by T. R. Harris
“That status is changing, my Lord,” said one of the other Overlords.
“Yes, we have five hundred ships stationed throughout the Alliance Cluster, and many more now racing ahead of the Human fleet to get here. But the point is this should never have been allowed to happen. Master Synnoc cleared the way to allow said terrorist Adam Cain free access to Juir, so he could play some game with our most dangerous and accomplished adversary. My friends, taken together, are these the acts of a sane and competent leader?”
“This is dangerous talk, Malens,” said Cyros. He looked around the room, taking special note of the ceiling.
“The room has been cleared of scanning devices, Master Cyros.”
“He will undoubtedly learn that the Council Elite has met without his presence or invitation.”
“I realize that,” said Malens. “But these are dangerous times.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “We must come to a decision. It will be a difficult, yet one that will determine the fate not only of the Expansion but of the Juirean race as well. Do we allow Elder Synnoc to continue…or do we not?”
Adam and his team pressed against the wall before retreating around a nearby corner. A single Juirean stepped from the elevator, then turned to speak amicably to the others in the car. He was smiling as the door slid shut.
Then the alien did something completely unexpected. He turned away from Adam and the others and sprinted down the corridor. Where was he going in such a hurry?
“Follow me,” he said to the group. “Something’s not right.”
The wide and well-lit hallway was empty…except for the running Juirean. The tall alien barely stopped at a door before opening it and disappearing inside.
Adam and his team were there a moment later. He listened through the door; there were animated voices coming from inside. He scanned the room for flash weapons, and detecting none—only electronic signatures from lights, computers and communicators—he made a decision.
“We’re going in. There are no weapons inside. Riyad, Sherri, we go in together. Lila, you have my six.”
“Your six what?”
“Sorry. You bring up the rear.”
“Ah, a military term. I shall have to research that more for later use. I do not like to be uninformed.”
Adam smiled. That was about the only thing she didn’t know.
Adam put his hand in the door slot and it slid open.
The three Humans entered in a spread formation, Adam in the center, Riyad and Sherri moving left and right. What they found inside made their jaws drop.
Adam knew the Elites, not personally, but by sight. The brilliant white hair and pale blue gowns, adorned by gold sashes, was the first give-away. They sat staring at the Humans from around long table, along with a pair of white-haired Master-Overlords and two regular blue-hairs sitting at one end.
The breathless messenger was standing next one of the Elites.
After only split second, Adam and the rest of the team rushed to the table and surrounded it, weapons ready.
“I recognize you,” said the Elite with the messenger next to him. “You are Adam Cain. And you are the prisoner Sherri Valentine, along with the Formilian Arieel Bol.” He looked at Riyad. “I do not recognize you.”
“I’m Riyad Tarazi. Perhaps the name rings a bell?”
“Vaguely. What are you doing here? This is a private meeting.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “Eh, if you hadn’t noticed, we’re at war, and we’re, like, the enemy. Where’s Synnoc?”
There was an awkward silence on the part of the Juireans. Adam saw the guilt on the green alien faces. He smiled. “So, we have a little coup being planned here, don’t we? Where do I sign up?”
The white-haired Juirean sighed and slumped in his chair. “So will you kill us now, Adam Cain?”
“We have a saying where I come from. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ If your plan is to depose Synnoc, we’re all for it.”
“Forgive me, father,” said Lila. Adam froze. “There are searchers moving along the corridor. They are four rooms away, armed with flash weapons.”
“They will report us to Synnoc!” exclaimed one of the other Elites.
Adam looked around for a place to hide. There was another side room with a small glass window. It would be tight, but they had no option. He wasn’t ready to start the fighting, not just yet.
“Everyone…in there, hurry!”
There was a mad rush of aliens and Humans as twenty-one bodies crammed into a room measuring approximately ten by ten. It was actually rather humorous, as the seven-to-eight foot tall Juireans towered over the shorter Humans and Formilians. Adam ended up with his nose stuck in the chest of one of the Overlords, where he discovered, to his chagrin, that Juireans did not use deodorant. He looked up at the alien and grinned. The Juirean did not smile back.
