The Lost Star Gate (Lost Starship Series Book 9)

by Vaughn Heppner

  “Out of the question,” Maddox said.

  “You didn’t even hear my idea.”

  “I don’t have to. You want to mind meld with Draegar 2 using the Builder stone. That would be insanely dangerous.”

  “Nonsense,” Ludendorff said. “Look how we restored the brigadier.”

  “O’Hara wasn’t your mental superior,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff blushed. “Now see here, Captain. I’m not going to submit to this badgering. We must study his reading list.”

  “Galyan,” Maddox said.

  The holoimage popped beside them as the two men faced a computer screen.

  “Have you analyzed Draegar 2’s reading list?” Maddox asked.

  “Yes, Captain,” Galyan said. “The list is fifteen percent stellar data, fifteen percent medical with a high concentration on human anatomy, twenty-five percent on ancient galactic legends, fifteen percent on android, bionic processes and thirty percent on robotics of all forms.”

  “What does that suggest to you?” Maddox asked Galyan.

  “I have insufficient data to guess,” Galyan said.

  Maddox hid his surprise. He had an idea, a sinister one in which Draegar 2 helped fashion an android alien. “Professor?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Ludendorff said, giving the captain another side-glance. “You’re hinting at something.”

  Maddox nodded. “I don’t trust the Builder stone. I wonder if it’s more than an intelligence enhancer.”

  “What do you think it is?” Ludendorff asked.

  “A Builder’s brain-core perhaps,” Maddox said, as he watched Ludendorff closely.

  The professor noticed the scrutiny and finally nodded. “Yes. Your last voyage would undoubtedly cause you to suspect such a thing. I learned about your last mission through my own channels. You’re wondering if the Builder stone will try to fashion a new body and insert itself into the thing’s braincase.”

  “The thought has crossed my mind,” Maddox said.

  “What else?” Ludendorff asked. “Clearly, you suspect more.”

  “I do,” Maddox said. “I wonder if the Builder core has ever truly shut down. Maybe it’s still linked to you, and linked now to Draegar 2. It’s using his mind and eyes to read data on what it wants to know.”

  “What a wonderful imagination you have, Captain,” Ludendorff said. “But I have a question. If what you suspect is true, wouldn’t the stone have infiltrated Galyan and possibly already gained control of the ship?”

  “Possibly,” Maddox said.

  “Is that why you’re wearing my force-field pendant and keeping a Draegar pistol ready? Will you shoot me to save your ship?”

  Maddox did not respond.

  “I hate to disappoint you,” Ludendorff said. “But I am very much in charge of myself. The Builder amplifier is exactly that. It is not a secret Builder brain-core or a storage unit that can insert a Builder personality into a machine man. You have led yourself down a false trail.”

  “Have I really?” Maddox asked.

  “Draegar 2 is an evolutionary marvel, upgraded, no doubt, by Strand’s genius. My recognition of his genius does nothing to belittle my own achievements. Whether you believe it or not, the process with the Builder stone helped erase a few…malfunctions that had crept into my personality over time. I truly freed the brigadier. I think the only way I’m going to free Dana is by using the stone.”

  “Suppose you’re right. Suppose you use the stone on Draegar 2 next, and he proves more cunning than you suspect.”

  “You mean Draegar 2 twists the stone’s process and somehow gains mastery over me?” the professor asked.

  “Exactly,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff studied the Bosk on the screen. The professor bit his lower lip. “I cannot fathom such a thing. Yet, as I watch him read, I marvel at how quickly he absorbs information. It shows a leap in human intelligence.”

  “Could this Draegar have been smarter than his two brothers?” Maddox asked.

  “I suspect only Strand could tell you that.”

  “Galyan?” Maddox asked.

  “The professor is telling the truth,” the holoimage said, “at least as he conceives of the truth.”

  “Here, now,” Ludendorff said, looking at Galyan and Maddox in turn. “What’s this? What is the AI saying? No, no, don’t tell me. It’s obvious. He was monitoring me, acting like a living lie detector.”

