“I will not-”
Sherri stuck the blade up under the Hyben’s pointy chin. “Don’t make me hurt you. I’m tired, filthy and in a shitty mood. Just take off your clothes.”
After a brief moment of silence, the Hyben removed his robe and passed it over to her. He used his forearms to cover his lower torso. Sherri grinned.
“Don’t be modest,” she said. “You’ve got a great body. I can barely keep my hands off of you.”
The Hyben’s head began to vibrate, confused.
Sherri slipped the clean tan robe over her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head. The robe was still way too long for her and would trail after her like a cape as she walked. She would have to cut the bottom off with the sword.
She looked up at the tall Hyben. “I don’t suppose you’ll just let me go quietly and not call the authorities?”
“You have stolen from me, and have entered my chambers uninvited. I have no choice”
“So you’re saying the only way I can keep you quiet is to kill you? Is that what you’re saying?”
Again, the alien’s head began to vibrate. “No! No! That is not what I’m saying! I can remain quiet. It is only a robe, and it looks as if you could use it more than me. Consider it a gift.”
Sherri grinned again. “That’s better. I knew we could come to an accommodation.”
Sherri moved to the doorway and slipped outside. She scurried around to the back of the mound and used the sharp edges of the sword to cut away the bottom meter of the robe. That was much better. Now she could move quicker through the town and not attract attention. She knew the Hyben would eventually call the authorities, but having just spent five days and nights living with a native, she knew it would take several hours before he would build up the courage to do so. By then she should be at the spaceport.
Kaylor should have no problem landing the Exitor. With the search for the assassin Adam Cain now concluded, all travel restrictions on and off the planet should be lifted. With a renewed spring in her step, Sherri began to jog quickly through the Hyben neighborhood.
Here she was, just your average Human girl, out for a late-afternoon jog on an alien world, two-thousand light years from Earth- just another day in the life of Sherri Valentine.
Chapter 24
Sherri spent the warm night huddled in a metal trash dumpster just outside the massive spaceport. Her stomach was growling and she was weak from hunger. She had drank some water earlier the prior evening, but could not risk eating any of the native food, not without cooking it — which apparently wasn’t that popular of a practice on Hyben. So she suffered, for a little while longer, now watching the sky for the distinctive outline of Kaylor’s Exitor-class spaceship on its approach for a planetary landing.
With the ban on landings and takeoffs now lifted, the spaceport was exceptionally busy. Five days without interplanetary traffic was crippling for the Hyben economy, already suffering from the effects of the Human-Juirean war. So it wasn’t until early afternoon before Sherri saw the Exitor make its landing at the spaceport. She was at the rear loading ramp almost before the chemical engines cut off.
However, what she saw first, as the door to the loading bay opened, surprised her almost to tears.
There, standing next to the pale alien with the inch-long appendages dangling from under his ears, was Riyad Tarazi and Andy Tobias. Sherri ran into Riyad’s arms and hugged him forcefully, and then pulled Tobias into her grasp.
“I’m so glad to see the two of you!” she said as tears flowed down her cheeks. Then she turned to Kaylor. “You too, Kaylor, of course. Thank you so much for coming to get me.”
Kaylor bobbed his head at Sherri, who released the other two Humans and stood back a step. “What are you doing here? I thought you were over on Saczen Four.”
“We came here as soon as Kaylor let us know about the two of you being stranded,” said Lt. Andy Tobias, U.S. Navy SEALs. “Thought we could help.”
An incredible feeling of sadness overcame Sherri, and the tears flowed even freer now. “Oh, God, Adam didn’t make it.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
Riyad put his arm around Sherri and led her into the loading bay of the ship, while Kaylor shut the heavy metal door behind them. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, my pet,” he said with a broad smile. Sherri locked a laser gaze on his dark-featured and bearded face.
“What do you mean-?”
“He’s alive. It’s all over the local broadcasts. He’s been captured, but he is alive. The Juireans are making a big deal about catching the terrorist Adam Cain. It’s a big propaganda coup for them.”
“Is he all right? Has he been hurt?”
“They had some pictures of him,” Tobias spoke up, more serious this time. “He’s injured, but being taken care of. I think they want to keep him alive long enough so they can make a big spectacle out of his execution.”
“What? When?”
“They haven’t said. Apparently, they’re taking him all the way to Juir.”
Sherri rushed past the three males, heading for the pilothouse. “Then we have time to get him,” she said, panic in her voice. The men followed after her.
“Yes, we do,” Riyad called after her. “But we must have a plan first. He’s apparently aboard Juirean Class-3. With Kaylor’s ship and mine, we are no match for them.”
“I don’t care! We have to do something!”
