Alien Assassin (24 page)

Then Adam whirled around, and landed a powerful right cross directly on Riyad’s chin. The pirate fell back against the wall and slid down to the floor. And then Adam was on him. He pulled Riyad’s face close to his. “That’s for strapping a bomb on my ankle and then trying to kill me.”

After that, the real ‘mock’ fight began. They punched at each other, yelled and cursed, and overturned cots, basically anything to cause as loud a ruckus as they could.

After a few seconds, the bolt on the door slid aside and the heavy metal door swung open. Two Silean guards, armed with shock-sticks, entered and rushed toward the two men fighting on the floor. As they passed below Sherri, she let loose with her legs and swung down, striking the two guards in the back with her feet. That was all that was needed. The two lighter-weight aliens flew hard into the concrete wall of the cell and collapsed.

Adam and Riyad rushed over quickly and disarmed the guards, and then the three Humans moved to the door, Adam with a shock-stick on one side, Riyad on the other. Then Adam turned to Kaylor and Jym. “You coming?”

After only a moment’s hesitation, they lifted from the cot and ran to the door.

Adam had paid special attention to the route they took inside the building as they were led to the cell. So outside the cell he turned left in the hallway and led the group to another closed door at its end. This door was not as secure as the cell door, and when Adam opened it, he was instantly confronted with three uniformed Sileans, who stopped in their tracks with shocked looks across their faces.

Not bothering to shock them with the electrified rod, Adam simply used it as a club, and in a moment the three guards lie unconscious on the floor. None of these guards carried bolt weapons either, just more of the shock-sticks.

The five escapees ran down the now-deserted hallway until Adam passed an open door on his left. He stopped abruptly, and the other four crashed into him, like some scene from a Keystone Cops movie. Recovering, Adam backtracked to the room.

As he entered, Adam saw the window, large and displaying the outside ground-level of the building. Hoping the glass wasn’t shatter-proof, he hefted a chair from behind a desk and threw it into the window. The glass shattered, and then using the shock-stick, Adam broke away more of the glass so they could all simply step through the opening and onto the grassy ground outside.

No alarms sounded, so they moved quickly through the dark shadows of the Silean night until they reached the main street running along the front of the building. There were several transports parked along the side of the street, including a decent-sized panel truck-looking vehicle.

They moved to the truck and Adam tried the driver’s side door. Luck was with them; it was unlocked. All of them quickly jumped in, Adam in the driver’s seat, Riyad riding shotgun, while Sherri and the two aliens climbed in the open rear cab.

Adam had never hot-wired an alien truck before, so he leaned down to look under the dashboard. Then Riyad reach over and pressed the start button directly above Adam’s head. Adam heard the electric motor begin to whirl. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, until Adam grabbed the center toggle and pressed it forward.

They were on their way to the spaceport and the
Cassie 1
.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ransin stood before the large monitor in an office of the Silean Security Center and shifted nervously as Giodol addressed him. He wasn't particularity nervous about speaking with Giodol; they had had a working relationship for several years now. It was the large, blue-haired Overlord behind him that made him nervous. This would be Lord Yan’wal, whose reputation was known throughout the entire Expansion.

The raid on Kroekus’ headquarters had gone more-or-less according to plan, and the Humans had been extricated unharmed. They had been placed in a cell with the two other beings from Adam Cain’s past, and had even managed to pick up another Human somewhere along the way. It was obvious the female was the other one from Castor, the second assassin who had checked into the rest facility with Cain. What her contribution would be to the plan remained unknown. All Ransin knew was that she was a Human, and therefore a major threat.

“Where are the Humans now?” Giodol asked.

“They are heading for the Juirean shuttle and should be arriving there momentarily.”

“Good. So your plan for their escape was a success. My congratulations, Ransin.”

The Juirean agent did not know what to do at this juncture, so he figured honesty would be his safest route. “My Lord, I cannot take credit for the escape. My procedures had not been put into place before the Humans were able to escape on their own.”

Giodol stared at the agent for a long moment, as Lord Yan’wal moved up beside him and closer to the screen. Then the senior Overlord spoke. “So we were not able to contain the Humans for more than a few minutes in the central lockup building before they escaped, without our help, and seemingly with little effort?” Yan’wal tone was as cold as ice.

