The Lost Starship

by Vaughn Heppner

  First slipping near Keith, he said, “I’m going to spy on the enemy.”

  Keith looked up with wide eyes, and he almost shouted with surprise. Finally, the small pilot nodded. “You’re as silent as a cat, mate. I wish you wouldn’t sneak up on me like that.”

  “Stay here,” Maddox said. “Recover your strength.”

  “You’re leaving me alone?”

  “I’m going to scout the area. I’ll be back.”

  Keith drew his gun. “Okay, sir. I’ll wait.” He coughed as if to add to this statement. A new alarm entered the man’s eyes. “I got the bad spores, don’t I, sir?”

  “We’ll leave this planet soon enough.”

  “You promise that, Captain? I didn’t sign up to end my days in misery.”

  “There isn’t a place in the galaxy that can hold me, Ensign. You can rely on that.”

  “I’m going to keep you to your promise, Captain,”

  Still sensing the fear in Ensign Maker, Maddox said, “You did a fantastic job bringing us down in one piece.”

  “It’s what I do, sir.”

  “Exactly my point,” Maddox said. “This is the sort of thing I do.”

  A grin crept across Keith’s face. “Right. I’m okay, sir. I have this.” He indicated the gun.

  “Keep quiet, though,” Maddox said. “Let me concentrate.”

  The ace drew his knees up as he leaned back against the tree. Then he closed his eyes, and suppressed a second cough.

  Maddox glided away toward the voices. The gloom was less dense here than lower down on the mountain. He heard fire crackle in the distance, and the smell of smoke became noticeable. The voices had stopped speaking, but he could hear footfalls.

  He circled them. Sergeant Riker had told him the natives were expert woodsmen. If he came at them from a different direction, he might catch his trackers by surprise. Determination hardened in Maddox’s heart. He strained to move soundlessly and quickly. It was a good thing he wore his camouflage gear.

  Then his nape hairs rose. Maddox froze, straining to sense what had alerted him. Danger flowed around him. He felt the threat grow. Holding his breath, the captain rotated his neck, looking in one direction and then another. He couldn’t see anything except for foliage. He had to keep moving.

  With infinite care, he stepped softly, avoiding anything that might crackle or snap. He suppressed the urgency to know, to stare. He had come to believe that people gave off an unknowable sensation that a few individuals could sense. It was how he’d found the sniper so quickly in Glasgow. Maddox let himself blend into his surroundings.

  His throat caught. The fierce warning of danger resumed. Once more, he froze. Something— Then Captain Maddox saw something out of the corner of his eye. A golden-skinned individual walked through a small clearing. The man did it with much of the care the captain had just been practicing. There was a sense of intense athleticism to the New Man, as if he were some great cat in human guise. He wore a dark garment, tight at the ankles, wrists and throat. Only the hands and face showed the golden color. A hat covered his head, hiding the hair. The invader held a flat pistol. The man’s face—Maddox wanted to turn his head to get a better look.

  He resisted the urge. The slightest movement would give him away. The combat video he’d seen from Odin made him extra cautious. There, on the invaded planet in a spaceport, a single New Man had seemingly successfully charged suited space marines. Maddox only had his gun.

  The fleeting glimpse of the New Man’s face allowed Maddox a snapshot of his enemy. He sensed anger from the invader, a desire to kill and arrogance. The golden-skinned human would stamp out anyone who got in his way.

  After the momentary glimpse, Maddox doused his curiosity to mute any telltale emanations.

  Maddox didn’t know how he’d given himself away, but the New Man began turning his head toward the captain.

  Before the captain could discover the answer, the undergrowth creaked. The sound came from the other side of the clearing. A leaf shook over there.

  The New Man moved like greased death. Four times, he fired, sending bullets into the undergrowth. Someone grunted painfully back there. An unseen body thudded onto the ground. Another person staggered, crashing through foliage. She burst into sight, clutching a flintlock against her chest. Blood poured from her throat. Her eyes were glazed with approaching death.

  The New Man snapped off another shot, obliterating her head.

