Scorched Earth: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #16) (8 page)

Chapter 6

With sacks of ammo magazines dangling from full MOLLI packs, Adam and his team set out through the pine-like forests of Worak-nin. They were armed to the teeth, having cleaned out the weapons cabinet in the Mark VII’s service bay. For his part, Adam carried an M-101 assault rifle, and two .45mm Glocks. He also had four light-weight MK-17’s with four battery packs each, and rounding out his arsenal was a KA-BAR combat knife, two canisters of mace, six hand grenades and two flares. The other men were similarly armed, along with throat and ear-piece comms.

A nineteen klick hike through the woods was a piece of cake for the Humans, even with the packs they carried. Worak-nin was rated Juirean-Standard in gravity, placing it about three-quarters that of Earth. It was mid-day—not the best time to launch an assault—but Adam was anxious to learn the status of his two favorite females. And if what Paulson had said about the Juireans was correct, most of them had already departed after the killing of Admiral Tobias.

The team’s destination was the palace of gold that Panur had built when he and Lila decided to shack-up together. More correctly, the huge mansion had been built
for
them, by more-than-willing local labor. The purple natives had been completely enamored with the mutants and their demonstrations of supernatural feats, believing the pair to be the living gods they claimed to be. It was easy to understand why. Both Panur and Adam’s daughter, Lila, possessed the unique trait of spontaneous—and willful—cell regeneration. They could change their appearance, while also allowing them to live an indeterminate number of years. For all intents and purposes, the pair were immortal.

They also possessed superior intellect. As Panur once explained, he had near-perfect recall, coupled with a five-thousand-year lifespan—at that time—and he’d acquired an incredible amount of knowledge he could easily access.

With that combination of abilities and mutations, Panur and Lila were a formidable pairing, one with near unlimited possibilities.

Two years ago, the natives of Worak-nin scrounged together every ounce of gold they could find to build the sixty-room palace, thinking this would gain them favor with their gods. The truth of the matter, neither Panur nor Lila cared a lick for wealth. They didn’t need any. They had immortality and genius. Even so, that didn’t stop Panur from playing with the natives, engaging in one of the many social experiments the bored mutant used to occupy his time.

Now the huge building complex reflected the light of the Worak-nin sun in blinding flashes off the dark yellow surface. A five-feet-tall wall enclosed the estate, with an ungated entrance along each side. The compound hadn’t been built for security, only to impress.

Adam lifted his closed fist and the team stopped.

“I think I’ve found Tom’s missing Juireans.”

The men moved up beside him, all four falling prone in the tall grass at the tree line, monoculars aimed at the building.

“I don’t see anyone,” Paulson commented. “Been like this for several days.”

“They’re all inside,” Adam reported. “I’m detecting the energy signatures of over fifty flash weapons. Four distinct groups, with sentries patrolling.”

“You getting this from your brain-link thingy?” Paulson asked.

“Yep.”

“Why are they all inside?” Sergeant Morgan asked.

“Because they’re expecting us,” Riyad answered.

Adam nodded. “Hollingsworth was right. The Juireans connected the jump points and plotted our course to here.”

“So it’s an abort?” Paulson asked.

Adam looked at him with a frown. “Abort? Hell no. I didn’t come all this way to abort.” He looked back at the palace and scanned it with his monocular. “But one thing is clear, I don’t have the skill with my brain-thingy to isolate each individual flash weapon and sever the firing controls. That would take forever, and then I might miss a few.”

“Well…if they’re expecting us, shouldn’t we oblige?” Riyad said. When the other three looked at him with blank faces, he continued. “They think they have the upper hand, and if there’s one thing I know about Juireans, they sure do like to boast about their victories. They’ll probably want to take us prisoner—at least me and Adam.”

“Gee, thanks, Mr. Tarazi. I guess Travis and I are a couple of red-shirt crewmen from an old
Star Trek
episode. No names and the first to die.”

“Everyone has their roles to play, commander.” Riyad flashed his trademark smile. They didn’t appreciate his sense of humor.

“Relax,” Adam said. “I’ll protect us, at least against the sentries. The main cluster of troops is in hiding, stationed on each side of Panur’s office, as best I can tell.”

“The meditation rooms?” Riyad asked.

“Looks like it.”

“Meditation rooms?” asked Sergeant Morgan.

“Yeah, Panur and Lila each had a private room they could go to and contemplate their navels, while attempting to solve the mysteries of the universe. However, unlike the Hindus and Buddhists, that pair could actually do it.”

Adam replaced his monocular in its holder and readied himself on one knee. “I’ve got a plan. Everyone line up on me, and no shooting unless you absolutely have to. Don’t give the mane-heads an excuse to fire back. Okay…let’s roll.”

