The Lost Universe

The Human Chronicles Saga #24

T.R. Harris

An Adam Cain Adventure

Copyright 2018

by Tom Harris Creations, LLC

All rights reserved.**

Cover design by Matthew Kadish

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Novels by T.R. Harris

The Adam Cain Saga

The Dead Worlds

Empires

Battle Plan

Galactic Vortex

Dark Energy

Universal Law

The Formation Code

The Quantum Enigma

Children of the Aris

The Human Chronicles

The Fringe Worlds

Alien Assassin

The War of Pawns

The Tactics of Revenge

The Legend of Earth

Cain’s Crusaders

The Apex Predator

A Galaxy to Conquer

The Masters of War

Prelude to War

The Unreachable Stars

When Earth Reigned Supreme

A Clash of Aliens

Battlelines

The Copernicus Deception

Scorched Earth

Alien Games

The Cain Legacy

The Andromeda Mission

Last Species Standing

Invasion Force

Force of Gravity

Mission Critical

The Lost Universe

The Immortal War

Destroyer of Worlds

Phantoms

Terminus Rising

The Last Aris

The Human Chronicles Box Set Series

Box Set #1 – Books 1-5 in the series

Box Set #2 – Books 6-10 in the series

Box Set #3 – Books 11-15 in the series

Box Set #4 – Books 16-20 in the series

Box Set #5—Books 21-25 in the series

REV Warriors Series

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REV: Renegades

REV: Rebirth

REV: Revolution

REV: Retribution

REV Warriors Part 2

REV: Revelations

REV: Resolve

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Jason King – Agent to the Stars Series

The Enclaves of Sylox

Treasure of the Galactic Lights

The Drone Wars Series

Day of the Drone

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The Liberation Series

Captains Malicious

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Contents

Adam Cain…

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

The End

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Novels by T.R. Harris

Adam Cain…

…is an alien with an attitude.

His story continues…

Chapter 1

This had to be the best smelling bar Adam Cain had ever been in; even the patrons and the wait staff smelled good. And the place was spotless as well, even the floor.

Adam had never been to the planet Fortis before; in fact he’d never heard of the place until deciding to go fugitive hunting here. Now he was wrapped in the glove-like cushion of a furry bean-bag chair and sipping on what was probably the most-delicious alien drink he’d ever tasted, and all the while gazing through the appropriate dimness at his target.

He tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible, being the only Human in the room. But seeing that the place was a cornucopia of exotic creatures, he didn’t stand out as much as he would in a bar full of locals. In fact, the only person paying him any attention was the sensual, silky-skinned waitress. That was fine by him. She was amazing looking, reminding Adam of one of those Asian anime characters from the graphic novels he used to read as a kid, before he could afford real porn. She had incredibly large eyes, featuring huge black orbs surrounded by a sea of white, hypnotic in their depth and intensity. Add to that a miniscule nose and a pouty, pink-lipped mouth that puckered as if in a perpetual kiss, and Adam was thoroughly enamored with the sexy native.

Now he watched as she glided up to him and bent over, placing another of the smooth, fruity drinks on the small end table next to the bean-bag. Those gorgeous, intoxicating eyes lingered on him a little longer than necessary, and Adam reciprocated. He had no idea how compatible the two species were biologically, but he was almost tempted to find out—if he didn’t have more pressing matters to tend to.

The fugitive’s name was Lo’ol, and he was also seated in a bean-bag chair a few stations away, along with four others of his kind. They weren’t native to the planet; they were far too ugly for that. Instead, they were Z’inifs, thick, muscular beasts with scaly skin and dual sets of fly-like eyes: two prominent multi-segmented disks resting below a pair of smaller heat-sensing ones on their foreheads. Although the eyes didn’t swivel in their sockets, the Z’inifs could rotate their heads three hundred-sixty degrees in a millisecond when surveying the surrounding landscape. Adam was thoroughly freaked out the first time he saw Lo’ol do that, nearly spitting his nectar-of-the-gods drink into the room as a consequence. He didn’t fear the strength of the aliens, but he knew it would be very hard to sneak up on them if he had to.

Lo’ol would be Adam’s largest bounty to date; one hundred thirty-five thousand Juirean credits. He had no idea what the alien did to warrant such a large reward, and he also didn’t care. He was only here for the money.

Adam hoisted the figure-eight-shaped glass and chugged half the contents. The damn concoction was great from the first sip and had only become more addictive with each successive serving. Earlier, after testing his blood for compatibility, the waitress brought a sampling of six native drinks. This one stood out head-and-shoulders above the others. Besides the heavenly taste, Adam was pretty sure it was non-alcoholic, since his mind was still sharp and his vision clear. This would come in handy when he made his move on Lo’ol. Yet once the job was done, Adam would conduct a Library search to find what the drink was called, along with its secret formula. The guys back at the Colony Ship would love this shit.

Adam became alert when Lo’ol and the others began to gather up their satchels, preparing to leave. He laid a fifty Juirean credit chip on the small side table and waited until the others left before he got up to do the same.

He didn’t get too far.

When he pressed to his feet, it was as if he was a majestic redwood just felled by the legendary Paul Bunyan. He toppled forward until crashing face-first onto the sweet-smelling floor. Shocked and embarrassed, Adam struggled to his hands and knees before making a second attempt to stand. His legs were like rubber, his feet numb. He managed to stay upright this time, but only with the help of the hot alien waitress.

“Assist you, I may?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist. He gazed into her huge black orbs, confused. His mind wasn’t suffering the normal effects of intoxication, and neither was his vision. But damn, the rest of his body was literally falling down drunk…all except for a prominent lump in the front of his trousers.

“What the hell is in that stuff?” he asked with unaffected speech.

“It is a muscular neutralizer, as well as a sexual stimulant, very potent and flavorful. It is the house specialty.”

“A neutralizer—and a stimulant—at the same time? What good is that?”

“It depends on the dominance of the sexes within your species. On Fortis, females are dominant, and we wish our males to be compliant, yet functional. Are you not pleased with the effect?”

“How long will I be like this?”

The alien giggled. “You consumed much. You will need assistance in walking—and other functions—for several hours. We have a service that can return you to your room or ship. Do you wish me to call one…or I could assist you personally?”

Adam didn’t have time for this, no matter how curious he was to learn of the mating habits of the natives. He’d followed Lo’ol to the bar knowing the alien was making one last stop before returning to his ship. He would be off the planet and in a deep gravity-well in less than an hour. Adam didn’t have time to sober up…or for other things.

“I appreciate the offer, but right now, help me over to that partition,” he said, indicating a half wall with decoratively-carved wooden columns reaching to the ceiling. Once there, he grabbed one of the posts and pulled. It came free, much to the chagrin and shock of the waitress.

“What is the purpose?” she asked.

“I need a crutch,” he said, looking with regret into the large eyes of the alien. If only…. “And by the way, thanks for your help.” He smiled at the pretty alien, flashing his long white teeth at her with warmth and sincerity.

The diminutive native gasped and pushed away, her impossibly large eyes increasing by fifty percent from shock and fear. In a flurry of screams and waving arms, she scurried away, in a desperate attempt to escape the savage death-challenge Adam had just issued against her.

The bar exploded in a cacophony of protests from the male patrons, including a rather profanity-laced verbal attack by the native bartender. Adam leaned on his make-shift walking stick and made for the exit. He ignored the protests. The bartender was yelling about the vandalism and the threat to the female, yet fortunately he didn’t press the matter. He may have realized by then that Adam was a Human and valued his life more than a piece of wood or the welfare of the barmaid.

It was dark outside when Adam emerged from the bar and into the cool night air of Fortis. He scanned the wide road and sidewalks for his target. There he was, to the right and about thirty yards away, heading for the spaceport a mile down the road. Adam set off after him, using the wooden crutch to support his traitorous legs. Most of the intoxicating effects were in his lower extremities. His arms and hands were working fine, although his fingertips were numb. And then there was the boner. It didn’t impede his progress, but it was embarrassing and inappropriate for the moment.

That damn drink should have come with a warning label!

* * *

Riyad, where the hell are you? Adam barked mentally through his artificial telepathy device.

Waiting with the truck, like I’m supposed to be, answered a disembodied voice in Adam’s mind. What’s taking you so long?

Lo’ol just left the bar. He’s heading for the spaceport.

Well, grab him and let’s get out of here. We don’t get paid for talking about apprehending a fugitive. Only by actually picking him up will we earn our bounty.

I don’t think I can, Adam replied. I got pretty fucked up in the bar.

There was a pause in the mental link between the two men. Adam could sense the humor in Riyad’s thoughts. Are you drunk?

Half of me is. The other half is fine.

I take it the drunk half is the half that counts?

My legs and feet, Adam thought. And my hands are beginning to show the effects. It was the devil’s drink, buddy. I wouldn’t recommend it.

No problem there; followers of my religion are not allowed to partake. Where are you now?

About twenty yards behind Lo’ol and his entourage, heading west from the bar, toward the spaceport. He’ll be there in about ten minutes.

I’m on my way. Don’t do anything until I get there. You may be the great Adam Cain, but totally wasted, you’re just like the rest of us.

Adam felt the mental contact break. His friend and associate, Riyad Tarazi, had a native truck parked on a side street nearby, waiting for Adam to grab Lo’ol. On Fortis, foreign criminals enjoyed a type of limited immunity, so kidnapping him for return to Formil was illegal on the planet. The two Humans had been counting on a quiet little abduction, no fuss, no muss. But now that Lo’ol was approaching the spaceport and within the crowd of people in the area, there would be nothing quiet—

Adam was suddenly thrown to his left, landing face down in the middle of the street, the result of a nasty blow to the side of his head. He didn’t know what hit him, except that it wasn’t a fist. It had to have been a bat or metal object of some kind. Whatever it was, it did the trick. As he struggled to find his lost crutch and regain his feet, he sensed that the hit should have hurt a lot more than it did. Apparently, the muscular neutralizer was beginning to affect other parts of his body, if not the bulge in his pants. That was still there and as strong as ever.

Adam avoided another incoming swipe of the weapon when he awkwardly fell again to the pavement, his assailant swinging widely for a head that was no longer there. Adam rolled on his back, getting the first look at his attacker. It was a Z’inif, one of Lo’ol’s posse. The alien had hidden in an alleyway waiting for him to pass before lashing out with a metal pole. Now the rest of the fugitive’s gang was running towards him, weapons at the ready.

Leave it up to their damn bug-eyes to have spotted him, Adam thought. Of course, the clacking of his walking stick on the cement sidewalk probably contributed as well. And now there were five of the scaly creatures about to pounce on him.

Just then, the blinding lights of a mid-size panel truck lit up the scene. Riyad steered the native transport at the main group of aliens; they reacted swiftly, relying on their insect-like reactions to jump out of the way. The truck hopped the curb and crashed into the window of a closed storefront. There were flashes from multiple MK bolt-launchers, but from Lo’ol’s group, not Riyad.

It was over a moment later. Riyad stepped around the back of the crumpled truck, grimacing from a smoldering hole scorched through the fabric of his shirt. The level-two bolt left a nasty second degree burn in the shape of an angry red circle within the bushy patch of black hair on his chest. Riyad was swatting away the remaining embers.

“This better grow back,” he said to the Z’inif. “The ladies really like my normally full swath of manly chest hair.”

The aliens didn’t respond. Instead, they held their weapons steady on the bearded Human, while standing a respectable distance away, fully aware of his abilities.

Riyad looked down at his invalid friend, still sitting in the middle of the street, his numb and paralyzed legs spread out in front of him.

Riyad raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’m glad to see you too, my friend,” he said, glancing at the lump in Adam’s pants. “I never realized you had the hots for me, or does danger turn you on more than I realized?”

“A little of both, I guess,” Adam replied.

Lo’ol stepped up and glared down at the Human.

“The famous Adam Cain,” the alien sneered. Z’inifs had short tubes for mouths, but the universal translator could still decipher the flutters of their language. Lo’ol’s weird eyes locked onto Adam’s pants. “Re’oc Rum? Only tourists drink that…or subservient natives. You are lucky to be alive.”

“It’s debatable whether I am,” Adam moaned. His head throbbed—even through the spreading effects of the intoxicant—and his feet were beginning to burn, as if a thousand fire ants were holding a convention on his toes. “Why do they allow that stuff to be sold? It’s toxic.”

“Not to the natives.”

The tube-mouth warbled. The translator created a garbled response in Adam’s ear: a Z’inif laugh.

“And now it is I who have captured you, Adam Cain, and I will be richly rewarded by my sponsors for the effort.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Lo’ol’s mouth fluttered again. “This was all planned. It was I who inflated the bounty for my capture to entice you to come after me. I even chose a planet close to Formil on which to wait. And now you will make me wealthy.”

“And what about me?” Riyad asked. “I’m pretty famous, too.”

“Although I have heard of you, you are of no importance to me.”

Riyad beamed, learning of his widespread fame. Then his face soured. “But I’m not part of your evil plan?”

“No. The flash bolt was meant to kill. We shall have to remedy that.”

“We come as a set,” Adam said quickly. “You can’t have one without the other.”

Lo’ol’s head spun around, causing Riyad’s mouth to drop open.

“That has no sense,” the alien said after his head stopped spinning. “I can take only you without effort…unless your companion is also affiliated with the mutants? If so, I was not aware.”

“The mutants? What do they…?”

From his place on the pavement, Adam could see into the sky over Lo’ol’s shoulder. There was movement, several objects descending through the darkness on wide black wings. They came in silently and landed a moment later in a cluster around Adam and the Z’inifs. No shots were fired from plasma weapons; instead, large black nets were cast out from blunt instruments to wrap around Lo’ol and his gang. Dozens of tiny servos in the netting then reeled in the lines, forming a stranglehold on the aliens. The dark figures moved in, as synthetic wings retracted into backpack holders.

Adam recognized the uniforms, with their distinctive yellow hand logo emblazoned on the collars. One of the new arrivals stepped up and hovered over Adam.

He was a Juirean, and one of the top lieutenants for Priority Acquisitions, the largest fugitive recovery agency in the galaxy. Adam had run into him before, on two prior occasions, and both under similar circumstances—when PA agents swooped in to steal his bounties. It was rare for a Juirean to be working for a private organization. Traditionally, the Expansion-leading aliens remained within their tight-knit society, rarely leaving the order and security of the Authority.

In addition, Priority Acquisitions normally didn’t bother with Adam’s level of fugitive, preferring the larger bounties and higher-profile cases. Yet occasionally they liked to send messages to people like him, and that was: We take what we want and leave only the scraps. So don’t push your luck.

Or something along those lines.

“My Lord Tidus Ne Landon,” Adam said, using the Juirean’s former-Overlord title of respect. “I see you’re out slumming again.”

Tidus was one of the most-knowledgeable Juireans in street-level slang within the galaxy, his job taking him into the seediest parts of a thousand worlds. He understood Adam’s meaning.

“Yes, I am, my friend Adam Cain.” He looked over at Riyad. “And you, Mr. Tarazi, do you require medical assistance? I have a team on standby if you do.”

“I’ll survive,” Riyad snarled. Although Riyad was relatively new to Adam’s bounty hunting business, Priority Acquisitions had a reputation among the various pirate cabals operating in the galaxy, one of which Riyad once commanded. On at least a dozen occasions, entire fleets of pirates had been eradicated by PA’s army of agents. They were that big, operating not only as a fugitive recovery business, but also as an independent mercenary force when needed…and the price was right.

“So why get involved in something this small?” Adam asked.

Tidus looked around as his troops packed Lo’ol and the others into a new transport vehicle that had just arrived. “Rather than ask that, you should be thankful. It looks as though I arrived just in time. You did not appear to have the advantage. How is it that the great Adam Cain—and Riyad Tarazi—could not subdue a relatively minor criminal such as Lo’ol?”

“We had him just where we wanted him,” Adam snapped.

The tall Juirean shrugged. “Even so, you are fortunate. We have had Lo’ol’s inflated reward under watch for some time. We were debating whether or not to go through the trouble and expense of the recovery when we spotted the two of you on Fortis. I insisted at that point that we intervene, simply because I receive so much pleasure from disrupting your plans.”

The alien smiled, displaying a full-toothed grin. Although Juireans subscribed to the bared-teeth-meant-death-challenge practice, Tidus knew Humans didn’t. “I will now leave you, my friends. I am sure you will have much regret that our paths have crossed once again. That was my intention, as well as for the small percentage of the bounty I will receive as my bonus commission. I thank you for that.” Then he glanced down at Adam’s outstretched legs and prominent mound in his pants. “Re’oc Rum,” he stated, nodding. “I would have expected your experience not to allow your body to be so deceived.”

Does everyone know about this damn drink except me? Adam thought.

“And now what?” Riyad asked.

Tidus frowned. “Nothing more. We will take Lo’ol and leave.”

“No finder’s fee?”

The alien smiled again, more wicked this time. “You know better than that, Mr. Tarazi. Now, enjoy yourselves…until we meet again.”

And then the Juirean and his team of highly-skilled bounty hunters were gone as quickly and quietly as they had arrived.

Riyad helped Adam to his feet. The two men shared a disgusted look before they limped back to the ancient Klin flying saucer they had docked at the nearby spaceport, leaving the damaged panel truck still embedded in the front of the native store. They would return to their base humiliated and with nothing to show for the time and expense of the mission.

The people back at the Colony Ship wouldn’t like that. Not one little bit.

Chapter 2

The planet Fortis was only a four-day journey back to the Formilian system where Adam’s near-derelict Klin Colony Ship was in orbit around the gas giant of Andus. Lo’ol had mentioned how he picked Fortis because of its proximity to Formil. What the alien didn’t know was how grateful Adam was for his kind consideration. It cost money to fly around the galaxy, and before each mission, Adam and his team did an informal cost-benefit analysis to see if the bounty was worth going for. With their average reward hovering around thirty-five thousand Juirean credits, many bounties weren’t worth the expense. But Lo’ol had been a no brainer, which was what the devious Z’inif had been counting on.

On the way back to the Colony Ship, Adam and Riyad had time to wonder why Lo’ol had gone through all the trouble to turn the hunter into the hunted. Who was paying him, and what did they want with Adam? And then there was the mention of the mutants. What was that all about?

* * *

A day out from the Colony Ship, Adam received a link from Kaylor back at the station.

“There is a situation,” the blue-skinned Belsonian began. “The Flying Tiger has broken down.” He didn’t include the word ‘again’ in the sentence; it was inferred in his tone.

“Dammit!” Riyad growled from the co-pilot’s seat at Adam’s right. “This is becoming a habit. That fly-riddled piece of goat’s dung is costing us more than it’s worth.”

Adam shrugged. “Don’t be so critical. They spent the last of their money to buy the starship, and it does give us another recovery team,” he said in their defense. “And two teams is better than one, as has just been demonstrated.”

“The seventeen-five bounty they have aboard is barely enough to pay for the fuel and keep the lights on for a week at the CS. Besides, a forty-year-old Din’oin NA-14 corvette can hardly be classified a ‘star’ ship. It needs to be able to make it between star systems to qualify.”

“Coop will get it going again…he always does.”

“But at what cost, my friend? We could have bought a new ship for the money he’s poured into the Tiger. And now without the Lo’ol bounty, we will have to dip into our reserves to cover the repairs.”

Adam gave up arguing with Riyad. Besides, he was right.

“Send the coordinates,” Adam said to Kaylor.

“There is one other thing.”

“What is it?”

“Copernicus reports there is a small squadron of ships surrounding their position, tentatively identified as associates of Alic N’iliso, the fugitive they have onboard. They are running on only chemical drive at the moment, keeping the enemy ships at bay. Coop estimates he has three hours of fuel left.”

Riyad programmed the coordinates into the nav computer. “We’re three hours out ourselves. It will be tight.”

“Open a link with the Tiger,” Adam commanded.

A moment later the exasperated image of Copernicus Smith appeared on a side screen next to the primary monitor.

“It’s about good goddamn time!” Copernicus barked. “Where are you?”

“Still three hours out,” Adam answered.

“Good, then you should arrive just in time to recover our remains for a proper burial. Those bastards have been following us since we left Bernious. They can’t attack outright, not without risking the life of their glorious leader. They’ll wait until our chem fuel is gone and then board us.”

Sherri leaned over Coop’s shoulder. She wasn’t smiling. “Cutting it kinda close, aren’t you, slick? I hope you’re not doing this for dramatic effect.”

Adam smiled at his ex-girlfriend. “Yeah, hi sweetheart, nice to see you, too. Just be glad we were on our way back to the Colony Ship and not stuck on Formil buried in paperwork processing Lo’ol’s bounty. So you see, things work out in the end.”

The rest of the team was aware of what happened on Fortis, with Sherri being the most vocal in her displeasure over the loss of the Lo’ol bounty. Maybe now she might cut Adam some slack.

“Yeah, but if you’d held onto the bastard, we might have dressed our Crinsonian fugitive in a spacesuit and dumped him out the airlock several light-years back, taking away the reason for his friends to come after us,” she countered. “But seeing that we have the only paying bounty among us, we really can’t do that, now can we…sweetheart? And that was the reason we were running the engines so hard, to stay ahead of the bad guys. So, yeah, thanks for that. You’re a peach.”

Riyad and Adam shared a glance. Adam had only dated Sherri; Riyad married her. But now she was Coop’s problem. Adam studied the tanned, handsome mechanic-turned-bounty-hunter, not knowing if the agony etched on his face was a result of the alien starships bearing down on them, or from having to deal with Sherri when she was in one of her moods. It was probably a combination of both.

“Can you dump him now?” Riyad asked.

“That won’t work,” Sherri replied. “The snatch didn’t go exactly as planned. There was some property damage, along with a few deaths. N’iliso and his people are a little pissed off at us. If we let him go now, they’ll just blast us into stardust.”

“We still have internal power and chemical maneuvering, so we can fight them off, at least for the time being,” Copernicus offered, trying to get Sherri off the line. She was about to lose it. “But don’t take the scenic route getting here.”

“We’ll see what this old Klin tub can do and get there as soon as we can. Hang in there.”

After he cut the link, Adam turned to Riyad. “Balls out, buddy. This one will be tight.”

* * *

Adam and Riyad arrived on station just as the five alien starships were closing on the Tiger. Coop and Sherri were blasting away at anything that came within range, but by the infrequency of the flash bolts, Adam could tell they were running low on charged weapons batteries. A few more discharges and they’d be out.

N’iliso’s ships reacted to the Klin starship the moment it came on their screens. Knowing that Copernicus wasn’t going anywhere, they turned their attention to the Davion, coming at it in one solid formation line.

The Klin Fleet Vessel-A (KFV-A) may have been over twenty years old, but at one time this class of warship made up the bulk of the Human and Klin space fleets, crushing a variety of enemy forces at the outset of the Human-Juirean War. They were formidable fighting machines—when fully manned. The regular crew compliment was twenty-five, which included four gun crews. Now with only Adam and Riyad aboard, they couldn’t operate the craft at its highest and best use. But the Humans did have one ace up their sleeve; they had one of the two Aris service modules aboard they’d recovered from the Gracilian research station before it was destroyed. It was the one with the male persona and Adam had named him Will. The other orb—the female—was aboard the Flying Tiger and was named Grace. Will would keep the weapons systems of the Davion charged and transfer energy between active batteries, making it appear as though all four stations were manned.

“Here, take over,” Adam said to Riyad as he slid from the pilot’s seat. “You’re better at combat tactics than I am.”

“And your mutant-enhanced reactions are faster on the trigger.”

The men switched seats.

“Shields up,” Will announced over the 1-MC. The Aris module would also keep the shields tilted at the optimum angle to deflect and absorb the maximum number of incoming flash cannon bolts.

“Here they come,” Riyad said. “Not really sophisticated; these guys aren’t military-trained.”

“It’s still five against one,” said Adam. “And each of their ships is twice the size of the Davion, so don’t get cocky.”

All the enemy ships opened up at once, sending a brilliant wall of plasma bolts at the Davion. Riyad deftly steered the craft away from the line of attack, pulling the ship up and over in a wide loop before spiraling to the left and at the Crinsonian ships at the narrowest part of their line. It was always best to keep as few of the enemy facing you as possible. Now Adam could concentrate on only one opponent at a time.

Flash bolts are ballistic in nature, so most of space warfare involved either laying down a wide spread to catch enemy ships in flight, or to anticipate their moves. The line of Crinsonian ships broke apart, each vying for an angle on the Klin flying saucer. Adam anticipated this move and sent a three-bolt burst to port, catching one of the enemy ships with a strong broadside. Their shields held, but another combined load like that and at least one of the diffusion panels would overload.

In the meantime, the combined shots of the enemy formed an effective screen of incoming bolts against the Davion. The ship took two hits, with their charges expertly deflected by Will’s angling of the shields. But Riyad was forced to spiral away, removing Adam’s counterstrike opportunity, before coming about and lining up on the enemy once again.

Adam sent out three individual cannon bolts, each of which hit separate enemy ships. They reacted to the extraordinary targeting by breaking their rough formation to spread their ranks. Two of the Crinsonian ships scraped hulls in the melee. They pulled away from each other along predictable paths, which Adam was anticipating. He sent a string of roiling plasma energy into one, overloading a single deflector panel, while the other bolts followed through the gap. Hull metal melted and the bright balls of energy disappeared inside the ship. A moment later the vessel exploded in a spectacularly colorful spectacle.

By then, Riyad had the Davion corkscrewing again, dodging incoming fire from the remaining four enemy ships. Adam watched his targeting screen, assessing the relative positions of the enemy. He focused, his eye-hand coordination bolstered by the education his body had received during the brief time a small colony of Panur’s brain cells were in his head. The mutant cells had been removed, but his body learned, becoming a bit quicker, a little more focused, and more…everything. The lasting effects were unexpected, but welcome, and to this day, Adam was still learning what his body and mind were capable of. Exercises—such as this battle—served to condition his body, as well as reveal even more secrets waiting to be discovered.

Adam began not only anticipating the movements of the Crinsonians, but Riyad’s as well. The next targeted array of discharges struck the diffusion shields on three separate ships. Monitors aboard the Davion showed two of the panels fade away. Working the targeting stick in fluid and lightning quick adjustments, Adam placed a pair of single bolts through the rapidly moving and incredibly small openings. One of the enemy ships exploded, while the other had a large section of the hull blow out, even though the vessel retained power and engine capacity.

But that’s when the brief battle came to an end. With two of their six ships destroyed, and another severely damaged, the Crinsonians decided N’iliso wasn’t worth any further loss of life or material. The ships broke off and sped away.

“That was some fancy shooting, my friend,” Riyad complimented.

“And excellent piloting, as well.”

Adam leaned over and the two men high-fived.

“And I did an acceptable job of coordinating energy distribution and diffusion shield integrity,” Will added. There was no sign of insecurity in the voice. The alien orb had simply concluded a summary of each participant’s contribution was called for at the moment.

“And yes you did, Will,” Adam said. “And with the utmost proficiency. Well done.”

Riyad opened a comm link with Coop’s ship.

“Are the two of you up for a little rescuing?’ he asked the grumpy face on the screen.

“Just set the grapples,” Copernicus said. “You’re not going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Would you, if the roles were reversed?” Riyad flashed his trademark brilliant white smile at his friend. “But wouldn’t it be better if you transfer to the Davion and we let the Tiger free?”

Coop’s face turned red. “I thought you’d say something like that! I can get her running again. She’s a good ship, when she’s not pushed beyond tolerances.”

“Hey, I wasn’t piloting the thing when it broke…again,” Riyad barked back.

“It’s cool, Coop,” Adam said, stepping into the conversation before tempers got out of control. “The grapples are set. Sit back and enjoy the ride. We’ll be back at the CS in about thirty hours. We’ll decide what to do with the Tiger at that time.”

“But I can fix—”

“Davion out.” Adam cut the link.

Chapter 3

Once back at the Colony Ship, it was decided that Copernicus would set to work fixing their ship, while Sherri would take the Davion and transport N’iliso to Hydra-3 and collect the bounty. The Crinsonian beamed at the prospect of a solitary female escorting him to the planet. He saw an opportunity for escape as the big alien eyed the diminutive Human with the long blonde hair.

That was until Sherri slapped him.

When he awoke thirty minutes later, N’iliso had more respect for Human women, and this one in particular. She locked him away in the Davion’s cargo hold and shot out of the launch bay, grumbling under her breath through the comm link.

“Have a nice trip, honey,” Copernicus offered.

Her reply was not fit for publication.

“We can only afford a maximum of five thousand credits in repair costs,” Adam explained to a frustrated Copernicus Smith.

“It’s a transfer circuit,” Coop reported. “It’s not that big of a fix, but it will require the starboard generator to be removed. I couldn’t do that while we were in space.”

“Do you have the parts aboard to fix it?”

Copernicus hesitated.

“And how much do they cost?” Adam asked, shaking his head.

“They’re pretty expensive new, but I can shuttle over to the Solic-Min moon and see what I can find in the scrapyard there.”

“How long will that take?”

“It depends on if I can find the part.”

Adam banged his fist against the rusted and dented hull of the Flying Tiger, as the bulky old corvette sat in the Colony Ship’s only activated landing bay. “Dammit, Coop. Jym says you’ve already sank twenty-one thousand credits into the ship. And after mission expenses and repairs, your second recovery team is actually costing us money.”

“What do you want us to do, leave?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. But at some point you’re going to have to cut bait.”

“And then what do we do for a second team? All four of us can’t go out on a hunt, that would be incredibly inefficient. And trading off missions would be a waste of time and personnel.”

“If the Formilian loan comes through, we’ll just have to buy another ship. Isn’t there something else we could get that won’t keep breaking down?”

“That we won’t know until it happens,” Coop countered. “Give me one more crack at the Tiger.”

Adam looked at the old starship then at Copernicus. “I’ve already budgeted for the five-kay. Make it happen, and preferably underbudget. But if she breaks down again, that’s it.”

“Understood,” Coop said with enthusiasm. “Now, let me get to work. Grace and I can get the generator out in about a day, day-and-a-half. Then we’ll take the shuttle out looking for parts.”

“Just make it happen. I don’t care how you do it, just so you don’t spend all our money in the process.”

* * *

The Colony Ship had once been home to twenty thousand Klin, providing all their needs for a multi-generational existence in space. Now a total of six beings lived aboard the station. As a consequence, only a tiny fraction of the huge sphere was energized to save money, forcing the occupants to cluster within a small section near the bridge. The rest of the station was frigid and uninhabitable, except for a single corridor leading to one of the smaller launch bays, as well as an elevator shaft to a nearby power station.

Adam’s alien friends, Kaylor and Jym, maintained the huge space station and operated the computer system the team used to locate their fugitives. The four Humans were the muscle of the operation and were gone most of the time. More often than not, however, the missions were more successful than the last two. But even then, after returning to the ship a year ago from their brief hiatus to Earth, money was still the issue. Money was always the issue.

“That bastard, Tidus,” Kaylor said. He had never met the Juirean, but he’d heard of him plenty of times. Adam grinned at hearing the word bastard come from the Belsonian’s mouth. After twenty years of hanging out with Adam and the other Humans, he’d adopted many of their finer swear words. The small bear-like Jym was still slow to pick up on Human slang, but he was getting there. Another twenty years or so and he might be using bastard in everyday language as well.

“We were in desperate need of that commission,” Jym acknowledged. “And the Juirean was not. He did what he did simply based on his hatred of you, Adam Cain.”

Adam shrugged. If the roles had been reversed, he probably would have done the same to Tidus. There was no love lost between the Humans and the Juireans, and although they were technically at peace at the time, neither race considered the other to be friends or allies, not by any stretch of the imagination. And even though Tidus had broken away from his people and become a l’pisor—one who turns his back on his race—Adam would have still harbored considerable distrust for the Juirean, even if he hadn’t screwed them over on several occasions.

“We’re just going to have to make it up,” Adam said to Jym. “Any prospects working?”

“We located three more potentials while you were gone. Unfortunately, they are very far away. However, if you could combine the missions, then they could be profitable, somewhat. But that would involve exquisite timing and perfect execution. You are not known for either.”

Adam recoiled, while a brilliant white smile painted Riyad’s face. Jym wasn’t trying to be rude—it was just his way. He normally spoke his mind with little concern—or awareness—of how others would react. Adam took no offense, especially since the statement was true.

“We may not have a choice,” he said. “Sherri won’t be back for a week in the Davion. That will give Coop and Grace time to either fix the Flying Tiger…or scrap it. We’ll decide at that time, if something better doesn’t come along.”

A chime beeped on a monitor in the cozy common room. There were literally hundreds of other lounges in the CS, but they were dark and cold. This was the only one that had heat and electricity.

Jym checked the monitor.

“A ship approaches within our safety zone,” he announced. “It is the royal Formilian yacht.”

Adam perked up. This would be Arieel coming to visit.

Arieel Bol was the Speaker of the Formilian People, the titular head of the planet Formil, and the latest in a long line of matriarchs who had ruled the world for over two thousand years. Although her status had been diminished somewhat, there was a renaissance taking place within the society, after control of the Expansion was returned to the Juireans a few years back. It seemed the native population was desperate to rediscover the traditions of the past, since their flirtation with galactic domination hadn’t amounted to more than a temporary flash in the pan. Things had been different when the Formilian mutant Lila was in charge. But she was gone now, and things were changing again.

