by T. R. Harris
Panur kept working as Adam gave him the news. He was tightening down a square module on a series of tubes in the engine room of the D-4.
“I haven’t completed the conversion, but I can create a wave disturbance in our wake.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we can cover our tracks without difficulty. However, the ship’s standard engines are in mid-modification. We can only achieve about half our normal speed.”
“A D-4 can reach seven-light,” Copernicus reported. “Three-point-five to four will put it comparable to the G-8. Will your gravity wave thingamajig cover the Juireans as well?”
“If they lead the way.”
“We accept,” said Safnos. Adam knew Juireans would be the first ones into a roiling cauldron of fire if it meant beating out a Human for the honor.
“Can you take along the parts to complete the conversion?” Adam asked the mutant.
“Yes, but I’ll need downtime with the engines of thirteen additional hours to finish.”
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” Adam turned to Copernicus. “Are the ships stocked?”
“Good enough. Hopefully we won’t be out there too long.”
“Okay, let’s get everyone aboard who’s going; the more distance we can put between us and the Nuoreans the better. They have ships capable of speeds a lot higher than four-light. We’re going to need the head start.”
None of Coop’s crew had changed their minds about going along. Most were already long gone in fact, having hitched a ride back into town with the caravan of criminals. Lopis stepped up to his boss and shook his hand.
“Good luck. And by the way…I never liked you,” the alien said. “I only tolerated you for the credits.”
Copernicus raised an eyebrow. When Lopis went to pull away after the handshake, he found Coop holding on with increasing pressure. The alien began to grimace as the pain increased. Then he was released.
“A word of advice, Lopis,” Coop began. “Never say something like that face-to-face to a Human. We have very nasty dispositions.”
Not heeding the advice just given, Lopis blurted, “Yes, I have noticed, quite nasty.” Then he scurried away at a full sprint.
Adam looked at the mechanic. “Your friend’s a good judge of character.”
“Hey, I’m not the one known as the alien with an attitude. That would be you, Mister Cain.”
“That’s Captain Cain to you.”
Adam smiled. So did Copernicus.
“How much of a lead do we have on the Nuoreans?” Adam asked. Coop was piloting the Belsonian D-4, having left the Crisen-Por system two hours before.
“Hard to tell, that depends how long it takes them to recover from the Easter Eggs I left scattered around the shipyard for them.”
“Bombs?” Sherri asked, listening in on the conversation.
“Yeah, including several in the ship you brought. I figure after this mission I won’t be returning to my shipyard anyway. Won’t be much left when the eggs start going off.”
“That will only harden their resolve to find us,” Trimen said from the other side of the bridge.
Adam laughed. “You’re forgetting that Panur has already killed their precious leader. I don’t think they need any more incentive than that.”
Earlier, Panur had spent a few minutes under the navigation console making modifications. When he climbed out from underneath, he announced a doubling of the scanning range.
“We’ll now be able to see the Nuoreans long before they see us,” he announced. “Yet we’ll still have to update the Juireans.” He left the bridge to work on other projects.
The huge aliens were a light-year ahead in the G-8, their gravity-well cranked up to the max just to force the Humans to struggle to keep up. Adam didn’t know what they’d do if they broke contact and lost the cloaking effect of the wave disturbance. That would leave them on their own against the invaders.
It would also serve them right, playing their childish games, Adam thought. In a way, the Juireans were a lot like the Nuoreans, just that the Juireans weren’t as self-aware as the creatures from Andromeda. The Nuoreans understood their natural tendencies, and rather than resist, they embraced them, developing an entire civilization built around competition and the domination of others.
Adam smirked. He could substitute Human for Juirean and come to the same conclusion. He would call it Human nature, when in reality it was just nature.
“That’s the Nuorean’s main route through the Radis,” Riyad announced, studying the new contacts on the threat board, thanks to Panur’s expanded view.
“The Spur continues for another five hundred light-years before it thins out,” Coop said. “Another five days or so without breaks and we’re in intergalactic space.”
Coop looked around the small pilothouse, checking for any mutants. Both Panur and J’nae were in the engine room, doing what they could with the TD conversion while the ship was in full drive.
“So that’s the Queen of the Sol-Kor?” he said to Adam in a whisper.
“Former Queen,” Adam said. “And she was only queen for a few months. The original one, the one that had lived for five thousand years and helped create Panur, was a really hideous thing the size of a short bus. She was one of a kind.”
“Hopefully so is this one.”
“Who knows? Panur made J’nae; he could probably make another if he wanted.”
“And he’s the one who made the whole Sol-Kor war possible with his inter-dimensional star drive?”
“Don’t underestimate him. He turned my old starship into a universe-hopping supership in my garage. There’s no telling what he’s capable of.”
“I have no intention of underestimating him. But you guys seem to be friends.”
Adam snorted. “Well…at least he never sold me to the Klin.”
Copernicus smiled. “I made a boatload of credits from that. Of course, I had to give it all to the government, but it was a lot.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“I’ve got an admiral on the line, Adam,” Sherri announced from the comm station. The Belsonian craft used standard continuous-wormhole communications, so they were able to link with the allied forces without fear of being traced.
