The Lost Patrol Read Online Free Page A

feet. Another air-car flew low over the ground. It was identical to the first one.
    “I will beam it,” Galyan suggested.
    “No!” Maddox said.
    “It’s far enough away so—”
    “No,” Maddox repeated. He glanced at the android’s fallen gun. It looked too hot to pick up yet.
    “I would like to apologize for the first two shots,” Galyan said.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Maddox said. “It’s results that count. The thing is incapacitated. Well done, Galyan.”
    “I would like to point out that I warned you about the sniper system—”
    “Let’s concentrate on the issue at hand, shall we?” Maddox said, interrupting. “The air-car is slowing down.”
    “As you wish, Captain,” Galyan said.
    The air-car grounded hard, as if the occupant was in a hurry. The door opened, and out stepped Major Stokes. This one had a gun in his hand.
    “Lower your gun!” Maddox shouted.
    The major hesitated, his gaze taking in the scene. Slowly, he lowered his weapon so it aimed down.
    “Better yet,” Maddox said, “holster your sidearm.”
    “Don’t you trust me, Captain?” Stokes asked.
    Maddox pointed at the smoldering android. “Starship Victory has you in sight, Major. The thing over there was a replica of you. Perhaps you can understand my caution.”
    Stokes blinked several times before pitching his sidearm onto the ground.
    “Thank you,” Maddox said.
    Stokes nodded. “It looked like me?” he asked, bewildered.
    “With a gimpy leg,” Maddox said.
    The major absorbed the news. It seemed to take an effort of will for him to collect his thoughts. Finally, he said, “I found your drop team a kilometer from here. They’re all dead, shot in the head. The android must have killed them.”
    Maddox had been afraid of that.
    “It was actually me ?” Stokes asked.
    “The last of the androids,” Maddox said.
    “You hope,” Stokes said.
    The two men looked at each other.
    “The brigadier sent me,” Stokes said. “She and the Lord High Admiral wish to speak with you.”
    “Good,” Maddox said, “Because I’d like to speak to them.”
    “We can use my air-car,” Stokes said.
    “Don’t go, Captain,” Galyan said. “This could be an elaborate trap.”
    “Is that your highest probability?” Maddox sub-vocalized to the AI in orbit.
    “No,” Galyan admitted, “but it is a possibility.”
    “I suppose,” Maddox said, “but let’s take the chance, shall we? It could prove interesting.”
    The captain pulled out a cloth, folding it twice as he approached the android’s fallen gun. He gingerly picked up the revolver by the butt. He waved it in the air to cool the metal faster as he hurried to the major’s air-car.
     

-3-
     
    The air-car rapidly gained height as Stokes set the coordinates for Star Watch Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
    The major was an older, nondescript man with dark hair except for two patches of white on the sides. He was the Iron Lady’s chief confidante.
    “This is upsetting news,” the major said. “We were sure we’d eliminated every android. How could this have happened?”
    “It makes sense that a few escaped the dragnet,” Maddox said. “I wonder why it targeted me, though.”
    “Maybe the better question is how it knew where to find you.” Stokes glanced at him. “How did you know it was an android?”
    “It smoked a cigarette for one thing.”
    “I smoke cigarettes sometimes. That couldn’t have been the only giveaway.”
    Maddox shrugged. Did he sense a hint of insistence in the question? He wasn’t sure.
    “How did you destroy it?” Stokes asked.
    “I already told you,” Maddox said. “Starship Victory shot it.”
    “That doesn’t make sense. Are you implying the starship used a beam from orbit?”
    “Precisely.”
    Stokes glanced at him again. “I would think a starship’s laser would have burned you at the same time.”
    “Hmm,” Maddox said.
    The major frowned. “Are you suggesting Victory has an antipersonnel laser that can