The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) (5 page)

Maddox decided he would receive no useful information from the android. He didn’t know how he could capture it in his present state. He needed a communicator. He needed Sergeant Riker. A neural net would surely do the trick. How to get his hands on one before the android left was the question.

“I’m leaving,” Maddox said. “If you wait here, I’ll return shortly.”

“You are coming with me. We must go down to the…”

“Yes?”

The android cocked its head as if hearing an internal dialogue.

Abruptly, the android’s mouth opened a trifle wider than seemed natural.

That made Maddox uneasy. He removed the pistol from his throat and moved even farther away.

A sonic blast erupted from the android’s mouth. The horrible noise staggered Maddox, almost rendering him unconscious. The creature leaped, no doubt trying to catch him unawares.

Maddox was a pistol marksman and able to think faster than others in such a situation. The creature was made of pseudo-flesh with titanium sheathing underneath. Maddox neither had the time to pump enough bullets into the thing nor they the penetrating power to smash the android into harmless smithereens. That meant he had only one option—the eyes. They were logically a weaker portal straight to the AI. But the leaps and bounds the thing made jiggled the eyes, making them a difficult target.

These thoughts flashed though Maddox’s brain in less than a second of intuitive insight. Then, he pulled the trigger. A spark against the bridge of the nose told him he’d missed. Another shot ricocheted off the forehead, leaving a smear of what some might have mistaken for blood. The next bullet entered the eye, smashing its way into the delicate braincase. A second and third shot followed, doing even more damage.

The android lost its coordination. The eyelids fluttered madly while the body sailed limply, propelled by momentum.

Maddox tried to dodge, but he was too late. The thing crashed against the captain, hurling him against a large refrigerator. The back of his skull slammed home with terrific force.

Together, broken android and unconscious man crumpled onto the kitchen floor, the gun clattering away under a small space.

-2-

Maddox groaned as his head throbbed painfully. For a moment, he had no idea where he was or what had happened to him. Then, he remembered the android and their strange conversation.

The captain unglued his eyes and found the construct on top of his chest. Maddox tried to push it off. That made his head throb even more painfully. For a second, his overloaded senses threatened to render him unconscious again.

Maddox quit pushing, letting himself relax. There were faint voices coming from somewhere. Did people hurry here because they’d heard shots? That seemed likely. That would mean he hadn’t been unconscious long.

I have to get out of here
.

Maddox grew more alert. He realized he felt something ominous approaching. The palms of his hands had become sweaty. The certainty that this android was only phase one of his attempted kidnapping came crashing down on Maddox.

He squirmed underneath the android. That threatened his head once more. This time, he didn’t stop. Instead, his breathing grew labored as bit by bit, he slithered free of the android’s broken weight.

Instead of resting, Maddox searched for his gun. He looked around—

Heavy footsteps neared the outer door. Maddox raised himself by his arms, looking up. The hatch slid open and a second android entered the kitchen.

Maddox lowered himself out of sight.

This was a presumption, of course, of it being another android. Maddox didn’t know it was just by looking. What made him think so was that the one standing by the door looked exactly like the one that had forced him into the kitchen, even down to the Woo Tower uniform it was wearing.

“Hello?” the new android said, sounding friendly. “Is anyone here?”

Maddox slithered across the floor as he searched for his gun. Several rows of stainless steel counters hid him from the new android. Once the creature entered farther, it would surely see him.

The captain reached his targeted counter and wriggled his arm under it. He strained to reach his gun in back.

“I hear something,” the new android called out. “Please, show yourself. Time is limited.”

Maddox strained harder so his fingertips brushed against the gun. If he did this wrong, he’d push the gun away from him.

Footsteps struck the floor. The android approached.

Gritting his teeth, Maddox used his fingertips to friction-move the gun close enough so he could pinch the barrel with his two longest fingers. Then, he pulled the weapon to him as he slid farther away from the counter.

“What is this?” the android asked. “Why are you stretched out on the floor? Are you injured?”

Maddox didn’t look at the construct yet. Instead, he pulled the gun the rest of the way, sat up, swiveled where he sat and finally regarded the new android with its quizzical expression.

“Captain Maddox,” the second android said. “Did you harm the construct lying on the floor?”

