by T. R. Harris
The Human forces tore into the Juirean lines with a renewed ferocity, aimed at avenging the deaths of the Marines. The Juireans suffered far more losses in the first few minutes of the engagement than they had during their prior meeting with the Humans. KFV’s whipped between the Juireans lines, laying barrage after barrage into their diffusion screens, overloading them. And then other Human units would lay more bolts into the weakened areas of the shields until their shots impacted the metal hulls themselves. The next runs sent bolts through the hulls and into the ship’s interiors, resulting in massive explosions from within. Twenty-one Juirean ships exploded into vapor within minutes.
Although only a handful of the commanders knew of the master plan for the battle, the actual Human casualties were not all that bad, with only five ships lost and seventeen damaged but repairable. Without the damage suffered in the planetary rings or the asteroid field, the Humans came out of this conflict relatively unscathed – before the Juireans bolted away again.
And yet on the Juirean screens they saw nearly a hundred of the Human attackers leave the battlefield or their signatures go dark. Normally, this would have been cause for celebration aboard the Juirean ships, as well as impetus for a continuation of the battle. Yet their orders were clear, and so once again, the Juireans fired up their deep-wells and fled the scene.
With the current strength of the Juirean fleet, plus any waiting reinforcements, it was estimated that the Humans forces would be down to minimal strength after only two more engagements.
At least that was what Admiral Allen wanted the Juireans to believe.
To the Human commanders, their plan was working perfectly. Soon the main Human fleet would be down to well under half its original strength, making it an inviting target for the Juireans as the warring factions moved deeper into Expansion territory. And by that time the shadow fleet under Captain Schwartz would be almost double the size of the remaining fleet. If Schwartz could keep the fleet a secret up until the time of the final battle, the Juireans could be in for a quite a surprise.
Chapter 26
For the military planners on Juir, it was now time to plan the location for the final destruction of the invading Human forces. The reports from the second battle with the Humans had been very encouraging, surpassing even their most optimistic projections. The Human forces were falling like stalks of grotion weeds in a windstorm. At this pace, it wouldn’t be long before the Juireans would have an overwhelming advantage against the remaining Human forces.
The Juireans began to focus their attention on the planetary system of Falor-Kapel. They surveyed the lay of the planets, as well as the other assorted obstacles that could be used to their advantage. All available resources on this side of the Core would be sent there.
After a few more hit-and-run engagements, the trap would be set. And the Humans were falling right into it without fail.
Chapter 27
Pleabaen Linuso Summlin of the Klin was in receipt of two sets of intelligence reports, and when taken together, his heart began to race, a feeling of euphoria overtaking him. Could this be it? Could the time really be at hand?
Linuso had chosen to print out the two reports and lay them side by side on the table before him. Even though the practice was archaic, there was a sense of permanency associated with the plastic-infused paper. This was something he could hold in his hand, as opposed to a fleeting image on a computer monitor. And if the reports did foretell accurately the events to come, then these were documents that must be preserved for all eternity.
The first report was from the most-highly placed Convert in the Human fleet, a person named Noah Lukeman. Of course Linuso had never heard the name before, but the route the report had traveled to reach his eyes confirmed its authenticity. The report told of the unexpected weakening of the Human fleet through the first two direct encounters it had had with the Juireans to date. The losses were greater than had been anticipated, though acceptable. The Human Fleet was still a formidable force, adequate to do the job it was designed to accomplish. And now a third battle was on the horizon. If the casualties from this encounter were in the same range, then the Juireans would have no reason not to act.
And that was the theme of the second report, the one from the Klin spies within the Juirean High Council. For thousands of years, there had not been much that the Juireans did that the Klin were not intimately aware of. Masters of negotiation and manipulation, the Klin had managed to build a spider-web network of spies and informants throughout the Expansion. Even though most of the Klin underground activities involved simply monitoring the Juireans, they occasionally practiced manipulation as well. At times false data was supplied, or a suggestion whispered; whatever the operation, the Juireans were nearly as gullible and susceptible to propaganda as were the Humans.
The second report relayed the information on how the Juireans were also fully aware of the diminishing strength of the Human invasion fleet. The Council had concluded that a decisive battle against the remaining Human forces could come as early as two months hence. At the pace of the supposed Juirean retreat, as well as the headlong and oblivious pursuit by the Humans, the conclusion of this phase of the war could soon come to a close. Efforts were in motion to assure that the Juireans would come to the same conclusion.
The Juireans were a pragmatic race. They had suffered considerable loss of credibility in the eyes of the other Members of the Expansion as a result of the conflict with the Humans. This was understandable, since so many of the Members had not experienced the more militaristic side of the Juireans – all the Members knew were the stories. There had been no need to show what the Juirean race was capable of militarily, at least not over the past thousand years or so. Now, in the face of this savage and primitive enemy, the strength and invincibility of the Juireans was being openly questioned throughout the galaxy.
So the sooner this conflict could come to an end, the better. And what better way to end it than with a decisive Juirean victory over the invaders.
