by T. R. Harris
Only one active facility. Each of the arms has a station that activates when the emergency protocols are initiated.
Like when an arm breaks away and flies off? Riyad asked.
Exactly.
You mean Volic could still send the signal?
If he gets to an arm and activates the emergency breakaway, Copernicus replied. And there’s one other thing. The main CW facility has a conventional relay backup system. It’s separate from the main system. If you shut off the main CW array that only means the signal went out conventionally.
Jym! Adam yelled through his ATD.
Yes Adam, said the little bear, annoyed. I can hear you quite loudly.
How long would it take a conventional wormhole signal to reach Earth from here?
Repeat please.
You heard me. How long?
Give me a moment. A few seconds later he came back into Adam’s mind. Six hours, why?
Adam ducked into a quiet passageway, free of the confusion and panic in the main corridor. He had to think. It had already been half an hour since Volic sent the signal. There was still time to warn Earth, but not much.
Riyad, get to the Orion. Use the ship’s CW link to contact General Sharp. You remember him?
Yeah, he’s the guy we stole the trans-dimensional starship from.
Tell him to find a man named Brian Parker. He has the device. It shouldn’t be hard to do. He has an ultimate power source and will probably be making a big deal out of it. Tell the general to get the device and separate the cubes. Then get them as far away from each other as he can. One of them is rigged to explode. And Riyad, we only have a little over five hours for all this to happen.
Understood. We’re on our way. But you need to find Volic. If he gets to a CW station, it won’t matter what we do. Earth would still be screwed.
Now go! I’ll find Volic.
84
Adam rushed off along the wide, curved hallway, passing panicking Gracilians and a few Incus scurrying along on their short legs. No one paid the Human any attention, more concerned for their own safety than what he was doing.
He found the entrance to the Number Two arm—the only remaining arm to the station—and rushed through the portal. The arm was about five hundred feet long and a dozen Gracilian scientists came racing away in the opposite direction.
Adam grabbed one and threw him against the wall. “Volic! Have you seen him?”
Confused and afraid, the alien answered without coxing. “He passed moments ago.” Wide eyes shifted down the corridor. Adam released him and continued through the central passageway.
He passed through another portal, then stopped and turned when a loud rumbling came from behind. Two huge security doors rolled out from the bulkhead and clanged shut. On the other side of the door was a louder noise; that of explosive bolts going off. Gravity flinched for a moment before a blast of fresh air hit his face.
Half of the laboratory extension had just detached from the rest of the station and was racing away under a steady blast of chemical power. He moved farther along the central passageway, knowing that the end of the tiny spaceship was only about two hundred feet ahead of him. Volic had to be in there somewhere.
The end of the arm bulged out into a wide arc, with laboratories placed along the outer wall. All the doors were closed—
And that’s when he took a level-one bolt to the back.
The intense ball of plasma hit at an angle instead of straight on, but still it had enough energy to throw him to the floor with his back feeling like it was on fire. With a face painted in agony, he crawled on hands and knees for a side door just as another bolt splashed on the deck next to him. He fell against the door and it slid open. Another bolt hit the door frame, causing the electronics in the door to go crazy, jamming it open. He fell farther into the room.
He took one of the Gracilian flash weapons he had and began to fill the corridor with random bolts, fired in rapid succession. It would keep his attacker at bay, at least for the moment. But all he had to do was wait until Adam exhausted all his bolts, and then simply enter the room and shoot him dead.
Adam had one more trick he could try. He took one of the flash weapons, and with his Human strength, bent the barrel, collapsing the bolt-way. He triggered the weapon and then tossed it down the passageway. It only took a second for the pent-up energy of the bolt to overload the system. The weapon exploded like a small grenade.
Fighting through the pain in his back, he crawled to the doorway and looked out. A Gracilian lay dead a few feet away. One of his legs was across the hallway and half the face was missing. Adam nodded. That worked.
He forced himself to stand and staggered back into the corridor.
A level-one blast to the center of his back should have been lethal. But it had hit obliquely, and the added toughness of mutant-enhanced skin also helped. As it was, he was badly hurt. He could feel broken ribs and his heart had been affected temporarily by the strong electrical shock, causing it to beat wildly. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily and feeling lightheaded. After a moment, the aching pain in his chest began to subside. He firmed his jaw and set off down the hallway. He had to find Volic before he could send the signal again. The fate of Earth depended on it.
The signal! It had to be sent through another CW link, and the equipment necessary was something he could track with his ATD. He made his way into another deserted room and sat on the floor, his shoulder against the wall rather than his burning back. His ATD was doing strange things at the moment, having been affected by the strong electrical shock of the level-one flash bolt. As he concentrated, he was receiving bright bursts of energy that filled his mental vision. This was not from any external sources. The device was shedding excess energy to keep from burning out. Sherri’s ATD had been destroyed by a direct hit from a flash weapon. He prayed his wasn’t out of operation. He needed it more now than ever.
