The Lost Tech

by Vaughn Heppner

  “I give my word,” Smits said.

  “When can you board?”

  “In three hours,” Smits said.

  “I’d prefer in an hour.”

  “Let’s split the difference, two hours,” Smits said.

  Maddox sighed and nodded. “I’m looking forward to this, sir.”

  “As am I,” Smits said, “as am I.”

  ***

  Maddox entered the bridge and explained what would take place in two hours.

  “Sir,” Valerie said. “Is that wise? If I didn’t know better, I’d think Commodore Smits plans to storm Victory and capture us with his three hundred ‘guests.’”

  Maddox pointed at her. “Report to the briefing chamber. Keith, you go with her.”

  “Sir?” asked Valerie.

  “That’s exactly what I’m expecting them to try,” Maddox said. “It was why I agreed to give Smits the opening. Now, we’re going to have to come up with a counter for their move—so we’re meeting in the briefing chamber, to discuss our tactics.”

  Valerie groaned, shaking her head. “You’re not serious…” She looked in the captain’s eyes. There was none of the playfulness he’d shown Smits. “Yes, sir,” she said, “to the briefing room. Come on, Keith, let’s go.”

  ***

  Twenty minutes later, in the briefing chamber, Maddox sat at the head of the table, with Meta, Valerie and Keith on one side, and with Lieutenant Horn at the other end. He was in charge of Victory’s complement of space marines. Kris Guderian, Ludendorff and Galyan were on the other side of the table as Meta. Riker was presently in sickbay with a bad flu, so he was not attending the meeting.

  Maddox had Galyan explain about the possibility of the carbonaceous moon being a secret base for Liss cybers and any human confederates they possessed. Galyan listed the reasons he believed it was the Liss and not someone else.

  Ludendorff tried to interrupt.

  “Not now, Professor,” Maddox told him. “We don’t have much time, and we need to prepare for the next step.”

  “Which is what exactly?” asked Ludendorff.

  “As I just said, not yet.” Maddox pointed at Kris Guderian.

  She told the others about Commodore Smits, making it quick and succinct. “In my opinion, someone is controlling his mind. He’s different from the man I knew.”

  “Can I say something now?” asked Ludendorff.

  “In a minute, Professor,” Maddox said. “Here’s the situation in a nutshell. We clearly walked into a trap we didn’t suspect. Smits controls five battleships that he’s bringing to the ceremony.”

  “You gave him permission, remember?” Ludendorff said querulously.

  “Precisely,” Maddox said. “The reason should be obvious. A man or Liss cyber getting ready to spring a trap will put himself out there more than otherwise. In this case, I’m talking about Smits coming aboard Victory.”

  “Yes,” Ludendorff said, “with an army at his back.”

  “Seemingly,” Maddox said.

  “And with five battleships ready to blast us to Hell,” Ludendorff added. “This is a piss-poor plan, my boy.”

  “Enough,” Maddox said, sternly. “I’m not worried about the five battleships, and I’m not really worried about the three hundred space marines Smits plans to join him for the ceremony. What I am worried about are aliens, likely Liss cybers, hunkering down in a star system and taking over through the top personnel. In my estimation, we weren’t thorough enough as Star Watch scoured the Commonwealth for them. I know about Jarnevon and some other places…Well, it doesn’t matter what we did then. I think we’ve found a hive of Liss cybers here. They’ve turned Smits against us and maybe turned others as well.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” Ludendorff said. “The question is, did they control Smits when he had Colonel Borneo shot?”

  “I’d like to know that myself,” Maddox said. “That’s why we have to capture whoever is on the carbonaceous moon.”

  Ludendorff jerked back. “How do you propose to do that?”

  Maddox smiled grimly. “It’s the reason we’re having the meeting. I’m open to suggestions.”

  No one spoke, but glanced around the conference table, seeing who would come up with a plan first.

  “I have an idea, sir,” Galyan finally said.

  “Fine,” Maddox said. “Let’s hear it.”

