Scorched Earth: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #16)

by T. R. Harris

  Paulson twisted his face into a painful grimace. “As I said: he should be a she. He sounds like my ex-wife.”

  Chapter 10

  With four men aboard and only two staterooms, hot-bunking became the order-of-the-day. Adam was alone in the one he shared with Riyad when he contacted Pogo through his ATD.

  You there, buddy?

  So now we are buddies?

  Don’t take it personally, Adam thought. We kid you only because you’re part of the team now. It’s how we show acceptance.

  Very strange behavior, yet I appreciate being considered a member of the team.

  So…anything yet? Can circuit boards from other modules be used on the lasers?

  That was a simple survey I did, and the answer is no. These boards are very specific.

  Well, we can’t got back to Earth for spare parts.

  If you are willing to travel—other than to Earth—I may have a suggestion.

  Adam perked up. Of course I am. Go ahead.

  The Incus.

  Where have I heard that name before?

  They are the race of beings who found me originally, and who were working on a method of duplicating my power panels when I was stolen by the Gradis Cartel.

  Go on, I’m listening.

  They have a sophisticated level of electronic technology—at least for this age.

  You think they’d have the necessary circuit boards?

  Most probably not, yet if given the opportunity, I could provide them with plans to construct boards that could overcome the heating problem.

  They won’t do it voluntarily, and aren’t they in the Kidis Frontier? That would put them under Juirean jurisdiction. If they’re as advanced as you say, I’m sure the place will be swarming with mane-heads.

  It was just a suggestion.

  I’m not saying we won’t pursue it, just that it won’t be easy. Where is Incus from here?”

  One-thousand, eight hundred light-years, near the Rison Void.

  Adam knew the Rison Void was the far side of the Kidis arm, opposite the Orion-Cygnus spur.

  Six hundred jumps. Can the Vengeance handle that at full power? he asked Pogo.

  It may take a slight modification of that figure, possibly a thousand. But by reducing the jump distance, the recycle time could remain the same. The trip could be done in thirty-three Earth hours.

  Is Riyad still on the bridge?

  Yes.

  Give him a plot and tell him I said it was okay. Get us going. We don’t have any time to waste, and just floating here above Worak-nin is doing just that.

  Aye, aye, Captain Cain, sir. See…I’m learning.

  Well done, Mister Pogo. Carry on.

  ********

  The next day-and-a-half were spent carefully monitoring the power levels for the jump-drive, making sure they didn’t burn out another battery pack. Pogo’s more careful feeding of the generators appeared to be working.

  Adam modified their flight path some, adding another day to the journey. Knowing that the Juireans had transit buoys out monitoring traffic throughout the Frontier—and the jump-drive did leave a trail—he jumped towards Visidor first, before switching to conventional gravity drive for the remainder of the trip to Incus. With the laser weapon down, it wouldn’t pay to walk into a hornet’s nest of angry mane-heads, all expecting their arrival.

  The crew also spent the time trying to find out if the Mark VII experimental starship had any other secrets they didn’t know about. The laser beam weapon was a coup, if they could get it working again. And the nine—now eight—super-torpedoes was another. Yet after an extensive reading of the data files in the computers, they didn’t find anything else.

  Of the three revolutionary advances the ship offered—jump-drive, laser beam weaponry and super-torpedoes—two had already given them problems and one had limited utility. That was to be expected of a prototype. But since the team was relying on working systems and weapons to achieve their mission objectives, they were keeping their fingers crossed that nothing else broke down or burned up.

  Juir was twenty-four thousand light-years away. At a more conservative two light-year jump distance and two minutes of recharge time between jumps, the Vengeance could make it there in just under seventeen days—which was phenomenal in its own right. Even so, they couldn’t get there before the ship carrying Arieel and Sherri arrived. What would they do then, sit around playing poker with the friendly, seven-foot-tall natives?

