The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3) (34 page)

Maddox looked away, thinking. Then he looked back at her. “I suppose I deserved that.”

“Yes sir, you did. But then so did I.”

“We’re two wounded tigers, Lieutenant. Maybe this is the mission where we finally get our licks in.”

“I hope you’re right, sir.”

Maddox said nothing more as he studied orbital space. The enemy had kidnapped Meta right out from under his nose. That enraged him, but he refused to let it color his thinking. For this, he would need his coolest concentration yet.

Who had taken the egg? Was it a New Man? It had been breathtakingly bold. He both hated whoever had done it and admired him greatly.

All I ask is that I get the chance to return him the favor
.

-37-

Twenty-four hours later brought little change to the overall situation. The biggest difference was
Victory’s
location half a million kilometers from Earth.

Luna Defense was off the port bow one hundred thousand kilometers away. Various Star Watch destroyers and frigates orbited Earth at the Moon’s distance from the planet. Their sensors searched everywhere for a sign of the shuttle that had stolen the egg. Every Cestus hauler, every merchant ship near Earth had been ordered to stop and await another round of space marine and SW Intelligence search parties. Unfortunately, it took time to board and search each vessel from top to bottom a second time.

Downstairs on the planet, relief efforts were underway for the nuclear bomb victims who had survived the terrible tragedy.

The battleships in the Outer System were accelerating as fast as they could for Earth. Every warship in the Solar System gathered into one hard nucleus. The Lord High Admiral had already taken a shuttle for his flagship.

Maddox had told Star Watch Command about the New Arabia System. That didn’t mean humanity was going to let an alien doomsday machine destroy Earth without a titanic fight. The best scenario had Star Watch defeating the neutroium-hulled planet-killer. Even if they did that, though, how many Star Watch warships would drift as wrecks afterward?

Admiral Fletcher’s Fifth Fleet was coming. Together with the Home Fleet that represented seventy percent of Star Watch’s warship strength. To beat the doomsday machine but lose half the Home Fleet would be a disaster for the continuing war against the New Men.

Humanity had finally beaten the enemy in the battles of the Tannish and Markus Systems. If they lost too many warships now against the doomsday machine…the greater war might be lost before they got a chance to turn the tables on the arrogant enemy.

“I cannot believe I haven’t found them yet,” Galyan said.

Maddox sat in the command chair. How much longer did they have? When would the doomsday—

“Captain,” Valerie said. “I’m picking up ionic magnetic signals.”

The captain’s stomach clenched. This was too soon. Earth needed more time. “Where is the location?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Approximately three million kilometers beyond Mars’ orbital path,” the lieutenant said.

Maddox peered up at the main screen.

Valerie put a hand to her right ear. “Signals are coming in from Mars Command. They’re reporting a magnetic storm. Sir, I think the doomsday machine is already coming through.”

The lieutenant referred to the time delay from three million kilometers beyond Mars’ orbital path to Earth. Because of the speed of light—which affected both messages and sensor signals—the delay was only a matter of minutes, but it was still there.

The captain stood, staring at the main screen. He remembered Ludendorff’s holoimage video from the Wahhabi Caliphate capital system.

“It’s definitely getting bigger,” Valerie said, referring to the magnetic storm.

“There!” Galyan said. “I have spotted an anomaly.”

Maddox glanced at the holoimage. Galyan pointed at the screen that showed orbital Earth. On the screen, he produced a red circle around an object out there.

“What is that?” Maddox asked. It was a red-circled dot on the screen, showing something in Earth orbit.

“I am highlighting a jumpfighter,” Galyan said. “Ah, it is jumping.”

The dot on the screen winked out of sight.

“Where did the jumpfighter come from?” Maddox asked. “Can you trace that?”

Galyan stared at the screen. “There. The jumpfighter originated from that orbital ship.” Another red circle encompassed a different vessel. The holoimage’s eyelids fluttered. “That is Cestus Hauler five,” the AI said, “in near Earth orbit.”

“That’s the hauler’s official designation?” Maddox asked.

