by T. R. Harris
Drake noticed movement at the base of a pile and panned the drone in that direction. The distance was pretty far, yet the camera was able to pick up a huge convoy of black trucks cycling along the base of the mountains of trash. Following the line of trucks away from the pile led to another huge complex of structures just northeast of the team, huge columns of black and gray smoke billowing from half-mile-tall towers—a power plant, fed by the massive accumulation of trash indiscriminately dumped down the mountain from the huge pyramids above.
At least they’re recycling, Adam thought. Yet it was the casual disregard for the surrounding environment that sobered him up. The Sol-Kor were pragmatic, single-minded creatures. They only cared for their Colony and the need to feed their massive numbers. Planets of raw material were to be exploited, up to the point where all utility had been exhausted. Then it was time to move on.
Was this Kor, the Sol-Kor homeworld? Or somewhere else? And if was Kor, then was the Queen sequestered in one of the ugly pyramids lining the ridgetop?
If not, then where the hell were they?
“Listen up,” Adam announced, his words picked up by the visor and transmitted to the rest of the team. “We need a hostage. Drake, bring your drone in over the street outside the building and find us a pedestrian, or even a car coming down the street. With this much activity, there has to be someone we can have a talk with.”
With a dizzying movement, the image on the left side of his visor swung along the street outside the grayish-blue building they were in. Immediately they saw individuals moving along a wide sidewalk lining the street, as well as vehicles, though not as many as one might expect with a population as large as the Sol-Kor’s.
“Two targets approaching—east side, fifty meters,” Drake reported.
Adam jumped to his feet, followed closely by Riyad. He pulled out the rubber mask from this utility vest. “Time to see if these things work,” he said to Riyad. “You care to join me?”
“I was afraid you’d say that, but why not? Beats sitting around here on our asses.”
The two men slipped the rubber masks over their heads. Their visors smoothed out the material around the eyes but then the rubber sank dramatically down to the mouth and chin, giving them both the look of having incredibly prominent cheekbones, more than that of most Sol-Kor. Light reflecting off their visors through the open eyeholes made the sockets glow. They tucked the trailing material into the collar of their black armor and turned to study each other.
And burst out laughing. Nearby members of the team joined in, with someone commenting over the comm, “You gotta be shitting me! That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Maybe the shock value will play into our hands?” Riyad said. “I’d stand gawking if anything like the two of us came close.”
“Get serious,” Adam said, before letting loose with another snicker. “The two are about half a block away. We’re going to have to cross the street, grab them and get back here without being seen.”
“I have a better idea,” Riyad said.
He moved to one of the two smaller doors located to each side of a large rollup panel. Watching the image on his visor, he waited until the natives were nearly parallel to the door before opening it. He leaned outside.
“Could you come here? I need your help,” he yelled out. The Sol-Kor voice synthesizer he was equipped with sent out the statement from tiny speakers located on each side of the visor. Both Adam and Riyad had heard the Sol-Kor speak their native language, and they had to give kudos to the developer of the synthesizer program. It sounded spot on.
The two creatures across the street stopped and looked in Riyad’s direction. That’s when the image on the drone revealed they were not Sol-Kor. They were aliens of comparable height—approximately seven feet tall—but definitely were not Sol-Kor. Their skin was much paler, missing scales, and they had four arms instead of two. Adam had seen similar alien design like this before, two main arms and hands, except with a smaller set below the others as well, used primarily for feeding a second, lower mouth than the one on the head, which was used exclusively for breathing and speaking.
The team tensed, wondering if these new aliens would understand what Riyad said. Then the two creatures obediently crossed the street and approached the open door without hesitation.
Riyad stepped back into the shadows and let the two aliens enter, before shutting the door behind them.
Swift, strong Human hands grabbed the tall aliens, pulling the longer set of arms behind them to be secured with nylon ties. The two smaller arms and hands were secured in the front with the same binds.
They were frisked and then moved further into the room and placed on hard mats that rested along a twelve foot long bench, the Sol-Kor equivalent of a couch.
To Adam’s surprise, neither of the aliens put up the slightest resistance, nor did they express any shock. They simply complied without any emotion at all. Adam grimaced, thinking they were probably mindless drones, maybe not even capable of speech.
“Do you understand me?” he asked, after removing his mask, his voice still that of a Sol-Kor.
“Yes,” the two creatures said in unison, also in Sol-Kor.
At least that’s a relief, Adam thought. “You’re not Sol-Kor. What race are you?”
“We are Salifens,” they said again, also in unison.
“Only one of you speak at a time…you.” Adam pointed to the alien to his right. “What planet is this?”
“Kor.”
Adam looked over at Riyad and smiled. Then he turned his attention back to the alien. “Where is the Queen?” he asked, wanting to cut right to the chase.
“The Queen?”
“The Sol-Kor Queen.”
“I do not know such things. My tasks exist within this complex most of the time.”
“What do you do?”
“I carry things. The Salifens are stronger than our masters, so we carry things.”
“Your masters are the Sol-Kor?”
