by T. R. Harris
“Xan-Fi?”
“Forgive me; it is a brand of flash rifle used in the Expansion.”
Urous looked up from the weapon and narrowed his eyes. “Where exactly do the Jusepi come from? I assumed you come from the Arm, and not from this so-called Expansion.”
“Yes, we are of the Arm. But as I said, we are advisors to the Kracori regarding weapons systems. We have traveled extensively throughout the Expansion, gathering intelligence and securing exotic weapons for our client and ally.”
Urous stared at the two Humans for a moment longer before finally nodding. “You are aware that the sale of weapons is an illegal activity on Aslon? Just the offering of this weapon to me can place you in containment.” Adam remained silent, waiting to see where Urous was going with this. “What is it you wish for this, and do you have more?”
“I have three more on my ship.” He smiled at the alien. “I would, however, wish to keep one for myself. I will sell you this one for a thousand korlons. That will be enough for the docking fees and for the repairs we need.”
Urous vibrated in his throat again. “One thousand! That is far more than you require for the docking fees – unless our friend Limous is looking to extort even more than usual from you. And the repairs – I can rebuild an entire spaceship for that much.” Urous looked at the MK-64 again. “I will give you three hundred … and I will not report you to the authorities. I believe that is a bargain. And I will pay the same for two more of these. With that you will have almost your one-thousand korlons.”
Adam looked to Sherri. He frowned, just for effect. He knew he would take the credits; he just needed to make Urous believe he knew he was being robbed. Creatures like Urous needed to feel superior to their customers.
“Seeing that we are desperate – and under a deadline – I accept your offer.”
“Very good! But first I must test this weapon. How do I know it does all you say it does?”
“That’s acceptable. How do you propose we test it?”
Urous pointed the weapon at Adam’s chest. “This is one way.” He smiled. “Or we could go outside where Hyiuon’s customers won’t be so upset by the discharge of a weapon within his establishment.”
Urous stood and led the parade of customers and guards out of the bar. The Aslon star was setting, and the street had grown dim. Streetlights illuminated pyramids of a dull yellow light that did little to penetrate the thickening darkness. Urous turned into a side alley, but before he did, he motioned to one of his guards with a nod. The leather-skinned creature grabbed a passing O’mly by the back of the neck and shoved him into the alley. The native appeared to be young, a teenager possibly. He displayed a terrified expression, alternating his vision between all the creatures in the alley.
“Please do not harm me! I have done nothing to offend,” he pleaded. The hulking guard held him firmly in place.
“Relax, citizen,” Urous said. “I do not intend to hurt you.” He then lifted the MK-64 and sent a tight, blue-white bolt of energy into the chest of the teenager. The guard released the limp body and let it slip to the ground.
“See, that did not hurt at all, did it?” Urous cocked his head, as if listening for the reply to his question that never came. He looked over at Adam and Sherri; both expressions of shock and disgust on their faces. “I’m sure at this very moment he feels no pain.” He looked down at the power monitor on the rail barrel of the MK. It had barely moved.
“This is magnificent!” he said, holding the weapon up to his guards. “And it uses standard power packs?”
“Yes it does,” Adam answered, now growing cautious as the guards slowly slipped in behind him and Sherri. He knew what was coming next.
Urous stepped in closer to Adam. “This weapon is surely worth three hundred korlons. However, the problem I have at this time is that since it is illegal to sell weapons, it is also illegal to buy them. Therefore, I believe I will simply take this weapon as a gift. If you wish to bring me the other two – no, the other three – then I will consider a korlon exchange for those. This initial transaction will be a sign of goodwill on your part.”
Adam looked at Sherri, a thin, wry grin on his face. He looked at Urous next. “I’m afraid that won’t do. We need the korlons now, and as a matter of fact, I do insist on the thousand for this weapon. Three hundred is far too low.”
The O’mly criminal looked genuinely confused. “I do not understand; are you Jusepi insane to some degree? You are in no position to bargain.” He pointed the weapon at Adam’s forehead. “You are an alien with an attitude, and I do not tolerate such things. Let us forgo any future transactions; I will take this one and be satisfied.”
He pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
He pulled it again and again. “You have attempted to sell me a defective weapon! You deceive me. Juious, Maineln, kill them!”
Sherri was the first to react. In the lighter gravity of Aslon, her movements were swift as lightning. She spun around and sent a fist into the side of the nearest guard. As was customary when a Human struck an alien, the sound of cracking bone was loud and distinctive. The leather-skinned being buckled over, and when Sherri followed through with a crushing left to the beast’s head, it was all over.
Adam, in the meantime, had whipped his right leg around and tripped the second guard, sending him tumbling to the ground even as alien withdrew his own flash weapon. Adam didn’t follow through; instead he stood and watched with an amused grin as the guard began to trigger the device … along with the ever-increasing look of panic each time the gun remained silent. Tiring of this, Adam sent a powerful kick to the guard’s head.
