The Lost Command (Lost Starship Series Book 2) (33 page)

“Not now,” Maddox said. “We’re here, and this is where we want them.”

The captain desired massed firepower on target. He had five robots with laser carbines, five space marines in powered armor, four trappers with their rifles and himself. Riker remained with Valerie.

“They’re less than a minute from you,” Valerie said.

Maddox told Kharkov the news. Afterward, everyone went to his location.

Three different hatches led from the corridors into the annex. A ceiling three times a man’s height gave the annex a greater sense of area than many other places on the starship. It was like a gymnasium, with engine monitoring equipment on the left wall and piled steel boxes on the right. Two presently closed entrances led from the annex to the antimatter chamber where Maddox and his people waited.

“Thirty seconds,” Valerie said.

“Are they just going to run into our ambush?” Kharkov radioed.

The robots waited near the equipment and boxes, two in the left part of the annex and three in the right. The space marines waited behind the antimatter hatches. Once the enemy appeared, Kharkov planned to take the fight to the enemy. Maddox and the trappers would add firepower from the opened hatches.

The best plans were simple because in battle everything became difficult. So why did Maddox feel such a sense of danger pulsating through him? The answer stared him in the eyes. He’d faced a New Man before on Loki Prime, and had seen the New Man dodge some of his bullets. It had been crazy impressive. He had seen the video from Odin. One New Man had charged Odin space marines while they had been hunkered inside a building. The golden-skinned attacker hadn’t appeared afraid in the slightest.

Four of the super-beings raced to the engine rooms. Four of them against fifteen humans and robots. That was better than three to one odds. Maybe that’s why dread gripped the captain.

“Ten seconds,” Valerie said into Maddox’s headset. “Wait,” she said. “That’s wrong. They’ve stopped running.”

Maddox swore to himself.

“One of them is checking his hand,” Valerie said. “I think they know you’re waiting for them. Oh-oh, he took something out of his pack. It’s a silver ball, sir. He’s touching it. Now he’s setting it on the floor. Sir, the ball is rolling toward you.”

***

Maddox gripped a hand-scanner. It was linked to the starship’s video system. He waited with Kharkov and his space marines inside the antimatter chamber. Inside this area, huge metal cylinders held
Victory’s
power source, churning behind them.

On the scanner, Maddox saw a silver ball. He couldn’t understand its power of locomotion. It continued to roll for the annex.

“Here it comes,” Valerie said, speaking into the link in Maddox’s ear.

The ball rolled into the annex. Galyan’s robots lifted laser carbines, the same military-grade weapon Maddox possessed. Red rays stabbed at the silvery surface. The thing must have been incredibly polished. The beams bounced off the ball, ricocheting against the ceiling and bulkheads.

“What is that?” Kharkov said. Valerie must have linked to the space marine’s inner visor so he could see the action.

At that moment, the silver ball ignited with a terrific blast. Smoke billowed. Within the annex, the bulkheads shook.

Maddox stared at his scanner. As the smoke cleared, he saw the robots. Each of them lay on the deck plates. One of the tentacles moved. The others were motionless.

Major Kharkov swore through his comm-unit.

Then, Maddox’s eyes bulged. Four silver-suited New Men sprinted into the annex. They moved fast like greyhounds.

“Captain!” Valerie shouted. “Something happened to my video feed. It’s jammed.”

“We’re on our own,” Maddox radioed Kharkov.

The major swore again, this time as only a space marine could. He swung open his hatch. His powered armor whirred with motored force, and Kharkov stormed at the enemy. Each step made a clanking noise.

Maddox saw it on the scanner.

Kharkov had tucked the Gauss rifle under his right arm. The powered exo-skeleton charged at the enemy. A fast whiny sound told Maddox the rifle magnetically discharged its first explosive bullet.

The other space marines likewise attacked, two from the hatch near Maddox. These were Star Watch’s best assault soldiers, not the kind of men who waited for the enemy to come to them.

