“Captain Henderson,” Becker said.
Reluctantly, the big captain stood, regarding him. “You’re the special envoy from HQ?”
Becker headed for the ready room. He had to brazen out the moment. Once he had Henderson alone—
The captain sighed. “This is a strange day. Lieutenant, you have the bridge.”
“Yes, sir,” said an equally big but younger man.
Becker paused, letting Henderson enter the ready room first. He followed, and the hatch switched shut behind him.
Henderson turned around immediately. “What’s this all about? Follow Victory. Drop back from Victory. Wait for it. Well, has command made up its damned mind?”
“Sit, please, Captain.”
“No,” Henderson said. “I’m frustrated, and I want some answers. Who are you anyway? I’ve never heard of you or—”
Becker opened his eyes wide and let his domination power flow out of him. He was reaching for the bottom of the barrel, though. He thought he’d had more power left.
“What’s your problem?” Henderson demanded. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“You must listen to me, Captain,” Becker said. He summoned his domination powers, and when that didn’t work, he remembered all the abuse he’d taken by lug-heads like Henderson. Becker let himself get mad, and that gave him more oomph.
Henderson raised a hand, curling the fingers into a fist. “I ought to… I ought to belt you a good one.” He took a step closer.
Becker held it together, even though he flinched. If this failed—the Prime Saa neutered me. I’m never having a babe again. Get mad, you son of a bitch. Don’t let the bullies push you around anymore.
“No,” Becker said between clenched teeth. He shoved forward, staring up at the bigger man. “You listen to me, Captain. Are you listening?”
Captain Henderson licked his lips. He strained to shake his fist. He knew something weird was going on with this bigheaded freak. He ought to belt him in the face and show him who was boss. And yet…Becker seemed to grow in stature and intensity. There was something about the eyes, hypnotically powerful eyes that invaded his mind and will. This couldn’t be happening…
Henderson blinked, and his head began hurting.
“Sit down,” Becker said.
Henderson hesitated and then abruptly sat down on the carpet.
Becker towered over the big lug. “That’s better, much, much better, Captain. You’re going to do exactly what I tell you. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” Henderson said slowly.
“No matter how odd the command sounds, you will obey me. In fact, you’re going to shoot anyone who questions my orders. You’re going to tell them this is direct from the Lord High Admiral. This is the most important mission in Star Watch, and you’re going to command it. After this is done, you’re going to become the new Lord High Admiral.”
Henderson was smiling now, with a stupid look on his blocky face.
“One more thing,” Becker said. He stopped talking, as he sensed the alien presence of the Prime Saa.
I see. You know, then. Yes. This is all starting to make more sense. How did you uncover my true identity?
Becker stood frozen. He’d used up too much getting control of Henderson. He had too little to block the Prime Saa.
Yes, yes, I see that, too. Oh, you have been a busy little worm, haven’t you, Captain?
“I…” Becker said, before his mouth froze and he could no longer speak.
It’s a good thing I came back for a quick checkup. Maddox and his crew have been busy. I sense they have found the one troubling avenue to… Well, that’s unimportant to you, Becker. I knew something was amiss in you, but I let you run free. Do you know why?
In slow motion, Becker shook his head.
Mental domination implies free will to enforce your will upon another. I had to let you run free. But after seeing all this in your mind… No. Your days of thinking for yourself are over. I waited, watching you dominate Captain Henderson. Now, you’re going to order the captain to begin an immediate attack upon Victory. It’s time to destroy the meddlesome starship. I—Becker, did you hear me?
Becker nodded slowly.
Then give the order. I have better things to do than watch to see that you obey me.
“Captain,” Becker said.
Henderson looked at him.
“You will destroy Starship Victory. You will tell the other battleships to join in the assault. Do you comprehend?”
“I do,” Henderson said slowly.
“Then go,” Becker said. “I will stay here for a time.”
Henderson stood up robotically, passing Becker, soon exiting the ready room.
