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

by T. R. Harris

  “Step on it Howey! The tower’s collapsing, and it’s collapsing this way.”

  “It’s floored already.” Timmons glanced over his shoulder and saw the incomprehensibly tall spire begin to fall towards them. Then suddenly the cart reached the end of the paved station of the facility and flew headlong into the tall reeds of the marshy meadow. Sharp, prickly stalks of native grass began biting at their bodies while the cart was soon covered in a coating of the thick growth.

  Then from behind came a deep grumbling, as if the entire planet was now a vicious beast, snarling at them. The ground underneath the meadow was suddenly turned into a liquefied mush as the gigantic tower crashed to the ground, sending huge ripples like ocean waves radiating out from the impact zone.

  The cart was thrown high into the air by a rising crest. From his place in the driver’s seat, Timmons grasped the steering bar and held on for dear life. The others in the back were not so fortunate. With nothing to grab, Tobias, Arieel and Owens were cast out of the cart and into the open air.

  Andy Tobias cartwheeled several times, and as he did he caught glimpses of the aftermath of the tower’s landing. It had fallen at the very end of the paved section of the base, slicing a swath in the ground over two hundred feet across. Yet that wasn’t the extent of the damage. For another three hundred feet or so on each side, huge mounds of dirt were thrown out forming what looked like a horizontal impact crater. The trauma on the planet continued far deeper, and as it recoiled, visible waves of rolling surface tore tarmac and meadowland to shreds.

  What Sol-Kor who managed to survive the initial impact were now buried under several feet of dirt, and the ground-waves continued throughout the entire compound. Buildings exploded, while the two remaining towers began to sway to unsustainable degrees. The screeching and popping of the heavy metal support beams echoed throughout the valley and beyond as the towers broke away at points approximately a quarter up their height. Soon the valley was once again subjected to the deep rumbling sound of the structures striking the ground.

  With the light gravity of the planet, Andy had time to realize that he should have fallen back to the ground by now, but he hadn’t. Instead he was pretty much like a leaf in the wind, being cast further and further down range from the array site. But all good things must come to any end, and he was soon tumbling ever-faster toward the meadow below.

  When he hit, it was not as he suspected. He landed in water…sort of. It was a thick, muddy mess infused with the native grass. The bottom line: it was like landing on a water-soaked mattress. It hurt, but it wasn’t deadly. He sank several feet into the quasi-lake before bouncing back to the surface. By now, the ground ripples from the impacts had passed and the vibrations in the ground began to subside.

  Andy Tobias looked over the calming waters of the newly-formed lake, searching for any signs of the team members. He pressed his throat comm on the off chance it was still functioning. “This is Tobias; anyone, report.”

  “Whew, that was a rush!” It was the voice of George Owens. “I must have been a thousand feet up.”

  “Anyone else? Report.”

  “This is just great.” To Andy’s relief, it was Timmons. “I think I broke my damn arm holding onto that steering bar. I should have let go, but like an idiot, I didn’t.”

  “Are you able to move?”

  “Yes, sir. Luckily these fancy new uniforms have pain-killers built into them. I need something like this when I’m mowing my lawn back home. I actually feel pretty damn good.”

  “Glad to hear it. Arieel, can you hear me?” Andy waited a few seconds. “Arieel, report in!”

  There was only dead air.

  “She’s not built like us,” Owens said. “I mean like Humans; tough, I mean. You know what I mean; the fall could have hurt her a lot more.”

  “Roger that. If any of you still have weapons, light off a few rounds so we can get our bearings. She should be within the same area as we landed in.”

  Being the instinctive military professionals they were, all three Humans were still in possession of their weapons, and soon three louds pops were heard. Andy looked to his left and saw the bobbing head of Howey Timmons. To his left, George Owens was waving his M-91 in Andy’s direction.

  “Start a grid search. We’re all within a hundred yards of each other. Timmons, facing me, circle to your right, George, you do the same. You’ll cover the perimeter. I’ll work the inside of the circle.”

