The Lost Swarm

by Vaughn Heppner

  In the underground chamber, Meta waited behind Maddox with a fire extinguisher in her hands. If the stone became too hot—and it was reaching that point—it could harm her husband. She had insisted on being ready.

  There was more than one risk in using the unpredictable Builder stone like this. The chief was that the man with greater willpower or greater understanding of the stone could mentally defeat the other, possibly reading his thoughts or if he knew enough, reprogramming the defeated one’s mind. Maddox, with his newfound energy together with his experience and understanding of the stone, was certain he could trick and defeat, if need be, the arrogant Lord Drakos.

  Meta could hear their increased breathing. She fingered the fire-extinguisher trigger. Riker and several Space Marines waited outside the room, watching through a two-way mirror. The newly promoted Brigadier Stokes of Star Watch Intelligence watched with them.

  On the chairs, Maddox and Drakos began to twitch. Each had his eyes closed, yet it seemed as if each glared at the other. Drakos began to grind his molars. Maddox breathed heavily, like a bull about to charge.

  “No!” Drakos shouted, and his eyes flew open.

  Maddox swore, and his eyes opened as well.

  This was unprecedented. Meta aimed her extinguisher at the heat-radiating Builder stone, pulling the trigger. Foam gushed from the device, striking the hot stone, trying to bring down its temperature and thus cutting the mental connection between the two.

  The two men grunted as if someone had hit each of them in the stomach.

  “Where am I?” Drakos slurred afterward. “What is this place?”

  Maddox didn’t answer but struggled upright until he swayed on his feet.

  “No, you don’t,” Drakos said, surging up in a single thrust of willpower.

  “Leave us,” Maddox panted at Meta.

  Drakos blinked rapidly and then rubbed his forehead. He was frowning mightily.

  Meta stood indecisively with the empty fire extinguisher in her hands.

  “Phantoms,” Drakos said with understanding. “You put phantoms in my mind.” The broad-shouldered New Man looked at the Builder stone. “Ah, you used that thing against me, didn’t you?”

  Maddox had not spoken since giving Meta an order, although he glared at Drakos.

  “Yes, I perceive now,” Drakos said, with the phenomenally quick understanding that New Men often showed. “I lost the space battle in the Gomez System. You captured me and brought me to Earth for interrogation, didn’t you?”

  Maddox just glared, exhausted by using the Builder stone and web he’d woven in the New Man’s mind. That had been harder than he’d realized.

  A terrible smile stretched across Drakos’s face. “I’m going to kill you, half-breed. No one uses me like that.” Drakos lurched around the stone, obviously headed toward Maddox.

  Meta shouted, swinging the fire extinguisher at the New Man’s head.

  Drakos dodged out of the extinguisher’s way, grabbing and ripping it from Meta’s grasp.

  She screamed, launching herself at him. With the extinguisher, Drakos struck her, knocking Meta unconscious onto the floor.

  Maddox roared, and he finally moved, charging the New Man. Drakos smiled evilly, and maybe he would have smashed Maddox as he’d just done to the captain’s wife.

  The hatch opened. Riker stepped inside, and he raised a weapon, pulling the trigger six times. Each pull caused a deafening roar as the gun bucked in the sergeant’s hand. The slugs tore into the New Man, killing Drakos as he crashed upon the deck.

  Maddox halted, stunned. Meta groaned from on the floor.

  Riker dropped the handgun and Space Marines surrounded him, aiming stunners at him.

  “You were—” Maddox said, unable to finish the thought.

  The Space Marine lieutenant in charge said to Riker, “You were supposed to have a stunner.”

  “Oh,” Riker said. “My mistake.” He looked down at Drakos. “Too bad, I guess.”

  Maddox did not hear more. He was on his knees, cradling Meta’s head. There was a great lump on it already.

  “Don’t get up,” Maddox told her.

  “He knocked me a good one,” Meta said, “but I’ll be all right. I’m tougher than that.”

  Maddox nodded, glad the bastard hadn’t slain his wife. He looked up at Riker. “Why did you kill him?”

  “He’s too dangerous,” Riker said. “He would have killed you if I hadn’t.”

