by T. R. Harris
“I’m not with him,” Lopis called out from across the room.
“Okay, then just me. It’s the truth, Cain. I was under orders to use you and Riyad to help find the Klin. And it worked. They came to me offering to buy the two of you. Then we used a tracker I planted on you to find the Klin Colony Ship.”
“Our own government ordered you to use us as bait?”
“Well, not exactly. They left the details up to me. I had to improvise along the way…that’s what field agents do.”
“And we spent ten days being tortured by the Klin, not for information or anything like that, but just for their own sadist pleasure,” Adam said.
“Sorry...it wasn’t supposed to take that long to rescue you. But with the Juireans swarming all over the place, it took more time to get you out. And then the damn aliens blew up the Colony Ship. We were supposed to gain information from it to lead us to the rest of them. But we did manage to eliminate twenty thousand of the silver-skinned bastards. Overall, the mission was a success.”
“A success!”
“That’s right. Besides, everything worked out in the end. The two of you survived long enough to launch a scorched earth campaign all the way to Juir.” Copernicus looked at the Juirean Overlord and frowned. “Too soon?”
The blue-haired alien glared at him.
“So what are you doing here?” Sherri asked.
Copernicus shrugged. “Since I still had a job to do, I sought out a place about as far away from Adam and Riyad I could find. I didn’t want them to track me down.” He looked around the room and snorted. “How was I to know today was going to happen?”
“Are you buying any of this?” Adam asked the room.
“I detect no signs of mistruths in the Human’s countenance,” J’nae answered. “He is telling the truth.”
Adam paced the room, still holding the alien energy weapon. “Now what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“How about not kill me?”
Adam stopped and growled, “That’s one option…a slim one.”
“Let’s think of the bigger problem,” Trimen began. “We need a new starship and Mr. Smith has several. He also knows the Spur better than we do, and he has been tasked with the same mission as have we. It only makes sense that we combine our forces and missions.”
Adam stared at the Formilian, his mouth hanging limp. He sighed, not believing it was coming down to him and Copernicus Smith partnering up for the good of the galaxy.
For the good of the galaxy. That was the only reason he didn’t turn the spy’s head into mush with a bolt from his launcher.
“Fine,” he said. “But keep an eye on this slimy bastard. We thought he was one of the good guys before.”
“And I was…really.”
“That’s a matter of interpretation, dickhead.”
********
The next day Adam, Riyad and the Juirean Overlord surveyed the inventory of ships in the yard. The Juireans had announced their intention to accompany the Humans and mutants on their mission to learn how the Nuoreans were entering the galaxy, yet they’d only tag along if they could have their own starship.
Adam chose the larger Belsonian D-4. It was faster, had more firepower, and it could also carry the small Fracker in its hold. The Juireans took the Castorian G-8. It would be cramped aboard with four huge Juireans packed into a ship designed for two normal-size beings. But Adam got the feeling the Juireans had had enough contact with the Humans for a while. He didn’t blame them. He would be glad to see them go as well.
Copernicus had six employees, including Lopis Drun. They set about beefing up the circuit breakers on all three vessels, along with a few extra flash cannon for the G-8. None of Coop’s crew would be coming along. They made that very clear. Most criminals—even those along the fringes—were pragmatists first, heroes a distant second. They didn’t see how deliberately looking for the Nuoreans was a very sensible thing to do.
The fleet of pirates, gunner runners and drug dealers had returned to the planet once the Nuorean ship landed in the shipyard and they realized there was no danger—at least no immediate danger. Later that day, a caravan of rusty cars and trucks pulled up to the security gate at Radis Repair Service and demanded to see Copernicus. They were armed to the teeth, so it was either let them in or they would come in on their own.
Adam, Overlord Safnos and J’nae joined the mechanic at the gate. Panur and the others were working on a quick modification of the D-8 to install a limited TD-drive, culled together from spare parts in the yard.