Maddox didn’t believe this android would prove any easier to deal with than the first. Thus, from a sitting position, he aimed and fired, emptying the rest of the magazine into the second android’s eyes. This one reacted in a similar manner as the first, crumpling where it stood, deactivating from the brain shots.

As Maddox stood, he realized he’d overreacted. He was out of bullets and he didn’t have any more magazines on his person. If more androids showed up, he no longer had a method of dealing with them.

It was time to get out of here.

***

Soon, Maddox found himself wandering through dark hallways. He hadn’t used the slanting metal corridor the first android had taken him through. That seemed unwise even if it was the most direct path back to the surface and street. He was sure something would be guarding that way. Instead, he crept through narrower passageways, trying to find a different, hopefully unguarded exit.

So far, the halls were empty and most of the doors locked. The open ones led into closets. The gun was back in its holster but useless for the moment without bullets. Maddox kept a short, sturdy cutting knife beside his right leg.

He wrestled with the problem of why someone would send an android after him. Did it have anything to do with the smugglers he’d been playing cards with in Woo Tower?

The captain suspected it might.

If so, what did that tell him? The most logical answer was that someone off-planet wished to speak with him. That implied the enemy. Before the last voyage aboard Starship
Victory,
the enemy had been monolithic. Everyone on Earth had known them as the New Men. Since defeating the alien Destroyer, the New Men had fractured into the Throne World New Men, those with sympathies toward humanity and the New Men working closely with Strand. Strand was what Maddox had come to think of as a
greater
Methuselah Man. In the Commonwealth, the Methuselah People had taken longevity treatments, none of them older than several hundred years. Strand was something much older and more dangerous because the alien and unknown Builders were behind him.

The situation had become increasingly complex.

Professor Ludendorff was another of the greater Methuselah Men, lost in the Xerxes System with its mysterious silver pyramid.

Maddox halted, cocking his head. He heard …

There it was again. A man blew his nose. He doubted a woman would blow her nose that forcefully. Should he retreat or advance?

The captain stood in the gloom, debating with himself.

It had been some time since he and his crew had defeated the alien Destroyer. The vast ship had transported itself into the core of the Sun, where the terrific energies had obliterated the killing machine. Before that had happened, however, the deadly machine had annihilated the New Arabia System, the heart of the Wahhabi Caliphate along with the majority of the caliphate’s fleet.

That had slashed regular humanity’s remaining space power by a quarter to a third. If nothing else, the Destroyer had done the Throne World’s work for them. Star Watch had halted the New Men’s invasion armada over two years ago now. The Commonwealth had taken staggering losses before that.

Maddox lurched in the direction of the nose-blower. The sound indicated regular people, not more androids. The captain moved like a stalking tiger, with energy coiled in his limbs and cool concentration shining in his eyes.

He wanted to be able to report to the Iron Lady more information than simply, “I evaded capture, Ma’am.”

She would ask, “Yes, but what did you learn?”

“Not to gulp tainted drinks,” would be a poor reply.

The truth was the captain prided himself on his Intelligence work, believing himself to be Star Watch’s premier agent. He had considerable advantages—his dual heritage chief among them. That was the other reason he didn’t want to report back empty-handed. Even if he didn’t like to dwell on it, Maddox knew he was different. Despite everything he had done the past few years, too many people still distrusted his half-breed nature. One of his ways of compensating was by being better than anyone else.

Thus, Maddox peered around a corner into a dim hallway. A light shined sixty feet away, illuminating a door in the corridor. A guard in a suit waited there. The man stood with his feet planted and his hands held in front of his body as if he meant to hold the position for some time. He stared at nothing in particular, although he swiveled his head from time to time, glancing both ways.

Who was in the room that needed a guard? Was a meeting in progress or would one happen soon?

Maddox stood undecided. Finally, he tucked the sharp part of the blade through his belt behind his back so it wouldn’t be visible to someone in front of him. He straightened his shoulders and rounded the corner in a long gait, swinging his arms like a man who had confidence in the situation.

The guard noticed him, naturally. The man stiffened, shifted his head to the side and spoke rapidly, no doubt using a microphone pinned to his collar. Afterward, the guard reached inside his suit but hesitated pulling out a gun.

That indication of uncertainty was interesting. Maddox hoped to get close enough to take the man’s gun.

As the captain neared, the door opened. Three more men in suits stepped outside. Each was big, held himself with confidence and had the feel of being security. None of them had as of yet drawn a weapon.

