The Lost Patrol (39 page)

-71-

Victory
appeared outside the Chitin globular and near a swirling silver mass.

“Go,” Valerie told the pilot. “Accelerate into the wormhole.”

The pilot tapped her board, shaking her head. “We’ve temporarily lost motive power, Lieutenant. Some of the particle-beam shots went deep, likely damaging propulsion.”

“We may also be experiencing a sluggish response due to Jump Lag,” Galyan said. “The short but intense particle-beam bombardment may have nullified some of the Kai-Kaus procedures against the machine end of lag.”

Valerie leaned on an armrest and clicked on the ship’s intercom system. “I want all damage control parties working on possible propulsion ruptures. This is a red alert. Nothing else matters but getting propulsion back online.”

The lieutenant switched off the intercom, leaning back as fierce determination etched across her face.

“I am trying to pinpoint the precise locations to repair,” Galyan said.

Valerie nodded as she stared at the swirling silver mass outside. They were so close to leaving this place but it wouldn’t matter if they couldn’t get the ship to move in the right direction. They had some momentum, but they were heading the wrong direction. If they couldn’t reach the hyper-spatial entrance in time, who knew if they would ever go home again? Watching the silver mass slip farther away, the lieutenant hungered to reach the tube.

Behind them, Chitin missiles that had been launched earlier detected them. They began to swerve in a ragged mass for the starship.

“Oh Galyan,” Valerie said, “what have you done to us?”

“I operated on a hunch,” the holoimage said in his defense. “Perhaps that was an error. I thought I was doing the right thing. But maybe only Captain Maddox can make a Maddox gamble and win.”

Valerie yearned for the captain to return to the bridge to take over. Yet, she also wanted to solve the problem. She wanted to get it right for once, all along the line. What could she do? Saving
Victory
meant reaching the hyper-spatial tube.

“How long until the first enemy missile is in detonation range?” Valerie asked.

“Five minutes and thirteen seconds,” Galyan said.

“That doesn’t leave us much margin for error.”

“It is possible the star drive mechanism will be ready by then.”

“That will save the ship,” Valerie said. “But the hyper-spatial opening won’t stay open forever. Lieutenant,” she asked Smith-Fowler, “are any of the disruptor cannons working yet?”

“Checking,” he said.

Valerie unconsciously bit her right index knuckle as her stomach tightened painfully.

“Cannons one and two are definitely offline,” Smith-Fowler said. “Three…is also offline,” he said looking up. “We’ve been struck by some sort of Jump Lag. Galyan must be right. The deep hull breaches have disrupted the delicate Kai-Kaus mechanical balance.”

“Galyan,” Valerie asked, “what about the neutron cannon?”

“I am sad to report it is also offline,” the holoimage said. “If we could—”

“Stow the thought,” Valerie said. “We have PD cannons. They’re simple devices. Can any of them fire?”

“That is affirmative,” Galyan said.

“Start targeting the nearest Chitin missiles.”

“The distances involved—”

“Begin at once,” Valerie shouted at Galyan.

“Working…” Galyan said. “I am firing…”

“Keep firing,” Valerie told him. “We may knock out some of the missiles. We may confuse their onboard computers. The professor said the Chitins have primitive technology. Let’s see if we can’t use that to our advantage one more time.”

***

The “she” inside the Temple of Love had cataloged the little destroyers’ fold activity. That had been ingenious. By following the computer commands via her wireless connection, she believed she understood what they had done.

After endless cycles trapped in here, she finally had a way to escape her confinement. Should she attempt to use the fold this instant?

She debated this for several seconds, “thinking” at computer speed. She’d measured the hyper-spatial tube, seeing the length of its span and the star system where the end appeared.

That would be her first destination. The counterattack would not happen overnight. She would have to modify the Chitins first. She would have to do this while the Swarm tried to batter its way into her Nexus.

