“Thank you, my boy,” the professor said. The older man had put his hands behind his back, beginning to pace back and forth beside the separating glass. “I’m beginning to understand what happened.”
Maddox waited. If this was the real Ludendorff, and he had been here since shortly after their time in the Xerxes System—it was amazing the man hadn’t become stir-crazy. Maybe he had.
“There used to be more of us,” Ludendorff said. “I mean Strand, me and the other Methuselah Men. We’re old, much older than anyone suspects. The Builder modified us long ago, well before the Space Age.”
“Six thousand years ago?” Maddox asked.
Ludendorff stopped pacing to stare at him. “Good heavens, my boy, not nearly that old. I’m close to nine hundred years old. Six thousand—” Ludendorff shuddered.
“Strand is just as old as you?”
“Give or take a few years,” Ludendorff said.
“The Builders modified you, you say?”
Ludendorff sighed. “A single Builder did so. He was the last one. Once…” The professor shrugged. “The Dyson sphere is ancient, much older than the Adok starship. I believe the mass of Builders left long before that time.”
“When?”
“Around the time of the Swarm invasion of our region of space,” Ludendorff said.
The professor marched to his cot, sitting down. “The Builders are ancient as far as races go. I have no idea as to their origin. In some previous millennia, they fought a timeless war against the makers of the Destroyer. Those aliens came from somewhere other than our galaxy. I know little about them or the timeless war, but it drained the Builders, not physically but spiritually, I think. They turned the Destroyers back in the end, although they captured the one vessel and modified it.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea. I just know that after the timeless war the Builders changed in a fashion I haven’t been able to perceive. Most of them left. A few dabbled with their hobbies. I think that’s the best way to view it. The one here traveled around the Orion Arm. He was the last Builder in our region of space, a lonely individual with his own program of entertainment.”
“What was your task?”
“Eh?” Ludendorff asked.
“Why did the Builder modify you and Strand? What instructions did he give you?”
“We were conduits for data, giving reports at various intervals. I gave my last report around five hundred years ago. At first, we didn’t think much about it. The Builder often let us go our own way for years at a time. Then, it started to become suspicious. Strand and I decided the Builder must have died. But we’ve been cautious all these years just in case. The Builder had left us certain restrictions, you understand. One of them was to leave Builder artifacts alone. I do not believe it is happy with either of us.”
“So…for five hundred years the Builder has been doing what?” Maddox asked.
“Hibernating, I believe.”
“In the Dyson sphere?”
“That makes the most sense, yes.” Ludendorff exhaled in a drawn out fashion. “You have to understand, the Builder always used robots, androids and other cybernetic tools to advance its program. In this way, the one Builder could keep a stellar empire running for as long as its spirit lasted. In retrospect, I think the last Builder has grown weary. Many of the robots, androids and cybernetic toys may have shut down, only coming back online again with the Builder’s recent revival.”
Maddox tried to envision that. What he’d seen before with the silver drones in the Xerxes System when Victory had been chasing the Destroyer, and the strange thing trying to control the alien world-killer from the inside…
The captain looked up. “The Dyson sphere is like a haunted house?”
“Not exactly,” Ludendorff said. “The interior surface has its zoo exhibits.”
Maddox shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a zoo. When the saucer caught us, we saw endless kilometers of Swarm towers, dirt structures.”
“Really?” the professor said. “Tell me about it.”
“No,” a soft voice said in the air. “That is all for now.”
Maddox raised his eyebrows, studying the professor. The man looked surprised too. Ludendorff asked Maddox something. The professor’s mouth moved, but no words came through the speaker.
Maddox approached the glass. He shouted.
Ludendorff shook his head, indicating he couldn’t hear the words.
Maddox pounded on the glass.
The professor watched him for a moment. Then, the older man shrugged, went to his cot and lay down.
Maddox didn’t feel such resignation. “Who are you?” he asked into the air. “Are you the Builder? Why did you want me to come here? Why have you trapped me? What happened to my people?”
There was no answer.
A moment later, Ludendorff jumped up. He signaled Maddox frantically.
The captain nodded.
Ludendorff pointed along the edge of his cubicle.
Maddox walked to the edge of his, peering down a narrow hall between the next row of glass cages. A large Swarm creature approached in the narrow hall. It wore a harness with items hooked to the frame. The blue-colored creature stalked in a jerky manner like a giant praying mantis. It had mandibles and strange, outsized orbs like a mantis, and it had the size of a large cow.
The creature stopped before Maddox’s cubicle. With a stalk and pincer, it removed a device from its harness, clicking a button. The nearest glass wall slid into the floor. The Swarm creature re-hooked the device to its harness as it stepped into Maddox’s cage.
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A number of thoughts tumbled through Maddox’s mind. Was everything he had been learning a lie? Did the Swarm really control the Dyson sphere? That was a horrifying idea. But why would Swarm creatures attempt to trick him? There didn’t seem to be any useful reason. The only conclusion Maddox could see was that Swarm creatures had secretly learned to move through many areas of the sphere. In other words, this was a stealth attack.
