The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) (8 page)

Adam could see Kaylor perk up from the compliment. Over the past several weeks, the two aliens had begun to bond with the crew, and even appeared to be warming up to Riyad. Adam was glad to see it. Deep down inside though, he was worried about what would happen to the two of them once they returned to Earth. They couldn’t live on the planet themselves, not with Earth’s gravity, and by now, Adam was pretty sure they were on whatever ‘Most-Wanted’ list the Juireans had, so returning to The Fringe would be difficult as well.

Unfortunately, they were victims of circumstance, just like the rest of them. No one in the room, or on the ship for that matter, had asked for any of this to happen to them. And now, they were just trying to do the best they could to survive.

Chapter Eight

After so many months at a constant frenetic pace, Adam found himself at a loss as to what to do with himself once the monotony of the journey back to Earth slowly unfolded. The two aliens spent most of their time together, confined to the lighter-gravity region of the command bridge. Sherri and Billy had become constant companions, and except for training sessions, Adam rarely saw them outside of their respective staterooms. Even Riyad was spending more time alone, apparently in prayer in his cabin.

Adam was so starved for Human companionship that he almost felt like an outcast – again.

But then he and Chris Mullis began to spend more time together, trading war stories. Chris had been in Desert Storm, while Adam came in much later, during Iraq and Afghanistan. But still, as one Special Forces member to another, they shared a bond as none of the other crewmembers could.

The two also spent time with Kaylor on the bridge, learning the basics of piloting a starship the size of the Juirean battlecruiser. Chris had been especially excited with the prospect of piloting the starship. As he stated, it sure beat helping people fill out mortgage loan applications back home in Sacramento.

Adam was already pretty well-versed in the operation of Juirean spacecraft, thanks to his experience with the
Cassie 1
, but something the size of the battlecruiser was a whole other matter. Kaylor was a good teacher, even though he was winging it most of the time. The alien had piloted a number of different spacecraft during his career, but again, something this big was a new experience for him. Yet as the weeks past, Adam began to develop a new level of admiration for both he and Jym. They may be aliens, but they made an effort to do their best in everything they attempted, and that you had to respect.

Soon the two Humans had reached a level of competency where they could adequately serve as backups for Kaylor, should the need arise, and the rest of the crew was jelling as well with their respective responsibilities.

Now if they could just get back to Earth without being detected…

In his off time, Adam found he was growing ever more anxious about the prospect of seeing Maria and Cassie again. It was both an exciting, yet nervous time for him. So much time had passed, and the circumstances of his disappearance would have changed the whole dynamic of their relationship, if one even remained.

Hell, he wasn’t even sure if she hadn’t remarried.

He wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. If fact, in some ways he hoped she had. The idea of having her go through life alone, with just her and Cassie, made him feel guilty for what had happened. He could only imagine what pain she went through over the past year. But by now – hopefully – the grieving process would have played itself out. She would have moved on, and begun to build a new life without him.

Yet his family meant so much to him. Throughout his year-long ordeal, they had been his light, his rock, his goal in life.

In his quiet contemplations, he often found it strange that he, of all people, would feel this way, since he had never fancied himself much of a family man.

His mother died when he was only 11, and his father had raised him as a single parent, having never remarried. Adam had a very doting Aunt Jennifer, with whom he would stay when his dad was on deployment, which was quite often during his teenage years. Yet even then, he never felt a great attachment to his aunt and her two children, Mark and Heather. Even at this young age, Adam could already see himself in the uniform of the U.S. Navy – and particularly wearing the trident of a Navy SEAL. And he knew from experience that trying to maintain a long-term relationship between dangerous deployments would be next to impossible.

And then along came Maria.

Not surprisingly, he had met her in San Diego, right after BUD/S. With the testosterone raging in his system, he and his buddies would raid the bars and nightclubs in the Gaslamp District nearly every night, exuding the confidence that came from having just survived the hardest initiation of any club in the world. Nothing was beyond their grasp. They could conquer any foe, and bed any woman.

That was until he met Maria. She was a ravishing Latino beauty, who had been fending off the advances of all the young studs from Coronado her entire adult life. They didn’t impress her much; all macho bombast, and nothing more, great for a quick tryst, but nothing long-term.

