The Lost Command (Lost Starship Series Book 2) (12 page)

Suddenly, with a groan, Riker stumbled, collapsing onto the floor.

“Sergeant,” Maddox said, turning, bending over him.

“Back off,” Benito said.

Maddox looked up. The seven-foot killer held the detonator switch. Reluctantly, the captain stood, backing away from the prone sergeant.

“What’s wrong with him?” Benito said.

“I was attempting to discover just that,” Maddox said.

“If you do anything out of line…” Benito warned. He raised the switch.

“Have you considered a problem with that?” Maddox asked. “If you detonate me, I’ll kill everyone in a nearby radius.”

“Lucca,” Benito said. “Get the old fool on his feet.”

Lucca stepped up and prodded Riker with the toe of his boot. The sergeant groaned. Lucca prodded him harder.

“Pick him up,” Benito said.

Lucca bent down, grabbing Riker, hoisting him to a standing position.

“Old man,” Benito said.

Lucca shook Riker. The sergeant opened his eyes, staring at Benito.

“If you are faking, your captain is dead,” Benito said.

“My chest,” Riker wheezed, and he sounded hurt. His knees buckled just then. Lucca grabbed him, and the sergeant hung on as if for support.

“Don’t hurt him,” Maddox said.

“Why do you have such an old aide helping you?” Benito asked.

Lucca roared with agony. Sergeant Riker released the man’s arm where his bionic hand had crushed the flesh and broken the bone. As Lucca threw himself away from Riker, the sergeant smoothly drew the man’s stun gun from its holster.

Without hesitation, Riker began beaming high-intensity shots at the other bodyguards. The discharges sounded harsh and evil within the confines of the corridor. Nearly invisible clots of force flashed. The sergeant shot each man in the chest, causing the giants to go rigid with pain.

Maddox charged forward. He’d been waiting for this.

Seven-foot Benito snarled with rage. The man’s big thumb stabbed down on the red button detonator. Absolutely nothing happened to Maddox. Benito pressed the switch a second time, using considerably more force than before.

Captain Maddox kicked the giant savagely in the groin. Benito groaned, folding up. Maddox’s knee slammed up against the proffered chin. The giant’s head catapulted backward, with his body following.

Riker’s stun gun clicked empty. He’d drained the charge.

“Finish them, Sergeant. Don’t let them recover and turn the tables on us.”

As Maddox spoke, he knelt by Benito, using his stiffened fingers to jab mercilessly into the giant’s throat. Benito gagged. Maddox thrust his knee on the bodyguard’s chest, stabilizing him enough to draw the man’s stun gun.

Riker kicked one of the stirring guards in the head.

“Duck!” Maddox shouted.

The sergeant did, hitting the floor.

Stunner discharges sounded. Maddox administered the coup de grace to each bodyguard, using a lower setting against their heads. It was dangerous to stun like this, and could accidently kill. But these giants were killers caught by surprise. If even one of them managed to draw his weapon and fire back, the fight could turn around to their advantage in quick order. Maddox did not fight in a sporting way. He fought to win. Not only Meta’s life was at stake. This was a war against the New Men, and Strand stood in the way.

“Get up,” Maddox said, his voice full of command.

Riker scrambled to his feet. The older man panted heavily. “They let us get the drop on them. They thought—” Riker’s eyes lofted in astonishment. He faced Maddox.

“What about the bomb, sir? I thought Benito pressed the button.”

“He did,” Maddox said. The captain rose from making sure each Nerva bodyguard was out. “Here,” he said, pitching extra charge clips to Riker.

The sergeant reloaded his stun gun.

“This way,” Maddox said, running down the corridor.

“I don’t get it,” Riker said, dogging the captain’s heels. “How did you know the switch wouldn’t work?”

“It did work,” Maddox said.

“How’d you rig it so Strand would fail to match the right frequency?”

“He matched the frequency just fine,” Maddox said.

“Then I don’t understand, sir.”

“The carbon device in my stomach only
simulates
a bomb. You don’t think I’d actually put a live explosive in my gut, do you? That’s madness, Sergeant.”

Riker could only blink in astonishment and then chagrin.

“Damn,” Maddox said, as he ducked back within the hatch leading outside onto the main deck.

Riker looked up.

“The flyer is taking off,” Maddox said. “I suspect Strand is aboard,”

“Why is Strand running away? We only have stun guns.”

