The Lost Earth (Lost Starship Series Book 7) Page 15

  “Correct.”

  “I’m a man of intellect.”

  “Part of you is. Clearly, you are also a man of great emotion. Your endless bragging proves it.”

  “Is it bragging if it’s the truth?”

  “I could easily defeat you in hand to hand combat,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff rubbed his chin until he grinned at Maddox. “Who would believe that a child in terms of experience could teach the master a lesson? It is amazing, and instructive. Good day, Captain. I must return to the laboratory.”

  Maddox grinned to himself as the professor exited the bridge. Soon thereafter, the captain focused on the present star system. A few more jumps and they would reach the system of yet another ancient race.

  They weren’t going to refight the ancient war, but they might be able to use the tools or the information gleaned from that time in order to help save the human race from ending its short time in the galaxy.

  -36-

  Fifty-two hours later, Maddox stood on the bridge, viewing the burnt cinders of what had once been a planet.

  Masses of debris circled the largest central piece. The debris was composed of igneous rock—the world’s former crust—and iron and magnesium rock—the former mantle—and iron chunks—the once molten core of the planet. Only the solid iron core of the planet remained: the locus of the gravitational force that locked the debris around it.

  “This is frightening,” Valerie said from her station.

  “What kind of weapon did this?” Maddox asked.

  “Nothing we own,” the lieutenant said. “Nothing we even know of.”

  Ludendorff stood to the side. The professor kept shaking his head. “We must check the other planets for artifacts,” he said.

  Maddox looked up. He had his doubts about the utility of checking the other planets, but since they were here, they might as well look.

  Thirty-four hours later, it was clear that whoever had destroyed the once Earth-like planet had also burned down any evidence of the ancient alien race’s existence elsewhere in the system.

  “I must conclude that a fierce emotion motivated the destroyers of this system,” Ludendorff said. He regarded the others. “We must extend our search to the other nearby star systems.”

  “I disagree,” Maddox said.

  “We need answers,” Ludendorff declared.

  “Perhaps, but we’re also running out of time. Not only do we have to retrieve the Destroyers, but we have to get them running and reach Earth before the Swarm Fleet arrives.”

  “This isn’t the time to quit, Captain.”

  “No one is quitting,” Maddox said. “This is the time for a reality check. We’re not going to find more data regarding your ancient race. We have what we have.”

  “But that’s not enough,” Ludendorff said.

  “It has to be enough. We’re not going to get more. That means we have to use what we have.”

  “It’s precious little.”

  “Nevertheless, it is what we have. Figure out how to make a mind shield, Professor. That’s up to Dana and you.”

  Ludendorff shook his head. “You’re asking too much of us.”

  “You’re right,” Maddox said. “I’m counting on the great Professor Ludendorff to pull another rabbit out of his hat.”

  “Saying that in a stirring way won’t change the grim situation,” Ludendorff said moodily.

  “I’m not hoping to change it.”

  “Yes,” Ludendorff said with a sigh. “I am well aware of what you want to change: you hope to pump me full of enthusiasm so I’ll work harder and harder—”

  “Quit telling me about it,” Maddox said, interrupting. “You know that actions speak louder than words. Well, start shouting.”

  Ludendorff stared at Maddox.

  The captain turned to the navigator. “Set a course for the Ezwal System. We’ll use the Einstein-Rosen Bridge like we did last time. We made it past the black hole and gained nearly four hundred light-years in a swoop. Let’s hope there’s no Rull Juggernaut waiting for us on the other end this time.”

  “I have a better solution,” Ludendorff said. “Forget about the Ska, the null region and the Destroyers. Let’s go to Sind II and collect the Juggernauts. They can take the place of a Destroyer.”

  Maddox nodded curtly. “You’ve just outlined Plan B. That should relieve some of the pressure from you to produce Plan A. Yet, I have to admit, Plan A has a much higher chance of giving us victory over the Swarm.”