Jym deactivated the ship’s automatic defenses and allowed the yacht to dock. With the type of business the team was in, there was always someone pissed off at what they’d done. Defense of the station was a necessary expense that couldn’t be avoided. As a consequence, Jym rigged the station so that during a crisis all power would shift automatically to the defensive systems. Of course, that would leave the ship without life support and other essentials, but there would be enough air and heat left for the crew to evaluate the threat and make decisions. So far, Jym’s precautions hadn’t been tested to their fullest.

Adam took an electric cart to the landing bay to meet the Formilian.

For his part, Copernicus was both upset and excited with the prospect of Arieel’s arrival. He was upset because he had to break off from the repair work on the Flying Tiger while the yacht entered the landing bay. Yet he was excited when the ravishing, dark-haired Formilian beauty stepped out onto the deck, taking his breath away. Arieel had that effect on most Prime males within the galaxy, no matter their species; that was what her appearance and pheromones had been genetically-engineered to do by the ancient Aris. Coop didn’t care if he was reacting to simple mindless programming or not. She still turned him on.

Adam showed up a minute later to rescue his on-again, off-again girlfriend from the attentions of the dashing mechanic/spy. By then, Coop had Arieel wrapped in a powerful bear hug, welcoming her to the ship. She’d been on the CS twenty days before, but Copernicus used any excuse to get close to the sensual alien. Especially now.

“Is Sherri not aboard?” Arieel asked perceptively. Coop would only act this way if his current girlfriend wasn’t around.

“She’s gone off to Hydra-3…why do you ask?”

Adam stepped up to the pair.

“All right, buddy, give it a rest,” he said. “It’s not like you two haven’t seen each other in a while.”

Arieel broke away from Coop and threw her arms around Adam’s neck while laying a long, passionate kiss on his lips. It was a not-so-subtle message to Copernicus, who was not deterred. It was always like this between the two Alpha Males.

It was a ten minute ride by electric cart to the habitable zone of the station.

“I have good news…and bad news,” Arieel began as she and Adam made their way down the long, chilly corridor.

“I could use some good news, so let’s start with that.”

“I was able to get the occupation fee waived for your presence here in the system. It was an illegal act to begin with, and one passed only for spite.”

Adam thanked her. A couple of years ago, the Council on Formil had passed an ordinance charging Adam with what was essentially rent for parking the Colony Ship in orbit around the planet Andus. No other vessel had ever been charged this fee, even those permanently occupied as floating homesteads, of which there were hundreds at any given time throughout the system. It had been a naked ploy to force him to move the Colony Ship. When Jym took the CS to the Gracilian research station to rescue Adam, Riyad and Copernicus, there had been talk of taking the ship to Earth afterwards. But Kaylor and Jym were against the idea, arguing that it would place them a long way from the center of the galactic bounty hunting business. Adam reluctantly agreed. Although he longed to return to Earth permanently, he also needed to keep his options open in case things didn’t work out on the homeworld.

As it turned out, things didn’t go well on Earth, and eventually all the money they’d made off the Gracilian Dark Matter Affair was eaten up, either from fines, penalties or back taxes—or in the case of Sherri and Copernicus—sunk into a forty-year-old starship they could barely keep running. It turned out returning the Colony Ship to the Formilian system had been a wise decision. It would have been impossible to run the fugitive recovery business from the Solar System. It was too far away from anything.

“And the bad news?” Adam coaxed.

“The Central Bank has denied your loan request.”

Adam grimaced, although he’d been expecting this. So much for buying Coop a new starship….

He couldn’t blame the bankers; he had neither collateral—not even the Colony Ship—nor a stable income. After first taking possession of the derelict space station, he tried to sell it for some quick cash. But the vessel was technically Klin property, and since there were no Klin left to transfer title, no one wanted to take the risk. For all intents and purposes, Adam and the team were squatters aboard the huge starship, with no legal right to be there. As a result, no one was willing to either buy the ship or loan him money against it.

Hell, it was worth a try. And Arieel had done all she could from her position as head of the Formilian government to make it happen. But she also had to be careful. She couldn’t appear to play favorites, especially for aliens.

Everyone in the Expansion knew about her and Adam. After all, it was their seemingly impossible union that had produced their daughter Lila, the so-called Apex Being, a mutant of such incredible power that she once ruled the galaxy for a brief time. That was when the Formilians got their one and only taste of what it was like to be a true superpower. But with Lila now gone away somewhere with her paramour Panur, the planet no longer had a hold on the politics of the galaxy. The Juireans made a petition requesting that authority over the Expansion be returned to them, and the member worlds agreed. This sort of thing was happening all across the galactic plane, a longing for a simpler, more familiar past. Since then, Formil had returned to its former status as the premier maker of electronic controllers. The planet was still a major player in the affairs of the Milky Way, although the natives were no longer the Boss.

Secretly, Arieel was glad for a return to the old traditions. Her family had ruled the planet for two thousand years, and old habits die hard. When it was revealed that her so-called divine powers were not the work of the Gods—but rather the result of an electronic device implanted under her skin—most of the mystique of the Speakers was lost. But now the people were beginning to look the other way at the deception, saying it must have been divine inspiration that created the devices in the first place. For most of the population, that was good enough to place Arieel back on the throne. It also gave her an opportunity to help Adam whenever she could.

“I have brought twenty-five thousand credits with me, along with two fuel pods,” she said as the cart came to a stop outside the common room. “I know it is not much, but it is all I can afford at this time.”

“It’s more than you should do, Arieel,” Adam said sincerely. The truth be told, the fuel pods had more value at the moment than the credits. With them, Adam and his team could expand their acquisition grid farther into the galaxy. They could now go after the three bounties Jym had mentioned earlier. “Thank you.”

Riyad, Jym and Kaylor greeted Arieel warmly as she and Adam entered the common room.

“She brought us credits and fuel pods,” Adam announced to the team.

“Just what a starving bounty-hunting business needs,” Riyad said with a wide, bright smile.

Sincere thanks only made Adam more depressed. Existing off the charity of others was getting old…and humiliating.

As compensation, Adam splurged with the food processor, ordering up a decent banquet for the team and their honored guest. Copernicus cleaned up and joined them for the meal. As they ate, Adam and Riyad related in more detail the events on Fortis and how close they’d come to scoring a respectable bounty.

“Yet, it appears as though this Lo’ol creature intended on taking you prisoner,” said Arieel, a frown on her gorgeous, bronze-skinned face. “There was a chance you may not have recovered the fugitive and hence the fee.”

She had a point, Adam conceded, yet he and Riyad simply shrugged.

“It was still early in the game,” Riyad said. “We still had a lot of tricks up our sleeves.”

Arieel blinked several times at the obscure Human reference. She let it go after a moment. “Even so, you now have a mystery. He mentioned the mutants, which would include Lila. What was he referring to?”

Adam shook his head just as another chime sounded on the monitor.

Everyone in the room frowned, annoyed by yet another infringement of the safety zone surrounding the Colony Ship. Arieel was already aboard, and Sherri wasn’t due back for several days. This was something new.

“Transponder shows a Bidon-class long-range luxury vessel,” Jym reported from the monitor. “They have opened a comm link, requesting connection.”

“Link it here,” Adam ordered.

He was shocked by the image on the screen.

“I can tell by your expressions, you are surprised to see me,” said the Juirean bounty hunter, Tidus Ne Landon. He wore a bemused smile on his dark, narrow face.

“What the hell do you want?” Adam demanded. “I should warn you, this station has some badass defenses.”

“I know that, my friend,” said the alien. “But I come here not as an enemy, but as a prospective client. I seek your assistance in a matter of mutual benefit. May I approach for a conference?”

Adam surveyed the faces of his friends. Kaylor and Jym were terrified, as they were when anything Juirean was involved. The Humans and Arieel looked curious, if not angry.

“Why not?” Adam said. “We’ll light up a landing bay. Follow the beacon. By the way, your ship will fit easily in one of our hangars.” Adam had to boast about the size of the station; after all it was the largest artificial structure in space. And although he didn’t have title to it, possession was still nine-tenths of the law. Especially when you had weapons to back up your claim.

Chapter 4

Adam didn’t let the Juirean into their inner sanctum. Instead he heated up a small conference room midway between the docking bay and the bridge. There was no need to show the alien how little of the Colony Ship he could afford to run.

Kaylor and Jym chose not to attend the meeting, but they would monitor it from the bridge, with a potent nerve gas ready to flood the room if things got out of hand. It would knock out everyone—including the Juirean—if it came to that.

Tidus was dressed in anything but traditional Juirean clothing. He’d long ago discarded the flowing capes and bulbous mane of light blue hair for more conventional clothing. He wore the two piece military-style uniform of Priority Acquisitions and his hair was pulled back into a long, blue ponytail. He was still around seven feet tall but didn’t use the great mane of hair to add an additional foot to his stature, as did other Juireans. Yet he still conveyed the air of superiority bred into a race of beings who had ruled the galaxy for four thousand years. This cocky attitude was instinctive by now.

“I know my presence here is upsetting,” Tidus began as Adam, Riyad, Copernicus and Arieel glared at the alien. Arieel insisted on being present, since she suspected the subject of her daughter would come up. “For that reason, I will get right to the point.” The Juirean grinned. “During his time in my possession, our mutual friend—Lo’ol—revealed some rather startling information to me, information that impressed me to such a point that I set him free.”

Riyad shook his head. “Wait a minute,” he growled. “First you take him from us, and then you set him free? Thanks a lot.”

“You are quite welcome, my friend. But the tiny reward you would have gained from Lo’ol’s capture will pale in comparison to what I have to tell you.”

Adam’s curiosity was piqued. This had to have something to do with the mutants, as well as the Z’inif’s claim that Adam’s capture would make him rich. There was money in the equation somewhere, so of course Adam was interested.

Tidus took the silence as an invitation to continue.

“Lo’ol was referring to a rather substantial fee he was offered to acquire you, Adam Cain. But that was for only the first step. After your capture, you were to be used to lure the mutants, Panur and Lila, to your rescue. They are the ultimate objective of Lo’ol’s sponsors, not you.”

“Who are they, and what do they want with the mutants?” Adam asked.

“I do not know the true identities of the sponsors, not yet. I have inquiries out and that information will be forthcoming. As to why the mutants are being sought, it is so they can build a portal to another universe.”

Adam recoiled from the revelation. It was common knowledge that the mutants—Panur in particular—could travel between dimensions. After all, he had come originally from the Sol-Kor universe and was quite adept at trans-dimensional travel. If one required a person who could link between universes, Panur was the logical source. It also explained why Adam was involved. He was a conduit to both Lila and Panur.

“Okay,” Adam said. “But why? It’s been proven that some serious dangers lurk in these multi-universes. There must be something the sponsors want in a parallel dimension.”

“It is not a something, but a someone,” Tidus explained. Seeing that he now had the Human’s attention, the former Juirean Overlord leaned back in his chair, savoring the moment. “Allow me to provide a little more background. Dark matter: You are familiar with it, having recently been involved in a caper over the possession of a collector for the elusive—and dangerous—material.”

Tidus smiled wider, seeing the surprise on the faces of the Humans.

“Yes, Priority Acquisitions has sources throughout the galaxy, and therefore I am very aware of the events surrounding the Gracilian research station and the threat that was extended to your planet Earth. It was a remarkable job you did to save your planet. You should all be thanked and rewarded for your efforts.” He looked around at the bare-bones room and pursed his lips. “Yet here you are, struggling to provide for food and shelter after all your heroic deeds on behalf of your species. That hardly seems fair. On a personal note, that is also one of the reasons I left the Juirean Authority. There are far more opportunities for an ambitious being such as myself beyond the confines of my culture. I seek appropriate reward for my efforts—as should each of you—yet for which you have been denied. I am about to remedy that.”

“I thought you said you were going to get to the point?” Copernicus snapped.

“Patience, Mr. Smith. I shall continue. Dark matter, as you are aware, is an extremely dangerous material when allowed to contact other variations of itself. The Aris could attract and harness this energy with impunity, yet that was from their nature. They are pacifists. Yet in the hands of beings like us, it becomes the ultimate weapon. However, what if there was a version of dark matter that was completely benign, yet could still generate energy without the explosive effects? And not only that, but it has been postulated that internal wormholes could be created from this material, such as we use for communications, yet for matter. Such links would allow for instantaneous transport throughout the galaxy, as well as to galaxies beyond. The vastness of space would no longer be an obstacle. This may come as a surprise to you, but that is how the Aris traveled three billion years ago. Such advanced beings did not bother with long journeys as they went about conducting their experiments on the microbial life they found on hundreds of worlds. They were beyond that.”

“What does this have to do with travel to another universe?” Adam asked.

“Because that is where this benign dark matter is to be found.”

“In another universe?” Coop clarified.

“Correct.”

“And how do you know this?” Riyad prompted.

“The object of the sponsor’s search made such a journey and reported back the discovery of this dark matter source material. Unfortunately, that was just before his portal closed, trapping him in this parallel dimension…while sitting on the greatest discovery of all time. Imagine the value of his find, if it can be accessed?”

“And that is what Lo’ol’s sponsors want Panur to do?” Adam said. “To open a portal and rescue the prospector—for lack of a better word.”

“Precisely,” said Tidus. “And in return, Lo’ol was offered not only an initial reward, but also a share in the claim.” Tidus smiled. “Instead, he was convinced that his present life had more value, and the information he revealed to me was his path to a longer—if not more prosperous—existence. Now it is for us to fulfill the contract and share in the ultimate bounty.”

“And you need our help in locating Lila and Panur?” Arieel said. Worry was evident on her face.

“The being Lila is your offspring—yours and Adam’s. In addition, there is an uncanny link between you and her. It has been proven that she and Panur arrive at the most opportune times, as either one or both of you are in peril. It is the logic of the sponsors that the mutants would come if they believe you are in danger. And I should also add, Speaker Bol, you were to be the next target for abduction if efforts with Adam Cain failed.”

“Now that you’ve told us this, what do you want?” Adam asked pointedly.

Tidus shrugged. “I wish to share in the recovery fee and any additional residuals that could come from the acquisition and sale of the stable form of dark matter.”

“Why don’t you do what Lo’ol tried and just kidnap them?” Riyad asked.

Adam cocked his head at his friend. What the fuck, Riyad, he thought through his ATD.

Riyad shrugged.

“Of course I considered that, yet I decided on a more direct approach,” said the Juirean. “I figured it would be easier just to ask for your assistance, since—unlike in our other cases of mutual overlap—there appears to be ample credits for everyone involved.”

Adam smirked; something had just dawned on him. “PA doesn’t know about this, do they?”

Tidus grimaced. “As their agent, I would be allowed only a small percentage of the recovery fee, and none of the residuals. So, as you see, I have much motivation to seek your voluntary assistance rather than use company resources in a more compulsory action. Besides, I suspect forcing the mutants to act on my behalf would be much more difficult than others have assumed. Should Lo’ol have forced their appearance, I believe he would have regretted the outcome. I am more realistic in my dealings with these powerful beings.”

“And well you should!” Arieel scolded. “Lila would not be easily manipulated, especially not from a threat to me or Adam.”

Tidus smiled and held up his hands in defense. “You need not convince me. As I said, I am a realist. I do not seek a confrontation with your offspring, or with Panur. That would be foolish.”

“So how much is this initial recovery fee, the one to rescue the prospector?” Copernicus inquired. He had moved beyond the sales pitch and now wanted details.

“The fee offered to Lo’ol for Adam’s capture was three hundred fifty thousand JCs. Should he have been successful in convincing the mutants to create a link, he would have received another twenty million, plus a small percentage of the claim. That was the unknown—how to gain the cooperation of the mutants…and survive. We will not have that as a concern. With Adam and Arieel involved in the effort, the mutants will gladly cooperate. And then to further answer your inquiry, Mr. Smith, asking for a share of the dark matter source material would be a logical negotiation. I imagine that could equate to many billions of Juirean credits over time—if not more.”

Tidus surveyed the looks on the faces of the three Humans, as well as the Formilian. They were all stunned by the numbers—all except Arieel. She didn’t care about money, having been born into her position and never wanting for anything. But for the others….

“But we don’t know how to contact Lila and Panur,” Adam admitted. “As you said, they show up when they want. Hell, they may not even be in our dimension. They spend a lot of time in the Sol-Kor universe, Panur’s home. TD portals are Panur’s specialty, you know. That’s why the sponsors want him.”

Tidus raised his eyebrows. “He is still doing that? I was not aware. However, if Panur has the current ability to transit dimensions, then our goal should be that much more attainable.”

“If we can find them,” Riyad pointed out.

“You are not suggesting we appear to be in distress, just to attract Lila to our aide?” Arieel gasped.

“That would be one possibility,” the Juirean answered honestly.

“I refuse! That would be deceptive and hurtful, relying on the emotions and concern of my daughter for personal gain. I will not allow it!”

“Neither will I,” Adam said. “There has to be another way.”

“How? You are the experts on the mutants. I am open to ideas.” Tidus said.

“Panur had a base, a planet in the Kidis Frontier,” Riyad reported enthusiastically. Then he smiled. “He even called it Panurland.”

“That’s where he had the golden palace.” Adam stated.

“Golden palace?” Tidus asked, his curiosity sparked.

“He had the natives build him a home out of gold,” Riyad explained. “Hell, everything in the place was made out of gold, even the toilets.”

“Is it still there?”

Adam frowned at the Juirean. “Relax, Tidus. You’re talking about billions of credits if we can pull off this mission. You could have a thousand golden palaces for that much.”

Copernicus was bouncing in his chair. “But that’s where we start, right? Panur may be there.”

“I have a question,” Riyad said, his tone suddenly serious. He waved a hand at the people on his side of the table. “Most of us have been to other universes before, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there are an unlimited number of them. How will we know which one to go to, and where—out of an entire universe—to find a single person?”

“The sponsors have that worked out,” Tidus replied confidently. “They have a link to this other universe and the location of their lost native. It is just that the portal no longer works, ostensibly from the other side. I must assume Panur can make it open. If not, then he can use his own means for trans-dimensional travel to make the journey.”

“I’m in!” Coop announced, although no one had asked for a roll call.

Adam looked at Arieel, taking her hand in his. “Are you okay with this?”

Arieel considered the question for a moment before answering. “I suppose so. There does not appear to be any danger to Lila. And I understand how you need the credits.”

Adam smiled. “Don’t worry about Lila; she can take care of herself. It’s others who should worry if this thing goes south.”

“South? I do not understand.” she stated.

“It’s a Human expression,” Tidus replied. “It means if the operation goes to shit—I believe that is the term.”

“Ah, yes, I now recall the colloquialism. Forgive my momentary lapse in understanding.” Arieel turned an exasperated eye to the Juirean. “To this day, I grasp only about half of what I hear from Humans. It is one of their most confusing, yet intriguing traits.”

“So it’s a go?” Copernicus asked breathlessly.

Adam looked around the table. It was unanimous.

“It’s a go,” he announced. “All we need now is a plan.”

Chapter 5

The plan—if one could call it that—was two prong.

First, Kaylor and Jym would begin sending a series of cryptic broadcasts from the Colony Ship, hinting at Adam and Arieel’s need for the mutant’s to contact them. Even though no one was sure if Panur and Lila were in the universe to monitor the broadcasts., it was worth a try. That was a strange thing to comprehend in the first place, that the pair of mutants may be traipsing around another universes. Yet it was a distinct possibility.

Secondly, Adam and the rest of the team would head out for the planet Worak-nin, the location of Panur’s golden palace. At one time, he’d called the planet his home—if a five-thousand-year-old alien mutant genius could call any place home. But for some reason he’d gravitated to the planet and attempted to put down roots, even if the name he’d given it—Panurland—sounded more like an amusement park than his private sanctuary. Then the entire let’s attack the Sol-Kor universe thing came up, and Panur abandoned Worak-nin, at least for the time being. He may have returned, or at least left clues to another so-called ‘home.’ He had to be somewhere. It was obvious that he and Lila couldn’t spend all their time in the tiny, egg-shaped trans-dimensional starship Panur had built. Yet with the capabilities of the craft, that meant they could be anywhere—literally.

The Juirean bounty hunter Tidus offered to take everyone aboard his very expensive luxury starliner for the journey to the planet, yet none of the Humans would bite. Instead, they would take the Davion, rather than be at the mercy of the blue-haired renegade alien.

Needless to say, when Sherri returned from Hydra-3, it took a while to convince her that the quest was worth their time and expense.

“Bullshit,” she said for the umpteenth time. “Why do you trust that bastard Tidus? He’s only interested in the money.” Tidus was standing in the doorway to the common room, listening. He grinned at the mention of his name.

“And that’s why I believe him,” Copernicus replied. He’d taken the lead in the effort to convince Sherri, and the others were letting him.

“Why, because he believes there’s a fortune at the end of the rainbow?” Sherri countered. “That may be good—for him. But do you really trust him to keep his word about sharing the spoils? Really?”

“We can only do this with Panur and Lila’s help, and if he tries to double-cross us, then he’ll have them to answer to. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes if that happens.” Copernicus glanced at the alien, as if sending a message.

“Even still, it’s a wild goose chase with little chance of success. We could head out into the galaxy and never find the mutants. And then we’d have spent the last of our savings and run the Davion into the ground. You know, that ship is the only thing we have to flit around the galaxy in. The Colony Ship is too damn big for that. What happens if the Davion breaks down?” Sherri lifted a hand to stop Coop from responding. “Yeah, I know: You’ll fix it. Sorry, sweetheart, but that one’s getting old.”

Adam had had enough.

“Are you coming or not?” he snapped. “The rest of us are going. It would be nice if you would care to join us.”

“I know you don’t mean that.” Sherri glared at Adam, pouting.

“We do, really,” Coop offered.

Sherri shook her head. “Well, of course I’m in! There’s no way I’m going to let the rest of you do this on your own. You’d just fuck it up if I did.”

Adam gnashed his teeth. “Now that that’s settled…Coop, get what the two of you need aboard the Davion. The rest of us are already packed. We leave in an hour. The sooner we get to Worak-nin, the sooner we’ll know if Panur is there or not. Without the mutants, this mission goes nowhere. We may be back here and hunting down alien fugitives sooner than later if this is a dead end.”

The team scattered, desperate to get on with the mission. Before leaving the common room, Tidus looked at Adam and shook his head. Silly Humans, Adam could almost hear him thinking. Adam shrugged. He couldn’t fault the sentiment.

* * *

With the two extra power mods Arieel had brought—along with forty-eight thousand JC’s in cash—the Davion shot out from the Colony Ship, with Tidus’s luxury liner close behind. Before leaving, the Juirean offered to finance the operation, and Adam quickly accepted, taking some pressure off the mission. But having a few extra credits in reserve made him feel more secure, less dependent on the alien. Sherri was right; he didn’t trust Tidus, either. But he was the only link to Lo’ol’s mysterious sponsors, as feelers were put out across the galaxy using Tidus’s Priority Acquisitions contacts. Adam didn’t know if he’d found anything yet; if he had, he wasn’t telling. Yet on the other hand, Adam and Arieel were the only link to the mutants. All in all, it was a precarious symbiotic relationship, if not a friendly one.

Tidus’s ship was called the NT-4, since most aliens didn’t name their ships. It was designed to be piloted by a crew of two, with accommodations for ten comfortably. The Juirean was the only one aboard. He had to pilot the vessel himself, since he didn’t want a crew aboard to share in the bounty. That fact made Adam question whether or not Lo’ol had been set free, as the Juirean had said. He may be alive, but certainly not free. Tidus wouldn’t want him spreading news of the mission to others who might be interested.

Yes, there were things neither party was telling the other. Like the fact that Panur had a trans-dimensional starship capable of hopping between universes at a moment’s notice. Adam didn’t feel the information was pertinent. Without knowing which universe the prospector was in—and where exactly he was within that universe—then the abilities of the TD ship were moot. Besides, the sponsors were going to pay for the repair of their existing portal. Might as well take the money, even if the portal wasn’t absolutely necessary.

* * *

The journey from the Formilian system to Worak-nin would take sixteen days. Fortunately, the Humans—and Arieel—were used to sharing confined spaces for extended periods. And besides, the Davion was a KFV-A, which normally carried a crew of twenty-five. There were plenty of berthing compartments, even places to get away from the others, if necessary. All in all, the trip was uneventful, if not boring.

Kaylor and Jym had no luck contacting the mutants by the time the Earth-like world of Worak-nin came into view. Although Adam didn’t truly believe searching the golden palace would bear fruit, he was anxious to see if any of the opulent structure remained. If so, then it would be a good source of cash reserves for his fugitive recovery business. If Panur wasn’t going to use the building, it would be a shame to let all that wealth go to waste.

Adam was kicking himself for not considering this earlier. Now it was all he could think of. The potential for billions of credits from some unknown power source from another universe was one thing. The blocks of glimmering gold bullion on Worak-nin was a bird-in-the-hand. This was something in the here and now.

The Davion slipped out of orbit and made a direct approach to the grounds of the golden palace. Although there was a nearby spaceport used by the natives, Panur had laid out his compound to accommodate everything up to a Juirean Class-3 in size, yet only one of the large ships at a time. The Davion wasn’t nearly that big.

Now the team huddled before the forward viewport as Riyad brought the flying saucer in for a landing. That’s when their spirits fell.

It seemed that Panur abandoning the palace was an opportunity for the purple-skin natives to reclaim their natural wealth. As the Davion settled to the surface in a cloud of grey and white exhaust, the team noticed that the only thing remaining of the palace was the rough outline of the foundation. Even the low boundary wall of the compound—which had also been made of gold—was gone. There were still a few blocks lying around haphazardly, but not in the fabulous quantities they’d been expecting.

The barren scene also told them that Panur wasn’t here. If so, he would never have allowed the plunder to take place.

Tidus’s ship landed a few minutes later, and once the smoke had cleared, the team left their vessels to begin a slow, dejected stroll toward the skeleton of the once-magnificent building.

Coop picked up a stray gold block. It was heavy, even in the three-quarters-Earth gravity of Worak-nin. Although the metal still had value throughout the galaxy, it wasn’t anywhere near what it once had on Earth. There were too many planets and asteroids for any naturally-occurring metal or mineral to have exceptional value from its scarcity. At one time, the block Copernicus held would have been worth a million dollars or more on Earth. Now he was holding around a thousand Juirean credits in his hands.

“Listen up,” Adam said, getting everyone’s attention. “We didn’t come here to loot the palace, so this is no great setback. We came here looking for the mutants. It’s obvious they’re not here, so we need to go into town and ask around.”

He grimaced as he spoke. The last time he’d visited the nearby settlement, he’d made a mess of the place, pissed off at the death of his friend Andy Tobias and the kidnapping of Sherri and Arieel by the Juireans. He’d gone on his rampage not only for revenge, but also to instill in the natives a fear of the Humans. But that had been several years ago. Surely they’d forgotten about that by now?

“Perhaps some of us should collect what gold we can find.” Copernicus said. “There’s not a lot of it left, but it will come in handy.”

Adam looked around the stripped and near-barren field. “That’s fine. Just keep track of the weight. We don’t want to become overloaded.”

“If that happens, I don’t think we’d care too much,” said Coop with a wicked smile. Enough gold to overload the KFV-A would have to be substantial.

Adam surveyed the rest of the team. He spotted Arieel meandering through the ruins. If anyone could get the natives to reveal their secrets, it would be the seductive Formilian. She exuded a strong form of sexual pheromones designed to appeal to a variety of alien species. Perhaps the native Worak-nins would be susceptible.

He called her over and the pair began the short hike into the town, while the others stayed in the compound to collect their booty, what there was left of it.

Truthfully, Adam hadn’t really torn up the place; all he’d done was blow up a building and kill a native. But that was the city administrator, Lofis Crondillic. The purple politician admitted helping the Juireans track down and kill his friend. Then Adam turned to the crowd and told them they no longer had to fear the Juireans. Instead, they had a new threat: the Humans. After which, he shoved Lofis into a building and lobbed a grenade in after him. Adam was good at making statements.

The no-name town was much as he remembered. It was the largest city on the mostly-underdeveloped world, with its share of fossil-fuel vehicles filling the streets and a pleasant, peaceful vibe from the myriad of purple creatures going about their daily business. The planet wasn’t an important commercial or military hub within the Kidis Frontier, so the presence of aliens among them wasn’t that common, but not unheard of, either. Even still, word had spread of the two ships that recently landed at the abandoned palace grounds of their demi-god, Panur. Curiosity was on the faces of the natives as they watched the pair of outsiders move along the wide sidewalk fronting the main thoroughfare.

Arieel was a Prime, yet it was obvious she was of a different species from the male walking beside her. As Adam expected, she garnered most of the attention, from both native males and females alike. But then it happened: Someone recognized him. Anyone present during his last visit would have the image burned into their brains; that was his intention. Fingers now pointed and hushed conversation spread quickly along the street. A wide berth was given to the aliens.

Adam was heading for the central government building where the administrator lived and worked. It had been rebuilt after the explosion. Adam and Arieel climbed the short flight of stairs to the broad landing outside the entrance. Unlike the last time, when a throng of curious natives had followed him here, only a few of the bravest gathered in the courtyard below. An older native exited the building without being prompted, warned of Adam’s arrival by a phone call. a pair of armed guards were at his side. They were natives, holding menacing-looking Xan-fi rifles in their hands. Although the weapons were deadly, the scared looks on their purple faces betrayed the level of courage Adam was confronting.

“You are Adam Cain,” said the city official in an even tone. “I am Dinus Banollic, the Administrator. I pray you have not come here for a repeat of your last visit. That was both savage and uncalled for. And unlike my predecessor, I greet you prepared.”

Adam grinned, being careful to keep his teeth covered by his thin lips. He didn’t want any misunderstandings. “I did what I had to do to avenge the death of a friend. That was then. Now I come in peace, seeking only information.”

“What information?”

“Regarding Panur. Have you seen him recently?”

Dinus eyed Arieel, his eyes scanning her voluptuous figure. His mouth fell open slightly, unaware of the chemical reactions taking place in his brain and the strange attraction he felt toward the alien female. Although they were of completely different species, Dinus couldn’t help himself.

“Panur?” he said after a moment, the word finally registering in his consciousness. “The Master Being has not been here for quite a while.”

“Has he seen what you have done to his palace?” Arieel asked, her dark eyes sparkling with both seductiveness, as well as accusation.

Dinus blinked several times. “Yes…he has seen the recovery efforts. He was not upset, not as we expected. There was relief among the populous.”

“And when was this?” Adam prompted.

“A standard year ago, maybe longer.”

“Was Lila with him?” Arieel asked.

“Ah, yes, the Apex Being!”

Adam was shocked at the reference. Only the Aris referred to her in such terms. And since she had reigned over the Expansion for only a year, he doubted her reputation had made it all the way to Worak-nin, isolated as it was in the outer reaches of the Frontier.

“Apex Being?” Adam questioned.

“Yes, that is the term by which Panur referred her. For a being such as he to refer to the female in such a manner was an indicator of her importance and power. We bowed to her, just as we did to our Master.”

“Do you know where they are?” Adam followed up.

Dinus wobbled his head. “Perhaps; I have notes within my office. There have been references made. Please accompany me inside, I will be delighted to assist.” He waved off the guards.

Adam and Arieel shared an excited look. Progress, something he hadn’t expected. Enthusiastically, the pair entered the building…and were immediately hit with a cloud of light yellow gas originating from sources on their flanks.

Before he could react, Arieel tumbled into him, pushing Adam to the right and into another being wearing a facemask. Instinctively, Adam held his breath, but by then it was too late. But he wasn’t completely disabled, not yet. He threw up his right hand and caught a protruding chin with his palm. The head of the masked alien snapped back, creating a sharp pop as the neck snapped.

Adam, Arieel and the alien ended up in a pile together, with Adam struggling with his last ounce of awareness to pull the mask from the face of his dead attacker and place it over his. By the time he had it on, the lingering gas was inside and all he managed to do was inhale another large gulp.

Other figures moved in over him, visible only as grey ghosts through the fogged lens of the mask. They were phantoms, each with shining flat faces devoid of features. With his last conscious thought, Adam let out a mental scream through his ATD.

Riyad!

And then came the blackness…and the peace.

* * *

Wearing his own protective mask, Wonnel Mandor stepped over the pair of unconscious beings on the floor. He took a moment to regard his dead team member and then shrugged. “That was easier than anticipated,” he said. The other four members of his squad didn’t comment. Instead, they quickly lifted the inert aliens and removed them through a back door of the administration building.

Dinus Banollic had a mask over his face as well. Now he removed it as he entered the fresh air at the rear of the building.

“Please assure me the others are being equally subdued,” he pleaded to the husky, black-skinned alien with the thick leather garment on his torso and double MK-17’s strapped around his waist. “I do not wish revenge to befall my people…or myself. The Humans are known for such acts of retribution.”

