by T. R. Harris
“Or arrays,” Sherri said. “They could have a dozen of these things under construction right now. This really throws a monkey wrench into our plans to stop them.”
“Keeping them out of our dimension looks to be impossible. We’re going to have to come up with another way kick their asses out of our universe.”
Just then one of the towers began to hum. As they watched, the hundreds of bumpy nodes along its length began to glow a pale red. After a moment, it fell silent again.
“A test?” Riyad asked. “Looks like they’re really close.”
Adam turned his own binoculars on the main part of the facility. Without too much effort he counted over a hundred Sol-Kor scurrying about. As essentially worker drones for the Colony, they moved with purpose and efficiency. They were also without their black armor, which was probably the reason they’d chosen this planet to build the array. The Klin had built the first one, so the aliens had had to deal with the local environment. With this one they’d picked a place more suitable to their needs.
“There’s not much we can do here,” Adam said. “We better get back to the ship, and then to a place where we can warn Tobias.”
Even through their breathing masks, the three noticed the smell before they heard the low-pitched growl. Rolling over on their backs they each pulled MK-47’s and looked behind them.
The beast was about the size of black bear, resting on four legs with paws displaying thick claws that were digging into the hard soil in threatening pulses. Yet it was the animal’s head that clearly took up half its bulk that made it so imposing. Its black-tipped snout was a foot long, with a snarling mouth featuring a pair of twisted fangs over six-inches long protruding down from the upper jaw. Unblinking red eyes were staring at them, pointed ears at each side of the thick head slanted backwards in a signal of an impending attack.
“Nice puppy,” Sherri said to the fierce beast. “Don’t anyone move. It’s a chase animal. And don’t look it directly in the eyes.”
“Says the former veterinary student,” Adam added. “This thing isn’t your typical housecat.”
“They’re all the same—”
“Back!” a strong voice called out. The threatening beast immediately sat back on its haunches and the ears perked up. “You there, surrender your weapons, you are surrounded.”
The hill was suddenly bathed in stabs of blinding light. Adam looked around and saw that two more of the huge beasts were at each side of the trio, having remained hidden while the leader distracted them.
But now there were also Sol-Kor—a bunch of them—swarming the area. Strong hands pulled the Humans from the ground and removed their weapons and communications equipment. Soon they were being shoved down the hill toward the construction site.
By the time they reached the tarmac, Vosmin had been summoned. As he approached, it was obvious all he’d been told was that spies had been caught on the boundary hill. His eyes grew wide when he saw who they were.
“Are there clones within your society, or are you the originals?” he asked sincerely.
“Take me to your leader!” Adam droned, moving his unshackled hands in robot-like fashion. The alien was caught off guard by the display. To his credit, he recovered quickly.
“Your attempt at humor only shows your utter lack of comprehension at your status.” He addressed one of the guards. “Has a ship been located?”
“A search vessel has been dispatched to look for one, my Lead. It can’t be far since they were on foot.”
“That is no indicator for this strain.” He walked up to Adam. “I remember you striking me. That has never happened before, and it was extremely painful. I will not permit it to happen again.”
“I didn’t think you permitted it the first time. So, where’s my buddy Panur? He’s usually following you around like a puppy.”
Adam didn’t know if puppy would translate properly, but he was secretly hoping the pale alien was around. Although he was playing his own game, Panur had intervened on behalf of the Humans on more than one occasion. Adam could certainly use some intervening about now.
“Panur is with the Klin, who evacuated the location of the other array just as your forces were attacking. It makes me suspect you were in collusion with them all along.”
“That’s very perceptive of you, Vosmin. There is no fooling you. Of course the Klin are with us. Everyone in this galaxy is united against you. So at what point does food become too difficult to harvest? With all the universes you have to choose from, why don’t you just move on to happier hunting grounds?”
