The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) Page 30

“I am a Star Watch Intelligence officer,” Maddox said. “It matters a great deal.”

  “Bah! I should leave you to the vermin. But,” the android said, brightening. “I won’t do that, as much as your ingratitude warrants it. You will follow the sweeper. It will bring you to a transport tube. In less than an hour…well, you shall see, my dear boy. You shall see indeed.”

  The construct turned around, ready to head the way it had come.

  “Just a minute,” Maddox said. “Did the vermin destroy the android that would have met us?”

  The construct faced them again. “The vermin made a rare entrance into the substructure,” the android said on the face screen. “It won’t happen again, I assure you.”

  “And if it does?” Maddox asked.

  “I have no more time for idle chitchat. You must hurry to me. I’ve waited far too long for this meeting. I wish to expedite it.”

  “Because more vermin are on their way here?” asked Maddox.

  On the screen, the android leaned toward him. “Would you like to face the vermin on your own, Captain?”

  Maddox had seen their numbers earlier. He doubted the three of them had enough bullets to destroy all the red creatures.

  “We’re ready to go,” the captain said.

  “Wonderful,” the android said.

  The construct turned deeper into the hall and took a step in that direction.

  ***

  Car-sized incinerator vehicles were busy burning the exoskeletons by the time Maddox and the others reached the battle-site the captain had witnessed through the scope.

  “Do you mind if we stop a moment?” Maddox asked.

  “I do indeed mind,” the Ludendorff android said from the construct’s face-screen.

  Maddox eyed a dead creature as he walked past. It was bigger than some of the others with greasy-looking muscles attached to the outer exoskeleton. The braincase was small. It did not seem like an intelligent creature. Were they Swarm life or merely a lower order species from the Swarm homeworld?

  “Where did the Swarm originate?” Maddox asked the android.

  “Not from anywhere in the Orion Arm,” the android answered.

  “Is that the extent of your knowledge?”

  “That’s all I’m going to tell you for now. I’m sure you understand the carrot and stick principle.”

  “Perfectly.”

  “For now, I’m employing the carrot. Would you like me to start using a stick?”

  “Lead on,” Maddox said.

  “Right,” the android said.

  The three of them followed the construct, leaving the crisped corpses and incinerator vehicles behind.

  “Why didn’t we ask if we could ride one of those?” Riker whispered to Maddox. “My feet are killing me.”

  “I prefer to remain a free agent for as long as possible,” Maddox whispered back. He became thoughtful. “How did the creatures enter this area?” he asked the other two. “There must be side entrances. Keep your eyes open for them.”

  As if he had heard their whispered conversation, and perhaps he had, the android in the face-screen said, “We’re almost to the transfer tube.”

  “Captain,” Riker said, urgently, as the sergeant grabbed Maddox’s left sleeve.

  Maddox saw hatches open in the far wall parallel with them. Out of the hatches poured more red creatures. They scampered fast, with their whippy tails high in the air. Behind followed bigger creatures of exoskeleton form but a different shape. They moved slower than the small ones. Their locomotion was different too. Instead of four legs, they had fifty or more centipede-like appendages. Those moved fast in a revolting manner, almost making it seem as if the bigger, taller creatures rolled along on the floor.

  “Stay where you are,” the android said from the face-screen. “This will take but a few moments’ work.”

  The metal construct began to run at the charging creatures, the clangs causing the floor to vibrate more than earlier.

  “What now, sir?” Riker asked. “Those look like more creatures than the robot can handle.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said. “We run for the other wall. Maybe a closer inspection will show us hatches we can use.”

  “And if the creatures are driving us there, sir?” Riker asked.

  “We’ll find out soon enough,” Maddox said. “Start running. I’ll catch up with you.”

  “No,” Meta said.

  “Do as he says,” Riker told her, grabbing an arm, yanking her along. “The captain can outrun either of us any day. He means to act as a rear guard to give us time.”

  Meta gave Maddox a searching look. He nodded. Then, she ran with Riker for the opposite wall.

