The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) (44 page)

-56-

Fletcher listened in as a tall and arrogant New Man named Golden Ural proposed a bargain to Third Admiral Bishop.

The Grand Fleet was halfway across the Thebes System. The eighty star cruisers had formed their famous cone of battle, but had only slightly accelerated. In the meantime, giant haulers headed out of their Thebes III orbit toward an inner Laumer-Point.

“This is the bargain, Third Admiral,” Golden Ural said. “We will give you the people on the planet. You will allow the rest of the spaceships to depart unharmed. We, then, shall leave you in peace, returning to the Beyond from whence we came.”

“What’s in the haulers?” Bishop asked.

“Equipment,” Golden Ural said.

Fletcher almost pressed a switch to interrupt and ask what else they held. He didn’t have to, though, because Bishop asked just that.

“You are rude,” Golden Ural told Bishop, “but you are inferior so one must make allowances. The ships also contain women, many women, and strong backs to help us open new planets for colonization.”

“Why so many women?” Bishop asked. “Do you hate your own so much?”

Golden Ural stared out of the screen. He seemed to have stiffened. Slowly, he turned his head one way and then the other.

“Sub-man,” Golden Ural said. “You…you should not speak to me like that.”

“I have no idea why not,” Bishop said. “Have you seen the size of our Grand Fleet?”

Golden Ural seemed to have frozen. Finally, his lips moved, but his eyes remained cold. “We are superior to you, sub-man, except for one particular. Our genes do not produce girl-children only boys. Our chief scientists labor at the dilemma. Until it is…corrected, we must find breeding partners where we can. This time, we chose the women of ‘C’ Quadrant. They will bear us many fine New Men.”

“You’re kidnapping Commonwealth women?” Bishop asked in amazement.

“Our survival demands we act.”

“You’ve ensured war for a million years,” Bishop said.

Golden Ural shrugged. “If you desire battle, we shall destroy your Grand Fleet. Before we do, however, we shall drop hell-burners on Thebes III.”

“You mean murder everyone there?”

“The people on Thebes III will surely die, yes. We have used the planet as an assembly area. Naturally, we have already chosen the best specimens. They are already en route deep into the Beyond. The bulk of the people from ‘C’ Quadrant are still quite alive, however.”

“You have a teleportation system, don’t you?” Bishop asked.

“As I said,” Golden Ural told Bishop as if he hadn’t heard the question, “Thebes III has been the assembly area. You can save the vast majority of ‘C’ Quadrant’s people. Or you can watch them all die before battle. The choice is yours. If you agree to our terms, we will leave Human Space for good and go our way. You can tell your people that we fled in fright from you. In that way, you will enjoy the privileges of victors. Or you can watch millions die needlessly and then die in battle yourselves. Which will it be, Third Admiral? You have several hours at most to decide.”

***

A hasty meeting began in
Antietam’s
conference chamber. Kim Sung, Sub-commander Sos, Earl Bishop, Admiral Fletcher and others including Commodore Harold were in attendance.

“Well?” Fletcher began. “What do you think?”

“Eighty star cruisers means we have an even fight on our hands,” the Respectable Kim said. “We could lose our fleet and the remaining people of ‘C’ Quadrant.”

“So we accept their offer?” Fletcher asked.

“Maybe so,” Kim said. “Something is better than nothing.”

“Do you think the New Men will keep their word?” Fletcher asked.

“This I do not know,” Kim said. “But these people on Thebes III—they are alive. We came to save them, yes?”

“What about the people leaving in the haulers?” Bishop asked.

“Some perish, many live,” Kim said with a fatalistic shrug.

“I agree with the Respectable’s thinking,” Sub-commander Sos said. “We thought all the people of ‘C’ Quadrant were dead. Now we have millions and the New Men are leaving.”

Fletcher glanced at a brooding Bishop. Then, the admiral faced the others. “We came here to crush the New Men. Yes, they have more star cruisers than we expected. But I can’t believe they have more than this. If we cripple this armada, we have severely crippled the New Men. I say, let’s hurt them badly.”

“And millions of people will die,” Harold said.

“Yes, and millions will die,” Fletcher said, as he stared at a bulkhead.

“I don’t call that good arithmetic,” Harold said.

Fletcher looked at the others. “The New Men began this war. Now, we have to defend ourselves. If they bomb the planet, I will dedicate my life to finding theirs and nuking it to kingdom come.”

“So we tell them to go to Hell with their offer?” Harold asked.

“No,” Fletcher said. “We tell them to leave the haulers and tramp vessels behind. They’re Commonwealth ships, after all. The New Men have already kidnapped who knows how many people. I’m not going to be party to watching more leave when I can do something about it.”

“It strikes one here,” Bishop said, touching his stomach. “This stealing of our women is like a kick in the gut. I loathe it.”

