The Lost Artifact Read online

  “Shields up,” Maddox said. He regarded the sub-lieutenant. “You tried to lull me.”

  “I assure you that is not so.”

  “The disrupter cannon is locked on target,” Galyan said quietly.

  “Fire,” Maddox said, as he stared at Gruber.

  In stunned surprise, the young sub-lieutenant came out of his seat.

  On the hull of Victory, the giant disrupter cannon energized. A harsh beam speared from the starship, covering the half a million kilometers. It struck the hammership’s shield, which turned a cherry-red in that small area.

  At the same time, a heavy laser beam—likely of Wahhabi manufacture—reached out just as far from the dwarf planet’s surface to hit Victory’s electromagnetic shield.

  Compared to the disrupter beam, the laser dissipated to a much greater degree over distance. Neither did great damage, although Victory’s beam continued to strike the hammership’s shield.

  Sub-lieutenant Gruber was no longer on the main screen. He had cut the connection.

  “Full acceleration ahead,” Maddox said. “I want to increase our velocity as fast as we can.”

  “The Bismarck has heavy railguns,” Valerie said. “At close range, the railguns could knock down our shield.”

  Maddox nodded without commenting. He was well aware of the hammership’s railguns. They were potent weapons, but like Valerie had said, only at close range. He did not intend for the Bismarck to last that long.

  Now it began; the wait-and-see part of the ship-to-ship combat. It had begun at extreme beam range. Neither side had as yet launched any missiles or visible drones.

  “Gunships,” Valerie said. “They’re launching from the Bismarck.”

  “At this distance?” Maddox asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Valerie said.

  Maddox drummed his fingers on the armrest. “How many?”

  “I count eleven so far,” Valerie said. “More are launching.”

  “That’s more than a hammership’s usual complement of gunships,” Maddox said.

  Time passed as the Bismarck and Victory continued to accelerate toward each other, closing the range between the two vessels.

  “Galyan, are you still scanning for parked drones?” Maddox asked.

  “Affirmative, sir,” the holoimage said. “I have detected none.”

  “I doubt they expected to face Star Watch’s greatest battleship,” Keith said from Helm.

  “Likely true,” Maddox said. “But let’s not be lax. We don’t want to take anything for granted.”

  More time passed.

  Three surface laser sites now targeted the ancient Adok vessel, spanning the distance from the planet to the starship. Their beams hit with greater power the nearer the starship came. The three combined lasers hadn’t yet caused any shield buckling.

  “Sir,” Galyan said. “I have computed odds. We can defeat the hammership given time. It might not be true that we can defeat the hammership and the heavy surface laser sites without sustaining damage.”

  Maddox had also been computing odds. “Lieutenant,” he told Keith, “I have a little task for you.”

  “Sir,” Valerie said. “I request that—”

  “Belay that,” Maddox told her. He turned to Keith. “We don’t want to demolish the surface base, just take out those laser sites. That means no antimatter missiles. We’ll use regular nuclear-tipped missiles instead, launched from a fold-fighter with pinpoint accuracy.”

  Keith jumped up. “Consider it done, sir.” With that, the ace sprinted from the chamber.

  The disrupter cannon went offline for a time, as it had begun to overheat. That was an expected development. Even so, Maddox sent Galyan to watch the damage-repair team’s progress on it.

  At that point, Commodore von Helmuth requested a screen-to-screen talk with Maddox.

  “You must discontinue firing first,” Maddox said via comm.

  Thirty seconds later, Valerie said, “The Kelle surface laser sites have stopped beaming, sir.”

  “Put the commodore on the screen,” Maddox said.

  A moment later, the square-faced von Helmuth with his monocle appeared on the main screen. By his background, it was clear the commodore was not on the hammership’s bridge.

  “A New Man,” von Helmuth said in shock, as he stared at Maddox. “They told me you were a Star Watch officer.”

  “I am Captain Maddox of Star Watch.”

  “Then why do you look like a New Man?”

  Maddox studied von Helmuth. He tried to determine if the man was mind-controlled or not. Were the man’s reactions genuine? It appeared so.

