The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3) (35 page)

“How close would
Victory
need to be?” Maddox asked.

“Four hundred thousand kilometers,” the AI said.

“I’d imagine our starship would be in range of the enemy beam at four hundred thousand kilometers range,” Valerie said.

“Which means it would be suicidal to use the star drive to get that close,” Maddox said. “Unfortunately, by the time we flew out there the normal way to meet it… Galyan, you’re going to have to do better than that. You have to reach farther with your special beam.”

“One cannot wish expert marksmanship into existence,” the AI said.

Maddox wasn’t interested in excuses. “You said the key or device emitted a wave frequency.”

“In an extremely narrow band and beam,” Galyan said. “That is correct.”

“Did you see where exactly the beam struck?”

“That is one of the variables,” the AI said. “That is why I must be in such near proximity.”

“What’s your plan, sir?” Valerie asked the captain.

“Ludendorff sent Per Lomax in a jumpfighter to board the doomsday machine,” Maddox said. “The enemy just did that now. We’ll have to do the same thing.”

“Who could pilot…” Valerie said, her words dwindling away.

“You understand just like me that Keith will have to pilot our jumpfighter,” Maddox said. “The ace is always telling us how good he is. Here’s a chance to see if he’s as good as a New Man.”

“Can any of us doubt that?” Valerie asked. “But that’s not all, is it, sir?”

“No,” Maddox said. “Galyan has to strike the lock with a tight and correct wave frequency beam to open the hatch for us.”

“Open it for whom, sir?” Valerie asked.

Maddox considered that for two seconds. “Riker and me,” the captain said. “I’ll take the sergeant along.”

“The two of you against the three of them?” asked Valerie.

“It will be three of us against two of them,” Maddox corrected. “I think one of those people is Meta.”

“What makes you think that, sir?”

“Per Lomax wanted Meta to join him,” Maddox said. “Why not whoever kidnapped her? It’s just a guess, though.” The captain shook his head. “This talk is pissing in the wind so far. Galyan, you’re going to have to fire a long-distance beam at precisely the right spot. Otherwise, humanity dies. I don’t care if you think you can’t do it, you’re going to give it your best shot.”

“When do you envision this attempt?” the AI asked.

“In less than an hour,” Maddox said. “Speed is of the essence. Who knows how fast the doomsday machine will accelerate into range of Earth. Once we enter the thing, if we can, we’re going to have to figure out how to stop it. That’s all going to take time. Lieutenant Noonan, you have the bridge. Alert the sergeant and second lieutenant of their assignments. Then call the brigadier in Geneva and tell her what we’re doing. I’m heading to the armory to collect what I need.”

***

Dana halted the captain in a corridor. He seemed preoccupied, and for good reason.

“Just a minute,” she said.

Maddox halted, but he seemed antsy. “I have no time, Doctor. I’m—”

“I know very well what you’re doing. I’ve been listening. Captain…I want to give you something. But you must promise to give these objects back to me when you’re finished.”

“What are you talking about?” Maddox asked.

“These,” Dana said, holding out the small chain and force field emitting ball, along with the flat device.

The captain looked startled. “What are you doing with those?”

“I can use them,” Dana said.

Understanding lit the captain’s eyes. “You tested them?”

“I did,” Dana admitted. “When you first told me about Ludendorff—I became so wrought-up inside, I had to do something. I decided to figure out some of the professor’s secrets.”

“That took courage.”

“No. I was foolhardy. Sometimes, however, fools succeed where angels fear to tread. This was one of those times. Take them.”

“I don’t know how to use them,” Maddox said.

“I’m going to show you. This seems like the final confrontation. You may need an equalizer aboard the doomsday machine, especially if there are New Men involved.”

“Yes, good thinking,” Maddox said. “How long will it take for you to explain how to use them?”

“Not long,” Dana said. “Now pay attention. You have to use these items correctly. The force field emitter could be the most dangerous to you. You cannot wear it will wearing a vacc-suit.”

“Then what good is it?”