In the planet’s light gravity, the line of sprinting Humans would have set a world’s record for the hundred-meter relay back on Earth. They ran straight for the low wall—not the entranceways—and hurdled the barricade without breaking stride. At the forty-eight-step grand stairway rising to the front landing, they took a dozen steps at a time and split up at the top, flanking the double forty-foot-tall entry doors, two men on each side.

Adam tried the left door. It swung open, and the team moved inside.

Adam began whispering into his throat microphone, giving a running account where the energy signatures were for the flash weapons within the building. They’d been spotted, and several of the white dots in Adam’s mind were moving behind walls and down hallways, maneuvering for position.

The four men knew the location of Panur’s office. It was straight ahead across the cavernous main entry hall and through a set of ornately-carved twenty-foot-tall gold doors. The office was more like a throne room, where the mutant received local worshippers and other dignitaries during his brief reign as Lord of Panurland—as he called Worak-nin. The team sprinted for the doorway, through the enormous room and past dozens of strange artifacts the natives had donated to their gods.

They reached the entrance to the office without the shadowing aliens making a move. It was clear they were expecting the Humans to enter the room…so Adam led the way.

If a Juirean could win an Academy Award for acting, the Overlord on the other side of Panur’s massive gold desk would have been a shoe-in. He rose up from his chair and gasped, displaying an expression of complete shock when Adam and his men stormed across the room—weapons hot—and took up positions on the other side of the shiny desk.

A frown crossed Adam’s face as he noticed the huge, blue-haired Juirean had a sling cradling his right arm.

“Do not shoot!” the Overlord cried out. “I am unarmed—and injured, as you can see.”

“Where are they?” Adam demanded. Even though he knew this was a setup, he had to go along with the charade.

“You are referring to your three friends?”

“You can keep Benefis; I’m talking about Sherri and Arieel.”

“You must be Adam Cain.” The translated voice in his ear sounded almost in awe as his name was spoken. The Overlord knew this was an alien who had spent time on Juir, had consorted with Council Elders, and led major battles across this galaxy—and others. His respect was hard to hide.

“That’s right. I’m Adam Cain, and this is Riyad Tarazi, along with Commander Paulson and Sergeant Morgan. Who are you?”

“I am Andis lo Pindoc, Overlord of the Juirean occupation forces for the Sixth Sector, Kidis Frontier. I apologize for my lack of guards and escorts, but after the death of your Admiral Tobias, I dispatched them to other regions where they would have more utility.”

“What happened to your arm?”

“Ah, that is a gift from your fellow Human, the one called Sherri Valentine.”

Adam smiled. “Go on.”

“It seems the female is quite swift and strong, something we were not expecting. She attempted escape three times before being finally subdued.”

Adam’s stomach tightened. “Subdued? What does that mean?” His finger tightened on the trigger of the M-101.

Sensing he had stepped over a line, the Juirean spoke quickly. “She is alive—they all are.” The alien relaxed visibly when he saw Adam do the same. “However, I could not risk her harming more of my forces, so she was placed in stasis.”

“Where is she?” Adam was getting tired of playing the game. He knew that the flanking meditation rooms were packed with twenty aliens each, all armed with fully-charged MK weapons. But he wasn’t worried about them.

A thin grin stretched across the green, scaly face.

“She is gone.” Andis now stood a little straighter, and Adam saw the once docile countenance transform into the more familiar forceful confidence of a Juirean Overlord. “As are the others.”

Six green-haired Guards rushed into the room through the main entrance, as the much larger force remained in hiding. Adam’s men spun around to face the Guards.

“Hold your fire!” Adam commanded. “They’ve got us.”

The scaly forehead of the green-skinned Overlord frowned. “I am disappointed, Adam Cain. I thought you to be a valiant warrior, not one to surrender so easily.”

“I don’t want to risk Sherri and Arieel. You said they’re gone. To where?”

“To Juir, where else?”

Adam’s heart sank. He was afraid of that happening. Sherri and Arieel were much too valuable to be left on some backwater planet like Worak-nin. “When did they go?”

The Guards moved in and stripped Adam and his men of their weapons and packs, then struggled with the heavy gear to drag them out of reach of their captives.

“They left a week ago, for a four-month journey to the homeworld,” said Andis jovially. “And what I told you about being placed in stasis was true. I have read enough reports on how problematic it is to transport Human prisoners over long distances.”

“So there’s a whole fleet guarding them?” Adam stated.

The Juirean frowned again. “Are you not comprehending? I just said they are in stasis, asleep in pods for the duration of the journey. I had no need to send a large escort force.”

Now it was Adam’s turn to frown. A large group if Juirean starships would have been easier to track than a single ship through the vastness of the Milky Way, even if he knew the final destination.