The Lost Patrol Read Online Free PDF Page B

eyes, and they aimed stubby projacs at him. They were Spacers. The circular pectoral patches meant these two were provost sentries, Marines in Star Watch terms. They looked vaguely familiar. Yes, he’d fought these two sentries before in Shanghai.
    “Why am I here?” Maddox asked.
    Before the sentries could answer, a hatch opened and a woman stepped through. She also looked familiar.
    “Hello, Provost Marshal,” Maddox said.
    She was a head taller than the sentries. Like them, she wore dark-colored goggles over her eyes. Maddox had met her over a year ago in the Lin Ru Hotel in Shanghai, the Spacer embassy on Earth.
    Spacers did not claim any particular territory, but acted like space nomads. The majority of them were of Southeast Asian origin, particularly from Old Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Almost all the others had Polynesian ancestry.
    The last time Maddox had seen the woman in Shanghai, androids had kidnapped him. Spacers were said to have an abnormal hatred of androids and robots. Could that be an elaborate cover? In reality, did Spacers use androids and robots more than anyone else did? Why had the airship been ready to pick him up? They couldn’t have gotten to him so quickly otherwise. Clearly, the Spacers must have been monitoring the Stokes androids. Maddox might have died otherwise, as Keith could have failed.
    “I deactivated both of your creatures,” the captain said, referring to the Stokes androids.
    The Provost Marshal remained motionless, as if waiting for a signal.
    There was a second possibility here, Maddox realized. Were the Provost Marshal and her sentries also androids? What did Star Watch Intelligence really know about the Spacers anyway? They were among the most secretive of human societies.
    The Provost Marshal stepped forward as if stung, but the captain couldn’t see anything to have caused the reaction. She said, “We don’t have much time.”
    “Yes,” Maddox said smoothly. “I’d already assumed as much.”
    “Subterfuge won’t help you here, Captain. You were lucky against the androids. Do not presume on your luck with us.”
    “There was no luck involved,” he said. “I simply played the odds.”
    “No, Captain, you did not. I watched your stratospheric jump from the balloon. That was reckless and unneedful. For the life of me, I cannot fathom why anyone would do anything so….so risky.”
    “For thrills,” Maddox said.
    “That was a piece of frivolity,” she said, “a mindless action. Once, you defeated the alien Destroyer when it entered the Solar System. Why, then, did you mindlessly jump from space today?”
    “A moment,” Maddox said, stepping forward.
    The two sentries moved, blocking his way to the Provost Marshal.
    Maddox stopped, eying them and the aimed projacs. “What’s your name?” he asked the woman.
    She hesitated, finally saying, “Shu 15.”
    “That’s a pretty name,” he said.
    Her head twitched as she frowned. Maddox noticed that she had a small, kissable mouth.
    “Your ways will fail against me, Captain. The Visionary has alerted me as to your charms. I am immune to your flattery.”
    “That’s a pity,” Maddox said.
    “I—we—have come to warn you.”
    He raised an eyebrow.
    “This is a serious matter,” she said. “You must act with decorum, showing deference. If you don’t…there will be consequences. You will not like them, I assure you. The Law of Reciprocal Action will rebound upon you in a most grievous fashion.”
    “That sounds painful,” he said.
    “I have warned you. It is now on your own head. You do understand that, yes?”
    Maddox realized this was a ceremony. He had no idea who the Visionary might be, but it sounded religious. Spacer society was almost as mysterious to Star Watch Intelligence as the New Men.
    “I have been warned,” he said. “I will act accordingly.”
    “I dearly hope so, Captain. Despite your mindlessness, you are a hero. It would be a shame to see you destroy yourself because