by T. R. Harris
So ES-341 was the perfect place to hang out for a while, away from the crowds of well-wishers and clingers-on, who just wanted to bask within the glow that was Adam Cain. He could also experiment with his super-human abilities without people knowing he had them.
As soon as he landed the small personal space yacht—which was itself a gift from a grateful Earth-bound trillionaire—he began to hear strange claps of thunder echoing through the towering peaks of the surrounding mountain range. It was springtime on ES-341, with a lingering of snow on the higher elevations. Otherwise the place was a study in all the possible shades of green; in the trees, in the grasses, and even the glowing aurora in the evening sky.
Each time he’d hear the booms, he’d look into a clear blue sky expecting thunder clouds. But there were none. Then two days later, with his curiosity piqued and a theory in mind, Adam set off through the pine forest looking for the source of the explosions.
He emerged from the tree line on the edge of a wide meadow of waving green grass, which terminated at a steep cliff falling off into a river valley far below. As he suspected, he came upon the huge horses, each sporting the crusty headplate and with eyes spaced three-feet apart along the edges. Adam watched in amazement as the huge beasts squared off, then charged at incredible speed toward one another before crashing their plates together like battering rams, sending a sharp report echoing across the land.
Yet the mighty collisions seemed to have no effect on beasts. Adam watched as they smashed together four times in rapid succession before stopping to graze in the meadow as if nothing had happened.
Adam didn’t know if this was a mating ritual or just a couple of young bucks blowing off steam. But after hanging around the spaceship for the past two days, he was restless—and curious. Throwing caution to the wind, he began to make his way through the knee-high grass toward the beasts.
A sudden shift in the wind delivered his scent to the horses. They stopped grazing and cast large black eyes in his direction. From under the plates, moist nostrils flared and sniffed the air. Slowly, the pair began to amble in his direction.
One of the beasts lingered at a patch of grass while the other continued up to him. Slowly, Adam reached out his hand and let the towering creature sniff at it. Then a long, mucus-coated tongue lashed out and licked his hand. Adam patted the huge head before running his hand along the headplate.
It was almost six inches thick, with the top side covered in rolling nubs and rough ridges. There were scars—trophies from past battles—and yet for all its imposing presence, the hammerhead centaur was docile, calm…and harmless.
That’s when he realized he’d lost sight of the second beast.
Adam heard a snort from behind. He turned and found the second centaur standing fifty feet away, facing him. There was something odd about the posture, as well as the steady gaze of the black eyes.
Adam looked back at the first horse, and as he turned, the huge creature lowered its head, smashing the triangular plate into Adam’s forehead.
Adam was sent to the ground, his vision nothing but stars and peripheral gray.
“Caphis, encase his arms,” Adam heard someone say. He blinked, trying to focus on the source of the sound. That’s when he realized the centaur was speaking.
The second beast ran up behind him and clamped its vice-like fingers around his arms. Adam was pulled to his feet, still groggy from the head-butt. He was also confused. What just happened?
The talking horse reached out with its own powerful hands and took hold of Adam’s legs. “Take him to the cliff,” the creature said to the other. They began to carry Adam toward the five-hundred-foot high cliff, with the river far below.
At this point, Adam Cain learned a valuable lesson about his new superpowers: They only surfaced when he was of sound mind and body. In his confused state, the mutant brain cells weren’t sure if he was in trouble or not. That didn’t come until his mind cleared enough to relay the message. By then, Adam was dangling over the abyss, his right leg in the grasp of one of the hammerhead horses.
Conflicted as to which muscles to enhance, Adam’s alien brain cells sent the command throughout his entire body. In a flash, he was able to perform a contortionist’s sit up, bending his body in two so his hands could grasp the incredibly strong arm of the centaur. His leg was released as the animal backed away from the cliff, swinging his arm wildly, trying to dislodge the Human. But Adam held on…until the huge horse-like creature kicked out with one of his front legs and planted a hoof in Adam’s chest.
