Maddox glanced at the screen. One hundred dark, automated satellite-beacons orbited between the chthonian planet and halfway to the gas giant. Maybe a thousand drones orbited in the same zone. The scout passed through a belt of sleeping missiles. At any time, one of them might activate and accelerate at them.
Dana laughed with what sounded like relief.
Maddox frowned at her.
“You’re right,” Dana said. “That’s what the monitor commander would do: put the space beacons onto high alert. Where is Archangel headed?”
Maddox fiddled with the board. “Given their present heading, it looks as if they’re chasing the Saint Petersburg. Seems crazy, though,” he said, “the huge monitor will never catch a sleek runner like the destroyer.”
Dana clapped her hands together. “The New Men on the destroyer must have overplayed their hand. They made the monitor commander suspicious.” She frowned. “That means my computer hacking went for nothing. I’ve been wasting time.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions. We don’t know what’s going on.”
“Now that I’m in the space beacon,” Dana said, “do you want me to—?”
Maddox’s instruments blared a warning.
“What is it?” Dana shouted.
With his guts twisting, Maddox told her, “Archangel must have just sent a high pulse signal. Satellite-beacons are switching to combat alert.”
“So they are joining forces against us,” Dana said.
“I don’t think so.”
“But you just told me that’s what the monitor commander would do if they leagued together.”
“You’re right. I said that,” Maddox admitted. “But the beacons nearest Loki Prime should have gone onto combat alert then. That was our last known position, right? That’s not happening. Instead, the automated satellites nearest the Saint Petersburg are switching to a combat setting. Why just there, I wonder?”
“Oh. Yes. That is different.”
Maddox checked for further data before glancing at Doctor Rich. “The monitor’s commander must have upped the game. I bet he’s threatening the destroyer with annihilation from the drone-field.”
“That might be less of a threat than you think,” Dana said.
“Why? What haven’t you told me?”
Her dark eyes become hooded. She seemed to be weighing something in her mind. “I suppose you’ll find out sooner or later. The beacons and drones are over fifteen years out of date, at least. I suspect the computer programs are pretty ancient too.”
“Okay…” he said.
“Hacking into the beacon was child’s play. If I can do it, some genius New Man shouldn’t have any problem neutralizing the minefield.”
“Maybe,” Maddox said. “Old weapons can kill just like new ones. Besides, the fact that the monitor commander is heading for the destroyer shows me the New Men aren’t invincible. They can make mistakes. Remember, we beat them on Loki Prime.”
“We did not,” Dana said. “That’s wishful thinking, something I thought you were above. I’ll have to reevaluate my opinion about you.”
Maddox snorted softly.
Dana turned away from the screen and faced him. “The truth is we barely managed to escape from one New Man and his assault-rifle ally.”
“That’s what I just said,” Maddox told her. “We beat them.”
“Beating them means we would have captured the invader for interrogation.”
“Wrong,” Maddox said. “He attempted to impose his will on us. We thwarted his will and imposed our own.”
“You mean your will, which was capturing me.”
“Freeing you,” Maddox said. “I freed you from captivity.”
“Mister,” Dana asked, “do you take me for an idiot?”
“The opposite,” Maddox said. “Your quick suppression of the space beacon proves we need you.”
“As I told you,” Dana said. “The auto-beacon and its program were old. Your pilot probably could have done it if he put his mind to it.” She yawned. “I’m exhausted. I’ve been working on this ever since we boarded. The stims I took are finally wearing off. I need sleep.”
Maddox took out his control unit out. “Very well. I’ll escort you to your quarters.”
Dana waited a half-beat before nodding. Then she headed for the hatch and Maddox followed.
He knew she plotted against them. It was obvious, and she was cunning, maybe more than he was. How could he convince her to join the mission? Without her knowledge and hacking skills, they were never going to gain entrance into the alien sentinel. There had to be a way to sway her, but he was at a loss as to what it might be.
Space battles within a star system’s vast expanse were often long-term affairs that went on for days instead of hours. AIs, computers and combat techs measured velocities, acceleration rates, beam ranges, cones of firing probabilities and braking speeds. The situation often became a chess game between professionals. Many times, the losing crew knew hours ahead of time that they were going to die as death remorselessly closed in on them.
As Captain Maddox, the lieutenant and the ensign watched from the control room—with the scout inching toward its Laumer-Point near the gas giant—they had a front row seat to the engagement between the monitor and the destroyer.
Archangel’s commander had put the satellite-beacons on high alert. The next step would be targeting the destroyer with the nearest drones. It seemed that Archangel’s commander would have to know without a doubt that the destroyer had turned rogue before actively trying to annihilate the vessel. That decision wouldn’t be made lightly.
Maddox dearly wanted to know what the monitor’s commander knew. He would have to break radio silence and come into the open to ask, though. It was very probable the monitor commander would not believe him. The greater mission was too important for Maddox to risk coming out of the dark.
“Why is the destroyer still heading for our jump-point near the gas giant?” Valerie asked. The lieutenant had taken a long-deserved nap and appeared refreshed. “The Saint Petersburg can’t use that wormhole.”
Maddox had been wondering the same thing. Given the monitor’s new actions, the destroyer should have already headed for a different Laumer-Point to attempt to escape the star system. He didn’t like the mystery.
“What do your sensors show?” Maddox asked.
“Nothing extraordinary,” Valerie said. “Ah. The monitor is sending a message to Saint Petersburg.”
“Isn’t there any way we can tap into it?” Keith asked. He’d napped too. It had made his eyes puffier and him crankier.
Neither Maddox nor Valerie answered the ensign.
“Well?” Keith asked. “Can’t we listen in?”
“Not unless we want to use active systems,” Maddox told him. “That would probably give us away. It’s better for us to remain hidden.”
“Jolly good,” Keith said shortly, in a grumpy voice. He stood. “I’m hungry. Anyone care to join me?”
Maddox’s stomach grumbled. He could use a break. Besides, a few minutes away couldn’t hurt. “Sure,” he said. “Let’s go.”
They exited the control room and moved down the corridor to the galley, a small area with a table and benches. Maddox picked a freeze-dried packet of tuna salad. Keith picked hamburger patties with broccoli.
They used a microwave to cook each. Halfway through the meal, Valerie spoke through the intercom.
“You ought to get back here, Captain. Things have just turned interesting.”
Grabbing the plastic, Maddox hurried to the control room, wolfing down the rest of the tuna salad as he went. He hadn’t realized until he started eating just how hungry he’d been.