Andros turned around. “Is that how it happened, sir?”
Maddox shrugged. “I don’t know how it happened.”
“I would think it couldn’t have happened that way,” Andros said. “My evidence for the belief is the very lack of an alarm. I mean, every astronomer in the system could have seen the asteroids veering from their regular path and heading toward Olmstead.”
“Point taken,” Maddox said, drumming his fingers on the armrests. “Here’s what we know. Patrol ships scoured the system and found nothing helpful as to how the asteroids did what they did. The Builder Scanner on Pluto has focused here as well, finding nothing to explain the situation. Now, it’s our turn to look. We have to find what they missed.”
“How do you know they missed anything?” Valerie asked.
“It’s my working assumption,” Maddox said crisply. “There must be clues as to how this happened. Galyan.”
“Here, sir,” the holoimage said.
“Start scanning the system,” Maddox said. “I don’t know what you’re supposed to find other than something everyone else missed. Do you think you’re up to it?”
“I do indeed, sir,” Galyan said.
“Then don’t quit until you find that something. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly,” the holoimage said, as his eyelids began to flutter.
Andros also scanned from his station. Presumably, Ludendorff did as well from his science lab.
The hours passed. Victory star-drive jumped deeper into the system. More hours passed. Finally, the starship jumped into the main Asteroid Belt.
Maddox had left the bridge twice during this time. On his third appearance and after the captain listened to the reports, Galyan’s eyelids finally ceased fluttering.
“Sir,” the holoimage said. “I believe I have found something.”
Maddox was sipping coffee. He set the cup into the armrest’s holder and swiveled his seat to regard the little Adok holoimage.
“It is a drifting escape pod with minimal life-support,” Galyan said. “I have detected a steady but slow heartbeat from within it suggesting some form of hibernation.”
“Where is it?” Maddox asked.
“Five million, two hundred and seventy-four thousand kilometers from our present location,” Galyan said. “It is in the Asteroid Belt, mimicking debris, probably the reason why no one else spotted it.”
“Give Keith the coordinates,” Maddox said. “Helm, get us there.”
“Aye-aye, Captain,” Keith said from Helm.
“Sir,” Andros said. “I’ve found the escape pod and have begun a preliminary linkage with its responder. It’s of Star Watch make, meaning the escape pod is from a Star Watch vessel.”
“A military vessel?” asked Maddox.
“Ah. The pod’s responder has fully activated,” Andros said, studying his panel. “The pod is from…from the Bombay. That’s an India-class Frigate, a Science Vessel.”
“It’s commanding officer?”
“Commander Kris Guderian.”
“Guderian,” Maddox said. “I know her. Galyan, wasn’t she the first person to see a Destroyer wipe out the populated planets in the New Arabia System?”
“That is correct,” Galyan said. “Do you think that is a coincidence?”
“Too early to tell,” Maddox said. “You said there’s a heartbeat, someone alive in the pod?”
“I did,” Galyan said.
“Keith, get ready to use the star-drive jump,” Maddox said. “I want this survivor aboard Victory as fast as possible.”
“The odds are high that the science vessel was investigating system anomalies before the planet’s destruction,” Galyan said.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Maddox said. “And that means there should be records about someone sending a science vessel to the system.”
“Don’t count on it,” Ludendorff said.
Maddox turned his chair to see the professor walk through the hatch onto the bridge.
“Remember Humanity Manifesto Doctrine,” the professor said. “We’ve been away. Brigadier Stokes is heading the Transition Team from Fletcher to Cook, checking all Star Watch personnel, weeding out—”
“Yes, yes,” Maddox said. “I’m aware of all that.”
“Did you know that Stokes woke Josef Becker, and plans to use the man’s knowledge to help Star Watch?” Ludendorff asked.
“What? No. I hadn’t heard that. I warned the Lord High Admiral to keep Becker in stasis. Did the Brigadier take mind shields along?”
“Of course,” Ludendorff said.
“They actually woke Becker,” Maddox said, shaking his head. “That was a mistake that could come back to bite us.”
“Maybe,” Ludendorff said. “The point I wanted to make is that you and I head the list of unwanted humans, according to HMD, at least. That means there’s likely been a lot of chicanery recently.”
“And that relates to the planet killer how?”
“That means chaos, maybe of a limited variety and maybe not,” the professor said. “In any case, that would be a good time to introduce a planet killer. Chaos could hinder regular communication, regular channels. I just think that’s good to remember.”
Maddox frowned. “True. And I should have already thought of that. Is this a residual effect of your Apathy Box?”
“Hmm,” Ludendorff said. “That’s an interesting idea. It’s possible, and that’s good.”
“Good! Why?” snapped Maddox.
“Why, because it means my machine worked better than I realized. You may be a di-far, but you’re still mortal.”
“Save your cheer, Professor, unless you want to go with me into the practice ring.”
Ludendorff’s grin disappeared as he muttered under his breath.
“Galyan,” Maddox said. “Take a look inside the escape pod. Report back with what you see.”
The holoimage disappeared. A moment later, he reappeared. “Sir, Commander Kris Guderian is in a semi-suspended state in her spacesuit. She has approximately another seventy-one hours of air. I suggest we move with haste in rescuing her.”
