When Earth Reigned Supreme (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 12)

by T. R. Harris

  “So how do we decide which building?” Adam asked Harix. The alien was driving, with Adam and Riyad in the passenger seat holding flash weapons on him just in case he decided letting the Humans return to their universe wasn’t to the benefit of the Colony after all.

  “I do not have much knowledge of the actual layout of the Farm, but I am an electronics technician, and have been here for parts and other technical input. Most of the portals are used to travel within the Sol-Kor universe. The hybrids are fewer. They are arranged in a specific area. Do you recall where you came in?”

  “It was a few blocks from the main tunnel leading to the pyramid, if that helps,” Adam said.

  “Yeah, it would also be close to the burned-out building,” Riyad added. Without an aerial view the damaged building would be hard to find, and simply driving up and down streets looking for the charred remains would take time.

  “I have a decent idea where that section would be,” Harix said. “We are fortunate there is little traffic in the region this evening. We should be only ten rows or so away.”

  Adam watched as the alien’s eyes darted from side to side. He was looking for something, and Adam had a pretty good idea what it was.

  “Please, Harix, don’t do anything stupid. You’ve been a big help up until now. I’d hate to have to hurt you.”

  “Why would you say such a thing? I have been very cooperative.”

  “It’s just that you’re looking for some police or military personnel, someone to report us to.”

  “How could you know that? Can you read my thoughts? I was not aware of this skill you possess.”

  “Well, I can, and don’t you forget it.” Adam looked at Riyad. They both fought the urge to burst out laughing.

  “I just want you off my planet and out of my universe,” Harix said.

  “Believe me, so do we.”

  “Look…there is a damaged building! Could that be the one from which you entered?”

  Since all the buildings in the Farm looked alike—except for this one—Adam could see that they had indeed come full circle; they were back at the starting point of their Sol-Kor mission. Through the opening at the back of the driver’s cab, Adam spoke to the team.

  “Saddle up. We’re pulling up to a building three down from where we came in. There’s light coming from under the doors, which means someone’s probably home. All the other ones around here are dark, and finding an active portal would be preferred to starting one up from scratch. We go in quickly but quietly. We only have about a hundred rounds left between us, and then it’s the flash weapons or the grenades, neither of which were designed for stealth. One more operation, men, and we’re home—or at least aboard a Klin ship. First one back gets the location to Travis dialed in. Then off we go.”

  There were a number of bright smiles visible in the dimness of the truck. The mission was almost over.

  As the truck came to a stop, Adam took a moment to look up and down the street. This one did appear to be the only building with lights on inside. Traffic had been light while landing, as was the street traffic. And now most of the portal buildings were as dark as a well. He had been expecting a lot more activity in the wake of the Queen’s assassination. But maybe this was how the Sol-Kor were dealing with the tragedy. Maybe they were already limiting their activities, trying to figure out how to get by without a queen.

  None of this mattered. On the other side of the wall was a trans-dimensional portal that could get them home. At the moment, that was all Adam cared about.

  He slipped out through the passenger side door, followed closely by Riyad, who stashed Harix in the back of the truck with binds on his hands and feet. Four of the commandos had already taken up positions on either side of the closest small door to the truck, Adam and Riyad joining Chief Morse and Wizard at the other.

  As it was with most—if not all—Sol-Kor doors, they knew these would be unlocked. With a nod from Adam, the team flung them open and entered the building.

  About a dozen Sol-Kor techs, dressed in dark green tunics, were taken by surprise. As it had been with the first portal room, these natives were also unarmed, yet they still bolted away from the invaders, many heading for the precious controls to the solitary portal that sat near the center of the vast, open bay.

  The Humans cut them down with precision shots before any of the SK’s could damage the controls. After a judicious use of their limited ammo, all the aliens were down, and Kaczynski moved to the main control panel. Without hesitation, he began to enter data.

  And that’s when the pulse beam hit.