  Galyan told them.

  “Firstly,” Maddox said, after Galyan had finished explaining. “That’s doesn’t give us any Liss prisoners. Secondly, it puts you at grave risk.”

  “There is a small risk for me, sir, I admit,” Galyan said.

  “He’s trying to grab all the glory,” Ludendorff complained.

  “That is not true, Professor,” Galyan said. “It is a most logical plan, and it follows the captain’s normal way of dealing with such a situation.”

  “You mean it’s highly unorthodox,” Ludendorff said.

  “And uses surprise to maximum advantage,” Galyan added.

  “I like it,” Keith said.

  “You would,” Ludendorff said.

  Maddox was drumming his fingers on the table. “Your plan isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it is tricky and abrupt and could bring everything to a head. Frankly, it’s better than what I’d envisioned earlier.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Galyan said. “You are most kind.”

  “No, I’m being honest,” Maddox said. “Are there any objections?

  There were, from Valerie and Ludendorff in particular. They argued for a time, added a twist here and there, and agreed with the captain when he said they were running out of time.

  Maddox stood. “It’s settled. We have our plan. There are plenty of risks and many things that can go wrong, but it has the advantage of wild motion and action and of using their likely flaw: that of being extremely hierarchical and thus more prone to having sabotage at the top paralyzing everyone else. We will prepare and execute in—” He checked his watch. “In thirty-two minutes.”

  -85-

  It made sense that Galyan had come up with such a detailed plan. As an AI, he’d had the means and time to make thousands of complex and precise computations, and this was going to take perfectly executed timetable operations.

  Victory was in orbit around the water moon, which in turn orbited the Jovian gas giant. The tiny carbonaceous moon was between the Jovian planet and water moon and had a faster orbit around the gas giant than the star base planet. The tiny moon would soon be out of sight of the coming ceremony, meaning it would be out of direct line-of-sight of the ancient Adok starship and battleships.

  A few Alpha Sigma 9 personnel contacted Valerie, making sure everything was in order. She assured them it was.

  Maddox sat in the captain’s chair, listening to the conversations. Keith was no longer at the helm.

  That was because he waited in a hangar bay aboard a fold-fighter, the proverbial tin can. He had the most dangerous part in the coming mission, and he was eager to be off.

  “Now, it’s my turn to shine,” Keith said at the fold-fighter controls.

  Maddox heard that because the link between them was still open. “Don’t get cocky,” the captain warned.

  “Begging your pardon, sir, but are you kidding me? Cocky is exactly what you’re going to get from me, and that’s because I’m the best at this.”

  “I see. Well, await my signal,” Maddox said.

  “Aye-aye…Captain,” Keith said with a laugh.

  Valerie had switched off her comm and stepped over to Maddox’s chair. “Sir,” she said quietly. “I’m not sure—”

  “Lieutenant,” Maddox said, interrupting, swiveling around to face her. “Keith is the only one we have that can do this. Trust his flying skills, if nothing else.”

  “If Galyan has made a mistake—”

  “Then pray that he hasn’t,” Maddox said, interrupting once again. “Now, if you please, Lieutenant, it’s almost time.”

  “Can we really pull this off,
sir?” Valerie asked softly.

  Maddox stared at her, and he grinned to induce confidence. “We’re certainly going to find out. Now, get to your post.”

  “Yes, Captain,” she said, saluting.

  Maddox swiveled back to the main screen. “Please help us, God,” he whispered, with his fingers tightly gripping the ends of the armrests. “We’re going to need it.”

  ***

  The plan was rather simple, but it had complicated parts, all of them concerning Galyan except for the last, which had Keith running the show.

  It started with the five battleships of Alpha Sigma 9 rounding the water moon in close formation. They did not fly fast. They did not fly with electromagnetic shields up or with any of their armaments hot. They came peacefully, heading straight for Victory, which had taken up a stationary orbit over the water moon.

  The Wellington and Subotai—the Conqueror-class battleships—were in the middle of the formation: two Bismarck-class battleships were on one side and on the other were a Bismarck-class battleship and the mothership.

