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

by T. R. Harris

  Of course, he always had the Goliath. His flagship had the firepower of a thousand conventional ships, so if worst came to worst he’d have to do the task himself.

  “Nigel, you better come look at this,” Simone said from her bridge station to his right. He had selected her for the journey to the Large Magellanic Cloud because she had military experience as part of the Juirean occupation force—along other, more personal and selfish reasons.

  He looked at her screen, which showed a long-range representation of the battle taking place around the Golan Cluster. At first he didn’t see it, but then as the seconds passed, the anomaly became more noticeable. It was a gravity signature, but one of unusual characteristics.

  “That’s a ship, isn’t it?” he said.

  “That’s right. I’ve tried to pin it down more, but either it’s a very intense localized signature, or a very powerful one at a greater distance.”

  “It’s growing, so we’ll know soon enough. Captain!” Nigel called out to the bridge commander. “We have a new target closing from two hundred degrees to port—from our left. It’s huge and I believe it to be the Leviathan. Tactical, break units from the Cluster and arrange a screen between us and the approaching target. Charge weapons and place all dampers at full. It seems the bloody enemy has pulled a fast one on us.”

  170

  It hadn’t been easy moving the Leviathan from inside the Golan Cluster without being noticed, at least by Mios and his fleet. They had done so using only a fraction of the twenty-four focusing rings they had available so as to disguise the signature as that of a conventional starship. In the end it worked, and the mighty ship had sat off at a distance of a hundred light-years and watched the battle develop.

  But now it was time to engage, and with the singular mission being the destruction of the Goliath.

  “Dropping to sub-light, Admiral,” reported Captain Krin. “All systems are online and at one hundred percent capacity.”

  Andy Tobias was sure he could detect an almost gleeful nature to the large lizard’s voice. Rigorians were not known to have a sense of humor, nor even a sense of joy. But now Andy realized that the warrior species lived for the thrill of the battle. There would be no fear from his captain; he would execute his orders and suffer the consequences without a moment’s hesitation.

  “Deploy the fighters,” Andy ordered. “Let’s scramble things up a little.”

  During the elaborate space battle taking place, Adam Cain didn’t have much to do. His expertise was in small-theater engagements, not something this expansive. And yet he wasn’t without a purpose. He was back in the comm center and once again watching Eric McCarthy, and when Nigel’s son entered a trans-ship elevator heading for the hangar deck, Adam left the comm room and followed.

  The ship was a study in controlled chaos at that time as the crew geared up for the face-to-face battle with the Goliath. Many of them were familiar with the prototype Kroekus had built and were aware of her capabilities. They also knew that the Leviathan was even more powerful and capable, so they moved about with confidence and purpose.

  The fighter crews were crowding the multiple hangar decks and six landing bays, running through last minute system checks and trying to control the nervous energy that was building up inside. Adam was sure there were a few veterans of the Battle of the Dysion Void among the fighter crews, yet for the bulk of them this would be their first real taste of battle. Fortunately, this would also a first for many of the enemy pilots as well, yet still Adam knew that the Kiran forces vastly outnumbered those of the Leviathan and the Polimors. In a normal battlefield assessment, this one would be lost before it even began, and the tragic deaths of thousands of young fighters.

  Yet this was not a normal battle. Once the Goliath was defeated, many of the Kirans were expected to lose the courage to fight, especially if the Leviathan was still operational and able to take a terrible toll on their numbers. The key, however, was taking out the Goliath, and it was the task of the fighters to soften up the target.

  Eric McCarthy exited the elevator on Level One, between launch bays five and six. He wore a standard Leviathan blue jumpsuit uniform, and except for the fact that he was the only Human on the floor, he blended in with all the other hundreds of crewmembers going about their duties.

  Adam held back until Eric entered bay five and then sprinted forward to the massive entry door. Eric was skirting the port bulkhead, apparently heading for a lone fighter set off by itself. Adam wasn’t even aware Eric knew how to pilot a craft like this, yet he seemed determined to get to this ship and without delay. An entry ladder was deployed from the cockpit, and without hesitation, Eric climbed up and reached inside. He withdrew a tact helmet and slipped it over his head.

  “So how we going to do this?’ Adam asked from the base of the entry ladder.

  Startled, Eric whipped around and glared down at Adam without saying a word.

  “Well, son, do we fight it out like men?”

  And then Eric smiled; too many times in the past Adam had seen that same wicked grin displayed on the face of Nigel McCarthy. It made him cringe.

  “I’d rather not, Mr. Cain. It fact I had a subtler idea in mind, and now that you’re here, I say it’s time to put the plan into action.”

  Adam saw Eric divert his eyes, to look down past him and to the floor where he stood. Not sure whether to break his own vision from Eric, Adam hesitated. But then he did a quick glance to the deck; it was a tiny, barely visible grid spread out at the base of the ladder. Comprehension came a moment too late, as fifty-thousand volts shot up through his body. The pain lasted only a second before Adam collapsed unconscious on the landing deck.