“We can only go where a mating portal has been constructed. But to answer your question more directly: we do not give up on a crop. Our numbers are so great and our technology so advanced, eventually all strains fall to us. They always have…and so will you. I’ve analyzed your attack on our mainships. That was a one-time event. We now know better. If you attempt to attack this facility, your forces will be met with an entirely different strategy.” And then the alien smiled. “By the word you, I refer to your strain, for you, Adam Cain, will not be around to witness anything that happens beyond the next few hours. The Klin were right in one respect: Humans are dangerous, even in captivity. That is why we will no longer keep Humans incarcerated. Rather, we will hasten a settlement. Take them to the hangar.”
********
Ophelia Naidu had turned off the speaker after Riyad’s cruel decision. She no longer wished to listen to the banter between the three friends. It pained her too much.
She had never been very popular with others, either in school or in her career. She had trouble relating to people and it showed. That was why she had selected contract law as a major, and alien affairs as a minor. She would be posted off planet, where she could spend time among non-judgmental aliens.
Two hours had gone by and her fuming had subsided enough that she decided to check on the others. She wouldn’t have to speak, just listen in. If Riyad did show some remorse for how he’d treated her, she might then click in to say hello. It was always good to make the guilty feel even more guilty from their actions. Yes, that would work. Make them all feel as uncomfortable as she was feeling.
She flicked the switch that opened the comm link, yet before she could say a word she heard others talking. These were not the voices of Riyad or his friends. This was a deeper, more guttural sound. It was hard to make out, but with effort she got the gist of the conversation.
The other voices were barking out orders, orders to stand and surrender! Ophelia felt her pulse quicken. How was this going to affect her? She didn’t know how to fly a starship—hell, she barely knew how to use the food processor. And then full blown panic set in. With the others captured, the aliens would surely come looking for the spaceship—and for her!
Ophelia had already suffered once under the care the gray aliens. She knew their suppressor beam would take away her self-control, her awareness. At that point they could do anything they wanted to her.
The thought of alien hands on her body pushed her over the edge. She vomited on the comm console, and then wretched again as the rancid smell reached her nostrils. She ran from the bridge and to the nearest restroom—they called it a head aboard the ship, for whatever odd reason—and cleaned herself.
When she returned to the bridge she didn’t feel any better. Riyad and the others were still gone and the aliens would now be that much closer to finding the ship.
She sat at the comm station again and looked at the controls. She had called home hundreds of times on the way to Unisid and while on the planet, so she knew the basics for making a long-distance call. She also knew that the link information to Admiral Tobias and his fleet was programmed in the computer. Yes, Admiral Tobias wasn’t very far behind. He might be able to save her. He had to save her.
She accessed the ship’s link directory and found the code for the trailing fleet. She touched the screen and then the link button.
Thirty seconds went by and no reply. She sent the code agai
n. Ten seconds later she was pressing the button constantly, screaming at the screen with tears flowing down her cheeks.
Finally an amber light lit up on the console and an image flashed on the screen. It wasn’t Admiral Tobias—but it was a Human face, that of a red-faced man in a khaki uniform.
“Cut your link immediately!” the man yelled at her. “You are broadcasting in the clear in direct violation of protocol.”
“This is Ophelia Naidu. I’m aboard the Falcon and the others have been captured by the aliens. I’m all alone and they’re going to find me very soon.”
“Cease transmission and reestablish with encryption. You have to do it from your end since you opened up so many goddamn links. Do it now!”
“I don’t know how to do any of that stuff you said.”
“Cut transmission. We’ll open back up from our end.”
“When?”
“Just do it, lady!”
The screen turned to static, but Ophelia felt that wasn’t enough, not according to the rude man. She turned off the comm console with the master switch and then waited ten seconds. It was how they always told her to reboot her computer. When the console came alive again, there was a green light flashing above the screen. She pressed the connect button.
This time the face of Andy Tobias appeared. At first Ophelia was relieved, right up to the point she saw his blue eyes burning into her.
