The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) (15 page)

Don’t think about the pressure, all the water over your head ready to squeeze you into pulp
.

Meta opened her eyes and gave a small yelp.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked.

Meta couldn’t speak. She stared at the water sloshing against her mask. This was just like spacewalking, right? So why was she freaking out about it already? This would be easy, easy…totally easy.

“Meta?” Keith asked.

“I’m here,” she said, sounding angry.

“My board is showing that your chamber is flooded. It’s time to go.”

“Yeah,” Meta whispered. She activated a switch. The outer hatch opened. Meta grabbed the edges and pulled herself through.

She was in Artic water. With a switch, she activated her pack. It surged with power, propelling her toward a massive structure. Lights glared around it, a prison for some of the worst offenders on the planet.

“Easy does it,” Keith said into her ears.

Yeah, yeah, that’s easy for you to say snug in the sub.

Meta knew that was an unkind thought. Several years ago, Keith had come down with Maddox onto Loki Prime, the worst prison planet in the Commonwealth. They had rescued her from a much worse situation than this. It had been a long and interesting road since then, including time spent with Kane, an agent of the New Men who had kidnapped her and taken her into “C” Quadrant.

“Better slow down,” Keith said over the comm. “You’ll smash into the outer hatch if you’re going too fast.”

Meta shivered, realizing she’d been daydreaming. Wasn’t that one of the dangers of deep diving? This was quite different from spacewalking. The water resisted her efforts.

She slowed down as a hatch loomed before her. Getting into the prison—

The hatch opened.

Meta grinned inside her diving mask. Maybe this was going to work after all. Galyan had opened the hatch, at least. The AI was supposed to have hacked into the complex’s main computer. If it wasn’t Galyan helping her—

Meta growled under her breath, kicking her feet, propelling herself into a chamber. The decisive moment was upon her.

***

Meta hurried through the silent corridors. No one moved in the underwater complex. On the upper left of her mask appeared a small schematic of the prison. She followed the outline in red.

She had a laser pistol, which she most certainly would use. Maybe it would be wrong to kill the Star Watch Marines in here, but Meta didn’t plan to go back to a prison planet ever. No one had better get in her way today. She wore body armor and—

“There’s trouble,” Keith said into her earphones.

“What are you picking up?” she asked.

“Someone is moving in there, either that or my motion detector is off.”

“How far are they from me?” Meta asked.

“You’re not going to meet them right away, but it looks as if the person is headed for the captain’s cell. He must know why you’re there.”

“It’s definitely a he?” Meta asked.

“Don’t know about that. But you have to expect him to be armed.”

“Roger,” Meta said. She increased her pace. “Is he wearing a gas mask?”

“That seems like the best answer,” Keith said. “That means you’re dealing with a smart one. He must have seen the others dropping around him and realized we were gassing everyone—or that Galyan was, using their own security system against them.”

“Great,” Meta said. She had a nasty thought. What if this smart guy put a gun to the captain’s head and threatened to shoot him. That was the one way to stop the rescue attempt cold.

Meta swore under her breath as she began to run.

-15-

Major Stokes stumbled through the corridors. He wore a gas mask as Meta had supposed. The brigadier had been right to suspect
Victory’s
old crew. Given that, the Iron Lady should have locked every one of them away.

Sure, those people had done magnificently in the past, but that didn’t mean they got a free ride whenever they felt like it. One had to obey orders. Without rules, a society turned into competing tribes and a military became a useless mob.

Star Watch would never defeat the New Men if Maddox and his people fell into an obvious trap. How could any of them be so softheaded as to fall for the Ludendorff holoimage? Clearly, Strand used the holoimage to lure the ancient starship to a place where he could board and capture it. The New Men had tried that at Wolf Prime. Gaining
Victory
would tip the military balance to the enemy. On no account could Stokes let that happen.

