The Fringe Worlds

by T. R. Harris

  Then he noticed another movement! The Rigorian to the right had pulled his weapon as well and was bringing it to bear on Adam. Shifting his aim slightly, Adam let off another shot that found its target center mass in the lizard’s chest.

  Not taking any chances, Adam swung the weapon to the left, finding the other two Rigorians. Each had their hands on their weapons, but they quickly moved them away as they stared down the barrel of Adam’s gun.

  It was only then that Adam felt a slight vibration coming from MK-17. For some reason, this made him chuckle. The entire fight had taken maybe a couple of seconds, and just now the computer was telling him it was okay to fire.

  “Take off your weapons,” Adam demanded of the two remaining Rigorians.

  “What” one of them said. “We’re not taking.”

  Adam rushed forward, jamming the barrel of his gun up into the neck of the taller, defiant lizard. “Take off your fucking weapons — or I’ll take off your head!”

  In unison, the Rigorians unbuckled their holsters and let them fall to the floor.

  “That’s better. Now get out of here,” Adam ordered.

  Without looking at the fallen and bloody heap that was their dead companions, the two surviving Rigorians dashed out of the tavern. Adam bent down and picked up the two sets of weapons. When he turned back to the room, he noticed how deathly quiet it was, with dozens of pairs of eyes staring widely back at him. Taking advantage of the stunned fear, Adam returned to his table, lifted his drink and threw it down in a single gulp. Then he turned to an equally stunned Kaylor and said, “Pay up; we’re leaving.”

  Outside in the early evening afterglow, Adam and Kaylor walked silently back to the spaceport. Kaylor had not asked for his weapon back and actually stayed about a half-pace behind Adam all the way there.

  Entering the ship, Kaylor retracted the ramp and secured the door, after which they made their way to the common room.

  Upon entering, Jym turned from his computer console — and nearly fell off the chair when he saw Adam.

  “What is he doing here” he blurted, but Kaylor silenced him up with a firm shake of his head.

  Adam was still so jacked up that he didn’t sit down. He dropped the two sets of weapons on the table and then paced back and forth between the couch and the table. “I didn’t want to fight him. You know that,” he finally said.

  Kaylor stood near the doorway. “You had no choice,” was all he said.

  Regaining some nerve, Jym pressed the subject: “What happened You’ve only been gone for about two hours—”

  “Adam just killed two Rigorians in a challenge over at Jklena’s Tavern.”

  “He what That’s impossible!”

  “No it’s not. It was the most remarkable thing I’ve ever seen. And then he disarmed two more and kicked them out of the bar.”

  Stepping forward, Kaylor held out his hand toward Adam. “Let me have the gun.”

  Adam stopped pacing and looked straight into Kaylor’s eyes. A tense moment passed, then he slowly began to unbuckle the holster. “No keep the holster on.”

  Surprised, Adam obeyed and handed over just the weapon to Kaylor. Taking the MK-17, Kaylor popped the bolt cartridge out of the handle and then handed the weapon back to Adam.

  “Let me see you draw the weapon again. It’s disarmed. Just draw and shoot, like you did before.”

  Doing his best John Wayne imitation, Adam whipped the gun out of the holster, raised it and pulled the trigger. He heard an audible gasp from Jym.

  “What’s the big deal” Adam asked. “I’ve always had fast reactions and I’m a pretty good shot.”

  After a moment, Kaylor answered. “You should not be able to do this. I’ve never seen anyone even come close to how fast you can draw a weapon. Also, you didn’t use the targeting computer. How is it that you can hit a target without assistance”

  “Well that part seemed pretty stupid. Why do you have to wait for a computer to tell you when to shoot”

  Kaylor persisted. “You should not be able to hit a target without assistance. If you do, then it would be pure luck. But what I saw today was not luck.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, but we don’t use targeting computers on our handguns. We do with missiles and rockets and things like that, but not handguns or rifles. Besides, he was only about 10 meters away. I’d have to be blind to miss at that range.”

