by T. R. Harris
Nolan would have to accept that fact, or he, too, could become a casualty of war.
The small squadron entered a narrow mountain pass and gained altitude. Scanners aboard the jumpship revealed an opportunity to make for space. The ships turned noses up and a minute later engaged deep gravity wells.
The pursuit ships remained in normal space, knowing they couldn’t overtake the escaping vessels. In a couple of minutes Adam and his tiny fleet would be beyond the Formilian star system and out of their jurisdiction. Others would have to take up the pursuit.
10
The four ships remained in deep gravity wells for two hours before dumping out and rendezvousing in a vast empty section of space, far away from any civilized planets. Adam’s team—along with Arieel and Nolan—took a shuttle from the jumpship over to the Tobias.
They gathered in the leather-appointed lounge area, where Copernicus Smith proceeded to raid the food processor. Soon he was joined by the others. The yacht’s modules were the best money could buy, as were the food stocks. For a moment, the team became distracted by the gourmet meals they consumed.
Eventually, the subject was broached.
“What do we do now?” Sherri asked, sobering up everyone in the room.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Adam said. “Question: How would anyone collect on the bounty? At some point the Nuoreans are going to have to reveal themselves in order to pay the assassins.”
“I volunteer Coop to sacrifice himself so we can track the assassin back to the Nuoreans,” said Riyad joyfully. No one laughed, not knowing if he was joking or not.
“Whatever it takes,” Coop replied. “Count me in.”
“Now there’s a selfless hero-type,” Riyad said, as his bright smile lit up the room.
“There may be another way,” Nolan offered. “Mr. Turner told me they picked up chatter that there’s been a change to the Nuorean’s bounty offer.”
“What kind of change?” Adam asked.
“Seems they’re now offering an additional twenty billion to whoever brings you in alive, Captain Cain.”
Riyad reached over and took Adam by the arm. “I got him, let’s go! I could use an extra twenty billion. But is that before or after taxes?”
“What about the rest of us?” Sherri asked.
“Sorry, still the eight billion each, and they only want you dead, not alive.”
“That’s a bunch of crap,” Coop said. “We should be just as valuable as Adam. I’m really hurt.”
“I know,” Riyad agreed. “It’s not fair.”
“Knock it off, you guys,” Adam commanded. “This may be our chance. If they want me alive, then they have to meet somewhere for the exchange to take place.” He turned to Nolan. “How’d you and your crew like to make twenty-eight billion dollars?”
“Twenty-eight?”
“Yeah, I assume the original eight billion is still on the table. When you turn me over alive, you’ll get the extra twenty.”
“And as the captain of the ship, I get a larger share, right?”
“That’s up to you and your crew.”
“You are not serious!” Arieel exclaimed, failing to see the humor in the Human banter. “You cannot voluntarily turn yourself over to the Nuoreans.”
“It will be fine, Arieel,” Adam said. “I have some nifty tricks up my sleeve.”
“Yeah, I was going to ask you about that,” Colonel Nolan said. “I’ve seen you do some strange things in the few hours I’ve known you.” He looked at Sherri for backup. All he got were furtive glances. “What? You guys know something!”
Adam raised his hand to get the attention of the room. “Plausible deniability, Mister Nolan,” he said. “The less you know the better.”
“Bullshit…Captain. Since I’m along for this ride, I’m in just as much danger as the rest of you. I deserve to be brought into the loop.”
Adam looked at the core members of his team, even the two aliens, Kaylor and Jym. They all nodded.
“Do you remember the mutant Panur?” he asked Nolan.
“Of course. He’s the creature who worked with the Sol-Kor, inventing all the things they used to nearly kill us all. He’s also supposed to be a friend of yours, which is something I never understood.”
“Panur’s not such a bad guy, just confused,” Adam said with a smile. “If the truth was known, you’d see he’s helped us out on a number of occasions.”
“Okay…what about him?”
“You know he’s an immortal mutant genius, right?”
“That’s what they say.”
Adam took a deep breath. “Well I have some of his brain cells in my head.”
Adam expected a different reaction. Instead, all he got was a blank stare from the Marine officer. “Yeah, so?”
“His brain cells are in my head.”
“Does this mean you can communicate with him telepathically?”
“No! It means I have some of his abilities.”
“Like what?”
Adam pursed his lips. “Like super strength, better and quicker coordination; even my memory is better…and I heal faster.”
“You do?” Nolan still didn’t seem impressed. “Why?”
“Panur’s brain cells control my body at times.”
“Have you become a mutant—an immortal mutant?” Nolan seemed to finally be grasping the meaning.
“No, I’m not a mutant. But the mutant cells in my brain are doing a pretty good job of taking care of me in times of need.”
Nolan looked at the faces of the others in the room. The only one expressing any shock was that of Arieel Bol. “You didn’t know about this?” he asked the Formilian.
“I sensed something was different,” she answered. “Our connection has been stronger, clearer.”
“What connection?” Nolan asked.
“We have Gifts—what you call brain interface devices embedded within our bodies. They allow us to communicate telepathically, as well as control electronic devices, such as flash weapons and other things.”
