The Human Chronicles Saga : Boxset #2 (The Human Chronicles Saga Boxsets)

by T. R. Harris

  Without bothering with the ladder, Adam pushed his way backwards out of the portal and drifted slowly to the surface of the asteroid. “Grab the ladder,” he ordered, “and get the tractor back in the ship. We have no time!”

  Nurick obeyed, as Adam bounded past him and into the Pegasus through the open bay door. He entered the small airlock located off to the left of the main pressure door to the interior and a minute later was in the central corridor and on his way to the bridge, his spacesuit now a disheveled mess strewn along the deck.

  As he entered the bridge, he sensed the cargo bay door closing and assumed Nurick was aboard. He activated the tac screen. It was one thing to face one of these alien spaceships in open space. It was another to be sitting on the surface with a warship controlling the high ground.

  Even though the ship was still a thousand miles out, waves of scanning energy had already impacted the Pegasus, if only from a distance. The returning signal would be faint, but something that would definitely be singled out for investigation.

  Adam main concern now was that when he charged up the generators the Pegasus would light up like a flare on a moonless night. They were already well within flash cannon range, and even activating the shields would mark their location.

  Nurick entered the bridge and took one quick look at the tac screen before panicking. “They are too close!” he screamed. “They will blast us while we are still on the surface.”

  “Not if I can help it. Buckle in, I have an idea.”

  Running along the entire length of the Pegasus were numerous air vents which were used to purge the interior of oxygen in the event of a fire. Through four of these vents on the underside of the ship, Adam released a series of quick air bursts, and in the near-non-existent gravity of the asteroid, the Pegasus lifted smoothly off the surface.

  “That was impressive,” said Nurick. “Now what?”

  Adam ignored him. Instead, he now sent bursts from the vents in the cargo bay and the Pegasus began to slowly move forward and out from the shadow of the steep cliff. He continued along this course for two minutes, increasing the intensity of the venting as they went until the Pegasus was moving along at a pretty good clip.

  The horizon of the asteroid was only a few miles away at any given moment, so Adam had to keep venting from the top of the Pegasus, as well as the rear, to keep her from flying off into space. He wasn’t ready for that to happen, not just yet.

  Soon they had wrapped around the huge rock and were now on the opposite side from the approaching Polimor vessel. And that was when Adam energized the generators.

  “This will only give us a jump,” Adam said to Nurick. “Within a split second of initiating a well, they’ll see us.”

  “There are only six mods installed. Will that be enough?”

  “It should be. Six is good, eight is better, but we should still be faster than any of them. Get ready—here we go.”

  With the press of a button, a series of microscopic singularities began to form in front of the Pegasus and the ship surged forward, immune from the laws of Einstein and Newton by her unique location just inside the event horizon of the black hole, and always a finite distance from the singularities created by the focusing rings.

  Yet almost immediately, a barrage of flash bolts struck from the rear—as well as from above.

  There was now a second Polimor ship closing from above, having either been alerted by the first vessel of a possible contact, or simply joining up after a fruitless search of their own rock. Either way, there were now two ships shooting at them.

  “Shields are holding; however….” Nurick let his report trail off.

  “However what?”

  “Power is dropping to the engines.”

  Adam had noticed the same thing just as Nurick spoke. With six power-mods—three ring pairs—there should have been plenty of power for both the engines and the shields. But the readings were correct. Each time they were hit with a flash bolt, the computer had to reroute energy to the diffusion screens…and the Pegasus lost well-intensity.

  “It must be your foreign power-mods,” said Adam. “You’re sure they’re hybrids?”

  “I know my business, Adam. Don’t blame the mods, but rather the foreign nature of your technology.”

  “It’s not foreign to me, but either way, we’re bleeding energy like a sieve, and we’ve only just started our getaway.”

  “It would be better if they would stop shooting at us?”

  Adam stopped what he was doing and glared at Nurick with an ‘I can’t believe you just said that’ kind of look. “Maybe if you ask them nicely they just might do that.”

  “Highly unlikely,” Nurick said. “Yet if you wish me to try, I will.”

  “No, don’t bother. Instead, shut down the forward and side screens, keeping only the rear active. I’m going to try to angle away, keeping only our six exposed while I redline this mother.”

  Adam didn’t wait for Nurick to decipher what he’d just said. Instead he worked the shields himself, and then sent every ounce of energy he could spare to the engines. The Pegasus began to open a gap between them and the hunters, even though a rogue energy bolt would occasionally strike the rear diffusion screen. Yet as the distance increased, the intensity of the bolts diminished rapidly, and soon they were out of range and in the clear.

  With the rear screen no longer necessary Adam shut it down, freeing up even more power for the engines.

  “That bought us some time, but not as much as I wanted,” he said. “We need to get the other pair online—and also figure out how to reconfigure your stupid energy modules. We should have plenty of power with six mods working.”

  “I am at a loss as to the reason for the power drop off. It could be a compatibility issue, or one of improper installation.”

