by T. R. Harris
********
Morlon (783) Voden-Mor was the fourth highest ranking member of the Third Cadre. He was fifty-one Nuorean cycles old and had spent the first twenty of his challenge years within the Second Cadre—the military arm of the Nuorean government. Even back then, he was a legend within the race, having in the shortest time accumulated more points than any other Nuorean before or since. He was on the fast track toward Grand Master status, with the potential to eclipse the record points for the species and become its greatest leader.
And then Morlon joined the Third Cadre. Very few understood his reasoning, yet once it was done, there was no turning back. Members of the Third Cadre were different than all other Nuoreans. They had to have an extremely high level of points—both possession and immunity—show unrivaled skill at tactics and strategy, and possess a more-independent mind than most other Nuoreans. This last trait was the reason Morlon chose the Third. Members of the Cadre were the trouble-shooters of the race. Although many worked in teams—evaluating alien races for their potential as viable immunity races—others acted more independently, investigating the various oddities that faced the race as they encountered more of the universe around them.
Rodoc (1,401) had met Morlon twenty-two cycles ago, when the future Grand Master had first achieved Qualify status at the first level. Morlon was assigned to secure the residence and other privileges of the rank, as well as make accommodations for the former QM. Individuals at the bottom of the ladder were the most vulnerable to the up-and-comers, be they QMs or GMs. The current Qualifying Master in that position had been living on borrowed time for two cycles; it was only a matter of time before someone beat his point total.
There was some grumbling from the much-older QM as the relatively young Rodoc took his place, but other than that, the transition was uneventful. Morlon went on to become the primary supplier of Rodoc’s immunity aliens, personally testing each race before allowing them to face Rodoc. In his private arena, Rodoc would stand on the sidelines and marvel at the skill of the young Third Cadre officer, knowing without shame that he would not prevail in a contest between the two.
But victories against fellow Nuoreans was not what Morlon sought. He saw in Rodoc the opportunity to challenge far more aliens than he could have otherwise. For every alien Rodoc faced, Morlon had dispatched five beforehand.
It was the killing of aliens that Morlon lived for, not the rule of an empire.
********
But now Morlon (783) was upset, probably more than he could ever remember being.
He stared at the black comm screen, which only moments before had displayed the angry face of Grand Master Rodoc—the leader of his race. Morlon had just suffered a verbal beating like never before, and there was nothing he could do in his defense. He had pleaded for more time, telling Rodoc that he believed the Humans would eventually show up in their enhanced starship. The fact that they didn’t during the mock celebration at LP-5 only meant they had figured out his strategy. That aside, the Humans still had to use LP-5 to achieve their ultimate objective. The aliens were still in the Suponac, and it was only a matter of time before they showed up at the transit zone.
What upset Rodoc so much was that Morlon could not give him an estimate when the Humans would show. Originally he had—the date of the celebration. But that had come and gone three days ago. Being a smaller generator complex than the much larger midpoint station, LP-5 recycled every twenty-nine hours, rather than the seventy-two it LP-6. Three transits had already taken place since the celebration—and still no Humans. Nuoreans were used to controlling the game, and now it looked as though it was the Humans in command. The aliens could hold off for months if they chose. All the while Morlon’s ships had to remain on station and alert at every jump.
Morlon understood Rodoc’s frustration, yet he felt it unfair that he should suffer all the blame. He had done his best to lure the Humans into his trap—and it would still work—if Rodoc would only give him time.
Instead, he’d tasked the Cadre officer with devising another plan, something more proactive. Already, four hundred ships were blanketing the region between Bancc-Bin and Nuor. But with the capabilities of the Human’s jump ship, they could be anywhere by now.
Anywhere except back in the Kac.
This knowledge gave Morlon hope. His prey was still around. He would find them—or he would make their mission moot.
Morlon (783) began work on a new strategy. This one would be sure to impress the Grand Master—all the Grand Masters.
But first he had to test his theory.
********
Rodoc trusted Morlon implicitly—or he had up until his latest failure. In reality, Rodoc had been venting his own frustration on the young Cadre officer. He had fully supported the plan to set a trap for the Humans, even against the advice of some of the other Grand Masters. They believed revealing the location of LP-5 was too risky, and now that the plan had failed, the others voiced their concern for the long-term effect of the failure. They said the Humans now knew the way to LP-6, and in theory, could achieve their mission. That would have the effect of isolating Nuorean forces in the Kac and be a major blow to their overall plans.
The worst part—as Rodoc grumbled—was the plan should have worked. The fact that the Humans—and he used the name Adam Cain as a placeholder for the entire race—had detected the trap and turned it against Morlon and his forces, was troublesome. The Nuoreans had faced clever and strategic adversaries before, but Cain was becoming a dangerous anomaly. Rodoc’s people even had the Human in captivity several times, and yet still it did not matter. He always found a way to escape and cause even more problems for the Nuoreans.
It was clear to Rodoc, one way or another Adam Cain had to be eliminated.
********
It was three days after the browbeating, that the Third Cadre commander came to Rodoc, requesting his presence at a demonstration he’d prepared. It would take place off-planet, and the Grand Master would have to put all his other affairs on hold.