Maddox lifted the communicator he’d taken off Benito. In seconds, he connected with Brigadier O’Hara.

“Where have you been, Captain?” the Iron Lady demanded. “There is an interstellar emergency going on. I demand your immediate presence here in Geneva.”

“You’ll have to home in on this communicator, ma’am. I’m on a Nerva ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

“What?” she asked. “The Atlantic Ocean, you say? How in the world did you get there? Wait. Don’t answer that. Did you say I needed to home in on your signal?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maddox replied.

“Just a minute,” she said. “Yes, there, I have a fix. A team will be there in less than ten minutes. Can you survive that long?”

“I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be in the water, by the way, some distance from the communicator.”

“Your situation is critical?” she asked.

“Indeed, ma’am,” Maddox said. “Now I must go.” He turned to Riker. “Into the drink, Sergeant.” The captain pitched the comm-unit away, peered outside the hatch, looking both ways, and ducked back in.

“What’s going on, sir?”

“Follow me.” Maddox darted out of the hatch and sprinted to the side of the deep-sea vessel. With his hands on the railing, he vaulted over the side.

The two Star Watch operatives struck the water, escaping from the Nerva hunters who had begun a manhunt for them.

All the while, the big Nerva flyer dwindled as it climbed into the starry sky.

-11-

Several hours later, a perturbed Captain Maddox sat in Star Watch Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

A combat team had fished the two of them out of the ocean, rushing them to the continent. The combat team had let the Nerva liner go, and as far as Maddox knew, Strand was back in Monte Carlo.

The team commander had been a tight-lipped commando, with nothing to say to Maddox. That told him the situation was dire.

The captain presently sat in the office of Mary O’Hara, the head of Star Watch Intelligence on Earth.

A side door opened, and O’Hara walked in briskly. She was a gray-haired lady with a matronly image. Despite the image, she had one of the cleverest minds in Star Watch, and was a key reason why humanity continued to resist the New Men’s infiltration tactics.

“Ma’am,” Maddox said. “This is an emergency. The New Men have Meta, or one of their agents does. We must—”

“Not now, Captain,” O’Hara said, sitting behind her large synthi-wood desk.

The answered surprised him. “I’m not sure you’re hearing me, ma’am.”

“I heard you quite well. The New Men have Meta. Yes, that’s a tragedy. But we have far greater troubles on our hands. I’ll search for Meta once you’re gone.”

Maddox blinked with surprise. “But ma’am—”

“Several months ago, the New Men smashed the Fifth Fleet at Caria 323,” O’Hara said.

“Excuse me?” Maddox asked.

“With Admiral Fletcher out of the way,” O’Hara continued, “the entire “C” Quadrant is exposed. Worse, the enemy could conceivably be driving to Earth to bombard our planet. As much as I appreciate Meta, this takes precedence, wouldn’t you agree?”

Maddox stared at O’Hara as he ingested her words. The gears in his mind began to shift focus.

“You’re speaking about Admiral Fletcher’s battle group?” he asked.

“
Fleet
, Captain, it was Admiral Fletcher’s fleet. In point of fact, it was the largest fleet we have other than the one guarding the Solar System.”

“Fletcher’s fleet was annihilated?” Maddox asked, trying to wrap his mind around that.

O’Hara compressed her lips and massaged her forehead. A haunted look appeared in her eyes.

Maddox sat back in his chair, stunned. “All those ships…”

“Well, not exactly
all
,” the Iron Lady said. “The fleet took staggering losses, but it’s still a few months away from complete destruction.”

The captain stared at her. “There’s a situation, I take it.”

“Quite, and it’s unbelievable.”

Maddox waited, wondering what had happened in Caria 323. Fletcher was one of the best Star Watch fighting admirals there was. The man wouldn’t have panicked. Yet, Maddox didn’t think the admiral could have outmaneuvered the New Men. Would Fletcher have been foolish enough to try?

O’Hara began to explain in a low voice, with her eyes unfocused. “The New Men engaged the fleet in Caria 323, as I’ve said. With Commodore Garcia’s help, Fletcher attempted a clever trap. Somehow, the enemy knew about it. The New Men’s counter maneuver bordered on the miraculous.”

“Meaning what?” Maddox asked.

