The Lost Command (Lost Starship Series Book 2)

by Heppner, Vaughn

  Mr. Kane advanced on Meta, causing the floorboards to creak. How much did he weigh? He tugged at his trousers, pulling up the fabric. It almost seemed impossible that such a blocky man could bend. Yet he did, crouching before her.

  Arching her neck, Meta looked up at him. If the first invader had hard eyes, Mr. Kane’s were like chips of granite. He had wide features with a stone-chiseled quality. The lips managed to frown thoughtfully.

  Meta said nothing, just studied him, trying to figure out why they had done this to her. His eyes were cold. He was a killer, a dangerous man.

  Kane stood, treading his way into the hallway, maybe to hurry the others.

  With him gone, Meta began to test her bonds. That proved to be a bad idea. The more she struggled, the tighter the tangle strands constricted. The trick was to relax.

  She tried that, willing herself to go slack. Captain Maddox was coming. Should she play for time? No. If she couldn’t handle them, Maddox wouldn’t be able to either. What had happened to Dempsey Tower security or the Star Watch teams providing backup?

  Shortly, the two men in black leather jackets stumbled into the room. They looked dazed and confused. The tangler-man followed, with his weapon broken open in half. He slid another capsule into the firing chamber. Lastly, Kane appeared.

  The big man in the gray suit approached Meta from behind, crouching again. With his thick fingers, he tugged the dress down over her naked butt, covering it.

  “The note,” he said from her back. “Maddox is coming over. We thought he was finished with you.”

  Kane didn’t phrase his statement as a question, yet she had the feeling he wanted confirmation. She would not comply.

  “The boss would love to question Captain Maddox,” the tangler-man said, snapping his weapon back into one piece.

  Kane said nothing.

  “Ambushing Maddox here would be easy,” the tangler-man added.

  “You are wrong,” Kane rumbled. “No.” He patted Meta’s bottom. “I prefer your goodbye letter. I will leave that for the captain to find. You would like that, yes?”

  Meta twisted around to stare at Kane crouched behind her. He held a tiny can in his hand.

  Kane depressed a nozzle, the diamonds in his ring glittering. A fine aerosol mist sprayed from the can. Meta tried to hold her breath, but it didn’t help. Seconds after he sprayed, she slumped into unconsciousness. Thus, she never felt Kane gather her in his arms, carrying her to a cleaning lady’s dolly, depositing her into a large laundry bag. Seconds later, the men rolled the dolly into the hallway, taking Meta with them.

  -4-

  Captain Maddox strode down a New York City sidewalk. He wore his uniform tonight, as he had a meeting later this evening with Brigadier O’Hara. The Iron Lady said it was important.

  The captain carried a dozen roses in his right hand, with a heart-shaped box of chocolates tucked under his left.

  Sergeant Riker had suggested the items. The man waited in an air-car on a nearby skyscraper landing-pad.

  Maddox looked up at the blaze of lights. Tall buildings surrounded him. Ground vehicles swept past on the street. Hundreds of people shared the sidewalk with him, noisy crowds in search of entertainment. He understood that many sought the nightlife because no one knew how much longer mankind could play these mindless games.

  He had begun to wonder that himself. Maybe that’s why he’d called Meta. He wasn’t sure. Maybe it was watching the enemy agent die, leaking blood onto the spaceport’s paving. That made him wonder how much longer until he did the bleeding. Was that too morbid? In truth, he had enjoyed his short vacation with Meta in the Big Apple after the debriefing from Victory.

  Meta was an unusual woman. It was a pity they had gotten into that argument. Perhaps it had been inevitable. Meta was strong-willed, and she insisted on carrying her sorrows deep inside her.

  Maddox frowned. He had his own…loneliness. Yes, that was the right word. The nature of his birth had set him apart from others. He was a hybrid, a half-breed. Alcohol failed to make him drunk. He had a slightly higher core temperature than regular humans. His reflexes were phenomenal, and he was stronger than he looked. The fear of his life was that he was part New Man. What else could he be? He dreaded the idea that he had any connection with the supermen invading the Commonwealth of Planets, the entire Oikumene or Human Space.