“They’re also taking men,” Fletcher said. “Don’t forget that. Good men to live like slaves opening planets for them.”

“New Men only breed boys,” Bishop said in a hollow voice.

“Right,” Fletcher said. “That’s the other reason we don’t let them take any more of our people. Eventually, the women they already have will grow old. The New Men will die out then, and I say good riddance to them.”

“That’s a savage attitude, Admiral,” Harold said.

“They attacked us and bombed our planets,” Fletcher said. “I’m giving them nothing but battle. They don’t get to take anyone more from us without a fight.”

“But the millions on Thebes III, Admiral,” Harold said.

Fletcher’s features turned stony. “When it comes down to it, I don’t think the New Men will do it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Harold said. “These are New Men. What won’t they do?”

“We’re accelerating at them hard,” Fletcher said. “If they want to get away, they can’t stick around much longer. No. They have to run to survive. Unless they do, I’m attacking them.” He faced Bishop. “You’d better tell Golden Ural that.”

“Why don’t you tell him, Admiral?” Bishop asked.

Fletcher shook his head. “The next time I speak to a New Man, I’m going to kill him. I’m tired of bargaining with them. We came here to destroy their ability to harm humans. Well, let’s do just that.”

***

“The sub-men called your bluff,” Strand told Golden Ural in another large meeting.

“I did not think Third Admiral Bishop had it in him,” the armada commander said. “If I didn’t know better, I would think these words came from Admiral Fletcher.”

“Fletcher is dead,” Strand said.

Golden Ural studied the other commanders. “I say we leave the system.”

“And give the subhumans those in the haulers?” Strand asked.

“We have already taken many others,” Golden Ural said.

“We need
all
of them if we’re going to open up more worlds,” Strand said.

“Sometimes, a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush,” Golden Ural said.

Strand remained silent.

“As I said,” Golden Ural told the others. “We have already transported millions of breeding partners. Greed is senseless. It is particularly so when a terrible menace looms in the Beyond against us.”

“The fact of the Swarm mandates we grow quicker rather than more slowly,” Strand said.

“We can come back for more women later,” Golden Ural said. “Even if the subhumans were to try, it will take them ages to find the Throne World.”

“Unless Professor Ludendorff tells them the coordinates,” Strand said.

Golden Ural shook his head. “That is the final point to this. The professor agreed to keep the Throne World’s coordinates secret if we retreated from the Grand Fleet.”

Strand became alert and then thoughtful. “The professor would not agree to that unless he had found something powerful to aid the sub-men. I have changed my mind. We should smash the Grand Fleet since we’re already here in mass.”

“We already have enough so we can leave intact without feeling any personal loss,” Golden Ural told the others. “Our colonization drive can accelerate on schedule. We have millions of new women, enough for two or three for each New Man. What do you say, brothers? Should we fight a needless battle or should we use a calculated strategy and hit the subhumans in the future once we’re stronger?”

Strand tried another ploy, but it was too late. The New Men made their wishes known. The greater majority wished to leave while they could and continue the great colonization project with the women they’d already shipped home.

“So be it,” Golden Ural said. “We shall take our winnings and exit the battlefield. Let the sub-man prance while they are able. Soon, we shall be back in overwhelming force to conquer them.”

-57-

On Earth, Captain Maddox hesitated as he approached the brigadier’s office. He wore his wristband connecting him to Galyan while keeping a tiny earpiece inserted so the AI could whisper to him.

Maddox knew this was breaking Star Watch’s regulations. An officer wasn’t supposed to wear any kind of surveillance equipment in headquarters. As a matter of course, Maddox knew that Galyan had already fiddled with the scanners searching him as he’d entered.

Doing this troubled Maddox. Yet, it also troubled him the brigadier had on occasion distrusted him. Stokes having shot to kill him in Greenland still rankled. Being locked away in the first place at the brigadier’s orders—

Maddox strode for the Iron Lady’s office. Because of those events, he would wear the wristband and allow Galyan to watchdog him.

Soon, Maddox sat before Mary O’Hara, crossing his legs as he acknowledged her greeting.

She folded her hands on her synthi-wood desk, smiling bravely. “Captain, these have been trying times, to say the least.”

“Yes,” he said.

“I…” O’Hara looked away. “I’m sorry, Captain. I never should have put you in the Greenland complex. I…I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. I thought…”

“We all have to make hard decisions sometimes, Ma’am.” Maddox uncrossed his legs. “Dana told me what you did down in the Mid-Atlantic. You make tough decisions quickly, and you saved them a wrestling match with their consciences by firing those torpedoes into the dome.”

“Do I hear disapproval in your voice?” she asked.

“Good people might have still been trapped in the underwater dome.”

O’Hara studied her folded hands. “If it’s any consolation, Captain, I’ve already sent Intelligence teams to the dome. We…we discovered humans. Blasts badly mutilated some of them. We used their dental records, uncovering more androids on Earth.”