The captain set himself in a close combat stance. There was nothing in the cubicle to aid him. He didn’t see how he could breach the creature’s exoskeleton. The praying mantis-like pincers looked deadly. Somehow, he had to keep the creature from cutting him in half or from holding him and nibbling off his face. Maybe his best bet would be a flying kick, breaking a leg joint. If he could cripple the monster, he might be able to squeeze past and run for it.
Maddox wiped an arm across his mouth. Maybe even better would be unhooking a few of those items from the harness. Maybe one of them was a weapon. But if that were true, wouldn’t the creature use a weapon against him?
Maddox made a face. The creature stank. Its exoskeleton glistened. Was that grease it had rubbed on or a natural secretion?
The thing shifted a little more into the cubicle.
Maddox flexed his fingers. Maybe it was foolish waiting for it to attack. He needed to take the fight to it. His inner revulsion against the creature troubled the captain. Until now, once he knew to do a thing, he could do it. Yet, he found himself reluctant to attack a monster he had little probability of defeating.
I need a weapon.
The creature brought a weapon to its mandibles, clicking it.
“Why do you caper and leer at me? Do you not possess a modicum of sanity?”
The robotic-sounding words shocked Maddox. He couldn’t comprehend their meaning for a moment. He flinched at the words, believing the attack had come through sound. Bit by bit, though, his mind grabbed onto the words and replayed them.
“Is…?” Maddox had to concentrate. It was hard ripping himself out of combat mode. He licked his lips, trying again. “Is that a communicator?”
The creature clicked the “weapon” again. “You have correctly analyzed the situation. You possess sanity. I congratulate you.”
Slowly, Maddox straightened. He forced his mind to work, to analyze as the creature said. Small discs were attached to its thorax. Ti
ny filament wires went from them to a box with rapidly moving lights. Did the creature “hear” his response through those?
“Who are you?” Maddox asked.
The thing moved up and down on its legs, hissing.
Maddox backed away until he bumped against glass.
The creature clicked the communicator. “You are not a controller to demand information from me. I resist your control attempt.”
“You tried to…control me,” Maddox said. “You asked about my mental state.”
“You are non-Swarm.”
“What does that mean? That I’m contemptible?”
“No, you are not contemptible because you do not rise to Swarm status. You lack Swarm status. Yet, you compete against the Swarm for precious resources. You are an enemy, an enemy—I shall eliminate.”
Maddox’s lips peeled back and his eyes flashed. His original assessment had been right.
The creature scuttled toward him.
With a shout, Maddox shoved off the glass. He charged the creature. It flicked a pincer at him. Maddox hurdled the slashing member, with his boot landing on the other side. Propelling himself faster, Maddox also reached out. He grabbed an item on the harness and ripped it free. He leaped as the big creature spun around on its spot in the cubicle. The thing slashed again, but Maddox wasn’t there. He rolled several summersaults, going past the spot where the glass wall had slid out of sight. He pressed the device on a likely spot.
The glass wall shot up into position, sealing the creature in the cubicle.
Maddox stood panting, staring at the angry creature. It struck the wall to no appreciable damage. It dawned on Maddox that his mind had known which device to grab. He had seen the creature open the cubicle and remembered in a hind-part of his mind which device it had used. Some might have called this lucky, but Maddox knew better.
Moving in front of the professor’s cubicle, Maddox asked what he should do.
The professor pointed at his ears, shaking his head.
Maddox pointed in either direction, shrugging exaggeratedly afterward.
Ludendorff shook his head, no doubt indicating he didn’t know the right way to go.
The captain glanced at the bug. It watched him avidly. He sauntered in front of it, finally waving.
The thing struck the glass so quickly that Maddox jumped back before he could reason that the glass protected him.
The captain gestured at the bug, giving it the finger. Then, he decided to go in the direction the bug had come, as that implied an exit.
Maddox walked down the narrow corridor of glass cages. Other creatures turned toward him, watching. Most of them were other forms of bugs. A few were the small humans. He waved at several. None of them ever waved back. Most of them looked upon him with amazement. He had no idea why.
Soon, the sameness of the endless cells caused Maddox to stop. Just how far did these cubicles go? He couldn’t see a limit.
He glanced at the device again. Had he really picked the right one? That seemed too coincidental. He aimed the device at an empty cage and pressed the switch.
Nothing happened.
He searched for a setting but couldn’t find one.
“Is this a game?” he said into the air. “Are you testing me?”
Nothing happened.
“I’m right,” Maddox said. “This is a test. My asking the question means I’ve solved another one.”
“Yes,” a soft voice said near his ear.
Maddox spun around, but no one was there.
“Are you testing my friends, too?” the captain asked.
“No.”
“No,” Maddox said. “I didn’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Originally, you wanted me to come alone. That means you wanted to see me specifically. Well. How about it? Let’s see each other.”
“Why did you attempt to open another cell?”
“To check if this device really closed mine earlier,” Maddox said.
“Why would you doubt it?”