  The lake—if one could call it that—was very shallow and thick with the mangled remains of the meadow. Trudging through this mess was time-consuming and energy-sapping, but after ten minutes of searching, it was Andy who found Arieel.

  “I got her!” he called out. He took his own M-91 and fired a few rounds into the air, revealing his location. And then he looked back at where he’d spotted Arieel.

  In reality, he hadn’t actually spotted all of the alien, just a pair of prominent peaks rising up out of the water. They were unmistakable, yet as he pressed his way through the muck, he was praying her head was above water, too.

  Fortunately, it was, resting on a clump of floating meadow grass. Andy reached her and quickly placed a hand behind her head. He felt for the carotid artery, and not finding it in the traditional location began to feel all around her thin neck. When this didn’t work, he resorted to placing an ear on her chest, assuming the heart had to be somewhere hidden below, well…all of that.

  “Enjoying yourself, Admiral?” he heard Howey Timmons say, as the Senior Chief arrived on scene.

  “I’m checking for a heartbeat, you pervert. I can’t tell if she’s alive or not.”

  “Maybe the fact that her eyes are open and she’s smiling might be an indicator…sir.”

  Andy jerked his head off Arieel’s breasts. Indeed, her eyes were open, and sparkling with a mischievous glint.

  “How long were you going to let me stay there?” he asked just as George Owens arrived.

  “As long as you wanted, Mr. Tobias. You know I have an attraction to Human males.” And with that, she righted herself and shook the water from her magnificent crop of jet-black hair.

  “Are you okay?” Andy was angry; he truly thought she was dead.

  “A little shaky, yet I do not sense anything to be broken or severely injured.”

  “Good. Now let’s get serious.” He looked over the stray reeds rising above the surface and saw that they were about two hundred yards from the shattered tree line of the forest. The artificial earthquake had snapped trunks and toppled whole trees, but the damage only seemed to extend a short distance into the woods.

  “Hurry, we have to see if the exo-walkers survived. We have to get back in space as soon as possible and locate the escape pod before the Sol-Kor do.”

  That was a sobering thought, and the team made great time getting to firmer ground within the forest. It was hard to get their bearings, though, since the landscape had been so torn up. But these were professionals, and soon even the camouflage paint of the walkers couldn’t keep them hidden for long.

  All the walkers were intact, even if they were now scattered far from their original resting place. Once recovered, the team raced off toward the starship, hoping that a range of twenty miles out from the towers’ impact zone would have spared it from any damage.

  It was there, intact and a welcome sight.

  “Are we still going to pick up that girl?” Timmons asked.

  The way he asked the question made Andy smile. “No one said this mission would be all peaches and cream, Chief. Sometimes we have to take the bad with the good.”

  “I take that as an affirmative?” He sounded disappointed.

  “Try reaching her. If she answers, we do our duty…to God and Country.”

  “The crosses we have to bear….”

  “What the hell happened?” Ophelia Naidu screamed over the comm link. “It felt like a nuclear bomb went off.”

  “Suffice to say the Sol-Kor base will need a major remodel after our visit,
” Petty Officer Owens answered.

  “Is Riyad all right?”

  Owens looked to the Admiral. Tobias leaned over the microphone. “We’re moving to your location now. Be ready to board when we get there.”

  “What about Riyad; you didn’t answer me.”

  “His status is unknown at this time. We need to get into space and recover an escape pod with members of Cain’s team aboard.”

  “Is Riyad in the pod?”

  “No more questions, Ms. Naidu. Prepare for extraction.”

  “But you haven’t—”

  Tobias cut the link. He looked at Owens. “Damn,” was all he said.

  It took Andy and his team ten minutes to reach Ophelia, load her into the ship and head for space. Her obnoxious questioning didn’t stop, not until Andy took her by the shoulders and told her—in no uncertain terms—to shut the fuck up! After that she retreated to a corner of the bridge and sulked.

  “Damn, Admiral, this place is swarming with those brain-eating bastards.” Owens said.

