The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) (16 page)

-16-

Keith watched the two swimming through the radioactive water. Meta had succeeded. She was bringing Captain Maddox to the submersible. Once more, it was the team against everyone else.

The minutes ticked by. Would you look at this—Keith studied the radar chart. There were attack submarines out here. That was fast work. Someone must have been anticipating them to try something at the Greenland complex.

Did the subs belong to Star Watch or had the Ludendorff box set up something for another play. Galyan had suggested they beware the Builder box. The Adok’s probability analyzer suggested the person or people behind the box might be someone other than the real Ludendorff trapped in the Xerxes System. They would be foolish to trust the holoimage fully.

“Come on,” Keith said, watching the two swimmers. “You’ve already taken too long.”

***

Captain Maddox swam strongly, doing his best to keep up with Meta. Her jet-propelled pack was making that difficult.

Meta looked back. “Take my hand,” she said, through the full-facemask comm. “I’m only going at half-speed and we have to go faster.”

“Right,” Maddox said. He kicker harder, grabbed her hand and felt her squeeze, the pressure from her power gloves nearly crushing his hand.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, looking back at him a moment later. “My pressure indicator shows—is your hand okay?” She adjusted the gloves to release some of the pressure.

“Never mind about that,” the captain said. He had been applying considerable squeeze to his hand to keep the bones from breaking.

A burst of thrust from her pack had them zooming through the murky water. Soon, they reached the submersible’s hatch, entering an air-cycler, the water draining away from the chamber and a harsh spray decontaminating their suits.

“This could get rough,” Keith said through the earphones.

The pilot immediately proved true to his word. The room tilted crazily as Maddox reached for the inner handle. He felt himself slipping and lunged, his fingers barely grabbing the metal in time. Meta wasn’t so lucky. The room tilted and speed threw her so she crashed against one side and slammed against Maddox next. He grabbed her one-armed and opened the hatch. They tumbled into a larger chamber as the craft continued to jig wildly. There were no gravity dampeners in the submersible to dull the sudden moves.

Blood flowed from Meta’s nose as she groaned. Maddox dragged her to a bench, hooking his feet and tightening his hold of Meta.

Now the cabin tilted the other way and half spun. Increasing speed threatened Maddox’s grip.

“He’s crazy,” Meta muttered.

“Which means we might make it,” Maddox told her.

The ride continued this way for a time. Finally, the chamber leveled out, which presumably meant so had the craft.

Keith confirmed the news by saying over an intercom, “Okay. It’s safe. I hope you two are all right.”

“Roger,” Maddox said. “Do we have time to come forward?”

“Sure, mate,” Keith said.

Maddox cleared his throat.

“I mean, Captain, sir.”

“Let’s go,” Maddox told Meta, handing her a cloth.

She wiped the blood from her nose.

With Meta in tow, Maddox hurried into a short corridor and saw the holoimage waving them toward a particular hatch. Moments later, Maddox strapped himself to a chair beside Keith. Meta sat down at the weapons board.

“Glad to have you aboard, sir,” Keith said, with his focus glued onto a battle screen.

“Trouble?” Maddox asked. He saw three fast-attack submarines giving chase on the screen.

“Just a mite, sir,” Keith said, “but nothing a tactical wizard like me can’t handle.”

“What happened to all our decoys?” Meta said, as she checked her weapons board.

“I already used them up, don’t you know,” Keith said. “The boys behind us have been firing torpedoes like candy. I’m surprised you haven’t felt the explosions.”

“What does that even mean?” Meta asked.

“That Galyan had better know what he’s doing,” Keith said. “Hang on now. I’m about to give them a performance they’ll never forget.”

The submersible went sideways, and Keith increased speed yet again.

“They’re launching torpedoes,” Meta said.

“They’re right on schedule then,” Keith told her. “And that’s why I’m headed for that underwater grotto below.”

Maddox touched the powder burn on the side of his head. Major Stokes had actually tried to kill him. The brigadier must be serious about his incarceration. The attack submarines coming after them would kill them, too, if they could. The knowledge left a hollow feeling in the captain’s stomach. After all that he had done, Star Watch still didn’t trust him. If the brigadier could do this to him…who would stick up for him?

“No one,” Maddox whispered.

“What’s that, sir?” Keith asked, while focusing on a screen.

Maddox pondered his conclusion. He was a hybrid. He glanced at Keith, nodding. Here was one regular human who would go to the wall for him. Meta didn’t count in that regard. She was a genetic experiment, meaning she was just as much in his camp as…as a New Man would be.

