The Lost Artifact Read online

“You didn’t let me finish. Arm the clones with Builder equipment and…equipment from the Nameless Ones.”

  Maddox stared at the android. “The cloaked vessel we destroyed had Nameless Ones tech?”

  “I doubt that.”

  “I’m not tracking you.”

  “The next clone will likely have Nameless Ones tech.”

  “This isn’t the last clone?”

  “Oh, I should think not.”

  Maddox put his hands behind his back. He began to think, rethink and then he reassessed his idea.

  “Yen Cho,” Maddox said. And he went on to tell the android about the piece of debris that had used the Laumer Point to escape Victory.

  The android did not respond.

  “What do you think the piece of debris might be?” Maddox asked.

  “Captain,” Yen Cho said slowly. “I believe you should retrieve that so-called piece of debris.”

  “What do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Maddox realized the android was lying. He was fairly certain that Yen Cho had a good idea what the debris was. In fact, the captain would go out on a limb to say that the android was excited, at least as excited as an emotionless mechanical man could be.

  “Well,” Maddox finally said. “I’m not going after it. I have other business…and frankly…”

  “You have a proposal,” Yen Cho said. “I am listening.”

  “I might be able to let you persuade me to retrieve this piece of debris. You obviously think it is important. However, I absolutely will not make the attempt as long as I have these fibers lodged in my brain. I am not going to leave myself defenseless to more android tricks.”

  “Spacer tricks, really,” Yen Cho said. “Androids have incorporated them from time to time, but I see what you mean. Let me think.”

  The android froze.

  Maddox stepped up to some controls and pressed a switch, breaking the comm link between them.

  “What do you think?” Maddox asked Riker.

  The sergeant shrugged. “Seems like a mess, sir. Strand and his clones are obviously up to something. I can’t tell what. Do you know, sir?”

  Maddox shook his head.

  “Killing the Lord High Admiral,” Riker said. “That was a dirty move.”

  “Yes, it is interesting,” Maddox said. “I wonder if that’s the crux of the matter.”

  “Sir?” Riker asked.

  “A moment, Sergeant. The android wishes to speak.” Maddox clicked on the connection.

  “I believe I have a solution,” Yen Cho said. “You need a stasis-field emitter.”

  “The kind Strand uses?”

  “A much smaller emitter and for a very localized area. A doctor could use the emitter, putting your brain in the stasis field. Afterward, it would likely prove a simple matter to extract the fibers, all of them. Naturally, I could perform the operation—”

  “Thank you but no,” Maddox said.

  “I perfectly understand.”

  “How long would it take you to construct such an emitter?”

  “A day or two if I had your full cooperation,” the android said.

  “Let me ponder the idea. Until then, is there anything you wish to add?”

  “Speed is likely critical if we’re to retrieve this piece of debris.”

  “Tell me, do the androids fear Strand’s ultimate objective?”

  “We don’t know it yet, but we do fear Strand’s reckless use of Builder and Nameless Ones technology for such primitive goals as the selfish Methuselah Man seeks.”

  “I see,” Maddox said. “Until we speak later, then.”

  “Yes, Captain. I hope you don’t take too long to see the need for desperate action and haste.”

  Maddox clicked off the connection.

  “You’re not serious about letting him make this emitter?” Riker asked.

  “As to that, Sergeant,” Maddox said. “I don’t know. First, I’d like to speak with Andros about the project.”

  -41-

  Maddox didn’t need long to decide. He trusted the android in playing honest about the stasis-field emitter and removing the fibers from his mind. Obviously, Yen Cho wanted him to go after the so-called piece of debris. In order for that to happen, Maddox had to be well enough to travel.

  As the android and Andros Crank built the emitter—under the watchful eyes of Security marines—Victory decelerated as it approached the Laumer Point. The starship had come the long way, by traveling all three billion kilometers one kilometer at a time. The starship had almost come to a complete stop near the entry point while the two worked on the emitter’s finishing touches.