  Maddox followed them by walking backward, keeping his eye on the battle. He estimated hundreds of the smaller creatures, maybe half as many of the bigger ones.

  The construct’s chest tube appeared. A liquid arch of flame crossed the distance, burning smaller creatures. They squealed like stuck pigs, a vicious, evil sound. None of the creatures slowed their advance, however. They all surged toward the construct.

  The alien robot beamed one of the bigger ones with a fist ray. Maddox found it interesting that the creature didn’t drop right away. It took several seconds of beaming before the outer exo-armor began to smoke. Finally, the creature hissed and began to thrash on the floor.

  Maddox looked behind him. Riker and Meta were a third of the way to the wall. He faced forward again. The little creatures charged the construct. More died to its flames. A few charred ones reached it. The metal thing began to stomp on those, squishing them so black gunk jetted in the air.

  That was interesting. They concentrated on the construct as if they could defeat it. Their means escaped the captain.

  A shrill squeal sounded. It was different from anything he’d heard so far. It came from the back of the attacking horde. It seemed to come from a slower black creature. Was that the smart one directing the others?

  A few of the surviving scampers ran past the construct after Maddox. The vile creatures squealed with delight.

  Maddox looked back. Meta and Riker were closer to the wall. Kneeling, Maddox raised the Khislack. He used the scope, targeting a small head. He squeezed the trigger.

  The stock pushed against his shoulder as the bullet cracked. The .370 grain exploded the head of a charging creature. The carcass lost motive energy, skidding across the floor. Maddox switched targets and killed the next one.

  When he lowered the rifle, Maddox noticed a strange pause in the battle. The construct and the Swarm creatures had all stopped to stare at him. It was an unwelcome feeling.

  “Do not go that way!” the android shouted. “Keep going up the hall. I’ll stop them and guide you to the transfer point.”

  Before Maddox could shout a reply, the horde of creatures charged the construct anew. As the larger ones neared the metal humanoid, they spat black globs of substance. Some of those globs struck the construct. Immediately, a chemical reaction took place as the black gunk boiled away metal like acid, producing a stench like ancient rust.

  “Run up the hall,” the android shouted. “Don’t use the side hatches.”

  Maddox spun around, sprinting as fast as he could go toward Meta and Riker.

  “There are hatches!” the captain shouted. “Use them!”

  Neither Meta nor Riker turned back toward him. They had almost reached the other side of the hall.

  As Maddox sprinted like a greyhound, he noticed outline images that hadn’t been visible while they traveled in the center of the corridor. Those looked like hatches. Why didn’t the android want them to use the doors? Would they lead to even more Swarm creatures, or would they find something that the android didn’t want them to see?

  As Maddox covered the distance, Meta reached a hatch. She felt along it and finally tried something. The hatch slid up into darkness.

  Maddox looked back. The construct flamed creatures as rusty-smelling smoke rose from it. Other creatures swept past the
metal thing, coming for Maddox and his people.

  He faced forward once more, straining to reach his comrades as they darted through a dark hatch.

  -39-

  Maddox reached the others in the darkness. The corridor was like a normal starship’s hallway, perhaps a little bigger.

  “This must be a service hall,” Riker said.

  Maddox soon led them, using a light on the EVA helmet. Much too soon from behind came crawling, scratchy sounds.

  “Why doesn’t the android gas them?” Meta panted. “Surely, it can track the creatures. Couldn’t the android simply seal the area and pump out the air?”

  Maddox moved at a half-trot, concentrating, afraid of running into a wall or some other object. That might tear the suit or worse.

  “They’re gaining on us,” Riker said, shortly.

  “Right,” Maddox said, coming to a halt. “Get behind me.”

  “No,” Meta said. “Keep running until they’re almost on us. Then, we’ll all fight together.”

  Maddox hadn’t told them about the acid-spitting creatures, as he didn’t want to demoralize them.

  “Do as I say,” he told Meta, sternly. “We’re not a debating society but a military organization.”

  “Now you listen to me,” Meta said.

