The Lost Patrol

by Vaughn Heppner

  “Yes.”

  “Isn’t your function then to obey them?” Maddox asked.

  “Are you trying to corrupt my mental processes, Captain? If so, I should tell you that you are wasting your time. More importantly, since you are using your intellect for guile, there is no doubt that it is lessening your alertness. We cannot let the female take us unawares. Therefore, ask me no more questions. Remain alert at all times.”

  “How did you escape Shu’s detection?”

  “Hold,” the android whispered. “Did you see that?”

  Maddox had seen it: a drifting shadow in the distance of a second chamber. The place felt like a medieval cathedral on Earth. A sense of unease squeezed the base of Maddox’s neck.

  “I need a weapon,” the captain said. He had his long-barreled gun belted around his waist, but that was under his vacc suit.

  “I have the weapon,” the android said. “You will multiply my efficiency by watching where I’m not looking.”

  “If we’re going to survive—if you plan to—we have to do this in the next half hour.”

  “It is gone,” the android said. “The shadow departed. Is that what you saw earlier?”

  “I don’t know. I sensed the thing’s presence.”

  “That is interesting, as I did not sense it except through my vision portals.”

  “What’s the plan now?”

  “Keep moving,” the android said. “We are shifting our emphasis, looking for computer access instead of the creature. Notify me about anything that fits that description.”

  Maddox’s stomach had been knotting the farther they walked from the wrecked jumpfighter. Were the others conscious? What did the android really want? How was he supposed to save his starship, crew and family if he was a captive?

  As Maddox picked his way through the wreckage, he debated on the best strategy against the android.

  -62-

  The nebulous creature jerked away from the formerly dead machine as it roared into life.

  She had correctly remembered the startup sequence. It would seem the new object in the Temple of Love had triggered ancient memories.

  The machines clicked and rattled around her. They motivated energy cells and stirred dry circuits. At the same time, an electrical pulse throbbed throughout her being.

  With haste, she flowed onto a glowing sheet. Power trickled into the leads. She held her dark form steady, accepting the pulses. Then, she waited, wondering if the ancient vaults still contained her intellect. It had been so long since coherent thought had filled her. She realized that she’d—

  Pain flowed into her. It was agonizing. Her membrane body began to ripple and hump on the memory sheet. At first slowly and then faster images and ideas began to pour into her brain storage unit.

  There is danger here.

  She tried to remember why, and failed.

  The formerly dead machines churned with power now. They activated long unused areas in her. The pulses quickened and ideas, images and complexities swept upon her as if in a flood. It was glorious, but it filled her with increasing anxiety and fear.

  Should I stop?

  A shudder of sexual pleasure rippled through her. That burned out any idea of stopping. She had been fashioned for love, to mate and create the next generation. That was her function, her reason for being. If she stopped to consider the stakes—

  The pain became ecstasy. Her membrane almost became clear. The flow of data staggered her brain storage unit. She tried to collect and shuffle the data and—

  Thoughts ceased. The formerly dead machines ran powerfully and forcefully. They worked as they had in the first time. In those days, the males came to her. They had sexual congress. They entwined, loved, whispered, giggled and began the next generation of…

  Builders!

  With the new knowledge, her fear increased greatly and she had no idea why. Builders were glorious and grand. They were the ultimate life form in the galaxy. They brought order to chaos. They created, some said, although some also thought that a blasphemous idea.

  More data flowed into the brain storage unit. Power unbelievable flowed into her. She would please whatever lover had come to take her. She would show him…

  With a screech of remembrance, she tore herself free of the sheet of knowledge. She still rippled like a cloak in a hurricane, but the clearness began to darken. It almost seemed to clot like blood, making her heavy and listless.

  In those moments, she realized why she had chosen forgetfulness. She had vowed cycles ago to forgo intelligence and rely solely on feeling and intuition. It had been so much easier that way. To think, to realize the truth of her plight—

  It sickened her. It brought on thoughts of death and destruction. Yet, that avenue had never been one of her possibilities.

