“She might,” Maddox agreed.
“But you’re not going to listen to the legal authority of our flotilla?”
“I haven’t said that.”
“Will you obey the brigadier if she gives you an order?” Tam asked.
“Will you agree to my condition?”
“First, I want to know—”
“Commodore, I plan to save the Commonwealth any way I can. I plan to restore the brigadier’s full mental faculties to her. The Q-ship out there likely holds the people—or those who can tell us—who modified the brigadier and Ludendorff. We also have twelve Spacer ships possibly waiting to pounce on us. We have the Moltke and Victory, two powerful ships, but still just two. It’s imperative that we work together, as that way we’re likely to succeed.”
“Nice speech,” Tam said. “Very well, I’ll agree to your condition. But I don’t have your freedom of action. I have to obey the legal authority over me. If I don’t, in the end, we have nothing.”
“Galyan,” Maddox said. “This is what I want you to tell Valerie.” He gave the holoimage his instructions.
“Commodore,” Warrant Officer Barnes said. “The Q-ship is moving toward the debris with the container.”
Tam looked searchingly at Maddox. The look implicitly gave him the deciding authority.
“Right,” Maddox said. “Now, it gets interesting.”
-39-
The Moltke and Victory maneuvered toward the container drifting in the debris. If a New Man was inside and aware of the situation, he did not attempt to signal anyone, not even Captain Nard of the Bernard Shaw.
Once more, Nard hailed the Moltke. This time, Tam took his call, speaking to him via the main screen. The Bosk captain complained about her interference. He told her to stay away from the wreckage as he attempted to rescue what survivors he could.
“I can’t do that,” she said.
“I insist that you—”
“I’m under orders,” she said.
Nard shook his head. “I will repeat myself. Do not interfere with my rescue attempt to—”
“Captain Nard, I have given you my answer. Accept it, as there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
Nard scowled at her to such a degree that it seemed like an unspoken promise: I’ll remember this until the day you die.
Shortly thereafter, two shuttles launched from the Q-ship. One of the shuttles rushed toward the life-support container. The other shuttle set up an over-watch position, arming its weapons.
Victory launched several strikes fighters. They were many times faster than the shuttles. Half the strike fighters blocked the first shuttle’s path. It attempted to maneuver around them. They opened fire across the shuttle’s bow. It maneuvered wildly, trying to weave through the shells and then heading resolutely toward the drifting container.
As Maddox made the transit to Victory on a Moltke shuttle, he gave the order. The strike fighters fired a second time, destroying the Bosk shuttle and killing everyone aboard.
The second Bosk shuttle made a hurried turning maneuver, fleeing back to the Bernard Shaw.
Soon, Maddox landed on Victory and marched through familiar corridors, reaching the starship’s bridge. He settled into the command chair just in time for Captain Nard’s latest threat.
“Put him on the main screen,” Maddox said.
Captain Nard appeared. He looked just like the space marine commander that Maddox had face-shot on the Moltke. The head was just as wide and the forehead held the same knife tattoo.
“Where’s Lieutenant Noonan?” Nard demanded. “I want to talk to her not you.”
“I want immortality,” Maddox said.
“What does that have to do with my wants?”
Maddox said nothing to that.
“Are you deaf?” Nard demanded.
“I killed your triplet,” Maddox said.
The Bosk’s eyes narrowed. “You mean Commander Jard of the Moltke’s space marines?”
“Yes, that one,” Maddox said.
“In that case, we’re blood foes.”
“Sounds about right to me.”
Nard opened his mouth and then closed it. “Bring her here,” he said to someone off-screen. “It’s time.”
Soon, a muscled Bosk marine manhandled Doctor Dana Rich into view. She was dusky skinned with long dark hair and exotically beautiful features. Dana wore a dancer’s garb, silks for the most part, that hid little of her pleasing form. She appeared to be drugged; her eyes didn’t focus and she didn’t seem to recognize Maddox.
