“Of course,” the AI said. “My analyzer gives it an eighty-six percent probability of being a hyper-spatial tube.”
“Eighty-six percent?” Maddox asked.
“Eighty-six point three two eight percent to be precise,” Galyan said.
“Yes, one must strive for precision,” Maddox said.
“Are you ribbing me, sir?”
“He is,” Riker said, “although the captain would never admit it.”
“If that was a hyper-spatial tube,” Maddox said, “would that imply Commander Thrax employed it?”
“I believe so,” Galyan said. “It was impossible to tell, but my sensors combined with logic imply the starting point was from inside the sphere. That means an unknown number of Swarm-run vessels escaped. Do you have any idea where the tube went?”
Fear boiled up in Maddox. “Thrax Ti Ix went to Earth.”
“The tube was pointed in the wrong direction to reach Earth,” Galyan said.
“What direction did it go?”
“Toward the center of the galaxy,” Galyan said.
“Ah,” the captain said. “Yes, the commander went one thousand light-years or more. The Builder told me earlier it was going to give Thrax passage back to the Swarm Empire.”
“That sounds ominous,” Galyan said.
“For the future, it does,” Maddox said. “We have no idea how far the Swarm Empire is from us at present.”
“My records indicate the Swarm never discovered wormholes. Will Commander Thrax bring them this technology?”
“I’d say that’s a near certainty,” Maddox said.
“This is grave news,” Galyan said. “My long vigil in my star system may have been in vain.”
“Hardly that, Galyan,” Maddox said. “Because of you we have advanced warning of a coming peril.”
“Thank you for your kind words, Captain.”
Several beeps sounded from a nearby board.
“Oh-oh,” Riker said. “That’s going to bring Meta. She’s going to give you another injection, sir. Your body is working overtime, building new skin tissue. You’re going back to sleep for a while.”
Maddox nodded. “You never did tell me. What are we traveling toward?”
“I did say,” Riker told him. “It’s a beacon, a large one shaped like a silver pyramid.”
“Where is it?”
“At the end of this star system,” Riker said. “It was cloaked before. Valerie found it soon after the Dyson sphere’s destruction. Galyan figures something on the sphere kept the cloak in place. Once the Builder died, the cloak stopped working on the pyramid.”
“A silver pyramid,” Maddox said. “Does that mean we might be able to find a hyper-spatial tube after all?”
“We’re all hoping, sir.”
The hatch slid open and Meta walked in. “Everyone out,” she said. “I have a patient that needs tending. The rest of you are just going to be in the way.”
Galyan disappeared, while Riker winked at the captain. Then, the sergeant sauntered out, whistling an old tune between his teeth.
***
Because of his increased metabolism, Maddox healed faster than the professor did. The captain was up in time for Lady Shana’s funeral. It was a moving affair, and it helped cement the Kai-Kaus to Maddox even more than before.
The next two days flashed by in hard work as the Kai-Kaus repaired the damage to Victory and tried to settle into a normal routine aboard the starship. The Adok vessel matched velocities with the port admiral’s slowest ship, which was slow indeed.
Maddox decided there was one positive to the destruction of Galyan’s AI core chamber. If Ludendorff had practiced any deviousness there, the annihilation of the core chamber had trumped it.
After a journey of many days across the system, the flotilla of Star Watch vessels began to brake.
Maddox was on the bridge in his chair. It was the first time since the core explosion that he could wear clothes without discomfort. Galyan had zoomed in on the silver pyramid, putting it onto the main screen at maximum magnification.
“Is there any noticeable difference to this Nexus compared to the one in the Xerxes System?” the captain asked.
“None that I have been able to decipher,” Galyan said.
Maddox tapped his chin before glancing at the others. “Any suggestions?” he asked.
“What’s the mechanism for turning on a hyper-spatial tube?” Valerie asked.
“Exactly,” Maddox said. “I have no idea.”
