The Lost Tech

by Vaughn Heppner

  Surbus stared at the screen. “This is an ancient weapon, Builder-made and now Bosk-run.” He scowled and glanced to the side as a nearly inaudible voice spoke. He seemed to listen and finally sighed, facing the screen once more.

  “Fellow Bosks are in the crew, but we are Merovingians and serve the great Queen, she named Methuselah Woman Lisa Meyers. For the moment, the Queen is elsewhere, and thus you deal with me, Surbus, her powerful lieutenant and present owner of the annihilating weapon of old.”

  There was more nearly inaudible speech from the side, and the scowl on Surbus’s face was thunderous. “Excuse me,” he said into the screen.

  Surbus turned to the right as he drew a sidearm and fired three times. There were three separate thuds. Surbus smirked, nodded, perhaps to himself, and holstered his blaster. He faced the screen again.

  “Now…where was I? Oh, yes, I am Surbus. I control the ultimate weapon. Lisa Meyers is elsewhere, and I rule here. I rule as I please and do what I want. You of Earth must ask yourself, ‘How can I please the great Surbus so he does not smash our lovely green-and-blue planet?’ I am a Bosk and remember all too well the grave indignities you of Earth have heaped upon those of my kind. Therefore, it will take much to stay my wrath. Yet, I am not insane like Lisa Meyers. I will let you buy off my wrath if the price is right. Think well how you respond to me, as I may not make a second offer. I will reappear at my choosing in a place you will never expect. Be prompt, Earthlings, or you will lose your world forever. I, Surbus, have spoken.”

  Thereupon, the transmission ended, although the buoy would continue to send that message for as long as it had power.

  -38-

  Dag the Merovingian Champion hurried down a hauler corridor. The Queen had summoned him over the ship’s intercom system, and she’d sounded furious. Dag wondered if one of the soldiers had set him up with false reports. The soldiers did not like him—

  Dag’s brutish head lifted. Could Tobias have engineered a coup against him? He knew the former Champion hated him, although Tobias worked overtime these days, acting meekly. If Tobias had done this—

  “No,” Dag whispered. “That can’t be it.” His best friends in the Merovingians watched Tobias at all times. Dag had instituted the watch as he shifted loyalty in the corps back to the Queen as she’d instructed. Why, then, was she furious?

  Dag rounded a corner and came upon a squad of soldiers with blasters in their hands. Each blaster came up and targeted his chest.

  “I’m here to see the Queen,” Dag said.

  The lieutenant in charge of the squad spoke a word to the others. They lowered their blasters, although they did not holster them. The others parted, moving aside, making a lane.

  Dag took it. The lieutenant dipped his head in greeting and tapped on the hatch. It opened.

  “Go in,” the lieutenant said. “The Queen is waiting for you.”

  Dag ducked his head because he was too tall to enter the hatch otherwise. His Merovingian armor rattled and clanked.

  The hatch slid shut behind him, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Soon, he saw the Queen before a console and screen—she had her back to him. She wore a tightfitting uniform and cap and seemed absorbed by whatever was on the screen.

  Dag cleared his throat.

  The Queen straightened and swiveled around in her seat. She appeared angry. “Dag, why are you here—oh, I summoned you. That’s right.”

  Dag waited.

  “Approach,” she said.

  He started forward.

  “You should know that lasers are tracking your every move,” she said. “One word from me, and they will cut you down.”

  “Yes, my Queen.”

  Her nostrils flared as she eyed him closely. She sighed a second later, nodding. “I distrust everyone it seems. But you’re loyal to me, aren’t you, Dag?”

  “To the bone,” Dag said, having come up with the phrase himself.

  That brought a smile to her lips. She was intoxicatingly beautiful, even if she was frightening like a vampire.

  “Observe the braggart,” she said, swiveling back to the screen, pointing at an armored man.

  Dag moved to the side so he wouldn’t be standing directly behind her, as he was sure she would not care for that. On the screen, he saw a Bosk, a thickset man wearing Merovingian armor. The Bosk’s mouth moved, but no sound came.

