by T. R. Harris
“Marshal Cain, how is it that you survived?” the tall, overweight alien asked. “It was reported you fell from a shuttle. We did not even know you were on Korash-Nor. If so, we would have searched for you.”
“You’re not to blame, Major Al’Poma. Luckily, I landed in a lake,” Adam lied.
“Lake? What lake? All the lakes in the region are frozen.”
Adam shook his head. “It could have been a pond; I don’t know.”
“You were present at the battle, I am told. Were you there to retrieve the package?”
Adam frowned. “What package?”
Al’Poma looked confused. “The natives were transporting a package to the Garrison when they were attacked. I assumed that is why you came to Korash-Nor. What other reason could it be, and come in stealth?”
“The convoy was coming here?” This was news to Adam. Most natives and PCs had little contact with the Enforcer Garrisons, not until conflicts escalated. The commander had to be referring to the package John Graham mentioned, the thing he said was his, and the reason he tried to kill everyone on sight. “What was in the package?”
Al’Poma bobbed his head. “That is unknown. I was not told. I assume you would know. All I know is that the natives contacted me a few days ago about a package they wished to get off the planet and to Navarus. In truth, they said the package was destined for the mutants. I am aware of your relationship with them. I am sorry, but the sequence of events makes sense.”
Now, Adam was confused. Although nearly everyone in the galaxy knew of the mutants—Lila and Panur—very few would have business with them, or the means of contacting the pair, especially not a group of struggling natives on a backward world like Korash-Nor.
Then it hit him.
The planet was one of those once controlled by the Director, Wolfgang Stimmel. He maintained that control not only through his vast wealth but also the threat from the two Dark Matter Collectors he possessed. The DMCs were a continual source of dark matter cubes which could be combined to create energy bombs of varying degree. A pair of cubes could destroy a building; two pairs, a city, nine pairs, a planet. And each DMC had slots for ninety cubes. Having the DMCs made Stimmel the most powerful being in the galaxy—right up to the time he was consumed by a miniature blackhole.
After his death, an all-out effort was made to locate the missing DMCs but with no luck. The Director had hidden them, and that was where they remained to this day.
Had the natives found the DMCs on Korash-Nor? Did they realize what they had, so much so that they wanted to return them to the mutants from which Stimmel had stolen them? It made sense. John Graham was a Human and head of the security detail for the planet. If anyone, Stimmel would have entrusted the DMCs to a fellow traveler from his homeworld.
And now Graham had the DMCs.
The energy drained even more from Adam’s weary body. Dammit, he thought, the DMCs are out in the clear and in the hands of a Stimmel disciple.
He looked at the alien officer. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a little compatible food and a place to lie down until the shuttle gets here. I’ve had one hell of a night.”
“I am sorry, but I do not understand.”
“It was a bad time,” Adam explained, “and now I need some rest.”
“Yes, of course.” The major began barking orders, which in his case was exactly what he did. Fortunately, his troops understood their commander, and a few moments later, Adam was escorted into a side room with a cot. He fell onto the cushion, ignoring the plate of greenish-brown mush that was brought in and set on a side table. He would eat when he woke up. But at the moment, all Adam wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and thaw. He would save the galaxy when he woke up.
Chapter 6
As usual, Adam Cain was once again up to his eyeballs in paperwork. But it wasn’t really paperwork, rather a combination of the six data screens he had embedded in his desk, along with an assortment of loose datapads, each open to a different report, brief or correspondence.
