by T. R. Harris
“Here, take this.”
Adam was jolted out of reverie by Riyad’s voice next to him, and he nearly fell out of the command chair.
Riyad began laughing hysterically. “The big, bad Adam Cain almost crapped his pants. Jumpy, are we?”
“Don’t sneak up on someone like that!”
“Sneak? I’m carrying two M-91 assault rifles. I’ve been banging them against the metal walls all the way up here. That would hardly qualify as sneaking.”
Adam looked at the rifles. “What’s going on?”
“I’m going outside to stretch my legs. Thought you might like to tag along.”
“Why the weapons? This is a dead world.”
“Never leave home without it, that’s why. The advanced species may have been wiped out, but not the lions, tigers and bears, oh my. You coming or not?”
********
The air outside was amazingly fresh, the result of thousands of years of having no industrial pollution escaping into the atmosphere. The landing jets had burned away a patch of the overgrowth around the ship. Beyond that, terraced rows of deteriorating seats climbed toward the crumbling ceiling of the amphitheater. The pair of Humans found an opening in the wall surrounding the playing field and began to carefully climb the cracked concrete steps to higher ground.
It was good to get out and stretch his legs, and the air was incredible, reminding him of his Lake Tahoe home, what was left of it. He knew he’d rebuild—eventually—but not before the Sol-Kor crisis was over. In a fit of melancholy, he punctuated the thought with: If ever…
“You know,” said Riyad, “I’ve been thinking about what we’ve learned about the portal distribution in Sol-Kor space.” They reached the highest level in the stadium and paused to look down on the alien spaceship below, completely out of place in the soft light of the arena. Through dozens of cracks in the stadium’s ceiling, rays of yellow light extended to the surface, like glowing support pillars for the dome.
“What about it?”
“If there’s only one portal on this side supplying our universe, all we have to do is take out the master portal and there’d be no way for the SK to reach us. And Tobias controls a portal on our side.”
“So he mounts an invasion, takes out the array, and then gets back before the door closes?”
“Again, you make it sound so simple.”
“Let’s hope he waits until we’re through before he does that. Otherwise we’re screwed nine ways to Sunday.”
“What exactly does that mean, anyway?”
“It means my dad had a million offbeat sayings that now I’ve got polluting my brain.” Then he turned serious. “There’s no way Andy could realize what he has. Up until a couple of days ago, we figured each portal on our side had a matching one over here. Who would’ve guessed the Sol-Kor would put all their eggs in one basket?”
“And he’s probably just waiting on the other side, thinking we can make the jump from any number of TD portals on this side.”
“Maybe we could take out the portal just before we pass through, set a timer and then beat feet for home.”
Riyad laughed. “Sure, the eight of us going up against the one central portal leading to any entire universe. I’m sure the one on this side is proportionally larger than their little satellite stations in our galaxy.”
“Riyad, my old friend, after all these years I’d thought you’d come to realize that size doesn’t matter.”
“You mean the size of the team, right?”
“Whatever. What I mean is that—once again—we have the element of surprise on our side.”
“Surprise can only go—”
They didn’t see the net falling from above until it draped over their heads. Then the edge was pulled out under them, tripping them, coarse rope wrapping tightly around their bodies. Adam fought to bring his M-91 around from behind him, but it got caught in the rope of the net. Riyad wasn’t haven’t any better luck.
Several dark figures hovered over them, just as thick, black shadows descended from above. Something hard struck Adam in the head. He fell on his face to the dirt covering the concrete landing. Another barrage of heavy blows followed. Two of the clubs shattered, but there were enough backups to complete the job.
His vision turned from blurry to black, and he heard a strange grunting…just before passing out.
********
As always, the first thing Adam noticed upon regaining consciousness was the smell. It was sickly sweet, but also smoky. Through his eyelids he could see light in the room, but not much. He assessed his injuries before opening his eyes. Except for an excruciating headache, lessened he was sure by the pain meds still in his system as a counter to the injury to his side, he appeared to be unharmed.
He narrowly opened his eyes.
The reaction was immediate and substantial. Several creatures began scrambling around the low-ceiled room, grabbing long clubs from along the walls and cradling them menacingly in thick, filthy hands.
Their attention shifted to Adam’s right, as Riyad was also coming to. A quick count placed their captors at fifteen or so, and they weren’t Sol-Kor. That was the good news. The bad news was that two of the creatures, who he assumed were natives of this planet, had their M-91’s and were curiously fiddling with them.
“I’d be careful with those. They can kill,” Adam said, knowing his words would be incomprehensible to these creatures. It was a pretty good bet the bulk of their ancestors had been harvested long before translation devices became the norm.
Adam pushed himself up into a sitting position, his hands tied in front of him. Rookies. No one ties hands in front anymore. This information could come in handy.
“You okay?” he asked Riyad.
He nodded, although the deep frown on his tanned forehead said otherwise. Blood caked the right side of his face.
