The Lost Planet (Lost Starship Series Book 6) Page 9

  “What is that?” Dana asked.

  “Nothing much,” Ludendorff said in a hearty tone. “It’s a pet project to while away the hours during our protracted journey.”

  Dana eyed him. “Don’t lie to me, Professor.”

  “Dana,” he said, with his hands on her shoulders. “Do you doubt me?”

  “Yes.”

  He laughed, hugging her, patting her until he jabbed something pin-like against her back.

  Dana jerked out of his grasp, staring at him in shock. “What did you do to me?”

  “Dana, Dana, Dana,” he said in a chiding voice. “Really, my dear, this is my fault. I haven’t been able to hide my unease well enough. I knew I shouldn’t have spent so much time in here. What you see is a hedge against the future.”

  “But…” Dana said, blinking drowsily.

  “There,” he said, taking hold of her, guiding her to a chair. “Sit, relax, take a load off your feet.”

  Dana felt woozy. “What’s wrong with me, Professor?”

  “Not a thing, my dear. You’re tired. You’ve been overworking lately.”

  “That’s not true. I’ve had too much time on my hands. If Valerie hadn’t spoken to—” Dana stopped herself before she said too much.

  “Oh, dear,” Ludendorff said. “Valerie spoke to you?”

  “What is that thing?” Dana slurred, trying to raise a hand to point at it, trying to change the subject.

  The professor stood beside her, rubbing her back. That felt good. The professor was so thoughtful.

  “Is Valerie well?” Ludendorff asked.

  Dana tried to hold back. She knew Ludendorff was up to something. Why had he pricked her?

  “Dana,” the professor said. “Tell me all about Valerie. I’m very interested. You know I am.”

  “Yes…” Dana said. “It started like this…”

  ***

  Valerie wondered what Dana had discovered. Thirteen hours had passed since she’d spoken to the doctor.

  The lieutenant was checking the main sensor node in the forward part of the ship. She was making sure everything was up to code. Normally, Andros Crank would have done this. The Kai-Kaus chief technician had the flu, and was in medical, resting. She was doing him a favor by looking into it.

  Valerie moved through a hatch, nodded to a tech specialist monitoring a panel and headed for a narrow access corridor.

  She hoped Dana wouldn’t take the entire twenty-four hours to find out. Valerie felt guiltier by the hour for not racing to the captain about this. She hadn’t seen Keith since then, either.

  Scowling, Valerie passed through another hatch. She began to study the various panels, tapping diagnostics. It was a tight fit in here, the air slightly stale.

  For the next few minutes, the task absorbed her thoughts. It was a welcome relief from all the worrying she’d been doing. Keith, the professor—

  A hatch opened behind her. A tech specialist stared in at her. It was, she noted, the same man she’d seen earlier. There was something slightly off about him.

  “Is there a problem?” Valerie asked.

  The tech specialist shook his head, entering the narrow chamber.

  “Maybe if you wait until I’m done in here…” Valerie said.

  The tech didn’t appear to have heard her. At the same moment, the side of his head flickered. What in blazes—

  “Holo-mask?” Valerie said, puzzled.

  The tech specialist stared at her, and then he lunged with something in his hand.

  Valerie swept an open palm at him, aiming for his chin. She struck it, feeling the shock against her wrist. That jolted the tech, sending him staggering back.

  It must have done something to his holo-mask too, switching it off or shorting it. The holoimage wavered and went down. Professor Ludendorff stood panting against a wall, gingerly touching his chin.

  “What are you doing here?” Valerie asked. Then, she realized she could be in danger. “Galyan,” she called. “Come at once.”

  Ludendorff pushed off the wall, balancing on shaky legs as if he were groggy.

  “You have a solid right,” the professor told her.

  “Galyan is recording all this,” Valerie said.

  Ludendorff smiled. “Not at the moment, I’m afraid. I have a little gadget that is hindering his access to us.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Valerie asked. “The captain—”

  “You will remain oblivious to any of this,” Ludendorff told her. “I want you to trust me.”