“No,” Galyan said. “That is the Star Watch search number.”

“I’ll inform headquarters of the Cestus hauler,” Valerie said.

“Head out for the magnetic storm,” Maddox told Galyan.

“Should I engage the star drive?” Galyan asked.

“Negative,” the captain said. “Strain every sensor you have. Watch the ion storm, and tell me everything of note that happens to the doomsday machine. Have you seen it yet, by the way?”

“Negative,” Galyan said. “I have—wait. I see the planet-killer now. I am giving you full magnification.”

A new image leapt into view on the screen. It was that of a magnetic storm out beyond Mars’ orbital path. The storm looked just like the one he’d seen weeks ago. Long strands of purple lighting flickered from it.

“Do you notice the greater darkness within the storm?” Galyan asked.

“I do,” Maddox said softly.

Then it appeared—the giant, teardrop-shaped doomsday machine.

“Do you see the jumpfighter?” Maddox asked.

“How could I?” Galyan said. “The jumpfighter just left Earth orbit. I need more time to see what just happened out there.”

Yes, of course. Maddox waited. They all did as the minutes passed away.

“There,” the AI said. “I have spotted the jumpfighter. I will highlight it for you.”

A red circle appeared, but Maddox couldn’t see any dot of a jumpfighter within the circle that was in the ion storm. The red circle touched the hull of the doomsday machine, though. That was cutting it mighty fine to appear practically on the planet-killer’s outer skin. Was there was a reason for making such a risky jump?

“Are you sure the jumpfighter is there?” the captain asked.

“Utterly certain,” Galyan said.

“Do you find it odd the jumpfighter appeared so close to the machine’s hull?”

“It does not seem odd at all,” Galyan said. “I suspect the jumpfighter appeared so near for a reason. The likeliest explanation is that it needed to appear close enough so it didn’t trigger the planet-killer’s defensive mechanisms.”

“Right,” Maddox said. That made sense. The ancient destroyer must have an inner zone where it would annihilate anything that got so close. Then, there must be an even nearer area where it would assume something that close was friendly. But that would call for tight jump control to get within the safe zone. Who but a New Man could pilot like that over such a long distance?

“What’s the enemy jumpfighter doing now?” Maddox asked.

“I can give you a computer-generated approximation,” Galyan said. “But know that it will not be one hundred percent accurate. The ion storm is interfering with the clarity of my long-range scanners.”

“Yes, do it,” Maddox said, without hesitation. “Show me a computer-generated graphic.”

The stars and the magnetic storm disappeared from the screen. In its place was a realistic computer graphic of the giant vessel with its neutroium hull.

“I am using my probability processors to guide me in this,” Galyan said.

Maddox nodded absently.

The hull looked smooth. Then, a jumpfighter appeared. It looked just like the one Maddox had used to journey to Wolf Prime with Dana and Keith. The jumpfighter maneuvered expertly, gliding beside the ancient wrecking machine. A port opened on the jumpfighter. The people inside must have used the latest experimental drug to hinder Jump Lag to be able to exit the jumpfighter so quickly. Three people in vacc-suits and maneuver packs left the tiny craft. How could they survive in the ion storm? It must be more Builder tech that allowed it. The visors were silver-colored, hiding the people’s features. A trail of hydrogen spray spewed from the thruster-packs.

Soon, the three, suited voyagers landed on the neutroium hull. The disjointed way they walked indicated that they used magnetic boots—boots that worked in the magnetic storm!

“Why doesn’t the planet-killer destroy them?” Valerie said.

“I cannot answer that,” Galyan said. “Perhaps the original builders did not envision anyone appearing so close near the hull. The others out there must have understood the particular design feature. Ah, this is difficult, but I am sensing a faint signal from one of them. It comes from a small object that the prime person carries.”

“Two questions,” Maddox said. “How can you sense all this through the ion storm? And how can you tell which one is the prime person?”

“My sensors are vastly superior now, able to pierce the magnetic interference,” Galyan said. “I sense the prime individual from the manner of his locomotion. Due to my heightened senses, it is an easy thing to decipher.”