  “You will immediately surrender the Bismarck and power down the surface laser sites,” Maddox said. “My battleship is part of a greater task force. Admiral Fletcher is leading it. We were sent to locate your missing ship, as a hauler captain has told us about your piracy in the area.”

  Von Helmuth peered at Maddox as if trying to determine the captain’s veracity. Finally, the Hindenburger shook his heavy head. “I cannot do as you request, Captain.”

  “You’re overmatched. We’ve found you. You knew this day would come.”

  “I cannot do as you request,” von Helmuth repeated, his eyes shining.

  “Give me a good reason why not,” Maddox said.

  “I do not need a reason. I have stated my intent. That is enough.”

  “Surely, your people need a reason for dying uselessly,” Maddox said. “Or don’t you realize that the Windsor League is willing to grant all of you pardons?”

  “No,” von Helmuth said harshly. “It is too late for pardons.”

  Maddox had already noted the shiny eyes. Now, he saw a small tic jerk the corner of man’s right eye. The commodore also seemed uncommonly sweaty.

  “Your reason for dying uselessly isn’t Methuselah Man Strand, is it?” Maddox asked.

  Von Helmuth blanched with a look approaching horror before his features hardened with resolve. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “This is your last chance, Commodore.”

  Von Helmuth made a mocking noise. “You know nothing about last chances. All our lives, the Windsor League braggarts treated us Hindenburgers as second-rate citizens. Third Admiral Bishop thought to use us as pawns. The man gave our hammership the worst assignments. Don’t you think I know what this is really about?”

  “According to my observation,” Galyan said quietly, “Commodore von Helmuth appears paranoid delusional.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said softly. “I’ve studied his bio. Von Helmuth is supposed to be a hard-nosed aristocrat. In my estimation, someone has tampered with his mind.”

  “Which would imply Strand,” Galyan said. “It is possible they have all been tampered with in some way or another.”

  “In one sense,” Maddox said, “I feel sorry for them. They’re pawns. But von Helmuth’s reaction also shows me we’re on the right path.”

  “If you are addressing me, Captain,” von Helmuth said, “I demand that you speak up so I can hear you.”

  Maddox regarded the square-faced aristocrat. “You made a hard choice, a bad one, many years ago. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost. It would have been better for you if you’d never run into Strand. But you clearly have.”

  “Who is this Strand you keep talking about?” von Helmuth demanded angrily.

  “Surrender your hammership and shut down the surface laser sites.”

  “Nein,” von Helmuth said. “We shall destroy you, New Man.”

  “I think not. Captain Maddox out.”

  The screen returned to an image of the accelerating hammership and the dwarf planet of Kelle beyond it.

  “Distance between vessels?” Maddox asked.

  “Three hundred and eighty-seven thousand kilometers,” Valerie said.

  “We’ll wait a little longer. I want the cannon ready for sustained fire.”

  Time passed.

  In the distance on the dwarf planet, emergency procedu
res went into effect as something new happened over there.

  “Keith,” Valerie said. She intently watched the main screen.

  A fold-fighter had appeared low over the dwarf planet’s surface. It zoomed fast and began to zigzag as it headed toward the main pirate base.

  “I detect surface anti-fighter sites,” Galyan said. “They are tracking the fold-fighter.”

  “No,” Valerie said, a hand flying over her mouth.

  “Do not worry, Valerie,” Galyan told her. “Keith is the best.”

  “He’s a showoff,” she whispered. “And everyone is watching. He’s going to try something fancy.”

  Maddox ordered a magnification. Valerie was right. The fold-fighter zoomed for the nearest laser site. Anti-fighter guns around the site chugged explosive shells at the nearing tin can. Emitters ejected from the Star Watch fighter. At the same instant, the fold-fighter disappeared.

  “What’s he doing?” Valerie whispered.

  The fold-fighter reappeared to the left of its former position, but lower to the surface.

  “We went real fancy,” Valerie groaned.

  Missiles launched from the tin can.

