Star Carrier (Lost Colonies Trilogy Book 3) (2 page)

-2-

The trip out to Mars was relatively uneventful, but when we got there, things suddenly changed.

“Excuse me, Captain,” Yamada’s voice interrupted me. “There’s an anomaly on our sensor map.”

Sleeping hard in my cabin, the call startled me. I’d left instructions that dictated I was to be awakened immediately upon any kind of threat to the ship. Gasping awake, I slapped at the wall and answered in a rough voice. “I’ll be right there.”

I didn’t bother to ask Yamada what the anomaly was. I simply dressed and rushed to the lift. She knew her business. She wouldn’t summon me back to my command chair without good reason.

Linking into the command feed from my cabin was an option, of course. I could have done so while remaining on my back on my bunk, but I passed on that. I’d always believed a captain belonged on the command deck when anything serious occurred.

When I got to my seat and looked over the screens, an ensign pressed a cup of iced caf into my hands. I took it gratefully and sipped the beverage. Stimulants could be over-used, but there were also moments where they were invaluable tools.

The graphics weren’t telling me much.
Defiant
was leading the fleet, flying far ahead of the primary formation of battleships. My vessel was quite a bit faster, and we’d naturally taken on the role of scouting ahead.

The sensors displayed a single, large yellow contact about two million kilometers out, orbiting Mars. The color indicated the contact was unclassified but not necessarily dangerous.

As I delved deeper into the data, Durris stepped up to my side to provide his insight.

“We spotted it about ten minutes ago,” he said. “I contacted Phobos traffic, and they asked for you by name.”

“They told you nothing of the contact?”

“No sir. They only asked for you.”

I nodded, wondering what was going on. “Give me details.”

“It’s about a kilometer wide and four long. She’s under power, in a steady orbit.”

Frowning at him, I stopped sipping my drink. “Are you saying this thing is a vessel?”

“Yes—it’s artificial at least.”

“But such size… we’ve got nothing like it.”

“That’s correct, sir,” he said, giving me a nod.

He retreated, and I was left to ponder the mystery. Why had an unknown vessel parked itself in orbit over Mars? Alarmingly, the ship was so large she dwarfed every battleship in our new fleet.

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out again.

“Have you relayed our findings to Admiral Halsey’s ship?” I asked Durris.

As was usually the case, Durris had stood watch during my absence. He made a good XO and rotated shifts with me on a regular basis.

“I have, sir. They acknowledged the report but requested no more information. I’m under the impression that Halsey knows what’s going on and doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s a good sign, at least.”

“Sir…” Durris said, “perhaps we shouldn’t make waves. If the Admiral is aware and unconcerned, is it our duty to—?”

“Yes, it is,” I said. “We’re flying ahead of the fleet for a reason. The least we can do is make sure we aren’t walking our new ships into anything dangerous.”

Frowning, I brought up a rotating hologram of Phobos. I spun it and reviewed the lab complex on a relatively flat plane, which automatically overlaid all current sensor input with past data. There appeared to be a disturbed region in a crater near the laboratory. But there were no obvious signs of damage or distress. Their power was on and everything appeared to operating normally.

“Yamada,” I said at last, “open a channel to Star Guard on Phobos.”

“Channel open,” Yamada said promptly. “They’re requesting your ID, and a private tunnel.”

“Provide it.”

She slid her fingers over her console for a few seconds, then turned and nodded to me. “Ready, Captain. You can link in with your implant at will.”

After another gulp of chilled liquid, I set my cup down and connected to the private data stream Yamada had set up for me.

This time, rather than having the other party appear at my side, my mind was transported to their location.

An unfamiliar chamber took form around me. Bleak and aseptic, the walls were steel and lead-laced to keep out radiation. There were windows, but they were small, triangular affairs with fogged glass. Beyond these apertures, the dull rust-colored light of Mars glowed.

In the chamber with me was an elderly man. He wasn’t an oldster—at least, I didn’t get that impression. Oldsters were accounted as people who well over a century in age.

“Hello Captain Sparhawk,” he said, clasping his hands in front of his lab coat and smiling at me coldly. “I’m Director Vogel, and I’m in charge of this facility. We’ve been expecting your call. You’re the first to detect and identify our project.”

“That’s only to be expected,” I said. “The other ships in
Defiant’s
wake aren’t within sensor range yet.”

Vogel nodded. “They’re also poorly designed to detect threats—they’re only built to eradicate them.”

“You mentioned a project? I can only surmise you’re talking about the ship orbiting Mars.”

“Just so. The
Iron Duke
is our pride and joy. We only launched her yesterday. She’ll form the core of Earth’s task force when she’s ready.”

I frowned, despite the fact I was trying not to. “Can you tell me more about this
Iron Duke
, Director?”

Vogel cleared his throat.

“You must understand this is highly classified information,” he answered carefully. “I can’t tell you anything you don’t need to know. I will say, that there’s no danger to your fleet. Please approach Phobos and dock at Pier Three. I’m willing to personally entertain you and your questions until Admiral Halsey arrives.”

Breaking the connection after the usual pleasantries, I retreated into my own skull and again sat in my chair aboard
Defiant
.

The whole affair was disquieting. Could Vogel be a Stroj agent? Stranger things had happened.

It was difficult in today’s climate of secrecy to be sure who to trust. We were all tight-lipped due to our worries about Stroj infiltrators. But that very lack of trust, and the fear that was the root cause of it, heightened everyone’s sense of paranoia.

After considering Vogel’s offer for a few minutes, I decided to order Durris to dock at Pier Three.

I had little choice. It was my mission to investigate these things to protect the main fleet. I was just going to have to take Director Vogel’s word at face value.

