Invasion Force (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 21)

by T. R. Harris

  “I’m sorry Madam Speaker, but our scientists are very close to a breakthrough. We prefer to work the problem out here. Besides, transporting the ship all the way to Formil could be dangerous, especially in the present environment.”

  Arieel looked at Adam as he entered the room. Her face was flush and her neck tense. He stood back, out of view of the camera. “The vessel was in the command of Captain Cain prior to its damage. How can you now deem it a security risk if he has access to the ship again?”

  “That decision came from a higher authority. I am sorry.”

  Although he couldn’t see the face of the officer on the screen, he knew the man had fought tooth-and-nail to be the one to speak with Arieel. All the men in the technology department at Phoenix command were waiting in line to gawk at the ravishing female, if only to tell her no. That was why Adam made Arieel his spokesperson.

  During the long trip to Earth, a plan was hatched, a multi-phase operation depending on how each element built on the other. The first part was simply to ask for the TD ship. With Arieel’s sex appeal and political clout, she was guaranteed an audience for her request. If they said yes, then the rest of the plan wasn’t needed. If no, then alternate plans were already in the works.

  So far, they’d said no, even to Arieel.

  “Then allow us access to work on it. I have with me three of the most-experienced starship engineers in the galaxy. Their contribution cannot hurt.”

  “You have asked for this before,” said the young officer. “Your request is still pending, yet I can’t promise anything. The ship is in a very secure area with access given to only a select few. Your people would have to go through extreme vetting to be allowed entry.”

  “Even for me? Even for the leader of the Formilian race? Is there not a diplomatic accommodation that can be made?”

  “That would have to go through political channels. I do not have the authority, and neither does anyone else in the department. Again, I am sorry.”

  “I am at a loss as to my next inquiry,” Arieel said, close to tears.

  The young Human was almost in tears himself seeing the gorgeous alien about to cry. “Please, call back tomorrow. I will see what I can do. Ask for Captain David Palmieri when you do.”

  “Thank you, Captain Palmieri. You have been very supportive. When I reach Earth, I would very much like to meet you in person.”

  Adam could imagine the joy on the man’s face after Arieel’s invitation. She cut the link and turned to him.

  “You Humans are so easy,” she declared, all trace of her impending breakdown gone.

  “I just wish your young admirer had more clout. This would be a done deal if he did.”

  “I would make it worth his efforts. He was quite handsome.” Then her face turned serious. “I am so saddened by the news of Silea. Bannokfore was a tragedy in its own right, but Silea came as a surprise. I wish I had gone there before this. Most of you speak highly of the planet.”

  “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. It’s just that several of us have spent considerable time there. It’s not the best place around, but it wasn’t the worst, either.”

  “Perhaps when we accomplish this newest mission, you will have the means to avenge this tragedy, and all the others before it.”

  “Revenge isn’t what I want. I just want all this fighting to end. It seems every time I turn around someone is trying to conquer the galaxy. Honestly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. There’s plenty of room for everyone.”

  “It is the way of creatures, to always covert what belongs to another.”

  “And that is what keeps us in business.”

  21

  The Nautilus set down on one of the huge landing fields south of the main complex that made up Phoenix Command, the headquarters of the Orion-Cygnus military. The political hub for the Union was also in the area, the result of Phoenix being one of only a handful of major cities to survive the initial plasma bombing by the Juireans twenty years ago. Now the city was the center of the Union universe, spreading out for a hundred miles in every direction.

  With the help of translation labels on packages in the sickbay, Sherri was able to find an adrenaline-based drug that space crews used to temporarily overcome the effects of higher gravity, at least long enough for them to deliver their goods and leave. This would help the three aliens aboard accomplish their missions; Arieel had to flirt with the security personnel, while Kaylor and Jym had assignments of a different nature.

  The Technology and Development section of the huge military complex was located to the southwest of the main cluster of buildings. If the TD ship was anywhere on the base, it would be there. Adam had Kaylor set the Nautilus down at the far west corner of the landing field. As prodigious clouds of landing exhaust cascaded across the tarmac, the border fence was obscured, as were a number of nearby spaceships.

  Air traffic controllers began yelling through their microphones at Kaylor, telling him he was coming in too far west. The panicked alien tried to compensate, which only caused the tail of the freighter to smash down on to the corner of the barrier, taking with it the security camera covering this part of the field. As the ship rumbled to a stop and smoke clouds faded into the gray of evening, Kaylor tried to make amends.

  “I apologize profusely,” he said to the airmen. “I have never tried to land such a large vessel upon a planet with such high gravity. I am fortunate I did not come at a steeper angle, otherwise we would have ended in a fireball.”

  The military personnel didn’t accept his apology without a few more rounds of yelling, but eventually they calmed down when they read on their computer screens that Captain Adam Cain was aboard. Their tone changed significantly after that.

  Two jeeps arrived along the aft portside of the ship a few minutes later; the starboard side was sitting on top of a crunched section of fencing and inaccessible. The port cargo bay door opened and Adam stepped out into the cool October air of the southwestern desert. It felt good to smell the scent of home, and the familiar tug on his body from Earth’s gravity. Copernicus Smith came up beside him.