  As the golden-skinned superman fired the last time, Maddox brought up his gun. He moved faster than he could ever remember doing. He’d been waiting for the chance to act while the other was occupied. Even so, the New Man proved uncanny in his abilities.

  Maddox pulled the trigger. The gun bucked in his hand. A bullet exited the barrel. The New Man had already reacted, diving away. Maddox saw this, adjusted, pulled the trigger a second time. The gun bucked once more, sending a second round at what should have been an easy target.

  By now, the New Man had rotated his body, bringing up his flat weapon to fire back.

  Maddox shot a third time. His mind moved at hyper-speed. He shot where he judged the New Man would be as the invader dodged yet again.

  Then the golden-skinned man fired his gun from around his torso at Maddox. It was a trick shot.

  Time resumed its normal speed. Maddox’s first bullet missed. The second grazed enemy skin. The third pitched the New Man off his feet, entering against the ribs. The invader slid across the ground. Bright red blood spurted from his side, staining his garment.

  At the same time, a bullet flashed past Maddox’s head. He could feel the burn of its passage, although it missed hitting flesh by the proverbial hair’s width. The round made his left eye blink rapidly. That caused him to jerk away, duck and finally roll, as he figured the New Man must be sighting him for another shot.

  An entire second ticked away as Maddox completed his roll. He was on his feet in a low crouch, scanning where the New Man should be. Instead of seeing the invader aim at him, or lying shot on the ground, Maddox caught a last glimpse. The golden-skinned invader fled, disappearing into the undergrowth. His running speed was incredible.

  What just happened here?

  Maddox had never seen anyone move so fast. And the man had made his decisions faster than lightning.

  With a feeling of unreality, Maddox stood. He wasn’t used to being dazed like this.

  You don’t have any time to waste. You have to act decisively, and you have to do it now.

  “Right,” he whispered. Maddox hurried to the fallen weapon. He reached down for it— “If you touch the gun, you’re dead,” a hidden woman said.

  Maddox debated grabbing the gun anyway and rolling. The voice indicated a person with icy calm. He waited one second, two. Then he said, “The New Man will be back.”

  “You mean golden-boy?” the woman asked.

  “They consider themselves superior to ordinary humans.”

  “Drop your gun,” the woman said, “and don’t try to touch his.”

  Maddox listened, trying to pinpoint the woman’s exact position. At the same time, he let his weapon thud onto the soil.

  “Straighten up,” she said.

  He followed orders.

  “Face me,” the woman said.

  Maddox found himself staring at a medium-sized woman with brown clothes, a dark ponytail and darker skin. She aimed a flintlock at him, and her hands were perfectly steady.

  “Doctor Dana Rich,” Maddox said.

  Suspicion flared across her features. “How do you know me?”

  “I’ve come to take you off Loki Prime.”

  It took a half-beat. Then she said, “You’re the second person to say that today. I want to know why.”

  “I’m here because of the golden-skinned man you just saw. His kind is invading the Oikumene.”

  “Good. I think I’ll aid them. Your people stuck me on this filthy piece of sod. You think after that I want to help the Commonwealth or the Windsor League?”
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  “The New Men won’t reward you for long, Dr. Rich.”

  “Wrong,” she said. “Before your missiles smashed their shuttle and killed the leader, they offered me more than you possibly could.”

  “Oh, right,” said Maddox. “That’s why he killed those people.” He indicated the headless woman prone on the ground. There must be more dead hidden in the undergrowth. “You’re spinning fabrications, Doctor.”

  “I don’t care for people calling me a liar.”

  “Then don’t lie to me,” Maddox told her.

  From the undergrowth in the direction he’d come, Maddox heard a branch snap, leaves rustle and finally a muffled grunt of a pain.

  “We have to flee,” he told Dana. “The New Man must have doubled back.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” she said. “If he was here, we’d already be dead.”

  Maddox looked at her questioningly.

  “I’m beyond caring whether I live or die,” she said. “This planet has sucked the joy of life from me.”

  Dana Rich didn’t look defeated as she squinted down the rifle barrel at him, more like icily determined to overcome anything thrown at her.

