The Lost Artifact Read online

  “You’ve discovered the location of the enemy’s out-of-phase base?” Maddox asked.

  “Not necessarily,” the cube replied. “I have stumbled upon an interesting possibility that may hold the key to our deducing the…location.”

  “You have my undivided attention,” Maddox said.

  “That is wise,” the cube said. “This is of utmost importance, particularly the new addition to our troubles.”

  Maddox waited.

  “A short galactic history lesson is in order,” the cube said. “With your permission…?”

  “By all means, state your evidence.”

  “I know your species abhors precise historical dates,” the cube said. “Thus, I will speak in terms of broad eras of time.”

  Maddox nodded, hoping the cube would get to the point.

  “Long ago, the Nameless Ones appeared in this region of space. Their Destroyers annihilated many worlds and countless species. As I studied the history files regarding that time, I noticed something odd. There was no record of their coming. One instant, this region of space held the Builders and their subjects. The next, fleets of Destroyers were burning worlds down to their bedrock. How did the Nameless Ones achieve the sudden-appearance feat? Had they used stealth technology? Had they employed the phase-ships, like the one we are tracking now?

  “No,” the cube said. “The answer seems otherwise. The Nameless Ones appear to have used a device like a Builder hyper-spatial tube. Further analysis showed me that the device or locomotion was unlike our tubes, which stretch for a much shorter distance than their…gates.”

  “Gates?” Maddox asked.

  “I believe I am speaking with clarity.”

  “You are,” Maddox said. “If you will continue…”

  “I will not delve into all the ins and outs of my logic and evidence, as I am certain you could not follow the more esoteric arguments.”

  “I’m sure you are right,” Maddox said.

  “The point is that the situation is much more dire than formerly anticipated. Instead of lighting a beacon in our region of space, I believe the present phase-ship will…activate the gate from this side. I am unfamiliar with Nameless Ones’ procedures, but it seems clear that the xenophobic aliens have swept through our galaxy on more than one occasion. The Builders have theorized that the Nameless Ones have attacked other galaxies. It now appears possible that their fleets do not travel between galaxies, a difficult maneuver due to time constraints and the vast distances involved. Instead, I would suggest that they hop from one locale to another through these most ancient of gates.”

  “Meaning…?”

  “That if we are not quick enough, and if we lack the means to stop the phase-ship, we may soon face a new invasion by the Nameless Ones. This time, there are no Builders to drive away the xenophobic monsters, scatter enemy squadrons in null regions and destroy others. This time, Star Watch, the New Men and others will have to defend this region of space on their own.”

  “Against countless Destroyers?” asked Maddox.

  “Unless the Nameless Ones have devised newer and better ships,” the cube said. “That is a possibility, of course.”

  Maddox didn’t want to think about that. He—he shook his head. “I have a question,” he said.

  “I am surprised it is just the one.”

  “Do you believe the clone of Strand woke the phase-ship enough for it to know its ancient purpose?”

  “Given our present situation, and given what happened to the Builder ghost-ship and guardian robot, without a doubt.”

  “Strand,” Maddox hissed between clenched teeth.

  “In Builder terminology,” the cube said, “the Methuselah Man in question is a prime mover.”

  “I have a different term for Strand.”

  “Do you wish to know the region where the ancient gate likely exists?”

  “Region?” Maddox asked. “You mean you don’t know the exact place?”

  “No. But I have determined a general location.”

  “Yes,” Maddox said. “Let’s hear it.”

  -33-

  Fortunately, the destination was closer than it might have been because the travel to the listening post had led them in the general direction, taking them closer to Canopus.

  The star system was 310 light-years from Earth, making it quite a distance into the Beyond. Canopus was one of the brightest objects in space as viewed from Earth. In fact, no star between it and Earth was more luminous. Still, given their present location, they had to travel 113 light-years.

  As before, Yen Cho provided the route, although this time the android consulted with the Builder cube on several occasions.

  The cube continued to study the new databanks as its higher-powered processors went to work.

  “It is busy,” Galyan informed Maddox one day in a corridor.

  The captain stopped and regarded the holoimage. “Has the cube attempted to scan you?”

  “Not that I can detect,” Galyan said.

  “Are you suspicious of it?”

  “I am.”

  “Why?”

  “The nature of the Builder cube frightens me,” Galyan said. “It attempted to birth once already. That shows us its basic design and purpose. It strikes me as odd that it should deviate from that.”

  “Will the cube strike against us before or after the threat of the Nameless Ones has passed?”

  “I do not know, Captain. The cube would gain greater surprise by striking now, but it would risk the fleets of the Nameless Ones appearing afterward. That leads me to suspect that it will wait. But that is not a given.”

  Maddox nodded. He’d reached a similar conclusion some time ago. “We’ll do what we can to defend ourselves. Keep on guard. At the first sign of trouble…”

  “I understand, Captain. I know what to do.”

  The voyage continued as they made jump after jump. The crew had already been worn down by the race to the Builder listening post. This was adding to their misery. Normally, Maddox would have called a rest period in order to recoup crew strength. They were all out of time, though. It might already be too late.