  “No pressure?” Ludendorff asked.

  “Maybe a little,” Maddox admitted. “Is there anything else?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Why aren’t you in the lab manufacturing our miracle?”

  “I have to have the brainwave first,” Ludendorff said.

  “Start experimenting. If that doesn’t work, ask Andros Crank to assist you. The Kai-Kaus have a different way of looking at these things. That may be just the impetus you need.”

  Ludendorff pursed his lips, nodding after a moment. “You may have a point.” The professor made a half salute, turned and headed for the exit.

  -37-

  As Victory raced through the Laumer Points and used its star drive to jump to strategically placed wormholes, Ludendorff, Dana, Galyan and Andros Crank strove tirelessly to resolve several pressing dilemmas. Yet, it was Valerie who came up with the idea of how to reenter the null region.

  The professor explained on the bridge to Maddox how difficult it would be to find a place no one had ever spotted before.

  “Think about it,” Ludendorff said. “We don’t know how the Builders created a null region. We don’t even know what a null region is. Where does it belong? Supposedly, the Ska came from a different dimension. But what does that mean? What was the mechanism of travel? What—”

  “You were talking about the Builders creating the null region,” Maddox said.

  “I hate to admit it,” Ludendorff said. “But I’m mentally exhausted. I’ve been striving for weeks on end, my boy. In the final analysis, that drains even the Methuselah Man.”

  “I would think it would be more draining on you than on others,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff waved that aside. “I’m going to let the insult pass. I simply don’t care anymore.”

  “There was no insult intended.”

  “I certainly took it that way,” the professor said. “You’re implying I have less energy than the others do.”

  “Of course,” Maddox said. “Isn’t that obvious?”

  “Now I am angered, sir. My energy outdoes others by many magnitudes. It is one of the reasons I survive year in and year out.”

  “You’re claiming normal aging doesn’t affect you?”

  “Explain your meaning.”

  Maddox shrugged. “A child is always moving because he has boundless energy, while an old man just wants to sit still. A child can do a thing over and over again because of his great zeal. The older we get, the more easily we’re bored. That is due to a lack of energy. Thus, logically, as a Methuselah Man, you must have less energy than the rest of us.”

  “What about your supposed Creator, then?” Ludendorff asked. “He must be the oldest of all. Is God motionless?”

  “Maybe God has the zest and energy of a newborn child. Maybe that’s what it means to be the Creator, and why He created in such magnificent abundance. Even on Earth we don’t have one or two species of birds, we have tens of thousands, showing the creative exuberance of the Creator and thus His boundless energy.”

  Ludendorff scratched his cheek. “I’ll say this, Captain. It is an interesting hypothesis. I wonder if I could incorporate it in our scheme to thwart the Ska.” The professor shrugged a moment later.

  “It doesn’t help us solve the problem of finding the null region,” Maddox said. “Nothing gets done if we can’t find it.”

  “I think I can find the null region,” Valerie said, piping in from her station.

  Ludendorff whirl
ed around. “You?” he asked. “You must be joking. How are you going to find a place no one had ever seen before Maddox fell into it?”

  “Easily,” Valerie said. “I thought of it some time ago, but I thought that must be too easy. Yet, I haven’t heard any of you suggesting the method.”

  “Please,” Ludendorff said. “Don’t hold me in suspense. What is your glorious technological breakthrough?”

  “None at all,” Valerie said. “I used to substitute-teach math classes before I entered the Space Academy. It was how I made extra money.”

  “How utterly fascinating,” Ludendorff declared while rolling his eyes at Maddox.

  “If you don’t want me to explain it…” Valerie said.

  “No, no, please continue,” the professor said. “You substitute-taught math…”

  “I substitute-taught many classes,” Valerie said. “This just happens to explain how I figured out our present problem. Kids were always asking for help on their algebra and geometry assignments. Sometimes, I remembered how to use the correct formulas they were working on. Sometimes, I’d already forgotten. Those times, I used simple logic to figure out the right mathematical answer. That seldom helped the student, though. They just wanted to know the method the teacher had taught them.”

