by T. R. Harris
Juirean females of child-bearing age and physicality were expected to remain pregnant during their most productive years. Those beyond that were the mid-wives, the medical personnel, the educators and the scientists associated with advancement of new and safer child rearing.
Because all these activities had been centralized on the planet of Salin, the Kracori attack there had the effect of nearly sterilizing the Juirean race.
However, between fending off Juirean defenders, attacking ground-based targets and eliminating vital infrastructure on the worlds they had attacked over the past five days, the Kracori did not have the resources to stop every rogue spaceship leaving the area. And for months prior to the attack, the Juireans had been stockpiling thousands of spacecraft in the Sector, mostly commercial-class vessels. In spite of the Kracori’s best efforts, these ships had been able to spirit away millions of Juireans.
Jonnif acknowledged that on those ships were many thousands of females — it had been impossible to kill them all — but it would not be enough to save the Juireans from eventual extinction.
The destruction of the females on Salin was probably the most significant victory of the entire campaign. The surviving females, even if left alone and not pursued, would require many generations just to replenish their own numbers, let alone those of the entire race. Granted, through DNA sequencing, most of the newborns going forward would be female, which would help speed up the rebuilding process. Yet this practice would also cause other problems for the Juireans. Although many billions still survived within the galaxy, ninety-nine percent of the remaining Juireans were male. As these males grew older and died off, there would be very few younger males available to replace them, at least not until the female population had been restocked.
Yes, Juirean society had been dealt a crippling blow these past few days — almost fatal. And even if the Kracori chose to let them be — which they were not prepared to do — then just with the passage of time, the Juirean race would slowly disappear, thanks in part to the segmentation of their society, as well as their own shortsightedness.
Jonnif stepped up to the charred and smoking body of a Juirean lying in the ruins of Malor Tower. He could still see the traces of blue hair atop the head, signifying that this had once been an Overlord. He kicked at the body, and saw the blackened flesh around the rib cage give way. Jonnif knelt down and pulled a generous handful of flesh from the corpse. He smelled it, and then placed the meat in his mouth.
The Juirean was juicy and cooked just to his liking. Jonnif stood, flashing a wide smile to his companions. “I believe I will have a table set up right here and we will all feast on the flesh of Juireans tonight! I will even have vids made so our celebration can be broadcast throughout the Expansion.” He bellowed a hearty laugh again. “The Kracori have not only destroyed the Juirean Legend, we will now devour their flesh while sitting atop their most sacred monument. How more can a legend be dishonored?”
The next morning, Jonnif awoke with a serious hangover and a bloated belly. The celebration festivities had continued almost until new light, with his commanders and support staff wandering throughout the still-smoking ruins pulling huge hunks of meat from the hundreds of bodies lying about. The intoxicants had flowed as well, far more than Jonnif had personally ever remembered ingesting before. But this was one of those unique moments in history which would never come again. Jonnif had been bound and determined not to let it pass without giving it his all.
But now he had to pay the price.
He could barely focus on the datapad when Mininof brought it to him. “Assist me,” Jonnif said. “What does it read?”
Mininof had participated in the prior evening’s festivities as well, but obviously to a lesser degree. “It is some of the last reports filed by the spies within the tower just as we began our attack. There is some interesting information.”
“Go on, don’t leave me in suspense.”
“Hydon is in the bunker below!”
Jonnif was nearly shocked sober — almost. This was very interesting news. Prior to the attack, the Klin — and now the Kracori — had had no fewer than thirty-five active spies operating within the building. They continually fed information to the Kracori, no matter how trivial. As is often the fate of spies, none had been warned of the impending attack, so all perished in the building.
“Yes, he and a group of what appeared to be Humans entered the bunker elevator just moments before your first strike.”
“Humans? Here?”
“That is what was reported.”
“Did the spies know who they are or what was their significance?”
“It was not mentioned in this report, yet a previous file might mention them. I will research it.”
“Good. In the meantime, get me linked into the bunker’s communication network. I wish to speak to the almighty Juirean Elder, now cowering in fear within his metal tomb, right below my very feet.”
“Technicians have already located the trunk lines. It should not be long before you have access. I am anxious to hear your conversation with Hydon. It will be legend.”
Chapter 13
Legend to a Kracori was very similar to a reputation, only more so. It was what gave a Kracori his identity, his legacy, his very reason for existing. Each Kracori had their own individual legend, and then their race had a legend of its own. The Kracori took immense pride in the legend of their race, and they also assigned legends to other races, even though none were aware of it. These legends created a pecking order of beings throughout the galaxy, with the Kracori sitting upon the very top.
Dominance for the Kracori came with the discrediting of another’s legend, be it an individual’s or that of an entire race. Until the legend was destroyed, the person or race was still considered a threat.
On Eilsion, Kracori seldom resorted to full-blown wars or murder against their own kind; most Kracori struggles in the past had been against nature or beast. Amongst themselves, it was the placement of legend that determined a person’s position within the society.
For the eight hundred or so years that the Kracori had been aware of the Juireans — since revealed by the Klin — their consciousness had been dominated by the Legend of the Juireans. It infected their politics and haunted their dreams, even though no Kracori had ever met a Juirean face-to-face.
