The Lost Starship

-22-

Sometime later, Meta stretched out on a bunk staring up at a bulkhead. It had been a long time since she’d been able to lie down without worrying about Temple Savants sneaking up on her to attempt rape or worse. That had been the official name of their tribe.

Life on Loki Prime had been a nightmare, one she’d endured for four awful years. She could still hardly believe this was happening.

It had been several hours since she’d boarded the SWS Scout Geronimo. Captain Maddox had installed her in these quarters, telling her the anklet would give her increasingly stronger shocks if she set foot outside the compartment. He had changed the rules of his agreement, confining her here. Meta had expected nothing less.

Even so, the man kept surprising her. Few people outside of the Rouen Colony had ever bested her in hand-to-hand combat. Dana had twisted the truth when she’d told Maddox that she—Meta—was an engineer. Everyone in the Rouen Colony was an engineer, just as, in the preindustrial past, most people had been farmers.

Meta’s real specialty was fighting—not as a soldier, but as a bodyguard, enforcement agent and assassin. She had trained many years for her attempt against Baron Chabot. He’d owned the contract to the Rouen Colony.

The heavy G mining world could have doubled as a prison planet. During her time there, indentured colonists had slaved eighteen-hour shifts running the diggers. Because of the grueling gravity, the work wore people down at astonishing rates. The history of her planet and people went back to Baron Chabot’s grandmother. To aid in producing greater quotas of ore, the grandmother had decided on human modifications: making stronger workers through genetic alterations for endurance under extreme conditions.

The Rouen Colony was located in an independent star system. Such genetic alteration was against the laws of the Windsor League and the Commonwealth. In any case, Meta had trained in secret. The mine coordinator had believed she had a greater chance of success than others would due to her beauty.

From her childhood on, Meta had drilled in clandestine affairs. The endless memory courses, weapons training, stealth, security procedures, she knew it all. Finally, when she’d turned eighteen, Meta had boarded a packet to the baron’s regular gravity world. It had taken her three humiliating years before she gained access to his castle as a maid. Then one night, Meta had slipped into the baron’s quarters and throttled him to death in his bed. His eyes had opened long enough to gape at her for his final seconds of life.

Instead of fierce elation at his inert form, she’d felt sick at her deed. It had been her first kill. Staggering through the empty, enemy halls, she had found herself in the kitchens. At that point, she realized many security cameras had recorded her passage. Escaping the baron’s planet had proved hard. Worse, the political assassination failed to produce the desired effect. Instead of freeing the people of the Rouen Colony, the baron’s heir had passed stricter laws—and he’d placed a fantastic reward on Meta’s head.

Pirates hijacked the liner where she’d stowed away. They had uncovered her presence, and it would have been deadly for her to remain on the liner once the pirates left. It had been one of the baron’s luxury cruisers. So, she joined the pirates long enough for them to enter a Commonwealth system, where a Star Watch patrol captured the ship.

The authorities sentenced her to Loki Prime along with the rest of the pirate crew. Temple Savants reached her drop pod before anyone else did. The first thug tried to throw her down to start a rape train. He was the second person she killed. The Temple Savant boss had been impressed. Meta had slain the rapist with a single punch to the head. The boss made her his bodyguard and lover. The man had disgusted her, but better to deal with one than fifty at a time.

A year ago, Doctor Dana Rich landed on Loki Prime, and things began to change soon thereafter. Dana had taught the Temple Savants things, improved on their weapons and compound defenses. Then, she poisoned the boss one night. Meta was the only one who knew. Dana took the pig’s place. She made Meta her bodyguard, and that’s all she had to do.

Captain Maddox was right about one thing. Everyone on Loki Prime dreamed of getting off. It comprised a good third of their conversations and plans. The hard truth that all of them knew was that none of them would ever leave the horror world.

As she stretched out on the bunk, Meta grinned with delight. Her skin was clean and felt fresh for the first time in years. Maddox had let the medical station inject her with antibiotics. Soon, the germs and spores crawling inside her would be dead, and she would feel like her old self again. She didn’t think Maddox would be able to outfight her then, not as he had on the planet.

Meta’s grin widened. She’d seen him eyeing her. Oh yes, she knew that look. Her teachers had taught her to use such things to her advantage. She had been a pirate once before— No, forget about piracy. This time, once I own the scout, I’ll go legitimate. Maybe I’ll head to a Windsor League planet, start my own security agency.

Putting her hands behind her head, Meta wondered if Captain Maddox had spoken the truth about the New Men. The two golden-skinned men walking off the shuttle— Thinking about what had happened on the surface, she shuddered.

