The Legend of Earth thc-5

by T. R. Harris

  Kaddof had done it. He had killed off the last of the Juireans on Juir. He was sure Jonnif Vinn would have been pleased with his results.

  Chapter 45

  Six Months Later…

  Snow was falling on the Kacoran Plain; this was not unusual these days, even though at this time of year it would have been summer in these latitudes. The entire shear top of the mountain was now a nearly-continuous sheet of white, broken only for the occasional outcropping of the craggy, skeletal remains of the various buildings that had once towered above its surface. Even the trees were absent, either blown apart by the Kracori invasion eight months earlier or burned by the fireballs that had rained down upon the top of the mountain as a result of the giant rock the Kracori had dropped on the planet.

  The main Human fleet had arrived at Juir six months before and found the planet to be a chaotic mess of gigantic winter storms raging across its surface. The fires that had burned most of the forests had been snuffed out by the falling snows and falling temperatures. Now it was just the cold they had to contend with.

  However, there were signs that the planet was beginning to heal itself. As it turned out, the impact event was not as powerful as first suspected; the cloud that enveloped the planet had been thinner and carried within it less ash and debris. Temperatures had plunged to fifty below normal for a short time, but now the global average was only about twenty-two below the norm.

  The experts estimated it would still take another ten to twenty years for the planet to return to normal — at least climate-wise. But with the massive deforestation that had occurred from the fires, the once manicured expanse of the former capital planet of the galaxy would never return to its former glory, at least not for many a lifetime.

  Admiral Allen had clustered nineteen of the KFV–C’s atop the Kacoran Plain and then connected them with conduit passageways to form a fairly large base of operations on the planet. He kept his D’s in orbit and required that the entire staff rotate up to the floating cities on a regular basis to experience Earth-normal gravity — one week in orbit for every two weeks on the planet. It was just one of the many inconveniences that came with making your headquarters on a lighter-gravity world.

  The Human fleet had occupied the Alliance Cluster with gusto, but soon found the entire place to be cesspool of pain, suffering and death. The Kracori had ripped the place to shreds and it was all Allen could do to even acknowledge the thousands of calls for assistance streaming into his command center from the members of the Expansion, let along act on any of them.

  Adam Cain and the rest of his team — Sherri, Riyad, Tobias, Rutledge and Tindal — had just finished their latest week on the ‘D’ and only fifteen minutes before entered the vast complex of silver saucers on the surface.

  It had been months since Adam and his team had last experienced Earth-normal gravity and they had a hell of a time re-acclimating to it. For his part, Adam had spent over a month on a Juirean starship as a prisoner under Juirean-standard gravity, and then the whole team was locked away on a Klin ship for two more months for the trip to Marishal. Even though their stay at the Klin estate had been brief, they were soon aboard another Juirean ship for the two-month journey to Juir. Even the last three weeks before being picked up by the fleet had been spent at reduced gravity onboard the Kracori ship they’d stolen from Juir. The ship was too small to have segregated internal gravity wells, and out of consideration for Kaylor and Jym, Adam had set the gravity at a more comfortable level for the two aliens.

  But now the team was trying to get their strength back and it had been a long, exhausting effort. They had spent two full months on the Bunker Hill, the flagship for the Human fleet, exercising and regaining muscle-mass before being allowed to return to Juir.

  Adam and his group were scheduled to depart the Alliance Cluster in three weeks, along with the first big rotation back to Earth. A small number of relief ships had arrived — about forty — which were far fewer than had been originally planned. Back on Earth it had been decided to keep a fairly large number of reserve units in the Solar System to form a more effective shield against any further attacks by the Kracori, or anyone else. That left fewer ships to relieve the fleet.

  The attempted nuclear attack had been an eye-opener for Earth’s military and political leaders. Now the system employed much tighter security, including for commercial and private ships as well. They felt that with a home force of over four hundred warships, they could provide a fairly reliable defense against any future attacks.

  Sherri and Adam were in one of their on-again, off-again stages in their relationship — this time off — so they took separate quarters in one of the outer saucers in the nineteen-ship complex. He and the rest of team would spend their remaining days on Juir being debriefed like never before by the fleet intel geeks, seeking to squeeze any additional information regarding their experiences within the Expansion before they left. Riyad had the most seniority, having spent a full six years out among the aliens before Adam ever met him, so he provided the most detailed information. Sherri came next with three years’ experience and then finally Adam. The three SEALs — Tobias, Rutledge and Tindal — had very limited knowledge of actual Expansion races, planets and cultures — except when they landed upon an alien world to kill Juireans.

  In addition, the spies were especially interested in everything and anything Kaylor and Jym could tell them. The Humans fleet had entered the Expansion en mass and with the singular purpose of defeating the Juireans in battle. But even after a year-and-a-half in space, very few of the Humans in the fleet had had any direct contact with members of the Expansion. This intel would be vital in helping the Humans interact with the aliens.