Maddox didn’t see how the New Men could survive the explosive rounds. Kharkov’s first 3mm “bullet” flew toward its target, and its proximity setting worked perfectly. The bullet exploded, and one of the silver suits turned bloody red as a New Man’s chest vanished in a puff of dark smoke.

Then it got weird.

The stricken New Man toppled to the deck plates. The next nearest raised a clear globe, holding it in his hand. The globe flashed and blue lines of power sizzled in the air within the chamber.

Maddox’s scanner went blank. The captain pitched it aside. What did the globe do? Something electrical would be his guess. Grabbing his laser carbine, leaning through the open hatch, Maddox searched for a target. Something struck him about the scene, though. None of the armored space marines were moving.

Maddox would have to worry about them later. Right now, he needed to kill New Men.

Sighting a tinted bubble helmet, Maddox depressed the firing switch, but not a damn thing happened. He rolled back into the chamber and looked at the laser. No lights worked on it. The thing was dead. It must have something to do with that clear globe.

Shrugging off the laser pack, Maddox dropped the carbine onto the floor. He still had his long-barreled gun. The captain drew it and whipped back around to peer through the hatch. A trapper standing on the other side of the door as Maddox also poked his weapon through.

The three surviving New Men put thick black discs onto the unmoving, power-armored space marines.

One of the enemy shouted a warning. All three of them raised their blasters. Beams flashed from the nozzles. Trappers aiming their rifles through the hatches toppled back, dead. Maddox ducked onto the floor. A beam passed overhead. He pulled the trigger of his long-barreled gun time after time.

A New Man went down, with his helmet shattered and bullet holes in his chest.

Then, Maddox withdrew from the hatch to lean against a bulkhead.

Two New Men were left. Explosions in the annex told Maddox something bad just happened. He screwed up his courage and stole a peak.

The last New Men retreated. Each of the space marines in his armor was a smoking pile of wreckage, presumably dead. Major Kharkov and his marines—they were gone. Maddox couldn’t believe it.

The enemy had magical weapons.

“You can’t take our starship with just two of you left!” Maddox shouted.

A New Man turned smoothly, firing at him.

Maddox had already ducked out of sight. If he let them get away, who did he have left to take down two supermen?

At that point, his headset crackled.

“Valerie?” Maddox asked.

“Here, Captain. What happened? I’ve just resumed a video link.”

“Never mind that,” Maddox said. “Tell Galyan to appear behind the enemy in the corridors. I want his holoimage to chase the last two New Men back to me.”

“I hear you,” the AI said. “I can also generate a weapon firing holoimage projectiles. Will that help?”

“Yes,” Maddox said. “That’s perfect.”

Picking up the hand-scanner, the captain realized it still didn’t work. Could he surprise these bastards with a “fighting” holoimage? Maybe just this once. It wouldn’t work twice, that’s for sure.

Jumping across the open hatch, Maddox grabbed a dead trapper’s rifle. It was a big slarn gun. He tore out the half-used magazine and shoved in another. Then he lay on the deck plate and rolled into position, aiming through the hatch.

An explosion in the far corridor told him the New Men attacked someone. Galyan must have surprised them. The New Men couldn’t damage the holoimage, of course. Then again, Galyan couldn’t physically hurt the enemy. Would the New Men instantly know that? Given that they were supermen, super-beings—as smart as Ludendorff—they might figure it out.

No! A New Man jumped back into the annex. He fired his blaster at something in the corridor, maybe at the holoimage of Galyan.

Maddox aimed and fired, the heavy rifle bucking each time, slamming against his shoulder. The New Man turned unnaturally fast and dodged bullets. It was maddening and amazing. The enemy darted out of the annex by going low through the hatch. What he must not have done was alert his companion in time. That New Man jumped backward
into
the hail of bullets. It would seem that even New Men could become disoriented during battle. The slarn-rifle slugs blew the New Man into the corridor with violent force.

“One left,” Maddox muttered. With his headset, he asked, “What’s happening now?”

“Oh no,” Valerie said.

“What?” Maddox asked. “Talk to me.”

