With that, Captain Maddox spun around and walked away. After three steps, he lowered his head and took off sprinting.
Valerie felt a lump in her throat. She nodded to herself. This hour was why she’d pushed through her suffering in Greater Detroit to win a spot in the Space Academy. This moment was why she’d climbed into the escape pod and survived the New Men when all her comrades had died in battle in the Pan System.
A robot on treads wheeled into sight. It was an ugly thing and stopped short. With a mechanical tentacle, it beckoned them.
Valerie swallowed and turned to the others. “We have a job to do. Doctor. You’d better use your intellect for all it’s worth. Our lives and the lives of humanity back home are resting on it.”
Dana stared at her. “No pressure, Lieutenant?”
“Wrong,” Valerie said. “All the pressure in the galaxy is on you now. I’m wondering if you have what it takes to surmount it.”
Doctor Rich’s eyes seemed to burn for a moment. Then she nodded, beginning to head for the robot. “We shall shortly find out,” Dana said.
-37-
Captain Maddox reentered the bridge. The holoimage had vanished. With a shrug, Maddox went to his former station and studied the screen. The red giant looked bigger. That meant the ship continued to head toward it.
A crackle of sound caused Maddox to turn. The holoimage solidified into existence. It still looked hazy and indistinct although it maintained a humanoid shape. Maddox wondered what the aliens had looked like. Did they have tentacles or had they been manlike?
“I am disappointed with you, Captain,” the holoimage said.
Maddox kept his features even. He wondered if the AI measured his heart rate and other telltale signs. The captain had training in that area, having used biofeedback to keep himself calmer than others could do in these situations.
“I ran back here as fast as I could,” Maddox said.
“Do not try your subterfuge tactics on me. I have already implied that I know about your plan.”
“Could you be more specific?” Maddox asked.
“I don’t need to be.”
“I agree that this is your ship,” Maddox said. “We are guests here, beholden to you. We will follow whatever rules you decide to enforce.”
“You are quibbling,” the holoimage said. “Stop it at once.”
“If I have offended you, I am sorry.”
“Captain,” the holoimage warned.
Maddox decided to wait.
“You huddled together with your crewmembers,” the holoimage finally said. “You whispered so my sensors couldn’t pick up what you told your people. My probability factors indicate you plotted munity against me.”
“Ah,” Maddox said, acting as if he was relieved. “I realize now what happened. There’s been a terrible misunderstanding. I whispered because…”
“Yes. You did so why?”
“It’s rather embarrassing to tell you in particular,” Maddox said, hanging his head.
“This isn’t the time for your games, Captain. Speak to me at once. Admit that you’re plotting against me.”
“It’s not what you think. You see, I’ve had difficulty with my crew. At times, they’ve flouted my authority. This is my first stint in a warship as a captain. Surely, you recall my troubles with them. Your mind probe earlier should have picked that up.”
“Yes,” the holoimage admitted. “I do recall something of the sort.”
“What adds to my embarrassment is that you’re the greatest starship commander in history. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“I do indeed,” the holoimage said.
“You’re making this hard for me.” Maddox looked stricken as he blurted, “Don’t you realize I wish to look good in your presence? This is my final battle, my reason for existence. I can help humanity by doing as much damage to the antilife New Men as I can. That means my crew needs to excel. I don’t want them to embarrass me in front of you.”
The holoimage froze. When it moved again, it said, “You may not believe this, but I had not considered that.”
“Then let me tell you again,” Maddox said, “I feel awful if my whispering has offended you. Ever since learning who you are, I’ve strained to impress you.”
“Interesting,” the holoimage said. “Perhaps I’ve misjudged your species. You have more refinement than I believed you capable of having. You can recognize greatness in others. Even among my people, that was a rare quality.”
“Please, Commander, let my crew aid you in repairing the starship. We can help fix the neutron charger, any shield generator and star drive damage, and AI memory cores as you would like.”
“Memory cores?” the holoimage asked, sounding suspicious again. “Why there?”
“I’ve begun to suspect you might be missing some of your tactical programs.”
“How dare you say that?” the holoimage said. “What possibility makes you pronounce such a baseless thing?”
“Why, logical deduction proves this must be the case. You are the greatest starship commander in history. That is the first given. Yet the cruisers managed to inflict damage onto Victory. What’s even worse is that I suspect they hurt you more than you hurt them. The only conceivable reason for this is that your AI has fallen below its optimum operating levels.”
“I see,” the holoimage said. “Interesting. I cannot fault your reasoning. Yes, I should have swatted the cruisers out of existence. Originally, I concluded the lack of the disrupter ray or the gyro destabilizer was the cause for my failure to annihilate. Now, I sense it may be a less than optimal computing function. Hmm, I have detected a malfunction or two in my cognitive capacity, blockages in thought.”
Maddox waited quietly.
“What I don’t understand is why, at this point, we should repair the star drive,” the holoimage said. “That makes no sense. I am not going to attempt to flee the intruders.”
“On the contrary,” Maddox said. “I thought the reason why was obvious—as a military ploy.”
“You’re being evasive. I demand that you explain your meaning.”
“Certainly,” Maddox said. “The tactic seems elementary to me. I believe any Star Watch officer would realize how valuable the mini-jump was. We could use the red giant as a shield against the cruisers, only attacking when it’s to our advantage. Naturally, you would place a beacon or two at the star’s edges—in relation to your enemies. In that way, you could fix their precise location. At the right moment, using the jump, you move through or bypass the star to appear beside an enemy cruiser. As soon as possible, you energize the short-range neutron beam, smashing an enemy shield and destroying the vessel. Before the others can react, you jump away out of range back behind the shielding red giant.”
“That is a brilliant strategy,” the holoimage said.
“You are most kind to say so,” Maddox said. “It shows true magnanimity on your part. I wonder if that’s a portion of your greatness, to shower praise where it’s due. Of course, I hasten to add that I realize you would have thought of the ploy before I did if your AI core had been operating at peak efficiency.”
“Yes, yes,” the holoimage said. “That goes without saying. I would have thought of it. That means my cores must be damaged.”
Maddox waited.
“I think I will have your Doctor Rich look over my computing core. It is… wrong that I am below peak… what was the word?”
“Efficiency,” Maddox said.
“Yes, that,” the holoimage said.
“Consider it done,” Maddox said. “I will inform the doctor via a screen.”