by T. R. Harris
“Will you stick around to see the completion?”
“No…but I will provide the plans.”
“Hate to rain on your parade,” Riyad began, “but the Nuoreans have only been in the galaxy for about a month and look what they’ve already done. What will it be like in another three if they’re allowed to come in unabated until the platforms are built and deployed? From what that admiral said, Formil and Juir could fall by then, along with all the manufacturing worlds from here to Sandis IV. Who’s going to build the platforms when half the galaxy is under Nuorean control? And one last thing: Just as we learned to make counters to the suppressor beam, so will the Nuoreans. You can count on it. So this will only be a temporary fix, even if we do manage to finish the job before we’re overrun. The bottom line…the midpoint generators still have to be destroyed at some point.”
“You are a fountain of intellect and deductive reasoning this day, my friend Riyad,” said Panur, beaming.
“Knock it off!” Adam commanded. “He’s right, unfortunately about everything. So something has to be done now to at least temporarily slow them down. Now think, all you geniuses—Riyad included. You’re not getting paid to sit around looking pretty.”
Panur turned to J’nae and smiled. “Well…looks like our friend Adam has just defined our current mission. Yessir, Captain Cain, sir. We will now commence to…think.”
While ‘thinking’ the two mutants went to work completing the modifications to the D-4’s gravity drive; apparently they could do more than one thing at a time. When the job was done, Panur announced he had a plan.
“I will need access to one of the Nuorean ships in the line.”
“What do you mean access?” Adam asked.
“I mean someone will have to place a small device I will construct aboard the vessel, in a specific place and manner and linked to their command circuits.”
“Why, what are you planning to do?”
Panur assumed his best professorial persona—absent the reading glasses he would be looking over. “We wish to prevent the Nuoreans from entering the galaxy, while also giving them pause before resuming their activities. The easiest and quickest way to make an impression would be to send a cluster of powerful bombs through the link. It would have to be powerful enough to affect the area we’re talking about. Yet we have no explosives, and I cannot manufacture anything large enough with what I have aboard the ship.” He smiled, readying the punchline. “So I propose we use the border ships as our weapon.”
“How exactly are we going to do that?” Riyad asked.
“Through a device I will build, I will be able to temporarily override the local control of their gravity drives, or at least all the ships within range before the Nuoreans resume control. It won’t be long, but it should be long enough.”
“Long enough for what?” It was Trimen’s turn to ask a question.
“To send a hundred or more Nuorean ships crashing into the fleet as it appears at the gate, causing a spectacular chain reaction among the tightly packed starships within seconds of their arrival in the galaxy.”
“You can do that?”
“Like I said, I will only have control for a few seconds. Their engines will already be engaged, having just fired up to avoid being sucked back to Andromeda. When the gravity affects are reversed and the fleet arrives, I will activate back-wells for every ship I can link with in the brief time I have. Not all of the incoming fleet will be destroyed, but a majority. It will disrupt their operations and make them more cautious when entering in the future.”
“Won’t they simply shift locations?” Riyad asked.
“That is a possibility. Yet if your technicians can build the beam platforms, then they will be ready for deployment the moment a new entry point is identified. With the initial success of suppressor technology on unsuspecting forces, your ships should be able to reach the point without too much resistance and deploy the weapon.”
“But this device you’re going to build needs to be placed aboard one of the Nuorean ships bordering the void?” Adam didn’t like the sound of the words coming from his mouth. They sounded too much like a mission impossible. He also knew who was often called upon for such missions.
“We can drift in close in dark status, then you simply jet over in spacesuits.”
Adam nodded and pursed his lips. “Yeah…a piece of cake. We do it all the time.”
Riyad spoke up. “I assume you and J’nae will have other things to do at the time, leaving the job up to me and Adam?”
“You could send your Humans friends from Ankaa, but I assume you prefer to save the truly heroic missions for you and Adam,” said Panur. The other three men were on the bridge as well, but none seemed anxious to volunteer. Now Panur stretched out a wide grin. “It will be fun…and you get to fly around like your Buck Rogers.”
Riyad shook his head. “Even Buck Rogers didn’t fly around like Buck Rogers. That was all done with wires. This is the real thing.”
60
The problem with trying to conquer a distant galaxy was that information only came through every few days and in condensed packets of data that required translation and assimilation in real time.
As a result, the Nuoreans pursuing the Fracker had no idea who or what they had when Copernicus surrendered. The top brass knew, but only after a lot of research.
“You have been identified as Humans,” said the light brown-skinned alien officer. Sherri actually envied his perpetual tan. It was just the right shade to accent her blond hair. “Humans have been placed at the top of the challenge ladder by Game-Master Daric. As testimony to this, we have reports from two links ago indicating that the Game-Master lost an immunity challenge to a Human, and in a most spectacular fashion. Are you a player or a tech?” he asked Coop.
“That depends,” the Human said. “I suppose I’d be player, unless I’m a tech which would make me not a player, unless I’m player-tech…or a tech-player. But now I’m just being technical.”
His statement had the desired effect. The two Nuoreans in the holding cell with him and Sherri looked at each other, confused. “I am not aware of such classifications. Are you speaking of Kac designations or Nuorean?”