“Yes.”
Adam frowned. He was under the impression the Sol-Kor ate every advanced race they came upon. This creature could speak and form coherent sentences, making it intelligent enough for the Sol-Kor dining table. So why were they not consumed?
“How is it that the Sol-Kor have...slaves? Do you understand the concept?”
“Yes. We are subservient to our masters.”
“Why haven’t they eaten you?” Riyad asked, giving in to his own curiosity.
“On occasion they do, yet I understand we are not to their liking, not unless there is no other food available. Otherwise, we carry things.”
“Why aren’t you carrying anything now?”
“We have already carried boxes to our destination. We are now returning to carry more.”
“What do you carry?”
“Boxes, crates.”
“What’s in the boxes and crates?” He already knew the answer before he asked the question.
“I do not know. That is not important.”
Adam and Riyad walked away, out of earshot. “Dumb as a rock, both of them.”
“They may know more than they realize,” said Riyad. “They’ve seen things, even if they may not know what it meant.”
Adam nodded. They returned to the aliens.
“The structures on the hill, is that where the Sol-Kor live?”
“Yes, most of them.”
“Is there one of the structures that seems to be more important to the Sol-Kor?”
“More important?”
“Yes, do they travel there more often than to the others?”
“The one in the middle,” offered the other alien, speaking for the first time. The other creature nodded.
“Have you—either of you—ever been there before?”
“Yes,” they said in unison. And then the main alien, having sensed the course of the inquiry, said, “I carry things there and back.”
“Of course you do. Can you show us how to ge
t there?”
“Yes.”
Adam turned to Riyad again. “That was easy.”
“If we want to get in through the front door.”
“It’s a start, and we already know where the spaceport is if we can’t locate a portal inside the pyramid.”
“Did you see the size of that place—and the spaceport? You are one fatal optimist, Mr. Cain.”
“It pays to keep a positive mental attitude.”
“Since when…and especially coming from you? I’ve known you for far too long to fall for that bullshit.”
“It’s a start,” Adam conceded. “But we are still going to need a Sol-Kor hostage eventually. These guys will only get us so far.”
********
Fifteen minutes later, Adam and Riyad were huddled over a video playing on a small tablet computer. “Does any of this look familiar?” Adam asked.
Riyad studied the line of misshaped pyramids and shook his head. “I know Vosmin landed at a really large spaceport and then placed me in a truck. It was after dark, and then we entered a tunnel. I didn’t see anything outside after that. He didn’t seem to be trying to keep anything a secret, figuring I was just a talking Happy Meal. I wish I could be of more help.”
“So the structures could be fed by a series of underground tunnels. I don’t see any roads climbing up the mountain. That has to be it. Was the tunnel you entered at the spaceport, or outside the gates?”
“We only went a short distance before entering. There were windows in the truck, but it was more from the echoes outside that told me we were in a tunnel. I do know that we eventually stopped and the truck was lifted up, probably on a huge elevator.”
“That makes sense. The tunnels go under mountain, and then all the traffic gets lifted up to pyramid level. Better than having a whole series of switchbacks hollowing out the mountain. That also means individual vehicles are allowed in the tunnels,” Adam pointed out. “That could help. We commandeer a truck of our own and drive in.”
“We need to find a tunnel entrance, one leading to the main pyramid,” Riyad added.
“Heads up, Captain,” Drake announced over the network. “A truck just pulled up outside.”
“Ask and ye shall receive?” Adam said to Riyad.
“More likely dumb luck.”
“Positions!” Adam ordered. “How many in the truck?”
“Two,” Drake reported. “They don’t seem to be in a hurry. One of them is carrying a case.”
“Could be technicians coming to check out the portal. Open the door as they approach. Stay in the shadows.”
********
Five minutes later, two Sol-Kor natives were seated next to the Salifens, similarly bound; however, unlike the more compliant Salifen hostages, one of the Sol-Kor had suffered a broken arm in the scuffle that resulted from the team sweeping in and grabbing them. Since then, he’d had been shot up with Human painkillers, which had already taken away all his suffering and replaced it with a narcotic high, demonstrating that the SK’s had a much lower threshold when it came to drug tolerance—at least when it came to Human drugs. The other Sol-Kor was perturbed by the drug-induced antics of his partner, and was doing his best to make him stay quiet.
He was fighting a losing cause.
“I can sense the quality of your flesh even from here,” the drugged out alien was saying. “I must have a sample.” He leaned over and bared his long, sharp fangs in the direction of Mike “Conman” Connors. The sergeant-first class slapped him away, sending the alien’s eyes wobbling, while the smile remained on his scaly face, the pain of the hit failing to register.
Adam glanced around when the room became bathed in brilliant sunlight by the opening of the huge paneled doorway. Juan Garcia had donned his Sol-Kor mask and was pulling the truck into the building. The moment the tail cleared the doorway, the panel rolled back down.
Adam turned back to his Sol-Kor hostages. “What are you doing here?”
The sober alien stared at Adam with fierce defiance, remaining silent. The other one was much more talkative.”
