The Lost Star Gate (Lost Starship Series Book 9)

by Vaughn Heppner

  “Modest, aren’t we?”

  “Are you modest?”

  “Ouch,” the commodore said. “Did I touch an exposed nerve?”

  Maddox came to ramrod attention, facing forward, playing the part of a rules stickler.

  “The Admiralty Board chose you because you’re loyal to the Commonwealth and to Star Watch,” he said. “They also chose you because you’re better than the rest. You’re trained to obey, and you’re also trained to use your head.”

  Tam watched him, but said nothing.

  “Has Brigadier O’Hara been giving you reasonable orders?” Maddox asked.

  Tam still said nothing.

  “Was it reasonable to empty the Moltke of its trained space marines, putting obvious thugs in their place?”

  “I obeyed the Iron Lady,” Tam said in a clipped voice.

  “I know. I’m not asking you if you know how to obey. I’m begging you to use your mind and reason like you’ve been doing while listening to me. This is a crazy situation. You said so yourself. Wasn’t it also crazy for the brigadier to go alone to the Tau Ceti Station? That’s why this is happening. New Men caught her there. They adjusted her thinking. Brigadier O’Hara has been compromised, and you now realize that. If you follow her commands again, you’re as good as following the New Men, which means you’ll be acting against Star Watch. I know that is against your oath.”

  The commodore had been listening raptly. She now began to slowly shake her head as she addressed the MPs. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but put away your guns.”

  No one moved, least of all the five MPs.

  “Did you hear me?” she demanded of the military police. “Put up your guns.”

  Two of the MPs kept their guns trained on Maddox. The other three advanced around him, aiming at the commodore.

  “It is time,” the burliest of them said in a rote manner.

  “I gave you an order, Mister,” Tam said.

  “I am giving a new order,” the burly MP said. “It is time.”

  “Time for what?” asked Maddox.

  The burly MP turned toward the captain. The MP’s features twisted and tears were in his eyes, almost as if he was fighting an inner compulsion. By jerks and starts, he began to raise his gun—

  Maddox moved faster, pressing the button on his belt buckle—the belt Ludendorff had lent him before he exited the fold-fighter. As the captain did so, he also pressed the pendant dangling from his neck, another loan from the professor. A soft hum only Maddox could hear indicated the thing had snapped on its force field.

  The MP fired, and the bullet plowed against the personal force field enveloping Maddox. The bullet halted and dropped at the captain’s feet.

  At that point, Maddox pressed the sub-sonic switch.

  The MPs cried out, three of them covering their ears. The last two fired their guns, trying to kill the captain.

  It made no difference.

  The commodore collapsed. Then the five MPs sank to the floor, unconscious.

  Maddox continued to press the stud. He watched the rest of the bridge-crew fall unconscious to the floor. Only then did he cease radiating the incapacitating noise.

  He hadn’t expected this last ploy. In fact—

  Maddox lunged for the commodore’s command chair. If these five MPs were brainwashed stooges, were the rest of the military police likewise under the enemy’s control?

  He’d better find out fast, and if so, stop them from freeing the Bosk space marines.

  -37-

  Maddox hesitated as he stood beside the command chair. What was he going to do, tell the other MPs this was Captain Maddox speaking? If they were brainwashed, that wouldn’t make any difference. If they had their own minds…

  The last any of the military police had heard, the last anyone aboard the Moltke had heard, was that Maddox was wanted for questioning. The others would know the five had taken him to the bridge. Thus, if he spoke and they demanded to speak to the commodore, to anyone else on the bridge, for that matter, and he told them the others couldn’t speak because they were unconscious—

  That would ensure the remaining MPs stormed the bridge. The main hatch was locked, but that wouldn’t stop them for long.

  Leaving the command chair, Maddox hurried to the other fallen bridge officers, going to the men. He examined them, where they had fallen, and finally chose a heavy individual. He pulled out the man’s wallet, opening and inspecting it.