  Jym coughed. “I don’t mean to spoil this moment, but what about the salvage”

  Kaylor seemed relieved to change the subject. “It’s registered. We are to go back tomorrow at Day4 for the final inventory and receipt.”

  “And him” Jym nodded toward Adam, who was still practicing drawing the MK-17, seemingly getting faster every time.

  “The Registrar said he couldn’t help him get back to Earth, so I said he could stay on with us until the owners showed up for the claim or the verdict on the salvage is rendered. He’s hoping that if the owners show up they could help him find his home.”

  “That could be months! You mean he’s going to be here all that time”

  “I told him two months-“

  “Hey, I’m right here in the room with you,” Adam said.

  “We’ll put him to work, doing something. But I wasn’t about to leave him on-planet without any resources.”

  “It looks like he can take care of himself,” Jym countered.

  “If killing is an occupation.”

  Adam turned toward the two arguing aliens: “Listen, I’m not going to be any trouble for you. I’m a hard worker and a fast learner. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I just need a little time to figure out what I’m going to do.” He took a few steps towards Jym. “Remember, from my perspective, it was only about a day ago that I was back home, without ever having dreamed I’d be here going through all this shit. This is your reality, not mine. So Jym, why don’t you cut me a little slack!”

  Jym had recoiled from Adam as the diatribe grew more impassioned. Now he recovered slightly. “That’s understandable. I’m just not used to someone disturbing our routine. If it’s okay with Kaylor, then it’s okay with me.”

  “That’s better,” Adam said forcefully. “Now we can all just try to get along.” And with that, Adam took off the holster and handed it back to Kaylor. Then gathering up the two weapons he’d taken from the Rigorians, he left to go back to his room. He had a lot of thinking to do.

  Chapter Eleven: The Overlord

  Overlord Oplim Ra Unis was having a terrible day. He had just received a report that tax revenues for the Fringe were down 17% and that the mining operations on Castor were stalled because of a delay in getting a new drilling unit shipped in from the Seventh Sector.

  But what really frustrated the young Overlord was that his superiors back on Juir would not care. To them, the Fringe was so inconsequential, such an afterthought, that they treated the region as a bonus to all their other operations. No matter what Oplim did, he would never be noticed.

  And that was why so many of his colleagues in the Juirean Authority were shocked to hear that Oplim had actually requested the Fringe! With such a vast and growing Expansion, and so few Juireans, he could have had his pick of any of a dozen Sectors, yet he chose the Fringe.

  Oplim closed the file on his computer, leaned back in his chair and stared out the huge plate glass window that made up the entire right wall of his office. Cyol was the city on the planet Melfora Lum that the Juireans used as their local headquarters. It was the largest city in the Fringe, as would be expected. There were skyscrapers and traffic routes, even elevated arrow trains that shuttled the inhabitants to and from their tasks. The planet itself offered a temperate climate, ample farmland and even the gravity was nearly that of Juir. But it had been Oplim’s hobby - obsession - that had brought him to Melfora Lum, and out to the very edge of the civilized galaxy.

  So when his secure computer link buzzed and he opened the file, his heart began to race rapidly and his breath came in shallow gulp
s.

  Could this be it Could this be what he came all the way out here for

  Oplim had traces on all communications throughout the Fringe, including vidcasts, transmissions, ship registrations and even salvages. The parameters were entered and any hits, even the most obscure, were correlated and weighed against all known databases.

  This one was from a salvage that had just been registered on the planet Nimor. Undoubtedly, Oplim had received the information only milliseconds behind even the bureaucrats on Nimor. But unlike them, Oplim was privy to information they were not.

  The configuration was correct, the technology consistent and even the dead occupants coincided with the archives. This was definitely a Klin ship! He at last had his proof!

  For over twenty standard years, Oplim had tracked every credible sighting, report, rumor or myth regarding the Klin. In his program, he marked the location of each report, and soon a pattern had emerged.

