by T. R. Harris
“No, and that is why I have come to you.”
The fact that the Juirean did not immediately claim ignorance of the location gave Qintis valuable insight. Could it be as he suspected? Does he know the location?
The Overlord remained silent, lost in thought. Qintis needed to prod him.
“You know the location, do you not? Revealing such to me would only benefit your race and your Expansion. It would allow you to resume your rightful place as leaders of the galaxy without the interference of the Humans or the Klin.”
“Cain has two mutants with him. They cannot die.”
“We are aware. But when the Klin world is ripped apart and transported to the Suponac, they will drift frozen forever in the debris and be of no concern to anyone.”
“You must verify Cain is on the planet before you act.”
“Of course.”
The yellow eyes of the Juirean met those of the Nuorean. Then he spoke. “Vesper. They are on Vesper.”
After the link was broken, Zaxis leaned back in his chair, breathing heavily. Did the prior conversation really take place? Was it true, or was he only dreaming?
The logic of the Nuorean’s offer was inescapable. The Overlord knew the Nuoreans could destroy planets with their powerful gravity generators. That was a fact, as evidenced by the debris of their planet Nuor floating within the galaxy. It also underscored their hatred for Adam Cain. In addition, the destruction of Earth would be an equalizer for the destruction of Nuor. Everything the Nuorean said made sense.
And all Zaxis had to do was reveal the location of the Klin planet.
That knowledge had come to him by way of the naïve Human Ashton Hill, who still believed that B-1 CW communications were secure. They were in most cases. But not his. For the past few months, Zaxis and the Council had been listening in on the ambassador’s links with Earth. However, lately he’d been in communications with a Second-Generation Human named Robert McCarthy, the son of the infamous Nigel McCarthy of the Juirean-Human War. Adam Cain had revealed that the younger McCarthy was now assisting the Klin with tactics and strategy. This prompted the Council to authorize a monitor on Hill’s comm links, suspecting collusion between the two Humans. Their suspicions were confirmed, even as it was proved Hill was acting alone in his treachery. It didn’t matter.
The location of the Klin hideout had been revealed, and if it wasn’t for the recent offer of peace, a united force would have been sent to the planet to eradicate the Klin problem. But now the black ships of the Klin either hovered above, or were on the way, to all the worlds of the Council, including Juir.
That was the only reservation Zaxis had in revealing Vesper to the Nuorean. It was a risk, that even with the destruction of the planet and all the Klin thereon, the black ships would still strike their targets. That’s when a revelation came to Zaxis. Even if attacked, Juir would rebuild. It had been nearly destroyed before and was still in the process of repopulating and rebuilding. If struck again, it would be far less catastrophic than what would befall the other worlds of the Council—including Earth.
As he thought more of it, if the black ships did attack the Core Worlds, a multitude of problems for the Juireans would be solved. It would rid them of their most troublesome rivals, including the Formilians and the Crimineans. It would also eliminate Adam Cain and the Humans. And it would send the two mutants off to another galaxy to become someone else’s long-term problem.
Zaxis felt like celebrating. But who could he tell? No, he had to stay calm until the deed was done. Then he would celebrate, even if Juir was attacked. In the end, the Juireans would rule again, stronger and more secure than ever before.
50
The Defiant maintained a respectable distance behind the Klin warship, using the screen of extra sensors placed around the craft as their guide. The VN-91 had made a number of sudden course changes during the twelve days the Defiant had been its shadow. The Klin knew they were being followed and were doing this just to keep the team from figuring out their ultimate destination. But no matter the course changes, the VN-91 was inexorably nearing the edge of the galaxy. There wasn’t much further to go.
Copernicus was taking his turn at the controls, with Sherri dozing in the command chair behind the pilot’s seat. The rest of the team was either sleeping or eating, except Lila. The mutant—who did neither—was in the landing bay working on some gizmo she had tried to describe to Coop earlier. He’d listened politely, taking in words like quantum pairing and dimensional leaps…until he yawned. Insulted, Lila dismissed him, content to do her own thing without having to explain her work to people who wouldn’t understand, even if they cared.
Alarms sounded throughout the ship, shocking everyone into action. At first Coop and Sherri couldn’t identify the threat, not until they checked the mass detector. At that point they went pale and their knees turned to jelly.
Proximity detectors relied on the mass of an object, rather than its energy signature. They were used primarily to find asteroids or other physical obstacles in the way. But they were also good at detecting ships in dark status.
And the two dark contacts the sensors had just detected were massive—and each six miles long.
Riyad was the first in the pilothouse. He switched off the alarms. “What do you have?”
“Two VN-91s,” reported Copernicus. “Coming out of dark status and closing on both sides.”
“Can we jump?”
“The damn Klin have us in a vice, bleeding power from us to their diffusion shields. We’re just under the power requirement for a TD jump.”
Sherri had taken a seat at the weapons station. “I’m detecting a major build up on their primary laser weapons.”
That didn’t sound right to Coop. “Where are they getting the power?”
Kaylor and Jym entered the room next. The blue-skinned Belsonian had heard the question. “Check their hull turrets,” he said to Sherri.
