The Lost Patrol

by Vaughn Heppner

  “What will your Builder demand from humanity?”

  Shu smiled, shaking her head. “Your suspicion makes me wonder if you’re attempting to trap me. Why do you fear me so terribly?”

  “Because if I’m right,” Maddox said, “we could be taking a monster into Human Space. The Builders meddled with humanity before—”

  “Meddled, you say,” Shu laughed bitterly. “The male Builders were arrogant pricks. The female Builders are doting. We will reach a golden age thousands of years earlier this way. We will find a way to avoid the terrible Swarm menace. The New Men—” Shu snapped her fingers. “The Commonwealth will know healing instead of endless battles. This is the moment to change the course of human history. You are the greatest di-far the Spacers have ever found. This is a most wonderful vessel. At last, we will reach the golden womb and bring forth the great healer of the Orion Arm. Do you have the courage to fight for healing as hard as you’ve fought to bring destruction?”

  “One last question before I answer,” Maddox said. “Why have you gone to such lengths to engage in lies and deception? It seems—”

  “Captain, captain, captain,” Shu said. “You don’t understand the Spacer Way. We do not use big muscles and speed to battle our way to a place. We bend and blend, and slide around obstacles. We soften our voices and hide when we need to. We avoid open conflicts, in that way saving our consciences from shedding blood. You see that as sneaky. We realize it is kindness.”

  “I’m beginning to see,” Maddox said, with approval in his voice. “Ludendorff sees that as trickery. He sees your way as underhanded. Yet, in truth, you’re saving the foolhardy from needless pain and suffering.”

  “It is encouraging to watch you attempt to understand us. At least you don’t sneer. That is an improvement from our usual experience with others. I imagine your former line of work guides you. Captain Maddox the Intelligence agent understands how subterfuge can bring greater rewards than fisticuffs.”

  “I will be honest. I still don’t fully trust you.”

  “I would have been surprised if you had,” Shu said.

  “Yet,” Maddox said, “I don’t see any other option. We’re stranded too far from home. I’m willing to gamble, if for no other reason than to gain a hyper-spatial tube back to Earth. We’ve found the Swarm Imperium. It’s at least two thousand light-years away. It’s busy in a hard war against Chitins. This is priceless knowledge for humanity.”

  “You’ll return home with more than just that,” Shu said.

  “What if the Builder has died?”

  “But…she can’t be dead. Not after all the hard work we put into finding her.”

  “Will you join the away-team then?” Maddox asked.

  “I have to,” Shu said. “I doubt Ludendorff could break the entrance codes fast enough.”

  “How long do you think we’ll have to do all this?”

  Shu nodded. “That is the primary question, Captain. We don’t know the precise situation yet. We’re going to have to make some quick calculations on the spot. That is your area of expertise. What I want to know is how long until you’re ready to move.”

  “I’ll need an hour, maybe a few minutes less,” Maddox said.

  “Yes,” Shu said, “I can be ready by then.”

  Maddox stared at her. “This is why you picked me, isn’t it?”

  “No. The Visionary saw that you were di-far. I suspect your decisive nature comes from the fact of your blessing.”

  Maddox bent to one knee, bowed his head, holding that position for a time, before rising.

  “The others won’t trust you,” Maddox told her.

  “They trust you, Captain. You’re the leader. In the end, they will do what you say.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right,” Maddox said.

  -55-

  Maddox marched into Ludendorff’s science chamber. The professor and his team were hard at work at their stations.

  The captain motioned Ludendorff near, staring at him fixedly as the Methuselah Man approached.

  “I have just finished speaking with Shu 15,” Maddox said, injecting a pompous tone into his voice.

  “Oh. I see. Was it a rewarding experience?”

  “Very,” Maddox said. “We are about to embark on a historic assault. I will swing Victory out, gaining velocity, racing Chitin missiles, until I can see around the present curvature of the red giant.”

  “What do you hope to see?”