The captain sat back as his heart began to beat faster. Dana Rich was his friend. She’d been part of Victory for a long time. She was family. As he sat back, Maddox examined the bridge with his peripheral vision. Ludendorff was nowhere to be found. That was good. He didn’t need the professor’s interference right now.
“You know this woman,” Nard was saying. “I know very well that Professor Ludendorff knows her. Tell the professor what I will personally do to her if you do not give me the Draegar.”
“Are you suggesting we make an exchange?” Maddox asked.
“No exchange,” Nard said. “Send the Draegar to me or I shall publically abuse the woman.”
“Tell me again how giving you the Draegar helps me.”
“By doing so, it delays her raping.”
“I need more than that,” Maddox said. “I want to save her from your touch.”
“Then you must exchange yourself for her,” Nard said, his dark eyes aglow with cunning.
“And if I decline your offer?”
“Then I will rape her now before your eyes.”
“I see.” Maddox said. “Well, if you do that, I will kill the Draegar. Furthermore, I will then destroy your vessel. Are you ready to die, Nard?”
“I am Captain Nard to you.”
“You are my blood foe, remember? Thus, I do not recognize your rank.”
Nard stared for a moment before laughing harshly. “You should have been a Bosk, Captain. You understand our ways. I shall enjoy breaking your skull in the vise. I will sing as you scream in final agony, listening to your bones creak and crack.”
“I will repeatedly kick you in the balls as you grovel before me,” Maddox said.
“A challenge!” Nard said. “Let us meet, you and I. Let us fight hand to hand. The winner takes all.”
Maddox eyed the Bosk captain. The big man played the brutish character well. Yet, that was a clever challenge, as Nard had nothing to lose at this point. The man was clearly in the inferior position. All he had was Dana Rich and the Moltke’s remaining space marines.
How could he use the challenge against Nard? First, he mustn’t display any kind of weakness. The Bosk would pounce on it.
“A fight…” Maddox said, as if thinking about it. “What weapons would we use?”
“None but our hands and feet,” Nard said, “as I need no weapons to crush you. Are you man enough to meet me in the challenge ring?”
“More than man enough,” Maddox said, sitting sharply forward as if stung.
“Ha!” Nard laughed. “Maybe you are man enough. Let us fight.”
Maddox glanced to the side before regarding Nard. “First, I must gain permission.”
“What? You’re not the starship’s commander? But I thought—”
“I’ll call you back,” Maddox said, “But I will never fight if you can only trade me soiled goods.”
“Ha! You obviously care for the woman. Gain this permission soon, Captain. I am eager to test the professor’s woman. I will do so after I have crushed the last breath from your feeble lungs.”
“As I am eager to torture the Draegar after I urinate on your cold corpse,” Maddox said.
Captain Nard turned pale, and with a shaking hand, he cut the connection.
Dana Rich was on the Bernard Shaw. Had the Bosks treated her ill?
“Captain,” Valerie said from her panel. “The life-support container is coming aboard. I have medical personnel wa
iting to—”
Maddox stood. “You have the captain’s chair, Lieutenant. I’m heading to the hangar bay. At last, we may be getting some answers as to who is really behind all this.”
-40-
Maddox wasn’t taking any chances with a possible New Man. Who was in the container? If it was a New Man…
He and his team wore combat armor, surrounding a heavily shielded container on the “A” hangar-bay deck. The container’s peculiar shielding had made finding the man inside harder than otherwise, explaining why it had taken so long to discover him. That length of time had made Captain Nard’s search noticeable. If the shielding had been to disguise the person’s escape, it had done the opposite this time.
A special tractor-beaming strike fighter had dragged the container here while the others kept watch over the Q-ship.
“Captain,” Valerie said, speaking via a comm in his helmet. “The professor has, ah, communicated his desire… Well, sir, he’s asking for your permission to—”
“Now, see here, my boy,” Ludendorff said, interrupting. “You need me there at a time like this. I don’t know why you didn’t tell me what was going on.”
