“But if the Juireans stop fighting, shouldn’t we?” Sherri asked as she sat down on a long sofa next to the room’s only window.
“Ask the families of the billion dead back on Earth-” Riyad caught himself suddenly as he saw Adam’s face blanch. “I am so sorry, my friend. I did not mean to be insensitive.”
“It’s cool,” Adam said, retrieving his own drink from the processor. “But we have to think of the bigger picture. If the war can end sooner rather than later, a lot of lives will be saved. Besides, the Juirean was right; they do have a lot more resources available. Any victory we would have now could be short-lived, and that would only mean more casualties down the road.”
“Granted,” Riyad said, “I’m just saying it could be difficult to convince the admirals not to attack.” And then he grinned wide, his eyes bright. “But after talking your way out of being flayed by that nasty-looking sword, I’m pretty sure if anyone could, it would be you!”
Just then a commotion was heard in the hallway outside the room; the door burst open and the rest of the Humans flowed in, along with Kaylor and Jym. Adam had been worried about the two aliens. The Juireans may not have considered them part of Adam’s entourage and simply had them eliminated. Probably more than anyone, he was relieved to see them come through the doorway.
Being the humble person that he was, Adam was content to let Sherri and Riyad explain what had just happened. The room was soon crowded with people who, a moment before, had been resigned to their fate and the next overwhelmed with relief at being spared.
Then Nigel McCarthy had to ruin the mood. “You know, if Cain can’t convince the fleet to stop the attack, the bloody Juireans will just go ahead and kill us straight away. Why wouldn’t they? So at the most, we have another two months to sit around and worry about this. I for one don’t want to spend that time doing nothing.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Lt. Tobias spoke up. “Captain Cain has the Juireans working with us now. Let’s not do anything that will make them regret that decision.” There was chorus of agreement from Adam’s contingent; McCarthy’s men offered no opinion, at least verbally. Adam had to admit: McCarthy commanded a very-disciplined team.
Eventually, they all found separate rooms within the suite to claim; there weren’t enough total rooms for the seventeen of them to have separate quarters so everyone had to pair up. McCarthy and Thomas shared a room. The large Englishman fell heavily onto one of the two beds in the room, as Carter Thomas did the same, and within minutes, McCarthy could hear the contented snoring of the huge black man, enjoying the slumber of the recently pardoned.
McCarthy felt no such relief and so he found sleep elusive.
As he lay awake on the bed, a club-like arm resting across his forehead, he began to work through the consequences of Adam Cain’s actions. A truce between the Humans and Juireans would certainly come as a welcome relief to all the forces currently fighting, and a long-term, negotiated peace would be accepted back on Earth. But then where would that leave him?
Even though he had left the service of the Klin, he had not done so voluntarily. He had known what the Klin were all about, yet he still agreed to help them, and against his own people. The likes of Sherri Valentine would not let that rest. She would blab to anyone who would listen about his collusion with the enemy. And she wasn’t the only one. Yes, if he was ever to return to Earth, he would be summarily placed in shackles and charged with the highest of treason. He would undoubtedly become the face of the enemy — even worse than the Klin themselves — since he had turned against his own kind with full knowledge of the consequences. And in light of the deaths of a billion innocent souls, they wouldn’t be able to execute him enough.
Was there a way to get back into the good graces of the Klin? He had no idea. And if so, how would he even contact them? He was locked away in a tower on the planet Juir, of all places.
Nigel McCarthy needed more time to work out a plan, a plan that would put him in the forefront of survival — and to hell with everyone else. Luckily, he had a couple of months to work something out….
Chapter 7
Hydon Ra Elys paced the floor of his personal residence, suffering the anguish of his thoughts. Over the past day he had experienced such a wide range of painful emotions that he was surprised he could still function.
Hydon was the Council Elder, the leader of the Expansion, and as such he was the being who carried the most responsibility for the events taking place — as well as those to come. Just the thought of having the sacred planet of Juir ransacked by either the Klin or the Humans was almost unimaginable, and one he would never have even considered only a few short months ago. But after the humiliating defeat at Falor-Kapel, and the revelation that the capital of the Expansion was now vulnerable to attack, this only meant that the decisions he would make from here on out would be the most important ever made by a Council Elder.
First the Humans — and now the Klin. How have we let ourselves become so exposed and ripe for defeat?
Hydon was taking an awful risk by trusting the Human Adam Cain. Every day they delayed evacuating the Cluster and saving Juirean lives only reduced his options — which he admitted were slim to none at this time. If the Human was lying about the second fleet — this Klin/Kracori fleet — that only meant more Juireans would be killed if and when the Humans attack. And if he is telling the truth, and the Juireans can repel the Klin invaders, then everything would be contingent on Cain convincing his forces to stop their attack. And if he can’t?
Hydon ran his hands through the long, white hair of his ranking-mane. After so many thousands of years, the survival of the galaxy-wide Juirean Expansion — at least in its present form — now rested on the words and actions of a single being, and not a Juirean, but that of a Human being.
The preparations for a defense of Juir would continue now with haste. Two months may be just about enough time to make that happen. After that, who knew…?
Chapter 8
Jonnif Vinn of the Kracori had assumed command of the Klin fleet off Falor-Kapel two months before. The soft-skinned Klin had proved to be no match for his warriors, and soon the Klin strongholds on Olypon and Glasien-4 were all under Kracori control.
Scouts had been dispatched to keep watch on the vastly larger Human fleet, and Jonnif was pleasantly surprised to see that they hesitated making their move on Juir, awaiting the arrival of their second fleet. This had allowed Jonnif time to call up an additional one-hundred fifty ships from Eilsion and elsewhere to strengthen his own forces. He now commanded four-hundred fifty ships with which to make the move on the Juirean capital.
He also enjoyed one other advantage which he was sure no one else was aware he had….
Following established gravity routes, the journey from Falor-Kapel to Juir normally took four months. The Humans had just now departed the F-K system, following the traditional routes. By now the Juireans would be aware of this and would be planning accordingly. But Jonnif knew of a different route, a quicker one, directly through the galactic center.
Long ago, in a desperate attempt to escape the growing Expansion, Klin navigators had discovered the obscure and dangerous transit. It was a narrow and convoluted path consisting of just the right combination of matter and emptiness, a rare mixture few would have even imagined existed this close to the Core and the voracious maw of the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole. The path was used sparingly these days — if at all — and all but forgotten by the Klin.