The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga

by T. R. Harris

  “I am so glad to see you again, Adam Cain,” she began, but there was no joy in her voice. “I have been conflicted for a long time regarding my feelings for you, and now we meet again in such dire circumstances.”

  Adam reached out and took her hand. It was trembling. “Look, we’ve beaten the odds so far. All we need is proof that Panur’s detector will work and then we’ll be safe.”

  “And yet to acquire the material for the detector you must achieve something that sounds impossible, and beyond the ability of creatures such as us to accomplish.”

  Adam smirked. “That’s what I would be thinking, too, if I didn’t know that we’re currently traveling through the center of a wormhole using a device Panur built in a couple of days back at my house on Earth. He may be a complete jerk, but he knows his stuff. I wouldn’t even dream of doing what we’re about to do, but he treats it like a walk in the park.”

  Arieel was frowning. “I see you have been spending more time among other Humans. I believe I understand your meaning, if not all the particular phrasing.”

  “Sorry, I have been away for a while. Jym and Kaylor complain about the way I talk, too.”

  “They are your two friends from the past?”

  “That’s right. They saved my life twenty years ago and set me on the path I find myself on today.”

  It was Arieel’s turn to smirk. “I can see where you could have conflicted feelings about such an event.”

  “You’re right, except that I believe that what was going to happen—with the Klin and Juireans and everyone else—was going to happen whether I was part of it or not. It’s better to be in a position to do something about your fate than to just let it happen.”

  “But that is what fate is, a series of events that were destined to happen. Like me and Lila being aboard this ship with you.”

  “And what about Lila?” Adam asked, his curiosity and concern now on full alert.

  “You mean about her rapid aging? She is indeed an oddity. In a way, taking her from Formil—possibly forever—could be a good thing. She was already attracting considerable attention—and worry—within the Order.”

  “But do you know what happened to her? Why is she so different?”

  “I do not know. Her condition only manifested itself three years ago. Since then she has aged the equivalent of thirty Formilian years—sixteen Human years. And her intellect has grown even faster. I have had her tested and she has the mental capacity of a full-grown Formilian.” Arieel stopped speaking, even as Adam sensed there was more she wanted to say.

  “Go on. What else?”

  Arieel took a deep breath. “She is actually beyond intelligent. Her recall is nearly perfect, which allows her learning to accelerate at an incredible pace. And another thing…she has never been sick a day in her life.”

  Adam sat back in his chair, deep creases on his forehead. This was sounding all too familiar.

  “I can see from your expression that we share the same thought,” Arieel said. “If so, then you understand my concern.”

  “This could be the reason Panur was so anxious to meet her. They could be two of a kind.”

  “Please do not say that.”

  “It’s what you’re thinking, too.”

  “Yes, but the idea of my daughter being a mutant is too upsetting.”

  Adam squeezed her hand again. “Look at it in a positive light: she could outlive us all. And unlike Panur, she may actually do some good with her intellect.”

  “You are being flippant. I feel responsible.”

  “Things happen, Arieel. You and Trimen had no control over how your daughter would turn out.”

  Arieel looked out the viewport and at the swirling green tunnel outside. “Yes, our daughter. I love her with my entire being. I only hope she can control her…uniqueness—at least better than Panur.” She turned back to Adam.

  “Don’t you think it odd that both Lila and Panur should end up on the same starship together? What are the chances of two creatures with their strange abilities meeting, especially across dimensions?”

  “Let’s not read too much into this, Arieel. Besides, with the two of us looking out for her—and Trimen, too—she’ll be fine. I’m sure her father won’t let anything bad happen to her.”

  A tear escaped from Arieel’s eye. “Yes, I’m sure he won’t.”

  Chapter 17

  It looked like a special effect out of a science fiction movie, a computer-generated animation of what a black hole looks like as it pulls a thin stream of yellow and white gas from a nearby star. Adam had witnessed scenes like this before, but only on a handful of occasions, and never this close. And as the Pegasus II closed on the hundred-thousand-mile-diameter accretion disk surrounding the pinpoint of utter blackness, he could see the animation in action, the gas cloud swirling in a clockwise direction.

  It was an awesome sight; however, as the name implied, most black holes were just that—black and invisible against the backdrop of space. Yet when one was encircled by a glowing ring of superheated gas, its presence was revealed. Adam shook his head, once again in awe of the tiny mutant’s incredible intellect. Not only was the black hole/white dwarf pair exactly as he’d described it, the arrangement seemed to be precisely what Panur needed for this phase of his plan.

  The two celestial objects seemed to be in extreme proximity to one another, which made Adam wonder why they hadn’t merged long before this. It seemed like such a delicate balancing act that even the slightest nudge would upset the applecart.

  And that nudge was already being maneuvered into position.

  “Slave your engine and steering controls to the Pegasus II,” Panur commanded over the comm system. He was linked to the pilothouses of each of the nine pirate starships, as well as Kaylor’s freight hauler, having aligned them in a wide arc between the huge accretion disk of the black hole and the rather dim star that was the cold white dwarf. He would fine tune the positioning from the Pegasus II, which along with the six surplus pirate vessels and Riyad’s private flitter, lay off at a distance of two million miles from the black hole, with a top-down perspective on the system.