“Yes, My Lord. Humans appear to be very resourceful.”

“Humans nearly destroyed my entire fleet!”

“I meant no disrespect, My Lord,” Ransin said quickly, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. He knew his skin colors would be shifting wildly, as they did when he was nervous. “We have ample tracking devices on the shuttle and will be able to follow them to their next destination.”

Yan’wal turned to Giodol. “Have the battle force shadow the Humans without revealing themselves. I know they will seek out others of their kind. We must be ready when they do.” Then he turned back to the screen. “Agent! Do not lose them.”

“No, My Lord. I will not lose them.” To Ransin’s immense relief, the screen went dark.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Adam and his group made it to the
Cassie 1
without incident, at which time Kaylor went ballistic.

“What about
my
ship? I can’t just leave her!”

“Where is she?” Adam asked as he slipped into the pilot seat.

“In orbit. They brought us down in a shuttle.”

Adam thought for a moment. “Good, we’ll pick her up on the way. We can always use more room, and the workshop you have aboard will come in handy.”

Kaylor had no idea what Adam had in mind, but he was happy just to learn that his precious
FS-475
was not going to be abandoned. Besides, his whole life was aboard that ship.

They rendezvoused with the
FS-475
within ten minutes of reaching orbit, and Adam maneuvered the
Cassie-1
over the aft access port. Once the seal was secure, the five escapees transferred to the much larger ship. Adam told Kaylor their new destination.

“Zylim-4! Are you crazy?” the alien protested. “That place is so radioactive it’s about to achieve critical mass just sitting there.”

“That’s where we’re going, nevertheless.”

“Why there?”

Riyad and Sherri had just entered the pilothouse. Adam nodded at Sherri and said “There’s something we have to check out. It could be important.”

Kaylor set about programming in the coordinates, then turned and began stroking the two fingers of flesh that protruded below his ears. “If my nodes dry up from the radiation, it will be
your
fault.”

Adam had no idea what he was talking about, so he simply ignored him.

Riyad stepped forward.

“So? Why Zylim-4?” he asked. He preferred not to tip his hand at the time, and relay his own beliefs about the planet.

Adam closed to within inches of the pirates face. “I want to make one thing perfectly clear: this situation is completely different from the time you and your goons got the drop on us before. You may have been some big-time terrorist back in your prior life, but here, I have no doubt I could take you.”

Riyad held out his hands. “I have no doubt either, my friend. You are younger, stronger and more traditionally-trained. At the time of our prior association, we were both in a completely different reality. Now we must operate as a team.”

“Nice words, Tarazi. But all I have to go by is your past record. I don’t trust you. I know what your ultimate goal is, and as we get closer to finding a way home, I know you’ll do whatever it takes to make your fantasy come true. And if that means stabbing us in the back, you’ll do it. You’ve done it before.”

Riyad brought his hands up into a prayer position and nodded. “I agree with you, if you only go by our brief encounter months ago. But things have changed. My pirate fleet is destroyed; I have no money and no resources. I am now at your mercy, as well as that of your lovely lady friend,” he said, nodding at Sherri. “I will not be a problem. Rather I can be an asset. But you still have not answered the question. Why is Zylim-4 so important?”

Adam stared back at Riyad. There was a long pause, as Adam weighed the option of trusting him or not. Finally, he bit his bottom lip and nodded.

“When we get there, I’m going to need all the help I can get. I have no choice but to trust you. However, I will be watching you.”

“Perfectly understandable, my brother.”

Then addressing everyone in the room, Adam began, “Zylim-4 is where Sherri was brought when she was first abducted by the Klin. It’s some kind of major base or processing center, and according to Sherri, there are a lot of those weird people there, like the ones you talked about, Riyad – those who committed suicide.”

So I was right!
Riyad thought. Zylim-4
is
the base. And it was gravity that led him there…

Aloud, he said, “That’s amazing. They must surely know the location of Earth.”

“That’s my hope, but according to you and Sherri, these other Humans are more foe than friend.”

“So what’s your plan for getting us in? Zylim-4 is an inhospitable place, as Mr. Kaylor has alluded. All the living facilities are deep underground and secure. And then there’s the radiation.”