The Klin had introduced the galaxy to the Kracori, if only peripherally. Yet conversely, the Klin had been careful not to reveal the Kracori to the rest of the galaxy, electing to save them for their grand finale. That time had finally come, but as it turned out, it was the Klin who had not been invited to the party.
In doing so, the Kracori had greatly diminished the Legend of the Klin, a legend that for many generations ranked second only to that of their own. Now with the utter demolition of the Juirean Legend, the only legend the Kracori had to contend with now was the Legend of Earth.
As Jonnif prepared himself for the day’s activities — which undoubtedly would have him speaking directly with the Council Elder Hydon Ra Elys — he was curious to learn what Humans were doing on Juir. He had not been aware that any were even near the planet, let alone on its surface and associating with the most-powerful Juirean of them all.
Jonnif was still confident in his plan to divert the Human fleet from Juir. In fact, the latest report he had received put the estimated time for the attack upon the planet Earth at just under seven days, which was actually behind schedule. From what he understood, there had been a delay in finding enough nuclear weapons for the attack. There had been a prior use of nuclear devices in the Far Arm about two years earlier, but those weapons had been obtained by cannibalizing some of the old Klin ships for their self-destruct explosives. Since the galaxy now knew of the Klin’s existence, none of the new ships built recently contained self-destruct devices, so the weapons had to be brought in all the way from Eilsion.
The weapons had finally arrived and were loaded aboard the ships of the strike force almost two months befor
e. Since then the small fleet of ten ships had been making its way from Glasien-4 to the planet Earth. Another seven days’ journey … and the attack would commence.
The Human fleet was still about three months away from Juir, so once their homeworld was attacked, there would still be plenty of time for a message to be received, recalling the fleet to Earth.
I am so sorry, Lord Hydon, Jonnif thought, but the Humans will not be coming to your rescue.
However, Jonnif still had to be careful. Knowing the Juireans as he did, if he revealed to them that no hope for rescue remained, all those hiding within the bunker below would simply commit suicide rather than submit to the Kracori. And that would not serve Jonnif’s needs, not at all.
Chapter 14
After the first five days in the bunker, the explosions on the surface had ended, signaling to Adam the beginning of the second phase of the Kracori invasion — consolidation.
By this time, Adam had realized that cohabitating with McCarthy and his men was not going to work, and so a few days before he had claimed a secondary, smaller barracks for their own. Kaylor and Jym came too, and soon staked out a small corner of the new barracks as their own, pulling over a couple of cots and surrounding them with sheets hung from the ceiling for privacy. Except for the occasional contact in the mess hall, the two groups of Humans had not had any other contact over the past two days.
On the fifth day of their confinement in the bunker, a Guard commander had come to Adam’s barracks and summoned him and his top lieutenants to a meeting with Hydon. This would be the first time Adam would have been in the bunker’s command center, and he was anxious to learn the capacities and defenses the Juireans had available. At the end on a long corridor, they found a vast room full of banks of computers, monitors and about two dozen Juireans and handful of other creatures all chattering at once. The level of conversation dropped substantially when the Humans entered the room.
Hydon was hunched over a console, speaking with a technician, his omnipresent Counselor Yol-fin at his side. The technician stopped speaking when Adam approached.
Hydon looked perturbed. “Continue; they’re with us now.”
“Yes, my Lord,” said the tech. He pointed at the monitor. “You see here where the invaders have blocked off all three of the exits on the mountain side of the Plain. And here, on the city side, they have done the same. It’s apparent they had advanced knowledge of these locations.”
I knew it, Adam thought. I think we’re all screwed.
Hydon straighten up and turned to Adam. “Your race is very knowledgeable regarding military tactics,” he stated, no flattery intended. “What do you believe will be the Klin’s next move?”
Adam hadn’t had much time to think about it, but now that he was asked, he leaned forward and studied the schematic on the computer screen.
“I’ve been curious what defenses you have in place for the bunker.” Adam approached the monitor. “Are we self-sufficient down here, meaning do we have our own power, water and food supply?”
“Completely self-sufficient,” Hydon said. “And we are located within solid bedrock.”
Up until about a year ago, Adam Cain had been just an enlisted grunt in the U.S. Navy SEALs; the only true officer in the room, in his opinion, was Lt. Andy Tobias. He motioned for the officer to step forward. “What do you think, Andy? Anything stick out at first glance?”
“How many defenders do you have in the complex?”
“A little over three hundred,” Hydon answered without hesitation, “plus an additional sixty stationed in the tunnels.”
“And how many access points into the bunker?”
“Just one.”
“And any escape routes from underground.”
Hydon pointed at several locations on the map, exits from the labyrinth on either side of the Kacoran Plain. “The Klin have taken up positions at all the exits. There are several monitors keeping track of this at the entrances, as well as in the tunnels.” He looked at Adam. “This other race — the Kracori — appear to be the only military force the Klin are employing. We’ve not spotted any other beings.”