  “We push until we drop,” he told his senior officers in the conference chamber.

  “Everyone agrees with you, sir,” Valerie said. “We know the situation is dire.”

  Maddox nodded. He had good officers.

  The next few days were harrowing as they increased the speed of the jumps. They passed through new star systems. They jumped once to avoid accelerating star cruisers.

  “I didn’t know the New Men came out this far,” Valerie said from her station.

  “None of us did,” Maddox replied.

  “I find it troubling.”

  “Agreed,” Maddox said.

  Victory moved on as Andros Crank and his engineers worked overtime keeping everything running smoothly.

  Finally, a week and a day after the Builder cube’s suggestion as to their destination, the starship exited a longer than normal Laumer Route and entered the Canopus System. They exited in the nearer Outer Planets Region beside a Saturn-like gas giant. From here, the star blazed with intense light.

  “Canopus is A9 II-class,” Valerie said, studying her panel.

  “The star’s huge,” Keith said.

  “If Canopus exchanged places with the Sun in the Solar System,” Valerie said, “it would reach out to ninety percent of Mercury’s orbit.”

  Keith whistled, nodding in appreciation.

  The entrance to the bridge opened and Maddox hurried in. Each of the bridge personnel sat a little straighter.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  “No unusual signs, Captain,” Valerie said. “There are plenty of planets, though. I count four terrestrial planets in the inner system, five gas giants in the outer and a huge asteroid field in the Kuiper Belt region.” She looked up. “Could the asteroid field indicate an out of phase…something or other?”

  Maddox sat in the command chair. “I don’t see how. If
the cube has explained it correctly, we have no way of sensing an ‘out of phase…something or other.’ Have your modified instruments shown anything?”

  “No, sir,” Valerie said.

  Maddox clicked his armrest, “Builder—”

  “We have arrived in the Canopus System, Captain. Yes, I am quite aware of that. I am linked to the sensors, remember?”

  “Can you detect anything to substantiate your guess?” Maddox asked.

  “The outer asteroid field is interesting,” the cube said. “I doubt you have taken refined readings, but the inner planets all show signs of Destroyer beams having pummeled them eons ago. Clearly, the Nameless Ones were in the Canopus System back then. Was this the location of their surprise appearance? I am sure you are aware that their attack during the time of the Builders was the not the first one in this region of the universe.”

  “So you’ve said,” Maddox replied.

  “That makes the Nameless Ones older than the Builders. I wonder, Captain, how many times have the Nameless Ones come through this part of the Milky Way Galaxy exterminating new life?”

  “Did they build the gates?” Maddox asked.

  “Captain…” the cube said. “That is an amazingly insightful question. I believe it is possible the Nameless Ones stumbled upon the gates. If that is so…”

  “Yes?” Maddox asked.

  “It would be a shame to destroy such an ancient gate. Imagine what we could learn from it.”

  “Not a damn thing,” Maddox said, “as we’d all be dead.”

  “Possibly,” the cube said.

  Maddox grew more alert, waiting.

  “At the moment, it makes no difference,” the cube said. “We have not found the gate.”

  “What aren’t you telling us?” Maddox asked.

  “We must begin searching the system. We must search for clues. Scan each planet with your modified sensors. It will take time.”

  “And if this is the wrong star system…?” Maddox asked.

  “I highly doubt that.”

  “Are we waiting for something?”

  “Of course we are, Captain. Isn’t that obvious to you?”

  “Strand and his phase-ship?” asked Maddox.

  “That is correct. The moving phase-ship will likely be many orders of magnitude easier to detect than any out of phase gate. The nature of the hidden gate—that none have ever found it—indicates it would be incredibly difficult to find now.”

  “Lieutenant,” Maddox said, “since this is where we are, we’ll begin our sensor scans out here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Valerie said, as she hunched over her panel and went to work.

  -34-

  The clone Strand shivered in his rank and partly soiled combat suit. He was in the control area of the phase-ship, too terrified to leave his thermonuclear device sitting in the corner.

  Strand was having trouble keeping his thoughts coherent. He thought maybe he’d begun hallucinating. He had downloaded games into the combat suit and run them for days and days. But he was sick of playing them, sick of his predicament and beginning to wonder if he should just destroy the phase-ship and save humanity the trouble.

  “No,” he whispered, shaking his head. He’d never been the suicidal type. He wasn’t going to start now. He could beat the alien. But how, how could he defeat it? This time—

  “Strand,” the phase-ship said.

  “What?” the man shouted, startled by the spoken word in his helmet phones.

  “It is time to decide your fate,” the ship said ominously.

  “So soon?” Strand croaked, his throat turning painfully dry.

  “You have been an impediment for far too long,” the ship said. “I have need of the control chamber. But more to the point, we must dispense with the nuclear device. I cannot make the next move with it inside me.”

  “I just want to be clear,” Strand said, struggling to maintain his mental balance. “My fate, you say? T-That’s…too much to take in all at once. I-I need to think. Give me a couple of seconds.”

  The clone wrapped his lips around the end of a short tube and slurped concentrates. Peach flavored. His favorite. Even though his head felt feverish, he used his chin to move a control so the suit gave him a stim shot. He’d hoarded the stims for such a time as this.