“We’re back to Meta’s memory of her time with Kane,” Valerie said. “They went inside the Xerxes Nexus, but they didn’t use a hyper-spatial tube. It could take a long time to figure this out.”
Maddox nodded.
“And the longer we take,” Valerie said, “the more damage the Builder’s android doubles could be doing back on Earth.”
“Yes,” Maddox said.
“What does the professor suggest we do?”
Maddox shook his head. He’d spoken a little to Ludendorff about hyper-spatial tubes. The professor had finally begun to recover from his injuries. Unfortunately, the Methuselah Man was still too tired to talk for long. Maddox wondered if the professor could be faking his tiredness. He didn’t like the possibility. After everything they had been through, he wanted to be able to trust the man. With an inward sigh, the captain realized he’d have to continue keeping an eye on Ludendorff.
“Until recently, the professor hasn’t known about the Dyson sphere or hyper-spatial tubes,” Maddox said. “He told me we’re back to being primates before a black monolith, baffled by technological mysteries beyond our understanding.”
“Sir?” Valerie asked.
“I didn’t understand the reference, either,” Maddox admitted. “We’re going to need the best Kai-Kaus minds, the professor’s insights—”
“Captain,” Galyan said. “I am detecting a silver whirlpool. It is similar to what we detected by the Xerxes System Nexus. Do you suppose the Builder programmed the pyramid to activate a hyper-spatial tube at our approach?”
“That strikes me as the most sensible explanation.”
The vast sense of relief at seeing the silver whirlpool surprised Maddox. The reality of being stranded one thousand light-years from the Xerxes System had tightened in him for so long that he had no longer been consciously aware of it. With its release—
Valerie laughed with glee.
Keith shouted, pumping a fist in the air.
“We’re going home,” Maddox declared.
“Yes, sir, mate, Captain, sir,” Keith said as he laughed.
“I have a question,” Galyan said.
“What?” Maddox said with a smile.
“How do we know that this hyper-spatial tube will actually take us to Earth?” the AI asked.
Maddox blinked at the holoimage as some of the good feeling evaporated. “Is it pointed in Earth’s direction?”
“Affirmative,” Galyan said.
Maddox nodded decisively. “Well. We’ll use the Laumer Drive and enter the tube, hoping for the best—unless you have a better idea.”
“I am sorry to say I do not.”
“Right,” Maddox said. “It’s time to tell the others and get ready for the voyage home.”
-50-
Dr. Dana Rich’s eyes flew open. She shivered a second later, realizing she was cold. She also happened to be quite nude.
With agonizing slowness, she brought up her hands and pressed them against a clear substance. That did not immediately compute in her thoughts. She felt around, pressing her palms and fingertips against chilly glass. Glass…she looked around, absorbing what she saw.
I’m inside a glass tube.
How had she come to be here? How—
Dana’s eyes widened. She realized that not only was she standing up in a tube but that hundreds of others stood in their own glass tubes. There were rows of tubes, each of them with a naked occupant.
She recognized people from the Atlantis
Project. And was that Brigadier O’Hara? How had the Iron Lady managed to find herself in a tube?
Dana groaned. The big old man in the end tube in the third row appeared to be the Lord High Admiral of Star Watch. If he was in a tube…who ran the war effort against the New Men? Who ran Star Watch? What had happened to the Earth?
A hatch opened and a woman in a strange uniform stepped into the chamber. The woman wore a military-style hat and frowned as she studied them.
At that moment, Dana’s tube began to rise. It did not take the doctor with the glass, but freed her from confinement.
“You must stay where you are,” the uniformed woman said. “There has been a malfunction. We are going to fix it in the next hour or two.”
“Who are you?” Dana called out. “What happened to us?”
“Those questions are immaterial during the emergency,” the uniformed woman said. She forced a smile. “You are under treatment for your own good. Remain in place, I implore you, and everything will be fine.”
