The Legend of Earth (The Human Chronicles Saga -- Book 5) (13 page)

Chapter 13

Legend
to a Kracori was very similar to a reputation, only more so. It was what gave a Kracori his identity, his legacy, his very reason for existing. Each Kracori had their own individual legend, and then their race had a legend of its own. The Kracori took immense pride in the legend of their race, and they also assigned legends to other races, even though none were aware of it. These legends created a pecking order of beings throughout the galaxy, with the Kracori sitting upon the very top.

Dominance for the Kracori came with the discrediting of another’s legend, be it an individual’s or that of an entire race. Until the legend was destroyed, the person or race was still considered a threat.

On Eilsion, Kracori seldom resorted to full-blown wars or murder against their own kind; most Kracori struggles in the past had been against nature or beast. Amongst themselves, it was the placement of legend that determined a person’s position within the society.

For the eight hundred or so years that the Kracori had been aware of the Juireans – since revealed by the Klin – their consciousness had been dominated by the Legend of the Juireans. It infected their politics and haunted their dreams, even though no Kracori had ever met a Juirean face-to-face.

The Klin had introduced the galaxy to the Kracori, if only peripherally. Yet conversely, the Klin had been careful not to reveal the Kracori to the rest of the galaxy, electing to save them for their grand finale. That time had finally come, but as it turned out, it was the
Klin
who had not been invited to the party.

In doing so, the Kracori had greatly diminished the Legend of the Klin, a legend that for many generations ranked second only to that of their own. Now with the utter demolition of the Juirean Legend, the only legend the Kracori had to contend with now was the
Legend of Earth
.

As Jonnif prepared himself for the day’s activities – which undoubtedly would have him speaking directly with the Council Elder Hydon Ra Elys – he was curious to learn what Humans were doing on Juir. He had not been aware that any were even near the planet, let alone on its surface and associating with the most-powerful Juirean of them all.

Jonnif was still confident in his plan to divert the Human fleet from Juir. In fact, the latest report he had received put the estimated time for the attack upon the planet Earth at just under seven days, which was actually behind schedule. From what he understood, there had been a delay in finding enough nuclear weapons for the attack. There had been a prior use of nuclear devices in the Far Arm about two years earlier, but those weapons had been obtained by cannibalizing some of the old Klin ships for their self-destruct explosives. Since the galaxy now knew of the Klin’s existence, none of the new ships built recently contained self-destruct devices, so the weapons had to be brought in all the way from Eilsion.

The weapons had finally arrived and were loaded aboard the ships of the strike force almost two months before. Since then the small fleet of ten ships had been making its way from Glasien-4 to the planet Earth. Another seven days’ journey … and the attack would commence.

The Human fleet was still about three months away from Juir, so once their homeworld was attacked, there would still be plenty of time for a message to be received, recalling the fleet to Earth.

I am so sorry, Lord Hydon,
Jonnif thought,
but the Humans will not be coming to your rescue.

However, Jonnif still had to be careful. Knowing the Juireans as he did, if he revealed to them that no hope for rescue remained, all those hiding within the bunker below would simply commit suicide rather than submit to the Kracori. And that would not serve Jonnif’s needs, not at all.

Chapter 14

After the first five days in the bunker, the explosions on the surface had ended, signaling to Adam the beginning of the second phase of the Kracori invasion – consolidation.

By this time, Adam had realized that cohabitating with McCarthy and his men was not going to work, and so a few days before he had claimed a secondary, smaller barracks for their own. Kaylor and Jym came too, and soon staked out a small corner of the new barracks as their own, pulling over a couple of cots and surrounding them with sheets hung from the ceiling for privacy. Except for the occasional contact in the mess hall, the two groups of Humans had not had any other contact over the past two days.

On the fifth day of their confinement in the bunker, a Guard commander had come to Adam’s barracks and summoned him and his top lieutenants to a meeting with Hydon. This would be the first time Adam would have been in the bunker’s command center, and he was anxious to learn the capacities and defenses the Juireans had available. At the end on a long corridor, they found a vast room full of banks of computers, monitors and about two dozen Juireans and handful of other creatures all chattering at once. The level of conversation dropped substantially when the Humans entered the room.

Hydon was hunched over a console, speaking with a technician, his omnipresent Counselor Yol-fin at his side. The technician stopped speaking when Adam approached.

Hydon looked perturbed. “Continue; they’re with us now.”

“Yes, my Lord,” said the tech. He pointed at the monitor. “You see here where the invaders have blocked off all three of the exits on the mountain side of the Plain. And here, on the city side, they have done the same. It’s apparent they had advanced knowledge of these locations.”

I knew it
, Adam thought.
I think we’re all screwed.

