by T. R. Harris
“I thought about Juir; that would be the most logical place, considering the history between the Juireans and the Klin. But the planet is more a symbol now than any real center of power. It’s been on a slow road to recovery since the Kracori asteroid attack, and to this day, less than a billion Juireans inhabit the planet.”
Robert looked at Adam with burning eyes. “And then I thought about Earth.”
Adam’s return expression could melt steel.
“But then I thought we’re not ready to take on Earth.”
“Why not?” Sherri stammered. The relief on the faces of the two Human captives was evident. But still, Sherri wanted to know why their homeworld was to be spared.
“First of all, the planet has the most nuclear weapons anywhere in the galaxy, and knowing Humans as I do, they’d use every last one of them if it meant denying victory to the Klin. In the process, the place would become a wasteland. I’d very much prefer that not to happen.”
“You want it for yourself,” Adam stated as the thought dawned on him.
Robert nodded. “Unfortunately, the one thing my father did instill in me was a desire to lord over my fellow man. I have no desire to share in the Klin’s domination of the galaxy; there are far too many aliens, with alien ways and alien smells. They can have it. And although I’ve never been to Earth, I’d sure like to go. And as the supreme leader, I’d have certain perks.” He looked at Sherri with a lecherous grin. “You see, I like Human women; the Klin even bring some in for me now and then. I couldn’t imagine destroying the place where they grow naturally.”
When neither of his guests responded, Robert shrugged and continued. “So, I’m thinking now about Silea or Bannokfore, probably Bannokfore. It has a thriving industry and culture, controlling a federation of forty-plus worlds. It also has one of the largest military concentrations outside the core worlds. Destroying it would send a strong message to the Expansion.”
“There’s also about ten billion people there,” Sherri pointed out.
“The more, the merrier.”
“You are one sick son-of-a-bitch.”
“And you should be grateful I’m also a horny SOB,” Robert countered. “If Earth were a world of just men, I’d burn it to ashes without a second thought.”
When Robert’s eyes locked on Adam, accompanied by a thin, mischievous grin, Adam realized there was one topic that hadn’t covered yet: the future of him and Sherri. Robert prided himself on his ability to anticipate the moves of his opponent, so he had to have put some thought into Adam’s motives and capabilities before bringing him and Sherri to his mountain hideaway.
“So, what’s next?”
“For you?”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”
Robert appeared relaxed and unconcerned. He’d already planned out this encounter well in advance, with security measures in place. He couldn’t know of Adam’s special abilities, but he could anticipate some other action on his part.
“You spoke earlier of coincidences. As you have already figured, I left the trail to the Klin fairly obvious for anyone to follow. If a traditional scouting party arrived and found nothing, they would leave. If a major military assault were launched, they too would be disappointed. But someone like you would have known it was a dead end. So why not let the Klin lead you to the Klin? Allow yourselves to be captured and then be brought before the Pleabaen. But the bait—you—would have to be so inviting that the Klin wouldn’t simply kill you. No, with the capture of the famous Adam Cain and Sherri Valentine, the Pleabaen would have you brought before her for disposal.”
“Her?”
“Oh, yes. The new leader of the Klin is a female, one of forty-six past female Pleabaens. She came to power within the year. But it matters not who is the Pleabaen. You see, we have been planning this for quite a while. We were delayed when you installed your mutant daughter as head of the Expansion—a brilliant move, I might add. It was further pushed back when the Nuoreans crashed the party. But after you so effectively cut off their access to the Milky Way, it opened the door for us to proceed.”
“So, she’s here?” Adam asked. “When do we meet this new leader of the Klin?”
“The answer is…never.”
Adam blinked. “Why is that?”
“You’ve got to be kidding?” Robert blurted. “With your history of killing off Pleabaens, do you think I’d allow you within a thousand light-years of one?” He shook his head. “As I’ve said, I’ve studied you, Adam Cain. In too many cases, you’ve allowed yourself to be captured just so you can weasel your way into the enemy’s camp; you did that with the Nuoreans just a year ago. And you’ve done it again. The only reason you’d do such a thing is because you believe you’ll survive. You believe that now. Although your team is supposedly back on Formil—according to a single news broadcast that appeared conveniently just when it was needed—I believe your team is nearby, probably communicating with you at this very moment through your telepathy device. You expect them to rescue you and Ms. Valentine after you’ve collected the head of another Pleabaen for your trophy wall. Let me cut to the chase. There are approximately twenty thousand Klin in this settlement. The rest are scattered across the galaxy in individual Colony Ships. There is no single concentration for your allied forces to attack. Even if you wipe out the Klin here, it will not stop the invasion. And as for me….”
Two panels in the stone wall behind Sherri and Adam slid open, and two of the Klin AN-9 robots rolled out.
“Don’t make any sudden movements,” Robert cautioned. “They’re programmed to protect me.”
Adam had the arms of the uncomfortable chair gripped in his hand, ready to jump to his feet. But he hesitated.
“Now, before this situation escalates into a shooting war, Adam, please use your brain interface device to scan the ’9s. You will find this model has had a few improvements since your last encounter with my little friends.”