  Adam turned an accusatory eye to Nurick. “They were installed correctly, dickhead; you were there with me.” The term dickhead threw Nurick for a loop, but Adam rushed right past it. “These things are simple, both to install and to operate. Like you said, it must be a compatibility issue. If that’s the case, then I can’t promise we’ll have the advantage I was hoping for once all eight rings are operating.”

  “You could always surrender,” said Nurick, his face displaying sincere conviction. “I will even do my best to serve as a witness in your defense. It seems that most of what has transpired has been providence or simply bad luck.”

  “Amen to that, buddy, but I’m not ready to give up—not yet. I just hope we have the power to make it to Karlis. I’m not sure how long these mods will last under this workload.”

  137

  The planet Karlis was four days out from the asteroid field, and during that time they’d managed to stay ahead of the other ships, but not by much. Even then, it looked as though only two of the starships were still in the hunt. These were probably the two that joined the posse from outside Vicor—the so-called Polimor Security Force. As predicted, the Enforcer ships had reached the limits of their jurisdiction and been called home, leaving the pursuit to the more ubiquitous Clan Security ships. If that were the case, then why were they chasing them in the first place? The crimes that took place on Vicor were minor and localized, and certainly wouldn’t warrant calling in the Galactic FBI.

  The questions were numerous and perplexing, yet Adam didn’t really care about the why? All he cared about was the how. Like how was he going to get through this and back on mission? All that had taken place since he first set down on Vicor had been nothing but a time-consuming distraction. The sooner he could get the last of the mods installed—and get Nurick off his ship—the sooner he could get back to his mission. And until it was completed, Adam knew he couldn’t go home again. And home was sounding pretty good right about now.

  Adam orbited the planet Karlis a couple of times until they found a suitable place to land, which turned out to be a large open field about ten miles south of a modest-size city. According to Nurick, the Karliseans had modest technology and only
limited space travel, brought to them by the Vicoreans a few hundred years before. The Vicoreans and Karliseans had an affiliation going back that long and Nurick said it would okay for him to left on the planet.

  But Adam wasn’t going to do that, not now. He had come to suspect that the power-mods Nurick had sold him were inferior in some way, either with energy consumption or compatibility. If the alien was such a so-called expert then he should have known the mods wouldn’t work in Adam’s ship, and until he had that issue worked out he wasn’t going to let the Vicorean out of his sight.

  Adam knew they would only have a few hours to get the last two mods hooked up, and then to replace as many of the other units as they could, seeing that they were already half-drained after only four days of operation.

  Once on the surface Karlis, Adam drove the small tractor out of the cargo hold and positioned it near one of the two rings ports with depleted power-modules. Nurick was with him, standing at the bottom of the ladder and ready to hand Adam tools as needed.

  “Mods shouldn’t bleed that much power in only four days, and you know it,” he said to Nurick just before he ducked into the port. “I’m beginning to think this isn’t just a compatibility issue, otherwise they’d still be holding a charge. This is something else.”

  “I assure you, the units are top-rated. Your system must be so powerful that it absorbs energy greater than normal.”

  “No shit, Sherlock. That’s why I need hybrids. You did sell me hybrids, didn’t you?”

  “Of course; you can tell by the designation. And my name is Nurick, not Sherlock.”

  Adam shook his head in disgust, and with a final sigh, entered the focusing ring port head first.

  Nurick waited until the Human was fully ensconced within the focusing ring access portal before running off toward the nearest grove of trees. It felt good to be running again; it was a superior trait of the Vicoreans which made them the swiftest land animal on their planet.

  The breeze pushed back his long ears, sending them fluttering against the sides of his head as he ran through the cool morning air. He rushed through the first grove of trees and up a slight hill before heading down a longer slope to where more trees were found. The gravity of this world was slightly less than Vicor, which only added to his quickness. His dodged the trees at the base of hill, using his long tail to balance his moves.

  He would continue along this path, up the next hill and on for another five minutes before stopping. That should put him far enough away from the Human beast. He smiled, letting his tongue flop out of his mouth as he did so. The hapless alien would have no way of finding him, and then he would make his way to the small community they had seen upon their descent and send a message to the approaching security units. They would rescue him, while also dealing with the dangerous alien.

  Nurick thought it would be wise if they simply blasted the alien starship to ashes. Even though the ship contained revolutionary propulsion technology, it would be better for the Vicorean way of life if it remained a mystery—at least until others arrived from Silea, bringing with them the evitable end to Vicor’s monopoly on energy—

  Nurick skidded to a stop, his booted feet digging deeply into the moist soil just beyond the crest of the far hill. He blinked several times, hoping that what he saw was simply a hallucination brought about from the chemicals now coursing through his brain as a result of his euphoric sprint for freedom. Yet no such luck; the image was real.

  The Human Adam Cain had also just emerged from the tree line at the top of the hill, the same as he. The pink alien appeared to hesitate for a moment, as he placed his hands on his knees and bent over, breathing heavily. But then he began to scan the crest of the ridge—until his gaze fell upon Nurick. The Vicorean couldn’t decide if the Human’s expression was one of anger or amusement, or a combination of both.

