by T. R. Harris
Jonnif moved to face him, standing only a few inches away. “But all you ever were to them was meat – but strong meat – born on a heavy-gravity rock and possessed of a combination of strength and agility rarely found in the galaxy – just as the Kracori.” A cheer rose up from the audience. “Yet unlike your race, we do not war amongst our own kind, at least we haven’t in over five thousand years.”
He turned back to the crowd with a flourish of his hand. “However, even now members of your own race betray you for nothing more than monetary gain. It is revealed now, Adam Cain, that the one trait that has made you so valuable to the Klin is the fact that you have never stopped warring amongst your kind. This shows that you will kill no matter the enemy. This trait has also made you adept at all the strategies and tactics associated with war – as well as quite the unpredictable type. As the Klin have said – savages.”
He turned to face Adam again. “I will now test that prowess. We will have a contest; I will not seek to kill you – at least not yet. However, if this test reaches the point when it appears you may kill me…” He drew out the sentence as several members of the audience laughed. “…then my companions here will descend upon you for a few moments of sport themselves. If you are lucky, you will survive their actions; let me correct myself – if you are unlucky you will survive. That would just mean another session and even more entertainment.
“The assault on Juir has been rather disappointing for warriors like the Kracori. We had been hoping for more face-to-face combat with the Juireans. Unfortunately, even as we begin our more intense sweep of the planet, the officer corps here rarely has the opportunity to experience combat first-hand. As a warrior yourself, I’m sure you are aware of such a division of labor. So as long as you live, we will make sport of you – and also of the other Humans we have captured.” He turned back to the crowd and smiled. “I only wish there were more of you!” The crowd roared.
“Give it a few more months and you’ll be up to your assholes in Humans.”
Jonnif turned to Adam, never losing the smile. “Ah yes, your fleet! I almost forgot.” As he took a step in closer his smile disappeared. “Your fleet will not be arriving anytime soon, Adam Cain – or ever for that matter.”
The seriousness of Jonnif’s words made Adam cringe. “What do you mean?”
“I mean soon your fleet will be returning to your homeworld, there to tend to the massive destruction wrought by the Kracori nuclear strike upon your Earth.”
Adam felt the blood drain from his face. Could the Kracori be speaking the truth? “Bullshit, Jonnif!”
“Bull…shit? What an interesting phrase. What does it mean?”
“It means you’re lying.”
“Jonnif turned to his audience of Kracori officers. “Am I telling a none-truth, my Ludifs?”
Uniformly the crowd shook their heads and said no, some even calling out: Death to the Humans, let them all die!
When Jonnif turned back to face Adam, he wore the most diabolically-satisfying look Adam had ever seen on a living creature. “It is true, Adam Cain. Within a very short time – days as a matter of fact – a Kracori force will be arriving to ravage your home planet with enough nuclear death and destruction to render it uninhabitable for hundreds of years. Your fleet will have no choice to break off and return to Earth like a whipped krymelic. The Legend of Earth will be broken forever. Without the resources of your planet to supply the bodies and tools of war, the Human race will cease to be a significant player in galactic affairs. The Kracori will remain on Juir and within the Alliance Cluster. We will continue to hunt down all surviving Juireans, and we Kracori will rule the galaxy for thousands of years to come!”
He stepped away from Adam, who now stood with his mouth agape, feeling dizzy and drained from the Jonnif’s sincere revelation. He wasn’t lying; he had taken too much satisfaction from the telling of his story to be making it up. And then something stuck in Adam’s mind: within a very short period of time – days! So the attack has not occurred yet! Would it be possible for Adam to warn the Earth of the impending attack? Possible, but not while standing in the middle of a fighting arena on the planet Juir….
Adam took a deep breath and felt his energy return. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “Fuck you, Jonnif!” he yelled. “Let’s get this thing started!”