“Meta is in the corridor. She’s headed for the last New Man.”

-33-

Meta blinked over and over as she moved down a corridor. Her mind was in turmoil, her thoughts dark and chaotic.

Kane had kidnapped Ludendorff, only the man had turned out to be Lank Meyers, the professor’s best friend. Kane had lied to her about leaving the service of the New Men. The wrestler hadn’t left his golden-skinned masters, but had been a secret agent among the archeologists on Wolf Prime. Worse, she had aided Kane.

With her left hand, Meta rubbed between her eyes. Her head hurt with a constant pulsating rhythm. Kane had taken her to an enemy star cruiser. In the ship, she had gone into a room that was difficult to remember. Why would that be?

Captain Maddox, we kissed in New York City, didn’t we? I have a faint recollection of it, but it also seems false. I don’t understand this at all
.

There were noises of battle ahead, but Meta didn’t mind. In fact, at this point, that was probably better for her. She…had failed. She was no good, a killer. Captain Maddox had said earlier that Baron Chabot shouldn’t have trusted her. The captain was quite right. She had slain Chabot with her bare hands, choking the awful baron to death. He had caused her family misery for as long as she could remember. That’s why her father had agreed to train her as an assassin.

I’m full of deceit and lies. I say one thing and do another. This kiss with Maddox, I don’t believe it. I think I lied to myself. The two of us fought in New York City. Afterward, Maddox stormed off and didn’t show up until…until he waltzed out of the darkness of the tunnels of Wolf Prime
.

Meta frowned. She wore trapper garments, but they didn’t hide her voluptuous figure. She’d jumped off the shuttle and raced through the hangar bay, through the vacuum, and lived to tell about it.

The real Ludendorff had said no one could trust her. The old man with the hooked nose had even suggested they destroy her as an act of kindness. Maddox had threatened to kill anyone who murdered her. Dana said the captain spoke that way because he loved her.

Maddox loves me?

Meta didn’t know if that was true or not. He was too wrapped up in his quest. Actually, it was more than that. He had an armored core that no one could reach. Meta didn’t know if the captain was even capable of real love.

Am I?

She knew she’d once killed a man who’d trusted her. Well…Baron Chabot had used her as a sex object. There hadn’t been any love in that. The baron had been handsome enough, but he had also been a pig. She’d despised everything about him and the Rouen Colony mines. Despite that, she had gone to his bedroom and they had…coupled. Afterward, she choked him to death.

The episode had warped her, Meta was sure of that. How could she trust a man when no man in his right mind should trust a lying killer like herself?

Tears welled in Meta’s eyes. The guilt of the assassination had festered for years. She and Captain Maddox had enjoyed New York City for a time. Then, they had argued because Meta knew deep in her heart she wasn’t any good.

“I’m doubly damned,” she whispered.

People thought her a hardened assassin. She had been that way down on Loki Prime. How else could she have survived the ordeal? Dana had been an anchor of resolve for her. Meta had also been tough aboard the
Geronimo
. It was armor to hide the guilt buried deep in her heart.

These feelings of unworthiness had intensified after entering the strange room aboard the star cruiser. The teacher had twisted her thoughts. Because of that, she had believed Kane’s lies. She had lied for him. Ludendorff said her death would be a kindness. Maybe he was right. Why did Captain Maddox think he was always right? He would kill anyone who touched her. That meant…

“Ah, Meta. I’m glad you’re here. Hurry to me.”

Meta halted and looked up. She had become so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t been paying attention to her steps.

She stood in a corridor facing a New Man. He wore a silver suit, a tinted helmet and gripped a blaster in his right hand.

“Meta,” he said.

She cocked her head. His voice was familiar, but why—

The tinting faded until she could see his features. It was Per Lomax, the golden-skinned superman who had spoken to her aboard the star cruiser.

“I have need of you, Meta,” he said.

A smile curved onto her face. She wondered about her reaction. She felt glorious that a New Man, a superman, wanted her help. Maybe all these dreadful thoughts were wrong. If one of the New Men believed her important enough to need her assistance—

“I have given you an order,” Per Lomax said.

