Why would a rocky, windblown, cyborg-infested planet be more important than the truths of his life? Should he commit violence against himself?
Clack continued to rub his neck, beginning to hunch his shoulders. Something was definitely wrong aboard the Doom Star. He couldn’t pinpoint it, though.
Clack stood, frowning. The skin of his neck had begun to chaff from all the rubbing. He paused a moment, glancing around before approaching propulsion. The bridge officers were busy at their tasks, too busy to look up at him.
That was good. Clack didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. He kept turning until his gaze met the security man near the hatch.
The security officer had thick shoulders and a big chest. The man clearly worked out with weights. His hand rested on the butt of his holstered sidearm. Worse, though, the man frowned as he stared into Clack’s eyes.
He knows, Clack realized. That was quickly followed by: What does he know?
Without realizing it, Clack hunched his shoulders more than before and turned away from the security officer’s glare.
Less sure of himself, Clack moved near propulsion. She hadn’t noticed him. She didn’t attend to her controls. Instead, she had a book. It was small and red, and it was open. She appeared to be secretly reading it while on duty.
Clack cleared his throat.
The woman snapped the book shut, sliding it under a leg. Her hands shook, but she looked up bravely nonetheless.
Clack wanted to ask her about the book. It must be worth credits. Was it an ancient relic perhaps? Why would she be reading it while she was on duty?
Propulsion met his gaze. She had blue eyes. He’d never noticed that before. Instead of looking away as she had before, she held his gaze. She frowned. This frown was unlike the others the past few days.
“What…?” Clack said, and then he didn’t know what else to say.
Her frown deepened. “I think you know,” she whispered.
Instead of asking her, “What do I know?” He nodded slowly. He did know.
“You’re the first one who has come out of it,” she whispered.
“The rest of the crews’ minds are controlled, aren’t they?” Clack asked in a soft voice.
She nodded as she kept staring at him.
“Who’s controlling them?” Clack asked.
“I have no idea, sir.”
He glanced at her board. It showed the approaching planet. “We’re just about in orbit,” he said.
She nodded.
“What’s on the planet that could cause this?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But I think you’re right, sir. Something on the planet has drawn us here.”
With his shoulders stooped, as he rubbed his sore neck, Clack moved back to the commander’s chair. The joy he’d known only a short time ago had vanished. He didn’t dare look up at the security officer. He couldn’t stand to see those watchful eyes again. The security officer seemed to have realized that Clack was no longer one of them. How long would whoever controlled most of the ship’s personnel allow him to remain in nominal charge?
Should I merge back under with the others? Clack wondered. Maybe it was better to be part of the mass mind than to be one of the few in charge of his own thoughts. No. I can’t do that in good conscience. I am an interrogator prime. I have a duty to the Party. I will do whatever I can to deliver this mighty warship back into Coalition hands.
***
The Doom Star orbited Planet Zero. Ship’s sensors swept the surface. No one had spotted the Dark Star. The rest of the Coalition fleet waited or would soon reach Admiral “Hatchet.” The ships that had originally joined the Doom Star had turned back some time ago. Admiral May had ordered them to return.
Clack gnawed on a knuckle. He no longer delighted sitting in the commander’s chair. He was a Special Intelligence officer. He had a duty to find this new enemy. The enemy was hidden and he, she or it controlled most of the crew.
Should he try to reason this out with those controlled?
Clack sneered at himself. That would be the height of folly. The mind control seemed to operate on an emotional level. Trying to reason with an emotional person was always a mistake. He must appeal to other, hopefully, stronger emotions.
It struck him, then. He knew what to do.
“I have an announcement to make,” Clack said. “It is the most important announcement of this trip.”
One by one, the bridge officers turned from their boards to stare at him.
“We belong to social unity,” Clack said. “Does anyone disagree with this?”
No one did. Good. He could proceed.
“We are servants of the State. More than that, we owe the State everything because it has given us life, our education, our rank and worth. Once we reach old age, the State will give us health benefits and—”
“Why are you saying this?” the security officer shouted. “This is a trick. You’re trying to trick us. You’re no longer one of us, Interrogator.”
“That is a lie,” Clack said, with heat. “I am the most loyal person on the ship. I serve the Party. Who do you serve?”
The security officer opened his mouth to reply. Before he could finish, a red alert began to wail on the bridge.
Clack snapped forward. “What’s going on? What caused the alarm?”
“Sir,” sensors said, “I’m picking up an unusual life form reading. It appears to be…” He looked up, “Sir, the approaching life form appears to be made of photons and electricity.”
“Have you pinpointed it?”
“I have, sir.”
“Put it on the main screen,” Clack said.
Sensors’ fingered blurred on his board. Seconds later, an image appeared on the screen. Everyone on the bridge saw a comet-shaped thing heading for the Doom Star.
“It appears to have come up from the planet,” Clack said, “not from space.”
“Yes, sir,” sensors said.
“Is it hostile?” Clack said.
The security officer laughed harshly. “It’s friendly. It’s our friend. You should know that, Interrogator.”
