by T. R. Harris
Riyad snorted…then kicked off his boots. Everyone else followed suit.
Adam’s socks were just as wet and dirty as his shoes, so he left them in entry the chamber as well before making his way to the bridge barefoot. By the time all five of them were in the room, it smelled like a men’s locker room after a sweltering summer football game.
“Damn, I should have stayed in the back of the truck,” Riyad commented. “All the bloody body parts and feces smelled better than this.”
“You guys sure do like to bitch a lot,” Coop said. He sat in the pilot seat and began the pre-launch procedure.
“We call them like we see them,” Adam said. He leaned over Coop’s shoulder. “Will you be able to home in on the FS-475?”
“No, but I will the Gradis ship. I have its transponder code in the computer.”
“And you don’t have the ‘475’s?”
“No need. It’s not my ship.”
“What if they have a breakdown?”
Copernicus looked up at Adam and frowned. “Then they can fix it. They’ve been doing it for something like thirty years already.”
“You are one cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch.”
“Pragmatic, that’s all. Now pick a station and get away from me. All this heavy breathing on my neck is turning me on.”
“You’ve been in space way too long, sergeant.”
“You got that right. Now, again, take a seat and strap in. I don’t know what kind of resistance we’re going to meet leaving the planet.”
Ten seconds later, the Vivian lifted from the surface, blasting away a shallow crater of superheated mud and water from the surface of the field. The debris carried far enough to splatter the shiny hulls of the closest Juirean Class Twos. Coop smiled as he scanned the image projected from the under camera. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Then he concentrated on the flashing beacon on his nav screen.
“The surface is calling,” Riyad said from the comm station.
“Stall them,” Coop ordered.
Riyad fingered the switch. “Swiv Control, this is Overlord Osama bin Laden of the Juirean high command.”
There was a pronounced pause on the link before a response came through. “Eh, you…an Overlord. But the ship is registered to CS Systems—”
“That I know,” Riyad growled. “Since it is owned by a Human, we are commandeering the vessel. Make whatever notations you must, but we are taking the starship. For the record, it is a miracle the craft can even fly. It is a soldered together hunk of scrap.”
“Solder…I do not understand.”
“Of course you don’t. You are a Visidoran. You would not be expected to understand. Now cut this link. I will contact you if I need your assistance.”
“Lucky it wasn’t a visual link,” Adam said when the line was cut. “Although you do bear a striking resemblance to the real Osama bin Laden
“Who is Osama bin Laden?” Kaylor asked.
“An infamous Human from the past, someone who did some pretty nasty things before the Klin and the Juireans came along.”
“And Riyad looks like him?”
“They could be twins,” Adam said, trying his best to suppress the smile, even when Riyad flashed him the bird.
“Don’t you two take anything seriously?” Copernicus scolded. “We still have a lot to do before we’re in the clear.”
Chapter 15
The FS-475—Kaylor and Jym’s Muleship—glistened in the clear void of outer space. The Gradis Cartel ship was located four thousand meters away. The pair were slowly rotating around a central axis.
“You can dock with the top hatch,” Kaylor announced. “Jym and Adam will go with me. Riyad is injured, so he should stay here. Copernicus has Human medicines aboard where we do not.”
“Sounds good,” Coop said. “Visidoran space extends for a hundred light-years from here, but with their affiliation with the Juireans, I have no idea how far they’ll be willing to chase us.”
“Assuming they chase us at all,” Adam said. “Riyad has the natives believing we’re a contingent of Juireans. Before they check with someone and learn the truth, we’ll be long gone.”
“Let’s hope so,” Coop said. “I only have a couple of twenty-year-old flash cannon aboard, and the Muleship is allowed only the minimum armament for self-defense.”
Twenty minutes later, the tiny three-ship caravan broke orbit with Visidor and entered gravity-wells. Coop’s shipyard was a thousand light-years away, in the Wokan region of the Frontier, and about four hundred lights from the Union border. Without any complications, the trip would take a little over three days.
Once out of Visidoran space, Adam took a portable comm unit to his stateroom and contacted Admiral Andy Tobias on Panur’s Planet—AKA Woraken-nin. He knew the admiral would be livid when speaking with him, but Adam had to face the music if he was to get the latest on the Juirean situation.
The admiral’s adjutant, Commander Tom Paulson, came on the screen first. His expression was unreadable, but his voice tense. “Stay linked, Captain,” he said quickly. “I will get the admiral. He’s been trying to reach you.”
The officer slipped out of camera view, and Adam spent the next six minutes staring at a shiny gold wall with shelves containing several decorative statues, also made of gold. Adam recognized the room as one of five studies located in Panur’s palace, and the one Tobias had claimed as his office when they first arrived back from Sol-Kor space. Yet something was off; one of the statues was now a deformed lump from what Adam remembered it to be. He was trying to figure out how that could have happened when the gaunt figure of Admiral Tobias slipped into camera view.
“Are you and Riyad all right?” Andy asked with genuine concern.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Riyad was shot with a level-2 bolt, but he’ll be okay.”
“What happened? I called the Visidorans and they said something about you being arrested.”
“We managed to get away, along with Kaylor, Jym and another Human named Smith.”