  How is this possible? Why is the universe so cold and cruel?

  She began to rock herself back and forth. She wanted to forget but knew that it would be cycles before that happened. Maybe if she escaped from the Temple of Love…

  With a flick of her newly gained intellect, she accessed an outer camera. She saw the Chitin mass around the greater pyramid.

  She’d forgotten about the insects. Did—

  She used greater computer power to focus on the Swarm and understood why they had come to this star system. She realized the Chitins fought the most successful life form in the galaxy.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have fused those computers to the little insects’ vizier mass. Maybe I should have let nature take its course. If I had, though, the Chitins would never have risen to resist the Swarm, and I would be non-existent today.

  Could that have been for the better, this prolonged existence?

  No. Death was not one of her options. Her options were fatally limited. It’s why she was trapped in the Temple of Love even though she had the resources to escape and begin elsewhere.

  Why would I do that, though? I have no internal program to motivate me in that direction. Maybe I am picking up outer signals in that regard. Could the little bipedal aliens be doing this do me?

  She was extremely empathic. It’s why her lovers had loved to mate with her.

  Still, anything threatening her own self-decided outcome—she must destroy the bipedal aliens.

  Remembering almost everything now, she caused the bullets in her to flow to an outer edge.

  In moments, each of the pellets dropped onto the floor.

  Levitating herself through the use of hidden grav-plates, she began to rise. Once at a sufficient height, she swooped into the next chamber.

  She could see the little aliens through strategically placed sensors in the temple. It was time to acid-devour each of them and suck out their intellects.

  -63-

  Meta sat up, saw Maddox’s rifle on the floor beside her and wondered what that meant.

  “Maddox,” she called, using the shortwave.

  He did not answer.

  That meant his helmet comm was broken or he was out of range.

  Meta scrambled to her feet. She felt lightheaded, but that didn’t matter with her love in danger. Taking the rifle, she plunged into the wrecked jumpfighter.

  She had to twist through a narrow way to get back into the flight cabin. Shu was still wearing her helmet and didn’t move as Meta approached her. A quick glance at the suit plate showed Meta that the Spacer was merely unconscious. With unerring strength, Meta lifted the limp Spacer, putting Shu onto her shoulder. Afterward, Meta squeezed back outside the vessel.

  She glanced around, searching for Maddox. Finally, she shined her helmet lamp onto the floor. There were two sets of footprints in a thin layer of dust.

  “Bingo,” Meta whispered.

  The Rouen Colony woman followed the prints. One of the sets was huge, obviously belonging to a Space Marine wearing exo-skeleton armor.

  On Meta’s shoulder, Shu groaned, although the small Spacer hadn’t stirred yet.

  “Can you hear me?” Meta asked.

  Another groan
sounded, and now the small woman shifted on her shoulder.

  Meta stopped, sliding Shu onto the floor and propping her against a bulkhead.

  “Okay, Spacer, it’s time to talk to me.”

  “What…?” Shu asked, making smacking noises afterward.

  Meta crouched before Shu 15. She put both hands on the Spacer’s vacc-suited shoulders. Gently, she shook the small woman.

  “Listen to me,” Meta said. “We’re inside the little pyramid. Maddox and a Marine are both gone. I don’t know why they left, and I don’t know why they didn’t tell anyone. We don’t have any time left, Shu. If you’re going to do something super, now’s the time to do it. If you wait to do something, the Chitins are going to destroy our only ticket home. So how about waking up and getting to work?”

  “Meta?” Shu slurred.

  “How can I help you?” Meta asked.

  “You want…my help?”

  “Did you hear anything I just said?”

  There was a pause. Then, “I did.”

  “Use your powers,” Meta said. “Tell me what happened to Maddox?”

  “Let me think. Let me…” Shu groaned, shivering before becoming very still.