Maddox scowled inside his helmet.
“We’re all in this together,” Ludendorff added.
“Of course you’re right about that,” Maddox said.
“Excellent,” Ludendorff said. “I’m on my way.”
“Not so fast,” Maddox said, as he kept watch of the container. Did the person inside see them out here? Was the person waiting for them to act?
“You just said I’m right,” Ludendorff said.
“That we’re all in this together,” Maddox said. “I’ll handle it from here.”
“Nonsense, my boy, you’re likely dealing with a New Man—”
“Precisely,” Maddox said. “It’s why I’m handling it.”
“Now see here—”
“If I’m right about all this,” Maddox said, “this New Man—if it is a New Man—had a hand in tricking and possibly modifying you. I don’t want a possible Trojan horse beside me right now.”
“I find your words insulting.”
“Give it a rest, Professor.”
“Confound it,” Ludendorff said. “I resent your automatic arrogance—”
“I’m signing off,” Maddox said.
“Just a minute, now,” the professor said. “Is there any word regarding Dana?”
Maddox made a swift calculation. Ludendorff wasn’t supposed to be on the bridge. Yet, someone had let him on. Valerie should know that ship-to-ship communications between Victory and the Bernard Shaw was strictly off-limits to—
Maddox grunted to himself, ending his musings. Ludendorff knew about Dana. The captain didn’t know that for certain, but—
“We’ll discuss Dana after I’m finished with the New Man,” Maddox said.
“Then Dana is on the Q-ship?” Ludendorff asked.
“She is,” Maddox admitted, deciding it was foolish to lie about it.
“This is preposterous,” Ludendorff declared. “When were you going to tell me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Maddox said, “as in, here is your companion; we’ve already saved her for you.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute.”
Maddox scowled again. That was almost tantamount to insulting him on his bridge. He’d had enough of this. He hated others questioning his orders. It was time to concentrate on the New Man.
“Lieutenant,” Maddox said sharply
“Here, sir,” Valerie said.
“Escort the professor off the bridge. Summon Sergeant Riker—”
“Bah!” Ludendorff said, interrupting. “If I’m not wanted here, I will go elsewhere. Good day to you, sir.”
“Lieutenant,” Maddox said.
“Here, sir,” Valerie said again.
“Under no circumstances is Professor Ludendorff allowed to be by himself or in any restricted areas on the ship.”
“Now see here—” Ludendorff said.
“I want Galyan to join Riker,” Maddox said, speaking over the professor. “If anything unusual or even halfway suspicious happens to or by the professor, Galyan must immediately come and tell me no matter what I’m doing.”
“It sounds as if you don’t trust me,” Ludendorff said.
“We’re all in this together,” Maddox said smoothly. “I need your expertise, but it’s possible there is a glitch or two in your thinking.”
“If you’re referring to the enemy’s former manipulation—”
“Exactly,” Maddox said.
“You already know that I’ve overcome it.”
“True. But there might be a glitch or two waiting to happen. I can’t risk that with a New Man here. Surely, you can see the logic of my position.”
Ludendorff grumbled.
“No one is more dangerous than you,” Maddox said. “Thus, my need for extreme caution in dealing with you.”
Several seconds passed.
“Er, well, yes,” the professor said. “I can understand that. I am highly dangerous because of my superior intellect. Since you recognize that, and are willing to tell it to me straight, I will cooperate with you. I’m leaving the bridge, Captain.”
“Leaving with Sergeant Riker and Galyan in tow,” Maddox said.
“If you insist,” Ludendorff grumbled.
“I most certainly do. Maddox out.”
One of the armored marines was motioning to him. Maddox nodded in his suit, and raised his arm cannons at the container. The other marines did likewise.
The container’s sole hatch had opened a fraction. A spy device had slid out, the tip moving one way and then another, as if it was an eye, and then it zipped back in.