  This was Lieutenant Samuel E. Clarke, the Communications Officer.

  Maddox drummed his fingers on the lieutenant’s panel, slid into the chair and opened a channel with ship security.

  “Lieutenant Masters here,” a man answered.

  “The commodore said to cease the investigation,” Maddox said.

  “What?”

  “Stop what you’re doing.”

  “The commodore said to stop searching the rest of the ship?”

  “For now,” Maddox said.

  “Why? She said the search was top priority.”

  “I know. There are new developments.”

  “What about the space marines?” Masters asked. “Why have they vanished? Why haven’t any of us seen them?”

  “Do you want to ask the commodore regarding the new orders?”

  “Yes!” Master said.

  Maddox paused, thinking fast. Then he added a little more time to the wait. Finally he spoke, “As soon as she’s done interrogating Captain Maddox, she will give you new orders.”

  “Who is this?” Master said.

  “Lieutenant Clarke, the Communications Officer,” Maddox said.

  “Do you have a cold, Lieutenant?”

  That sounded like a trick question. “What are you talking about?” Maddox asked.

  Masters hesitated before saying, “Nothin’. I’ll tell the others to wait before they continue searching. You happen to know what’s going on?”

  “I would say more, but the commodore is worried. That’s why she’s interrogating the captain.”

  “Then, we should be searching the ship.”

  “Even if one of your men trips a nuclear device?” Maddox asked.

  “Is that what this is about?” Masters asked in a hollow voice.

  “I can’t say, and you heard nothing from me. Do you understand?”

  “We’ll wait. I didn’t realize. We’ll wait. Masters out.”

  Maddox sagged against his chair. That could have gone a whole lot differently. He leapt up and hurried to the commander’s seat. From it, he opened communications with Victory and said as little as possible.

  Seconds later, Galyan appeared on the Moltke’s bridge. The AI holoimage noticed the fallen and the five trussed up unconscious MPs on the floor.

  “Good work, sir,” Galyan said, “impressively fast work from a weak position.”

  “Have you been observing the last Q-ship?” Maddox asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Notice anything unusual?”

  “Their sensors are sweeping the other Q-ships’ wreckage.”

  “Anything else besides that?”

  Galyan’s eyelids fluttered. “Sir, when the fold-fighter appeared behind Victory in relation to the battleship, I detected a low frequency beam. It originated from the last Q-ship and went to the Moltke. I did not know what it meant at the time. Now, I give the event a 78 percent probability that it activated the MPs presently lying on the floor.”

  “I think you’re right. Excellent deduction, Galyan.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the holoimage said, squaring his thin shoulders.

  “What is the Q-ship doing now, other than making its sensor sweeps?”

  “Waiting,” Galyan said. “It has not accelerated or decelerated, but has retained its shield and is scanning the debris as I told you. Maybe its captain is afraid to break away from us.”

  Maddox sat in the command chair, studying the battleship’s main screen. “Are the Spacers heading toward us?”

  “Negative,” Ga
lyan said. “They also appear to be waiting.”

  “Waiting for what?” Maddox asked.

  “One of the other players to make a move, I suppose,” Galyan said.

  Maddox squinted at the main screen. The Spacers had come back, if this was the same group that had left a while ago. Why would they have come back? He didn’t know. It could be for a variety of reasons, most of them bad.

  The captain slid off the seat and crouched beside Commodore Tancred. He shook her right shoulder and kept on shaking until she groaned.

  “My head hurts,” she said from the floor.

  “Better get up, Commodore. We have work to do.”

  The small woman groaned again as she slowly worked up to a sitting position. “My head is throbbing. What happened?”

  “The captain used a sub-sonic blast against you,” Galyan said.

  The commodore’s head swiveled around until she spied the little Adok. She yelped and scrambled to her feet, lunging to her chair, opening a hidden slot and grabbing a gun. She fired, and the beam passed harmlessly through the holoimage.