“You’ll have it,” Dana said, “just in case you find yourself in that sort of situation.”

Maddox grinned. “Doctor, thank you. This is most welcome. We need an edge.”

Dana wasn’t sure what to feel. She allowed herself a small smile. “I suppose I want to do my part.”

“You already have, but this doubles it.”

“Good. I wish you luck, Captain. The human race may well be resting on your shoulders.”

“Then we’d better get started.”

“Yes,” Dana said. “Now, notice this protrusion…”

-38-

Ninety minutes later, Maddox and Riker wore vacc-suits inside a jumpfighter drifting near the starship. The ace piloted them to the doomsday machine.

Instead of regular space marine weaponry or even the Intelligence tools of the trade, both operatives wore New Men blasters on their hips. Each of them had two at full battery power.

Maddox had picked these up from the enemy when the New Men had stormed the starship in Wolf Prime orbit several months ago. The failed attempt had left enemy weapons scattered throughout the vessel’s corridors, and the captain had stored them in
Victory’s
armory.

The more esoteric New Men weapons, he’d left in the armory. Both he and Riker had shot the blasters before. The weapons fired bolts of deadly energy able to pierce the best body armor. A simple selector switch allowed one to change the intensity of the beam. The narrowest setting produced a needle-thin ray. The widest could act like a giant shotgun blast.

Just in case the enemy had defensive equipment that could render a blaster ineffective, both men brought their personal guns with extra magazines. Maddox also had a slarn knife, Villars’ old blade. The sergeant had a smaller knife attached to a set of tungsten knuckles. He would slip that over his bionic hand to aid his blows if the need arose.

“Valerie is ready, mate. I mean, sir,” Keith said. The ace had been flipping switches and tapping controls. The jumpfighter now vibrated: with the engine ready to perform its miracle.

Maddox tested his straps once again.

“Hold on,” Keith said. “Sir, the brigadier is on the line.”

“Patch her through,” Maddox said, looking up.

“Aye, Captain,” Keith said.

A moment later, the brigadier appeared on the jumpfighter’s screen.

Maddox had his visor open. “News, Ma’am?” he asked.

“I’ve just received a report from Major Stokes,” O’Hara said. “He led the Intelligence team onto the designated Cestus hauler. The major, ah, persuaded the right person to speak. Meta definitely left on the enemy jumpfighter. So did an enemy agent named Kane.”

Maddox nodded. “That explains why they kidnapped her.”

“Captain, I have further bad news. You were correct about a New Man having come to Earth. I can hardly fathom the major’s data. Yet, it appears that Oran Rva is in the Solar System.”

The captain’s lips tightened.

“That makes little sense to me, though,” the brigadier said. “If Star Watch had an important Intelligence mission, we wouldn’t send the Lord High Admiral to do it.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” Maddox said. “But we don’t think like the New Men. They view themselves—they are—highly competent at whatever they choose to do. I imagine it might be more than that, Ma’am.”

“What do you mean?” O’Hara asked.

“Oran Rva’s goal must be to gain control of the doomsday machine. Might that control give him greater authority among the New Men?”

“You mean that this could be a power play among them,” O’Hara said.

“It’s just a guess, Ma’am.”

“That’s an interesting point, though,” the brigadier said. She grew quiet before asking, “Can you truly defeat Oran Rva and Kane? They are exceptional soldiers, I’d warrant.”

“We’ve all seen the Odin video,” Maddox said. “I doubt you think I can best them. But I’ve faced the New Men before and beaten them. What else do you suggest we try?”

“I suggest we wait a few more hours,” the brigadier said. “Let’s send teams of space marines in power armor against them.”

“I’m done waiting,” Maddox said. “Besides, we don’t have time. The doomsday machine is racing toward Earth. If we begin too late, it won’t matter if we win against the planet-killer or not.”

“I’m sending space marine backups,” the brigadier said.

“Fine,” Maddox said. “We’ll be the tip of the spear. My pilot is signaling me. I have to go. I have to let Second Lieutenant Maker concentrate so he makes the perfect jump.”