Meta had never met people like them. Their eyes had been harder than stone. Handsome like devils, they had remorseless attitudes. Maddox had guessed right about them. The Star Watch Intelligence captain seemed to do that a lot. The golden-skinned men had gathered the nearest Temple Savants. One fool tried to knife the shuttle leader. The golden-skinned man had caught his wrist and broken it easily. Then, he’d grabbed the offender’s throat and squeezed, crackling the neck bones as the knifeman gurgled to his death.

Five Temple Savants had bellowed with outrage, charging. The second New Man had drawn a gun faster than Maddox could have done. Before anyone realized it, five Temple Savants lay dead on the ground with smoking holes in their foreheads.

“You act like beasts,” one of the New Men said. “So we will treat you as beasts.”

The torturing began soon thereafter. If the orbital missiles hadn’t struck, Meta was certain the golden-skinned devils would have slaughtered the entire tribe.

Had more of their kind truly invaded the Oikumene? Were the New Men as unstoppable as Maddox said? By her actions, Dana didn’t believe it. Meta also knew that Dana Rich considered herself the smartest person alive. For over a year, Meta had seen the truth of that. She wondered if Captain Maddox realized just whom he’d taken aboard his scout.

There came a rap at the hatch.

Meta sat upright. “Wait,” she said. “Let me get dressed.”

“I’ll give you thirty seconds,” Maddox said.

Meta had shed the fur bikini some time ago, dropping the pieces into a disposal unit. She now put on a bra and panties, pulled on pants and buttoned a blouse. It was a Star Watch uniform for a rating. On impulse, she pulled on socks and slipped her feet into shoes. Lastly, she checked herself before a mirror. Hmm, she pulled out a string and let her long dark hair cascade to her shoulders. Picking up a brush, she combed her hair.

“Meta?” Maddox called. “Are you presentable?”

She considered jumping him when he entered, knocking him out. But why make the attempt so soon? It would be better to regain her full health before striking. Until then, she would lull the man. Despite his cunning, that should be easy enough. He was young, and she had seen the way he looked at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice.

Sitting on the edge of her cot, she said, “Enter.”

The hatch opened and Maddox ducked in. He had his gun hand on the butt of his weapon. The pistol was in its holster. When he saw her on the bunk, he removed his hand and snapped the flap shut.

“It looks as if you’ve made the adjustment to ship life easily enough,” he said.

“What’s the situation?” Meta asked. “Has Dana cracked into the space beacon’s software?”

“Not yet,” he said.

“How long do I have to wear this?” she asked, pointing at the anklet.

“That depends,” he said.

Meta raised an eyebrow, and she forced herself to smile at him.

Maddox smiled back.

Men were so simple. Her teachers had taught her that.

“Meta, I’ll get straight to the point. I’d like your impressions about the New Men.”

His direction surprised her. “I’m not sure I know what you mean?” she said.

“You watched them in person. You observed the way they moved and talked. What did you think about them?”

Meta hadn’t expected this. Usually, a man would strike up a casual conversation, trying to get to know her so he could make his moves. Maddox struck her as all business. Did he think she didn’t know what he thought about her in his heart?

“I want your impressions because the Star Watch has scant information about the New Men,” Maddox explained. “The invaders seem to have penetrated deep into the Commonwealth government, and yet we’ve never caught one of their operatives.”

“Too bad you couldn’t capture the destroyer then. It’s full of people who have fraternized with New Men.”

I doubt that’s the case,” Maddox said. “I suspect the invaders have compartmentalized life aboard the destroyer. But that’s neither here nor there. What were your impressions about them?”

If this is what it took to lull the captain, so be it. “The New Men are decisive,” Meta said. “They act without hesitation, as if they know exactly what they’re doing at all times. A Temple Savant tried to assassinate one.”

“Who?” Maddox asked.

She explained the tribal name and told him what had happened upon the shuttle’s landing. Since Maddox kept asking, she told him about the five-person charge and execution by the other New Man, and she detailed how the invader had called them “beasts.”

“Interesting and telling about their attitude concerning regular people,” Maddox said. “Now give me your take.”

“Could you be more specific?” Meta asked.

“You’ve given me raw data. I want your assessment of them. What do you feel here?” Maddox asked, tapping his chest.

“Haven’t thought too about it much,” she admitted. Unconsciously sticking out her lower lip, Meta began to ponder the captain’s question. She shrugged shortly. “They’re tough, really tough, and they struck me as men who will do anything to succeed. A lot of people think they have what it takes to win.” She shook her head. “Most people are wrong. They have scruples. Things they would never do. Most people get scared too. Those two—they didn’t have any problem torturing, killing, whatever they needed. Yes. Now that I’m thinking about it, they treated us as something lower. They acted superior—arrogantly, but without the stupidity most arrogant people have.”