“Do you know what you just did, young lady?”
“No.”
“You just broadcasted our location to over half the Orion-Cygnus Arm of the galaxy. Hell, a kid with a ham radio back on Earth knows where we are now, so you can be damn sure so do the frickin’ aliens. What were you thinking?”
“Riyad and the others were captured—I was just calling for help.”
“Good intentions, lousy execution. Even if we had a chance of rescuing them, the alien bastards will be expecting us now. What about the Klin? Are they there, too?”
“Klin? No, no Klin, just the gray ones. And they have some towers here too, just like on the other planet.”
Tobias was stunned into silence. “There’s another array?”
“Yes, that’s what they called it. They went out to see and I heard them get caught. The aliens are going to be looking for the ship.”
“Not anymore.”
“They’re not? Why not?”
“Because they already know where it is.”
********
Tobias ordered the frightened young woman to pack all the provisions she could find, along with an emergency comm link, and get as far away from the Falcon as she could. Once the fleet arrived, they would locate her. What Tobias failed to tell her was that there was a very good chance the fleet might never arrive.
Already, screening ships surrounding the fleet were picking up increased gravity disturbances on this side of the huge gas cloud that Adam and the Falcon had penetrated a few hours ago. The fleet had yet to move into the interior of the cluster, not until Adam reported back with his findings. But it was obvious something was going on in and around the cluster.
And now the news of a second array. Being the lifelong government employee that he was, Tobias knew where one huge-ass array could be built, there were probably a dozen more hidden somewhere else. Large organizations—such as the Sol-Kor Colony—were big on redundancy. So if there were more arrays scattered about, that meant there could also be hundreds, if not thousands, of additional beamships swarming this part of the galaxy.
Without the element of surprise in his favor, Andy was at a loss as to how he could counter the effects of the alien suppressor beam. Essentially all the aliens had to do was form a large ball in space with all their beams pointing outward and no one could touch them. Sure, firing long-range missiles might work, but at the distance his ships would have to be in order to not feel the effects of the beam, the alien bastards would have all the time in the world to either launch countermeasures or simply move out of the way. And flash bolts didn’t have near the range for what was needed.
He pulled up an inventory of his fleet. Three hundred and eighteen ships, with crews numbering three thousand-four hundred. The last thing he could do was enter the confined space of the globular cluster, not with all the unknowns—as well as the knowns—all to save four lives.
He pressed a button on his console. “Helm, this is Tobias. Bring us about. Steer course one-eight-zero, up ten, all ahead flank. Execute now. Also, comm, send an alert to all commands, including Juirean. Make them aware that the Sol-Kor have at least one other trans-dimensional portal, and probably others. Have all commands set maximum security levels. Do it now. Tobias out.”
Next the Admiral of the Fleet opened a link to Union Command on Earth. With the alien bastards and their blue beams roaming the Arm, no one was safe, especially cargo and passenger vessels. He would recommend an immediate grounding of all traffic, and that an air-tight detection screen be placed around all the more heavily populated planets in the Union. He still had an ounce of confidence that sheer numbers might be able to win the day against the Sol-Kor, but until those numbers could be concentrated at the most likely targets, there was very little they could do to stop the aliens.
This also meant asset allocation would become critical, as well as a point of contention. Some worlds would go unprotected while others would not. Tobias felt sorry for the politicians who would have to make those announcements.
After breaking the bad news to the Union leadership, he would then seek out Arieel Bol. Through some magic of Formilian technology, maybe she could make contact with Adam. It hadn’t worked at this distance before, but maybe they’d get lucky. Of course, this was assuming there was still a living Adam Cain to make contact with.
Chapter 25
The one good thing that could be said about the Sol-Kor, they had no concept of torture. They simply placed the three Humans in the back of a huge metal hanger, eight mean and angry-looking guards staring at them with weapons leveled. These creatures had been briefed on the abilities of the captives, so they were alert and serious. They were also a good fifty feet away, which took away the possibility of a Usain Bolt-like sprint at their ranks as only Humans in light gravity could do.