Oh, very good, Becker. I applaud you. Now, you shall sleep and await my judgment upon you.
“M-Master,” Becker pleaded.
Sleep!
Becker’s eyelids fluttered, and he slumped upon the carpet, fast asleep.
-13-
Maddox was on the bridge, flying the alien stealth ship at the Moon. He stood in his battlesuit, gently tapping controls. The ship lacked its stealth field, although the hull was deep black. It lacked weapons control and—
A klaxon began to blare.
Maddox looked up at the main screen. Strikefighters were racing from the Moon. They were presently 150,000 kilometers and closing. So far, no jumpfighters had appeared nearer. That was good news. The attack cruisers were breaking orbit and starting to accelerate. No doubt, they would unleash their weaponry once the strikefighters were in range.
Maddox manipulated the sensor board. It showed the three Conqueror-class battleships led by the Alexander. They were 50,000 kilometers from Victory.
Why weren’t they firing yet?
Maybe Valerie was using his tactics to talk Captain Henderson down, or to delay him.
It would be good to defeat an alien menace without losing battleships and other needed Star Watch vessels. This kind of attack from within was the worst, like a civil war. Star Watch took all the casualties.
“Sir,” Galyan said.
Maddox spotted the little holoimage beside him.
“The professor sent me. You must return to the transfer chamber. He is almost ready.”
“He can create a portal over one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers away?”
“Apparently so, although by his hints, the process might destroy the entire stealth vessel.”
Maddox ingested that, nodding. “Galyan, is Valerie getting ready to use the star-drive?”
“Not yet, sir. She is giving you cover from the battleships. I will tell her it is okay to jump once you have transferred.”
“No,” Maddox said. “Tell Valerie to jump now.”
“Very well, I will tell her, but she is stubborn, sir. I do not think she is going to listen to me in this. She and the crew are willing to die to give you a chance to free Earth from the Liss.”
Maddox looked up at the main screen. Jumpfighters were appearing nearby. The captain swore softly.
“Can you give me weaponry, Galyan?”
A jumpfighter exploded as a purple neutron beam struck it. At the same time, a yellow disrupter beam destroyed another.
“Go to the transfer chamber, sir,” Galyan said.
Maddox clicked a sensor control. On the main screen, he saw the Alexander and her sister ships readying their disruptor cannons.
“Sir,” Galyan said. “You will miss the final confrontation against the Liss if you do not run to the transfer chamber.”
Maddox tore his gaze from the main screen, heading for the exit, starting to run. “You tell Valerie if she loses my starship, I’ll make her wish she’d listened to me.”
“She would be dead in that case,” Galyan said. “Good-bye, sir, and good luck. May we meet again in this life.”
“Good-bye, Galyan,” Maddox said, before giving all his concentration to racing through the stealth ship’s corridors.
-14-
On Victory Valer
ie sat in the captain’s chair. She snapped off orders like a professional because that was exactly what she had become. Her years under Maddox’s service, watching him and having opportunities to practice when he left on a sortie had turned her into one of the best fighting officers in Star Watch. That expertise was under severe testing this moment.
The three Conqueror-class battleships had commenced firing their heavy disrupter cannons. The heavy supermetal components in the cannons allowed a hotter, larger beam. The three heavy yellow beams chewed into Victory’s electromagnetic shield. They had already turned it brown, heading for black.
“Fire,” Valerie said. It did not come out as a shout, as it would have in the old days. It was a controlled order as taught her by Maddox.
The neutron and disrupter cannons scored more hits, destroying the last Moon-based jumpfighter near the alien stealth ship.
From the Moon, masses of strikefighters flew at the stealth ship, but they were still one hundred thousand kilometers out. Likely, the reason why no strikefighter or jumpfighter launched antimatter missiles was the same reason the battleships had refrained. No one wanted to unleash that kind of radioactive firepower this near Earth if they didn’t have to.
For just that reason, Valerie wasn’t going to use antimatter missiles, either.