  “Get out of my way.”

  “No. I want you to—”

  The professor must have spoken just to distract her. The next thing Valerie knew, the Methuselah Man held a small gun, aiming it at her. He fired three times—three soft hisses—sending three slivers into her.

  “You shot me!” Valerie said as her eyes went wide.

  “With extreme reluctance, I assure you,” he said.

  A second later, Valerie collapsed.

  -16-

  Starship Victory continued to travel deeper into the Beyond, leaving known space far behind. Using jump points and the star drive, the ancient Adok vessel moved through one desolate star system after another. It often passed strange planets, which the crew dutifully cataloged. More interestingly, the vessel passed odd contrivances drifting in space. While there was no sign of life or artificial energy, clearly, at one time, life and energy had flourished in this region of space.

  Maddox sat in the command chair on the bridge. He’d felt better about the voyage for some time, but lately a nagging doubt had begun to plague him.

  Had had overlooked something? Maybe he’d forgotten a warning. The feeling bothered him—

  “Captain,” Galyan said. “I believe you will find this interesting.”

  They had just come out of a star drive jump.

  Maddox glanced at the little holoimage. Galyan seemed excited. He could hear it in the AI’s voice. That was so different from the beginning when they’d first met. The change made the AI seem more human, but also more terrifying if he thought about it too much.

  The Adoks had “deified” Galyan. That was such an odd term. Maddox wondered if it had held religious significance?

  “Do you not want to know what is so interesting?” Galyan asked.

  “Please,” Maddox said, “tell me.”

  “I have detected an ancient space station. So far, I have not detected any energy readings on it. I have detected old bio readings, though. I suspect those are skeletons.”

  “Let’s see the station,” Maddox said.

  Galyan looked at the main screen. A second later, a double-decker space station appeared. Two large “wheels” connected by a central column made up the station, which orbited a red dust world. Several chunks were missing from the station’s wheels. That could indicate old battle-damage or more recent meteor impacts. The station looked old and long-abandoned, and seeing it gave the captain a strange feeling. Was this humanity’s ultimate future, nothing more than ancient artifacts drifting uselessly in space? How long did humanity have in the universe? Would it be one hundred years, one hundred thousand or even a million until the last human became extinct?

  There was another peculiarity about the abandoned space station. It was huge compared to the Earthlike planet it orbited.

  “How big is it?” Maddox asked.

  “Approximately a quarter of the size of Earth’s moon,” Galyan said.

  “That’s massive.”

  “I have been studying the station and its relation to the planet. I believe its location adversely stimulated the dead world’s tides.”

  “There’s water down there?”

  “An ammonia sea,” Galyan said.

  “Oh. It’s not a human inhabitable planet, then?”

  “If you mean humans cannot breathe the ‘air’ unaided, you are correct, Captain.”

  Maddox checked the readings running alongside the image on the screen. The derelict space station was 2.6 million kil
ometers from their present location. Had the station been abandoned for centuries or it was closer to a millennia?

  “You said it contains skeletons,” Maddox said. “Are they Swarm skeletons?”

  “I have analyzed them from afar to the best of my ability,” Galyan said. “I could give you more accurate data if I were on the station. So far, the skeletal composition is alien, meaning they are an unknown variety of creature.”

  “They’re a new species?” Maddox asked, becoming intrigued. They had just happened to stumble upon an incredible find. If this had been a regular Patrol journey, they would stop and investigate the station. Now, they would have to note it and let someone else examine and catalog the ancient wreckage later.

  “‘New’ is a relative term,” Galyan was saying. “The creatures are long dead, so they certainly are not new.”

  “What do you make of this, Lieutenant?” Maddox asked.

  Valerie sat at her bridge station. She seemed quieter than usual, had been for several days. With some stiffness to her bearing, the lieutenant swiveled around to face him.