  “He’s the usurper you’re going to take down,” she said.

  Dag did not understand, but he didn’t say that. He waited for her to explain further.

  After a time, she looked up at him. “He controls an ancient weapon, one I found…” She cocked her heard, frowning. “I can’t quite remember how I found it. Isn’t that strange?”

  “A gift from the gods,” Dag said.

  Her frown shifted focus from inward to him. “Do you believe in gods?”

  Dag opened his mouth before hesitating to speak. It wasn’t the kind of question he expected. In fact, he’d never considered it before this. There was a memory of a faint time when he’d been a banking president. Had he thought about such questions then? He did not think so.

  “I’m waiting,” she said.

  “Is this important, O Queen?”

  “I’ve asked it. Now, I expect an answer.”

  “The answer is that I don’t know.”

  “Then why say the ultimate weapon is from the gods?”

  “I don’t know, O Queen. A poetic phrase, I suppose.”

  “Then let me set you straight,” she said sarcastically. “It most certainly wasn’t a gift from the gods. It was something else, certainly not from any supernatural pantheon. I do not believe in gods, as such.”

  Dag remained silent.

  “Do you disagree?” she demanded.

  “I do not disagree with you, O Queen.”

  “So, you do or don’t believe in gods?”

  Dag shifted uneasily. “I believe that you don’t believe in them.”

  “Are you trying to be funny?”

  “No, my Queen.”

  She massaged the side of her head as if it pained her. She did that for a time before speaking abruptly: “I learned about the mobile null region… Are you familiar with the term?”

  “I am not.”

  She blinked several times, massaged the side of her head and said, “After escaping from Jupiter’s depths—I first escaped Earth and raced to the gas giant, with Maddox in hot pursuit—I took a long journey. It was a dangerous quest, propelled by secret wisdom I don’t remember acquiring. I used an exotic maneuver to reach the null region. That meant I endured more risks. Surbus was with me then, a dull brave soldier who never lost heart. I thought I could trust him to do a simple duty for his Queen.”

  “Surbus is the Bosk on the screen?”

  “Yes,” she said. “And I may have misjudged him. In truth, his task wasn’t so simple. He has run one of the most advanced items of tech in existence, and he has done so professionally. Now, though, it appears that he has become greedy and ambitious. He might not have been as dull as self-advertised. The realm he operates in is highly dangerous, with many pitfalls for the unwary.”

  “Are you implying that is why my Merovingians endured the hellish simulations?”

  The Queen studied him.

  “I mean your Merovingians,” Dag amended.

  “The hellish simulations were to ready my Merovingian corps for that weird realm. You are correct in that, as you are my answer to Surbus. If you take his path, however, I will have an answer for you. Do you understand me?”

  “I am loyal to my Queen.”

  “In my presence, you are. Will you remain loyal once you control the mobile null region?”

  “Yes!”

  She eyed him critically. “Surbus might kill you instead. That would be unfortunate, as he would likely usurp your Merovingians, pulling them into his service as he has clearly drawn some of the battleship’s crew.”

  “No, O Queen. All the Merovingians are
loyal to you.”

  “Humph,” she said, turning back to the screen, staring at the silently speaking Surbus, the thick-necked Bosk. “You will not go alone,” she said while staring at the silent talker. “Soldiers will run your ships and help to insert you and the Merovingians onto the control world.”

  Dag listened in silence, not liking the part about added soldiers in the expedition.

  “I doubt the soldiers will survive in orbit for long,” she said, “but I’m going to order them to try. It is conceivable that Maddox or the New Men will stumble upon a method for entering the null region. Surbus is making it easier for them. Yes, that could be another way. If they could capture the fool’s new battleship, they could force Surbus to take them in. I’m hoping the treacherous cur is smarter than that.”

  Dag listened in silence.

  She looked up at him. “It is a huge world, a heavy one. Surbus’s people will have grown accustomed to the awful gravity. That is why I can only send Merovingians. You must storm the palace—”

  “I have run through the simulations, O Queen.”