  Obscured as the fighter was from the rest of the hangar deck, Eric McCarthy climbed down the ladder and manhandled a deadweight Adam Cain into the rear seat of the two-seat fighter. Next he removed the chocks from the front wheels of the craft and then settled into the pilot seat with confidence. He secured the canopy and activated the drive train. The tiny craft began to move forward.

  Eric steered the dart-shaped craft to a point where it joined up with a parade of similar vessels heading for the launch airlock. Twenty-five at a time would enter and then launch, before the next cadre would repeat the process. Eric was in the third group to disembark the Leviathan.

  The tiny fighter had gravity compensators yet no artificial gravity. It could spare the pilot from the impossible g-forces of combat in space, yet that was all. At one point, Eric had to unstrap and reach behind him to secure the still unconscious Adam Cain in the safety harness, just to keep him from floating around the cockpit.

  A few minutes later, and as the units around him began to form up for an assault on the Kiran ships protecting the Goliath, Eric pointed the fighter in a direction ninety degrees to the north and punched the accelerator to the max.

  Almost immediately his comm began to blare as controllers aboard the Leviathan began to question his maneuver. Eric reached out and turned off the audio.

  Within a few minutes Eric McCarthy was a half-light-year above the plane of the battle that was just now beginning to light up the space behind him. It was then that he changed course, sweeping over the battle field until he could detect the massive gravity signature of the Goliath directly below him. He was sure observers aboard the warship could see him on their scopes yet being as well-shielded as they were he would be of no concern to them.

  And that’s when he punched in the access code Mios Valnon had given him and opened a link to the Goliath.

  “Attention Goliath, this is Eric McCarthy, the offspring of Lord Nigel McCarthy, requesting a link be established.” He repeated the message and then leaned back in the seat, waiting for the inevitable reply.

  An emaciated creature seated at the secure comm station on the bridge of the Goliath heard the message in his earphones. With so much chatter taking place between units, there were no broadcast comms allowed to muddle up the relative quiet of the bridge. The alien replayed the message
twice before deciding to act. He stood and nervously approached the Lord of the Kiran Clan.

  “Forgive the intrusion, My Lord, yet I have received a secure communication which may require your attention.”

  Nigel frowned. “Who’s it from?”

  “The voice claims to go by the name of Eric McCarthy. He further claims to be your offspring.”

  “And this is a secure comm link?”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Where is the source?”

  “That is the strange part. It is appearing from a point outside the field of engagement, at a ninety-degree angle above our current orientation.”

  Nigel took a moment to grin. He also noticed the concerned look on the face of Simone Dubois.

  “It could be a trap,” she said.

  “Of course it could, yet I was half expecting something like this.” He addressed the comm officer. “Have the link established here at my station.”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  The alien rushed away and within five seconds the face of Eric McCarthy, framed by the tact helmet he wore, appeared on the twelve inch screen at Nigel’s station.

  “I see you have grown since the last time I saw you,” Nigel said with a thin smile. Simone came to look at the screen from behind Nigel.

  “That’s what children tend to do, father.”

  “What do you want?” Simone said with venom in her tone.

  Nigel frowned and raised a hand to silence her. “Calm down, Simone. This is my flesh and blood you’re addressing, so how about a little courtesy?”

  “He’s with Cain!”

  “On the contrary, ma’am,” Eric said, his own grin spreading wide. He reached up and adjusted the cockpit camera to focus on the rear seat. Adam Cain was there, eyes closed, mouth open and drool draining out in the zero gravity.

  “I have a present for you, father, a prized possession I believe you lost a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Is he dead?”

  “No, just stunned.”

  “And now you wish to come aboard? You know there are those here who don’t trust you.” He cast a furtive glance back at Simone.

  “I’m just one man, what harm could I cause? Beside, father, I believe it’s time we met…and discussed the future. I see that your prospects here in the Tanic Galaxy are looking quite promising. I thought maybe we could share in some of the spoils—as father and son.”

  “Bullshit! He’s up to something!”

  “Now, my love, we must give young Eric the benefit of the doubt. And besides, he does return Cain to me. We’re on verge of destroying the pretentious Leviathan, and now I get to see Adam Cain die right before my eyes. That is bonus I had not been counting on.”

  “Don’t do this, Nigel, you’ll regret it.” Simone said with conviction.

  “Disengage your screens and discharge all weapons. Bleed the power into space so that even if you wanted to the weapons would be useless. A navigator will provide you a precise approach path. Don’t deviate from it by even a foot. Do all that and you may come aboard.”

  “Send the data, father. I am on my way. And please hurry. I don’t want Cain waking up while I’m still in this tiny fighter with him.”

  171

  “What do you mean you can’t find Adam?” Sherri was apoplectic. “He was in comm the last I heard from him.”

  “We can’t find Eric, either.” Riyad’s dark forehead was furrowed with deep crevasses of concern.

  “Shit! This can’t be happening. This place is huge—they have to be onboard.”

  “Eric’s tracker has been deactivated. It was found in hangar bay five.”

  Sherri’s mouth fell open. “You don’t think they left in a fighter, do you?”

  “If they did, we’ll never know about it. There are over five hundred that deployed, and most of them will never return.”

  “I have something here,” the bearlike alien Jym cried out from a nearby console. Sherri and Riyad rushed to his side.