Before anyone could comment on that, the hatch slammed down onto the deck. Three spherical objects rolled out fast.
Maddox’s left arm-cannon roared. A second later, three other designated marines opened fire. The shells obliterated the three rolling objects before they could activate—if that had been their purpose.
“Go,” Maddox said.
Two marines clanked toward the container, the first stepping onto the downed hatch and ducking his head through the entrance. An electrical discharge sizzled from the interior of the container, the blue lines zigzagging over the marine’s combat armor and that of the man following him. The two suits fell backward onto the deck, immobilized.
The container glowed, and many electrical lines zigzagged from it, catching the various marine suits, immobilizing one after another as they began to topple.
“Fire!” Maddox said.
Unfortunately, his order did not reach any of the other marines, as his helmet comm no longer operated.
Seven shells left the captain’s arm cannon, each of them striking the container’s nose cone, doing so in the same spot. The fifth shell smashed through the dented armor. The sixth and seventh ricocheted inside the container, causing the glow to stop. That killed the electrical discharges, which gradually faded away before stopping altogether.
Maddox had toppled in his suit, frozen like the others. Yet, even as the armor clanged sideways onto the deck, it began auto-unlocking.
Maddox had anticipated something like this. Thus, each marine had set his suit for auto-opening the instant it lacked power. As the exoskeleton-powered suits clanged onto the floor, each opened like a clamshell, allowing the marine inside to wriggle out.
Some of the marines were already pulling out the weapon each had stashed inside with him.
At the same time, a golden-skinned New Man exploded out of the container. He wore a silver-colored one-piece and gripped a pistol. He moved fast, like a leopard, firing as he ran.
An un-armored marine crumpled to the deck, his head a gory ruin. A second rained blood from his chest, stumbling backward until he crashed down.
Two marines fired back, sending heavy black capsules at the New Man. With uncanny reflexes, he dodged each capsule so it sailed harmlessly past him.
Maddox cursed inwardly. This was costing him Victory marines. He’d forgotten about the lethal speed and cunning of New Men. The starship had grabbed a tiger by the tail, and the New Man was slaughtering them, the normals.
Gritting his teeth while lying on the deck—he’d slid out of his armor suit—Maddox aimed his shotgun-like weapon from a prone position and fired one capsule after another.
The New Man killed three more marines and dodged four more capsules before he sidestepped the wrong way. One of the captain’s cunningly placed capsules touched the New Man’s left arm. Immediately, tangle webs sprouted from it. Several stuck to the New Man’s skin, tightening, pulling the other strands onto him.
The golden-skinned superman tried to keep his gun hand free. But not even he was divine. Another capsule fired by a marine tangled his legs. The New Man hopped with both feet tangled, showing amazing balance. He got off another shot, but missed this time, only wounding a marine in the arm.
Finally, four capsules hit the superman at once, the black tangle webs enswathing him, and the New Man thudded onto the deck.
“Watch out for his gun,” Maddox said.
The captain vaulted himself onto his feet and rushed the fallen New Man. He found the golden-skinned superman lying on the deck, straining to bring the gun around.
Maddox kicked it, but the New Man held on with incredible strength. It felt as if something snapped inside Maddox’s head. The captain stomped on the golden wrist three times, finally hearing bones break. He kicked the gun again, and it tumbled out of the New Man’s weakened grip.
The superman stared up at him. Instead of glaring with pain or rage, the New Man looked at him calmly, hiding any agony from the broken wrist.
“Captain Maddox,” the New Man said in a conversational tone. “Release me at once if you want to save your subhumans.”
“Are you bound to the Emperor?” Maddox asked, striving for the same calm manner.
“You have heard my words. I am not in the habit of giving a warning twice. Now, you must act on my words before it is too late.”
“Are we going to have to do this the hard way?” Maddox asked.
The New Man studied him two second longer before looking away. The muscles on his neck tightened and strained with effort.
The Lost Star Gate (Lost Starship Series Book 9) Page 21