On the screen, the enemy ray no longer melted outer armor. The deflector shield was no longer black, either. It had turned back to a brown color, with the three hellish beams trying to batter it back down.
“In a few more minutes we’ll be in range,” the holoimage whispered.
With pent up frustration, Maddox struck a panel. The alien shield was obviously better than anything the Commonwealth of Planets had. With even that improved technology, the lost vessel would immeasurably help the Star Watch against the New Men. How could he get the starship home was the question.
With their heavy laser beams, Star Watch battleships could have already been hammering the enemy. This short-range alien neutron weapon— Maddox sat up, blinking rapidly. How daft do I have to be? The AI spoke about a star drive. He doesn’t mean wormholes either. Could the aliens have discovered a different way to go faster than light?
An explosion shook the room. The motion threw Maddox out of his seat to sprawl onto the deck. He looked up from his spot.
“Did the antimatter engines blow up?” he asked.
“This is incredible,” the holoimage whispered. “One of the neutron chargers exploded. I’ve taken interior damage. The shield—”
Maddox scrambled to his feet, rushing to the screen. On it, he witnessed three savage beams digging into the vessel’s hull armor. Victory’s deflector shield had disappeared. Pieces of starship melted away in great globular clumps.
“Do something!” Maddox shouted.
“Yes, I will attack now,” the holoimage said. “In dying, I will strike a fearful blow.”
A supercharged purple beam lanced out of the starship. It struck the nearest star cruiser. The alien beam boiled against the enemy screen. First, the shield turned red, then brown and then black. Afterward, the neutron beam speared against the cruiser.
“Yes!” Maddox shouted. “Yes. Yes.”
Star cruiser armor blew apart as the neutron beam dug into the enemy vessel. This was fantastic. The New Men weren’t invincible after all.
“I must attempt the hyper-drive,” the holoimage said. “Otherwise, the enemy will annihilate the greatest starship in history.”
For a terrible moment, intense vertigo overcame Maddox. His eyesight failed him. He heard roaring sounds. It felt as if he left his body and exotic colors swirled around him. Then everything became quiet. It felt as if he floated in space. The next second, the roaring in his ears and a brilliant flash caused his senses to overload. He felt himself thrashing on the deck and shouting incoherently. Then, every color seemed to fly inward toward him—and normalcy returned to the bridge. It left Maddox blinking and panting on the floor. With strangely rusted muscles, he turned to the holoimage.
“What happened?”
The holoimage had frozen. It said nothing.
Painfully, Maddox climbed to his feet and checked his screen. No beams burned into Victory. He saw the void with its distant stars, and something seemed very wrong. He frowned, trying to figure out what the something was. Then he realized that he no longer saw the red giant.
What does that mean?
Ah, Maddox noticed that he still saw the red nimbus. They were still in the alien star system. Yes, he noticed several wrecks. Yet the red light seemed to come from the wrong direction, from the opposite direction as before.
“It worked,” the holoimage said.
The captain whirled around. The thing was hardly visible, but it moved. “What worked?” Maddox asked.
“The hyper-drive was a success,” the holoimage said, “although extremely limited in range.”
“We jumped?”
“I suppose that is the correct way to describe it,” the holoimage whispered. “We were there, and now we’re here on the other side of the star. The others are hunting for us with their sensors. If they move to a new position so we’re no longer hidden by the star, they will no doubt find us soon enough.”
“Hyper-drive,” Maddox said. “You can jump without having to use a wormhole. Why, this is fantastic.”
“Why do you say so?” the holoimage asked.
“You can escape the New Men. Let’s go. Let’s jump to a different star system right now.”
“No,” the holoimage said. “You are incorrect in your assessment for several reasons. Firstly, I will not abandon my home system to these primitive invaders. Secondly, the hyper-drive was badly damaged in its limited use just now. Remember, I said it was experimental in nature. The star drive has become inoperative. Instead, I will use my last robot to effect what repairs I can to ship damage. Then I shall finish the fight with these arrogant whelps.”