  The mothership was an added complication, but in Maddox’s estimation, it shouldn’t render the plan moot.

  The flotilla approached Victory, with the six vessels beginning to slow their velocity.

  On Victory’s bridge, Valerie turned to Maddox. “Commodore Smits would like a word with you, sir.”

  “Put him on the main screen,” Maddox said. Even though his gut had started to tighten, he smiled as Smits appeared.

  “I know this is last minute,” Smits said. “But I wonder if I could add fifty people to my list.”

  “Three hundred and fifty people?” asked Maddox.

  “If it isn’t a problem,” Smits said.

  Maddox debated internally and decided it would look suspicious if he granted the request too easily. His smile vanished. “In truth, Commodore, I was thinking fifty less. Two hundred and fifty will overload us as it is. An extra hundred after that is out of the question.”

  Smits sat utterly still until he blinked. “I’m afraid I must insist.”

  “Three hundred and fifty?” asked Maddox, with the touch of a whine in his voice.

  “It’s one of my conditions.”

  “You’re pushing it, Commodore.”

  “Captain…what would the Lord High Admiral want? Remember, you have many other star systems to visit.”

  Maddox pretended to wrestle with his thoughts. Finally, his shoulders hunched, but just a touch. He didn’t want to lay it on too thickly. “Very well,” he said curtly. “Three hundred and fifty. We’ll have to stagger the landings.”

  “I have a reason for the request,” Smits said, “political reasons.”

  “I said all right,” Maddox told him. “Is there anything else?”

  “No. That’s sufficient. I look forward to the ceremony.”

  “Good,” Maddox said, motioning to Valerie to cut the connection.

  ***

  The five battleships and single mothership took up station across from Victory. Hangar bay doors opened on all six vessels as shuttles and landers began to exit them.

  The beginning mass of shuttles started for Victory, which had opened two hangar bays to receive them. Like the other vessels, Victory’s weapons were offline, and the electromagnetic shield was down.

  “Galyan,” Maddox said from his seat on the bridge. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, sir,” Galyan said.

  “Happy hunting,” Maddox said. “You can start now.”

  “Why, thank you, sir, I appreciate that.”

  ***

  Galyan the Adok AI holoimage disappeared from the bridge and reappeared in ghost form inside an approaching shuttle. That meant Galyan was hardly visible to human sight. He needed the slight visibility for his optical sensors to work. He scanned the throng in the shuttle hold, popped to the flight chamber and then disappeared, after failing to spot Commodore Smits.

  Galyan did this at high speed, going from one shuttle to another, searching, searching, searching.

  As predicted, Galyan found the commodore in one of the last shuttles to launch. It was a natural precaution on the man’s part, although there had been tactical advantages to the other side if Smits had been willing to travel on one of the first shuttles to reach Victory.

  Galyan did not hesitate. The holoimage floated into Smits. Then, a special generator aboard Victory activated. The generator had been damaged during the war against the Liss, but Ludendorff and Andros had since repaired it.

  The generator pulsed energy directly to Galyan. That energy sizzled through Smit’s body, rendering the man more than unconscious, in fact putting him into a temporary coma.

  Galyan instantly vanished and reappeared aboard the Wellington’s bridge. The little Adok holoimage was still in ghost form. He floated into the captain of the battleship, and zapped the man with the same generated energy, rendering him temporarily comatose as well.

  Galyan went from one battleship to another, doing the same thing on each.

  Aboard Victory, Ludendorff and Andros serviced the generator, having added extra power lines for the attack.

  Naturally, aboard each battleship, and aboard the shuttle, people reacted predictably. Some screamed. Some shouted. Some watched open-mouthed. Seconds passed until those nearby rushed the Galyan-zapped individual. Every time, the people found the zapped individual unresponsive. At that point, without fail, an officer contacted medical personnel and told them to hurry to the bridge, or to the shuttle flight camber, in the case of Commodore Smits.