Adam turned his attention to the natives. He had been wrong about the natives. They weren’t exceptional tall, but slightly shorter than Humans and with stocky builds. They were remarkably Human-like, with the requisite four-fingered hands with opposable thumbs, indicative of advanced species; two eyes, two arms, and two legs. They wore animal skin wraps around their waists and ponchos over the torso. The men were unshaven, while the few women in the room had long, greasy hair.
They looked like a tribe of Neanderthals.
One elderly native stepped forward. He had a calm demeanor and unafraid eyes.
“Sil-ka,” he said, pointing to Adam.
Adam knew immediately what he said, and shook his head emphatically. “No sil-ka. Human.”
“Sil-ka. Sil-ka!” Then the native flattened out his right hand and began to slide it through the air, lowering it slowly to the ground.
Again Adam shook his head. Although his hands were tied he was still able to mirror the hand signals. “Sil-ka ship, no Sil-ka.” He balled a fist and then struggled with the rope binds to bang it against his open palm. “Human…” He clenched his teeth in a display of animal anger. “Sil-ka!” He continued to hit his other hand until he bent forward and placed his hands on the ground, opening his balled fist and turning it palm up, the universal single for death—or at least he hoped it was universal in this universe.
The old native stood back, his blue eyes scrutinizing Adam.
Another native pointed at the two Humans and began rambling in their language. The older creature barked back before shoving him aside. Then he looked hard at Adam and Riyad again.
Eventually, the gray-haired native pursed his lips. With a look that could only be described as disappointment, he stepped up to Adam. “Cala…no…sil-ka.” He spoke the word no with emphasis. He was a quick study.
This time Adam nodded. He motioned with his tied hands at Riyad and himself. “No sil-ka.” Then he extended his hands forward, palms up and open. “Friends,” he said.
“They have no friends,” a voice said from the shadows.
Adam and Riyad jerked their heads in the direction of the voi
ce. Two more natives had appeared at an entrance, each holding an emaciated Sol-Kor by the arm.
The alien was hustled in and placed on the ground next to the leader, who without provocation lashed out and kicked the SK in the side. The captive buckled over before painfully regaining his posture.
The native spoke to his prisoner. The Sol-Kor then turned to Adam. “He wants to know who you are, and why you have come in a Sol-Kor spacecraft.”
“Tell him we killed the crew and stole the ship from Kor.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes it is. Now tell him.”
The Sol-Kor talked with the native back and forth for a while. “He asks if you caused the explosion at the canyon earlier.”
“Yes, we did. It happened when we destroyed another Sol-Kor spaceship that had been following us. Tell him we are his friends.”
“They do not trust outsiders.”
“Can you blame them?” Riyad said. His eyes still looked pained and uncertain. He might have suffered a concussion during the attack. Adam needed to resolve this quickly and get him back to the ship for medical care.
Five minutes later, the bindings had been removed from their hands and the two Humans moved to recover their weapons. The natives pulled away and said something to their leader.
Adam addressed the prisoner. “Tell him we need those back. They are what we use to kill Sol-Kor, and they are dangerous unless you know how to use them.”
The Sol-Kor prisoner didn’t speak, prompting Adam to step over and plant his own booted foot into the alien’s side. He was careful not to hit him too hard, but even then he cried out in pain and fell over, remaining there with his eyes squeezed shut.
“Tell him!”
The prisoner began to speak. When he was done, the leader yelled at his underlings and the weapons were handed over. The safety on his rifle had been turned off; he quickly set it again.
“You don’t look too good, Riyad. I think they really did a number on you.”
“You may be right. Everything’s spinning.”
“Hang in there a little longer.”
Adam turned to the Sol-Kor. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you do a good enough job the first time you came to the planet?”
“We monitor this world periodically. My crew and ship were captured. I am the last survivor.”
Adam smiled. “These creature obviously have a long memory.”
“Yes, they do. They apparently relate past events through songs and stories. They are aware of what happened here, and who did it.”
“Serves you right. Hopefully, when your usefulness is gone, these creature will have you for dinner.”
“They didn’t eat the other members of my crew. They made sport of them.”
“And why are you still alive.”
“I am of an intelligence class that has been trained to speak their language. As I said, we monitor this world. Eventually the population may grow to the point where a second harvest would be possible, especially since this planet is so close to Kor. But who are you? I have not seen your stock before.”
“We’re Humans from U-5,” Adam answered. Then his smile turned even more sinister. “And you may find this interesting: we have just killed your Eternal Queen and all her Royal Zygotes. There are no more female Sol-Kor to carry on your species. The Sol-Kor—unlike the natives of this planet—are destined for extinction. How do you like them apples?”
The Sol-Kor stared at Adam, silent for several seconds. “This is not true.”
“Sorry, bub, but it is. We stole the mainship from Kor after wasting the bitch. And now we’re about to return to U-5 victorious, while your disgusting race begins its long slide into oblivion.”
The native leader was watching his prisoner carefully, noticing the look of terror on his face following Adam’s indecipherable comments. He said something to the SK.
When he didn’t answer, the native kicked him in the ribcage again. This time the Sol-Kor barely noticed. He continued to stare at Adam.