Clack regarded the man. The security officer’s skin shined and his hair kept rising as if with static electricity. The interrogator sensed a violent intent in the security officer.
“Weapons,” Clack said, as he stared at the security man. “Ready the plasma ejector. As soon as the plasma is ready, you will fire at the approaching comet.”
“You will not do that,” the security officer said. The man drew his gun, aiming at Clack.
“Look at his shiny skin,” Clack said in a rush. At the same time, he stood, ducking behind the commander’s chair.
The security officer’s gun went off, a bullet smashing into the chair.
“Countermand your order,” the security officer shouted.
“Weapons,” Clack said.
“Sir?” Weapons asked, as if confused.
Clack darted up. The security officer stared at weapons. Clack used his sidearm, pumping one bullet after another into the security officer. The muscled man staggered backward. As he did, the shine on his skin lessened and finally disappeared. At that point, the security man hit the deck, dead.
Clack stood, with a smoking pistol in his hand. “Fire the plasma ejector. Do it now.”
Weapons sat hunched over his board.
“Did you hear me?” Clack shouted.
Weapons didn’t reply as his hair began to rise.
“Fire the plasma ejector!” Clack shouted, striding toward weapons.
The man continued to sit at his station as if frozen. Clack put a hand on the man’s shoulder. It was hot, very hot. He spun the man around just the same. Weapons’ facial skin shined eerily.
Clack shoved the barrel of the firearm against the man’s head and fired. The body jerked and collapsed. Clack stared at the weapons board, having no idea how to use it.
“I’ll do it,” propulsion told him.
The rest
of the bridge crew stared at them with hostility.
Propulsion sat on weapons’ chair, her fingers blurring. “I’m targeting the thing,” she said. She glanced at Clack. “The plasma is almost ready, sir.”
Clack looked up at the main screen. It showed the comet creature. It was almost to the Doom Star. “Fire,” he whispered, “fire at once.”
Propulsion nodded, tapping her board. Nothing happened. “It will be ready to fire in another two seconds.”
Clack glanced at the main screen. The thing had already reached them. To his astonishment, the comet creature oozed into the viewing screen and then disappeared from sight.
“The ejector is ready to fire,” propulsion said.
Clack said nothing.
Propulsion looked at the scope. “Where did it go, sir?” she asked.
“Yes,” Clack said. “That is an excellent question.”
-54-
As the Phaze entered the Doom Star, the gravity sled lifted from the giant hole beside the mountain. It began to climb into the heavens.
Tanner locked the buckles of his helmet. He’d secured it to his armored spacesuit. He couldn’t believe they’d actually managed to leave the horrible underworld. Seeing the sun again was glorious. The red sky looked like the most beautiful thing in the world. He smiled so hard that his mouth began to hurt.
They’d slain Phazes, but two had escaped. Cyborgs revived underground. A Web Mind had regained control. Had it activated the star bridge again? Did it have a way to battle the Phazes?
As the sled lifted like an elevator, Tanner had an overwhelming desire to contact the Dark Star. Several thoughts kept him from doing so. One of the Web Mind’s comments earlier indicated it controlled the orbital missiles. That would imply it also controlled the orbital sensors and lasers. If he communicated with the raider, that would surely give away their location. Still, if the Web Mind knew what to look for, why wouldn’t it use the orbital sensors to find them?
Tanner stared into the heavens as they floated upward. What was the right choice? Surely, the Web Mind had regained control of the situation after the nullifier had gone far enough from it. A laser missile could be aiming at the sled right now.
Using his chin against an inner helmet control caused the visor to whirr upward. He approached Acton. The Shand soon did likewise, rising his visor.
“We have to contact the raider,” Tanner said.
“That would be unwise at this junction.”
Tanner told Acton his reasoning.
“I cannot believe this,” Acton said. “Yes. I agree with you. I will contact the raider at once.”
***
Ursa and Greco were in the control room, having just spoken to Lord Acton. The apeman piloted the Dark Star down into the atmosphere as the patrician studied the nearest orbital missiles.
“Oh-oh,” Ursa said. “The nearest orbital is moving as if to target us.”
“I thought one might.” Greco glanced at her board as his simian forehead furrowed. “We’ll have to be tricky.”
“Whatever we have to do, let’s do it now.”
Greco’s hairy fingers played across the board. The Dark Star pivoted as it plunged into the atmosphere so the front faced the back. Targeting the orbital, Greco activated the same weapon used to slay the Phaze. It was a short-ranged weapon, but short-ranged in space terms, easily able to reach the laser-firing missile. A powerful beam blew the ancient missile apart. Unfortunately, that alerted more of them.
“This could be an impossible situation,” Ursa said. “What if for every missile we destroy, two more start targeting us?”
Greco scratched his head. “We still have some tricks left, new ones from the hideaway. We’ll try chaff first.”
“What’s that?”
“Strips of tinfoil,” Greco said. “We’re going to put out so much it might cause the targeting systems headaches.”
“How does one give a computer a headache?”