  “There’s no place like home,” he recited.

  “That’s why we do what we do, to make sure it stays that way.” Adam shook Coop’s hand. “Good luck. See you in a while.”

  “Yessir.”

  Adam climbed into one of the jeeps and it sped off. Arieel, Kaylor, Jym and Copernicus crowded into another. Sherri and Riyad would stay aboard the Nautilus. Their objective lay elsewhere.

  The Technology and Development building was big and modern; ten stories of research labs, conference rooms and offices where the most-brilliant minds on Earth worked tirelessly, if not to stay ahead of the aliens scientifically, then at least not to let them get too far ahead. Humanity had come a long way over the past twenty years, since the first Juirean warships appeared in orbit above the planet and began their rain of energy bolts on an unsuspecting population. Even before then, the Klin and the traitorous 2Gs were helping mankind with advanced technology—just enough to make the natives think they were helping.

  Now the Humans were on their own and making incredible headway, utilizing a unique talent of thinking one step ahead to stay in the game. The phrase ‘What If?’ was emblazoned over the main entrance to the building, and every day the staff came to work, they lived that motto.

  In a corner office on the top floor was the head of the department, an Air Force general named Paul Sharp. Adam had met him six years before, and they’d struck up a cordial friendship. The general—a scientist with two master’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering—hadn’t spent much time off planet, although he interacted with aliens every day. He was fascinated with Adam’s tales of intergalactic space and lived vicariously through his adventures. At seventy-three, the general wasn’t about to start a second career as an old Hans Solo, so Adam would have to do.

  The general was still in his office at seven in the evening when Adam was escorted in. He rose from behind
his desk and came around to greet the Navy captain with genuine warmth. “Thank you, sergeant. You’re dismissed.”

  Paul sat at one end of a long leather couch, Adam at the other.

  “What’s that piece of junk you’re flying?” Sharp asked.

  “A target of opportunity, sir. At least it runs.”

  “For now.”

  An aide entered with drinks—real whisky from a bottle and not a processor.

  “Welcome home, Adam,” the general toasted.

  They clinked glasses and downed the potent golden liquid. Adam’s eyes began to water; it had been so long since he had the real stuff that he’d forgotten how strong it was.

  “I won’t be staying long, general, just enough to see if my people can get the Najmah Fayd running again.”

  Sharp shook his head. “You know, even if they do, you can’t take her out.”

  “Dammit, Paul, I’ve flown her for years and no one had a problem with it then.”

  Sharp raised his eyebrows. “No one had a problem? Hell, we sent Andy Tobias into another universe to stop you—may he rest in peace. The truth is we never felt comfortable with you running all over the galaxy—and other galaxies—with the greatest technological weapon of all time.”

  “If it’s so damn dangerous, why are you trying to get it working again?”

  The general smiled; a wicked smile. “It’s only dangerous if it falls into the hands of our enemy. As long as we have it, we’re okay with that.”

  “I thought so.”

  “So what makes you think this Copernicus guy and the two aliens can get it running? We have the best minds in the Union working on it, including alien minds.”

  “They’ve been part of my crew for a long time; they’ve operated the ship and made repairs. I know, Panur built the original system, but they’ve been tweaking it ever since.”

  Sharp let out a deep breath. “It’s against my best judgement, but your people are being taken down to it as we speak. Who knows, you may be right.”

  “Down?”

  Sharp snickered. “Relax, Captain. You knew it had to be in a secure location. And although I love you like a son, I trust you about as far as I can throw you, which ain’t far at my advanced age.”

  “You could if you were on Ansid-4. Hell, you’d be a superman there.”

  Sharp leaned over a little closer. “Ansid-4? I’ve never heard of it. Tell me more….”

  An elevator took Arieel, Coop, Kaylor and Jym down five floors to where the Najmah Fayd—soon to be rechristened the Defiant—was stored. It was at the base of a large aircraft lift which was currently cut off from the surface by three successive blast doors. It had been moved here once the basic structural repairs were made, after the brutal beating the ship took from the trailing remains of the planet Nuor as the team returned from the Andromeda Galaxy.

  They were accompanied by three Air Force MP’s and two scientists, both of which looked angry and impatient. They’d spent eighteen months working on the power system of the TD ship, and now these newcomers thought they could spend a few minutes in the ship and solve the problem they couldn’t.

  The guards, on the other hand, had other things on their mind.

  Arieel Bol, the Speaker of the Formilian People, was well known across the galaxy. Although most of the females on her planet could put her to shame, she was the one with the most exposure off planet. In fact, it was a pretty good bet that at least one of these young men had posters or videos of the alien sexpot in their lockers or barracks.

  But it was exposure that had their attention now.

  Arieel was dressed—using the term loosely—in a metallic silver outfit, comprised of a form-fitting pair of short-shorts and two pair of three-inch wide straps climbing up the front of her voluptuous body and attached to a choker around her neck. To the disappointment of the airmen, two of the straps conveniently covered her nipples—which were currently in the process of protesting the cool forced-air found on the lower floor. Her and Sherri had made the outfit out of thin blanket of thermal material found in the Nautilus’ sickbay. They didn’t use more than one blanket to make the entire garment, and with material left over.