“I wish you well, Captain.”

“Right,” Maddox said. “I appreciate that.”

The brigadier’s image vanished. In its place appeared a visual of outer space.

“Ready?” Maddox asked Keith.

“Not yet, Captain,” the ace said “Galyan doesn’t have the wave frequencies down just right.”

Maddox exhaled impatiently. Then, he nodded. “Right, we’re likely only going to get this one shot at doing it.”

The minutes ticked away until a half hour had passed and then forty-five minutes.

Keith sat up. “Got some news, sir,” he said. “The doomsday machine has increased acceleration again. The Lord High Admiral has given the word. The Home Fleet is accelerating on its intercept course.”

“What’s taking Galyan so long?” Maddox asked, impatiently.

“Should I call him, sir?” Keith asked.

“Yes,” Maddox said.

A moment later, the deified AI stared at them from the screen.

“Galyan,” Maddox said, “how long until you’re ready?”

“In several hours I should be able to try the first—”

“Listen to me,” Maddox said, interrupting Galyan. “We’ve run out of time. I don’t remember the range of the planet-killer’s beam. I’m sure it badly outranges our vessels. If we defeat the machine but our Home Fleet is destroyed, that just means a slower death for Earth when the New Men renew their invasion.”

“I recognize the situation for what it is,” Galyan said. “A premature attempt will not aid us. I have already begun to suspect that failed attempts will freeze the doomsday machine’s entry lock.”

“How can you tell?” Maddox asked.

“It seems like a logical safety feature.”

Maddox shook his head. “That doesn’t change the fact that I have to stop the machine before it destroys Cook’s fleet. It’s time to act.”

“Perhaps you could persuade the Lord High Admiral to delay his present effort,” the AI said.

I doubt I’m going to have any luck with that,” Maddox said. “If I fail, the admiral will want to fight it out with the doomsday machine. Earth isn’t going to die without a struggle.”

“That is a noble sentiment. However—”

“We’re jumping, Galyan. You’re going to have to fire that wave frequency beam as best you can.”

“I cannot guarantee success.”

“I’m not asking for that. I just want you to give it your best shot. We have to go now before the doomsday machine builds up too great of a velocity. We’re going to be hard pressed to match it as it is.”

“Reasonable,” Galyan said. “Yes, let us begin the attempt then.” The AI paused.

“What now?” Maddox asked.

“I do not have any meaningful last words for you, Captain. My probability processors tell me you will fail, which means you will die. I doubt I shall ever speak to you again, Captain. I should give you meaningful parting words. But I can think of nothing proper, as I still do not sufficiently understand human motivations.”

“I appreciate that, Galyan. Thank you for the thought. You’ve been a good friend.”

“What did I say, sir?” Galyan said. “It wasn’t meaningful.”

“You’re wrong. It was very meaningful. You gave it your best shot, which means more than the actual words you didn’t say.”

“That is not logical,” Galyan said.

Maddox gave the AI a wintery grin. “Let’s beat the enemy, my friend. We’ve done it before. Now, you and I and the rest of the crew are going to do it again.”

“You hope,” Galyan said.

“Yes. That I do. Captain Maddox out.” Before he could motion the pilot, Keith cut the connection.

“Better start building up greater velocity,” Maddox told the pilot.

“Aye-aye, sir,” Keith said, opening channels with Valerie.

Since the small jumpfighter didn’t have giant engines like the planet-killer or anything like the needed amount of fuel,
Victory
had been accelerating, using the tractor beam to pull the tiny fighter with it. Now, they were going to match the correct speed and heading of the doomsday machine. Soon now, Keith would engage the jump mechanism and try to put them beside the distant alien doomsday device at just the right location.

As the old saying went, the balloon was about to go up.

***

“I’ll have to do this in two jumps,” Keith said. “I can’t give you the pinpoint accuracy you’re asking for from this far out.”

“The enemy did it,” Maddox said.

“I’m good,” Keith said, “but I’m not that good.”

“How close do you plan to appear in front of the doomsday machine with the first jump?”

