The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga (5 page)

“And that’s why you build the Sol-Kor weapons?”

“No, it is not. What I meant by compensating is that I do, indeed, begin to study, build, and invent anew, and not necessarily just the items the Queen commands. It is everything.”

Panur’s face grew a shade darker. Adam didn’t know whether this was intentional or not. “I follow the Queen’s dictates just so she will not place me in the dormant stage again. Having experienced it, having been revived—several times—I know what I have missed. I know the agony of regret I feel when I come out at the other end. I know of all the opportunities that have been lost. And I know the Queen can toy with me over centuries, reviving me briefly, only to send me back under again after only an hour or so of consciousness. Death to Humans is acceptable, and often times even welcomed. Knowing what I know now, I would also welcome death if it meant I would never have to live again. Yet I know I will not die, and that life—and the fear—will come again and again. I understand that our perspectives are so different that you may have trouble understanding this apparent dichotomy. I don’t fear death, just the possibility of it not being final.”

“Wow, that’s some heavy shit,” Adam admitted. “So she keeps you in a perpetual state of fear, the fear of dying—if only temporary.”

“It is the certainty of revival that makes my situation so unique and perplexing. Unless you’ve experienced what I have, it is very difficult to grasp the concept. And so I create for the Queen, lest I remember what it was like to be alive before and dwell on all that I have missed while I was gone.”

“Still, wouldn’t you sacrifice your life if doing so would save trillions of others? What if each time she revives you, you just say no to her demands?”

Some of the enthusiasm Panur had been showing now drained from his body. “Do you believe I have not tried that? There is only so much even I can tolerate. After each series of protests, I eventually succumbed and did my Queen’s bidding. You may find this abhorrent, yet until you’ve experienced what I have been through, it is very hard to comprehend.”

Adam shook his head, trying to come to grips with the strange confession he’d just heard. He had no doubt Panur was sincere, yet having grown up in and around the military, Adam knew everyone had a point where they would sacrifice everything for the greater good. Because death was final for Humans, they saw it as their ultimate escape from bondage—the final
up-yours
to their capturers. Yet what if you didn’t die, and just kept waking up to go through it all over again? In a small way, Adam was coming to understand some of Panur’s anxiety.

He glanced at the nav screen and saw that the
Pegasus II
was already six light-years out from Earth and getting further away with each passing second. Panur’s admission had been interesting, yet it was off topic. The alien might fear being returned to the Queen, yet Adam had his entire race to consider, and so far he wasn’t convinced that placating Panur’s fears was a fair tradeoff.

“I’m sorry, Panur, but if I have to choose between saving the Human race or keeping you from suffering at the hands of the Queen, I choose mankind.”

“Understandable…and expected,” said the alien. “Yet consider what you just said. If I’m returned to the Sol-Kor, I will continue to work on deadly weapons that may eventually be used against you and your kind. And here is a truth you had better accept: never in the history of the Sol-Kor have they honored an immunity agreement.”

“You mean for returning you?”

“Yes, and why should they? I am back in their custody, which is all they desire. As you have said, the Sol-Kor do not colonize, nor do they seek long-term accommodations with others. They are of a single purpose: the pursuit of food. Furthermore, the subject race granted immunity often feels secure with the agreement and lowers their guard against the Sol-Kor. And that is when they attack.” Panur’s face took on a sad expression. “I wish I could provide you with evidence of this, yet in every case the species that returned me was consumed within a very short time. Every time. So you see you have been given a false choice. Returning me will
not
save your species—or any species—yet it will increase the chance of me inventing other means of subduing even more worlds. As a fact, I’m nearing completion on a suppressor beam upgrade which can dominate an entire planet from a light-year away. As it is today, the Sol-Kor need over a hundred beam platforms and considerable set-up time to subdue a planet. With my new beam, a single platform is required, with no units within close proximity of the target world. It will greatly improve the efficiency of the harvest.”

Adam rested his head on the end of the control stick. “Then just don’t finish the damn thing,” he said without lifting his head.

“I just told you why I must complete the project. Were you not listening?”

Adam turned his head toward the alien. “Yes, dickhead, I was listening.”

