by T. R. Harris
Adam placed a palm on the chest of the first guard.
“Don’t. We’re not looking for trouble, just infor—”
The native took hold of Adam’s wrist and twisted, throwing the Human off balance. A split second later, Adam was on his knees with the guard straddling him and reaching a thick hand around from behind to clamp incredibly strong fingers on his throat. Adam didn’t see what happened to Sherri, only that she ended up prone on the floor with an alien knee pressed against her neck.
There was more commotion, and a moment later, Riyad joined Adam and Sherri on the floor as additional guards entered the room to assist. Their weapons were removed.
Adam’s shocked gaze met that of Sherri’s. What the hell just happened? he asked through his ATD.
We just got our asses kicked, that’s what. This must be a planet of Bruce Lees. Small, but powerful little bastards.
We don’t have time for this, Adam thought.
They won’t be able to do this with Panur, Riyad said, joining the conference-thought.
Hands pulled them into sitting positions, while other natives brought up metal restraints to secure the prisoners. Adam was ready for this. He resisted, as did the others. What followed next was another demonstration of how to use an opponent’s weight to your advantage. The three Humans ended up back on the floor, on their bellies, and with their arms locked in restraints behind their backs. And this was just a security team for a mid-sized local manufacturer. What were the real combat troops like?
From where he lay, Adam could see down the corridor where Panur had gone. Half a dozen guards followed, only to have four of them come sliding back toward him on the floor. Only one was in any condition to stagger to his feet. The other two guards … who knew? Riyad was right. Panur wasn’t as much of a pushover as were the Humans. Adam never thought he’d live long enough to use the word pushover to describe his race. There was a first time for everything.
A few minutes, later Panur returned down the hallway. The horde of unarmed guards cleared the way for him, having learned of his abilities. He stopped and hovered over the prisoners. Another native followed behind Panur, his face bloodied and his shirt torn.
“Release them!” the native ordered. “And return their weapons.”
The guards didn’t hesitate. A moment later, Adam and the others were on their feet, free of the shackles yet thoroughly embarrassed by the relative ease at which they were taken down.
Riyad stepped up to one of the guards.
“It’s just because we weren’t ready, that’s all. If we’d known you wanted to fight, it would have been different.”
Panur took Riyad by the arm and pulled him away.
“Let’s go. I know where to find the Broker.”
When they stepped outside, a dozen employees were milling around, alerted to the disturbance inside the administration building. The team’s transport was missing, the driver having left when all hell broke loose inside.
Panur turned back toward the entrance and the bloody executive standing in the doorway, watching them.
“We need a transport,” he called out to the native.
“Of course, of course.” The manager waved to others in the crowd, and a few seconds later, a compact car was brought up.
Panur’s tall figure could barely fit into the driver’s compartment in the front, while Adam, Sherri and Riyad crammed themselves into the back. Adam looked around at the other vehicles on the grounds. Most were like this one, small to accommodate the natives. The cab from the spaceport was an exception. They settled for what they had, and a moment later, Panur steered out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
“Where are we going?” Sherri asked as she shifted her elbows out of the men’s ribs. If Adam weren’t already intimate with her anatomy, he would be by the end of the trip.
“It’s an estate about fourteen miles from here. I have an address; I memorized the location maps earlier. I know the way.”
“Fourteen miles … like this?” she asked, shifting her body again.
“You’re just going to have to sit in one of our laps,” Riyad said, flashing his trademark white smile at his ex-wife.
She snorted and then shifted over onto Riyad’s lap, her head pressed against the car overhead. He draped his arms around her, with his hands landing on areas off-limits to him for several years.
“Sorry,” he said. “No place else to put them.”
“Find a place, or all you’ll have left are bloody stumps.”
Riyad scooted his hands down to her waist.
“What was all that about?” Adam asked. “Who are these guys? That was embarrassing.”
“Just be glad this is an Earth-like world,” Riyad said. “It just reaffirms how badass we are.”
“You mean people from Earth-like worlds?” Sherri added.
“The manager,” Adam began, addressing Panur, “he knew Aboran and where to find him. What else did he say about him?”
“They have an agreement; the manager gets a fee for looking the other way when shipments come in from Cadon, and Aboran gets his merchandise,” Panur answered from the front seat. “The Broker receives items from Vo’lash every few months.”
“What does he do with them? Who does he sell them to?”
“The manager didn’t know for sure, just rumors about a major collector of Aris artifacts.”
“On the planet?”
“That he also didn’t know. I asked. But he does know Aboran is here. He saw him yesterday.”
“Don’t you think he’s going to warn him?”
“That, I doubt. I made it very clear what would happen to him if he did.”
The rest of the trip was made in silence, except for an occasional groan or swear word as those in the backseat jockeyed for position. When they arrived at the destination, Adam, Sherri and Riyad literally spilled out the back and onto the paved driveway of the estate.
And an estate it was. It was a majestic mansion on the shores of a gorgeous alpine lake, bordered by jagged mountain peaks capped with snow. The scene reminded Adam of Switzerland or Austria, something off of a screensaver. The air was cool and crisp, placing the season in this part of Oberqwin as late Spring, judging by the amount of snow remaining on the mountains.