  “A golden pyramid,” Maddox said in a lofty manner.

  Ludendorff didn’t raise his eyebrows or show any other indication of surprise. He just stared at Maddox.

  “We will free the glorious Builder within,” Maddox said, “who will then join our ship. She will—”

  “She?” asked Ludendorff.

  “That is correct. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Me? In no way,” the professor said. “This is interesting.”

  Maddox nodded. It almost seemed as if he did it in an encouraging way.

  “Yes!” Ludendorff declared, as he rubbed his hands. “This is priceless. I know the Builders, as you must realize. Even though this Builder is a female, she can give us amazing advances. Of course, we will have to take her with us.”

  “Shu suggested you would not approve of our venture,” Maddox said.

  “Maybe in the past I wouldn’t,” Ludendorff said. “But…given this incredible war, I don’t see that we have a choice. Humanity needs a new advantage.”

  “Your good sense surprises me,” Maddox said. “I hope you keep it.” He moved closer, gripping the professor by the shoulder as they shook hands.

  As Maddox slid his hand away, he lifted the palm upward, making sure the professor noticed the writing there. It was the single word: CUBE.

  Ludendorff slapped his chest. “You can count on me, sir. In fact, I would do this even if there wasn’t a Builder inside. I expect to find scientific treasures in the pyramid. And of course, we desperately need the hyper-spatial tube so we can go home.”

  “Good,” Maddox said. “I have further preparations to make.” He headed for the exit.

  ***

  Maddox didn’t trust Shu. He was certain the Spacer had sinister motives.

  Galyan had hurt her. She’d recovered though, trying to hide that from everyone. Her inner Builder devices must do more than they realized. He should have had them cut out of her when he had the chance. Now, it was too late. Besides, they needed that hyper-spatial tube so they could return to Human Space.

  Could some of what Shu had said be truthful? That was a galling question. He operated in the blind on far too many matters. In that way, Patrol thinking was close to Intelligence matters. Both had to teach their practitioners how to make decisions with only partial data.

  One thing was clear. Even now, Shu would be watching him. She didn’t trust him, either. But it would seem they both needed each other. That gave Maddox confidence. If she could simply take over Galyan, she would have already done so. That would indicate she had limits.

  ***

  The red alert klaxon blared throughout the starship. Everyone hurried to his or her station. Those who were asleep bolted upright, dressing and hurrying to their stations.

  Maddox burst through the entrance onto the bridge, with Riker hurrying after him. In several long strides, the captain reached the command chair. He looked around at his bridge crew, nodded and took a seat.

  Maddox clicked the switch to the intercom on his armrest.

  “This is your captain speaking.” The words went through the vessel. “We have made a historic journey deep into the Beyond,” Maddox said. “No human vessel has ever gone farther. You can take pride in that. The Patrol arm of Star Watch lives to dare.

  “Now, though, we are going into combat. We are alone in a strange star system. The Swarm battles a new species that Professor Ludendorff has named Chitins. This is a ferocious war. It is beyond anything we’ve seen before.

  “We must win through these nex
t few hours. Every man and woman on Starship Victory must work to the fullest. It is possible the rest of humanity depends on our actions out here in the Beyond, more than two thousand light-years from Human Space. We are about to jump into grave danger. We suspect a golden pyramid orbits the red giant. It is possible a Builder sleeps within. We also believe the pyramid can create a hyper-spatial tube. We plan to enter the pyramid, free the Builder and activate the tube. Then, we will no doubt have to fight our way to the tube’s entrance.

  “I am counting on each of you to work until you drop. There is not going to be any quit on my starship. This will be hard. That’s good, though. This is our supreme test. Do you possess the spirit to see this through? I believe you do. Now, it is up to you to prove me right.

  “That is all. Carry on.”

  Maddox clicked the switch, sitting back, hoping his words would stir the crew to their best effort. He would not have made such a speech in the past. To him, trying his hardest to win drove him to excellence. Others did not operate that way. His Patrol teachers had hammered home the need for good morale. People needed to be needed.