  “That is correct,” Galyan said.

  Ludendorff eyed Maddox. “You really are a suspicious man, aren’t you? You don’t trust anyone.”

  “I had to be sure,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff made a face before turning thoughtful. “Well, I suppose the man who would draw a gun on his superior officer and hold her hostage while he interrogates me would also pull this kind of trick. I can’t say I approve. But, given the nature of our task, I’ll let it pass. Do you finally trust me then?”

  “Yes,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff laughed. “You only say yes to try to put me at ease. We are a pair of scoundrels, Captain. Maybe we’re just the thing humanity needs to save it from the Swarm.”

  The professor glanced at Draegar 2 on the screen before regarding Maddox. “Is there anything else, then?”

  “As a matter of fact,” Maddox said. “There is.”

  “Well…?”

  “I do want you to use the stone again.”

  “Eh?”

  “On Tars Womack,” Maddox said. “I’ve been thinking about what you said concerning contingency plans regarding the New Man nexus. We’ve questioned Womack extensively, and he’s proven highly resistant to regular Star Watch methods. For a while, I thought he would come around, as someone had conditioned his mind—Lord Drakos, possibly—and that seemed to anger Womack. I’ve since come to believe that that was false, fakery on Womack’s part. He’s tried hard to pit you and me against each other. He’s hiding something critical, possibly about the nexus or maybe about our hidden foe. At the very least, a powerful mind scan with the stone could let us know what to expect at the nexus so we can prepare accordingly.”

  “If we’re going to use the stone one more time,” Ludendorff said. “I’d rather save Dana.”

  “There will be plenty of time to save Dana,” Maddox said, “providing we can destroy the Swarm nexuses. If we can’t destroy them, saving her isn’t going to matter.”

  Ludendorff scowled as he rubbed his throat. “There’s a risk to me using the stone again.”

  “Granted,” Maddox said.

  “You’re unconcerned with risking my brain, are you?”

  “No, as we’ll need your brilliance to win. But if we can never get there to get started, none of that is going to matter.”

  Ludendorff exhaled. “I hate your bottom-line thinking. It’s hard to argue against, though. Very well. I’ll agree to this. Tars Womack is our next target.”

  -57-

  Thirty-one hours later, even after Maddox explained the direness of the situation, Tars Womack protested against any form of mind probing.

  The captain understood that the New Man would not allow himself to be intimidated into freely giving them vital information. Thus, they moved on to the original option.

  Soon, marines in power armor struggled against the thrashing prisoner as they set him onto a table with metal bands for his ankles and wrists. Tars Womack’s muscles stood up in stark relief as he grunted and growled. Finally, the exoskeleton-powered suits won out, the manacles snapping into place. The Dominant immediately went limp, no longer struggling but breathing like a bellows as sweat poured from his golden skin. Every muscle seemed to relax as he closed his eyes, no doubt planning his next move.

  The chamber stank of exertion. It held the table, with medical monitors arrayed around it. A stand to the side carried the white polygonal Builder stone.

  Maddox had watched the Builder artifact throughout the proceedings. He still didn’t trust that it wasn’t an incubator for a long-lost Builder mi
nd. Galyan monitored the thing’s temperature. The AI would tell of him of the slightest change. Even so, the captain stepped up and gave the stone a quick touch. He did not feel any shock or connection with it. The stone also felt the same temperature as the last time he’d done this.

  One thing did happen, however. Womack’s eyes flew open as he examined Maddox.

  “You’re making a mistake,” Womack said, his breathing already under control.

  “You’ve had plenty of time to talk,” Maddox replied. “You only have yourself to thank for the treatment.”

  “I’m not an animal.”

  “Neither am I,” Maddox said.

  Womack appeared puzzled. “I never said you were an animal.”

  Maddox ignored that, as he added, “Neither were all those women animals, the ones you kidnapped during the Throne World invasion of “C” Quadrant.”

  “What do they have to do with anything?”

  “You kidnapped hundreds of thousands of young, Commonwealth women, taking them into the Beyond, no doubt to your breeding stations, forcing them to mate with you.”