Once again, Adam was struck by the uncanny similarity to Earth. It wasn’t just the landscape, but also the architecture of the mansion. It was made of dark stacked stone with an arched entry resting atop a ten-step stairway. The front doors were tall and made of carved native wood. The building was three stories high with conventional windows set at intervals along the front façade and with a set of dormer windows placed within a steeply sloped roof made of aged tile. The Humans stood in awe of the structure.
Panur wasn’t so impressed. He quickly climbed the stairs to the landing and the front doors. He didn’t bother to knock, and when he found the doors locked, he simply placed a shoulder against the panels and pushed. Wood splintered, and the double doors flew open to the inside.
Adam was a step behind Panur, scrambling with the others to catch up to the mutant. He didn’t want to risk having to face a set of native security personnel without Panur around.
Entering the mansion was like stepping back in time, and a very familiar time. The polished marble floors, double circular stairway and enormous painted vases to each side of the grand foyer were breathtaking. This was more than a coincidence. This home was designed to mimic a European manor, down to the smallest detail.
The team stood gawking at the surroundings, even Panur, but not for the same reasons. He was waiting for someone to appear, someone he could interrogate. They didn’t have to wait long.
Two native males appeared together, each looked concerned and questioning who had forced their way into the home.
“You cannot be here,” one of the aliens said, stopping a respectable distance from the tallest of the invaders, Panur.
“We’re here to see Aboran Forr.”
“Do you ha
ve prearranged business with him?”
“No, just get him,” Panur demanded.
“That will not be—”
“I am Aboran Forr,” said a voice from along the catwalk at the top of the stairway. “What is your business with me?”
Adam looked up to see a plump, tallish alien with grey skin staring down at them from the railing. He wasn’t a native Oberqwin, and by the way he gingerly moved down the stairs, Adam could tell he wasn’t used to the gravity. Panur met him at the last step.
“You are the one known as the Broker?”
Aboran looked past Panur to Adam and his people.
“You are Humans,” he stated calmly. “And you have broken the door. Was that necessary? Why are you here? Surely you could have used standard channels.”
“Standard channels?” Adam shook his head. “We’re here about an item you bought from Vo’lash Brill.”
It was clear Aboran preferred to talk to the Humans rather than the other alien of indeterminant origin, which was in itself odd. No one preferred to talk to Humans, not even other Humans.
The alien frowned. “I believe I do not know that name.” His tone wasn’t convincing.
“Give it up, Aboran,” Adam said. “We know you deal with him often and run everything through the Fosee Group.”
“Are you law officials of some kind? What I transact with the Cadonic is only illegal on Cadon, as well as certain parts of the Expansion and the Union. Oberqwin is part of neither. We are a member of the Incus Federation. You have no authority here.”
Adam drew his MK-47 and held it up for Aboran to see. “This gives us all the authority I need.”
“You threaten me?” The alien didn’t appear frightened.
“That’s right unless you tell us what we want to know.”
“You have not said what you want to know.”
“It’s about an item you bought from Vo’lash nine years ago—”
“Nine years! You cannot be serious. I have done thousands of transactions with Vo’lash throughout the years. How can I remember one from that long ago?”
“Then tell us who your clients are. One of them will remember.”
“I will not reveal that. It is the reason he employs a broker—”
“He … meaning one client.”
Aboran’s mouth fell open. “No … that is not what I meant,” he stammered. “I have many clients.”
Panur stepped up in front of the broker. “I don’t believe you do. I believe you have but one, and it is he who owns this estate.”
“Ridiculous! This is my home.”
“Then your clients pay you very well. But I see by the way you walk, that you are not used to the gravity of Oberqwin. Why build a home on a planet whose gravity you cannot tolerate?
“I tolerate it well enough.”
Panur attempted to wrap his fingers around the alien’s fat neck but couldn’t quite close the grip. Instead, he shoved him against the nearest wall where he could use leverage on Aboran. The two servants ran to his aid but were stopped by Riyad and Sherri and their MKs. They weren’t anxious to tangle with the natives on a physical level, not again. The flash weapons did the trick.
“I will ask only one time, and then I will crush your skull,” Panur growled. “Who is your client, and where can we find him?”
“Release him!” a voice echoed off the marble floor and stone walls of the estate. “He doesn’t know what you’re looking for.”
Again, all eyes shifted to the top of the stairway. The three Humans gasped at what they saw.
Chapter 11
Wolfgang Stimmel, the former MK regional director, stood at the railing, looking down on the team. In a rush, things began to make sense to Adam. An Earth-like world, a palatial European manor, and a fabulously wealthy benefactor and collector of rare Aris artifacts. Adam kicked himself for not seeing it earlier.
Without fear, Stimmel moved down the stairs.
“I said release him, TeraDon Fief of the Gradis Cartel. Yes, I know who you are. I have been watching all of you during your current mission, curious as to what you’re looking for. It wasn’t until my Gracilian partners told me about the Code did I understand the urgency.”
“You know about the Code?” Sherri asked, stunned.
