“Now what do we do?” Meta asked. “Should I start smashing the AI’s data banks? If we destroy Galyan, the alien computer can’t hurt us anymore.”
“It may come to that,” Dana admitted. She shook her hands, flexing them, and scooped up the tools.
Galyan appeared. “If you do not back out of the chamber, I will make the engines go critical. I will destroy the starship.”
“Can’t you see we’re trying to help you?” Meta shouted through the armor’s speakers.
Galyan’s holoimage shook its head.
“If you leave us to mess with the engines,” Meta said, “I’m going to start smashing everything in here. If you’re going to destroy us, I’m going to destroy you first.”
Galyan stood blinking at her. “That will be genocide, as I am the last Adok in the universe.”
“You’re just a ghost of an Adok,” Meta said. “Your race is already dead. So don’t try to lay that on me.”
Galyan began blinking more furiously than ever. Finally, he vanished.
“What’s it going to be?” Meta asked. “Do I go crazy in here and start smashing the computer core?”
“No,” Dana said. “I have to endure the shocks. It’s as simple as that.” With her features screwing up with determination behind the rebreather mask, the doctor approached the offensive protrusion.
***
On the bridge, Valerie examined her board with shock. “Keith, the engines are going critical.”
“What?” the ace asked. He checked his panel and found her allegation to be true. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Valerie said. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“See if you can stop it.”
“I am!” Valarie shouted. “Nothing is working.”
“We’d better call the captain,” Keith said, opening intra-ship communications.
***
“Galyan!” Maddox shouted. “I’m ready to make a deal.” He’d just received Keith’s message.
Seconds later, the holoimage appeared in the corridor. “I am making the engines go critical,” Galyan said.
“You’ll destroy yourself.”
“I realize this. I wish I could do something else, but Villars won’t budge.”
“He’s insane.”
“No. He is fully sane.”
“Talk to him. Tell him I’m ready to negotiate.”
“Is this another stalling tactic, Captain?”
“No. Listen. I’m about to instruct Meta. Are you listening to me?”
“I am,” Galyan said.
Maddox took out a comm-unit. “Meta, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Captain,” Meta said.
Maddox pressed a button so a red light would blink inside her helmet. “I want you to instruct Dana to desist working on the backdoor.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“There,” Maddox told Galyan. “Tell Villars what I did. See if he will agree to stop the self-destruct sequence.”
The holoimage hesitated. “First, I will have to slow the critical functions in order to give Villars time to reconsider. There, I’ve slowed down the anti-reaction mass. I will ask Villars if he is willing to negotiate at once, Captain, and thank you, sir.”
“Of course,” Maddox said, knowing that Dana still worked on Ludendorff’s secret mechanism.
***
Inside the space marine armor, Meta winced. She watched the doctor. Dana’s hair stood on end from the electrical discharges coming from Ludendorff’s unit. Even so, Dana continued to make minute adjustments.
Meta shivered with suppressed emotions. She wanted to smash the delicate AI walls and destroy the ancient computer. In another moment, that’s exactly what she was going to do.
Then Dana screamed. Her hands flew away from the unit as she staggered backward. “I can’t do it. I can’t open it. I don’t know what to do.”
Meta shouted with frustration. In two clanking strides, she stood beside the doctor.
“Meta, no!” Dana shouted.
She raised a power-gloved fist. When all else failed, it was time to smash. She swung her arm. The fist connected with the unit and obliterated it.
A surge of electricity played upon the AI walls. Smoke billowed. Sparks blew. Loud electrical noises increased in volume. Then, nozzles appeared on the ceiling and began to blow foam.
“Let’s get out of here,” Meta said. Delicately, she grabbed one of the doctor’s wrists. With a soft tug, she made Dana stumble after her.
The two stepped through the opening. Meta released the doctor and clanked to the hatch. Picking it up, she marched to the opening and shoved it against the entrance, sealing the AI core.
“Good-bye, Meta. Thanks for everything you’ve done.”
Tears brimmed in the assassin’s eyes. Had her temper just sealed their fates, bringing death and destruction to Victory and everyone aboard the starship?
***
Maddox watched the stern AI as it spoke to him.
“You must surrender immediately, Captain,” Galyan said. “Those are Villars terms. Further—”
The holoimage abruptly stopped speaking. Its image wavered, grew fuzzy, fuzzier and then became sharper than ever.
“What just happened?” the captain asked.
Galyan’s slit-lipped mouth opened. “Oh no,” the AI groaned. “I’ve set the ship on a self-destruct sequence. I can’t believe I did this. It is sacrilege to the memory of my race.”
“Can you halt the process?” Maddox asked.
“Just a moment,” Galyan said. He appeared to concentrate for several seconds. Finally, the AI looked up. “There. I’ve brought the antimatter cyclers back under control. Why did I cause that to happen?”
“Don’t you remember?”
Galyan shook his head.
“Will you do as I request?” Maddox asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Galyan asked. “Don’t you remember that I agreed to serve under your leadership?”
Maddox grinned. It was time to remove Villars from play. “Listen, then. Here’s what I want you to do…”
-17-
“Are you ready?” Maddox asked Meta.
She stood beside him in the corridor, still wearing space marine armor, with a tangler in her hands.
“There,” Meta said through a speaker. “I activated the suit-trigger. Anytime you want, I can go.”
“Villars!” Maddox shouted. “I’m willing to surrender. Will you accept it?”
“I will,” the slarn hunter said through the closed hatch to the disruptor chamber. “But I want your woman, too. Do you understand?”
“I—”
“No more hesitation, Captain. Either you give me your woman, or I will destroy the starship. That means the death of humanity.”
“You’re a sadist,” Maddox shouted, putting heat into his words.
“Now, now, none of that, Captain. I might take it personally.”
“Don’t shoot,” Maddox said. “I’m coming in.”
“Of course not,” Villars said, with glee in his voice.
Maddox opened the hatch, careful to stay behind it. Heavy slarn rifle shots rang out. The slugs whanged off Meta’s armor.
She marched through the hatch. A second later, the tangler made a popping sound. Afterward, the slarn hunter cursed profusely.
“Destroy the starship, Galyan!” Villars shouted. “Blow it away.”
Maddox swung around the open hatch, stepping into the disruptor cannon chamber. The blocky trapper lay on the deck plates, tangled by the sticky threads.
“Should I kill him?” Meta asked. She stood beside Villars.
“Do what you want,” Villars told her. “We’re all dead anyway.”
“Why?” Maddox asked Villars. “Why destroy all of us?”
The slarn hunter gave a harsh laugh. “What do I care happens to the world once I’m dead?”
Maddox holstered his gun and wrung his hands. “If we’re all going to die, why not tell me this. How old is the professor anyway?”
“Older than you can imagine, punk.” Villars’s grin abruptly slid away. “Why do you want to know anyway? Why aren’t you trying to talk me out of…?” Villars’s words drifted away. He glanced at Galyan, who watched the proceeding. “Ah… you figured it out, didn’t you? Now you’re just trying to pump me for information. You’re a sly operator, punk.” The slarn hunter struggled to free himself of the tangle threads, but it proved impossible. Finally, the man lay still, panting.