Abducted: A Tale of the Collector's Museum

"Aren't you surprised to see me, Father? I should think so, after all the trouble I've taken to conceal myself. By the way, I have your 'concubine' as my prisoner. Wouldn't the High Council be interested in knowing that you've been creating an artificial person? Not to mention that it serves you as a sexual slave. What's the matter Father, women of your own species not good enough for you any longer?"

"We aren't father and son, Roravik. I was never married to your mother. Besides, you were already over a hundred years old when I first met her. I suppose I needn't ask what you are doing allied with those Lexaptuorkellnast pirates. I see it all now, this whole affair has been directed at me. You are undoubtedly making an attempt to murder yet another of your mother's former lovers. This time it's my turn."

"I see you've grasped the essentials of the situation."

"Roravik, let the girl go before it's too late..." began the Collector. He seemed to age right in front of my eyes. All the energy he'd shown before visibly drained away, leaving him looking like a ruined husk of a man. Looking at him now I could well believe he was over two thousand years old.

"My name is not Roravik!" shouted the madman. "I am Mordred, son of Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon! There is no Roravik, only Mordred, a fact you would do well to remember if you wish to keep your synthetic sex-toy undamaged!" Spittle flew from Mordred's mouth as he raged at the Collector. This guy definitely belonged in a loony bin somewhere. I wondered how he'd gotten away from his keeper. I shook my head to banish that sort of thought as Mordred regained control of his emotions and began speaking again. "You try my patience, old man, with your pitiful pleas for your concubine's safety. Another interruption and it dies in as much agony as my allies can devise."

"What is it you want then, Mordred?" asked the Collector, with defeat in his voice.

"Why, isn't it obvious? I want that ship, and the power it will give me. With that much power, my allies and I will be unbeatable. We can rule unopposed over an empire that spans this galaxy, perhaps even extending to the other galaxies nearby. I have already equipped their larger ships with time travel machinery. We will be unstoppable! I shall found a dynasty that will endure throughout all time!"

"You what?" gasped the Collector. "You've given those pirates the secrets of time travel? How could you... Why? In the name of all that's holy, why?"

"Be silent, old man. You know the penalty for opposing my will. I want that ship, that is all you need to know. I will have it- or I will have your toy tortured to death before your eyes."

"You fiend!"

"That and more," said Mordred. "But compliments will avail you naught. Vacate that ship and you shall have your 'lover' returned to you. Refuse and it... she, if you insist- will be handed over to my allies for their pleasure."

"It will take some time to program the ship's computer to accept your orders," said the Collector weakly.

"You are stalling for time, old man. Perhaps you hope to attack and free your 'toy' before my allies can destroy you. Ha! They have their orders- at your first sign of resistance each ship will time-jump to different eras and seek you out... Before you are even aware of their threat! You see, I have thought of everything. That is something that I learned from you, Father."

"I am not your Father, you ungrateful whelp!" shouted the Collector. "True, I was one of your mother's lovers, but none of my blood flows in your veins."

"Temper, temper, old man. Remember your blood pressure. I wouldn't want you to have a stroke before you turn that magnificent weapon over to me," said Mordred with a grin. The longer he spoke, the more I wanted to smash his smug face in with my fists.

"Very well," said the Collector quietly. "I will begin the preparations to give you control of the ship. But if Sarah is harmed, I will hunt you down like the animal that you are."

"Your threats are meaningless, old man. You have no strength to back them up. Surrender quickly, or the concubine dies. Akeptzaxodur, please alert your crews to stand by with all weapons armed. Oh, and close out this communications channel, if you'd be so kind."

"It is done," said the pirate Captain. "All ships are standing by to time-travel or attack at your command, Mordred. Communications, close channel."

On the bridge of Murder Weapon, the screen went dark with the face of Mordred gloating to the very last. For a moment, no one spoke.

"They are still targeting the probe instead of us," said Fox. "What are your orders, Sir?"

"We are still able to defeat their spy-beams?" asked the Collector.

"Yes Sir, they cannot break through to overhear us," replied Lucas.

"OK," said Guiles. "What kind of rabbit are you going to pull out of this hat?"

"A very big rabbit Guiles," said the Collector in a firm voice. I turn to look at him and saw the defeat had fallen from him like an old coat. I realized that he'd been acting again- that he'd never had any intention of giving up! "That boy has a lot to learn about warfare," said the Collector grimly. "And I'm just the 'old man' to teach him! Well Tom, it seems as if our fish has taken the bait- hook, line, and sinker. Now let's reel him in and roast him over a slow fire." The anger in the Collector's voice was thick enough to cut with a knife. I almost began to feel sorry for Mordred... Almost, but not quite.

"Glad to see you weren't really giving up," I said to the Collector. "What's our gameplan now, Gray?" It was the first time I'd used the Collector's real name without stuttering. It felt good, like he was now one of my oldest friends instead of some alien I'd barely known.

"Now? Well- to use one of your planet's very apt phrases, Tom... Now we're going to kick some major-league butt!" I could see Maxwell grin for a moment as he and Guiles exchanged meaningful looks. I looked around at the rest of the crew and saw grim smiles on every face. I think even the Krell were smiling, but with them it was hard to tell.

"Fox, full scans of those ships," said the Collector rapidly. "I want the location of each time- travel apparatus pinpointed. Lucas, prepare to launch all fighters. Guiles, I want you and Tom aboard your fighters and ready to launch. I'll need you both to cover for me as I fly a shuttle. The three of us are going to go get Sarah back."

"Sir," said Maxwell. "You are leaving the ship?"

"That's right, Maxwell. Murder Weapon is now under your command. You were worried about the possibility of my misusing Murder Weapon, this way that worry is eliminated."