“Gentlemen,” Maddox said in a cheery voice. “I do hope I’m not late.”

The guards glanced at each other. The one with a pinstripe suit stepped forward, clearing his throat.

“I know who you are, Captain Maddox,” the man said in a deep voice. “You’re not welcome here.”

Maddox grinned, saying, “Nonsense. I want to speak to your boss.”

The man drew a small pistol, aiming it at Maddox’s belly. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

Maddox heard the certainty in the guard’s voice. He halted.

“Turn around, Captain. You have no business being here.”

Acting on a hunch, Maddox said, “I played cards with your boss, earlier. I came to collect my winnings.”

The guard opened his mouth to reply.

“You don’t think I’d let him cheat me, do you?” Maddox added.

One of the other guards whispered to Mr. Pinstripe. He frowned, nodding, putting away his pistol.

“Just a minute,” Pinstripe said. He reentered the room.

Maddox began to walk closer.

“Hey,” the original guard said. “You’re supposed to stay there.”

Maddox spread his hands, shrugging as he did. “I just want my winnings. I’ll leave right after that.”

The three men glowered, but none reached inside his coat to draw a weapon.

Maddox neared the group as Pinstripe stepped back outside. The man’s head swayed just a little. His hand darted into his coat.

“I told you to stop,” Pinstripe growled.

Maddox only felt a little lightheaded from the head trauma earlier. He realized he was as close as he was going to get without a reaction. Therefore, Maddox exploded into action and charged the remaining distance.

Pinstripe was in the process of drawing the small pistol as the captain reached him. Maddox could have used the knife. This was the perfect situation for one: among a group of men trying to draw their guns. That meant, however, that Maddox would likely end up killing some of them. He did not feel the situation warranted the use of lethal force.

Instead, Maddox practiced dirty combat. Using knees, elbows and the meaty parts of his palms, and grabbing two of them, swinging them against the others, the captain incapacitated the four guards. Two of them got off a single shot each. The bullets gouged the wall. None punctured the captain, although the original guard managed a solid hand chop against the captain’s neck. It hurt, but it also infuriated Maddox, goading him to hit harder. The guard who struck him thudded against a wall before collapsing into a groaning heap.

With swift economy of speed, the captain collected their guns, pitching the magazines in one direction and flinging all but one of the semiautomatics in the other.

Afterward, he plunged into the room, with his captured weapon held before him. He passed an empty bathroom and came to two large beds and a larger area with a sofa, several chairs, a table and desk. Behind the desk sat one of the space hauler captains from earlier this evening. Maddox remembered the man’s name, Taren Lucas the III. The man was short, wore an English space navy uniform and had narrow features. Maddox remembered thinking earlier that Lucas was an oily conman who seldom told the truth when a lie would work just as well.

The man aimed a laser pistol at him. A stimstick smoldered in the ashtray while a communicator and tablet lay beside it. On the tablet was what looked like a business contract.

“I’ve summoned reinforcements,” Lucas said. “If you kill me, you’ll be held on murder charges.”

“I doubt that will be the case,” Maddox said. “All I have to say is that you fired your laser first.”

“I’m recording everything.”

“Of course you are. Still…” Maddox cocked an eyebrow.

“Are you saying Star Watch Intelligence will doctor the security data?” Lucas asked.

“Please,” Maddox said. “I’m not ready to make a recorded statement. But I do suggest you lower your gun or I will be forced to fire.”

“Are you arresting me? If so, I would like to know on what charge.”

“As you wish,” Maddox said, believing little of what Lucas was telling him. “By aiming your gun at me, you are knowingly threatening an officer of Star Watch Intelligence. To begin with, you will lose your hauler license.”

Lucas scowled, setting the laser onto the desk. Picking up the stimstick, putting it between his lips, he inhaled, making the tip glow red as he leaned back in his chair. No doubt, he mentally flipped through various lies to tell, deciding on the most convincing.

“You should leave,” Lucas said slowly. “This is none of your affair.”

“What happened to me at the gambling table?” Maddox asked. “Surely, you saw everything.”

Lucas shrugged.

“I can have you brought in for questioning if you insist”

Something sparkled in the man’s eyes, the delight of having hidden knowledge, perhaps. “I don’t think you can,” Lucas said.