  On the bridge, Valerie seemed anxious. She left her station to stand behind Maddox in the command chair.

  “This is taking too long,” she said softly.

  Maddox glanced back at her. “Possibly,” he said.

  “That piece of debris planned to go through the Laumer Point. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that that’s the case. That means the longer we wait here, the greater chance it has of reaching a rendezvous point over there.”

  “Possibly,” Maddox said again.

  Valerie eyed him and seemed as if she might throw up her hands, but finally nodded and returned to her station.

  Maddox contemplated the main screen, studying the Laumer Point.

  It was invisible to the naked eye, but not to their Laumer sensors. The point swirled in the blackness of space, waiting for someone to give the signal and use the linkage between star systems.

  Maddox tapped his chin with his pressed together index fingers.

  He hated the idea of anyone controlling his thoughts or his actions. The fibers had to go. But it was more than that. He wasn’t certain that he could safely make the jump with the fibers in place. Strand hated him. Surely, the clone had hated him as well. Maybe the fibers would act as a sort of time bomb. If he went through a Laumer Point, that might activate them somehow and kill him.

  Maybe he should have explained that to Valerie. But Maddox disliked having to explain his actions. She was part of the crew. She should obey his orders and trust him.

  Several hours later, Andros reported that the emitter was finished. He would like to make a few tests before they tried it on Maddox, though.

  “No,” the captain said. “We don’t have time for that.”

  On the screen, Andros looked as if he wanted to make a pithy statement.

  “We’re on a tight schedule, Chief Technician. We shall proceed.”

  “Yes, sir,” Andros said.

  Despite that, it took another four hours to prepare for the surgery. Finally, beginning to feel anxious himself, Maddox reported to medical. Doctor Lister’s premier assistant would perform the surgery. Lister was no longer in critical condition, but she wasn’t one hundred percent well yet. Furthermore, Maddox did not trust her to operate on him after what he’d done to her.

  His suspicious nature naturally assumed she would want to get back at him any way she could.

  “That isn’t how she thinks,” Meta told him in the waiting room.

  His wife had asked about his decision, and he’d told her his reasoning.

  “I’ve read her psych profile,” Meta added. “Doctor Lister is a professional—”

  “Forget it,” the captain said, interrupting. “Lister’s assistant is performing the operation and that’s final.”

  “Husband—”

  “That’s final,” Maddox repeated. “I won’t change my mind on this, not for anyone.”

  Meta stamped her right foot. She folded her arms and pouted. Finally, she pestered him by beginning the argument anew.

  “Listen, Husband—”

  “If you say any more,” Maddox said, “I’m going to send for Security and have them confine you to quarters.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she said.

  Maddox lifted an eyebrow.

  Meta sighed and finally relented. She undoubtedly knew that he woul
d dare.

  Andros was in the operating theater with the emitter. Marines had already escorted Yen Cho to his cell. The assistant appeared in the waiting room and asked Maddox if he wouldn’t like Doctor Lister to watch and advise him.

  “The operation is your responsibility alone,” Maddox said, testily.

  The assistant was a gangly man with graying hair on the sides. “I feel that I should inform you again, sir, that I’m underqualified for—”

  “I don’t want to hear any more,” Maddox said, interrupting. “Let us proceed.”

  The man paled but nodded. He indicated the hatch. Maddox preceded him, and the prep team took over. Maddox soon lay on the table. Andros positioned the cart that held the emitter so the unit aimed at the captain’s head. The assistant nodded. Andros threw a switch and activated the stasis field.

  At that point, Maddox faded from consciousness. He did not dream. He wasn’t aware of anything.

  Unknown to Maddox, the gangly assistant took longer than seemed necessary to Andros and the surgery team. The man searched for every fiber. Galyan appeared from time to time, telling him about yet another fiber he’d overlooked. Finally, the assistant’s instruments could not locate another fiber. Galyan did a scan and declared Maddox free from them.