It’s up to me to save the day. I can’t let my humanitarianism throw away our greatest advantage. I’m sorry, Captain Maddox and whoever is trying to rescue you. I’m simply not going to let that happen
.

Stokes wasn’t a musclebound soldier. He was lean, smoked too much and was maybe a little too old for games like this. But he trusted his mind, which he believed was one of the sharpest in Intelligence. If that wasn’t so, the brigadier wouldn’t trust his judgment to the extent she did.

Maybe the others coming had the advantage in a purely tactical combat sense. He was trickier, though, and in the end, that was going to win down here.

The major drew a gun as a grim sense of rightness hardened his resolve. If he had to, he would shoot the captain in cold blood. It wouldn’t be because he held any ill will toward the man. He rather admired the other’s resourcefulness. No, he would kill Captain Maddox because humanity’s fate might well rest on him doing so.

***

Meta raced around a corner, seeing an open cell door down the corridor. According to the schematic, it was the captain’s cell. A hard knot squeezed within her stomach. The other had beaten her to the prize. What should she do?

“I know you’re out there,” a man shouted from within the cell. “I have a gun pressed against the captain’s skull. If I see you appear in front of the door, I’ll fire.”

“I’m wearing body armor,” Meta shouted.

“We both know I won’t shoot at you but at him.”

“If you do that, I’ll kill you next.”

“Yes, I suspected as much. That isn’t my preference naturally, but so be it. I am an officer of Star Watch Intelligence and I will do my duty to ensure mankind’s survival.”

“And if Captain Maddox is correct in his assessment?” Meta asked.

“I’m willing to bet the brigadier is correct.”

“Maddox hasn’t been wrong yet,” Meta said.

“He’s clever, I’ll grant you that. But I’ve told you my resolve. It isn’t going to change.”

“Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m guessing…you’re Meta.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she shouted back.

“I see. Well, make your choice, young lady. I’ve already made mine.”

“Keith,” Meta whispered.

“I heard him,” the second lieutenant said into her earphones.

“Its checkmate,” she whispered.

“Maybe,” Keith said.

“You have another idea?”

“I’m sending over the holoimage,” Keith said. “Maybe it can think of something.”

Meta shook her head. She didn’t trust the alien AI that pretended to have the engrams of Ludendorff. It—

The holoimage materialized before her. “The second lieutenant tells me we have a situation.”

Meta stared at the ghostly apparition. Then, slowly, she explained the stalemate.

“The answer is obvious,” the holoimage said. “I’m amazed you haven’t already seen it.”

“I haven’t,” Meta said, hating the thing more than ever.

“Now that you’re committed, I’ll give you the answer. Use the revitalizing gas. The captain’s metabolism causes him to recover faster than ordinary. He will then overcome the major for you.”

“I don’t know,” Meta said. “That means everyone else will wake up down here.”

“None of that is going to work,” Keith said in Meta’s headphones. “I just called the starship. Galyan told me there is no revitalizing gas.”

Meta squinted at the holoimage. She told it what Keith had just told her. “You deliberately tried to trick me.”

“Nonsense,” the Ludendorff holoimage said.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Meta asked. “Is the captain coming to on his own?”

The holoimage hesitated before saying, “I’m surprised at you. You have reached the correct conclusion.”

“Why not tell me in the first place?”

“Meta!” the major shouted from the cell.

“Yes?” she called.

“Either you leave or surrender to me,” the major shouted. “If you don’t do either, I’m going to shoot the captain and be done with it.” Stokes was silent for a moment. “What’s it going to be, Meta?”

Meta glanced at the Ludendorff holoimage.

“You must keep the major talking,” the holoimage whispered. “The captain must hear that as he comes to. Otherwise, Maddox will give his awakening away to Stokes and the major will kill him.”

Meta shook her head. This was an impossible situation. Just once, she would like everything to work easily.

