Scorched Earth: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #16) (28 page)

“Do you recognize our race?”

“Yes, you are Humans. I have only seen you in images, yet now I can associate your smell with your pictures. Both are disgustingly foul.”

“Quite the mouthy little son-of-a-bitch, isn’t he?” Riyad said.

“How do we reach the security level?”

“By going up.”

“And a smart-ass, too. Just kill him and let’s get going.” Riyad moved past Adam to scout the hallway farther along.

“Kill me? Why?”

“Because—” Adam flipped his weapon around and drove the stock end into the skull of the alien—“I can.” He climbed to his feet. “There have to be elevators along here somewhere, and hopefully the accompanying stairwells.”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been saying
hopefully
a lot more these days,” Riyad pointed out.

“It’s another way of saying the situation is fluid, requiring mission modification contingent upon circumstances in the field.”

“You mean we’re playing it by ear?”

“Now you’ve got it. Take the lead, Mister Tarazi. Let’s find a way…up.”

********

A bank of elevators—along with a doorway to the stairs—was located a hundred feet down the corridor. Elevators were always a crap shoot; one never knew what would be waiting when the doors slid open. Stairs, on the other hand, were manageable and less traveled. The Humans entered the doorway next to the elevators and began a methodical climb floor by floor, on maximum guard along the way.

They made it up the five flights without incident. At the exit door, Adam knelt down and cracked it open a hair. It was clear down the corridor in that direction. Next, he withdrew a small mirror on an articulated handle from a pocket in his environment suit and placed it around the door jamb, looking in the other direction.

He couldn’t see much. His view was blocked by the khaki-colored pant leg of the Juirean standing next to the door. Adam angled the mirror upward, turning the already towering alien into a giant. He got a better view; the Juirean Guard was talking with two others. The hallway beyond looked clear.

Adam pulled back and quietly shut the door. He held up three fingers and then motioned with his thumb at the wall he was leaning against.

Riyad raised his eyebrows. “Right here?” he whispered.

Adam nodded. “We need one alive,” he said to Riyad. The two men switched their M-101’s to standard mode, meaning bullets racing down the suppressed barrel. The flash option would have lit up the corridor for fifty yards or more. Two muted puffs wouldn’t attract too much attention—
hopefully
.

The plan: Riyad would open the door as Adam pulled the first Juirean into the stairwell, just before placing two quick shots center-mass into the other two. He would then pull the bodies out of the hallway before too much blood could spill. It would take all of three seconds, at the most. That was the plan.

The door was pulled open; Adam was out in a flash, grabbing the first alien by his belt and yanking him through the doorway. The pop-pop of the ‘101 sounded like one shot, coming so close to each other as they did.

Adam caught one falling Juirean and threw him into the doorway. He took the second one by the collar and placed him on top of the other. Then he bent over and shoved both bodies through the doorway. A quick glance outside showed a thin trail of smudged blood leading into the stairwell.

Riyad had the live Juirean pressed against a side wall, the barrel of his weapon aimed at the creature’s chest. Spying a pocket on the alien’s shirt, Adam reached out and tore off a generous portion of cloth. The Juirean—as well as Riyad—was surprised.

“Mind of I borrow this?” Adam asked with a grin. He scooted out the doorway again and came back a few seconds later with a blood-soaked cloth. He looked at Riyad. “Made a bloody mess, I did, I say,” Adam said in his best British accent.

Riyad had disarmed the Guard and now both Humans turned their attention to their captive.

“Is this the floor with the security cells?” Adam growled in a whisper.

“I will not tell you—”

Adam leaned in and clamped a hand over the alien’s mouth, while also withdrawing a KA-BAR combat knife from his utility belt. Without hesitation, he pressed the black blade into the leg of the Juirean. The creature moaned and struggled to cry out, grimacing from the intense pain. Adam withdrew the knife and placed the bloody edge against the Guard’s neck.

“I’ll ask you again, is this the floor with the security cells?”

The alien’s eyes were slits as squinted against the pain. He nodded.

“Do you have two females down here, one Human, the other Formilian?”

The Guard shook his head.

“They’re not here?”

He shook his head again.

“What the hell does that mean?” Riyad asked. “Are they here or not?”

Adam pulled his hand away from the Juirean’s mouth. “The Human, not the Formilian,” the Juirean groaned.

“The Human is here, but not the other one?”

The alien nodded.

Now Riyad leaned forward, pressing the barrel of his weapon against the alien’s forehead. Even through the pain, the Juirean’s eyes grew wide.

“Where is she?”

The alien shook his head again.

Riyad backed away. “Cut him again, Adam.”

“No! I will tell you.”

“Where?” Adam breathed.

“Room three-three.”

“Where’s that?”