  “On your knees,” she said. “It’s time you answered some questions.”

  A distinct hoot sounded from the undergrowth.

  Doctor Rich cursed, and her fingers tightened around her weapon. “Mister, grab those guns by the barrels. You were right. He’s coming back. We have to get out of here.”

  “Let’s work together,” Maddox suggested. “We’ll kill him.”

  “Hurry!” she hissed. “Do it now, or I’m going to kill you. And if you don’t care about your life, think about your friend.”

  With a nod of her head, Dana indicated leftward.

  Maddox glanced in the direction he’d heard the crashing noise a second ago. A striking woman stepped into view. She had platinum-colored hair pulled into a knot behind her head. She wore bikini furs, showing a voluptuous figure a trifle heavier than Maddox liked. Unfortunately, she had one of Keith Maker’s arms behind his back with her other hand around his mouth.

  “Meta is pretty,” Dana said. “She’s also from a heavy G mining world. That means she’s stronger than anyone I know. She can snap your man’s neck like a twig.”

  The cavewoman stared with hostility at Maddox. She had Keith’s force blade and gun tucked in her fur shorts. The ace squirmed. She shoved his back arm a little higher, causing him to lift up onto his toes. Yes, she must be strong.

  A warning hoot sounded once more.

  Because of it, Maddox made his decision of how to play this. He grabbed the two guns by the barrels, his and the New Man’s. Then he hurried toward Meta, with Doctor Dana Rich following. It was clear she didn’t want to be here when the golden-skinned invader returned.

  -19-

  Maddox halted at Doctor Rich’s orders. They must have run a good two kilometers, entering even thicker growth. Then they’d ducked into an area of woven branches overhead, making this spot even gloomier than the surrounding terrain. There were covered holes here. Could this be a storage area or a hideaway for times of trouble?

  “Sit,” Dana said, waving his own gun at him. He’d given her both weapons earlier. She carried the long flintlock with a strap around her shoulder.

  Maddox sat on damp soil. Yes. This definitely seemed like a hideaway. If the tribes raided each other, a wise leader would have places to regroup if an enemy overran the main compound.

  Meta shoved Keith against Maddox so the ace sprawled onto the ground.

  “They surprised me,” Keith explained, his mouth finally freed of the woman’s silencing hand.

  “Quiet,” Dana told him. “Unless I tell you otherwise, don’t speak.”

  Maddox nodded to Keith that it was okay to listen to her in this.

  “Meta,” Dana said, holding up the flat gun.

  The cavewoman accepted the New Man’s weapon. She inspected it a moment. A grin spread across her wide features. Then Meta faded from view, backing out the entrance, no doubt to stand guard.

  Doctor Dana Rich moved to the side, sitting on a tree stump, studying the two of them. She kept the gun trained on Maddox. She lacked a perfect poker face. It was clear she was curious about something.

  “Why did you come down onto Loki Prime for me?” she said.

  “Does it matter?” Maddox asked.

  “Oh yes.”

  “Are you that eager to remain on Loki Prime, then?” Maddox asked. “If we’re going to leave, we have to act now.”

  “You have a point,” she said. “I obviously wish to leave. The question is can you beat their offer?”

  “I doubt they offered you anything,” Maddox said.

  “Oh?”

  “You’re on the run from them. I think you’ve been hiding the entire time the shuttle has been on the ground. Otherwise, you’d be dead, killed during the missile strike. They would have at least been interrogating you there.”

  “I see you like to make guesses,” she said.

  Maddox shook his head. “No. It’s not a guess; it’s what happened. The New Man would never bother hunting for you otherwise.”

  “You’re spinning a web of suppositions, hoping I’m so eager to get off Loki Prime that I’ll believe anything you tell me.”

  “Doctor,” Maddox said. “The New Men have invaded the Oikumene. They have superior starships. Do you know that with three cruiser-class vessels, they annihilated what amounted to a double-strength Star Watch battle group?”

  “Did you see the shuttle back there?” Dana asked. “Did you look at its markings? Did you happen to notice what uniform the woman wore who shot down your flitter?”