Dana took several steps out of a small circle, doing the exact opposite as the woman suggested.
The uniformed woman drew a stunner from a holster. “Dr. Rich, you must obey me. As I have said, this is for your own good. We do not wish for you to be damaged in any way.”
Dana was confused. The last thing she remembered…was exiting a submersible that had brought her to an incredible find at the bottom of the ocean. Yes, a deep, underwater pyramid—
Wait. Damaged? The woman had said they did not wish for her to become damaged. Who talked like that?
“Why am I a prisoner?” Dana said, loudly.
At that moment, other tubes began to rise.
“Stay where you are,” the uniformed woman said. “The equipment will come back online in moments. This is an emergency. We ask you to bear with us and stay in your circles.”
“Who do you mean by us?” Dana called. “Who are you?”
“Never mind, Doctor,” the woman said. “This is your last warning.”
Dana hadn’t forgotten the skills she’d learned during her prison sentence on Loki Prime. Before that, the Brahman Secret Service had given her field training. She didn’t have Meta’s strength, but she was formidable just the same.
Dana began to back up, putting distance between the stunner and her.
“What are you doing, Doctor?” the uniformed woman called.
“Maybe I can find an emergency outlet,” Dana said. “I’d like to help.”
“No. You are sick. We are treating you, all of you. This is for the best.”
“Thank you most profoundly,” Dana said. “I feel so much better already.”
“Stay where you are,” the woman said. “This is your final warning.”
“Charge her!” the Lord High Admiral said. “She can’t shoot all of us.” So saying, the naked old man began to run at the armed woman, his fleet slapping against cold tiles.
“I don’t want to do this,” the woman said, raising her stunner. “Don’t force me to fire. You are an old man and cannot sustain stun damage.”
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to be a tame prisoner,” Cook shouted in a deep voice. “Come on, people! You may be naked, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight. Charge with me. Charge!”
A few others rallied to the old man’s poignant cry, among them the gray-haired Iron Lady.
The uniformed woman pressed the stunner button. A blot of force ejected, striking the Lord High Admiral on the chest, knocking him unconscious onto the floor. She re-targeted, knocking another down.
Dana sprinted to the back of the chamber. She might have felt foolish running naked, but she was too determined. She saw a pile of clothing back here. Maybe someone had forgotten them.
The stunner kept discharging, dropping people, and the others wavered. Only a few had charged. Then, the Iron Lady went down too.
“I will show no mercy,” the uniformed woman shouted. “I will hurt you unless you submit.”
The people in front came to a stop. Those behind bumped up against them, and then they all stopped. Soon, everyone waited sheepishly, staring at the uniformed woman with the stunner.
At that point, another uniformed person entered the large chamber. He was a lean man with angular features, and he, too, drew a stunner.
“You must go back to your circled spots,” the man said.
Dana knelt by the articles of clothing. She looked up sharply, recognizing the voice and face of Captain Maddox. What was he doing down here in the Atlantis Project? Why would he help those who stunned the Lord High Admiral and Brigadier O’Hara?
Obviously, one of the others wondered the same thing. “I recognize you, Captain Maddox,” he spoke up. “Why are you keeping us prisoner?”
Maddox appeared to think about that. Finally, he nodded. “Do you believe you’re Major Stokes?”
“I am Major Stokes,” the naked man said.
“No. You’re an android.”
“What?” Stokes said.
Maddox regarded the naked throng. “Listen. This is a terrible joke, a prank, call it what you will. The Builder is responsible for it. He activated this pyramid under the sea some time ago. It was constructed in the distant past. Why it came on now, I don’t know. What it did, however, was begin a duplication process. The real people you were modeled after were captured and duplicated. Fortunately, Star Watch Intelligence with Spacer help broke the conspiracy. You are all androids who think you are real people. We’re trying to decide what to do with you. Unfortunately, we can’t just let you go free or you would create chaos.”
