Adam nodded and vanished inside the open hatch. Seconds later, Vasten raised an eyebrow as both of his men were escorted out by the newly christened ship’s Captain. Adam glanced at him for an instant with a look that would have melted stone. “Stay here, and lock this hatch behind me. Do not open it until you hear specifically from me.” He pulled the hatch closed behind him and heard it being fastened securely in place. Satisfied that things were under control, he turned and surveyed the cluttered cargo chamber.
Most of the boxes and barrels had been overturned. It was clearly obvious that weapons and grenades had recently been used in here too. Dried, rust-colored blood stains were visible across most of the deck plating, and Adam ruminated on those details briefly, noticing just how quickly this ship’s formerly squeaky-clean interior was fast becoming a mirror of the Pyrhh. Taking a few cautious steps farther inside the bay, he peered around a tall stack of broken crates, noticing that the contents were primarily grenades and ammunition belts. He was still standing there, examining the spilled cargo, when the first of the transformed Kuth attacked him. As expected, they suspected all along he was laying a trap and were simply waiting for him to show himself.
The Kuth easily leaped over the boxes, landing in front of him and squeezing his head between its hands, crimson eyes blazing spitefully into his own. Adam watched it curiously, especially the snapping jaws that barked defiantly at him as it tried to crush his skull. The corded muscles in its arms tensed noticeably as it applied as much pressure as it could, to no avail. Adam’s defenses absorbed the incoming pressure and easily disbursed it. Puzzled, its muscles tensed more tightly as it tried once again to squash his ears together.
“What’s the matter?” he asked curiously, studying the snarling, wolf-like head glaring defiantly at him. “Cat got your tongue?” His wrist guns fired with a high-pitched electronic whine, twin energy pulses flashing into the alien’s torso and blowing open a huge hole. The instantly eviscerated body flew straight backwards, following the path of its smoldering entrails, only to land heavily at the base of the tall stack of cargo containers.
“Die human nehrub!” yowled a second Kuth as it traversed the short distance between Adam and a large stack of barrels while running briskly on all fours. Its front claws created audible scratching noises as they raked across the metal flooring, and the beast’s booted back feet launched it into an attack that was meant to bowl its victim over and toss him helplessly on his back. Instead, the creature landed helplessly against Adam’s protected body, all of its forward momentum immediately absorbed and harmlessly abated just like before. Gritting his teeth angrily, Adam used his weapons to blow an even larger hole in this alien too and then effortlessly it casually on top of its dead colleague.
“What’s the matter?” he shouted loudly, searching the room for additional targets. Keeping his back to the exterior corridor wall, he moved sideways along the cargo bay and away from the crates and barrels. “Do the Kuth truly fear one small, helpless little human?”
Two of them dropped down from somewhere high up above, landing on either side of him. They reached out and tried to grab Adam, but he twisted away from their claws, watching the sharp tips spark bright blue flashes of energy against his protective shielding. Uttering bestial howls that were actually closer to high-pitched shrieks, they reached out again, struggling to try and hold him still. Adam used his hands to grab each of them by the throat and squeezed until he heard audible cracking noises, their tongues lolled awkwardly and the red shine in their eyes faded to a glazed orange. Then he dropped them and simply left them lying on the deck.
Another Kuth used the distraction to ease behind him and Adam whirled and dropped to his knees as it charged. It tried to jump over him and land where there was more room to fight, but he instinctively sent a pulse from his wrist guns into its abdomen, catching it in mid-leap and sending it flying across the room, upside down, where it crashed against the metal wall and fell from view. Based upon the howl of rage and shrieking sounds that reached his ears while it landed awkwardly, he guessed that it was severely injured in no small degree. He found it somewhat hard to believe, but his confidence had grown so powerful since his initial entry into the Wasteland that he found himself deciding to take this injured Kuth alive.
Unfortunately for the rest of them, that meant he didn’t need them still breathing.