  Riker grabbed an arm.

  She shook it off. “We’re about to die. I’m not going to—”

  “We’re not about to die,” Maddox said, almost sounding angry. He strode past Meta, shoving her behind him. Then, the captain bent on one knee and raised the rifle. He switched it to infrared sighting. The last several hundred meters had been in a straight line. He saw the little scampers coming as red blobs.

  “Keep going,” he said. “I’ll catch up.”

  “Maddox—”

  “Meta,” he said, with more emotion than he cared to use. “Just do as I say.”

  A flash from the barrel and a loud boom heralded a squeal of pain farther down the corridor. No one could see it in the darkness, but Maddox grinned fiercely.

  From his firing position, he began to methodically kill the smaller, faster creatures. Several took two shots. None so far took three. Maddox used several magazines to stop them and temporarily clog the corridor with their piled bodies.

  The captain rose, shouldering the Khislack. He loved the rifle. There was none better for long-ranged work.

  With the helmet lamp, he hurried after the others, soon reaching them.

  “Are any left?” Meta asked.

  “Yes, but it won’t take long for them to remove the dead.”

  Soon, Maddox listened to the sound of his labored breathing. They kept hurrying through the corridors, always going right when they had to make a choice. The sergeant began to limp, slowing their rate of advance. Maddox finally grabbed the man’s biological arm, putting it over his shoulder. He helped the sergeant move faster.

  Too soon, the captain heard the scrape of claws on metal. The surviving creatures were closing again.

  Maddox removed the sergeant’s arm from his shoulder, spun around, dropped to one knee and raised the rifle. He was getting low on ammo, not having expected hordes of creatures to trail them.

  Tight-faced, the captain began to fire. The bigger ones took three bullets to kill, never more and never less.

  He checked. He had three bullets left. With extreme deliberation, Maddox fired, killing another of the big ones. That left just two more. Setting the rifle on the floor, Maddox drew the suppressed pistol.

  He gripped it two-handed and fired shot after shot, putting down the final two Swarm creatures.

  It surprised Maddox to find that his hands shook as he holstered the pistol. He wasn’t that tired. Did he feel relief? Yes, it would appear so.

  He picked up the Khislack. Silently, he berated himself for having put the remaining ammo so deep in his backpack.

  With a growing sense of relief, he jogged after the others. They had stopped to wait for him, which made him angry.

  “You were supposed to keep going,” Maddox said.

  “Sir,” Riker said. “Can’t you see?”

  Maddox shined his light around the sergeant. Ah. He did see. The two of them had found a hatch.

  “We’ve been waiting for you,” Riker said. “Are you ready?”

  “Open it,” Maddox said.

  Riker grabbed a lever with his bionic arm. Slowly, he moved the handle. It creaked with age until something clicked in the hatch.

  The captain drew his gun. Meta aimed hers.

  Riker pulled. Dirt spilled into the corridor as did hurtful sunlight.

  Immediately, the faceplates of their EVA helmets darkened.

  “Have we reached the interior surface?” Meta asked in a hush.

  Maddox stepped toward the hatch. There were stairs leading up, with dirt on most of the steps. Some of them had moss and lichen growths.

  “Watch your step,” the captain said. He led the way, with his suppressed pistol ready.

  The steps twisted around and went steeply up. Soon, Maddox reached the top, his helmet passing it. He spied tall ferns growing around the opening with a shattered and torn-off cover lying nearby. Climbing higher still, he stepped on the surrounding soil.

  Something crunched and crackled underfoot. With a boot, he kicked away dirt, revealing yellowed bones. He looked around. Ferns grew everywhere, the biggest ones twice his height. It felt like the Jurassic Age of Earth. Craning his head, he looked up at the sun, the star. They were definitely inside the Dyson sphere. It gave him a strange feeling.

  “Should we mark the exit?” Meta asked.

  Maddox shook his head. “I’ll remember the way.”

  Meta cocked her head.

  “He’s telling the truth,” Riker said. “Once the captain has gone somewhere, he can always find his way back. It’s uncanny but useful. I’m surprised you didn’t know that by now.”