Riyad took over piloting duties as Adam and Coop moved over next to Sherri. Adam noticed a lingering of eyes between her and Coop, or was it just his imagination? Knowing Sherri, there was a good chance it wasn’t. She was attracted to bad boys.
“He’s Admiral Alan Olsen,” Sherri said.
“He’s my boss…as of a week ago. Head of the Perseus Affiliation, all the area on the Juirean side of the galaxy. Until recently we didn’t have very many units in the Expansion, so his job was mainly to oversee our intelligence operations in the area.”
Adam nodded and flicked the comm switch. And image of a balding man about sixty came on the screen, wearing the look of an artificial tan courtesy of shipboard tanning machines. “Admiral Olsen, this is Adam Cain.”
“I recognize you, Captain. Ms. Valentine says you’ve met up with one of my agents, Copernicus Smith.”
Coop shifted over until he was visible in the shot as well. “Admiral.”
“I see you’re not so covert any longer.”
“Sir, Captain Cain and I go back a ways.”
“I’ve heard.”
Those two words spoke volumes.
“Admiral, from what Captain Cain has told me, I can give you the location of the main Nuorean concentration in the Spur. It’s in the Glisena star cluster on a planet called Ankaa. I’ve had some dealings in the area. It’s a navigational nightmare getting in and out. And they just brought in another two thousand ships. Cain and his people managed to take out the Nuorean leader and one of the three-mile-long carriers while making their escape, but that barely scratches the surface.”
“I appreciate the information, Mr. Smith, but we’re a little beyond that.” The gray look on the Admiral’s face worried Ad
am. “We convinced the Juireans to blockade the Spur with a combined force of five thousand ships, for what good it did. The Nuoreans blasted right through two days ago, and since then have sent over seven thousand ships into the main part of the galaxy. Besides the two thousand you mentioned, additional reinforcements have continued unabated. We’ve managed to capture more prisoners from the various engagements we’ve had and the rank-and-file crewmembers don’t seem to have any reservations about spilling their guts. They’re pretty blatant about what they have planned for the Milky Way.”
“Sir, we’re monitoring a stream of invaders at least eight hundred strong moving your way. In fact, it looks like rush hour on the 405 in L.A.” Adam reported.
“Captain, if you do nothing else while you’re on site you have to find their point of entry. Until we shut off the tap, they’ll just keep pushing us farther away. I’d send everything we’ve got at the location, if we had a target. Without them bringing in more reinforcements, we might have a chance. As it is, within a month we could lose Formil and Juir.”
“That’s what we’re looking for, Admiral. The Spur peters out in about five hundred light-years, and this traffic jam is going in only one direction. All we have to do is follow the flow the other direction. It can’t be more that another four or five days.”
“That’s cutting it close. A month from now I don’t think we’d have enough units to reach it, not having to fight a six thousand light-year-long gauntlet from Formil to the end of the Spur.”
“We’ll see what we can do from this end. And I don’t know if Sherri told you, but we do have an ace up our sleeve—Panur.”
“Excuse me, Captain, but did you say Panur?”
“Yessir.”
“The mutant who helped the Sol-Kor?”
“He’s on our side now.”
The Admiral stared at the three people on his screen. “Has it occurred to you that he may be helping the Nuoreans this time around? After all, how did they get here from Andromeda? Sounds like something right up his alley.”
“It’s not like that, Admiral,” Sherri assured him. “He’s the one who killed the Nuorean leader and helped rescue Adam. And if anyone can figure a way of keeping the invaders out of the Milky Way, it would be him.”
“Fleet Command is going to go ballistic when they hear about this.”
“Sir, tell them we wouldn’t be this far along without him.”
“Is he fishing for some kind of governmental pardon for all the other crap he’s pulled?”
Adam laughed—a little. “I don’t think he needs one, sir, with all due respect.”
Olsen shook his head. “You’re on site, Captain—along with Mr. Smith; you call the shots. Just find that entry point. We have to turn the tide…somehow.”
“Yessir,” Adam and Coop said in unison.
“Adam, your Juirean friends have pulled farther ahead,” said Panur four days later. “J’nae and I are at the end of what we can do while under drive, and the engines are being stressed beyond necessity. Please have them slow down. The farther they get from the wave disturbance, the easier it will be for them to be noticed.”
“I’ll talk to them.” Most of the crew was in the landing bay of the D-4—including Manny, Pierre and Billy—working on the new flash weapons being welded onto the hull of the Fracker. It was a fast little ship, and if anything happened, it could be their lifeboat—a lifeboat with a punch, with the cannon installed.
It turns out Pierre’s cargo ship had been a D-4, so he and his men were a real help in keeping the junkyard ship running.
Sherri and Coop were inside the Fracker, having spent a lot of time together over the last few days. Adam could see the writing on the wall, and although he and Coop were getting along better, it was the fact that both men were alpha males to the nth-degree that had Adam spending more time thinking about the relationship than he had a right to. Besides…it was Copernicus Smith—the bastard.