After that first passionate encounter, Maria had resisted Adam’s advances for anything more long-lasting, yet the competitor in him never relented.

But then one night he’d gone too far.

He had showed up at her apartment late that night, drunk on his ass, banging on her door, and otherwise being just an obnoxious asshole. At the time, Maria shared an apartment in the Claremont area near Mission Bay with another girl from San Diego State. At first, the roommate had threatened to call the police, but Maria quickly went outside to try to defuse the situation.

There, on the once-quiet cul-de-sac, at three in the morning, Maria had really laid into him, calling him everything from a disgusting bore to a stalker. Even in his inebriated state, Adam was profoundly embarrassed. He really liked Maria, and now here she was making him feel like a desperate nerd in junior high, trying to get his first kiss.

But she was right. Ever since joining the SEALs and falling under the influence of the macho-competiveness of the unit, he had not been himself. He normally wasn’t such as asshole. Instead, he was a serious, mature-for-his-age man with a well-developed goal in life. Yet now, the over-the-top confidence that SEAL training had instilled in him had overflowed into his interpersonal relationships. And here he was falling for a woman who was not impressed with his bullshit.

He slinked home that night, believing he would never see Maria again.

Two weeks passed without any effort on his part to make contact with her again, yet with each passing day, he began to realize just how much he missed her. He thought about sending her cards and flowers, but concluded that would only confirm her belief that he was a stalker. How could he express his love for her if he couldn’t see her again?

With his time in San Diego drawing to a close, Adam decided to go for broke, and the San Diego Chargers football team helped him out.

Maria was a big fan of the team, and he knew she was going to the game that coming Sunday. So Adam devised a plan. Of course at the time, he had no idea how expensive airplane banner advertising was. But this was love, and it was his last chance to win Maria’s heart before he headed east and Virginia Beach.

So draining his savings, along with a few reluctant loans from his buddies, Adam came up with the $2,000 it cost for a plane to fly the banner over QualComm Stadium during the game.

It was a simple message:
I’m Sorry, Maria. Give Me Another Chance. Adam.

The banner made the evening news, and soon went viral.

How could she say no?

Six months later they were married in a small church in Chesapeake, Virginia. Maria was already two months pregnant at the time.

It was hard on the newlyweds at first, as Adam was constantly either in advanced training or off on a secret mission somewhere. And it only got harder when Cassie was born. He hadn’t been there for the birth; instead he was wrapping up a six-month deployment in Iraq.

Everything changed for Adam the day he returned and saw the big, bright eyes of his daughter looking up at him. She seemed to know instinctively who he was – at least that’s what Adam thought. It was as if someone had flicked a switch on his heart, and from that moment on, Adam Cain was a devout family man. Nothing else mattered. He would do anything for Maria and Cassie.

As his career in the Navy progressed, Adam found that his new-found maturity actually helped. SEALs are very serious people; it’s not all about the bravado. Once he settled down in his personal life, Adam found advancement easier, as well as an unspoken respect coming from the senior personnel. Chief Rutledge, his NCOIC, confided in him that he was on the fast-track for advancement, either as an enlisted instructor, or possibly even Officer Candidate School. The choice would be Adam’s.

As soon as he returned from his latest mission in Afghanistan…

Chapter Eight

Adam was on bridge watch, slumped down in the Juirean-size captain’s chair, with the lights dimmed and enjoying the three-quarters gravity that the aliens liked to keep their section of the ship set at. It was night on the ship – or at least it was in the artificial time schedule that they had established just a few days after leaving Zylim-4 – and nearly everyone else was asleep.

Adam was doing his best to keep his own eyes open, when he noticed a brief blip on the forward display screen. It was right at the very edge of their sensor range, and only lasted a moment before it was gone.

With nothing better to do, Adam focused his attention on that part of the screen where he’d seen the blip. After a while – as his eyes were beginning to cross – he saw the blip again. There was definitely something out there, just off the screen.

He got out of the chair and moved to the pilot’s seat. There was something out there that was either matching their speed, or attempting to stay just out of sensor range. There was one way to find out for sure.

He took hold of the control stick and did a quick, short jerk back towards him. The huge battleship slowed just slightly, as the intensity of the well decreased by a fraction.

There was the blip again, this time stronger – and there were two of them. And then they disappeared again off the screen.