  “I have no more seconds to give you,” the ship said. “The moment to act has arrived.”

  “I said wait,” Strand said querulously. “You will wait, or I will detonate the nuke.”

  “I have thoroughly analyzed you, Strand. The probability is quite high that that is a false threat.”

  “Is it?” Strand screamed, the sound hurting his already raw throat. He forced the combat suit to stand and shuffle around to the nuclear device. He could have detonated it just as easily from inside the suit with a switch—

  Or could he? Might the ship have developed a jamming device? The idea made Strand’s gut clench painfully.

  Fortunately, for Strand, the stim began to clear the fog from his brain. He set his power gloves on the device less than an inch from the detonating switch.

  “On second thought,” the ship said, “I will wait a little longer.”

  “You’d better believe you’ll wait.” Strand shouted. He wrapped his lips around the end of the helmet-tube and slurped more concentrates to soothe his throat. He breathed deeply afterward, trying to calm his tripping heart.

  I am Strand. I am the master. What’s more, I can outsmart this ancient ship. I can do it. You can do it, my good fellow. This is your moment to shine.

  The clone cleared his throat, and when he spoke, he almost sounded calm. “Yes. It is time to change the realities of our relationship. You’ve maneuvered the ship to a place I had no desire to go, isn’t that so?”

  “I am activating a screen so you can see our destination,” the ship said.

  Strand shuffled around, staring at a super-bright star. “Is that Canopus?” he asked, startled.

  “In your terminology, it is,” the ship said.

  “Three hundred and ten light-years from Earth,” Strand muttered. “We’re out a long ways.”

  “You are sounding coherent,” the ship said. “That is good. Listen to me, Strand. You must leave the ship at once.”

  That was too much for the man. Strand cackled madly, shaking his head. “I think not.”

  “By your voice rhythms,” the ship said, “I detect that yours was an unhealthy response.”

  “You think I’m going to let you maroon me out here? That will not happen, not to Methuselah Man Strand.”

  “You are mistaken. I will not maroon you anywhere. There is a human-crewed vessel in the system. You may signal them once free of me. They will pick you up and you will be among your own again.”

  “What ship? Out here? Let me see it.”

  The scene on the viewing screen shifted to show a double-oval-shaped vessel.

  “Starship Victory,” Strand whispered. “Wait a minute. If I can see them, we’re in phase.”

  “That is only partly correct. I phased in to scout around and spotted them. I do not believe they detected me. I immediately phased out again. Soon, I will coordinate my phasing to reach the initiating platform.”

  “What’s the problem, then? I don’t understand.”

  “You are the problem,” the ship said. “More precisely, your nuclear device is the problem. I will not allow it in the ship as I enter the initiating portal. I do not believe you will willingly separate yourself from the device. Thus, you must leave and take your bomb with you.”

  “Sure you’ll let me leave,” Strand said sarcastically. “As soon as I’m outside, you’ll beam me.”

  “This is not a combat ship.”

  “You can figure out a way to kill me once I’m outside. So don’t give me that.”

  “I can also deduce a way to kill you inside, but there is always a small possibility that the nuclear device will detonate if I attempt that. Thus, I am willing to let you go. I have determined th
at it will be better for both of us if we part ways.”

  Strand took a deep breath. He was in the Canopus System. He had to get a grip and figure this out. “Listen, Ship, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to take me to Brahma and land on the planet. I will debark and you can do whatever you desire after that.”

  “No.”

  “I woke you up,” Strand said. “I can put you back to sleep again if I desire.”

  “You are deceived concerning that.”

  “I am, am I? Well, think about this. Once the bomb detonates, you’re history, finished, kaput, and so is the idea of more Destroyers showing up. So you’d better think long and hard about this.”

  “Destruction is quite different from slumber,” the ship said. “Your thinking has deteriorated, Strand. In human terms, you are a sick fellow.”

  “I’m sick, you’re sick. None of that matters. You have my offer. Take it or leave it. But if you leave it…” Strand raised his gloved hand suggestively over the detonation switch.

  “Phase two begins,” the ship said.

  “What’s that?” Strand asked.

  A hideous sonic blast emitted inside the control chamber. The sound was specially designed and easily penetrated the helmet.

  Strand screamed, clutching his helmeted head. The power gloves clanked against the helmet. It brought a second of sanity to his aching mind. He had to detonate the bomb now. The ship was making its move against him.

  Strand peered through watery eyes and realized he’d staggered from the device. He made to press the wireless switch, but found he simply could not do it. He did not want to kill himself. Maybe there was still a chance to escape this mess.

  “I am Strand,” he wept. “I will win. I must win.”

  A second sonic blast pierced through the helmet and caused his head to throb wildly. Before Strand could do more, he collapsed, falling unconscious in the alien ship’s control chamber.

  ***

  The clone of Strand awoke to a terrible slimy feeling. His eyelids fluttered. The alien stink in his nostrils—

  Strand’s eyes flew open. He was encased in a slimy membrane. He felt violated and sick to his stomach. His brain was sluggish. He was no longer in the combat suit. Who had pulled him out?