  “The ‘creatures’ Galyan is referring to are dead and gone,” Valerie said. “The skeletons are meaningless to our purpose.”

  Maddox eyed her askance, finding her last statement peculiar.

  He’d heard about her little run-in with Keith on the practice mats. The pilot had gone to Riker for advice. The sergeant happened to have mentioned it yesterday to Maddox. Valerie was taking the mat incident much too hard. She was too wound up, sometimes.

  “We could send a jumpfighter to the station so that a few scientists could study the skeletons and artifact for a few hours at least,” Galyan said. “Maybe there is a new technology to discover that could aid us in our quest.”

  “That’s an excellent idea,” Maddox said. “Galyan, get the professor. Maybe he knows something about this dead station.”

  Galyan disappeared, and reappeared almost right away.

  “That was fast,” Maddox said.

  “I was unable to reach the professor,” Galyan said.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I believe he is in his study, as I do not see him on any of the security cameras. Unfortunately, I cannot appear in his study.”

  “You’re blocked from it?” Maddox asked, surprised.

  “I am, sir.”

  Maddox stood. He didn’t like the sound of that. “You have the bridge,” he told Valerie. “I’m going to pay the professor a surprise visit.”

  As Maddox headed for the exit, Valerie moved from her location to the command chair. Once settled in, she pressed a singular button on the left armrest. Then, she proceeded to stare at the main screen, waiting.

  ***

  With Galyan at his side, Maddox brushed past a protesting Doctor Rich. The captain tried the professor’s hatch. It did not open.

  Before Dana could utter another protestation, Maddox pulled out an override unit, forcing the hatch with it. He stepped into the professor’s large chamber, ready for anything.

  Ludendorff turned around in surprise. He held a bulky metal object and seemed slightly winded. Putting the object into a lower cupboard, the Methuselah Man straightened.

  “Can I help you?” Ludendorff asked.

  Maddox glanced around the room. It was full of computer equipment and scattered tools, and a few bolts, perhaps, or something like bolts that were lying on a long counter.

  “Have I done something to upset you, my boy?” the professor asked.

  “Galyan can’t appear in your lab,” Maddox said.

  “That is true,” Galyan said, from outside the hatch, peering in. “I would enter, but I find something hindering me.”

  Ludendorff chuckled. “I love my privacy, it’s true. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Why are you winded?” Maddox asked.

  “Do you not exercise to stay in shape?” Ludendorff asked.

  “What did you just put away?”

  “Would you like to see it?”

  Maddox nodded.

  “It’s old, and interesting,” Ludendorff said. He reached into the cupboard.

  “Sir,” Galyan said. “It appears I am in error. I mean regarding the harmlessness of the derelict space station. It has just activated.”

  Maddox regarded the holoimage outside the hatch. “What kind of activation are we talking about?”

  “High-velocity missiles, sir,” Galyan said. “The ship is under attack.”

  Maddox did not hesitate. He raced out of the chamber, heading for the bridge. Maybe this was why he’d been feeling antsy. He should have launched a probe at the station. That was standard Patrol procedure regarding unknown objects.

  As the captain raced away, Dana entered the professor’s chamber holding a strange unit.

  “Well done, my dear,” Ludendorff said. “Well done, indeed. That could have proven embarrassing, to say the least.”

  The professor held out his hand. Without a word, Dana gave him the activation unit. The professor smiled, pecked her on the cheek and took the activation unit to a counter. Picking up a tool, he proceeded to dismantle the thing.

  He couldn’t let the captain find this, or find the sinuous ‘bot he would need on the Junkyard Planet. It was time to take even greater care. If he wasn’t careful, the captain would discover what he planned. That would not do.

  -17-

  Maddox reached the bridge in time to witness the destruction of two hyper-velocity missiles. Terrific explosions whitened the screen.

  “What kind of radiation are they emitting?” Maddox asked.