Jonnif turned back to him, a look of confusion on his face. “I am truly puzzled, Adam Cain. You wish to engage me in a sexual act, just as we are preparing to fight? Are the mating rituals on Earth ones of such physical combat and submission? If so, then you truly are savage.”
Jonnif squared up his stance. “Then let us begin. I will go first.”
Adam was stunned by the remark, not understanding what the Kracori meant. But suddenly Jonnif stepped forward and swung out with his right arm. He was fast, faster than any other creature Adam had fought since being cast into the galaxy, but Adam was able to easily dodge the blow and sweep the Kracori’s arm away with his own. Jonnif looked stunned, yet he countered quickly with a left hook that came at Adam from way too far out, like what you’d see in a schoolyard fight as two young boys flailed away at each other. The Kracori may be warriors, Adam thought, but they obviously don’t know any real hand-to-hand fighting techniques.
As he swept away the Jonnif’s arm, Adam grabbed his left wrist and twisted it backwards, spinning the Kracori around and pressing the alien’s arm against his back. Next, Adam clamped his right arm around Jonnif’s chest and pulled him tight. For a moment Jonnif struggled against Adam’s hold, but was unable to break free.
And then the most remarkable thing happened: The Kracori’s head twisted 180-degrees around, until their two faces were only inches apart. Jonnif smiled – and then spit in Adam’s face!
He released the alien and staggered back, wiping the disgusting spittle from his face. He had no idea what kind of alien germs could be contained in the sticky liquid. And they call us savages!
Jonnif took the opportunity to lower his shoulder and charge at Adam. In the light gravity of Juir, the Kracori was extremely fast and he impacted Adam with a force that knocked the wind out of his lungs and sent him crashing to the ground. Immediately, Jonnif was on top of him, striking his face with blow after incredibly-strong blow.
Stunned, Adam kicked up with his right knee, hitting Jonnif in the back and sending him rolling over Adam’s head. Recovering quickly from the blows he’d suffered, Adam scrambled around and fell on Jonnif’s back, pressing the alien’s body into the grassy floor of the arena. He then sent a powerful fist into Jonnif’s ribcage – once, then twice.
The Kracori cried out in pain and managed to roll over, dislodging Adam from his back. Now on his knees, Adam struck a strong right cross into Jonnif’s chin. The creature’s eyes grew wide at first, and then the eyelids began to flutter. Adam followed with another strong fist to the same region and Jonnif collapsed to the ground.
Adam’s victory was short-lived, however, as he suddenly felt his body pommelled by kick after kick to his ribs and face. One of the kicks sent him rolling over onto his back, where a flurry of booted feet came crashing down upon him. Within moments, the kicks had no further affect, as Adam slipped into the numb blackness of peaceful unconsciousness.
Chapter 22
Sherri was worried about Adam. She had heard cheering off in the distance a while ago and knew some kind of spectacle was taking place. But now she could hear nothing. Had she just heard the ceremonial death of Adam Cain? And after him, they would be coming for the rest of them….
All the Humans in the tent had struggled as best they could against their shackles, but to no avail. Sherri then noticed one of the Kracori looking at her intensely. The creature leaned over to his bench mate and whispered something. They both spun around in their chairs.
“You’re a female of the Human race, is this correct?” the first Kracori asked her. She did not detect any deviousness in the voice, just curiosity.
Sherri lowered her
head, avoiding the interviewer’s eyes. “Yes I am. I fulfill my duties – as I must.” A plan began to blossom in her mind.
All the Human males looked over at her with raised eyebrows, yet none spoke.
“You are much smaller than the males of your species. Are you their mate?”
“Yes. As I said, I fulfill my duties as is dictated.”
The two Kracori smiled and nudged each other. “Is it only one of you for all of them?”
“Yes. It is much work, tending to the needs of them all – especially when it comes to feces removal.”
The Kracori’s mouths fell open in shock – as did those of Sherri’s Human companions. Feces removal?
“Please explain? We do not understand.”
