The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga (2 page)

Adam Cain is an Alien with an Attitude.

His adventures continue…

Chapter 1

 
 
“Dammit, Panur!
You can’t go around building trans-dimensional portals in a person’s garage without telling them first!”

Adam Cain was livid as he circled the twelve-foot-tall rectangular doorway that filled the center of his three-car garage. Because of the unwanted contraption and its clutter of supporting paraphernalia, his new Cadillac Escalade SUV sat in the driveway, exposed to the elements.

“I built the portal for you,” the tiny alien said, “as a reward for all you’ve done for me.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but what the hell am I supposed to do with it?”

Even though Panur had only been around Humans for a short time, he had already adopted many of their facial expressions … and the expression he now displayed was shock.

“What to do with it? If I didn’t know better, I would believe you were being facetious. This is a doorway to
all
universes, a way to reach every star, and you can’t imagine a use for it? Personally, I find such portals to be quite enjoyable and mentally stimulating.”

Adam was about to say that what was enjoyable and mentally stimulating to a five-thousand-year-old mutant alien wasn’t quite the same for a flesh-and-blood Human being, but he held his tongue. Despite his outward show of anger, he was actually in awe of the device. Once activated, it would lead to any number of matching doorways located across multiple dimensions, a concept which to Adam was the very definition of a
miracle
. Yet here it was, built in a single week, and out of spare parts he had lying around his garage.

Panur might be an often rude, condescending, and even child-like runt of a creature yet there was no denying his genius.

Through the fog of anger, Adam couldn’t fault the alien for his creative enthusiasm. He truly was like a child who had just learned to ride a bike—and now you couldn’t get him off of it. His curiosity was so insatiable and his intellect so vast that he couldn’t sit still for very long before rushing off to work on the next revolutionary invention or discovery. The quest for knowledge was his entire reason for being.

So if it hadn’t been a trans-dimensional portal filling his garage when he returned to Lake Tahoe, it would have been something else.

“I thought you were trying to keep the Sol-Kor from finding you? Won’t they be able to detect the doorway and trace it back here? And what’s to keep those flesh-eating bastards from coming through when you turn it on? As a matter of fact, I assume you’ve already tested it…”

“It is quite safe and anonymous,” Panur countered. “I assigned a micronomic wave signature to the gateway and then routed the signal through several other dimensional dipolar neutron sources. It will be quite impossible to trace.”

Adam wobbled his head at the pale-skinned alien, confounded. For his part, Panur was genuinely hurt—and upset. Obviously, he’d been expecting a different reaction from Adam, and now he met the Human’s angry glare with one of his own.

“You realize you are the only creature on the planet Earth to have such a device? I would expect you to be more appreciative.”

 “This universe is large enough as it is. Why would I need a way to reach countless others?”

“I thought Humans were innately curious creatures, explorers and conquerors? Maybe my assessment was wrong.”

Adam shook his head. “Unlike you, we don’t have an eternity to check out every little nook and cranny in the universe. We have to pick and choose where we go and what we do. But the real point here is the danger the portal poses—for all of us. You say it’s safe and can’t be traced. Well, you obviously know more about these things than I do, so I’ll have to trust you on that one. But it’s a link to any other doorway with the proper pin number. The Klin built a portal, too—a larger one for sure—and look what we got…the Sol-Kor. So be honest, you don’t know what’s going to come through that thing, do you?”

“It can link only with similarly-sized portals, and like I said, nothing can enter from other dimensions unless I give them access.”

“Is that what all that technical gobbledygook meant?”

Panur’s condescension was palpable. “And you Humans are supposedly the superior race within this galaxy.”

“We never said we were the most-scientifically advanced,” Adam shot back. “Just that we pack the most devastating right cross.”

“A reference to boxing terminology—meaning your race is the best at fighting—yes, I acknowledge that. Yet I see much more potential for your species than you obviously do. Humans should really begin living up to
that
potential.”

It was nearing nine in the evening and Adam was exhausted. The irascible alien had shown up unannounced at Adam’s doorstep three weeks before, and prior to his trip to Phoenix he had been trying his best to keep him entertained, but since Panur never slept and his interests included
everything
, the task had proved to be exhausting, to say the least. The five days he’d just spent in meetings with the leadership of the Orion-Cygnus Union had come as a welcome reprieve. Now he was back home, and with Panur his ever-frenetic self again.

“Just do me a favor, don’t turn it on unless you tell me,” Adam finally said, wanting to end the conversation and get to bed. “And don’t go building anything else without giving me a heads-up. Agreed?”

