The Lost Command (Lost Starship Series Book 2) Read online

  “Yes,” Kane said.

  “You have grown bold during your absence from the Collective. Do you now seek individual satisfaction in life?”

  It was the first time Kane hesitated. “I-I don’t know,” he said.

  “A word of caution,” Per Lomax said, “as it appears you have forgotten a truth. The continued exposure to the untamed can sully one’s purity. It may be you need a session with the teacher. Do you volunteer for a meeting?”

  “No,” Kane said.

  “You claim to have retained your purity?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you have relations with the woman?”

  “No.”

  “That was a wise decision,” Per Lomax said. “Sexual indulgence can sully one faster than improper ruminations.”

  Kane bowed his head.

  “Ah, you wish to speak. Yes… Speak, Kane. You have my leave.”

  “The hunters on Wolf Prime are more individualistic than the untamed norm,” Kane said. “The teacher stratifies the mind in proper sequencing, this I know. Yet the stratification shows in ways that some of the untamed are able to perceive. If I go to the teacher, it may be harder for me to mingle among the hunters of Wolf Prime afterward.”

  “Your second tier intellect correctly foresees your next assignment on Wolf Prime. You think to use that as a weight in your argument with me. This desire to avoid mental stratification does not bode well for your future, Kane. I detect a higher than average corruption to your rationality than a stay among the untamed should warrant. What occurred to cause this?”

  “The only possible explanation I can perceive is that I used the Nexus again,” Kane said.

  “What was your reasoning for the decision?”

  “I suspected the humans—the untamed—would find a means to bring the ancient starship to Wolf Prime.”

  “Elaborate,” Per Lomax said.

  Meta wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a faint sense of urgency to the New Man’s words. It dawned on her this was the same New Man Captain Maddox had faced in the Beyond.

  Kane told Per Lomax what he knew about the ancient starship. Before he left the Solar System, his sources told him Star Watch Intelligence had sent Captain Maddox to the Oort cloud in an X72 Peregrine.

  “The untamed are reacting with haste,” Kane said. “It seems they have stumbled onto their only solution.”

  “They undoubtedly seek Professor Ludendorff,” Per Lomax said. “Interesting, interesting, they have finally reacted with optimum efficiency. I understand now why you used the Nexus. Your intellect served you well in this decision, Kane.”

  The blocky man dipped his head.

  “Their wisest move would be to come here,” Per Lomax said. “This is upsetting. Do you believe these actions are Captain Maddox’s doing?”

  “Yes,” Kane said.

  “It is past time we gained the ancient starship. If the Adok technologies were to fall to the untamed…” Per Lomax seemed to straighten. He reached out, putting the fingers of his right hand on Meta’s left shoulder.

  They felt like steel bands digging into her flesh. His strength shocked Meta, and she realized the New Man might conceivably be stronger than Kane.

  “You have gained your desire, Kane,” Per Lomax said. “The teacher can wait another day to straighten the deviancies your stay among the untamed has produced. You will be going down to the planet. As you surmised, we need an agent among the hunters. Ludendorff continues to elude us. But he won’t for much longer.”

  Meta tried to twist free of the painful grip.

  “She resists,” the New Man said. “You have been too lenient with her. She may be too far gone as a tool.”

  “May I suggest an idea, Superior?” Kane asked.

  As if his hand were a spring, Per Lomax released Meta’s shoulder.

  This time Meta could tell a difference. The New Man stared at Kane. The force radiating from him increased. Per Lomax felt like an angry god, ready to hurl a thunderbolt. Despite herself, Meta cringed before the New Man.

  “You dare to address me as an equal? This is presumption. I am sullied by your attempt.”

  Kane went to one knee, bowing his head.

  “I should destroy you,” Per Lomax said. “Not because I have been sullied by your action, although that is bad enough. It appears to me that you have begun to think independently of the Collective, with yourself as your focus. You seek self-actualization.”

  Kane did not respond.

  Per Lomax stirred, reaching to the blaster on his hip. “I perceive an outrage. Do you think to possess an insight beyond my knowledge?”