“Lieutenant,” Andros said from his science station, “the shield is starting to buckle.”
“Give me another minute,” Valerie said.
Andros shook his head even as his pudgy fingers flew over his board. “That’s impossible, sir. The heavy beams will chew through by then. You must jump if we’re going to jump.”
Valerie turned pale as she stared at the screen. “I can’t jump. They’ll destroy the stealth ship the second we do.”
“Captain’s orders,” Keith shouted from Helm.
“I know very well what he ordered,” Valerie said, before catching herself. “Do you have any ideas, Helm?”
Keith shot her a look. “Finally, someone wants my advice, and the only thing I can offer is that we run away as ordered. We’re all dead if we don’t do that.”
“What about the Liss?” Valerie asked.
“Right,” Keith said. “We could jump onto the other side of the Moon. We start blasting with antimatter missiles the moment we appear.”
“The Moon batteries would destroy us before we got our shield back up,” Valerie said.
“Lieutenant,” Andros said. “We have to jump now, or you can forget it.”
Valerie chewed on a knuckle. This had to be the hardest decision of her life—
“Valerie,” Galyan said, as he appeared. “The others have successfully used the transfer mechanism.”
“Jump,” Valerie told Keith. “Jump as far as possible.”
“I’m on it,” Keith said, manipulating his board with supple fingers.
“Can they do it, Galyan?” Valerie asked.
“I hope so,” Galyan said. “Maybe you should pray for them.”
Valerie nodded.
“Help them, please, God,” Andros said from his station. “And help us, too, please. Amen.”
“Amen,” Galyan said.
Valerie gnawed even harder on her knuckle. Would she ever see Captain Maddox, Meta, Riker and that old scoundrel Ludendorff again? She couldn’t believe it had come to this.
“Our shield is collapsing,” Andros said. “We didn’t jump in time.”
“Screw that, mate,” Keith said, punching in orders.
The black electromagnetic shield collapsed. The heavy beams from the three battleships struck Victory’s outer hull armor. At that point, the star-drive jump kicked in. Victory jumped out of danger, fleeing the area between the Earth and Moon, and fleeing the Solar System altogether.
***
On Battleship Alexander, Captain Henderson sat stunned on his command seat. He stared at the main screen. “The starship is gone,” he said.
“The alien stealth vessel is still there,” his XO said.
“Right,” Henderson said. “Target it. Blow it up.”
The Alexander’s heavy disruptor cannon retargeted. Eight seconds later, a deep yellow beam reached out, touching the stealth ship. The great beam smashed through the black hull. It—the stealth ship exploded, the antimatter droplet touching the matter. And the fissionable explosives in the alien ship also ignited. That produced a massive whiteout on every nearby sensor.
Unfortunately, the EMP, heat and radiation expanded. It did no harm to the heavily shielded and armored battleships, but half the strikefighters perished along with their pilots. The rest of the strikefighters—many of them began to drift.
Star Watch had won the short battle between Earth and the Moon, and the casualties were small in the scheme of things. But the real fight for Earth’s soul had just begun.
-15-
Four Space Marine battlesuits clanked down a large Moon corridor. The gravity was heavier here than Luna normal, which meant grav generators were hard at work providing the greater pull.
The professor had figured out the midair portal mechanism, said he’d seen one like this before somewhere, but forgot the time and place. He’d hotshotted the mechanism to extreme distance. A portal had opened. As the machines in the chamber had hummed and sparked, Maddox led the way. Meta followed and Riker brought up the rear.
“Wait,” Ludendorff had radioed, but none of them had heard, as they had already reached their destination inside the Moon. After the professor stumbled through the portal in his battlesuit, an explosion on the bride sent a blast of fire through the portal. Then it had closed with a snap.
Maddox and Meta had picked up Ludendorff’s battlesuit.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” the professor had said from within. After standing, he’d projected their targeted corridor onto their HUDs.