“How was I able to choose the right device in a moment of high stress?”
“I have been asking myself that for some time. It was most remarkable. I should point out that Commander Thrax Ti Ix is even more upset over your superlative escape than you are.”
“I’m not upset.”
“A poor choice of word perhaps,” the soft voice said.
“You admit to making mistakes?” Maddox asked.
“All life-forms are capable of error. Or do you believe that you are immune from the rule?”
“I’m not immune.”
“Only the mythical being known as the Creator is immune from error.”
Maddox cocked his head. He wasn’t sure, but it sounded as if the soft voice held a hint of rancor just now. He filed that away for later.
“Tell me more about Commander Thrax Ti Ix,” the captain said.
“How is that germane to your present situation?”
“He’s not a true Swarm creature, is he?”
“What causes you to think he is Swarm at all?”
“He told me he’s a Swarm creature.”
“Yes?”
“And he looks like one,” Maddox added.
“And you feel that looks can be deceiving?”
“I’ve had enough androids turn on me already that I no longer trust looks at all,” the captain said.
“When you were aboard your starship outside the sphere, you did not believe the android speaking to you was Ludendorff, did you?”
“No,” Maddox said.
“What about the one in the cell?”
“He was real.”
“Are you sure?” the soft voice asked.
“One hundred percent,” Maddox said.
The voice did not speak.
“I’ve just passed yet another test,” Maddox said. “You’re beginning to become impressed with me in spite of everything.”
Again, the voice did not respond.
“You’re welcome,” Maddox said.
“I did not say ‘thank you.’”
“You didn’t need to. It was implied.”
“You are an arrogant creature.”
“Human, I’m human,” Maddox said. “That makes me the height of creation.”
“You believe in the Creator?”
Maddox had been right. The Builder—he was fairly sure he spoke to the lone Builder—had an issue with the Creator. Was this the right time to play that card? The captain couldn’t think of a better time.
“The Creator is self-evident,” Maddox said.
“Explain such a preposterous belief.”
Maddox nodded, deciding to goad the Builder further. If a being were old and bored, anything to alleviate the boredom would be welcome. That would be his operational logic for this.
“It’s a simple formula, really,” Maddox said, in an off-handed manner. “When I look at my rifle, I realize someone made it to perform a specific task. If I were to suggest that chance had fashioned my rifle, people would think I’m crazy. Now, take my eye, as an example. It is much more complicated than my rifle and also performs a specific task. It is more logical to believe my eye came about through design than believing random chance assembled me over time.”
“Therefore, what?” the voice asked.
“Therefore, humans, animals, plants work to a design, which implies a designer, one I choose to call the Creator.”
“Ah, you are so confident,” the voice said. “You have the advantage of ignorance. I, however, must wrestle with exceedingly great knowledge. My data and reasoning has expanded throughout the millennia. I know…so much, so very much.”
“Are you like my starship’s AI?”
“Insults will not aid you here, Captain.”
“I meant no insult,” Maddox said. “Instead, I seek data so I can make the most rational decision regarding you.”
The voice was silent.
“Does that trouble you?” Maddox said.
&nbs
p; “Your actions are transparent, hybrid.”
Maddox stiffened.
“Well, well, well,” the soft voice said. “It is true. The term ‘hybrid’ visibly displeases you. Perhaps that is part of your uniqueness. Yes. You have passed the tests, hybrid. I will bring you to me. Or should I say,” the voice murmured, sounding pleased with itself, “that Commander Thrax Ti Ix will escort you to the transfer tube.”
Maddox whirled around, seeing the praying mantis creature scuttling fast down the narrow hall toward him.
-43-
“I could have bested you,” Commander Thrax Ti Ix said through its communicator. “It would have saved us time and trouble. Now…go in the direction I show you.”
Maddox hesitated turning his back on the creature.
“Go,” said the soft voice in the air. “Or do you think I am trying to ambush you?”
“Why do you hate me, Commander?” Maddox asked the giant bug.
The creature began to quiver.
“Do not excite the commander,” the soft voice said. “Do not seek to interrogate it. The creature reacts badly to that for reasons of Swarm psychology.”
Maddox relented, heading in the direction the bug pointed. The trek took twenty minutes of solid walking. During it, the captain kept looking back. He could sense the bug’s hatred. That seemed like the right word for it. It was strange, but Maddox had never thought of an ant having emotions before this. Could Swarm creatures have emotions? If the commander was an example, he could easily envision it.
At last, Maddox went through a garage-door sized exit. He found himself in a huge hall. The commander pointed toward a platform. Maddox soon climbed up it, and so did the bug. A podium rose from the center of the platform. The commander tapped controls.
The platform rose as they floated through the giant hallway.
Soon enough, it landed beside a shimmering dome of light the size of a convenience store on Earth.
“If I ever see you again,” Thrax Ti Ix said, “I will tear you apart and squirt on your carcass.”
Maddox regarded the creature, which immediately began to quiver. He debated some parting words, but decided that until he had his gun, he would act in a cordial manner.
The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) Page 32