  “I am forced to the truth,” Kane said. “By the Collective—”

  “No! Do not swear by the Whole, you who are an untamed mite. This is sacrilege. Either—”

  “I know how to capture the ancient starship,” Kane said, interrupting Per Lomax.

  Meta waited for the thunderbolt to strike. In this instance, Per Lomax need merely draw his blaster and fire. The superior didn’t move, though, and Kane remained on one knee with his head bowed. Finally, Meta shifted her head enough to glance at Per Lomax.

  The New Man stared at Kane with a burning intensity, as if he could melt Kane’s mind with his gaze.

  “You have staked your continued existence on a presumption,” Per Lomax said in a heavy voice. “Speak now in the seconds remaining to you.”

  Kane said nothing.

  The superior glanced at Meta. “You do not wish her to hear your words?”

  “No,” Kane said.

  “Then I give you leave for introspection,” Per Lomax said. “I will study the specimen and send her to the teacher before returning to hear your supposed truth.”

  Kane remained as he was.

  “There is more?” Per Lomax asked.

  “Yes,” Kane said.

  Per Lomax looked up at the ceiling. The fingers of his right hand twitched. “State it,” he said.

  “If my plan is worthy,” Kane said, “it is possible you will have other plans for the…the specimen.”

  “You claim to need her?”

  “Yes,” Kane said.

  Per Lomax looked down upon Kane. “I had not anticipated these changes in you. Your life is a second tier resource, yet it has proven of worth in the past. Now, you risk this loss to the Collective. Your destruction will mar my record and conceivably retard my advancement. For the sake of the Whole, I hope you have risked wisely.”

  Without another word, Per Lomax wrapped his steely fingers around Meta’s neck, propelling her deeper into the chamber.

  ***

  Meta only remembered a little of what occurred in the chamber. Per Lomax first injected her with fungoid vigils, a green solution. It made her sleepy, but the New Man wouldn’t let her lie down or even sit. She stood, addressing him as if he was her father.

  The superior spoke in a haughty manner, firing off questions concerning her journey and about Kane. Per Lomax wanted to know minutiae, mainly concerning her feelings about the various things she had witnessed.

  A few of the questions bothered Meta later. Those were the things she truly recalled.

  “Do you desire to procreate with Kane?” Per Lomax asked.

  “Have his children?” she asked.

  “That is a symptom of procreation, of course. That is often not the originator for the desire. Do you want him to mount you?”

  “You make it sound as if we’re dogs.”

  “Ferals have a potential for rationality. This we understand. The evidence, however, suggests that only a tiny ratio practice higher-level reasoning. It’s conceivable you can think objectively, although the probabilities are low.”

  “I’m not a dog,” Meta said.

  “You are a creature of intoxicating beauty. I admit there is an impulse within me to strip off your garments and test your sexuality. Since I am a superior, I block the impulse as an impure sensation.”

  “You don’t like me?” Meta asked.

&
nbsp; “Did Kane use you during the journey?”

  “I would have killed him if he’d tried.”

  “Do you despise him?”

  “I want to stick a knife in his heart.”

  “Strong emotions of any kind often indicate a fierce longing for procreation.”

  “What happened to you people?” Meta asked while in her mental fog. “Why are you so weird?”

  “We are superior beings brought to fruition through selective breeding and intense genetic manipulation. We are Homo Superiors.”

  “You’re freaks.”

  “I am detecting a high level of intelligence in you. As impossible as it seems, you seek to evade answering my questions. That is a difficult feat while drugged with fungoid vigils. You have chosen an emotion-laden process to attempt to thwart me, in some manner realizing it gives you the highest percentage of success. Perhaps Kane spoke with greater insight than…” Per Lomax continued to speak, but his words no longer made sense.

  Meta blinked lazily, swaying where she stood. Soon, the superior injected her again, and memory of the event faded from her mind.