Hydon straighten up and turned to Adam. “Your race is very knowledgeable regarding military tactics,” he stated, no flattery intended. “What do you believe will be the Klin’s next move?”

Adam hadn’t had much time to think about it, but now that he was asked, he leaned forward and studied the schematic on the computer screen.

“I’ve been curious what defenses you have in place for the bunker.” Adam approached the monitor. “Are we self-sufficient down here, meaning do we have our own power, water and food supply?”

“Completely self-sufficient,” Hydon said. “And we are located within solid bedrock.”

Up until about a year ago, Adam Cain had been just an enlisted grunt in the U.S. Navy SEALs; the only true officer in the room, in his opinion, was Lt. Andy Tobias. He motioned for the officer to step forward. “What do you think, Andy? Anything stick out at first glance?”

“How many defenders do you have in the complex?”

“A little over three hundred,” Hydon answered without hesitation, “plus an additional sixty stationed in the tunnels.”

“And how many access points into the bunker?”

“Just one.”

“And any escape routes from underground.”

Hydon pointed at several locations on the map, exits from the labyrinth on either side of the Kacoran Plain. “The Klin have taken up positions at all the exits. There are several monitors keeping track of this at the entrances, as well as in the tunnels.” He looked at Adam. “This other race – the Kracori – appear to be the only military force the Klin are employing. We’ve not spotted any other beings.”

Tobias ran his finger along one of the long corridors leading to their present location on the map. “Could a nuclear device be brought through here, once the defenders have been cleared?” Adam remembered the various barricades and defensive positions he’d passed on the way to the bunker. As formidable as they appeared, in the long run, they would be overrun.

“Yes, but the tunnels can be sealed along their lengths with hidden explosives if we see an attempt to bring in such a device.”

“Then how would we get out?” Riyad Tarazi asked the Elder. “I mean if we ever have reason to leave such luxurious accommodations.”

“There is a way I can escape at any time.”

“How’s that?”

“There is a boring pod available. It is a mining device that can travel through bedrock. It will provide me and up to ten of my entourage a means of escaping, if I find it necessary.”

“That’s comforting – for you anyway,” Riyad said.

After another moment of studying the schematic, Andy straightened up. “I don’t see why they would want to blast us out of here. We are of no strategic value and the enemy has full run of the surface. They could simply wait us out and deal with us later once they’ve established a solid beach hold. And from the blocking of all the exits out of the mountain, they obviously know the complete layout of the complex, including the fact that you could collapse the tunnels if they make a move on the bunker.”

“They may not feel they have the luxury of time,” Adam said. “They know our fleet is on its way, so I don’t think they’ll be setting up any permanent outposts on the surface – or let any of the people down here survive so they can be rescued.”

“That’s true, but they have no reason to go through all the effort. In fact, they may force us to blow the tunnels just to trap us down here. Then whether the fleet arrives or not, eventually we’ll all starve to death. Problem solved. I say they’re going to sit on us. Besides, there must be hundreds of such shelters like this one around the planet. Trying to ferret out a few more Juireans from each one doesn’t seem like an efficient use of man – I mean –
alien
-power.”

Adam turned to Hydon. “I concur with Lt. Tobias; I think they’ll choose to wait us out. Even if we are eventually rescued, we’ll only be a handful of survivors. Compared to the damage they’ve already caused, we’re hardly worth the effort.”

“Unless they know
you’re
down here,” Riyad said, grinning at the Council Elder.

“Even if they did, my status is no longer significant. Within the Juirean hierarchy, we are all easily replaceable.”

Just then a loud, crackling sound screeched from the speakers embedded in the metal walls of the room. From the strong stereo effect filtering in from the nearby corridor, Adam could tell the sound was coming through all the nearby speakers, and probably throughout the entire complex.

The screeching continued for a few more seconds as technicians buried their heads in the consoles, seeking a source of the sound or a way to turn it off.

Finally, the screeching ended, but then a voice came over the speakers. “Your attention in the bunker,” said a strong voice, a command voice. “I am Commander Jonnif Vinn of the Ludif Kracori forces presently in control of the planet Juir, as well as all the surrounding systems.” The voice paused for a moment, as if the very mention of his name should elicit awe in the listener. “Our technicians have gained access to your communication network; your own technicians will find that on channel-17 you will be able to return the link to me. I will speak specifically with Elder Hydon Ra Elys.”

All heads turned toward Hydon, who appeared to be more disappointed than angry that his presence in the bunker had already been discovered.
That didn’t take long
, Adam thought.

Hydon nodded to the technician seated in front of him and the tech opened the channel. “This is Lord Hydon,” he said into the room. “I commend you on your rapid discovery of my presence.”