Now, in his battlesuit, Maddox studied his HUD sensors. There was movement ahead of them down the corridor and around a corner. Red dots blinked. The people and red dots halted, as if…
“Are you reading that, sir,” Riker asked through the short-link comm.
“What are the red dots?” asked Maddox.
“Heavy flamers, sir,” Riker said. “They’re mobile plasma weapons. They’re experimental, I hear. Good for about one shot every five minutes.”
Hot plasma could take down a Space Marine battlesuit. That was a good choice on their part. But… “The HUD sensors show the enemy is wearing spacesuits instead of battlesuits,” Maddox said.
“My guess is they’re Bosk servitors,” Ludendorff said. “They’ve probably never trained with battlesuits.”
Inside his helmet, Maddox smiled like a wolf. With the sensors, he computed distance, the HUD showing the curvature of the corridor.
“Help me unpack, Sergeant,” Maddox said. “You two, watch our rear.”
In their battlesuits, Meta and Ludendorff turned, as their arm-cannons aimed down the corridor the way they had come.
Riker pulled a pack from the captain’s battlesuit and slapped the left shoulder.
Maddox turned, and he and Riker unpacked the box, revealing a thick missile the length of a man with the thickness of a torso. They set the missile on a tripod mount.
Through his suit, Maddox punched the data into the brilliant missile. If this didn’t work—
“Ready to launch,” Riker said.
“Are you ready to advance?” Maddox asked.
“Roger that,” Riker said.
“Meta, Ludendorff, anything?” asked Maddox.
“Nothing so far,” Meta said.
“Here’s goes,” Maddox said. He clicked a control.
The back of the brilliant missile glowed and hissed, launching from the tripod. It sped down the corridor, turning the corner and disappearing from view.
Maddox clicked on a HUD view. He saw from the missile’s nosecone camera. The scene changed rapidly as the brilliant missile negotiated another corner. Then, a line of space-suited individuals behind heavy tripod box-cannons showed up. One
of them pressed a switch. A box vent opened, and an orange glob of heated plasma expelled from the orifice, billowing toward the brilliant missile.
The missile rose, sped up and ignited its warhead a microsecond before the heat from the plasma destroyed its casing.
Maddox’s HUD view vanished.
In the tunnel ahead, everything turned bright.
“Lie down,” Ludendorff radioed.
All four battlesuits complied. Seconds later, a gush of heat, EMP and radiation blew over the four.
“Get up,” Maddox said, as he climbed to his feet.
No one listened. Communications might be out. He went to each, kicking them lightly in the side. One by one, Meta, Riker and Ludendorff got up. Maddox pointed toward the glowing hall. The other three nodded.
They continued clanking, making the turns, soon seeing the melted and blasted rock sides. They reached a glowing hot area next. No spacesuits were in evidence. None of the occupants would have survived the plasma explosions.
Maddox heard a crackle in his ears. A second later—
“Can you hear me?” Ludendorff asked.
Maddox nodded his helmet.
“We’re taking heavy doses of radiation,” the professor said.
Maddox shrugged. He wasn’t sure any of them were going to survive this. He kept moving even though he started to feel queasy. Was that the heavy radiation? Likely it was. He’d always known he was going to die in battle. Live by the sword; die by the sword. That had been all right, as it would be a soldier’s death.
“Wait,” Ludendorff said. “Something’s happening. I wonder if we took a wrong turn.”
Maddox faced the professor. He fiddled with his comm control. “Can you hear me?”
“I can, I can,” Ludendorff said.
“What wrong turn?”
“This feels false,” the professor said. “I think there was a secret entrance we missed.”
Maddox tried a long-range sensor sweep ahead. He got nothing. Wait. His unit beeped. He studied it— “There’s an army heading for us,” he said. “They’re wearing spacesuits. I think you’re right, Professor. They wouldn’t be marching for us unless—go back. Find me the secret entrance.”
The Lost Intelligence (Lost Starship Series Book 12) Page 32