  Looking down on the disk and star—connected by the curling stream of gas feeding into the black hole—what was being referred to now as the gravity line of starships. They would be situated closer to the singularity and somewhat north of the center point between the two bodies. The target location where the ten ships were to aim their gravity wells was a flashing red dot on Panur’s nav screen. Using back-wells to counter the forward force, the ships were to remain stationary, all ten applying maximum well depth at the appointed location.

  The Pegasus II had been disqualified from joining the line because its gravity drive operated on such a high level of efficiency that it produced gravity wells of minimal depth. For Panur’s purposes, he needed ones that could create gravity points of staggering intensity, and the older ships employed by the Fringe Pirates did just that.

  Riyad’s ship was also not part of the steering team, since his was to be used as the location of the portal detector. Again, the Pegasus II was disqualified from that duty as well because its DPS engines were a form of dimensional portal themselves, and would interfere with the readings coming off the device.

  Kaylor’s FS-475 cargo hauler was at the center of the line, as it carried the most raw power of any of the conventional starships. The craft was mostly engines, with no frills for passengers or crew, designed to tow long strings of cargo pods across interstellar distances. Its gravity well formed the apex for all the others.

  As he and Riyad stood behind the seated mutant and observed his fine tuning of the well locations, Adam was beginning to believe that the alien could actually pull this off.

  Riyad wasn’t so confident. “From that tiny point you expect to create a well deep enough to affect that swirling behemoth? I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  Panur didn’t look back as he responded, concentrating on the screen before him and the tiny co
ntrol knob he manipulated with his right hand. “I welcome caution in believing claims for events that have yet to occur, yet you doubt the entire concept in general. You say you need visual proof before trusting in my plan? That should happen anytime now. I am engaging the gravity drives aboard the pirate starships. At that point you will realize I was correct with my projections.”

  Riyad and Adam didn’t notice anything at first. Angar’s ship was part of the ten, and a view of his bridge—along with that of Kaylor’s—shared the split-screen display of the main view screen at the other end of the pilothouse. The pirate was seated in his command chair, looking worried as his crew reacted to the sudden vibrations infecting their ship.

  “The conflicting forces of the opposing gravity wells are more severe than expected,” he reported. “How long do we have to maintain?”

  “Not long,” Panur answered. “Do not attempt to disengage. The presence of such intense gravity influences in the area could be catastrophic to the mission and result in the destruction of a number of your vessels. The experiment is underway, and there is no stopping it now.”

  “Experiment?” Riyad said. “That’s reassuring.”

  Just then an alarm sounded on the bridge of the Pegasus II. Arieel and Lila were near the alarm and both of them nearly fell from their seats. Adam and Riyad rushed to the station.

  “Contacts, closing from out-system,” Adam reported, switching off the obnoxious alarm.

  “How many?” Panur queried.

  “Still coming on-screen, but looks to be around fifty. Juireans, mainly, with a few odd ships from other Expansion worlds.”

  “They must be stopped, Adam, and immediately.” There was real concern in Panur’s tone.

  “They’re about two hours out.”

  “Time is not the issue, but their gravity influence is. Even at great distances they could impact the trajectory of the black hole.”

  “No shit?” Riyad said.

  “No shit. I have it calculated for the black hole to begin moving—now, there, it has shifted position.”

  The two Humans looked to the nav screen and didn’t see any change.

  “It’s subtle, but there. As I was saying, the singularity will begin an orbital change that will result in a grazing hit on the dwarf star. If there are other gravitational influences nearby, the black hole could miss the star altogether, or it could collide full on…which would result in the nova explosion you first suspected, Adam.”

  “How big of an explosion would that be?” Arieel asked.

  “The resulting shockwave would be tremendous,” her daughter Lila answered. “It would promulgate throughout the system at nearly light speed. The ships of the gravity line would be consumed, as may we.”

  Panur looked over at the young Formilian with undisguised admiration. Arieel’s was one of shock.

  “How do you know this, Lila?”

  “I have read of such explosions, and considering the mass of both objects and the fact that the white dwarf is spinning at sixty revolutions per minute, the released energy would be incredible. It would not rate as a supernova, yet it would produce a gamma ray burst that would be deadly outwards of five hundred light-years in the direction of its double radiating beams.”

  Riyad turned to Adam. “I thought you said she was six?”

  “Six in Human years. Even then, she’s advanced for her age.”

  “I would say so.”

  “Can I take the Pegasus out to meet the Juireans?” Adam asked Panur.

  “In a moment. I must still monitor the trajectory of the singularity to make sure it is on the proper course. The gravitational balance has been disrupted already, yet I still have the opportunity to make fine adjustments by manipulating the location of the attracting well.”

  “I’ll take the Crescent Star and the six extra pirate ships to head them off,” Riyad offered. “You join us when you can.”

  “I will assist,” Trimen announced, then he and Riyad rushed out of the pilothouse, headed for the docking hatch where the Crescent Star was attached to the Pegasus II.