The problems he contended with were varied, even as he only wanted to concentrate on one. After leaving Korash-Nor, he’d issued an all-Zone bulletin for the person known as John Graham, with a clear ID on the ship he was using. The Garrison monitoring equipment recorded his departure and escape vector, while Adam scrambled every Enforcer ship he had in the region on a desperate quest to recover the deadly Dark Matter Collectors. What the renegade Human expected to do with them was anyone’s guess. He hadn’t made any demands to date, although Graham was now technically the ultimate power in the galaxy. At least had a weapon that made him so. However, during their brief conversation, Adam didn’t get the impression Graham was that much of a long-term thinker. It was obvious he hadn’t thought out his attack on Adam’s peacekeepers very well to realize what a shitstorm it would unleash. He also had to know by now that Adam survived. That had to worry him. Adam Cain wasn’t a man to be trifled with, especially not after trying to kill him. Adam had a pretty good idea Graham was still in the Zone, cowering somewhere in fear while possessing the most-deadly power in the galaxy.
Adam smirked. I bet he doesn’t even know how the things work, he thought. If so, he’d probably destroy the god-damn galaxy. And that was why it was vital they find him. In expert hands, the DMCs were dangerous enough; in the hands of a rookie, terrifying.
Unfortunately, the hunt for John Graham was just one of the myriad of problems Adam had to juggle in his capacity as Marshal of the Enforcers. It would have been a monumental task for even the best manager-type, but Adam hadn’t yet learned how to delegate. That was the next thing he had on his to-do list.
And that was the reason he winced when Riyad Tarazi entered his office without knocking. There was a secretary in the outer room, but seeing that Riyad was second-in-command of the Enforcers, he had carte blanche when it came to accessing the Big Man himself.
Adam waved an impatient hand at his friend.
“I don’t have time for this.”
Riyad frowned. “You don’t even know why I’m here.”
“It doesn’t matter; I don’t have time.”
“Make time,” Riyad demanded. “Grab your coat, and let’s go.”
Adam frowned. “My coat? It’s ninety degrees outside.”
“Not where we’re going.”
“I told you, I don’t have time. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes, you are. You were specifically requested, my friend.”
Adam recoiled. No one had the authority to specifically request the head of the Enforcers, not anymore. The organization was too big, too powerful.
Riyad opened a small cabinet at the side of the room and removed Adam’s official dark grey Enforcer jacket. He tossed it to his boss.
“Come. We have a new case. It is only up the street.”
Adam hesitated for a moment before rising from behind the desk. He looked down at the plethora of lit screens begging for his attention. Something local; no journey off-planet. And an excuse to put all this damn paperwork off for another day.
“All right,” he said. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Riyad was right when he said they were going just up the street. They were heading for the Expansion Bank located a half-mile from the ever-expanding headquarters of the Enforcers.
A lot had changed along Lan Road in the past two years, including the fact that the building that once housed the bulk of Adam’s police force was now six times as large as before and now occupied a complex of buildings climbing the gently sloping hills. Several thousand people worked out of the facility, gaining access to the vast parking lot from a dedicated entrance off the new Balamar Expressway that paralleled Lan Road to the east. The jungle had been cleared between Kanac and Balamar, with only the ever-growing Kanac Spaceport forming a barrier between the two townships.
Twelve miles south of central Balamar began the twenty-two-square-mile Enforcer Base, having absorbed the much smaller Camp Forrester over a year
ago. The base was a hub of frenetic energy and even sported a dedicated spaceport rivaling the Kanac facility in size. Thirteen thousand troops trained, lived and worked on the base, while the remainder of Adam’s sixty-thousand-strong police/paramilitary force was deployed throughout the Dead Zone.
In addition to the massive base, the spectacular Maris-Kliss Resort, located a mile south of Capt. Cain’s Bar & Grill along Lan Road, was the Disneyland of Navarus, attracting both business-beings and tourists from across half the galaxy.
Because of the Expressway, most traffic to the Resort was now routed to the east, and away from the picturesque shoreline drive. It also ferried the thousands of daily commuters to and from the Enforcer Base. Because of this, quaint Lan Road remained relatively unaffected by the massive build-up in the area, although most of the once family-owned restaurants and other businesses along the thoroughfare had been scooped by corporate interests and were now simply entries on a computer ledger somewhere.