“No readings.” Her eyes grew wide. “They’ve channeled all energy to their primary laser weapons. They’ll be active in ten seconds.”
The Defiant suddenly shifted course using the chemical drive—and directly at the huge Klin warship to port.
“What the hell are you doing?” Riyad yelled at Copernicus.
“I’m going to get under the ship so the big gun can’t reach us.”
“But the hull defenses—”
“The smaller lasers protect the hull. They’re down.” Before Copernicus could say more, the Defiant hit the outer-most diffusion shield, twenty miles from the black hull. All power was sucked from the small ship, including engines, weapons, sensors and life support. Momentum created by the now dead chem drive kept the Defiant racing forward.
“Now what?” Sherri yelled. “We’re going to hit.”
At their current speed, the Defiant closed the twenty miles gap to the VN-91 in eight seconds, passing through the two inner screens in the process. Just before crashing headlong into the hull, Coop used gas jets to achieve a negative course and flipped the Defiant on its back. The bottom of the ship contacted what was also the bottom of the black ship, sending an ear-piercing screech screaming through the hull. The Defiant’s landing skids—which had been crushed during their hasty escape from the city of Boraxx on Siron—caught hold of something. Those of the crew not strapped in were thrown forward, but the ship came to stop, hooked to the dark metal of the Klin warship.
“The main laser is on the other side of the ship!” Jym announced. “We are safe.”
“Not for long,” Kaylor announced from the nav screen. “They are rolling, exposing the bottom to the other VN-91.”
“They would fire on one of their own?” Jym asked.
“We’re talking about the Klin,” Riyad said. “Of course, they would.”
Lila entered the pilothouse.
Riyad turned to her. “Two Klin ships have attacked us. We’re hooked on the hull of one of them.”
“Excellent!” said the mutant. She turned and ran fr
om the pilothouse.
“What…what?” Riyad said. He turned to the rest of the team. “Did she say excellent?”
A moment later Lila was back, holding a small metal box in her hands. She rushed to the nav station. “Please assist me, Jym,” she said, handing the small alien a contact cable. “Hook this into your station.”
“All power is down,” Jym told her.
“It is recycling. Full power in sixteen seconds.”
“I’ll be ready,” Coop said, turning back to his controls.
“Do not jump until I tell you.”
Just then an incredibly bright flash of light lit up the pilothouse. A three-foot wide beam ripped into the hull of the VN-91 not more than six feet from the Defiant. The next shot would be on target.
The only way for Coop to move the ship was by venting the starboard air tanks. The Defiant shifted position by a few feet, which was just enough for the second beam to miss and open up another long tear in the hull of the Klin ship.
“That’s one way to destroy the black ships,” Sherri remarked. “Let them do it themselves.”
“Power up!” Jym cried out.
“One moment,” Lila said as she manipulated the controls on her little silver box.
“Lila!” Coop yelled.
“Now…you may jump,” she said calmly.
The greenish glow outside the Defiant told them they had survived to make the transit to another universe. When the viewport cleared, there was nothing but empty space outside, with a few faint stars burning in the distance.
No one spoke for a full minute. Then eyes began to fall on Lila as she continued to work her little box.
“That was too close,” Riyad said. He stepped up to Lila. “What is that thing?”
“It’s a quantum generator.”
“What is a quantum generator?”
“It produces quantum pairs of particles.”
“Where did you get it?”
“It is what I have been working on. It will provide the markers we need to defeat the Klin vessels. Observe.”
She manipulated the nav controls to project a split-screen image on the main display. The screen on the left showed a solitary white dot, while the one on the right had two.
“I was able to place a particle in each of the Klin ships before we jumped using data from the navigation computer. The image on the left is us, the other the matching pairs in the other universe.”
“And this is a good thing?” Riyad asked.
“Exceedingly so,” Lila replied. “This shows that the quantum pairs are joined even through different dimensions.”
“You’re picking up signals between universes?” Sherri asked, stunned.
“It is really not that unusual. Quantum pairs exist for only moments before transferring to different dimensions using pressure differentials. I have been able to stabilize them, but they will not last for much longer. We must act.”
“Act how?” Coop asked.
Lila turned back to her tiny box and made a few adjustments on the control pad. The single dot on the left screen separated into two and shifted position.
“Sherri, I do this is to alleviate your concern about the Klin ships contacting us when transported. I have moved the quantum pairs to a safe distance. Now, Mr. Smith, if you will allow me to take control of the TD module controls.”
Coop literally jumped from his seat, anxious to let the mutant genius take over. Lila sat down and began to work the TD controls. A moment later a bright cloud of sparkling points of light appeared outside the Defiant in the clear nothing of space. The distance from the ship was impossible to tell since there was no reference as to the size of the cloud. A moment later, the sparkling lights faded away. A second cloud appeared and repeated the cycle.
“Did what I think just happen?” Riyad asked, awkwardly.
Lila beamed a bright mutant smile at the room. “The clouds were the remains of the Klin warships. My markers worked. I was able to pinpoint the vessels across universes.”
“Then you have done it!” Jym exclaimed. “You have found a way to destroy the Klin ships! We are saved.”