  Adam slipped into the pilot seat and brought up the threat screen on his main console, all the while glancing at Panur’s nav screen for any sign of movement on the part of the black hole. He knew it was moving based on the data stream along the side of the screen, but so far it didn’t appear to be any closer to the white dwarf. Even though both objects were essentially touching on a stellar scale, they were still half a million miles apart, and governed by the laws of physics in the normal universe. It would take time to close that distance.

  “Accelerating,” Panur said, as if reading his mind. “I am releasing the gravity ships. Have them vacate the area on chemical drive only. This is imperative. We cannot allow their gravity drives to disrupt the path.”

  “You heard him,” Adam said into the comm. “Chem power only. Take a zenith course to get above the plane of the system. Hurry…I can see the damn thing moving now!”

  Indeed, Panur had managed to get something as large and deadly as a black hole to move. It was drawing closer to the white dwarf at an ever-increasing rate, and the mutant’s screen now displayed a dotted yellow line, showing where it had been and extending along the projected track. But there was definitely a change taking place. The two objects were getting closer, and all Adam could think about at that moment was whether or not Panur had his numbers right. A glancing blow would free up the diamond chunks they needed, while a near miss or full impact would mean the end of, well, everything: the portal detector, his chance to clear his name—hell, even his life, with the way things had been going recently.

  He shrugged. Yeah, why worry? he thought. It’s not like anything really important is riding on this.

  “You may engage the enemy now.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  Adam gunned the engines, including the DPS, and shot off after Riyad and the pirates. The final count had the Juirean fleet at fifty-two ships, mostly Class-Two and Three battlecruisers. Adam had no idea how they’d learned of the location of the black hole/white dwarf pair, until he realized that there couldn’t be too many of these in the galaxy, at least not located within travelling distance from his last known location near Formil. The Juireans may have come here just to check it out.

  A moment later, Adam was beyond the attackers and doubling back on their six. The Juireans reacted almost immediately by splitting their force, two thirds coming for the Pegasus II, while the other third continued into the system and directly at Riyad and the pirates. By now the Juireans should be able to detect the change of orbit of the black hole and know they were too late to stop the operation from happening. Yet as Panur had mentioned, they could alter the outcome just with their gravitational presence.

  “Riyad, you have eighteen ships headed your way,” Adam shouted into the comm. “Panur, when can the gravity line ships come in to help?”

  “They are to remain on chemical drive for at least another thirty minutes. Even after that, no deep wells.”

  “This thing won’t last thirty minutes. How long until impact?”

  “Forty-two minutes, eight seconds, although the trajectory point-of-no-return will be reached in twenty-nine.”

  “So we have to keep the Juireans away for half an hour.”

  Riyad heard Panur’s estimate. “We’re going to have to engage,” he stated flatly.

  “No getting around it,” Adam concurred. “I’ll have to stay back just to keep the bulk of the fleet away. It’s up to you, ol’ buddy.”

  “And for that, I thank you. Maybe this encounter will make me as famous as Adam Cain.”

  “Highly doubtful, but worth a try.”

  “They still outnumber us two to one,” Regina added from the pilot seat.

  “Which will make our victory all that much more glorious. Forgive me, my friend,” he said to Adam, “but I will have to concentrate from here on out. Good luck on your end.”

  “Same here. Give ‘em hell.”

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nbsp; Trimen had stationed himself at the weapons console, with Regina piloting and Riyad taking the observation seat behind the control stations. The Crescent Star was a one-of-a-kind vessel, built by half-a-dozen defense contractors to serve as Riyad’s showcase and demonstration model for what the Human military-industrial complex was capable of constructing. Throughout his presentations and strategy meetings, he would take eager aliens on mock defensive runs and target practice. Though the stated purpose of his seminars was to prepare the natives for a defense against Sol-Kor attack, the secondary goal was to steer military contracts to Human contractors. So the Crescent Star was one mean machine. Nonetheless, going up against eighteen Juirean warships was a little beyond her specs.

  The six pirate marauders accompanying him would be of little use. They were mostly aging derelicts from a more prosperous and ruthless time in the Fringe. Three of them Riyad recognized as being part of the pirate fleet when he was in command, over twenty years ago. He also came to learn that two of the captains had served with him—granted as low-ranking rookies at the time—but nevertheless they had survived all these years to assume command of their own vessels. The rest of the crews were mostly inexperienced deserters from other navies or renegades who could only find work within the ranks of the notorious Fringe Pirates.

  Now Riyad commanded his squadron to line up on him so as to provide a smaller attack profile for the incoming warships. But even as they began to close on the Juireans, Riyad noticed that the main cluster of enemy ships weren’t changing course to meet them. Only eight broke off to engage, their position within the system forming an effective blockade between Riyad’s force and the ships heading in-system.

  Confronting eight battlecruisers would be a hard enough task as it was, yet his main concern was now the other ten, and their clear shot to the black hole.

  “Attention, everyone,” he called into the comm microphone. “We can’t spend a lot time dealing with these first eight battlecruisers, so only concentrate on their engines. Stop them in their tracks. After that, every ship that makes it through the blockade, head for the main force. Now…fire at will.”