“Wait,” Sistine la Mort said in a stern voice.
Maddox clicked the last buckle into place before turning and straightening. He faced an obviously angry holoimage with dangerously glowing eyes.
“You have given me a fraud,” she said. “I have been reviewing his capture. I see that he is really an animal handler. You slew the chief priest via a cave-in.”
“We had an accident. I did the best I could under the circumstances.”
“You are a vicious murdering humanoid with delusions of—”
“Just a minute,” Maddox said. “You knew what I was. Yet you sent me to grab the chief priest for you.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“If you send a murderer to grab a prisoner, don’t be surprised if a few extra people die along the way.”
“Die?” she said. “You butchered many more Vendels than you needed—”
“Raja,” Maddox said, interrupting. “I have given you a Vendel as you required. Clearly, you plan to modify the poor alien’s mind. Instead of a chief priest, you will have a transformed animal handler. Once he returns to the city, he will tell the others that a demon dragged him down to perdition. But then, he will tell them how a Vendel spirit—you—saved him from destruction. Not only that, but he will come back enlightened from your education. Instead of a pariah, the others will marvel at his transformation. He will become even more notable because of that, and that will allow him to break taboos so the Vendels will climb even faster to modernity.”
The holoimage of Sistine la Mort blinked repeatedly. “You know none of these things to be true.”
“I’m guessing, you’re right about that,” Maddox agreed. “I’m also playing the hand dealt me. I suggest you do the same.”
“What if I declare you a cheater? What if I declare our agreement null and void because of that?”
“Then I will detonate myself, taking you with me.”
Once more, the holoimage blinked rapidly. “Are you suggesting my main AI core lies down here?”
“I’m not suggesting it,” Maddox said. “It’s the truth.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
Maddox didn’t know, but he figured he might as well bluff just in case it was true. He didn’t need to bluff about the amount of explosives packed into his armor suit, though. He’d had the others put it in to give him a card to play. None of them had thought the animal-handler Vendel would go over very well with the holoimage.
“You are correct,” Sistine la Mort finally said. “I keep my word. I spoke about possibilities just now. But on further review, I realize a murderous thug like you did the best he could. I accept that today.”
Using the armor suit, Maddox inclined his helmeted head.
The holoimage turned to the trembling Vendel. At that point, the machines powered up, and the dishes aimed at the trapped Vendel glowed. Soon, the alien opened his mouth and writhed on the frame, as the rays began to do their work.
-73-
On Starship Victory, Valerie stood at the head of the table in the conference chamber. She and everyone else around the table stared at the holo-projection in the middle of the room.
It showed the accelerating Juggernauts chasing them. The giant spheroids had passed Sind II. They accelerated faster than Victory. The Juggernauts were gaining on the starship.
“They haven’t begun firing yet,” Valerie said. “Once they reach what they consider their optimum firing range, I have no doubt they will focus their heavy lasers on us. We will gain a short respite once we pass Sind I, and another respite—if we’re still intact—once we pass the system star. After that, it’s simply a matter of firepower, distance, shields and armor. All the calculations show our eventual destruction.”
She scanned the faces searching hers. Despair welled up in her heart. She had failed her people. She was in command and hadn’t thought quickly enough to save them. Valerie had no idea what Captain Maddox would have done, but she suspected he would have wriggled his way out of destruction. Why couldn’t she do that?
“We could use the antimatter missiles,” the weapons officer said. “Let’s drop them off like mines, seeding our path. If we damage the Juggernauts badly enough—”
“There is a problem with your suggestion,” Galyan said, interrupting. “The first antimatter warhead could conceivably damage an enemy vessel. It is even possible a second warhead could do likewise. After that, the Juggernauts would know what to scan for, and they would undoubtedly destroy the rest of the seeded mines.”
“I like your suggestion,” Valerie told the weapons officer. “We need to keep thinking. We need to throw out ideas just like that. That’s how we’ll find the solution. Don’t worry if you think it’s a bad idea. Just tell us.”