“A situation has developed,” Trimen announced over the shipboard comm system. He was at the controls as the others worked on the Fracker. As the acknowledged master of understatement, the Formilian’s pronouncement could range from him developing a hangnail…to half the galaxy just exploded. The crew was in a mad rush to the bridge a heartbeat later.
It was the friggin Juireans. As predicted, they’d pulled too far ahead to be shielded by the wave disturbance from the D-4. A squad of Nuoreans was now locked onto the ship and in pursuit. The G-8 was fast, but the alien ships were just as fast, if not faster.
Another survey of the expanded scan area ahead showed they were coming up on a long cluster of Nuorean ships. This was different from the other formations they’d seen, which were all heading inward, toward the main part of the galaxy. These were on station.
Coop took over the controls and slowed the D-4. They were still shielded by the wave, but it wasn’t looking good for the Juireans. They’d steered the G-8 in a relative-up position, attempting to climb over the wall of alien craft. There were fewer Nuorean ships on the other side of the line, but they still had the five-ship squadron in pursuit. The G-8 cleared the main line and entered an area of empty space.
That’s when another squad of Nuoreans came in from the other direction, crossing the void on full power. The Juireans steered right, heading toward the outer edge of the Radis Spur.
“We’ve got to help them,” Sherri said.
“Why?” Panur asked. “They’re Juireans, your mortal enemy.”
“We have no enemies, except the Nuoreans.”
“A very noble yet naïve statement.”
Flash bolts shot out from the Nuorean ships, including their electrical-override balls. The G-8 was hit but kept going. The aliens hesitated only a second before unleashing another round of plasma bolts, with word having circulated back that the allies had discovered how to protect against their overload bombs.
The ship was hit again, enough to knock out the shields and the engines. Another bolt would do it.
Then in a blaze of deep gravity-wells, the Nuoreans retreated, and not just ceasing their attack, but turning and bolting away on full drive.
“Safnos to Adam Cain,” a voice said over the comm.
Adam opened the link with the Overlord; his image appeared on the forward screen. There was lingering smoke in the pilothouse, but he could see all four of the Juireans in the shot. They appeared to be okay.
“What’s your status?”
“Engines are out, only chemical maneuvering. Life-support is functional at this time, yet we have lost atmosphere through several hull breaches. We are in the pilothouse, with limited air.”
“I can take the Fracker over and get them,” Coop offered. “It’s a lot faster than the Nuorean ships—and we do have some firepower.”
“That will let the Nuoreans know there are other units in the area,” Trimen said.
“They already suspect that,” Riyad said. He was looking at the area scan. It looked as if they’d disturbed a nest of fire ants.
“If you think you can get in and out.”
“The Nuoreans left them,” Coop said. “That seems to be their modus operandi. Let them suffocate rather than waste flash bolts making the kill.”
“All right, go.”
“I’ll go with him,” Sherri announced. “The Juireans may need medical care, and I’m the only one aboard with any training.”
“Both Panur and I are much more proficient than are you,” J’nae countered.
“I meant among normal people.”
“I don’t know, Sherri….” Adam said.
“I’ll be fine. We’re not going out to fight, just rescue.”
“I’ve heard that before. Be careful.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then she and Coop rushed from the bridge. Riyad took over the controls of the D-4.
“She’ll be fine,” Riyad said.
Adam nodded.
Three minutes later the Fracker burst from the landing bay and raced away
from the D-4. It steered in the opposite direction from the Juireans to set a deceptive track before looping back over and bolting into the vast void between the lines of alien ships.
Adam thought it strange that no Nuoreans took up pursuit as they zipped over their positions. The Fracker now had a clear shot at the G-8.
Panur was huddled over the threat board, watching for any approaching craft. There were dozens of Nuoreans scurrying about the area. But then he noticed something. He sent the image to the main screen.
“Do you notice anything odd about this image?”
Everyone studied the screen.
“All their units are outside that void area, including all the ones looking for us,” Trimen offered.
“Yes and look what happens when I project out even more.”
The image changed to a four-times zoom out. Now the pattern became obvious. It was a long funnel of open space, boarded by hundreds of Nuorean craft.
“Why are they avoiding that area?” Riyad asked.
“Because…that is their entry point into the galaxy,” J’nae stated without emotion.
Adam dove for the comm station. “Sherri, get the hell out of there! Reverse course!”
“No one’s following us—”
“You’re in the middle of the entry point. That’s why no one’s chasing you.”
“And I would make haste,” Panur said. “The other Nuoreans left in a hurry. They must be preparing for an event.”
“Got it; we’re on our way back.”
Adam breathed a sigh of relief when saw the small ship loop around and bolt for the edge of the void. Then an odd thing happened. All the Nuorean ships along the line fired up their gravity drives. But they weren’t pointed into the void, but away from it.
The D-4 was hit by an invisible wave of energy. It wasn’t electrical, but gravitational. The entire sector was experiencing erratic gravity tides and eddies, but nowhere was it more prominent than within the void area. The G-8 was moving, but not by its own power. It was gaining velocity, heading away from the galaxy. Sherri and Coop had their powerful little ship also in a full gravity-well. They were making progress reaching the outer rim of the void but slowing at the same time.
