The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) (10 page)

He dove to the deck and lifted Kaylor’s head. He had no idea how to check for a pulse on an alien, so he rested the side of his head on Kaylor’s chest. To his delight, he heard a rapidly beating heart. He gently set Kaylor back down on the deck and repeated the maneuver with Jym. He, too, was alive.

Adam leaned back against the base of the command console and looked at the rest of the people on the bridge. They appeared to be no worse for wear, just a lot of stiff movements and bloodshot eyes, yet he desperately hoped there would be no lasting damage to the two aliens. He was sure that another second or two of the crushing gravity, and they both would have died.

“What the fuck just happened?” Sherri managed to feebly ask. She climbed into one of the command chairs lining the bridge and looked up at the image on the forward tac screen. All around them were the last dancing blue, white and green remnants of the electrical discharge from the nuclear explosions. They had been exceptionally large explosions in order to affect such a large region of space; not your normal Earth-size nukes, but alien ones developed over thousands of years of advanced technology.

“Sherri, can you take a look at Kaylor and Jym?” Adam asked his voice raspy, his throat dry. “They’re alive, but I don’t know what condition they’re in.”

Riyad stood leaning against the command console, looking down at Adam seated on the deck. “I guess I should thank you for saving our lives, but I don’t really feel like it right about now.”

Chris was also climbing into one of the large Juirean-size command chairs. “What are you talking about? What just happened?”

Riyad looked over at him with a wry smile. “Adam used the gravity wells to absorb most of the blast from the explosions. We’ll have to check the radiation levels, but I’m assuming we’re going to make it through okay.”

Then looking back down at Adam, he said, “Well played, Adam. Well played.”

“Just seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“What about the Juireans?” Sherri asked as she tended to the two aliens, who were just now beginning to regain consciousness. She had torn off a piece of her tunic and was dabbing the blood from Jym’s nose. Both aliens were blinking rapidly, spittle draining from their open mouths.

“Are you two all right?” Adam asked. He watched as slowly the sound of his voice began to register with the aliens. Then Kaylor awkwardly bobbed his head. “I believe so. Are you sure that was the only thing you could have done to save us? We almost died.”

“Like I said, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Riyad had turned to the tac screen and was studying the graphics. “It looks like it’s just us and one of the Juireans left; the ship that was knocked out of the fight. Their energy readouts are almost non-existent. They probably took the full brunt of the radiation.”

“Chris, can you take Sherri to check on the other men. Even though we survived the blast, some of them may have been hurt when they fell to the deck.”

Jym and Kaylor were struggling to their feet, and were soon back in their seats, still looking dazed and stiff. Adam rose to stand next to Kaylor.

“Can you check the radiation level inside the ship, and run a systems check? Are we still able to operate?”

Kaylor busied himself at his computer. “Radiation levels are high, but within tolerances. Most systems are still functioning, but the EMP did damage some of them. These ships are usually hardened against such things. They have automated systems designed to repair the damage. It could still take a couple of days before we’re fully functional again.”

Adam looked up at the tac screen. “How far is the Juirean ship?”

“Just a couple hundred kilometers,” Riyad answered. “Why?”

“I want to go aboard. I need to see if there’s anyone left alive who can either provide us with intel, or who might report back to their forces.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Adam turned to Kaylor. “Are you up to flying us over there in the landing craft?”

“Sure – if
I
can set the internal gravity on the shuttle.”

Adam smiled. “Of course, and the lighter the better. I ache all over, too.”

Ten minutes later, an entourage led by Kaylor, was approaching the rear cargo hold, and beyond that, the main landing bay. Billy Piscopo and Chris Mullis had joined them, and they were all armed with MK-17’s. Kaylor had advised them all to wear full environmental suits aboard the Juirean ship to protect against the radiation. The suits were in the landing bay.

As they neared the cargo bay, a strong arm suddenly reached out of a doorway and grabbed Kaylor around the neck. One of the 2G’s appeared – the one Adam had shot in the chest – shielded by the surprised alien, and holding the sharp end of an auto-screwdriver pressed against Kaylor’s neck. The man stared emotionless at Adam and Riyad, who both drew their weapons.

“Don’t, or I will slash his throat!” the man said. And then Adam could see all the 2G’s from the holding cells standing in the room beyond them.

Thinking quickly, Adam reasoned that when the ship briefly lost internal power the electronic locks on the doors must have been deactivated and never reset. The 2G’s were now free, and holding the ship’s main pilot as hostage.

“Just relax,” Adam said, placing his weapon back in its holster. “Just let him go and we’ll all talk this out.”