“Their companions are currently being likewise overcome. The Cartel keeps its contracts. No misfortune will result from your treachery.”

“Treachery? It is not such. That would imply we once had a friendly relationship with the Humans. That is not so. We abhor them and their barbaric ways. Now take them away. We wish to be rid of their kind.”

The Gradis Cartel soldier grinned, partially revealing a jagged set of sharp, yellow teeth. “You have been handsomely compensated. In addition, the Cartel will now offer protection to your people from disparate threats, including the Humans. The fee conveyed to us periodically will be a small price to pay for the security we will provide. It is the same for many under our protective cover.”

Dinus swallowed hard at the hidden meaning. He knew the history of the Cartel in the Frontier. And even though they had paid him a small reward—hardly handsome—for assisting in the capture of Adam Cain and his partners, he understood the true price his people would pay would be long in fulfillment. Yet in light of the damage the Humans would impose if his—yes, treachery—was discovered, it was all he could do to assure the wellbeing of his people. The Humans were not to be crossed. But neither was the Gradis Cartel.

* * *

Unable to concentrate properly, Adam’s panicked mental call wasn’t directed exclusively at Riyad. Instead, he, Sherri and Copernicus each received the intense mental blast, stunned into frozen statues from the strength of the link.

When they recovered, each went into action, sensing the warning from their leader.

“Tidus!” Riyad called out. “Get back to your ship. Something’s wrong.”

The towering Juirean looked at the Humans, confused. They were making for whatever cover was available, drawing their weapons with lightning quick reactions, while also heading for the Klin saucer when they could.

“I do not—”

“Just do it! We’re under attack.”

“Attack?” He looked around at the pastural scene. There was no one else around except….

The surrounding forest suddenly came alive with a variety of strange creatures, all sprinting toward them with Xan-fi rifles flaring. Riyad dove behind a small wall around what had once been a fountain outside the palace. At one time it had been coated with gold, but no longer.

Flash bolts splashed against the barrier. From the color of the plasma, Riyad knew these were of minimal power, designed to stun, not to kill. He lifted his MK-17 and lined up on the closest attacker. Riyad wasn’t playing around; his bolt was set at level-1. The powerful blue bolt burned through the light armor center mass, dropping the alien in mid-stride. All around him, more brilliant flashes were lashing out from Sherri and Coop’s weapons.

Tidus finally got the message. He sprinted to the open hatch of his starship, before stopping and sending his own contribution of defensive flash bolts into the line of attackers. There were twenty or more, and they were dropping like flies under the unrelenting and accurate fire from the team, the Juirean included. Like the Humans, the blue-haired alien didn’t wait for the MK’s targeting computer to lock on before firing. Members of his race were excellent marksmen and he was proving his skill alongside the Humans.

And then they were outflanked, surrounded by another twenty or so alien troops emerging from the direction of the native town. Riyad could tell they weren’t natives; rather, they were a hodgepodge of a half dozen races. Some he recognized, knowing them to be accomplished warriors. Others he didn’t, but by their skill and movements, they would also be from predator species.

Sherri took a strong bolt to her back. She growled and rolled over, blasting the shooter as he moved in behind her. But then two more arrived, each sending the diffused energy bolts into her body. She collapsed into unconsciousness.

Both Riyad and Copernicus had also taken hits but had avoided follow ups. They closed on Sherri from opposite directions, draping their bodies over her for protection. At level-1 intensity, and with no back up power packs, their weapons soon fell silent. They watched with venomous eyes as the alien troops surrounded them.

Riyad glanced over at the NT-4. Tidus was under guard, his drained weapon being pulled from his hand as Xan-fi barrels were used to herd him toward the others.

Riyad tossed his weapon aside, as did Coop. Then he stood, his arms at his side. He knew the aliens didn’t intend to kill them; this was all part of the game. He looked past the sentries and quickly counted ten bodies lying still between here and the tree line. Sherri would recover from her injuries; that couldn’t be said for a fair number of the attackers.

Riyad flashed his trademark brilliant white smile at the nearest guard. The alien recoiled, before looking to his companions, unsure whether to respond to the death challenge or not? Riyad could see the conflict on the alien’s face. They were not to kill the prisoners, yet this one may have other ideas. How should he respond if Riyad attacked?

Riyad closed his mouth, yet letting the wide grin linger, stretching across his bearded face nearly from side to side.

“What now, my friend? Do we help bury your dead, or would that be adding insult to injury?”

A larger, barrel-chested alien pushed through the line of guards.

“We bury our own dead, Riyad Tarazi,” the huge being bellowed.

Riyad wasn’t surprised that the alien knew his name. This was a planned operation and stocked with an ample supply of fighters. By the varied make up of the races, he guessed them to be Cartel members. The Gradis was strong in the Kidis Frontier.

Riyad looked down at Sherri’s sleeping body. “Then let us tend to our wounded, while you tend to your dead. And by the way, that was fun. We’ll have to do it again…soon.”

This time when Riyad opened his mouth he bared his teeth in anything but a friendly expression. This was a death challenge, and one which he would be sure to fulfill.

Chapter 6

When Adam regained consciousness, he was shackled and encased in a small metal box barely the size of a coffin. His mind cleared quickly, providing a vivid memory of a light yellow haze filling his vision as he entered the government building, followed by a scuffle of some kind. It had obviously been an effective knock-out gas, working even on his enhanced metabolism. But if he recalled correctly, he got in a few licks before going under. That brought a grin to his face.

He tested the restraints. They were strong and adequate, causing him to conclude that the Worak-nin had not done this. The abduction had been carried out by someone else, someone who understood Humans and their abilities. And for obvious reasons. He suspected Arieel was similarly imprisoned, along with the rest of the team. They would not have taken only him and Arieel, leaving the others to come after them. The trap had to be all-encompassing for it to be effective.

He also wasn’t afraid. His captors were not going to kill them. They were to be used as Lo’ol had originally intended, as hostages to lure in the mutants. Asking what they expected to do after that extended the smile on Adam’s face. A pair of pissed off immortal mutant geniuses would be hard to tame. Adam figured he could just sit back and watch the show…or he could attempt an escape. He was almost tempted to go with the former. It would be fun to watch.

But that would not be true to his nature. Besides, he was curious who was stupid enough to take this tack in locating Panur and Lila?

He kicked up with his feet, sending a loud report throughout the metal box. “Hey! I’m awake,” he yelled. “How about a bathroom break? And a little food? You don’t want me to starve to death, now do you?”

A few minutes later, he heard the latches of his coffin snap open and the lid was lifted back. A black-skinned alien with yellow teeth and a nasty expression glared down at him.

“Soil yourself in here, if you must,” he growled. “And food will be provided. However, you have only been in the containment chamber for three hours. You are hardly in danger of starvation.”

“And who might you be?” Adam asked with obvious humor in his voice. The tone caught the alien off guard. He was expecting an angrier response.

“I am Wonnel Mandor.”

“Okay…and who do you work for, Wonnel Mandor, or are you independent?”

“I am in the service of the Gradis Cartel.”

“The Gradis! My old friend Frandon G’Bur! So he’s calling the shots?”

“You…you know Mon G’Bur?”

“Of course. We go way back. I even paid him a visit at his headquarters in Vansis about a year ago. How’s the skinny runt doing?”

The thick and powerful-looking alien struggled with the translation before finally settling on: “He, he is well,” for a response. The dark eyes of the alien were clouded with confusion.

“He is…at least for now,” Adam said. “But wait until Panur and Lila show up. He won’t be then. And neither will you.”

“I do not understand your threat. I was tasked only with apprehending you and the Formilian. Beyond that, I have no responsibility.”

“And the rest of my team, do you have them as well?”

“I do, although their capture was a more difficult affair. Apparently they reacted to our arrival in a swifter and more effective manner.”

Adam tensed. “Casualties?”

“Only among my forces. You are fortunate. As per instructions, none of your people were injured to any serious degree. Those who were will recover rapidly.”

Adam sighed. Riyad had received his warning, at least what there was of it. For his part, Adam felt foolish at being taken so easily. Being captured at the cost of only one dead alien was well below his quota. The body count was usually much higher. Or was it? Lo’ol had a pretty easy go of it, at least until Tidus and his people showed up. Perhaps Adam was losing his edge. Did this come from advancing age, or just his nonchalant attitude these days, an overconfidence in his abilities? He would have to be more diligent from now on.

“So what now, my friend?” he asked the still confused Cartel capo.

“You and the others are to be secured in a special facility until further notice.”

“On Navior? I’m sure Frandon would want to keep us close.”

“No,” Wonnel said, before quickly regretting the response. Frowning, he continued. “No, it is another location, a secret location. I will say nothing more.”

“That’s okay. You’ve told me enough already. Now I will take action.”

“What action? I must warn you—”

“I thought you said you’d say nothing more?”

“You…you know what I meant.”

“I’m afraid not. Would you care to elaborate?”

He didn’t. Instead, Wonnel slammed the lid shut on the box and secured the latches.

In the thick darkness, Adam Cain smiled—again.

Chapter 7

Adam and Arieel were transported to their secret prison in a starship separate from the rest of the team, still locked in the coffin-like containers. During the journey, the pair carried on a telepathic conversation through their ATD’s, with Adam doing his best to assure Arieel that everything would work out fine. The fiery Formilian wasn’t so much worried as she was mad. She had a temper, and it was reflected in the intensity of her thoughts and profanity in her comments. Granted, the profanity was expressed in Formilian terms, but Adam got the message.

Belying Wonnel Mandor’s previous declaration, Adam was allowed out of his metal box to relieve himself and for meals. But the shackles remained, along with a squad of watchful guards, even in the grooming station.

The trip from Worak-nin took six days, estimated from the number of meals he was given. This would place the prison world in the same vicinity as Navior, the planet where the Gradis Cartel maintained their headquarters and most-influential presence in the Kidis Frontier. Adam believed the Cartel lieutenant when he said they wouldn’t be held on Navior. But it could easily be on another planet in the system or that of a neighboring star.

Eventually, the ship shuddered to a landing on a light-gravity world and Adam’s coffin was transferred to a cart for transport into the prison.

Have you accessed the security cameras? Arieel asked through her ATD.

I have; I assume you have as well? Their brain-interface devices could not only override electronic control modules, but also tap into the computers for the facility, if one had the expertise to do so.

Yes. We are being moved into an underground chamber, a complex of tunnels. The atmosphere outside appears to be hostile.

This could be a moon or outer planet in the Naviorean system.

Adam kept switching his mental view to the next security camera along the route. Since this was to be a prison for Adam and his team, there was no shortage of surveillance, which gave him a running overview of the layout, including security checkpoints, guard barracks and more.

Eventually they arrived at their destination. It was a large room cut directly into the granite walls of the cavern. There was a single thick window/wall set across the front. Both Adam and Arieel’s containers were wheeled inside and then opened. They were allowed to climb out.

Wonnel was there, along with an abundance of well-armed guards. The weapons would be set to stun, since the Cartel needed them alive for their plan to work. The bulk of the guards stepped back while a single alien unfastened the shackles and took them from the room. Then the others left, including Wonnel. He stood outside the cell, grinning at them through the transparent wall as Adam and Arieel took a quick inventory of their surroundings. They’d already done this utilizing the myriad of cameras covering the chamber. But they had to keep up appearances.

“You must accept your situation,” Wonnel began solemnly. “Within the ceiling are various canisters of both incapacitating gas, as well as a freezing agent. I do not wish to kill you, yet I will send you into unconsciousness if you cause any disruption. The freezing agent is for the time when the mutants arrive, if they attempt a rescue. The chemical will assuredly be fatal for the two of you, yet we understand it will immobilize the immortals. That is a tradeoff we are willing to accept.”

“And the others?”

“They are being held in separate quarters, yet not as elaborate,” Wonnel answered. “You must understand they are expendable in the long-term. It is the two of you we must maintain, now and throughout the operation.”

“And afterwards?”

“I do not have that information. Frandon G’Bur will be arriving soon. You can ask him.” Wonnel scanned the clear barrier between him and the prisoners. “Now settle in. I am told we have no timetable for the arrival of the mutants, therefore the wait may be long. Enjoy your new home, Adam Cain and Arieel Bol. You may be here for quite some time.”

When he was gone, the glass wall suddenly turned opaque, blocking their view of the outside. Adam had seen glass like this before. It was designed to keep the pair from seeing what was happening outside. And it might have worked, if it wasn’t for their ATDs.

There are audio monitors as well, Arieel thought. I have detected six, in addition to the four cameras watching.

There were a pair of comfortable-looking beds in the room, along with two short couches, a table and two chairs. A basic grooming station was set to the rear with a privacy curtain. That was considerate of their captors, and very un-alien-like. Normally they wouldn’t have bothered with such amenities. A panel was cut in the solid rock of the side wall with a small ledge supported by brackets. This would be where the food and drink would be dispensed by the guards. There was no computer monitor for watching TV to pass the time. It was just he and the incredibly sexy Arieel Bol locked in the room. Adam could think of a way they could pass the time….

Your emotions betray you, Adam Cain, even as you try to hide your thoughts from me.

Adam didn’t protest. Instead he gave her a lecherous grin.

Even with Adam’s slightly-enhanced mental capabilities, Arieel was still infinitely more-proficient with her ATD than he was, able to do things with it Adam could only dream of. She’d had had her Gift since she was five. She didn’t remember the operation which placed the device under her skin; it had been more of a ceremony than a strict surgical procedure. And then she’d been trained in its use since then, its true function hidden within the mysticism of the Formilian religion. She was to be the next Speaker of the Formilian People, the Speaker with the Gods. Her supernatural abilities gave her access to the deities as only those of her lineage could claim. She couldn’t remember a time when the Gift from the Gods was not a part of her body, of her very existence. Its use was second nature to her by now.

We still have to carry on some normal conversation, Adam thought. Otherwise they may get suspicious.

Agreed.

Adam? A voice called out in his head.

Yeah, Sherri. Where are you?

Same place as you are, underground and locked away.

Is everyone okay?

We’re fine. They put me in a cell by myself. The same with Tidus. Riyad and Coop are bunking together.

Did you check out the layout on the way in? Can you give me your location?

Sorry, we’re not quite that good with the ATDs. We can locate locking mechanisms and such. But following power lines into computer terminals and then accessing security files, that’s a little above our paygrade.

Understood. Arieel and I will see if we can find you within the complex.

So what happens now?

I’m told Frandon will be here soon. I’ll know more then. Otherwise, we just sit around and wait for Panur and Lila to show up.

What if they don’t? Sherri’s thoughts conveyed her worry.

Then we’ll have to take matters into our own hands. We can manipulate the control modules, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get out of the cells. It’s just that we seem to be on a moon or planet with a nasty atmosphere, if any at all. We’ll need a way off this rock before we make a move. We’ll give it a little while before deciding on a plan. In the meantime, we’ll be collecting more intel and passing it along to you. Until then, kick back and enjoy your vacation.

Yeah, right. I told you this mission was a mistake. Need I say it?

Adam could hear the words form in Sherri’s mind: “Here’s another fine mess you’ve got me into,” although she didn’t consciously send the message. That was a problem with ATD communication. One had to be careful what one thought and felt. There weren’t too many secrets between mentally-connected participants.

* * *

Two meals later, the opaque nature of the outer wall suddenly disappeared, revealing a small throng of aliens standing outside. Adam and Arieel had watched the entourage make their way to the chamber through the security cameras. Still they acted surprised.

Frandon G’Bur, the red-lipped leader of the Gradis Cartel was looking at them, an amused grin on his face. He was tall and slender, yet hardly the imposing figure one would expect from the leader of the largest criminal organization in the galaxy. Although Adam had professed to know Frandon personally, he’d never actually met him. But he had heard a lot about him throughout the years from various sources, including Copernicus Smith, who had a long history with the alien crime boss. Frandon made his ascension to the highest levels of the organization through his skill at playing politics, rather than through brute strength and intimidation. He was a master strategist, and during his tenure, the Gradis was transforming into more of a mainstream business, diversifying into a variety of legitimate enterprises to supplement their illegal activities. But they were still a vast horde of gangsters, comprised of hundreds of alien species, as evidenced by the menagerie of creatures on the other side of the glass wall.

“Adam Cain…at last we meet.”

The greeting was warm and welcoming, although the last time they had been this close, Adam was tearing into his headquarters on Navior in an attempt to rescue Sherri and Coop from his clutches. Adam smiled. If he had to count the number of pissed off aliens he’d left in his wake over the past twenty years…well, it would be a very big number. Frandon was just one of them.

The crime boss eyed the vivacious Arieel Bol.

“It is an honor to meet you in person, Speaker Bol,” he said, bowing slightly. “Your reputation precedes you, and as I can now see, is richly deserved. I apologize for the harshness of your detainment, but it was necessary.”

“Speaking of that,” Adam said. “How did you get involved in this whole affair in the first place? I thought it had been an exclusive contract with Lo’ol?”

“Nothing is ever exclusive, at least not from the Cartel’s point of view. Such a lucrative opportunity could not be kept secret for long.”

“Do you really expect Panur and Lila to help you? All you’ll do is piss them off.”

“I agree. The mutants are not creatures to be trifled with. I am taking an incredible risk, yet the potential reward appears to be worth it, as least on the surface.”

Adam shook his head. “It seems you’re risking a lot on a gamble. I didn’t think that was how you operated. Maybe your predecessors, but not you.”

“If that is a form of compliment, I thank you.”

“It would be, if you weren’t acting so incredibly stupid right now,” Adam said, shaking his head again. There was no humor in his tone. He was serious.

Frandon stretched his red lips into a wide grin. “Please, Mr. Cain, give me the credit I deserve. The new Gradis Cartel does not do much these days without careful consideration and planning. I realize the danger the mutants pose, as well as the logistics involved. I not only need to attract them, but I have to convince them that their cooperation is beyond question, not only in the short-term, but until fruition. I must therefore keep you and Speaker Bol under constant threat until the mutants have done what is expected of them.”

“And then what?” Arieel asked. She stood close to the wall, a savage stare burning into Frandon. “You may get them to do your bidding, but whether you kill us or set us free, you will forever have them to contend with. Your gain may be short-lived in that case.”

Frandon considered Arieel for a moment. She had her hands on her hips and her chest thrown out in defiance. Adam was sure the cell had a self-contained atmosphere, so there should be no way Arieel’s potent pheromones should be able to affect the crime lord. But he still appeared to be enamored with her.

“I will deal with that reality at the time,” he said after a moment. “Yet in the present, I can assure you I have thought of every eventuality. We have extensive data on the mutants, including a complete—and confidential—dossier on their weaknesses. Many before us have found ways to subdue them, if only temporarily. I seek a more permanent outcome and have planned for it. I do not care to go into details. That would not be prudent.” He turned his attention back to Adam. “But I have confidence in the precautions we have taken. I will get them to open the portal to the lost universe, and I will claim the prize. And where you may have been seeking only a share in the wealth, the Cartel does not share. We will take it all, and when we do, we will become the greatest power in the galaxy, far beyond even that of the Expansion. So as you see, there is much at stake. I will spare no expense to bring the plan to fruition.”

“Just another stinking alien with delusions of grandeur,” Adam said. “If you only knew how many times I’ve heard that same speech.”

Frandon laughed. “A standard year ago you stole from me the opportunity to gain the greatest weapon in the galaxy. And here we are again. But unlike you, I learn from my mistakes. I study my adversary. And I plan ahead. Play your games with me if you wish, Adam Cain, but I will succeed…and I will survive to enjoy my spoils. I have not underestimated you, and I will not underestimate the mutants. They will come, they will do my bidding, and then I will lead the Gradis Cartel to the pinnacles of power in the galaxy. It is a foregone conclusion.”

Adam smiled. “And once again, you prove my point.”

Frandon didn’t flinch. Instead he grinned at Adam, nodded at Arieel, and then led his entourage away. The wall turned opaque a moment later.

Adam’s smile vanished. This was not good. Frandon was right; the mutants did have weaknesses; everyone did. Adam knew some of them, and he was now sure Frandon did as well. The Cartel boss was confident in his plan. What made Adam less confident in his: Frandon’s could actually succeed.

Chapter 8

Copernicus! Adam thought.

A moment later the link was formed with Coop’s mind.

Damn, man! Why so intense?

How well do you know Frandon?

Good enough to worry.

That’s what I was afraid of. The rest of you, listen up. Adam made the mental effort to connect with his team telepathically. There’s a possibility Frandon’s plan can work. Whether true or not, we can’t take the risk. We need to get out of here on our own.

Arieel came and sat on the bed next to him. To an outside observer it would appear to be affection on her part. I have scanned beyond the bounds of the complex, she told the team mentally. Our ships have been moved here, including the Juirean’s.

Adam reached out with his awareness. He confirmed her thoughts. The two starships were in power-down mode, cold and without atmosphere. Each of them could activate the systems remotely, so that wasn’t a problem. What it did confirm is that they would have a way off the planet if they could escape.

Can you trace the door circuits to your cells? he asked the others. Tidus’s as well.

You want us to free him, too? Sherri asked

He’s the only one with a line to Lo’ol’s sponsors.

We already have the circuits ID’d. It won’t be a problem getting out.

Good. There’s a main tunnel running to a pressure chamber. He’d already located where the other members of his team were being held. They were about a hundred yards from his cell. Just as we make our move, Arieel will disable the security cameras. That will still set off the alarms. We’ll do our best to isolate the bulk of the guards behind locked doors and keep them from following. You’ll get to the airlock first. Don’t wait for us. Head to the ships and get them ready. We’ll be right behind. Remember, Frandon doesn’t want us killed, but that doesn’t mean his troops have gotten the message loud and clear. Anything could happen in the heat of battle. Disarm every flash weapon you detect.

Roger that, thought Riyad through the mental link. When do we go?

Give it a minute. Arieel just went in the bathroom. I’ll let you know when she’s ready.

* * *

When all the security cameras went dark throughout the complex, it didn’t take a genius—alien or otherwise—to realize something was up. Alarms sounded and armed guards ran for their emergency posts, with several dispatched to check on the prisoners.

Tidus had been resting on his bed, bored and barely able to keep his eyes open. He’d been locked away by himself and in the two days since they’d arrived, he hadn’t spoken with anyone, not even the guards. They fed him, but otherwise he was a non-entity.

But when the alarms sounded, he snapped into action. Which meant he sat up on the too-small bed and looked around the tiny room.

Then the door slid open and Riyad appeared, with Sherri and Copernicus anxiously waiting in the anteroom.

“Grab your gear; we’re leaving,” Riyad called to the bewildered Juirean.

“How…where?” Tidus asked, although he was already on the move. Everything he had with him he was wearing, including his shoes.

“Follow us.”

In the hallway, the three Humans and one Juirean raced down a narrow corridor cut through the rock. At a point, they met a small squad of guards made up of a variety of races. They leveled their flash weapons at the team. Tidus ducked for cover; however, the brazen Humans continued their headlong rush toward the guards, plowing into them a moment later. The Cartel members were perplexed, looking at their faulty weapons with disbelief. With Human strength and quickness, the five guards were laid out on the cold, moist floor from a flurry of fists and kicks. Sherri even squealed once with joy.

Tidus regained his feet and hurried after the others. He stepped around the unconscious pile of sentries, careful not to slip on the small pool of blood already gathering around the bodies.

“Hurry up, Tidus,” Sherri called out. “Or we’ll leave you behind.”

The tall alien quickened his pace.

* * *

Adam could sympathize with the guards he and Arieel met. Most soldiers rely heavily upon their weapons in a time of battle. And when those weapons fail to function for no good reason, most other concerns fade away, at least for the briefest of moments. Adam landed a solid right cross to the head of the nearest guard, who didn’t see it coming as he was looking at his quiet flash weapon instead. Adam did most of the fighting along the way, even as Arieel would occasionally throw a shoulder into a confused guard. All this did was tee the alien up for a hit from the Human.

Adam was disappointed when the pair reached the inner airlock door to the complex. It had been a while since he’d felt the joy of his fists meeting pliable alien flesh. He didn’t want it to end.

The door opened and the pair rushed inside, closing the pressure barrier behind them. The chamber was crowded. The rest of the team was there, too.

“Get the damn thing cycling!” Adam ordered.

“We’ve tried,” Sherri yelled back. “It won’t open.”

Then a loud click came through the inner door.

Adam turned and attempted to open it. It wouldn’t budge. He scanned the locking mechanism with his ATD. The circuits were off; it should be free to open.

“Predictable,” said an echoing voice through hidden speakers. It was Frandon G’Bur. “Do not attempt to open the doors. I have placed mechanical locks on them, avoiding the electronic controls you can apparently manipulate.” The voice laughed. “I spent many a standard hour surveying the recordings from when my friend Copernicus and Sherri Valentine stole back the dark matter collector and escaped from the top of my headquarters. I do not know how, but you were able to disarm my guards and negate the electronics within the room. I figured you would try something like that here. Hence, the mechanical devices.”

“Can’t blame us for trying,” Copernicus said to the phantom presence of his old associate.

“I cannot blame you, but I do not have to tolerate such action either. You have killed six of my crew and injured several others. And since you have the ability to turn flash weapons into useless plastic, I cannot even have my guards escort you back to your cells. Instead, I will have to apply the gas and then have you carried to your chambers, after which the same mechanical locks will be placed on the doors. You frighten me,” Frandon continued. “Not only the doors and weapons, but the security systems of the complex. I will have to learn the secrets of these feats. Until then, reflect on the situation you are in. I anticipated your actions and found an effective counter. It will be the same with the mutants…when they arrive.”

“How do you even know they will show up?” Arieel barked out.

“I am aware of the efforts taking place aboard your Klin Colony Ship, your attempts to contact them. I have similarly begun extensive efforts, using the vast network of the Gradis Cartel and our affiliates. If the mutants are within the galaxy, they will learn of your capture and even the location.”

“They’ll know it’s a trap,” Adam said.

“Of course. Yet they are Panur and Lila Bol. Their arrogance will overcome any caution. Now, prepare yourselves. I am applying the gas….”

* * *

Well hell, Adam thought. That didn’t work.

He and Arieel were back in their cell. They’d tested the door circuits and found them deactivated, but still the panel wouldn’t budge. What good is having control over electronic equipment when the enemy was using what were essentially Master locks on everything?

This also added credence to Adam’s belief that Frandon might be able to force the mutants to work for him. And afterwards? Both Panur and Lila were immortal, which meant they couldn’t die. But they could be subdued, frozen and then locked away forever. Or thrown into a star, to forever regenerate to keep from turning to ash. But then they’d be preoccupied for the foreseeable future. Frandon could achieve his goal, and then make the mutants a non-issue, at least for the remainder of his natural life.

“Adam, I am worried,” Arieel said aloud. It didn’t make much sense to keep their personal conversations hidden any longer. Frandon was in charge, and he knew it. Let the prisoners whine about their situation all they want. It wouldn’t make a difference.

“All we can hope for now is that Panur and Lila are off in some distant universe and won’t show up…ever,” Adam said.

That didn’t help. He noticed Arieel shiver. That would mean she’d never see her daughter—their daughter—again, even if that was the only thing that could save her life. Still, it was hard for Arieel to accept.

* * *

What followed were two weeks of depressing monotony. None of the team members gave up completely; it was just that they were out of ideas. Unless the Cartel guards made some kind of mistake, there was no opportunity for the team to act. And the sentries had been warned about too much—or any—interaction with the prisoners. The opaque window remained a barrier to the outside world. During those fourteen days, they neither saw nor heard another creature, just the occasional appearance of their meals at the small portal in the rock wall.

Adam had just finished a vigorous workout, something he did quite often these days to pass the time. Arieel was genetically pre-disposed to a perfect figure, so she didn’t bother. Instead, she and Sherri spent hours speaking through their ATDs. About what, Adam couldn’t imagine. But she was also doing something constructive, helping all of them learn how to use their interface devices better. Even Coop was coming around. It may all be for naught, but it did occupy their minds.

And then the inevitable happened.

It began with a slight twinge in Adam’s mind. Arieel was alerted at the same time, sitting up on the bed, her eyes wide.

Stay cool, Adam warned mentally. The Cartel may not know they’re here.

They already know, Arieel said.

Hello, father.

Adam was stunned by the intense emotions he felt at the moment Lila made mental contact with him. This was more than a basic link, something that went beyond the fact that she was an immortal mutant of incredible power. This was his daughter; she was part of him and he a part of her.

Lila had the unique ability to communicate with ATD-equipped entities, even though she did not possess one herself. It was simply a matter of syncing with the signal, she told them when her talent became known. Easy for her, but even Panur wasn’t able to do it.

It’s a trap, Lila, Arieel called out. Please stay away.

We cannot, and knowing it is a trap will give us the advantage. Please trust in me, mother.

I worry for you.

Adam could sense the laugh in Lila’s mind.

Worry not. We are quite capable. I have located you within the complex. Panur and I will be there soon.

The contact broke. Adam had no idea how far away the mutants were, having no idea as to the range of Lila’s telepathic abilities. Even so, he sensed they were close. There would be no need to make contact this soon if they were still days away. Lila had alerted them for a reason.

Heads up, Adam called out to the others. Lila and Panur are coming. Whatever’s going to happen, we won’t have to wait much longer.

* * *

An hour later alarms sounded once again in the underground complex. But unlike before, no guards came running. The security cameras were working again and Adam and Arieel scanned the various views for any appearance of the mutants.

An external view showed the glowing egg-shape of Panur’s trans-dimensional starship as it set down on the level ground outside the main airlock to the base. Dust swirled in what Adam could now tell was a thin atmosphere. Upon landing, the bright white egg split apart at a centerline and the two familiar figures exited the vehicle. No matter what the atmosphere consisted of, it didn’t affect the them. Their systems didn’t rely on breathable air to survive, although their bodies went through the motions as if they did. They approached the security door and it opened for them in perfect timing to their stride.

It was eerie watching their progress. No opposition showed itself. In Adam’s opinion, it would have made more sense to at least put up the pretense of resistance. Opening the doors and letting the mutants just waltz in was too obvious. It was not as if they would be allowed to free the prisoners without so much as a “Hey, stop!”

When they reached the outer room to Adam and Arieel’s cell, the opaque screen blinked off and the four of them were standing only inches apart, separated by the thick, plastic-infused glass wall.

“I wish you had not come,” Arieel said. There was no feeling of joyous homecoming shared between mother and daughter.

The four-foot tall, grey-skinned Panur eyed Adam with a thin grin on his featureless face. “I see you are doing well.” He surveyed the glass, running his hand along the smooth surface.

“They have knock-out gas and a freezing agent in the ceiling here, in case you may want to break us out. I don’t think that would be a wise decision.”

“As you are probably aware, Lila maintains a psychic link with her mother; however, I do not believe that feature extends to you. So I would recommended that if you are to continue getting yourself in trouble like this, you should remain close to Arieel.”

“Very funny, as usual.”

“Now, which of you would care to tell us what this is all about?” Panur asked. “The galaxy is abuzz with news of your capture. It was obvious someone wanted us to know.”

“It was I who put out the message,” said a voice through overhead speakers.

“And who are you?”

“I am Frandon G’Bur, the current administrator of the Gradis Cartel.”

“Then I recommend you free my friends immediately,” Panur said ominously. “If you do, I may choose to forgive your actions.”

“I am afraid that will not happen, at least not right away. However, their final disposition will be greatly influence by the decisions you make over the next few minutes.”

Lila looked at the nearest security camera. “You do know who we are?”

“Of course; there are few in the galaxy who do not.”

“Then you know you are putting yourself at great jeopardy with your actions. This is my mother and father. I will not be as forgiving as Panur if any harm should come to them.”

“As I said, that will be up to you.”

“What is it you want?”

“Your help.”

“Our help?” Panur questioned. “In what way?”

“I would be happy to explain…in due time.”

An intense spray of white liquid shot from the ceiling and burst up from the floor outside the cell. Arieel fell against the glass, and then quickly recoiled from the intense cold transferring through the material. The cloud obscured Adam’s view, filling the outer room in its freezing rain. Wisps of gas remained for a few minutes before dissipating on their own. By then, workers in protective gear had entered the anteroom, several armed with additional canisters of the freezing agent, nozzles aimed at the now inert pair of mutants.

Lila and Panur were white with a coating of frost, and their clothing clung to their bodies like straight jackets. The workers wheeled in two large metal containers that split open on the sides. The Cartel soldiers lifted the frozen bodies from the floor and placed them upright in the containers before closing them, leaving only their heads protruding from a round opening on top. Then control panels on the boxes were activated and lights lit up.

Only at that time did Frandon G’Bur reveal himself. He walked up to the two silver boxes, nodding slightly as he surveyed the culmination of this phase of his plan.

“How are you going to get them to work for you when you have them locked in those containers?” Adam asked.

“This is only a precaution,” Frandon answered. “An opportunity for me to provide a full explanation of the situation without them reacting prematurely. Once they see the futility in resisting, then I will release them, or more correctly, one of them. It is my understanding that Panur is quite capable of fixing the trans-dimensional portal on his own. Having Lila with me will provide even more incentive for him to complete his task.”