“Yes.”
This really threw them for a loop. Finally, the leader shook his head. “It matters not. Your ship was present at the time of the link. How many more of your forces are at the other side? No data came through at that time regarding any such contamination of the entry point. Another jump is coming in fourteen hours. We need to know what to expect.”
“I can help,” Sherri volunteered. The aliens leaned a little closer. “Expect…the unexpected.”
The Nuorean officer began to gnash his teeth and breathe heavily through his nose. “You Humans are a confusing species. You do not communicate properly, speaking in gibberish.”
“It’s our native language.”
“As observed!” the lead alien said, turning to his associate.
The other alien spoke. “We recovered the occupants of the disabled vessel. There was evidence of battle damage to the ship. Did our forces inflict such damage? Those aboard are refusing to speak.”
Copernicus cocked his head. “I wish I could help you—no, wait…I don’t. Never mind.”
“Enough!” roared the leader. “I will have you sent before the Qualifying-Masters for disposition. With your current ranking within the Kac, they may decide to arrange challenges for you on Nuor rather than seek information. Your being here is an anomaly, that is all. I refuse to concern myself with you any longer.” The pair turned to leave the cell.
“You better be careful,” Sherri said. The aliens stopped to look at her, questions on their faces. “Look what happened the last time a Nuorean fought a Human. It wasn’t pretty.”
Once alone, Copernicus and Sherri burst out with laughter. It was almost too easy. They laughed, not only from the humor of the interaction, but from relief. The plan to surrender had worked, at least for the moment. They
were alive and to be sent before something called a Qualifying-Master. It gave them time to work on a longer-term plan.
And the Juireans were alive too. Perhaps they would be reunited, making it six beings from the Milky Way against all of the Andromeda Galaxy. Hell, it hardly seemed fair.
After the moment passed, they sobered up quickly. They had watched from the Fracker as they were taken aboard one of the three-mile long battle-carriers. If the huge vessel was part of the fleet assembling for the jump to the Milky Way, then they would be moved to another ship before being transported to the planet Nuor. After all, they were VIP’s—Very Important Players—in the eyes of the Nuoreans. The aliens liked a good challenge, even in light of what Panur/Adam had done to their leader in the other galaxy. If it came down to Copernicus—and possibly Sherri—being challenged, it was a fair bet the aliens would come better prepared this time.
But Daric had fought an immortal mutant alien, not a Human being. That could prove problematic for Copernicus. The Nuoreans would be expecting a lot more from him than they would get.
What the pair needed was to get aboard—or stay aboard—one of the ships heading back into the Milky Way. Another caravan was leaving in fourteen hours; how long an hour was to the Nuoreans was anyone’s guess. But no matter what, if they wanted to make this train, they had to think of something soon.
As expected, the prisoners were soon taken from their cell and escorted to one of the massive landing bays of the battle-carrier. A small spacecraft was being readied, and apparently in a hurry. Nuoreans scurried about doing whatever it took to make the ship space-ready.
The lead officer from before met them at the ship, along with another Nuorean wearing a light-colored green uniform and carrying a datapad.
“The larger creatures from the Kac are already aboard,” the officer announced. He turned to the other alien. “Be especially careful of these two, pilot. They are extremely dangerous.”
The pilot nodded to the four-person guard detail and the two Humans were moved aboard. Sherri glanced back and heard the officer speaking to the pilot. “Depart soon. We must return to the jump point immediately. You will receive resupply at Banocan.”
Moments later the pilot entered the ship and buttoned it up. The interior was cramped, with the Overlord Safnos and his three Juirean Guards pressed back in a corner, with two Nuoreans holding flash weapons on them. Sherri and Copernicus were being watched by four of the aliens, while the pilot/captain checked his datapad.
Another Nuorean came down a narrow corridor. The captain turned to him. “Our departure is hasty but make secure accommodations as best you can. We have fuel enough to reach the Boundary, where we will restock. We launch in two minutes.”
The second-in-command turned to the crowded room. He looked exasperated. “Place the prisoners in the right side crew quarters. We will make accommodation for ourselves out here.”
“We will not be quartered with the filthy Humans!” the Juirean Overlord Safnos roared, causing the guards to tighten their grips on their weapons. He continued. “Place us in the cold of space before we will sleep with these beasts.”
Copernicus was the closest to the huge Juirean, so it was he who caught the full brunt of Safnos’s fist. Caught off guard and shocked, Coop fell against a bulkhead and grasped his jaw, angrier than hurt. But then he caught the glimmer in Sherri’s eye…and a moment later collapsed to the deck unconscious.
The captain reappeared, looking frustrated and frazzled at the disturbance. “There will be no more such outbursts! Place the green creatures in the berthing quarters, the female Human in food storage.”
“What of this other one?” asked his second-in-command.
“Is he dead?”
The alien bent down and felt his chest. “No.”
“Then place him in medical holding until he recovers. Place a guard with him.”
The pilot rushed down the corridor and a few seconds later the generators were heard cycling up, even as magnetic lines lifted the small craft and flung it out the back of the battle-carrier. Two minutes later Sherri sensed the ship move as it entered a gravity-well for the return to Andromeda.