  ***

  Time separated from reality for Meta. She knew mind probing, pain and harsh questions from the teacher. It seemed as if stimuli came in flashing sequences of bright lights. Meta cringed and the flashing intensified. Words boomed like thunder in her brain. Then they hissed as if shifting on a night wind.

  The teacher did something to her thinking. It wasn’t right. Meta resisted, and for an instant, she found herself on a spinning table.

  She was spread-eagled, her wrists and ankles secured by bands. The spinning disoriented her. Drugs surged through her system. She wore a helmet that sprouted with antenna. Every so often, shocks zapped her skull, making her eyelids flutter.

  They’re reprogramming me. I know that’s what they’re doing.

  Meta squeezed her eyes shut. It was so hard to think. Yet, she had a feeling this was her last chance to affect her fate. This had something to do with Captain Maddox or was it Kane?

  “We’re not dogs,” Meta whispered.

  The spinning increased. The helmet shocks made her twitch in agony. The teacher did this to her. He had a plan, a tricky thing meant to do…something nefarious.

  That night in New York City, Meta thought to herself. The night Maddox and I fought. That isn’t what really happened. We made love that night, passionate and wild love. I kissed you like this.

  In her mind, Meta strove to burn in the idea of French kissing Captain Maddox. In her thoughts, she grabbed his face and kissed him fiercely.

  You told me to do that next time we met so we’d never forget what happened that night. Don’t forget, Captain. Don’t forget.

  Meta screamed afterward as the teacher continued to stratify her mind into the proper sequencing.

  ***

  Like an old-style ground vehicle using stick and clutch, Meta reengaged her mind with time as she walked down an empty corridor aboard the star cruiser.

  Meta stopped and raised a hand, examining it in wonder. Then she inspected her clothes. She had boots, pants, a shirt and a jacket. These were Earth garments. Yet, she was aboard an enemy star cruiser.

  A hatch opened, and Kane walked into the corridor. Meta expected a taller, thinner man to be with Kane. But the New Man agent was alone.

  “What’s going on, Kane?” Meta asked. Her voice startled her. It seemed too slow. Had somebody done something to her?

  The big man’s face was impassive, but Meta knew better now. She could read it in his granite eyes. Kane was happy to see her.

  “Follow me,” he said.

  Without waiting for a confirmation, he spun on his heels and marched down the corridor. Meta had to hurry to keep up with him.

  Soon, they entered a hangar bay. She saw the scout ship.

  “We’re leaving?” Meta asked.

  Kane didn’t answer. Half a minute later, he ducked through the hatch into the scout. She hurried after him.

  In less than a minute, they both buckled in. Kane turned on the engine so the deck plates thrummed. The scout lifted from the hangar bay and eased out the open door. Below, a white winter world waited for them.

  “What happened back there?” Meta asked. She didn’t understand why she could hardly remember anything. There was something about a pyramid. Had she met Kane in Cairo?

  As Meta tried to remember, another image interposed over her thoughts. It was a handsome Star Watch officer named Captain Maddox. They had made passionate love in New York City. She wanted to ask Kane about that. Something deep inside her told Meta that would be a bad idea.

  “We’re going down to Wolf Prime,” Kane said.

  “Oh.”

  “We need to find Professor Ludendorff,” Kane added. “Only he can help us against the New Men.”

  “We’re fugitives from the New Men?” Meta asked, frowning.

  “Yes,” Kane said. “Don’t you remember?”

  Meta’s frown deepened. Yes. That’s right. They had just escaped by killing several New Men. She looked at her hands. There wasn’t any blood. After she killed, as she had a baron once, she pretended to see blood on her hands. Why didn’t she see any blood now?

  Is Kane lying to me? Why would he do that? Isn’t Kane my friend?

  “Meta, do you remember? We just escaped and are fleeing down onto Wolf Prime.”

  Meta nodded. She could play along with this until she recalled events better.

  Kane pursed his lips and his features hardened. “I’ll do the talking once we reach the surface. You simply back up whatever I say.”

  “Of course,” Meta said.