“You just keep digging the hole deeper and deeper, don’t you, asshole?”

Frandon frowned. “I do not understand the comment.”

“It means you’re getting yourself into more and more trouble,” Adam explained. “Panur and Lila are the two most powerful beings in the galaxy, and you keep making them madder. You may think you have all the answers, but it’s what you can’t think of that’s going to come back and bite you.”

Frandon stepped up to the glass. “You seem to not realize, but I am a fairly intelligent creature myself. I welcome the challenge, the challenge of subduing these powerful beings and making them do as I wish. This adds excitement to my life. It is the ultimate contest against the ultimate opponents. And then when I include you Humans in the equation, it becomes even more challenging. Just think, in one operation I will have beaten all of you. It is a stimulating experience, and one I do not regret. And the fear I have…that only inspires me more.”

Adam didn’t have much to say after that. Taunting the alien would only give him more of a thrill. And reminding him of the danger, well that was like sex to him.

Frandon turned back to the silver boxes. Panur and Lila’s frozen heads were steaming now as they slowly thawed. Adam could see what the Cartel boss was doing. The bodies would remain in a near-frozen state within the containers and able to be refrozen at a moment’s notice. From past experience, Adam knew the mutants were still conscious within their frozen shells and at some point they would regain the ability to speak. That would be when Frandon would explain the task Panur was to accomplish if he was to save his friends and Lila.

For an alien—as well as a mere mortal—Frandon G’Bur did seem to be holding all the cards.

Chapter 9

Frandon left the chamber as the mutants thawed. He left the containers outside the cell and the wall transparent, allowing Arieel to be tortured by the spectacle of the frozen head of her daughter projecting from the box. Lila’s static features made her look dead, and Adam had to keep reminding Arieel that she wasn’t.

He communicated with the rest of the team to give them the bad news. Although no one said it, this made their status that much more precarious. It would be Adam and Arieel—and now Lila—who would force Panur to work for the Cartel. The others were more of a nusance.

Panur was the first to thaw out. Adam thought it strange to think in those terms, but he’d seen the mutant go through the process before. Now he twisted his head around until his eyes fell upon Lila’s frozen features. He glared hard at her, his round black orbs unblinking, his thin mouth unmoving.

“She’s all right,” Adam offered.

“I know,” said Panur softly. “It is the manner in which she’s being treated that pisses me off so much.”

Panur was a five-thousand-year-old mutant genius who was very familiar with Humans and their manner of speech. Although a lot of species criticized the way Humans spoke, many had adopted some of their more colorful phrases. Panur was no exception.

“I will ask you, Adam, what does this Frandon G’Bur want with us?”

“He wants you to repair a TD-portal and then go rescue some prospector who’s been trapped in another universe.”

Now the mutant blinked. He may have already come up with a thousand scenarios for why this was happening, but this seemed to catch him off guard.

“And they seek to force me to do this? Would it have been easier just to ask?”

“Yeah, no shit,” said Adam. “This whole thing seems a lot more complicated than it had to be.”

“Mother!” Lila called out. All eyes turned to her as Arieel rushed to the window.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.” Lila moved her head, surveying what she could see of her tiny prison and then to Panur. “Strange, yet effective.”

“I agree.” Panur twisted his head toward Adam again. “Our captor will soon return, after which we’ll get the full skinny. What do you know of him?”

“Not much, just that he runs the Gradis Cartel and he’s more of the chief executive type than a head-basher.”

“Why is this prospector so important to him?”

Adam noticed a movement from the side of the room outside the cell. Frandon had been monitoring the thawing process and was now returning.

“I’ll let him explain,” Adam said.

* * *

It was an odd scene when the heads of the mutants rotated to watch Frandon walk up to their shiny metal prisons. Adam got the impression only their heads swiveled and not their frozen bodies. With Panur and Lila, that was possible.

“You know you cannot hold us indefinitely,” Lila informed the Cartel boss.

“That is not my intention. Eventually your utility to me will be over.”

“And then you will dispose of us in a manner designed to keep us incapacitated until well after your life has expired.”

Panur smiled at the conclusion of Lila’s statement. “And it will be my singular focus to make sure your expiration date is sooner rather than later,” he added.

“Please, Mr. Panur, threatening bombast is beyond your intellect.”

“It’s simply Panur. Mister is not necessary.”

“Very well.” Frandon sighed while looking around the room and through the transparent wall of the cell. “Let me explain your task. There is a race of beings who have built a trans-dimensional portal. One of their species entered it and traveled to a parallel universe where he discovered a new source of incredible energy that is both unlimited and stable. Now the portal has ceased to function, trapping their member in this other universe. This new form of energy is supposedly based within the realm of dark matter, or dark energy more correctly. Unfortunately, such technical data is outside my area of expertise, yet I am sure with your advanced intellect, you understand this more than I.”

“A stable form of dark energy?” Panur asked. “That doesn’t make sense. Energy is energy. Electricity is stable and able to be utilized. Yet it can also power weapons, and in a plasma state, is the basis of bolt launcher operation. Nuclear power is stable, when controlled. It can also be made to be unstable. Therefore your statement is nonsensical. It depends on the use of the energy source which determines whether it is safe or not.”

Frandon waved off the argument. “That matters not. Of course nearly anything can be turned to evil. In the instance of the dark matter collector I momentarily had in my possession recently, the Aris used the energy in a variety of ways, including as a food source. Yet it could also be used as an explosive weapon. This new material is rumored to be even greater in utility, able to revolutionize travel and communications not only across the galaxy but opening up multiple galaxies for our exploration and domination. To be in on the ground floor of a dramatic shift in the economics of the galaxy will bring incredible power to the Gradis. This is what we seek. Yet to accomplish this, the TD portal to this lost universe must be repaired, or adjusted, or whatever it will take to make it work again. That is why you have been called. You, Panur, have the expertise to make that happen.”

“And why did you not simply ask for my assistance?”

“That would have been easier, if we knew where you were,” Frandon admitted. “And even if we did, I am sure you would not have done so voluntarily if you knew the intentions of the Cartel.” He snickered. “Yet this strategy was not mine originally. I simply appropriated that of another. Knowing that you would come to the rescue of Arieel Bol and Adam Cain, it seemed a logical alternative to place them in jeopardy and then await your arrival.”

“That does make sense,” Lila agreed. “Yet did you consider the repercussions?”

“I did, and hence the precautions I have taken.” Frandon waved a hand at the containment boxes. “I would have preferred another tact, but I am now committed. I fear that even if you agreed to help me voluntarily at this stage, it would be only a ruse to gain your freedom. Therefore, I must continue with my original plan.”

“Where is this portal you need fixed?” Panur asked.

Frandon grimaced. “That is an issue. I do not know.”

“What!” Adam cried out from behind the glass wall. “You’ve gone through all this and you don’t even know who’s paying the bills?”

“Your Juirean friend Tidus Ne Landon is holding that information ransom. He has the creature Lo’ol hidden away. Lo’ol knows.”

Dammit! This is just what Adam suspected. And Lo’ol was still holding out. If not, then Tidus would have disposed of him long ago.

“And when do you expect to have this information?” Panur asked. “Time is wasting. If you want me to fix the portal, we need to know where it is.”

“I have summoned the Juirean here. When he arrives, you can ask him yourself. Maybe you can be more persuasive.”

“I can if you let me out of here.” Panur’s grin was met with a mirror image from Frandon.

A shackled and guarded Tidus arrived a minute later, looking aghast at the scene before him. He didn’t have an ATD, leaving him in the dark with regards to the goings on beyond the team’s brief attempt to escape. Now he recognized the heads of Panur and Lila sticking through the metal boxes. Adam didn’t need a mental link with the Juirean to read his thoughts: Frandon did it. He captured the mutants!

Frandon walked up to the taller alien, who was now sporting the massive mane of blue hair rising above his forehead and cascading down his back. Adam had only seen him wearing the non-traditional ponytail. He wondered if Tidus had done this to intimidate Frandon. If he had, it wasn’t working.

“It is now time for the reveal,” announced the leader of the Gradis Cartel. “Who is it that seeks the mutants for the task?”

“I do not know, not yet,” Tidus said, his eyes shifting around the room. “Lo’ol has not revealed them to me.”

“He is lying,” Lila said with confidence.

“I am not!” said Tidus to the mutant. He had a look of terror on his face, something rarely seen in a Juirean. Their emotions were normally held closely in check. But this was Lila who was now scrutinizing his every move, breath and twitch of his green-tinted face. His eyes averted hers.

“Yes…he knows. He has always known.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Adam asked.

“It did not matter, not until the mutants were located. Information is best when revealed only when needed.”

“Which is now,” Panur said.

Tidus looked into the gray face of the mutant. “I do not fear you, not in your current state.” His body language betrayed his words.

Frandon nodded and two of the guards placed Xan-fi rifle barrels to either side of Tidus’s head. “But you should fear me.”

“If you kill me, you will never know.”

“That is incorrect. The sponsors wish only for the repair of their portal. Once the news circulates that I have Panur and Lila Bol, they will approach me. Your death will only cause a brief delay. I am already preparing the broadcast. I will give you only a few more heartbeats to reveal what you know.”

Frandon stepped back from the Juirean, so as to not get blood on his clothing should it become necessary to give the order to shoot.

“Olypon! It is the Olypon you seek.”

“Why do I know that name?” Adam asked.

“They are the sister race within the Kracori system,” Panur said, tapping into his incredible memory. Although the Kracori war was before his time in the Milky Way, he had studied its history upon arriving.

“That’s not helping,” Adam said. “I know there were two habitable worlds in the system, but beyond that, not much more.”

“The Klin maintained a large base on the planet for centuries from which they monitored their Kracori allies on the neighboring world of Elision,” Panur began. “It is located within the Dysion Void of the Juddle Nebula. When the forces of the Expansion and Earth invaded the region in the final battle of the Juirean-Human War, the Klin on the planet evacuated to their fleet of Colony Ships. Very few escaped the slaughter. The planet Elision was subsequently ravaged by nuclear weapons, essentially exterminating the Kracori race. Since that time, mention of the planet of Olypon has been rare. Until now. Apparently they have the technological know-how to build trans-dimensional portals—if not repair them. This is something of which I was unaware.”

“The knowledge must have come from the Klin,” Lila offered. “In light of their long-term occupation of Olypon, this adds credence to what the Juirean says. The Klin built the trans-dimensional array that Panur first detected within the Milky Way galaxy. The Klin did have the technology, and now so do the Olypon.”

“Thank you, Tidus,” said Frandon, smiling. “You saved me a little time and effort. I will now contact the Olypon and negotiate the next phase of the operation.” He turned to the grey head of Panur resting on top of his metal prison. “You will come with me. The others—including Lila Bol—will remain here until the completion of your assignment.”

“You are not bringing Lila with us?” The statement was as cold as the ice holding his frozen body in place.

“She is not necessary. You have the expertise on your own to repair the portal. She will provide you with more incentive to accomplish your task, and without resistance. Otherwise, I will cast her into the nearest star, along with Arieel Bol, Adam Cain and all the others.” Frandon waved his hand again in dismissal. “Yet that is a worst-case scenario. Simply do the job and then we will discuss a mutually-beneficial resolution to our association.”

“Would this resolution have anything to do with me hovering over your dismembered body and laughing?” Panur asked with a wicked grin.

“I sincerely hope not,” said Frandon, unafraid. “And it is comments like that which could make our negotiations exceedingly difficult. But first things first.” He turned to the guards watching Tidus.

A look of terror came to the Juirean’s face. He lifted his hands high into the air in a sign of surrender. “Do not do this! I succumb. I will cause no problems…in fact I will join you, join the Cartel. I have extensive contacts throughout the Expansion which could be beneficial.”

As he spoke, Tidus buried his hands into his great mane of blue hair, as if in an effort to pull it from his roots. Yet when he removed his hands, they held not masses of hair, but two small laser pistols.

Crossing his hands in front of his face, each weapon fired, hitting the two armed guards in their heads. Then he swept the small, yet effective guns at the other two sentries in the room. His next shot was at a fleeing Frandon G’Bur. The Cartel leader had been unarmed—he wasn’t the type to carry a weapon.

With the room temporarily clear of the enemy, Tidus dialed down one of his guns and aimed the bright red laser beam at the latches holding Panur’s containment chamber together. He pulled the halves apart. A flood of thick, white frost poured to the floor. Tidus jumped back to avoid the super-cooled liquid. Panur’s body tumbled to the floor, everything below his head frozen stiff.

Seeing the incapacitated mutant, Tidus panicked. He’d been expecting Panur to help. Now instead, he did the same to Lila’s chamber, hoping that being free of the freezing liquid would help them thaw quicker.

“The flash rifle,” Lila said. “Take one from a guard and shoot me with it.”

“What?” Tidus said.

“Just do it,” Adam, Arieel and Panur all shouted in unison.

Shocked into action, Tidus bent down and grabbed one of the discarded weapons. He dialed it to full power and aimed it point blank at the body of the frozen female mutant. He fired.

“Again!” Lila ordered.

Tidus fired, then fired again.

The brilliant flash bolts were absorbed into Lila’s body, causing her skin to glow under the now burnt away clothing on her torso. The white radiance continued to spread as Tidus fed more energy into the mutant. Within a few seconds, the light had spread to her extremities. Lila stood up. Tidus shifted his aim and kept firing in a panic, until Lila reached out casually and ripped the Xan-fi from the Juirean’s hands.

“Arieel,” said Panur, who was still lying on the floor in wisps of ephemeral gas. “Locate the controls for the freezing agent Frandon has in the ceiling and floor. We cannot have him reactivating the agent.”

“I have the controls. Any second. There.”

“Thank you.”

Lila walked shakenly to Panur and lifted the smaller mutant, holding him close to her now-naked form, letting the radiant heat from her body enter his.

Guards entered from both sides of the room, weapons at the ready. They fired on the mutants. Both stood their ground, absorbing the blue balls of plasma with almost erotic pleasure on their faces. It took only a moment for the Cartel members to see the futility in their actions. The mutants didn’t bother chasing after the fleeing guards.

Only the mutants and Tidus remained in the room outside Adam and Arieel’s cell. After a moment, Panur was able to walk on his own. He went to the mechanical lock on the door to the cell. His glowing hand melted the device, allowing the securing chain to fall to the stone floor. He backed away as Adam and Arieel passed through the portal. They joined Tidus at a far side of the room, away from the intense heat emanating from Panur and Lila.

“How long will this last?” Tidus asked, a look of shock and awe on his angular face.

“A couple of hours,” Adam answered. Then he looked up at the tall Juirean. “That was pretty slick, that whole thing with the laser pistols. Where the hell did you get them?”

“I have always had them hidden within my glory. I suspected there may be others on the quest for the mutants. It seemed to be a logical precaution.”

Adam reached up and placed a hand on the alien’s shoulder. “Great job. I guess you’ve earned your membership card.”

“I am now a member of your team—officially?” It was rare to see a Juirean smile, a full-tooth grin that wasn’t a death challenge. The corners of Tidus’s mouth twitched, telling Adam he wasn’t used to the expression.

“Provisional, yet official,” Adam said, displaying a thin grin of his own.

Arieel and Lila were now facing each other, yet at a safe distance. They desperately wanted to rush into each other’s arms, but that would have to wait.

Adam took up one of the fallen Xan-fi rifles on the floor. “Come with me,” he said to Tidus. “Let’s go free the others.”

“What of Frandon?” Tidus asked.

Adam looked at the angelic face of his daughter. The glow of her skin had dimmed, but not much. “I wouldn’t worry about him,” Adam replied. “He’s going to have to answer to Lila for what he did to Arieel. I definitely would not want to be in his shoes…not now, not ever.”

* * *

By the time the mutants had cooled, Frandon and his lieutenants were off the planet and racing for Navior. Lila did state her desire to follow him. Panur resisted, but eventually gave in. She could take their small TD ship, while he went with Adam and the team in the Davion and Tidus’s NT-4. They made her promise not to spend too much time exacting her vengeance. Then she was to meet up with the rest of the team at Olypon.

Panur was mad as well, yet in his case, with the Olypon. They had set the entire affair in motion, although Tidus assured him they had not set the conditions for the reward. All they wanted were the mutants to help. Others—chief among them the Z’inif Lo’ol—had brought Adam and Arieel into it, figuring that was the only way to attract Panur and Lila.

In the end, the strategy worked, to the benefit of some, the detriment of others.

“So you will become rich through this adventure?” Panur asked as he lounged with the team in the common room. Riyad was at the controls of the Klin KFV-A. Tidus was trailing behind in the NT-4.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Adam said. “But after what you said about energy sources, I’m not so sure anymore.”

“There’s no harm in checking, right?” Coop added quickly. He still believed there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, even if the pot was in another universe.

“I am willing to look at the portal, if it is as the Juirean says, that the Olypon had nothing to do with your kidnapping and subsequent threats upon your lives.”

“But even if so, wouldn’t it be fitting if we made all the money and the Olypon got screwed. It would serve them right.”

“Relax, Coop,” Adam said. “We’re on our way to Olypon. We’ll see if their story checks out, and then decide at that point if we’re willing to go any farther.”

Panur was shaking his head. “I find the story of the dark energy source to be questionable, although I admit to having little background in the subject.”

“You…little background?” Sherri asked incredulously.

“As I have said many times, knowledge is not absorbed organically. Even I have to be exposed to learn. My genius lies in the fact that I have lived for five thousand years. During that time, I have been exposed to a lot. Of course, I know of dark matter and dark energy, and I am able to correlate information better than the most-advanced computers. It’s just that even with the technological level of the galaxy at this point, very little is known or understood on the subject. The data is very thin. Also, it was only recently that we learned the Aris service modules are powered by dark energy. Zee—Lila’s pet orb—informed us of this when the subject came up after the affair at the Aris station. The ancient beings used the elusive energy to power their civilization, as well as to maintain their bodies. In a distant past, they may have considered dark matter as a weapon, but not as they evolved. They harnessed the hidden energy of the universe—all universes—and failed to destroy themselves with it.”

“I couldn’t say the same about us,” Adam remarked. “Even though the potential of the dark matter collector was phenomenal, the most anyone wanted to do with it was to build weapons. I’m not so sure we could handle even a benign version of the material.”

“Which is my quandary, Adam. For it to be truly benign, it would lose any of its potential as an energy source. That is another reason I am willing to pursue this adventure. I am curious if what has been said is true.”

Chapter 10

The large moon with the underground prison was indeed within the same star system as the planet Navior, where the main base of the Gradis Cartel was located. As a consequence, it took only forty minutes before the crime boss was landing on a private pad to the rear of his pyramid-shaped headquarters after escaping from the rampaging mutants.

During the brief journey he’d already set emergency procedures in motion. Databanks were being transferred to backup servers on distant planets, and hardcopy records were being incinerated. As a criminal organization, the Cartel was quite familiar with how easy it was to infiltrate security and data records. Therefore, their systems were some of the most-secure in the galaxy, with protocols designed to thwart any determined effort to learn the secrets of the Gradis.

As he rushed into the building—and through hordes of frenetic workers preparing for the inevitable evacuation—Frandon understood this situation was different. This wasn’t a government or military assault on his organization, one bent on acquiring evidence against the Cartel. This was mutants out for revenge. They didn’t care about locating and preserving evidence. All they wanted was their ounce of blood—his blood—for what he had done.

Yet Frandon was still out to preserve his galaxy-wide organization, while also retaining his seat at the top.

“There are two bandor-fangs at the Vansis animal exhibit,” he barked out to one of the members of his entourage. “Have them brought to the grounds and prepared for release.” The huge beasts were formidable, yet he held no confidence they could stop the mutants. But maybe they could slow them down.

“And arm as many of the guards with ballistic weapons as we have.” He had witnessed how Panur and Lila reacted to flash weapons. He didn’t know if metal slugs would make a difference, but he already knew plasma bolts only made them stronger.

“And clear all the crews from the ships in the spaceport and bring them here,” he further ordered. “Surround the building.” He had upwards of ten thousand Cartel members on the grounds at any given time. It was an incredible amount of fodder to throw at the mutants. All he needed was a little time, just enough to gather his emergency kit and then he’d be gone, slipping away in the confusion of the impending attack.

He entered the central elevator and rode the car to the hundredth floor, the very pinnacle of the building. He rushed into his private quarters, pointing to objects which his trailing assistants snatched up. Then he entered the vault. Forty-two million Juirean credits in negotiable chips were placed into six containers.

“Put everything in the pod. I will be along shortly.”

“Frandon!” one of his crew cried out. “A vessel approaches. It is the glowing ship of the mutants.”

Frandon rushed to the wide balcony encircling the top dome of the pyramid. A white streak zipped across the sky and settled onto an area of grass about two hundred yards from the front entrance. Frandon’s race have excellent eyesight, so he was able to see as the glowing egg-shaped craft split open and a figure emerged. But only one. It was Lila Bol.

Frandon realized immediately what was happening. Panur had gone with the others to Olypon, while Lila—the daughter of Arieel Bol and Adam Cain—had come alone, seeking retribution for his afront against her parents. He didn’t feel any relief in knowing only one mutant was here. But what he did know: If any of his precautions allowed for the momentary capture of the mutant, he would not hesitate this time. He would cast her first into the cold of space, and then later into the nuclear fires of the Naviorian star. He had learned his lesson regarding the folly of containing the mutants. He hoped he would live long enough to reflect on his lesson.

* * *

Before leaving the prison moon, Lila had borrowed an outfit from Sherri for modesty. During battle she always ended up naked, either from having her clothes burned off as her body absorbed energy from flash weapons, or from having it shredded by ballistics. What she wore now was a simple white blouse and jeans. Unfortunately, there wouldn’t be anything to return to Sherri afterwards.

There were mobs of Cartel soldiers between her and the expansive entrance to the building. More defenders were arriving on her left, carried from the spaceport in huge trucks. Without awaiting orders, those at the front of the building opened fire on the solitary figure slowly walking toward them.

Lila was only moderately surprised when she was hit with hundreds of bullets, rather than flash bolts. They tore into her clothing, and as predicted, a moment later she was naked.

Although a mutant, Lila was still half Formilian and half Human, and consisted of flesh and blood. What made her unique was her cell’s ability to spontaneously regenerate. They also retained a genetic memory of all she knew, as well as an individual blueprint of her body down to the atomic level.

So the bullets didn’t ricochet off her body. Instead, they entered her flesh, yet were immediately cast out as damaged cells were instantly replaced. She was being hit with so many rounds that her skin lost any definition, appearing to vibrate instead. A veil of shiny objects surrounded her as well, created by the thousands of metal slugs falling from her body.

A moment later, she began to take on a few flash bolts, fired mainly from the soldiers arriving from the spaceport and not carrying ballistic weapons as a rule. This was a different sensation for the mutant. Unlike the bullets, she drew the white-hot energy into her body and kept it there, feeling a surge of power and wellbeing. She welcomed this raw energy, and now weapons intended to kill her were feeding her strength and endurance.

Lila also had the ability to collect and use concentrated static electricity in the atmosphere, using it as conduits for her other mutant talents. Now she channeled some of the intense heat accumulated within her body down her arms and along these ribbons of electricity. The strings reached out a hundred feet or more from her fingertips, white hot with two-thousand degree temperatures.

Lila whipped the ribbons around, leaving glowing swirls of ionized atmosphere. She sent them into the cluster of soldiers to her left, those from the spaceport. Hundreds were simply sliced in half, along with their transports and nearby trees and other structures. Then she brought the ribbons to bear on the troops outside the building entrance. Hundreds died here, before the gunfire came to a stop and panic set in.

Then something odd happened.

Lila found herself hoisted into the air on a thick, off-white spike of ivory protruding from her chest. It tapered to a sharp point about ten feet away. She was impelled on the tip of a long horn, one of two projecting from the snout of a hairy beast.

Another huge animal moved into Lila’s line of sight, jostling with the other for possession of the tiny scrap of food the first one had stabbed. Lila’s beast spun away, attempting to keep the prize for itself. The second, thirty-foot tall animal growled and slammed a huge head into the side of the other.

Lila wasn’t hurt. Instinctively, her body had created another set of organs away from the damaged area and then formed an outer coating of skin around the wound. Then Lila willed the opening to expand, loosening the horn’s hold on her body.

She slid off, only to land on the long snout of the other animal.

Using incredibly quick micro adjustments to her balance, Lila stood solid on the nose, failing to be thrown off as the huge head swung from side to side. It was if she was glued to the beast. She then reeled back her right arm—and concentrating a glowing ball of hot energy on her fist—slammed her hand into a man-size yellow eye.

The creature howled out in pain, rearing back on its haunches before surging forward and burying its face into the shattered concrete of the area outside the headquarters.

When it lifted its mighty head again, Lila allowed the momentum to carry her upward, where she jumped, performing a leisurely back flip in the air. She straightened out and placed her arms out in front of her, aiming down, diving for the exposed head of the first beast. She energized her fists with white-hot heat again, moments before burning through the thick skin and bone of the beast’s skull.

She sank deep into the body, disappearing from view while dropping through brain, sinew and guts. The creature toppled over dead before she reached the bottom. Lila pressed forward with her glowing hands, pulling away scorched flesh before ripping open a section of skin and emerging back into the light of Navior.

The other beast was still reeling from the pain in its blind eye. Lila called up another long ribbon of charged static electricity and whipped a line across the neck of the animal. The intense heat sliced cleanly through the flesh, separating the head from the body.

Upset at the delay caused by the attack from the animals, Lila made for the entrance to Frandon’s headquarters. Defenders remained, most engrossed in the battle between the mutant and the two huge beasts. When the contest came to an abrupt end in Lila’s favor, many lost the will to fight and turned to run. Lila continued to whip the cords of white-hot heat at them, killing dozens more before they could get out of range.

Then Lila cancelled the heat and sent a thick wall of concentrated air at the glass entrance doors. The front of the building blew inward, sending a shock wave of air and shattered glass into the vast foyer. More defenders died before Lila stepped across the threshold.

Now she used thick blocks of compressed air to send people and furniture crashing into the interior walls. The building was made of a hundred or more polyurethane balls, all stacked on top of each other. The first floor contained the most balls, with each successive floor having fewer, until only one ball made up the top of the pyramidal structure. Although the foam had hardened to an incredibly tough material, each ball was lightweight on its own. To counter this, a thick cable ran from the top of the structure, through its center and anchored into the foundation. Five other cables tied into the lower sides, with various other supports linking the cables together.

Lila could see one of the side cables exposed through a shattered section of the first floor. She moved to it. Drawing as much energy into her body as she could, she wrapped her arms around the cable. A few of the more intrepid defenders took this opportunity to lay more flash bolts into her, which only helped. A moment later, the cable was red-hot.

Lila stepped back and wrapped a ribbon of glowing static electricity around the cable. When she pulled, it snapped.

Losing integrity in the upper floors, dozens of huge balls crashed through one another, ending in a smoky pile of rubble where Lila had once stood. There was relative quiet in the building. The gunfire had stopped, and only the sound of falling debris could be heard. Then came a crack, followed by more tumbling debris. Lila lifted herself through a hole in the top bubble, her body still glowing white hot.

The brave defenders beginning to move cautiously toward the pile now turned and fled. It seemed nothing could kill the glowing mutant. It was time to leave.

Lila climbed over until she was at the central cable for the hundred-story building, the one reaching all the way to the top. She repeated what she had done with the first cable, yet when this one snapped, two-thirds of the building either fell inward or rolled away, with some even carried along with the wind to the open fields to the north.

This time, it took a while for Lila to make her way to the top of the rubble pile, yet when she did she stood tall and looked out on the shattered remains of the Gradis Cartel’s main building. It was nearing dusk, and dozens of starships in the spaceport were lifting off and bolting for space, their hulls catching the last glistening light of day.

Lila began to speak, using the vibrating static electricity she could control to project her clear voice out ten miles or more around the building.

“I am Lila Bol,” her words rang out over the land. “I have just destroyed the Gradis Cartel. You may say this is but one building, that the Gradis is much larger than a single structure. But I meant what I said. The Gradis is no more, no matter where it is located. The destruction of this building was only a symbol. Anyone choosing to remain affiliated with the Gradis will be hunted down and killed. You may laugh and say it is a large galaxy, how can she possibly backup her words. It is because I am immortal. There is no deadline to my vengeance. Even if it takes generations, I will hunt you down and all your descendants. You know I can. You know I will. But all you need do is disavow your loyalty to the Cartel and you shall live. And as for Frandon G’Bur, the despicable creature who brought this upon you, I sense he has survived. Now I demand his death. I will not pay you for this deed. There will be no reward. You will do this because I command it. Bring his body to me here. You have one hour.”

* * *

The broadcast was recorded and transmitted to Frandon’s ship, which was bolting for the outer reaches of the Naviorian system. Frandon nervously looked around the bridge. These were his closest allies, his lieutenants who occupied the highest levels within the Gradis Cartel. They owed everything to the organization…and to Frandon.

All eyes were upon him.

“I have forty-eight million credits with me. They are yours. And when we get to D’lo, there is another five hundred million.” His voice trembled, both from fear and anger. “Do not believe the rantings of the mutant. She is but one being. We are the Gradis Cartel! We are the largest, most powerful organization of our kind in the galaxy. We need not fear Lila Bol.”

Zam Cass, the second-in-command of the Cartel, stared unblinking at Frandon. “You are right, Brandon. Once the Gradis was the largest, the most-powerful,” he said. “Yet because of you….” He glanced to the others on the bridge. “Preserve the body. We will need it to show the mutant.”

Chapter 11

Stellar nebulae are beautiful to behold yet dangerous to traverse, and the Juddle Nebula offered both traits in spades. It was a large conglomeration of gas and debris, the remnants of hundreds of huge stars that had lived and then died in massive explosions. Now the remains were in the process of reforming, becoming a stellar incubator for new suns and new worlds. But in its present state, it was one of the most hostile environments in the galaxy.

What set the nebula apart from so many others was the existence of a huge void area within its thickest region. This was the Dysion Void, and it had been rarely visited even before the most-intrepid explorers decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Yet it was this isolation that made the Void the perfect location for a hidden Klin base to flourish. Not only that, but the silver-skinned aliens had found the perfect partner for their conquest of the galaxy. They were the leather-skinned Kracori, inhabitants of the planet Elision, a world existing deep within the Void. Elision was a heavy-gravity world, similar to Earth, and the Kracori had many of the same traits as the Humans. Yet unlike the independent-minded creatures from Earth, the Kracori were more unified and regimented. So when the Klin offered to share rule of the galaxy with them, they jumped at the chance. Over the centuries of the Klin-Kracori alliance, the natives bought into the idea even more, making it their singular racial identity. However, the Kracori were not as patient as the Klin, and after eight hundred years of waiting, they were on the verge of revolt when the Human-Juirean War finally began, setting the Klin plan in motion.

Unfortunately—for the Kracori anyway—they never fulfilled their dream of galactic domination, even after betraying the Klin. Instead, they became pariahs, scorned, shamed and hunted like animals. Only the unknown location of their homeworld saved them.

That was until Riyad Tarazi tracked them down.

But that was history now. The current news dealt with Elision’s sister world, a planet called Olypon. It was from here the Klin maintained a major presence while cultivating the Kracori warriors on the neighboring world. It had gravity the Klin could tolerate, a compliant indigenous species and was only eight million miles from Elision. Since the Olypon of the time hadn’t participated in any of the shenanigans of the Kracori or the Klin, they were mostly forgotten after the Battle of the Dysion Void, although for a brief period after the battle, the Void did become the center of the universe, if only as a curiosity. Routes were opened to the Void and tourists traveled there to gawk at the area where the last major battle between the Juireans, Humans, Klin and Kracori had taken place. But the fame was fleeting. Now Olypon was more destitute and isolated than ever.

The Davion arrived at the planet Tel’oran and set about making arrangements for an excursion into the core of the nebula. Ships couldn’t freely enter the maelstrom; it required skilled guides, often at the head of long caravans of starships, hopping between the few habitable planets of the Juddle, and mainly aligned along the outer rim. Adam was hoping there would still be a few guides around who would take them in. The race that resided within the Void wasn’t dangerous—they never had been. But the road getting there was a bitch.

Surprisingly, it only took a couple of inquiries to find several natives willing to make the journey. The Juddle was suffering, and any credits the Tel’orans could earn were welcomed. So after stocking up on a few supplies, the Davion set off into the nebula, following a small guide ship leading the way.

Lila had left Navior and was on her way to rendezvous with the team, having settled the Cartel problem, hopefully once and for all.

Panur assured Arieel that her daughter could safely find them, even in the turmoil of the Juddle Nebula. His egg-shaped starship didn’t travel by conventional means. Instead it jumped between dimensions and simply appeared at spots. She could track the Davion and would meet up with the team before they reached Olypon.

Adam, Riyad and Copernicus traded off piloting duties, which required relief every two hours thanks to the intense concentration needed during the journey. The path was indeed harrowing. But the guides were good, if a little rusty. Things change quickly in a nebula such as the Juddle, and charts from even a year ago were dangerously out of date. But the guides knew these waters and understood the subtleties of the stellar tides. After only a few dead ends and backtracks, the Davion arrived at the only opening into the Void, the Volseen Corridor.