Panur furrowed his brow as the translation worked its way through his mind.

“Then you must not have understood the message. As I said, I go into a dormant st—”

“Yes, I get all that,” Adam interrupted. “There’s no need to repeat it.” He sat up again and slumped back in the chair. “So this offer of immunity is all bullshit, and if you do get returned to the Queen, you’ll complete a weapon that will allow Earth—and countless other worlds—to be overcome even easier.”

Panur attempted a smile. “That is something I truly enjoy about Humans. You can condense a subject down to a single sentence or two if need be. That is a benefit of having such a simple mind.”

Adam stared out the viewport at the strange looking tunnel the ship was plowing through. “So what are we supposed to do now? I could try convincing Andy that you should never be returned to the Sol-Kor, but I doubt he’d believe me. He’d look at it just as I did at first, as a way to buy us time to better prepare a defense. I doubt the Klin and the Juireans will call off the bounty, either.”

“It is a perplexing situation.”

“No shit. I can’t hide you forever, and once word gets out that
any
race that returns you to the Queen will be spared, everyone and their alien brother will be out looking for you, regardless of what we say.”

“That is how it has been in the past, and why I have always been returned.”

Adam felt a sour lump in his stomach. “I’ll be seen as the one who selfishly kept you from their salvation. Thanks a lot, Panur. I’m going from being a hero to a goat overnight. You know how many high schools will have to change their name as a result of this?”

“Twenty-eight,” Panur replied.

“Twenty-eight, are you screwing with me?”

“No, I have studied the records.”

“Only twenty-eight?” Adam was let down. He assumed the number was a lot higher.

“However, three more are opening this year,” Panur said after studying his expression. “Does that make you feel better?”

Adam shook his head at the alien. “Feel better? Let’s see: my reputation is ruined, my home is destroyed, I’m the subject of a galaxy-wide man-slash-alien hunt…and I’m sitting here in my boxer shorts, bruised, cut up, and freezing from the damn air conditioning. You’ll have to do a lot better than that to make me feel better.”

Chapter 3

Admiral Andy Tobias tapped his fingers on the cover of the report he cradled in his lap, anxiously awaiting the call to enter the conference room. He had been kept waiting in the anteroom for over fifteen minutes past the scheduled time for his briefing, and Tobias was not one to tolerate missed deadlines. As the highest ranking Navy SEAL in the fleet, he and his charges operated by strict timetables, often measured in seconds. It was how operations were run—by the book…and by the clock.

Dealing with politicians…they seldom kept to schedules, content to bloviate well beyond their allotted time.

When finally he was summoned into the meeting, Andy wasn’t the least bit surprised to find a small contingent of Juireans present. After all, the worlds of the Expansion were also at risk from the Sol-Kor. Two Klin were also in attendance. He fought hard to suppress a smile as he noticed the obvious physical distress the pair were under as a result of Earth’s gravity. The silver-skinned aliens could tolerate it for short periods, yet with the meeting running into extra innings, the Klin were just about at the end of their endurance.

Serves the bastards right for destroying Adam’s house
, Andy thought, as he took a chair at the far end of the table opposite the President of the Orion-Cygnus Union.
Now where am I going to go for a little R&R? Adam’s recipe for mountain trout was to kill for.

Andy saw President Michael Osbourne eyeing him with an expression bordering on apologetic. Tobias had known the career politician for over thirty years, beginning when Osbourne served a stint as Secretary of Defense under the old American regime. He knew Andy, and would be aware that under his calm exterior, the admiral was steaming. He had better things to do than give a report to a bunch of self-centered politicians and aliens.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting so long, Admiral Tobias,” said the president. “It’s just that our course of action in light of current events is still in flux. We’re hoping you can provide us with the latest intel, something that will help in our decision-making process.”

“I will do my best, Mr. President.” Andy opened the cover of his report and hesitated slightly before beginning, debating whether to draw out his presentation as long as possible simply to torture the Klin, or to wrap it up quickly so he could get on to more important matters. Seeing the agony of the narrow faces of the Klin had him leaning towards dragging it out. Yet another glance at the stern-faced Juireans changed his mind. The sooner he was away from the
mane-heads
, the better.