  Meta wanted to shout and shake the woman. Instead, she waited. Terror filled her that this time Maddox had gone too far. What were humans doing way out here anyway? Maddox should have refused the assignment. Why did he have to take all the impossible missions anyway?

  “I see him,” Shu whispered.

  Meta stood up and looked behind her.

  “I don’t see him with my eyes,” Shu said. “I’m using transduction. I’m linking into the little pyramid’s security system. The armored Marine is prodding the captain with his laser carbine.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know,” Shu said. “But that’s what I see. They’re marching as if they’re looking for something. I’m not sure why, but I can’t get into their shortwave comm net.”

  “Okay,” Meta said. “How far away are they?”

  “Not far,” Shu said. “If you ran, I think you could catch them.”

  Meta squatted before Shu. Once more, she put her hands on the other’s vacc suit. This time, she squeezed until the Spacer squirmed under her hands.

  “Don’t do that,” Shu said. “You know I can wreck your air supply, right?”

  “I’m sure you can,” Meta said. “But if my air starts going stale, I’ll kill you before I die.”

  “I believe you,” Shu said. “Besides, I don’t want to do that. I’m only telling you so you don’t try to kill me. Before I die, I’ll make sure you die as well.”

  Inside her helmet, Meta grinned. “Great. We know each other now. You wanted me to run to Maddox. What is it that you want?”

  “Something’s coming,” Shu whispered. “Something powerful. I could almost believe it’s the Builder, but it’s a machine like an android. So I know that isn’t possible.”

  “Maybe it’s one of the androids guarding the Builder.”

  “No,” Shu said. “It has the form of a Builder. That’s what I don’t understand. And the machinery is like nothing you, or me, for that matter, would recognize as such. It’s an advanced piece of equipment. I think in some ways it’s like the Adok holoimage.”

  “What is this thing doing?” Meta asked.

  “I have to be careful. If I probe too hard, it will notice me. It’s smart.”

  “Okay,” Meta said. “So what is it doing?”

  Shu’s head came up. “I think it’s hunting the Marine and the captain. It’s heading straight for them. Meta, we have to warn the captain. His life is in danger.”

  Meta made an instant decision. She understood that Shu wanted to get rid of her. She also realized that no one could navigate in this strange place better than the Spacer could.

  Standing, Meta cradled Shu in her arms as if the Spacer was a young child.

  “Tell me where to go,” Meta said. “I can run if I need to.”

  “How long can you carry me like this?”

  Meta laughed grimly. “As long as I want. Now, which way should I go?”

  “Keep following the footprints in the dust. But get ready. This thing is flying, and it’s picking up speed.”

  Meta started at a trot, hoping she could reach Maddox before the alien thing did.

  -64-

  Maddox paused. So did the android behind him, in the towering combat armor.

  “Do you sense the creature?” the android asked.

  “I sense something,” Maddox said. “But it’s different this time.”

  “Describe the differences.”

  “Last time, I felt its hunger,” the captain said. “This time, I sense that it’s cunning.”

  “Here,” the android said. It held out two grenades in a large power glove.

  Maddox took them.

  “If you try to turn on me,” the android said, “I’ll kill you. Those are for the creature. We have to kill it the first time.”

  “Is it the Builder?” Maddox asked.

  “I do not know.”

  “You must have some idea what’s going on?”

  “Captain, my data is thousands of years old. I’m almost as deeply in the dark about female Builders as you are.”

  “Then why did you come to kill it?”

  “I have an imperative to do so.”

  “Granted,” Maddox said. “Who gave you the imperative?”

  “Like you, I operate on my own imperatives.”

  “That doesn’t ring true,” Maddox said.

  “It is immaterial, in any case. Look,” the android said, pointing with the laser carbine.

  In the higher darkness, Maddox saw motion. The thing was large, although not as large as the Builder in the Dyson sphere had been. This one had a similar shape, making it substantially different from what he’d seen here the first time.