Adam, Riyad and Sherri had been here before, Riyad during his search for the elusive Kracori, and Adam and Sherri when they came to rescue him. That was a while ago and was a memory most wished to forget.

They paid the guides and sent them on their way. If everything went well with the Olypon, they’d let the natives lead them out the next time, and hopefully a hell of a lot wealthier than they were going in.

* * *

To Arieel’s relief, Lila was waiting for them on the other side of the Corridor. They moved the glowing egg into the Davion, and once it cooled, Lila stepped out.

There was an emotional reunion between mother and daughter, even though they’d been apart for only sixteen days. Once things settled down, Lila told the story of the final hours of Frandon G’Bur and his subsequent demise.

She slipped a small plastic box across the table to Arieel. “I brought you a gift, a reminder of this episode which should bring you closure.”

Curious what it could be, Arieel pulled the box to her and removed the lid. She screamed.

“Lila, how foul!”

Lila frowned. “I do not understand?” she said. “Are you not pleased with your gift?”

“I am sorry, but no. This is…disgusting.”

The rest of the team stood and moved to hover over Arieel’s shoulder, looking into the box. It was the bloody severed hand of Frandon G’Bur.

Adam smiled; at least he assumed it was Frandon’s. He placed a calming hand on Arieel’s shoulder.

“It’s the thought that counts.” He placed the lid back on the box and removed it from the table.

“Have I offended you, mother?” asked Arieel’s genius—yet naïve—daughter.

“No, you have not offended me. Yet your gift—although well-intentioned—is, well, sickening.”

Lila nodded. “I believe I now understand your reaction. It is not the fact that it is Frandon’s hand, but the form in which it was presented. Perhaps I should have had it cleaned and mounted first. Would you like that better?”

“If I must have the gift, then that would be more acceptable.”

“Very well, then that is what I will do.”

Lila quickly put the episode aside, her expression changing to a look of mild anger, her eyes locked on Tidus. She didn’t say anything at first, letting the Juirean squirm, while the team wondered what was going on.

“I also obtained some very interesting information from the surviving leaders of the Cartel,” she began, her eyes still locked on the Juirean. “It appears Frandon received an anonymous message regarding the parameters of the task and the credits being offered. It was from this message that he launched his campaign to capture my parents.”

“We expected that,” Adam said. “I’m surprised the Olypon didn’t broadcast it across the galaxy.”

“But they did not. As we’ve been told, the assignment was of a private nature, given exclusively to Lo’ol. Yet this message provided detailed information, not only of the need for someone to repair the TD portal, but also about the wealth that was to be found in this lost universe, including references to the dark matter source. However, what I found most interesting: It also contained a strategy for achieving the objective of the assignment…namely the abduction of you and Arieel to attract Panur and myself.”

All eyes were now on Tidus.

“You don’t say?” said Adam. “Now I wonder who would have had all that information, not only about the prospector and the dark matter power source, but also about the connection between Arieel, me and Lila?”

“Would you care to revise your statement?” Sherri asked the Juirean in her best imitation of a cagy police detective.

Tidus tried to grin. “It all worked out in the end, did it not?”

“You bastard!” Copernicus yelled.

“There was no danger, not really,” Tidus said in his defense.

“Maybe not for Adam and Arieel, but for the rest of us. We were just baggage.”

“But there was danger, and for Lila and Panur as well,” Arieel pointed out. “They were cast in ice.”

“I say we toss him out the airlock,” Coop said. “Let him get a taste of what it feels like to become a popsicle.”

Arieel and Tidus looked at him, frowning. They had no idea what a popsicle was.

Adam stepped into the debate. “Why, Tidus? Why did you go through all this trouble? You were taking a really big risk.”

“Do you not believe it was worthwhile? An unimaginable fortune…for all of us. Yet I truly believed that only voluntary cooperation by Lila and Panur would work. Whoever forced their appearance would pay a terrible price, and I was right.”

“And you wanted to cover your ass,” Adam stated.

“I say we abandon this folly and return to Formil immediately,” Arieel announced. “We cannot work for beings with such devious intentions.”

“Eh, let’s…let’s not go overboard,” Coop stammered. He may be against the Juirean, but he wasn’t against getting rich.

“I agree,” said Tidus, his comment eliciting a series of head jerks in his direction. “You cannot blame the Olypon. They knew nothing of the strategy.”

“I know, it was all Lo’ol’s idea,” Adam said. “But now that we’re here, I’m wondering why the hell we need you at all?” He held up his hand. “And no, we’re not going to toss him out the airlock. We’ll leave him on Olypon. He may be a backstabbing bastard but I can’t see what laws he’s broken.”

“Hasn’t broken any laws? He conspired with Frandon to kidnap us,” Sherri stated emphatically.

“Is that right?” Adam asked the Juirean.

He shook his head. “I did not. All I did was send a message…anonymously. Frandon had no idea it came from me.”

“I don’t care if he’s broken laws or not,” Coop said. “It’s not right that we keep him around to share in our bounty.”

“I think that’s a given,” Riyad said. “He’s out of the deal.”

“That you cannot do,” Tidus stated defiantly.

“And why is that?” Adam asked.

“Because I hold the contract.”

Adam shook his head, along with just about everyone else in the room. “What does that mean? How can you hold the contract? The contract to what?”

Tidus surveyed the faces in the room. “I suppose now would be a good time for the truth.”

“Ya think!” Sherri said.

He smiled sheepishly at the fired up blonde. “I shall admit; it has been me all along. I received the initial contact from the Olypon while still with PA.” He raised his hand to stop the wave of questions being shouted at him. “Please, let me explain. The Olypon needed the mutants to repair their trans-dimensional portal array, and what better organization to contact when seeking elusive beings than Priority Acquisitions? They innocently—and naively—told me more than they should have, information beyond the scope of a trace-assignment, including about the prospector and the power source within the lost universe. It was I who saw the potential and decided to act.”

“And you never told PA.” Adam stated the fact.

The Juirean smirked. “No, I did not. Instead, I prepared my resignation while devising a plan.”

“What does Lo’ol have to do with it?” Riyad asked.

“I required a diversion, someone from which I could supposedly acquire privileged information. I offered him a substantial reward—through an intermediary—for his capture of you, Adam.”

“And Frandon?”

“I needed the Cartel to handle Panur and Lila. I had neither the expertise nor the resources to do so, and even if I had, I believed only the voluntary assistance of the mutants would work in the long-term. I respect their power and intelligence. I was not foolish enough to put myself in the line-of-fire, as you say.” The Juirean smiled. “And the plan worked! We are now all here, and on the cusp of riches beyond imagination. And no one has died.”

“Not yet,” said Coop, menacingly.

“That still doesn’t explain about this contract,” Adam said.

“It is I who hold the recovery contract, as well negotiating rights to any subsequent share of the wealth from this new energy source. The details remain to be settled; there wasn’t much cause if the mutants could not be located.”

Copernicus smiled. “I think he’d be willing to sign over his rights…when he’s dangling out the back of the ship.”

“You could also give me an hour with him,” Panur said. He had been enjoying the discussion. Now he wanted to have some fun. “I will get him to assign the rights. I will not harm him, yet he will wish he was dead.”

The Juirean’s mouth fell open, staring at the small grey mutant. Panur had lived for five thousand years. He’d survived the Sol-Kor, the Nuoreans and the wrath of the Milky Way. He had powers and skills, and absolutely no moral compass, as far as Tidus could tell.

“Let me finish my job,” the Juirean pleaded. “I shall negotiate the terms—incredibly beneficial terms—for all of us. If I cannot, then you can do with me what you wish.”

Adam frowned. “You sure you want those terms? If this is an example of your negotiating skills, I say we get this over with here and now.”

“Please, Adam, let me do this. I am very good at what I do.”

“Backstabbing?” Sherri remarked.

“Negotiating.”

“Fine,” Adam said. “You already have a relationship with the Olypon. But this had better be a sweet deal…or we’ll let Panur play with your brain for a while. I’ve been there, and trust me, it ain’t pleasant.”

Chapter 12

An Olypon escort met them a few hours later and guided the ship into the Kyrils star system. Although Adam had been there before, he didn’t recognize any landmarks. Star systems are big places with a lot of open space. One pretty much looks like the other.

He’d never visited Olypon while fighting the Kracori…and the Juireans…and the Klin within the Void several years back. Now he discovered why.

There was a strange dynamic existing in the system. Both Elision and Olypon shared more-or-less the same orbit, yet on opposite sides of Kyrils. The inhabitants knew of the other, since their orbits weren’t in perfect opposition. But what this did was place them pretty far from each other. At the time the Klin arrived in the Void, neither species had space travel. Most of their technological advancement came over the centuries of Klin presence and training, requiring the silver-skinned aliens to mold two semi-primitive species into useful surrogates. When the Klin abandoned the Olypon with the arrival of the various fleets in the Dysion Void, the population was left in the lurch. But now this foray into a parallel universe was their one and only chance to become a major player within the galaxy.

The planet wasn’t bad looking, a glimmering ball of blue, white and brown, your typical Earth-like world. The Davion was guided to a pitiful excuse for a spaceport near what they learned was the capital of the planet. If that was the case…then damn! It was a shithole if ever there was one. But Adam wasn’t being judgmental, just accurate.

The Olypon themselves were caricatures, wannabe clones of the Klin. Although their skin was much darker, they had adopted the Klin’s shiny silver clothing and regal manner. This was understandable after eight hundred years of Klin occupation and influence. But they couldn’t quite pull it off. Whereas the Klin were straight-backed and refined in form, the Olypon were chunkier, hump-backed and frumpy.

Even so, the natives were Adam’s gateway to untold riches, so he would treat them with respect, at least to their faces…their round, plump faces.

Upon landing, the team was taken to the stately government headquarters building—stately by Olypon standards—and introduced around. The Olypon were boiling over with excitement and eager to please. Nothing was too good for their distinguished guests. The very best the planet had to offer was theirs for the asking. The problem, no one asked for anything. They even elected to stay aboard the Davion rather than in an Olypon mansion.

On the second day, Tidus called for a negotiating session with the high officials. Adam and the others tried to follow, but Tidus insisted he go alone. The team discussed the situation through their ATDs.

After a moment, Tidus frowned and cocked his head. “You are doing that mental communication thing again, are you not?”

“Okay,” Adam said, breaking the minor trance among the team. “You go in there and kick some alien ass.” He smiled as Tidus fought through the translation. “Just do your best.”

The Juirean disappeared behind closed doors.

The team returned to the Davion to await the outcome, both anxious and nervous.

Three hours later, Tidus returned, barely able to contain his excitement.

“I am the best negotiator in the galaxy!” he announced.

“What did you get?” Copernicus asked before anyone else.

“You will be proud of me. I am even proud of myself—”

“Get on with it, Tidus!” Adam prompted.

The Juirean produced a small data chip. He walked to a station and inserted the device into the computer. The screen filled with writing.

“It’s in Olypon,” Adam said. “I can’t read Olypon.”

“I can,” said Panur.

“As can I,” Lila added. “This is a Letter of Intent, spelling out the general terms of the agreement.”

“What does it say?” Adam asked.

Tidus rushed to answer, wanting to be the one to reveal the details, and not the mutants. “For bringing Panur and Lila to the planet, I am to receive a million credits.”

“You get a million credits—for tricking the mutants and nearly getting the rest of us killed?” Sherri snapped.

“Wait, there is more,” said Tidus.

Panur scanned the screen. “It says he is to share the fee with the Andus Affiliation.”

“What the hell is the Andus Affiliation?” Riyad asked.

“It is the organization we will form to consolidate our operations,” Tidus said with pride. “I named it after the planet in the Formilian system around which your Colony Ship orbits.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” Adam said. “What else?”

“For the repair of the array, Panur and Lila will receive six million credits to spend as they wish.”

“A villa in the south of France,” Panur suggested, smiling. The mutant knew a lot about the Earth, so Adam wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not.

“And with regards to the dark matter energy source….” Tidus was absolutely giddy. “Andus Affiliation will receive sixty-five percent of gross receipts, and the Olypon will do all recovery, transport, refining and distribution of the material.”

Sherri shook her head. “Wait…the Olypon will do all that for a thirty-five percent split? I don’t believe it.”

“It is true! Please remember, they are negotiating for an entire planet. They see increased travel to Olypon, more trade, more notoriety, all ancillary gains which will greatly improve their economy and impact all citizens.”

“What he says is true,” said Lila. She and Panur had already scanned the file and memorized every alien word.

“We do nothing…and make sixty-five percent?” Copernicus said, dumbfounded.

“I said I was the best negotiator in the galaxy. Are you now glad that you did not toss me out of an airlock?”

Coop laughed. “I guess so. But that would have been fun too.”

* * *

The Olypon wanted to fly the team out to the TD array that day, but Tidus told them no, not until the contract was fully executed and uploaded to the document section of the Library. The final agreement went into excruciating detail with every contingency, process, and penny accounted for. It was a huge file. The mutants scanned and memorized the document in five seconds, which was as fast as the computer could display the files. Afterwards, they declared it to be sound and true to the original Letter of Intent.

The team celebrated. They were rich. All they—Panur—had to do now was get the portal working again.

Chapter 13

The next day, the team flew to the planet of Mon-Sim, a Mars-size world farther out from Elision and Olypon within the Kyrils star system, where the trans-dimensional array had been built. As always, Adam insisted on bringing his own starship and the Olypon agreed. Even Tidus joined them aboard the Davion for the short trip, leaving the NT-4 on Olypon. Secretly, Adam would have liked a ride in the luxury starship. But he had to be patient. If things worked out right, he could buy a hundred luxury starships—with just a day’s profit.

The Klin flying saucer landed at a small field adjacent to the main control building, joining another three saucers of Olypon origin. For eight hundred years the Klin had been a part of their culture, so all of their spacecraft were either old Klin vessels or new ones built to the same specifications.

The Olypon obsession with the Klin also carried over to their design of the trans-dimensional array. Adam found it frighteningly familiar, with three huge towers reaching into the pale pink hue of the Mon-Sim sky, along with a main control facility nestled between a pair of generator buildings. This was a TD array designed to open a rip in space large enough for spaceships to transit. Panur had designed smaller portals that were room-size, but they could only accommodate a single person at a time.

A rigid umbilical tunnel snaked out from the control center and connected with the main hatch of the KFV on the lowered pedestal, allowing the passengers to transition to the building without requiring spacesuits. Once inside, Adam was disappointed at the lack of activity taking place.

“We have been greatly depressed recently,” said their guide, a native scientist named Sindus Bin Kal Mion, one of the leaders of the array project. “The efforts to reconnect to our missing explorers have been so fruitless that many have stopped trying. I am glad you have arrived and can now correct the operation of the machine.”

“I’ll take a look at it,” Panur said, “but I’m not making any promises.”

“Isn’t this like the one the Klin built to reach the Sol-Kor universe?” Adam asked. “It sure looks like it.”

Panur moved along the control consoles, stopping now and then to call up data on the myriad of monitors before moving on. What technicians there were moved aside, both from courtesy, as well as obvious apprehension of the four-foot-tall grey alien. In a galaxy of strange creatures, Panur was in a league of his own.

Finally he stopped and turned to the native scientist. “This array has been used recently. In fact, it has been used quite often, and within the last standard year.”

“I thought you said the array didn’t work?” Copernicus asked. He was also surveying the equipment, looking at it with a mechanic’s eye.

“That is true. What we meant is that the unit is not working as expected. We lost contact with the advance expedition a year ago. Since then we have continued to seek contact.”

“But you have linked with other universes, quite a few in fact,” Panur stated. There was a nervous tone in his voice.

“Is there a problem?” Adam asked.

“Potentially, if one goes about randomly opening portals.”

“Why is that?”

“I will explain later; it would take too long to give the subject its due. As to your other question, this array is similar yet different, and in a variety of subtle ways. It is in fact more advanced than the Klin array which brought me to your galaxy.”

“It’s newer, so that would make sense,” Copernicus said. “The Olypon have improved upon the old model.”

Panur grimaced. “That is the problem. It is not newer, at least not the design.” He looked to Sindus. “I will have to see the original plans. Are they available?

Sindus frowned. “I will have to get them released. As you can imagine, they are extremely valuable. The government keeps them safely locked away.”

“I thought you wanted my help? I have extensive experience with trans-dimensional arrays, yet this one is of a unique design, different from even the one the Klin built several years ago.”

“Different? In what way?” Adam asked, hoping Panur wouldn’t address the answer to him. He wouldn’t have a clue what the mutant told him, even if he did.

“I’m not sure, but the quality of the output signal is more refined than even those I have designed, yet using techniques that are…well, archaic in a way. Of course, I find this disturbing. This is an older model, yet more advanced.” He turned to Sindus. “You say this is from a Klin design, from the time before they left your world?”

Sindus looked uneasy.

“Is that not true?” Panur asked the native, reading his body language.

“It is not a simple answer.” He looked around at the room of curious spectators, many of whom were growing angrier by the moment. “Please join me at a location where we can discuss this matter at length.”

* * *

A few minutes later, the team—along with three Olypon—were gathered in a comfortable lounge area normally reserved for off-duty array techs. They were seated on couches and chairs, and after the obligatory blood testing, Sindus ordered refreshments all around.

“All right, Panur, what’s going on?” Adam asked, bypassing Sindus with his question. The mutant was uneasy…and it took a lot to make Panur squirm.

Panur looked Sindus in the eye; Lila was seated next to him and did the same. The native withered under the intense scrutiny of the mutants.

“I will need honest answers,” Panur began.

“Of course,” Sindus blurted. “Why do you doubt otherwise?”

“Because you have not been truthful with us to this point.”

Blood rushed from the native’s face. “I will answer the questions you set before me.”

“Good. Now, your people—the Olypon—did you alter the plans of the Klin?”

“No we did not. All we did was follow the instructions.”

“If that’s the case, then why is this design radically different from the one the Klin built six standard years ago, and on a world thousands of light-years from here?”

“That I cannot answer.”

“That is why I must see the original plans. There is a discrepancy here I must solve.”

“What are you getting at, Panur?” Adam asked.

“I find if perplexing how something older can be more advanced? For an example, some of the computer language used is expressed in extreme basic terms. And just a cursory survey of the circuitry shows an overabundance, as if modern chip design and imprinting was not used. The array works, yet I find it difficult to understand why. The output and energy usage is more refined than even I have been able to achieve. That makes the operation of the device more advanced, even if the construction is not.”

“But you said it works,” Sherri added. “If so, then what are we doing here?”

Sindus shifted in his seat as all eyes turned to him. “It does not link with our team. As Panur has said, we have contacted many other universes, yet not the correct one.”

“The one with this new energy source?” Tidus asked.

“Yes, the one with our people trapped within.”

Panur focused his attention once more on the nervous native. “Now, Sindus, please tell us where you got the plans—the plans for this array.”

“It was all we could do!” he blurted.

“Do what?” Sherri asked.

“I will tell you, but we have done nothing wrong. After the Klin left, my people were at an extreme disadvantage. Our neighbors—the Kracori—were also gone, leaving us even more isolated within the Dysion Void. Olypon does not have normal trade with the outside, only with a few intrepid merchants who then charge us exorbitant fees for even the most basic alien technology. While the Klin were here, they taught us much, but we are not natural at such things, and without their continual guidance, we have suffered. Even at the time of the occupation, while the Kracori built weapons of war, Olypon responsibility fell to the building of the Klin Colony Ships, under the close watch of the Klin. Although they are huge projects, they are all the same. Our industry was designed for their construction and not much more. When the Klin left, they took their files and computers and even their specialized tools. We were desperate at that time, desperate for refined materials and advanced machinery. We have basic skills at repair and construction, and we are very good at following instructions. Yet I admit, we lack the imagination required for independent advancement. So we turned to salvage as our solution.”

“Salvage, what do you mean?” Sherri asked.

“Salvage of the extensive debris fields within the Dysion Void. As you know, a great battle took place here many standard years ago, during which hundreds of warships were destroyed. Remnants still populate the region. But our most fertile salvage grounds have been in the remains of the Klin Colony Ships that were destroyed during the battle. We estimate the number to be at least twelve of the stations, along with another three lost within the Barrier. For many years we have searched through the debris for refined metals and working electronics, computers and other components. When something as large as a Colony Ship disintegrates, it leaves huge sections still intact. And in the vacuum of space, they neither rust nor decay. We have found a wealth of valuable material within the debris field. And within the archives of these salvaged computers, we recovered information regarding the Klin’s trans-universe program, with many references dating back several thousand years.”

Adam recoiled. “What was that…did you say several thousand years?”

“That is true,” said the native. “Various references were made to an extensive program taking place at the time on their homeworld—”

“On Klinmon?”

“That is correct.”

Adam looked at Tidus. “No way. That would mean the Klin had TD portals operating before the time of the Reckoning, before the Juireans attacked.”

“I have heard nothing of this,” the Juirean said.

“Neither have I,” added Panur pointedly. “This is rather revealing information, Sindus. I was under the impression the array the Klin built linking my universe with this one was their first. Now it turns out it may have only been the first…since the Reckoning.”

Adam turned to Sindus. “And your people found the plans for the array within the debris?”

“That is correct. One of our top scientists was assigned the responsibility of sorting the data from the Klin computers and from other record archives. Her name was Anolis Ves Por Nunn, and she began cataloging a vast array of information from the Klin on a myriad of subjects, most of which had never been revealed to us during the time the Klin were on Olypon. She was granted authority over all salvage, inspecting each item for any hidden data which could be included in our growing source of advanced technology. And that is when she discovered the plans for the portal array. It was from those plans that we built this device.”

“Forgive me, Sindus,” Lila said, “but your planet is poor and without great natural resources. Why have you spent so much time and credits to build the array? What good did you think would come from it?”

“Of course that was a consideration—the cost—and a subject which was vigorously debated within our governing councils. Yet the Klin recordings also spoke of revolutionary technologies and wonderous discoveries they had found in the new universes they explored, technologies which we decided could be converted into wealth for Olypon. If we could access them, we would have something to trade with the galaxy, something to give our people status such as others have achieved.”

“And you found these…discoveries?” Sherri asked.

“Yes! It was Anolis herself who made the first transit, and it was on her inaugural excursion that she discovered the dark energy material we have spoken of. She then set up a small colony to study this breakthrough technology. Yet before any significant exploitation could take place, the connection between the universes was lost. Anolis was on the other side at the time and remains there to this day.” The native looked at Panur. “Yes, we have attempted to reestablish contact, and do so even to this day, yet with no success.”

“Did you locate matching arrays in any of these universes you have contacted?” Panur asked.

“Matching arrays? I do not understand.”

“Then you have not. You would know if you had.” Panur looked around the room. “This explains a lot,” he said. “The battle in the Dysion Void took place before the Klin built their portal array within the Far Arm. Since nearly all their Colony Ships were destroyed at the time, they may have lost most of the data regarding the ancient TD program and had to piece together what information they still had. What Sindus and his people found are the original designs, or at least those dating back before the destruction of Klinmon. Hence the primitive technology used with extraordinary efficiency. The Klin program had to be very advanced at the time.”

“So why can’t they find this Anolis character?” Sherri asked. “As the saying goes: They have the technology.”

Panur smiled. It was a smile of confidence, not humor.

Adam frowned. “If you know, don’t keep it a secret.”

“Yes, reveal what you know,” Sindus said with unexpected ferocity.

Panur’s smile turned to a frown as he stared at the Olypon for a long moment.

“I will explain,” he said, a testiness in his voice. “Yet before I do, I must go back and answer Adam’s prior question, about why it is dangerous to open portals at random.” He took an artificial breath for effect, artificial since he didn’t need to breathe to live. He also wanted to let everyone in the room know that the mutant would not be rushed or pressured.

“Basically, all universes have one of two futures; either an ever-expanding destiny or a contracting one,” he began. “As most of you are aware, universes come into existence at a point which the Humans like to call the Big Bang, when all the matter and energy in the universe suddenly springs forth from a single point. Now I preface my comments with this: Even for me, what I’m about to say is theory. I have not actually witnessed a Big Bang; no living creature has. Yet that’s not to say Lila and I may not have the opportunity one day.”

He grinned at Lila. “But that is another story. Now back to the Big Bang. As matter and energy expand outward, it does so in a less-than-homogenous manner of thick and thin regions, mostly determined by concentrations of dark matter and dark energy which create deformations within the fabric of space. Within these dents, matter accumulates to form nebulae, and later stars and galaxies, followed by clusters of such. In the early universe—and until this day—black holes form from the death of the more massive stars, and from their gravitational influence, galaxies begin to form. In the first scenario—the ever-expanding universe—matter is distributed in such a way that no single gravity source can grow large enough to influence much beyond its local area. As the universe continues to expand, these influences grow even weaker. As time passes, stars continue to burn out, and with matter so dispersed by this time, the remnants of these stars fail to reform to create new ones. Eventually, all the stars burn out and the universe goes dark. This becomes a dead universe.”

“Question, Professor Panur?” Sherri asked, raising her hand.

“Yes?”

“Will this be on the mid-term?”

Panur got the joke. He grinned—sort of. “Most assuredly, Ms. Valentine, so be sure to take copious notes. Now please, do not interrupt again. I am just now coming to the best part.”

Sherri smiled coyishly.

“Continuing: In the alternate future—the contracting one—matter exists in such proximity within the early universe that galaxies form close to one another. As mentioned before, at the core of each galaxy is a supermassive black hole, providing the energy and form for the structure. In spiral and bar galaxies, the rotational motion prevents most of the stars from cycling into the center, where they could be consumed by an ever-growing singularity. Yet in non-rotational galaxies, the stars tend to be drawn inward in greater numbers, feeding the black hole until it becomes a monster. It soon transitions from a million-stellar-mass singularity, to a billion-mass event, and then finally to a galaxy-mass black hole. The gravitational influence of such an object is enough to draw in other galaxies, until the singularity is measured in the million-galaxy range and more. This is a true snow-ball effect on a universal scale, which eventually attracts all mass and energy and returns it to its original point of origin.

“Explaining further, universes come into existence in one of two ways, through natural processes or artificially—”

“Artificially?” Adam asked. “How can a universe be artificially created?”

“I am about to explain,” Panur said impatiently. “Most universes are created through a process of leakage between other dimensions. According to my theory, this happens most often when two of these contracted universes come in close proximity to one another. Although universes are separated by only the width of a hydrogen atom, it still takes incredible energy to breach the barrier between them. Yet two intense concentrations of universe-size gravity sources can do this. At some point, the pair of dimensions in essence trade material and issue forth mirror Big Bang events. Yet—and this is important—in the case of artificial creation, someone with a TD portal inadvertently penetrates one of these contracted universes, and as result, releases all the pressure from one universe into another.”

Adam’s mouth fell open, along with everyone else in the room. “That…that can happen?”

“In theory. Consider a balloon full of water. Now take a needle and make a tiny puncture in the bottom. Instantly, the material of the balloon is ripped apart and all the contents pour out. It’s the same principle.”

“So you’re saying the Olypon could have done that to our universe by haphazardly connecting with alternate dimensions? In that case, couldn’t that happen with any TD portal?”

“That is a possibility, unless you know what to look for. I do.”

“And what is that?”

“Pressure differentials. I am able to test the pressure between dimensions before opening a portal. Too much pressure and it may not be safe. Even extremely low pressure, such as would be found in a dead universe, could be equally dangerous, causing a portion of our dimension to pour into another to equalize the pressure. But relax, Adam, there is a wide range of acceptable pressures, and out of the twenty-five universes I have personally tested, only two have been questionable.”

Panur looked again at Sindus. “Yet as for our Olypon friends, they have been recklessly linking with dozens of universes in an attempt to reconnect with the first. It is possibly from your recent decrease in contact attempts that this universe still exists.”

Panur was studying the native’s reaction to his seminar. It was having an effect. Sindus sat pale and weak in his chair, contrary to his earlier arrogant demeanor. “Then we…we must stop all attempts.”

“That won’t be necessary; I know how to test relative pressures. And I also know how to reconnect with your lost colony.”

Sindus’s eyes grew wide. “How! You must tell me.”

“Yeah, Panur,” Adam said, smiling, “please do.”

“It is rather simple. Every link between dimensions occurs at a particular frequency. Also, individual portals create tiny imperfections in the space-time continuum within both, and these imperfections tend to match up. That is why when a connection is initially made, there is a tendency to always meet up with that same universe and in approximately the same region. Yet as you have attempted to reconnect with the original universe, you changed the frequency. Before you lost the link, the wavelength was static, a product of the original construction. But then in your desperation, you began to tweak the settings.”

“Tweak?”

“Adjust,” Panur explained. “From the data I’ve seen, you have scrambled the settings to such a degree that it would be virtually impossible to find the original frequency.”

“Then…then the mission is hopeless.”

“I said virtually impossible, not completely. I can fix it.”

“How?” Copernicus asked. Fixing things was his area of expertise, and he was feeling a little insecure at the moment.

“When the array was first built, the original frequency was part of the initial settings, according to the Klin specifications. All I need to do is dump the old data and essentially reboot the system.”

“That’s it?” Coop asked. “That’s too simple. Hell, even I could do that.”

“Then please do,” Panur said with a grin. “Of course, you will first need to understand all the array components and circuitry. In addition, the computer programming is quite complicated and sensitive to error. But you are more than welcome to try.”

“You know what I meant,” Coop mumbled “It just sounded pretty basic, like unplugging and plugging it back in again.”

Sherri was seated next to Coop; she patted his hand. “That’s his solution to everything.”

“But you can do it…reboot the system, as you say?” Sindus asked, more a demand than a question.

“Yes. But it will take access to the original plans. I may have to rebuild portions of the array to bypass some of the damage you have done. But after that, you should be back to the point where the original designers intended the portal to aim.”

The mood in the room changed abruptly. Progress was being made. Within days, the team would be able to see if the Olypon’s claim of untold riches was true. And if so….

Copernicus cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “I know Panur’s fix seems to be pretty damn simple,” he said, still pressing his prior point. “But we still get the reward, don’t we?”

Chapter 14

An hour later, the team was back aboard the Davion. There were accommodations for them within the array facility, but they preferred their own beds aboard the starship to those of the Olypon.

Sindus had gone off to get authorization for release of the original plans to Panur. Lila, although she too was a mutant genius, deferred to her partner’s expertise. She had not been exposed to all the technology as Panur. She would assist during the repair and reboot, after which she would gain the experience. It only took one exposure and the knowledge would be forever implanted within her incredible mind.

Adam found Panur hunched over one of the computer terminals within the circular bridge dome of the KFV, alone, while most of the others ate, talked or slept. There was a renewed spirit among the crew. Although there were still a fair number of questions circulating, as well as other variables to be worked out, they could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even Sherri was coming around, believing, like the others, that something good was waiting at the end of the mission.

Adam approached the mutant.

“Shouldn’t you be fixing the array, rather than playing video games on the computer?”

Panur laughed. He may be an alien mutant genius, but at times Adam found him to be the most-Human among them.

“I can do nothing until I review the plans. Besides, I’m doing research. It came as a surprise to me that the Klin would have TD technology long before even I developed it for the Sol-Kor queen. It requires a certain level of scientific advancement to make the leap. There have been no indications—then or now—that the Klin reached that point.”

“But they did build an array; that’s how I’ve come to enjoy your charming company all these years.”

“And that has also been a concern of mine: how and why did the Klin build the portal in the first place?” Panur said, staying on topic. “It seemed such a major diversion of resources, both physical and mental, especially for a race continually on the run from the Juireans.”

“Do you think this lost universe we’re looking for is actually the Sol-Kor dimension?” Adam asked. “Wouldn’t that make sense?”

“It would, if it weren’t for the fact that it was I who detected the Klin array and initiated the contact. If it had been specific to my universe, the link would have already been established. And then there are other considerations.”

“Like what?”

“Like if the Klin had this technology since the time before the Juireans destroyed their homeworld, why did it take four thousand years for them to use it again? And then there are the two different designs, the old and the new.”

“You explained that. The data was lost. And besides, the Klin departure from Klinmon wasn’t exactly planned. It may have taken this long for them to discover what they had sitting in their archives.”

“That is a reasonable assumption. I will have to think on that for a while.”

“And what do you think of our Olypon friends? They’re kind of a schizophrenic group, aren’t they?”

“Indeed,” Panur agreed. “They come off first as passive and weak, but then switch to being real assholes at the drop of a hat.”

“Yeah, kinda reminds me of…you.”

Panur laughed. “So true, and that should worry us all.”

“You know what this also means,” Adam began. “There’s a possibility a Klin colony exists in another universe, and one that’s been thriving for four thousand years.”

Panur nodded. “That could be the reason the Klin built their portal in the first place, to link with their lost population.” He smiled. “Unfortunately, I came through instead, and leading the Sol-Kor colony into your galaxy. Sorry about that.”

“Wouldn’t it also hold true that if you set the array back to its original settings that would lead to this Klin colony? If it linked to the same location as before, then the Klin could be there waiting for the Olypon to come looking for their scientist.”