  And interaction was inevitable. Just as Admiral Allen had surmised through his Medieval Strategy, the Expansion readily accepted the Humans as the new leaders of the Expansion. They were now the King of the Castle and all the subjects were now clamoring for attention. This was something very few of the Humans — either here or back on Earth — had even considered. Their goal had been simply to defeat the Juireans as revenge for the attack on the Earth. Now they found themselves actually in charge of a galactic empire, and Admiral Allen, for one, was very ill-prepared for the experience.

  To help him better cope, the Admiral had essentially deputized Kaylor and Jym to be his personal assistants, and they had been a tremendous benefit to him. Even though there were still a few 2G’s around, their real-life experience with the functioning of the Expansion was very limited. They had been placed with the native-borns to serve a very narrow purpose, and that purpose definitely was not to help the Humans rule the galaxy.

  Adam had just stowed what little gear he had accumulated over the past six months in a small drawer when the intercom in his cabin beeped.

  “Captain Cain, your presence is requested immediately in Comm. Urgent.”

  He walked to the small unit on the wall and pressed the button. “I’m on my way.”

  It still took him over six minutes to make his way through the maze of curving corridors and plastic-covered walkways between the saucers to reach the radio shack. As he entered, he noticed Admiral Allen’s creased forehead and knew immediately that something was up. He looked to the big screen behind the Admiral and saw the large, angular face of a white-haired Juirean looking out at him. The face was familiar and it only took him a second to recognize him.

  “Lord Wydor, isn’t it?” Adam asked as he walked up next to Admiral Allen.

  “That is correct, Mr. Cain. I am pleased to see that you have survived the ordeal you encountered while on my world. You are one of the very few beings who can claim as much.”

  Allen looked at Adam, still frowning. “Lord Wydor has asked to speak with you personally, Captain. Needless to say, we were a little surprised to receive his call — or link — you call it out here.”

  Adam looked back at the alien. “From the lack of delay in your message, can I assume you are close by, Lord Wydor?”

&nbs
p; “Yes, but my message is scrambled, so you will not be able to locate its source. Even though we have been evicted from our system, we still have certain resources in the area at our disposal.”

  “So why have you returned?”

  The alien expressed a look of deep sorrow. “I have come to personally witness the damage done to my world by the savage Kracori. I must say, I am staggered by the cruel and vindictive nature of their actions. I’m sure even the Humans would not have resorted to such barbaric and childish behavior.”

  Both Adam and Allen exchanged looks of surprise at the Juirean’s blatant condescension but Adam knew that was just how the aliens spoke; they usually said exactly what was on their minds.

  “Probably not,” Adam agreed, half-convincingly. Mankind had been known to do some barbaric and childish things themselves, and more often than not, against their own kind. What they would have ultimately done to Juir would now remain a mystery.

  “So why have you requested to speak with me? I am not a diplomat or in charge of our military.”

  “It is because during our previously brief encounter, you displayed a good sense of perspective for the events that had already taken place — as well as accurate insight into those still remaining. You also gained the favor of my very close friend and mentor Elder Hydon Ra Elys. In addition, prior to the Kracori asteroid attack upon Juir, I had been in contact with the personnel within the survival bunker under Malor Tower. I am aware that Lord Hydon was taken and that your particular group of Humans was not involved in that action. However, I do know that the other group of Humans was responsible. Do you have any news of Lord Hydon?”

  Adam shook his head. “All I know is that he was placed aboard a Kracori ship and sent to their homeworld. I don’t know if they’ve kept him as a prisoner or if they’ve killed him. Sorry.”

  “No apologies necessary, Mr. Cain. I suspect that by now he has been dispatched in a most undesirable manner, especially considering what the Kracori did to Juir just as a means of inflicting more pain and suffering on any surviving Juireans.”

  “I’m sure your concern for Hydon is genuine, Lord Wydor, but I ask again, why have you called me?”

  Wydor stretched a small smile across his thin lips. It seemed strained and out of place. “I wish to give you a briefing as to the intentions of the Juireans in the wake of recent events.”

  Both Adam and Allen tensed. They knew that were still several billion Juireans spread throughout the galaxy and that they had vast resources to draw upon. Adam was positive they could field a fleet large enough to rival the Human’s. The question had been on the minds of all the top brass: What would the Juireans do next?

  “The honesty I will provide you with is sincere, Mr. Cain. I believe now that you and your people never sought war with the Expansion, and you do not wish to prolong it any longer than is necessary. That is why I have sought you out personally. I believe you will relay this information to your superiors in as passionate a form as you did when describing your insights to me and Hydon.”

  The new Elder of the Juirean race paused and looked away for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. When he looked back at Adam, his eyes carried an even sadder shade of blue.

  “I will not try to delude you, Mr. Cain; the attack on the Cluster has had a devastating effect on the Juireans as a race, more so than you can even imagine, and in an area you may not be familiar with. For nearly three thousand years, almost all of our females have been located either on Salin or Crilis here in the Cluster. Our females are extremely important to us and serve the most vital function in our society, that of procreation and the raising of our young. There had been over a billion Juirean females on these two worlds. Now, after the Kracori attack, we estimate that we have fewer than one million left.