The leader yelled again, and finally the SK spoke, but without taking his eyes off Adam.
When he was done, it was the native’s turn for his jaw to hang slack and stare at the prisoner. He turned to Adam, a glint in his eye. He closed his mouth and grinned wide, stepped up to Adam and grasped his forearms, opening his mouth to say something but found it difficult to form the words. Then it came, the words as clear as day.
“J’nae…friends.”
********
Before Riyad and Adam were escorted back to the beamship, the Sol-Kor prisoner had fallen completely catatonic. When he failed to respond to kicks or verbal abuse, the native leader concluded he had lost his usefulness. With a single sweep of a long, hard blade made of polished metal reclaimed from a bygone era, he lopped off the alien’s head. The body—minus the head—was unceremoniously dumped in the street outside the building the natives called home. Adam didn’t see what became of the head, but he was sure there was a trophy room around somewhere where it would be prominently displayed, hopefully along with hundreds more.
Adam, Riyad, and the native entourage—along with their leader—entered the huge stadium at ground level and emerged on the playing field through a side entrance. The escorts left them at the sidelines, watching with weary eyes as the bulk of the team rushed up with weapons at the ready.
“Hold your fire, Chief,” Adam ordered. “They’re friends. Now get Riyad back to the ship as soon as possible. He’s suffered a concussion.”
The team rushed off toward the ship, leaving Adam to turn to the small gathering of natives standing twenty yards away. He saluted them. They looked at each other, confused. Adam just smiled and then turned away himself. He knew word of the Queen’s death would circulate around the planet, and maybe then the natives of this lovely world would begin to rebuild their society. In any event, Adam was sure the natives of the planet would outlive that of the evil Sol-Kor.
Poetic justice played out over five thousand years.
********
Lun Szy watched the aliens as they returned to the Sol-Kor ship, knowing that a meeting would have to be called among the Scribes. If the Queen was indeed dead, and the Sol-Kor sterile, this could be a major turning point for the Hal’ic people.
The escorts disappeared back into the dark corridors of the stadium, and once out of sight of the Humans, Lun removed the rough animal hide tunic and pulled the softer status robe from his pouch. Others around him were wiping the grit from their faces and replacing their own garments. A portal was nearby that would lead them below the surface, to the hidden chambers of the Hal’ics. The population would welcome this momentous news. It had been long in coming.
Lun hoped what the Humans had said was true. It had been five thousand years since the evil Sol-Kor had harvested their planet, and in all that time the survivors had remained hidden, knowing that the eaters could come again. With that veil lifted, could his people now return to the surface, to resume the civilization they maintained within the lower depths? Lun was cautious, yet hopeful.
Probes would be sent out to verify the information. Soon he would know the truth.
Chapter 22
“This one is different from the portals on our side.”
Admiral of the Fleet Andy Tobias frowned at the technician. “I know it’s a helluva lot bigger. Is that the extent of it?”
“No, sir. The control center is multi-faceted and more complicated than what we’re used to.”
“Can you work it or not?”
The tech was an ITC Specialist Senior Class, the highest there was. He matched the admiral’s frown. “We can turn it on and open an portal. With the current settings it’s linked to the one on our side, the one we control.”
“So what’s the problem? I thought that’s what it’s supposed to do.”
“It is, but from the look of things, it may be able to link with multiple portals.”
“In our universe or this one?”
“I don’t
know, just that there’s control programming that suggests this one is capable of a lot more. The portal we control on the other side has just one location program installed. Here, I not only see a dozen specific entries, but the potential for adding hundreds more.”
Andy’s heart began to pound harder in his chest. “Are you implying this array is some kind of super array, a master TD portal?”
“There no other reason for having such redundancy or computing capability, not if all you want to do is link with only one portal. We know what those arrays look like.”
“Can you locate the other arrays they have programmed in?”
“Not yet. It’s still pretty much Greek to us for the most part, but we’re making progress.”
Andy nodded. “Very good, Mister Patel. Keep working on it.”
After he left the control complex, Andy returned to the shuttle he’d taken to the surface of the array planet from the Winston Churchill. He excused a comm tech and sat down at the console himself. He programmed in a CW link code and waited for the signal to cycle through the relay that had been set up in Sol-Kor space near the open portal. The delay was only slightly longer than normal, and soon an image appeared on the screen, the image of another JUDS officer a universe away.
“Andy, I wasn’t expecting your link,” said the officer, a look of concern on his face. “We’ll have to keep it brief. The whole Union is out for your ass, or at least the pinheads running things.”
“I understand, Evan, and I certainly wouldn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize your career.”
Rear Admiral Evan Benson was one of Andy’s oldest friends, and was commander of the Union Intelligence Service—essentially what had once been the CIA. Andy had contacted him through a secure backdoor comm-link, one that should be completely unmonitored, especially considering Benson’s job. But with the political turmoil in the Union, all prior associates of Andy’s were probably under surveillance.
“So what’s up?”
“Do you have an accounting of the SK activity at their other portals, the ones not controlled by either us or the Expansion?”