  Valerie turned to regard him, blinked several times and finally vacated the command chair.

  Once again, Maddox was struck by the difference in her bearing. Normally, she would have hopped out of his chair. These days, she moved as if she were drugged. Was she getting enough sleep?

  “Galyan,” Maddox said.

  “I am detecting regular radiation readings, Captain,” Galyan said. “Those were standard-issue thermonuclear detonations.”

  “They’re Star Watch warheads?” Maddox asked.

  “I did not say that.”

  “Do they match any known Star Watch ordnance?”

  “They do,” Galyan said, sounding surprised. “How did you know?”

  “It was a logical deduction,” Maddox said blandly. “Lieutenant,” he said, regarding Valerie. “Did the space station give any warning prior to the attack?”

  “Checking,” Valerie said, tapping her board. She shook her head a moment later. “I do not detect any form of warning.”

  “The old station simply launched the missiles?” Maddox asked.

  “Maybe we tripped a proximity sensor,” Valerie said.

  Maddox rubbed his chin. “Do you detect the station making any kind of scans?”

  Once more, Valerie tapped her board, studying the results. “Negative,” she said.

  “Do you have a theory, sir?” Galyan asked.

  “Not yet,” Maddox said. “Do you?”

  “I agree with the proximity sensor idea,” the holoimage said.

  “Yet, the lieutenant has not detected any sensor sweeps,” Maddox said. “By what process did the ‘dead’ station know we had come too near?”

  “Teleoptic scopes, perhaps,” Galyan said. “That is the most logical deduction. It used visual cues.”

  Maddox rubbed his chin, wondering if that was true.

  “Should I fire upon the station?” Valerie asked.

  “No,” Maddox said.

  “Should I send a jumpfighter there to investigate?” Galyan asked.

  “We don’t have time for that,” Maddox said. “And I don’t want to send someone into danger without a good reason. We need to reach the mystery planet sooner rather than later. Helm, increase velocity for the next jump point.”

  With a few taps to his board, the helmsman complied.

  “Do you still wish to speak to the professor?” Galyan asked.

  Maddox removed his hand
from his chin. The missiles had launched as he’d spoken with Ludendorff. Had that been a coincidence?

  “I’ll speak to the professor later,” Maddox said. “Until we’re out of the star system, I’m remaining on the bridge. Let’s see if the station has any more surprises for us.”

  ***

  A day later, in the next star system, Maddox pondered the coincidence of the station attacking as he spoke to the professor. He stood before a viewing port, alone with his thoughts, with the stars shining in the darkness.

  He hadn’t gone back to see Ludendorff because if the Methuselah Man had had a hand in the missile attack, the captain doubted he would have found any incriminating evidence in the professor’s laboratory. The likeliest reason Ludendorff would have staged the station assault was to gain time to hide something. And if any man knew how to hide evidence in plain sight, it was the professor.

  That did not mean Maddox would forget about this. Instead, the professor had sparked his interest. He trusted Ludendorff to help humanity, but he would always help himself at the same time. Maddox had not forgotten about some of the professor’s past partners, particularly the unsavory slarn hunters. Ludendorff was brilliant, but the man also made some terrible errors in judgment.

  The captain wondered about androids—the Builder-made constructs in particular. The android on Titan said it had known his father. He longed to know his father’s identity. Yet, he also feared to find out.

  Maddox sighed. According to Ludendorff’s calculations, Victory would reach the Junkyard Planet in another eight days. He recalled the Dyson sphere—that had been a challenging voyage. The sphere had been much farther from the Commonwealth than this derelict world was. In truth, Maddox was surprised at the Junkyard Planet’s nearness to the Commonwealth. That had struck him as odd from the beginning of the voyage.

  Had the place been a Builder outpost?

  Whatever the case, it was time to plan for the Junkyard Planet. It was time to call a meeting. Could he trust Ludendorff to give an accurate picture of what he knew and, more importantly, what he surmised about the planet?