“Agreed … however—”

“However what?”

Panur recoiled from the intensity of Adam’s question.

“Your ship—”

“
My ship?
What did you do to my ship?”

“While you were gone I made some needed improvements…”

Adam was out of the garage a moment later and sprinting toward the huge hangar that housed his prized possession, Panur scurrying close behind. The
Pegasus II
was already the fastest starship in the galaxy, incorporating eight focusing rings within its relatively small frame. What the insubordinate alien could have done to improve upon
that
was anyone’s guess.

As Adam entered the hangar, it didn’t take him long to notice the first of Panur’s so-called improvements. “What the hell are
those
?” he said, pointing to a pair of long tubes now attached to each side of the hull and running twenty feet forward to aft.

“They are beam disruptors,” Panur answered proudly. He stepped up to the hull and placed a hand on one of the foreign objects. “I’m aware my suppressor beam has caused considerable problems for those within your universe, and even though the primitive wave-interference system the Klin scientists developed is somewhat effective, I’ve created a passive device that requires no effort on your part. Although you are personally resistant to the beam’s effects, this device will protect others who do not have such immunity.”

Adam had to fight hard to remain angry. Having a truly effective answer to the Sol-Kor mind-suppressing pulse beam would be a godsend, and could save countless lives. And Panur was right. Adam’s implanted Formilian artificial telepathy device did keep
him
from falling completely under the beam’s influence; however, it still gave him one hell of a headache.

Despite all this, Adam couldn’t let Panur off the hook that easy.

“Okay, the beam disruptor thingy is cool,” he conceded, “but I didn’t ask you to do it. Did you do anything else to the ship?”

When Panur hesitated, Adam simply crossed his arms and leaned back against a workbench, glaring down at the four-foot tall alien. “Lay it on me. I’m sure that whatever you’ve done will be fine…it’s just I don’t like anyone messing with my stuff.”

“I do apologize if I’ve overstepped my boundaries, yet once I reveal all I have done, I’m sure you will be very grateful. Or maybe not, considering your reaction to the TD portal.”

Adam shrugged.

The mutant alien wasn’t used to having his inventions so easily discounted, and his anger matched that of his host. After a tense moment, he continued: “As I’ve mentioned many times before, gravity-well engines are very inefficient and consume far too much energy, so I added a secondary warp field—”

“You screwed with my engines? What the hell were you thinking? The
Pegasus
was fine just the way she was.”

“Yet I have made a substantial upgrade.”

“Again without permission.”

“You are being unreasonable, Adam Cain!” Panur barked. “Even the Sol-Kor do not possess this technology—you should feel privileged to be the only being in
any
universe with such a propulsion system. Yet you complain even before you know all the facts.”

“You are one obnoxious and arrogant alien,” Adam growled.

“The same can be said of you!”

The two creatures faced off in a glaring contest again. This time Adam blinked first.

“Dammit Panur…just tell me what did you did to my engines.”

“I converted them into what I call dimensional phase shifters, which is a hybrid system employing wormhole technology and a refined gravity drive. Theoretically, it should increase your maximum transit velocity by a factor of three.”

“Theoretically? You mean
you
don’t know…hell, does the damn thing even work?”

Panur’s eyes grew wide. “Forgive me, Mister Cain, but to me the word
theoretical
is merely a place-keeping term I use prior to confirmation. I have never achieved less than a ninety-six-point-two percent success rate on anything I have built. You must remember, I am the most intelligent being in the universe.”

“I haven’t forgotten. You won’t let me forget.”

Adam looked around at the interior of the hangar and noticed a whole array of new parts and equipment scattered about. “So where did you get all the stuff to upgrade the engines…and also to build a TD portal in my garage?”

“I admit, I did have to acquire additional items and construction tools, many of which were quite difficult to locate here on Earth.”

“And I’m sure they also cost money.”

“You are correct, and a rather large amount if I understand Human credits properly.”

Adam’s anger resurfaced. “You didn’t hack into my bank accounts, did you?” Financially, Adam was pretty well off these days—thanks to his celebrity—yet he wasn’t
that
rich. A knot formed in his gut.

Noticing the panic sweep over the Human’s face, Panur quickly replied, “Calm yourself, Adam Cain. I used my own credits. Your finances are untouched and intact.”

Panur’s answer only made Adam more confused. First of all, he didn’t know the alien had any of his own money. And secondly, if he did, where did he get it?