“I know you’re out there,” a man shouted from within the cell. “I have a gun pressed against the captain’s skull. If I see you appear in front of the door, I’ll fire.”
“I’m wearing body armor,” Meta shouted.
“We both know I won’t shoot at you but at him.”
“If you do that, I’ll kill you next.”
“Yes, I suspected as much. That isn’t my preference naturally, but so be it. I am an officer of Star Watch Intelligence and I will do my duty to ensure mankind’s survival.”
“And if Captain Maddox is correct in his assessment?” Meta asked.
“I’m willing to bet the brigadier is correct.”
“Maddox hasn’t been wrong yet,” Meta said.
“He’s clever, I’ll grant you that. But I’ve told you my resolve. It isn’t going to change.”
“Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m guessing…you’re Meta.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she shouted back.
“I see. Well, make your choice, young lady. I’ve already made mine.”
“Keith,” Meta whispered.
“I heard him,” the second lieutenant said into her earphones.
“Its checkmate,” she whispered.
“Maybe,” Keith said.
“You have another idea?”
“I’m sending over the holoimage,” Keith said. “Maybe it can think of something.”
Meta shook her head. She didn’t trust the alien AI that pretended to have the engrams of Ludendorff. It—
The holoimage materialized before her. “The second lieutenant tells me we have a situation.”
Meta stared at the ghostly apparition. Then, slowly, she explained the stalemate.
“The answer is obvious,” the holoimage said. “I’m amazed you haven’t already seen it.”
“I haven’t,” Meta said, hating the thing more than ever.
“Now that you’re committed, I’ll give you the answer. Use the revitalizing gas. The captain’s metabolism causes him to recover faster than ordinary. He will then overcome the major for you.”
“I don’t know,” Meta said. “That means everyone else will wake up down here.”
“None of that is going to work,” Keith said in Meta’s headphones. “I just called the starship. Galyan told me there is no revitalizing gas.”
Meta squinted at the holoimage. She told it what Keith had just told her. “You deliberately tried to trick me.”
“Nonsense,” the Ludendorff holoimage said.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Meta asked. “Is the captain coming to on his own?”
The holoimage hesitated before saying, “I’m surprised at you. You have reached the correct conclusion.”
“Why not tell me in the first place?”
“Meta!” the major shouted from the cell.
“Yes?” she called.
“Either you leave or surrender to me,” the major shouted. “If you don’t do either, I’m going to shoot the captain and be done with it.” Stokes was silent for a moment. “What’s it going to be, Meta?”
Meta glanced at the Ludendorff holoimage.
“You must keep the major talking,” the holoimage whispered. “The captain must hear that as he comes to. Otherwise, Maddox will give his awakening away to Stokes and the major will kill him.”
Meta shook her head. This was an impossible situation. Just once, she would like everything to work easily.
***
In the cell, Captain Maddox was already coming to. His mind was groggy and his body felt weak and…
He recognized the feeling as similar to what had happened to him at the Lin Ru Hotel, the Spacer embassy. But that had…
He heard Meta, and he almost called out to her. At the last moment, he felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against his left temple.
What was happening?
By slow degrees and as he kept himself motionless Maddox realized he was in his cell underwater in the Greenland Archipelago. The gunman answered Meta, and Maddox realized Major Stokes held him captive.
“All right,” Meta shouted. “I’m leaving. Just let the captain be. He has nothing to do with this.”
Maddox could feel some of the tension ease from Stokes, but the major didn’t take the gun from his head.
“I know you’re awake,” Stokes told him quietly.
Maddox opened his eyes, staring up at the major.
“I thought you would have tried something before this,” the major said.
“Are you really going to kill me?” Maddox asked.
Stokes just stared at him.
“You don’t like me, do you?” Maddox said.
“No. I never have. You’re a hybrid. As far as I can tell, you’re a sleeper agent for the New Men.”
“That’s why I’ve helped Star Watch time and again?” Maddox asked.
“It’s a mystery, I admit.” Stokes appeared thoughtful. “Maybe I should make this easy for both of us.”
“Outright murder?” Maddox asked. “That doesn’t seem like you.”
Stokes gave him the tiniest of grins.
Maddox tried to interpret it. He realized Stokes wasn’t speaking to him. Well, he was, but the words were for someone else. Yes, of course, he spoke for the benefit of the invisible holoimage. That must be how Meta had gained her intelligence of the situation in the cell.
“This time you’re wrong, Captain,” the major said. “Surely, you can see that.”
“You say that because of the Xerxes System?”
“No, because of the Shanghai androids and the holoimage,” Stokes said. “And—”
The holoimage solidified in the cell. “I have a message for you,” the ghostly Ludendorff said.
Stokes swore and thumbed back the hammer of his pistol.
Maddox convulsed mightily, surging against the major. The gun went off. The ignition was deafening to Maddox. The bullet singed the side of his head in passing. He tried to grapple with the major. The gun lined up so it aimed between his eyes. Then, a spear of red laser light struck Stokes’ firing hand. The major cried out in agony, releasing the gun.
Both Maddox and Stokes stood up at the same time.
