by T. R. Harris
The new Defenders stepped back and allowed the Unii to rush through their line, heading for the Najmah Fayd. The tank screeched to a halt right beside the entry hatch. Sherri was the first one out. She crouched down to avoid the flash bolts that filled the air and fingered in the access code. The door slid open and she rushed inside.
Next, Arieel and Benefis ran from the transport and into the ship. Lastly, Riyad stepped out. He heard a call from off in the distance. Turning, he saw Saln Xacin yelling at him.
“You owe us our bonu—”
The level-two flash bolt to his chest, fired from an unseen assailant, ended the negotiation. With a sigh, Riyad entered the Najmah Fayd and secured the hatch.
Sherri was already seated at the controls. Three seconds later the ship lifted off the pad. Through views offered by several exterior cameras, the four people on the bridge saw Defenders fly into the air, following the ship as she climbed higher into the sky of Wokan, caught up in the gravity-well. Some would fall back to the surface, others would remain under the influence even as the ship entered space and engaged the full engines.
Riyad reached up to place his hand on the shoulder of the seven-foot-tall Juirean. “Look on the bright side, Benefis. We just saved you all that expense of having to pay the Defenders.”
Benefis continue to stare at the screen showing the rapidly shrinking globe that was Wokan. “The fee was already deducted from my accounts,” the Juirean stated. And then he sighed. “It has taken me many years to build the organization I had on Wokan. It took you less than an hour to destroy it all.”
“Maybe you should have left us alone,” Sherri called back from the pilot’s seat. “Just a suggestion.”
“Without doubt, Sherri Valentine, for what little good that conclusion does now.”
Riyad patted the alien’s back. “It’s your turn to relax now, my friend. You have just joined the winning team.”
********
“There has been a confrontation on Wokan,” Ranor’s new Second, Guard First Class Wynn O’ori, reported.
From his command seat aboard the Juirean Class-Four, Ranor could see that his new appointee was displaying the calm confidence he had hoped he would. The Juirean race was made up of stable and pragmatic creatures; bad news should be reported just as good news would, without prejudice or bias. Only then could reliable command decisions be made.
“What sort of confrontation?”
“The Humans were taken captive after leaving O-Pell Energy, and then the building in which they were being held was attacked by mercenaries.”
“Are they injured?”
“No. Apparently they escaped and have taken to space again in the advanced starship.”
“Good, then they are continuing with their mission. We obviously have them under surveillance again.”
“Yes. Units are keeping their distance and monitoring remotely.”
“Has a destination been determined?”
“They are heading further into the Frontier, yet they made such a hasty retreat from the planet that they may simply be gaining distance before charting a new course.”
“Very astute observation, Wynn. My compliments. Maintain your vigil.”
Ranor saw no emotion on the face of his new second-in-command, as should be expected. Even though he had complimented his subordinate, no such accolades should be expected for doing one’s job. Still, he knew his comments would circulate throughout the ship and the fleet, showing that he was not simply a sadistic taskmaster who had publicly executed his former Second. He was a Juirean with a mission to accomplish; nothing would get in his way, especially not incompetence or a potentially traitorous under-officer.
“Time to Kidis?” he asked the bridge.
“Three days, seven hours, my Lord,” answered a voice from across the room.
“Maintain course and speed.”
“As ordered.”
Chapter 7
“Syrus Jacs, yes I know him. Most of the independents in the Frontier know him, or know of him. That is who you seek?”
“He has information we need,” Riyad said.
Benefis shook his head. “Even for Kidis, he is a dangerous and conniving creature. He will not welcome you openly…if at all.”
“Do you know where he is?” Sherri asked.
“He could be anywhere. That is the nature of our business.”
“Who would know?”
“He maintains a headquarters of sorts on Lasiter.”
“That’s what we heard. But you don’t think he’d be there?”
“It is possible, yet we make our profits through the buying and selling of various items. This involves pick-up and delivery, and finding trustworthy assistants is very hard. Most of us prefer to carry the merchandise personally.”
“Can you get us into his headquarters?”
“We are not friends—we are competitors. I highly doubt they would grant me an audience.”
“But they know you. You would have a better chance than we would. Tell them you come with an offer Syrus won’t be able to refuse,” Sherri suggested.
“You still have not told me of your mission. Why is it important that you speak to Syrus?”
Sherri and Riyad looked at each other. They shared a common thought. The Juirean was now their prisoner, but he could also come in handy within the unpredictable environment of the Kidis Frontier. Having him on their side could be helpful.
“He recently sold a small quantity of SCAC-18 fuel modules to someone,” said Riyad. “We need to know who he sold them to.”
This time Benefis laughed out loud. “In that case, you will have to force the information out of him. Client confidentiality is of paramount importance in our business. If not, no one would trust us and business would stop.”
Sherri smiled. “If that’s what it takes, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Her matter-of-fact attitude, especially when it came to torture, made the Juirean’s face turn to stone. “I assume your casual attitude in that regard would also carry over to me?”