Panur kept the Broker pinned against the wall, content not to reveal his true identity to the Director.
“I didn’t, at first. I barely knew about the Formation. But since my move to Gracilia, I have learned much. As you have surmised, this is my home, one of several I have in the galaxy, but by far my favorite. This is where I keep most of my Aris collection, which I have to say is the most extensive in the galaxy. He moved in front of Adam. “How about a truce while we discuss our options.”
“Options?” Adam asked. “What options? You stole dark matter collectors, you almost killed us on Woken, and you cut the ATD out of my body. Why should I give you two seconds before putting a Level-1 bolt between your eyes, let alone a truce?”
“Because you want the Code. I can give it to you.”
“Do you have it?” Riyad barked. He’d almost died on Woken, as well, so he was in no mood for niceties.
“I do. I’ve had it for a long time. Of course, I didn’t know what it was until just recently.”
“Where is it?” Panur asked, releasing the Broker and letting him slump to the floor, rubbing his neck and coughing.
“I have it here.”
Stimmel saw the fire in Adam’s eyes.
“Relax, Mr. Cain. I will give it to you, no strings attached. After learning what it is, I almost destroyed it myself. But I couldn’t do it. It is an instrument of such incredible age and sophistication.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t have any such problems.”
Panur stepped up to Stimmel. “Just get it and give it to me. I will take care of the device.”
Stimmel frowned, looking at Adam and then the tall alien. He seemed confused as to who was in charge.
“If that’s okay with you?” he asked Adam.
Adam smirked. “Yeah, just do it.”
“I must warn you though; there is no time to waste. Once I learned what it was and how important it was to Kanan, I set probes along the outer Kidis looking for the signature of dark-energy starships. Since not too many of them exist, I figured if I detected any, they would belong to Kanan.”
“Did you?” Sherri asked.
“Yes, several days ago. Factoring in the speed and distance, Kanan could be arriving at any time.”
“Then you’re right,” Adam said. “We have no time to waste.”
Stimmel had just turned to walk away when an incredible rumble reverberated through the estate. Plaster fell from the walls and ceiling, raining down on everyone. Several brilliant flashes of light streaked in from outside through the open front doors.
“Adam!” Panur yelled. “Your L-Field!”
Adam was a split second ahead of him, activating the Lerpiniere field through his ATD. He set the range out to maximum, which he had no idea how far that was. Kanan was here, and he had to keep as many of the service orbs from teleporting as possible. Even still, three appeared in the middle of the lobby amidst the crowd before he could activate the field.
It took only a moment for the orbs to realize they couldn’t teleport, but that was enough time for Panur to grab one of the modules out of the air and crush it in his bare hands. The other two zipped away, climbing out of reach before stopping to fire their lightning bolts at the living beings below. They initially aimed at those closest to the hallways leading from the foyer. They were the two native servants and the Broker, Aboran Forr. They couldn’t withstand the intense electrical shock and each fell to the floor, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Panur picked up one of the ceramic vases lining the room and heaved it at the orbs. One was hit as the other moved out of the way. The one hit by the vase fell with the debris to the floor, where Sherri and Riyad took aim with their MKs, both at Level-1. It was enou
gh to destroy the unit.
Stimmel had a weapon of his own, something Adam didn’t recognize. It was small with an enclosed handle grip and a pair of rods looking more like cathodes than barrels. He aimed it at the other orb. It stopped firing the lightning and hovered in place until Stimmel moved his weapon and brought the module to the ground.
He looked at Adam and smiled. “A gift from the Gracilians. They built the modules, so they designed a weapon that would be effective against them.”
“Do you have more of them?”
Stimmel nodded. “A few, but not here.”
“Look out!” Sherri yelled. “There are more coming!”
All eyes turned to the entrance. Three inert robot bodies flew through the opening, dangling in mid-air as their hovering control modules soared through the air. This was a more effective way of moving after discovering they couldn’t teleport out of the bodies.
Stimmel swept his weapon across a wide arc encompassing the three service modules. Each shuddered and fell to the floor.
“They’re only temporarily stunned, their bodies shielding them against the overload pulse,” he yelled. “Take them out with your MKs.”
The three other Humans obliged.
“There are more coming,” Adam announced. He could detect the faint signals of the dark matter particles in the Gracilian-designed units. “And so is Kanan.” His signature was different, stronger. He was a much more advanced model requiring more dark matter.
“Follow me!” Stimmel yelled. “We have to get to the vault where I keep my artifacts.”
“Is that where you have the Code device?” Panur asked.
Stimmel was already rushing away down the hallway on the right. “Sich beeilen!” he called back to the team in his native German. Adam was surprised when his translator bug converted the words to English: “Hurry up!”
They followed him down a long corridor. He opened a set of ornate doors, revealing a huge library containing thousands of bound books lining shelves and climbing the full three stories of the residence. Adam only had a moment to admire the wood-paneled room before Stimmel ran up to a code box and pressed a sequence of keys. A panel in the wall slid away. They followed the Director inside, where he stopped and entered another code sequence on a matching panel on the wall. The door slid shut a moment later with a resounding thud. Adam felt the air pressure change as lights snapped on.