Now the Marine’s mouth was hanging open. Again he scanned the faces of Adam’s team. Then he smiled. “Damn…you guys really had me going,” he said. “But is this really the time to be screwing around? There’s a whole galaxy out trying to kill you…and me too.”
“It’s true,” Sherri said.
Since she and Josh Nolan had a past relationship, he took her comment more seriously. “C’mon! You expect me to believe this about mutant brain cells and brain interface devices? It sounds like some cheap science fiction story, and more fiction than science.”
“Really, Josh, it’s true.”
“Do any of the rest of you have super powers?”
“My great super power is being friends with Adam,” Riyad said with a wide smile. “It’s worked for me up till now.”
“Thanks, buddy,” Adam said. The two men bumped fists.
Nolan was silent for a long moment, his mouth still hanging open. When he closed it, his lips were just a thin line, displaying his frustration. “So you’re some kind of superman—literally. Can you fly and jump buildings in a single bound?”
“I’m still working on that. Give me time.”
“Bullshit! And even if it’s true, how does that help us in our current situation? You may survive, but what about the rest of us?”
“That’s why I believe we should follow Adam’s plan and allow himself to be captured by the Nuoreans,” Kaylor said, speaking for the first time. He was normally intimidated by a room full of Humans, even if he was a member of the team. He never fully trusted them not to suddenly go crazy and start ripping the place apart, including him and Jym.
Nolan looked at Adam. “You believe you can use your power to survive long enough to tell us where their base is located?”
“That’s the plan.”
Nolan shook his head. “There are only twenty Marines and sailors aboard my ship, and fifteen in the remaining escort vessel. Plus the eight of us. Forty-three
total. And not to mention we only have three ships, and one of them is a damn luxury yacht.”
“I’ll have you know, the Tobias is equipped with the latest offensive and defensive weapons and countermeasures,” Adam said. “A trillionaire can’t risk a trip into space without being able to take care of himself.”
“But there’s a hundred Nuoreans—something called the Third Cadre, whatever that is.”
“It’s their elite fighting corps,” Copernicus explained. “We’ve gone up against them before.”
“A hundred of them?”
“Well, no.”
“But the forty-three of us will…because we have Clark Kent on our side?”
“Who is Clark Kent,” Jym asked.
Nolan pointed at Adam. “Him!”
“That is Adam Cain,” Jym countered. “I have known him for twenty years. I have never heard him referred to as Clark Kent before.”
Nolan stared at the tiny bear. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“It means Adam is worth fifty Third Cadre,” Riyad said, again with a bump fist with Adam. “That more or less evens the odds. Plus we’ll have the element of surprise on our side.”
“Yeah, because no sane creature would attempt such an incredibly stupid plan.”
“Just get me in,” Adam said. “You may even be able to keep the reward.”
Nolan’s mouth snapped shut. He’d forgotten about the money.
“Okay, so how does our backup find us, once we hook-up with the Nuoreans?”
Adam turned to Arieel. “Do you know how to make a ghost ATD—Gift—within a ship’s computer?”
Arieel frowned. She’d been listening to the back and forth and still wasn’t sold on this being a viable plan. “I do not understand the question.”
Adam smiled warmly. So…he knew something about the Formilian brain interface device that even Arieel Bol didn’t. And she’d had hers since she was five.
“I’m able to create a duplicate ATD presence in a remote computer. It allows me to communicate—even take control—over vast distances. It becomes a mirror device linked to mine. It extends the range out to several light-years.”
“You must teach me how to create such a ghost—as you call it—although it sounds sacrilegious to me.”
“It’s fine, sweetie. I’ll create one in the backup ships, which will allow you to communicate with me even light-years apart. I’ll guide you into the Nuorean hiding place without them detecting a CW burst.”
“If you are still alive to do so,” Kaylor pointed out.
“I think the Nuoreans will want to take their time killing me. That’s the reason they’re offering more money for me alive than dead. They want to do it themselves. And knowing the Nuoreans as I do, they’ll want to make some big spectacle out of it. That should give me time to relay the location.”
“And then we all come in guns a-blazing?” LtCol. Nolan asked. “Sounds like a plan.”
Adam snickered. “I’m sure there will be a little more detail filled in before the actual operation gets underway.” He surveyed the faces in the room. Although no one protested the plan, the expressions were still those of grave concern. Adam was risking a lot putting himself out as bait for the Nuoreans. And none of them—including Adam—had a full grasp of just what special powers he possessed. To the person, they believed he could be killed.
So did he.
The next question that had to be answered was how do they contact the Nuoreans? The announcement of the bounty—along with the subsequent amendment for Adam to be taken alive—had come from a general CW broadcast to all reaches of the galaxy. Adam and his team figured a similar broadcast announcing his capture would stir the Nuoreans. It would also alert everyone else. Would others try to lure the Humans to a false rendezvous so they could take Adam themselves? Twenty-eight billion dollars in equivalent Juirean credits was a hell of a lot of money. Who knew what some creatures would do for such a payoff?