“No, we are taking him with us. He will pilot the shuttle off this ship.”

“Have you thought this through? We’re in the middle of the Far Arm. Where will you go?”

“There are Klin bases throughout the Arm. We’ll find one.”

Damn! So he had thought it through.

“Listen, if you keep this up, it’s not going to end well.”

“Just drop your weapons and kick them over here, and then back away.”

Adam pursed his lips and shook his head. “You might as well go ahead and kill him. We’re not giving up our weapons.”

“I
will
kill him!”

“And then we’ll kill you,” Riyad said, pointing his weapon straight at the man, who hide further behind the scared and wide-eyed alien.

Just then, Adam saw an air vent in the room with the 2G’s begin to move and separate from the ceiling. Slowly, the barrel of a bolt launcher appeared.

“One more chance,” Adam said, returning his attention to the man. “Release him, or we’ll have to do something about this.”

“No. Move away. We’re going to the landing bay now.”

Just as the man began to move to his right, the flash of a bolt lit up the room. The ball of energy hit the 2G at the base of the neck, and he collapsed to the deck. Suddenly, the remaining 2G’s began to rush out of the room and into the corridor with any weapon they could find – metal bars, tools and the like. The air vent in the room crashed to the floor, and Adam could see Chris Mullis lying flat in the metal tube, firing bolt after bolt at the men below. Adam could see the fire in his eyes. These were the men who had held him captive for so long, and now he was having his revenge.

Four of the men rushed into the corridor and surged toward Adam and Riyad. Adam pulled his MK, just as Riyad let loose with several bolts of his own. Soon it was over, and all nine of the 2G’s lie dead on the deck, the last wispy vapors from the bolts still drifting in the air.

Kaylor was leaning against the bulkhead, rubbing his bruised neck, and looking at Adam through squinted, angry eyes.

“After all we’ve been through, you were going to let him kill me!”

As Adam surveyed the dead men around him, he placed a hand casually on the alien’s shoulder. “He wasn’t going to kill you. You were his only bargaining chip.”

“I don’t understand. He
was
going to kill me.”

Adam turned to him. “No, he wasn’t. Trust me. I would never let anything happen to my favorite alien.”

“I’m your favorite?”

“Yeah, sure,” Adam said, as they stepped past the bodies, heading for the landing bay. “You’re my favorite Martian.”

“Adam, I have not been receiving good translations recently. I wish you would speak in more commonly used language.”

“I’ll do my best, ET.”

“There you go again!”

Chapter Nine

An hour later, the landing craft was docking at the open landing bay of the other Juirean battlecruiser. As they had approached the huge warship, Adam saw where their bolts had penetrated the hull just forward of the aft generator room. The lucky barrage of bolts had done the trick, catching the Juireans off guard and disabling the drive generators. The other power systems would have remained active, but as the deadly heat and radiation from the explosions continued to affect the ship, more and more systems were continuing to fail. Soon the huge battlecruiser would be dead.

Once in the landing bay, Adam’s group exited the shuttle, leaving Kaylor inside. The landing party consisted of Adam, Riyad, Chris and Billy, and they soon found that the internal airlocks were still functioning – for the time being – so the main part of the ship was still airtight. However, it was the radiation that now spelled the demise of the Juirean battlecruiser. Kaylor had told the landing party that they could only stay aboard for about 30 minutes, even with the environment suits. After that, they could start suffering the effects of the radiation themselves.

Since this was a sister ship of the one they currently resided on, Adam’s group had no trouble navigating the various corridors leading to the bridge. All along the way, they found a few dead Juireans, along with a larger contingent of other dead creatures. Even aboard Juirean battleships, the crew was comprised of about 80% non-Juireans. There just were not enough Juireans to go around.

The bridge was empty of any surviving crewmembers, but as they entered, they heard voices coming from the captain’s quarters to the rear of the bridge.

With weapons drawn, they entered the room.

Inside were three Juireans, two on a long couch to the left, and a third seated at a desk to the right. The one at the desk wore the capes of the captain, his green-tinted mane now matted and oily.

Each of the Juireans sat slouched and round-shouldered, their eyes weepy and bloodshot. None of them had the energy to protest when Adam’s party entered the room.

Adam walked up to the captain. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

“You offer to help? Your race
is
very peculiar.” The voice was weak and strained. “You and your Klin allies are sub-beings, with no regard for other life. You will kill yourselves to kill others. I can see now why you must be exterminated.” The Juirean coughed, and blood sprayed on the desk before him.

“So you are sending a fleet to Earth?”

“It is no secret, not now. We have no choice. We must defend ourselves against your invasion.”