“I hate to say this,” Maddox said, “but I don’t think you can defeat the three star cruisers with the weaponry you have at hand.”
“Perhaps not,” the holoimage admitted. “But I cannot conceive of a better way to cease existence than fighting for what I love.”
“But—” Maddox said.
“Prepare for the final encounter, Captain. Victory is heading back toward the star, seeing if we cannot surprise the enemy.”
-36-
Maddox took several steps toward the holoimage and stiffened into parade ground attention. He snapped off the best salute of his life.
“What is the meaning of your action?” the holoimage asked.
“I formally request permission to offer my full services to you, sir,” Maddox said. “Not only that, but I will give you the complete use of my trained technical team to help with ship repairs.”
“Please, Captain, it is obvious that you indulge in theatrics.”
“Not so,” Maddox said. “I hate my enemy as much as you must have hated the Swarm.”
“You mean me as the once physical commander, I take it,” the holoimage said.
“Exactly.”
“Yes. I do dimly recall an emotional aspect to the conflict. It was both upsetting and pleasing.”
“Then you must understand that I will do anything I can to destroy the New Men.”
“Why, yes. I do understand. Hmm, a technical team, you said.”
“You probed my brain,” Maddox said. “You know that I have an excellent engineer in Meta of the Rouen Colony. Not only that, but I have the full use of Doctor Dana Rich. She is a genius and can do anything required of her.”
“I seem to recall you had trouble with Doctor Rich.”
“You’re right, of course,” Maddox said. “I did have trouble. Now, she has sworn a Star Watch oath. She will do exactly as I command. Since our desires are the same—to inflict as much damage as we can against the New Men—let me return to my team. Through me, you can tell us what to do. We will repair more of the starship than your robot could do on its own. That will allow you to give a better account of yourself.”
“I am heading straight for the enemy, Captain. We won’t have time for such repairs.”
“Then I suggest you take the time,” Maddox said. “You’ve waited six thousand years. What are a few more hours in order to achieve lasting glory?”
“You fail to perceive my goal. I am attempting a death ride, oblivion in the most honorable fashion possible.”
“Honor demands we destroy as many of them as we can,” Maddox said.
The holoimage froze.
Maddox waited. A desperate gamble had formed in his mind. First, he needed to get back to the others. Could he trick the AI? It struck him as doubtful. Yet, if he could…what bag of marvels did the ancient starship possess? It hadn’t surprised him that the ship was in a state of disrepair or that many of its weapons systems buckled under the strain of battle. If they could escape the star system and return to Earth…
The holoimage moved. “There,” it said, pointing a barely visible arm. “Go through that door until you come to a red-marked hatch. Your team waits by the AI receptacle.”
Maddox noticed a new hatch where a bank of machinery had been. Had the AI been hiding the exit with a holoimage? Whatever the case, for his plan to work, he needed to buy time.
“You must give us a few hours to help your robot repair failed systems,” the captain said.
“It seems senseless. The New Men are busy searching for us even now. Yet, maybe you can clear out the damage in my neutron charger. I will give you one hour. Then, I will attack from over the star’s top. It is my best chance of gaining nearness to them so I can rake them with the full power of my beams.”
“Since we are under combat conditions, I will hurry,” Maddox said.
“Go,” the holoimage said. “Time is critical.”
Maddox couldn’t agree more. Lowering his head, he sprinted for the exit.
***
Lieutenant Noonan picked herself off the decking. They had huddled around the open screen, listening to the dialogue between Maddox and someone they couldn’t hear.
Sergeant Riker had suggested the captain had taken leave of his senses. Dana had told him not to be ridiculous. If Captain Maddox had gone crazy, how had he figured out where the bridge was and how to use the ship’s systems?
With great interest, Doctor Rich had listened to Maddox’s one-sided conversation. As Dana groaned from the floor, holding her head, she sat up.