  Maddox’s fingers tightened around the rose stems, making the clear plastic crinkle.

  Whatever had happened to his mother, she escaped from the Beyond, birthing him on a Windsor League planet. From there, she had taken him to Earth and died afterward. Using his analytical talents and a flair for detective work, he had discovered these truths several years ago.

  Maddox wanted to know the truth about his birth, but he was also afraid of it. It frankly surprised him that Star Watch still trusted him. That trust had a lot to do with Brigadier Mary O’Hara.

  Inhaling the brisk New York air, Maddox headed for Meta’s building.

  Several months ago, she had unleashed on him. Her fury had shocked him. He had endured, though. It was a storm, but given enough time, it would pass. Yet, he had found himself that night on his bed brooding about her accusations. Maybe he should have called the next day. He’d decided to let her stew…for several months now.

  On a whim, he had called this afternoon. Her guarded voice decided it for him. He would win her back. Meta was different from other women. There was strength in her, a steely core. Maybe that’s what he needed in a woman. Otherwise, he would just bulldoze over her.

  He passed the building’s security check and entered the interior plaza. Dempsey Tower was a skyscraper like all the others around it.

  In the lobby, a gorgeous woman with red curls smiled at him. Her escort was impassive, but Maddox had the impression the man didn’t care for her smiling at another man. Something about the escort struck a chord in Maddox, and he studied the fellow out of the corner of his eye.

  The gray-haired man was big and obviously strong, and he wore a severely conservative gray suit. He had a big black ring with a circle of diamonds. It looked like a professional sport champion’s trophy ring.

  Bodyguards flanked the pair. What’s more, the gunmen noticed him but tried not to show it. That seemed odd. Usually, bodyguards gave perceived intruders a stare-down.

  Maddox decided to ignore them. He was here to see Meta, to win her back. Besides, the big man was likely worth millions, maybe the owner of a professional sports franchise, maybe someone famous even. The ring indicated that. Such men didn’t like to notice that their girlfriends looked at others their own age.

  Maddox rode a spacious lift to Meta’s floor. Star Watch had paid the tab for this apartment. Brigadier O’Hara had insisted Meta stay at the best apartment complex in the city. It had been the least humanity could do for one of its saviors.

  Maddox grinned in appreciation. He knew how the Iron Lady worked. O’Hara wanted Meta in Star Watch Intelligence. The service was always in need of exceptional talent. The Iron Lady had given Meta a reward for her services with the alien super-ship, but she likely still hoped to persuade her to join Star Watch.

  The lift stopped on the tenth floor. The elevator opened, and Maddox strode down the corridor. He felt like whistling. This was the right decision.

  Finally, he came to Meta’s door. Using his left hand, he rang the bell and waited for a long moment. Nothing happened, so he rang it again. More time passed, and the door remained closed.

  Had she gone out? Even knowing he was coming over?

  Pursing his lips, Maddox wondered what he should do. He had to meet the brigadier later. Maybe he should text Meta before he ran out of time.

  A sly grin worked onto his face. No. I’ll surprise her.

  He set the chocolates and roses on the carpet beside the door. Taking out his wallet, he extracted a plastic card key. Meta had lent him a duplicate, and he’d forgotten to give it back. Maybe this was fortuitous.

  He used the card in the lock-slot
, watched the light blink and turned the handle. Using the toe of his shoe to keep the door open, he put the card back into his wallet, slid that into the back of his trousers, picked up the roses and tucked the chocolates under his left arm.

  Smiling just in case Meta stood inside with her arms crossed—catching him in the act—he stepped inside the apartment.

  Lights blazed everywhere, which was unusual if Meta had gone out. She always turned every light but one off. It must have been a habit ingrained during her childhood in the Rouen Colony. There, each watt of energy had taken grueling labor to pay off.

  Maddox refrained from calling out. If he heard her, he’d retreat outside and ring the bell some more. He soaked up the room’s ambiance to get a feel for the situation.

