by T. R. Harris
Even though his team exuded extreme confidence and courage, they also knew there was a good chance that some—if not all of them—may not return from the mission. Yet like so many times in the past, they boarded the ship and dogged the hatch without hesitation.
It was game time.
It took the AR-45 six hours to backtrack along the path of the fleet before reaching the glowing mass of stars of GC-1745. With Chief Loreto at the controls, they steered a path under the massive cloud—rather than through it—and entered the small void area inside the cluster from a direction two hundred degrees out from where the fleet had been first detected.
The cluster was known to the Union, more for its mineral wealth than for any inhabited planets in the region. Most of the stars here were too young for their planets to have developed advanced civilizations, yet their young age also served to keep surfaces churning, cycling coveted metals and minerals for relatively easy extraction. The background of GC-1745 would help with their cover story if detected—if the damn Sol-Kor were even aware of the cluster’s history.
The gravity trail of the SES Falcon was easy to trace, and soon the team had identified the planet were the alien portal device would be found. Tobias had all power turned off, with only passive sensors at work, as the ship made one quick orbit of the planet. It didn’t take long to spot the huge construction site. There was no other signs of intelligent life on the planet, so the array stood out like a Las Vegas billboard, proclaiming: Here it is! Here it is!
They entered the atmosphere on the opposite side of the planet from the array and skirted the forested surface for three thousand miles before landing about twenty miles from the array. Tobias activated the small homing beacon synced to the emergency pack the woman Ophelia Naidu should have with her. Whether she would know how to turn on the comm link was anyone’s guess. She wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
To his surprise—and relief—the signal came back.
“Where are you?” Tobias asked as the scared and dirty face of the woman appeared.
“Where am I? I don’t know where I am. I thought you were supposed to know?”
Andy turned to Master Chief Timmons, who played with his nav console for a moment before nodding.
“All right, we have your location. Are you secure—safe?”
“For now, but it gets really cold here at night. I don’t want to go through that again.”
“Well just sit tight for another couple of hours. We’ll pick—”
“Another couple of hours! You’ve got to be kidding?”
“Just stay where you are. We’re going in after Cain and the others first.”
“And what if you get killed? What happens to me then?”
“Frankly, Ms. Naidu, at that point I wouldn’t give a damn.” Andy was still upset with her for outing the location of his fleet.
“Why is everyone being mean to me?”
Tobias just shook his head. “I’m cutting the link now. Stay where you are and do not—I repeat—do not try to communicate with us until we make contact with you. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Good, Tobias out.”
“That is Mr. Tarazi’s new mate?” Arieel asked over his shoulder.
Andy nodded. “I just hope she’s worth it. Now, gear up. We have a hike ahead of us. Arieel, do you mind watching the shop while we’re gone?”
Her eyes grew hard. “I understand you expect to use exo-walkers to cover the twenty miles quickly?”
“That’s right.”
“I wonder how effective they will be with all their controllers frozen?”
“I see your point, Arieel. On second thought, why don’t you come along? I was just kidding about you staying behind, by the way.”
“Of this I am sure.”
Five minutes later the five members of the rescue team were fully encased in rigid plastic exo-skeletons designed to help the already physically-superior Humans become even more superior. They also wore breathing masks and had weapons and backpacks of explosives strapped to the rigs as well.
The units were electronically controlled and had internal navigation, so for the first three-quarters of the short six minute sprint through the forests of this unnamed world, the team just sat back and enjoyed the ride. But as they got closer to the site of the array, they took over manual control and became more careful with their approach.
The huge towers could be easily seen now, reaching far above the horizon and into the sky. Andy got the impression that these masts were a little taller than those built by the Klin, and they had a sleek, efficient look about them that the others lacked. When arriving in a new universe, the Sol-Kor had to deal with what they found; however once here, they could bring in their own millennia-long expertise. Andy was sure they could not only build an array faster, but they probably had more transport capabilities as well once done. This made the Admiral nervous. The Sol-Kor were infecting his galaxy like a swarm of locust, and it would be very hard to change that.
The team approached the site from the south, entering the wide valley where the array sat on level ground and hidden by thick pine tree-like forests. The forest ended at a meadow of tall, wispy grass, where they shed the walkers. Next they began attaching their gear to Mollie packs while stocking up on extra ammo for their M-91 assault rifles. Most of the Human military still preferred projectile weapons to the bolt launchers. They often had more range and could penetrate barriers, whereas flash bolts normally just spread out on the surface. Also the M-91’s carried magazines of sixty-four rounds each and an under chamber of eight M-4 grenades. The most you could get out of a Xan-fi flash rifle was a super-charge of twenty-four bolts before another power pack had to be inserted.
The team was greased up, including Arieel, and even though the tac gear was designed to fit big, muscular dudes, the Formilian still had trouble containing all her everything inside her uniform. As a compromise, she left the top four buttons on the vest unfastened, which brought a momentary hesitation from the rest of the team before they got back down to business.