Sherri refused to meet the eyes of the Kracori, instead maintaining the look of submissive weakness. “I will be punished for telling you this, but the males will relieve themselves whenever and wherever they wish.”
“Do you not have grooming stations?”
“Only for the females. They are for our own use, as well as for disposing of the waste of the males. It is a very disgusting chore.”
“Agreed!” said the Kracori guard. “So they just drop feces wherever they wish?”
“True, and as meat eaters, their feces is always sticky, wet and carries such an incredibly foul odor—”
“Female!” Riyad cried out. “It is time. I am beginning to relieve myself and I have not done so for a very long while.”
The two Kracori looked at Riyad with a look of panic and disgust. “You cannot do such a thing here.”
“My body says otherwise. Does your race have control over such natural bodily functions? Must you not breathe when you must breathe?”
One of the Kracori looked to the other. “I’m not going to clean up the mess!”
“Neither shall I—”
“And the smell will linger for hours, I must warn you,” Sherri added.
“Then you must tend to the male.”
“Of course, but how; I am bound?”
“I will release you. You are not a warrior and therefore not a risk. What will you require for the … the feces?”
“A scoop of some kind and a bag in which to place it; then it must then be buried else the smell will remain and become overwhelming.”
One of the Kracori found a small metal sheet and a bag, while the other knelt down next to Sherri and unlocked the shackles around her wrists. He then released the lock on the straps holding her to the support pole.
“Will this suffice?” asked the other Kracori as he handed her the sheet of metal and the bag.
“Yes, very well.” She scooted over to where Riyad was tied and began to undo his pants. “The scene is very graphic….”
“We will wait outside. Let us know when you are done.” The two Kracori exited through the canvas flap of the tent, shaking their heads in disgust as they left.
Sherri looked up into Riyad’s face, which now displayed a broad, wicked smile as she fumbled with his trousers. She pushed herself away. “Keep dreaming, Riyad,” she said, while returning his smile. Then she slipped in behind him and attempted to release the lock to his bindings. It was too strong; she could not free them.
She rose quickly to her feet and ran to the work benches. There she found a large crescent wrench-like tool and moved to the side of the entrance flap to the tent.
“I am done,” she called out.
The two Kracori entered. “That was quick. Where are you?” one of them asked as they entered the tent.
“Right here,” Sherri said as she swung the wrench with all her might. The solid metal tool struck the head of the closest Kracori sending him slumping to the ground. She swung again yet the second Kracori had time to raise his arm in self-defense. Still, the wrench carried a powerful impact and the alien fell backwards, landing on the ground at the feet of John Tindal. The Navy SEAL reached out with his unbound legs and clamped them around the head of the Kracori. Before he could resist, Sherri brought the heavy end of the wrench down directly on the chest of the alien. All the air was expelled from his lungs and his eyes grew wide. Tindal kicked the creature away, and Sherri finished him off with a skull-crushing final swing of the wrench.
“Great job, Sherri,” Lt. Tobias whispered, “if somewhat disgusting.”
Sherri smiled and then ran over to the unconscious Kracori she’d hit first. He was the one who had unlocked her bindings earlier. After rifling through his pockets she emerged with the key, and moments later they were all free.
Only one of the Kracori had been armed and within seconds Tobias had the MK gripped firmly in his hand.
“We have to find Adam,” Sherri said desperately, hoping they were not too late.
“Roger that,” Tobias said. “The sounds came from the left. I’ll take point. It’s dark out now, but not totally, so be careful. Move out.”
Outside the tent all seemed quiet. With the moons of Juir and the stars of the Milky Way so prominent, it could barely be referred to as dark, yet it was still enough to provide them some cover. The cheering within the other tent had ceased a while ago; most of the Kracori had now either retired to the tents or moved inside the spaceships and their living quarters.
They covered the distance to the next tent without a problem, but found it to only contain partitioned rooms with no one inside.