Adam was way ahead of him. He was mentally foraging within the computer circuits of the robots, seeking out the scanner connections that, when tripped, would blind the deadly machines. He found them but immediately noticed something was different. The circuits were constantly recycling. He couldn’t time the interruption, and if he could, the circuits would reconnect a moment later.
Sherri was silent. She had only been recently fitted with her new ATD and was still in the process of getting up to speed with the device. Even then, interaction with the robots was beyond her capabilities, especially in the heat of the moment.
Sherri, stay cool, Adam spoke through his ATD. I can’t shut down the robots.
Don’t worry; I’m sitting here scared shitless. How are we going to get out of this mess? I’ve been trying to reach Riyad, and there’s no answer.
Me too, but as I said, sit tight. We’ll figure a way out.
“Yes, we analyzed the weakness in the older units,” Robert was saying. “With this model, the diagnostics run constantly. Any tricky manipulations inside their brains will be instantly corrected. And one other thing, observe the targeting beams for the tactical lasers.”
Adam spotted the thin red lines projecting from the square metal bodies of the robots. There were two from each, and they were all aimed at Sherri.
“I know you, Adam Cain,” Robert McCarthy said, his voice lower, more ominous. “I know your sensibilities and your loyalties. I know what you’re willing to sacrifice and what you’re not. Now please, relax. I don’t intend to kill you…at least not yet. I’m enjoying your company far too much to do that. And I still have to try my charms out on the alluring Sherri Valentine—”
“You sick bastard!” Sherri screamed. “You just try it. I guarantee—”
“Relax, Sherri, I don’t intend to force you to do anything against your will.”
“Then what makes you think I’d do anything with you?”
“Time, my dear. And motivation.” Robert’s eyes turned hard as a stone. “You’ll do what I want when I want. Otherwise…we
ll, now you know the problem with bringing a lover along on a mission; they can be an incentive to use against the other. A very basic lesson you should have learned long ago, Mister Cain.”
15
Robert sent Adam and Sherri back to their room, escorted by the two AN-9 robots. Down the long corridor to the huge showroom, the red laser points remained on Sherri’s back, giving Adam pause on implementing any escape plans he may be contemplating. But that didn’t mean he did have one.
As the small entourage passed through the wide portal and into the main cavern, Adam was already well within the process of gathering up a windstorm using his newly discovered skill at telekinesis.
Sherri felt the wind rush across her face as the air was sucked past her to form up in a ball to her right. She looked over at Adam and frowned.
What are you doing? she asked telepathically.
Getting us out of here. I just don’t know how much force it’s going to take to destroy the robots.
Then maybe you should—
Her thought was cut off when Adam raised his right hand to innocently scratch the back of his neck…before sweeping his arm down and across his body, directing a near-solid torrent of air at the two automatons behind them. To his surprise, the robots were swept across the floor in a blur and smashed against the rock wall on the opposite side of the room. The force was so great, that in the split second before rock fractured and half the ceiling caved in, Adam saw the AN-9’s as just foot-wide pancakes of bent and sparking metal.
But now they had to contend with the cascade of stone falling fifty feet away. They were thrown to floor by a mini earthquake, just as a dense cloud of dust and debris billowed towards them. Adam rolled on top of Sherri, his body now in full mutant mode. A few of the leading stones slammed into his back, but he shrugged them off with indifference. When the cloud began to thin, he jumped to his feet, Sherri held against his body by an impossibly strong right arm.
“You ready?” he asked.
Her face was so close to his that her eyes had to cross to focus on his mouth and the words she just heard. She was dazed by the rumbling around her and the thick dust filling the room.
“Ready for what?”
Adam ran off for the force field covering the hundred-foot-wide opening, which was still in operation in spite of half the ceiling crashing to the floor. Sherri was now cradled like a sack of potatoes in Adam’s right arm. He sprinted through the force field and onto the wide, circular platform outside. The frigid temperature was a shock, colder now from the early onset of nightfall. Adam was nearly to the edge of the balcony when Sherri realized what he had in mind.
“Hell no!” she cried out. “You can’t be thinking about—”
Adam raced to the edge of the platform and jumped off, sticking his left arm out in front of him—Superman-like—as the pair fell into the frigid dark of the four-thousand-foot high cliff outside the Klin fortress.
Adam pulled Sherri closer and rolled to his left, with his back now facing the direction of the fall. Immediately, he saw ribbons of light blue swirling through the air towards them. A moment later he felt the welcoming pressure of the invisible cushion of air against his back. They slipped through the night on a magic carpet made of wind, leveling out before making a sharp turn to the right.
It wasn’t that they were riding on a dense cushion of air thousands of feet above the ground that was the problem. It was the fact that the cushion was made of sub-zero night air, and with the wind chill created by their hundred-mile-per-hour flight to safety, it was more like they were riding a block of ice rather than an Aladdin-style magic carpet. Sherri was dressed in only a pair of jeans and a thin blouse, with an equally thin military-style jacket over it. Adam could feel her shaking uncontrollably, even as his mutant healing powers fought to keep him from being overtaken by the severe cold.
They couldn’t keep this up for long. If they did, Sherri would die, and probably Adam, as well.