  “What does any of that have to do with the null region?” Ludendorff asked.

  “We don’t have to find the region,” Valerie said. “We just have to get into it.”

  Ludendorff stared at her. He didn’t seem mocking anymore. Instead—his eyes widened abruptly.

  “I guess you see it now, too,” Valerie said.

  Ludendorff turned to Maddox. “I can’t believe this. It’s so easy a child could figure it out.”

  “But a child didn’t,” Valerie said. “I did. When the great and mighty—”

  “Forget about that,” Ludendorff said in a rush of excitement. “That was inspired thinking on your part, Lieutenant.”

  Valerie allowed herself a small smile.

  “Yes,” Ludendorff said. “Now, I can go back to figuring out how to negate the Ska’s telepathic powers.”

  “Before you do any of that,” Maddox said, “I want to know how we’re going to enter the null region.”

  “Should I tell him?” Ludendorff asked Valerie.

  The lieutenant nodded.

  “We duplicate the former situation,” Ludendorff told Maddox.

  “We don’t have a Juggernaut to hold us back with a tractor beam,” Maddox said.

  Ludendorff turned to Valerie, “Am I correct in assuming that you have the starship’s exact coordinates last voyage before it jumped into the null region?”

  “Yes,” Valerie said.

  Ludendorff spread his hands in Maddox’s direction. “Do you finally see?”

  “Oh…” Maddox said. “Yes.”

  “Good,” Ludendorff said. He hurried off the bridge, no doubt back to the laboratory.

  Valerie turned back to her comm board. A few moments later, she became aware of someone standing nearby. She looked up to see Maddox frowning down at her.

  “Sir?” she asked.

  Maddox cleared his throat. “What is the method?” he asked quietly.

  “What method is that, sir?” she asked.

  “Of entering the null region.”

  She realized in that moment that the captain had not yet figured it out. With as straight a face as possible, she explained. “We go to the exact location Victory was before when the Juggernaut attempted to lock onto us with its tractor beam. Then, we apply the same amount of power using a star drive as we did last time.”

  “We’ll simply jump normally as we tried to do last time?” Maddox asked, perplexed.

  “No,” Valerie said, “as a tractor beam will lock us in place.”

  “Where do you and Ludendorff hope to find another Juggernaut?”

  “We won’t need one,” she said.

  “Lieutenant,” Maddox warned.

  Valerie relented. “We’ll use our tractor beam, sir. We’ll latch onto something and anchor ourselves. Once we’ve reached the same stress level as last time, we’ll cut the tractor beam and hopefully launch ourselves into the null region.”

  “Ah…” Maddox said. “That is simple and elegant. You think Ludendorff understands the plan?”

  “I do, sir.”

  Maddox rubbed his chin as he moved back to his captain’s chair. He glanced at her—

  Valerie hurriedly looked down at her board. She glanced sidelong at him a moment later. The captain was still rubbing his chin.

  Valerie smiled. She might not be a genetic superwoman. She might not be able to live forever like a Methuselah Man, but this time, she’d figured out the problem before anyone else could. That made her feel more than good. It made her feel important.

  -38-

  Halfway to the Ezwal System, Ludendorff, Dana and Andros Crank were arguing in the laboratory. They could not find a method to stop something when they didn’t know how it worked.

  “If I could probe more deeply into Riker, I might be able to learn more,” Dana said.

  “Why don’t you do just that?” Ludendorff asked.

  “The captain won’t approve it,” Dana said.

  “Then we have to convince him of the urgency—”

  “I’ve tried,” Dana said. “He won’t budge. He’s worried the sergeant won’t recover from the process next time.”

  “We must risk it anyway,” Ludendorff said. “By what method or property does a Ska communicate with a person?”