Nine hours later we’d completed our deceleration regimen and glided into port near Phobos. The gentle tug of her gravity was only one or two hundredths that of Earth, but we still had to employ stabilizers to keep our ship from drifting down to the surface.

Once we’d docked, I left Durris in charge of the ship and headed to the docking bay.

Pier Three was a long tube of nano-ferrous metal that stuck out like a thin tongue into space. We’d attached ourselves to the end of it, and from the docking bay I rode a capsule down to the surface.

Behind me walked Zye and Yamada. Inside the lab complex, we engaged our magnetics. Our boots clicked rhythmically as we made our way down the echoing hallways.

More than just a security grunt, Zye was one of the best among my crew at detecting Stroj influences. I valued her opinions under any suspicious circumstances.

As my science and communications officer, Yamada was a clear choice to round out the team. She could help me to understand this briefing if necessary.

I’d thought about bringing along Marine Commander Morris, but I’d passed on the idea. This was supposed to be a meet-and-greet, not a boarding assault.

A familiar face met us at the end of the first passageway. It was Director Vogel. His hands were laced before his body as they’d been before. He wore an odd smile, and his lips seemed to be too long and sharply curved upwards at the corners.

Reflexively, I smiled in return and nodded to him.

“Welcome to Phobos, Captain Sparhawk,” he said. “I see you’ve brought some of your crew with you.”

“Yes. This is Lieutenant Commander Yamada and Lieutenant Zye.”

Both women were attractive and Asian in appearance, but they were built on dramatically different scales. Zye was a Beta colonist, a clone hybrid designed to survive under high gravity and difficult conditions. She was taller than I was but built with heavy bones and musculature.

Yamada was much more classic in design. Her straight black hair was several centimeters longer than regulations allowed, but no one had challenged her on that point.

“Excellent…” Vogel said, looking them over briefly. “What a contrast… Come this way, please.”

Zye and Yamada exchanged glances, but I didn’t respond to his slightly rude behavior.

We followed him into the bowels of the place. Now and then, as we passed various pressure doors and portholes, we spotted more personnel. They were universally dressed in lab coats or vac suits. Everyone seemed very professional and focused on their tasks.

“Director Vogel,” Yamada said, speaking up for the first time. “I’ve checked into the records. There are only six hundred people stationed on Phobos. Are you telling us you managed to build that huge ship out there with such a tiny crew?”

He glanced over his shoulder at her, and his oddly permanent smile lengthened. “Yes,” he said, “that’s exactly what I’m saying. We have only a small team here, but we’ve accomplished a great deal.”

“Hard to believe,” Zye said.

He glanced at her and his smile faded a little. He paused and stopped walking. “Ah, the Beta,” he said, referring to Zye. “I’ve studied you from afar, madam. You’re a known deceiver, and yet you’re suspicious of all others. Can you explain this combination of personality traits?”

Zye shrugged. She was indeed different from everyone else on Earth, but it rarely seemed to bother her. She didn’t bat an eye at the Director’s challenge.

“Yes, I can explain,” she said. “Someone who has told countless lies to survive also learns to recognize that behavior in others.”

Vogel’s mouth twitched, but his frozen smile stayed in place. “Pray then, what do you detect from my conduct?”

“Arrogance, mild deception and condescension. On the personal side, a lifetime of academia has apparently led to social disconnection and—”

I cleared my throat and took a step forward, placing myself between the two. “Let me explain, Vogel. Zye is not—”

“Not entirely civilized by Earth standards? Yes, I know. As I said, I’ve studied her from afar. I’m still fascinated, if somewhat disappointed. Let me show you our work. Perhaps everything will become clear then.”

He led us to a chamber with a floor of black glass. It was circular and about ten meters across.

“This is the observation deck. Below us are the construction facilities.”

We looked at one another in confusion—but not Zye. She stood near the Director, tense and wary. For once, I couldn’t fault her paranoia. After all, we’d been ambushed by people who seemed far less odd than Vogel.

Vogel spread his hands. “Don’t you want to see it?”

“Yes,” I said, “show me what you’re talking about.”

The floor beneath our feet shifted. The shift wasn’t slow or subtle, it was fast and alarming.

One second, we were standing on a gloss-black floor which was perfectly flat and smooth. The next, we were standing on nothing.

The floor seemed to vanish. As we didn’t fall, I could only surmise that it had become transparent. The transparency was so perfect that it seemed as if we were floating in the air.

A very great distance below us was a vast work area. Machine tools of every sort buzzed and whined. The audio had cut in just as suddenly as had the visual.

None of this was more than momentarily alarming. But then we got a closer look at the figures operating the power tools.

They weren’t entirely human. Shapes with multiple arms, multiple legs and even multiple heads in some cases were moving down there, working on small craft.

Sleek ships, dozens of them, were all over the factory floor. The odd workers scuttled from one ship to the next, moving with alien dexterity and speed.

“They’re all different,” Yamada said, gasping.

“The fighters?” Vogel asked in surprise. “Not at all. They’re all identical, other than their numbers and state of construction.”

“Fool!” Zye growled.

Suddenly, she grabbed Vogel. She gripped him by the neck, actually lifting him into the air so that his feet dangled. Fortunately, the gravity was slight, or he might have been seriously injured.

“She’s talking about the workers!” Zye shouted into Vogel’s shocked face. “They’re all different from one another.”

“Specialized, yes,” Vogel gargled past Zye’s fingers. “They’re modified to perform unique tasks. Why has this elicited a violent reaction?” He craned his neck and his wide eyes looked at me plaintively. “Sparhawk, call off your Beta. She’s gone mad!”