  His smile drained away. There was something wrong here. Softly, he set the flowers and heart-shaped box on the floor. He still wasn’t sure Meta had left the apartment, but in case she hadn’t, he didn’t want her to hear him yet.

  Maddox straightened, concentrating, trying to figure out why he didn’t like the apartment’s feel.

  There was a faint smell in the air, body odor perhaps. It most certainly didn’t belong to Meta.

  Maddox’s head swiveled from right to left, taking in the living room. A cushion lay near the forward edge of the sofa, not pushed against the back with the others. Meta had proven meticulous about the cushions, complaining to him about it on one of their first nights. Afterward, when she wasn’t looking, he had made a game of always setting a cushion out of place. Meta had noticed it every time and put the cushion back against the sofa.

  As Maddox considered that, all humor left his face. He went into caution mode, undoing several buttons on his jacket. He reached under it, unhooked the holster strap and withdrew his long-barreled gun.

  Like a leopard stalking its prey, Maddox advanced across the hardwood floor, searching for clues.

  He moved into the hallway and halted. There was another odor. His eyes narrowed as he tested the air. Someone had used a shock rod a short time ago.

  There was a slight stain on the wall. Maddox rubbed a finger against it, noticing its moistness.

  His throat constricted. He moved to the bedroom door. It stood ajar, and the lights were on. The room felt empty, though.

  Swiftly, Maddox stepped into the bedroom, aiming the gun in several directions. The lights around the mirror shined brightly. Sniffing, Maddox smelled perfumes, several different odors. Meta must have been testing them earlier?

  That meant Meta had been here only a short time ago. Scanning the room—

  Maddox’s heart thudded. He spied a pad propped on the bed’s pillow. Cautiously, he approached it and read the message about her need to leave Earth. She’d ended abruptly in mid-sentence, which seemed strange. There weren’t any explanations or anything about their time together. That struck Maddox as wrong.

  He whirled around, moving to the mirror. He scanned the scant belongings there. He didn’t see any perfume bottles. Going into the bathroom, he checked the cabinet and found nothing, not even a tube of toothpaste.

  If Meta had left like this, would she have taken the perfume he’d specially bought her those many months ago? Suspicion flooded his eyes. Holstering the gun, Maddox hurried to the door. He needed to speak with the building’s security chief.

  ***

  A few minutes later, Maddox stood with the Dempsey Tower’s security chief, a short, precise woman in a red blazer. Her brown hair was pulled back so tightly it seemed it might hurt her skull. On a large screen, they watched a video of the last half hour before Meta’s door.

  It showed an older couple passing the hidden camera, but nothing else except for Maddox entering the room.

  “You had a key,” the woman said.

  “Never mind about that,” Maddox said. “Run through the last hour.”

  The security chief tapped a panel. She had blunt, bare fingers, lacking any adornments. On the screen, time sped up. A Dempsey security agent walked past the door. He wore a red blazer. Then the older couple passed again and finally Maddox entered the apartment. By the timer, twelve and half minutes separated the Dempsey agent and the older couple.

  Maddox considered what he saw. If Meta had left the apartment, and the odors in the room had persisted long enough for him to smell them, why hadn’t he seen her leave? Surely, Meta wouldn’t have crawled out the window to a waiting air-car.

  “Make it two hours,” Maddox said.

  The security chief didn’t even glance at him, but tapped the control.

  During the recorded time, no one else passed or used the door.

  That confirmed it for Maddox. “Someone tampered with the video,” he said.

  The security chief spoke in a quiet, controlled manner. “That would be impossible,” she said.

  Maddox eyed the woman. She stared back impassively. The nametag said Beth Paris. Maddox knew nothing about her, nor did he have a gut feeling yet.

  “Is someone monitoring the Tower cameras?” he asked.

  “Of course,” she said. “We have a team in place. That is our standard procedure.”

  “I want to see the team.”

  Paris blinked slowly like a lizard.

  That bothered Maddox. Until this moment, the woman had acted in a robotic manner. The blink seemed out of character for the severe security chief.

  That set Maddox to thinking. Would someone want to kidnap Meta? Yes. The New Men would want her. They would desire to question anyone who had traveled on the alien super-ship. Could that have been the meaning of Operation Odysseus? That would be a grim coincidence. Maybe his subconscious had recognized the possibly all along.