The brashness of the request piqued Rodoc’s curiosity. Morlon had to know this would be his last chance to redeem himself, not only to Rodoc, but the rest of the Grand Masters. He was taking an awful chance—and it was the seriousness of the situation that convinced Rodoc to go.
Morlon apologized for the time this would take out of the GMs schedule, but he assured him it would be worth it. They left Nuor in the early morning and journeyed to the LP-3 transit zone nine hours away. This was an extremely long time for Rodoc to be away from either his residence or the capital, but as the hours passed—and Morlon offered no explanation—the Grand Master began to treat the day as a game and refused to ask Morlon for more detail. He would let Morlon run his gambit.
The LP-3 transit line was the third to be built as the race reached farther into the galactic void. The generators had been constructed by workers traveling through the LP-2 line to their limit range of ninety-four thousand light-years from the Suponac. Here the generators for LP-3 were built, extending the reach out to one hundred ninety thousand light-years. The LP-4 station followed at three hundred seventy-five thousands light-years. LP-5 completed the transition to the midpoint between galaxies, and the construction site of the massive generators at LP-6.
The LP-3 transit line was now used mainly for maintenance and shift changes for the small crew manning the space station at LP-4, near its huge gravity generators.
The small starship—with a security escort of six other vessels, assumed their positions in the center of the transit zone, and moments later, were all transported to the end-point. Rodoc still marveled at the technology, as he gazed out the viewport at the blaze of stars that was the Suponac Galaxy. From this distance he could make out the edges and the general shape, with its huge, glowing center dome and fiery inner ring, which was the remnants of a collision with a much smaller galaxy a billion cycles ago. That collision had increased the size of his galaxy, but at a cost.
This frustrated Rodoc
, knowing that a galaxy so huge and with so much potential, was mostly an illusion. What life there was now hugged the edges, away from the deadly center of the Suponac.
Now that they had reached the final destination for Morlon’s demonstration—there was nowhere else to go from here—Rodoc was anxious to learn what all the mystery was about. But he had to wait a while longer. The ship proceeded to the space station at LP-4 and entered a huge hangar bay. Electric carts awaited the small entourage, and within thirty minutes of arriving at the destination-point, Rodoc and Morlon were in the command center of the station, with four huge video screens active, techs at their controls.
There was a large clock on the wall, counting down the minutes.
“Now, my friend,” Rodoc began. “You have brought me here—at a distance equal to twice the width of the Suponac. I’m sure you intend to impress me with this demonstration of yours.”
Morlon’s expression remained passive. He seldom expressed emotion. He was all business, all the time. And after their last conversation, Rodoc sensed tension between the pair.
“The purpose is not merely to impress, but to show…viability.” Morlon looked at the clock and then nodded to one of the Cadre One techs.
The top left screen displayed a distant view of a mostly brown planet, with a thin white line of an atmosphere standing out in relief against the black backdrop of space.
“This is a world designated 465-DSK. It is uninhabited and of no commercial value. Its location is within the A-4 Sector, approximately four hundred light-years inside the recognized boundary of the galaxy. This is an active view, transmitted by wormhole communications. Please observe.”
Control panels surrounding the pair began to light off. The screen below the one with the planet came to life, showing a large section of space with a dotting of stars off in the distance, toward the galaxy. A circle appeared on the screen, a graphic representation of the transit zone at this end of the LP-3 gravity tunnel. The generators for this point were much smaller than those needed for the intergalactic transits, so the recharge time was greatly reduced. Still, it had only been less than an hour.
Rodoc looked at Morlon, the question on his face.
“I supplied additional batteries to the LP-3 generators for this demonstration. I know your time is valuable. Now observe the planet.”
It took only a moment before Rodoc noticed a change. At first he had trouble understanding the meaning of what he saw, as a thin white cloud was forming on the right side of the planet, being drawn into space to form a sharp point. Then the cloud turned ruddy in color, mixing with the white of the atmosphere. The camera zoomed in, showing huge chunks of the planet—the size of mountains—being ripped off the surface and joining in the catastrophic exodus into space.
That’s when Rodoc noticed something on the screen which displayed the transit zone for LP-3. As he watched, his jaw fell slack. Appearing within the four-hundred-thousand mile diameter jump zone—and racing off into space—were the same massive chunks of rock, interlaced now with frozen sheets of atmosphere and ice. The area continued to fill, resembling a disjointed asteroid field consisting of thousands of objects. This continued for another fifteen seconds until the transit was complete.
Rodoc stared at the screen for several seconds, watching the mass of debris race from the transit zone. He looked at the screen with the planet. The brown globe was now grossly misshapen, with a large, ragged bite taken out of the right side. The atmosphere no longer glowed as a massive cloud of brown haze was already beginning to fall back on the planet, obscuring some of the most catastrophic damage.
Rodoc looked at Morlon. “Why?”
“To prove it was possible. No one has ever transported a planet through an LP before. There was a possibility the singularities could rupture or disintegrate.”
“And you tested it now, with me nearly two hundred thousand light-years from Nuor? What if there is damage to the generators?”