Keen anticipation built in her. For so long now, she had been bored, simply existing in her primitive state. She would live gloriously after this, presenting a great offering to her callers, the Race of Builders. She would make the little destroyers burn in their star systems. She would bring mayhem to that end of the galaxy.

What was this? She sensed a problem in the outer pyramid. Certain systems might burn out at any moment. If those ancient systems burned out, that would destroy the Nexus’ ability to create new hyper-spatial tubes.

She continued to reason at computer speed. She could see the problem and realized that she didn’t understand— Hold. There was a possible way to fix this. She could allow one section to burn out, relaxing the strain from the other systems. That would freeze the present hyper-spatial tube, in effect, making it a permanent space event. It would be a bridge to that part of the galaxy. The only drawback was that the Nexus would need new power sources to keep the hyper-spatial bridge intact over time.

I can do this because I possess the ancient knowledge of the Builders. First, however, I must physically reach the outer location in order to activate the proper sequences to save the other systems
.

As she readied herself, she wondered if she could use strategy against the little destroyers. If she maneuvered the Chitins properly, she might sucker the Swarm mass through the open tube and let them soften the little destroyers for her.

That was a guileful plan, a worthy tribute to her lost lovers.

She swooped low toward the spot the bipedal monsters had used. As she did, she followed the cunning bipedal beast’s manipulations. She believed she understood his moves.

How could she not understand? She had the intellect of the great Builders. She saw deeper and farther than she ever had in her existence.

Unfortunately for her, she tripped upon the Xeeten Complication. Too late, she recognized it as a trap. Through the wireless connection, she worked and manipulated at computer speeds. She fought the complication, desperately working exacting mathematical formulas and complicated equations. For several seconds in real time, she believed she’d solved the problem.

A new pain in her midsection brought the first pang of doubt. That doubt accelerated as a fold grew inside her.

No, no, I did not take into account the derivative equation. I needed hyper-reality quantum physics. If I can access said physics and re-loop
—

She worked through advanced calculus and tri-quantum mathematics, jumping far beyond human understanding of the hyper-spatial process. Then, one of her inner android connectives, working at lightning speed, burned out due to the laser fire from earlier. She had an interior overload.

At that moment, she lost the equation race, even though she continued to try. In the midst of attempting a re-loop, the fold twisted her in half, sending part of her membrane through while the other remained inside the Temple of Love.

Her great plan was aborted with her death. Humanity would likely never know the deadly fate that had hung over it these few brief moments.

I loathe the tall one
, she thought at her death.
I wish I had killed him. I wish
—

Her thoughts ended with her destruction inside the barren Temple of Love.

-72-

Captain Maddox burst onto the bridge as the first Chitin warheads shredded apart due to the first wave of PD fire from
Victory
. He stopped in wonder, recognizing what the pin-dot-like flashes meant on the main screen. Galyan had appeared beside him half a minute ago, explaining the gist of the situation.

Another wave of Chitin missiles bored in toward the starship, however.
Victory
had gained another thirty seconds to do something, possibly an extra minute.

“Captain,” Valerie said, hopping out of the command chair. “It’s good to see you, sir. We thought—”

“We’re alive,” Maddox said. “Excellent work, by the way, with the PD fire. I’m impressed.”

Valerie stood a little taller as a wide smile spread across her face. That disappeared a moment later.

“We’re far from out of it yet, sir,” she said.

“Granted,” Maddox said. “But we’re going to make this work.”

Valerie sensed some of his command power at that moment. The man exuded confidence. He had faith in them. That reignited a burning desire in her not to let him down.

She realized something else. That’s what she’d felt as a young girl with her dad. Her father had had faith in her. It was one of the things that had propelled her to continue striving no matter what. She felt the same urge now with the captain.

Hurrying to her station, Valerie went to work as everyone redoubled his or her efforts.

“Sir,” Smith-Fowler said. “One of the disrupter cannons is almost online.”