“What happened?” Meta asked.
“We’re still alive,” Dana said. “The engines don’t sound as strained now. The decking isn’t shivering, as it was earlier, either. I think there’s been a pause in the battle.”
“Listen,” Valerie said. “No sounds are coming out of the screen.”
Just then, something unseen opened. Valerie perked up, hearing panted breathing. The ancient starship frightened her. The halls of alien dead, of entwined corpses, intensified the feeling until dread had come to fill her.
“Someone’s coming,” Valerie whispered. She checked her assault rifle. Capture was out of the question. She didn’t want to end her life on a torture pad as Dana almost had on the shuttle. Planning to sell her life as dearly as possible, Valerie aimed down the corridor and was the first to see Captain Maddox. The man sprinted without his vacc-suit and his eyes looked wild.
“Don’t shoot!” Dana shouted.
Valerie lowered her weapon. She could see Maddox had been through hell. Well, they all had. Maybe they looked as unsteady to him as he did to her.
He stopped before them with sweat glistening on his face. “Listen carefully,” Maddox panted. “We have one chance to do this, so there’re can’t be any mistakes.”
“Do what?” Dana asked.
“Gather round,” Maddox said. “This is going to sound crazy, but it’s all true.”
He told them what he’d been doing. It did sound insane. It also made sense. Valerie couldn’t see how Maddox could have figured out how to use the alien vessel otherwise.
“It seems to have figured out a way to talk to you by reading your mind’s electrical pathways,” Dana said.
“Whatever,” Maddox whispered. “The point is the AI has a death wish. Maybe that has fixated its thinking. We have to…” the captain didn’t finish his thought, but he gave them a long, meaningful glance.
“I understand,” Dana said, with her eyes wide and staring.
Valerie figured that maybe she did too. Clearly, they had to hijack the starship from the AI. But they couldn’t do it too soon, or the New Men’s star cruisers would destroy Victory.
“Does that make sense?” Maddox asked.
“It does,” Dana said.
“I have to go back and talk the AI into a jump attack,” Maddox said. “That means we have to repair the neutron charger and the star drive.”
“How much time do we have?” Dana asked.
“He said one hour.”
“You do know that what you suggest is impossible for us to accomplish?” Dana said.
“I don’t know anything of the kind,” the captain said. “We’re rolling the dice for everything and looking for snake eyes. Now, let’s go to work.”
Valerie saw the doctor and Meta stare with disbelief at the captain. That wasn’t going to help. “Yes, sir,” Valerie said. “We’re going to do our best or die trying, Captain.”
Maddox grinned at her. “The Lord High Admiral picked the right navigator when he sent you, Lieutenant. It has been my distinct pleasure serving with you.”
Valerie saluted. “The pleasure has been all mine, sir.” She stepped up and thrust out her hand. He gripped it, shaking.
Then, Captain Maddox solemnly shook each of their hands. “If I don’t see you again—” He looked down, staring at the floor. Looking back up, his smile seemed forced. “Humanity doesn’t know it, but they’re counting on us. I’ve seen what this starship can do. With it, the Commonwealth has a chance. Star Watch might well defend our homes and go on to attack the New Men and end their menace forever. First, though, we have to win here. I know each of you will do your best, and then go beyond that to do what must be done for victory.” He took a deep breath before adding, “Speechmaking time is over. Now, it’s time for action.”
With that, Captain Maddox spun around and walked away. After three steps, he lowered his head and took off sprinting.
Valerie felt a lump in her throat. She nodded to herself. This hour was why she’d pushed through her suffering in Greater Detroit to win a spot in the Space Academy. This moment was why she’d climbed into the escape pod and survived the New Men when all her comrades had died in battle in the Pan System.
A robot on treads wheeled into sight. It was an ugly thing and stopped short. With a mechanical tentacle, it beckoned them.