No one spoke for a time. Eventually, people began glancing around the room. Then, a few began fidgeting.
“If we are fated to die,” Andros Crank said softly, “Perhaps we can choose our manner of death.”
Valerie sat down. The feeling of defeat welled up in her with greater intensity. She put both hands on the table and had to fight the urge to hang her head. It felt as if her neck had lost all its strength.
“I suggest we attack the Juggernauts in an act of defiance,” the Kai-Kaus Chief Technician said.
Valerie’s mouth turned dry.
“Before we commit to such a plan,” Galyan said. “I would like to share an aphorism. If nobody is there to hear it, does a tree make any noise as it falls in a forest?”
Valerie frowned at the holoimage. “What does that have to do with fighting the Juggernauts?”
“Does an act of defiance count if no one is there to witness it?” Galyan asked.
“We will witness it,” Andros said. “We will die fighting to the end.”
“The Adoks fought to the end,” Galyan said. “It did not do them any good. Dead is dead, Chief Technician.”
Andros Crank looked away.
For the first time Valerie had known the salty Kai-Kaus, he seemed dejected. That seemed to stiffen her spine, put hope back into her heart.
“Let’s think about this,” Valerie said. “Let’s put the two ideas together. We have antimatter missiles. They are powerful weapons. They helped us defeat the last two Juggernauts. Maybe we can pull a rabbit out of the hat one more time with them.”
“We have agreed that seeding the missiles behind us will only work one possibly two times,” Galyan said.
“That’s not what I’m suggesting. Chief Technician Crank has suggested we attack the Juggernauts. Very well, let us attack.”
“But the calculations show—”
“Listen to me, Galyan. I remember an old lesson from my tactics class in the Academy. Of all things, it came from the Peloponnesian War. That’s from ancient Earth history. The Athenians fought the Spartan Alliance. For most of the war, the Athenians were masterful seamen with the best galleys. In those days, the best galleys were called triremes. I can’t remember the exact sea battle, but several Spartan or Spartan Allied triremes chased an Athenian trireme. They rowed with a will. The enemy commanders wanted the glory of sinking or capturing the Athenian ship. The fastest Spartan triremes left the slower ones behind. Finally, the Athenian commander circled a small island. The expert rowers moved the craft so swiftly, that the Athenian trireme came around and rammed the fastest Spartan trireme. It was an act of supreme seamanship.”
The others stared at her, most of them with incomprehension.
“That’s what we’re going to do,” Valerie said, with growing confidence. “The Juggernauts see us fleeing. They’ll think we’re afraid. Our task is to survive long enough to reach the star. We will circle the star, using its gravity to help us whip around it. As we circle, we will launch our decoy drones and the rest of our antimatter missiles. We will whip around the star and attack head-on against the enemy vessels. They will face several starships, not just one.”
“Those extra starships will only be holographic projections,”
Galyan said.
“Right,” Valerie said. “And the Juggernauts will destroy the first few projections easily enough. Afterward, as they scan the other projections, they might leave them alone. Those projections will hide flocks of following antimatter missiles. The point will be to get those missiles as close to the Juggernauts as possible.”
Andros Crank looked at her.
Valerie saw the hope in his eyes. She saw others think through her idea, and they too, became more hopeful.
“We will go down fighting if we have to,” Valerie said. “But we will make this attempt with the best possible chance of winning.”
“I have begun an internal simulation of your suggestion,” Galyan said. “I have only found one flaw with your plan.”
“What’s that?” Valerie said.
“It is unlikely that Victory will survive long enough to reach the system star.”
“Very well,” Valerie said. “Then let’s start thinking. I want suggestions of how we can survive long enough to put our attack plan into operation.”
***
Sometime later, Valerie returned to her quarters. She needed a few minutes of shuteye. In another few hours, things were going to get hot. That was Galyan’s estimate of when the Juggernauts would begin energizing their lasers.