“You’ve had a lot of contact with arrogant people?” Maddox asked.

“You mean besides on Loki Prime?” she asked.

Maddox nodded.

“You’d better believe it. Starting with the foremen on the Rouen Colony—” Meta stopped talking. How much should she give away concerning her past? Despite his youth, the captain was clever. He didn’t need to know too much about her.

“You were saying?” Maddox prodded.

Meta shrugged.

Maddox seemed to shift tactics. It was a subtle thing, but observable to with someone of her training.

“Aren’t you grateful that I took you off Loki Prime?” he asked.

“Of course I am.” She smiled again to show him just how grateful.

“Then help me with this. I’m trying to stop the worst menace to ever hit the Commonwealth.”

“So you keep telling us.”

“Why would I lie to you?” Maddox asked.

“Since I know so little about you,” she said, “I have no idea. I can think of plenty of reasons, though.”

“Don’t you trust your instincts?” Maddox asked.

Meta most certainly did. She had become an excellent judge of character. In her line of work, it had been critical. She nodded.

“What do your instincts tell you about me?” Maddox asked.

She frowned, wondering where the man was trying to take this.

Maddox crossed his arms, leaning against a bulkhead, waiting.

“You’re sure of yourself,” Meta said. “Is that what you want to hear?” All men were egotists, so she knew that he did.

He said nothing, just grinned at her.

That upset her enough that she wanted to give him a rude gesture and tell him a Rouen Colony curse. Instead, she studied the lean man. There couldn’t be an ounce of fat on his frame. Did he have denser muscles just as she did? How could he have beaten her in hand-to-hand combat before? She remembered his strength but more his speed. Some of his determination leaked through his eyes, she noticed. This one would go through a force screen by sheer willpower to get to his prize. She reconsidered his actions on Loki Prime. He had faced overwhelming obstacles and had overcome them all.

“You have a purpose,” she said. “No. You’re driven.” Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Something haunts you.”

The grin remained, but the force drained from it. For a moment, Maddox seemed uncomfortable. Then the discomfort vanished, as if rejected by the owner.

“Why are you asking me about yourself?” she said.

“You’ve had the rare privilege of meeting the New Men and surviving to tell of it. Lieutenant Noonan did likewise, facing them as part of a Star Watch battle group. Three enemy cruisers annihilated the substantially larger Star Watch force.”

“Why should I care?” Meta asked.

“What if the New Man spoke truthfully down there?” Maddox said. “What if they think of regular humans as beasts? Not only that, but they have the firepower to take us down and then wipe us out as a species.”

“Why would they ‘wipe us out?’ What’s their gain in that?”

“Don’t know,” Maddox said. “I simply find it curious that once the New Men conquer a star system, no one hears anything from the captured planets again. What are the invaders doing to the population that they want to hide?”

“You think these New Men are exterminating the populations?” Meta asked.

“I think these highly dangerous invaders have far too many advantages over my tribe—the Star Watch. I think we need an equalizer, especially if my guesses about them are correct. Think about that for a minute. If I’m right about them, that could impact you personally much sooner than you’d like.”

“You’re trying to scare me,” Meta said. “Okay, I’m shaking. So, why don’t you get to your point?”

“You don’t scare easily, and that might be bad for you.”

“I don’t know how,” Meta said.

“Suppose you’re getting ready to drink a cup of poison,” Maddox said, “and someone tells you about it. All you do is shrug. You’re not afraid of poison. Well, after drinking the cup, you die. In that instance, it would have been wise to be frightened of the cup.”

“I already told you I was scared.”

“Here’s my point. We need your strength, Meta, your mechanical skills. I want you to join us of your own free will and convince Doctor Rich to do the same thing.”

“To find this ancient starship you talked about?” she asked.

“Exactly,” he said. “I’m not hiding my intentions.”

Really? Then down there on the planet why did you look at me the way you did? Yes, you are hiding some of your intentions, Captain.

“I haven’t convinced you,” he said. “Therefore, you should think about this: You owe me your life, Meta.”

She bristled.

“I took you off Loki Prime,” he said.

“As part of our deal,” she said. “You got off too.”

“It doesn’t matter why I did it. No one was ever going to free you from a lifetime of horror down there. I did. Me, gallant Captain Maddox. Now, you need to pay me back by helping this mission succeed.”

She scowled. Did he really only want her help getting the lost ship?

“Think about it,” he said. “You have some free time in here, I mean. Use it wisely.” With that, Maddox straightened and took his leave.

After the hatch shut, Meta stared at it. Finally, she lay back down. As the man said, she had some serious thinking to do.