Tobias caught up with her and grabbed her arm, spinning her toward him. “Relax, Sherri. We’ll get him back. But Riyad’s right, we need a plan.” His eyes were serious as they bore into hers. “The trip to Juir will take five months. We have time, but first things first. We have to get off of Hyben and muster our forces. Chill out!”
Sherri was stunned back into reality. Tobias was right, of course. She was working on adrenalin and pure emotion. Yet when she did stop for a moment and look at the others around her, her legs suddenly grew weak and her eyes fluttered. A moment later, Sherri had collapsed into Tobias’s arms, unconscious.
Andy Tobias easily lifted Sherri in his arms and carried her to the nearest stateroom. She looked emaciated, was unbelievable filthy and smelled like yak squeeze. If he had the proper medical supplies aboard the Exitor, he would have started an IV and got some liquid nourishment inside her as she slept. Instead he simply laid her on the bed. He would let her sleep for a while, and then they would work on getting her back into shape.
He shut the door to the stateroom and met Riyad in the corridor. “Damn, she stinks.” Tobias said.
“You are so right, my friend, but don’t let her hear you say that. I thought the aliens smelled bad, but she — as you say — takes the cake.”
Tobias just nodded, before he saw the amused look on Kaylor’s face. For far too long he and Jym had been the brunt of the Human’s jokes about alien odor. “I know what you’re thinking,” Tobias said to Kaylor. “But she’ll clean up.”
Kaylor bobbed his head. “If you only knew what Humans smell like to us, you would not be so flippant with your remarks.”
All three of them smiled, as Tobias put his arm around Kaylor’s shoulder. They headed for the pilothouse, where Jym was waiting to lift the ship off the planet Hyben. Riyad’s ship was waiting for them in orbit. They had a lot of planning to do if they expected to get Adam back from the Juireans.
Chapter 25
For thirty-four days the Human fleet pursued the fleeing Juireans. Although fast for their size, the Klin Fleet Vessels (KFV’s) could barely keep up with the Juirean Class-4’s and -5’s in full gravity drive. The Juireans were getting away.
So it was with surprise — as well as confirmation of their suspicions — that the Humans saw the Juireans begin to slow and reform their battle lines.
The call went out to the Fleet to prepare for engagement. This time they would use all their forces, which now numbered eight-hundred fifty-two ships, not counting those that had remained in the Fringe to mop up the remaining Juirean-loyal forces and the twenty-five that had been destroyed on Melfora Lum.
Word had spread quickly throughout the Fleet regarding the nuclear explosion on Melfora Lum, and the annihilation of the Marine Force Alpha at Hi’Jea. Over a million Melforeans had also died during the explosion, which just showed how cruel and heartless the Juireans could be. Even though the Human High Command had devised a plan to lure the Juireans into a false sense of security regarding the coming space battles, the destruction of General Taggert’s forces meant that the Juireans were also capable of doing the totally unexpected. This reality had brought a somber atmosphere over the entire Fleet. The war with the Juireans was now in full gear, and the enemy was proving to be quiet a formidable and ruthless opponent.
The Human forces tore into the Juirean lines with a renewed ferocity, aimed at avenging the deaths of the Marines. The Juireans suffered far more losses in the first few minutes of the engagement than they had during their prior meeting with the Humans. KFV’s whipped between the Juireans lines, laying barrage after barrage into their diffusion screens, overloading them. And then other Human units would lay more bolts into the weakened areas of the shields until their shots impacted the metal hulls themselves. The next runs sent bolts through the hulls and into the ship’s interiors, resulting in massive explosions from within. Twenty-one Juirean ships exploded into vapor within minutes.
Although only a handful of the commanders knew of the master plan for the battle, the actual Human casualties were not all that bad, with only five ships lost and seventeen damaged but repairable. Without the damage suffered in the planetary rings or the asteroid field, the Humans came out of this conflict relatively unscathed — before the Juireans bolted away again.
And yet on the Juirean screens they saw nearly a hundred of the Human attackers leave the battlefield or their signatures go dark. Normally, this would have been cause for celebration aboard the Juirean ships, as well as impetus for a continuation of the battle. Yet their orders were clear, and so once again, the Juireans fired up their deep-wells and fled the scene.
With the current strength of the Juirean fleet, plus any waiting reinforcements, it was estimated that the Humans forces would be down to minimal strength after only two more engagements.
At least that was what Admiral Allen wanted the Juireans to believe.
To the Human commanders, their plan was working perfectly. Soon the main Human fleet would be down to well under half its original strength, making it an inviting target for the Juireans as the warring factions moved deeper into Expansion territory. And by that time the shadow fleet under Captain Schwartz would be almost double the size of the remaining fleet. If Schwartz could keep the fleet a secret up until the time of the final battle, the Juireans could be in for a quite a surprise.