Meta nodded. He had at that. But if that was so, why didn’t she scurry to him as her mind told her to do?

“The teacher—”

“I remember,” Meta said, interrupting the superior. “The teacher put me on a spinning table. He used pain to force thoughts into my mind.”

Per Lomax cast what might have been a worried glance over his shoulder. Then, he strode to her, aiming the blaster at her stomach.

“Have I displeased you?” Meta asked.

“Yes,” Per Lomax said. “You did not obey me fast enough. You do realize your mistake, yes?”

Meta nodded. He had golden skin. He was her superior. The teacher had explained some of that to her. Because of her Rouen Colony genetics, she would be superior to the lower order of humans. They were hardly above cattle. If she faithfully served the New Order, there would be a place for her in it. She could thank her Rouen Colony genetics for that.

“Where are the others, sir?” Meta asked.

What might have been irritation flashed across the superior’s ivory-like features.

“The storm assault has been a debacle,” Per Lomax said. “The ancient starship’s defensive features are unusually effective. It is up to us to reverse the situation. If we bring
Victory
to the Throne World, we will achieve greatness. Can you imagine how far we could climb in the hierarchy after that?”

Meta lowered her head in deference to his rank. She spoke to Per Lomax. He had been Kane’s chief. He was also the New Man who had sent her to the teacher. There in that room, on the spinning table, they had altered her mind.

Meta hated them for that. She loathed how guilt swamped her feelings. She was tired of others using her as a tool. It had begun long ago in the mines of the Rouen Colony. Others had trained her to be an assassin…

As Meta walked toward Per Lomax, she decided it was time to change everything. Yes. She knew the New Man had steely strength. Per Lomax had dug his fingers into her shoulder on the star cruiser, causing pain. Kane had feared the man, and she had never been able to defeat the wrestler in hand-to-hand combat. She doubted, therefore, that she could defeat Per Lomax in that way.

The New Man lowered his blaster. Meta had the feeling he wanted to get behind her. Were others coming down the corridor? She wondered if Per Lomax thought to use her as a human shield. How many tactical moves did he have left?

As Per Lomax neared, Meta made her move. Maybe this had been her idea all along. She felt so confused, in turmoil. Whatever her mental state in the beginning of her walk, she had paused long enough somewhere to pick up a shock baton. She had tucked it in back between her belt and slacks.

Meta reached behind her back, gripped the handle and withdrew the baton from its location. She flicked on the device with her thumb. It was already at the highest setting. The baton sizzled with power, and maybe it gave Per Lomax a moment to understand what she did.

This time, it didn’t matter. Meta swung, swatting Per Lomax against the ribs. The shock baton sizzled a killing blast, discharging a trickle of smoke.

Through the bubble helmet, Per Lomax’s eyes lifted in surprise. He actually looked down at her hand and could no doubt see the baton sizzling and bucking in her grip. The New Man’s features remained placid, though, almost as if he didn’t feel pain.

“Meta, Meta, Meta,” Per Lomax said. “That was a treacherous blow. It would appear the teacher failed with you. I find that remarkable.”

Meta frowned. She didn’t understand. The damned silver suit must act as insulation against the shock baton’s premier power.

Stepping back, Meta shifted tactics. She would have to do more than stroke the New Man with the baton. She would have to beat him down.

Before she could do that, Per Lomax lashed out with his left hand. The speed startled Meta. He chopped the side of her neck. Pain flared. He must have hit a nerve. Meta felt her limbs collapsing, her body flopping. Then she struck the floor, hitting it with the back of her skull.

With a groan, Meta tried to rise.

“Treacherous creature,” Per Lomax said. He raised the blaster, aiming it at her.

***

Captain Maddox had left the antimatter chamber and the annex, attempting to sneak up on the last remaining New Man clutching a slarn-rifle against his chest.

He wore a headset, and Valerie spoke into his ear.

