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

by T. R. Harris

  With his attention still glued to the images streaming across the screen, Nigel cocked his head towards Dinis Grof. “I assume you’ve sent units after them.”

  ‘Yes, of course,” Dinis said with indignation. “And I had hoped to have him back in custody before the end of the ceremony, yet their rescue ship is one equipped with the new concentrated-array gravity drive. They also did some maneuvers that left the pursuers unable to track them.”

  “She let them get away,” Simone summed up for Nigel.

  “I did not let them get away. I did everything I could under normal circumstances.”

  “And they’re still gone—”

  “Shut the fook up!” Nigel commanded. “The bigger question I see is how the bloody hell did they get here in the first place? I’ve had Cain captive for six months, and even if they came on the rumored second ship Kroekus was building, that is still not enough time for them leave Earth, meet up with the ship, make the crossing and then have time to devise a rescue plan that held any chance for success. The numbers do not add up.”

  “Unless they had already been on their way as part of Cain’s initial mission and were only a few months behind,” Simone offered.

  Nigel shook his head. “I’ve spent the past six months beating the crap out of Mr. Cain, and I’ve never gotten the impression that there were more of them coming. A man like Cain doesn’t give up like he has if he believes backup is on the way. They had to come on the second ship.”

  “But you just said the numbers don’t add up.”

  “They don’t. Adding a month for prep before leaving, and a month gaining their footing here in Tanic to devise a rescue plan, that would only leave four months for the transit, maybe less.”

  “That’s impossible,” Simone said.

  “And yet here they are.”

  “So how did they get here so fast?”

  164

  “It feeds on dark matter,” Kaylor said to Adam.

  The former Navy SEAL was wrapped in a warm blanket and reclining on one of the three couches in the common room aboard the rescue ship. Adam had managed to impress even himself with his rapid recovery over the past three days—at least physically. He had been fed some proper food and shot up with enough feel-good drugs to supply a ‘60’s hippie convention for a fortnight; even his mind was snapping back, at least enough for him to ask how the team got to the Large Magellanic Cloud.

  “What the hell is dark matter?”

  “That a term used by the Humans, but it is a naturally occurring form of matter that exists mainly between galaxies. It serves as a steering mechanism for the universe, helping to shape galaxies and place them within clusters. Our form of continuous-wormhole communications relies on the structure of dark matter to help establish connections.”

  “I’m still at a loss.”

  Kaylor was being unusually patient with Adam, realizing how much he’d been through over the last six months. “That’s understandable, Adam, I was just as shocked to learn of it myself, yet it seems Kroekus and his scientists found a way to harness dark matter in the formation of the gravity wells that drive our ships. We are headed for the second great ship Kroekus built for operation in the Cloud—as you Humans call it. Within it, we were about to make the transit between galaxies in only ninety-two standard days.”

  Adam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His trip to Tanic had taken eleven months, yet now Kaylor was saying the time had been cut to less than a third of that. “Yet the gravity wells would have to be…incredible,” he finally managed to say.

  “Indeed! For fact, the Silean’s second ship employs twenty-four focusing rings, compared to twelve on his first ship and even the eight rings in the Pegasus. And yet, all twenty-four rings can only be engaged simultaneously while in intergalactic space, and not within a galaxy. The wells are too deep to be used anywhere near star systems. The disruption would be too great.”

  “But that would take an incredible amount of matter, and there’s not enough in intergalactic space to maintain well-integrity.”

  “Not normal matter, yet there is an overabundance of dark matter available. That is what is so revolutionary about the process. Travel within galaxies may not have changed much with this technology yet travel between galaxies has advanced radically. And hence, we are here to affect your rescue.”

  “But how did you even know I was being held prisoner—”

  “I let them know,” said a voice from behind Adam’s head on the couch. The form of Dracus Worden came to stand next to the couch, looking down at Adam. “Once I found myself back in Polimor space after the Goliath attack, I made contact with your friend Riyad Tarazi on Earth and filled him in on the situation.”

  Sherri, Riyad and Andy walked into the room next, with a young man trailing behind them and looking strangely familiar. “And once the word got out that you needed help, I never had a shortage of volunteers,” Riyad said with his trademark smile.

  Sherri sat down on the couch next to Adam and grasped his right hand. “We didn’t know if we were on a rescue mission…or a recovery mission—recovery of your body. I know I speak for all of us that we’re glad it was a rescue and not the alternative. How did you survive so long at the hands of that madman?”

  Adam felt a shiver rack his body. “I can’t say whether I did survive or not. I guess only time will tell.”

  “You’ll be fine,” said Rear Admiral Andy Tobias with a grin.

  “Is that an order, sir?”

  “Damn right it is!”

  Adam then frowned and looked harder at the young man standing to the rear of the reception party. The brilliant cobalt-blue eyes, freckled face and short, red hair made Adam suddenly cringe with fear and disgust.

  Andy saw the look of primitive animal hatred come over Adam’s face, and it was obvious to all he knew the truth.