  “Breeding with us is an honor.”

  “Is it?” Maddox said, unable to conceal his anger.

  From the table, Womack reexamined the captain. At first, the New Man appeared puzzled by the emotion. Then, understanding lit in his dark eyes. Finally, malice tinged with cunning ignited there.

  “Your so-called calm is actually emotional armor,” Womack said, much as a psychologist might. “It shields you from hard truths. This apparent disgust at our methods is a sham, a clear sham. I know why you need it—in order to hold on to a pristine sexual view of your mother.”

  Maddox’s eyes narrowed.

  Womack tested his manacles, finding them solid. He contemplated a moment before sneering at Maddox. “Before the mission, I was privy to your Intelligence file. It held interesting data, to be sure. I happened to notice an addendum, a file about your mother. It turns out she was something of a whore, enjoying the sexual congress at the breeding facility to an intense degree, begging for others to mount her so she could feel continued orgasms.”

  The words hit Maddox like repeated shocks in his brain. Finally, rage welled up in him, although he held himself perfectly still.

  Womack laughed harshly, no doubt noting the effect.

  The noise acted as a lash against Maddox, making him twitch. Still, another, utterly analytical part of him wondered about something else. If this New Man Intelligence file held an addendum about his mother, might there have been a second addendum about his unknown father?

  The analytical part in Maddox wondered how to tease such data from Womack. The emotional half assured him that if Womack lied about his mother, the New Man would also lie about his father.

  “It’s difficult to accept harsh realities,” Womack was saying, almost sounding conciliatory. “Hmm… Maybe this will help. Her file was color-coded. By the colors, I discovered that many of the old guard bred your mother because she strove so hard to please each one of them.”

  Maddox angrily stepped toward Womack as his rational half strove to master his rage. He even analyzed the words. Many of the old guard—that indicated Womack had no idea of their identities. The New Man merely knew that Maddox loved his mother and that taunts could irrationally prick him. As a Star Watch Intelligence officer, he recognized the ironclad logic of his analysis. As a son, he yearned to know his father’s—

  Maddox halted. What was Womack hoping to achieve by this? The New Man knew himself fatally trapped. Surely, Womack recognized the Builder stone as an alien device. Could the New Man desire a quick death in order to conceal any critical hidden knowledge he held?

  “In fact…” Womack said slyly.

  Like a strongman struggling to heft a heavy weight over his head, Maddox heaved it up with a final surge of willpower. He mastered his rage, locking it behind an icy resolve.

  The captain smiled coldly at Womack. As he did, the logic of the situation strengthened his resolve. That put a hint of superiority into his smile.

  Incredibly, that reversed the polarity of the psychological attack, acting like a slap to Tars Womack’s inner identity.

  “No!” the New Man said. “You’re inferior to me.”

  “Clearly that’s the case,” Maddox said. “Indeed, that’s why you’re my prisoner and not the other way around.”

  “Luck proves nothing,” Womack said.

  “Ah, proverbial luck,” Maddox said.

  Before the captain could continue, the hatch slid up and Ludendorff entered the chamber. The Methuselah Man cocked an eyebrow at the scene but continued to saunter toward the stone without speaking.

  The two armored marines had moved to the back wall, their motors purring as they maintained a careful watch over the bound New Man.

  Once reaching the stone, Ludendorff halted and turned to Maddox. “There’s a problem. How are you going to push his hand against the stone? He’s likely too strong for any of us except the marines with their armor. I’m not sure what will happen to a marine if he’s touching Womack’s skin while the New Man touches the stone.”

  “Problem solved,” Maddox said. “We’ll set the stone—you’ll set the stone on Womack’s bare stomach.”

  “It’s a heavy stone,” Ludendorff said.

  “Womack has powerful abs,” Maddox said, as he glanced at the New Man.

  “True,” Ludendorff said. “But is that really the reason for putting it on his stomach? Are you, in fact, indulging in cruelty?”

  “He spoke badly about my…” Maddox trailed off before he said more.