“As you’re aware,” he began, “Captain Cain’s ship accelerated out of the solar system at a rate never seen before, so it’s obvious Panur has made some modifications to the engines, and it has also left virtually no trace to follow.”

“
Virtually
. Then there is some residual?” The Klin’s voice was weak and strained.

Tobias turned toward the alien and smiled. “I was speaking in generalities, Mister Ambassador. The gravity drive did leave a track, up until something new kicked in. Then it was as if the ship disappeared. It reappeared almost a light year away, before disappearing again.”

“So you cannot track it?”

“No, we cannot. It’s as if the ship can hop from one point in space to another without leaving any record of its passage.”

“How is that possible?” asked Jack Hardy, the scientific attaché for the Union.

“I wish I knew,” Andy answered honestly. “The gravity drive also appears to be working at an elevated level of efficiency, yet this new thing—this jump drive—is beyond anything we’ve seen before.”

“Do you at least have a direction in which they fled?” asked the Klin Ambassador.

“The first couple of hops were within our range, and it showed a haphazard jump sequence. I’m sure that routine continued even when they fell off our scopes. They could be anywhere by now, and I mean anywhere. That new drive will revolutionize starship pro—”

“
If
you can find Cain and capture the ship intact,” President Osbourne threw in. “Any more information gleaned from the brief conversation you had with Captain Cain?”

“We were able to pick up another voice, that of the alien—I mean the being known as Panur. He said:
‘Don’t trust him. They don’t have all the information they need to make an informed decision.’
”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, Mr. President. That was moments before the ship accelerated out of the system.”

“Where would they be going?” asked a white-maned Juirean Overlord. “Did you not order your subordinate to return to the planet?”

“Yes I did, Overlord Palon, yet Adam Cain is no longer under my command.”

“And yet he must have been aware of your serious desire to acquire this creature Panur?”

Andy looked first at the Juirean and then the Klin. “You have also been offered immunity,” he stated when the reality struck him. “That’s why the Klin attacked Adam’s house.”

“Yes, both the Klin and the Juireans have also been offered immunity for returning Panur,” said President Osbourne quickly. “As have the Sileans, the Hybens, the Formilians, and about a hundred other species. That’s old news, Admiral. Let’s move on.”

“So it’s a race to see who can find him first? What about the rest of us then, the ones left out when Panur is found and returned?”

“That’s the purpose of this meeting, Admiral,” said Osbourne. “It’s obvious now what the Sol-Kor are doing, so it’s important we present a unified front. There won’t be immunity for just one of us, but for everyone in the galaxy. At least that’s the offer we’re going to make once we get possession of Panur.”

“And what if they say no?”

“Let’s just find Cain first, Admiral.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“He is one of your kind,” said the Juirean. “Surely you must understand his ways.”

Andy turned to the mouthy alien. “Yes, he’s one of our kind, but Adam Cain knows this galaxy better than any Human alive. He’s been to every corner and has contacts from here to the other Arm. If he wishes to remain hidden, he’ll remain hidden.”

“Even if it means his entire species will be consumed by the Sol-Kor?”

“If he chooses not to return Panur, then he must have a very good reason.”

“Communications?” asked the president. “Surely we can still reach him through continuous-wormhole links.”

“CW channels are open and broadcasts are being made. He’ll contact us when he’s ready, but probably not until he’s found a safe place to go to ground.”

“Even so, I want all his prior associates contacted and watched. And send out a galaxy-wide announcement to be on the lookout for him. Offer a sizeable reward. We have to find Cain and Panur as soon as possible. With the Sol-Kor continuing their attacks, the future of the Milky Way galaxy could depend on it. You know him best, Admiral, so where’s he going and what’s his next move?”

Tobias shook his head. “He could go anywhere, Mr. President. Rest assured, by now Captain Cain has already formulated a plan of action designed to keep him from being found. He’ll have every detail nailed down, contingencies for each phase of the op. There’ll be no flying by the seat of his pants, every move will have a purpose. It’s what he’s been trained to do. I’ll send out your announcements, Mr. President, but Adam Cain will only be found when he wants to be found.”