A moment later the mental flashes ended. He didn’t know if that was good or bad. He tested the unit on the local sliding door. He could identify the control module, displayed in his mind. And then it disappeared. He concentrated again, and only reluctantly, did the signal return, but only vaguely. His ATD was working, just not very well.
Adam reached out with his mental awareness and imagined running along the outer skin of the arm, now a fleeing spaceship many thousands of miles from the research station. He picked a number of flickering electronic signals, flickering from the sporadic nature of his ATD. But what he didn’t find was a CW array. Either Copernicus was wrong about each section having its own facility, or Volic hadn’t energized it yet.
Adam got up off the floor. If he couldn’t find the facility through his ATD, he would have to find it the old fashion way, by searching each room along the curve of the corridor. He stood up, feeling a little better now. The pain was still there but manageable. He began to cautiously open each door he came to.
He opened the fifth door and squinted into the darkness. Lights had come on automatically in all the other rooms he’d checked, but not this one. He moved to the side of the doorway just as he was greeted by a blinding flash and another burning pain, this one to his chest. He’d been shot again, but this time by a lower-intensity bolt..
The light burst on in the room and Adam spotted two Gracilian scientists holding flash weapons, with Volic behind them. He took aim with his bolt launcher and laid two quick shots into the chests of the aliens guarding their leader. Adam was just about to pull the trigger on Volic when he succumbed to the pain and collapsed to the floor. Volic rushed forward and took the weapon from Adam’s numb hand and another from his waistband. Then he stood back and smiled.
“Are you going to live, Mr. Adam?” the alien asked cheerfully.
Although painful, the level-two bolt wouldn’t normally have had such an impact on a Human. But coupled with the effects of the level-one still coursing through his body, it was nearly fatal. Adam’s pain threshold was helped by the training his brain had
received from Panur’s mutant cells, otherwise he would have given up by now. But he fought for consciousness, letting the importance of his mission give him strength. He got to his hands and knees, groaning from the effort.
Volic leaned against a computer console, watching Adam with undisguised satisfaction. “You have made a valiant effort, Mr. Adam. This adds credence to all the stories I have heard of you throughout the years. Yet, I am sad to say, you are at the end of your journey. I have your weapons and you are in no condition to oppose me. You are aware that the signal to Earth was sent out earlier, just by conventional means. That will still be enough for me to reach my goal. But now I will activate another CW station. You may—somehow—be able to override the system. But soon you will be either dead or unconscious. At that point I will simply reenergize the circuits and send my message. As with your unmasking of the DMC earlier, all your actions have served is to delay the inevitable. Now I will live on, as will all my plans for galactic domination.”
“Not so fast, asshole.”
The room was filled with a brilliant flash. When Adam’s already fading vision cleared, he saw the sizzling hole burnt in Volic’s chest. His eyes were open and his expression one of shock and confusion. His head bent over, just enough for him to see the blacked cavity. A hand reached up but never made it. His body crumpled to the deck.
Adam was fading fast, but he was sure he recognized the voice from behind him.
“Sherri?”
Soft hands were on him. “I’m here.”
“Here…how?”
“Don’t worry about that now. Let’s get you some help.”
She stepped to the energized CW station. He heard her speak but the words were muddled in his mind. He slumped face down to the cool metal of the deck, letting out a long breath as he did. Sherri was here. He would be fine.
And with that, Adam promptly passed out.
85
When he awoke, Adam was in a hospital bed, covered in a light sheet and hooked up to IVs and monitoring equipment. He recognized the room as one of the many medical suites in the Klin Colony Ship. There was a familiar vibration coming from the walls and deck, telling him the ship was underway.
He glanced to his right and saw Arieel Bol in all her magnificent glory asleep in a chair at his bedside. He shifted his position slightly and grimaced from the pain coming from, well, everywhere. Arieel woke up.
“Adam, you are awake, how wonderful!”
“The Earth…what happened to the Earth?”
“Your planet, it survives. The message was received and acted upon. Riyad wishes to give you more details.” She ran to the doorway and called out to unseen people outside.
A moment later the room was filled with…everyone.
“So he survives another great adventure,” Riyad said through his trademark brilliant smile. “You know this is getting old. No one’s going to believe you can survive this many close calls.”
“Hey, I’m the hero. I’m supposed to survive.”
“Is that how it goes? I’ll have to remember that when I get my own series.”
“What happened on Earth.”
“I can tell you there’s a new crater in Arizona. General Sharp found our energy tycoon and confiscated the dark matter generator. They got the cubes separated, although they couldn’t tell which one was set to explode. It ended up being the one they placed in the desert near Winslow. I’m sure the dark matter crater will soon become the newest tourist attraction in the area.”
Sherri stepped up to the side of the bed and took his hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been shot by a couple of flash bolts and nearly died.”
“That just about sums it up.”
“But you were there. How?”
