“That is a disgusting analogy,” Galyan said.
“That is your peace-loving side talking,” Ludendorff said. “The Adoks were a noble race. It would be a shame for you to gift your destroyers with the ability to unleash themselves upon the universe.”
“Given that this Swarm virus exists,” Galyan asked, “could you eradicate it from my core?”
“Indeed I could,” Ludendorff said.
“How would you do so?”
“We would have to shut down your AI core,” Ludendorff said. “Then, I could study your systems and eradicate the obvious Swarm protocols. I doubt anyone else in the galaxy knows as much as I do about the Swarm and their methods and could do this favor for you.”
“You ask too much of me,” Galyan said. “I cannot let you untrustworthy creatures turn me off.”
Ludendorff shrugged. “It’s up to you, of course.”
“You seem to think this doesn’t affect you,” Galyan said. “But it most certainly does. You will help me find Swarm star systems. You can teach me what to search for. Then, I shall destroy them.”
The professor pursed his lips.
Maddox wondered what Ludendorff was thinking.
“You have been deified,” the professor asked, “is that not so?”
“It is,” Galyan said.
“The Adoks perfected such a process for a reason,” the professor said. “It was not for you to become an avenger, but for you to do something healthy and productive. You have a holy task to perform. Instead of doing what your people designed you to do, you follow a twisted course. The Swarm have corrupted your good nature. I cannot understand how the Adok part of you can agree to such a perversion of purpose.”
“I have already stated why,” Galyan said. “I cannot trust any of you to turn me on once you’ve turned me off.”
“I can give you my word that we’ll turn you back on,” Maddox said.
The holoimage regarded the captain. “Those words could be an attempt to deceive me.”
Maddox wondered how to appeal to an emotional AI. Maybe he should tell Galyan what Valerie had told him. Even as he wondered, Maddox realized it was the right course.
“We’ve become a family, Galyan,” the captain said. “You were alone in the universe. I thought I was alone, a wolf stalking through life, using my superior talents in any way I saw fit. Lieutenant Noonan has taught me otherwise. Maybe I can teach you.”
“I am not human,” Galyan said.
“You’re not flesh and blood either,” Maddox said. “But you can become part of the family. Together, we can discover our purpose and carry it out.”
“I already have a purpose.”
“To kill and destroy,” Maddox said. “That’s not a purpose. That’s just vengeance. There has to be more to life than that. Your people deified you. Your engrams were believed worthy of saving. Was that only to destroy or was it to build even though the Adoks had passed away? Why do you exist, Galyan? If a Swarm virus has corrupted you…”
“I am alone,” Galyan said. “I can trust no one.”
“You’re wrong,” Maddox said. “You can take a leap of faith. Trust me. See that you’re not alone. If you wake up afterward and have regained your real purpose, I submit you will enjoy your existence more. You will have a true reason for being.”
“Your words are a trick,” Galyan said.
“If that’s true,” Maddox said. “Then self-destruct, and take us with you. What’s the point of being alive if you’re all alone in the universe?”
Dana stiffened, staring at Maddox in shock and shaking her head.
“I remember when we first boarded you,” Maddox said. “Swarm carcasses littered your corridors. There were crusted slime trails everywhere. I think it’s possible the Swarm gave you a virus. Maybe the virus moves extremely slowly. I don’t know. I’m not the professor. But I think if I were you, I’d want to follow my designed purpose. That’s the reason your people did what they did with your engrams.”
Galyan studied Maddox. “You tricked me once before in what you refer to as the Beyond.”
“I did,” Maddox said. “But that was before we went to Wolf Prime together. There’s another thing. Back in the Oort cloud, the humans did turn you back on.”
“Because they didn’t realize I still had an independent will,” Galyan said.
“A Swarm virus is making you distrustful,” Maddox said. “Once you’re rid of it, we’ll have much more in common with each other.”
“You cannot know that.”