  Kane hesitated, looking as if he wanted to say more. Then he tapped the controls. With a lurch, the scout headed down toward the winter planet.

  -23-

  “This is a disaster,” Galyan said. The holoimage stared at the main screen.

  Silently, Maddox agreed. He hadn’t expected the New Men to block their advance. The number of star cruisers orbiting Wolf Prime… Victory’s sensors showed five of the deadly vessels.

  For the past two weeks, Galyan had used tramlines together with star drive jumps. The alien vessel burned through the Commonwealth faster than any spaceship Maddox knew about. With the star drive, Victory could jump beside Laumer-Points instead of using velocity to travel there the old-fashioned way. The only negative was the number of times everyone endured Jump Lag. In a normal run, there were longer periods of rest.

  Fortunately, Maddox had convinced Galyan to use the star drive to enter the Wolf System from the side instead of coming in at a Laumer-Point. They’d wanted to see any enemy before the enemy saw them.

  Space was vast and ships were miniscule—less than tiny motes in comparison to the void—making dedicated searches difficult unless one scanned in specific spots. Victory’s sensors had picked out the star cruisers in orbit around the ice world. Had the New Men spotted the ancient starship in return? Galyan’s sensors said no. Last time in the Beyond, however, the New Men had shown an uncanny ability to track the Geronimo and then Victory. It would be rash to believe the enemy wasn’t even now pondering why the ancient starship approached Wolf Prime.

  “Victory cannot defeat five star cruisers,” Galyan said. “The game is up, Captain. We have lost.”

  “Hang on,” Maddox said. “Is that how you acted during your battle against the Swarm?”

  “That was different.”

  Maddox drummed his fingers on a console. “The star cruisers are a problem, I grant you. But they’re not an insolvable one.”

  “I am the galaxy’s premier tactician,” Galyan said, “and I tell you there is no combination of maneuvers that will allow Victory to annihilate five vessels of such magnitude.”

  “There’s an ancient Earth saying,” Maddox told the AI, “maybe as old as your ship. ‘There’s more than one way to skin a cat.’”

  “I do not perceive your meaning.”

  Maddox drummed his fingers harder again
st the console. How should he go about this? Was there a way to win? Five star cruisers…he had to tell the AI something, so he’d better start talking.

  “Driving Force Galyan, this is an apparent impasse. You are also a splendid tactician. I would like to use the idea of another ancient saying to see if we Earthlings can come up with a plan.”

  “What is the saying?” Galyan asked.

  “Two heads are better than one.”

  “You wish to speak with your crew?”

  “Exactly,” Maddox said.

  “I will agree to the meeting on one condition.”

  “Yes?”

  “If we make an attempt and you actually reach Wolf Prime,” Galyan said, “you must search for the archeological clues on the surface for the whereabouts of the Swarm’s ancient homeworld.”

  “I am honor bound to do so,” Maddox said. “That means I will attempt it with all my strength and cunning.”

  “It is fortunate for you that I have taken your measure,” Galyan said. “Otherwise, I would believe you are lying to me.”

  Maddox said nothing.

  “Yes,” Galyan said. “You will go to your crew, and I will join you.”

  ***

  The crew sat against the walls of the chamber, sixteen people having spent endless weeks in here. Their three-month margin had almost run out. Maddox could imagine what it must have smelled like before the AI allowed them to shower and clean their uniforms and sleeping gear.

  The captain stood as he explained the situation. It would have been better if Galyan wasn’t watching, with three of his robots in attendance. But, the AI was here, listening to every word. Thus, Maddox had adjusted his words accordingly.

  “You’re absolutely sure there are five star cruisers?” Valerie asked.

  Maddox nodded.

  “We couldn’t take on three star cruisers in the Beyond,” the lieutenant said. “Five is out of the question.”

  “We did take on three,” Second Lieutenant Maker told her. “We even destroyed one of them, remember?”

  “And almost lost Victory in return,” Valerie said. “You’re not seriously suggesting there is some way we can destroy five star cruisers?”

  “I certainly am, love,” Keith said.