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

by T. R. Harris

  All the aliens were down, yet when Adam turned to where Vosmin had landed, the alien wasn’t there. Instead, the door to the building was slowing closing.

  Adam rushed to the doorway, and then flew back inside just as a barrage of light-balls splashed against the doorway and streaked into the room.

  The three Humans dove for cover, with Sherri and Adam scooping up discarded alien weapons as they went.

  The second small door opened about a fifty yards away and several Sol-Kor soldiers entered. The Humans shot off a few bolts of light at the aliens but found that the range of the weapons was about half that distance. “At least we’re out of range, too,” Riyad called out.

  Sherri then turned her weapon on the huge maze of machinery behind her. What the metal rod took time and effort to accomplish, the balls of energy did instantly. Soon that side of the building was a firework display of electric sparks and popping circuits.

  The alien weapons had shoulder straps, so Adam and Riyad each grabbed two more from the heap of dead Sol-Kor on the floor. They flung the rifles over their shoulders for future use, and then they, too, set about raining white-hot balls of plasma at anything within range.

  Soon this side of the building was engulfed in flames. “Let them fix that in an hour,” Sherri cried out over the din of the mini-explosions and the incoming fire from the Sol-Kor.

  Riyad slid in next to them, until they were all crowded in a narrow space between two of the multi-story banks of equipment that wasn’t on fire and exploding. “This still doesn’t give us a way out, not unless these things can cut a hole in the wall.”

  Sherri and Adam each turned to look at Riyad. “Who said they can’t?” they said in unison.

  The three Humans took off running down the narrow space between the equipment banks. Adam brought up the rear, and as he ran, he turned and placed several plasma shots into the tall metal walls of the corridor behind them. He didn’t know if that would stop the pursuit completely, but at least it would slow them down.

  The trio exited the corridor near what would be the right side of the building as viewed from the front. The outer wall was lined with towering machinery, yet to the left was a small opening under a large, four-foot diameter pipe. They could see the outer wall beyond it.

  Adam and Riyad knelt down and took aim, while Sherri covered their six. The room lit up with white energy, and soon a hole appeared in the metal exterior wall. The two men continued to saturate the area with fire, until the edges glowed red from the heat. Another ten seconds and the opening was large enough for them to fit through, one after the other.

  “Watch the sides,” Adam said as he first let Sherri and then Riyad pass to the outside of the building. He followed seconds later.

  This side of the building was shrouded in darkness, however the energy needed to punch a hole in the side would surely have lit up the night. They didn’t wait around for the Sol-Kor to react. Instead they ran down the hill—and at Human speed in the light gravity. Along the way they took turns stumbling and falling in the darkness, tripped by either some hidden depression or protruding rocks. By the time they reached the base of the hill, each was bruised, battered and bleeding.

  On more level ground, they continued to run into the desert. Arrows of light were piecing the darkness as the aliens searched for them, yet none of the searchlights were aimed at the distance where the Humans now ran. Hampered by their own assumptions of running speed, the Sol-Kor couldn’t imagine the Humans being as far away as they were.

  Riyad lead the way, with Sherri close behind. Adam brought up the rear. The going was slower now as they hit pockets of soft sand and undulating dunes. With their eyes now adapting to the darkness, Riyad managed to avoid falling headlong into a deep wadi, jumping over the narrow crevasse at the last moment. Sherri saw him jump and followed suit. Unfortunately, Adam was glancing behind at the time Riyad jumped, so he didn’t see it coming.

  The ground suddenly fell out from under him, and Adam slammed hard into the far bank of the dry riverbed, becoming half-buried in the rocky soil.

  “You okay?” Sherri yelled down at him.

  “Yeah, I think so.” He looked down at the base of the wadi. “You might come down here, too. It looks like we can move along the bottom. It could provide us with more cover when they come looking for us in either trucks or flying things, whatever they have here. You know they’ve gotta have something like that.”

  “Good idea,” Riyad said. He and Sherri jumped down, each breaking their fall by digging into the loose soil of the side wall. Riyad then stood up and looked both ways down the riverbed. “Reminds me of home,” he said.

  “I guess it would,” Sherri said.

  Riyad looked at her with a scowl. “I’m from Beirut, Sherri. It was a city of over a million people back then. I hate the desert and spent very little time there. You know not all Arabs are what you call camel-jockeys.”

  “I’m sorry, I just assumed….”

  “Yes, I know you did. All you Westerners think alike.” And then the scowl was replaced by his trademark smile. “Ha…I had you going!”

  Sherri punched him in the shoulder. “Ow! That really hurt,” he said. “Besides, I think I dislocated my shoulder in a fall back there.” He twisted his face in pain while grabbing at his shoulder.

  Sherri stepped up to him, attempting to help. He backed away. “I’m sorry, Riyad. I didn’t mean….” Her voice trailed off as the smile returned to Riyad’s face.

  “You’re such an ass! How can you mess around like this when we’re running for our lives?”

  “The look on your pretty face was worth it.”