“Bacs, what’s going on?” Copernicus asked a muscle-bound alien with four limbs for locomotion and four more as arms. His head was block-shaped, and with heavy plates of bone on each side. He had the sharp teeth of a meat-eater.
“Are these the creatures coming forth in the Nuorean ship?” Bacs growled—literally. It was how he talked.
“Yes, this is Adam Cain and—”
“We are not for identities,” the criminal boss interrupted. “Concerned is the presence of alien starship here, a vessel traced to Crisen-Por can be. Avoided have we the invaders, but now trail you have provided an excuse to attack the planet. Our stake is considerable for maintaining operations here. Now prepare we for immediate departure, should appear more alien craft.”
“We’ll be leaving soon, as early as tomorrow.”
“Not allowed.”
Copernicus shook his head. “I thought you want us gone?”
“Yes…for now—” a dozen high-powered flash weapons were suddenly turned on the Adam and the others, “—Nuoreans turn over you, and stolen vessel.”
Copernicus took a step toward the four-legged creature, his face hard as stone. “What have you done, Bacs?”
“To Nuoreans, under truce sent ship, reveal here your presence. Not honor do aliens flag. Still, Nuoreans react on way here. Help prevent from leaving you show willingness for immunity.”
“The Nuoreans don’t give a damn about what you do or don’t do,” Adam said. “We’re all just players for their games, every last one of us. They can’t be bargained with. They’ll take us and everyone else on your planet. All you’ve done is show them the way.”
“Aliens will—”
J’nae now stepped forward, still dressed in the blousy medical robe, but looking imposing with her seven-foot tall stature. “—Kill you,” she announced in a voice Adam figured had been modified to come out even more forceful and bombastic. Flash weapons shifted to the yellow-skinned mutant. She scanned the faces of the gunmen—aliens—with a gleam in her eye.
Adam wouldn’t let them fire; that’s all he would need is a radiant mutant who would take hours to cool down. He located the Formilian manufactured firing controls for each of the flash weapons aimed at them and severed the circuits with his ATD. Now if they did attack, he’d let J’nae tear them apart by hand. He had no problem with that.
“How long until they get here?”
Bacs turned to another savage-looking beast next to him. “Two hours, maybe,” said the other alien.
“Dammit,” Adam said to his group. “That won’t give Panur enough time to complete his modifications.” He turned back to the crime boss. “You and your people need to clear out. Get as many as you can up and away.”
“No! Will we keep until Nuoreans here. Gratitude.”
“C’mon,” Adam said to his people. “Let’s tell Panur.”
“Stop!” Adam ignored the order and turned away. “To fire!”
Copernicus had seen Adam’s ATD work before, so he just smiled at the savage beast as confusion and frustration spread through his force when their weapons failed to fire. “There are forces operating here more powerful than you could ever imagine,” he said to Bacs. “Now I’d take Cain’s advice and get the hell off the planet as soon as you can. That’s what we’re going to do.”
A few of the aliens rushed into the compound after Coop and the others, but they stopped in their tracks when J’nae turned to them, growing to ove
r ten feet tall in a matter of seconds. A variety of eye types became enlarged as the inclination to fight suddenly vanished. Bacs yelled at them, and a moment later, the caravan was kicking up a huge dust cloud on its way back to town.
********
Panur kept working as Adam gave him the news. He was tightening down a square module on a series of tubes in the engine room of the D-4.
“I haven’t completed the conversion, but I can create a wave disturbance in our wake.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we can cover our tracks without difficulty. However, the ship’s standard engines are in mid-modification. We can only achieve about half our normal speed.”
“A D-4 can reach seven-light,” Copernicus reported. “Three-point-five to four will put it comparable to the G-8. Will your gravity wave thingamajig cover the Juireans as well?”
“If they lead the way.”
“We accept,” said Safnos. Adam knew Juireans would be the first ones into a roiling cauldron of fire if it meant beating out a Human for the honor.