Vosmin came into the hangar a little later with an amused grin on his face. “I will kill you in a while, but first I have some news.”
When none of the Humans responded, he continued: “We have located your ship.”
Adam and Sherri looked at Riyad. His face was as hard as stone, staring at the alien.
“Apparently there was another occupant aboard who has since fled. We will find this creature, that is guaranteed. In addition, a broadcast was made from your ship which allowed us to pinpoint the location of your fleet. You will be happy to know that it has now left the region and is retreating back into the Arm.”
“Why would they do that?” Adam asked.
“Oh, it is our turn to play a trick. We activated certain gravity beacons that made it appear as though a large force was gathering to meet them. It is now known that Humans are cowards. That comes from having individual thoughts and goals—you covet the individual far more than the Colony. If it were the Sol-Kor in that situation, we would have sacrificed all to soften the enemy for those who come after us.”
“If that’s the case, then why don’t you do us all a favor and sacrifice your sorry ass for the good of the Colony right here and now,” Adam said, rising to his feet.
“Don’t be foolish, Adam Cain. You will die soon enough—on my terms, not yours. And if you attack me now, it will be you sacrificing your life…for nothing.”
Sherri pulled him back to his chair. “You do know you won’t finish the array in time before the fleet returns, don’t you?”
“Nonsense. The array will be completed within the day—Oh…very clever, Sherri Valentine. So now that you know the timetable, it will do you no good. You will not be around to witness the inaugural passage. But I will tell you that this portal is not like the prim
itive Klin portal. We could only pass one reaper ship through at a time. This portal will allow twenty through simultaneously.”
He held out his palm and then pressed it forward slightly. “You see, in far less space than my hand traveled there are millions of universes. They are separated by only the width of a hydrogen atom. When all was created, that was the first measurement of distance, and it was what defines the universes. Although I can’t see it, I know my universe is right here, not even a breath away. And in that impossibly small space is the essence of the Sol-Kor, massed and ready to pass over into your dimension.”
He paused to catch his breath and smirk at the three now humbled and dejected Humans. “The Sol-Kor have been feeding on the strains from countless worlds for thousands of worlds. Before that, we ate each other, as well as other creatures native to Kor. Once we found the means to move off the planet, our numbers began to grow beyond belief. At that point we had to find more and more fields to harvest. And we did. We have consumed whole galaxies, and then galaxies beyond that. So, you arrogant Humans, why do you think we have not come upon strains such as yours in the past? Of course we have, countless times. And yet we are still here and they are not. What does that tell you? What does that tell you about your chances for survival?”
“Hey, we all have to die sometime,” Adam said. “I get to do it giving you a severe case of explosive diarrhea. At least I hope I do.”
“The translation disgusts me, Human, yet I will not let it bother me. For I will be alive to see the morning star-rise, while you and the others will be in the process of being prepared for my evening meal.”
“Bon appétit, mutherfu—”
A loud hum filled the vast hangar, distracting Adam from finishing. Vosmin looked up toward the ceiling with a grin.
“It appears I was wrong about something after all, Adam Cain. You have lived long enough to see the completion of the portal. I should now allow you the chance to witness firsthand the might and overwhelming numbers of the Sol-Kor.” He stepped in closer to Adam, sensing from his demeanor that he was no longer a threat. “Your universe is doomed, Human. It was doomed the moment the foolish Klin powered up their rudimentary array. This is the way of nature. The strong consume the weak, and life continues. I shall return later, Adam Cain, once I have devised a satisfactory way of harvesting your brain that will cause you the utmost pain. On rare occasions we do eat our brains raw, and while still in their containers. With the proper seasoning, they can be quite delicious.” He looked over at Sherri. “Perhaps I will let the others sample some of your brain before I let you die, and before they, too, are consumed. Would you like that, female?”