  Andy nodded. He liked that: brain-eating bastards. It would make a great title for the book he’d write about this adventure—if he survived it.

  “Any distress beacons?”

  “If there are then the aliens ships are receiving them, not us. That’s a Sol-Kor escape pod they’re in.”

  “Good point. Arieel, anything?”

  “Yes, Admiral.” Her eyes still sparkled when she looked at him. He diverted his eyes from her dark orbs, embarrassed. “I am getting close to being able to make direct contact.”

  “Let me know when you can.”

  “As you Humans say, your wish is my command.” The unspoken implications of the statement made Owens nearly burst out laughing. Fortunately for Tobias, Chief Timmons entered the bridge with a temporary cast on his right arm.

  “Prognosis, Chief?”

  “Hell if I know why, but it looks like I’ll live.”

  “Damn, this day just keeps getting worse and worse,” Tobias said, shaking his head.

  “I have them, Andy,” Arieel said.

  Adam, can you hear me?

  Barely. Where are you?

  Thank My Gods, you are alive! I am only detecting two Gifts. Who is with you?

  Sherri.

  Arieel went weak. She looked first at a questioning Andy Tobias and then to an oblivious Ophelia Naidu. The young women wasn’t aware Arieel could make telepathic contact with Adam and the others. Arieel mouthed the words Adam and Sherri at Andy.

  He shook his head, not understanding. Arieel had formed the words in her native language, without the assistance of the translation bugs they all had embedded behind their ears, so the movements of her lips didn’t correspond to the Human words.

  Seeing the confusion in Andy’s eye, she cocked her head in Ophelia’s direction and shook it.

  Andy’s jaw dropped open as he got the message. But then he quickly snapped it shut again and grit his teeth in anger. “Can you guide us in, Arieel?” he growled.

  “Yes, just depends on the clarity of the contact. Please make a few course corrections so I can get a reading.”

  Andy nodded to Owens who had assumed piloting duties.

  We’re coming for you Adam.

  Where are you?

  In space.

  What about the array? It looks like the portal closed…right after Riyad went through.

  The array is destroyed, as is the entire site on the planet.

  Really? Damn, you guys are badasses, aren’t you?

  I will have to work through the translation, Adam, but Andy and his Humans were quite efficient. But now the Sol-Kor in space are many. With no base to descend to, they occupy much of the space above the planet.

  I’ve shut down the homing beacon in the pod. We’re pretty small, so it would be a miracle if they find us. What about you? Can you find us?

  As we speak I am guiding the ship towards you. Are you and Ms. Valentine injured?

  We’re both fine, Arieel, Sherri said, having been linked to the telepathic conversation by Adam. And thank you for doing this. You didn’t have to risk your life for us—for Adam.

  I did what I could, when I could, Ms. Valentine. I suppose in that context, I am now a hero, too, just like you and Adam.

  “Admiral!” Chief Timmons called out from the tac console. “It looks like the Sol-Kor have realized we’re not one of them. They’re angling in.”

  Pardon me, Adam, but I have to go. It appears the Sol-Kor have found us.

  “We have to jump, Admiral, otherwise we’re going to get hit with their fucking beam!”

  Timmons seemed very sure of his statement, yet Andy hesitated giving the order. He’d already abandoned Adam and Sherri once before and he wasn’t about to do it again. He turned to Arieel.

  “Do you know how to fly a spaceship?” he asked the Formilian.

  “Yes, of course…doesn’t everyone?”

  Andy did a quick, involuntary glance in Ophelia’s direction before continuing. “Good. Look, we’re probably going to get hit with their suppressor beam. I know Adam wasn’t as affected because of his implant. Do you think the same holds for you, too?”

  “I have no basis of reference, Andy, but I have to assume it would be so.”

  “All right, then assume the piloting duties. This bucket—this ship—doesn’t have any real weapons to speak of, so if we get hit, don’t worry about fighting back. Just go get Adam and Sherri.”