“Can you take along the parts to complete the conversion?” Adam asked the mutant.
“Yes, but I’ll need downtime with the engines of thirteen additional hours to finish.”
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” Adam turned to Copernicus. “Are the ships stocked?”
“Good enough. Hopefully we won’t be out there too long.”
“Okay, let’s get everyone aboard who’s going; the more distance we can put between us and the Nuoreans the better. They have ships capable of speeds a lot higher than four-light. We’re going to need the head start.”
None of Coop’s crew had changed their minds about going along. Most were already long gone in fact, having hitched a ride back into town with the caravan of criminals. Lopis stepped up to his boss and shook his hand.
“Good luck. And by the way…I never liked you,” the alien said. “I only tolerated you for the credits.”
Copernicus raised an eyebrow. When Lopis went to pull away after the handshake, he found Coop holding on with increasing pressure. The alien began to grimace as the pain increased. Then he was released.
“A word of advice, Lopis,” Coop began. “Never say something like that face-to-face to a Human. We have very nasty dispositions.”
Not heeding the advice just given, Lopis blurted, “Yes, I have noticed, quite nasty.” Then he scurried away at a full sprint.
Adam looked at the mechanic. “Your friend’s a good judge of character.”
“Hey, I’m not the one known as the alien with an attitude. That would be you, Mister Cain.”
“That’s Captain Cain to you.”
Adam smiled. So did Copernicus.
********
“How much of a lead do we have on the Nuoreans?” Adam asked Copernicus. Coop was piloting the Belsonian D-4, having left the Crisen-Por system two hours before.
“Hard to tell, that depends how long it takes them to recover from the Easter Eggs I left scattered around the shipyard for them.”
“Bombs?” Sherri asked, listening in on the conversation.
“Yeah, including several in the ship you brought. I figure after this mission I won’t be returning to my shipyard anyway. Won’t be much left when the eggs start going off.”
“That will only harden their resolve to find us,” Trimen said from the other side of the bridge.
Adam laughed. “You’re forgetting that Panur has already killed their precious leader. I don’t think they need any more incentive than that.”
Earlier, Panur had spent a few minutes under the navigation console making modifications. When he climbed out from underneath, he announced a doubling of the scanning range.
“We’ll now be able to see the Nuoreans long before they see us,” he announced. “Yet we’ll still have to update the Juireans.” He left the bridge to work on other projects.
The huge aliens were a light-year ahead in the G-8, their gravity-well cranked up to the max just to force the Humans to struggle to keep up. Adam didn’t know what they’d do if they broke contact and lost the cloaking effect of the wave disturbance. That would leave them on their own against the invaders.
It would also serve them right, playing their childish games, Adam thought. In a way, the Juireans were a lot like the Nuoreans, just that the Juireans weren’t as self-aware as the creatures from Andromeda. The Nuoreans understood their natural tendencies, and rather than resist, they embraced them, developing an entire civilization built around competition and the domination of others.
Adam smirked. He could substitute Human for Juirean and come to the same conclusion. He would call it Human nature, when in reality it was just nature.
“That’s the Nuorean’s main route through the Radis,” Riyad announced, studying the new contacts on the threat board, thanks to Panur’s expanded view.
“The Spur continues for another five hundred light-years before it thins out,” Coop said. “Another five days or so without breaks and we’re in intergalactic space.”
Coop looked around the small pilothouse, checking for any mutants. Both Panur and J’nae were in the engine room, doing what they could with the TD conversion while the ship was in full drive.
“So that’s the Queen of the Sol-Kor?” he said to Adam in a whisper.
“Former Queen,” Adam said. “And she was only queen for a few months. The original one, the one that had lived for five thousand years and helped create Panur, was a really hideous thing the size of a short bus. She was one of a kind.”
“Hopefully so is this one.”
“Who knows? Panur made J’nae; he could probably make another if he wanted.”
“And he’s the one who made the whole Sol-Kor war possible with his inter-dimensional star drive?”