  Maddox grinned. Apparently, ancient Adok AIs needed that too.

  He pulled out a tablet, going over the Marine roster. The androids had been some of the best-rated Marines.

  How did the androids figure into all of this?

  Maddox shook his head. He didn’t have time to think about that. He needed cool concentration in order to defeat the Spacer and whatever waited for them in the golden pyramid.

  Did a golden pyramid truly orbit the gas giant?

  “Let’s find out,” Maddox whispered to himself. He looked up. According to what he saw on the main screen, the Marines were ready in their exo-armor. The strikefighters revved up in their hangar bays. Lieutenant Maker waited in his jumpfighter.

  In an assured voice, Maddox gave the starship’s pilot the coordinates for the next jump. He waited for the navigator to plot it. Then he said, “Let’s do this.”

  -56-

  If Mercury and Venus had orbited the massive red star at the same range the two planets did the Sun, Victory came out of the star-drive jump between those two orbital ranges. The starship bypassed the curvature of the red giant to appear near a vast clot of Chitin spaceships that must number in the hundreds of thousands.

  The number was staggering and in a gigantically globular shape.

  “Sir,” Valerie whispered. “I don’t see any pyramid. All I see are those milling ships.”

  Maddox viewed the sickening spectacle. The gigantically globular mass of Chitin vessels—hundreds of thousands of them—seethed with constant motion. It appeared that some ships went deeper into the mass while others boiled upward. At the same time, the mass moved together in an orbital path around the red giant. The spectacle reminded the captain of masses of bees crawling around a hive and each other just before they swarmed. More Chitin ships came all the time. Two streams of them circling around the red giant fed the incredible globular mass with more and more vessels. The clot would have become vast beyond reckoning except for one thing. A third stream of vessels left the mass, heading out-system to face the Swarm coming in-system.

  Did the Chitin vessels gain enhanced power from the globular intermingling or was that simply social insect behavior?

  “Do you see anything representing a pyramid?” Maddox asked.

  “Not yet, sir,” the sensors operator said. “The Chitin jamming signals are too great. I can’t—”

  “Maybe I can help.”

  The bridge crew turned around. So did the captain. Shu 15 walked onto the bridge in her customary Spacer garb.

  “Captain,” Galyan said in warning.

  “Not now,” Maddox told the holoimage. “What can you do?” he asked Shu.

  “Perhaps your primitive sensing gear could use a boost,” Shu said. “Are you ready?”

  Maddox thought for a second before nodding.

  Shu bent her head as if looking at something on the floor.

  “I’m getting through the jammers,” sensors shouted. “I’m putting the images on the main screen.”

  The screen turned fuzzy for a moment. Then, sensor images appeared in ghostly form. Those images were inside the globular mass of Chitin ships. The Chitin vessels—almost jammed side-by-side—were tens of kilometers thick. Beyond the Chitin warships inside the globular mass was a hollow region approximately four hundred thousand kilometers in diameter.

  “You were right about the pyramid being there,” Valerie told the captain. “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t know,” Maddox said softly. “But it seemed the most reasonable explanation.”

  “Do not be modest,” Shu chided him.

  “We have a problem,” Valerie said. “There’s no way Victory can fight its way through the protecting vessels.”

  “You can’t imagine that’s my plan,” Maddox said.

  Valerie stared at him. “You’re not going to use the star drive, are you?”

  “How else could we do this?” Maddox asked.

  “But, sir,” Valerie said. “Supposing you appear near the pyramid; that puts us two hundred thousand kilometers from the nearest Chitin vessels. If each of those hundreds of thousands of ships fires one missile—”

  “Please, Lieutenant,” the captain said. “They’re not going to do that. The pyramid is a holy object that they can’t afford to risk destroying. No. The Chitin ships will have to accelerate to us in order to engage their particle beams. We’ve already seen that the Chitin particle-beam range is short compared to our beams, a mere five thousand kilometers. They can’t all accelerate at us at once, either, as that would soon cause a mass collision.”