“Copernicus Smith?”
“That’s right. We’re on our way to his shipyard with his ship, the FS-475 and a Gradis Cartel ship in tow. But Andy, what’s this bullshit about the annexation of the Kidis? Are we really on the brink of war…again?”
Tobias leaned back in the chair and let out a deep sigh. “It’s a clusterfuck of major proportions, Captain. The J’s have annexed the Frontier and demanded that all Humans leave. They’ve given us ten days to get out—eight now. Hollingsworth has left us here on Worak-nin, pending a resolution to the crisis.”
“And what if there’s no satisfactory resolution?”
“Then it’s back to war with the damn Juireans.”
“I mean, what happens to you…and Sherri…and Arieel?”
“We’re looking for a safe place to hide until we can be rescued. Holly doesn’t want us heading out in one of the local starships. The Juireans know we’re here, and he feels they may want to use us for propaganda, hell, maybe even as scapegoats so they can blame the coming war on us.”
“Well, damn, Andy, this really sucks.”
“And watch your asses, too. You’re three Humans traveling through what is now—according to the Juireans—Expansion space, and without authorization. They may try to set something in motion to make the three of you out to be the bad guys.”
“We’ll be careful.”
“Our research shows that this Copernicus guy has a base on a planet called Liave-3. Is that where you’re headed?”
“Yes, sir. We’re about thirty hours out.”
“Liave is just over three hundred light-years from the border. If you think you can make it, go for it. We’re massing as many ships along the void as we can, without crossing the line.”
“They can’t do this, Admiral.”
“They’ve done it, and most of the Expansion is running scared over this new aggressiveness on the part of the Juireans. Not a lot of protests coming from their side of the li
ne.” Tobias stopped and sighed deeply. To Adam, his commanding officer looked malnourished and drained. “Adam, it looks like this is going to happen. The Juireans have slammed the door on negotiations. They want this war—for whatever god-dang reason—and they’re going to get it. And it won’t be like last time. They know our strengths, as well as our weaknesses.”
“We know theirs, as well.”
“It’s not the same. Last time, they underestimated us and overplayed their hand. And they also had the Klin pulling their strings, even if they didn’t know it. And this new Elder is a real diabolical character. He’s studied us for the last twenty years. I don’t think he’d be doing this if he didn’t think he could win.”
“And this on top of the fight we just had with the Sol-Kor.”
“Now I see why the Juireans let us take such an active lead in the war. They wanted us to take the hit, while they sat back strengthening their hand.”
Adam tried to smile. It came across more as a grimace. “Hey, Andy, we just defeated the entire Sol-Kor Colony. What’s a little Juirean Expansion compared to that?”
“Don’t believe your own propaganda, Captain. We had help, and you know it.” Then Andy shook his head. “Where’s an immortal, mutant, alien genius when we really need one—” The look on Adam’s face made Tobias stop. “I’m sorry, Adam; you know what I mean.”
“It’s okay, Admiral. Any word from Lila?”
“Not a peep. She’s gone, and so is the Najmah…ain’t-here-anymore.”
“Let me know if you hear anything, will ya?”
“Will do.”
Adam was feeling frustrated and impotent. It was not something he was used to. “We need a game changer, Admiral,” he stated, gritting his teeth. “ Something big to rock the Juireans back on their heels.”
“Got anything up your sleeves?”
“Wish I did, but right now I’m a little short of miracles, although Copernicus seems to think I’m some kind of magician with my Formilian implant.”
“Reading his jacket, I think it best if you keep him awed. He seems to be pragmatic to a fault. And I wouldn’t count on him to have your back just because he’s Human, either.”
“Way ahead of you, sir. Copernicus Smith bears watching.”
“And Adam,” Tobias began, “one more thing.”
“What’s that, Admiral?”
“When this thing is over, you and Riyad are still in a heap of deep shit with me over your little insubordinate escapade with this Smith character. Make sure you survive…so I can have the pleasure of keelhauling the two of you myself.”
“Do they still keelhaul these days?”
“They sure do, only now it’s done in spacesuits…if you’re lucky.”
Chapter 16
Senior Overlord Daven Kri didn’t know whether or not the information warranted the Elder’s attention, yet he had been tasked with monitoring the situation on Visidor. The facts were still thin, and it could turn out that the situation had resolved itself.
Still, he was an ambitious Overlord, hoping to one day be appointed to the Council. The more time he spent in the presence of the Elder, the better chance he had of being remembered when the time came.
He requested an audience and was granted access.
“Is this about Visidor?” Synnoc asked even before Daven reached the Elder’s desk.
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Did the Humans escape?”
“That has yet to be determined, yet there was a major disturbance at the Visidoran prison.”
Synnoc grinned. “What kind of disturbance?”
“A major power failure that resulted in the compound being overrun my wild native beasts. There has been considerable loss of life, including most of the guards and over half the prisoners. The Humans are not among the survivors, yet they could have just as easily been eaten, along with the others.”
“And what of the ship the Humans arrived in?”
“It was commandeered by one of our Overlords.”
“Which Overlord?”
“The Visidorans were confused, but they believe his name was Osama bin Laden.”
