by T. R. Harris
Being so close to the Union, many of the worlds along the border had begun to seek the protection of the Humans. Petitions for membership were commonplace, and recently, the Humans had begun to entertain the prospect of expanding their reach into the region. This movement toward the Union had become a torrent in recent weeks, since the return of Adam Cain and his team. At this pace, the entire Frontier could be absorbed by the Union in short order, followed then by the entire Expansion.
And that was where the Visidor Affiliation came in.
Synnoc had convinced the eighteen-world federation to appeal to Juir for inclusion in the Expansion, citing increased violence and illegal activities within the region. They claimed that only through the governance of the Expansion could the population of the Frontier be safe. Having already moved a force into the region to assist the Humans in their pursuit of the mutant Panur, Synnoc had a strong presence in the region. He gladly pronounced an accommodation with the Visidorans, which began a snowball of similar requests, either for membership in the Expansion or the Union.
It was at this point that Synnoc decided to go for broke. He did not want peace with the Humans; he wanted war. Knowing that the Expansion vastly outnumbered the Union in warships and personnel, this advantage countered the relative proximity of the Frontier to the Humans in the Far Arm. In addition, Synnoc also had the two major weapons makers in the galaxy—MK Weapons Systems and Xan-Fi—located within the Expansion. Even so, he was under no false illusion that a war with the Humans would be easy. But this time—unlike the last war—he would know what he was facing.
The Juireans might not win all Synnoc hoped to win; undoubtedly the Union would still exist in some form at the end. However, by showing the Expansion that the Juireans feared no one, they would instill the necessary fear in their member worlds to maintain their rule—and their respect.
There was a secondary factor that had prompted Synnoc’s annexation of the Frontier: the trans-dimensional starship the Humans had brought back with them from Sol-Kor space. If that ship was allowed to make it to Earth, then the Humans would have a technological advantage over the Expansion. At last reporting, the ship was located on a planet called Worak-nin, under the care of Adam Cain and the Human military commander Andy Tobias. The recently-announced annexation of Kidis would prevent free travel across the Frontier. It was now Expansion space—at least in the eyes of the Juireans—and as such, subject to its rules and regulations. No Human ship would be allowed passage without clearance, including the TD vessel.
Of course, this would be the spark Synnoc needed to ignite his war. He was ready, much more than were the Humans. They had depleted much of their forces fighting the Sol-Kor—a price they paid for enhancing their reputation. Now they would find themselves overwhelmed by a new enemy.
In reality, it was an old enemy, one that had only recently been resurrected.
Chapter 3
The emergency link came through the comm just as Commander Said returned to his station. He now accompanied his captain to the Combat Information Center at the rear of the bridge to receive the communique.
Although Captain Morris had been expecting an update to his orders, he was concerned when the classified link was required to be received in the SCIF—Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility—aboard the ship. Only Morris, Commander Said and a chief comm officer were present.
The face of Admiral Hollingsworth appeared, looking stressed, as Morris would expect under the circumstances. The admiral’s blue eyes scanned the occupants of the room aboard the starship, three thousand light-years from Earth.
“Things are really heating up, David,” the Admiral began without preamble.
Morris’s stomach tightened. War was an unpredictable thing, especially at the beginning.
“The Juirean fleet is moving to cut you off, and they have a hundred ships to make sure they succeed.”
“Sir, as much as I take pride in my Human heritage, I think that’s a little more than we can chew. But do you honestly believe they’ll fire on us? This is a lot larger than just the Frontier.”
“They’ve been getting a lot more belligerent recently. I wouldn’t put it past them to find some excuse to start the war, using you and your ships as the pretense. You’re not going to like this, but I’m ordering you and your units to proceed to the Luminis Cluster and set up a defensive line. Half the worlds there are protectorates of the Union. We have more right to be there than the Juireans.”
“And if they attack?”
“Then they’ll come off as the aggressors.”
Captain Morris smiled. “Glad we can do our part, sir.”
“Don’t worry. There are sixty ships in the area already, and I’m bolting another forty that way in the next day or so. You’ll have back up.”
“What about Admiral Tobias?”
“I’ll let him know what’s going on. With the trans-dimensional starship gone, there’s no urgency to reach him, not now anyway.”
“I’m sure the Juireans know he’s on Worak-nin. Do you think he’ll be safe? Capturing him and Cain’s team would be a major propaganda coup for the Juireans.”
“I’ll have him go to ground. Besides, I wouldn’t advise the mane-heads to go up against Cain and his people…not again. It didn’t work out so well for them the last time they tried.”
“That was then, Admiral. They have a pretty good idea what we’re all about this time around.”
The admiral’s face contorted. “I was afraid you were going to say that. That’s what I’m concerned about, too. The Juireans are smart enough—at least they are now—not to start something they can’t finish. And after we carried most of the weight against the Sol-Kor, our forces are at a disadvantage, at least numerically.”
“Do you have something up your sleeve, sir?”
“If I did, I couldn’t tell you.” Hollingsworth’s face was a blank canvas. Morris thought how he’d hate to play Texas Hold ‘Em with the man.