Valerie’s head hit the pillow. Her eyes closed and she fell asleep almost immediately. She might have dreamed. She heard an incessant beeping—
Her eyes opened. Valerie was so tired she felt drugged. With an effort, she perched up onto her elbows.
“Yes,” she said.
On the wall screen, Andros Crank’s face appeared. The Kai-Kaus had the biggest grin she’d ever seen on him.
“Having you been drinking?” Valerie heard herself say.
“The captain is alive, Lieutenant,” Andros shouted. “I’m patching him through to you.”
“What?” Valerie said.
Captain Maddox appeared on the screen. He looked tired but buoyant.
“Sir,” Valerie said. She sat up, realized she was indecent and used her pillow to cover herself.
“Hello, Lieutenant,” Maddox said. “It appears you have kept my ship out of harm’s way.”
Valerie swallowed. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead. I believed the best course—”
“Valerie,” he said. “You made the correct decision.”
“What?”
“You made the correct decision. I ordered you to keep my starship safe. You’ve done that. Fortunately, we have acquired a powerful new ally. Sistine la Mort has already gained control of the three Juggernauts chasing you.”
“Who? Did what? I don’t understand, sir.”
“The Juggernauts are controlled by AIs. Those AIs are android-based. Strand had an access code and took them over. We have Sistine la Mort. She had stronger programs, and she has gained controlled of the three war-vessels. They are even now beginning to decelerate. They will stop and soon accelerate back to Sind II.”
“Do you mind if I check that out, sir?”
“You don’t trust me, Lieutenant?”
“It isn’t that,” Valerie said. “I don’t know that I’m really speaking to Captain Maddox.”
Maddox grinned at her, and nodded. “By all means, check out the facts. I’ll give you a few minutes.”
Valerie nodded as the captain disappeared from the screen. She spoke fast to Andros and demanded Galyan. As she dressed, the holoimage told her what had happened.
“He did it,” Valerie said, as she shrugged on her uniform jacket.
“I think so, Valerie. I have also received special instructions from the captain. I am to relay them to you.”
Galyan proceeded to tell her the secret orders.
“Why didn’t he just tell me?” Valerie asked. “Oh, I already know. This Sistine la Mort is monitoring our messages. She isn’t fully friendly then.”
“She is also a deified AI just like me.”
“Oh,” Valerie said. “That’s just great.”
“I do not understand. By your words, you approve. By your tone, you are not sure.”
Valerie buttoned her jacket. “I hope the captain knows what he’s doing. I better speak to him.”
“Yes,” Galyan said.
Valerie faced the screen as a great weight lifted from her shoulders. The captain was back, and he was in charge again. Even better, it looked like everything was going to work out. They were going to live, if this Sistine la Mort didn’t screw them.
Valerie smiled with renewed hope as Captain Maddox reappeared on the screen.
-74-
Maddox met with his people deep in the vaults.
He’d already spoken with the revived jumpfighter crews. They had no recollection of what had happened to them. Neither had Sistine la Mort been forthcoming concerning how she had captured and moved the jumpfighters to a holding area deep in the vaults.
Ludendorff had run a quick scan over the individual crewmembers. None of them appeared to have any interior devices inside their bodies. It also did not seem the holoimage had tampered with their minds.
“We can’t be sure about that yet,” Ludendorff told Maddox. “But I do not believe it likely at this point.”
“Why?” asked Maddox.
“The holoimage hadn’t yet gathered enough data on us to develop a plan. That might have changed if the crews had remained in her custody much longer.”
The captain had found the missing jumpfighters and crews. He had the surviving marines, including Lieutenant Sims, and he had Meta, Keith, Ludendorff and himself. Maddox had spoken with Valerie. She would return to Sind II.
The three Juggernauts that had chased her were also on their way back. The war-vessels were now under Sistine la Mort’s command.