“Things shift over four thousand years,” Panur said. “Any links made after such a long time would be off as celestial bodies move. It wouldn’t be difficult to adjust the readings once in this other dimension, but space around the linking point would be different than before.”

“That makes sense.”

“And if there are Klin at the other end, they would be of a different kind than we have known. They would have never experienced the Reckoning and the subsequent millennia of scorn from the galaxy. They may be more like the original Klin, before all the anger and vengeance set in.”

“That would be interesting to see,” Adam admitted. “And what about this new kind of power? You still have your doubts about that? Could the Klin be the source?”

Panur nodded. “That is an unknown with only one resolution.”

“We’re going through, aren’t we?” Adam asked.

Panur smiled. “Of course we are. It’s inter-dimensional travel. It’s what I do.”

“It could be dangerous.”

Panur chuckled. “Fear not, my friend. We’ll have your rather morbid—yet generous—daughter along to protect us. She may even offer us a gift after this is all said and done. Maybe a severed foot this time.”

* * *

It took another two days before the Olypon government agreed to release the array plans to Panur. Now he and Lila—along with a curious, yet totally out-classed Copernicus Smith—began their study.

“This is amazing,” Panur said three hours later. Coop was awoken by the statement. He had grown bored with all the talk of advanced technology and concepts he didn’t understand and fell asleep in his chair.

“What…what’s amazing,” he mumbled.

Lila pointed at the screen. “He is referring to the level of expertise this took, and for a civilization so new to such advancements. The Klin were leaders of the Seven World Common Alliance at the time, yet they appear to have made great strides in a very short time.”

“That’s correct. I see threads which could lead to gravity-drives and even flash weapon technology. It’s all here in this single device.”

“But the Klin did develop gravity-drive technology, and right before the Reckoning,” Coop pointed out. “That technology survived, but not the TD advancements.”

Panur was still studying the plans, scrolling between screens. “There is a genius displayed here. You would imagine a device this complicated and advanced for the time would have the signature of many developers, with fits and starts. But this appears to have been designed over a short time and with one singular focus.”

“Maybe they had their own Panur at the time,” Coop said for comic effect.

“That would explain it,” Panur said, taking him seriously.

“Really?”

“That or a very talented group of engineers with incredible foresight.”

He pushed away from the terminal. “But now we have work to do. Copernicus, you may help, but do not get in the way. We will need you to carry our tools and material, but please do not attempt any repair on your own.”

Copernicus stood up. “Forget that! I’m not going to be your fetch-it boy. Use the natives for that.”

He turned and stormed from the room.

Lila looked at Panur and smiled. “That worked.”

* * *

Four days later Panur called the team into the array’s control room. There were a dozen Olypon technicians seated along the consoles, all busy doing what array techs did when their equipment was working. Adam noticed how they appeared more confident and assured than before. This was another dichotomy he found with the race, one that made him suspicious. Of what, he wasn’t sure. All he knew: he didn’t trust the natives.

“I will now begin the reboot procedure,” the mutant announced. “Please Mr. Smith…pull the plug.”

“What…what plug?” Coop stammered, surprised by the mention of his name and the job expected of him.

Panur looked at the mechanic, a wide grin on his face.

“Oh, very funny,” Copernicus said, his face glowing red.

“Unfortunately, the process is a little more complicated than that,” Panur conceded. “But it does involve the powering down of the system, followed by a quick recharge.” He nodded his grey head at the nearest Olypon technician.

In the neighboring generator rooms, dynamos wound down and gauges flickered. A moment later, the high-pitched whine of the machinery returned. In the control room, screens came alive. Panur sat in a seat and began working a keyboard.

“I’ve added a program for measuring the relative pressure between dimensions. There appears to be parity, so no danger. The system is clean and the signal is strong. We are set to link with another dimension once the charges are full, which will be in another two minutes.”

“Will it link with the original dimension?” asked Sindus. He was standing behind the mutant, along with the others.

“That is impossible to tell at this point; however, the frequencies align. But without a point of reference I cannot know for certain, even when the connection is established. This is a space-borne portal, a hole opened within the void. But if this is the proper universe, there should be familiar reference points you could identify from your prior experience. And if there is a portal array nearby, that would be a good indicator we are in the right spot. Since contact forms naturally between array stations, the Klin should have an ancient facility in the region since we are using the original settings from four thousand years ago.”

“But I got the impression from Sindus that there isn’t an array on the other side,” Copernicus said.

“Which is indeed odd. Although portals can be opened into clear space, there is a tendency to follow imperfections caused by the arrays. Perhaps his explorers simply missed it. I will send in a probe to survey the general vicinity once contact is established.”

A main screen was set in the wall above the smaller monitors. It was blank at the moment, with only a few dots of white interrupting the uniform blackness. At first, Adam thought the lights were imperfections in the screen. Now a brilliant line formed in the center, telling him that he had been looking at a video of open space all along, the dots being distant stars. The line formed into two, before separating even more. The bans remained sparkling, even as the black between them was constant and unbroken.

The portal was open, now a window into another dimension.

An object flared near the portal and streaked into the area between the white lines.

“As expected, the probe is detecting nearby celestial bodies,” Panur announced. “There is a large moon. Sindus, does this match your records from when Anolis went through the first time?”

The native sat at one of the stations and began calling up data. There were images and writing, numbers and graphs. He shook his head.

“It is hard to say without a more extensive survey. I will send the fleet through.”

“Fleet?” Adam asked. “What fleet?”

“We have a comprehensive rescue force ready. We must get them through before the portal closes.”

“Without knowing if this is the right universe?”

“We can reopen the portal in seven hours. By then they will have determined the legitimacy of the location.”

“That’s kind of reckless, isn’t it?”

“It is our decision to make.” Sindus reached for the comm switch.

“Do not do that!” Tidus ordered. “We will go through first.” He looked at the others. “To make sure it is safe and to survey our claim. That is what we negotiated.”

“Yet we have many more ships prepared for the journey.”

“Tidus is right,” Adam said. “We’ll lead the way. Your people can follow at the next cycle—if this is the right place. We’ll need the coordinates where Anolis set up her base.”

Sindus was fuming mad. Adam couldn’t understand the emotion, but it was just part of the erratic nature of the Olypon. “That is not acceptable.”

“And yet it is,” Panur stated. “Agree…or I will shut down the array. And once I do you will have much difficulty reestablishing the link since I have changed the frequency. I know it, but you and your technicians will not.”

“Why are you doing this? Our relationship has turned adversarial.”

“Not really,” Copernicus said. “We’re just protecting our interest in the operation. So decide, Sindus, before Panur pulls the plug. We can only keep a portal open for twenty-two minutes before it closes on its own. Then it’s seven hours to charge the generators for the next link.”

Even alien faces turn red when upset; Sindus’s was literally glowing. “Very well,” he growled. “I will provide the coordinates to Anolis’s planet. But you must go now. The fleet will go through at the next opening. That you cannot prevent.”

Don’t worry, Adam said to the team through his ATD. We won’t let these bastards stab us in the back. If there’s a fortune to be made here, we’re going to get it.

Chapter 15

It was a mad dash for the team through the umbilical and into the Davion. One of the generators had been left humming, shortening the lift off procedures. Still, it was five minutes before the ship shot from the surface of Mon-Sim, heading for an empty region of space between two glowing bands of light. This was the boundary between universes, alive with an elemental energy, defining the rip the trans-dimensional array had opened. It was only seventy-five thousand miles above the surface of the planet, at a point where the triple towers of the array focused their energy.

The Davion sped through the portal with several minutes to spare.

All the blazing stars and nebulae that made up the barrier surrounding the Dysion Void beyond the planet Mon-Sim vanished, replaced by another cast of celestial characters, including a huge gas giant off to the right and two gray moons lit by conflicting lights below them. The system’s star was to the left, and from this distance, appeared to be about a quarter the diameter of the full moon from Earth.

Of the eight person crew, over half had been to other dimensions. For Copernicus, Tidus and Arieel, this was a first. Although there was only the slightest nausea associated with the transit, it was the idea itself that impressed them the most…for a moment. Then staring out the forward viewports, it was Arieel who conveyed the sentiments of the trio of TD rookies.

“Is that it?” she said. “Looks like where we just left.”

“Yeah, that was pretty much my impression the first time I made a jump,” Adam agreed. “The different universes really aren’t that different after all.” He activated the main screen and zeroed in on the largest nearby moon. “I’m picking up a magnetic disturbance on the surface.”

“It is the Klin array,” Panur stated with confidence.

“So there is an array?” Coop asked. “That wasn’t too hard to find.”

Riyad was at the controls; he pulled the stick over and lined up on the moon. A flashing red dot highlighted the location of the facility. The array became more defined the closer they got, showing a trio of reddish metal structures growing out of the grey rock. The three service buildings resolved and a moment later Riyad pulled back on the control stick and hovered in the micro-gravity of the airless moon, riding on small jets of gas.

The facility looked abandoned, with the surfaces and roofs of the structures coated in uniform layers of dust. Using magnification, Adam scanned the grounds. None of the dust was broken by boot or tire tracks. The few windows of the buildings were black rectangles, and the only light came from the competing radiance from the nearby gas giant and the distant star.

“This place is dead, and has been for a long time,” Copernicus said. “But shouldn’t we get it running to stabilize the portal?”

“That would have been the logical first step when reaching the dimension,” Panur agreed.

“But Anolis didn’t do it,” Adam said. “Why not?”

“And the array wasn’t hard to find,” Sherri added. “In fact, it would be impossible to miss.”

“These are questions we will answer in time,” Panur said impatiently. “But for now, do you realize what we are looking at? This is a Klin TD array at least four thousand years old.” There was an almost mystical quality to the mutant’s words, a degree of respect Adam had never heard from the mutant. Panur always considered himself to be the smartest person in the room, and most times he was right. But now he was realizing a group of ancient scientists and engineers had beaten him to the TD punch…and by several thousand years. He was humbled by the event. “I find it fascinating that we now have proof of what the Klin accomplished with the primitive technology they had at the time. It is an incredible advancement lost for so long.”

“But according to you, trans-dimensional travel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Adam said. “It can be a universe-killer if not done properly.”

“The Klin obviously knew how to do it safely. Yet this does raise another question: if they had this technology back at the time of the Alliance, why didn’t they use it to travel the galaxy, such as Lila and I do, through transitional hops? The gravity drive is useful in most common applications. But the hops would have opened more of the galaxy to them much sooner.”

“I’m more curious why the Olypon didn’t get this old array working. If they had, there would have been no problem maintaining contact with their research team,” Adam pointed out.

“We shall have to ask her once we find her,” Tidus said. “She is also the key to our new wealth, my friends.” He was grinning. “We have made it. Now all we have to do is secure our claim.”

“And we have less than seven hours to do it before the Olypon send their fleet through the portal,” Sherri said. “I don’t think they like us much anymore. There’s no telling what they’ll do when they get here. So we better get the lay of the land…and fast.”

“Who has the coordinates to where this Anolis babe is hanging out?” Coop asked. “She can’t be too far.”

“I have the coordinates,” Panur said. He inserted a small data chip into the nav computer, one Sindus had given him moments before the team left the control room. A star chart appeared on a side screen. The mutant frowned, deciphering the information before anyone else, with the exception of Lila.

“This is not an original,” Lila spoke. “The data files indicate a recording of previously published material.”

“That’s right,” said Panur.

“What does that mean?” Sherri asked.

“It means these are not recent recordings.”

“And that is significant…why?”

“Because the data for the coordinates should be no more than a year old, from when Anolis first entered the universe and the initial contacts were made between the dimensions. There was a period of time when the parties traveled back and forth, and when survey data was shared. Only later did the contact break.”

“I’m still confused,” Sherri said.

“What Panur means is that this is much older survey data,” Lila explained. “And using an overlay of current astronomical positionings….” She worked the controls and another set of datapoints appeared on the screen as a jumbled mass on top of the others. “The stars have shifted dramatically since the time of the survey we were given.”

“Those are the same stars?” Sherri asked, now beginning to see some correlation between the points.

“Yes,” said Panur, “and a quick calculation would indicate considerable time has passed since this survey and today.”

“Holy shit!” said Adam. “These are old Klin readings, not those taken a year ago.”

“And for good reason,” said Panur. “Because there were no readings taken a year ago, since no expedition was made to this universe,” Panur stated blandly.

“What is your meaning?” Tidus asked, panic in his voice. He was already working the implications out in his head.

Panur pushed back from his station and swiveled the chair until he was looking at the team. “We have been deceived, my friends, which is especially distressing for me, as I am not supposed to fall for such bullshit.”

“The Olypon have never been here,” Lila stated.

“Then why…why did they say they had?” Arieel asked, the confusion boiling over.

“And what about the fortune?” Tidus asked rhetorically. He knew this answer as well. There was no fortune, no super energy source, no wealth beyond belief.

“The Olypon needed me to connect their array to this universe,” said Panur. “And since they have ancient star charts, they are seeking something that is four thousand years old.”

“The dark matter material?” Tidus asked anxiously, holding onto any thread of hope he could.

“That I very much doubt. They have deceived us to this point; why tell the truth about their ultimate goal?”

Copernicus snickered. “And why give away the store like they did if there really is this new power source worth billions of credits?” he said. “And here you thought you were this great negotiator, Tidus. The bastards agreed to everything you wanted…because it was all bullshit in the first place.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question why?” Adam said. “They’ve gone through a lot of trouble to get to this point.”

“And they were expecting to send their fleet in ahead of us,” Sherri said. “They know what they’re looking for.”

“Then we should find out as well,” Panur stated. “We have the coordinates, once Lila and I make the adjustments accounting for the movements of the survey points. It will take the Olypon longer to do the same once they arrive. We have time to get to the destination before they do.”

“Hell, yeah!” Copernicus cried out. “And whatever is there has a lot of value to those lying bastards. We might be able to hold it over their heads and squeeze out something for us after all.”

* * *

Once the Davion was off on the new course, heading for a star system two light-years away, Adam pulled Panur aside and they ducked into one of the staterooms.

“You do know we’re probably going to run into some Klin on this planet.”

“I would be surprised if we don’t. Both arrays are functioning models and the one here would have been back at the time the Klin were bouncing back and forth between dimensions. But I sense your apprehension,” said the mutant. “Yet remember, these Klin have been isolated here for four thousand years. They know nothing of the events within the Milky Way, only that contact was broken suddenly and since then they have not been able to reestablish the link. They will have moved on, with a hundred generations or more knowing only this universe as their own. They had star travel at the time, so possibly they’ve expanded outward, with enough time to explore this entire galaxy. And the TD portal array—although abandoned now—may have been used to open links with other universes, even if they couldn’t get back to yours. It will be a fascinating opportunity to study cultural evolution between the two different families of Klin.”

“I’m glad you’re excited about the opportunities for academic growth, Panur, but I’m still worried. The Olypon aren’t coming here to reestablish cultural and racial ties with the Klin. They don’t strike me as the type. They’re coming for something specific and until we know what it is, everything is a danger.”

“Relax, Adam,” Panur said, placing a calming hand on the Human’s shoulder. “You forget who you’re traveling with. I’m sure the beings we encounter will have never before seen the likes of me and Lila.”

Adam nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“I am. But it is good that you keep your guard up. It’s just second nature to you by now.”

* * *

Panur had a clock on the bridge, showing the time when the Olypon array generators would be charged and ready to open another portal. With the revelations the team had discussed earlier, it was now accepted that the aliens wouldn’t be coming as friends and business associates. Instead, they would roll over the tiny Klin flying saucer without a second thought, now that Panur had their TD facility working. At that point, it also wouldn’t matter if there were two immortal mutant geniuses aboard. They would survive, of course, but as frozen lumps of matter in the vacuum of space. The rest of them would die. Getting to the target world ahead of the fleet would give them some cover—possibly—depending on what they find. And then there was the question of getting back to the Milky Way. Would the Olypon post sentries to prevent them from passing through the portal? And even if they made it through, they’d be in the Dysion Void, and stuck in the middle of the tumultuous Juddle Nebula.

As the hours passed, Adam was climbing the walls, anxious for answers. Coop was right, there was something of value on the planet and the Olypon wanted it pretty bad. But that was the problem. It was on a planet—a big-ass planet, as they all were. Where to look and what to look for were Adam’s major concerns. And the Olypon knew what they were looking for. Adam didn’t.

But did they know where? This brought up an interesting dynamic. The Olypon were working off four-thousand-year-old data—as evidenced by the starcharts. If they had newer information, they would have used it. So maybe the Olypon were operating as much in the dark as he was, at least with regards to what they would find when they got to the planet. A lot can change in four thousand years. It may not be as simple a task for the aliens as Adam had first thought.

Chapter 16

Evidence of an interstellar civilization became apparent long before the team reached their destination. Proximity alarms sounded as numerous spaceships were detected far beyond the boundary of the system. These ships noticed them, as well, and came to investigate.

Adam was thankful the mutants were aboard. When the first contacts came through, using standard wormhole comm technology, it still took some effort to sync the signals. Crews aboard the native spaceships seemed as curious about the newcomers as the team was of them and worked to help bring things into alignment. Once this was done, images appeared on the comm screen, and to no one’s surprised, they were Klin.

The Davion was almost to the star system when Panur and Lila finished adjusting the language translators enough for speech to be deciphered. Although these were Klin, they spoke a dialect that had morphed into something almost entirely different over the centuries. There were similarities, and it was these common threads that the mutants used to bring the language into focus. They also tapped into the translator bugs, which at the time of the Reckoning were just being developed. It would take the Formilians two thousand years later to perfect the system, including the galactic Library—the internet of the Milky Way. There was a similar system in use in this universe, and using only the localize Klin language, the team was able to access it. They found this splinter of the Klin race had indeed spread out from this original transit point to colonize hundreds of other worlds, although the languages of the various other species would take time to assimilate into the translation system. Hopefully the team wouldn’t be here long enough for that to become important.

“You have transitioned through the dimensional portal?” the lead Klin confirmed, staring out from the screen at the variety of creatures on the bridge of the Davion. He gave his name as Donzin Sumorn. The name had a vague Klin sound to it, at least the names Adam was used to. “Your arrival was monitored, and although we have experience with hundreds of alien species, we understand you to be unique to this universe. Will more be arriving?”

“That is fairly certain, although we have not activated your portal to establish a more lasting connection,” answered Panur. “Are you familiar with its operation? It appears as though considerable time has passed since its last use.”

“We are forbidden from activating the device,” said the Klin, much to the surprise of the team. “In ancient times this was not so. Yet after contact was lost with the birth universe, it has remained dormant by proclamation.”

“Who forbid you from using it?” Lila asked.

The Klin considered her for a moment, appearing irritated. “That is of no concern to you,” Donzin said. “Our ways are our own.”

“Of course, forgive me. It was not my intent to insult.” Lila replied. Adam admired her diplomacy; however, once the Klin learned who and what she was, diplomacy wouldn’t be necessary.

“I notice there are no Klin aboard your ship, at least none I have seen,” said Donzin. “What news do you bring of the Klin from your dimension?”

Panur was the spokesperson for the group. “I assume it has been four thousand of our years since you last had contact, so there is much to relate. We seek permission to land on your planet and speak with your leaders. Is that acceptable?”

“Of course. There is a palatable curiosity resonating even within my ship and relayed from the capital. Yet follow your escorts. At this point, you are unknowns. We will take precautions as we deem necessary.”

“As would we in your position,” said Panur. “We will comply.”

When the connection was cut, Panur looked at Adam and smiled. “See, a different kind of Klin, a friendlier Klin.”

“For now,” Adam said. “For now.”

* * *

To no one’s surprise, the Klin’s new homeworld was highly developed and populated. Four thousand years was an adequate time for this to happen, especially with the head start they had with their technology and knowledge. If there had been an indigenous species on the planet, it would have long since been eradicated or assimilated.

The Davion was led to a busy spaceport cloistered within the sprawling limits of a large city. The architecture was familiar—all Prime beings were of essentially the same design so their artificial caves followed similar function and utility. Adam was surprised to see that most of the starships in the port were more oblong in shape, rather than the saucers of the Milky Way Klin. He admitted he wasn’t up on ancient Klin history, so he didn’t know what form their vessels took at the time of their foray into this universe. What this did, however, was make the shiny disk-shape of the Davion standout, attracting a crowd of curious spectators once the landing exhaust cleared.

A large transport arrived at the exit hatch on the pedestal under the saucer.

“We shall send a diverse delegation,” Panur announced. “Lila, Adam and Arieel will come with me. That will provide the Klin with a fair representation of races and entities from our universe.”

“What about me?” Tidus asked.

“Are you kidding?” Adam exclaimed. “You’re a Juirean. The Klin may have records of your race. That could be a problem.”

“These Klin came before the Reckoning. We were allies at the time.”

“We can fairly well assume the date of the contact loss between this universe and ours,” Panur said. “It was on the day of the Reckoning. Yet what we cannot assume is that there wasn’t a brief report transmitted at the time of your attack. In that case, there may be a mythology that has developed over the millennia. There is no need to take the risk.”

Begrudgingly, Tidus relented. “That is acceptable, yet do not fail to ask about why the Olypon are anxious to contact them? It will be the key to our leverage.”

Panur smiled. “It is my opinion that the Olypon may be surprised to find such an advance society of Klin living here. What they seek may be kept from them, both from the effects of time or by force. And if their fleet comes with the intent to fight and conquer, they may be sorely disappointed.”

“And what would that do to the portal if that happens?” Sherri asked. “Will they shut it down and strand us on this side?”

“We shall see. Too many questions without enough data to form reliable answers,” said the mutant. “Let us go join our Klin hosts and learn what they know.”

* * *

Adam noticed concern on the faces of the mutants as the small delegation entered the transport vehicle for the ride into the city. There were two Klin seated in the facing backseats, watching them. They made no attempt to engage in conversation, so the team didn’t either. Instead, Adam resorted to ATD communication.

Why do the two of you look so worried? he asked mentally.

This vehicle, Lila answered. It operates on a sort of gravity-cancelling wave.

Like a hovercraft? Adam asked.

Yes, yet vastly more sophisticated, his daughter thought. This is beyond even the technology found in our galaxy.

The Klin have had thousands of years to advance, Arieel said. They led the galaxy at the time of the transition. Perhaps they have had no interruptions and have developed even greater technologies as a result.

That is possible, said Lila. It would be a carryover from the strides they made in the few years before the destruction of Klinmon. There will undoubtedly be other surprises to be found here.

A few minutes later, the vehicle entered a large parking facility under a modest twenty-story building made of glass and steel—or what Adam assumed to be glass and steel. Considering what the mutants had just said, that wasn’t a given. They were motioned to leave the vehicle and entered a silent-running elevator that carried them without the sensation of movement. The door simply closed and opened a moment later to a new exterior.

The Klin of this universe had retained the traditional silver-theme dress of their ancient ancestors, although there appeared to be more complementary colors added to the variety of garments. There were also more females present. Throughout the experience Adam had with the Milky Way Klin, he rarely encountered females. Like most races on the verge of extinction, their females played a vital and almost exclusive role in procreation. The Juireans did the same. Without constant births, both races would have either died out or failed to expand as they had, as in the case of the Juireans. But this appeared to be a more stable population, allowing females to expand beyond their purely biological responsibilities. In fact, it was a female who appeared to be in charge, as the team was brought into a formal room where only a few Klin were present. They were seated around a modest table. No refreshments were offered. That would come later, once all the players were introduced.

“I am Gendius Valin, the appointed leader of the Klin Confederation, a position referred to as the Leadin.”

Milky Way Klin called their leader the Pleabaen. To Adam, this title sounded vaguely familiar, probably a bastardization of the original.

“I am known as Panur, with Lila Bol, Arieel Bol and Adam Cain.”

Gendius surveyed her guests. “The females appear to be of the same race, yet oddly different. The pink creature could be related. Yet you, Panur, you appear to be unique and of indeterminant heritage.”

“I am not of the ancient Klin universe. I, too, traveled there from another dimension.”

This caught Gendius by surprise. “Is inter-dimensional travel commonplace now in the birth universe?”

“It is known, but not widespread.”

“Do our ancient Klin relatives participate? Since I do not see any among your delegation, my concern is raised.”

“It is a complicated issue, Leadin Valin.”

Gendius looked to the other three Klin at the table before returning her attention to Panur. “Perhaps you should inform us of what you know. I understand much time has passed, so only the highlights would be acceptable at this point. Yet before we go further, it is important you tell us. The split came suddenly and without warning—a time we call the Darkness. So, please, we are anxious to learn of our lost history.”

Panur began. It wasn’t hard to read the body language of the Klin, especially when the story began with the destruction of their homeworld—along with the near genocide of the race. What followed was a brief synopsis of four thousand years of tragedy and disappointment. The wondrous Klin race had not gone on to forge a magnificent galactic empire, as they had done in the new universe. Instead, their ancestors had been hunted down and killed, although Panur did try to temper the story by leaving out the more graphic parts. Even still, there was no happy ending for the Klin, no glorious resurrection of their race. For all intents and purposes, the Klin of the Milky Way were extinct. All that survived of their bloodline was what existed in this second universe, and only that which had grown over the past four thousand years.

At the end of Panur’s abbreviated history was a look of shock on the faces of the Klin.

“I am sure there are more details you have spared,” Gendius said, her voice tense yet controlled. Adam could tell she was fighting her emotions, her mind a confused mess regarding her next actions. Should she reveal this information to her race? How would the population react to the news? She didn’t get a chance to ponder more questions before a tone sounded. She didn’t reach for an answering device nor was she interrupted by a messenger entering the room. Instead, she and the others appeared to be listening, either in their minds or in their ears.

“More invaders have entered through the portal,” she announced, locking her steely gaze upon Panur. “In light of the information you have just revealed, I must assume this new force is not coming to help us reestablish peaceful relations with the birth universe. Are we Klin to be treated as our ancestors? Are you the vanguard for this larger force, serving as scouts and spies?”

“They are not our allies,” Panur answered. “They are a race called the Olypon. They built the trans-dimensional array using ancient Klin designs and now they come here seeking something of unknown identity. I was brought in to make their device work properly and to link to your universe.”

“Then you led them here—these Olypon? You admit to making our universe accessible to them?”

“We did not know their intensions at the time—even now we do not know what they intend to do with their fleet. At first we were told it was to be a rescue mission of a small expedition of their kind who came through the portal earlier. We now believe this to be untrue. But what we do know, they had four-thousand-year-old directions to this world. What is it here that they could be looking for?”

Gendius looked to her associates at the table, panic on her silver face. “They seek the Source,” she stated with shock.

“The Source?” Adam asked. Mentally he capitalized the word, feeling that was how Gendius referred to it. “So there is a new power source you’ve discovered?”

The Klin leader glared at him. “How can you know of this?” she asked. “There have been no communications between our universes since the Darkness. And before that, only a few were aware.”

“Aware of what?” Lila asked.

Gendius stared at the mutant, her eyes wide with anger…and something else. Fear?

A twitch of her head and a shimmering blue screen enveloped Adam’s side of the table. All four of the Milky Way delegation became rigid where they sat, including the all-powerful mutants. Adam’s mind was numb, his vision restricted. But even through the haze, the sensation was familiar. He’d been trapped by a field such as this before. A long time ago, and on Formil.

It was when the Aris kidnapped Lila.

* * *

When Adam came to, he was in another room and surrounded by his team, all except the mutants. Everyone was dazed, coming out of the stupor at the same time. The Klin allowed this to happen, releasing the influence of the blue suppressor field when they deemed appropriate.

One of the silver beings was standing near the door to the room, appearing calm and unafraid.

“Your true identities have become known,” said the being. “You will now be taken to the others, where answers will be provided. Come with me and provide no resistance. You will be returned to a holding state if you do.”

Adam’s stomach grumbled and he desperately had to take a piss. But he held both urges, while hoping the next big reveal wouldn’t last too long. He was sure the others were in a similar state.

Is everyone okay? he asked through his ATD.

Return thoughts came his way from Sherri, Copernicus, Arieel and Riyad, confirming their status. They were groggy, but otherwise unharmed. He looked at the ATD-less Juirean. He appeared defiant against their solitary Klin guide. Word of his people’s betrayal of the ancient Klin hadn’t filtered through to the general population, at least not yet. Once it did, Adam had no idea what they would do to him, but already the alien was preparing himself for the inevitable.

Make sure Tidus doesn’t do anything stupid, Adam cautioned. We’re in enough trouble as it is.

But why? Sherri asked. We haven’t done anything wrong.

Adam shrugged as he followed the Klin down a series of hallways and into another silent elevator.

Lila…can you hear me?

I hear you, came the mental answer, shared with the rest of the team. They were relieved. Although we are incapacitated. We appear to have happened upon a hornet’s nest of unknowns, although the picture is becoming clearer.

The Aris, Adam stated.

Apparently. How extensive is their involvement with these Klin remains to be seen? We are being taken to another location at the moment.

So are we. Hopefully we will meet up.

That appears to be a forgone conclusion. Strive to keep our mental communications a secret. It appears the Klin cannot detect this.

You got it. We seem to have very little going for us at the moment. That’s our only ace-in-the-hole.

Adam looked at Arieel and winked, cryptically thanking her people for the gift of the artificial telepathy devices. From the confused look on Arieel’s gorgeous face, he could tell she didn’t get the meaning.

Chapter 17

Both segments of the team met up in a cavernous chamber, ornate and decorated in a regal manner. The ceiling soared several hundred feet above, and polished stone floors were inlayed with interesting designs of gold and silver. Columns lined the outer walls, there for decoration rather than support, while fountains of misty water flowed from narrow waterfalls between the pilasters. Brilliant drapes hung down from the distant ceiling in places, pulled to the side by cords securing the billowing sails to the floor. It was quite impressive, yet there appeared to be no purpose for the room except as the resting place for a single block structure at the center. It rose on staggered steps about ten feet above the floor and appeared to be a marble sarcophagus. Yet on the object were electronics, various panels which glowed from a soft internal blue light.

Gendius and another Klin appeared from the other side of the monument…and along with them, two Olypon. The outsiders wore the high-necked silver uniforms of their military division, looking like imitations of Klin dress. They also had amused grins on their plump faces, appearing confident in their status with the Klin. Lila and Panur were there as well, yet standing to the side, still encased in the light blue suppressor field, one for each. Adam remembered the Aris referred to it as an interphase effect.

Gendius walked up to Adam, instinctively identifying him as the leader when it wasn’t the mutants. “I believe you know each other,” she said, indicating the Olypon officers.

“I know of them, although I have not met this particular pair.”

The Olypon with the most silver on his uniform stepped forward. “I am First-Sentry Harkor Pen Lo Bin, along with my second Calsis Indi So Mor. We command the Olypon First Expeditionary Force.”

Adam nodded, but then turned his attention back to Gendius. “What is this all about? We didn’t come as enemies. What we have told you is the truth. It was the Olypon who used lies to get us to work for them.”

“So we have been told,” Gendius admitted. She looked at Panur and Lila. “And yet you bring such dangerous beings to our world, and in a quest for wealth.”

“That’s what we were told we would find. We had no idea this was a Klin universe, or that we’d find such an advanced society.”

“You were hoping for something more primitive, more easily subdued?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant,” said Gendius. “But what I believe you fail to realize is that the Olypon came to us following an ancient map left before the time when our people were so savagely attacked and then pursued.” She focused on Tidus. “And you have even allied with one of these treacherous creatures—the Jeanians, I believe they are called.”

“Juireans…and that was a long time ago,” Adam corrected.

“Not according to the Olypon. They have brought records from your universe, records which detail the systematic extermination of our Klin brothers and sisters by all the races you have brought, including you, Adam Cain. I was surprised to learn how you—a single being—have played a significant role in the tragedy to befall the surviving Klin within the home universe, being responsible for their final demise. And now you dare come here, seeking the Source, wishing to take him from us.”

Adam wobbled his head, confused. “What are you talking about? The Olypon said we would find a new source of power here, one based on dark matter. We didn’t come here seeking a him.”

“That matters not,” Gendius said. “You are here now, and the truth of what you have done to the original Klin is known. The Olypon have come offering us their union and support, as well as a means to return to the home universe. They come with ancient documents, with full knowledge of what they seek.”

“The Aris?” Adam said.

A hush fell over the room—even the trickling of the waterfalls seemed to go silent for a moment. Gendius stepped forward and laid an open hand slap across Adam’s face. It didn’t hurt, but he reacted as though it did. It wouldn’t pay to let the Klin know how weak they were in comparison to a Human.

“You dare not speak the name…a name you should have no knowledge of. The fact that you do only proves your motives are other than simply as wealth-seekers. You have come for the Source. You are as the Olypon have said, a parasite on our universe, and yours.”

“I’ve met the Aris; most of us here have,” said Adam quickly, fully expecting another slap from the Klin leader. But she refrained. “We were instrumental in helping them achieve their goal of immortality.”

Gendius staggered back, supported by the nameless Klin behind her. “You will cease such blasphemy. You cannot have met the Aris. There is but one…and he is here.”