"Yes Sir!" said Maxwell. "Your orders?"

"I want pinpoint strikes on the time-travel machinery in each of those ships. Spare as many lives as possible, but the Lexaptuorkellnast pirates cannot be allowed access to time travel. If necessary, destroy the entire fleet but do not allow a single one of them to time-jump! If one of those ships escape into the past or future, all is lost."

"Understood Sir," said Maxwell. "You can depend on me."

"I shall, Maxwell- I shall. Guiles, Tom, come with me. Gentlemen," said the Collector as he looked around at everyone on the bridge... "Good hunting. Computer, log this order. As of this time, this day, you will follow Maxwell's orders as if they were my own."

"So logged, Collector." said the ship's computer. "Until further notice, Maxwell is in command." "Maxwell, the ship is yours."

The Collector turned and made his way toward the elevator as Guiles and myself followed. As the elevator doors closed I could hear the murmur of Maxwell's voice giving orders to the crew.

"Not at all, my boy. I simply removed the part of his programming that made him kill, to serve his builders as nothing but a weapon. He is now like all of us in the fact that he can choose not to kill. I merely gave him free will."

"That's right," said Guiles gently. "Maxwell is still the walking destroyer that he was built to be, but now he's got a- well, I guess 'conscience' is the best word."

"Spooky," I replied. "Hard to believe he's a machine. OK, what do we do once we're out of the ship?"

"We use the confusion our Scouts will create with their attack to sneak aboard the pirate flagship. Sarah has to be in Roravik's time capsule, the one part of the flagship our scans couldn't penetrate. We know where the capsule is, our only problem should be getting to it," said Guiles.

"Precisely," said the Collector. "And getting her out of it. We can always teleport back to Murder Weapon if we have to, rather than fly back."

"What was that crack Roravik made about being Mordred?" I asked. "The real Mordred, like from Camelot? Knights of the Round Table, Merlin- that Mordred?"

"Yes," the Collector sighed. "He actually believes himself to be the bastard son of the legendary King Arthur of Camelot. Something his Mother told him, evidently. Since she died he's been stalking and murdering his Mother's lovers. The government of my homeworld has charged him with thirty-seven murders, three of them were members of the High Council themselves. I'm afraid he's just as deranged as she became."

"What?"

"She died, raving mad, in an asylum. She had become so insane that she murdered a Council Member to try and put Roravik in power as the President of the High Council. She was tried and sentenced to the asylum for the rest of her life."

"But Mordred?" I asked. "Why does he think he's Mordred?"

"My people are a race of time travelers," said the Collector. "She may have actually found a real King Arthur and seduced him. Who knows? She wasn't insane, that I could tell, when I knew her. But she did lust for power and position. That is why I finally dissolved our affair. I wanted nothing to do with that sort of thing."

I could see that it hurt the Collector to talk about it so I shut up. We spent the rest of the elevator ride in silence.

"A fugue sequence?"

"Exactly, if we succeed it will appear that we will have fired from twelve different locations simultaneously. Lucas, we must use pinpoint accuracy to destroy the time-travel apparatus without destroying the ships themselves. I assume that you can focus the weapons sharply enough to do so?"

"Easily Maxwell, if we use the secondary or tertiary weapons systems, the primaries are just too big. I couldn't possibly focus a two mile-wide particle beam to that small a diameter. The tertiaries would be the best choice- I can focus those down to a ten-foot diameter beam."

"Do so now."

"Yes, Sir."

"Fugue sequence calculated," said Fox.

"Good," said Maxwell. "When we complete the fugue I want you to engage the graviton drive, the artificial black hole it uses should impair the pirates ability to target our fighters."

"The fighters and drones are ready for launch," said Lucas.

"When the Collector signals he is ready we will begin the attack."

"Ready Tom?" I heard the Collector's voice in my headphones.

"Clean and green," I said and chuckled as I thought of how much that sounded like a line from an old war movie.

"I take that as a 'Yes'," I heard the Collector say. "Maxwell, begin the attack."

"Yes Sir," came Maxwell's reply. "Launch the fighters, Lucas."

A door irised open in front of us and I could see the stars blazing gloriously through it.

"Launch the Drones," I heard Maxwell say. "Launch the rescue team."

Then some rude giant kicked me in the seat of the pants and then sat in my lap. I was pressed down into my seat like I'd just gained a couple of hundred pounds as we leapt out of Murder Weapon and into the ride of my life.

"Yes Sir," replied Fox. "Starting now."

Murder Weapon seemed to jerk slightly as the view on the bridge's screen changed.

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire. Jump."

"In position."

"Fire, disengage stealth mode. Engage graviton drive. Target the weapons emitters of the flagship and fire at will. Report, Fox."

"We got all of them, Maxwell!"

"Good, Lucas?"

"Krell gunners returning fire to all of the pirates that have managed to locate us."

"Good, now we wait and act as a decoy to give the Collector time to retrieve Sarah."

"Head for the flagship," came the Collector's voice through my headphones. "We haven't much time."

"I'm with you Gray," I said as I saw Guiles blast his pirate to dust.

"Ready," said Guiles. "Let's go!"

Explosions winked all around us like lights on a Christmas tree as we got deeper into the pirate fleet.

"Tom! Behind you," yelled the Collector.

"Oh yeah?" I said. I twisted the throttle as far as it would go and shot ahead like a bullet. Then I pushed down on the handgrips, to drop beneath the pirate, and hit the brakes. I saw the pirate zoom overhead and pulled up on the controls, firing as I did. He blew up nicely too.

"Good move Tom," said Guiles. "There's the docking bay!"

Next thing I knew, we were inside and parking. There weren't any guards to be seen as I jumped out of Widow Maker. Sarah was as good as rescued, if we could get to her.

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