Valerie swallowed and turned to the others. “We have a job to do. Doctor. You’d better use your intellect for all it’s worth. Our lives and the lives of humanity back home are resting on it.”
Dana stared at her. “No pressure, Lieutenant?”
“Wrong,” Valerie said. “All the pressure in the galaxy is on you now. I’m wondering if you have what it takes to surmount it.”
Doctor Rich’s eyes seemed to burn for a moment. Then she nodded, beginning to head for the robot. “We shall shortly find out,” Dana said.
-37-
Captain Maddox reentered the bridge. The holoimage had vanished. With a shrug, Maddox went to his former station and studied the screen. The red giant looked bigger. That meant the ship continued to head toward it.
A crackle of sound caused Maddox to turn. The holoimage solidified into existence. It still looked hazy and indistinct although it maintained a humanoid shape. Maddox wondered what the aliens had looked like. Did they have tentacles or had they been manlike?
“I am disappointed with you, Captain,” the holoimage said.
Maddox kept his features even. He wondered if the AI measured his heart rate and other telltale signs. The captain had training in that area, having used biofeedback to keep himself calmer than others could do in these situations.
“I ran back here as fast as I could,” Maddox said.
“Do not try your subterfuge tactics on me. I have already implied that I know about your plan.”
“Could you be more specific?” Maddox asked.
“I don’t need to be.”
“I agree that this is your ship,” Maddox said. “We are guests here, beholden to you. We will follow whatever rules you decide to enforce.”
“You are quibbling,” the holoimage said. “Stop it at once.”
“If I have offended you, I am sorry.”
“Captain,” the holoimage warned.
Maddox decided to wait.
“You huddled together with your crewmembers,” the holoimage finally said. “You whispered so my sensors couldn’t pick up what you told your people. My probability factors indicate you plotted munity against me.”
“Ah,” Maddox said, acting as if he was relieved. “I realize now what happened. There’s been a terrible misunderstanding. I whispered because…”
“Yes. You did so why?”
“It’s rather embarrassing to tell you in particular,” Maddox said, hanging his head.
“This isn’t the time fo
r your games, Captain. Speak to me at once. Admit that you’re plotting against me.”
“It’s not what you think. You see, I’ve had difficulty with my crew. At times, they’ve flouted my authority. This is my first stint in a warship as a captain. Surely, you recall my troubles with them. Your mind probe earlier should have picked that up.”
“Yes,” the holoimage admitted. “I do recall something of the sort.”
“What adds to my embarrassment is that you’re the greatest starship commander in history. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“I do indeed,” the holoimage said.
“You’re making this hard for me.” Maddox looked stricken as he blurted, “Don’t you realize I wish to look good in your presence? This is my final battle, my reason for existence. I can help humanity by doing as much damage to the antilife New Men as I can. That means my crew needs to excel. I don’t want them to embarrass me in front of you.”
The holoimage froze. When it moved again, it said, “You may not believe this, but I had not considered that.”
“Then let me tell you again,” Maddox said, “I feel awful if my whispering has offended you. Ever since learning who you are, I’ve strained to impress you.”
“Interesting,” the holoimage said. “Perhaps I’ve misjudged your species. You have more refinement than I believed you capable of having. You can recognize greatness in others. Even among my people, that was a rare quality.”
“Please, Commander, let my crew aid you in repairing the starship. We can help fix the neutron charger, any shield generator and star drive damage, and AI memory cores as you would like.”
“Memory cores?” the holoimage asked, sounding suspicious again. “Why there?”
“I’ve begun to suspect you might be missing some of your tactical programs.”
“How dare you say that?” the holoimage said. “What possibility makes you pronounce such a baseless thing?”
“Why, logical deduction proves this must be the case. You are the greatest starship commander in history. That is the first given. Yet the cruisers managed to inflict damage onto Victory. What’s even worse is that I suspect they hurt you more than you hurt them. The only conceivable reason for this is that your AI has fallen below its optimum operating levels.”
The Lost Starship Page 33
