The Lost Swarm

by Vaughn Heppner

  “Are you listening to me, mate?” Keith asked, putting a hand on one of Riker’s wrists.

  “The other one,” Riker said.

  “Eh?” asked Keith.

  “You have a hand on my bionic wrist. I don’t really feel it.”

  Keith withdrew his hand. “Never mind. You’re an old fart. Appealing to your emotions isn’t going to work on you.”

  “You’re right,” Riker said. “I am old, and I’m not a dang fool like you. I expect you’re going to tell me that the two of us should hijack the darter and go see the Swarm ourselves.”

  “Not exactly,” Keith muttered. “We would take Valerie with us as well. She would be the commanding officer. She would run the operation.”

  “And you’ve cleared this with her?”

  Keith stared the old sergeant in the eyes. “I have, mate. It’s her idea.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  “It’s the truth,” Keith almost shouted.

  “Keep your voice down,” Riker said, looking around. He eyed the brash pilot. “The captain would never agree to this.”

  Keith drank his cup dry. Then he hunched his shoulders and stared at old Riker. “How many times has Maddox pulled us out of a fire?”

  “Plenty,” Riker said uncomfortably.

  “That’s right,” Keith said. “It’s about time we did something for him. You saw him in the conference chamber. He’s beat. He needs a breather.”

  “How do you think getting yourself killed is going to make him feel?”

  “We’ll do it. I’m the best. You’re good with a gun, and Valerie was the only one to survive the New Men long ago. She’s learned tons from Maddox. This is her time to shine.”

  “She’s done fantastically many times already,” Riker said. “She doesn’t need to do this to prove anything.”

  Keith shook his head. “She’s going. I’m going. The only question is are you going to help us?”

  “I’m not a damned fool.”

  “That’s not an answer. Maddox is exhausted. We can all see that. And we need the intelligence on Thrax and his ships. We should just go out and get it done.”

  “Does Valerie have the Swarm system coordinates?”

  “Galyan has them,” Keith said. “You’d have to get them from him.”

  “And you think Galyan will tell me?”

  “You or Meta,” Keith said. “I don’t think Meta will agree to this like you will, so I’m asking you first.”

  Riker nodded. “I so appreciate that. You think I’m the dumb one. You’re right. Meta is too smart to fall for this lame idea.”

  “Enough with the insults already,” Keith said. “Are you in or out?”

  Riker studied the brash young pilot. Valerie and Keith together with him in the small darter… It would be spacious with just three people. Keith could pilot, Valerie was an excellent space tactician. After the captain, he was the best with a gun and knew enough about Intelligence work—

  “You would need an engineer in case we got in trouble,” Riker said.

  “Nope,” Keith said. “There’s not going to be any trouble. We go out there, look around and dart back. By that time, Victory is fixed and we can dash home.”

  “You make it sound simple.”

  “It is,” Keith said, “as long as we do it right.”

  “There’s the kicker every time.” Riker eyed the pilot. “I have one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “You’re single, Valerie is single. You will both sleep in separate compartments and you will not lie with her as a man likes to do with a beautiful woman.”

  “What the…?” Keith said. “What century do you think this is, mate?”

  “I don’t care. I know what’s right and what’s wrong. I’m not going to be party to fornication. That will lower our odds for survival.”

  “Why,” Keith said sarcastically, “because God will punish us?”

  “He might,” Riker said. “And I might wonder if you’re just bringing Valerie along to get her in bed, which proves your judgment is clouded. But if you want a Star Watch reason, it’s unprofessional. It’ll take your minds off a tough mission. This is going to be done professionally or not at all.”

  “If you don’t want to go, just say no.”

  “If you want to sleep with the lieutenant, marry her like I once told you to do.”

  “I don’t like people lecturing me about things that aren’t their damned business.”

  Riker shrugged. He’d hit a nerve. He was tired of saying nothing when a man should say something. He was the old man, the reliable man. If he couldn’t use that, well—

  “Fine,” Keith muttered. “It’s a lousy request—”

  “Do you mean it?”

  “I said yes, didn’t I?”

  “I don’t like my friends to lie when they give me their word,” Riker said.

  Keith looked away. “What are you going to do if I do it anyway?”

  “Stare you in the eye and call you a liar.”

  “And?”

  “Maybe work you over like you’d deserve.”

  Keith stared at Riker. “Think you could?”

  The old man smiled, saying nothing.

  “Okay, okay, I agree, mate, I agree.”

  “Good,” Riker said standing. “Then, let’s get started. If I’ve learned one thing from the young pup, it’s to move fast once you’ve made your decision.”

  -16-

  Valerie paced in her room, fidgeting like crazy because her stomach had tightened with worry. Should she do this? Should she commandeer the darter? Yes, if their positions were reversed, Captain Maddox would do this in a second. But he was lucky. She knew her job, but she didn’t know that was particularly lucky.

  No one had ever named her di-far. Look at the captain with his beautiful wife. Meta used to hate him—long ago, anyway. The captain’s persistence must have won Meta over. And the captain knew when to change tactics, too.