Copernicus opened a slit in one of his eyes. He was on a table with a thin pad under him and a pillow supporting his head. The room was bright and lined with glass cabinets containing medical supplies. Earlier he’d felt hot breath on his face, and then convinced that his charge would be unconscious a while longer, the alien guard slipped out of the room, ostensibly for only a moment. Now the room was empty.
Coop hurried off the table before opening draws and cabinets looking for any kind of weapon he could find, a scalpel or even a metal bedpan he could whack the guard with. He found an electronic sensor about eight inches long and made of heavy metal. It was something.
He climbed back on the table.
The door opened and the guard re-entered. Coop heard him place something on a counter before coming to check on his patient. With his face on inches away, Copernicus opened his eyes wide, startling the alien. Before he could draw away, the sensor smashed into his head, delivered by Coop’s right hand. The Nuorean knelt to his knees, down, but not out.
The Human jumped from the table and grabbed the alien around the neck from behind. An application of pressure, accompanied by a quick twist to the left, and the Nuorean’s neck snapped.
The guard had a flash weapon, which Copernicus promptly confiscated. He went to the door of the small sickbay. If he was right, there were six guards and two crew aboard; make that five guards now. The Juireans were locked in the berthing quarters, presumably without guards in the room. That put seven deadly Nuoreans wandering the ship, with the majority armed against the prisoners. If he was to have any chance of taking them out, he would need help.
The starship was about ninety feet long with all critical systems on one level and along a central corridor. As he was being carried to sickbay, he’d watched the Juireans being herded aft. The last thing he saw they were being placed in a room on the right about twenty feet away.
Like most doors in spaceships, they were pocket doors and operated electronically, making them very difficult to open only a crack. It was either all or nothing. He readied himself…and triggered the door release.
Empty. The corridor was empty. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you recovered?” asked a voice to his right. He leaned out into the passageway, holding the flash weapon behind his back.
Four of the guards sat in a small alcove, initially hidden from view from the sickbay door.
Coop smiled and wobbled his head. “I believe so, although still shaky. It was not fair to be hit without notice by the ugly green beast.”
The Nuoreans laughed. “Yes, that is a violation of fighting protocol.” The aliens had their weapons in their holsters and appeared relaxed. They had no idea how dangerous a cargo they were carrying.
Coop turned his head left and right, scanning the corridor.
“Where is Lacdis (819)?”
“Oh, him?” Copernicus looked back into the sickbay. “He’s dead.”
Golden eyes blinked at the unexpected reply; however, understanding came when Coop stepped into the corridor and blasted all four of the aliens with the flash weapon. Now Copernicus blinked, temporarily blinded by the incredible light filling the small room.
He ducked back in the sickbay and waited for his vision to clear, while listening for any reaction. When nothing came, he rushed from the room and grabbed two of the weapons from the dead Nuoreans. He hurried to where the Juireans were being held. He tried the controls to the door but nothing happened. It was locked.
He stepped back and placed a bolt into the control panel. It flared and sparked, but still the door stayed closed.
It always works in the movies, Coop thought with frustration.
He began to press against the panel, trying to shove it aside.
“Copernicus?” said a voice from the other side.
“Yeah, give me a
hand.”
With effort from both sides, the door moved, not a lot, but enough for strong fingers to grasp the edge and pull. The Juireans squeezed out. Copernicus handed two of the flash weapons to them.
“I hope I did not hurt you,” said Safnos with a thin grin. Juireans seldom smile, and never displaying their teeth—unless they mean it.
“Five of the six guards are down. I don’t know where the sixth is. The crew’s probably in the pilothouse. I fired four shots in the corridor, and no alarms went off, so the door must be closed. Where’s Sherri?”
Safnos shook his head. “We were taken away before her.”
“All right, I’m going to the bridge. The rest of you find Sherri and the other guard.”
On the way forward, Coop took another weapon from the dead guards and stuck it in his waistband. He couldn’t read alien power meters so he had no idea how many more shots he had with the first one.
At the pressure door to the pilothouse, he checked the outer wall for the controls. The panel was on the right. Crossing his fingers that it wasn’t locked, Coop pressed the button.
The door slid open.
Copernicus didn’t have any experience fighting Nuoreans, just shooting them. He was about to get a lesson.
The pilot was at the controls when the door opened, engaged in his duties. His second-in-command, however, was standing near another console, a datapad in his hand. With reactions seldom seen outside those of a Human or Juirean, the alien heaved the pad at him and rushed forward without a moment’s hesitation. Coop triggered the flash weapon, but the alien was too fast. He missed, and now a strong hand was on the weapon and twisting. He released the handgun before his wrist broke, just as he caught a powerful elbow to his chin. Coop dropped to his knees, but fortunately still in the pilothouse. The pressure door slid shut.
Through blurry vision, he saw a knee coming for his face. He raised both arms in time to block it, although the force sent him slamming into the hard metal bulkhead at his back. A quick mental analysis—the best he could conjure up at the time—had him trapped in a room with two expert fighters and with his backup locked outside. He was also dazed and hurt.