  Meta knelt by the bones, fingering them. “This is interesting, don’t you think?”

  “They’re bones,” Riker said with a shrug.

  “Exactly,” Meta said.

  Maddox turned sharply, staring at her.

  “What am I missing?” Riker asked.

  “They’re bones,” Maddox said, “not exoskeleton shells.”

  “Are those human bones?” Riker asked.

  “Maybe,” Meta said.

  “Are they are the port admiral’s bones?” the sergeant asked.

  Meta squeezed the bone in her hand, crumpling it. “I doubt that. These seem very old and brittle.”

  Maddox nodded thoughtfully. Soon, he walked several steps away, shrugged off his pack and let it hit the soil. Resting on one knee, he opened the pack and extracted extra .370 ammunition. He reloaded the empty magazines.

  “The air is breathable,” Meta said. She held an analyzer, tapping it.

  “The air could hold dangerous substances we can’t recognize as yet,” Riker said.

  “One of us should take off his helmet,” Meta said. “If he’s fine after a time, we can all do likewise.”

  “Or take off her helmet,” Riker said.

  “No one is taking off his helmet yet,” Maddox said. “It’s far too early for that.”

  “What do you suggest, sir?” Riker asked.

  “We’ll eat,” Maddox said, “rest for a while and take a look around. The android didn’t want us to go this way. I’d like to know why. If we can’t figure it out soon enough, we’ll backtrack. The port admiral is missing and this place has Victory. We have to free them both as soon as possible.”

  They sipped from concentrate tubes in their helmets. Then they settled back for ten minutes. Afterward, Maddox rose to his feet.

  “Do you feel better?”

  “No,” Riker said. “You’ve let me rest just long enough for my muscles to tighten up.”

  “Well, this is better than Loki Prime,” Maddox said.

  Neither Riker nor Meta replied to that.

  “Right,” Maddox said. “Let’s go�
�that way.” He pointed in a direction that might have been east.

  “Why that way?” Riker asked.

  “Today,” Maddox said, “one direction is just as good as another.”

  ***

  They marched through a forest of ferns with the sun heating their EVA suits. At first, they went uphill, then down for a kilometer and then even more sharply up.

  “Maybe the entire Dyson sphere is filled with ferns,” Riker complained.

  “The Swarm creatures imply otherwise,” Maddox said.

  “What about that, sir?” Riker asked. “Were those really Swarm creatures?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but it makes the most sense from what we know.”

  “Do you suppose the Dyson sphere is a giant…laboratory?” Meta asked. “Did the Builders make it and turn it into a zoo?”

  “That’s an interesting idea,” Maddox said. “What leads you to that conclusion?”

  “That it’s so empty,” she said. “If the Builders had made it to live in for themselves, why doesn’t the place abound with them?”

  “That’s assuming Builders made this place,” Riker said.

  “True,” Meta said.

  Maddox thought about that. It was as reasonable a hypotheses as any. He found a steeper section of slope but kept going as the ferns lessened ahead. With a burst of speed that left the captain panting, he reached the very top of a large mountain.

  He leaned against a lone fern, looking over a vast panorama of mountain slopes with fern forests. The mountains and ferns went on for kilometers while farther away…

  Maddox slipped off the Khislack, using the scope. He lowered the rifle and fiddled with the scope’s settings.

  “What are you doing, sir?” Riker asked.

  “Setting it for maximum magnification.”

  The captain raised the rifle again. The scene leaped into view. There was a distant valley that lacked ferns. Instead, strange-shaped mounds of dirt towered there. He spied red, purple and green, and…movement.

  “Swarm creatures,” Maddox whispered.

  “What do you see, sir?”

  “I’ve found…a nest, I suppose.”

  “A Swarm nest?” Meta asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Look in the opposite direction.”

  Maddox lowered the rifle, glancing at Meta. He swiveled in the opposite direction and raised the Khislack. He scanned distant slopes. He swept the area back and forth.