Mentally, Lila turned off all the lights in the room, only a second before the door to the huge conference room opened. Adam could detect the Guard’s flash weapon. The creature stepped a few feet into the room, hesitated, and then left. At least twenty other energy signatures registered in Adam’s mind as they moved down the corridor, pausing at each of the adjoining doorways.
The door to the small room opened and bodies poured out.
A white-haired Juirean stepped up to Adam. “I am Vice-Elder Malens, and yes, we have been meeting to discuss the matter of Elder Synnoc, yet that is a Juirean matter, not a Human matter—or Formilian.”
“Unfortunately, your buddy Synnoc has made it our concern, as well. If you do act and take him out, what do you intend to do about this trumped up war of his?”
“You precipitated the war with the killing of an Overlord.”
“I didn’t kill him. Synnoc had the ship’s captain do it as a way of blaming me and the Humans. He wanted this war and now he’s got it. In fact, he’s about to lose it.”
The Juirean pursed his thin lips and looked at a few of the other Elites gathered around. “I had my suspicions. He was too quick to take up arms against the Union for such a minor act.”
“Are you trusting the words of the terrorist Adam Cain?” asked another of the Elites.
“What he says makes more sense than how Synnoc has reacted to the event. Do you doubt that the Elder would be beyond such an act, knowing as we do now the demise of Fleet Admiral Kradis?”
Malens looked down at Adam. “I am afraid we may be powerless at this point to stop him. As you have seen, he is already looking for us. With his current state of mind, he will accuse us of colluding with the enemy and promoting a revolt against his rule.”
“Then if you don’t mind,” Adam looked at his rag-tag team of Humans, Formilians and mutant, “why don’t we do something about it. Where is Synnoc now?”
The Juirean track star stepped forward. “He has cloistered himself in the Pinnacle Room.”
“Good,” said Adam. “Let’s make sure he stays there. Okay everyone, we’re heading down.”
“What about Synnoc?” Arieel asked. “He is located above us.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be taken care of.”
“How?” Riyad asked.
“Remember the backup generators under the building? They’re fusion powered, right?”
Riyad’s eyes grew wide. “I like your thinking, Captain Cain.”
“What are brew talking about?” Sherri asked.
Lila stepped forward. “I detect the generators, as well.” She turned to Sherri. “An overload of those units—similar to a flash weapons overload—would produce a small nuclear explosion under the structure.”
“You’re going to nuke ‘em?” Sherri’s swollen eye suddenly opened. “And where are we going to be when this happens?”
“Two nukes, actually,” Adam replied. “As to where we will be at the time…. Trimen, you have a ship nearby, don’t you?”
“Yes, at the Council landing field to the west of the building.”
“All right everyone, that’s our
goal—to reach Trimen’s ship and get the hell off the mountain before we set off the nukes.”
“You are going to destroy the Malor-Hydon Tower?” Malens asked breathlessly.
“That’s the plan.”
“I cannot allow that. That is too high a price to pay for removing Synnoc from office. We can do that through procedure.”
“You just said he’s gone off the rails.”
“Pardon me?”
“He’s gone rogue, setting up a dictatorship. Your life-expectancy—and that of your fellow Elites—is probably measured in minutes. If I were you, I’d be running for the exits, along with the rest of us.”
“He is indeed a savage terrorist!” declared another of the Elites. “Malens, you cannot allow this.”
“Maby you shouldn’t have started a war with dus,” Sherri said to the mouthy Juirean.
“I do not understand.”
She jabbed the barrel of her M-101 into the alien’s chest. “Do you understand dis?”
“Adam Cain, I must protest,” said Malens. “There must be a better solution.”