  No, that wasn’t in the cards. They had four months to work their way to the capital of the Expansion, and if the Vengeance could be made to work the way it was designed, Adam and his men could create a heluva lot of chaos along the way. The so-called scorched earth campaign. At least then, even if they failed to rescue the women, they’d have something to show for their effort.

  Riyad was in the pilot seat when they neared the Incus star system. It was way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, not only at the far side of the Kidis Frontier, but out toward the end of the minor galactic arm.

  This had better be worth it, Adam thought as he watched huge planets of swirling gas slowly slip by. Then he shrugged. What choice did they have? Without the laser weapon working, they were just one small ship with limited firepower—after the torpedoes were spent. And that wouldn’t get them halfway across the Frontier, let alone all the way to Juir.

  “As suspected, I’m picking up the signatures of at least a dozen Juirean warships in orbit. There’s another eight under drive, some coming, some going, and this isn’t counting what’s on the surface.”

  “Thank you Mister Tarazi for that very informative report,” said Adam. He stood behind his friend, letting his legs stretch for a moment before assuming the co-pilot seat. Riyad was every bit the pilot Adam was, and although it was hard to give up control, he would let Riyad perform the magic tricks this time around, if it came down to a mad scramble for survival. A person could only play the hero so long before needing a break.

  “Any challenges, yet?” Adam asked Sergeant Morgan. The young man had set up a separate comm station along the rear bulkhead, going so far as to bolt a seat to the deck—with a harness. He wasn’t anxious for a repeat of his last bumper-car-ride. The bruises hadn’t even begun to heal.

  “Nothing, sir. There’s a lot of traffic around the planet. Seems to be the happening place. That’ll play to our advantage. Also the fact that it’s so far from the Union. Hopefully they won’t be expecting us.”

  “And the Vengeance won’t show up on any of their surveys,” Riyad added.

  The tiny metal orb known as Pogo was now on the bridge, sitting on top of the pilot monitor and blocking Riyad’s view of the forward screen. “Do you mind, Pogo. I can’t see.”

  The globe faded away and reappeared on the nav console where Tom Paulson sat. He leaned back in his chair. “Damn, that’s so cool when he does that,” he said. “Like something out of Star Trek. Beam me up, Scotty.”

  “Yeah, too bad we can’t adapt that technology to star travel,” Morgan added.

  “I can only teleport one hundred feet at a time, and it takes incredible energy to do so.”

  “Do you think teleportation is something possible for Humans, if we had enough power?” Adam asked.

  “It’s been tried before, and by beings much smarter than you. Living organisms cannot survive the process. My parts can simply be reassembled and they work fine. It’s not the same with cells, neurons and the like.”

  “I hate to rain on this parade, but we’re going to have to do our business here the old fashion way, by landing on the planet and going out in public,” said Riyad. “Any idea how we’re going to pull that off?”

  Adam nodded to Travis, who stood up and unfolded a long white cloth. “I made this out of a bedsheet.” He placed it over his head and tied a small cord around his neck. “I call it a burqa-for-men.” The garment covered his body from head to toe, all except for a narrow slot left open for his nose and eyes. There were slits on the sides for their a
rms.

  “It looks more like a KKK robe than a burqa,” said Tom Paulson.

  Adam snickered. “It does, doesn’t it? Hopefully none of the natives will make the association. With so many new aliens roaming the streets, I’m hoping no one will question the outfit, believing it to be some weird religious garb. Travis sewed up the edges of the opening so it wouldn’t look like he simple cut a couple of eyeholes in a sheet.”

  “Which I did.”

  “Hey, we’ve all been on too many alien worlds to count to know that alien clothing comes in wondrous varieties. I’m sure we’ll be able to get by wearing these things,” said Adam. “Besides, they’ll conceal a lot of armament. Now Pogo, why don’t you tell the rest of the team where we’re going?”