Adam angled the air cushion downwards, toward the base of a nearby mountain. The snow here looked deep and soft, having yet to develop a crust of ice, as it surely would the deeper night fell over the mountain range. A moment later, they crashed into the drift, sinking fifty feet or more before coming to a stop. Adam waved his hand through the snow and immediately a round chamber was created by compressed air. He brought half a dozen static electricity balls into existence and compressed them so they gave off significant heat, along with light. He brought them in close to Sherri’s unconscious body, which he held effortlessly in his arms.
He looked around the small ice cave and saw torrents of water streaming down the walls, with a growing pool of ice water covering his feet and beginning to climb up his legs. Frigid water dripped from the ceiling. He created a small umbrella of compressed air above his head. It helped, a little. But with the rising temperature in the chamber, it wouldn’t be long before the snow bubble filled with water.
Sherri was trembling as she regained consciousness. She tried to speak but found her cheeks too cold to allow her to form words through her chattering teeth. She resorted to telepathy.
Where are we?
In a snowbank, but not for long. The balls are melting the snow. Hold on.
With effort, Sherri wrapped her shaking arms around his neck, before Adam—using just his mind and not a wave of his hands this time—directed a blast of air into the side of the chamber. A tunnel formed in the snow he could walk through.
The static electricity balls came with them, helping to warm the tunnel, but also melting the walls of the narrow channel. He pressed on another hundred yards before coming to a rock wall—the side of the mountain—covered in ice and snow. He moved to his right, using his control of the air around him to clear the rock. He was looking for a cave, but soon an outcropping became an acceptable alternative. It was just a slight depression in the rock with a small overhang and a stone floor about ten feet wide.
He set Sherri down on the rock floor before using his mind to clear away the remaining glacial ice from the rock. The electric balls grew in intensity, bathing them in life-saving warmth.
Adam stepped away from the rock wall and looked up, directing a narrow blast of air up through the snow. It traveled about a hundred feet before breaking through the snow to form a ventilation shaft. Melting snow from around the outcropping formed streams of warmer water that disappeared into tunnels cut in the ice beyond the shelter. They would stay dry and warm, at least for the time being.
Riyad! Adam cried out in his mind. He applied all the intensity his mutant-enhanced brain could muster, but it didn’t make a difference. Riyad was off the air.
“Is there a way our minds can combine to send out a stronger signal?” Sherri asked. She was up and moving around in the brightly lit shelter.
“I can’t see how. I thought they were right behind us,” Adam said. Riyad! He mentally screamed again. Arieel! He tried the Formilian, knowing she had the most experience with ATD communication. Still nothing.
Kaylor! Jym!
He felt a buzz in his head, a slight tingle from…outside.
Jym? Can you hear me?
Can I hear…hear what?
My thoughts, dammit! Are you hearing me or not? It’s Adam.
Adam! Adam Cain?
What other Adam would be speaking with you by ATD?
Yes, of course. Adam…where are you?
I’m not sure. Are Arieel and Riyad with you?
In another room; I will get them.
Adam’s expression told Sherri what she needed to know. “You’ve made contact! Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I’m hooked in with Jym.”
“Jym? Why him?”
Adam shook his head—
Adam, it is Arieel. I am linking through Jym’s Gift—ATD.
Why is it I can link with Jym but not you? Adam asked.
Certain species have natural telepathy abilities, at least on a sensitivity level. Jym must be one of them. Yet I would not worry about
the how at this point. Where are you?
Not sure. The natives are called V’casin. I don’t know what they call the planet.
We will check the Library.
The link was quiet for a moment before Riyad’s voice came into his mind.
I have it. The planet is called Corfer. We’re about a light-year out.
Good, Adam thought. When you get closer lock onto my mental signal. That will show you where we are. Then come to the planet from the opposite direction. The Klin are in the mountains. Come in low and slow from the valleys otherwise they’ll spot you.
We’re in a five-hundred-foot-long freighter. You don’t think they’ll spot us anyway?
I’ll see what I can do about their detection equipment. What’s your ETA?
Could be six hours, maybe longer if we have to sneak up on you.
Just get here as soon as you can. You’re not going to believe the story I have to tell you.
Robert McCarthy and the Klin Senior Fellow Sumonis Fer stood near the edge of the exterior platform, dressed in thick coats to protect against the bitter cold, staring out at the darkness below. The canyon floor was four-thousand feet below, nearly straight down. No one could have survived such a fall.
“They’re alive,” Robert said with confidence.
The Klin shook his head. “You keep saying that, but I do not see how.”
“I know Adam Cain. He deliberately ran for the edge and jumped. He wouldn’t have done that unless he knew he would survive.”
“Again, I ask how?”
“I don’t know, not yet.”
Robert had watched the security feed a dozen times, confused by the wave of Cain’s hand and the subsequent disaster within the ancient V’casin worship room. Something powerful—and invisible—had smashed the AN-9s with such intensity that it nearly collapsed the entire chamber. Then Cain scooped up Sherri Valentine and together they jumped from the ledge. His actions were deliberate and decisive. He knew what he was doing, and it certainly wasn’t an act of suicide