The Legend of Earth (The Human Chronicles Saga -- Book 5) (22 page)

“In defense of Kaddof, he
did
raise the alarm and attempted to contact the ship. When that was unsuccessful he spoke with Krylorif who informed him the other ship was on a reconnaissance mission.”

“Which was untrue,” Jonnif growled. “And by the time the deception was discovered, the ship was already in a well and merged with the hundreds of other ships fleeing the Cluster. Why wasn’t Adam Cain killed in the arena?”

“You left orders not to, my Ludif, and you were not available to amend those orders.”

“So this is all
my
fault?”

Mininof did not reply immediately. He waited until he had gathered his thoughts before responding. “It was simply an unfortunate set of circumstances, Jonnif, impossible to have been foreseen.”

“I doubt if the Ludif Council will see it as such.”

Ludif
Council, Jonnif thought. What a ridiculous term:
Ludif
.

Being more-traveled than most Kracori, Jonnif was in the unique position to see the Kracori in a more comparative light. He also knew
all
Kracori were Ludifs; it was what made them Kracori in the first place.

Ludif
was the term used for the mythical gene that made the Kracori the superior creatures upon their homeworld of Eilsion, the one thing that made them different from the animals in the trees. It was loosely translated into meaning the
god-gene,
and for thousands of years the Kracori
did
consider themselves as Gods upon their world.

With Eilsion buried deep within a brilliant nebulae comprised of hundreds of stars, the Kracori had gazed up at the fiery swath of red and green with no false illusion that they were the only creatures in the universe – just the most superior. And when they turned their telescopes to their sister world of Olypon, located only slightly more distant from the birth star of Kyrils, they saw a world of vast blue oceans and land of brown and green.

In the early years the Kracori imagined all kind of creatures evolving on Olypon, from deadly threats to benevolent
Ludif
-like beings in their own right. But when the first Kracori landed upon the surface they found it to be a much younger world than Eilsion, and therefore had lacked the time required for development of any life forms higher than grasses, fishes and small reptiles.

Disappointed, the Kracori nevertheless established settlements on Olypon, a world of considerably lighter surface gravity than their own. At first, the settlers of the planet reveled in the gravity of Olypon, yet as many years passed, and even new generations of Kracori were born on the planet, they realized that these Kracori could never return to their homeworld after having lost the ability to function in the oppressive weight of Eilsion.

By the time the Klin arrived nearly fifteen hundred years before, most of the Kracori colonies on Olypon had been abandoned, with the now lower-class Kracori still living there destined for eventual extinction.

The arrival of the Klin had come as no surprise to the Kracori; it was either going to be aliens contacting the Kracori or they contacting the aliens. The Klin had arrived bearing gifts; advanced technology, engineering and medicines. They also brought with them knowledge of the larger universe beyond the nebulae and of the myriad of races that existed elsewhere.

Yet the most important thing the Klin provided the Kracori with was a
destiny,
a new legend to be pursued. The aliens informed the Kracori that they were to one day share the galaxy with the Klin, as rulers, as its masters. Out of all the races in the universe that the Klin had encountered, the Kracori had been selected for this honor.

The only caveat: The Kracori must remain hidden from the galaxy until the time was right. In return for a Legend as great as
rulers of the universe
, the Kracori enthusiastically accepted the Klin’s only restriction.

So the vast majority of Kracori had never ventured beyond the nebulae and never seen the things that Jonnif had seen. Jonnif had been to the Klin headquarters on Marishal. He had also been to the Klin base on Zylim-4 in the Fringe and even walked the markets on Silea – although under heavy hood and disguise.

It had been while exploring these other worlds that Jonnif first realized the Kracori were nothing special within the galaxy. What abilities they did possess were simply a result of evolutionary forces that were at work on every planet. Jonnif didn’t want to be misunderstood, however. He did believe in the superiority of his race; he just did not prescribe any supernatural origins to that superiority.

Which brought him back to the term
Ludif
….

In a few minutes he would be making contact with the
Ludif
Council on Eilsion. The Council was the main governing body on the planet, consisting of nine individuals appointed from the Ludif Assembly. Upon Eilsion, there were forty-six tribes of Kracori, which thousands of years in the past had actually meant something. Now, through interbreeding and assimilation, all Kracori were essentially the same. But still, each tribe would send a representative to the Assembly, and from there the Council was selected.

Once the link was established with Eilsion, Jonnif would be speaking with Daninf Kicon, the
Langril
of the Council. Jonnif was actually related to Daninf, with the mother of one of his mates a direct offspring of Daninf’s. Even though Jonnif was very good at what he did, he acknowledged that having a relative in such a high position had not hindered his ascension in rank and legend.

The link with Eilsion would be in real-time, a fairly recent improvement over the old method of communicating across interstellar distances. Although not universally available throughout the Kracori forces, this kind of link was made possible through a sustained-wormhole technique perfected by the Klin. Unlike traditional communication wormholes, which only existed for mere moments, shuttling communications from one relay station to the next, this improved method allowed for direct wormhole contact between certain ships and land-based stations. Consuming an incredible amount of energy, these links could only stay open for up to an hour or so at a time. After that, the warping of space had to be allowed to return to normal, as well as energy supplies recharged. Still, an hour of instantaneous communication across thousands of light years was very impressive.