  That was the other thing. Keith would be piloting. They had been on and off for some time. With just the two of them in the darter, with old man Riker probably wanting to spend time alone, that would leave her and Keith together. Did she love Keith? She used to think so. But he was so opposite to her. He was brash. She was careful. He boasted. She never did.

  Valerie shook her head. That wasn’t the issue. She was a Star Watch officer. She wanted to rise in rank, to run her own starship someday. She’d learned to take chances when that was the right thing to do. But commandeering a darter and going on a dangerous mission while deep in the Beyond…

  That could put a black mark on her record. That might mean she would never get promoted. She might never have her own command then. Her dad hadn’t worked so hard for her, she hadn’t worked so hard to get out of the slums, for her to just throw everything away on a brash plan.

  One thing deeply troubled her, though. Keith said they owed the captain. That was true. She had also worked hard for Maddox, helping him to become who he was. Why had he looked so tired during the conference?

  “Oh,” she said, startled, reaching for a beamer in a holster strapped to her side as she saw something move.

  “I am sorry, Valerie,” said the little holoimage of Galyan which had just appeared in her room. “I did not mean to startle you.”

  “I’ve told you not to do that.”

  “I know.”

  “And what are you doing in my room? This is my room. I might have been naked.”

  “Shall I leave, Valerie?”

  “No. I guess not.” She holstered the beamer.

  Galyan looked around the room. “This is the neatest room in the ship. What are those pictures? Oh. Is that Lieutenant Maker?”

  “Are you trying to make me angry?”

  Galyan looked at her, surprised. “Not at all, Valerie. You are one of my dearest friends. I only want to help you.”

  “Did Keith tell you to do this?”

  “As a matter of fact, Valerie, he
did. Oh. Is this a prank? Did I make an error, believing this is real when it is not?”

  “No.”

  Galyan hesitated for just a moment. “Does this have anything to do with Captain Maddox’s abnormal malady?”

  Valerie hesitated this time, before saying, “It does.”

  “That is what my probability predictor indicated. I have only seen him like this once before?”

  “When?” Valerie asked.

  “After he used the Builder device against the Ska,” Galyan said.

  “That’s interesting. What could have caused the reaction to happen again?”

  “Overwork,” Galyan said. “That is what my probability predictor indicates.”

  “No,” Valerie said. “It’s not overwork. It’s something else.”

  “How do you know my predictor is wrong?”

  “I just do, okay?”

  “But you spoke with such certainty. How can you be so certain at a time like this?” Galyan’s eyelids flickered. “Is this an instance of intuition?”

  “I guess.”

  “That would be…odd if your intuition was superior to my probability predictor. I use highly advanced software for it. You just have your evolved brain.”

  “Or created, designed brain,” Valerie said.

  “You are switching the topic, Valerie. You only do that when you are uncomfortable. That leads me to conclude—” Galyan stopped as he stared at her.

  “You were going to say?”

  “It is too delicate for me to broach. If you are going to ask, you are going to have to be more specific.”

  Valerie fidgeted. Why couldn’t Riker have agreed to do this? Did the sergeant know something she didn’t? “Will this go down in my record?”

  “Yes, Valerie, as I will make sure it does.”

  Her gaze hardened, and so did her resolve. Was Galyan trying to make her back down? Well, that wasn’t going to work against her. People had tried to intimidate her in the past, to their sorrow. Maybe she didn’t have many friends, but she knew how to fight and how to keep going.

  “Galyan,” she said.

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Valerie? It could ruin everything for you.”

  “I want the coordinates to the new Swarm homeworld.”

  “I do not have them.”

  “What? Keith told me you did.”

  “I have various ‘E’ radiation readings. Swarm ships emit ‘E’ radiation.”

  Valerie frowned before she got it. “I would like the coordinates to the various readings.”

  “On whose authority, Valerie?”

  “On my authority,” she said. “You can record that if you like.”

  “I already have,” Galyan said. “By the way, I agree with what you are doing. Normally, I would never do anything behind the captain’s back. He has done too much for me. But you three are trying to help him, even though he would not accept the help and even though this move might hurt your future career chances. I admire such moral courage, Valerie, and I think more highly of you for being willing to take it on yourself.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  “You are most welcome. Here are the coordinates.” The holoimage told her.

  Valerie wrote them down in a notebook, sighing when she snapped the book shut. Galyan had vanished. Now, she’d done it. The strange thing was that the tight feeling in her gut was gone. She actually felt better.

  “I hope I feel that way in eight weeks,” she said. Still holding the notebook, she headed for the hatch. It was time to make plans with Keith and Riker for when and how they should leave.

  -17-

  During the next few hours, the captain’s condition must have deteriorated because medical personnel moved him from his bedroom to a high-security location in Medical.

  “I feel as if I’m deserting a sinking ship,” Valerie told Keith in Hangar Bay 1.

  “Nonsense,” the ace said. “Maddox has always pulled through, and I know he always will.”

  The three of them headed toward the experimental Darter Reynard, which was parked in the middle of the bay. Riker was already supposed to be inside the experimental vessel.