  The senior guard ordered one of them to stay at the elevator while the rest of them moved down a corridor and into a large open bay where the Najmah Fayd was found. They entered through the forward hatch and moved along the spine passageway to the aft engine area.

  All four members of the team knew the ship intimately and didn’t need guidance. They stopped along the passageway and Kaylor slid open a side panel in the wall, exposing a complex maze of computers and modules joined together by thick wire connectors.

  “What do you think?” Kaylor asked Coop and Jym. They studied the interior with furrowed brows before nodding.

  “I see,” said Jym.

  “As we thought,” Coop confirmed.

  “What?” asked one of the scientists.

  “The lateral compensator diaphragm is misaligned.”

  The two scientists buried their chins in their chests.

  “That’s gibberish. It makes no sense.”

  “Then perhaps the translation was not accurate,” Kaylor growled. “Let us look at the generators. I am sure it will make sense after we have a look.”

  The entourage moved aft and entered the starboard engine compartment.

  “Where are your McClaren connectors?” Coop asked. “They used to run from here—” he pointed to the base of the gravity generator, “—to here,” against the bulkhead.

  “McClaren connectors? There’s no such thing as McClaren connectors!”

  “And that is why they have not been able to solve the energy problem….” Jym said to his friends. He threw up his hands. “Well…there is nothing we can do here. It is hopeless.”

  “I agree,” said Kaylor.

  “Let’s get back to the ship; I’m hungry,” Coop remarked.

  “Oh well, we tried.” Arieel bounced around until she found the exit and led the parade from the room. The scientists remained for a moment, stunned by the abrupt turnabout of events…and their apparent ignorance. They were the last to leave the ship.

  Just as Coop pressed the up button on the elevator, Arieel squealed softly, threw her head back and passed out. Kaylor blocked the now-open door while Coop fell to his knees, separating the thin silver straps covering Arieel’s breasts and began to press down on them, performing CPR.

  All the Human men stared—including the stuffy scientists—their mouths agape. Coop looked at the guard by the elevator door. “Hurry, man, start mouth-to-mouth! The gravity here is too much for her. She’ll die if we don’t get her heart pumping again.”

  The airman jumped into action without a moment’s hesitation.

  Kaylor moaned and fell against the elevator wall.

  Coop looked up at another stunned guard. He reached out and took the man by the arm, placing his hand on top of Arieel’s very ample and firm left breast. “Here, take over. I have to get these other aliens back to the ship. Someone call an ambulance for the Formilian. Hurry…they could all die!”

  Copernicus jumped to his feet and entered the elevator car. As he did, he turned sideways and activated a small vial of compressed air in his pocket, causing a life-size balloon resembling Jym to inflate on his right side. Immediately, a high pitched squeal sang out from inside the elevator.

  Coop took the inflatable doll by the head, just as the guard with his hands firmly on Arieel’s breasts turned to look.

  “He does this when he gets excited. Keep pumping; she could die if you stop.”

  The guard followed orders, while Coop leaned across the doorway and pressed the close-door button.

  None of the guards or scientists had the wherewithal to notice the real Jym slip out of the elevator and scurry down the corridor….

  22

  Sherri and Riyad scampered across the dark tarmac toward the end of a series of large, round-top hangars, their ATDs tracking any surveillance cameras
in the area. There were a few, but the long arcs they had to cover gave the pair time to slip into the shadows, away from the solitary light above the entry door.

  It was Riyad’s job to gain entry, having spent a couple of months aboard the Nautilus honing his skills at circumventing security devices. He’d experienced the electronic locks before, when he and Adam stole the first prototype starship a few years ago. Now he traced the circuits until he found a storage file with the code. He sent the signal to the door.

  Hearing the faint click, the pair ran from the shadows and to the doorway before quickly slipping inside. It was dark inside the windowless hangar; Sherri created a small static electricity ball to light the interior.

  Bingo. As suspected, the hangar held a shiny new version of the Najmah Fayd—the TD starship. There was a good chance each of the other two hangars at this end of the T&D grounds held one as well.

  Sherri ran to a squat aircraft tractor along the western wall and disconnected the charging cables. Her ADT reported a full charge with plenty of juice for what they needed the tractor to do. She took control of the machine with her mind and then hurried off to meet Riyad in the pilothouse of the ship.

  The prototype was not much more than a shell of a starship. Although it did have a functioning gravity drive, it lacked a battery pack to start the generators or a transfer module to turn it into a dimension-jumping supership. That would come once the scientists solved the power problem.

  Sherri maneuvered the tractor under the front of the ship, where it slipped into a hitch located below the focusing ring compartment. The ship rocked slightly as the units meshed and locked together. The starship didn’t have wheels, but rather skids; however, since the ship had to be moved to various locations during its outfit, the skids were up on wheeled carts. Riyad mentally activated the controls for the large hangar door directly in front of the ship, and once clear, Sherri used the tractor to pull the ship from its home.