  She stared at him. “You interrupted me.”

  “I crave your pardon, O Queen.”

  She did not give it. Instead, she glanced at a chronometer, and sighed. “We’ll be in position to launch soon. Do you have any last questions?”

  “No, O Queen.”

  “There are no gods,” she said robotically, “so do not pray to them. Rely on your own strength and genius. I have amply given you both.”

  “I am grateful, as you know.”

  “Prove it to me, Dag. Show me that some humans are not contemptible.”

  He straightened and saluted.

  She smiled before pressing a button. “Listen to this boaster, and remember, that he once gave me similar assurances. Do not be like him, but crush him, Dag. Crush his head between your hands. As he howls for mercy, tell him Lisa Meyers always wins in the end.”

  “Yes, O Queen. It shall be done.”

  She laughed as on-screen Surbus boasted about the ultimate weapon and how he was master of the situation.

  -39-

  Captain Maddox held a briefing aboard Victory, summoning Professor Ludendorff, Galyan, Meta, Andros, Valerie, Riker and Kris Guderian to the conference chamber.

  The starship had been steadily heading for the Solar System, which was a mere twenty light-years from the 82 G. Eridani System.

  In the conference chamber, Maddox ordered Galyan to show the others the recording of the asteroid attack and the Star Watch battleships responding. Afterward, Galyan played Surbus’s message upon the screen.

  “It has begun,” Ludendorff said after the screen went blank. “The mobile null region has maneuvered into position and fired a shot across the bow, as the old saying goes. We’re fortunate the Bosk turned traitor to make his own play and not that of Lisa Meyers.”

  “You believe Surbus is genuine in what he says?” Maddox asked.

  “I know, I know,” Ludendorff said. “You expect others to act like you, to misdirect, to fake before a lunge. Surbus isn’t doing that, though. I know because I’m familiar with the Bosks and their customs.”

  “Can you elaborate?” Maddox asked.

  “It’s simple. The Bosks are an aggressive, direct people. We learned that when the Liss cybers used Bosks as shock troopers. I’m surprised Meyers trusted Surbus with the null region. That isn’t like her.”

  “Perhaps she had no choice,” Valerie said.

  “I doubt that’s true,” Ludendorff said. “Meyers is cunning, and she’s usually a good judge of character or has secondary people watching those she leaves in charge.”

  “Maybe that was before the Yon-Soth ray fiddled with her mind,” Maddox said. “Devilish thinking has a way of unbalancing a person’s outlook.”

  Ludendorff made a face. “I have as yet seen no evidence of such a change in Meyers.”

  “So Surbus is genuine beyond a doubt?” asked Maddox.

  “I wouldn’t say it like that,” Ludendorff declared. “I’m…ninety percent certain he’s exactly what he claims to be. But let’s put the shoe on the other foot. How would it help Meyers for us to think Surbus is on his own?”

  “That’s elementary,” Maddox said. “Surbus wants Star Watch to buy him off. He declared as much. If High Command believes that, it could lull them into making a bad move.”

  “I see. When you spoke to them last, did the representative of High Command sound lulled to you?”

  “No…”

  “There you have it,” Ludendorff said. “We should proceed on the assumption that Surbus has become his own man, a free agent.”

  Maddox thought about that, seeing a new possibility. “I wonder if we can bribe Surbus into giving us the null region.”

  Ludendorff stared at Maddox. “You can’t be serious? Or is this the Lord High Admiral’s question?”

  “I’m asking it.”

  “No,” Ludendorff said. “If we want the null region, we’ll have to get it the hard way, by taking it from Surbus. He’s not really interested in money or loot—he just likes the power he has, and he won’t give that up.”

  Maddox glanced at the others. “Any ideas on how we can do take it?”

  None of the others spoke.

  Maddox drummed his fingers on the table. “I’ve spoken to Golden Ural. Strand gave him a few tidbits concerning the null region.”

  Ludendorff slapped the table. “Then why are you asking us? Out with it, my boy. What did the thief have to say?”