It was nearing dusk, which meant it had been a full day and half since Adam and the others had been captured. Now, as the rescue team crawled on their bellies through the tall grass of the meadow, Andy was thinking primarily of Plan B: the destruction of the array. Unless there was good reason to keep the prisoners alive, he wasn’t expecting to find good news regarding that part of the operation.
“This should be close enough, shouldn’t it, Arieel?”
“Yes. I have been detecting Gifts—the devices—for a while now. They are stationery, and even though I sense them, that doesn’t mean their hosts are still alive. No one is answering my inquires.”
“Is there anything you can do to get their attention, like yell into their brains or something?”
Arieel’s eyes lit up. “I can use some of the ambient energy in the atmosphere to overload the Gifts momentarily. That will create a shock, that if they are still alive, will surely be noticed.”
“Do it.”
“Yes, sir!”
Sherri was the first to complain. After all, they had been kept in the cold, uncomfortable hangar for over twenty-four hours without food or water, and when it came to relieving themselves, decorum had flown out that window hours ago. Now under the watchful eye of the guards, they each moved to a designed area as far away as the guard would allow to use as the restroom. Yet now it was the food and water situation that was becoming serious.
The three of them had long ago abandoned the chairs for the hard, concrete floor, where at least they could stretch out and place their heads against the back wall of the building. Now Adam stood up and approached the line of guards.
“Are we going to get any food and water?”
“Return to your spot.”
“Did you not hear me?”
“Return to your spot.”
And then it dawned on him. The Sol-Kor were like an ant colony, with castes of workers perfor
ming specific duties. Maybe the guards were the short-bus kids, good only for standing around and watching, and then reacting when something outside their training occurred.
“I request to speak to a supervisor, someone superior to you,” Adam demanded.
This registered with the guard, for he immediately signaled to the end guard in the row and that grey alien darted from the building.
A minute later another Sol-Kor entered, wearing the same drab gear yet with a thin white line running diagonally from the neckline to under his left arm. “What are you doing?”
“I want to talk to someone in charge, someone with the authority to make a decision.”
“I am Midlead, I can make decisions.”
“Good. We need food and water. It’s been going on two days since we had any.”
“I understand you are to die. Why would we waste food on you?”
The statement caught Adam off guard, not only because of the bluntness of the statement, but because of the logic.
“That’s beside the point. If you don’t want us—”
Suddenly Adam jumped a good six inches off the ground with his short hair literally standing up on his head. He lost his balance and fell to the floor with small tremors racking his body.
At first, the guard took this for an attack, yet when Adam fell and remained rolling on the floor, he lifted an arm that stopped the guards from shooting. Riyad and Sherri rushed to his side.
“What is wrong with him?” the Midlead asked.
“I don’t know,” Sherri answered. “He’s having a seizure of some kind.”
“I have been briefed that Humans are cunning and deceptive. I do not trust this sudden reaction. Take him back to the wall.”
Adam had recovered enough to where he could sit up.
“What just happened?” Riyad asked as he was helped to his feet.
Once back at the wall Adam sat in a chair and began to rub his right side. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “I got an incredible shock in my you-know-what.”
“Did it short out?”
No, I don’t think so. Can you still hear me?
Yep, so it’s still working.
And then Adam had a thought. He accessed the controls of his ATD and reactivated the link portal. This would allow him to find wormhole transmissions in the area. To his disappointment, he didn’t find any compatible signals.
“I thought maybe Arieel was trying to contact me, but the links are dry, so she’s not piggybacking on any.”
“You think she tried to make contact by nearly killing you? That would be just like her.”
Just on the off chance…Adam called out directly through his ATD. Arieel, are you there?
Adam! It is about time!
Sherri and Riyad saw him suddenly sit up straighter and his smile grow wide. Sherri cocked her head at him, questioning.
He nodded and then opened the ATD to the other two. Go ahead Arieel. Sherri and Riyad are now tied in. Where are you?
At the edge of the array site, coming up from the south.
Now all their eyes grew wide. What are you doing here?
I came with Andy and three of his colleagues. We are so profoundly happy to find you alive—all of you.
Is Ophelia with you? Riyad asked.
No, but her location is known. She will be recovered as we depart.
So what’s the plan?
One moment. Arieel was off the air as she consulted with Admiral Tobias. Do you know your location?
We’re in the large, gray hangar, the largest one in the complex. Toward the back, with eight guards staring at us at all times.
Wait one moment. When she spoke again, she had more information. Andy says they are going to place explosives before coming to rescue you. If successful, the explosions will mask our other efforts.
Good idea. Hurry, though. We’re living on borrowed time as it is.
The joy was evident on all the faces of the rescue team. They now moved toward the first huge tower with renewed purpose and urgency.
True to expectations, there were few guards around the site. With the Human fleet now moving away from the area and the advanced team in captivity, there was very little need to waste alien-power on static efforts like security. These workers could now be tasked with more important duties.