  These assaults took place in a matter of minutes. So, by the time Galyan left the mothership to reappear on Victory’s bridge, eight and a half minutes had elapsed.

  No one on any of the vessels had sounded a general flotilla alarm yet. Each believed that its vessel—and personage—was the only one to be in such straights.

  That was about to end, however, as the pilot shuttling a comatose Smits made an emergency call to the Wellington, which meant the mission was about to go into high gear.

  -86-

  Maddox started as Galyan appeared before him on Victory’s bridge.

  “Done, sir,” Galyan said. “The seven individuals have been rendered inert for the time being.”

  Maddox nodded tightly, and said, “Helm, initiate the star-drive jump. Use the original coordinates.”

  “Yes, sir,” the pilot said, a small woman named Bonnie with fantastic reflexes.

  “Is Keith ready?” Maddox asked Valerie.

  “He’s eager, sir,” Valerie said, who had an open channel with the ace waiting in the hangar bay.

  “Tell him we’re about to jump,” Maddox said.

  Valerie turned to her panel.

  Maddox stood because the tension had just become too much for him to continue sitting. He tried to look calm in order to keep the bridge crew calm. But he was anything but.

  He’d never intended to let any Alpha Sigma 9 space marines aboard Victory. That had been a ruse to get the battleships close. With all those shuttles in space, the battleship captains would have been loath to fire at the starship. The key here was the known hierarchal tendencies of Liss puppets. If Smits was a Liss puppet, it was quite likely the battleship captains were too. The point then in rendering them comatose, was to throw the chain of command into a crisis. Who would make critical decisions with the captain lying there? Maddox was hoping to buy time—if only extra minutes—while people figured that out.

  “We’re ready to jump, sir,” Bonnie said.

  “Go,” Maddox said, as he resumed his seat.

  “Jumping,” Bonnie said, as she manipulated her helm controls.

  The great antimatter engines powered up, and in those few seconds when the battleships could have fired at Victory, no one gave such an order.

  The double-oval starship vanished, jumping into low orbit around the Jovian gas giant on the other side. Victory appeared with the gas giant between it and the water moon and it and the flotilla of Star Watch vesse
ls. The starship was also ahead of the fast-traveling carbonaceous moon as it sped toward them around the Jovian planet.

  There was lag aboard Victory, although it did not last long.

  Maddox was the first to raise his head. He waited until the others stirred. “Galyan, are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, sir,” the holoimage said.

  “Helm?” asked Maddox.

  “I’m…I’m ready, sir,” Bonnie said.

  “Plot an intercept course for the approaching carbonaceous moon,” Maddox said.

  A few seconds passed. “The course is plotted, sir,” Bonnie said.

  “Engage,” Maddox told her.

  ***

  Victory picked up velocity as it maneuvered along the curvature of the great Jovian planet. It headed for a rendezvous with the carbonaceous moon, which orbited toward them, and was out of direct-line-of-sight with the water moon and Star Watch flotilla.

  In minutes, the tiny moon appeared over the Jovian horizon relative to Victory.

  “Go,” Maddox told Galyan.

  The holoimage disappeared from the bridge, to reappear seconds later in a great subterranean cavern inside the carbonaceous moon. Galyan had detected the cavern earlier through his sensors.

  The little holoimage glanced one way and then another and could not detect a thing.

  He disappeared and reappeared in a deeper subterranean cavern. This time, he detected a structure with power. The power source—

  A ray beamed at Galyan. He disappeared…to reappear on the bridge of Victory.

  “They’re in the second cavern system,” Galyan said. “They have power and weapons. It could be a death sentence if Keith goes in.”

  At her station, Valerie gasped.

  “Are we in range?” Maddox asked the weapons officer.

  “In thirty seconds, sir.”

  Maddox clicked an armrest comm to Keith waiting in a fold-fighter. “They have beam weapons.”

  “No problem,” Keith said.

  “It might be.”

  “Okay, it might be. I’ll still get it done.”