  As the Expansion grew larger, the location of the most recent reports would move inexorably further out, away from the Expansion. It was obvious what was happening. The Klin were moving. And now there was no place further out that the Fringe.

  It had been a remarkable gamble on Oplim’s part. After all, many in the Expansion did not even believe that the Klin still existed, and to be labeled a Believer did not sit well with the Elites or the Council. Besides, with a whole galaxy to govern, most Juireans did not have the time or inclination to pursue fairy tales. The Klin had been eradicated during The Reckoning. They no longer existed as a race.

  And yet here was a Klin ship! Oplim watched the video the survey crew had taken. Even though the ship itself was not conclusive evidence - after all, it had been nearly 4,000 years since anyone had seen a Klin spaceship - it was the bodies they found onboard that clinched it. Evolution does not work that fast that in 4,000 years a species would not be recognizable. The Juireans had plenty of records that showed what a Klin looked like, and it had been four millennia since anyone had verifiably seen one in the flesh, even a dead one.

  But just finding hard evidence that the Klin still existed wasn’t enough for Oplim. The Klin had to have a base of operations somewhere, and more-than-likely, here in the Fringe.

  Oplim quickly scanned the report until he found what he was looking for. He slammed his fist down hard on his desk! He was afraid of this - the computer core was missing! The core would hold the location of the Klin hiding place.

  Reading quickly, Oplim saw where it was reported that the damn Fringe pirates had attacked the ship and then removed certain items, including the core, before abandoning their kill. He read with admiration — and a little humor — how a pair of lowly mule-drivers had tricked the pirates into running away. But before they left, they had taken the core.

  But wait, what is this He read further. There was a survivor! Not a Klin, but another creature that had been aboard the Klin ship. The vids were both informative and confusing. There had been 80 of these creatures - Humans they were called - and all were killed intentionally by the Klin, all except for one. And he was on Nimor.

  Oplim’s mind quickly assessed the situation and he formulated a plan, as Overlords had been trained to do for thousands of years.

  Tapping the communication tab on his desk he commanded that a secure and direct link be established between himself and Fleet Commander Giodol Fe Bulen.

  Commander Giodol was surprised to be receiving a link with the Overlord. He answered immediately.

  “Commander, where are you at this time”

  “We are near Silea showing our force to the natives,” he answered. With no real enemies in this part of the Expansion, the Fleet was mainly used for intimidation purposes, as a reminder of just how powerful the Juireans were.

  “I have a vital assignment for you,” Oplim stated. Giodol seemed to perk up. He was so tired of simply “showing the flag” to these backwater beings. “I need you to attack the pirate base at K’ly and extract information from all captives.”

  Giodol was stunned! This was real action, and against the only menace in the region. The Fleet Commander knew that recently the pirates had become much bolder and proficient, actually staging raids on planetside cities. They also appeared to be working better as a unit, rather than as independent ships with no real organization. Now the Overlord was finally going to take action against them. “Of course, My Lord. I will do as you wish with enthusiasm. It’s time we subdue the pirate activities.”

  The Overlord continued: “Yesterday, a ship was attacked by three pirate ships in The Void near Nimor. The pirates made off with the ship’s computer core. That is what you must recover.”

  Giodol was surprised by the assignment. This was something different than punishment for the pirates’ Sector-wide activities.

  “Commander, you are authorized to use whatever means necessary to recover the core.”

  “Was it taken from a Juirean ship, My Lord” Giodol asked, trying to find the reason why this core would be so important to the Overlord.

  “No. That is not your concern. Just bring me the core as soon as it is recovered.” Then the Overlord broke the link.

  Giodol stared at the blank screen for a few seconds, wondering why the Overlord was acting so strangely. Oplim had come to the Fringe only two years before, while Giodol had been here for nearly 10. He had had no issues with the young Overlord, and even now, this was not an issue he would dwell on. The Overlord must have his reasons. And we’re Juireans; we never question another Juirean.