  “By all the saints,” Tam Tancred whispered, turning pale. “What’s going on?” she asked Maddox. “Is that a ghost?”

  “No. It’s a holoimage,” Maddox said.

  Her features tightened until understanding changed her demeanor. She aimed the gun at Maddox. “Hands ups, Captain. I’m retaking control of my ship.”

  “Not just yet,” he said.

  She fired, the beam striking his personal force field. She continued to fire even as he advanced upon her. Abruptly, she stopped, letting her gun swing down beside her right thigh.

  Maddox deactivated the field and tore the gun from her grasp. “Sit down, Commodore. Listen to me for a while. We have to work together if we’re going to stop whatever’s going on.”

  “What is going on?” she asked.

  “That’s what I’m trying to determine.”

  The commodore studied his face, glanced at Galyan, let her shoulders slump and slid back into her chair. “Go head,” she said. “I’m listening, and this had better be good.”

  -38-

  When Maddox finished telling the commodore the situation, he returned the beamer to her and agreed to let medical personnel onto the bridge to check the fallen.

  Soon, new and suspicious MPs stood on the bridge, watching him, although they kept their weapons holstered. Backup officers were at the bridge stations, making checks. More than a few of the new people glanced at the alien holoimage in amazement.

  “Commodore,” the new comm officer said. “The Q-ship captain is demanding to speak to you.”

  “He is, is he?” Tam said. “No. I’m not speaking to that pig now. Tell him he can call back later.”

  Her reaction surprised Maddox, although he didn’t show it.

  The commodore eyed him. “I’ll agree to one of your…requests. The Bosk quarters will remain off-limits for a time. We’ll leave the Bosks captive for now.”

  “That works,” Maddox said. “I’m interested in the Q-ship captain.”

  Tam frowned.

  “I’d like to see a recording of your last conversation with him.”

  “Whatever for?” she asked.

  “I have a theory, but I need to confirm it first.”

  The commodore shrugged after a moment. “You can watch it over there.”

  Maddox stepped beside a female officer as she tapped her panel. On the screen appeared a leering Captain Nard. Maddox saw the resemblance instantly, and had no need to listen to the conversation. He glanced thoughtfully at the commodore.

  Tam had been pretending not to watch him, but noticed the scrutiny. “Well?” she demanded. “Did you confirm your theory?”

  “I did, and I’m curious. Did you ever speak to the commander of the Bosk space marines?”

  “I imagine you mean the Bosk marine commander on the Moltke. Of course, I saw him. Why do you…?” She frowned as she reexamined the side screen. “By the saints,” she whispered. “He’s the marine commander’s twin.”

  “Triplet,” Maddox said.

  “What?”

  “It appears all the Bosks operate in threes,” Maddox said. “Well, maybe just the higher-ranked ones. I’d thought the condition was just in relation to the Draegars. But it seems more universal. Two identical Bosks named Jard and Nard implies there is a third.”

  “Three clones, then?”

  “Vat-creatures,” Maddox said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean clones, but vat or culture grown people.”

  “Why would they do something like that?” Tam asked with a tinge of horror.

  “Why do we do the things we do? Because that’s how we were raised.”

  “There has to be a logical explanation for the practice to have started.”

  “Maybe,” Maddox said. “But that isn’t germane to our problem. Look at his face. It could be the Bosk marine commander. The Bosks operate in threes. The Draegar had three personalities in three different people. You knew nothing about this until I told you.”

  “Fine,” Tam said. “You’re making a point, I see. What is it?”

  “The oddity of the Bosks confirms that I’ve been telling you the truth. In other words, you can trust what I’ve said.”

  Tam grew thoughtful and finally nodded. “Your story is becoming more believable. The MPs’ action earlier also shows that. Let’s say I believe you. What should we do next?”

  “What is the Q-ship doing?” Maddox asked Galyan.

  “I have already told you, sir. It is scanning the debris fields.”

  “The wreckages of the Q-ships?” asked Maddox.