  Nurick didn’t wait around to find out. He turned away from the alien and began to sprint faster than he had ever in his life down the side of the hill. There was a narrow river at the base, and with the leaping abilities of the Vicoreans, Nurick was hoping to scale the river and leave the Human behind. Still, he had no idea how the Human had managed to follow—

  Just then something yanked at the collar of his shirt, pulling him backwards and off his feet. He fell, tumbling down the steep slope countless times. He felt rocks impact his thin skin and the taste of the soil of this foreign planet filled his mouth. Eventually he came to a rest on the muddy bank of the shallow river, facedown and with sharp points from river rock assaulting his body. He rolled over and tested his limbs for any permanent damage. He appeared to be okay, only bruised and bleeding from numerous small cuts.

  And then a shadow moved over him. He squinted into the alien sun as the figure moved to block the blinding light from his eyes.

  “That was dumb,” a voice said. He knew immediately that it was the voice of the Human, Adam Cain.

  Nurick hurried to his feet, and found the shorter creature standing very near, still breathing heavily. “How did you catch me?” Nurick blurted, curiosity supplanting any fear he should have felt at the moment.

  “By being faster than you, that would be my guess. But I must say, I did enjoy the jog; it’s been a while.”

  Nurick looked past the alien and up the hill he had just rolled down. “It should have been impossible for you to follow? Nothing can run that fast.”

  Adam Cain shook his head. “That is just one more thing you’re going to have to accept, Nurick; you’re not the fastest creature around—not even close.”

  So both stronger—and faster; what more can this odd creature do that is beyond the realm of possibility? Nurick wasn’t about to test him again.

  “Now if you’re done playing around, let’s get back to the ship. I need some real answers about the mods you sold me. They’re obviously flawed somehow. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you sold me some defective or deficient modules.”

  “So you know better? That is good, and confirmation of what I have been saying.”

  “No, it means I don’t know better.”

  “And yet you just said—”

  “Never mind!” Adam took a deep breath as the veins in his neck pulsed. “I think you sold me some crappy modules—now do you understand?”

  “Crappy appears to have a vulgar and unsanitary connotation. I assure you I did not sell you crappy modules.” Nurick wrinkled his moist, black nose. “Who would do such a thing?”

  Adam grabbed the Vicorean by the collar of his shirt and pulled him in closer. “I think you sold me defective modules. Is that plain enough for you, Nurick? What do you say about that?”

  Fear had now replaced the confusion in the eyes of the alien. “You left me no choice but to provide downgrades, so it is really your fault this has happened!” Nurick confessed.

  “How did you come to that conclusion?” Adam tossed the creature backwards into the mud of the river bank.

  “By negotiating such a low price for the modules, I could only provide mods with lower specifications than you required,” Nurick said. “I told you the price was too low! The mods you have will work, just not for as long as the hybrids.”

  Adam found the tranquility of the river and the familiarity of the oak-like trees nearby to be comforting yet distracting. From what he’d seen, this world was very Earth-like, except for the gravity. He shook off the bout of nostalgia and regret that threatened to overwhelm him and turned his attention back to Nurick.

  “You’re lucky we didn’t have to engage in any fancy evasive maneuvers on the way here. That would have drained even more power, and we would have never made it to Karlis. So what are you going to do to make this right?”

  “I do not understand?” Nurick said. “I am under no obligation to correct this circumstance, seeing that technically you have not consummated the original transaction with payment.”

  “Don’t play games with me, Nurick; you’re in enough trouble already. Don’t try my patience.”

&nb
sp; “All I can offer is an alternative.”

  “What alternative?”

  “Hybrid modules are not manufactured on Vicor, at least not the ones you requested.”

  “Where then?”

  “On a planet called Disenlore. You could go there and purchase the mods you require directly from the manufacturer….”

  Adam noticed Nurick hesitate. “Go on. What’s the problem?”

  “They only sell through channelers—like me—and yet with your unique negotiating skills, I am sure they will accommodate you.”

  “Bullshit—you’re coming with me.”

  Adam watched the expression on the face of the Vicorean switch from confusion at the term bullshit—they all did the same—to one of abject resignation. “I assumed you would say that,” Nurick said. “So there will be no convincing you to leave me here?”

  “Not a chance. First of all, I can’t risk the chance that the manufacturer won’t sell me the modules. And number two, I can’t trust you not to tell others where I’m headed. Oh, and a third reason: This planet Disenlore may not even exist, since you’re such a lying asshole. So until I have confirmation of all the above, you’re staying with me.”

  Adam grabbed the arm of the Vicorean, pulling up off the ground and shoving him in the direction of the Pegasus. “Now get moving, and if you don’t mind, I would prefer to walk back to the ship; I’m not as young as I once was…that’s for sure.”

  It took the pair twenty minutes to walk back to the ship, and even before they arrived, Adam was feeling sick to his stomach.

  Though he didn’t see the ships descending from the sky, he still heard and felt the rumbles coming from the direction of the Pegasus. He was sure by now the LZ would be swarming with aliens—and he had run off after Nurick without taking a weapon.