“If you have information we need, and you’re not willing to part with it, of course.”
“Humans are even more—notorious, might be the word—than I even imagined.”
“We do what we must to get the job done.”
“Then please ask me questions first, before assuming I would not be willing to talk.”
“That would be the preferred course of action.”
Benefis then turned to Riyad. “I was not aware it was the females of your species who are the most ruthless.”
“It’s one of those little secrets we try to keep to ourselves. Kind of embarrassing for the males to admit, but now you know.”
The Juirean continued to stare at Sherri. “I will have to shift my opinion, and my guard. Forgive me if I have offended you, Sherri Valentine.”
Sherri narrowed her eyes at the alien. “You’re forgiven…for now. But just watch yourself.”
Riyad witnessed the Juirean literally tremble under the glare of the Human female. Welcome to my world, he thought. You’re beginning to understand what we have to put up with every day…
********
“We have to find the tracker,” Sherri was saying. Then as an afterthought: “I sure hope Andy isn’t behind this.”
“I doubt it,” Riyad said. “He’s gone through a lot of trouble and expense if he is.”
“Would not that trouble and expense have been hard for your Admiral Tobias to justify unless there was a purpose behind his efforts?” As an outside observer, Arieel could say things the others would never dream of about their long-time friend.
“The purpose, if you remember, is to rescue Adam,” Sherri barked.
“I do realize that, but do you have any concept of what a vessel like this would cost to develop and to build? Forgive me if I’ve upset you, but it would be far beyond the worth of any one individual, even Adam Cain.”
Riyad saw Sherri snap her jaw shut, unable to present a cog
ent counter-argument.
“It makes sense, Arieel,” he said. “But I honestly believe that it wasn’t Andy. He was granted the authority from higher up to give me the ship. He probably just jumped at the chance without questioning why.”
“Then you’re saying Secretary Arness is behind this?” Sherri said. “I know the man and his wife. I can’t believe that, either.”
“It doesn’t really matter at this point,” Riyad said. “We already knew there were people in our own government who want us to fail. This is how they hope to make it happen.”
“They don’t want us to fail, Riyad. They want us to find Panur for them.”
“And then what?” Arieel asked. Riyad could see the worry on her face. If Panur was attacked in some way, her daughter could be caught up in it as well.
“With the way they’re going about it, I doubt they want to offer him a job,” Sherri offered.
“They fear him. That is why you are being hunted.”
All heads turned to the doorway to the common room and the tall Juirean standing there. “So you are looking for the mutant who is responsible for all the evil that has taken place within our galaxy recently?”
“You know of Panur?” Riyad asked.
“Who does not? The Sol-Kor have been the subject of countless studies and reports throughout the galaxy. No advanced race is immune, even those within the Kidis Frontier. We get our news. And now I am beginning to see some logic behind the activities of your trackers.”
“And what would that be?” Sherri asked.
“They are afraid you might succeed. The mutant has disappeared, and according to most people in the galaxy, they welcome that development. Yet you seek to bring him out of the shadows. Why?”
“So he can help us,” Riyad replied.
When no further explanation was provided, Benefis pressed the issue. “Help you do what? Develop weapons to be used against my people? No, that cannot be it, otherwise the Humans would not be assisting. What is it?”
“We need him to help us rescue Adam Cain.”
“From where…from whom?”
“He’s being held prisoner by the new Sol-Kor queen.”
“Here?” the Juirean asked, pointing at the deck. “Or…there?” he gestured toward the ceiling.
“In the Sol-Kor universe.”
“There is your answer, Humans. You want the mutant to reopen a doorway to our enemy—the enemy of all within the galaxy. All thinking beings in the galaxy would be against you. You mentioned before, Riyad Tarazi, that I had joined the winning team. I understand the term, yet I believe now that I have been deceived. You are on a dangerous and potentially harmful path, and I wish no part of it.”
Sherri stood up. “No one asked you to get involved. You did that yourself.”
“Do not get too angry, Sherri Valentine. All I say is that I will not cooperate. You wish me to make contact with beings who would know the location of Syrus Jacs, who would then lead you to Panur. Now I refuse.”
“If that’s the case, then you’re just using up air and food resources. Let’s see how you like it on the other side of the bulkhead…”
“Hold on, Sherri,” Riyad said. He turned to the Juirean. “The last thing we want to do is reopen a gateway for the Sol-Kor to reenter our galaxy. You’re forgetting, I’ve been to the other side—twice—and I really don’t want to have any more contact with those animals than I have to. And it was Arieel and I who helped Panur build the array detector that’s being used to shut down the SK portals. But throughout it all, Adam Cain was our leader. Now he’s on the other side, and we owe him at least a chance at being rescued. Panur may laugh in our faces—if we find him—and not help at all. But we have to try.”
“And if he does help, and he does build another gateway, what guarantees are you offering that the Sol-Kor will not use it to come back through?”
