The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) (6 page)

There was a deathly silence in the room for several seconds, as Adam and Sherri simply stared at Jym. Finally Adam broke the silence. “What the hell is going on? This is complete bullshit.”

Sherri shifted her gaze to Adam. “You’ve been away from Earth for only about a year. Is there something going on there that I need to be aware of?”

“Of course not! I’m in the military, and in a very special branch and unit. If there was something big going on, I’m sure the SEALs would have been part of it, and especially my Team. This message is a total fabrication.”

“Then why would your people send it?” Kaylor asked.

“Simple,” came a voice from the doorway to the ready room. Everyone at the table jumped and turned in that direction. “
We
didn’t send it,” Riyad Tarazi stated flatly from the open doorway.

“What are
you
doing here?” Kaylor asked, as Jym crowded closer to the rear bulkhead and away from the doorway.

“You know you really shouldn’t call a meeting without inviting me. My experience in matters of subterfuge could come in handy. And besides, you really should shut the door if you hope to have a
secret
meeting.” He moved into the room and pulled a fifth chair from near the door and placed it at the end of the table. “The Klin sent the message,” he stated as he sat down.

“And why would they do that?” Sherri asked sarcastically.

Riyad pursed his lips and nodded. “Indeed, why would they? I’ve been spending a lot time recently trying to correlate all the things that have happened over the past few months. A lot of them just haven’t made any sense.”

“No shit,” Adam said. “Nothing out here makes sense.”

“Well, in a way it does,” Riyad countered. “Consider: There are three major players in this game, the Juireans, the Klin and us, meaning those crazy 2G guys. I was particularly confused when the 2G’s threw the battle at Dimloe, and then committed suicide after feeding the Juireans that line of bullshit – you know, about Humans being the new force in the galaxy. And now this message. I think we all know that Earth is in no position to take on the Juirean Expansion.”

“A diversion!” Adam called out. “The Klin are diverting attention from them to us.”

“That’s obvious, now,” Riyad said. “The question is why? It simply can’t be so that the Juireans will leave them alone. They appear to have set the Juireans
against
the Earth, even going so far as to reveal the planet’s location to them.”

“But we’ll be destroyed!” Sherri said, her voice trembling. “We may be bad-ass one-on-one, but we can’t stand up against their spaceships and energy weapons.”

“Exactly. We wouldn’t last a day against an attack from space.”

Kaylor cleared his throat. “Could it be that the Klin are
your
enemy? Has your race wronged them in such a way that they would want you destroyed?”

All three Humans shook their heads. “Not that I’m aware of,” Adam answered for them. “Remember, it’s been the Klin who have been coming to Earth and taking
us
away. And even the Klin could wipe us out if they wanted to. They have the ships and the weapons. They don’t need the Juireans to do it for them.”

Riyad shook his head. “I didn’t say I had all the answers, just about who sent the message. It’s obvious someone wants the Juireans to believe that the Humans are more than what we actually are, and I’m sure it’s not coming from us. We wouldn’t be bluffing with something this big. I think about what my friend Saddam Hussein did back before the main war with the Americans. He tried to bluff with the fact that he had weapons of mass destruction, just so the Americans would not attack. And we all know what happened then.”

“
We
don’t,” said Kaylor.

Riyad just looked at him and smiled. “Let’s just say it didn’t work out very well for him. If you’re going to bluff, you had better prepare to be called.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Never mind that,” Adam said impatiently. “Riyad, you once believed that the Klin were building a Human army to fight the Juireans. I’ve come to believe that, too. Now they’re sending the Juireans to Earth, where we have no force capable of defeating them—” Adam’s eyes suddenly grew wide, as did Riyad’s. Then simultaneously, they both blurted out: “It’s a trap!”

“What are you two talking about?” Sherri asked, frustration growing in her voice.

Adam turned to her. “Don’t you see? The Klin have set it up so that a large Juirean force will arrive at Earth. Then they plan on unleashing their Human army against them
there
, much like they did off Dimloe. Rather than have their Human army fight battle after battle right in the heart of Juirean territory, they will have one major battle – and against a force that is expecting the Humans to still be
preparing
for an invasion. The Juireans have no choice but to attack now, before they believe us to be fully battle-ready.”

“But we
will
be ready,” Riyad picked up the dialog. “The Klin would not have set these actions in motion without making sure of that.”

“So? You’re saying we have nothing to worry about?” There was skepticism in Sherri’s voice. “The Klin and their 2G army are going to step in at the last minute and save the Earth from destruction? That’s taking a lot for granted, isn’t it?”