“Affirmative to that,” Maddox said. “Let’s revive her and see if she has any clue as to what happened here.”
-29-
Victory slid near the tiny escape pod as Keith maneuvered the great starship. Kai-Kaus technicians inside the Number 4 Hangar Bay used a tractor beam, gently tugging the pod nearer and nearer. They finessed the pod into a special cradle as the giant hangar-bay door closed.
Soon, medical personnel opened the pod, extracting the space-suited commander. An emergency team cracked her suit and eased her from it, putting her on mobile life-support. The mass of equipment and medical people hurried for the corridors to get her to the main medical facilities.
There, the chief physician led the revival sequence, ensuring her bodily functions started back up again. She remained unconscious the entire time, although her vital signs were strong.
Upon hearing all this, Maddox gave his permission to wake her up and see how soon she could take questions.
***
Kris Guderian shuddered as the grim cycle of nightmares finally ended. She had been in a dream loop, witnessing the planetary destruction in the New Arabian and 82. G. Eridani Systems. She had wept countless bitter times. It had made her sick and—
She groaned as her breathing deepened. The last vestiges of the nightmares faded, although she remembered what she’d dreamed. It had been appalling.
Her eyes opened. She expected to see the inside of her helmet. Instead, something much higher blurred—her vision focused as she realized she was staring up at a ceiling. That meant something important, but for several seconds she could not think what. Then it came to her. She was no longer in the escape pod. Someone must have rescued her.
Panic caused her heart to thud. Did the people firing asteroids have her? “Oh no,” she whispered.
“Ma’am,” a nurse asked, a slender man with soft hands. He pee
red down at her. “How are you feeling?”
Kris tried to speak again, but nothing came out.
“Relax,” the nurse said.
“Where…?” whispered Kris.
The nurse’s eyes brightened. “Where are you?”
Kris managed the barest of nods.
“In medical,” he said.
“W-Where?”
“Oh, on Starship Victory,” he said.
The panic faded as that sank in. She was in Starship Victory, Captain Maddox’s vessel. She was safe. The others did not have her.
The nurse patted her arm before disappearing. There was a conversation somewhere.
Kris smiled to herself. A moment later, a woman came into view. She was tall and red-haired with prominent cheekbones.
“I’m Doctor Harris,” the woman said. “How are you feeling?”
“Drained.”
Dr. Harris checked a chart. “Hmm. You’re strong enough. Everything is checking out. Would you care for a mild stimulant?”
“Please.”
The nurse reappeared and pressed a hypo against Kris’s arm. There was a hiss.
Almost immediately, Kris felt stronger. She blinked several times before she struggled to a seated position on her med-cot. There were a number of medical people watching the machines monitoring her.
“How…” Kris moistened her lips. “How long have I been out?”
“Your pod’s log says almost four months,” Harris said.
“Have there been more asteroidal attacks?”
“None that Star Watch has made known. So, I suspect not.”
“Oh, good,” Kris said, sagging against her pillow. “It may not be too late then.”
Dr. Harris eyed Kris critically, checked a chart and became thoughtful. “Do you feel up to a debriefing?”
“Yes,” Kris said, coughing afterward. “It’s imperative I speak to the captain.”
“He’s eager to speak to you. He’d like to know if you’re willing to have others present.”
“Yes, yes,” Kris said. “I’m dying to tell someone what I saw.”
“A poor choice of words,” Harris said. “But I’ll relay the message.”
“There is no need,” Galyan said from beside the bed.
Kris shrieked upon seeing the holoimage simply appear by her side.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Harris demanded.
“Please, I meant no harm,” Galyan said, addressing Kris. “The captain sent me to watch you. I have already told him you are ready to speak. We are all eagerly awaiting your tale. I imagine it is a good one.”
“Good?” Kris said. “It’s horrible.” But the holoimage was gone. She glanced at Dr. Harris.
The tall woman shrugged.
Kris exhaled and swung her legs over the bed. She had to tell her awful story and the sooner she did—
“What do you think you’re doing?” Harris asked.
“I’m a Star Watch officer. I’m reporting for duty. And I hope with all my heart that we’re not too late.”
***
Maddox presided over the debriefing in a conference chamber. Commander Kris Guderian sat at the center right of the long table with Dr. Harris seated beside her. Meta sat on the other side, patting the commander on the arm, trying to reassure her. Ludendorff, Galyan, Valerie and Andros Crank were also present as they sat across from Kris on the left side of the table.
“Where should I start?” Kris asked.
“Wherever you think it makes the most sense,” Maddox said.
“I was in prison on Alpha Sigma Nine not so long ago,” Kris said, her voice catching. “The commodore put me there because I wouldn’t denounce you. That was during the ascendency of Political Intelligence and HMD.”
Meta glanced significantly at Maddox.
“Why don’t you start there,” Maddox said.
Meta nodded in approval.
Kris looked around the table before giving them her account, which included the military prison firing squad, her escape from there, her perceptions about Commodore Smits, the death of Spengler and Corporal Johan aboard the Bombay, her task to search for missing asteroids—
“Just a moment, please,” Ludendorff said.