Stunned and hurt by the powerful kick, Adam was thrown back on the muddy soil of the meadow. He tried to cough, but all the air had been expelled from his lungs. Instead he gasped, his hands on his bruised chest, hoping no ribs were broken. With his mutant abilities, he would heal faster than normal, but that meant days for broken bones, rather than weeks. It wouldn’t help in this situation.
Both of the horse-like creatures approached him, staring down with their large, black eyes, the tips of their headplates looking threatening and ominous. The plates took on a whole new level of danger when an eye-like orifice opened, located near the bottom of the plate. Adam was shocked when a slightly curved, needle-sharp, eighteen-inch long horn emerged.
He wasn’t expecting that. The beasts were dangerous enough without the horn. Now they were rhino-hammerhead-centaur-horse-like things. The way his day was going, the next thing he expected them to do was start breathing fire.
Instead, the two creatures trotted away, one on each side, until they were about fifty feet away. They turned, retracted their horns and stomped the ground, focusing their attention on the diminutive and muddy Human.
When the horses began their charge, Adam knew he was in some deep shit.
He felt a surge of energy in his muscles, and a heartbeat before the beasts crashed together—with him in the middle—Adam jumped into the air. The centaurs lifted their huge heads, following his upward movement, catching the bottom of his boots on the top of their bony headplates. With the added boost—coupled with the increase in his leg strength—Adam was flung into the air, soaring four times as high as his enhanced muscles could carry him on their own….
Now he was seventy feet in the air, having just reached apogee. Unfortunately, the laws of nature were not his friend, and what goes up must come down. A moment later he was falling back toward the two beasts below.
They shifted their positions, lining up on his falling body, as the needle-point horns reemerged. The centaurs weren’t content with just smashing him wafer-thin. Now they intended to gorge him with their rhino tusks, just for shits and grins.
There wasn’t much Adam could do to alter his fall. He tried streamlining, to create a surface where air could slide along, changing his course. He was—or had been—an experienced skydiver, skilled in HALO jumps with the SEALs, yet he didn’t have enough altitude to put any of his skills to use. In three seconds he would be on the surface and impaled atop one of the headplates of a gigantic alien horse.
So he leaned forward and placed his arms out in front of him, Superman-style, and dove for the surface. As his hands reached the headplate first; he grabbed hold of the top edge, his super-strength able to bring him to a stop, balanced on his hands, on the head of the alien centaur. He scrunched up and dropped the rest of his body over the plate, his shoes clamping around the pointed end, with the sharp horn sticking out from between his legs and just shy of this groin. To an outside observer, it would look as though Adam had a tail made of sharp, yellowish ivory.
The centaur began to buck violently, shaking its head and prancing across the meadow. It tried digging the edge of the headplate into the soft, muddy soil, but nothing worked. Adam held on. Then the horse suddenly stopped bucking and stood for a moment, panting heavily. Adam felt something slide past his thigh. He looked down and saw that the horn was gone, returned to its hiding place somewhere within the massive head.
He knew what was coming next.
Adam whi
pped his head around until he spotted the second horse. It was already at full gallop and heading straight for the head of the first horse.
With only a second to spare, Adam released the headplate and shifted position, placing his hands at the sharp tip with his feet on the wide end. Then he pushed with his feet and pulled with his hands, forcing the head up, exposing the vulnerable flesh of the thick neck to the centaur’s charging companion.
The second beast crashed into the first, but not plate-to-plate. The impact was brutal, if not fatal. Adam’s horse was thrown back, before it fell to a sitting position on its haunches. It let out a last fateful breath, before toppling over onto the muddy field.
Adam scampered off the huge body, while keeping an eye on the other centaur. It was standing a few feet away, mouth open, staring at the corpse of its companion. Then it snorted and focused its dark eyes on the Human. It charged.
