The Legend of Earth (The Human Chronicles Saga -- Book 5) (40 page)

Adam accepted the drink from the Silean and downed a long swallow. He wasn’t lying when he said
strong
drink as Adam’s eyes began to water. Another swig and the drink didn’t seem as potent. One more should just about do the trick….

“So Kroekus, what did you want to see me about?”

“I wanted to see you one last time before you left. I will be busy and so will you. We may not get the opportunity.”

“I appreciate that, my friend,” Adam said, and he meant every word. He had met a lot of aliens in his day, but only a few that he could accept as friends. Kroekus was one. Kaylor and Jym were the only others still living.

“But I also have a favor to ask of you; I need your advice.”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll help, if I can.”

Kroekus downed his own drink and then retrieved two more for them. Then he popped one of his omnipresent pastries into his mouth. “It has to do with Expansion security. With the withdrawal of the Humans, there will be no unifying military or police authority in the galaxy. Everything will resort back to the local systems.”

“I thought the one-ship-per-planet thing was going well?”

“It is. We are building a space fleet that now numbers over four thousand ships. Yet even with a fleet of this size, there is no unifying command. With each planet supplying its own crew, every ship is attempting to operate independently and not accepting any centralized authority. And then there are the more powerful systems who insist on supplying
more
than one ship, just so they may exact more control over the fleet.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t anticipate these problems. I thought the members of the Expansion more or less just followed orders.”

“They had, up until the time Juireans left. You Humans were able to maintain order because most systems feared your kind. Now there will be no single master race. Everyone is fighting for domination.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Kroekus smiled, a wicked, almost devilish smile. “I believe I will have to make an example out of a few of the more vocal systems. I have much experience in dealing with upstarts.”

“So what do you need my advice for?”

Kroekus came and sat down next to Adam, straining the springs and cushions of the couch. The piece of furniture tolerated the two of them, having been designed to carry such weight. Kroekus placed his arm on the back of the couch and leaned in closer to Adam. “It has to do with basic law enforcement,” he began. “The fleet we are building will handle the major conflicts rising up from whole systems. My issue now is with individual planets and groups of renegades on those planets. I’m talking about the criminals, the drug suppliers, the currency stealers, the pirates and ransom-eers.”

“I thought you said all of that would revert back to the individual systems?”

“It does, to a point. But we are more interstellar. Jurisdiction for stopping various crimes ends at either a planet’s atmosphere or at its stellar boundary. And then we have sector-to-sector crime. There is no unifying jurisdictional authority to cover all these areas.”

“We had the same problem back in my country on Earth. They came up with something called the FBI – the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It has authority throughout the entire country.”

“Yes! I need something like that across the Expansion. But it’s also not only about crime. There are rebellious worlds who are making aggressive moves against their neighbors. Some of these animosities go back thousands of years, having been held in check only by the authority of the Juireans. Now they are simmering to a boil.”

Adam attempted a smile. “Yeah, it sounds like you’ve got your hands full. With challenges like these, you must be ecstatic!”

“You jest, my friend,” Kroekus said, his mood suddenly shifting back to his normal jovial self. “Not meaning to change the subject too abruptly, but do you know what you will do once you return to Earth? Are you continuing with politics?”

“Hell no!”
Adam exclaimed. “I didn’t want to get into it in the first place. I was more-or-less drafted into the job. In all honesty, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Kroekus was silent for a long moment, while looking straight into Adam’s eyes, still wearing a thin, sinister smile.

“”I might have an offer for you, something that might better suit your talents” he finally said.

“An offer? What do you mean?”

“Adam, I pride myself in being able to read beings and to assess talent and desire. I have catered to these desires in every business I have ever managed. I can see that you are not happy with your current path in life, and the impending journey back to Earth is weighing heavily on your mind.”

“That’s no secret,” Adam said, uncomfortable with the naked – and accurate – reading Kroekus just made of him. “Who would look forward to a year of their life wasted away aboard a cold, metal disk?”

“But there is so much more troubling you, Adam Cain; there is no use in denying it.”

“So what’s this offer you have for me?”

“I am in much need of someone like you. I require a skilled fighter – especially a Human fighter – to help me subdue the crime and rebellion throughout the Expansion. You have said it before – those of your race are like
super-beings
among the common creatures of the galaxy.
Supermen
you call yourselves. And now, with the bulk of Human-kind leaving, there will be very few of you available when needed. Just as you and your former companion Sherri Valentine had once been extraordinary assassins back in the Fringe, I need your set of skills to help bring order to the galaxy.”

“You’re crazy, Kroekus. I’m just one man. What could I possible hope to accomplish alone?”

The Silean smiled wider, even raising a bushy eyebrow a little higher. “I am far ahead of you, Adam. I have already begun to assemble the required unit, comprised of renegade Humans who are skilled and who still seek adventure among the stars.”

“Who are they?”

“If you decide to join, I will introduce you. But first I need to know if you are interested?”