Yet even as relatively easy the approach had been, as the team now huddled against one of the massive humming stanchions to the first tower, they looked small and insignificant next to the huge structure. The tower was in operation, and as Andy looked at the ten backpacks of explosives they carried—two each—he couldn’t imagine them making even a dent in the gargantuan tower. Adam had told him how he had disrupted the other array by sabotaging a generator room. Yet if it hadn’t been for the fortuitous arrival of the Union fleet, the aliens would have been set back only a day or so before repairs were made. There no such backup coming this time.
Andy wanted to make more of an impact than a day’s delay.
Just then, the team was distracted by a brilliant flash in the sky. They looked up to see a huge swath of shimmering white floating far above them which appeared to be crawling with tiny black dots, like ants on a white picnic blanket. The tiny dots began to form up and speed off from the canvas, disappearing into the blackness of space as they did so.
These were alien spacecraft passing through the portal, and from the looks of it, at least twenty had just arrived. Now the door shut again, presumably to recharge before the next shipment.
Master Chief Timmons poked Andy in the side. When he turned, the Chief pointed up at the tower. “Look up there. It looks like an access door. We’ll cause a lot more damage if we can place the charges inside the tower rather than on the outside.”
“That’s pretty far up there, Chief.”
“I’ll take the kid with me and four of the packs. The ladder leading up there is shielded most of the way. We should be able to get there unseen.”
“Watch out for those nodes. They glow when the portal’s open. Owens and I will take the other tower.” He turned to Arieel. “No argument this time. Make your way over by the hangar and wait for us there. Stay in touch with Adam however you do that, and with us by traditional means. Give me your pack.”
Arieel obeyed without question, and soon Timmons and Loreto were scampering up the tower while Tobias and George Owens dodged light sources on the way to the next tower, a good mile away. In the light gravity of the planet, they made excellent time—when they could. Between avoiding alien workers and vast swaths of light, their going was slower than expected. Reaching the tower, Andy took his monocular and checked on the progress of the other team. Timmons and Loreto had just reached the access door and were about to enter. Now Andy and Owens began to climb their tower.
Arieel made it to the dark side of the hangar without a problem, and now she crouched down between two rows of huge metal plates, stacked almost twenty feet high. She called out to Adam.
Andy and the others are attempting to place explosives inside two of the towers. They may be delayed longer in coming to your rescue.
At first Adam didn’t answer, and when he finally did, he sounded distracted.
Are you in danger? Arieel asked.
Something’s come up. Stay where you are. The Sol-Kor leader is here with us now.
Are you in imminent danger?
Not the kind you think. It looks like we’re about to take a trip.
“That’s right!” Vosmin was saying. “I have received permission to take the three of you to my universe. That way my Queen will get to see Human meat while it is still alive. She has been quite curious as to reasons for the delays I’ve encountered, and the name of the Human strain has become known to her. Now you may actually have the great honor of becoming part of the essence of the Queen herself. With mild anger, I do not believe you to be worthy, but that is not for me to say.”
“When does this road trip happen?” Adam asked.
“Why, now, of course. There
is a charging taking place. We will catch the next one. Guard…bring them.”
“Will there be any food aboard the ship; we’re starving?” Sherri asked.
“Food? Of course there will be food aboard. You will be there.” Vosmin smiled at his own lame attempt at humor. “Yet in seriousness, I will now keep you alive long enough to meet the Queen.”
Arieel! They’re moving us out and to a waiting starship. Can you get word to Andy?
Yes, but he is far from here. What can we do?
Destroy the array or do something to shut it down. They’re taking us to their universe.
You cannot allow that!
No kidding. Tell Andy to hurry up or else we’ll be gone for good.
Arieel looked around the stacks of metal plates to see at least fifty Sol-Kor leave the front of the huge hangar. It was growing dark, and even then, the Humans were lost in the mass of eight-foot tall aliens.
Arieel activated her throat comm and told Andy of Adam’s status. He replied that setting off the charges was the only way to stop the Sol-Kor from taking them through the portal. Arieel now leaned against the cold metal side of the hangar and waited with baited breath for the Humans to finish with their task; however she jumped to her feet again when she heard a loud hum from the front of the hangar. She looked around again just in time to see a saucer-shaped craft lift smoothly off the surface of the planet and speed off into space.
Adam, can you hear me?
Barely. We’re onboard. I hope Andy doesn’t take much longer.
I will check his progress.
She triggered the throat comm. “Andy, they have taken off!”
“The last of our charges are set. We just need to get down from here. I’m out the door.”
Arieel could see the tower Andy was on from where she was. She lifted her own monocular and scanned the distant structure, looking for any signs of the Human. There he was, hands and feet cupping opposite sides of the impossibly long tower ladder and sliding down at incredible speed. The other Human—she forgot his name—was right above him and engaged in the same extremely dangerous maneuver.