  Nigel was mesmerized by the rescue video. Here were people who should not exist in this galaxy, yet here they were. Somehow they had managed to get here, and most likely within the time frame Adam was held captive—six months. The implications of such a feat went far beyond shocking. Could transits between galaxies now be reduced to less than half a year? That was less time than it once took to get from the Earth to The Fringe Worlds, right at the edge of the Far Arm of the Milky Way.

  Nigel had once counted the lack of Humans in the Tanic Galaxy as a negative, now he could see how eventually having thousands, if not millions of them trapesing around his galaxy could spell disaster for the neat little empire he was building. And if there was one thing he was certain of, if there was new territory to explore—and exploit—his fellow man would be all over it.

  And yet his most immediate concern was not the future Humans who would come to the Tanic Galaxy, but rather the three new ones he was now watching on the huge screen. They were in the process of half-carrying Adam along the corridors of the DS-229 and toward the landing bay. Along the way, they would occasionally pass a dead crewmember, the result of their earlier passage through the ship.

  “They’re going to take him and return to the Milky Way,” Simone said, “and then everyone will know about what you’ve done here.”

  “They can learn that with CW comms, Simone. And no, they will not be returning to the Milky Way, at least not immediately.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean they’re not leaving until they’ve had a crack at me.”

  “Bullshit; they’ve just rescued their hero; there’s no way they would risk an attack on you, not now, not with you being Lord of the Clan.”

  “My poor, dear Simone,” said Nigel as the video showed the team reaching the landing bay without incident. “You’ve only heard stories of these people and you believe they think rationally. Yet these are not rational people. They will come after me, and if we’re not careful, they will succeed in their mission.”

  “And yet you are very well-guarded, My Lord,” said Dinis Grof.

  “Just as the DS-229 was guarded?” Simone’
s words caused Dinis to blanch.

  “That is a vessel; Nigel is the Lord of the Clan. No one will be allowed to get near him. I will see to it personally.”

  “And yet you don’t have a very good track record of maintaining adequate security,” Simone continued. As Vice-Lord of the Clan, Dinis was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Clan, including security issues.

  “How was I to know others of your species would attempt a rescue of the prisoner?”

  “It’s your job to anticipate these things. And they did more than just attempt a rescue; they actually pulled one off, and then got away from your security forces.”

  “How dare you question my—”

  “Silence…the both of you!” Nigel commanded. “Dinis, Simone is right. You’re in charge of security for the Clan.”

  “I cannot be held responsible for what others of your race do.”

  “Yes you can,” Simone said.

  Nigel waved his hand. “Simone’s right—and so is Dinis.” Both females jerked their heads in his direction. He went on to explain: “It was your responsibility, Dinis; yet Dinis is also correct that these are Humans we’re dealing with now. And that’s why I’m putting Simone in control of the Clan security from here on out.”

  Dinis opened her mouth to protest, but Nigel cut her short with another wave of his hand. “This doesn’t reflect upon your skills, Dinis. It’s just that we are now dealing with Humans as the major threat to me and to the Clan. I need an expert in Humans and Human nature. Simone, you’re it. Dinis, you will still be head of the rest.” He tried to grin but failed miserably.

  But then, as the video showed the team nearing the shuttle in the landing bay, with two mean-looking Rigorians standing guard outside the shuttle hatchway, Nigel noticed Kroekus’s old sidekick and advisor Dracus Worden stick his head out the main entrance hatch and look to where the rescue party were arriving.

  So, you traitorous nitwit, Nigel thought. You’re the reason the others are here—”

  Just then another figure poked his head out from under Dracus’s tall arm and looked into the landing bay. Nigel let out an audible gasp that caused both females to stop their bickering.

  Simone followed Nigel’s transfixed stare to the huge the view screen.

  She frowned. She saw the same slender, freckled faced, red-haired man. “Who that?” she asked….

  “Let me introduce the two of you,” offered Andy Tobias. “Eric, this is Captain Adam Cain, United States Navy SEALS. And Adam, this is Eric, Eric McCarthy.”

  Adam closed his eyes and shook his head. “Please tell me it’s just a sick coincidence.”

  There was an awkward moment of silence in the room before Adam opened his eyes again and looked hard at the young man.

  “You’re that bastard’s son.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “He’s on our side, Adam,” Sherri said in an effort to relieve the tension in the room.

  “Bullshit, he’s a McCarthy and so he’s only out for himself. What the hell is he doing here in the first place?”

  “I’m right here in the room with you, Mr. Cain, so please afford me some courtesy.”

  Everyone in the room that was not Adam or Eric suddenly went pale. Adam’s death-filled stare said it all: If I wasn’t such a wreck, I’d be all over you, you obnoxious little shit!

  “It’s true, Adam. Eric is working for us, and has been his entire life,” Sherri added.

  Adam squeezed his eyes tight before opening them again. “And what the hell does that mean?”

  “It means I was raised by Kroekus. It means I have never even met my biological father,” Eric answered for her.

  “You mean the same Kroekus who conspired against everyone for his own benefit, resulting in billions of deaths just so that he could rule the galaxy uncontested? That Kroekus?”