They started with a general broadcast then they waited.
As suspected, over a hundred responses flooded the CW relays. Meet us here, meet us there. Most of the broadcasts were crude and easily seen as frauds.
Yet it was one that came out of the general direction of the Nuorean settlement in the galaxy that got their attention. It didn’t call for a direct rendezvous. Rather, it asked that the ship carrying Adam follow a route to another point, where further instructions would be provided. It was broadcast only once, not like the others that kept pleading for Nolan and his ship to meet them.
The team decided to follow the broadcast toward Nuorean territory.
Adam never believed that the Cadre had rebelled against the Nuorean leadership and gone rogue. That was not what Nuoreans did. A destination close to or within Nuorean space made sense. He began to make preparations.
It was decided they would take the small escort ship called the Rutledge, named after Adam’s old friend from his Navy SEAL days, Master Chief Geoffrey Rutledge. The faster jumpship and luxury yacht would be the backups. Nolan and fifteen of his most-loyal crew from the Biddle crew transferred over to the Rutledge, while Adam’s team took the Tobias. The rest of the sailors and Marines were in the jumpship.
Adam met Arieel in the aft computer maintenance room aboard the escort vessel. She fell into his arms instantly and smothered him with kisses. The overruled Human male was surprised, but he didn’t resist. Things escalated from there.
It had been a while since he enjoyed the pleasures of the creature commonly referred to as The Most Beautiful Prime Female in the Galaxy. He certainly couldn’t dispute the claim, and he had more evidence to go by than simple press reports and surveys.
When they eventually separated, the lovers were out of breath and sweating.
“That was unexpected,” Adam panted. He’d never been able to keep up with her sexually, but his new mutant abilities had been triggered by the passion. Now he beamed with pride from his increased stamina and mutant version of Viagra-times-ten.
“I…too, am…” Her voice trailed off. “That was…different.”
“Better?”
“Different, yet welcomed. Was that an example of your new abilities?”
He gave her a mischievous smile. Then he sighed. “I didn’t bring you here for that, Arieel. I have to show you how to create the ghost in the computer.”
“Yes, you must do that. How long will it take?” she breathed, pressing in close to him again. She certainly did have a strong sex drive. Apparently all Formilians did.
It had also been a while since Adam created a ghost ATD, and with Arieel distracting him, it took him longer than he remembered, but eventually he got it installed. It was essentially an echo of his device residing in the inner workings of the computer system. He would install one in the yacht’s system as well, before having Arieel place one of her own in the escort ship. That way they could communicate with each other without the possibility of the contact being noticed or traced.
After they were done, it was still another half an hour before they left the computer room.
11
Adam, along with Nolan and his fake capturers, left the next morning, following a track that hopefully would lead them to the Nuoreans. They changed from their uniforms into civilian clothing so it wouldn’t look like a military operation should contact be made with the Nuoreans.
Nine hours later they reached a point in space where they could line up on the provided coordinates. By then, a veritable traffic jam had developed along the course, as a dozen ships of a dozen different designs were there as well. They’d picked up on the blanket broadcast from the Nuoreans and got here as quickly as possible. The line of ships was separated by several light-years, but it was obvious all the starships were headed in the same direction, and pretending to be the one carrying Adam Cain.
The pretense was only until the actual ship carrying Adam could be identified. Then the vultures would pounce. Each of the imposters wanted to grab Adam and turn him in; the
y would watch and wait until someone tipped their hand.
The tense parade continued for two days before Adam got tired of the game. Using the new-found mutant intelligence he didn’t even know he had, he was able to create a burst signal and sent it to the closest ship trailing them. Within the signal was a file, and when opened, it revealed a holograph of Adam. The file was also designed to link up with the comm system of the ship and send another transmission into space.
The plan worked perfectly. The signal was received, the file opened, and before the ship’s occupants knew it, they were broadcasting the image of Adam Cain. Like a pack of hyenas attacking a fallen gazelle, a dozen ships in the line changed course and zeroed in on the broadcasting vessel. The hapless victim broke the line and raced away, chased by the others. In moments, only Nolan’s ship remained on the track. The others would eventually realize their mistake. By then they’d be too far behind to catch up.
Another day passed before a dormant beacon suddenly came to life along the track. A pre-recorded message came through, transmitting the source code for Nolan’s CW equipment. Continuous Wormhole communication theoretically couldn’t be traced, yet the originator of the transmission could be identified through the unique signature of the amplifier.
Nolan sent out an answering signal, confirming his identity. A second later another transmission came through, giving him a new heading. He ordered the course correction. They were in contact with the Nuoreans now—and the aliens knew his was the ship with Adam aboard. How long this leg of the journey would continue was anyone’s guess, although they were sixty light-years from the unofficial boundary of Nuorean space, where the six worlds the aliens had conquered were located. Using the belief that the Cadre was located within this region of space, they were two days out at the most.
Thirteen hours later another beacon sprang to life in the emptiness of space along the course. This one relayed a live message from the Nuoreans.