  “How much time do you calculate we’ll have near the pyramid?” Valerie asked.

  “Approximately forty-five minutes,” Maddox said.

  Valerie stared at him. “That’s no time at all, sir. Why, simply leaving the starship in a shuttle to reach the pyramid will take ten to twenty minutes.”

  “If you compare it to how we went into the silver pyramid,” Maddox said, “you’d be right. I have another way.”

  “What way?” Valerie asked.

  Maddox regarded Shu. “Tell me, Surveyor. Is the pyramid hollow like the Xerxes Nexus was?”

  “I don’t know,” Shu said. She concentrated a moment. “Why don’t you use your sensors to try to find out?”

  “Excellent advice,” Maddox said. He turned to Valerie. “Get on it, please.”

  Valerie and several others attempted to scan the pyramid. Soon, the lieutenant shook her head. “It’s no good, sir. Our sensors can’t break through whatever is shielding the pyramid.”

  “Your scans were never meant to break through,” Shu said. “But I did so while piggybacking on some of your systems.” The Spacer faced Maddox. “There is a small open area, small in a relative sense to the pyramid. This one is considerably larger than the Xerxes Nexus was. I imagine you’re thinking of using your jumpfighter to get inside.”

  “Yes,” Maddox said.

  “The pyramid might have safeguards against that,” Shu said.

  “You’ll have to jam those safeguards,” Maddox said.

  Shu scoffed, shaking her head.

  “Surveyor,” the captain said. “Time is next to priceless in this environment. Look at the Chitin mass. We are about to attempt a suicide mission on a longshot. Flying out to the pyramid in shuttles will take too long. The jumpfighter is our only hope.”

  “There won’t be any room for the Builder inside the jumpfighter,” Shu said.

  “I think there will be,” Maddox said. “You forget, I’ve spoken to and met a Builder before. You haven’t. The one I met was large, but it wasn’t material the same way you or I are.”

  “What do you mean?” Shu said.

  Maddox smiled enigmatically. “There was data I left out of my secret Star Watch report a year ago. I assume Spacer spies have read the report, which means you’ve studied it in detail.”
r />   “Go on,” Shu said.

  “The Builder… How do I describe it? It was almost as if he was made of protoplasm. He could shift shape to an astonishing degree.”

  Furrow lines appeared across Shu’s forehead. “You’re lying,” she said at last.

  “On the contrary,” he said. “It was perplexing. The Builders are not like us.”

  Shu licked her lips. “I can almost believe it. The legends I’ve heard… Yes,” she said decisively. “I accept your statement. We will take the jumpfighter. But if we’re going to have room for her to join us—”

  “We will take everyone we can while going in,” Maddox said.

  Shu appeared suspicious once more.

  “I suspect we’re going to need everyone we can get in there,” Maddox said. “I’m sure there are ancient safeguards inside the pyramid—androids for instance.”

  “You must not speak of that,” Shu gasped.

  “I will say no more on the subject then,” Maddox said. “My point is this. Some of us going into the pyramid will surely die. The dead will not join us as we leave the Golden Nexus. That means there will be room for the Builder.”

  Shu studied the main screen.

  Maddox did as well. Smith-Fowler had reported masses of missiles heading their way. The lead ones would reach Victory in several hours.

  Shu exhaled as she turned around. “This is intoxicating. We are on the verge of changing everything. At last, a Spacer has reached the legendary pyramid. Can you imagine how long our race has waited for this day? All our striving, all our waiting—

  “How soon can we begin, Captain?” Shu asked.

  “How long until you’re ready?” he asked.

  “I’m ready now.”

  “Then let’s head to the jumpfighter.” Maddox turned to Valerie. “Lieutenant, you have the bridge.”

  “Sir,” Valerie said. “The captain can’t join the away-team at a time like this.”

  “I can and will,” Maddox said.