Adam stared at the huge alien for several moments, knowing full well that Kroekus had nailed his melancholy to the tee. He
was
bored, bored of his life and of his prospects, and returning to Earth was not something he was looking forward to. He was a warrior; it was all he had been or wanted to be, and at only thirty-six-years of age, he was far too young to hang it up for a more sedentary way of life.

“Just for the sake of argument, how would this unit be setup, and by what authority?”

“It would be under my jurisdiction and purview. As you know, I am very well versed in the ways of criminal enterprise throughout the galaxy. I have contacts and influence. But now that I am on the other side of the ledger, I cannot tolerate such activities as when I was involved in them. This unit would be small, and involved in quick strikes against targets across the entire Expansion. You will have authority to operate on any planet in any sector, with permission to use whatever means necessary to accomplish your mission.”

Adam smiled at that remark. He raised his own eyebrows and said, “So it’s like having a license to kill –
to kill aliens!
Now you have my interest.”

“I was hoping you would feel as such. You have never been squeamish about dispatching others not of the Human persuasion. But I have to warn you, even though you will have been issued the authority to carry out your activities in all jurisdictions – your so-called
license to kill
– you may find that your authority will not be honored in all locations.”

“So what’s new? It’s always been like that in nearly every place I’ve operated. Do you have a chain of command yet?”

“I was hoping I would get you to lead this unit. It sounds as if I have?”

Adam shook his head, a gesture that caused Kroekus’s jovial expression to change to that of sadness. “Oh, I’m in!” Adam said quickly to correct the misinterpretation. “I’ll play your reindeer games for a while and see where it leads. I’ve got nothing better to keep me busy, and it’ll sure beat spending a year of my life cooped up in a metal coffin. So who are the other members of the team?”

“Let me bring them in. They have been waiting to see if you would join.” Kroekus lifted his huge bulk off the couch and returned to his desk. A push of a button and the door to the rear of the office opened….

And in walked Sherri Valentine, Riyad Tarazi and Lee Schwartz – the young pilot Adam had met on the
Bunker Hill
.

Sherri and Adam rushed to each other and embraced in the center of the room, squeezing each other tightly for what seemed like minutes. He had not seen nor heard from her in over three years. Now he knew what she’d been up to. Riyad finally got his chance to embrace Adam as well, and Adam even hugged the Lt. Commander he’d only met a few times before.

“I can’t believe it,” Adam said finally, his grin stretched so wide across his face that he knew it looked clownish. “How long has this been in the works?”

“For a couple of years now,” Riyad said, “ever since Kroekus was let in on the details of The Cain Initiative. He knew it would throw the galaxy into turmoil again and he began to make plans. He is quite the remarkable being.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Adam said, looking over at the now immensely self-satisfied alien. Adam had tears in his eyes, as did Sherri.

“From what I’ve been told, Captain, this isn’t going to be cakewalk,” Lee offered. “There are a lot of nasty creatures out here that are going to require taming.”

Adam looked at him with an understanding eye. “Ain’t that the truth, commander.” Then he looked over at Riyad and winked. “But that’s just more score for us to rack up!”

The Humans continued with their reunion for a few more minutes before Kroekus eventually called them all to order.

“I have been having considerable problems with jurisdictional enforcement of our directives throughout the Expansion. As a result, I have proposed the creation of special inter-department within the Intelligence Section, one which you and your team will form, Adam. Your authority will cover all jurisdictions within the Expansion and you will only answer to me and to the head of the I.S. You will be agents of what will be called the Jurisdictional Enforcement of Directives Inter-department—”

“Hold up a minute!” Lee Schwartz interrupted, laughing. “So we’ll be agents for the
J.E.D.I
.” He laughed.
 
“I’ll tell you right now, that’s
not
going to fly.”

“He’s right,” Adam said, barely containing his own laughter. “I’m sure there would be some major copyright infringement if we did.”

“I do not understand,” said Kroekus, genuinely confused.

“That’s all right,
Mr. Administrator,
” Sherri said. “We’ll come up with something of our own, like how about:
Adam’s Avengers
?”

“We could have issues with that one, too,” Adam said, trying to put a stop to the embarrassing banter among the Humans.

“Then how about
Cain’s Crusaders?
” It was Lee’s turn to offer a suggestion, his smile wide.

Riyad laughed and flashed a toothy grin. “Even though
Cain
is a Christian biblical name, and the
Crusaders
are not necessarily heroes in my culture, I must say I
do
like the sound of it.”

“Come on, you can’t be serious?” Adam’s frustration was growing by the moment, but he knew there was no stopping it now.

“That is hardly an appropriate name for an enforcement unit of the Expansion Administrator,” Kroekus said seriously. “I
will
change the name of the inter-department, but I cannot officially condone such a flippant and unprofessional title for its agents.”

“It doesn’t have to be official, Kroekus,” Sherri said, a wide grin stretching across her face. “We Humans tend to give pet names to the things we like. Call us what you want, but for us, we’ll be forever known as
Cain’s Crusaders!”