  “Surveillance footage from the hangar deck, time stamped an hour ago.”

  The two Humans watched in horror as Adam collapsed to the deck in an epileptic-like seizure, followed by Eric McCarthy placing him in the back of the fighter craft.

  “Do we have the call sign for that fighter?” Riyad called out. Jym copied the video to another station on the bridge and an alien seated there soon came back with the reply. “Vessel exited the ship fifty-one minutes ago and was reported deviating from course shortly thereafter. Contact now lost with the craft and the transponder is not functioning.”

  “He’s taken him to the Goliath and back to Nigel,” Sherri said through clenched teeth.

  “Well, this complicates things,” said Riyad. “We’re supposed to destroy that ship, and now if we do, we take Adam with it.”

  Andy Tobias and Qwels Nur came up to the station. “I heard what happened,” Andy said.

  “What’s the plan, Admiral?” Riyad asked. Sherri was trembling from anger and fear.

  “We stick with the original plan. Nigel must be taken out, and if the only way of doing that is to destroy the Goliath, then we do it.”

  The silence was deafening as no one spoke for a full thirty seconds. Finally Sherri spoke: “This is pure shit. I can’t believe it’s come down to this. In order to kill McCarthy, we also have to kill Adam.”

  “First things first, Sherri,” said Admiral Tobias. “The Goliath will not be easy to kill, so let’s get our heads back in the game and get on with it.” He turned to Qwels. “How are your units holding up?”

  “Not well, Admiral. We are fighting with skill and vigor, yet the enemy has so many more units. We are in need of the Leviathan to assist in the bulk of the battle.”

  “That can only happen once the Goliath is gone.”

  “Then please make haste,” Qwels said. He looked at the forlorn expressions on the faces of the Humans. “Many will die this day,” he began. “Only in victory will their deaths be honored. Let us not forget them and what they fight for.”

  Tobias nodded. “He’s right; now let’s blast this bastard out of existence!”

  No fewer than fifteen guards surrounded the tiny fighter craft once it slipped into a nearly-deserted hangar bay and the atmosphere was pumped back in. Adam was placed on a cart and driven away, while Eric was escorted—still under guard—to the ready room off the bridge of the Goliath.

  Inside were Nigel and Simone. Eric noticed they each wore side arms.

  Nigel approached his son with confidence and without fear, while Simone stood back, her right hand resting defiantly on the grip of the MK-17.

  “It is so gratifying to see the man standing before me,” Nigel said and he held out a beefy hand to his son. Eric took it and squeezed. Nigel matched the grip, until it was obvious the younger man would have the advantage. “You didn’t learn that trick from Kroekus,” Nigel said.

  “It would have crushed his hand.”

  “Indeed.” Nigel turned his back on Eric and walked to the couch at the far wall and sat down. He placed a muscular arm along the top of the couch and crossed his legs. There were two chairs placed opposite the couch, soon to be occupied by Eric and Simone.

  Eric looked over at the dark haired woman; Nigel took the opening. “Eric, let me introduce you to Simone Dubois. She’s my confidant and mate, so feel free to consider her the mother you never had.”

  ‘Oh please, don’t do that,” she pleaded. “First of all, I don’t know you well enough, and secondly, I’m not that old to be considered your mother, more like your older sister.”

  “That would make the relationship you have with my father rather perverse, would it not?”

  “Sharp kid, if I do say so myself.” The grin diminished slightly from Nigel’s face. “But now we must make this quick. There’s a gigantic warship closing in our position that is every bit the equal of this one, so this is really not the time to spend on idle chat. What is it you want of me, son?”

  “I will make this quick; I wan
t to be part of your family. Kroekus groomed me to be your heir, at least until you were disgraced and placed on the run by that bastard Adam Cain. I had always looked forward to walking in your footsteps, and I can feel your disappointment that things didn’t work out as they should have in the Milky Way.” Eric then flashed a smile, and it was as if Nigel was looking at a time-warp mirror of himself thirty years ago. “Yet it appears you have recovered nicely. It would seem you were destined to rule—either a planet or galaxy—it doesn’t matter which.”

  “And now you expect to just step in and become the heir-apparent to the empire Nigel is building?” Simone stated.

  “That’s up to him, Ms. Dubois. I don’t want to infringe on any arrangement the two of you may have regarding succession, but I’m sure there are only so many people in this galaxy you can truly trust, and blood is a very thick compensator. I only wish to be part of—well, all of this. After all, who wouldn’t want to get their share of a galactic empire? I’m just being honest—as well as pragmatic.”

  “The kid has a point, Simone. We do have a lot to offer a nineteen year old, much more than what’s waiting for him back in the Milky Way. With Kroekus dead and Dracus about to meet a similar fate, it makes sense that he would want to be part of my legacy.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Simone admitted. “But I believe trust should be earned through time and actions, not simply given out because of some shared DNA.”

  “I can understand that, Ms. Dubois. In the meantime, I am just one man, young and inexperienced thanks to the aliens who raised me. I look forward to spending time with my own kind, a race of beings often referred to as supermen. And who better to show me what it means to be Human than my father—the emperor of a galaxy?”