  “Are you two coming or not?” Adam called out. He was already thirty yards down the winding mini-canyon and about to lose sight of them. When they caught up he said, “Even if they don’t come after us today, we left a pretty easy trail in the sand to follow. They’ll be able to follow us, even in the wadi.”

  “So what are you thinking?” Riyad asked.

  “I say we get our bearings and then head back toward the camp. They might not be expecting that; I don’t know how these things think. In any event, that’s where the other Humans are, and our only way off the planet. We already know there’s nothing out here except more desert.”

  “Sounds like a plan—”

  Just then the interior of the canyon was lit by a distant light and a clap of thunder. They looked up to see a tiny speck of a shuttle lifting off under chemical power and heading for space, breaking the sound barrier in the process. “That’s not one of their ships; they have things that don’t need chemical liftoff, or even gravity assist for that matter. That has to be the Klin,” Adam said.

  “Strange time to be heading back to their ship, isn’t it?” Sherri asked. “The Sol-Kor had rooms set up for them.”

  “I’m sure they have their reasons. The bastards always do.”

  194

  Molison Jons had trouble meeting the eye of the pale alien. He was sure the grinning creature could see right through the ruse, and if his gaze lingered Molison might even feel compelled to admit all.

  He felt a strange attraction to Panur. Here was a creature who had lived for five millennia, acquiring untold knowledge that he used to create such profound breakthroughs in science and technology. To have only a moment within such a mind would be the culmination of a lifetime. What visions he would see there.

  And yet Molison was also saddened, since he knew the Klin would have to bring about an end to this magnificent being. The Sol-Kor were not to be trusted, and even though they would eventually bring about the demise of the Klin’s mortal enemies, the enigmatic race would also bring about the end of the Klin. For that matter, the aliens would sweep across the galaxy, concerned not with merely conquering a civilization for it to become subservient to the new masters, but devouring all intelligent lifeforms they encounter. And why? For food, of all things.

  One could imagine, that without Panur’s help, the Sol-Kor would have long ago been
forced to create an adequate and constant food source that did not involve eating other intelligent creatures. Yet it was as Vosmin said earlier, it was easier to simply move between galaxies and universes, harvesting readymade crops of living beings without regard to conservation or compassion. Panur’s breakthroughs made it too easy for the Sol-Kor, so easy in fact that alternatives were not required. And with an infinite number of universes in existence, all it would take is for some unsuspecting race—such as the Klin—to build a trans-dimensional receiver and the Sol-Kor would have a whole new universe to harvest.

  Yet the Klin had not gone into this unsuspecting. Rather, they had built the array in an attempt to find just such a race, one capable of destroying their enemies while allowing the Klin to assume their rightful place as the head of the galaxy. Unfortunately, they had opened what the Humans called a Pandora’s Box. The race they found could indeed destroy their enemies, along with everything else in this galaxy and beyond.

  And so Panur must die. He would have to anyway when he found out the Klin had no new technologies to assist the Sol-Kor in their search for food. This had all been a designed escape plan should the meeting with the aliens go awry. Zimfelous would then depart the system, able to do so with the help of Molison’s beam defeating apparatus.

  After that the Klin would have to devise a more long-term plan to deal with the invaders. In one way, the fact that the Klin had no planet to call home gave them an advantage. They could hide, as they had done for over four thousand years. The planets Juir and Earth could not do that.

  Molison had no doubt, that if left unmolested, the Sol-Kor could accomplish their goal. They had done so countless times before—and were doing so even now, laying waste to hundreds of populated planets and killing trillions of helpless souls on an on-going basis. He was sure they often ran up against civilizations such as the Humans and the Juireans, as well as galactic empires like the Expansion, yet he also got the impression that these obstacles never impeded the Sol-Kor for long.

  That thought was scary in its own right. Here was a race of basically mindless drones who could overcome any force sent against it. They could achieve this either through superior technology or sheer numbers. With Panur’s help, the grey aliens appeared to have both means covered.

  When Panur continued to stare at him with that obnoxious grin, Molison could take it no more. The shuttle still had a few minutes to go before docking with the mothership and Panur was alone with no means of calling for help. Molison should have no fear of him, yet still he did.

  So their eyes met, and before Molison could say a word, Panur spoke first.

  “You have found a way to defeat my beam,” he stated rather than asked.

  The scientist blinked several times as a reaction to the unexpected statement. Even as he was about to engage the alien in conversation, he still felt compelled to perpetuate the deception. “I don’t know what you mean?” he said unconvincingly.

  “That is why you lied about the items you have aboard, so you could escape without fear of being subdued by the Sol-Kor mainships. Yet there are still eight of the Klin on the planet below. Are you abandoning them to Vosmin’s wrath?”

  “They are willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of the race.”

  “Now you sound like the Sol-Kor.”

  “We are nothing like the Sol-Kor! They are beasts without conscious or souls. All they seek is to feed and multiply. Vosmin mentioned a queen; are the Sol-Kor like pollenating insects or colonies of ground dwellers? Were they all created by a queen, a solitary, yet prolific female?”