  The batteries on their beam neutralizers had gone dead about days six ago, and with no way to recharge them, every Human suddenly stopped what they were doing and began to sway. Weapons went slack in their hands, until four of them lost their grip and the metal rifles clanged to the floor.

  The two side doors to the building opened again, but this time a flood of black armored Sol-Kor entered, each cradling flash rifles in their arms. They moved quickly throughout the room, shoving the compliant Humans to a group near the inert TD portal.

  Then another set of Sol-Kor entered, with one standout exception.

  Adam fought hard against the nearly intolerable headache and watched with a blank expression as this odd creature approached the cluster of addled Humans. It was definitely a female, and yet with all the traits of a Sol-Kor. She was very tall, with longish yellow hair, and a finer coating of scales on her face. Her skin was paler than the gray of the males, and reminded him of the pasty color of…Panur. Then he noticed the eyes: wide, with pure black pupils, unlike the gray of the males. Again, the eyes reminded him of Panur.

  Along with the rest of the team, Adam wobbled about, not remaining in one place, but also not moving too far in any one direction before wobbling back. He moved further to the back of the pack, just in case his act wasn’t convincing enough. With this creature in the mix, he couldn’t take anything for granted…

  Including his belief that the Sol-Kor were sterile, destined for extinction.

  Somehow they’d conjured up another female—yet she didn’t look anything like the other females of their race.

  The one thing that really set his heart to sinking…all the males in the room were deferring to her, treating her like…like their queen. Could this mean his mission had failed? Could this creature be capable of carrying on the species, in spite of all his efforts?

  He had a million questions for the female. But at the moment he had to do his best to keep up the charade.

  ********

  Below his right armpit, Adam could sense the artificial telepathy device under his skin emitting a slight warmth as it worked overtime to counter the effects of the Sol-Kor mind suppressing beam. No one knew of his replacement ATD, at least no one on Earth.

  He had agreed to another device after Arieel insisted he have a new one embedded. His original had been removed by Panur and used in his diamond-core portal detection device. He had been glad to be rid of the thing, but that changed when it was discovered that he and Arieel shared a daughter. Where once the Formilian Speaker had protested his acquisition of her planet’s most precious Gift, Arieel now pleaded with him to have another installed, hoping Lila would contact him at some point and she would be able to tap into the conversation and convince her daughter to return home to Formil.

  Now Adam was counting his lucky stars. He knew the rest of his team was gone, just mindless drones to be herded around as the Sol-Kor saw fit. He was their only hope. That was if this strange female didn’t have the ability to see the truth. Huddled in the back of the group, he averted his eyes from her scrutiny.

  “So, Drasic, my plan has succeeded. We now have the killers of the Eternal Queen, and mostly alive. I shall find immense pleasure in interrogating these aliens to learn even more about them than Panur has told me.”

  Panur! This female knows of Panur. Was he back with the Sol-Kor. Did that bastard help them capture his team?

  “Sh
all I move them to M-1?” asked a Sol-Kor dressed in the fancy garb of a governing official.

  “No, I will begin the questioning—and the testing—here.”

  “Testing?”

  “Yes. I wish to test their capabilities. Panur spoke often how unique these creatures are, yet he failed to mention in detail what makes them unique. Move the rest of them to the other side of the room, and then bring that big one to me. I shall remove the beam from his consciousness so I can begin my study.”

  “Yes, my Queen.”

  Queen! There it was. The Sol-Kor had a new queen. Even though he was feeling distraught over the failure of the mission up to this point, Adam again counted his lucky stars. He’d already killed one Sol-Kor Queen, and now her replacement was in the same room with him. Sure, there were also about fifty Sol-Kor warriors in the room, and he was unarmed and suffering from a massive pressure headache, and the rest of his team were completely useless…

  But other than that, all he had to do was figure out a way to kill her…

  ********

  The first Human the new Queen chose to interrogate was Ensign Ronald MacTavish. He was the largest man on the team and closest to the size of a Sol-Kor—a Sol-Kor teenager. Adam could clearly see and hear what was going on twenty meters away, aided by the echoes coming off the metal walls.