Wordlessly, Adam returned his attention to the shattered crates and picked up several lengths of strong chain. He swung them over his shoulder and began walking toward the rear of the cargo bay, moving brazenly out into the clear and leaving himself a sitting duck. The sound of the chain links clinking together was unmistakable and impossible to miss as he slowly walked around the main area stacked with cargo to emerge on the other side. He gave the Kuth credit for wising up in a hurry as three of them suddenly popped into sight from behind undamaged crates and opened fire on him with their rifles. Eager to make them feel the same fear and horror that they regularly used to petrify others, he walked directly toward them, golden sparks flying in all directions in a huge, dazzling fireworks show as the bullets from their weapons disintegrated upon contact with his electromagnetic defenses.
Utterly astonished, they stopped firing an instant later, but not before Adam grabbed one of the rifles by its barrel and yanked it from its owner’s hands. He raised it above his head and then brought it down with all necessary force, crushing the skull and instantly killing a fifth Kuth soldier. Pointing one hand at each of the other two, he snapped off quick, high-intensity bursts from the wrist guns and mercilessly executed the pair of freakish alien life forms. He took his time making his way over to the last one, the Kuth that his weaponry had tossed against the far wall. It was still lying where it had landed, unable to move and appearing to be unconscious. That proved to be merely a tactic once he reached it, as it kicked outward with its boots and tried to catch him by surprise. Slapping aside its feet and reaching down to grip the stunned Kuth by its throat, Adam squeezed – a bit more gently this time – until he was certain that this time it had indeed blacked out.
Then he used the chains to truss it up and hogtie it like a rodeo pig.
He stood there for a moment, fear and exhilaration coursing through his blood stream, breathing heavily only because he was trying to better control his mental faculties, not because he had heavily exerted himself. Although he consciously knew himself to be virtually invulnerable, it was still unnerving, to say the least, watching the creatures pop seemingly out of nowhere and try to kill him without a second thought. Visually, they were the stuff of nightmares and the speed at which they moved while on all fours was truly astonishing. The mere thought of it caused him to wonder just how in the world these things could ever be afraid of anything on their home world. [“And yet they are afraid on their world,”] a familiar voice piped up unexpectedly within his thoughts. [“Enough so to build huge walls around their cities in attempts to keep everything else out.”]
[“Thomas,”] sighed Adam with relief, grateful to sense his brother’s presence once again. [“I’m glad that you are here. I really need a brother right now.”]
[“Do you feel better?”] his brother asked with a dark chuckle.
[“Only a little,”] Adam replied crustily. [“But I don’t want to hang on to all of these new defenses and weapons for too long. The rumors that everyone talks about are true. A part of each of us LIKES to kill. Part of me enjoyed that way too much for my taste.”]
[“Adam…”]
[“And then I remember what they’ve been doing to the innocent humans living in this spiral arm and intellect triumphs over the animal.”] He shook his head with disbelief. [“How the hell can these things be afraid of the wild on their planet?”]
[“Isn’t it obvious?”] observed Thomas. [“They have no God. I’ve never seen a better textbook case of pure, Darwin-style evolution in my life. On their sick and twisted world, there is no top of the food chain, no beauty for beauty’s sake, no carefully balan
ced ecosystem. The only things that look pretty are the flowers that need to look pretty in order to attract insects and lower life forms with little intellect. These Kuth have survived simply because they learned how to build huge walls around their version of civilization.”]
[“Fighting them is terrifying, but significantly less so than dreaming about their world.”]
[“I believe you,”] his brother said in response. [“There is no top of the food chain on that world… the only reason those smaller, non-poisonous animals exist is so that the larger predators – like the Kuth and that quilled thing – can eat them, thereby fattening themselves up for creatures like those ten-legged spider things to dine on. It’s only my personal opinion of course, but their world is what ours would look like without Divine Intervention.”] He seemed to sense his brother’s ongoing anxiety. [“The immediate danger is over. Why don’t you try relaxing a little bit?”]