“This is pure genius on my part,” Keith informed him. “Are you ready, sir?”

Maddox pursed his lips.

The submersible corkscrewed as Keith took them through a ring of rock. Something banged against the craft’s side, though, causing a horrible metallic screeching that didn’t seem to end.

The sound snapped Maddox out of his reverie. He stared at a bulkhead, waiting, waiting—finally, the terrible screech ended. They were alright, through the grotto.

Just as Maddox thought that, water burst through a seam in a bulkhead.

Meta shouted in surprise as water sprayed in forcefully.

Keith gave the breach a quick glance, muttered something and tapped his board. He did this several times. It didn’t seem to help or change anything.

Water hosed into the cabin. The icy liquid swept up items, banging them against the other bulkhead. The green-colored water kept pouring in at a fantastic rate. Maddox kicked his feet, sloshing them through the rising water.

“That is bad,” Meta said. “The water is radioactive. If it doesn’t drown us first, we’ll be irradiated to death.”

“Hang on,” Keith said. “We’re not out of it yet.”

Maddox glanced at the pilot’s screen. A blossom indicated an exploding torpedo behind them against the rock of the grotto. Others bright dots showed even more explosions.

“I did it that part perfectly,” Keith said. “The torpedoes missed us.”

While that was true, seconds later, the craft shuddered as the increased pressure from the explosions struck the submersible. A metallic tearing sound meant something burst apart. Then, twice the volume of water poured into the main cabin.

“We’re going to drown!” Meta shouted.

Maddox was already on his feet. He surged through the swirling water, wading to an emergency repair unit on the wall.

“We have no choice now,” Keith said. “It’s time to go up. Hang on, Captain, sir. I’m changing course.”

Maddox barely did so in time, grabbing the wall unit.

The submersible tilted violently upward as water continued to gush into the cabin. In a wave, the mass washed against Meta as the water flowed to the back of the sub, adding more weight by the second.

“Come on, you bastard,” Keith told the sub. “Give me more thrust.” He tapped his board.

From the bulkhead, Maddox stared at the water still pouring in. They had a few bare minutes before they were flooded and drowned.

“Level the craft,” Maddox said in a commanding voice. “I have to patch the hole.”

Keith glanced at him before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s a buggering bad idea.”

“Second lieutenant,” Maddox barked. “You will—”

“Hang on, sir. Give me twenty more seconds.”

Maddox hung on, silently fuming. Still, in these kinds of situations, no one was better than Keith Maker, so Maddox waited to see what the ace had up his sleeve.

Twenty-five seconds later, the submersible lurched onto the surface like a flopping whale. It banged hard against the waves, shaking Maddox loose from his hold. He toppled into the water.

“Now, sir,” Keith said. “If we don’t repair the breach fast, we’re going to run out of air.”

That didn’t sound right, but it confirmed to Maddox that Keith had an idea he wasn’t tracking yet. The captain surged to his feet, grabbing the emergency repair kit.

“We’d better move from our location,” Meta said, barely able to peer at her board. It was only an inch above the waterline. “There’s another spread of torpedoes coming our way.”

“Galyan, come in, Galyan,” Keith said into the comm-unit. “You have to start us upstairs, mate. You have to do it now or we’re dead.”

Maddox only listened with half an ear. He wrestled the kit to the breach. As he pressed it against the bulkhead, the submersible lurched once more. The room tilted back and forth.

The captain glanced out the forward window and blinked in amazement. The submersible was in the air and rising.

“That’s
Victory’s
tractor beam, sir,” Keith explained. “We came in down under to fool Star Watch and we’re escaping through the atmosphere. The unexpectedness of our moves might give us the edge we need to make it onto the starship.”

Maddox nodded thoughtfully. Then, he finished his hasty repair, sloshing through the water, replacing the empty repair kit. Finally, soaking wet, he returned to his spot near the pilot, buckling in.

Keith had auto-opened some hatches, causing the water to drain away faster than it had come in. He tapped his board. The hatches closed with loud
clangs
.

“Yes,” Maddox said. “I like the plan. It was well thought-out and executed, Second Lieutenant.”

“Boom,” Meta said.

Maddox glanced back at her.

“The torpedoes have exploded on the surface,” she said, staring at her board. “Let’s hope the attack subs don’t have any missiles.”

“I wouldn’t worry about the subs or their missiles,” Keith said. “The air interceptors heading our way are going to be the real problem.”

-17-

Far away in Geneva, Brigadier O’Hara stood beside the Lord High Admiral. Cook was a big man, red-faced with thick white hair and a white uniform.