  The Queen had ordered all the Sol-Kor out of the room except for a token force of five armored guards. They stood off a distance and she nodded to one of them, who then fingered a small control pad he was holding in his hands. Mac blinked rapidly several times before he shut his slack mouth and focused on the strange creature standing two meters in front of him.

  “I have had the opportunity to learn your language over the past few days, so feel free to speak,” said the Queen.

  Mac regarded her for a moment before scanning the large bay and locking his attention on the cluster of numb-looking Humans. “Dammit, you got us, didn’t you?”

  “Yes I did. You apparently had some defensive capability at one time during your adventure. Not any longer, it appears.”

  “Lucky for you.” He looked the Queen up and down. “You’re something new. What are you?”

  “I am the new Queen of the Sol-Kor.”

  “Bullshit. You don’t look anything like a Sol-Kor bitch.”

  “You said it yourself—I’m something new. I am a hybrid, you would call it, with abilities far beyond any prior queen—as well as any Sol-Kor male. I am called J’nae.”

  Mac shifted his eyes to the five armed guards. “Are you saying you’re a better fighter than these creeps—J’nae? That wouldn’t be saying much.”

  The Queen didn’t respond.

  “So we’ve been caught, and the scalies have a new leader. I’d say we’re pretty well fucked.”

  The Queen smiled. “Scalies? I like that description—for the males of course. Mine are much more subtle.”

  “Yeah, you’re real sexy, but you do know that I have nothing to live for now, so what happens next I can’t be responsible for.”

  “Are you saying you’re going to attack me?” The smile remained on her face. The guards didn’t react, not knowing the language. Even so, she turned and ordered them to hold their ground, no matter what. “There, now it is just the two of us. But before you do what you have in mind, may I ask you a few questions?”

  “You can ask. It doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”

  J’nae nodded. “I can see now why Panur has spoken so highly of your race.”

  “That albino mutant, Cain’s friend?”

  “You’ve heard of him?”

  “Sure, he’s the one who built the portal detector that’s allowing us to shut down your access to my galaxy.”

  “And he helped coordinate this most-recent attack on the Colony.”

  “Not that I know of. That was all our idea. And until you showed up, we thought we’d pulled it off. His eyes narrowed. “Hell, we still may.”

  “You mentioned a name: Cain...”

  Adam tensed. He saw Mac make the slightest shift in his eyes towards the group of Humans. J’nae noticed.

  “Cain is with your group,” she stated.

  “No, he’s back at base. He’s the one who planned the mission. And he’s probably planning a lot more as we speak. Next time they’ll be coming for you—if you’re still alive.”

  “Ah, Human, you are an interesting race, even though you display your thoughts on your exterior. Cain is among the other Humans. I will seek him out, as you say he is your leader—”

  Mac jumped. He was a huge man with incredible fighting skills, and in the light gravity of Kor he was on J’nae in the blink of an eye. The pair collapsed to the floor, and the guards reacted by instinct.

  “Hold!” J’nae yelled from under MacTavish. They froze.

  Even though Mac was a large man, J’nae was still taller than him, if not wider. He looked odd sitting atop the gray-skinned alien, swinging blow after heavy blow at her exposed head. Her long arms lay out to both sides of her body, offering no defense, so he just kept hitting her, sending her head twisting to one side and the other.

  Adam shuffled over a little closer, trying to see through the thin screen of the nervous-looking guards. They could see their Queen being viciously struck, yet had been ordered not to interfere.

  The robed Sol-Kor raced up to the disturbance. “Stop him!” he cried to the guards.

  “We have been ordered otherwise.”

  “You…you have what?” He looked to the ground and the pair of combatants. He stood up straight, a look of understanding on his face.