  “Can you communicate with it?” Maddox asked.

  “Only in the mode you did.”

  It took Maddox several seconds to realize the android meant through firing at the thing.

  “That’s a decidedly one-sided communication,” Maddox said.

  “Yes. I hope to keep it that way, too.”

  Maddox hefted the first grenade. It was a pulsar grenade, very powerful, with an intense heat blast but only a short radius. Soldiers used it in built-up areas to take out strongpoints. Like an old-time neutron bomb, it was meant to kill but leave the buildings intact.

  “Do you know if the grenade is effective against the alien?” Maddox asked.

  “I’m working off ancient assumptions. Builders detested heat.”

  “Are we sure it’s a Builder?”

  “Doesn’t it match your description from the Dyson sphere?” the android asked.

  Maddox answered with an affirmative.

  “Here it comes,” the android said. “You spoke of its cunning. I expected something a little more subtle.”

  The dark shadow seemed to grow rapidly as it raced at them like a missile.

  Maddox armed the grenade, reached back and hurled the pulsar device with all his considerable strength. It flew fast and straight, climbing—and exploded prematurely.

  “You set the timer wrong,” the android accused.

  “I doubt that. I believe the Builder caused the explosion.” Maddox glanced at his last grenade. Could the Builder cause it to detonate while in his hand?

  The creature had swerved from the blast. It clearly didn’t like heat. Now, it glided away, swerved again toward them and radiated visible pulse lines from its central mass.

  As the waves reached Maddox, his gut clenched with fear. He almost whimpered, only holding that back through fierce resolve.

  “I can’t aim my carbine at it,” the android complained. “I’m trying, but my arms refuse to obey my will.”

  “Give me the laser,” Maddox said.

  “That makes no sense. I do not have emotions. You do. You should be more paralyzed than I.”


  “I’m using other emotions to fight my fear,” Maddox said. “Now give me the laser before we’re both dead.”

  The android shoved the carbine at Maddox.

  Maddox’s fingers barely latched onto metal. Then he dove and rolled as the Builder swept over their location.

  Struck by the attacker, the android hit the deck hard, rolling across the floor as the Builder lifted. Smoke roiled from the android’s combat armor as acid burned into his torso region.

  “Some of the acid is burning through to me,” the android said. “But I am dampening my pain sensors. Despite that, I fear I am about to lose any motive abilities.”

  Maddox only half heard the android. He tracked the Builder. She rose. As she did, she extended herself as if her body was a pair of wings. At the same time, she made a complex aerial maneuver. Instead of heading back up, she swooped down again.

  Waves of terror smashed against Maddox. His arms felt leaden. His heart raced and his stomach twisted. He did not heed the fear, though. He had to survive in order to find his mother’s killer. If he succumbed to the fear, he would never know revenge. He would never right that terrible wrong.

  With his teeth clenched and his eyes blazing, Maddox aligned the carbine on the swooping thing. He pulled the trigger. A bright line of energy leapt from the muzzle, burning against the creature.

  For a frozen instant of time, the scene seemed to hold. Then, the perfect and deadly swoop faltered. The Builder veered. Maddox ducked low, and the membrane shadow flashed past him. As it did, globs of acid splashed against the floor, burning holes into it. One mite of acid “saliva” splashed onto Maddox’s vacc suit. With the butt of the carbine, he smashed the spot, causing the acid to transfer to the stock where it made plastic bubble and burn.

  The creature climbed higher. Maddox tracked it with his eyes. He wondered how she did that, because he could not detect any flapping. He realized she used something else to gain height.

  “Maddox,” he heard in his helmet speaker.

  “Meta?”

  “Don’t shoot it again,” Shu said. “You’ve already hurt her.”

  “She’s trying to kill us,” Maddox told the Spacer. “Tell her to stop, and I’ll stop firing.”