Through Galyan’s secret message, Maddox had told Valerie to take her time returning. He didn’t trust Sistine la Mort. He wanted the lieutenant to bring the starship close enough so that the jumpfighters could reach Victory in one bounce, but no closer.
The captain had gathered his people down here. It was like an old-style hangar bay, with lamps in the ceiling. The three jumpfighters were parked nearby. The crews had checked the fighters, and they were ready to go at a moment’s notice. Most of the marines had shed their armor. Two of them had climbed back into their suits, patrolling the hangar bay as guards.
“We’re almost done here,” Maddox told his assembled people. “I don’t want anyone thinking it’s over, though. Until we’re back on Earth, no one should take it easy. We still have to get what we came for, and we have to deal with Strand.”
The others watched him.
“Any questions?” asked Maddox.
No one had any. Thus, the meeting ended almost as soon as it had started.
Maddox took Ludendorff and Meta to the side.
“Aside from me,” the professor said, “no one is trickier than the oldest Methuselah Man. Never doubt that Strand has a few plays left. I suspect he wants to murder me, and you too, captain. We might use that to help us discover his first trick.”
Maddox recalled some of the professor’s stunts throughout the years. The personal force-screen had been one of his strongest, including the mobile force-screen Ludendorff had used to trap some of them.
“Sistine la Mort is scanning the star cruiser,” Maddox said. “No escape pod, torpedo or stealth suit has attempted to leave Argo while the shuttle departed.”
Ludendorff shook his head. “Strand won’t try to escape like that. He’ll know we’re expecting something, and that’s too obvious. I suggest Strand will try to escape onto the planet.”
“That’s a poor bet for him,” Maddox said.
“Which is why he’ll attempt it,” Ludendorff said. “Strand knows we should be less inclined to watch for such a move. I suspect he has a secondary spacecraft somewhere nearby. Either that, or the secondary vessel will try to slip onto the planet in the next week or so.”
“Does Strand think he can stay ali
ve on the planet that long?”
Ludendorff snapped his fingers. “It would easy for him.”
Maddox had his doubts, and he wondered about Ludendorff’s mental processes. The professor had taken another stim shot in order to keep going. The Methuselah Man needed a thorough medical examination and decontamination.
“There’s also the matter of the android Rose,” Ludendorff said. “Strand will try to use her, too.”
“Sistine la Mort has scanned the approaching shuttle. There are no New Men aboard it or any other life signs but for the Methuselah Man.”
“It’s easy to shut down an android, and to shut down an android double,” the professor said.
“You mean a Strand look-alike android?” Maddox asked.
The professor nodded.
Meta cleared her throat.
“Go ahead,” Maddox told her.
Meta regarded the professor. “I still don’t see why we don’t use a missile. Let’s destroy his shuttle and take Strand off the board. He’s been a pain in the butt far too long. Killing him seems like the wisest thing to do.”
“No,” Ludendorff said. “That’s a misuse of a potent piece—using your analogy of a playing board. I hope none of you has forgotten the Swarm Imperium. That’s why we came out here. We must return with the Builder long-range scanner. Thrax Ti Ix is out there. We are certain he made it to the Swarm homeworld. In time, the Imperium will send battleships. Humanity must be ready for them.”
“I know all that,” Meta said. “What does Strand have to do with the Swarm?”
Ludendorff became earnest. “Last voyage we saw a Swarm fleet face a Chitin fleet. Both insectoid fleets would have swamped humanity’s combined forces. Clearly, if the Swarm comes through a hyper-spatial tube, we are going to need allies. The Spacers are gone. That leaves just one other group.”
“The New Men?” asked Meta, as if spitting the name from her mouth.
“Bingo,” Ludendorff said. “I hope to persuade the Emperor to help the Commonwealth. The Emperor is hyper-rational, as he is the greatest New Man of all. The thorn in the New Men’s flesh is Strand. If I can send Strand to the Throne World—”
The Lost Planet (Lost Starship Series Book 6) Page 40