  The Darter-class scout ship had fold capabilities like a fold fighter and yet still had star-drive jump like a larger vessel. What it did not have was a Laumer Drive. Thus, by itself, the experimental ship could not use wormholes unless it joined with a ship that could.

  The vessel was seven times larger than a fold-fighter and was packed with new technologies. The new techs allowed for the smaller size. The darter lacked true hull armor, although it did have a special polymer skin. It also lacked any shield generator whatsoever. This was a scout vessel pure and simple, relying on its stealth, fold and star-drive jump capabilities. If an enemy vessel fired upon the darter, and the beam or solid projectile reached the ship, the darter would crumple or explode, killing everyone aboard. The trick, therefore, was not being there when the beam arrived. Preferably, it would prove wiser not to let anyone see it to target the darter in the first place.

  The darter looked like a giant space bomber, including the delta-type wing, a giant triangle in the back. Most of the space held the fold, star-drive jump and stealth field engines, with a tiny nuclear engine to supply power. The darter’s armaments were a few 20-millimeter autocannons, three antimissiles and one mini-rocket with a nuclear warhead. That meant it was almost defenseless against anything else that carried weaponry.

  “Let’s go,” Keith said, indicating that Valerie take the lead. She did, and Keith smiled as he admired her backside. Oh yes, indeed, this was going to be a splendid opportunity to get to know Valerie much, much better. Keith remembered his promise to Riker, but Riker was an old fart. The sergeant couldn’t possibly remember how a younger man thought. Look at that ass. Valerie was practically begging for his advances. She wouldn’t have worn such tight garments otherwise, or agreed to walk ahead.

  Valerie looked back at him.

  Keith raised his gaze to meet hers.

  “Maybe you should go first,” she said dryly.

  “Up the ladder you go,” he said. “Now, hurry, darling. We don’t have all day.”

  “What did you say?”

  “It’s just a figure of speech,” he said.

  Valerie eyed him a moment more, then reached for the ladder and climbed up.

  Keith grinned happily behind her. Oh, yes, oh, yes, this was fine. He could hardly wait for the trip to start.

  Riker met them at the airlock, helping Valerie through. He eyed Keith next.

  “All set, old man?” the ace asked.

  “Oh, don’t slip,” Riker said, reaching out, taking hold of Keith’s left forearm. The sergeant applied a little bionic strength, making the ace twist under the pressure as he entered the darter.

  “What are you doing?” Keith shouted.

  Valerie and Galyan looked back at them.

  “Nothing, nothing at all,” Riker said, as he held the ace with the bionic hand and brushed him down with the other. “You’re going to agree to my choice of quarters,” Riker whispered to him.

  “Yes, yes, of course I will, mate,” Keith said just as quietly if painfully.

  Riker released the younger man.

  Keith did his best not to rub his injured forearm.

  The darter had a narrow main corridor with hatches leading to a number of chambers. Three of them were bedrooms. Riker suggested Valerie take the farther room, he, Riker would take the middle one and Keith would take the room nearest the engine compartment.

  Galyan went through the darter with them, explaining far too much. Finally, Valerie faced the little Adok.

  “We should leave immediately,” she said.

  “You lack authorization to do so,” Galyan said.

  “You’re going to fake it for me.”

  “But—”

  “Unless you want to wake the captain and ask him,” Valerie suggested.

  “You must know, then,” Galyan said.

  “Know
what?” Riker demanded.

  “The captain has slipped into a coma,” Galyan said.

  “When?” Riker snapped.

  “Two hours ago,” Galyan said.

  “Oh, this is bad, very bad,” Keith said. “Maybe you should stay and look after the captain,” he told the sergeant.

  Riker nodded, his worry obvious.

  “Meta will look after him,” Galyan said. “I will, too, and so will Ludendorff.”

  Riker swore gruffly. “Now, listen here, Galyan. Don’t you let that Methuselah Man anywhere near the captain.”

  “But I thought Ludendorff has proven himself and is finally trustworthy,” Galyan said.

  Riker made as if to grab Galyan with his bionic hand. At the last moment, Riker checked himself. He was torn. Maybe he should stay. But if he left the Reynard, Keith would screw up the mission as certain as anything. But if something happened to Maddox while he was gone…

  Riker whirled around and tapped Keith’s chest with a bionic finger. “If Maddox dies because I have to be here to watch you, you’re in trouble.”

  “Me?” Keith cried. “Why are you picking on me, mate?”

  “That’s a good question,” Valerie said. “What does Keith have to do with the captain’s condition? Why do you have to watch him?”

  Riker stared at Valerie, looked at Keith and it was on the tip of his tongue to say. Keith gave him such a pathetic look, however, and slightly shook his head…

  “Listen, mate,” Keith said, putting his mouth next to one of Riker’s ear, “I made my promise. I’m good for it. If you want to stay back—”

  Riker shoved Keith away and turned around.

  “Where are you going?” Valerie asked.

  “To say goodbye to the captain,” Riker said in a gruff voice.