Morlon turned back to the controls. “This was not our first test, Master. I would not have risked your life if so.”
“You’ve done this before…destroyed a planet?”
“Yes. Three. This was the fourth.”
“Again, I ask why?”
“This is a potential solution to our Human problem in the Kac.”
Immediately, Rodoc grasped the meaning. “Yet the Earth is located much farther into their galaxy than was this planet. We would need a direct line…and the use of the LP-6 generators.”
“That is what we are looking into. I already have Cadre in the Kac taking precise measurements of the location of Earth. I will know more in a few days.”
Rodoc looked back at the rapidly expanding debris field. “Why was the planet not transported here complete? The zone is adequate in size to hold such an object. And the objects at this end are moving. That is not normal for a transit.”
“Our transit lines work best without opposing gravity fields. That is why we aim them at the outer edge of the Kac—that and because the entry points on our side would have be placed farther into the Suponac. In this case, a planet exerts its own strong gravitational field which resists the transit pulse. As these forces oppose, the planet is ripped apart. We may not be able to pull the Human’s homeworld entirely out of the Kac, but what will be left could hardly be classified as a planet. And we could always link again in three days and do even more damage if necessary.”
“And the movement of the debris?”
“The transit zone at the target world was offset slightly. Debris was drawn into the zone, which produced momentum. When the material appeared at this end, the momentum was maintained. Once we passed through LP-3, I had the transit zone shifted to the target world, which set the corresponding exit point at this end further into the void. I will return it to normal for our journey back.”
“And what happens on our end, as the Human world is drawn to us?”
“It matters not. The destination point will be somewhere deep in the Suponac and of no interest to us.”
The idea of killing billions of creatures in a single act did not weigh on Rodoc’s mind. What dominated his thinking was his renewed admiration for the Third Cadre officer. After his failure at LP-5, he had taken the initiative to act on his planning, enough to have already destroyed three worlds before this one. Rodoc chided himself for not seeing the potential of the gravity generators as a planet-busting weapon. Yes, the Humans were Jundac and deserved to die in the most efficient manner. Yet this new use for LP-6 could be employed against other problem worlds or even huge fleets of warships—if their position could be discerned in time to adjust the aim of the generators.
And the other advantage of this new use for LP-6, it required no additional equipment, construction or even fleets of warships. With selected targeting, the Nuoreans could beat the Kac into submission without losing a single player. Take out Juir and Formil—along with Earth—and surrender would be next. The enemy would have no defense, no place to hide.
Rodoc could tell by the stern look on Morlon’s face that the Cadre officer had already thought of all the uses for his strategy—and how this would restore the Grand Master’s respect for him. Morlon was right.
Then Rodoc’s stomach tightened.
“Adam Cain?” he said to the Cadre officer.
“He becomes a non-factor. Once I have the precise coordinates of Earth, I will personally travel to LP-6 and make the adjustments. Cain may eventually reach the station—even manage to return to the Kac by some manner—but his homeworld will be gone.”
Rodoc frowned. “As will be LP-6.”
“We will rebuild. We are a patient race, and once LP-6 is back in operation, planets all over the Kac will begin to be ripped apart. They will know who is doing it, yet will be helpless to do anything about it. And that, Master, would be the worst case. If not, then Adam Cain dies and LP-6 remains. As I said, he is no longer a factor. His world will be destroyed long before he can do anything to stop us.”
&nb
sp; The Grand Master beamed at the Cadre officer. “You have my full support, Morlon. Well done. You may have just single-handily conquered an entire galaxy.”
Chapter 13
Adam had had enough. The Najmah Fayd was small enough already and the conditions cramped, but this was too much.
He went aft—to one of the small staterooms—and pounded on the door.
“C’mon you two! You know we can hear you.”
“Sorry!” came Sherri’s breathy voice. “Lot of tension…need relief.”
“Well…we’re jumping in a few minutes. And I mean through space, and not bones.”
He heard Sherri’s squealing laugh through the door. “That was…funny,” she moaned.
“Well hurry up.”
Copernicus’s deep, throaty voice now came through the door. “Aye—” grunt, “aye—” grunt, “Mister Cain.”
Adam breathed a deep sigh and walked away. “That’s Captain Cain to you,” he whispered. He couldn’t help himself; it was habit by now.
********
Adam had amended his original plan and stayed away from the transit zone for a full ten days. They had left the triple star system several days before and jumped in closer to Nuor, following a checkerboard of systems, planets and asteroid belts to stay hidden. As they drew closer, they were able to learn more about the Nuorean homeworld from their sensors and comm chatter. That’s when Adam noticed a major increase in both incoming and outgoing ships every six days. Since the LP-5 transit zone was within the system, it would be very hard to get close without being noticed. This cycle of traffic flow could provide some cover.
He was also sure his delay was causing a significant amount of confusion on the part of the Nuoreans, or at least those who had been expecting him to show up at the so-called celebration. For master tacticians, their plan was pretty transparent, which in a way insulted Adam. They weren’t taking him as seriously as they should—or will—once he made the transit to LP-6….