As he and Riyad walked along the concrete sidewalk, Adam glanced over at the familiar façade of Cain’s. At one time, the bar was his salvation, a way to escape the rat race of the galaxy. His friends Riyad and Sherri—along with the aliens Kaylor and Jym—shared the dream with him. Now Sherri was the President of the Cyneth, the official name of the region once known as the Dead Zone. At the same time, Riyad abandoned his fledgling outfitting business for a job more suited to his disposition and experience, that of First Senior Enforcer, only one step below Adam. That left Kaylor and Jym to run the bar for Adam and his partners, and they were doing a great job of it. With the population growth in the area, business at Cain’s was booming, even with the massive MK Resort down the street. The bar expanded into Riyad’s old warehouse and Sherri’s former hotel/brothel/opium den and was now a favorite among tourists and locals alike.
Adam shrugged as he walked by. Even if he were still just a simple barkeep, the business had grown so much that it wouldn’t have been the same. Hell, nothing was the same anymore.
Case in point was the smallish Expansion Bank Adam and Riyad were approaching. It was built five years ago and designed to handle only a fraction of the business it now catered to. The bank was a deceptively small building that sat atop a five-hundred-foot-deep system of delivery chains and tubes that brought Juirean credits to and from the secure vault buried in the volcanic bedrock. The bank was theft-proof, as were all Juirean banks. No living being was allowed into the vault except for rare maintenance and inspections. All transactions were done through the conveyor system, and that system was currently in the process of being upgraded.
Three days ago, the bank temporarily shut down with plans to expand and upgrade the vault and transport system. The news came as a surprise, but once announced, it made sense. According to what the manager told him, the small bank in Balamar was the twelve-hundredth largest bank in the system, a system that spanned the galaxy. That was pretty impressive, and considering how much business it now handled, an upgrade was long overdue.
Workers and equipment had been arriving from the Kanac Spaceport for a couple of days, taking up most of the security buffer around the building. Since none of the employees had access to the vault, robbing the bank was not possible. Therefore, thieves chose to attack their victims either going to or from the facility. Because of this, the bank bought up the surrounding lots and cleared the buildings, making it harder for would-be thieves to sneak up on the patrons. Personally, Adam could count eight notches on his handgun from the variety of aliens who tried to rob him of his bar’s receipts during the ritualistic walk from Cain’s. Fortunately, no one had been robbed in this part of Balamar for going on a year. There were too many Enforcers around to let that happen.
Adam and Riyad entered the bank. Both of them were intimately familiar with the interior, as they were with the bank manager, a native Navarian named Uion/Ve. He wasn’t an indigenous native of Navarus—no one was—but he was born on the planet and in Balamar itself. He was of the same race as the Vice-President of the Cyneth, a rotund, purple-skinned creature named Lion/El. Adam and Lion/El had a history together, although they would never be mistaken for friends. Uion/Ve, on the other hand, was one of Adam’s regular drinking buddies at Cain’s.
The alien greeted Adam warmly, extending a hand from what was known as his min—upper—set of four arms. He’d taken up the Human habit of handshaking, reveling in the variety of options he had and thrilled by the physical contact that was not common among his race, at least not with aliens, such as Adam.
“My friend, Adam Cain,” Uion/Ve said with forced enthusiasm. Adam knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him. “I am so glad Mr. Tarazi was able to secure your assistance.”
Adam looked around the lobby, at the empty teller stations and deserted interior. No workers were present, and there was no sign of prior work on the upgrade. Such an important facility couldn’t sit idle for long. Adam wondered what the workers were waiting for?
And that’s when a Juirean Overlord walked out of Uion/Ve’s office.
It made sense that a Juirean supervisor would be present when accessing the vault. That was the magic of the system. Only a supervisor had the means of opening the chamber, and an Overlord at that. And if would-be thieves took hostages, hoping to force a supervisor to give them access, then they hadn’t been paying attention for the past four thousand years. The Juireans cared only for themselves, and none worked in the local banks, only at the central depositories. Alien employees would be gladly sacrificed to maintain the integrity of the banking system.