  Womack’s self-assurance had returned as he barked a harsh laugh. “If you must know, I spoke badly about his whorish mother. It wilts the brave captain to hear that I spit on her foul memory. If he were a real man, he would remove the insult by fighting me hand to hand.”

  “I see,” Ludendorff said. “This is my counsel, Captain. Ignore him.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Maddox said.

  “My boy—”

  “You know what was the most interesting thing of all?” Womack asked, interrupting. “The threesomes and even the foursomes—”

  The captain’s icy control vanished as he shouted, stepped forward, drawing a Draegar pistol and shoving the barrel against Womack’s forehead.

  The New Man’s eyes gleamed.

  Ludendorff opened his mouth, but said nothing. Slowly, he closed his mouth, waiting.

  Maddox’s gun hand shook as his trigger finger tightened. He understood what Womack was doing. He understood and yet he’d always hated what the arrogant supermen had done to his mother. The idea that she had gone to a breeding facility like millions of other women—

  At the last second, Maddox eased tension from the trigger. If he gave in to murderous rage, he would do so again, and again, and again. Soon, he would no longer be Captain Maddox, the best Intelligence officer in Star Watch. Yes. Emotions were imperative, doubly so if under the control of an iron will. As an unchecked source, wild emotions would lead him into a lifetime of increasing misery.

  As if at a firing range, Maddox holstered the Draegar palm-pistol.

  A deep red mark showed on Womack’s forehead. The New Man closed his eyes, perhaps uncertain at the end if he’d truly wanted to die.

  Maddox breathed deeply, silently counting to ten.

  “Let’s get started,” the captain said quietly.

  “You’re still sure about this?” asked Ludendorff.

  Maddox didn’t say a word, although he nodded.

  “Very well,” the professor said. “But be ready for highly unusual results. One can never be sure with a New Man.”

  -58-

  Ludendorff began the process much like before. He touched the polygonal Builder stone and felt the connection faster than ever. He had become tuned to the stone and his mind slid into the neural connections as if he did this every day.

  He rethought the captain’s suspicions of a day ago about the st
one holding a sleeping Builder intellect. With greater awareness, the professor studied the ancient object. He could well understand why the captain suspected such a thing, but Ludendorff soon saw that this couldn’t be the case here for several reasons. For one thing, there was nothing biological about the stone. For another, there weren’t even mechanical processes that imitated some of the processes the last Builders had used.

  That was a relief, as Ludendorff didn’t want a repeat of what had happened aboard Victory last voyage.

  Now, using the stone and understanding his own body better than ever, Ludendorff began an interior chemical process that gave him greater strength. With it, he hefted the stone with both hands. The rock was becoming warmer, but he still had a full half-minute before the stone began to cook his palms.

  “No!” Womack shouted from the table. “Don’t let it touch me. This is evil. You are evil. You helped make us. Why, then, are you doing this to me?”

  Ludendorff ignored the words, placing the stone beside the squirming New Man and pushing the rock against Womack’s bare right arm.

  The stone touched Womack’s skin. The New Man arched back and howled as he attempted to thrash away from the contact.

  Ludendorff understood the artifact so much better now. He mentally moved with lightning speed, as Womack’s superior brain neurons had already linked to the amazing Builder stone. The Methuselah Man froze the New Man, and he struck with his mind, probing Womack’s memories, striving to understand if the New Man knew what would be waiting for them at the nexus.

  After a moment of horror, Womack fought back like a savage beast trying to tear its leg free of a sprung trap. Ludendorff almost felt sympathy for him.

  Then, because the professor couldn’t help it, he probed the memories about what Womack had done to him at Tau Ceti and even earlier at the Bosk homeworld. The scenes flooded back with flickering speed. Womack had been in charge of the ‘Trick the Professor Operation.’ Ludendorff saw how Draegar 1, 2 and 3 had invaded and twisted his mind. Reliving the process through Womack’s memories angered Ludendorff. Seeing himself a prisoner, much as the New Man was a prisoner here—