  From the surface, more anti-fighter rockets raced up at the craft. The fold-fighter disappeared again. The surface-launched rockets detonated. They destroyed two of the incoming missiles.

  In the next few seconds, more surface-launched rockets raced up. Explosions occurred. Two more incoming missiles went down.

  “Interesting,” Galyan said. “One of those supposed missiles was really a decoy.”

  Valerie shouted triumphantly.

  On screen, a nuclear mushroom cloud appeared on the surface. It came from the exact spot where a heavy laser site had just been.

  “Excellent,” Maddox said. “Galyan, tell the disrupter cannon-crew to get ready. It’s time to begin phase two of this fight.”

  -21-

  As Victory stopped accelerating, the disrupter cannon came back online. The powerful disrupter beam stabbed through space at the speed of light. It struck the Bismarck a little over a second later.

  The difference between five hundred thousand kilometers to a little over three hundred thousand kilometers range was startling. The heavy beam began to saturate the hammership’s electromagnetic shield. The discoloration to the shield was immediate as it began to darken from red to brown.

  The hammership’s railguns came online as they began to accelerate tiny pieces of matter. The pieces would take far longer to reach Victory, as they traveled far below the speed of light. It soon became clear that the Bismarck was laying down concentrated clots of accelerated particles into various cones of probability, those cones being where Victory might be when the particles reached the starship. Each tiny piece would shed vast amounts of kinetic energy when it struck—providing the ancient Adok starship was still in the line-of-fire.

  “Keep track of the particle clots,” Maddox told Galyan. “They’re laying down a wide pattern so we can’t dodge them all.”

  “Keith, what are you doing,” Valerie whispered. She stared at her panel-screen as she paled. “You’re supposed to come home.”

  “Magnify Kelle’s surface,” Maddox snapped.

  The fold-fighter had appeared low to the planet’s surface again. The ace was cunningly using the destroyed laser site as an empty area of the local defense net. The tin can zoomed into position and then swung higher into Kelle’s atmosphere. From there, it launched the rest of its nuclear-tipped missiles and decoys.

  The enemy defense-net zeroed in on Keith, and they might have nailed him if he’d been a fraction slower. As Galyan had said earlier, at this, Keith Maker had no peers. The fold-fighter disappeared as enemy anti-fire arrived in his vicinity.

  “Please don’t do that again,” Valerie whispered. “You have to come home.”

  “Hit,” Maddox said, as he made a fist. “That’s another laser site we don’t have to worry about. Good hunting, Mr. Maker.”

  “Sir,” said the new Helm pilot who had taken Keith’s place. She was Sub-lieutenant Kenzie Jones, a tall woman with long brunette hair. “The Bismarck is rotating. It appears they’re going to attempt deceleration.”

  “You’re too late,” Maddox told the hammership. “With another surface laser site out—accelerate Ms. Jones. It’s time to bring this fight to a finish.”

  Victory continued to beam as it accelerated for the hammership. The electromagnetic shield took the last surface laser fire with ease. The beam grew hotter the nearer the starship approached Kelle, but the enemy laser simply did not have the firepower on its own to hurt Victory until the starship was at almost pointblank range.

  “Surface missiles launching,” Galyan said. “It appears they are using their last reserves in order to save the Bismarck. Earlier, why did the hammership accelerate toward us, sir?”

  “Maybe it only had a maintenance crew aboard,” Maddox said. “It’s possible Sub-lieutenant Gruber panicked and attacked. But maybe that was their standard operating procedure against the unknown. The truth is I don’t know, Galyan. Likely, our surprise appearance upset their equilibrium.”

  “Sir,” Valerie said. “The first wave of railgun-particles is approaching.”

  “Prepare for evasive action, Helm,” Maddox said.

  “The disrupter cannon is overheating, sir,” Galyan said.

  “Take the cannon offline,” Maddox said.

  The starship jinked one way and then another. Maddox used the shorter-ranged neutron cannon to take out several particle clots that they couldn’t evade.

  More time passed. Soon, no more accelerating particles headed at the starship.