“There was an errant reading from within. We came to solve the problem. It is what we do.”
“Silence, Milok!”
“Be nice,” Adam said. “Let your friend talk. You are Milok, right?”
The alien appeared to gush at the mention of his name. “Yes, I am Milok Dosnin. I am a second-level gauge adjuster, assigned to the one-eight-eight technical section. Power readings have been fluctuating at this facility and I—we—were sent to recalibrate.” The alien laughed. “I see now that the fluctuations are not equipment-related.”
“And who are you?” Adam asked, addressing the more stoic alien.
“I will not tell. What have you done here, and who—what are you?”
“You haven’t seen our kind before?”
“No, I have not.” He glanced at the other aliens next to him. “Why have you bound the Salifens? They are of no threat.”
“Yeah, I kinda noticed that. Nice guys, though, just like Milok. You, on the other hand, I don’t like much.”
“I do not care what you like or do not like…”
Adam motioned to Ace Harbison. “Take this one behind the truck. Make sure he doesn’t interfere as I have a talk with my new friend, Milok.”
“Aye, sir.”
A wild look of concern came over the alien’s face. “Milok, do not tell them anything!” It was the last sentence he spoke before the strap from a utility belt wrapped around his head and across his mouth. The smaller Human lifted the seven-foot-tall Sol-Kor from the bench with ease and carried him behind the truck and out of sight of the other native. With a dull thud, Ace sent the creature into a deep, involuntary sleep.
“That’s better,” Adam said. “Now it’s just the two of us.”
Milok looked around the room at all the alien faces staring at him. “Yes, plus all the others.” He then looked at his oddly-hanging right arm. “I believe it is broken,” he said. “A replacement technician must now be sent, as I cannot fulfill my duties. If the injury is severe enough, I will be of no use to the Colony and I will be recycled. However, I find it odd that I have no sensation in the injured appendage.”
“It’s a miracle, Milok. Now, will you answer a few questions I have?”
“I will, even though I do not know why.”
“That doesn’t matter. Now, first thing, is the Queen in the tallest structure on the ridge?”
“My Queen? In all her reverence, my mother, the creator of all?”
“Yes, one and the same. Is she there?”
“Of course.”
“Where in the structure?”
“In her chambers.”
“I realize that. But where is that within the structure?”
“Please do not be disappointed, but I do not know. She is in her chambers. She is always in her chambers, yet I have never been there.”
“You haven’t heard anyone talk of such things?”
“No, why would we speak of such things to each other?”
Adam shook his head, trying to clear it of the absurdity of the alien’s attitude. “How about tunnels to the mountain? Where is the nearest tunnel from here leading to the central pyramid?”
“K-R42.”
“Where is K-R42?”
“Where it has always been.”
“Which is where?” Adam clenched his teeth, straining to keep his frustration from showing in his voice.
“Baseline, third left from here.”
Where is Baseline Street?”
“Where is baseline…oh, I understand. It is the course outside this structure.”
The team had done a quick job of rounding up the bodies of the dead Sol-Kor from their entry through the portal, and now Milok’s gaze focused on the pile. “Are you going to kill me, too?” Even though the question was of the gravest nature, his tone was that of casual curiosity.
“No, of course not,” Adam said with a smile. “We’re friends.”
>
“Did you kill Kanoc?”
Adam looked toward where the truck sat. “No, he’s just sleeping. He seemed very upset.”
“That is understandable. We were not expecting to find such a…a—”
Suddenly, the eyes of the alien turned to circles and the gray of his face scales turned ashen. He inhaled sharply and toppled over, falling to the floor. The two other aliens watched with expressionless detachment.
Hernandez, one of the two trained medics on the team, rushed to the fallen alien. He turned him over and ripped open his dark red shirt. Already Adam could see a bruising of the skin in the middle of his chest.
Hernandez took a stethoscope and placed it on the alien’s skin. “His damn heart exploded, Cap. He’s toast.”
“Ace, how’s the other one?”
Harbison poked his head around from behind the truck. “Sorry, sir. Not familiar how much force to use on these guys. Doesn’t look like he’s going to be waking up anytime soon.”
Adam pursed his lips before issuing orders.
“Check out the back of the truck. See if we can all fit in.” Then he turned to the two surviving aliens. “I want the two of you to go with this person.” He motioned to Anderson. “He wants to show you something near the back of the room.”
The creatures stood up. Adam looked to Anderson and gave him a curt nod.
“Understood, sir,” Neo said.
Adam went over to the truck, with Riyad at his side.
“A wise decision, my friend,” Riyad said.
“They’re collateral damage. Can’t have them telling their masters anything they’ve seen or heard in here. Other Sol-Kor are going to discover this scene, and probably before we find the Queen.”
“Then perhaps we should destroy the evidence.”
“A fire?”
“That would slow them down some, having to sort through the ashes before putting two and two together.”
“Chief Foster, you and Connors place charges where they’ll do the most damage, Place the bodies in more natural positions. Don’t make it look too obvious.”