That sobered up the other two Humans in the room. Adam just nodded. “I know we’re assuming a lot, but why else would the Klin be doing all this? According to Riyad – and now in this message – the Klin seem hell-bent on making the Juireans believe that we’re a threat to them. What we’re saying seems to make the most sense.”

“So what do we do now?” Sherri asked.

Riyad and Adam just looked at each other. Then they shrugged.

“Oh great!” Sherri said, rolling her eyes. “We just continue on as if we have nothing to worry about, while the greatest battle in the history of history is about to take place?”

Kaylor cleared his throat again.

“Just say it, Kaylor!” Adam barked at him.

“You do realize we are in a Juirean battlecruiser, and according to you, heading into a massive fleet of Humans and Klin bent on destroying anything that resembles a Juirean…”

The three Humans stared at him for several shocked seconds. Then Adam cleared his own throat. “Ah, good point, Kaylor. That’s definitely something we’ll have to keep in mind as we get closer to Earth.”

Sherri shot him a piercing look. “No shit, Sherlock.”

Chapter Six

After the meeting, the three Humans went to the mess decks and settled into a table far enough away from the other men in the room so as not to be overheard. There were six others in the large room, including Billy Piscopo, Sherri’s current lover. Adam noticed how they both shared furtive glances at each other, as if no one else knew what was going on. He tried to put the conflicting emotions out of his mind and focus on the larger issue at hand.

“So how do we get through the Klin – or Human – blockade to get to Earth?” Riyad asked, setting the agenda for the meeting. “If there is a fleet waiting there for the Juireans, I doubt if they’ll just let us slip through simply because we announce that we’re not really Juireans, but Humans, just like them.”

Adam absently picked at the synthetic food in front of him. “I know, that’s going to be a problem.” Then he pushed the plate away. “What really pisses me off is that before the Klin got involved, the Humans and the Juireans had no real issue with each other. In fact, with Earth being so far out in the Arm, it probably would have been centuries before we ever made contact. This whole war is a trumped up creation of the Klin.”

“I agree,” said Riyad, “but unless we can get to Earth and convince them that the Juireans are really not our enemy, there
will
be a war.”

“I know. And we’re not even sure the Juireans are sending a fleet to Earth. They’d be foolish not to, but we’re not really sure of that.”

“And we’re not even sure there is a fleet of 2G’s waiting, either,” Sherri said, still not convinced of the whole concept. “That’s just your idea. It makes sense, but we’re not sure, not really.”

“When it comes down to it, we really don’t know anything for sure,” Riyad said.

“I think I have a way of finding out,” Adam said. “If they know.”

“How, the prisoners?” Riyad asked.

“Yeah, but it could get rough. I don’t want anyone questioning my methods.” Adam looked directly into Sherri’s eyes when he spoke the last sentence.

“Fuck that!” she said. “This is our home we’re talking about. Do what you have to.”

A half-hour later, Adam had two of the 2G prisoners brought into a room off the cargo bay that served as an office of some sort. He sat behind a tall desk and had the two prisoners sit across from him. Riyad and Sherri took up guard positions on either side of the two men.

Adam pulled out an MK-17 and set it on the desk. The prisoners had been present when Adam shot their companion on Zylim-4, so they eyed the weapon with apprehension.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about the mission the Klin have laid out for the 2G’s,” Adam said softly. “Everything. And if I get the impression you’re lying to me, then I
will
kill you. There are nine of you to go through. You two are just the first. Whether you leave this room dead or alive is entirely up to you.”

He turned his attention to the prisoner on his right, a young man looking to be not more that 16 or 17, with brilliant blue eyes and short cropped blond hair. He looked more nervous than the other one. Adam nodded at him. “You first…”

The boy hesitated slightly, and glanced over at his partner. Adam lifted the weapon and pointed it at him.

“No! I’ll tell you!”

“Don’t make me wait,” said Adam, setting the weapon back on the desk.

“We don’t know a lot—” Adam lifted the weapon again. “No, really! We were support staff, left on Zylim-4 when the main force departed. We are too young and inexperienced for the crews.”

“Where did they go?”

“To the fleet.”

“Where is this fleet now?”

“I don’t know.”

Adam pursed his lips and shook his head. “You’re testing my patience.”

“We were not trained for the ships. All we know is that the fleet was to go to Earth…to protect it against the Juirean attack. This has been in the works for a very long time.”

“How long ago did they leave?”

“A month, maybe a little less.”

“Then they should get there before we do.”

“Yes. Our ships are very fast.”

Sherri came to stand next to the desk. “Where were you born?” she asked, much to Adam’s surprise. This was not the line of questioning he was following.