  The hammership had rotated and begun massive deceleration. Obviously, they were trying to halt the forward momentum of the hammership so it could accelerate back to the dwarf planet, possibly to hide behind it.

  “Two hundred thousand kilometers and closing fast, sir,” Sub-lieutenant Jones said.

  “Galyan, what is the disrupter’s condition?” asked Maddox.

  The holoimage disappeared, reappearing a minute later. “The service crew says they’re ready to rip, sir.”

  “Commence firing,” Maddox said. “It’s time to take out the Bismarck.”

  The enemy’s railguns started to hose accelerated particles at the nearing starship. If the Bismarck could survive long enough, it could theoretically lay down heavier fire than Victory while at pointblank range. That was the reason for the hammership’s heavy armor, to survive long enough to kill at close range. The ancient Adok starship, however, had even better armor because of its advanced composition. Much had changed since the Bismarck’s disappearance during the “C” Quadrant Campaign under Fletcher.

  The disrupter cannon poured intensely destructive energy against the hammership’s shield. The dissipation over distance had dropped considerably. Inside of 200,000 kilometers, the disrupter beam was technological death.

  The hammership’s shield darkened, and an explosion took place on the Bismarck. They had been in the Beyond for many years. The military-grade vessel had missed many scheduled maintenance overhauls. They were pirates, after all, grabbing what they could and smuggling needed components here from time to time. Likely, in fact almost certainly, not all the hammership’s systems had stayed as finely tuned or remained as upgraded as they should have been.

  Another explosion took place over there. Maybe it was from an overload to the shield generators. Whatever the case, the Bismarck’s electromagnetic shield collapsed.

  “Their shield is down,” Galyan said.

  “Let’s break them,” Maddox said.

  The mighty disrupter beam smashed against the heavy hull armor. The beam remained on one spot, heating the hull armor, digging into it and breaking down the molecular structure.

  The disrupter beam was one of the most powerful offensive weapons in Star Watch’s arsenal. The hammership began evasive maneuvers. At a greater distance between vessels, such maneuvering might have proven effective. As
the range continued to close from 200,000 kilometers, Victory’s targeting crew found it a simple matter to keep the beam on target.

  “A hull breach is imminent,” Galyan said shortly.

  Maddox sat in his chair, watching, waiting, wondering if the Hindenburgers had a secret up their sleeve to save themselves.

  “Hull breach,” Galyan said. “The beam is in.”

  The great disrupter beam had broken through the famed hammership’s double armor. It smashed down bulkheads with pathetic ease, chewing up metals, people, wall conduits, magnetic-plates, coils, water, oxygen recyclers…

  The mayhem was brutal, and the beam did not discriminate. It killed and destroyed everything in its path, finally reaching the great nuclear-powered engines. Interior explosions began, rapidly becoming worse. Suddenly, a combination of explosions ripped into waiting warheads. At almost the same time, the engine went critical. Titanic explosions ripped through the Bismarck. It was awful. It was glorious in a perverted way.

  From on the bridge of Victory, the crew watched the hammership begin to break like a crushed walnut. Pieces of hull went spinning in various directions. Water, vapor and air spewed out. Struggling humans tumbled into the void of space. Then a fireball erupted.

  Dampeners in the screen saved Victory’s bridge-crews’ eyesight. When visibility returned to the main screen, Maddox and company saw the pieces of Bismarck already beginning to drift through space.

  No one cheered. It was too solemn of an event, and none of them had really believed they could lose.

  Maddox exhaled. “Good work, people. You did well. Now, Helm, rotate us. It’s time to decelerate and see what the surviving Hindenburgers on Kelle want to do next.”

  -22-

  The Hindenburgers intended to fight to the last man, woman and child, at least according to Commodore von Helmuth.

  The ancient Adok starship was parked in geostationary orbit over Kelle, directly over the main base on the dwarf planet. The remaining heavy laser site and all the missile launch pits were smoking craters due to space bombardment.

  It had taken time to move into the stationary orbit. During that time, the Hindenburgers had no doubt prepared a vicious welcoming committee. Such was the commodore’s promise, at least, as he spoke to Maddox via screen.