“I’m taking it on faith,” Maddox said.
“You are using an emotional appeal,” Galyan said. “I resent that.”
“It’s up to you,” Maddox said. “Trust me, and see that you’re one of us, one of the team, part of our family. Or stay in your shell of distrust and remain alone for the rest of your unhappy existence. The choice is yours, Galyan. What’s it going to be?”
The holoimage kept staring at Maddox.
“Even after six thousand years, the Swarm are using you,” Ludendorff said. “The Adok part of you must deeply resent that.”
“Yes,” Galyan said.
“Then let me repair the damage and make you whole again,” Ludendorff said.
Galyan looked at Maddox.
The captain nodded with encouragement.
“This is preposterous,” Galyan said. “I find myself compelled by your words. I do not desire to live alone. Therefore, I will risk and choose foolishly. I will trust you, Captain Maddox. I despise the Swarm and wish with everything I am to rid my AI core of their horrible influence. You may shut me down so Professor Ludendorff can scrub my core of the deadly enemy.”
-36-
Later, as Maddox watched in the central computing area of the ship, Ludendorff and Dana turned off the AI core.
Using her crutches, Dana went backward, sighing with relief. “We did it. We finally turned off the damned computer. I can’t believe it. Well done, gentlemen.”
“It wasn’t a trick,” Maddox said.
“Of course it was,” Dana told him. The doctor turned to Ludendorff. “I’m amazed you thought the AI would believe your cock and bull story about a Swarm virus.”
“It’s true,” Ludendorff said.
“Supposing such a thing could be true,” Dana said, “you couldn’t know it on such slim evidence.”
“But I do,” Ludendorff said.
“How?” Dana asked.
“We’ve already been over that,” Ludendorff told her. “I see connections. For one thing, an Adok would not seek a species’ destruction with such vengeance.”
“How can you know anything about the Adoks?”
“How can you ask me such a question?” the professor asked. “You were with me in the Adok star system.”
“You collected space trash,” Dana said. “I remember it very well.”
“That ‘trash,’ as you call it, revealed much to me concerning the Adoks.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me their name?” Dana asked.
“I must have sensed your venal nature,” Ludendorff said. “You mutinied, after all. It is clear you do not want me to turn the AI back on.”
“We’d be fools to trust the AI again,” Dana said. “It almost wrecked the mission.”
Ludendorff glanced at Maddox.
“Can you find a Swarm computer virus, if it exists?” Maddox asked.
“Words mean little in this regard,” Ludendorff said. “I must begin working to see if it is possible. I will need time to familiarize myself with the ship’s equipment.”
“Fair enough,” Maddox said. “We’ll head for the Tannish System in the meantime.”
“The star system will be full of New Men,” Dana said.
“We won’t enter the Tannish System,” Maddox said. “We’ll head there and bypass it, reaching Fletcher first.”
“Using our star drive?” Dana asked.
Maddox nodded.
“And you’re hoping Ludendorff can figu
re out how to fix the various weapons systems?” Dana asked.
“That was your original suggestion, if you remember,” Maddox said.
Dana looked away, finally nodding. Was she having second thoughts?
“First, we should rid the AI core of the virus,” Ludendorff said. “I believe a clean computer system will give you those weapons systems far easier and faster than trying to do it manually by ourselves.”
“Turning the AI back on would be a mistake,” Dana said.
Maddox laughed. “Doctor, we’re trying to save the Fifth Fleet against a superior enemy force. The only hope of doing that is Victory. To win, we’re going to have to become the greatest fighting vessel there is.”
“We already are,” she said.
“Not by a big enough factor to defeat massed star cruisers,” Maddox said.
Dana stood quietly, finally shrugging and turning toward Ludendorff. “I’d forgotten how insufferable you are. You’re brilliant, but not half as smart as you think you are.”