This time, Adam was ready. Just as the huge beast lowered its head to ram its prey, Adam stepped aside and grabbed one of the eye nubs as the horse raced past. Adam was pulled along with the creature, first dangling at its side before managing to hook a leg around the torso and climb on its back. His hands clamped onto the top of the rough headplate, finding holds in the nubs and contours.
Like the other horse, this one began to buck and jump across the meadow. Using his superhuman strength, Adam dug his heels into the ribs, hard enough to elicit a deep-throated groan from the hammerhead beast. Next, he pulled on the headplate, first to the right, then to the left. Each time, the horse changed course, unable to resist Adam’s commands. A few moments later, the creature calmed, resigned to its fate. Adam wasn’t going anywhere…and he was in control.
Adam turned the beast toward the tree line, and together alien horse and rider disappeared into the forest.
“You can talk, can’t you?” Adam asked on the ride back to his ship.
“Yes.” The voice was deep and solemn, mournful even.
“Sorry about your friend,” Adam said. “But you shouldn’t have attacked me.”
The beast remained silent.
“You don’t talk much, do you?”
“I speak when I have something to say.”
“I didn’t know there was any intelligent life on this planet.”
“We are not from this planet.”
“Where are you from?” Adam asked.
“Jaqaret. You have never heard of it. It is far away. We have had not much contact with others, only the Nuoreans.”
It was Adam’s turn to snort. “You’ve had contact with the Nuoreans…and you’re still alive? That says something.”
“Yes, they honored our fighting skills, placing us against their warriors.”
“How did you do?”
“As expected. We may be large and powerful, but we are not skilled with tools of death. We prefer natural means.”
Adam rapped the headplate with his knuckles. “Like these?”
“Yes. But the Nuoreans move fast—like you. They were able to slice our limbs, rendering us helpless. Then we were slaughtered.”
“Yet you—and your friend—survived. And now you’re on this planet…trying to kill me. How did that happen?”
“If I tell you, you will kill me.”
“No I won’t. I promise.”
The beast shifted its head so one of the eyes could look back at him. Adam couldn’t read the expression, but he got the impression the hammerhead was trying to determine the truth in his words.
The beast snorted. “You will probably kill me anyway.”
“No, I won’t. Just tell your story.” Adam’s curiosity was piqued.
“The Nuoreans have learned a terrible truth, and they are very upset.”
“What truth?”
Again the head shift and the glare of the huge round eye. “Concerning you and your companions.”
“You know who I am?”
“Yes, you are Adam Cain.”
Adam pursed his lips. Damn, this galaxy is getting way too small.
“And what’s your name?”
“I am Caphis. The other was Kanan.”
“Again, I’m sorry.”
“It is accepted. We initiated the combat. We should have known not to challenge you. It appears your reputation is well-deserved.”
“I got lucky. Now go on, tell your story.”
“Kanan and I were part of a contingent of my kind selected for combat when they conquered Jaqaret. We impressed them so much that we were offered freedom for our kind if we would kill you.”
“The Nuoreans sent you to kill me? Why?”
“It is the information I referred to earlier.”
“What information?”
“The Nuoreans learned that you destroyed their homeworld. Since we all come from a homeworld, you can imagine their distress upon learning this truth.”
Adam was confused. The Nuoreans shouldn’t know…not unless they’ve made contact with Andromeda.
“Do you know how they learned about Nuor?”
“It was in the rock that you brought back from the other galaxy.”
Of course, Adam thought. There would be more than enough broken and frozen corpses in the debris.
“Now the Nuoreans have enlisted others to kill not only you, but all those who came back with you. Not all are doing it for noble purposes, such as me. The Nuoreans have offered an incredible amount of credits or other valuable consideration for the task.”
The pair had arrived back at Adam’s camp by now. The local sun had slipped behind the taller mountain peaks and the forest was becoming quickly engulfed in darkness. Adam slipped from the back of the huge beast, ready for any sudden movements, but Caphis remained calm, dejected.