  “This information may not seem very important to you Humans. You — like the vast majority of the other races in the Expansion — mate within your communities and in bonding units. We Juireans did so as well until the demands for more administrators for the Expansion became so great. We could no longer leave the production and training of these administrators to chance, and instead transitioned to a more predictable and streamlined process.”

  “Lord Wydor, I am aware of how the Juireans reproduce. This is not news to us.”

  “I realize that, but I wish to explain what an impact the loss of so many females has had on my race. Not only were so many females killed on our two reproduction worlds, but nearly all of our young were as well, including the current pre-release brood. Currently, we estimate that there are over three billion Juireans left in the galaxy, however, approximately nine-nine percent of them are male. As time passes, there simply will not be enough new Juireans to replace those who expire.”

  Wydor took a deep breath and the sadness in his eyes grew even more pronounced. “So, Mr. Cain, the only priority of the Juirean people at this time — as well for generations to come — will be to rebuild our species, and to achieve this, we have even resorted back to the old methods of impregnation, namely that of actual physical contact.”

  Both Allen and Adam looked at each other and shared wry smiles. So the aliens are back to doing the nasty?

  Wydor was continuing: “Although this practice will produce new offspring — and through genetic manipulation, nearly all newborns will be female — it will still take many years to rebuild just the female gender of our race. In the meantime, many millions of Juirean males will simply die off, not to be replaced. Parity in genders will not come for several generations. “

  Wydor looked intensely at Adam with eyes that had now grown moist. “The Juirean people do not wish any further conflict with the Humans and we also are not interested in resuming any leadership position within the Expansion — if in the event the Humans decide to keep it in its present form. We have placed ourselves on a small group of planets in another region of the galaxy. I’m sure that with some effort, you will be able find this location, since it is hard to hide a population such as ours from prying eyes.

  “At this time I just wish to express our sincere desire to be left alone. We are not a threat to anyone. Now the greatest fear for the Juirean people is that of extinction. If we are not allowed to follow our reproductive goals, then the Juirean race will die off in great numbers, destined to become only a small, single-planet colony lost to the pages of galactic history. We are too proud of a race to let that happen. We wish to rediscover our heritage and to learn once more what it means to be Juirean. One day in the distant future we will seek to rejoin the community of worlds within the galaxy, although definitely not in a leadership position.

  “The past six months have been a great time of reflection for the Juirean people. We have looked back at how we became what we have become, and we have not been happy with what we saw. Although our empire was great, and we ruled the galaxy for thousands of years, we have paid a heavy toll for our success. We Juireans never intended to give away our more traditional mating bonds and what you call the family unit; that just evolved over time as a consequence of the growth of the Expansion. The chemical desires that are within our genders still remain; three thousand years is not enough time to alter evolution and instinct. Even though this transition has been difficult for us, we are beginning to see what we have lost, and what so many other races within the galaxy still enjoy.”

  The Juirean suddenly frowned and leaned in closer to the screen. “May I ask a question of you Mr. Cain, since your race is so much more intimate with this subject?”

  “Sure, go ahead?” Adam said, surprised by the question.

  “Now that we are having more intimate and continuous interactions with our females, we are having some difficulty in adapting. We males are confused — almost to the point of believing that our females are of a different species than us. We have such diametrically opposed ways at viewing similar events. It is very hard to understand the thinking of our females. Is it the same among Humans?”

  Adam and Allen couldn’t help it —
they both burst out laughing. After a moment, Adam looked into the confused eyes of the Juirean and replied. “Yes, Lord Wydor, we share the same experience and the same concerns. But that is what makes females so appealing to us — all the mystery and emotion. But I’m sure our women — females — consider us to be of a different species, as well. You will get used to it, Lord Wydor, although you will never fully understand the female mind. Just enjoy it while you can and don’t question it too deeply.”

  “I appreciate the insight, Mr. Cain, if all it has done is confused me more.”

  “Welcome to the club.”

  “Please repeat.”

  “Never mind.” Adam looked at Allen; he gave Adam a simple nod.

  “Lord Wydor, I believe I speak for the rest of us here when I say we Humans do not want to continue a war with the Juireans, any more than you want to continue one with us. We never asked for any of this to happen — but here we are. We will respect your privacy and let the Juirean people recover as best you can.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Cain, and also to you Fleet Marshal Allen.”

  “It’s Admiral Allen, Lord Wydor,” Allen corrected.

  “That is what I said: Fleet Marshal.”

  Adam placed a hand on Allen arm. “It’s okay. The translation bug is converting the rank to the Juirean equivalent.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Allen said a little embarrassed. He had so much to learn about alien interactions.

  Adam continued: “And I am truly sorry for what has happened to your planet. As you know, we Humans also have a very special bond to our homeworld.”

  “You may find this hard to conceive,” Wydor said, “but even though not a single one of our race has been born upon the planet Juir in over two thousand years, to each of us we still consider Juir to be our home — and always will.”

  Wydor attempted the small smile again, even though Adam could tell he was in immense emotional pain. “I will be closing the link now, Mr. Cain, but before I go I wish to say one last thing: Thank you.”