“Very well, sir. Is there anything else?”
This time the admiral’s blue eyes bore into the junior officer. “Just this: We cannot shoot first. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. Perfectly.”
“Good luck gentlemen. Keep me informed.”
The screen went black.
Chapter 4
Adam staggered onto the bridge two hours later, his headache down to a somewhat tolerable level. Copernicus was seated in his pilot’s chair, a leg draped over the right armrest. He barely reacted to Adam’s arrival.
With a steaming cup of black coffee balanced in his grip, Adam sat at the comm station before swiveling the chair around so he could look out the forward viewport. The liquid in the cup was strong and bitter, and just what the doctor ordered.
“Back among the living?” Smith asked without looking at his guest.
“Got tired of wallowing in my pain. Figured a walk would do me good.”
“Go easy on the coffee. It’s the real stuff. I have it shipped in from Earth.”
“Thought so. It’s the best I’ve had in…well I don’t know how long.” He sipped at the contents of the cup.
Now Copernicus swiveled his own chair to look at his guest. “So…Adam Cain, universe-hopper, savior of the galaxy. I guess I should be honored by your mere presence aboard my ship.”
Adam frowned. “Hey, you came to us, remember. And I didn’t ask for any of this to happen to me.”
“Yeah, I know, I saw the movie. My girlfriend at the time dragged me to see it. She had a poster of you in her bedroom.”
“What was she, twelve at the time?”
“Something like that.”
“Dude, you’re not that much younger than I am.”
“As they say, it’s not the years, it’s the mileage. I’m twenty-six.”
Adam remained quiet. He thought Copernicus was in his forties. But then curiosity got the better of him. “So what’s your story? What’s a Human doing out here in the middle of the Frontier, and running a sta
rship repair business? Isn’t there enough business in Union space?”
“As you surmised earlier, my primary customer base would prefer to avoid the Union—and the Expansion for that matter—if at all possible. And their reputations precludes certain, more reputable firms from doing business with them. But me, I get more business than I can handle, and at about twice the going rate.”
“How big’s your operation?”
“I have eight crews, plus three haulers and a planetside yard. Four haulers if you include the FS-475. I carry it on the books as a contract-for-hire.”
“And where is home?”
“A little no-name outside of Austin, Texas.”
Adam pursed his lips at Copernicus. “You know what I mean.”
“It’s actually a neat little place called Liave-3. You’d love it. My shipyard is right on the shore of a huge sea. Great waves, but I wouldn’t recommend surfing there.”
“Why not?”
Copernicus smiled. “The planet never had one of those giant asteroids crash into it, so there are still dinosaur-like beasts roaming around, along with fifty-foot-long sharks.”
“What about the natives?”
“Those are the natives. Off-worlders have come to the planet, though, so there’s a fairly large city nearby where I get my miscellaneous labor and parts from. Also, you’d be surprised how tasty T-Rex steaks can be.”
“Sound great. So how did you get your training? Military?”
“How’d you guess? But even before that I was always tinkering with cars and other things. That’s just what you did in Texas when your nearest neighbor was five mile away. Found a pretty good home in the service, though. Got to the rank of Tech-Sergeant before deciding to leave.”
“Why was that?”
“Partly because of you.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “Me?”
“Yeah. I was in the Army at the time Earth ruled the Expansion; I was stationed on Juir when you made your little speech giving the galaxy back to the Juireans. By the way, thanks for that.”
Adam didn’t know which way to take that, so he let it drop.
Copernicus continued. “After that, me and a few buddies decided to stick around. We began to pick through the derelicts from past space battles—mainly places in your wake, I might add. It was pretty lucrative for a while. We not only had hundreds of ships to salvage, but all the spare parts were just drifting around in space. We’d fix up the ships and sell them off. Made some good coin, for a while. Then the big boys moved, including those MK assholes. You know they make more than just flash weapons, don’t you. They’re into just about everything now. Kind of the Amazon of outer space.
“Anyway, that’s how I came into contact with some of my current customers. They’re always looking for reliable—and cheap—transports. When word got out who we were selling most of our inventory to, things got a little too hot for me in the Expansion. So I took my skills and worked my way to the Frontier. It’s been about four years, and no regrets.”
“Any run-ins with the Sol-Kor?.”
“Fortunately, no. Not quite sure why. They did hit Kidis here and there.” Copernicus smiled. “But since they seemed to be attracted to more advanced civilizations, that more or less exempted the Frontier from the menu. I missed all the really juicy action.”
“You’re lucky, Copernicus…trust me on that one. It wasn’t pretty.”
Copernicus shifted in his seat. “I guess we should get something straight. Very few people call me Copernicus. Most call me Coop.”
“Not Cop?”
“No, Coop. It started about the time I got big enough to kick everyone’s ass in high school.”
Adam grinned, and held up a hand in surrender. “Fine, I’ll call you Mortimer if that’s what you want to be called. It’s your name.”
“Coop will do.”
There was a long moment of awkward silence before Coop spoke again. “So, what’s it like to be in another universe?”