“Do we have an Overlord in the area by that name? It does not sound Juirean.”
“I have checked, and we do not. But as I said, the Visidoran flight controllers were confused. They may have noted the name incorrectly.”
The Elder’s thin grin turned into a smirk. “No, they did not get it wrong. The Humans have escaped, and if you check you will also find the service vessel and the Gradis ship are also missing. You had a tracker placed in the distress vessel. Find its location.”
“I will, immediately.”
“Determine the destination of the ship then send Overlord Esketon Hann in a single ship to investigate.”
“A single ship?”
“Yes. I don’t want the Humans to panic. In addition, I have plans for this encounter.”
“I will follow your commands immediately. And, my Lord, I must compliment you on being right regarding the Humans.”
The smile vanished from the Elder’s face. “I only wish I could be right about the Humans in every instance. The galaxy is headed for a turbulent time, Daven. Even so, it is the unpredictable nature of the Humans that I worry about the most.”
Chapter 17
A strong case of homesickness swept through Adam as he watched Liave-3 grow in the viewport. The planet could be Earth’s twin, with large, shimmering oceans, wispy white clouds and just the right percentage of land to water with evidence of long rivers, snow-capped mountains and vast deserts. He could see why Copernicus chose this world for his headquarters, even if he did mention the existence of dinosaurs and fifty-foot-long sharks.
Adam had had his fill of dinosaurs recently.
Yet Liave-3 looked to be a tamer world than Visidor. Hopefully they had their dinosaur infestation under control.
Kaylor guided the FS-475 to a private landing field south of a large city that was nestled up against an azure sea. The community was sprawling, running along the shoreline for several kilometers. The buildings were painted in colorful pastels and the wide streets were lined with palm-like trees. Adam craned his neck to get one last look at the tropical paradise through the viewport before the ship landed. This was without a doubt the most anticipated landfall he’d made in years. He couldn’t wait to get to the town and sample the local cuisine. He could almost taste the fruity umbrella drinks already.
His impression of Liave-3 changed abruptly when he turned his attention to where they were landing. It was a repair yard for sure, full of rusting derelict starships scattered about willy-nilly through the huge, walled compound. From what Copernicus had told him, he got his start salvaging the remains of warships left over from battle. It looked to Adam like he’d brought most of them back here—and then left them to rust and rot away. There didn’t appear to be a working starship on the grounds.
Kaylor was aiming for what appeared to be a segregated section of the compound, pockmarked with the signs of several lift-offs and landings. The client’s broken down ship was lowered first by the mag-lines, then the ‘475 followed suit. When the dust settled, Adam got his first real look at the Gradis Cartel starship.
Like most of the contraband runners throughout the galaxy, the ship was an amalgamation of several spacecraft, pressed together to make something that could achieve star flight and not leak atmosphere. He knew the ship was no longer capable of flight, and he seriously had his doubts about the latter.
Yet that ship was the center of attention throughout most of the Kidis Frontier. It was the catalyst for all that had happened recently, even if the Visidorans had failed to find any serious contraband aboard. Adam sincerely believed they just didn’t know where to look.
“Are you coming?” Kaylor asked.
Adam turned. “Sorry, lost in thought.”
“We need to either stay aboard or clear the area. Copernicus is coming in for a landing. His ship tends to stir up a lot of dust an
d debris. Prepare yourself, I’m cutting internal gravity.”
Adam didn’t have to do much preparation. The local gravity appeared to be very close to Earth’s, and although he’d spent most of the past three days in his cabin with the gravity turned up, he still welcomed the constant and familiar feel of his real weight. He looked at the agony on the faces of his two alien friends.
“I bet this is torture for you?”
“We have grown somewhat accustomed to it,” Jym said. “Yet we will be spending most of our time in the FS-475 with the internals on. Hurry now, Copernicus is in final descent.”
When the hatch cracked and Adam stepped out onto the sandy surface of Liave-3 he took in a deep breath of fresh, humid air, traced with a scent of salt and the familiar fishy smell that came from the sea. He had grown up near the ocean, and as a Navy SEAL was never far from it. But those days were long gone. He’d moved to the mountains after settling down, and then with his recent re-entry into galactic affairs, had spent most of the past couple of years aboard starships or on alien worlds.
Liave-3 could be home if he ever wanted to escape the limelight he experienced on Earth.
The trio made their way to a single-story building made of thick wooden planks and painted in local blue pastel. They entered a large room containing a series of work desks, a bank of computer equipment and a couch. A computer monitor on one of the desks spun around toward them.
“Welcome back, Kaylor and Jym. I understood you were detained for a while during your last assignment.”
“Thank you for the greeting, Dora,” Kaylor replied. The monitor followed Adam as he moved further into the room.
“Dora, this is Adam Cain. He helped free us from the Visidorans,” Jym said.
“Yes, I recognize him from my files. It is an honor to meet you, Captain Cain. I am a great admirer of yours.”
Adam frowned as he stared at the blank monitor. “Eh, thanks, I guess, but you are a computer, right?”
“Yes I am, yet Mister Smith has programmed me to appreciate the finer things in life—including the heroic accomplishments of others.”