Using his Artificial Telepathy Device embedded in the skin under his right armpit, Adam commanded the security lights on the sleek luxury starship to come on, bathing the campsite in a brilliant glow. Caphis bucked slightly at the sudden illumination before regaining his composure.
The door to the ship slid open; Adam stopped in the entranceway, turning back to the huge centaur. “I’m sorry about your people, Caphis. If you like, I believe you’ll fit in the cargo hold. I could help you get home.”
“The offer is appreciated, but we—I—have my own ship, one provided by the Nuoreans.” He lifted his arms and moved his fingers. “It is adapted to my particular form.”
Adam’s jaw firmed. “Listen, the only way to save your people is to eliminate the remaining Nuoreans from the galaxy. There aren’t a lot of them left.”
“Is that what you intend to do?”
“Yes, but first I have to warn my friends about the others trying to kill them. After that, I’ll see to it that the galaxy joins forces again to wipe them out.”
“That would indeed be a welcome outcome. Although my kind does not possess any great technology of note, we would welcome the opportunity to help.”
“I’ll pass that along,” Adam said. “For now, I have to leave. You’re free to either stay here, go home, or to a safe harbor until this crisis passes.”
The huge horse lifted his head and let his nostrils flair. “This world is covered in rich grasses and delightfully fresh water. It will be lonely, but I believe I will stay here for a while. Thank you, Adam Cain for sparing my life. You had no obligation to do so.”
Adam nodded, then turned and entered the starship. From the pilothouse viewport, he watched the magnificent beast amble off into the darkness of the forest. He waited to make sure Caphis was clear of the blast radius before he lit off the lifting jets and left the surface of ES-341.
He was on the CW comm before the ship reached orbit.
117
“Apparently, Jaclyn’s isn’t a very safe place for Rigorians to hang out,” Adam said. It was meant as a joke, but he wasn’t feeling very jovial at the moment.
“Not when we’re in town, that’s for sure,” Riyad agreed. His image on the CW link didn’t show any humor, either. The two men had been comparing no
tes on their attempted assassinations for the past ten minutes, and with every revelation, their mood grew more depressed.
“I tried to contact Sherri and Copernicus, but they’re not answering,” Riyad continued.
“So did I,” Adam said. “I’ve got half the military population of Earth out looking for them. I just hope the assassins are having as hard a time finding them as we are.”
“If they’re still available to be found….”
Adam had been trying to avoid voicing the obvious: there may be a good reason why they weren’t answering. They could be dead.
“I’ll be contacting Kaylor and Jym as soon as I get off the link with you,” Adam said.
“Don’t bother,” Riyad said. “I got through to them. They’re safe now and surrounded by native guards in secure locations.”
“You already contacted them?” Adam frowned. “So where was I on your call list?”
“I figured you could take care of yourself, and it seems I was right.” Through the screen, Riyad flashed his trademark smile.
“Thanks for that, buddy. But I’ll feel a lot better if we were all together again. I can’t trust locals not to give into temptation. You know the Nuoreans are offering a boatload of money for our heads.”
The smile vanished from Riyad’s face. “So what’s the plan?”
“You get to Fulqin and pick up Jym. I’m closer to Belson; I’ll get Kaylor.”
“And Sherri and Coop? If any race can’t be trusted when there’s a king’s fortune up for grabs, it’s our fellow Humans.”
“They’ll have to take their chances. Once the lovebirds realize what’s up, I’m sure they’ll take precautions. I’ll get them on a military transport off the planet as soon as they’re located.”
“Where should we hold up?”
“Formil,” Adam answered. “Arieel’s people aren’t as cutthroat as others. She’ll give us shelter.”
“And after that?”
Adam’s face turned rock-hard. “Then we go after the Nuoreans. Only when the source of the money goes away will we be safe.”