  “Yes.”

  “Start scanning the debris. I want to know why Nard is scanning it.”

  Galyan turned toward the Bernard Shaw.

  “This is incredible,” Tam said. “Your holoimage can personally scan the debris?”

  “No,” Maddox said. “He’s doing it through Victory’s scanners. Galyan is the ship’s AI, an ancient deified Adok personality several thousand years old.”

  Tam shook her head in disbelief before straightening in her chair. “Barnes,” she told the sensor officer. “Start scanning the debris fields.”

  “What am I searching for, Commodore?” the man asked.

  Tam glanced at Maddox.

  “Something unusual,” the captain said.

  Tam turned to the officer.

  “I heard that,” the man said. “Something unusual. That should be easy.” He sounded sarcastic.

  “Captain Nard is after something,” Maddox said. “We want to beat him to whatever it is.”

  “It would help if we had some idea,” Tam said.

  Maddox bent his head in thought before sharply looking up. “People,” he said. Then he snapped his fingers. “New Men! See if you can spot any New Men.”

  “Dead or alive?” Warrant Officer Barnes asked.

  “Most certainly alive,” Maddox said. “That means wearing a vacuum suit or in an escape pod.”

  “Alive after the explosions that wrecked his Q-ship?” Tam asked dubiously.

  “That’s why I’m betting it’s a New Man,” Maddox said. “They can act astonishingly fast and make critical decisions in seconds. With only a few seconds warning, a New Man might have realized the need to reach an escape pod and have made it there.”

  “I have to admit that I’m more than doubtful,” Tam said.

  “Have you faced New Men before?”

  The commodore shook her head.

  “It’s hard to explain if you haven’t seen them in action before.”

  Maddox fell silent as he waited. The others did likewise.

  The three ships—the Bernard Shaw, the Moltke and Victory—scanned the scattered and widening debris of the two destroyed Q-ships.

  A little over three minutes later, Warrant Officer Barnes said, “I may have something. It’s definitely human occupied. I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell the difference between a regular man and a New
Man. Whoever is out there is alive. He’s in some kind of containment shell. According to my readings, his oxygen is running low. He’s not going to last much longer.”

  Maddox faced the commodore. “You need to make a decision. Trust me and work together…”

  “Or?” Tam said.

  “I don’t want to give you an ‘or’ because I dislike making threats,” Maddox said.

  “You’re threatening me?” Tam asked in surprise.

  “What did I just say? I’m not threatening anyone.”

  “I’m in charge here,” Tam said, “not you. If I… Oh,” she said. “You still have your advanced tech on your person. You’re threatening me with another sonic blast.”

  “Commodore, I have made no threats.”

  “No, but you’ve implied them. You’re good, Captain. You’re slick.” She nodded. “Fine. Here’s the deal. I’ll let you go. You can even collect your New Man out there if you want to. I want the brigadier back, though.”

  “Even with all you know?”

  “The Lord High Admiral personally told me to protect Mary O’Hara. I’m Cook’s protégé. I owe him everything. The last thing I want to do is to let the Lord High Admiral down.”

  “I owe Mary O’Hara my life,” Maddox said.

  “Then, you understand my situation.”

  “No,” Maddox said. “Because I always do what I must to succeed. Sometimes that means going against the one I owe everything to.”

  Tam shook her head. “I don’t operate like that, Captain. I’m loyal, probably to a fault.”

  Maddox eyed the commodore. She and the brigadier outranked him. But he wasn’t going to let that stand in his way. There was someone out there, likely a New Man, and he had the last Draegar aboard Victory. Yet if there was one person that he was intent on saving, it was the Iron Lady.

  “I’ll agree to your deal,” Maddox said, “on one condition.”

  “I’ll have to hear it first.”

  “My people will transfer your captive Bosk space marines and techs onto Victory. That way, the brigadier can’t order you to release them.”

  “The brigadier might order you to release them.”