“Don’t underestimate him. He turned my old starship into a universe-hopping supership in my garage. There’s no telling what he’s capable of.”
“I have no intention of underestimating him. But you guys seem to be friends.”
Adam snorted. “Well…at least he never sold me to the Klin.”
Copernicus smiled. “I made a boatload of credits from that. Of course, I had to give it all to the government, but it was a lot.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“I’ve got an admiral on the line, Adam,” Sherri announced from the comm station. The Belsonian craft used standard continuous-wormhole communications, so they were able to link with the allied forces without fear of being traced.
Riyad took over piloting duties as Adam and Coop moved over next to Sherri. Adam noticed a lingering of eyes between her and Coop, or was it just his imagination? Knowing Sherri, there was a good chance it wasn’t. She was attracted to bad boys.
“He’s Admiral Alan Olsen,” Sherri said.
“He’s my boss…as of a week ago. Head of the Perseus Affiliation, all the area on the Juirean side of the galaxy. Until recently we didn’t have very many units in the Expansion, so his job was mainly to oversee our intelligence operations in the area.”
Adam nodded and flicked the comm switch. And image of a balding man about sixty came on the screen, wearing the look of an artificial tan courtesy of shipboard tanning machines. “Admiral Olsen, this is Adam Cain.”
“I recognize you, Captain. Ms. Valentine says you’ve met up with one of my agents, Copernicus Smith.”
Coop shifted over until he was visible in the shot as well. “Admiral.”
“I see you’re not so covert any longer.”
“Sir, Captain Cain and I go back a ways.”
“I’ve heard.”
Those two words spoke volumes.
“Admiral, from what Captain Cain has told me, I can give you the location of the main Nuorean concentration in the Spur. It’s in the Glisena star cluster on a planet called Ankaa. I’ve had some dealings in the area. It’s a navigational nightmare getting in and out. And they just brought in another two thousand ships. Cain and his
people managed to take out the Nuorean leader and one of the three-mile-long carriers while making their escape, but that barely scratches the surface.”
“I appreciate the information, Mr. Smith, but we’re a little beyond that.” The gray look on the Admiral’s face worried Adam. “We convinced the Juireans to blockade the Spur with a combined force of five thousand ships, for what good it did. The Nuoreans blasted right through two days ago, and since then have sent over seven thousand ships into the main part of the galaxy. Besides the two thousand you mentioned, additional reinforcements have continued unabated. We’ve managed to capture more prisoners from the various engagements we’ve had and the rank-and-file crewmembers don’t seem to have any reservations about spilling their guts. They’re pretty blatant about what they have planned for the Milky Way.”
“Sir, we’re monitoring a stream of invaders at least eight hundred strong moving your way. In fact, it looks like rush hour on the 405 in L.A.” Adam reported.
“Captain, if you do nothing else while you’re on site you have to find their point of entry. Until we shut off the tap, they’ll just keep pushing us farther away. I’d send everything we’ve got at the location, if we had a target. Without them bringing in more reinforcements, we might have a chance. As it is, within a month we could lose Formil and Juir.”
“That’s what we’re looking for, Admiral. The Spur peters out in about five hundred light-years, and this traffic jam is going in only one direction. All we have to do is follow the flow the other direction. It can’t be more that another four or five days.”
“That’s cutting it close. A month from now I don’t think we’d have enough units to reach it, not having to fight a six thousand light-year-long gauntlet from Formil to the end of the Spur.”
“We’ll see what we can do from this end. And I don’t know if Sherri told you, but we do have an ace up our sleeve—Panur.”
“Excuse me, Captain, but did you say Panur?”
“Yessir.”
“The mutant who helped the Sol-Kor?”
“He’s on our side now.”
The Admiral stared at the three people on his screen. “Has it occurred to you that he may be helping the Nuoreans this time around? After all, how did they get here from Andromeda? Sounds like something right up his alley.”