  The idea of that troubled Maddox. He’d thought he’d wanted to see Meta because of…he shook his head. It was time to concentrate on the problem at hand.

  Could Beth Paris and the two monitors in the security room belong to the New Men’s secret service operating on Earth? That seemed highly unlikely. Could the enemy’s secret service have corrupted these three, forcing them to help? Clearly, they could have. Could and would, however, were two vastly different situations.

  Paris seemed to come to a decision. The slow blinking stopped. She moved her lips in an approximation of a smile.

  “Of course, Captain Maddox,” she said. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to our security quarters.”

  “Thank you,” he said. “Give me a moment, please.” He unhooked the comm-unit on his belt, clicking it on with his thumb.

  Her shoulders tensed the tiniest fraction. That confirmed Maddox’s hunch.

  “Sergeant,” Maddox said into the unit.

  “Here, sir,” Riker said.

  “Call the brigadier,” Maddox told him. “I want a combat team ready to move.”

  “Is there trouble, sir?” Riker asked.

  Maddox glanced at the chief officer, who watched him. “Yes. Beth Paris of Dempsey Tower Security is withholding critical information regarding Meta’s disappearance.”

  The security woman inhaled sharply becoming angry. It was the first time she’d shown emotion.

  Maddox found that interesting. She didn’t plead with him but—

  Inwardly, he grinned. Outwardly, he raised a single eyebrow at Paris. She’d drawn a needler, aiming it at his midsection. Sometimes, applying pressure worked wonders. In this case, it had happened faster than he had expected and to his disadvantage.

  “Sir,” Riker said from the comm. “Do you want me to run a background check on Beth Paris?”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Maddox said, as he stared into Paris’s cold eyes.

  “Are you certain, sir?” Riker asked.

  “When I believe myself hard of hearing or indecisive, Sergeant, you shall be the first to learn of it.”

  There was a moment’s pause before Riker asked, “Would an indecisive man make such a declaration, sir?”

  “I suppose not,” Maddox admitted.

  Paris scowled, and she made a critical blun
der. She waved the needler at Maddox, no doubt implying that he quit talking to the sergeant.

  Reaction times were interesting things. Maddox’s reflexes and ability to decide bordered on the miraculous, at least to those who had never witnessed them before. Before the call, he had already begun to suspect the chief security officer. The video hadn’t shown Meta leaving her apartment. The lingering perfume and the shock rod discharge meant she couldn’t have left two hours ago. It had to be within the last hour, and this video hadn’t shown that.

  In any case, Maddox’s suspicion allowed him to react faster than he would have otherwise to Paris. The first time she waved the needler, Maddox made his decision to go for it. The second jerk to the left caused his right hand to come down faster than a striking rattlesnake. He released the comm-unit and caught the woman’s gun-hand. At the same time, she pulled the trigger. Maddox twisted his wrist and yanked hers hard. The first steel needle punctured the muscle and fat of what should have been a love handle. Maddox was steely lean and lacked those, but his side still had a small deposit of fat there. The second and third needles missed his body and stuck the wall behind him.

  Then, Paris screamed. Maddox twisted the weapon, catching her trigger finger in the trigger guard. He twisted hard until a distinct snap told of a broken finger bone.

  A moment later, he pulled, taking the needler from her weakened grasp.

  “Captain Maddox!” Riker shouted from the comm-unit on the floor.

  Beth Paris, if that was her real name, didn’t bother with her injury. Instead, she launched herself at Maddox. He was ready for that and thrust a knee against her chest. She grunted and flew backward. In the moment of contact, Maddox learned that Paris had the consistency of toughened leather and sinew. She was anything but normal. Her back struck the wall hard. Most people would have slid down at the blow. She remained standing. And, with her injured hand, she reached into an inner pocket of her Dempsey Tower blazer.

  Maddox had no idea what she planned to pull out, nor did he intend to let her surprise him. He struck with precision, using his stiffened fingers to jab her in the throat.