Tobias ran his finger along one of the long corridors leading to their present location on the map. “Could a nuclear device be brought through here, once the defenders have been cleared?” Adam remembered the various barricades and defensive positions he’d passed on the way to the bunker. As formidable as they appeared, in the long run, they would be overrun.
“Yes, but the tunnels can be sealed along their lengths with hidden explosives if we see an attempt to bring in such a device.”
“Then how would we get out?” Riyad Tarazi asked the Elder. “I mean if we ever have reason to leave such luxurious accommodations.”
“There is a way I can escape at any time.”
“How’s that?”
“There is a boring pod available. It is a mining device that can travel through bedrock. It will provide me and up to ten of my entourage a means of escaping, if I find it necessary.”
“That’s comforting — for you anyway,” Riyad said.
After another moment of studying the schematic, Andy straightened up. “I don’t see why they would want to blast us out of here. We are of no strategic value and the enemy has full run of the surface. They could simply wait us out and deal with us later once they’ve established a solid beach hold. And from the blocking of all the exits out of the mountain, they obviously know the complete layout of the complex, including the fact that you could collapse the tunnels if they make a move on the bunker.”
“They may not feel they have the luxury of time,” Adam said. “They know our fleet is on its way, so I don’t think they’ll be setting up any permanent outposts on the surface — or let any of the people down here survive so they can be rescued.”
“That’s true, but they have no reason to go through all the effort. In fact, they may force us to blow the tunnels just to trap us down here. Then whether the fleet arrives or not, eventually we’ll all starve to death. Problem solved. I say they’re going to sit on us. Besides, there must be hundreds of such shelters like this one around the planet. Trying to ferret out a few more Juireans from each one doesn’t seem like an efficient use of man — I mean — alien-power.”
Adam turned to Hydon. “I concur with Lt. Tobias; I think they’ll choose to wait us out. Even if we are eventually rescued, we’ll only be a handful of survivors. Compared to the damage they’ve already caused, we’re hardly worth the effort.”
“Unless they know you’re down here,” Riyad said, grinning at the Council Elder.
“Even if they did, my status is no longer significant. Within the Juirean hierarchy, we are all easily replaceable.”
Just then a loud, crackling sound screeched from the speakers embedded in the metal walls of the room. From the strong stereo effect filtering in from the nearby corridor, Adam could tell the sound was coming through all the nearby speakers, and probably throughout the entire complex.
The screeching continued for a few more seconds as technicians buried their heads in the consoles, seeking a source of the sound or a way to turn it off.
Finally, the screeching ended, but then a voice came over the speakers. “Your attention in the bunker,” said a strong voice, a command voice. “I am Commander Jonnif Vinn of the Ludif Kracori forces presently in control of the planet Juir, as well as all the surrounding systems.” The voice paused for a moment, as if the very mention of his name should elicit awe in the listener. “Our technicians have gained access to your communication network; your own technicians will find that on channel-17 you will be able to return the link to me. I will speak specifically with Elder Hydon Ra Elys.”
All heads turned toward Hydon, who appeared to be more disappointed than angry that his presence in the bunker had already been discovered. That didn’t take long, Adam thought.
Hydon nodded to the technician seated in front of him and the tech opened the channel. “This is Lord Hydon,” he said
into the room. “I commend you on your rapid discovery of my presence.”
“You can thank the spies we’ve had in place on your world for years. The few prisoners we have taken so far have not been very cooperative. Not yet.”
“You will find that Juireans do not make good prisoners. What was your name? I was not paying complete attention when you spoke it earlier.” Adam didn’t know if Hydon was being intentionally provocative or not. Either way, he liked it.
“My name is Jonnif, and it is a name your people will long remember.”
“That may be so, but for now it is unimportant. What do you want?”
There was a long moment of silence before Jonnif replied. Adam could only imagine the look on the Kracori’s gray face. Adam was really beginning to like Hydon, even though he was sure the Juirean was just being a Juirean. Even still, it sounded like something Adam might have said….
“I want you, Lord Hydon; that should be obvious. We have control of your planet, as well as the Sector, with all the resources that have allowed your bastard race to maintain control over the galaxy for so long. It is all under the control of the Kracori-”
“And your Klin masters.”
There was another moment of silence. When Jonnif spoke again, Adam could almost hear the joy in his voice. “You appear to be misinformed, Lord Hydon. The Kracori no longer follow the dictates of the Klin. They served us as long as was necessary, but now it is only Ludif direction we follow. And it is our very own Ludif Council who will take immense pleasure in gazing upon the glorious being who is the Juirean Elder, be he dead or alive.”
Jonnif paused again, expecting some defiant retort from Hydon. When none came, he continued. “You are simply a symbol, Hydon, a symbol of Juirean dominance of the galaxy and how it has survived for far too long. The presentation of your body — living or dead — to the Ludifs will demonstrate to all just how unimportant you are — how unimportant all Juireans are from now on. Your end has come, Lord Hydon. Your legend has been broken. Many of your kind may still exist on other worlds, but without legend you have nothing left. You will all be replaced by the Legend of the Kracori.” Jonnif’s voice had climbed to an angry crescendo. Now he paused, letting his remarks settle so all the creatures listening throughout the complex could grasp their significance.