[“I won’t relax until this ship is safely out of this convoy.”]
[“We can help with that,”] declared Thomas proudly. [“Do what you have to do to break away from the convoy and then contact me again. Trust me Adam, we will have help ready by then.”]
*
Adam was up in the Command Center, preparing to move the Ali Rinai away from the convoy, when Snee Vasten arrived. He studied Adam curiously, with obvious newfound interest, still somewhat astonished by the recent turn of events. “I don’t know who you really are, where you come from or how you can do the things you do,” he said slowly, expression grim. “But I’m really glad I met you. You make me feel like we’re actually accomplishing something significant here in the Wasteland.”
“We are accomplishing something significant,” countered Adam, glancing at his friend. “Has everyone on duty taken the time to look at what those things really are?”
“Yes,” Vasten replied. “All my life I thought I was fighting a war against other men who hated me as much as I hated them. The harsh reality you have shown us is far more troubling, to say the least.”
“Are they ready?”
“Except for the two that you strangled to death. We put them in the Mess Hall freezer next to Bok. The other seven have all been secured in the Captain’s escape pod, just like you ordered. Why do you want the other two… you’re not starting some sort of weird trophy collection, are you?”
“Now there’s a thought.” Adam smiled wryly at Vasten’s joke. “Did that pod really have PTP technology?”
“Yes,” Vasten confirmed. “My men removed the transit drive and drained the pod of fuel. It will go nowhere when dropped… all you have to do is release it from the navigation console over there.” He pointed toward the center of the computer row, at the main console holding all of the ship’s maps and detailed navigation databases. “Your idea is a good one. It is quite probable that we can adapt the PTP drive and install it on the supply shuttle. As soon as I can spare a few men, I will assign them to do just that.”
“Good.” Mentally, he had been discussing options with Kaufield and his brother for almost ten minutes while the surrounding crew prepared the ship for an escape run. He turned toward the officer currently on-duty at navigation. “Fire the thrusters and take us away from the convoy.”
The tall, mason-jawed Zaketh studied him, perplexed. “While we’re still docked?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Adam told him. “Make certain we pull out ahead of the vessel docked with us. It’s the lead ship in the convoy and will shield us from the larger trailing vessels.” He was looking out the windows, watching all of the tiny, moving dots flying through the orange and purple clouds. “Those fighters could prove troublesome if they decide to engage us,” he mused thoughtfully before discarding the thought and studying the other three men in Command. “Stand by for transit as planned in five minutes by my mark. We’ll escape to target ‘A’, then transit to targets ‘B’ and ‘C’ in quick succession as fast as ship’s systems allow. When we emerge, we’ll be at least a dozen light years from the nebula and they’ll be unable to track us.”
“Thrusters firing,” noted the square-jawed officer, watching the gray metal hull from the other ship on the left side of the windows vanish as the Ali Rinai executed a low speed turn to starboard. The hull rumbled for a brief few seconds and he smiled upon feeling the deck vibrate beneath his feet. “There goes the docking collar, gentlemen. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Unsurprisingly, the communications console instantly lit up like a Christmas tree. Flashing red and yellow lights blinked for attention, but there was only silence as the AI-programming automatically detected and suppressed the call, routing it directly to Adam’s implant. He accepted the message and used his thoughts to grant acceptance authorization. “Yakiir cruiser,” someone from the convoy shouted loudly, his voice crackling with mild electronic distortion as it echoed through Command from a console speaker. “Stop at once. You are ordered to hold position until our boarding party has returned safely to this ship.”
“Continue accelerating to full velocity,” Adam said confidently. “Hurry, before the larger ships decide to follow, Mr. … ahh… Mr. …”
“Gadin,” the officer told him steadfastly. “Dru Gadin, at your service.”
“Yes you are Mr. Gadin,” nodded Adam with a chuckle. “Continue increasing speed.” He moved over to the communications console and keyed in several commands. “Convoy commander, you should know that we have temporarily detained Admiral Deek and his boarding party. Everyone will be released once this ship reaches a safe position. Do not attempt to intervene.”