Lila turned to the tiny bear. “Unfortunately, that is not correct. I was able to plant the markers on the Klin ships because their location was known to me. Unless we physically seek out every Klin ship so I can place the markers, the process cannot be repeated.”
“We still need the transponder codes,” Riyad deadpanned.
“Yes, we do.”
“And that’s Panur’s job,” said Sherri, equally deadpan.
Kaylor looked out the forward viewport at the vast expanse of an alien universe. “And we have lost contact with the ship carrying Adam and Panur. They are heading to an unknown world and we have no way to contact them.”
“They will have to contact us…if they are successful,” Lila said. “Until then, we should reenter the Milky Way and wait.”
“For how long?” Jym asked.
“Until all hope is lost.”
Robert McCarthy was confused. If Cain’s team was where he thought they were, the trap should have been sprung by now.
“Still no contact?” he asked the Klin, Akin Sommis.
“As before,” said the alien. “Our ships may be running silent, awaiting the ambush.”
“That would put the Human ship too far back along the course.”
“Perhaps our course changes have confounded them. Perhaps they are no longer following.”
Robert shook his head. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Shall I continue attempting to make contact?”
“No. The VN-91s will contact us once they engage Cain’s team. We’re only two days out from Vesper. If they aren’t close enough now, they’ll never be able to follow us. Prepare another course correction. Let’s make sure we’ve lost them.”
51
Robert’s VN-91 entered the Vesperian star system and dropped out of the double blackhole gravity-well. He engaged a traditional well and proceeded into the system. Nine hours later they took up orbit around the green, blue and brown world of Vesper, looking remarkably like the pictures Robert had seen of Earth. A few minutes later, two huge cargo loaders came up from the surface. One took the cage holding the still-frozen mutant Panur to the surface, while the other took Adam Cain and his cage. Robert McCarthy rode down on Adam’s transport.
Vesper was a moderate size planet with a surface gravity very close to the Klin’s homeworld of Klinmon. The natives had achieved a technological level similar to that of twentieth century Earth by the time the Klin arrived two years ago. They drove gasoline-fueled cars and flew in airplanes. The arrival of the aliens had been an understandably catastrophic event, something out of an alien invasion movie—at least to a point. The Klin numbered two hundred thousand, with a million killer robots spread across the landscape. But the Klin didn’t do much to the natives. They weren’t that important. The silver aliens simply took what they needed and left the Vesperians to themselves for the most part. There had been a few brief uprisings, which were quickly put down by the robots. The Klin shrugged off the meager resistance, and when no great pushback came from the invaders, the natives left well enough alone.
The location of the planet was to be a secret and that’s why the Klin picked a non-space traveling species as their reluctant hosts. There would be no communication with the rest of the galaxy, unless initiated by the Klin. Vesper would do for the time being. After the conquest of the Milky Way, the Klin would be moving on.
The invaders had commandeered a large airport at the edge the planet’s largest city to serve as a spaceport. The two transports landed near a huge hangar and offloaded their cargo.
Adam watched with interest when a squad of Klin entered Panur’s cell dressed in protective gear and set to work on the still-frozen body. They drilled two holes into the mutant’s back just below his shoulder blades. In the holes they inserted tubes connected to a metal cylinder, which Adam concluded contained liquid nitrogen or s
ome similar freezing agent. They placed a harness around Panur’s shoulders and fastened it across his chest. When the Klin were done, they left the chamber and let it heat up naturally, thawing the mutant in the process.
There was space traffic within the Vesperian system, but not a lot and all Klin. And it wasn’t made of exclusively of the black VN-91 starships. There were a variety of smaller vessels shuttling personnel between the manufacturing worlds and Vesper, as well as bringing other material needed to support the Klin colony on the planet.
The tiny ship entered the system unseen and hid in the wake of one of the larger cargo ships. As it neared Vesper, it broke away and headed for the tiny second moon of the planet. The satellite was nothing more than a captured asteroid and the ship set down on the tiny rock using anchors to keep from drifting off the surface. Monitors were set up, and then the crew of three waited.
Five days later a huge black ship six miles long entered the system and established an orbit around the planet. Two cargo ships came up to the monster vessel and then quickly returned to the surface. This had to be it, the vessel they’d been waiting for.
The three Nuorean Third Cadre operatives entered separate entry vehicles and made for the planet below. Each had the identical objective, providing redundancy, and increasing the chances of the mission’s success. They aimed for the large spaceport where the cargo ships had landed, located on the northeast side of a huge city. This was where most of the Klin activity was concentrated. If Adam Cain was on the planet, it would be here.
One of the Nuoreans was killed by a bulky robot the moment he landed. The other two were fortunate to exit their ships and make it into the city on foot. To avoid the deadly robots, Second-Player Cacas Iniss (990) and the other surviving member of the team separated and set off along different paths to the landing field. Cacas reached the security fence and scaled it with ease. He then scampered across the open field toward where the two cargo ships sat outside a huge hangar. Security was non-existent at the spaceport. Cacas reasoned the aliens had very little to fear on this hidden world and relied on their machines to respond to any disturbances. It was Cacas’ mission to make sure that changed.