“Perhaps the better way to say it is that we’ll gain a few more minutes, at best,” Greco replied. “We have superior decoys to those Acton used in the Nostradamus System. If we use everything we have, maybe we can reach Tanner in time.”
“Then what will we do?” Ursa demanded.
Greco gave her a critical glance. “The best way to defeat these situations is to tackle one element at a time, preferably the most troubling first. Then, we will move to the next element, but not before the problem occurs.”
“Good thinking,” Ursa said.
The two of them concentrated on the difficult task as the Dark Star kept heading down.
***
Tanner pointed up. He saw flashes high above them. He knew those couldn’t be lasers, because almost all lasers were invisible to the naked eye.
As the gravity sled strained to gain height, Tanner felt exceptionally exposed. His back crawled with a burning sensation. Something targeted them. Could the Web Mind see them through orbital sensors? The desire to flip off the multi-brained cyborg was nearly overpowering.
Then, a long streak burned to his left high in the atmosphere. What was that? It seemed like a falling star. Was it a nuclear-tipped missile coming down? If so, why did it blaze like that? No. He didn’t think it was a missile.
Swallowing uneasily, Tanner watched the streak go farther and farther away. A sense of dread began to build in him. For some reason, he believed the streak had something to do with the last Phaze. Ursa had told him how Greco and she had slain one. That was incredible.
As Tanner watched the shooting star, the feeling of being targeted lessened. That was interesting. Did the Web Mind fixate on the shooting star instead of them? He dearly wanted to know what the falling object was.
***
“The Doom Star is going down,” Ursa said.
Greco glanced at her board. “Does it plan to land on the surface?”
“I have no idea.”
“This bodes ill for us and likely for humanity, too,” Greco said.
“What does that mean in Basic?”
“I don’t like this,” Greco said. “Why would the Coalition people land on the planet?”
“You do remember I saw two Phazes, don’t you? One of them headed for the Doom Star. Do you think it’s taken over somehow?”
The apeman and patrician traded worried glances.
“It appears the situation has become more complex,” Greco said.
“We should head down faster,” Ursa said. “The sooner we get the others, the sooner we can leave this godforsaken place.”
“Leave the planet with its waking cyborgs?” Greco asked.
“That wouldn’t be optimal, I realize.”
“No.”
“Maybe Acton has an idea what we should do.”
Greco scratched his head as he continued to pilot the Dark Star toward the gravity sled. He had the germ of an idea. He would have to think this through carefully, although he’d have to do so quickly.
“Only one orbital is beaming at our chaff,” Ursa said.
“I wonder what happened underground,” Greco mused. “What did Tanner and Acton accomplish down there?”
“The sooner we reach the others,” Ursa said, “the sooner we’ll hear the whole story.”
“Yes,” Greco said. “The orbital attack against us has lessened. Perhaps you have the right idea. We should do this while we have an opening. Hang on, Patrician. We will attempt the retrieval at combat speed.”
***
The Dark Star reached the gravity sled before Tanner and Acton had left the red-colored atmosphere.
The raider hovered in place as Acton maneuvered the sled on top of it. As soon as the sled clanked down, the two grappled with the nullifier, trying to push it onto the raider.
As they worked, an upper hatch opened. Marcus stuck his head out. “Here!” he shouted, tossing them a towline.
The three of them worked fast, emptying the sled of useful items.
“I’ll strap the sled onto the raider,
” Acton said.
“Wrong,” Tanner told him.
“This is an ancient heirloom,” the Shand said. “I cannot simply abandon it.”
“The sled isn’t worth our lives,” Tanner said. “Look. We may have to disappear again. If the gravity sled is on top, the sensor-resistant hull plating won’t do us any good. The Doom Star will be able to target us.”
“He has a point, Lord,” Marcus said. The wind up here had picked up, tousling the big man’s hair.
Acton gazed at the gravity sled. “I must launch it then. The least it can do is act as a decoy.”
“Good thinking,” Tanner said. “That might help us escape unnoticed.”
“The Doom Star is landing on the planet,” Marcus told them.
“That is ill news,” Acton said. “I don’t understand it—unless the last Phaze has taken control of the ship.”
“Why would it do that?” Marcus said.
“At the very least,” Acton said, “to gather a ship full of cyborgs.”
“Hurry up with your sled,” Tanner snarled. “We still have a lot of work to do before we’ve defeated this menace.”
Acton ran to comply.
Soon, the three of them watched the gravity sled begin to climb again.
“Let’s go,” Tanner shouted.
The three of them hurried to the hatch, and Tanner closed it with a clang after them. Immediately, the raider began to race in a different direction as the sled.
-55-
“I don’t understand,” Ursa said. “Before, the orbital sensors hunted us diligently. Now, it’s as if they don’t care about us anymore.”
She rose from her seat in the control room. Tanner took her place as Acton slid into the other chair.
Tanner checked the board. He could still hardly believe he’d made it back onto the Dark Star. He never wanted to go underground again for as long as he lived.
He sensed Ursa bending low. She pecked him on the cheek. “Welcome back, Centurion,” she whispered.
Star Raider Page 37