  With mental access to the computer, the ancient device sent a graphic of the planet Incus to the forward screen. “The planet reminds me a lot of your Earth,” he began. “There are huge land masses broken up by vast seas. The native population is over eight billion, with thousands of settlements—cities. I was kept in one called Eniss, which is located here.” A red circle appeared on the map and the image zoomed in. “It’s in the northern hemisphere and is where the main weapons facilities are located.”

  “Weapons?” Travis said. “They make weapons here?”

  “Yes,” Pogo confirmed. “That is why I came to be found. The natives have been trying to compete with the Maris-Kliss and Xan-fi companies. Yet since they lack the raw materials to produce enough devices to meet the demand, they have gone off-planet searching for such. It was during one of these mining operation that I was found embedded in an ancient fragment of the Aris homeworld—the beings who created me. The Incus currently have the largest economy in the Frontier, yet it’s very small compared to the major worlds of the Expansion. They hoped to change that by learning the secrets of my power-accumulating abilities to power a new line of portable energy weapons. They were unsuccessful.”

  “That looks like a really big city,” Tom pointed out. “I assume its serviced by several spaceports. Once we land, where do we go?”

  “The scientific laboratories where I was held and studied are located here.” The image zoomed in and moved to the west. “This is the main research facility for the Incus government. Unlike the other two major weapons manufacturers in the galaxy, this one is solely government-owned.”

  “And what about the laser circuits?” Paulson asked. “I’m assuming they have the facilities to make what we need in the complex?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “So what’s the plan, sir,” Travis asked Adam.

  “Pogo suggests we show up at the gates offering to return him to the Incus. They’ll be so excited that they won’t question who we are, just that we returned their precious little energy-maker to them. Once inside, he’ll teleport to a building where the boards can be made. At that point we’ll see if he can do it himself, through computer manipulation, or if we’ll need to draft some local talent for the job.”

  “By drafting I assume you mean the twisting of alien arms?” Riyad said, a gleam in his eyes.

  “Don’t worry, buddy. If it comes down to that, I’ll let you do the honors.”

  “Gee, thanks, daddy.”

  “On a serious note,” Adam began. “The Incus are sophisticated enough to use visual communications and remote sensing, so when the time comes to be cleared for landing, be sure you’re wearing your KKK outfits. Now everyone get ready. We’re about an hour out, and once we land, I want to spend the time necessary to get the job done. No sightseeing excursions or unnecessary fraternizing with the locals.”

  “That depends on how hot the natives are, now doesn’t it, Mister Cain?” said Travis.

  “Maybe to a young stud like you,” Adam replied. “Ah, to be twenty-six again.”

  “I’m twenty-seven, sir.”

  “Well then…never mind. You’re over-the-hill.”

  Chapter 11

  The Vengeance was about to land on a planet over eight thousand light-years from Earth and swarming with seven-foot-tall aliens sworn to kill every Human they encountered. Yet still the ship’s bridge was filled with the sound of riotous laughter.

  It was obvious they simply had sheets draped over them, much like a child’s first Halloween ghost costume, before discovering they could guilt their parents into spending money on future outfits—if they truly loved them. Now the men couldn’t look at each other without bursting into hysterics. They looked silly, but hopefully silly enough to make it past inquiring alien eyes.

  When the control authority eventually made contact, Adam took the lead during the link, believing himself to be the most mature of the group. The fact that the Incus had faces resembling Shar-pei dogs didn’t help. When both Travis and Riyad let loose with involuntary snickers, the serious-looking alien questioned the sound.

  “It is a prayer, recited in our ancient tongue.”

  “The translation is unavailable,” said the creature on the screen.

  “Yes, that is because the language of our gods is spoken only for blessings.” Adam let loose with a loud cackle as a demonstration. “I have just blessed you and your offspring, hoping for health and prosperity.”

  The native blinked several times before responding; he cackled back. “I hope I pronounced it correctly. I wished to return the blessing.”

  “You did well. You honor us.”

  More laughter came from behind Adam.