  “And Riyad.” Ophelia added, now listening in on the conversation. And then the truth dawned on her, and her olive complexion suddenly turned pale.

  Andy turned his attention back to Arieel. “Just go them. Once aboard, Adam can take over.” He then shook his head. “And hopefully we’ll be hit with one of those beams real soon…so we won’t have to put up with that much longer.”

  Both he and Arieel looked to the back of the bridge, and to where an inconsolable Ophelia Naidu was wailing away at the top of her lungs, consumed with grief.

  205

  Arieel had no experience with the alien suppressor beam, and when it hit, she felt its impact. Yet as she watched in awe at the effects it had on the others, she could see that its effect on her was minimal.

  Two Sol-Kor ships were coming towards her, yet she still maintained a respectable spread, if not enough to stay out of range of the beam.

  I am very near now, Adam, yet now the Sol-Kor are following.

  What about the beam?

  I am in the pilot seat; Admiral Tobias having anticipated a strike by the beam.

  Are you okay?

  Functioning. You must be very close. How should I proceed with the recovery, since the Sol-Kor will be upon us if I slow?

  Are you in a gravity-well?

  Very shallow.

  Good, just come straight for us. At the last minute, veer off. With luck we’ll be caught up in the well’s influence. After you have us, increase the intensity and head out of the system. Once clear, you should be able to dump out of the well and bring us aboard.

  That sound very risky, Adam. What if you are not caught by the well’s influence?

  You may have to make another pass at that point. Just stay ahead of the Sol-Kor as you do so.

  I will try my best. Get ready, I am very—Oh My Gods!

  What is it?

  More contacts, a hundred or more have just appeared on the screens.

  Where are they?

  Forward on my position and closing in fast.

  Then get away, Arieel. This pod can support us for a couple of weeks. Go get the fleet and then come back. We’ll be fine.

  Arieel gripped the controls tighter, preparing to make a hard turn to port when she noticed something strange about the incoming contacts. She watched a moment longer to confirm. She was right! They were not focused on her. Instead, the massive fleet was heading directly for the Sol-Kor.

  Arieel, are you still there?

  Yes, I am Adam. And it seems I will not have to go get your fleet.
r />   Why not?

  Because they have found me.

  The Sol-Kor forces within the GC-1745 cluster consisted of two main types of ships. The first were the mainships, the smaller, fast-attack vessels with pulse beams. The other type were harvesting ships. These behemoths were built to transport crops back to the Colony. They contained huge refrigerated compartments for the body parts, yet they didn’t carry beam weapons. For subduing entire worlds, a third type of ship was needed, huge beam platforms whose sole function was to bathe a planet in the mind-numbing pale blue light of submission. These deadly ships usually were not called upon until a specific planet had been targeted, so none came through the portal before it was shut down. However, with thousands of transport ships required, the process of supplying a universe with these ships was an ongoing process.

  What this meant was that the Human fleet had only twenty beamships to contend with, and even though some of the Union ships were affected, many more were not. And then when half of the mainships broke off and ran away with the bulk of the transport ships, the remaining Sol-Kor force was quickly overwhelmed.

  Andy Tobias and the rest of his Human crew recovered quickly from the beam attack on the AR-45, and three hours later, his team, along with Adam and Sherri, were back aboard the Abraham Lincoln and meeting with the acting fleet commander, Enrique Garcia.

  “Orders, Captain,” Andy Tobias was saying. “You had your orders.”

  “Command has the option of amending orders, sir,” the junior officer said in his defense. “Once you surrendered your command, I was in charge. And aren’t you glad I was?”

  “Still it was risky following us in here.”

  Captain Enrique Garcia was squat and overweight, yet his command presence was evident. Confident and composed, he had proven himself time and again as part of Andy’s staff prior to the Admiral’s retirement. Even now, his name was before the new Congress for approval to rear admiral. He had also been on the short list of officers to head the Third Union Fleet, if Andy hadn’t come out of retirement to assume command.