Urous stood with his back against a wall of the alley, his eyes wide with shock. His mouth began to tremble as the Human approached. Adam snatched the MK-64 from the alien, pointed it down the alley and pulled the trigger. A brilliant flash erupted from the barrel.
“I believe it is time to renegotiate our original transaction,” he said to the trembling crime lord. “Since it is illegal for us to do a deal, I believe a simple charitable contribution would be in order. Empty your pockets!”
The native complied, and Adam was soon in possession of over five thousand korlons. “Now doesn’t that make you feel all warm inside? You have donated to a very worthy cause.”
Next he leaned in closer to the alien, until their faces were only inches apart. “Now, I can let you live … or you can die right here. The choice is yours. But I must warn you, if you report any of this to anyone, I will find you and I will kill you. Do you believe me?”
Urous nodded rapidly.
Adam smiled. He stood back, and on an impulse, handed the MK-64 back to Urous. The alien was shocked and at first refused to take it.
“Go ahead. These weapons do not affect us, so take it. I make it a gift … in exchange for your contribution. Just remember what I said. Say nothing or you will die.”
Adam turned to Sherri and cocked his head toward the main street. They began to move off. At the intersection of the alley and the street, Adam turned to look at Urous again. The alien was looking at the MK, unsure what to do. “Go ahead, try it,” Adam commanded.
With an angry, determined looked, Urous raised the weapon at Adam and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He then pointed it down the alley and tried again. This time the alley was filled with a brilliant white flash. Urous looked at Adam with a look of confusion and panic.
“You have no idea what we’re capable of,” he said to the alien. “Don’t attempt to find out.”
Once on the street, the two Humans hurried toward the spaceport. Sherri glanced at a smug-looking Adam Cain. “On second thought, I might consider getting me one of those nifty devices,” she said. “I can see where they can come in handy.”
For a reply, Adam just smiled wider, as a small ball of bright static electricity formed above his head.
“Oh my,” Sherri said, “now he’s having delusions of grandeur!”
53
&
nbsp; Nigel McCarthy…
When the room in the laboratory complex was clear of the Human prisoners, Kronis stepped up to McCarthy and began to slap his face multiple times. Even though he was only pretending to be unconscious, Nigel finally had enough. He opened his eyes and glared at the huge alien.
“Ah, you are awake. Are your thoughts functioning? You did take a severe beating at the hands of your own kind. You Humans are a strange race indeed.”
“I understand you, Kronis,” Nigel managed to say while acting as though each word was a struggle.
“Excellent! Now tell me about the treasure.”
“Only for my freedom. Let me get to my ship and leave, then it will all be yours.”
“Yes, yes, that is acceptable, but what treasure do you speak of?”
Nigel pretended to doze off again, but quickly opened his eyes before Kronis could hit him again. He’d been hit enough for one day. “It’s the bounty from our earlier days of pirating. We’ve built a sizeable fortune.”
“How sizeable?” Monick asked.
“I would say it’s in the range of fifty million Expansion credits.”
Nigel was relieved to see the eyes of the three scientists grow large with excitement. “That is indeed a sizeable amount, Ma-Jor,” Kronis said. “Even though the three of us intend to use our medallions to acquire even more wealth over time, having this treasure to begin with shall be quite helpful. Where is it kept?”
“Not until I have been seen to medically and have been guaranteed that you will set me free.”
“You have our guarantee, but what of your other Humans? Do you wish their freedom as well?”
“Why should I? They nearly killed me. And your guarantee is questionable. After all, look what you have done to my men.”
“The other Humans serve no purpose,” Monick stated. “You have value. We will keep our word to you.”
“Good. Then get me some medical care. I believe some of my ribs are broken, and I may also have a skull fracture.”
The third scientist released the wheel-locks on the table where he rested and the trio began to push him into another room three doors down from his current location in the laboratory complex. As he moved down the corridor, lying on his back with his eyes closed, he could feel the presence of his medallions growing ever-stronger. Within seconds he knew they were in a room adjacent to where they moved him. He was now within range.
Nigel McCarthy activated one of the medallions and established a clear link between his mind and the device. His senses suddenly came alive, as the tiny artificial telepathy module began to scan all the electronics within most of the base. He turned his head as two of the scientists rushed off to get medicines, as well as an alien x-ray machine to scan for his supposedly broken ribs. Now only Kronis remained in the room.
The large alien – who resembled a talking silverback gorilla – turned his back on Nigel and activated a bank of medical monitors at a nearby console. McCarthy used the opportunity to release the latch on his collar restraint. Then he slipped off the table and approached the alien from behind.
Kronis’s acute eyesight spotted Nigel’s reflection in one of the monitors. Although he had excellent eyesight, his movements were slow and uncoordinated, so Nigel simply reached around the alien’s thick neck and ripped the medallion away from his body. He then tossed it to the floor and shattered it with the heel of his boot.
The large Vizzen inhaled sharply as his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed back onto the medical console. His fainting spell lasted only a moment.
“What have you done? That was my only attuned module!”
“Tough shit, Kronis, now stay here.”