Jonnif entered the specialized communication chamber aboard his flagship, which still sat on the landing field atop the Kacoran Plain on Juir. The actual comm transmitter was located in orbit around the planet, yet close enough that the millisecond delay would still appear instantaneous. He slipped into the seat in front of the large viewing screen and motioned for Mininof to establish the link. He could avoid it no longer – in fact, the longer he delayed the link the more catastrophic could be the results.

The aged face of Daninf Kicon appeared on the screen. The
Langril
had received a traditional link two hours before informing him of the incoming link from Juir. Daninf was in the executive suite of the Council, and in the background, Jonnif could see four other Council members, including Fennork and Becinnof, two of the most powerful – besides Daninf.

“Greetings Jonnif Vinn, what news do you have of Juir that would require such a link.” The Langril’s voice was jovial, almost bouncy, and Jonnif could see the other Council members in the background chugging mugs of intoxicants and cavorting joyfully.

Jonnif took a deep breath and began. “First item, I acquired the Juirean Elder Hydon. I have placed him on a ship which departed Juir for Eilsion last night, local time.”

“Yes, Jonnif, we are aware of Hydon’s capture – and alive. This is a great accomplishment. You are to be congratulated. Your legend will now be greatly enhanced.”

They already know! How can this be?
Jonnif was furious. Only he was authorized to speak directly with the Council and Eilsion. But somehow they had been informed, stealing away the one bit of good news that could dampen the effects of the rest of the report he was obligated to make. He gritted his teeth and made a mental note to task Mininof with finding the person who had informed the Council – unless it had been Mininof himself….

“Are you also aware that the being that brought Hydon to us was a Human?”

This caused Daninf to lean in closer to the screen, now paying slightly more attention to the conversation than before. “This I was not. I did not even know there were any Humans on Juir.”

“Neither did I. But they apparently had come to some cooperative agreement just before our attack.”

Two of the other Council members had heard the conversation and now approached the screen to listen. “Prior to our current operation,” Daninf said, “an alliance between the Juireans and the Humans would have been very bad news. Not so much now. Even still, the event is interesting. Is that the extent of your report?”

“No, my Ludif. The Human who brought us Hydon also turned over a group of his fellow beings to us as prisoners, including one called Adam Cain.”

Daninf’s eyes grew larger. “I know this name; I know very few Human names, but this one I do. He is a warrior of some note who has been disrupting Juirean operations near the Fringe, at least up until a few months ago.”

“Correct, my Ludif. The other Human – Ni-Gel McCarthy he is called – turned over Adam Cain and the other members of his team. Ni-Gel McCarthy was the lead Human advisor to the Klin on Marishal until – until the Klin no longer needed him.” Jonnif saw Daninf smile, knowing he was fully aware of the betrayal the Klin had perpetrated on the Humans. “He has offered his services to us in exchange for safety from his fellow Humans and from the Klin, as well as for monetary gain, of course. He is currently in transit on the ship bringing Hydon to you.”

“Credits, of course; I would expect nothing less from Humans. We will welcome him, even though his usefulness to us will not last long.” Daninf looked hard at the screen and frowned. “But I sense there is more you wish to report, news not as welcome.”

“Yes, Daninf. With these being our first Human prisoners, I took it upon myself to test these creatures to help verify some of the information circulating regarding them. I tested Adam Cain last night in the arena.”

Daninf smiled. “I can see from the marks upon your face that the Human provided ample entertainment?”

“He was indeed a worthy opponent. The rumors we’ve heard about their fighting skills are justified, even if they do fight in unorthodox ways. However, during the test, I did reveal to Adam Cain the Kracori plans to strike his homeworld with nuclear devices. I did this to provide psychological torture in addition to the physical contest we were engaged in.”

“I see no harm in that. I take it the Human was sufficiently affected by this news?”

“Yes, my Ludif.”

“But still something is bothering you, Jonnif.”

“There is: I regret to inform you that Adam Cain was not killed in the arena, and that he and the other Human prisoners escaped from my captivity this past evening.”

Daninf was silent for a long moment, his eyes boring directly into those of Jonnif’s from twelve-thousand lights away. All the other Council members had now gathered around the monitor. They were no longer drinking and cavorting.

“Jonnif, tell me he is still on Juir, and that’s just a matter of you locating him.”

“I’m afraid I cannot, my Ludif. He and the others commandeered a starship last night and escaped the planet. We have been unable to locate him as of this time.”

Daninf was silent for another long moment, while several of the other Council members began to shout questions and comments at both Jonnif and the
Langril
. Finally Daninf raised his hand.

“Silence all of you! Jonnif, does he have the capability of contacting his planet?”

“Not with the vessel he acquired – yet he can contact his fleet.”

Jonnif saw Daninf turn a ghostly white as the blood drained from his head. When Daninf spoke again each word was like a dagger. “Need I remind you, Jonnif, just how damaging this action could be if he does make contact. It was upon
your
recommendation that the Kracori made the current move upon Juir. If there had been any possibility of the Human fleet arriving in the Alliance Cluster, we would have delayed our assault until we further assessed the Humans’ intentions. This diversion attack on Earth was the deciding factor in favor of the invasion. Without the strong possibility of the Humans breaking off their arrival at Juir, the Council would have never agreed to the invasion.”