Free The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3) by Vaughn Heppner Page A

and Meta to travel over one hundred light-years in a single jump. The same race that built the pyramid had access to the planet-killer. In other words, the doomsday machine has an incredible propulsion system.”
    “Which accounts for the ion storm?” Maddox asked.
    “Precisely,” Ludendorff said.
    “Then how are we supposed to stop this doomsday machine? With Victory’s disruptor cannon?”
    “No. The planet-killer has neutroium armor. The disruptor cannon will not breach its hull.”
    Maddox felt his skin go cold. Neutroium? That was incredible.
    “I’ve seen the machine,” the captain said. “I can believe that part. I’ve also seen the ion storm and the strange opening the planet-killer dropped into, which could be its traveling mechanism. What I don’t understand is how you know what happened in the New Arabia System.”
    Ludendorff sighed, adjusting the flat device. A wavering light shot out of it, beaming a holoimage before Maddox. The image showed the New Arabia System. The captain recognized the planets.
    Maddox glanced at the professor.
    “I’m magnifying,” Ludendorff said.
    Maddox watched the battle between the doomsday machine and the Wahhabi Home Fleet. Later, he observed the giant beam punching holes into Al Salam’s surface, drilling down to the molten core. Afterward, the captain observed billowing iron lava flowing over the red sands of Al Salam, destroying everything. The doomsday machine performed a similar horror to Riyadh, annihilating all life on the industrial planet.
    Finally, Ludendorff switched off the holoimage.
    Maddox grew thoughtful. “Are you expecting me to believe that’s actual footage of a real attack?”
    “Footage, as you put it, that happened two days ago,” Ludendorff said.
    “The giant ship jumped to New Arabia?”
    “Not directly from the system where we saw it, but yes,” Ludendorff said. “Permit me to explain how I know this. The New Men possess a handful of interstellar communication artifacts. One of the relics was aboard a star cruiser in the New Arabia System that witnessed the destruction I just showed you. I happen to have one of these incredible devices myself and received the images a day ago.”
    “This communication device is aboard Victory ?” Maddox asked.
    “Don’t bother looking for it, Captain. You won’t find it. As to why I know: there are a few New Men with opposing philosophical views to their leadership. Now and again, I have spoken with the right thinkers. It was how I knew about the planet-killer’s awakening, its trajectory so Victory could intercept it and later, about its frightful carnage in the New Arabia System.”
    Maddox was appalled. Could these things be true? “Is there any chance Per Lomax made it aboard the planet-killer?”
    “He would have turned off the machine if he had.”
    Maddox smiled grimly. “Maybe you thought to use him, but Per Lomax used you. He made it onto the machine and didn’t turn it off. We first captured Per Lomax because he led a boarding party against Victory . It’s clear the New Men desire their own alien super-ship. By freeing my prisoner, you may have inadvertently given them one.”
    The professor turned away. “An honest man would admit the possibility of what you just said.” He made a waving gesture. “I’m getting too old for these games.”
    “What are you suggesting I do about any of this?” Maddox asked. “How is Victory supposed to stop a fifty-kilometer doomsday machine covered with neutroium?”
    Ludendorff eyed him. “I’ve been pondering the problem. It was one of the reasons I accepted the confinement to quarters: to think without interruption. The answer makes me uneasy.”
    “I’m assuming you’re uneasy because you don’t like to take unnecessary risks,” Maddox said. “That’s why you used Per Lomax instead of trying to board the planet-killer yourself. And that’s why you want me: to do your risky work for you.”
    “I’d hoped the key would work