  “Please convey to your crew my thanks for their blessings, as well.”

  “I shall. Now may we land?”

  “Of course. Eniss Field Number Three, northwest side, as you requested. Landing beacons will be transmitted. Enjoy your stay on Incus.”

  “May the gods bring good fortune to you and yours. Farewell.”

  Adam couldn’t break the link fast enough.

  “Dammit, what are you guys trying to do, get us all killed?”

  “Forgive us, oh Great Maharishi,” Riyad said from the co-pilot seat.

  “Prepare for landing,” Adam barked. “Riyad, take over. And by the way, smartass, I got your Great Maharishi right here!”

  ********

  The team had melted down several of the gold items from Panur’s palace and now carried small stacks of ingots of the precious metal, which they hoped would have value on the planet. Since none of them had any Juirean credits, they hoped to exchange some of the ingots of transport to their destination—which Pogo said was the main research facility of what translated to Advanced Plasma Objects, or APO.

  The atmosphere of Incus was tolerable without facemasks, and the surface gravity was about point-eight of Earth, just slightly above Juirean-Standard.

  The Humans would deploy in two teams, with Adam and Riyad taking Pogo to Applied Plasma Objects while Paulson and Travis followed in another transport and took up defensive positions outside the facility, as backup in case something went wrong. They were linked with throat mics and ear-speakers, hidden under the white-sheet disguises they wore.

  Emerging from the Vengeance into the warm starshine of Incus, the prospect of something going wrong suddenly doubled, if not trebled. There were Juireans everywhere.

  The spaceport was huge; it had to be to support Eniss’s population of over four million, and this was just one of five such facilities placed at strategic locations surrounding the city. There were dozens of Juirean-style craft in port, some designed for war, others for commerce. During the brief walk to a bank of moving sidewalks leading to the ground transports, Adam spotted several Juirean Guards among the crowd, as well as hundreds of Tech-Class mane-heads, their hair yellow-tinted and tied into long pony-tails dangling down their backs.

  Being the most-technologically advanced society in the Frontier, the Juireans found Incus more to their liking, closer to Juir than the other worlds in the Kidis arm. As they walked across the tarmac, Adam was already identifying targets for the time they got the laser weapon operational again. If they were successful, he couldn’t leav
e this many prime targets just sitting here. That was not what a scorched earth campaign was all about.

  The other thing that caught the team’s attention were the natives. As the transmission with the landing pilot had revealed, they did indeed have faces resembling Shar-pei dogs. But what the Humans hadn’t realized was the rest of their body was shaped like a huge yellow worm, making them some of the strangest looking aliens Adam had ever seen.

  For locomotion, the Incus used thick legs at the lower part of the s-shaped body to scurry about, a comical type of balancing act considering their odd shape. They appeared to always be trying to keep from falling over. The remainder of the body curved over the center point, and rose up along a five-foot long torso from which two stubby arms projected. Above the main torso was a wrinkled neck and the sad-looking dog-face. They wore clothing of a simple design, since from what Adam could see their body-type didn’t vary much, only by size, depending upon age; however females were distinguished from the males by a series of bumps in the clothing and running along the main torso, ostensibly concealing teats.

  He thought of the comment Travis Morgan had made concerning fraternization with the locals. There was probably nothing to worry about from the young, hormone-raging Human, at least not here on Incus. He pitied the poor man if he ever traveled to Formil, where the extremely voluptuous and sensual Arieel Bol was considered average.

  But Adam’s main focus was on the Juireans. He wondered how entrenched they’d become in Incus affairs?

  At the public transport vehicles, Adam produced an ingot of gold and got a positive response—in fact more than positive. He handed the slab of metal to the driver, regretting they hadn’t made the bars a little smaller. He got the impression the Incus native would now be their friend for life, knowing the aliens were this generous when negotiating for a simple drive into town.

  Travis and Paulson followed in a second vehicle.

  Chapter 12