Meta clanked into the cell in her body armor, the laser aimed at Stokes. The major cradled his smoking hand as blood dripped from it.
“You fired at him,” Meta said, who still wore her mask.
“Sorry, old boy,” Stokes told Maddox.
The captain barely heard the words. His ears were still ringing from the shot.
“It was nothing personal,” the major added.
“It felt personal to me,” Maddox said, too loudly because he wasn’t hearing so well.
“I’d like to convince you to stay,” Stokes said.
Maddox had an intense desire to slug the major. Instead, he shook his head. Taking the gun, he put it between his belt.
“You won’t make it to the starship,” Stokes said.
“Maybe not,” Maddox told him.
“And even if you do, you’ll never make it out of the Solar System. Star Watch can’t afford Victory falling into enemy hands.”
“Good-bye, Major,” Maddox said. “Tell the brigadier I had to do this. I’ll take every precaution concerning the starship.”
“No you won’t,” Stokes said. “You’re an adrenaline junkie. I think all the New Men are. And the lot of you are all too arrogant by far.”
“Well, half of me is too arrogant anyway,” Maddox said.
“I don’t believe you’re going to like what you find out there,” Stokes said.
“I’m not sure I like what I’ve found here.” Maddox turned to Meta. “Thanks for coming. Let’s go.”
“What about him?” she asked, pointing at Stokes.
Maddox stared at the major who had just tried to murder him. “We’ll lock the cell. I think that will give us enough time.”
Meta hesitated, looking as if she wanted to fire the laser one more
time. Finally, she nodded, saying, “Okay. But we’d better hurry. The major is right about one thing, all of Star Watch will be gunning for us. We don’t have much time to get upstairs to Victory and out of the Solar System.”
-16-
Keith watched the two swimming through the radioactive water. Meta had succeeded. She was bringing Captain Maddox to the submersible. Once more, it was the team against everyone else.
The minutes ticked by. Would you look at this—Keith studied the radar chart. There were attack submarines out here. That was fast work. Someone must have been anticipating them to try something at the Greenland complex.
Did the subs belong to Star Watch or had the Ludendorff box set up something for another play. Galyan had suggested they beware the Builder box. The Adok’s probability analyzer suggested the person or people behind the box might be someone other than the real Ludendorff trapped in the Xerxes System. They would be foolish to trust the holoimage fully.
“Come on,” Keith said, watching the two swimmers. “You’ve already taken too long.”
***
Captain Maddox swam strongly, doing his best to keep up with Meta. Her jet-propelled pack was making that difficult.
Meta looked back. “Take my hand,” she said, through the full-facemask comm. “I’m only going at half-speed and we have to go faster.”
“Right,” Maddox said. He kicker harder, grabbed her hand and felt her squeeze, the pressure from her power gloves nearly crushing his hand.
“Oh, sorry,” she said, looking back at him a moment later. “My pressure indicator shows—is your hand okay?” She adjusted the gloves to release some of the pressure.
“Never mind about that,” the captain said. He had been applying considerable squeeze to his hand to keep the bones from breaking.
A burst of thrust from her pack had them zooming through the murky water. Soon, they reached the submersible’s hatch, entering an air-cycler, the water draining away from the chamber and a harsh spray decontaminating their suits.
“This could get rough,” Keith said through the earphones.
The pilot immediately proved true to his word. The room tilted crazily as Maddox reached for the inner handle. He felt himself slipping and lunged, his fingers barely grabbing the metal in time. Meta wasn’t so lucky. The room tilted and speed threw her so she crashed against one side and slammed against Maddox next. He grabbed her one-armed and opened the hatch. They tumbled into a larger chamber as the craft continued to jig wildly. There were no gravity dampeners in the submersible to dull the sudden moves.
Blood flowed from Meta’s nose as she groaned. Maddox dragged her to a bench, hooking his feet and tightening his hold of Meta.
Now the cabin tilted the other way and half spun. Increasing speed threatened Maddox’s grip.
“He’s crazy,” Meta muttered.
“Which means we might make it,” Maddox told her.
The ride continued this way for a time. Finally, the chamber leveled out, which presumably meant so had the craft.
Keith confirmed the news by saying over an intercom, “Okay. It’s safe. I hope you two are all right.”
“Roger,” Maddox said. “Do we have time to come forward?”
“Sure, mate,” Keith said.
Maddox cleared his throat.
“I mean, Captain, sir.”
“Let’s go,” Maddox told Meta, handing her a cloth.
She wiped the blood from her nose.
With Meta in tow, Maddox hurried into a short corridor and saw the holoimage waving them toward a particular hatch. Moments later, Maddox strapped himself to a chair beside Keith. Meta sat down at the weapons board.
“Glad to have you aboard, sir,” Keith said, with his focus glued onto a battle screen.
“Trouble?” Maddox asked. He saw three fast-attack submarines giving chase on the screen.
“Just a mite, sir,” Keith said, “but nothing a tactical wizard like me can’t handle.”
“What happened to all our decoys?” Meta said, as she checked her weapons board.
“I already used them up, don’t you know,” Keith said. “The boys behind us have been firing torpedoes like candy. I’m surprised you haven’t felt the explosions.”