“Excellent,” Maddox said. “Begin targeting the nearest missiles the second you can fire.”

Smith-Fowler manipulated his panel faster.

“I have impulse power,” Andros Crank said.

“Let’s start turning the ship then,” Maddox said. “We only have a few minutes more until the hyper-spatial entrance disappears.”

“The gravity dampeners are acting up,” Valerie said.

Maddox didn’t need to hear that to know. He swayed to the side on his chair as impulse power began to turn the mighty vessel.

“There!” Smith-Fowler said.

A disrupter beam slashed through the void. A Chitin missile harmlessly exploded—destroyed.

“I have more impulse power,” Andros Crank said. “Hang on. This could get rough.”

Victory
began to tremble, as it turned harder. The disrupter cannon continued to shred the nearest missiles. Then, a second beam started firing.

“No,” Andros said. “The second beam is sucking up too much power. We need that power for the impulse engines.”

“Shut down the second beam,” Maddox snapped.

Victory
turned enough so the starship finally inched toward the swirling silver mass. Chitin missiles followed relentlessly. Behind the enemy vanguard were tens of thousands of more missiles.

“Shut down all the disrupter cannons,” Maddox said. “Put all power into propulsion.”

“But sir—” Smith-Fowler said.

“That’s an order,” Maddox said in a level tone.

Valerie shuddered. The captain finally had that part of the art of command down pat. His voice was steady, yet it bit like a lash.

Smith-Fowler obeyed without any further objections.

The starship appreciably gained velocity.

“Detonation,” Valerie said.

Maddox glanced at her.

“A Chitin warhead exploded,” Valerie explained. “The blast will reach us…now.”

The starship shuddered.

“Another detonation,” Valerie said. “They’re going to start hammering us, sir.”

“And we’re going to keep taking it,” Maddox said. “We have to get into the tube. Nothing else matters.”

Valerie tapped her board as another wave of radiation and blast smashed against
Victory’s
armored hull. They didn’t have enough power for the shield
and
the impulse engines.

On the main screen, the swirling silver mass seemed to shrink.

“It’s closing,” someone said.

Maddox’s right fist tightened. So did the narrowness of his gaze. He seemed to be trying to will the ship to reach the hyper-spatial tube in time.

“What if we’re inside it when the tube collapses?” Valerie asked.

Maddox didn’t answer. Instead, he along with everyone else watched as the swirling mass grew smaller yet.

Then, the silvery color disappeared. A yawning dark emptiness replaced it. They had reached the inner area of the entrance. Could they slide down the rabbit hole in time?

Maddox’s fist tightened to such a degree that his fingers began to ache. He couldn’t tell if the entrance continued to shrink or not. Finally, though, Starship
Victory
entered the hyper-spatial tube. Maddox could tell because everything seemed to stretch and elongate.

***

Victory
passed through, coming out of the other end of the hyper-spatial tube over two thousand light-years away. The starship was adrift, the crew unconscious due to hyper-spatial shock.

Eventually, Captain Maddox opened his eyes. His forehead furrowed with confusion. For some time, he just stared at the blank main screen. He didn’t know how long that lasted. His field of vision widened. He inhaled deeply, glancing around with greater awareness.

He stood unsteadily, staggering to the lieutenant’s station. She had slumped forward and frozen in catatonic immobility. He tapped her board, engaging the sensors.

Maddox expected to have reached the Solar System. It surprised him there were no messages. It took over a minute before he realized they had traveled somewhere else.

His heart rate increased with anxiety. After all their hard work, had they failed to return to Human Space?

Four minutes later, Maddox had the answer. They were near Earth in an empty star system five point seven light-years from the Sun. According to the computer, this system lacked Laumer-Points. No wonder no one had ever colonized it.

Maddox straightened. He found the idea of
Victory
coming to an empty star system—

“Lieutenant,” Maddox said, shaking Valerie. “Lieutenant, wake up. We have a problem.”