  “I had nothing to do with that. All I know now is that the being who raised me has been killed by the person who happens to be my biological father. I know all of what Nigel McCarthy has done—and continues to do. Why is it so hard for you to believe that I would find those deeds to be just as reprehensible as you?”

  Adam looked around at the others in the room, only to see deep frowns on all their faces. “Are you hearing this?” he asked. “Who talks like that?”

  “A Human raised by aliens,” Eric McCarthy offered, “just as all the Second-Generation Humans of the time.”

  “The 2G’s were traitors to their race,” Adam said. He could feel his face turning beet red as nearly every injury inflicted on his body by Eric McCarthy’s father screamed out for revenge.

  “We were ill-informed, Mr. Cain.”

  “And why were you treated so differently? Why were you not part of the revenge fleet? What makes you so special if Nigel didn’t give a shit about you?”

  “Eric is my first born,” Nigel explained to a visibly upset Simone Dubois.

  “You have children?” The question was redundant, but Nigel felt he had to explain.

  “I have lots of children; some estimates put it at over a hundred.”

  Simone’s jaw dropped open, while Dinis Grof simply frowned. “I did not realize Humans were such prolific breeders.”

  “We aren’t!” said Simone.

  Nigel smiled. “You have to remember, Simone, I was in charge of the Human procurement activities for the Klin for over ten years. The whole purpose of that program was to breed an army of Second-Generation Humans to man the Klin Revenge Fleet against the Juireans. At the time I was more than willing to do my part. And once a child was born, it was taken away to be raised by others.”

  “But this kid’s different?”

  “That’s right; as I said, Eric was my first born. At the time I fully expected to be placed as Earth’s emperor by the Klin after their victory, and so I naturally began to think of a royal lineage to succeed me.”

  “You Brits are into that sort of thing,” snapped Simone.

  “You may be from America, but your ancestors are French. They did their own fair share of royal worship, too.” Nigel looked back at the large screen and the image he’d frozen showing the partially obscured face of Eric McCarthy. “Eric was to be my heir.”

  “So how did he end up here?”

  “That I’m not sure of, yet when he was six the Klin plans fell apart—”

  “Adam Cain was involved in that,” Simone stated.

  “That’s correct. It was also the time when I started to secretly work with Kroekus. The richest creature in the galaxy wasn’t a bad partner to have, so I sent Eric to him to be raised and kept safe. Honestly, I lost contact with him over the years. I thought he was dead since Kroekus never mentioned him.”

  “Oh he’s alive all right and working with the very same group of Humans who once had you in shackles and headed to Earth for your final judgment.”

  Nigel frowned. “Yes, this is a curious turn of events, but the alien Dracus has known Eric since he first arrived in Kroekus’s court. He must have been watching after him all this time and has now brought him along with him to Tanic.”

  Simone looked up at the screen. “So whose side is he on? And I wonder if he knows what you did to Kroekus?”

  “If I had known he was here, I might have spared Kroekus and used him to lure Eric to me.”

  “You want to meet him?” Simone was shocked by the revelation.

  Nigel smiled. “Be it Earth or Tanic, I won’t live forever, and it would be nice to have an heir to the throne.” He watched as Simone fought with the conflict of emotions within her. He knew she was barren, so no such heir would come from her. She also knew that placing herself between father and son could be risky, very risky.

  Yet at the moment, Nigel needed an answer to the question Simone had just raised: Whose side is Eric on?

  He also had to work through his own emotions regarding the subject. What if it was found that Eric had indeed allied himself with his enemy? Mentally, Nigel shrugged. He had had no contact with his son for ove
r thirteen years, so to Nigel the kid was a stranger. If he was now part of the enemy camp, then he would suffer their same fate.

  He turned to Dinis, who had been strangely quiet for the past few minutes, not being part of the conversation regarding heirs and lineage. “There’s a super starship hiding somewhere in the Tanic Galaxy. The people who rescued Adam Cain are in a short-range shuttle, so the ship must be somewhere within a thousand light-years from here. I want every available ship in space and looking for it. The repairs on the Goliath are still two weeks out, and until it’s operational we are vulnerable.”

  “It is one ship—”

  “Have you not seen the Goliath?” Nigel interrupted. “We already know this new ship is faster; we have to also assume she is deadlier, too. And there are Humans aboard, how many I don’t know.”

  “And what if the ship is located—and your offspring is aboard?”

  Nigel pursed his thin, pink lips. He looked at Simone. “Until it’s proven otherwise, we have to assume he is working with Cain and his team. If we find the ship, we attack, and with everything we’ve got.”

  “And our other battle campaigns?”

  “Simone, I want you to take over for the Clan Tactical Council. We must scale back our efforts elsewhere, yet do not jeopardizing any of our current operations. Let’s not lose any battles, but also not start anything new until this second ship is located and destroyed. Is all this clear to the both of you?”

  “I will proceed immediately,” said Dinis as she headed for the door; however, she hesitated leaving when she noticed Simone was not following. After an awkward moment, she slide the door open and reluctantly left the room.

  “So how are you going to learn the truth about Eric?” Simone asked after the door clicked shut.