  Maddox eyed the sergeant carefully.

  “Did you learn what you needed from him?” asked Riker.

  Maddox thought about that, saying, “Maybe.”

  -3-

  And there everything might have ended, with Maddox recounting what he’d learned from Drakos through the Builder stone. Naturally, the Lord High Admiral would have to resign, and the Iron Lady would never regain trusted status again.

  Something didn’t sit right with Maddox, and that something was Riker’s murderous action. The sergeant certainly would attempt to protect him, but Riker had often used a stunner. Why had Riker switched to a handgun and lied about it or deceived the Space Marines? During questioning later, Riker said he couldn’t remember switching weapons, and the lie detector suggested he told what he considered the truth.

  That started Maddox thinking even more deeply.

  During the journey back from the Gomez System, through “C” Quadrant and then to Earth, everyone had seemed to be themselves.

  Admiral Byron was on administrative leave as the Admiralty Board studied his actions up to and including the Battle of the Gomez System. Cook was on sick leave, depressed at the battle losses the Patrol Fleet had sustained. Ludendorff was free and had already left, declaring he was going to the Brahma System to find Dana. There was no report from the Throne World that Ural had gone to the Swarm colony world, but the commandant on Pluto was keeping watch of the Mira Binary System with the Builder Scanner.

  Why had Riker killed Drakos?

  Maddox brooded over that as he went to the prison island his grandmother had escaped. He walked the trails she had walked but could discover nothing to give him a clue as to the so-called voices in her head.

  Brigadier Stokes of Intelligence wasn’t going to let the captain use the Builder stone again to test Mary O’Hara. Cook had given his permission earlier to use the stone, but after Drakos’s confession, no one was going to let the Lord High Admiral make such a decision again.

  Maddox had told Stokes what Drakos had confessed about Meyers, Cook and O’Hara. At the time, it had all seemed plausible. Now, thinking about it more…

  Several days later, Maddox returned to the prison island in the Pacific. He walked the jungle pathways. He ran for a time until the sweat poured from him. He didn’t stop. Physical activity like this often helped subconscious thoughts bubble up to his conscious mind. He ran until he panted, until his thighs quivered. He ran—

  “Sir, this is too much.”

  Maddox halted much more slowly than usual because he was exhausted. A small Adok holoimage stood before him. The captain blinked stinging sweat out of his eyes. He put his hands on his knees and breathed in and out, trying to slow his tripping heart.

  “You cannot solve every mystery, sir,” Galyan said, who had been watching the captain from Victory in orbit.

  Maddox shook his head.

  “You disagree with me, sir?”

  “Right,” Maddox panted.

  “You think you can solve all mysteries?”

  “I’m going to clear my grandmother. I’m going to clear the Lord High Admiral, too.”

  “You’ve already branded them traitors, sir, even if they’re involuntary traitors.”

  “Watch your mouth, Galyan.”

  “I am sorry, sir. I do not mean to cause you any anguish. You of all people have—”

  “Listen to me, Galyan” Maddox said, interrupting. “Stokes had the logs checked, the one of the long-range Builder com device on Pluto. Every call was accounted for. That means Cook coul
dn’t have used the device to speak to Drakos.”

  “I could alter such logs, sir. Surely, the Lord High Admiral could have altered them as well.”

  “Maybe,” Maddox said, finally starting to breathe normally. “Maybe there was another method.”

  “We would have to know it, sir.”

  “I know how—” Maddox shook his head. He did not like explaining himself to anyone. “How do you account for Riker slaying Drakos?”

  “The sergeant got carried away. That happens sometime.”

  “Uh-huh, and how many times has that happened to Sergeant Riker?”

  Galyan nodded. “You make a cogent point, sir. Yet, the truth—”

  “No,” Maddox whispered, cutting Galyan off. He turned away, his eyes shining. Why hadn’t he seen this sooner? He faced Galyan. “Do you recall that Drakos said he made a deal with Lisa Meyers?”

  “Are you referring to your testimony of what you learned from Drakos with the Builder stone?”

  “That’s right. How did Drakos communicate with Meyers? When were they ever together?”

  “I do not know. By your stance, I am assuming you do, though.”