  “Exactly, yet they also possess some degree of intelligence. Not a lot, but some.”

  “And where would they be now if you had not helped them? Would they be threatening entire galaxies, and more?”

  “Probably not. But at the time I began assisting the Queen, I was still quite young. It is a fact that with my help the Queen may indeed live forever. As long as the Colony grows, they have need for her. If it stops growing, the Queen will die. And then when growth is required again, another female will appear. That is how it has always been for the Sol-Kor.”

  “Yet what about you, what about your race? What became of them?”

  “It’s as you suspect. My species also fell prey to the Sol-Kor. Yet when my special talents were realized, I was spared. Since that time I have learned a lot, not only about everything…but about myself as well.”

  “What does that mean? You say you have lived for thousands of years, how is that even possible?”

  “I take in nourishment differently from other species. I am unique in this regard. It has allowed my body to be much more efficient in its operation. Also, my cells regenerate—all of them. I know now how they do so, yet I still don’t know why. Neither of my parents were special, nor my ancestors. Something happened within my body when I had aged twenty of my planet’s years. From then on I have lived more-or-less as I was at that time. Yet I also have to admit, as the years passed and I acquired more knowledge, I have done certain improvements upon my body as I discovered the means. So you see, scientist, there is a very good possibility that I, too, will live forever, even as you plot my death. By the way, you should abandon that line of thinking. It will not work and you may even anger me in the process. That you would not want to do.”

  Molison glanced out the solitary window in the passenger section of the shuttle. He could feel the ship slowing and preparing to dock. He turned back to Panur. “So what if you were thrown from an airlock and into the void of outer space? Could you survive even then?”

  “I can…and I have. My body goes into a dormant stage until I come in contact with warmth again. Now I see you're thinking about casting me into a star. That would be an experience! My body would instantly regenerate, yet then I would be trapped within the star’s gravity-well. I may have to think on that for a while. How could I build a device while in the depths of a burning star that could free me from my prison? Or more likely, how could I maneuver myself to be ejected within the stellar wind? Even as I dwell on the problem, several options already come to mind.”

  Molison realized his mouth had fallen open again. “So what happens now? I assume you also have certain physical advantages over us that would make our attempt to throw you out an airlock prove—while not impossible—then extremely difficult?”

  Panur nodded. “Do not take this wrong, Molison Jons, but I admire your intellect. I am not saying you are anything special, just that from what’s available to me in this universe, you are somewhat entertaining. And to answer your question: You’re right. I would not allow you to do what you contemplate.”

  “So again I ask: What happens now? You obviously knew our ploy was a ruse from the beginning, yet still you came. Why?”

  “There are things about to happen on the planet below that I do not wish to be a part of. Your ship seemed like a convenient way to slip away for a while.”

  “What’s going to happen? Is the portal in danger?”

  “Of course, Molison Jons, as was the intention. All I can say is that I would have your captain make a hasty departure from this region of space. Things are about to get a lot more exciting from here on out.”

  195

  It was nearing daybreak and Adam knew the search teams would be out hot and heavy in about half an hour. The trio had moved south along the concealed wadi for most of the night, allowing them to now approach the camp from the opposite direction from where they’d made their escape off the hill. Even then, in the light of day their footprints would be easy to find and follow.

  Throughout the night, a dozen or so more starships had landed near the camp, now spreading out beyond the designated landing area and spilling over into the virgin desert beyond. In fact, the line of ships now extended in the direction from which the three escapees were approaching.

  “There are some bigger ships now,” Adam said, “and some smaller ones. Let’s grab one of the small ones and get the hell out of here.”

 
; “What about Ophelia?” Riyad asked. “We can’t just leave her.”

  “Sure we can; watch us,” said Sherri. Even in the dim light of morning, Riyad’s reaction was obvious.

  “Look, the best way to save her—as well as the others—is to get out of here and bring back help,” Adam said. “If we get caught—and the next time the aliens will be more careful with us—then we’ll all be dead.”

  “The encampment is right over there.” Riyad pointed off to his left. “There’s only a handful of bored guards watching.”

  “So what, we go and rescue everyone?” Sherri said, throwing up her arms. “And wouldn’t that be a lot easier; leading a parade of over fifty people through the maze of alien spaceships until we can find—and steal—one large enough for all of us.”

  “First things first,” Adam said. “We have to get over there without being—”

  He suddenly fell to the sandy ground—as did the others—when nearly all the ships in the spaceport lit off whatever type of engines they used and began to lift from the surface. Even from this distance, they could see dozens of individual Sol-Kor running throughout the landing area, some preparing more ships for departure, while others raced to board the ships.

  “What’s going on?” Sherri asked.

  “Dunno, but something’s got them spooked.”

  “This will be the perfect time to rescue Ophelia, while the Sol-Kor are occupied with other matters.”

  “Get your head out of your pants, Riyad,” Adam ordered. “We’ll do what we can, but right now we have to figure out a way to stay alive. We’re out in the open, and even though I can’t imagine all these ships are heading out to look for us, some may be. If all of them are after us, then we’re royally screwed.”