  Mac was getting tired. He had given the Queen his best, as evidenced by the blood spraying off his knuckles with each savage blow. His attack slowed; he took more time to aim his hits, using only his right fist while his left arm rested.

  J’nae showed no lasting signs of the attack. Her face would deform momentarily before returning to normal a split second later.

  “I guess…this isn’t…working,” MacTavish panted. He stopped hitting her.

  “I’m afraid not, yet it was better for you see for yourself than to take my word for it.”

  “Yeah, I would’ve still attacked.” Reluctantly, the Human crawled off the Queen and stood up. He was coated in sweat, his hands bloody pulp.

  J’nae also stood.

  “So you’re like the other mutant, Panur?”

  “Only more.”

  Adam cringed. So much for his backup plan. Now he began to think frantically how he could save his team.

  “I have to say, those were very powerful hits you applied. I can see how a normal Sol-Kor could not stand against them. This is a result of your planet’s gravity, as well as your propensity to war. Your skills and power would be a very substantial force to overcome. But now, let us return to your leader, Cain. You say he is not within the surviving eight of your party, yet I know now that he is. Please point him out to me.”

  MacTavish wrinkled his nose and grimaced. “Yeah, I’m afraid that’s not going to happen. I have a pretty good idea that now I’ll be killed, and I’m okay with that. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a very long time—too long, in fact.”

  “You would rather die than give me an answer, knowing that I could have my way with the remaining seven Humans anyway? You will have gained no advantage by remaining quiet.”

  “That’s not it. At least I won’t be the one to betray my comrades, or my race. It’s a personal thing. You wouldn’t understand.”

  J’nae looked at Mac for a long moment before responding. “No, I would not understand. But I am lacking in exposure to certain interactions and firsthand knowledge in real-time. Yet I am a quick learner. What is your name?”

  “Mac, Mac MacTavish.”

  “Well, Mac, I would have enjoyed getting to know you better. Your race has a certain brashness about it that is not found among the Sol-Kor. Males of my race would also sacrifice their lives for the good of the Colony, yet they would do so only bec
ause that is what’s expected of them. You seem to do it out of a genuine desire to do the right thing.”

  “You are a quick learner.”

  “Thank you…but now Mac MacTavish, I regret having to do—”

  “Stop! I’m Adam Cain!” Adam didn’t realize he’d said the words until they were already out.

  Both Mac and J’nae looked at him with startled looks. Neither could figure out how he could speak with the suppressor beam blanketing the room.

  “Another interesting happenstance,” J’nae said. She and Mac walked over to him, but not before the formally powerless guards descended upon him and hustled him out of the pack of Humans and escorted him to the approaching Queen. The three of the guards remained with the other Humans, securing their hands, just in case some of them were also immune to the effects of the pulse beam.

  “Dammit, sir, you know this will only get us both killed,” Mac said, trying not to ask the obvious question.

  J’nae stepped up to Adam. “How is it that you can overcome the pulse beam? You appear not to be wearing a neutralizer.

  “Lucky, I guess. Not all of my kind are so susceptible.”

  “I believe Mister MacTavish used a term earlier which seems appropriate: bullshit. I have read all the reports. Other than by artificial means, the beams cannot be denied.”

  “Eeerr…wrong! You will find there are millions of my people who you cannot subdue, and then they’ll slaughter your invaders and smash your harvesters if you ever try to take Earth.”

  The robed SK was still in the room, stunned into silence by the events taking place. J’nae now addressed him. “Drasic, you must admit, these Humans are wonderful creatures, so full of life, purpose…and creativity.”

  “They are dangerous, my Queen, perhaps not to you, but to the rest of the Colony. Why do you play with them?”

  “Because even in my few days of ruling the Sol-Kor, I have grown bored. The Colony will continue—thanks to me—and it will do so without any variety or…surprises. Perhaps as more females are introduced into the fabric of life that will change, and I will grow less bored. But for now, I must find stimulation where I can.”