Fortunately for the Klin, this final battle would not be as decisive as the Juireans wished. Drilling down in the Juirean report, Linuso had found the tidbit of information he had been hoping to find. It was an admission by the Juirean Council that, even though the Human fleet may be destroyed in this great battle, the Elites were willing to sacrifice all their remaining military forces they had available on the Orumo side of the galaxy just to eliminate the threat. Once the Humans were destroyed, then the Juireans would have ample time to rebuild their forces and return to Earth and put a final end to the threat. The need for a substantial reserve force would not be necessary, at least not at this time.
This was all Linuso needed to know to allow this incredible feeling of joy to flow through him. Four thousand years, and now the time was so close.
His most-senior Fellows had concurred with his conclusions. The time to emerge from the shadows was now upon them. The orders had been sent; the Klin fleet would be waiting. They would be watching and waiting, as the mightiest clash ever between galactic forces was about to take place within the stellar system of Falor-Kapel.
Linuso smiled, a full-tooth smile that he was not ashamed to display. He wished he could be present to see the expression on the face of Hydon Ra Elys, his counterpart in the Juirean hierarchy, when Klin warships appeared in the skies above Juir. What he would give to be in the room with Hydon, as four millennia of revenge rained down upon his precious homeworld. It would be worth sacrificing Linuso’s own life just to see the expression.
Chapter 28
High Fellow Hunlin Desnor did not like the Kracori Commander Jonnif, but the dark and brooding creature was obviously not going to leave his chambers until he received a comment. The hulking, yellowish-skinned beast with the solid black eyes had barged into Hunlin’s private sanctuary bearing a report just received from the planet Hyben.
It had simply been a fluke that the report had even been observed by a Klin agent sent to the planet to note the closing of
the Juirean repair facilities there; the fact that the newscast had mentioned the deaths of Juireans had been what piqued the agent’s curiosity. Even though she knew the Juireans were at war with a race called the Humans, the death of Juireans this far into the Expansion was still an oddity.
The agent had passed along the report innocently enough, not knowing that once it reached the actual Klin that its true significance would launch a complex series of events that would reach from the backwater world of Hyben all the way to Marishal, the titular home of the Klin.
Although the spy was not aware of its significance, from the newscast the Klin computers did immediately zero in on the name of Adam Cain. He was the Human who had played a vital role in the propaganda campaign leading up to the Juirean attack upon the Earth. It was Adam Cain who had been set up as the being who led the Juireans to the planet, resulting in the deaths of over one billion of his fellow natives. From the reports on Earth at the time, Cain had argued passionately that it was the Klin who had set all the events in motion, pitting the Juireans against the Humans. Fortunately, his argument had fallen on deaf ears, especially in the aftermath of the devastating attack.
But then Adam Cain had escaped from captivity on Earth, and had been leading a resistant movement against the Juireans in Sector 17 ever since.
And now here was a newscast from the Sector 16 planet of Hyben, detailing how the terrorist Adam Cain had been captured by the Juireans – and was currently in transit to Juir for final judgment.
Initially, Hunlin had not placed any special significance to this information; after all, the useful idiot Adam Cain would soon meet his maker at the hands of the merciless Juireans. But then another thought had crossed his mind: what if Cain brought his beliefs concerning the Klin before the Juirean Council?
The Juireans carried in them an almost psychotic and manic fear of the Klin. Over the millennia, the guilt of the Klin genocide still weighed upon them. Hunlin feared that anything said about the Klin might be believed by the Council.
So what if the Juireans believed Adam Cain? What if they came to see that it had been the Klin all along who had maneuvered both the Juireans and Humans into a war with each other, when initially they had no reason to war in the first place?
Indeed. What if?
What if the Juireans came to see the Humans not as an enemy, but rather as just another victim of the Klin’s ultimate plot for revenge against the destroyers of their homeworld? What if they became allies instead of foes?
The possibility that Adam Cain could reverse the course of events already set in motion was a slim one, but the feisty Human had already proven to be quite a resourceful adversary. Was this a risk High Fellow Hunlin was willing to take?
The solution seemed pretty straight forward and with little risk. Simply dispatch a small force to intercept the Juirean ship transporting Cain to Juir and either destroy it – killing Cain in the process – or take him captive. Internally, Hunlin considered the idea of presenting the troublesome Adam Cain to the Pleabaen as an attractive bonus to the current events playing out. It was a scenario he could not pass up.
Hunlin made a decision. He looked up at the still-waiting Kracorin.
“Send a force adequate to overwhelm the Juirean vessel carrying Cain. If possible, capture him alive for transport to Marishal. If capture is not an option, then destroy the ship. Either way, Adam Cain must not reach Juir alive.”
The Kracorin nodded sharply, once. “I will lead the force personally. I have longed for a chance to confront a Human directly.”
“That would not be prudent, Jonnif. I need you here with the fleet. Besides, we cannot risk exposure this close to the end. There will be other Kracori on our ships. Make sure they do not have any contact with the Humans, if capture is the result of this operation. Is that understood?”
“Better than you can fathom, Hunlin. The Kracori are patient, yet even we have our limits.”