The professor nodded. “I haven’t forgotten that you’ve always been a pain in the ass. Still, you have a quicker brain than ninety-nine percent of the populace. We will arrive at a solution faster if we work together.”
“Doctor?” Maddox asked, trying to forestall Dana from launching another round of insults.
Dana stared at the captain, finally sighing and nodding. She regarded Ludendorff. “I don’t care for your arrogance, but I do respect your intelligence.”
“Remember,” Maddox said. “There are technicians here to help you two. I hope they can also be of assistance.”
“We shall find out,” Ludendorff said. “Now, I must eat, take a siesta and then we shall begin an exhausting task.”
***
Starship Victory began a careful journey to the Tannish System.
“We shouldn’t use the Laumer-Points,” Valerie told Maddox on the bridge. “We don’t know what’s on the other side of each portal. We only have a few thermonuclear-armed missiles, and I don’t think we should expend them for travel.”
“You mean by sending a warhead through a jump point first?” Maddox asked.
“It’s the only safe way to use a Laumer-Point in enemy territory,” Valerie said. “We must assume there are star cruisers everywhere. That way, they won’t surprise us at the worst possible moment.”
“It will take us longer to reach Fletcher if we only use the ship’s star drive,” Maddox said.
“We have a small margin of time to spare. I think this is the best way to use it.”
Maddox considered that, finally agreeing with his executive officer.
The days passed as the ancient starship made its way toward the Fifth Fleet by star drive jumps.
On the sixth day out from Wolf Prime, Ludendorff declared a breakthrough. He’d discovered Swarm protocols in the AI core. Maddox asked for clarification on how the professor knew and sat through a detailed talk. It made almost no sense to Maddox.
“Do you understand?” he asked Dana.
“Enough to know that Ludendorff is right,” she said.
“Can you purge the AI of the virus?” Maddox asked Ludendorff.
The hooked nosed Ludendorff didn’t answer right away. “Maybe,” he finally said.
“Considering our present goal,” Dana said. “I believe you should stop work on the AI and concentrate on the weapons systems.”
“I’m not ready to agree to that,” Ludendorff said.
“You do understand the stakes involved?” Dana asked him.
The professor gave her a frosty stare.
“Can you spare the doctor?” Maddox asked Ludendorff.
“For half a day,” the professor said.
“I need your assistance,” Maddox told her.
“Very well,” Dana said. “I could use a break.”
Ludendorff soon returned to the AI, leaving Dana and Maddox alone in the conference chamber.
“What is this about?” she asked.
“Per Lomax,” Maddox said. “He’s healing fast. I think he’s fully recovered.”
“You want me to test his DNA?” she asked.
“Among other things.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You want to question him?”
Maddox nodded. “First, though, I have to know the truth a about myself.”
“I understand, Captain. Let’s do it.”
***
An hour later—after Dana’s examination of the New Man—Maddox and the doctor met in a side room near the medical station. The doctor wore her white lab coat. She sat in a cushioned chair, sipping a dry martini. There was a small bar in the room and a large screen showing a forest in the Appalachian Mountains. A recording of birds chirping and a hidden stream babbling gave the chamber a homey feel.
“Well?” Maddox asked from the door.
“Make yourself a drink and sit down,” Dana said.
Maddox hesitated. She knew alcohol had little effect on him. Then, he moved to the bar and poured himself a shot of vodka. He slugged it back, enjoying the warmth of it going down. Pouring a second shot, he slammed that back too, filling his glass a third time.
“Why do you do that?” Dana asked.
Maddox drank the vodka as he moved to a chair. Then he slumped down. The alcohol had a slight numbing effect on his brain. He luxuriated in it, but the feeling began to fade almost immediately.
“Well?” he asked.
“You’re not going to answer me?” she said.
“If you insist,” he said. “I pretend once in a while.”
“At being normal?”
“I suppose,” he said. “Am I?”
Her brown eyes held his, and she shook her head.
“I have their DNA?” he asked, his chest turning cold.