O’Hara squeezed her fingers together. “I’m getting old, Captain,” she said, quietly. “I’m finding my job more difficult by the week. Sometimes, I make the wrong choice. At other times, I make the right choice for the wrong reason. This time, I believe that’s what happened. We had to destroy the dome. To be more precise, we had to destroy the amok android base while we had the chance. Just like a combat mission, good people lose their lives sometimes. I’m not proud of that.”

O’Hara pulled her hands apart, looking up with haunted eyes. “I do what I must so the human race survives. That means I take matters into my own hands at times. You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“Ma’am?”

O’Hara opened a drawer, extracting a slim file. She slapped that onto the table, pushing it across to the captain.

“That’s the real history of your mother and your earliest days. I hid you, Captain. Others would have…swept you off the board before you were given a chance to prove yourself.”

With the slightest of tremors in his hand, Maddox took the file. He weighed it silently.

“Thank you, Ma’am. I appreciate this. I…I have spoken hastily. Forgive me, please.”

“You’ve only spoken the truth, Captain.”

He tucked the file under his arm. “Sometimes, one can forget who his true friends are.”

The brigadier nodded gently, her features softening.

Maddox cleared his throat. “Ma’am, the New Men retreated from the Thebes System. Admiral Fletcher also found the missing people.”

A courier vessel had reached Earth with news several weeks old concerning the Grand Fleet. Fletcher had reported about the empty cities on the various colony worlds.

“How can you know these things?” O’Hara asked.

“There’s no way I can know,” he said.

“But you do.”

Maddox nodded. “There’s another thing. The New Men’s sperm is damaged. They cannot impregnate a woman with a girl, only a boy. Part of their invasion goal was to gather millions of women for breeding. Another reason was to gather men to help them open up new worlds for colonization.”

“Ludendorff,” O’Hara said. “You once spoke about a hidden communicator on
Victory
.” The brigadier studied him. Suddenly, she pressed a comm switch on her desk. “Find the professor at once. Tell me when you have him in custody.”

Maddox crossed his legs, waiting.

“We won’t find the professor, will we?” the brigadier asked.

“It’s doubtful.”

“Did you help him escape?”

“I owed the man a debt for what he did in the Builder System.”

“What about your debt to him for sabotaging
Victory
during the Destroyer Incident?”

Maddox looked away.

“Hmm,” O’Hara said. “I wonder if you were still angry with me because of Greenland.”

Maddox shrugged.

O’Hara put her hands on the desk. She sighed heavily. Finally, she stood and came around the desk.

“Stand up,” she told him.

Maddox stood.

The brigadier stared up at him. “How tall you are, Captain.” Before he could reply, she swept her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Maddox turned his head, enduring the emotional display. It meant nothing. It was—
comforting
, he decided. Finally, he patted her on the back.

The Iron Lady released him, walking around the table, sitting and regarding him.

Maddox sat hastily.

“Welcome back, Captain Maddox,” she said.

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

“We’ll manage without the professor,” she said. “Is Fletcher on his way home?”

“I don’t know that, Ma’am. I should think not, though. He will be securing Thebes III and its precious prize, the remaining people of ‘C’ Quadrant.”

“Do you suppose we’re not ready to know all that Ludendorff has stored in his mind?”

“I’m not sure if that’s it, Ma’am, or if Dr. Rich and the professor can figure out how to use a Nexus better on their own than in our company. We’re going to need to know how to use the silver pyramids.”

“Hmm,” the Iron Lady said. “What about you, Captain? What do you think the man who outwitted the last Builder should do next?”

“First, Ma’am, I want to relax for a few days. Then…I’m not sure. Maybe we should search for the Throne World and keep the New Men honest. Maybe we should build a more powerful Grand Fleet with disruptor cannons and go to the Throne World, demanding our people back.”

“And if the Swarm shows up while we’re…bickering with the New Men?”

“We should find out how near the bugs are to us as quickly as possible,” Maddox said.

“I imagine
Victory
would make the ultimate Patrol vessel.”

“I’m sure Galyan would agree with you.”

“Why don’t you ask him right now and find out?” the brigadier asked.

Maddox might have blushed if he was capable of such a thing. Instead, he stood up. He should have known he hadn’t fooled the brigadier. “I have a date, Ma’am. If you would excuse me?” he asked.

“Go, Captain, find a few hours of relaxation. You deserve it. The Commonwealth may have survived the New Men’s first invasion attempt, but we’ve found that our universe is much more dangerous than we imagined. We will all have plenty of work to do in the coming days.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Maddox said, “until later, then.”

She made a shooing motion with her hand.

With the file tucked under his right arm, Maddox turned and headed for the door. It was good to have straightened things out with the brigadier. Yes, very good indeed.