  “I’m afraid I didn’t see her.”

  “She wore a Star Watch uniform,” Dana said, as if that ended the discussion.

  “That doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Maddox said. “The New Men have secretly infiltrated the Oikumene and slipped people into high places among Commonwealth personnel. We believe they’re genetic supermen. Given their actions to date, we’re in a species battle, and so far, our side is losing.”

  Dana no longer seemed as triumphant as a second ago. “Suppose this is the truth,” she said. “Why would that bring you down here?”

  “The answer may surprise you. Their technology is decidedly superior to ours, particularly in terms of starships. We need an equalizer, a superior fighting vessel, if we’re going to stop their invasion. According to our records, you were with Professor Ludendorff when he studied the alien sentinel in the shattered star system.”

  For the first time, shock crossed her features. “Are you insane? I know Professor Ludendorff was. If I hadn’t—” She shut her mouth, pressing her lips together.

  Maddox raised an eyebrow. What did that mean? What had happened during their expedition?

  “You want the sentinel?” she asked in a sharp voice.

  “Very much so,” Maddox said.

  “And you think I’m suicidal enough to go back there?”

  “Given the alternative of spending the rest of your life here, yes,” Maddox said.

  Dana laughed, shaking her head. “Even if I believed your story—which I don’t—I wouldn’t do as you asked.”

  “Then you have two choices left. Rot on Loki Prime or become a genetic experiment for the New Men.”

  A hard grin twisted her lips. “I’ll paint you another, mister. If there’s some grand war obliterating worlds, I’ll simply hijack a starship and leave the Oikumene. I’ll head into the Beyond. The universe is full of planets. When faced with an invincible foe, the wise person relocates.”

  “What happens to the people who can’t do that?” Maddox asked.

  “Am I their guardian?” Dana asked. “No. The ‘people’ as you call them, support the ones who pod-dropped me here. I owe them nothing. Maybe you don’t, but I plan to live a long, long life.”

  “Do you think Meta feels the same way about her mining world?” Maddox asked, raisin
g his voice. “If you run from the New Men, her people die. Does she want that?”

  Dana cocked her head, as if surprised at his questions. Then a snarl creased her features. Aiming the gun, she said, “Shut up.”

  “Why do you think you get to make everyone else’s decisions for them?” Maddox asked.

  Dana stood, still aiming the gun at him. “I know what you’re doing. Meta isn’t going to fall for that. It—”

  Maddox could see the decision to kill him in her eyes. That she hadn’t already done it meant she wasn’t a hardened killer who could just blow a person away. She had to psyche herself up first.

  She was as physically close as she was going to come. Using the palms of his hands, Maddox shoved against the ground, scooting himself closer toward her. Her trigger finger began to tighten. Maddox swept his left foot, connecting with her ankles. He kicked her feet out from under her. She fell hard and her finger yanked the trigger.

  A loud boom crashed against Maddox’s ears. The bullet smashed through leaves, thudding against a tree trunk. Then Dana’s back smacked against the ground. She grunted, but she kept hold of the gun.

  Maddox was already moving, diving at her. Grabbing the gun, he twisted. She yelled painfully, her forefinger wretched in the trigger guard. She tried to get up. With a twist, Maddox smashed an elbow against her face, making the back of her head slam against the ground.

  Maddox tore the gun from her weakened grip, spun and aimed at the arch opening into the hideaway.

  “Meta!” Dana shouted from the ground. “Run!”

  At the same instant, Maddox fired, thinking he saw something darker than a shadow as a target.

  “You wretch,” Dana said. “If you killed her—”

  Since he didn’t hear anything to indicate a hit, Maddox switched tactics. He stood, grabbed Dana by the hair and heaved, lifting her to a standing position. Then he had the gun barrel pressed against her temple, backing away against a tree trunk, using her as a human shield against Meta.

  “You’ll never leave this place alive,” Meta said, hidden by the undergrowth. “Let her go.”

  “I decline your suggestion,” Maddox shouted. Looking at Keith, Maddox jerked his head to the side.