“Sir,” the lieutenant said, “the New Man is aiming a blaster at Meta. I think he’s going to kill her.”

Maddox broke into a sprint, coming around a corner, seeing them down the corridor. At a full run, with the rifle at his hip, Maddox pulled the trigger three times in quick succession.

The slarn rifle discharged a heavy .44 caliber slug. He wasn’t used to the weapon, but he did know guns and rifles. The first shot went wide. The second was worse because of the bucking weapon. He almost shot Meta. The third slug missed the New Man’s torso but obliterated the hand holding the blaster.

Maddox grinned and pulled the trigger again. Nothing happened. The weapon had jammed.

The New Man spun toward him, with anguish twisting across his features. With a start, Maddox realized he recognized Per Lomax. Oh, this was too good.

With his remaining hand, Per Lomax reached behind for his pack.

Maddox put on a burst of speed. As he did, he reversed his grip of the slarn rifle, holding it by the barrel like a bat. Per Lomax must have realized he couldn’t reach whatever he tried for in time. The New Man set himself as intensity swirled in his inky eyes.

Maddox twisted his shoulders, faking a swing. Per Lomax ducked. Then, Maddox clubbed. Instead of striking the body as he intended—the New Man twisted like a cat—Maddox hit the bubble helmet with a
crack
. Per Lomax crashed to the deck. Maddox swung the rifle around for a second blow. As Per Lomax rose, Maddox connected against the ribs. The New Man grunted, but his good hand latched onto the rifle with snake-like speed and he ripped the weapon out of Maddox’s grip.

“You are a fool,” Per Lomax said. One-handed, he shifted his grip with phenomenal speed. Now, he had the makeshift bat.

Meta wasn’t out, however. From on the floor, she swung a leg. It caught Per Lomax’s ankles, sweeping them out from under him. The New Man crashed backward onto the deck plates, his helmet thudding.

Given this respite, Maddox drew his tri-steel knife. Per Lomax scrambled upright. The New Man was like a snake. Nothing seemed to slow him down. Maddox slashed. The blade sliced through the silver fabric, leaving a bloody slash along Per Lomax’s side.

The New Man grimaced. “You have damaged me.”

Maddox stabbed, going in for the kill. Per Lomax chopped with his good hand, striking the captain’s wrist. Maddox barely kept hold of the knife-handle, letting the blade and hand swing away. Per Lomax’s leg whipped out as Maddox jumped back. The toe of the boot grazed Maddox’s chest instead of the New Man connecting with full force.

Stunned by the New Man’s speed and toughness, Maddox back-pedaled, with the knife before him.

Per Lomax advanced, with his good arm swaying like a cobra ready to strike.

“You’re bleeding,” Maddox said.

Per Lomax’s eyes tightened with anger.

“Given enough time, enough blood loss,” Maddox said, “you’ll collapse. Do you know what I’ll do then?”

Per Lomax took three quick steps and kicked again. The amount of blood loss must have already taken effect, slowing the New Man. Maddox evaded the blow and slashed. Once more, the blade sliced through silver fabric and cut a gash, this time along the right thigh.

Three more times, Per Lomax lunged. The captain evaded each attack, cutting the New Man two out of the three tries.

“You’re bleeding out,” Maddox said. “Look at the amount. My, my, my, I never thought I’d kick your ass so easily.”

Per Lomax’s eyelids fluttered. He was starting to look desperate.

“I’m going to make you my prisoner,” Maddox said. “Star Watch is going to study you. Can you imagine that? You’ll be the first New Man caught alive. How did Captain Maddox take him, people will ask? Well, in hand-to-hand combat, man-to-man. Not only will you be our prisoner, I’m going to be a galaxy-class hero. Thank you, Per Lomax.”

The bleeding New Man charged. He must have forgotten about Meta. As before, she leg-whipped him, and the New Man went down hard onto his belly.

Maddox struck, stabbing the knife into Per Lomax’s kidney. Maybe he could capture the New Man and maybe not. The first thing would be to incapacitate the dangerous invader.