The large creature turned and left Hunlin’s chambers, not bothering with drawing the door shut when he left. Between the Juireans, Humans and the Kracori, Hunlin wasn’t sure which he hated most. As he walked across the room to close the door, Hunlin cast his vote for the Kracori. After all, they were on his ship, while the Humans and Juireans were light years away, preparing for the battle that would free the Klin from four thousand years of self-imposed anonymity.
Chapter 29
Kaylor and Jym’s Exitor-class spaceship – designated the JU-224 since most alien races did not name their ships – was well beyond the outer boundary of the Hyben system by the time Sherri awoke from her semi-comatose sleep. Tobias and Riyad brought her food and drink, and then allowed her time to make herself more presentable. Normally water was not a scarcity aboard modern starships, yet by the time Sherri had finished washing from her body all the traces of the planet Hyben, it was over two hours before enough could be purified for anyone else’s use.
Sherri dressed in a light blue tunic, tied her hair into a ponytail and then made her way to the common room. Jym was sitting at the auxiliary pilot station, casually munching on a piece of green Filiean bark, while Kaylor, Riyad and Tobias sat at one of the three tables in the room. Kaylor had a datapad placed before him.
Both the Humans rose from their seats when Sherri entered the room; Kaylor suddenly felt out of place and awkwardly stood up as well. Sherri grinned broadly as she sat down in the only vacant chair at the table.
“You appear to be feeling better,” Riyad said warmly.
“”And you smell much better, too,” Kaylor added, “although correctly you’ve returned to the normal scent for your species.”
Sherri patted his arm. “Thank you – I guess. And yes, I feel a thousand percent better.”
“How is that even possible?” Kaylor asked sincerely.
“Never mind Kaylor.” She turned her attention to the two other Humans at the table. “Where’s Adam?”
“He’s about twenty light years from here,” Riyad answered.
“Twenty light years! We’ll never catch up—”
“Relax, Sherri,” Tobias cut in. “Riyad’s ship is tailing the Juireans. They’re fast, but not traveling at full speed. Kaylor says we should catch up to them in about a month.”
“And then what?” she asked.
Riyad shook his head. “That’s just what we’ve been discussing. Even when we do catch up, we’ll just be two small Exitor’s up against a mid-level Juirean battleship. We may be fast and maneuverable, but we’re no match for a Class-3. I don’t know what we could do to stop them – and without getting ourselves killed.”
“We can’t just sit back and do nothing, and the closer they get to Juir, the less chance we’ll have to save Adam.”
Tobias leaned back in his chair. “We’re open to suggestions, Sherri. But we’ve just spent the last eight hours racking our brains for an idea, with no luck.”
Sherri turned to Kaylor. “Do you know anyone in this part of the galaxy who could help us?”
Kaylor’s head bobbed side to side. “The answer is no, unfortunately. My world is located in Sector 12 and I spent most of my time in the Fringe. I am not at all familiar with this part of the Expansion, and neither is Jym. Out here we are just as lost as you.”
“What about the other teams?” Sherri asked Tobias. “There were four us operating, each with our own ship.”
Tobias pursed his lips and shook his head again. “They’re too far away to be of any help. Besides, after completing their missions, they’re on their way back to the Fringe, all except Riyad’s ship. I’m afraid we’re on our own.”
There was silence around the table for several minutes as each of them were lost in their thoughts. And then Jym suddenly spoke up.
“They’re going to have to stop for recharging on the way to Juir. Trick them into letting you super-beings aboard so you can rescue Adam.” Even though Riyad could hear the condescension in the small, bear-like alien’s voice, he knew he meant no insult. Jym was simply prone to spe
aking his mind without hiding any of his emotions. It was a habit Riyad found perplexing, given Jym tiny stature. He wouldn’t have lasted an hour in the neighborhoods Riyad grew up in, not with that attitude.
“Jym is right!” Kaylor said. “They are single ship traveling without support. The trip to Juir is long-range, even for a Class-3. Their generators will have to be recharged, just as ours will have to be if we pursue beyond a month or so.”
Riyad shook his head. “My Exitor has not been recharged since we left the Fringe,” he countered. “And it won’t have to be even if we returned there today.”
“Yes, but the journey to Juir is twenty times farther than it is back to the Fringe. That is why we needed a Class-5 to make it all the way to Earth. And Earth is closer to the Fringe than the Fringe is to Juir.”
“Then that seems like our best option,” Tobias said, his mood improving dramatically. He turned to face Jym. “Way to go Jym – great idea.”
Jym just shrugged and turned back to his monitor. “Just makes sense.”
Sherri was literally bouncing in her chair. “So when will they have to recharge – and where?”
Kaylor began to finger the datapad sitting on the table. “I need to find out the maximum travel range for a Class-3 between charging, and then locate the major recharging stations between here and Juir. It will take just a minute.”
Tobias and Riyad began to talk with each other. “Class-3’s can land on planets, but it’s frowned upon,” Riyad stated. “They tear up too much landscape when they come in on gravity drive, and they burn up most of their fuel landing chemically. More than likely they’ll opt for an orbital recharging. Either way, we’ll have to disguise ourselves as a recharge crew to get aboard.”