  “There was a possible intermediary between them. Golden Ural gave me the clue when I spoke to him on the second planet of the Gomez System. He told me a few things down there…”

  “You have grown strangely quiet, sir,” Galyan said.

  Maddox swore softly to himself. Then, he lowered his head and began to run along a jungle path. He was exhausted, but he used a new fount of energy that drove his tired legs to the landing area in the middle of the island.

  Galyan disappeared, divining the captain’s destination.

  Finally, a sweat-drenched Maddox reached his parked flitter. He accepted several water bottles from a waiting attendant. Galyan had gone ahead and spoken to the camp commandant. Maddox guzzled the water, climbing into the flitter afterward and taking off.

  Galyan appeared in the front passenger seat.

  Maddox was already fiddling with the com controls. “Get me Stokes,” Maddox told an Intelligence operative. Soon, Brigadier Stokes appeared on a panel screen.

  The Brigadier had a goatee these days and was smoking a cigarette. “Captain? My secretary said this was urgent.”

  “I’m turning on the scrambler,” Maddox said, flipping a switch. Stokes’s image blurred for a moment.

  “Was that really necessary?” asked Stokes.

  “Sir, I’d like you to check every security-scan database on Earth. See if you can find a video image of Vint Diem within the last few days.”

  “Where have I heard that name before?” Stokes asked.

  “He was Drakos’s ex-Spacer agent on Pandora that I gave up in exchange for learning about the hardliner attempt to find Thrax’s colony world.”

  “Oh, yes, I remember now. Why should I look for the man? He’s on the Throne World by now in whatever they use for a prison.”

  “Golden Ural runs Throne World Intelligence.”

  “I’m quite aware of that, Captain. In fact, I knew that before you told us.”

  “Right,” Maddox said. “Ural claimed that the New Man operative on Pandora was not a Throne World Intelligence agent.”

  “I read your report. I already know all this. Why rehash it now?”

  “Sir, if you would check all the planet’s databases, all the camera and video shots from around Earth and see if you could find an image of Vint Diem these past few days—”

  “Oh, very well,” Stokes said, interrupting. “I can’t see the utility of such a search. But your views have some weight in these troubled times, and that in high places. I’ll get back to you.”

  “I’m heading for Headquarters.”

  “Suit yourself,” Stokes said, signing off.

  “Do you really think Vint Diem is on Earth?” Galyan asked.

  “We should know the answer soon,” Maddox said, who increased speed, as he had a lot of water to cover to reach Europe.

  -4-

  Many hours later, Maddox landed in Geneva on top of Star Watch Headquarters. He hurried down to a shower, wolfed down a sandwich, drank more water and put on a clean uniform. Then, he passed several security checkpoints after surrendering all weapons.

  Finally, Maddox found himself sitting before Brigadier Stokes. The man ran Star Watch Intelligence. In lieu of that, he’d been jumped up several ranks from lieutenant colonel to brigadier so his rank matched his confirmed position. Stokes and he hadn’t always gotten along. Now that the man officially ran the Intelligence Agency in Mary O’Hara’s place…

  Stokes mashed out a cigarette, studying Maddox.

  “The goatee suits you,” the captain said. “Makes you look more devilish.”

  “How did you know?” Stokes asked sharply.

  “If you mean Vint Diem, I didn’t. It was a guess. I must have guessed right, eh?”

  Stokes opened a folder on his desk and passed a print to Maddox.

  The captain picked it up. The small man on the street could be Vint Diem. He wore a long overcoat with a hat. He was small with narrow shoulders and wore wraparound sunglasses. According to this print, it was nighttime.

  Stokes passed Maddox another print.

  This was a full facial shot. The man was obviously of Southeast Asian heritage. Most Spacers were. He wore the same sunglasses and had a look of concentration. It was Vint Diem or his double.

  “You can skip the others,” Maddox said. “It’s him all right. Was he anywhere Riker could have been before the sergeant killed Drakos?”

  Stokes chose one last print and passed it over. It showed Vint Diem sitting in a pub, his small hands at the base of a tall glass of beer. A sign behind him showed it was the Pig & Whistle. That was in Geneva, in the “slum” part of the town. Riker was known to frequent the place.