At the next tent, Tobias pulled back a small section of the entrance flap and gazed inside, with Sherri practically on his back looking inside as well. There they saw just a large open space with rows of empty seats off to the right. And near the center of the open area lay the unconscious body of Adam Cain, a heavy metal chain running from him to the tent’s center pole.
Tobias looked back at the rest of them all clustered behind him. “It’s Cain,” he whispered. “And he’s alive.”
“How do you know that?” Sherri asked, concern dripping from her voice.
He smiled. “’Cause I don’t think they’d chain up a corpse.”
He looked inside again, this time sweeping the full interior for any signs of the Kracori. When he was sure there were none, he flipped back the canvas and ran towards Adam, followed closely by the others. Tindal maintained watch at the doorway.
Sherri crouched down and lifted Adam’s head. She felt his carotid artery and found a pulse. His face was badly bruised and blood was caked below his nose. She slapped his face a couple of times – lightly – and could see his eyeballs move under the lids. Slowly Adam opened his eyes. Focusing in on Sherri, he tried to smile, then grimaced with pain.
“That didn’t go exactly as planned,” he finally managed to eke out.
“Anything broken?” Sherri asked as she helped him sit up.
“I don’t think so.” Adam expanded his focus to find Tobias and Riyad staring at him, looks of concern on their faces. “Are you guys free, or did they just throw us all in the same jail somewhere?”
“We’re free – for now,” Tobias said. “But we have to get out of here soon.”
Adam batted his eyes a few more times, as the cobwebs began to clear from his mind – and then he suddenly surged forward and grabbed Tobias by the shirt. “They’re going to nuke the Earth, Andy!” he cried out, far too loudly considering their current location.
“They’re what?”
“Jonnif told me the Kracori are going to nuke the planet so that the fleet will return to Earth instead of coming here.”
“When?”
“He said very soon, within days.”
Tobias followed the chain binding Adam to the center pole and then back to Adam’s wrists. The chain was thick and a hefty-looking lock secured it. “Rutledge, Riyad, grab hold of that chain link there.” He lifted the chain and all three men took hold of one of the links. “Now pull!”
All three men grunted and gritted their teeth until they saw a small separation begin to appear in the link. A few more groans and they’d pulled the link far enough apart so they could break the chain. Adam w
as still shackled in heavy metal cuffs but at least now they could leave the tent.
“We have to make contact with Earth, let them know about the attack,” Adam said between swollen lips.
“How do we do that,” Sherri asked as they helped Adam to his feet.
“Direct communication with Earth is impossible without comm buoys having already been laid,” Jym said, his tiny body nearly lost among the much taller Humans.
“What about the fleet?” Adam asked. “They’ve been laying buoys since they left.”
“Yes, that might work, but they are many thousands of light years away. Not knowing the comm frequencies for them, we would have to be much closer than we are now to make contact through traditional means.”
“Then we’re just going to have to take one of these ships,” said Riyad Tarazi matter-of-factly. As the former leader of the Fringe Pirates, absconding with a stolen spaceship was second nature to him.
“Target one of the smaller ones in the back,” Adam said, feeling now as though he may have a few bruised or cracked ribs. “We’re going to have to lift off without causing too much alarm.”
With the others helping him, Adam made it to the main entrance to the tent, and then before heading out into the open, he turned to Tobias and asked, “How did you get away?”
Andy Tobias grinned. “Sherri raised such a shit-storm that they just had to let us go.”
“She did what … they just let you go?”
Riyad put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Let’s save that for another time. The clock is ticking, my friend.”
They moved single file out of the tent and along its perimeter, crouched down in what shadows they could find. Across the wide landing field they could see a number of the Klin spaceships looking like gigantic metal mushrooms reflecting the light of Juir’s moons. There were no security lights around the ships; that would have only highlighted them for any Juirean counterattack, even though that possibility was virtually nil at the time. Only a few stray Kracori still walked the grounds and none of them appeared to be on sentry duty. Such was the Kracori’s confidence in their position on the planet.