They both studied a large screen, with various personnel around the room at monitoring stations. On the screen, a damaged submersible increased speed as it floated upward toward space.

“Clever,” Cook said. “But it won’t be any match for the interceptors.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if that’s wise, sir,” O’Hara said.

The large admiral glanced at her. “You’d better speak quickly, Brigadier. In half a minute, the pilots will launch their ordnance.”

“
Victory
is in play now,” O’Hara said. “We tried to stop that from happening and failed. I believe the difference changes the equation. If the Adok AI sees us kill Captain Maddox…”

“Yes,” Cook said, “I see your drift. We cannot afford its displeasure and possible anger.” With his thick fingers, he motioned to an alert colonel nearby.

She spoke rapidly to the interceptor pilots, forbidding them to launch.

“Should we call the captain?” Cook said. “Maybe he would be open to reason.”

“We’re far past reason,” the brigadier said. “I spoke to Major Stokes a minute ago. He admits to attempting to kill the captain.”

“You’re fond of the captain, I believe,” Cook said after a moment.

The brigadier nodded.

“This Major Stokes—”

“Acted on his own in this,” O’Hara said. “I wish he wouldn’t have fired, but I understand his reasoning. Loyalty to Star Watch motivated him.”

“Still,” Cook said. “This is Captain Maddox we’re talking about. He has many detractors, for sound reasons, I believe. At times, you’re the only one who has backed him.”

“I still back him.”

“Then why let him go like this?” Cook asked. “Won’t he be disillusioned with us?”

The brigadier took her time answering. She watched the submersible reach the stratosphere, continuing for space and
Victory
in orbit.

“I’m afraid for our side,” she said. “The Builders and Ludendorff, and Strand…” She shook her head. “Ever since the Destroyer almost annihilated Earth I’ve been wondering about the wider universe. I don’t know if we’re going to get the chance to build up enough to withstand the challenges out there.”

“You’re thinking too far ahead,” Cook said in a chiding voice. “First, we must defend humanity against the runaway New Men. We’re well on our way to doing that.”

“I agree. But what if there are worse things out there? How would we defend ourselves against several Destroyers for instance?”

“That’s a legitimate question,” Cook said. “The answer is that I don’t know right now.”

“Neither do I,” the brigadier said.

“So your point is…?”

“Maybe Captain Maddox has the right idea. We have the new wave harmonics shields, antimatter missiles and ground-based fusion cannon. Those are pluses. We have greater industrial capacity; meaning if we have the time, we can build masses more ships and those new cannons. But will that prove enough against whatever surprises the New Men have in store for us?”

“Do they have any more surprises?” Cook asked.

“You’re making my point for me, sir. We lack knowledge. I suggest that means we need Professor Ludendorff and we need his understanding
now
. It’s true that I don’t want to risk my boy—er, risk Captain Maddox in yet another hazardous mission. I’m afraid I’ll never see him again. I’m afraid we might lose Starship
Victory
. I intensely dislike rolling the dice against fate. For a long time, I have believed we should do this the old-fashioned way by outbuilding our enemy. Now I’ve begun to doubt myself. If only we knew more about the New Men and their full capabilities. That knowledge Captain Maddox is seeking, and it may be the edge we need. There is one other critical point. We can’t afford to alienate the Adok AI.”

“I understand your thinking,” Cook said. “Your captain is forcing our hand, I admit. What I don’t fathom is why you aren’t willing to say good-bye and wish him luck.”

The brigadier forced herself to remain stoic and dry-eyed. She wasn’t going to let the Lord High Admiral see her eyes turn red.

“I have a gut feeling about this, sir,” O’Hara whispered.

“Go on,” he said. “Tell me about this feeling.”

“I think this time…” O’Hara had to pause, biting her lower lip so it wouldn’t tremble. Once the danger had passed, she said, “I think this time the captain is going to need
bitter
determination in order to succeed. I can’t say why I feel this. It’s…it’s just there, sir,” She broke off weakly.

“Do you think it is a mother’s feeling?”

“Please, Admiral,” O’Hara whispered.

Cook waited for her add a true denial. Finally, the large old man put his hands behind his back, staring at the screen. The submersible had left the blue-tinted atmosphere behind as it headed for a double oval-shaped warship higher up in space.

“We should be able to stop
Victory
from leaving, but it might cost us half our battleships. We can’t afford any losses, not after sending so many ships to the Grand Fleet.” The old man sighed. “I dearly hope you’re right about this, Brigadier.”

“Yes, sir,” O’Hara whispered. “So do I.”