  “If we cannot determine the method,” Andros said, “maybe we should do what you figured out in the first place?”

  Ludendorff nodded encouragingly.

  “You realized we couldn’t kill the Ska,” Andros said, “but maybe we could block its mind power.”

  “If that’s the right way to say it,” Ludendorff said.

  “No,” Andros said. “Instead of stopping its mind power, we block it in a different manner altogether.”

  “How?” Ludendorff and Dana asked together.

  “Put earphones on a man and play loud music,” Andros said. “Instead of listening to the Ska, the person will be too busy listening to his music.”

  Ludendorff laughed. “Yes. That might work under certain circumstances. It’s an interesting idea. Yet the music will work better on a less disciplined person. The disciplined person would be better able to ignore the music and thereby hear and obey the Ska.”

  “Maybe the disciplined person could ignore the Ska’s power altogether,” Andros said.

  “I’m the likeliest candidate then,” Ludendorff said.

  “The second likeliest candidate,” Dana amended.

  “Don’t tell me you think Maddox is better dis—”

  “Yes!” Dana said. “I suspect he is the most disciplined. That might also explain why the Ska failed to thwart him the first time Victory went into the null region.”

  “That’s good for another reason,” Andros said. “We still don’t know why the null region drains energy, and thus we have failed to develop a counter. The captain remained awake last time when the rest of us fell asleep. Thus, it is good that the captain can best resist the Ska.”

  “We need to give our side better odds than that,” Ludendorff said. “I like your idea, Chief Technician, because at least it’s a method. But we must find something more certain. We know the Ska was sleepy last time, last to the party, so to speak. What do we do if the Ska is early this time?”

  Andros opened his mouth before closing it without saying a word.

  Dana did the same a few minutes later.

  Finally, Ludendorff snapped his fingers. “I have an idea. It’s imperfect. But it extrapolates from your music-listening idea. The key to the idea is having something so the bearer or wearer ignores the Ska. Maybe we should drug the selected people. Given the right drugs, a person often isn’t scared when they should be.”

  “A drugged person would also make stupid decisions,
” Dana said.

  “That is one of the drawbacks, of course,” Ludendorff said.

  “Still…” Dana said.

  “It is a good extrapolation,” Andros said.

  “Are Kai-Kaus always this agreeable?” Ludendorff asked.

  “No. We learned to tell the truth, because only the continued and stark truth kept us alive as we battled the Swarm.”

  Andros Crank referred to the Builder Dyson Sphere, where a Builder had experimented with Swarm and humans in an enclosed environment.

  Ludendorff acknowledged the answer with a grunt. “So far, our answers are substitutes for solid tech edges.”

  “We may not find one of those,” Dana said. “That’s why we’re trying to steal Nameless Ones’ technology in the first place.”

  “True,” Ludendorff said.

  At that point, klaxons began to blare.

  Looking up, Dana asked, “Now what has gone wrong?”

  -39-

  On the bridge, Captain Maddox sat forward on the command chair. They had just completed what had become a routine star-drive jump.

  By this time, they had refined the process so no one felt any Jump Lag. That included the equipment. It meant that Valerie, Galyan and other sensor operators could begin scanning the moment the starship arrived at its new destination.

  This time, Galyan had been operating the ship’s scanners.

  The system had a G-class star with two terrestrial planets in the inner system and one super-Jupiter in what would have been the trans-Neptunian region in the Solar System. The system had two valuable Laumer Points, one near the star and the other near the super-Jupiter gas giant. Victory had appeared at a Mercury orbital-like distance from the system star. That was extremely near. This was an unusual Laumer Point because it shifted its position in an orbital manner like a planet. Today, the Laumer Point was on the other side of the star from Victory.

  “I have double-checked my findings, sir,” Galyan said.

  On the main screen, Maddox examined a faint image of a saucer-shaped starship. The vessel was halfway between the star and Victory.