Read Online The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) by Vaughn Heppner - Free Book Online Page A

Lucas was at a Woo Tower gaming table tonight,” Maddox told her. “Someone slipped me a drugged drink earlier. I believed Lucas had a hand in that.”
    This seemed to finally get her attention. “Explain,” she said.
    Maddox told her about the card game, the slipped drink and his coming to while entering the Lin Ru.
    The first sentry had helped the second to his feet by now. They stood behind the woman. While keeping the projac aimed at Maddox, she stepped beside the sentries. They conferred together in Spacer cant.
    Try as he might, Maddox could not understand the quickly spoken lingo.
    The woman stepped away from the sentries. “What is your name?”
    “I’m Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence,” he said, bowing slightly.
    The woman’s lips thinned before she said, “That’s preposterous.”
    “I have an ID if you’d like to examine it.” As he said that, Maddox realized he’d lost his wallet.
    The woman scoffed. “Are you suggesting you’re the same individual who defeated the alien Destroyer?”
    Maddox nodded, understanding her unease.
    She remained motionless for a moment. Then, with a swift move, she holstered the projac as her demeanor changed.
    “I beg your pardon,” she said in a softer voice. “I did not realize—”
    Maddox raised a hand. “It’s no trouble, Provost Officer.” He took out Lucas’s communicator. “Someone is jamming the signal. I would like to report in.”
    She hesitated only a moment longer. Reaching into her jacket, she took out a unit and clicked a switch. “If you’ll try it now,” she said.
    Maddox did so, calling headquarters. Major Stokes answered and agreed to send a flitter with Sergeant Riker. Maddox quietly explained one more item.
    Afterward, he looked up. “The major would like a word with you, Provost Officer.”
    Reluctantly, the woman accepted the communicator, listening to Stokes. She handed the comm-unit back a moment later.
    “I will escort you to the roof,” she told Maddox.
    He nodded. He wanted to examine Taren Lucas, the guards in the corridor and the androids in the sub-kitchens. However, he had a nasty suspicion that the androids looked exactly like the ambassador, and that could create trouble for him.
    Thus, Maddox wanted out of the embassy at the soonest possible opportunity so the woman couldn’t change her mind about letting him live.
    “Yes,” he told her. “Let’s head for the roof.”
     

-4-
     
    Maddox stood on the roof of the Lin Ru, waiting for Riker to show up. Other Shanghai buildings surrounded the hotel, most of them taller. The stars glittered in the night sky, barely visible because of the city’s bright lights. It made Maddox wonder how he’d seen the stars earlier.
    The Provost Officer stood beside him. The sentries had remained inside.
    Now that he was out here, with the threat of immediate death removed, the captain decided to attempt to rectify the android situation.
    “Provost Officer,” Maddox said.
    She became more alert.
    “Have you sent a team to inspect the androids yet?”
    “You said they escaped,” she told him.
    “Are you sure that’s what I said?”
    “Yes. You…” She regarded him more closely. “You switched your story, didn’t you? I should have noticed. My sentries…”
    “Changing the story seemed convenient at the time,” he said. “The androids were in a basement kitchen.”
    She spoke into a microphone, using Spacer cant so he didn’t understand her. Looking up, she asked, “Could you be more specific regarding which kitchen?”
    “It was off of a long slanting corridor.” The captain described the entrance as best as he could remember, including the giggling women and clinking glasses just before that.
    “You must have come through the service entrance,” she said. “Yes, I think I know.” Once more, she spoke into her microphone.
    She waited expectantly, asking a question now and again into her microphone. Maddox kept watching the sky, wondering if he’d made