O’Hara told him how the New Men had sabotaged the collapsium-armored star base guarding the Ember-Caria Tramline. Then, a decoy fleet had entered the inner system. Fletcher had taken the bait, rushing to save Caria Prime. That had left the Lamia-Caria Tramline open. How the New Men had known the fleet had left was one of several maddening questions that no one knew the answer to.

“Fletcher fought a stubborn battle,” O’Hara said. “But it took the sacrifice of Commander Musgrave to really hurt the enemy. Musgrave blew his antimatter core, using it like a shape-charged grenade.”

“We have antimatter engines?”

“Yes, we do. They’re new. In any case, Musgrave exploded his as the two fleets merged. The star cruisers were at almost point blank range. The antimatter blast knocked down many enemy shields.”

“Interesting,” Maddox said. “Yes. I could see how that would work.”

“Fletcher pounced on the opportunity. His ships poured fire at the stricken vessels, and seven star cruisers were destroyed.”

“Seven…” Maddox said, nodding.

“The enemy annihilated
thirty-eight
of our capital ships,” O’Hara said. “They also obliterated dozens of destroyers and twelve troop transports.”

“That’s a lot of dead space marines.”

“It would have been, but Fletcher had turned the transports into decoys.”

“I see,” Maddox said. “And I find this amazing. Two points, though. One, I still want to rescue Meta. I know how to do it. Two, you said thirty-eight capital ships were destroyed. That still leaves thirty-six.”

“Exactly,” O’Hara said. “Those thirty-six capital ships are traveling between Caria 323 and the Tannish Systems.”

“I’m not sure I understand what that’s supposed to mean.”

“It means Fletcher took a gamble,” O’Hara said. “He raced out-system with the remainder of his fleet. In a few more months, he will reach the Tannish System.”

“He’s traveling at sub-light speeds?” Maddox asked.

“Yes.”

Maddox thought about that. “The New Men will be waiting for him at Tannish. They’ll annihilate the rest of the Fifth Fleet.”

“Yes.”

“Unless someone does something to aid Fletcher’s remnants,” Maddox said.

The Iron Lady folded her hands on the desktop. “We are, naturally, rushing envoys to the Wahhabi Caliphate, the Spacers and the Windsor League. We are requesting an immediate alliance with the first two, followed by their main fleets, and we are urging the Windsor League to hurry with their promised reinforcements.”

Maddox shook his head. “You’ll never gather a large enough fleet in that timeframe. Three to four months isn’t long enough for our envoys to convince the sheiks and rush the Wahhabi warships to Tannish in time. Unless… I just thought of something.”

“Yes?” O’Hara asked.

“The New Men might see Fletcher’s situation as an opportunity.”

“In what way?”

“To lure more of our warships into a bad tactical situation,” Maddox said. “Maybe that’s why they allowed Fletcher to escape Caria in the first place.”

“You raise an interesting point,” O’Hara said. “I would also like to point out that the Lord High Admiral has suggested the same thing.”

“There’s something else that bothers me,” Maddox said. “How do you know any of this? If Fletcher sent a message to ships in the Tannish System, that would have taken several months. Assuming the message traveled at light speed from the Fifth Fleet. Then those Tannish System ships receiving Fletcher’s signals would have to use jump routes to rush to Earth. When did the battle happen, and how do you know about it?”

“Do you recall Commander Kris Guderian of the
Osprey
?”

“Of course,” Maddox said, “a good Patrol officer. I met her coming in from the Beyond aboard
Victory
.”

“After the battle, Guderian used the Caria-Lamia Tramline, slipping through. As you say, she has a Patrol vessel, a frigate with a cloaking device. She slipped past star cruisers waiting in the Lamia System and raced back to Earth.”

“No,” Maddox said. “I doubt she slipped past the New Men. It makes more sense that the enemy let her through.”

“The Lord High Admiral agrees with you,” O’Hara said. “The New Men’s arrogance may have helped to give us our opportunity. As you’ve suggested, Lord High Admiral Cook thinks the enemy wants to lure more of our ships out into “C” Quadrant so the New Men can ambush them. Thus, it’s quite possible the enemy is hoping we send a rescue fleet to the Tannish System.”

“
Are
we sending a rescue fleet?” Maddox asked.

The Iron Lady looked down at her hands. She seemed to deflate, and her age showed. She’d taken some of the Methuselah Treatment in the past. Although she seemed a spry sixty, she was in her nineties.