  The assistant placed the skull bone back into place and fused it. Exhausted after three hours of tedious work, he signaled Andros Crank.

  The Kai-Kaus Chief Technician turned off the stasis-field emitter.

  Everyone in the chamber looked at Maddox on the operating table. To their surprise, the captain opened his eyes.

  “Can you hear me?” the assistant asked.

  “Quite well, yes,” Maddox said.

  The assistant glanced at a nurse before addressing the captain again. “Can you stand, do you think?”

  Maddox sat up. A moment later, he swung his feet off the table, sat another minute, and then stood without trouble.

  At that point, the assistant urged him to lie back down and wait a bit before resuming active duty. By all appearances, however, the surgery seemed to have been a perfect success.

  -42-

  Two hours after the fibers had been removed, Maddox was back on the bridge. He stood before the main screen. He couldn’t help touching his bristly skull one more time.

  The fibers were gone. He felt incredible relief. What was wrong with Strand and his clones that they had to control everyone? What did that say about the Methuselah Man? Plenty. He needed to go over the Intelligence Department’s psych profile again and study that part. It might give him a clue as to the clone’s ultimate motivation.

  “We’re ready to enter the Laumer Point, sir,” Valerie said from her station.

  Maddox was silent. Had the assistant gotten every fiber from his mind?

  “Sir?” Valerie asked.

  Maddox inhaled sharply, turned and moved to his command chair. He sat, leaned back and gave the command to proceed.

  The bridge personnel began the process. The Laumer device in Victory sent the signals. The Laumer Point activated and waited for whatever material object entered its radius. This Starship Victory began to do as the antimatter engines accelerated the huge vessel. Helm gave the countdown. The mighty warship entered the Laumer Point. In that instant, a Laumer link appeared, connecting the Laumer Point in the Tristano System to one in the Gideon System. Within a microsecond, the starship zipped 9.4 light-years, popping out of the swirling Laumer Point into the Gideon System.

  Not so very long ago, everyone—and the computers—would have experienced Jump Lag. That was no longer the case. A few people felt faint, but that was it.

  Maddox sat utterly still, trying to determine how he felt. He grinned to himself. He felt good, a tiny bit sluggish, but that was how he usually felt after making a jump.

  “Ship has made the transfer,” Valerie reported. “We’re in the Gideon System, sir.”

  Maddox nodded. “What are the system’s specifics?” he asked.

  Valerie checked her panel. “The star is G-class and possesses two inner terrestrial planets. We’ve come out near the second of those planets, sir.”

  The lieutenant changed the view on the main screen. Maddox looked upon a dry world like Mars, only three times as big as the Red Planet.

  “Earth norms?” he asked.

  “Negative, sir,” she said. “The air is contaminated by our standards. According to the Patrol Survey from one hundred and forty years ago, the planet is uninhabited by any indigenous life. There don’t appear to be any colonization efforts. Oh. This is interesting.”

  Maddox turned his chair so he could see her.

  Valerie looked up. “It appears there are ancient ruins on the planet. According to this…” She began reading again. “Sir,” she said, looking up sharply. “Strand once led an archeological team onto the planet.”

  “A Star Watch team?” Maddox asked.

  “No, a Mercer Corporation survey team.”

  “When was that?”

  “If this is right, two hundred and thirty-six years ago.”

  Maddox pressed his lips together as he thought about that.

  “The Mercer Corporation appears to have made a habit of searching for ancient alien ruins,” Valerie said, as she read more. “The corporation…went defunct one hundred and eleven years ago.”

  “Does the report say if they found anything of use down there?”

  Valerie shook her head. “The Mercer survey analysis is blank, sir.”

  “Figures,” Keith mumbled from Helm control.

  “Any sign of…space debris?” Maddox asked.

  “Not so far,” Valerie said.

  “Keep scanning. Launch probes if you need to.” Maddox stood.