Kris stopped talking. She’d been explaining for some time, and her voice sounded rough. Dr. Harris had poured a glass of water, handing it to her now. Kris drank gratefully, nodding to the professor after setting down the glass.
“You say this Commodore Smits was sending you to the 82 G. Eridani System to search for missing asteroids?” Ludendorff asked.
“That is correct,” Kris said.
Ludendorff glanced at Maddox.
“Why is that important, Professor?” Maddox asked.
“The asteroids vanished?” Ludendorff asked Kris.
“Battleship Koniggratz had launched probes into the Asteroid Belt,” Kris said. “The probes confirmed that at least two asteroids were missing.”
Ludendorff shook his head.
“Koniggratz was stationed at Olmstead,” Kris said. “It was the only Star Watch vessel in the system. The governor of Olmstead asked the captain of the Koniggratz to send a message to our star base, requesting a science vessel for a more thorough investigation of the situation.”
“That is highly illuminating,” Ludendorff said, as he leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his chest, clearly thinking.
Kris stared at the professor and then the captain.
“Please continue,” Maddox told her.
Kris did, describing the asteroid attack in detail, how her sensors picked up strange readings and then an asteroid would appear, traveling at twenty-five percent light-speed.
Ludendorff’s head popped up. “Say that again.”
“Twenty-five percent light-speed,” Kris said. “Each asteroid traveled at seventy-five thousand kilometers per second, leaving the Asteroid Belt and heading on a collision course for Olmstead.”
“Did the asteroid in question leave its normal location in the belt as it started for Olmstead?” Ludendorff asked.
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“One hundred percent,” Kris said. “Each asteroid appeared in the same general vicinity as it sped at the planet.”
Ludendorff scowled and once more leaned back and rested his chin on his chest.
Kris continued from there and told how Battleship Koniggratz attempted to deflect the first asteroid with nuclear-tipped missiles. As the battleship did that, the strange readings returned.
“I saw it happening,” Kris said. “The battleship slid out of view, the front part first and the back last. It looked as if it traveled into a different dimension.”
Maddox grunted, nodding.
Kris looked around, waited, and finally finished her tale about how the enemy came for the science vessel. She told how she’d raced to the escape pod. Once free of the Bombay, she searched for it, but the science vessel had vanished like the Koniggratz.
At that point, Kris put both hands flat on the table.
Maddox cleared his throat. “Thank you, Commander. That was thorough, your part exemplary and it will surely prove decisive in defeating our hidden foe. I have a question, though. Were you trying to hide from the Patrol vessels when they searched the system?”
“I went into hibernation mode after only a few days,” Kris said, blushing. “I-I couldn’t stand the confinement any longer. It reminded me too much of my prison cell on Sigma Alpha Nine.”
“Naturally it did,” Meta said, patting one of Kris’s hands.
“I left message buoys, though,” Kris said. “The Patrol vessels didn’t find them?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Maddox said.
“That seems odd.”
“Not if the enemy picked them up first,” Ludendorff said.
“Who is the enemy?” Kris asked. “How did they do what they did?”
When no one else spoke up, Ludendorff said, “I have a suspicion.”
“Well, spit it out, Professor,” Maddox said. “I’d like to know myself.”
“We all would,” Galyan said.
Ludendorff muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
Maddox thought about why Ludendorff wouldn’t simply tell them. He glanced at Dr. Harris. Hmm, was she a spy perhaps? That seemed unlikely, but did Ludendorff suspect her? Or did Ludendorff think Guderian could be a plant?
“Dr. Harris,” Maddox said, “does the commander require rest?”
Harris glanced at Kris.
“I feel fine, really,” Kris said.
“Still…” Harris said, as she glanced at Maddox.
He nodded slightly.
“…It would be best if I ran a few more tests,” Harris said.
“Are there any more questions?” Kris asked, looking around the table.
“We’re going to discuss a few things first,” Maddox said. “After you finish the tests and get some rest, we’re going to barrage you with questions.”
Kris gave them a tremulous smile.
“Thank you,” Maddox said, standing. “As I’ve said, you acted bravely and I would add, wisely. I commend your action and will note that in my report to the Lord High Admiral.”
“I appreciate that,” Kris said. “You have no idea how I long to rejoin Star Watch in full capacity.”
“I might have some idea,” Maddox said. “Now, Doctor…”
Harris rose and helped Kris stand. The two left the conference chamber, the hatch closing behind them.
Maddox sat back down, eyeing the professor. “Let’s have it, old man. What do you know, and why didn’t you want to say it in front of those two?”
-30-
Maddox waited for the professor to speak. The Methuselah Man seemed stunned, frozen in position, as if all his energy was needed to fuel his high-octane brain.
At that point, Ludendorff stirred and took a deep, possibly steadying breath. “Those two…I’m not sure. It’s a gut feeling. Don’t you have those all the time?”
Maddox did not bother to reply.
“I’m amazed Commander Guderian survived as she did,” Ludendorff added. “It lends credence to the idea…I’m not sure I wish to state my objection just yet. Let’s see the test results first.”
The Lost Tech Page 17