“That’s not true; there are others.”

“Stop!” Gendius yelled. “Step back! Back!”

Adam and the others obliged, as did the Olypon. There was an odd expression on the faces of the aliens. They stared at the marble monument as Gendius climbed the first level of steps and began to work the controls.

“My Leadin,” said the other Klin. “Is this wise?”

“Silence! We are at a crossroads, Jenlin. The Source must be revived to provide us guidance.”

Adam watched the ceremony with dawning awareness. The Klin obviously had an Aris in the chamber, and only one. But who was he? When Adam and Panur traveled to the artificial world of the Aris several years ago to rescue Lila, there were only eighteen of them left. At that time, they wanted the product of their three-billion-year-long experiment—Lila—to provide them with the means for immortality. Fortunately, J’nae, Panur’s immortal creation, volunteered instead, sparing Adam’s daughter. At the time, the Aris had been thankful. J’nae allowed a little part of her to be merged with each of the surviving Aris, transferring her immortality to them. And then they’d moved on, not to be heard from since.

Yet this was something different. If there was an Aris in the crypt, then he had been there for four thousand years, long before Adam’s encounter with the Milky Way Aris. Who was he, and how did he figure into the whole scheme of things?

Fortunately—or not—Adam was about to find out.

Before their immortality, the Aris survived the billions of years in advanced hibernation units, maintained throughout the eons by an army of self-replicating robots and service modules. Could this be one of the units, but maintained by the Klin instead? The device was coming alive, filling the room with a soft hum and the sound of sliding parts. Could the alien come out of his prolonged sleep so quickly, and fully awake? Adam didn’t know, but this is the Aris. They had been a million-year-old race at the time they began their experiments on hundreds of primitive worlds that would eventually lead to Lila. That experiment took three billion years to complete, but even before then, the Aris were the most-advanced race in the galaxy. Could they have spread to other universes? It was obvious one of them had.

The top of the crypt now separated. A light poured out and shot to the high ceiling. Adam would have his answers soon. They wouldn’t all be standing around if the ancient being was about to stumble out of this coffin, groggy and senseless. Adam sighed. No, the super being would appear fully awake and ready for action, much to his chagrin.

Oh well, Adam thought. Life was good while it lasted….

* * *

As predicted, the Aris stood up with barely a wobble and surveyed the room. And he didn’t look happy. He glanced down at a series of controls along the top of the crypt.

“Heici sin only pin,” the Aris said.

Adam blinked. Of course the translator wouldn’t have the ancient Aris language in its database. In fact, the Aris hadn’t used a spoken language when Adam was with them, the race having evolved beyond that.

But then Adam sensed a presence in his mind. By their reactions, he knew everyone else in the room was experiencing the same thing.

The reason for my awakening…it must be justified.

This Adam could understand. So could Gendius. She looked up at the slender figure. Aris were of Prime form and figure. And why wouldn’t they be? They were the creators of nearly all life in the Milky Way.

“Kracion, I am Gendius Valin, the current Leadin of the Klin. I revived you.”

The Aris moved his thin lips. “Why? You know my time is precious…the most precious.” This time Adam heard the words in English, although he was sure the others in the room would hear them in their native language.

“A link has been established with the home galaxy. Beings have arrived, some with evil intent, others with an offer of assistance.”

The Aris named Kracion surveyed the room from his perch, taking time to study each face. He didn’t linger on any in particular until he came to the mutants, still wrapped in the shimmering blue cloak of the interphase beam. He seemed more curious about the special restraints applied to the pair rather than on them personally.

“Indeed, events have unfolded which I find interesting. Very well, Gendius Valin. I accept your reason. Prepare an audience. Include the two in the beam, plus this other menagerie of divergent species. Although I recognize many of them, I would be interested in learning of their development. Now bring my service modules. I require sustenance beyond my unit. I will signify when I am ready.”

Kracion stepped down from his crypt through a series of steps on the opposite side of the monument from Adam. Two floating orbs appeared near him and hovered at his shoulders. He left the room a moment later.

The chamber erupted in a flurry of activity. Klin swarmed in and herded the team away. The Olypon left as well, accompanied by Gendius. Adam didn’t like that. Already the Klin had taken sides.

And then it hit him. Lila! Could she be in danger from this lone Aris? Would Kracion be able to tell who she was and what she represented?

Calm yourself, father, Lila spoke in his head. I will be fine.

Are you sure?

No…but it seemed the appropriate thing to say at the time.

Chapter 18

The team was shuffled down hallways and into rooms as it became apparent the Klin didn’t know what to do with them. The Aris wanted to see them, but the aliens didn’t know when or in what capacity until he told them. Until then, they didn’t know whether to send them back to their original security room—which was pretty far away—or keep them nearby. Eventually, they were moved into a fairly compact room with couches and chairs and told to wait. Lila and Panur were moved in as well, but this time held in even smaller interphase beams which allowed for limited movement but not much else. Adam couldn’t see where the beams originated but they seemed to be portable, following the mutants around the room but not allowing them to interact with the others on a physical level.

Questions erupted the moment the Klin left the room, but were quickly silenced when the slender, pink Aris entered, without escort and wearing what looked to be a leather support brace around his thin torso. Although his face showed little emotion on the smooth skin, the eyes appeared clouded, as if he was in pain. Then Adam noticed one of the small service modules hovering behind him, with a thin line of white light feeding into the back of his neck. That made sense. The orbs provided the Aris with power, drawn from the pair of dark matter wafers inside the globes. The Aris had evolved to a point where it was more efficient to take in energy directly rather than through biological means. He was probably still in the process of recharging after such a long sleep. Even if that was true, it didn’t look as though his resurrection from the encasement chamber had been a smooth one. Adam didn’t know if this was common, or if something had gone wrong.

“You will address me as Kracion,” the Aris said verbally. He could have contacted each of them mentally but chose a more basic form of communication instead. “I am in the transition phase; it will take a short time for my systems to become fully functional. Yet I seek certain clarification on information I have been told.” The Aris lowered himself carefully into a chair, looking fragile and weak.

He turned his attention to Adam.

“You are the Human Adam Cain.”

Adam was caught off guard by the sudden intensity of Kracion’s steady glare.

“Yes, yes I am.”

“I am aware of your race.” He looked around the room. “Along with the Formilians and the Juireans.” His gaze lingered on the mutants before returning to Adam. “You told the Klin Leadin Gendius Valin that you have met the Aris, as have others in this room. How is that possible?”

Adam couldn’t go into detail about why they had found the Aris and how Lila played such an important role in the story. He was holding out hope that Kracion wouldn’t recognize her for what she was—their Apex Being.

“We came upon the artificial world near the outer boundary of the galaxy. We learned a little of what and who they—you—are and that’s about it.”

“They were revived at the time?”

“Yes they were.”

Kracion considered this information for a moment before continuing. “How many?”

“Eighteen, we were told.”

Kracion nodded. “Was there any mention of me?”

Adam shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no. Your existence here has come as a surprise to us. We thought all the Aris were gone—”

“Gone?” Kracion interrupted. “Gone where?”

“I have no idea.”

“There is more you are not telling me.”

“Perhaps I can fill in the blanks,” Panur said from within his interphase bubble.

Kracion turned to him. “You were there as well?”

“I was.”

The Aris regarded the pair behind the shimmering blue screens for a moment before responding. “I am told you are mutations in possession of unique abilities,” he stated. “It was postulated that such abnormalities would form. I would be curious to learn of your origin.”

“Would you like to hear of the Aris transition to immortality first?”

“Repeat yourself!”

“I said the Aris fulfilled their goal of immortality.”

“The Apex Being….” Kracion said with reverence in his voice.

“Yes.”

“Who was it?”

“A creature named J’nae.”

“Of what racial combination?”

There was only the slightest hesitation, but Kracion noticed. “Tell me.”

“She was a construct, a creation…of mine.”

“You created an Apex Being? How is that so? The Aris have strived for three billion years for its generation. How long did it take you?”

“About six years.”

“You cannot speak the truth. Be aware, I have means of extracting the information directly from your mind.”

“It is the truth. As with your efforts, J’nae was an experiment on my part.”

“And the Aris were able to use this creature to seed themselves with the essence of immortality?”

“As far as I know.”

“Through which process?”

Panur was taken aback by the question. “Process? That I do not know.”

“Adam Cain said the Aris are now gone. Gone where?”

“That we also don’t know. I imagine you would. What was the plan for the Aris if you ever achieved your ultimate goal?”

“Each of us had separate ambitions, but that is not a concern of yours. Yet you say all the remaining Aris—the eighteen—have left the station?”

“Yes.”

For an advanced being with such an incredible intellect, Kracion took a long time sorting out his thoughts, almost to the point Adam thought the conversation had ended.

“I imagine after being trapped in this universe for such a long time, you’re anxious to join the others?” Adam ventured to say, hoping to gain some insight into what could be Kracion’s next move.

He shot a stern look at Adam. “That is not my intention.” He looked next to Panur, an almost manic look on his face. This Aris was much more emotional than the others Adam had met.

“Can you create another of these J’nae beings?” he barked at Panur.

Panur grimaced. “I doubt that. She was a combination of unique chemistries and processes which no longer exist. She was one of a kind.”

“That cannot be so. If you made one, you can make another. You will make another—for me.”

“I will try, but it could take time.”

Adam became aware of another of the Aris service modules hovering near the mutants. Kracion took notice as well, staring silently at the orb. Then he rose to his feet and walked gingerly to Lila.

“A combination of Formilian and Human,” he stated with confidence. He turned and looked at Adam and then Arieel. “A product of your combination.” He turned back to Lila, a thin grin stretching across his face. “You attempt to deceive me. I know not what this J’nae creature was—if it even existed. But before me I see standing the Apex Being, a creature of Aris design, and not some contamination of the process.” He looked at the still-hovering orb. “You have done well to detect the qualities within.”

“What are you going to do now?” Lila asked evenly. Adam’s heart was pounding, and Arieel was on the verge of tears.

“I will assimilate you and therefore achieve immortality, just as the others.”

“Please do not do this,” Arieel cried out.

“An understandable sentiment,” Kracion said to her. “But fruitless.”

“By which process will you achieve this?” Lila asked, picking up on something Kracion had asked earlier.

Now it was the Aris’ turn to be taken aback. “That is but a detail. The others used the facilities of the station to achieve the unification. With them now gone, I will do the same.”

“You will take me to the Aris station in the Milky Way?”

“The Milky Way, I do not understand?”

“It is what the Humans call the home galaxy.”

Kracion looked at the small cluster of Humans, including Adam, Sherri, Copernicus and Riyad. “Do the Humans rule the galaxy at this time? Do they set the terms and language?”

“They are among the most-powerful, although the galaxy is divided into many factions.”

“I must learn of these divisions, before I launch my invasion.”

“Invasion?” Adam asked. “What invasion?”

Kracion smiled at him, again, a foreign expression according to Adam’s previous experience with the Aris. He straightened up and flexed his back, appearing to be growing stronger by the moment.

“I seek not only to return to the home galaxy—this Milky Way—but to rule it. Perhaps I should let you know exactly who I am and how I have shaped all that you have become. Afterwards, your attitudes will change. At that time you will be like the Klin, my worshipers and my servants, as well you should all be to your creator.”

Kracion returned to his chair, lowering into it with less effort or pain on his face. He was recovering from his long sleep.

He looked to Adam. “Was it Nunki you had contact with?”

Adam nodded, surprised he could remember the name after all these years. He attributed it to his slightly enhanced intelligence, thanks to Panur’s mutant brain cells and their influence on his body.

“I assumed he would survive. That is a shame. You who have experienced the Aris were only exposed to a segment of our society. As with all civilizations, there were divisions among our kind. Nunki and his associates were the Privileged, the heretical leaders of our race. There were few of them, yet they guided the projects and set the agendas. I am of another class. We are what you would call the technicians, the Aris who managed the projects and recorded the progress. When the decision was made to create an Apex Being capable of immortality, it was my class who provided the details and labor necessary for the experiment to come to fruition.” He looked again at the Humans. “It was I who initiated the ancient processes three billion years ago that created your race.”

Adam shook his head. The memory was more vivid now of his conversation with the Aris.

“Nunki said it was he who personally stood on Earth and began the experiment.”

Kracion smirked. “He would, because to him, my class is invisible. I was there, and I have returned many times. A group of us monitors would be revived periodically, after which we would travel the galaxy surveying the progress of the grand plan on thousands of worlds. At each awakening, we would age normally, losing precious time while the Privileged slept. It should also be noted that although our encasement chambers can slow time and evolution, they cannot stop it completely. For periods of a million years or so, the effects are negligible. But over billions of years, even the Aris age. And with us being revived thousands of times, although for relatively brief periods, my kind have aged more than the Privileged. And now you say they achieved their immortality? And what of the twenty-one monitors? You have not spoken of them.”

“We weren’t told,” Adam said. “Nunki spoke about the one-hundred twenty-four who chose to sleep, and how only eighteen survived.”

Kracion looked to Panur. “And you provided the eighteen with a form of apex being, if not the Aris creature herself?”

“That I did.”

“Amazing, that at the time of this creature’s appearance, the Aris would be presented with two immortal creatures.” Then he narrowed his eyes at Panur. “And you, too, share this ability,” he stated, coming to the sudden realization.

Panur nodded.

“Then I, too, am fortunate, yet I will still need the facilities of the station.”

“But how…how did you come to be here?” Sherri asked. She was usually pretty outspoken in most situations but had sat silent until now, intimidated by the three-billion-year-old alien. She had not been part of the group who originally met the Aris, although she’d heard plenty about them throughout the years.

“A legitimate question,” said Kracion.

Adam welcomed the question and the answer. The more information they could draw out of the alien, the better their chance of finding a way to defeat him.

“As I inferred earlier, time is the enemy of the Aris. Our race had evolved for a million years by the time the grand plan was postulated. Aris have a normal life span of around eight thousand years, yet not from natural processes, but rather from augmentation and supplemental body parts. But even then, at some point there is nothing left to repair. Immortality—true immortality—has always been a dream of the Aris, and when it became accepted that the goal was possible, all the Aris at the time wanted to share in the success. They did not want to leave it to future Aris, who by the time the experiment came to fruition, would not care, having evolved over the billions of years into something entirely different. So the remaining Aris decided to enter a form of suspended animation. And as also mentioned, I was responsible for making sure the experiment stayed true to the original goal.”

Kracion grinned again, this time more wickedly. “It was at my last awakening that I began to see signs that the grand experiment could actually work. Our seeds were growing on thousands of worlds, and beginnings of the genetic requirements for immortality were evident. Now for more clarification. The Aris never wanted to create a race of immortals. We wanted to be that race. Another would be a challenge to us. All we sought was one being, the Apex Being, which we could distribute among the survivors. This was to include all the Aris, not just the Privileged. But I saw that that was not to be so. Now I looked into the future and realized the only way for the Apex Being to be created was through interaction between various species. I had found the Klin, the first within the galaxy to form the basis for this integration among the races. To speed up the process, I gave them the secrets of the primitive gravity-drive. It was not the most sophisticated method of travel, but it would do to intermix the races. I also gave them advanced energy and weapon technology, items which served to form the foundation of their growing organization.”

“And trans-dimensional travel?” Panur asked. He was curious, since at one time he considered TD technology to be his personal domain.

“I did not give them this technology, but I allowed them to use it. I removed my encasement chamber from the Aris station and placed it safely in another universe.” He looked askew at the mutant. “You did not think the station remained in a single dimension for the entire three billion years? That would have been far too dangerous. No, we shifted between universes, seeking out calmer areas of space from which to live out the long sleep. I did the same, seeking refuge and using the Klin for my maintenance rather than the robots aboard the station.”

“You abandoned the other Aris and went out on your own?” Copernicus asked. As was his way, he spoke before thinking. It seemed a rather rude statement to make to a grumpy super being sitting in the same room as he.

“Impertinent Humans, are you not?” said Kracion. Adam tensed, wondering what the alien would do next.

He laughed.

“Yes, that is what I did. If I could force the unification of the races, then when the Apex Being appeared, I would have it to myself. Please realize, I enjoyed the adulation of the Klin who knew of my existence. And why would I not? I had created them, and countless others. Without me, life in your Milky Way would still be struggling to stand, to speak, to advance. I directed your evolution, creating life in my own image.”

Adam could see the words forming on Coop’s face. Don’t say it, he thought through his ATD.

Kracion smiled. “Yes, I can monitor your interface devices, Adam Cain. And I realize your associate was about to say…in the image of the Aris, and not me personally. That is true, yet it was I who guided the process. It was I who chose the winners and the losers. When it became obvious a race would not fulfill our needs, I would often destroy it. Others I would let die off naturally. So you see, Adam Cain, I am a god, by every definition of the word. Yet I am missing one vital element in the equation.”

“Immortality.”

“Correct. What good is lording over your domain when there is a time limit. Your offspring—more correctly, my offspring—will provide me with the last ingredient.”

Kracion laughed again. Adam could see the signs of instability in a creature who should have been the most stable, from a race of beings who had survived through a million years of evolution without killing themselves, and now another three billion through the power of their technology. Perhaps his frequent awakenings and recovery processes had fried his brain. Whatever it was, this Aris wasn’t right in the head.

“And now you have provided the means for me to return to my home galaxy, to access the abandoned Aris station and for assimilating the Apex Being—and to come at the head of an army of willing servants, both the Klin and this new race, the Olypon. As I remain out of my encasement chamber I will age, a consequence I have feared for so long. But no longer. I have the Apex Being. I will become immortal. And I will have a galaxy under my control for which I can not only play god, but I can be God.”

He looked around at the stunned faces in the room. “I see now that you respect my power and my vision. I thank you for bringing the Apex Being to me. I will be sure to make appropriate use of her.”

Responding to an unseen signal, several armed Klin entered the room. They carried energy rifles of a unique design. They weren’t Xan-fi; the weapons manufacture didn’t exist at the time the Klin were trapped in this universe. But Adam reasoned they would be just as effective, if not more so.

“Bring those two,” said Kracion, indicating Lila and Panur. “And that pair as well.” It was Adam and Arieel. He wanted the birth parents of the Apex Being with him, for whatever reason. Perhaps to make another Lila if he screwed up the first one? Adam didn’t know if it worked like that.

Adam was hustled toward the door, getting the opportunity to look into the desperate eyes of his friends Sherri, Riyad and Copernicus. Tidus stood with his jaw firm, looking defiant, yet resigned, to his fate.

“And the others?” asked the lead Klin.

“You will find a history of your ancestral galaxy where the exploits of the Humans and Juireans will read prominently in the fate of the ancient Klin. You may do what you wish with them.”

“Take them with us,” Adam called out. “Like they say, keep your enemy close.”

Kracion laughed. “I have no enemy here, only reluctant subjects. Their lives mean nothing to me. And neither will yours once I have assimilated. But it will be amusing to keep you around to witness the fate of your offspring. Take them away.”

* * *

Lila!

Father, came his daughter’s clear voice in his mind. This was true telepathy and not thoughts filtered through the ATD—something the Aris could hear.

What are we going to do? Adam asked the mutant genius.

You will do what you must to save yourselves. Kracion will bring Panur and I back to the Milky Way and then locate the Aris space station. It has been four thousand years since he last knew of its location. He will do nothing to us until he finds it. Do your best to rescue the others. I will serve as a communications conduit. But on this you must hurry. I fear that once the Olypon have more opportunity to spread the history of the Klin, this local sect will be quite anxious to make amends, at least to a small degree.

I agree. In the past, Panur built a device to nullify the interphase field. Do you think he could do it again?

Unlikely. We are being held in the bubbles constantly. We are able to move, yet we cannot interact physically with anything outside the field. As the name suggests, we are out of phase with your existence. It is a slight departure, yet significant.

Okay, Adam said. Once we get settled someplace, we’ll start working on a plan. Keep me informed what they do with Sherri and the others.

I will, and mother.

Yes, Lila, Arieel replied.

Do not worry about me. There is time, and both Panur and I have abilities this Aris may not realize. Hope is not lost.

Thank you for that. I will try not to worry.

Good. Now help your friends.

Chapter 19

Adam and Arieel were put in a room down a corridor from the main hall where Kracion’s crypt was held. They figured they were deep below the government building since they hadn’t noticed any structures large enough to house the chamber on the ride in.

Two Klin stationed themselves on the other side of the door, armed with flash rifles, as well as compact handguns.

Adam, Sherri and the others are in their original room in the upper levels of the building, Lila reported.

And where are you?

We are being loaded aboard a starship. It appears to be a shuttle to take us to something larger in space. Please remove the concern for us from your mind. Kracion has been in communication with the Olypon and the Klin. A large fleet is massing. There was also mention of Sherri and her people. They may not have much time.

Okay, thanks, Lila, Adam thought. Any suggestions as to what we could do?

Your natural strength will come in handy once you are free. Getting free is the problem. To do that, you must rely on your other advantage, that being your Gift.

Even though he was communicating telepathically with his daughter, he still shook his head. We can’t affect any of the local controllers, he said, knowing full well that Lila knew this.

Then use them for what they can do, outside the realm of circuit control.

I’m sorry, I can’t think—

“Static electricity!” Arieel blurted aloud. Although she could hear Lila’s thoughts, she couldn’t link directly to Adam’s mind without using the ATD.

Correct, said Lila.

Static electricity balls? Adam asked, holding Arieel’s hand to calm her. The room was undoubtedly bugged.

Yes.

Adam began to think feverishly. He did have the ability to bundle quantities of random electricity, compressing them into tight balls that could give off substantial heat, he didn’t see how that would help. At one time, when he had Panur’s brain cells in his head, he could use the electricity to control masses of air, actually riding on dense sheets, appearing to float above the ground. But he couldn’t do that anymore. All he could do was make really hot balls of sparkling light….

He smiled and leaned in close to Arieel. “Do you know what happens to energy packs when they overheat?” he whispered into her ear.

Arieel frowned, lost in his seemingly random segue. She shook her head.

“They explode.”

I have an idea, Adam said to Lila.

I know; we are still connected.

Tell Riyad and the others to do the same. Give us a rendezvous point.

Lila knew the locations of all the parties. She used her incredible memory to call up a plan of the building, filling in the blanks with flawless deductive reasoning. Riyad and his team would be moving down in the building, while Adam and Arieel would be headed up. They would meet on the third floor.

Riyad is asking for time to practice. It’s been a while since any of them have had to use their Gifts for this, Lila relayed.

Ten minutes, Adam said. As you said, they don’t have much time. And if you and Panur are on the way to the spaceport, Kracion may also call for us pretty soon.

* * *

Adam was always amazed at how proficient Arieel was with her ATD—the so-called Gift from the Gods. Even though Adam had elevated skill based on his recent mental upgrade, the gorgeous Formilian still ran circles around him. She would conjure up balls of blue and white crackling electricity and immediately compress them into pinpoints of radiant heat before letting them dissolve.

Now the pair scanned the area outside the room, locating the electronics within the flash weapons of the Klin guards. Although they couldn’t influence any of the control circuits, they could still trace them, and soon they’d located the power packs for the weapons. The balls of electricity would be contained within the units, so the guards would have no idea what was happening until the battery packs exploded. Adam had already tested the door. There was no lock on it. This deep in the bowels of the government building, there was no need for them.

The pair steeled their resolved, while silently drawing out a route to the nearest bank of elevators. And then Adam nodded, and the pair began to concentrate.

They had no idea how long they would have to maintain the intensity before the power packs would overheat. There was also a possibility that the units may be hardened against such an event. They kept up their spirits and concentration.

After a moment, they heard rustling outside the door, followed by panicked voices. The guards had noticed the heating of their rifles. What if they dropped them and backed away?

Fortunately, they didn’t get the chance.

The double explosions were much more powerful than anticipated. Adam was prepared to open the door and charge out. Yet when the smoke and blast concussion subsided, there was no door left, and not much of the guards, either.

Adam and Arieel were thrown across the room, crashing into a far wall, stunned momentarily. Adam recovered first and lifted Arieel off the floor. He helped her through the shattered doorway.

He’d been hoping to recover a handgun from the Klin, but that wasn’t going to happen. He had Arieel by the hand a moment later and was sprinting for the elevator door.

How have the others done? he asked Lila.

Similar. They, too are free and heading for the nearest elevator.

Piece of cake, Adam thought, this time to himself. All they have to do now is escape a heavily guarded building, make it to an alien spaceport, board their closely watched starship and then make it back to their home universe. At least they were out of the room….

* * *

Adam and Arieel slid up to the closed elevator door. There were no controls for activation on the wall and the dull metal panel remained closed, staring at them with silent defiance.

“Well, dammit! Open up,” Adam shouted.

And it did, apparently voice-activated to respond to a presence outside the car.

They stepped inside. Again no controls.

“Up!”

No response. And the door remained open

“Move!”

Again nothing.

Arieel ran her hand over the wall next to the door. A section turned a light blue, seemingly from within the metal. The door slid shut.

Adam was frustrated with the smooth operation of the elevator. He couldn’t be sure it was moving, or if the door had simply closed and they were still in the chamber. Then the door slid open. Outside were several Klin. At first they paid no attention to the occupants of the car, but then a few took notice, frowns coming to their light silver-skin foreheads. Arieel swiped the bare wall again before any of the Klin could react.

This process was repeated three more times, with each revealing disinterested Klin going about their daily chores, and with no idea where they were within the building.

Where are we? Adam asked Lila.

I’m afraid I can’t help you. I can maintain communications for a while longer, yet I have lost the ability to scan the building. I am apparently too far away; however, I can say the others are having the same issue as you.

The door slid open, and this time, there were no Klin outside.

Okay, Lila, Adam thought. We’ve reached a floor without any Klin.

So has Sherri.

Adam stepped outside, holding Arieel back with his arm as he surveyed the hallway. There was movement farther down, and the four other members of the team poured from a sister elevator. They ran to each other, Sherri throwing her arms around Adam’s shoulders while Coop embraced Arieel. The reunion only lasted a moment.

“What now?” Sherri asked.

Adam was looking around. There was a heavy metal door at the end of the hallway. He took off for it. A moment later they were on the roof of the building.

“Not sure if this helps,” Sherri said in her usual sarcastic tone.

“At least we have a nice view of the city,” Riyad said, flashing his brilliant trademark smile.

Adam led the team to a low wall at the edge of the roof. Looking over, they could see no stairway or fire escape to the ground, approximately twenty stories below. But Adam got an idea.

“How far do you think that other roof is?” he asked referring to the adjacent building across a wide alley and about thirty feet below the level of the government building.

“I don’t know,” Riyad said, “about thirty, forty feet.”

“I think I can make it.”

Sherri slapped him on the back of his head. “That’s just stupid,” she said. “And even if you did, what about the rest of us?”

Adam pointed at a tall flag pole jutting up from the roof of the other building. “If I could bend that over, it would reach here. And then at that angle, you could slide down it to the other roof.” He glanced behind them at the closed door leading into the building. “We don’t have much time. They’re going to trace us here any minute.”

“Can you bend it?” Tidus asked, looking up at the tip of the flagpole. There was a small pendent waving in a soft breeze. They could see the pole moving slightly, indicating a flexible material, rather than something more rigid.

“I’m pretty sure. Just get it swaying enough and it will bend itself. Now….”

He looked at the low wall at the edge of the roof and then behind him to get an idea of how much running room he’d get. It was adequate. He’d run sprints for a couple of years in high school while on the track team. One of his events had been the long jump. He knew that the key would be launching off the proper foot.

He stood at the wall, and then ran off, taking long strides until he’d gone as far as he could on the roof. He stopped and turned. All he had to do was repeat the process in the other direction.

“You sure you want to do this?” Sherri asked.

“Trust me,” he said with a smile. “I got this.”

His body had learned how to enhance muscles, reaction time and healing power from Panur’s mutant brain cells. Even after they were removed, the memory remained, if not all the efficiency of the actual cells. He figured he was about twenty percent stronger than he’d been before, and he would need every bit of it for the jump. A forty-foot long leap would be impressive on just about any planet. Yet with his enhanced strength, combined with the light gravity of this Klin world, he sincerely believed he had this handled. And besides, the roof of the other building was below this one, which would give him a little more air-time. It would be a piece of cake.

He took off at a sprint, rushing headlong toward the edge of the twenty-story building. As he ran, it dawned on him. This was a one-way street. There would be no turning back—

About thirty feet from the edge, he realized his footing was off. He would launch from his left foot, not his right. At the last minute he aborted the jump, sliding on the gravel surface before dropping on his side and crashing into the low concrete wall lining the roof. He hit hard, knocking the breath from his lungs and cracking the masonry in several places. He hoped the wall was the only thing broken. At the moment, he couldn’t be sure.

“I knew it was a terrible idea,” Sherri said as she helped him to his feet. He was stunned and wobbly, but the disorientation passed quickly.

“I was just off on my footing,” he moaned. “I’ll get it right the next time.”

He returned to the starting point but shifted his stance. This should work. He looked at Sherri. She didn’t seem worried, just disgusted.

He took off a second time. His footing was off again, but he was committed this time. He wouldn’t have the energy to try a third time. He lengthened his stride, which only served to slow him down while realigning his footing. The last step was to the top of the low wall, providing a little extra boost to his momentum.

Adam was airborne a moment later, soaring high in the air over the gap between the buildings. He looked down. And down it was, a long way down. Again it struck him that there was no bailing out this time. It was all or nothing at this point.

He knew of other long jumpers who seemed to walk in the air during their jumps. He had never mastered the technique, not back in high school, and certainly not now. Instead he extended his legs and arms out in front of him, forming a sideways ‘U’ with his body.

The other roof was rushing at him. There was a chance—a slim chance—that he would actually make it. Then he gained the realization of his speed. He was dropping like a rock, and toward a concrete and metal surface. This wasn’t like landing in a pit of sand.

His outstretched legs hit the short wall lining the roof and slipped off. His butt hit hard before his back scraped along the sharp edge of the wall. He felt his shirt tear off, along with a healthy amount of skin. Then he hit hard on the gravel surface. He tried to maintain his balance, but the momentum forced his upper body to tumble over his feet. He tried to tuck a shoulder down so he could roll over; however, all he managed to do at this speed was a faceplant on the hard surface. He didn’t see stars, but whole galaxies. His body tumbled, rolled and cartwheeled, crashing through a metal exhaust vent before careening into another. The second unit stopped his movement, confirming the old adage that it’s not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop.

Adam Cain crumbled to the roof, unconscious and barely breathing.

The pain revived him, which was a shitty way to wake up. He heard a high-pitched voice in the background, calling his name. He opened a bloody eye and followed the sound. It was Sherri on the other roof. The rest of the team was lined up along the wall, staring at him but saying nothing. Sherri was the designated yeller. She had more training than the others.

Adam rolled over on his back. His senses were returning, and along with them the incredible sensation of a body on fire. He began the routine, moving limbs and twisting his back and shoulders to see if anything was broken. It would be a miracle if he survived this one intact.

Every inch of his body was battered, bruised or covered in blood. There was also a pretty good chance he’d suffered a concussion, yet nothing seemed to be broken. He staggered to his feet, falling hard against the dented and deformed exhaust vent before regaining his balance. He hobbled forward, heading for the flagpole.

“Are you okay?” Sherri’s voice called out from the other roof.

“I’m fine,” he lied. He looked at the pole; it appeared much more intimidating than it had from a distance. He rapped the metal with his bloodied knuckles, grimacing at the pain. It was hollow and made of something similar to aluminum, if not aluminum itself.

He set about pushing on the pole in the direction of the team, shoving it and then letting it recoil back toward him before adding another push in the opposite direction. The pole began to sway, making wide swings at the top, adding to the momentum and torque. After a few exhausting minutes, Adam had the pole crossing a forty degree arc at the higher elevations.

And then it bent.

The pole didn’t break completely, but rather a deep crease formed, sending the sixty-foot-long staff toward where the team waited.

But it didn’t make it. The fall ended with the pole dangling a teasing thirty feet above the other roof. Adam pushed on it again from his end, but it wasn’t budging, and he didn’t have the leverage he had before. On the opposite roof, the team was making valiant, yet futile, attempts at jumping to reach the dangling pole.

There was only one thing left to do.

Adam mounted the shaft and began to caterpillar along its length.

“You’re insane!” Sherri cried out. “You’re going to fall.”

“I’m hoping not,” Adam managed to say with unconvincing conviction.

He scooted farther out, riding far above the street below. He’d never been afraid of heights before but was quickly acquiring the phobia. About halfway out, the pole began to drop closer to the roof, forced down by his weight.

At a point, the seven-foot tall Juirean leapt and caught the end of the pole, drawing it down for the others to hold. And that’s when the base of the staff bent the rest of the way, allowing the flexible material to slam down on the roof of the government building. What this also did was create a wild oscillation in the shaft, first dropping the center before rapidly recoiling upward a moment later.

Adam was flung off the pole. He twirled in the air, primarily facing upward, with occasional glimpses of the ground far below. And then he was falling.

He landed on something soft, which was the last thing he expected. There was moaning under him. Strong hands grabbed his body, forcing moans of his own as every place they touched hurt like hell.