Maddox and Valerie traded glances.

“The magnetic storm is beginning to dissipate,” Valerie said.

“The lieutenant is correct,” Galyan said. “The ionic particles are vanishing into the portal. This will aid me in my analysis. Ah, let me correct the image into a truer picture.”

The main screen wavered. Now, the neutroium hull showed pitted marks, obvious wear and tear.

“Is that a hatch in the machine’s hull?” Maddox asked.

“You are correct,” Galyan said. “The three walk to the closed hatch.”

“I can’t believe we’re seeing something so detailed that is happening well beyond Mars’ orbital path,” Valerie said.

“Starship
Victory
is an Adok marvel,” Galyan said with pride. “Now that I am beginning to operate at maximum efficacy, you will soon become used to greater things than this.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Valerie said.

Maddox wondered if the AI caught the sarcasm. The AI likely would learn about it in time.
If we have more time to live that is.

“No,” Valerie said.

Maddox’s throat tightened. The hatch on the neutroium hull slid open. The three space-suited people entered the doomsday machine. After the last one vanished within, the hatch slid shut.

For several seconds, no one said a word.

“At least we know it’s possible to enter the doomsday machine,” Maddox said, softy.

“Fat lot of good that does us,” Valerie said. “You said Ludendorff had a key. I imagine so did they out there. But we’re left hanging to rot out here without one.”

“Ah,” Galyan said. “A key—that is most interesting. Yes, I suppose that was the wave frequencies I detected a moment ago.”

“Explain that,” Maddox said.

“There is little to tell,” Galyan said. “I picked up signals. They were faint, as I said. Soon after the wave sequence emitted, the hatch opened.”

“Could you duplicate those signals?” Maddox asked.

“They were a complicated series of hard-to-reach frequencies—”

“Can you do it?” Maddox asked.

Galyan glanced at him. “It would take time to build such an emitter. You would have to take the device along with you to the vessel.”

“How long would it take you build this emitter?” the captain asked.

“Two, maybe three days,” Galyan said.

Valerie swore softly under her breath.

Maddox began to pace. Because a pilot had bought a jumpfighter to precisely the right spot, three people had entered the doomsday machine. Could one of those people have been Meta? Hopefully, he would know more in an hour. Star Watch raced smash-and-grab teams to the selected Cestus hauler. Soon, everyone on that ship would enter interrogation. Someone there might have seen Meta.

“The planet-killer is accelerating,” Valerie said. “It’s headed in-system.”

“Given its trajectory what’s its probable destination?” Maddox asked. Would it attack Mars first or head straight for Earth? Just maybe, they could sacrifice Mars in order to gain time for Galyan to construct the emitter. But if—

“It looks as if the machine is heading for Earth,” Valerie said. “It’s going to bypass Mars, which is quite a ways out from the machine’s initial appearance point.”

“I wish I could remember the range of its beam,” Maddox said. “I wasn’t paying attention to that when Ludendorff showed me his recording. How long do we have until it begins the attack sequence?”

“Star Watch battleships and heavy cruisers are already leaving Earth orbit,” Valerie said. “According to their headings, they appear to be on an intercept course with the machine.” The lieutenant shook her head. “It’s too bad the Home Fleet doesn’t already have the ten battleships coming in from Pluto. The readings from that thing—the doomsday machine has vastly more mass than our combined Home Fleet, sir.”

“I doubt we’re going to beat it in a head-to-head battle,” Maddox said.

“What other option is there?” Valerie asked. “Can we delay the planet-killer for three days while Galyan fashions his emitter?”

Maddox watched the giant machine. How could a spaceship be fifty kilometer’s long? Who had built it anyway? If the New Men gained control of the doomsday machine—

The captain whirled around to stare at Galyan. “Question,” Maddox said, “could you beam the wave frequencies from
Victory
in order to unlock the hatch?”

Galyan’s eyelids fluttered. “Theoretically, it is possible.”

“I’m not asking that. Can you
do
it?”

“If I came in close enough, I should be able to,” Galyan said.