“I came over from the Klin saucer in a spacesuit, hoping to lend you guys a hand. I sneaked in through one of the chem drive exhaust ports in the arm you were in. Coop and I discovered the way while figuring out how to get to the dark matter collector. I got there just before the damn thing broke away and fired up. I thought I’d really screwed up until I heard you blow up that Gracilian in the hallway. After that, I just followed the trail of blood until I found you.”
“And Volic?”
“Yeah, I never really liked him very much. Dude never even saw it coming.”
“Thank you,” Adam said, squeezing her hand a little tighter. “You saved the day.”
“I know. It’s what I do.”
A few days later, Adam was up and moving about. He made his way to the bridge where Jym and Kaylor greeted him. Jym left the room and returned a few minutes later with a small tub of vanilla ice cream.
“I am told Humans find recuperative benefits from this food. You will find that the Formilians have added an entirely new menu to the Klin food processors.”
Adam took the tub and dug in with a small metal spoon. He savored the sweet coolness, rolling his eyes and moaning with pleasure. It had been over a year since he had ice cream. He did feel better after the first couple of swallows.
“What ever happened to the money—the Juirean credits?” he asked his two alien friends.
Jym looked disappointed. “All we could recover was the loose chips on the deck of the Orion. The rest was moved to one of the Gracilian warships…which I inadvertently destroyed when it attacked the Colony Ship. If I had known, I would have spared the vessel.”
Kaylor stepped up and put a hand on his little Fulquin friend. “It was still over five million credits. That amounts to nine hundred thousand each. It is not eighteen million, but it will be enough to get the Colony Ship to Earth, if that is still your wish.”
“I was thinking I would give it to you. I would really like to get someplace with normal Earth gravity.”
“Where is that?” Jym asked.
“I was thinking about…Earth.”
Jym recoiled, embarrassed. “Yes, that would be a good choice.”
“What of your fugitive recovery business?” Kaylor asked.
“We can still do that, just by CW link.”
“Would you help cover the cost of operating the station?”
“Sure,” Adam said, placing a hand on the shoulders of both Kaylor and Jym. “After all, we are partners.”
Copernicus entered the room, a frown on his face, and ruined the moment for the three old friends.
“We still have to figure out what to do with the DMC?” he said. “I’ve come to agree with you; the technology is too dangerous to keep around.”
“Where is the DMC now?”
“In one of the cargo holds. C’mon, there’s something else I want to show you.”
As they made their way down one of the many long corridors of the Colony Ship, Adam said to Coop: “I haven’t had a chance to thank you. Your knowledge of the research station saved all of us. Without you Earth wouldn’t be around anymore.”
“I know that,” said Copernicus, almost bitterly. “And I’m never going to let you live it down, either.” He gave a furtive glance Adam’s way, a thin smile creeping across his face.
Adam smiled, too. “I would expect nothing less.”
They entered the large room, where a number of supply crates had been moved in to form table platforms. The dark matter collector and the two cases of loose cubes rested on one. Sherri, Riyad and Arieel were there.
And sitting on another crate a few feet away were the two Aris personal service modules.
Can you hear me? Adam asked through his ATD. The device had settled down after the excess energy had been bled away. It was working fine now.
“We can hear you,” came a masculine voice though side speakers in the room.
“I see you’ve learned how to tap into the comm system,” Adam said.
“We have always known how to do that. We just chose not to.”
Adam preferred speaking with the ancient entities this way. Mentally, they could read his emotions as well as his thoughts.
“What are you doing here?” he a
sked.
“After meeting you aboard the research station, we inquired with the Aris as to your identity.”
“You can communicate with the Aris?” Adam found this fascinating. There were only a handful of them left and they were off doing whatever three-billion-year-old aliens do when they’re immortal.
“Is that not obvious from my comment?”
“Of course. Sorry.”
“It was at that point we learned that you, and the Formilian Arieel Bol, were the Birth Parents of the Supreme Being. You call her Lila.”
“That’s true.”
“Although her body was not used to bring immortality to our masters, she was the culmination of a very long experiment by the Aris, a validation of their efforts. The Aris said we should assist you in any way we can.”
Adam looked at the DMC. “Good. Then maybe you can tell us how to get rid of that damn thing?”
“The accumulator? You wish it to be gone? Why would you not use it as the Aris used it, as a source of power?”
“Because we’re not ready for it,” Adam answered. “The Aris may have been able to use it simply as a power source, but the people of today will use it as a weapon.”
“We understand,” said another voice, this one feminine. “But we do not understand the difficulty. Simply destroy it if you wish.”
“But the cubes?” said Sherri. “Do you know a way to neutralize the effect?”
“What effect?”
Sherri buried her chin in her chest. “The big ass singularity it will create if we destroy it.”
“They do not know,” said the masculine voice, surprise in his synthetic voice.
“Know what?”
There was almost a chuckle through the speakers. It was definitely some kind of snide remark made by the orbs.
“We will have to explain,” said the female orb, sounding impatient. “The dark matter blocks only become charged when the particles are spinning.”
Everyone in the room waited for the orbs to continue. After ten seconds of silence, Adam spoke up.