“Yeah, we could wait until the Union fleet gets here and lays waste to your entire stinking planet, but that might get some Humans killed, too. That’s something I can’t allow.” Adam was angry. He hadn’t come all this way to negotiate with a bunch of prissy aliens in shimmering blue gowns. He’d come to kick some alien ass. With two juicy nukes sitting only a few hundred feet below where he was standing, he now he had a chance to bring his scorched earth campaign to a close. He wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass by.
He looked at the combination of scared, anxious and angry alien faces. “The way I see it, you guys don’t have much of a choice. Either you leave the building as fast as you can, or you end up as radioactive ash.”
“We shall raise the alarm—”
Adam’s M-101 lit off with a small three-round burst. The bullets tore into the body of the Juirean, nearly slicing him in half. “No you won’t,” Adam said to the falling body.
The other Juireans in the room gasped and backed away. All except Malens.
“I see you have made our decision for us.” There was fire in the alien’s eyes. “If the decision is to ally with a beast like you or with Master Synnoc, then nothing he has done—or will do—is worse than this.”
“Malens—or whatever your name is—you forget we’re at war…a war you and your kind started. When are you Juireans going to realize you can’t win every fight and that being arrogant assholes has consequences? I started this campaign to avenge the death of my oldest friend, a father-figure to me, really. For a moment there, I thought you mane-heads were worth saving, and that this was all Synnoc’s fault, just like it had been the Klin’s before that. Now I see I was wrong. You’re all alike.”
“We side with our own kind, just as you do, Adam Cain. I feel no shame for that.”
Adam nodded. “Then neither do I—”
Arieel took hold of Adam’s arm just as his trigger finger tightened on M-101.
“What are you thinking of doing, Adam?” the Formilian asked softly, concern in her voice.
“Either they die now or they die later. I vote for now.”
“And they know our plans,” Sherri added, her own M-101 leveled at the Juireans.
“Should we not have mercy?” Arieel asked.
Sherri glared at her. “Did they show any mercy when then blew off Andy’s head? You were there, you saw it happen. We’re at war, Arieel. We always have been since the first moment the Juireans learned of us. At some point all this has to end. We tried peace and that didn’t work. Frankly, I’m pretty damn tired of playing nice with these savages.” Sherri’s lips were bleeding as scabs ripped open during her tirade, but her message came through loud and clear.
Arieel looked at Sherri’s battered face and then at Adam’s manic expression. Then she turned away with a flip of her hand and shrugged. “Perhaps you are right. Okay, go ahead, kill them.”
Sherri and Adam exchanged surprised looks. “Well, maybe….” Adam said.
“Lock them in the side room?” Sherri said.
“At least give them a fighting chance to get away?”
“Yeah, that would be better.”
Adam turned to Malens. “You have Arieel Bol to thank for saving your miserable lives, at least for now.”
Arieel turned in protest. “I did not do any such thing! I said kill them.”
Adam smiled. “We all know what you were doing, Arieel. We call it reverse psychology.”
“No…I agree with Sherri. They showed no mercy for Andy Tobias. I remember vividly as he was killed. It was horrific and savage.”
Adam patted her back. “You’re a better person than I am, sweetie.” He waved the barrel of this M-101 at the aliens. “All right, everyone in the room.”
“Are you still going to destroy the building?” Malens asked.
“Of course.”
“So you would have remorse for killing us here, yet will incinerate tens of thousands without any such regret?
“There’s another saying where I come from,” Adam said. “‘Kill one man and you’re a murderer. Kill millions and you’re a conqueror. Kill them all and you’re a god.’ I’m still working on the god part. Now into the room…move!”
37
The team left the conference room minutes later after Lila fused the door controls, locking the Juireans in the small ten-by-ten room. Before they left, Adam assured Malens that the generators could be made to explode remotely, so there was nothing they could do to stop it. That’s when one of the other Elites pointed out that killing the team would be a way of stopping it. The mane-head had a point.