Snee Vasten was standing next to the Zaketh in charge of motion sensors. “Three of the larger ships are breaking formation to follow us,” he noted cautiously. “At least a dozen fighters are also closing on us while the rest remain in formation to protect the convoy.” His gaze shifted to meet Adam’s and he smiled. “Way to go with that deliberate lie about the Admiral, by the way. They’re going to be absolutely furious when they discover he’s dead.”
“I told them the truth,” replied Adam with a wide grin. “Well, most of it anyhow. We have detained their boarding party, and seven of them will be released in the Captain’s escape pod. I decided to leave out the part that only one of them remains alive.”
“He was a tough one, even shackled in chains,” said Vasten informatively. “We even strapped his jaw shut like you suggested, and it still took nine of us to force him into that pod.” He shook his head with frustration. “You couldn’t have just aced him too?”
“He gets to try to explain to the rest of them specifically what happened over here,” Adam said with a self-satisfied smile. “I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.”
Vasten was understandably confused. “A what?”
Waving a hand, Adam shook his head. “It’s a language barrier thing.”
The communications console continued to play incoming messages. “Yakiir cruiser, you are ordered to cut your engines and return to fleet formation immediately. I repeat, cut your engines and return to the convoy or you will be fired upon.”
Adam continued watching the navigation console sternly, willing their ship to move faster as though his mind alone could make that happen. My thoughts can do quite a bit these days, he thought silently to himself. Unfortunately, moving this colossal hulk doesn’t happen to be one of them. He looked out the array of forward windows, watching a pair of the sinister, claw-shaped fighters zoom past them at high speed. Neither of them dared fire with the Ambassador still on board, and he was counting on that trend continuing for another precious few minutes. He transmitted additional mental commands to the artificial intelligence program still running communications, ordering it to respond to the non-stop incoming messages. As soon as the lead ship accepted the Ali Rinai’s transmission, Adam chose to say nothing. Instead, he ordered the AI to decrypt the convoy’s military communications. Seconds later, the AI retrieved the access codes to all fleet communications and began monitoring the
m too.
“They’re in shock now, primarily due to the fact that no one is supposed to be stupid enough to do what we’re doing,” pointed out Vasten. “The cruisers following us won’t get close enough to disable our engines prior to transit, but the fighters can do so at any time. And they will as soon as whoever’s in charge over there connects all the dots and concludes that the Ambassador is no longer with us in the land of the living.”
“Keep us out of the cruisers’ firing range,” he snapped in response. “I’ll handle the rest.”
“I can’t wait to see how,” noted Vasten, expression completely unreadable.
A small smile played across Adam’s features, but he was busy sorting through the AI-program’s intercepted communications, waiting for the transmission that he knew would eventually be sent. On the navigation console, the alien digits marking their countdown to transit ticked down to less than sixty Earth seconds. “They’re getting ready to transit,” one of the fighter pilots stated brusquely, reporting back to the convoy. Three more of the small fighters cruised past the port bank of windows. “It’s going to happen any moment now. Do we fire or hold? Repeat, do we fire or hold?”
“Blaze Leader, you are authorized to fire on that cruiser,” replied the familiar voice from the lead enemy vessel. “Use all necessary force to disable its engines and strand them here. Do not – I repeat – do NOT allow them to escape – the Admiral is still on board.”
“Acknowledged Home Base. Blaze Leader acknowledging.”
Adam held up an index finger and then pointed at Dru Gadin. “Now!” he commanded sharply, watching the officer move to comply. “Release the Captain’s escape pod.”
“Escape pod has been successfully dropped,” observed Vasten only seconds later. “Three fighters have dropped back to protect it, while the other nine continue to pursue us.”
“They have orders to fire on us,” acknowledged Adam, tight-lipped and anxious. “That’s about to change.”
The Pathfinder Trilogy Page 60