“What does that even mean?” Meta asked.
“That Galyan had better know what he’s doing,” Keith said. “Hang on now. I’m about to give them a performance they’ll never forget.”
The submersible went sideways, and Keith increased speed yet again.
“They’re launching torpedoes,” Meta said.
“They’re right on schedule then,” Keith told her. “And that’s why I’m headed for that underwater grotto below.”
Maddox touched the powder burn on the side of his head. Major Stokes had actually tried to kill him. The brigadier must be serious about his incarceration. The attack submarines coming after them would kill them, too, if they could. The knowledge left a hollow feeling in the captain’s stomach. After all that he had done, Star Watch still didn’t trust him. If the brigadier could do this to him…who would stick up for him?
“No one,” Maddox whispered.
“What’s that, sir?” Keith asked, while focusing on a screen.
Maddox pondered his conclusion. He was a hybrid. He glanced at Keith, nodding. Here was one regular human who would go to the wall for him. Meta didn’t count in that regard. She was a genetic experiment, meaning she was just as much in his camp as…as a New Man would be.
“This is pure genius on my part,” Keith informed him. “Are you ready, sir?”
Maddox pursed his lips.
The submersible corkscrewed as Keith took them through a ring of rock. Something banged against the craft’s side, though, causing a horrible metallic screeching that didn’t seem to end.
The sound snapped Maddox out of his reverie. He stared at a bulkhead, waiting, waiting—finally, the terrible screech ended. They were alright, through the grotto.
Just as Maddox thought that, water burst through a seam in a bulkhead.
Meta shouted in surprise as water sprayed in forcefully.
Keith gave the breach a quick glance, muttered something and tapped his board. He did this several times. It didn’t seem to help or change anything.
Water hosed into the cabin. The icy liquid swept up items, banging them against the other bulkhead. The green-colored water kept pouring in at a fantastic rate. Maddox kicked his feet, sloshing them through the rising water.
“That is bad,” Meta said. “The water is radioactive. If it doesn’t drown us first, we’ll be irradiated to death.”
“Hang on,” Keith said. “We’re not out of it yet.”
Maddox glanced at the pilot’s screen. A blossom indicated an exploding torpedo behind them against the rock of the grotto. Others bright dots showed even more explosions.
“I did it that part perfectly,” Keith said. “The torpedoes missed us.”
While that was true, seconds later, the craft shuddered as the increased pressure from the explosions struck the submersible. A metallic tearing sound meant something burst apart. Then, twice the volume of water poured into the main cabin.
“We’re going to drown!” Meta shouted.
Maddox was already on his feet. He surged through the swirling water, wading to an emergency repair unit on the wall.
“We have no choice now,” Keith said. “It’s time to go up. Hang on, Captain, sir. I’m changing course.”
Maddox barely did so in time, grabbing the wall unit.
The submersible tilted violently upward as water continued to gush into the cabin. In a wave, the mass washed against Meta as the water flowed to the back of the sub, adding more weight by the second.
“Come on, you bastard,” Keith told the sub. “Give me more thrust.” He tapped his board.
From the bulkhead, Maddox stared at the water still pouring in. They had a few bare minutes before they were flooded and drowned.
“Level the craft,” Maddox s
aid in a commanding voice. “I have to patch the hole.”
Keith glanced at him before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s a buggering bad idea.”
“Second lieutenant,” Maddox barked. “You will—”
“Hang on, sir. Give me twenty more seconds.”
Maddox hung on, silently fuming. Still, in these kinds of situations, no one was better than Keith Maker, so Maddox waited to see what the ace had up his sleeve.
Twenty-five seconds later, the submersible lurched onto the surface like a flopping whale. It banged hard against the waves, shaking Maddox loose from his hold. He toppled into the water.
“Now, sir,” Keith said. “If we don’t repair the breach fast, we’re going to run out of air.”
That didn’t sound right, but it confirmed to Maddox that Keith had an idea he wasn’t tracking yet. The captain surged to his feet, grabbing the emergency repair kit.
“We’d better move from our location,” Meta said, barely able to peer at her board. It was only an inch above the waterline. “There’s another spread of torpedoes coming our way.”
“Galyan, come in, Galyan,” Keith said into the comm-unit. “You have to start us upstairs, mate. You have to do it now or we’re dead.”
Maddox only listened with half an ear. He wrestled the kit to the breach. As he pressed it against the bulkhead, the submersible lurched once more. The room tilted back and forth.
The captain glanced out the forward window and blinked in amazement. The submersible was in the air and rising.
“That’s Victory’s tractor beam, sir,” Keith explained. “We came in down under to fool Star Watch and we’re escaping through the atmosphere. The unexpectedness of our moves might give us the edge we need to make it onto the starship.”
Maddox nodded thoughtfully. Then, he finished his hasty repair, sloshing through the water, replacing the empty repair kit. Finally, soaking wet, he returned to his spot near the pilot, buckling in.
Keith had auto-opened some hatches, causing the water to drain away faster than it had come in. He tapped his board. The hatches closed with loud clangs.
“Yes,” Maddox said. “I like the plan. It was well thought-out and executed, Second Lieutenant.”
The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) Page 14