wounds. Anything above the nose bled copiously. The braincase was shattered. There should be blood and gore everywhere, but there was not.

  The second thing Maddox noticed as he closed the distance were small, blue, electrical discharges from inside the body. The third something was the smell of ozone in the room combined with the burnt gunpowder odor.

  Maddox knelt on one knee, staring at the wreckage of Professor Ludendorff. The sight shocked him, but not in the manner that he’d expected it would.

  It was clear that the outer layer was composed of skin and blood. But that was it: the epidermis was just a layer. Underneath was something else entirely that had nothing to do with humanity.

  Maddox leaned lower, put his fingers into the worst wound and pulled to get a better look.

  One of the guards at his back vomited. That caused a commotion among the others.

  “What’s going on over there?” Cook called out. Someone must have pointed at Maddox. The admiral swore in disbelief.

  Maddox continued to tug and pull at the wound. He saw steely-colored bones and circuits of a kind he’d never seen before.

  “What are you doing?” the Lord High Admiral asked in disgust.

  Maddox did not answer. He continued to search.

  “Captain Maddox, have you gone mad?” the admiral asked.

  The captain glanced over his shoulder. Everyone stared at him. A few of the guards had become pale-faced. One man looked as if he was going to faint. Only the brigadier seemed halfway normal. She looked at him curiously.

  “Sir,” Maddox said. “You might want to order the guards out of the room.”

  Cook opened his mouth. It seemed he might reprimand Maddox. Instead, after a moment’s contemplation, the admiral shut his mouth with the click of his teeth. Motioning with his head, he silently ordered the guards to leave.

  “We’ll be outside if you need us, sir,” the first sergeant said.

  “Good,” O’Hara told him.

  The Lord High Admiral seemed unable to speak.

  The guards began to file out.

  “Wait,” O’Hara said. “First Sergeant, take the assassin to medical. Inform Major Stokes that the gunman isn’t to wake up until the doctors have thoroughly scanned him for suicide procedures.”

  The first sergeant glanced at Cook. The admiral was staring at Ludendorff.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” the first sergeant said. He snapped his fingers, giving his men orders. They hoisted the unconscious assassin, carrying him out of the chamber.

  When the door closed behind them, Cook woodenly moved to the body. “Why are there blue sparks in his wounds?” the admiral asked.

  “This thing is an android, a cybernetic organism,” Maddox said. He blinked and looked up at Cook. “He wasn’t human.”

  The admiral turned to O’Hara. She nodded.

  “Am I missing something?” Maddox asked.

  “I have to see this,” Cook said, ignoring the captain’s question. The old man grunted, and his joints creaked as he bent beside the carcass.

  Maddox pulled flesh and wiped away blood. It allowed the admiral a better look inside.

  “He was a machine,” Cook said. “But—”

  “But like nothing we might have constructed,” Maddox said.

  The Lord High Admiral lost his balance, or maybe the strength went out of him. Cook sat down heavily on his butt. Like a big kid, he sat there stunned.

  “What do you make of this, Captain?” O’Hara asked.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Maddox said, hedging.

  “I don’t believe that for a minute,” O’Hara said. “Your quick action rendered the assassin unconscious. We might actually be able to trace his source because of that.”

  Cook’s head snapped up. A fierce light glowed in his eyes. He pushed off from the floor, grunting again, staggering to a chair. He sat down heavily, with his elbows on the table.

  O’Hara followed his example sitting down.

  With a shrug, Maddox did likewise. The dead android would keep as it was. The captain studied the thing. That had been Ludendorff? It didn’t make sense. Had Doctor Rich fallen in love with a cybernetic organism?

  Maddox slapped the table.

  Both Cook and O’Hara looked up.

  “Who made Ludendorff?” Maddox asked.

  “Yes,” O’Hara said. “That is the question. Do you have any ideas?”

  “The Builders,” Maddox said. “Given the professor’s actions, I doubt the New Men constructed him.”

  The admiral groaned in dismay as he massaged his forehead. “This is all too much, too bewildering. A doomsday machine races to Earth, New Men attack out of the Beyond, what appeared to be a Methuselah Man recited an old code sequence that gave him unlimited emergency authority to Star Watch. How did this-this Builder android learn about the Armageddon Protocol in the first place? Just how deeply are we compromised?”

  O’Hara studied the admiral before turning to Maddox. “What do you know about the Builders?”

  Maddox nodded. That was a good place to begin. “I happen to know more than you might expect. We had a breakthro
ugh on Victory.” He began to explain what he’d learned from Galyan, their latest experiences in the Xerxes System and the egg with the cybernetic Swarm creature inside.”

  “It seems these Builders have some expertise in modifying what would be to them alien creatures,” O’Hara said.

  “There’s that,” Maddox said. “But we have another problem. If Ludendorff was a Builder android…I take that back. He can’t—it can’t—be anything else. That means we’re not only contending with the New Men, but with these hidden Builders.”

  “No,” O’Hara said. “By your tale, it’s worse than that.”

  Maddox frowned at her. “Oh, yes. The New Men transferred to the Builder pyramid. Our enemy uses fusion beams and has what must be Builder electromagnetic shields. Ma’am, if the New Men have all these things… Maybe the New Men do know how to construct androids.”

  “Then why did Ludendorff fix your disruptor cannon?” O’Hara said. “More to the point, how did an android have the expertise to fix it?”

  “How did an android know to search for Victory?” Maddox asked.

  During their talk, Cook had continued to massage his forehead. He sighed now, letting his hands drop to the table. “Those are interesting topics, but not germane to our immediate problem. An assassin hid among my most trusted security personnel. The killer slew Ludendorff. This was after the professor gained our trust and pointed to you, Captain. What was Ludendorff going to tell us?”

  “I have no idea,” Maddox said. “Am I under suspicion again?”

  “Yes!” Cook said.

  “I see,” Maddox said.

  “No you don’t,” the Lord High Admiral said. “This thing just recited the code words to initiate the Armageddon Protocol. Whoever built Ludendorff knows how to gain total control of Star Watch.”

  “Interesting,” O’Hara said.

  “No,” Cook said. “It’s frightening, nightmarish. Whom can we trust? No one. That means we’re finished. Without trust, we can’t operate as a military force. Of course, I doubt you, Captain. You’ve been traveling with this thing—”

  “Ludendorff took control of my starship,” Maddox said, sharply. “I…” The captain glanced at the dead construct on the floor.