  Giodol knew the location of the pirate base on K’ly; it was one of the least kept secrets in the Fringe, it’s just that no one had ever taken the initiative to go there before. Now he had a mission, a purpose. And as he had told the Overlord, he would accomplish his assignment with enthusiasm.

  Next Oplim opened a link to Counselor Deslor Lin Jul on Castor. Deslor was one of three Counselors assigned to the Overlord, but by far his favorite. He also shared Oplim’s belief in the existence of the Klin.

  Once the link was established, Oplim spent the first few minutes briefing Deslor about the Klin ship and the actions he’d set in motion against the Fringe pirates. The Counselor, too, was ecstatic.

  “Deslor, I need you to go to Nimor and interview the mule-drivers. They are not to spread any information regarding this ship, is that clear”

  “Perfectly,” Deslor said. “I assume you have put a lock on all references to the ship and its recovery”

  “Of course. And then I want you to bring the ship and this survivor to me here on Melfora Lum. As far as we can tell, this creature has had direct contact with the Klin. We must know the connection between the Klin and,” looked down at his notes, “these Humans. How soon can you get to Nimor”

  “I can be there in 17 hours.”

  Chapter Twelve: Arrest

  The next morning, Adam learned that Day4 meant four hours after sunrise on Nimor. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood, even Jym, as the three of them piled into a “cab” for the trip to the Ministry Compound.

  There was a marked increase in activity at the Compound compared to the day before, with literally dozens of the hairy creatures scurrying about with obvious purpose. Adam thought that yesterday they’d just hit the place right around closing time.

  It doesn’t really matter, he thought as he proudly displayed the MK-17 bolt launcher he wore on his hip. He’d even found a strand of leather in the cargo hold which he used to tie the bottom of the holster to his lower thigh to keep the holster from riding up when he drew the weapon. This had allowed him to quicken his draw even faster.

  He was feeling much more confident this morning. The reaction he’d seen from Kaylor and Jym made him believe that he’d actually accomplished something pretty spectacular the day before. If this was the best these aliens had to throw at him, then he had nothing to worry about.

  As a matter of fact, Adam kept playing the fight scene over and over again in his mind, and each time he did, he realized that, even though h
e didn’t know it at the time, he was never in any real danger from those lizard-things. The speed of their draws was like watching it in slow motion. And even if they had equaled him in drawing speed, they would have stood there for a second or so before ever firing while the damn targeting computer did its thing.

  Was this how they all did it If so.well damn!

  Adam followed Kaylor and Jym as they entered the brick building again and took the stairs to the second floor. The building was packed, but the office of Dess Fredic was empty except for the bureaucrat.

  He was especially friendly this morning, more cordial than the day before, but he did start the conversation with an apology. “I’m terribly sorry, but I must insist that you all remove your weapons and place them on the table over there.” He indicated a table set against the left wall, next to the second door to his office. “We have a dignitary coming today and we have instituted a new restriction for today.”

  Even though Adam was getting quite comfortable wearing his sidearm, he obliged, as did Kaylor; Jym was not carrying a weapon.

  Once they were all seated in front of the desk, Dess leaned back in his chair and locked his gaze on Adam. Suddenly seven black-vested guards burst into the room from both entrances, each pointing their long-barrel weapons at Adam. Adam jumped from his seat, but after a quick survey of the situation, sank back into the chair.

  “You are to be detained pending investigation of the murder of two primes yesterday,” Dess announced to Adam.

  “That was self-defense!” Kaylor countered, much to his credit. Adam remained silent, surveying the armed guards.

  “That is not what the witnesses say. A council will be convened to weigh all the evidence.”

  “I thought you said there wasn’t much law around here,” Adam said to Kaylor.

  “I was there.” Kaylor said, ignoring Adam. “The Rigorians initiated the challenge. It was a fair fight.”

  “Two Rigorians dead in a challenge with a single being” Dess shook his head. “I’m not a judge here, but I find that hard to believe. He will be held here as we investigate.”