Maddox turned away, waiting for O’Hara to regain her composure. Soon, he heard the Iron Lady clear her throat, and regarded her once more.

With her head thrust forward and a vital energy radiating from her eyes, O’Hara began to speak. “We cannot afford to lose those thirty-six capital ships. But we face a grave dilemma. We don’t dare allow too many more warships to leave the Solar System. If we should lose Earth to a surprise enemy raid—it is doubtful the Commonwealth would recover from such a blow.”

“I don’t understand that. If we need Fletcher’s ships to win the war, we must gather everything and go to Tannish and save them.”

“Let us be clear about something, Captain. The New Men are smarter than we are. They can outmaneuver us almost at will. That means we cannot accept normal calculated risks.”

“Then we’ve already lost the war.”

“No!” O’Hara said, with her eyes shining. “We have a particular vessel, if you’ll recall. It’s old, over six thousand years old.”

“You mean
Victory
.”

“Precisely,” O’Hara said. “It is the key to saving the Fifth Fleet.”

“Our scientists have had over ten months to go over the ancient vessel,” Maddox said. “Doctor Dana Rich is among them. You’re suggesting they’ve discovered something useful?”

“You haven’t heard?” O’Hara asked.

“Heard what, ma’am?”

“This isn’t a time for games, Captain. What have you heard about
Victory
? It’s important I know.”

Maddox shrugged. “The ship is in the Oort cloud somewhere, protected by a taskforce. After that, I haven’t heard a thing.”

“Firstly,” O’Hara said, “it’s guarded by the Home Fleet, not just a taskforce.
Victory
is the single greatest hope our side has. Without those ancient alien weapons, I believe humanity is doomed.”

“Then it’s good for us I brought it back from the Beyond.”

“No, not yet it isn’t.” O’Hara frowned, and she seemed to choose her words with care. “There’s a security blackout in the Oort cloud over
Victory
. For the last ten months, no one out there has returned to Earth except for the original crew.”

“That’s one of the reasons we have to find Meta,” Maddox said.

O’Hara blinked rapidly, looking confused. “What? Meta. No! Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve said?”

“The New Men’s secret service has her. The most likely reason for that is to discover all they can about
Victory
.”

“Pay attention, Captain.”

“I know how to recover Meta,” Maddox said earnestly. “But we have to move now before it’s too late.”

O’Hara sighed. “Very well, what’s your great insight, Captain?”

Maddox told the Iron Lady about his encounter with the large man and the red-haired woman in the Dempsey Tower lobby yesterday.

“That man is named Mr. Kane,” Maddox said. “He’s the one who engineered Meta’s kidnapping, and he still has her. I also think he’s been genetically altered.”

“Yes, yes,” O’Hara said impatiently.

“Ma’am, the red-haired woman was Susan Love, the fashion model. I knew I’d seen her somewhere before. Find her and she can lead us to Kane. Then we’ll free Meta.”

It took O’Hara three seconds. “Right,” she said. The Iron Lady pressed an intercom button, giving orders for an Intelligence team to pick up Susan Love discreetly.

“There,” O’Hara said, as she looked up. “Are you satisfied?”

“For now,” Maddox said.

“You’re willing to hear how we can save the human race from defeat and possible extinction?”

“I’m at your command, ma’am.”

“As I was saying,
Victory
may be our only hope. I don’t see the caliphate coming to its senses any time soon. The Spacers are thinking about leaving their part of the Orion Arm.”

“That’s a serious option for them?” Maddox asked.

“For all your intelligence, Captain, I don’t think you comprehend the gravity of the New Men. There have been reports of nuclear bombardments. Not just a warhead or two on military installations, but a saturation attack that ignited the planetary atmosphere, annihilating an entire population.”

“Genocide,” Maddox whispered.

“Who knows what the New Men have done to other captured populations. We are not sanguine concerning the results. This is possibly a species war, the New Men against the old.”

Maddox felt uneasy. If he were part New Man would that automatically make him the enemy? Why did the New Men go to these extreme lengths? What had caused them to attack in the first place? There were no reports of their existence before their attacks started.

“Captain Maddox,” O’Hara said, speaking gravely. “Those of us who know the truth about
Victory
have become more astounded by the week at how you managed to bring the ancient super-ship to the Solar System.”

“I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean,” Maddox said.