“About the same as here. Supposedly there are countless dimensions. The one where the Sol-Kor live is just like this one. Don’t really know why there has to be so many?”
“So no universes inhabited by real-life Disney characters or creatures made out of Legos?”
Adam smiled. “None that I saw.”
“That’s too bad. At least that would have made it more interesting.”
There was another lull in the conversation until Adam changed the subject. “What about Kaylor and Jym? How did you meet them?”
Copernicus snorted. “I ran into them in the Fringe. I was over there for a series of meetings with my primary customers. You do know that the Sileans, Castorians and the Rigorians run most of the contraband throughout the galaxy? Kaylor and Jym were on Silea at the time. I’d heard of them, of course, and a meeting was set up. I have to say, the way they were portrayed in the movie was quite a bit different than in real life.”
“Sorry, I never saw the movie.”
“There have actually been three made so far. I guess after your latest adventure, a fourth will be in the works.”
“God, I hope not.”
Copernicus smiled. “Then stop going around saving the galaxy and killing grotesque bug-like alien queens…or having sex with gorgeous extraterrestrial females.”
“You know about that?”
“Hey, I’ve seen the pictures of that Formilian hottie” Coop’s smile turned into a lecherous smirk. He just nodded at Adam, approvingly. “Oh, and Sherri Valentine ain’t no slouch either. Is she seeing anyone these days?”
It was Adam’s turn to smile. “Go for it, dude. She’s free as a bird.” He decided he didn’t like Copernicus enough to warn him of all the baggage that came with dating Sherri. He wouldn’t believe him if he tried.
“So…you met Kaylor and Jym….”
“Yeah. They’re always looking for work, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt having a couple of celebrities on the payroll. I offered them a pretty good salary, plus a hefty share of the towing fees, since they’d be using the FS-475.” Copernicus snorted. “It also seemed that some people in the Fringe weren’t so enamored with their celebrity, and a change of scenery was just what they needed. They’ve been with me for about two years.”
“Do they know you’re bringing in me and Riyad to help get them released?”
“Nope. Haven’t had a chance to speak to them. The Visidorans are real assholes. They’ve sided with the Juireans in this whole annexation thing, so there are a lot of the mane-heads running around their world, calling the shots.”
Adam frowned. “If they’ve sided with the Juireans, then why do you think we can help get them out?”
“Because, like I said, the Sol-Kor harvested worlds in the Frontier, too, and some very close to Visidor. I’m banking on a little gratitude on the part of the Affiliation for what you did to stop the threat. Besides, Visidor society is run by the females, and we all know how well you do with alien women.”
Adam let the sour look on his face fester for a while. It seemed Copernicus had been grasping for straws when he contacted him and Riyad for help.
“And what if they won’t let them go?”
“I’ll deal with that at the time. I have a legal team on retainer who can bring up a whole array of issues about the liability of service personnel. But I really want you to try to the get the ships back, both the FS-475 and my client’s ship.”
“Who’s your client?”
“Sorry, Cain, confidential info.”
“What about the crew? Where are they?”
“Hell, the moment the ship broke down they hightailed it out of the area. Kaylor and Jym got there just ahead of the Visidorans. By then they knew it wasn’t a simple fix and had the ship under tow.”
“And you really don’t know what’s aboard?”
“How could I? I’ve never seen the ship. I just got the call about the breakdown. Most times the ships can be pieced together enough onsite to get them to the nearest safe harbor. Thi
s one was something even Jym couldn’t fix, and you know what a wizard he is with starships.”
Adam shook his head. “Like I said before, we’ll do what we can to get Kaylor and Jym released. But as far as your client’s ship goes, I can’t make any promises.”
“We’ll see,” said Copernicus. “Maybe I have more confidence in your persuasive powers than you do.”
“Don’t bet the farm on it.”
“Unfortunately, I already have.”
Chapter 5
Adam and Riyad watched the planet Visidor grow through the viewport as Copernicus’s ship—Vivian—approached. Adam hadn’t found the right moment to ask how the ship got her name; it could be sensitive subject, just as the Cassie I was for Adam.
“You’re going to like this place,” Copernicus offered, scanning the monitor he was reading. “The gravity is pretty low—just over half of Earth’s—so all that superman-like stuff you’re known for should come into play. It’s also hot and humid with an abundance of jungle vegetation, which provides an oxygen-rich atmosphere even with the low air pressure. The only thing we’ll have to worry about are some sinus problems and ear-popping.”
“I thought you said you’ve never been here before.” Riyad stated.
“I haven’t, but I can read an environment summary,” Copernicus replied.
Adam looked up from the monitor screen he was scanning. “So can I, and it says here that Visidor is on the far side of the Frontier from the Union and has only been rarely visited by Humans. But you still think our fame will be enough to get Kaylor and Jym released? ”
“Have faith, Mister Cain. I’ve spent quite a few years kicking around the galaxy, and you’d be surprised how well-known the two of you are. In fact almost every time someone finds out I’m a Human they ask if I know you, as if every Human knows everyone else.”