  “As you surmised,” Maddox said, “a method for slipping into the null region.”

  “That ends the debate. Let’s go. Let’s get it done.”

  “Trust Strand implicitly?” asked Maddox. “I think not. We must first decide if Strand told Ural the truth.”

  “Well, what did Ural tell you about their meeting?”

  Maddox glanced at Galyan before regarding the professor.

  “Wait a minute,” Ludendorff said. “Did Galyan get to listen in to the call?”

  Maddox nodded.

  “You should have included me too,” Ludendorff said. “I could have asked a few revealing questions.”

  “There was no time.”

  “That was a mistake. I could have told you if Strand had given the New Man a cock-and-bull story or not.”

  “You can still tell me that,” Maddox said. “I’ll give you the essence of what Strand said.”

  “But sir,” Galyan said. “I can repeat the message verbatim, or I could play it back if you wish.”

  “An excellent idea,” Ludendorff said.

  “Sorry, but no,” Maddox said. “I would have to clear that with the Lord High Admiral.”

  “Since when did you become such a rules stickler?”

  Maddox frowned, annoyed with the professor and Galyan. “We will proceed. According to Strand—”

  “Secondhand Strand hearsay,” Ludendorff said, interrupting. “It was what Ural told you Strand said, not necessarily what Strand actually said.”

  Maddox drummed his fingers on the table.

  “Get on with it if it’s such a big deal,” Ludendorff said in a huff.

  Maddox continued to drum his fingers.

  “If you do not care to speak, sir, I can give the gist of it,” Galyan told Maddox.

  “No…” Maddox said. “Here’s the pertinent information. The mobile null region is similar to the one we’ve been in before. It’s dark, sucks energy and is difficult to enter or leave. This one has a huge world in the center. According to Strand, the control mechanism lies on the world.”

  “‘Huge world’ means what in this instance?” asked Ludendorff.

  “One point eight times Earth normal gravity,” Maddox said.

  “Hmm,” Ludendorff said quietly. “One point eight G means a man—or woman—would weigh nearly twice as much as normal. That means most people would drag on such a high-gravity world.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said.

  “Th
at means we only have two people who could reasonably go,” Ludendorff said, “You and Meta.”

  Maddox glanced at his wife before saying, “I’m disinclined to include Meta on such a dangerous mission.”

  “Nonsense, my boy,” Ludendorff said. “I recall that she hauled your ass out of danger against the Yon-Soth in the Carina-Sagittarius Spiral Arm when—”

  “Professor—”

  “Now see here,” Ludendorff said, interrupting. “There’s no point arguing about an insertion team at this juncture anyway. What else did you learn about the mobile null region?”

  Maddox exhaled, stood and began walking around the table. The others watched him, Ludendorff most of all. The captain walked behind the professor and put a hand between his neck and right shoulder.

  “Eh, now,” Ludendorff said. “What are you up to?”

  Maddox squeezed.

  Ludendorff stiffened in obvious pain.

  Maddox squeezed just a moment longer before letting go. He continued around the table.

  Ludendorff rubbed the bruised area. “What in the hell do you think—?”

  “Professor,” Maddox said, interrupting.

  Ludendorff quit speaking.

  “Better, much better,” Maddox said.

  “If you think—”

  “Decorum,” Maddox said, interrupting once more. “That is the watchword.”

  “He’s telling you not to interrupt him or to speak to him as if you’re in charge,” Riker said from across the table. “That can’t be too hard to understand, Professor.”

  Ludendorff scowled and crossed his arms, hunching in his seat.

  Maddox continued around the table, patting Riker on the shoulder as he passed, resuming his place at the head of the table. “The mobile null region has a control world and a giant world-sized ring somewhere nearby. Strand did not go into detail, but the ring can…strip inertia from an object.”

  Ludendorff was still scowling with his arms crossed.

  “Oh!” Kris Guderian said. “That explains a lot. If one could strip inertia from an asteroid—wouldn’t that still take tremendous energy to accelerate to one-quarter light-speed?”