The eight-foot-tall, green-skinned alien walked up to Adam and Riyad, his magnificent mane of dark blue hair signifying his class within the Juirean Authority.
Uion/Ve spread his four arms in a motion of introduction. “My friends Adam Cain and Riyad Tarazi, this is Overlord Andon Fe Rolsin, regional supervisor of the Expansion Credit System.”
Neither Human nor Juirean made formal gestures of greeting. Instead, they stared at each other for a moment before the alien grunted.
“Of course, I know of Cain and Tarazi; what Juirean doesn’t?” He turned slightly toward Uion/Ve. “I still see not why you insist that these particular advocates be present.”
“It is protocol, my Lord, as you know. They are third-party observers, as well as the heads of the local police authority in the Zone. Their reputations are beyond reproach.”
“Authority, so you say? And I know of the reputations of the Humans. They are hardly above reproach.”
There was no love lost between the Humans and the Juireans, even though the last war they fought took place over twenty years ago. Both races held grudges longer than most.
“Very well, Uion/Ve,” said the Overlord. “You may begin.”
The rotund alien grimaced. “Yes, shall we step into my office. There is information to impart before we go to the vault.”
“We’re going to the vault?” Adam blurted.
The Overlord grunted again as he led the foursome into the manager’s office.
“What’s this all about, Uion/Ve?” Adam asked. “Aren’t you getting ready to do some upgrade to the system? Why are we here?”
The four-armed alien remained silent as he stepped around his desk and turned a monitor toward Adam and Riyad. The Overlord gave him a nod.
“Although an upgrade is the public version, that is not the true reason for the shutdown. Four days ago, we lost contact with the vault.”
“What do you mean, lost contact?” Riyad asked. “Like in a communications breakdown?”
“Since all access to the vault is done remotely, that would be the most likely conclusion. However—”
“Your computers are down?” Riyad continued to inquire, irritated that this may be nothing more than a glitch.
“No, the computers are functioning.” The alien leaned in closer to the screen, pointing with one of his many fingers. “This is a live feed from inside the vault. We have cameras to monitor the interior, although
only one is still operational. The lights in the chamber are not functioning, so the only illumination we see is from a status light on the camera. If you look closely, you will see reflections from inside.”
Adam and Riyad followed the alien’s directions. He was right. There was a series of faint curving streaks, not contiguous, but broken and sporadic.
“I don’t get it,” Adam said. “The lights are out; you obviously had some kind of power failure.”
“That, my friend, is not the case. This is not a conventional vault. Instead, it is a maze of conveyors, stackers and other robotic systems that fill the interior. And within, there are redundant power backups. The vault cannot lose power. It has been designed for that not to happen.”
“Well then, I don’t know what to say.” Adam looked at the Overlord. “Why are we here?”
“As the manager stated, there are protocols in place,” Overlord Andon began. “As you can imagine, the integrity of the Expansion Credit System is paramount. Any abnormalities, no matter how small, must not only be investigated but also held in the strictest confidence. I am here to grant access to the vault to discover where the breakdown has occurred. As part of the manager’s charter, Uion/Ve is allowed to have third-party observers on hand during the initial breach.”
Adam snickered. “So, a little CYA?”
Both Uion/Ve and the Overlord frowned.
“Cover Your Ass,” Adam explained, which didn’t help. “You want someone around as a witness in case things aren’t right.”
Uion/Ve nodded, a little too emphatically. Andon scolded him with a glare.
“It is the manager’s right,” the Juirean grumbled. “I protested; however, my leadership resisted. Now, Uion/Ve, let us begin. As you know, the entry procedure is long and involved.”
Adam accessed his ATD and contacted Riyad telepathically through his.
We’re going to the vault! How cool is that?