Nigel left the small examination room and activated the electronic lock with a thought, securing the alien scientist inside. Next to it was the data center where his back-up medallions were secured. They were in a cabinet with a coded access pad where the narcotics were also stored. It was child’s play for Nigel to hack into the microprocessor for the locking mechanism and break the code. He opened the cabinet and fumbled around inside until he found a shiny metal box that seemed to draw him to it. He flipped open the lid and found his three medallions. Instinctively he knew which one had been fully activated. He pulled it from the box and wrapped the silver chain around his neck. After placing the other two in a pocket of his pants, he lifted the silver disk from his chest and looked down at it lovingly. Let this be the last time I’m ever without one of these things, he thought. The bond with the medallion was complete, and he would have sworn the device returned the sentiment.
He heard a commotion outside the office and when he opened the door, the other two scientists were in the corridor. They had used their own medallions to unlock the door to the examination room and Kronis was just then passing through the doorway. The three aliens panicked when they saw Nigel; Monick went to draw the MK-17 he wore around his skinny waist, but it wasn’t quick enough.
Nigel was tired of playing games with these aliens. Besides, he had taken quite a beating by his men – especially Garrett Linfield – and he was looking to transfer some of the pain he felt to someone else. So he stepped into the tall alien and inserted a short, yet powerful right hand into the creature’s solar plexus – if he had a solar plexus. The alien was stunned and offered no resistance as Nigel ripped the MK from his hand and then placed a Level-2 bolt into the chest of the scientist.
The third scientist was taller and more athletic than Kronis, so Nigel pointed the weapon at him next and pulled the trigger, after which he aimed it at Kronis.
Once again, the eyes of the fat alien rolled back in his head and he passed out, this time crumbling to the metal floor of the corridor. While waiting for him to regain consciousness, Nigel removed the medallions from around the necks of the two dead aliens and placed them in another pocket of his pants.
Kronis was moaning now, and Nigel grabbed him by the arm and lifted him to a standing position. “You have one chance to save your life … and only one,” Nigel growled at the traitorous scientist. “You will place all the files on how to build and tune the medallions onto a mobile drive and then destroy all the originals.”
“Of course, Ma-Jor, will do all you ask … for my life!”
“Lead the way, Kronis.”
Half an hour later, Nigel McCarthy was in possession of a small, hand-held data card containing all he would need to build more telepathy devices. He corrected his thought process: information needed for others to build the devices. If there was one thing Nigel McCarthy was not, it was a scientist. But he would find others who were, and with the plan that had been echoing in his brain since the last time he’d spoken with Captain Mark Henderson aboard the Phoenix, he could soon have all the resources necessary to rebuild his criminal empire.
Yet before boarding one of the nine Exitor-class spaceships docked at the base and heading for his next destination, McCarthy had one last task to tend to.
He stepped over the corpse of Kronis Nur and headed for the hangar where the other Humans were being held. He opened the door, sending brilliant light from the outer corridor flooding inside. The dismal array of Human survivors squinted through the light, struggling to make out the figure standing in the doorway. When they saw it was Nigel, their faces lit up. His plan had worked! They were free.
In their joy and relief, the prisoners failed to see the MK-17 held in Nigel’s right hand, along with the three extra power packs in his left. Even as the first deadly Level-1 bolts struck the men around them, the last to die were still smiling at the end, with tears of joy flowing down their gaunt cheeks.
54
Adam Cain…
As the two Humans entered the spaceport, Adam began to detect the distinctive signatures of flash weapons aboard the Pegasus. He had been half-expecting this, knowing that the O’mly named Limous seemed anxious to take possession of Adam’s ship. A cycle on Aslon could be a day or an hour. Either way, Adam could sense a conflict coming. He told Sherri of his fin
dings.
“I’ll be ready,” she said. “Just be careful. Those fingernails of his look deadly.”
They approached the open hatch to the Pegasus where two O’mly stood guard, stern and serious looks on their faces. They said nothing as Adam and Sherri entered the ship. Limous was found in the pilothouse, seated as best he could manage in the smallish – for an O’mly – pilot’s seat.
“I have the korlons you need,” Adam said without waiting to be asked.
Limous nodded. “That is very good. You Jusepi are very resourceful.” He turned his attention back to the pilot’s console. “You have a remarkable ship here, quite advanced. I do not believe you told me your name?”
“Names are familiar, and your guide specifically warned against becoming too familiar with the O’mly. If it matters, I am Kaylor Linn Todd.” Kaylor was actually the name of Adam’s most-trusted alien friend. A Belsonian, it had been Kaylor and his co-pilot Jym who had saved his life – for the first time – many years ago.
“Well, Arolus Linn Todd, as I mentioned, this is a remarkable ship, one I believe is well-beyond the technical capabilities of your race. Yes, I have done some research since last we met. I do know that your race is at war with the parasitic Human race, an event that only just began within the past two forgon-cycles. If your people indeed possess this level of technology, then I believe the war will be short-lived and with your people as the victors.”