  “You’re not staying?” Valerie asked.

  “You have bridge, Lieutenant.”

  “I haven’t finished my report yet concerning the system.”

  Maddox waved that aside. “Scan for space debris. Search for anything with any kind of power. We’re looking for a Builder artifact, a small one, is my guess.”

  “What kind of artifact?” Valerie asked.

  “Exactly,” Maddox said. “That’s what I want to find out.”

  ***

  The hatch to Yen Cho’s cell opened. Maddox stepped into the small quarters. The android sat facing him, making eye contact after putting another card onto the table.

  Riker came through next. The sergeant held a heavy caliber gun aimed at Yen Cho.

  “Pull up a chair, Captain,” the android said. “I presume you wish to leave your sergeant near the hatch so I can’t make any sudden lunges and disarm him.”

  A marine outside the cell closed the heavy hatch.

  “Is it locked?” Yen Cho asked conversationally.

  Maddox took two chairs from the table but did not sit there. Instead, he drew the chairs to him, setting the first near the bulkhead containing the hatch. Maddox sat and tilted the chair back until the back touched the bulkhead. With his feet, he turned the other chair so its backrest wasn’t in the way of his line of sight to Yen Cho. Maddox used the second chair as a footrest, also making it easier to lean back as he did.

  “Comfortable?” asked Yen Cho.

  Maddox glanced at Riker. The sergeant continued to aim the outsized pistol at the android. Riker used his bionic arm and could thus keep the weapon steady for hours.

  “It’s time to talk,” Maddox said.

  Yen Cho set down the cards in his hands. “You’ve found…the debris?”

  “That’s one of the things I want to talk about. You were going to say something else just now instead of debris. It will help us find it if I know what the debris is exactly.”

  Yen Cho spread out his hands to indicate he did not have any specifics.

  “Perhaps that’s true,” Maddox said. “Yet, I believe it’s more accurate to say that you’re only ninety-seven percent sure what we’ll find.”

  “You are astute as always, Captain. I am hoping you find a robot.”r />
  “A particular kind of robot, right?”

  “Builder constructed, of course.”

  “Can you be more precise?”

  “Yes. A guardian Builder robot,” Yen Cho said softly.

  “What exactly is that?”

  “A protector.”

  “Let’s play twenty questions, then,” Maddox said. “Here’s number four. Why are you so interested in this guardian robot?”

  “Knowledge,” Yen Cho said. “The robot could hold…interesting knowledge. For instance, it could tell us more about the Builders. You’ve talked to a Builder before. You must realize they are secretive to a fault. But this is more to the issue. If the original Strand has more hideaways that will release yet more of his clones, one of them will undoubtedly use stolen technology from the Nameless Ones. I suspect we will need the guardian robot to help us defeat that highly suspect tech.”

  “Are you suggesting that the next Strand clone will have a neutroium-hulled Destroyer?”

  “I seriously doubt that.”

  “What then?” Maddox asked.

  “I believe the robot would know, as it has spent time with a Strand clone, among other things. Knowing would undoubtedly help us capture the next clone before it does something incredibly destructive.”

  “Can you be more precise?”

  “I dearly wish I could,” Yen Cho said. “I simply do not have enough facts yet, but I am quite sure about my guesses.”

  “And you think that the Rull faction of androids also wants this robot?”

  “Oh, yes. I am quite sure of that.”

  “Do they want the robot in order to help stop the next Strand clones?”

  “Possibly…”

  Maddox lifted his feet off the chair as he let the one he was sitting on thump all four legs onto the floor. “That implies the Rull want the robot for something else. What else, Yen Cho?”

  Once more, the android spread out his hands in a noncommittal gesture.

  “I think you’re lying about not knowing their ultimate goal,” Maddox said.

  “I speak the truth, but this talk is possibly a waste of time. We need to find the robot, if it exists. We need to find it as soon as possible.”

  “Why did the presumed guardian robot choose the Gideon System?”