***

In the cell, Captain Maddox was already coming to. His mind was groggy and his body felt weak and…

He recognized the feeling as similar to what had happened to him at the Lin Ru Hotel, the Spacer embassy. But that had…

He heard Meta, and he almost called out to her. At the last moment, he felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against his left temple.

What was happening?

By slow degrees and as he kept himself motionless Maddox realized he was in his cell underwater in the Greenland Archipelago. The gunman answered Meta, and Maddox realized Major Stokes held him captive.

“All right,” Meta shouted. “I’m leaving. Just let the captain be. He has nothing to do with this.”

Maddox could feel some of the tension ease from Stokes, but the major didn’t take the gun from his head.

“I know you’re awake,” Stokes told him quietly.

Maddox opened his eyes, staring up at the major.

“I thought you would have tried something before this,” the major said.

“Are you really going to kill me?” Maddox asked.

Stokes just stared at him.

“You don’t like me, do you?” Maddox said.

“No. I never have. You’re a hybrid. As far as I can tell, you’re a sleeper agent for the New Men.”

“That’s why I’ve helped Star Watch time and again?” Maddox asked.

“It’s a mystery, I admit.” Stokes appeared thoughtful. “Maybe I should make this easy for both of us.”

“Outright murder?” Maddox asked. “That doesn’t seem like you.”

Stokes gave him the tiniest of grins.

Maddox tried to interpret it. He realized Stokes wasn’t speaking to him. Well, he was, but the words were for someone else. Yes, of course, he spoke for the benefit of the invisible holoimage. That must be how Meta had gained her intelligence of the situation in the cell.

“This time you’re wrong, Captain,” the major said. “Surely, you can see that.”

“You say that because of the Xerxes System?”

“No, because of the Shanghai androids and the holoimage,” Stokes said. “And—”

The holoimage solidified in the cell. “I have a message for you,” the ghostly Ludendorff said.

Stokes swore and thumbed back the hammer of his pistol.

Maddox convulsed mightily, surging against the major. The gun went off. The ignition was deafening to Maddox. The bullet singed the side of his head in passing. He tried to grapple with the major. The gun lined up so it aimed between his eyes. Then, a spear of red laser light struck Stokes’ firing hand. The major cried out in agony, releasing the gun.

Both Maddox and Stokes stood up at the same time.

Meta clanked into the cell in her body armor, the laser aimed at Stokes. The major cradled his smoking hand as blood dripped from it.

“You fired at him,” Meta said, who still wore her mask.

“Sorry, old boy,” Stokes told Maddox.

The captain barely heard the words. His ears were still ringing from the shot.

“It was nothing personal,” the major added.

“It felt personal to me,” Maddox said, too loudly because he wasn’t hearing so well.

“I’d like to convince you to stay,” Stokes said.

Maddox had an intense desire to slug the major. Instead, he shook his head. Taking the gun, he put it between his belt.

“You won’t make it to the starship,” Stokes said.

“Maybe not,” Maddox told him.

“And even if you do, you’ll never make it out of the Solar System. Star Watch can’t afford
Victory
falling into enemy hands.”

“Good-bye, Major,” Maddox said. “Tell the brigadier I had to do this. I’ll take every precaution concerning the starship.”

“No you won’t,” Stokes said. “You’re an adrenaline junkie. I think all the New Men are. And the lot of you are all too arrogant by far.”

“Well, half of me is too arrogant anyway,” Maddox said.

“I don’t believe you’re going to like what you find out there,” Stokes said.

“I’m not sure I like what I’ve found here.” Maddox turned to Meta. “Thanks for coming. Let’s go.”

“What about him?” she asked, pointing at Stokes.

Maddox stared at the major who had just tried to murder him. “We’ll lock the cell. I think that will give us enough time.”

Meta hesitated, looking as if she wanted to fire the laser one more time. Finally, she nodded, saying, “Okay. But we’d better hurry. The major is right about one thing, all of Star Watch will be gunning for us. We don’t have much time to get upstairs to
Victory
and out of the Solar System.”