Adam really want to kill the alien for saying that, but compassion overrode the desire. Then he shook his head. Compassion? In a few minutes—if the team wasn’t killed—he was going to blow the whole damn building to bits. The smart-ass alien knew this. Perhaps it would be more compassionate to put him out of his misery now, rather than have him spend the next few minutes waiting to die?
Adam was jarred from his reverie when Arieel moved up next to him. “You misunderstand. I wanted the Juireans dead,” she said passionately. “Even now they occupy Formil. My people are in grave danger from them. I thought on it and realized you and Sherri were right.”
“What’s done is done, Arieel,” Adam said. “Don’t worry. As soon as we get to Trimen’s ship and lift off, all the loose ends will be tied up.”
“That sounds like another of your Human colloquialisms, yet I understand the context.”
They were in the deserted corridor, moving to the elevators. Everyone with an ATD had their scanners going, tracking the progress of Synnoc’s search team. They were about a hundred yards down the hallway and well past the elevators.
At the bank of shiny metal doors, they stopped and took up defensive positions. Adam pressed the button and a moment later the doors began to open. Four green-haired Guards armed with Xan-fi’s were in the car. From inside they couldn’t see anyone in the corridor and wondered why the elevator had stopped. Two stepped forward.
Adam and Riyad rushed in, M-101’s spitting bullets. Moments later, they tossed the bodies into the hallway to make room for all eight members of the team. Adam was hoping for a quick ride to the main floor of the pyramid and then a sprint for the exit doors. There would be a trail of dead aliens left along the way; that was unavoidable. In fact, every time the elevator would stop, more dead Juireans would pile up in the hallways. But now that he had a plan, Adam could see the light at the end of the tunnel. He was willing to make a little noise if necessary.
They started on the thirty-first floor, and by the time the elevator reached ground level, there had been three instances of the door opening followed by dead aliens on the floor outside. There was no pretense now. Other Juireans had tripped the alarms, and a grating noise and flashing lights filled the building.
Confusion was a great place to hide, and that’s what state-of-mind th
e Juireans were in. They knew something was happening, but in the two minutes it took the elevator car to reach the bottom, no details were known.
The team exited the car, giving leeway to a group of Juireans anxious to board and race to the upper floors. At a time of war, such an alarm could mean a threat on the Elder—or any of the Elites—or an outside threat of some kind. Until more details were known, the priority was to lock-down the building and secure the VIP’s. In the huge open chamber on the ground floor—which soared twenty stories above—hundreds of Guards were running for the wide expanse of entry doors to the building. Many of these doors were closing automatically as a response to the alarm, while Guards took up sentry positions, Xan-fi’s and MK’s at the ready.
Adam hated to do it, but he had to open fire. There was a squad of Guards focused on the team as they moved across the wide expanse of open floor. There was recognition in the alien’s eyes. Once he fired, all the other Juireans in the chamber would identify them as the target.
What happened next was a spectacular release of automatic gunfire and alien flash bolts. So much raw plasma was in the air that the inside temperature climbed by ten degrees almost instantly, as the flashes temporarily blinded nearly everyone in the room. Adam and Riyad were wearing their helmets, so the polarizing glass lens saved their eyesight. This allowed them to spray lines of Juireans with lead from the ’101’s. They snapped in new magazines, after cutting down literally hundreds of Juireans in the first few seconds of the battle.
The team continued to move, Humans in the lead with the slower Formilians behind. Lila was close to her mother, taking multiple bolt strikes in her place. The mutant’s body began to glow white and radiate heat from the absorption of plasma charges. The more she took the harder it was for the Formilians to be near her.
This undying and glowing figure soon caught the attention of most of the Juireans in the room. Some paused firing to gawk at the strange apparition, right up to the time Lila lashed out with powerful discharges of crackling blue lightening from her hands. The erratic trails of deadly electricity danced around the periphery of the room, striking bodies and inanimate objects alike.