He was lifted off Tidus. The Juirean had been a convenient landing spot for Adam, although he hadn’t done it voluntarily. Now the others helped Tidus to his feet.

“Are you okay,” Adam asked. For an answer, Tidus stared at him with blank eyes.

“He’s okay,” Riyad said. “Now, let’s get going. That episode took entirely too long.”

Adam was helped to the staff which now connected the two roofs, and which dropped away at about a thirty degree angle. “Coop and Riyad, you go first. You have to catch Arieel and Sherri and help them over the wall.”

“I can take care of myself,” Sherri protested.

Adam didn’t feel like arguing.

The two men wrapped arms and legs around the smooth pole and slid down with little effort. Arieel took off her blouse—much to the shock and awe of the men—and tied it around the pole. She climbed on, placing her shoulders within the loop made by the blouse as extra security it case she slipped. It was an incredible sight as she began to work her sensual body to the other roof, using an erotic form of horizontal pole dancing. Then just before she reached the end, her feet slipped off. The falling momentum pulled her hands away as well, until only an arm hooked in the thin fabric of the blouse was the only thing keeping her from falling to the street below. Riyad and Coop reached out, dangling over the abyss themselves. The angle of the pole helped Arieel slide down farther until the men could take her by the arms. They pulled, each from an opposite side of the pole. Arieel’s head crashed against the metal, sending a loud reverberation through the length. She slumped, momentarily knocked unconscious.

“I’ve got her!” Copernicus yelled out.

“No, I have her,” Riyad countered.

“Somebody decide who’s going to rescue the near-naked sexpot,” Sherri called out from the other roof.

Coop smiled, embarrassed and self-conscious. “You take her, Riyad. I’m cool.”

A few moments later, Sherri expertly shimmied down the pole. She had to make it over the short lining wall on her own, since the two men were huddled over the still blouse-less Formilian, trying to revive her.

Next came the still groggy Juirean. Sherri helped him off the pole.

Adam was the last to cross. With blood still leaking from various parts of his body, he didn’t have to do more than hold on, the shaft sufficiently lubricated to send him sliding down and into the waiting arms of his friends.

Chapter 20

They didn’t hang around after that. With Coop and Riyad supporting Adam’s damaged body between them, the team entered the building and looked for a way down.

Adam grimaced when a thought hit him: What if this was the police headquarters for the planet. After all, it was located next door to the main government facility, the one housing their Aris god.

They never got the chance to find out. Instead they located a convenient set of stairs and began to make their way down. Adam was carried most of the way, which suited him fine. Although he could feel his enhanced body working feverishly to repair the damage he’d suffered, at this point it was only allowing him to tolerate the pain a little better. Healing would come later…if he lived.

Riyad cracked the door open at the ground floor and peaked out. There were dozens of Klin around, curious about the activity taking place next door. Fortunately, none of these Klin were armed. They were bureaucrats, not warriors.

Riyad kicked at the bannister lining the stairs until he broke off the top railing. Then he took the shorter vertical pieces and handed them out to the team, giving them each a four-foot-long club. He handed one to Adam, who used his as a crutch instead.

“We get to the street and commandeer the first vehicle we see,” Riyad said, now the informal leader of the team with Adam pretty well incapacitated. Everyone nodded and readied themselves. He opened the door.

The Klin in the lobby didn’t know what hit them. Clubs were wielded and heads smashed. The team blasted through the crowd and into the daylight outside.

There were dozens of vehicles around; however, most were local police or military units, identified by the ubiquitous lights on their roofs. In every society, emergency vehicles had to have someway of warning traffic out of their way. It was no different on this world or in this universe.

A uniformed Klin was standing at the opened door of his vehicle, speaking on a communicator. He noticed the commotion from the building just as Riyad reached him. The silver of the metal club met the silver the Klin’s skin, which was soon splattered with red blood.

Riyad tossed the dead Klin aside and slipped into the driver’s seat. Coop raced around to the other side and got in. Sherri opened the back door and shoved Adam inside, followed immediately by Arieel, Tidus and her. Three people, all piled on top of the injured Adam Cain, was far too many for the small backseat. Adam cried out in pain.

“Someone get your knee off my balls!”

People shifted. It helped…a little.

The controls to the police car were much like those in other advanced vehicles; a central joystick, with acceleration and braking peddles on the floorboard. Riyad engaged the car and shot forward, catching the fender of another car before he straightened out. Others noticed the team taking control of the car and began to react.

Sherri struggled to lower the side window but couldn’t figure out how to do it. So she took her metal club and smashed the glass. Then hanging halfway out the portal, she laid her weapon into the gut of a Klin cop as the car sped past. She caught another one across the side of the head, while missing two other times. She literally growled from frustration with her strikeouts.

Adam had had enough. He was in such terrible shape that he just went ahead and threw up. Arieel and Tidus fought to get away from him and the incredibly putrid stench. Coop was slammed into the windshield when the huge Juirean tried to climb over the backseat to get away from the foul-smelling discharge.

“Dammit, Tidus!” Copernicus yelled. “You almost broke my neck.”

“His stomach fluids! We cannot tolerate such.”

“Deal with it,” Sherri ordered.

“Quiet, everyone,” Riyad yelled. “I need to concentrate.”

“To the left,” Coop said. “That’s the way we came in.”

“I think you’re right.”

They entered a type of Klin freeway. The trip from the spaceport to the government building had been a short one. So it was only a moment later when the skyline parted and the expansive grounds of the landing field came into view.

Adam wriggled his way into a sitting position. He looked out the back window.

“The cops are coming up fast behind us,” he said. The flashing lights of several vehicles could be seen weaving their way through the light traffic. “How about slowing them down?”

Riyad got the message. He swerved into the back right panel of one of the cars in the lane next to him. Although all the Klin vehicles ran on some form of lifting field, the car began to fishtail. It hit another vehicle and a moment later, the wreck had cascaded into a lane-blocking barrier, with Riyad and the team racing ahead of the confusion.

The road elevated at this point, giving Riyad a view of the spaceport grounds. He could see the Davion—along with the dozen or so military vehicles surrounding it. Armed soldiers milled around outside, having received word that the fugitives were headed this way.

There were more waiting at the front gate.

“Let’s see if this thing can really float on air,” he mumbled.

Before anyone could react, he’d crashed through a light metal barrier and had the car flying through the air, over the fence to the spaceport, and dropping to the ground. It landed on what felt like a bed of cotton candy. Then it floated up, before settling down a little more. It took five waves before the car was steady again, racing along the tarmac toward the Davion.

“That worked.”

“The ship’s covered; head for that long Klin vessel to the right instead,” Adam ordered.

“We don’t have time to learn a whole new set of controls,” Copernicus pointed out.

“That’s okay; I have an idea.”

The car slid up next to the open door of the long Klin starship. There were three crewmembers outside, watching the activity farther down the row of ships. They attempted to run back inside when several aliens piled out of the car, armed with metal sticks. They didn’t make it.

Coop and Riyad rushed inside and made it to the pilothouse.

The controls followed a logical design. “This looks like something,” Copernicus said, activating a panel. In the distant reaches of the ship, generators began to whine.

The guards at the Davion saw the stolen police vehicle slide behind the larger transport, followed a moment later by a blast of air from the lifting vents. The ship was preparing for liftoff.

The Klin ran for their vehicles, leading a mass stampede toward the larger ship. They surrounded the entrance, while armed troops took up positions. Someone tossed a grenade into the open hatchway. After the smoke cleared, Klin soldiers entered.

Everyone was too engrossed with the operation at the transport vessel, that they failed to notice the group of strangely dressed aliens running across the field toward the disk-shaped starship. The rag-tag team disappeared through the doorway at the bottom of the supporting pedestal.

* * *

Coop slipped into the pilot seat.

“That’s my job,” Riyad said.

“In a minute,” Coop replied. “But first…this.”

He began to work the controls. No one knew the systems better than Coop, although Riyad was the better pilot.

“What are you doing?” Tidus asked. He was among the rest of the team taking whatever seats they could on the circular bridge.

“Building up a pre-boost,” he answered. “It will give a nice little jump at liftoff and won’t be noticed outside as it builds.”

“Chemical or gravity?” Riyad asked.

“Both. Okay, here we go.”

There was a tremendous explosion outside the ship, followed by a billowing cloud of white smoke roiling up from below. The Davion shot upwards, taking the compensators by surprise. Then the gravity-drive kicked in, a shallow well at first, and with the ship only about two hundred feet off the ground. The gas cloud disappeared in the blink of an eye, sucked into the tiny series of singularities in the sky above the Davion.

Coop pulled the ship over to the right, lining up on a row of parked Klin vessels. He swept over them, causing the gravity-well to rip entire sections off the ships, while sending a trail of debris climbing into the air behind them. He angled up and away, leaving the long cloud of heavy metal remnants orphaned, with no place to go except down. They rained onto the other vessels, creating a mass of wreckage, death and confusion throughout the spaceport.

Coop slipped from the seat. “It’s all yours, buddy,” he said to Riyad, flashing his own white smile at his friend and teammate.

“We’re not out of the woods, yet,” Adam said. He was slumped in the command chair behind the pilot stations. The mental drugs were working better now. He wasn’t in as much pain, which wasn’t saying a lot.

Sherri was at the proximity screen.

“He’s right,” she said. “It looks like a fleet is massing, a couple of them: the Klin and the Olypon.”

The Davion was in space by now and racing for the outer boundary of the Klin star system. There were hundreds of ships in the region, but most were heading in-system, not out.

“They’re still assembling the fleet. They may not have too many units ready to come after us,” Adam said.

“Yeah, but they do have a few…and here they come,” Sherri said.

Fortunately, the chase vessels were behind them and not trying to block their path. Riyad sent max power to the generators, creating the deepest well possible.

“Still closing,” Sherri reported. “They’re a little faster than we are; however, they are following a nice little tight line behind us.”

Adam got the message. “Are there any mines aboard?” he asked the room.

“Five,” Sherri reported, having already pulled up the inventory.

“Okay, send out four. Keep one in reserve.”

Four tiny red dots appeared on the proximity screen, trailing out behind them. The mines really weren’t mines at all, but rather miniature faster-than-light torpedoes. They would lock onto a passing vessel and then engage their gravity-wells. Being nothing but engines and explosives, they were incredibly fast and able to overtake just about any starship.

A moment later, distant explosions showed up on the screen as flares of energy followed by the removal of target indicators. But there were more coming.

However, the mines had the desired effect. The Klin ships spread out and backed off, not knowing how many of the deadly torpedoes the invaders from the other universe were carrying.

“That won’t keep them back forever,” Sherri pointed out.

“Coop, Tidus, get to the cargo hold and find all the crates of spare parts we have,” Adam groaned. “Break them open and then dump the contents out the back.”

“Why should we do this,” Tidus asked.

“They’ll get caught up in our gravity-well and follow us,” Copernicus explained for Adam. “The Klin will detect them. They’ll think they’re more mines.”

“Exactly,” Adam confirmed.

“And what if we need the parts?”

“Then at least we’ll be alive to figure out what to do next,” Adam said. “Otherwise, it won’t mean shit.”

What followed was a tense, three hour standoff as the Davion raced for the portal with the Klin a respectable distance to the rear.

As the time passed, Adam and the others came to the realization that the Klin weren’t prepared to launch an inter-dimensional war involving thousands of ships and crew. Each of the vessels called to the staging area had to be stocked with provisions, armament and troops, most of which were not stockpiled and ready to go. One couldn’t start a major war at the drop of a hat. It took preparation.

This also meant there was very little space traffic between the Klin world and the portal. Any ships in the area were now back in the system being tended to.

The Olypon fleet was a different story. Although small—numbering only forty-five ships—they’d come to this universe ready for action. This fleet had now taken up the pursuit of Adam and the team, although they were pretty far behind.

The other small force that had originally been sent after them was still being cautious. Adam didn’t know if this was because of the mines, or because they knew the portal timetable. Panur’s clock still ticked off the interval between openings. The next one was scheduled for seventy-two minutes from now.

“Slow down a little,” Adam said to Riyad. He was seated back in the comfortable command chair, looking like a reject from a mummy factory with all the bandages Sherri had placed on his battered body. He’d been given drugs, which helped to augment his natural pain suppressors. He was feeling much better. The rest of the team was off in other sections of the ship, taking advantage of the lull in the action.

“You want me to slow down?” Riyad questioned. “Are those drugs affecting your judgement?”

“We don’t want to get to the portal too much ahead of time,” Adam explained. “If we do, then the Klin can station themselves at the portal and keep us from passing through.”

“So timing is everything?”

“Always. The ships behind us will stay back, not wanting to meet the fate of their comrades.”

“What about the old Klin portal array?” Riyad asked. “The only reason there’s a seven hour delay between transits is because they haven’t got the station operating yet. You know they will, and then they’ll have an open door between the universes.”

“We should have time for one run. Get whatever we have ready for the strike. We’ll hit it on the way to the portal.”

“And the Olypon?”

Adam knew what he meant. The aliens on the other side of the portal wouldn’t know of anything that has happened over the past seven hours, but they would be sitting there ready to either make the transit or to receive units from this universe. If the Davion made it through, it would rush headlong into the middle of a hornet’s nest of angry aliens.

“First things first,” Adam said. “Let’s take out the portal and worry about the Olypon

later.”

Chapter 21

The crew was ready. Taking out the abandoned and unguarded portal array wouldn’t be the problem. It would be five minutes after that, when they transferred back to the Milky Way, when things would get hairy.

Riyad brought the Davion to a hover above the surface of the monochrome moon, about ten miles from the array. Sherri sighted the flash cannon on the three tall towers and fired a quick burst. It was a hit. It would take a blind man—or a Klin—to miss a stationary target from this distance, Adam thought sarcastically. It wasn’t much of a challenge for a gunner of Sherri’s skill.

But the towers didn’t topple over. There was damage, but not enough to bring them down. Sherri fired again. The problem with flash weapons in a vacuum is they didn’t have much force behind their bolts. They relied more on melting through hulls and using the interior pressure within the target to create a massive explosion. It took another round before one of the towers leaned over, coming to rest against one of the others. That would do—for the towers. It required precise alignment to focus the energy required to open a portal.

The team still had one of the mines/torpedoes in reserve. Sherri locked in on the control building and released the weapon. It wasn’t required to transit to light speed, and instead took a leisurely path to the structure. On the screen, the team watched as the building disintegrated. There was no explosion of fire and smoke. Instead a billion pieces of debris shot out from a central point, the fragments landing in the powdery dust and causing an eruption of grey haze that soon obscured their view.

Adam scanned the countdown clock. Seventy-one seconds.

“Head for the portal, Riyad, just as we planned.”

Riyad nodded. He aimed the Davion for the surface of the moon, locating the jagged rim of a small impact crater. As he swept by, large chunks of ancient rock was pulled away, falling under the influence of the ship’s gravity-well. Riyad worked the controls gingerly, aligning the field until the trailing mass was firmly under his control, but not close enough to be overcome by the singularity. He pulled away from the moon, heading for a point in the blackness of space.

* * *

Adam Cain.

The voice in his mind was clear and powerful and caught him by surprise. He felt his side heat up from the activity of his ATD as it absorbed the intense signal from the Aris Kracion.

“Are there any ships nearby?” Adam asked Copernicus at the nav station, the panic in his voice evident to all.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Any contacts?”

“It’s clear, Adam.”

I am still at a distance, yet within range of my mind’s link with your brain interface device.

Adam relaxed. This would just be one of those farewell speeches before they slipped back into the Milky Way.

Oh my god, it’s Kracion!

I sense the sarcasm in your thoughts. You have not come to accept me for what I am.

Sorry, I’m slow that way.

I see you have destroyed the portal array. You know that is but a temporary inconvenience. And if you do the same on the other side, the Olypon will simply rebuild. They know what awaits them on this side of the portal. I will not be stopped.

Never say never.

You can warn the galaxy of my coming if you wish, but it will make no difference. I come with advancements your galaxy has never imagined. Your fleets may be larger—for now—but that will change. I also understand societies, and what they will do to maintain their existence. You should know, as well, that I will not accept your surrender, at least not at first. What good is capitulation without the accompanying object lessons? Without knowing the alternative, any negotiated peace is but a political maneuver, designed to deceive or delay. Before I accept any surrender of your galaxy, you will first learn the consequences of opposing my will. And all the while, I will be absorbing your daughter into my being. I may also do the same to the gray mutant, acquiring all his powers as well. In the end I will become the immortal god of your universe.

“The portal is opening!” Riyad announced. He glanced back at Adam in the command chair and the trance-like expression on his face. “Snap out of it Adam. It’s time to go to work.”

Adam really wanted to stay connected to Kracion; he was his one and only link to Lila. But in a moment they would be through the portal and neck deep in another battle.

Excuse me, Kracion, but I’m a little busy at the moment. We’ll chat later.

Indeed we will Adam Cain. We will—

This was an interesting feature of the ATD Adam wasn’t aware: Even though the portal was still open, once he crossed the threshold from one universe to another, contact was lost.

That was fine; he had other things to concentrate on…like the ninety Olypon warships massed at the portal.

“They don’t have their generators at full,” Coop reported. “Most are in standby status.”

“That makes sense,” Sherri said. “There’s no need for them to hop to the other universe just to turn around and come back. And I think we’re the last thing they expected to see.

But it wasn’t so much the Davion that had the Olypon concerned, as it was the trailing cloud of debris coming at them at just under light speed.

Riyad jerked the starship hard to the left just as he dissolved the well. They slipped to one side, avoiding the debris cloud which continued along the original flightpath, heading straight for the bulk of the stationary Olypon fleet.

Shields were raised, shields designed primarily for defense of charged energy bolts. They did little to stop the chunks of rock. Dull hull metal crumpled like tin foil, opening huge gashes that immediately erupted outward, shattered by the rapidly escaping atmosphere from within. Twenty ships disintegrated, while another nine took severe damage. Gravity-wells were created which helped to absorb the stray rubble, although several of the nearby ships were caught up in the influence of their neighbors. Whole warships simply disappeared into the invisible microscopic points in space.

The Davion flared off to the left of the once mighty fleet, which was now a mass of confusion and starship carcasses. But the Olypon rebounded quickly. They identified the Davion for what it was—an enemy warship. Twelve ships—each three times the size of the KFV-A—guided their gravity-wells in their direction.

It wasn’t too far to the boundary of the Kyrils star system from the planet Mon-Sim where the portal array sat. The Davion made a mad dash for that direction before taking an unexpected detour.

The Klin flying saucer dove for the surface of the Mars-size planet. They would only get one shot at this. And they had no mines left, only flash cannon.

Sherri sat at the controls, staring with intensity at the targeting screen. Unlike the array on the other side, this one had defenses. Blue balls of plasma streaked up. Riyad compensated.

“Hold it steady, dammit,” Sherri called out.

“Dammit…I’m doing the best I can!”

The defensive fire was becoming too intense. It was either avoid the bolts or give Sherri time to sight the target.

“Just do it, Sherri!” Adam ordered.

She fired.

Riyad pulled back on the controls, increasing the well depth until they were speeding away at many times the speed of light. Sherri transferred her targeting screen to the main display, which showed a slow motion video of her strike.

She’d hit the tower array, just as she’d done to the other facility. And just like the other, it had little effect. The metal twisted some and cables were severed. The array was out of order, but it would be a simple fix, maybe a week or so of repair.

“It’s the best we could do,” Adam said. “Great shot under the circumstances.”

Now he turned his attention to the overview of the Dysion Void.

The star Kyrils, with its twin worlds of Elision and Olypon, was located off-center within the huge bubble in space. The entrance to the Void was the Volseen Corridor. On the way to Olypon, they’d dropped a couple of monitoring buoys near the opening, initially as a navigation aide for when they left. Now Adam tapped into the data stream. The Olypon had several squads of picket ships waiting for them. The Void was to become the new center of the galaxy, so they were taking precautions to keep it protected.

They would not be leaving the way they came.

Adam used his arm rest console to call up a large view of the Void on the main screen. Normally, he would have moved to the nav station rather than sit on his ass. But right now his ass was hurting too much to move.

“The Human fleet came through the barrier at one point,” he said. “Anyone know where that was?”

“I might know,” Tidus said. He had been uncharacteristically quiet. Most of the time his face displayed awe at what the Humans were doing. Adam figured he’d never spent that much time around them, having relied on stories told by his fellow Juireans before his split with them. Now he understood why they had been such a formidable adversary.

“You would know, why?”

“I was here, attached to an intelligence division during the battle. We spotted the Humans when they broke through.” He walked over to where Coop sat at the nav station and pointed to a spot on his screen. Copernicus highlighted the location on the forward display.

“Are you sure?” Adam asked.

He nodded. “The landmarks are prominent, and I remember the shock we felt when your fleet arrived from that direction. Brilliant move, by the way.”

“But they had to blast their way through,” Sherri said. “We can’t do the same thing. We don’t have the firepower.”

“But we’re a lot smaller, too. The channel they opened back then may still be wide enough for us.”

Sherri shrugged. “I guess it’s worth a try. And with a shitload of Olypon ships chomping on our asses, it’s about the only option we have.”

“Set the course, Riyad.” Adam ordered. He made a chopping motion with his right hand, aimed forward, beyond the viewport of the Klin saucer. “Engage!”

Chapter 22

Except for the small break at the Volseen Corridor, the Dysion Void was like the Barrier outside the Fringe, but on steroids. Whereas the Barrier was a single sheet of brilliant nebulae gas, the Void was encircled by the same phenomena. The space within the Void was cast in a perpetual rainbow of colors, making every night on a Dysion world a spectacular show of breathtaking beauty. But the beauty betrayed the danger. The boundary of the Void was a violent mass of chaos and confusion. Only the most fool-hardy would attempt a passage through the wall of the Void…or a massive fleet armed with powerful weapons to blast away the debris.

It was all the Davion could do to stay ahead of the Olypon vessels. Granted, they weren’t as fast as the Klin ships, but they were pretty close to parity with the flying saucer. The tiny head start they’d gotten was making the difference.

“We’re going to have to bury ourselves in there right from the get-go,” Copernicus said. “Otherwise if we slow down to pick our spot, the Olypon will be right on top of us.”

“Pick a soft spot, Riyad, and then gun it.” Adam said from behind his pilot.

Riyad twisted around for a look at his friend.

“Soft spot…at about forty-times light speed. Yeah, no problem.” He turned back to his station. “Piece of cake.”

The gravity-well would protect the ship—to a point. Yet as matter was drawn in from the opposite side, there was a very real danger of overloading the well. This would produce a backlash of energy, as seen in most black holes with light-year-long jets of radiation blasting out from the event horizon. And the Void Shield was dense with matter, enough to cause such an overload.

With Coop’s help, Riyad quickly scanned the fast-approaching wall of gas and debris, looking for an area of relative thinness. He found something, but he had no idea how far it extended into the barrier. They were about to find out.

The ship reacted when it hit the wall, feeling a vibration roll throughout the hull as the generators fought the sudden influx of matter into the gravity-wells. There wasn’t a single well, but a series of them created one after the other in the blink of an eye. At the speed they were traveling, each new singularity was millions of miles beyond the next, drawing the Davion along with them and deeper into the nebula. They were also clearing out the space ahead of them of most of the rogue matter, but not all.

“That’s it!” Riyad yelled. He pulled back on the controls, dropping the ship into a shallow well and reducing their speed by ninety-percent. The Davion fell out of light-speed, now imbedded deep within the Dysion Shield.

“Where are the Olypon ships?” Adam asked.

“They’ve fallen back,” Copernicus reported. “But they appear to be lining up for entry, creating a narrower signature. Something we have to remember, this is their neighborhood. They know this space better than anyone.”

Adam should have known that. Even still, this was their only way out of the Void. They had no choice but to continue.

Riyad was intently watching the proximity screen, dodging not so much massive objects but thick clouds of gas. They could screw up a gravity-well just as easily as an asteroid.

“Create a shallow back-well,” Adam commanded.

“A back-well?” Riyad questioned. “That will almost bring us to a stop.”

“That’s right, but it will also draw in a bunch of junk from behind and close up the hole,” Adam explained. “Then we can move forward again.”

“That might work.”

Riyad obliged.

“Coop…status?”

“The Olypon have slowed, but now they’re spreading out, creating new channels with their own gravity-wells.”

Adam fought through the residual pain of his injuries, trying to think. What could he do to stop the Olypon….

“Increase both wells; kick them up to max.”

“What?”

“You heard me!”

“Yeah, but why? All you’re going to do is disrupt the gravity in…. Oh, I see.”

The rest of the team on the bridge now understood what Adam was trying to do.

“We can be sitting here in the middle when it happens,” Sherri pointed out. “And ninety-degree shifts won’t work while maintaining the wells.”

“Something oblique then.”

“This ship has a twelve degree variant in the focusing rings,” Copernicus reported. “Whether that will be enough is anyone’s guess. I’ve never heard of this being done before.”

“Neither have I,” Adam said with a grin. “That’s the reason it may work.”

“Which makes no sense at all,” Sherri stated.

“Riyad, get ready to make the course adjustment.”

“I’m ready,” he said. “Timing will be everything.”

“As it always is. Sherri, keep an eye on well pressure. No one who has done this before has lived to talk about it, so we don’t know the limits.”

“Wonderful…leave it up to me to make the call.”

“No one I’d trust more.”

“Bastard.”

The bridge grew quiet, with each member of the team engrossed in their duties and thoughts. The Davion was now stationery in space, with two massive gravity-wells—one forward and one aft—competing with each other for the attention of the starship. The nebulae surrounding the incredible forces of gravity was swirling and cascading ever-faster into the formerly invisible points in space, now alive and charged with blue and white energy. The singularities were being fed with an ever-increasing volume of matter. At any moment they would overload.

“Now!” Sherri yelled.

Riyad shifted the Davion and engaged the chemical engines. The saucer shot out at sub-light speed, allowing the two opposing gravity-wells to merge without crushing them in between. A moment later, twin shafts of white light shot out in opposite directions from a point in space, covering a diameter of several million miles with their thickness. This was enough to obliterate anything behind or in front of the wells.

The Davion was only marginally outside the path of the deadly spikes of raw energy and radiation when they flared. Alarms sounded onboard as levels spiked and circuits overloaded. The chemical engines failed, as did the internal gravity and inertia compensators. The crew had strapped in prior to initiating the dual wells, so they remained in their seats, yet were violently whipped about as the ship tumbled away in the accompanying shock wave.

Some of them passed out….

Chapter 23

But they survived. The Davion was thrown clear of the massive energy jets by a margin of several thousand miles.

It took a moment for the systems to come back online, including the unconscious crewmembers. Riyad righted the ship and reactivated the compensators. The spinning stopped and the team began to take inventory.

“Hull integrity is intact,” Sherri reported.

“And as far as I can tell, the Olypon are no more,” Coop added. “And get this, there’s a big-ass hole burned completely through the barrier!”

“That’s our way out,” Riyad cheered, “if we can get the gravity-drive working again.”

Copernicus unbuckled his harness. “Leave that to me.” He headed for the bridge exit. Sherri followed.

“I better keep an eye on him,” she said through a nervous smile. “You know how he can get.”

Adam nodded. He looked around at the rest of the frazzled team. Tidus was just coming to, as was Arieel.

“Okay, Riyad, we still have chem drive, so get us moving into that new hole we just created,” he said to his pilot. “The Olypon may try to take advantage of it themselves and send a fleet through.”

“I wouldn’t,” Riyad said, “at least not until I figured out what just happened.”

“And when they do,” the Juirean Tidus Ne Landon began, “they will be just as impressed as I with the resourcefulness and ability of the Humans. I see now why your race has made such an impact on the galaxy over the past twenty years. Well done, my friends. Very well done.”

With ambivalence, Adam looked at the green-skinned alien. He had a lot to answer for, including his manipulation of Adam and the team throughout this whole affair. But for the moment, Adam accepted the compliment.

“What now, boss?” Riyad asked.

“What now? Now we have a galaxy to save.”

“Not again.”

“What about Lila?” Arieel asked, her voice desperate.

“That will have to be a priority as well,” Adam admitted. “If Kracion can make good with his plans, then we’re going to have that bastard around for a very long time. The problem with evil immortals is…they’re immortal, and they’re evil.”

The lights and screens flickered for a moment before steadying out.

“Looks like Copernicus is doing his unplug/plug-in thing with the gravity-drive,” said Riyad. The system came to life. “It worked…this time.” He angled for the weird tunnel cut through the thickness of the Dysion Shield, marveling at the strange roiling of the nebula along the boundary of the shaft. There seemed to be an invisible force holding the gases and debris at bay. He didn’t complain. Instead, he engaged a modest gravity-well and accelerated. He didn’t want to risk the integrity of the inner eyewall with anything stronger.

Arieel walked over to Adam, who was still strapped in the command chair, hunched over on the left armrest, exhausted and in pain. She bent down and picked up one of the bloody bandages that had fallen off—from somewhere—during the buffeting. He shrugged.

“Yet again, what about Lila?” she said. “We must locate the Aris space station before Kracion.”

“And we must warn the Expansion of his coming,” Tidus added.

“And Earth,” said Riyad, wanting to contribute to the litany.

Adam snorted. Then he turned serious. “Something evil is headed this way my friends, and we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

“Why is it always us carrying the load?” Riyad asked.

Adam shrugged again.

He hadn’t had a chance to tell the team about his brief mental conversation with Kracion, to tell them about how he wanted to inflict incredible harm upon the galaxy before he’d accept any surrender. He wanted pain and suffering first, a way of teaching the Milky Way a lesson. That was just sick. And then after that, Adam was sure he wouldn’t accept anything short of unconditional acceptance of him as the new God of the galaxy. The alien was insane, that was obvious.

Adam struggled with the growing list of priorities filling his mind. Save Lila, stop Kracion from becoming immortal, convince the galaxy of the reality of the threat before it’s too late…hit the head and get something to eat. It was all so overwhelming.

“We’ve bought ourselves a little time by screwing up the TD portal,” he said. “But not much. And now we’re in for the fight of our lives, and this time they’ll be no points for second place.”

Riyad shook his head. “Hardly original, my friend, but true. Yet when are there ever points for second place in the game we play?”

Good question….

The End

…with more to come.

Next up…

The Immortal War

To my loyal and intrepid fans…

This latest challenge for Adam Cain and his friends is just getting underway, with the intrigue and action now set on full auto. In the next adventure, Adam must locate the lost artificial world of the Aris and prevent Kracion from assimilating Lila and Panur, creating an insane immortal with a god-complex. In the meantime, the hastily formed forces of the Milky Way race to find an answer to the advance weaponry used by Kracion’s fleet of Klin and Olypon, before the tide shifts so much that they’ll be no coming back from the brink. The galaxy has faced threats before, but nothing as widespread and relentless as this.

The next episode in The Human Chronicles Saga is The Immortal War, now available on Amazon.

In addition, I’m working on a revamp of my website (bytrharris.com) to make it a more interactive guide to the world of The Human Chronicles, as well as my new REV Warriors series. I figure you want more about Adam Cain and the REVs, and not just information about what new books are being published. I’ll have short bios and background information about people, places and things in the worlds I’ve created, while offering a chance for my fans to contribute as well.

Bottom line: A lot of exciting things are coming up for 2019 and beyond. Stay tuned. The pace only accelerates from here!

T.R. Harris

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Novels by T.R. Harris

The Adam Cain Saga

The Dead Worlds

Empires

Battle Plan

Galactic Vortex

Dark Energy

Universal Law

The Formation Code

The Quantum Enigma

Children of the Aris

The Human Chronicles

The Fringe Worlds

Alien Assassin

The War of Pawns

The Tactics of Revenge

The Legend of Earth

Cain’s Crusaders

The Apex Predator

A Galaxy to Conquer

The Masters of War

Prelude to War

The Unreachable Stars

When Earth Reigned Supreme

A Clash of Aliens

Battlelines

The Copernicus Deception

Scorched Earth

Alien Games

The Cain Legacy

The Andromeda Mission

Last Species Standing

Invasion Force

Force of Gravity

Mission Critical

The Lost Universe

The Immortal War

Destroyer of Worlds

Phantoms

Terminus Rising

The Last Aris

The Human Chronicles Box Set Series

Box Set #1 – Books 1-5 in the series

Box Set #2 – Books 6-10 in the series

Box Set #3 – Books 11-15 in the series

Box Set #4 – Books 16-20 in the series

Box Set #5—Books 21-25 in the series

REV Warriors Series

Rev

REV: Renegades

REV: Rebirth

REV: Revolution

REV: Retribution

REV Warriors Part 2

REV: Revelations

REV: Resolve

REV: Requiem

REV Warriors Series Part 1 Box Set - The COMPLETE Series (5 books)

Jason King – Agent to the Stars Series

The Enclaves of Sylox

Treasure of the Galactic Lights

The Drone Wars Series

Day of the Drone

In collaboration with Co-Author George Wier…

The Liberation Series

Captains Malicious

Available exclusively on Amazon.com and FREE to members of Kindle Unlimited.