“We’re only talking about a personal transporter, nothing that would allow starships to enter. The SK’s still have those. They’re linked to the portal arrays we haven’t destroyed yet. But they can’t come through with anything bigger than a single individual. That’s all we need Panur to do for us. We already have a dimensional portal back on Earth. He just needs to make some adjustments to it, just so we can get back to Kor and rescue our friend.”
“Who may not be alive.”
“That’s right, he may not be. But that doesn’t mean we don’t go back and check for ourselves. And once we either rescue him or not, we destroy the portal back on Earth. We’re not so stupid and reckless we’ll endanger the entire galaxy just for one person.”
Benefis scanned the faces of the other three people in the room. “I believe you believe your motives are pure, yet I doubt others will feel the same. In fact, I know they do not already. If there is even the slightest chance of relinking the two universes, they will continue to oppose you.”
“This is a one-time shot we’re taking, Benefis. And as I said, Panur may not help us, content to live out what existence he’s made for himself in the Kidis Frontier.”
“Are you positive this is where he is hiding?”
“All the evidence points to it. Your friend Syrus Jacs may be on his way to meet with him as we speak.”
“He is not my friend.”
“You better hope he doesn’t feel the same,” Sherri said ominously. “Otherwise you’re no use to us.”
“Is she always this way?” Benefis asked Riyad.
“Yeah, most of the time.”
“Then I will help, if only for self-preservation.”
“At least he’s honest,” Sherri pointed out. “Now, let’s find that damn tracker.”
********
It took all four of them six hours to locate the elusive tracking device. It was located in the portside engine room, and it was only with the help of Sherri’s ATD that she was able to detect the incongruous power signal among a slew of others.
“So what do we do with it?” Arieel asked. “If it goes silent, the forces tracking us may decide to end our mission prematurely. At least that way Panur stays hidden.”
Riyad had been thinking the same thing. “We’re going to land on Lasiter, aren’t we, Benefis?”
“Yes.”
“At a spaceport?”
“Also yes.”
“Then let’s hold off doing anything until we get there. Then we’ll stash it aboard some other ship and let the Juireans follow them. A brilliant plan, if I say so myself.”
“They will know we’ve gone to Lasiter.”
“So what? They don’t know we’re looking for Syrus Jacs.”
Sherri and Arieel looked at each other and nodded. “Okay,” Sherri said. “Sounds like a plan. How much longer until we get to Lasiter? Just knowing that thing’s aboard gives me the creeps.”
“Fourteen hours in your magnificent starship,” Benefis reported.
“How soon before you’ll start making attempts to reach Syrus?”
“I will wait until we arrive. We may find luck and he will be on the planet. If that’s the case, I would not want to forewarn him. And if not, then we will appear at his headquarters and begin our inquiry.”
“And if they won’t talk?” Sherri asked.
“Then I will leave it up to you to make them change their minds.”
Sherri made an exaggerated show of licking her lips, if only to reinforce the Juirean’s impression of her as a cold-blooded killer. “Can’t wait. This could be fun.”
Benefis shook his head, then turned and left the engine room in disgust.
********
Overlord Ranor and his four accompanying vessels entered the Wokan star system, where they met up with another nine Juirean ships that were part of the tracking operation. There were another fourteen ships scattered throughout the Frontier, and each of them had the codes necessary to track the Human spacecraft.
“Where are they now?” Ranor demanded from his Second.
“They are just now arriving on a planet called Lasi
ter.”
“Do we know why they have gone there?”
“Our forces have retraced the steps they took while on Wokan…” He hesitated before continuing.
“Proceed, Wynn.”
“The natives did not welcome our inquires. There were casualties.”
“Juirean casualties!” Ranor bolted out of his chair and approached the comm station in a huff.
“Only one, my Lord. Yet we were required to subdue a mob, resulting in over three hundred dead from the various security forces in service within the city.”
Ranor calmed down. Only one Juirean casualty. That was regrettable, yet the natives paid a steep price for their lack of respect.
“Perhaps it is time Juir imposes more authority in this region, and if not throughout it all, then certainly on Wokan. Once our current mission is concluded, see to it that a squadron of ten vessels is stationed here. Let us remind these creature who holds the most power in the galaxy.”
“We were able to recover some information after the riot and its aftermath.”
“What information?”
“The Humans have gone to Lasiter seeking an independent energy broker named Syrus Jacs. His operations base is on the planet.”
“Good, we are getting closer.”
“Yes, apparently they are tracking the mutant through the fuel requirements for his starship. This Syrus Jacs could know Panur’s location.”
“Set a course for Lasiter, Wynn. Best speed. And have the nearby tracking units close in a little tighter. We must be in position to act once the mutant is found.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Chapter 8
The gravity of Lasiter was so light, and the atmosphere so thin, that all four of the occupants of the Najmah Fayd were required to wear breathing masks. Even then, the Humans could only spend an hour or so out in the open because of the low pressure. Arieel and the Juirean had no such problem, only with the thin air.
Fortunately for them, Benefis had departed Wokan with a wad of acceptable currency in his pockets, and he used some to hire a transport to take them to Jacs’ headquarters.