The alien cocked his head to the left. “Down the corridor, then right. Down there.” He was having trouble talking, sitting as he was in a pool of his own blood, mixing now with that from his companions.

“Guards…how many?”

The alien looked at the stack of dead Juireans next to him. “Us,” he answered.

“Where is the Formilian?” Adam asked.

“Not sure…believe level twenty. Guest…under guard.”

“Thanks, you’ve been very cooperative.” Adam then pressed the tip of his blade deep into the chest of the alien.

The Humans stood. They stepped over to the dead aliens and wiped the blood off the soles of their boots on the bodies. Then, being careful not to step in the growing pool of blood, they stepped into the hallway. Adam took the lead.

As the alien indicated, there were no other Guards on the way to Sherri’s cell; they were all dead in the stairwell. Room numbers were marked on the wall next to the doors and thirty seconds after leaving the stairwell they were at room thirty-three. Adam scanned for an electronic lock, found it, and triggered the release.

Riyad stood guard while Adam rushed to the single cot and the slender figure lying face down and uncovered on top. Taking Sherri by the shoulders, Adam turned her over—and caught an elbow across the side of his face. He fell back, dropping to the floor on his butt.

Sherri was on her feet, standing over him, about to deliver a second blow. And then she squealed.

Adam rubbed his jaw as Sherri’s eye grew wide—the other one was swollen shut. “Baddum!” she cried out through equally swollen and cut lips. “And Breeodd!” She fell to her knees, wrapping Adam in a powerful bear hug.

Riyad looked away from the door and flashed his trademark smile. “Honey, we’re home. What’s for dinner.”

“Brovenist.” Sherri’s face contorted in pain when she tried to smile.

Adam own right eye and lip were swelling up from the elbow he’d taken. “Riyad…I’ve changed my mind. Let’s leave her here.”

“Your call, Captain. As you wish.”

“Ashhole!”

Adam looked at his former girlfriend and frowned. “Damn, babe, you took a licking.”

“But I keep on tickin’.”

“Where’s Arieel?” Adam asked. “She’s not down here with you.”

Sherri swallowed hard, working through the pain of her facial injuries to speak. “She VIP. Higher up, umber guard. Synnoc wants to qwill us bof…along with brew and Breeodd. He thinks brew be here in a week.”

“Surprise, our flight got in early. Can you walk?”

“Just hit my face. Weggs are brine.”

Adam reached into his backpack and withdrew another M-101. “I brought you a present.”

Sherri took the weapon and hugged it to her chest. “Just what I braways wanted.”

They climbed to their feet.

“So…how do we reach Arieel?” Riyad asked Adam in the middle of receiving a one-armed hug from Sherri. She held the ‘101 in the other.

“The Guard said she’s on the twentieth floor. I say we take the elevator to the twentieth, then shoot every alien we see until we find her.”

“Don’t you think that might be a little too…rude?”

“It was just a suggestion.”

Riyad looked toward the cot. “We could go all KKK again. Then put on our helmets and escort the Imperial Wizard to the VIP section.”

“We’re wearing Human environmental suits.”

“Which are black and look like everyone else’s.”

Adam smiled. “Sounds like a pretty good plan. And every good Imperial Wizard needs a pair of Dark Guards escorting her.”

“What are brew tawkling bout?”

“You’ll see, sweetheart. You’ll love it. It’s the latest thing in high fashion.”

********

Five minutes later the men had wrapped Sherri in a white sheet, but rather that cut a slot for the eyes, Riyad used his Lebanese skills to make the outfit look more like a burqa than a KKK robe.

“Okay, here we go,” said Adam. “Just walk confidently and with purpose. They’ll still look at us, but think we belong here.”

The trio made it to the elevators without incident. The building was too tall and angled to use one central lift, so this one only went to the tenth floor. They would have to transfer from there.

The elevator car began to move, and continued for three floors before stopping. The door opened and six Juirean Techs crowded in. Three more eyed Sherri and her escorts and decided to wait for the next car.

Two of the Techs turned to Sherri. She bowed. They bowed back.

“What is your race?” one of the Juireans asked.

“We are Betamax,” Adam answered for her. “Our Grand Wizard is not allowed to speak in public.”

“I have never heard of the Betamax.”

“That is understandable. There are very few of us left.”

The elevator stopped. “This is our floor,” Adam said.

They stepped out and over to the next bank of elevators.

“I thought the Betamax were extinct?” said Riyad under his breath.

“Almost. We are the last of their kind.”

They entered an elevator and pressed the button for the twentieth floor. Five Juireans also stepped in. They looked at the trio, but none attempted to start a conversation.

When they stepped off at their floor, they found it to be quite different from where Sherri had been kept. There was a wide, carpeted lobby with ornate decorations and seating along the walls. A forty-foot wide corridor ran both directions from the elevators. Two Juireans Guards were to their right, so they moved in that direction.