“The closer we can get, the better chance we have of arriving in its magic radius,” the ace said.

“That isn’t an answer.”

“I’m thinking of appearing three hundred thousand kilometers before it the first jump. The second jump will put us in the magic zone.”

Maddox considered that. “Three hundred thousand kilometers from it will put us in the machine’s proximity zone. The planet-killer will be sure to fire at us.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, sir. The doomsday machine has its giant orifice. Will it warm up the killing ray to swat a tiny jumpfighter like us?”

“I have no idea. Maybe it has secondary weapons.”

“With a three hundred thousand kilometer range,” Keith said. “No, I don’t think so.”

“We lack sufficient data to know for sure,” Maddox said.

“For a fact, we do lack data, sir. But we made it onto Starship
Victory
the first time without enough information.”

Maddox didn’t say anything to that. Keith was wrong, though. Ludendorff had collected the needed data for them. “Yes,” the captain said. “Do it your way.”

Maddox believed in trusting each person to do his or her specialty. Keith was the master pilot. If he suggested this was the best way to do it, then they would do it the ace’s way.

Keith passed out hypos with the Baxter-Locke shots. Injecting that into him left Maddox feeling ill. Five minutes later, the ace said it was go time.

Maddox gripped the arms of his padded chair. He noticed that Riker did likewise.

“Round one,” Keith said. “
Victory
, you can release the tractor beam.”

“One moment,” Galyan said. “The two-jump sequence is going to make matching my firing of the wave frequency beam that much trickier.”

“You’re the hyper-intelligent AI,” Maddox said. “You can’t let us down, Galyan. You promised to show us miracles with your Adok starship. This is your chance to shine.”

Galyan didn’t respond to that.

“The tractor beam is gone,” Keith said thirty seconds later. “Here we go.” He tapped the controls.

The grim sensations of jump slammed upon Maddox. Time lost meaning until he felt disoriented and sick, wanting to vomit. The Baxter-Locke shot seemed not to have taken effect for him this time.

Keith garbled something and repeated it a few moments later. Neither time made any sense.

“What?” Maddox finally managed to mutter.

“We’ve hit a glitch, sir,” Keith said. “My sequencer is off by several degrees. I wouldn’t have noticed, but we’re not exactly where I’d predict we’d be. I wanted a perfect jump, sir. This is definitely going to throw off Galyan’s timing.”

Maddox’s gut seethed as the sickness hit him. He clamped his jaws so he wouldn’t vomit.

“I need to recalibrate the sequencer,” Keith said.

“Do it,” Maddox whispered.

“Are you all right, sir?”

“I’m fine,” Maddox wheezed. “Now fix the sequencer.”

The ace unstrapped, pushing past them as he floated weightless. He tore open a panel, using a magnetic tapper to try to fix the sequencer.

“What’s that light mean on the controls, sir?” Riker asked.

“What?” Maddox asked. He felt more horrible by the minute. With splotchy vision, the captain noticed a red light on the pilot’s board.

Keith swore at them. “Why didn’t someone tell me about that?” He shot past Maddox, floating to his seat, sinking into it and strapping in. His fingers fairly flew across his board.

Sudden acceleration slammed Maddox against his chair. The back of his helmeted head struck hard, making him groan. What was wrong with him?

Then something glowing hot erupted from the bulkhead, hissing past Maddox’s head and striking the opposite bulkhead. The lights in the craft began flashing on and off.

Maddox’s visor whirred shut and oxygen began to pump into his vacc-suit.

“The doomsday machine is using a rail-gun to fire at us,” Keith said. “Must be using proximity shells, grenades, as munitions. Looks like the machine got lucky with us. That was a pellet smashing through our systems. We can’t stay here, sir. I’m going to have to jump now.”

“Go for the hull,” Maddox said. “Get us into its safe zone.”

“The odds of doing that now—”

“Don’t argue,” Maddox said. “You have to trust your instincts, son. Just do it.”

“Do or die, sir, right you are. Hang on, mates. The death ride has just begun.”