“Why do I feel as if I’m the real Major Stokes?”
“Because Builder technology is the best,” Maddox said. “You are proof of that. The Builder desired androids that truly believed they were alive.”
Dana rummaged through the clothing. Her heart beat quicker as she saw a black-matted gun. She picked it up. It was a revolver. Opening the cylinder, she saw that it had all six bullets.
“I see you crouching back there Dana,” Maddox shouted. “Come, join the others.”
Dana stood, canting to the side. She let her arms hang, holding the revolver against her thigh. She moved toward the throng, making sure her body blocked the weapon from the captain’s sight.
“Will the Lord High Admiral be well?” Dana shouted.
Maddox glanced at the downed Cook.
Dana walked faster. She had to get closer. She wasn’t a crack shot like the captain. He was uncanny in fighting skills, almost as good as a full-blooded New Man.
“Why do we feel shame at being naked if we’re androids?” Stokes asked.
That was a good question, Dana realized.
“I have already answered your question,” Maddox said. “You have all the attributes of a real person.”
“Wouldn’t that make us real then?” Stokes asked.
“That is a theological question,” Maddox said. “I am not skilled on the topic.”
Dana’s heart flared with certainty then. The real Captain Maddox would not have admitted to such a humble attitude. That thing was an android pretending the real people were the androids.
“You’re not skilled in theology?” Dana asked.
“I have said as much,” Maddox told her.
“What else are unskilled in?” she asked.
Stokes looked at her sharply. She gave him the barest of nods.
“What are you hoping to achieve, Doctor?” Maddox asked.
“You don’t seem like Captain Maddox,” Dana said.
The captain laughed. “That is because of faulty wiring in you. The others here do not perceive any fault in me.”
“I do,” Stokes said.
“I am Captain Maddox. I am real. I live, I breathe, I eat, I think—”
“Enough,” the uniformed woman beside him said. “You will not convince them in that manner.”
Maddox looked at her. “I am real,” he said.
“You appear to be malfunctioning,” she sai
d. “You will take yourself to the replicator for repair.”
The people glanced at one another.
“No!” Maddox said. “Your words—they indicate I am an android.”
“Does it matter?” the uniformed woman said.
“Yes! I am real. I breathe, I eat, I—”
A single shot rang out. The high velocity bullet cracked against Captain Maddox’s skull, knocking the android against the bulkhead.
“Grab the stunners!” Dana shouted. “Go! Get them!”
The people looked back at her.
Dana stood in a shooter’s stance, with her right foot forward, the revolver held with both hands.
The uniformed woman stared at the knocked down Maddox and then at Dana. She brought up her stunner.
Another shot rang out, hitting the uniformed woman in the head. Like the first shot, this one hurled the targeted android against the wall.
With a roar of desperation, the crowd of people surged forward, with Major Stokes in the lead. Behind them, Dana ran to catch up. If she had to, she was going to put a bullet through each android’s eye, finishing the wardens who had kept them on ice for who knew how long.
***
Despite the circuits, coils and showering sparks, Dana felt soiled murdering the two androids. She had shot each again because they had refused to stop struggling.
Now, their group had two stunners and Dana had two bullets left.
“Ready?” Dana asked. She wore the female android’s panties, various articles of clothing going to different people.
“Let’s do this,” Stokes said, one of the men helping a disoriented Lord High Admiral onto his feet.
Dana eased open the hatch to chaos. Several androids—she assumed they were androids—ran through a vast chamber, clutching multicolored boxes against their bodies.
The boxes must be important, but why—
Dana wrinkled her nose. That was an electrical fire, she smelled. Yes, she could hear crackling flames. In the distance, something exploded.
Someone in the group screamed.
A man in back roared, “We have to get out of here.”
Dana shut the hatch and whirled around. “We have to keep our heads. Remember, people, we’re on the ocean floor. If you panic down here, we’re dead.”
The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) Page 37