  Maddox looked up at Stokes.

  The brigadier shook out a stimstick from a pack, sticking one end between his lips, sucking it to life.

  “Don’t get your hopes up about this,” Stokes said. “Vint Diem left Earth a day ago. Oh, we checked the liner. Diem wasn’t on it anymore, but one of the airlocks had an unscheduled opening and there was no video trace of that. There was a sensor trace of a stealth ship leaving the vicinity of the liner.”

  “New Man star cruiser?” asked Maddox.

  “No,” Stokes said, “but of an unknown stealth type. Star Watch is checking throughout the Solar System. But my bet is that this stealth ship and Vint Diem got away.”

  “You really think it was Vint Diem, then?”

  Stokes exhaled red smoke from his nostrils, nodding a moment later.

  “What does that tell you?” asked Maddox.

  “That we have trouble.”

  “Why did Diem make sure that Riker shot and killed Drakos?”

  “That’s supposition on your part, nothing more.”

  “Suppose I’m right, though?”

  Stokes nodded. “Maybe Vint Diem wanted Drakos dead because he wanted to hide the Lord High Admiral’s part at Pluto. Maybe this Diem didn’t know you’d already learned about Cook.”

  “Maybe,” Maddox said without conviction. “Do you think Diem is acting on his own initiative?”

  Stokes took his time answering. “I have no idea. But if Diem does work for Lisa Meyers like I imagine you believe…”

  Maddox turned away, staring at a wall. “We stopped the bugs. We stopped Drakos and the New Men hardliners. We’ve learned that Vint Diem was loose on Earth and likely can modify minds. We protected the Commonwealth one more time at least. We’ve also learned that another threat is waiting on the horizon.”

  “You personally learned some interesting facts this mission, as well,” Stokes said. “You know your father was a good man, not bad. Mary O’Hara is your grandmother.” Stokes took the prints, placing them back in the folder and shutting it. Looking up, he said, “Why don’t you go spend some time with your grandmother?”

  Maddox nodded. “I plan to.”
r />   “Today,” Stokes said. “You don’t know what tomorrow will hold. Tell her you love her. Enjoy her company while you can. Her mind has been compromised by the Draegars, and it appears others know how to tap into whatever the Draegars managed to do, but the higher-ups believe she’s safe in your company—for tonight, at least.”

  Maddox exhaled and rose abruptly. “Stokes, you’re not a complete ass after all. I’m going to do all those things. I’m heading to see her right now.”

  The captain turned toward the door.

  “Maddox,” Stokes said.

  The captain faced him again.

  “Don’t do anything you shouldn’t,” Stokes said. “It’s my watch now. You’re going to start obeying orders, or you won’t last a second. You got that?”

  “See you around, Brigadier,” Maddox said, heading for the door again, leaving it open as he strode down the hall.

  -5-

  Far away in the Mira Binary System, over three hundred light-years from Earth, Golden Ural led twenty star cruisers past the hot white dwarf, the one feeding off the red giant in the inner system.

  The flotilla headed toward the gas giant fifteen AUs away, the one with thirteen moons. Ural was in his wardroom, working on a sketch with names and connecting lines. The names and lines had to do with the hidden murderers of his brother, Captain Maddox’s father.

  Ural circled one name in particular. He would have to question this man once he returned to the Throne World. The man—the superior—didn’t interest him so much in solving the reason for his brother’s murder. No. The superior had mentioned Vint Diem to him once, saying the ex-Spacer might prove troublesome. There was something extra…dangerous was the word the superior had used. Imagine a superior saying a renegade Spacer could be dangerous.

  Oh, Ural had known about Vint Diem, but not about the exchange with a renegade superior or dominant on Pandora. He’d known the renegade Spacer had run the Pandora payoff, winning billions in the Carlota Casino. He’d even known that Drakos had used the gambler. It would appear that Vint Diem was much more. Had the superior who’d talked Maddox into giving him Vint Diem worked for the renegade Spacer? Had Diem some connection with Lisa Meyers? That hardly seemed likely, and yet, indicators were pointing in that direction.