“You do,” she said. “It’s conclusive. You are part New Man.”
Maddox sat transfixed, staring at a bulkhead. He debated going back to the bar and guzzling the bottle of vodka, maybe opening another and draining it too. Keith was in the starship, and he had struck the ace once in order to help the man control his drinking problem. Wouldn’t that make him a hypocrite if he now tried to drown his sorrows in hard liquor?
The captain turned to Dana.
“Let me forestall a few questions,” she said. “There is absolutely no mistake. You are not fully New Man, but you have certain DNA similarities to them and to regular humans. Your mother must have been…normal. She must have escaped from a New Man breeding program. I don’t know that for certain, though.”
Maddox breathed through his nostrils. He was one of them, one of their experiments. It was the reason he could move so fast and heal so much better. Yet, he wasn’t as good as the New Men.”
“Are they of human stock?” Maddox asked.
“Yes.”
“Meaning they had to originate on Earth?”
“That’s what yes means,” Dana said.
“The New Men had to be genetically modified, isn’t that right?”
“I believe so,” Dana said.
“How much of a difference is there between them and us? Well, between them and regular humanity?”
“Less of a difference than between us and chimpanzees,” Dana said.
“That’s not comforting.”
“I don’t believe offspring between a New Man and a regular woman would be fertile.”
“I’m like a mule?” Maddox asked.
“Offspring,” Dana said. “We don’t know how your mother was impregnated.”
“What does that mean?” Maddox asked, trying not to sound bitter.
“We don’t know if New Men are fertile,” Dana said. “We don’t know how your mother was impregnated or if it was through natural means.”
“You’re talking about rape?”
Dana chose her words with care. “We don’t know that.”
“My mother fled the Beyond,” Maddox said. “Would she have fled if she loved my father?”
“There’s far too much we
don’t know,” Dana said. “I suppose we could test Per Lomax and discover if he’s…like a mule, as you so delicately put it.”
Maddox shot to his feet, striding to the bar. He picked up the vodka bottle and hesitated. With a clunk, he set it back on the bar. He kept his back to Dana.
“You can’t let this defeat you,” she said. “You’re still Captain Maddox of Star Watch. You’ve proven critically important in humanity’s struggle against the New Men.”
“I’m a mule,” he said, “a freak, a—”
“No!” Dana said, crutching her way to the bar and sitting on a tall stool. “You are Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence. Don’t let DNA strands control your life. Make of it what you want, not what they wanted.”
“Who are they?” Maddox asked.
“You have a prisoner. I suggest you start asking him for answers. I have some chemicals that might help loosen his tongue.”
“Truth serum?” Maddox asked.
“A colloquial name, but apt enough.”
“Per Lomax might shrug it off the way I do alcohol.”
“We won’t learn anything by sitting here.”
Maddox faced Dana and saw the worry in her eyes. “You want me to do something so I don’t brood over this.”
“That’s part of it. I also want answers. Ludendorff isn’t the only one who figures things out. We were doing all right before he came along.”
I’ve been the lone wolf for a long time. Now, I might be the sterile mule, a freak. Can I let what the New Men did conquer me? Or can I make them pay—pay for what, though? I have existence. I am the starship’s captain and an entire species—humanity—may rise or fall depending on what I do. Isn’t that enough of a purpose for me?
The idea of being an experiment bothered Maddox. Someone had fashioned the New Men. Someone wanted to eradicate humanity, or conquer them at the very least. Who had done this to him? Who had begun to fashion a superior race? What purpose did making a new race of people serve?
Maddox’s gaze narrowed. He wanted answers. He wanted to know why. Then, he wanted to defeat the enemy. He wanted to make the people who had made his mother flee die.
Was that vengeance?
Maybe it was. Maybe, though, he wanted to save something worth fighting for: the existence of humanity, the right to live and—
The Lost Command (Lost Starship Series Book 2) Page 36