Adam had no idea if the Klin were actually falling for any of his bullshit; Riyad and Sherri had also been participating in the ruse, praising the Klin every chance they got within the confines of their suite. As he left the SEALs room to return to his own, he was feeling that the deception he was perpetrating took very little effort and yet could pay dividends at the end — if the Klin believed them, if even a little.
He was mildly distracted as he walked down the corridor, followed by two of the large-headed guards, heading for his room — so much so that he nearly collided with another creature as it emerged from a side door.
Adam stopped abruptly and looked eye-to-eye at the creature. It was about his height, with thin black eyes and a build of muscular fitness. Its features overall were very similar to Humans, but the skin was more creased, leathery and a dark grey in color. The guards didn’t move to separate the two of them, but instead seemed to recoil slightly at the sight of this new creature.
“Excuse me,” Adam said politely. “It looks like we almost collided.”
The creature stared at Adam with a look of undisguised contempt. Having first contact with an alien race, Adam knew that it wasn’t always wise — or accurate — to jump to conclusions regarding a species’ initial expressions and body language. Yet this creature’s feelings were almost impossible to misread.
“Collided — yes,” the leather-skinned being replied coldly. “I’m sure it was just a mistake on your part. Let us hope it doesn’t happen again.” And then the creature turned and walked past the guards and down the hallway. Adam watched it leave, also noticing how the guards went out of their way to open a path for the alien. They appeared to have forgotten entirely about their charge and continued to watch the dark creature as it moved away in the opposite direction.
“Hey guys,” Adam said, rousing the guard’s attention back to him. “Let’s go.”
Embarrassed, the guards followed Adam back to his room.
Chapter 43
The time eventually came when the small convoy of Klin ships made planetfall at their ultimate destination. Each of the craft affected surface landings, extending their thick, round pedestals from underneath, which the bulk of the vessels now rested upon.
Adam and the rest of this team were hustled out of their compartments by the big-heads and paraded out into the bright sunlight of this new world. The air was thick and humid, and the daylight burned his eyes after weeks of the subdued artificial illumination aboard the starship. Gravity appeared to be about standard for the Expansion, or about three-quarters that of Earth’s, and from what he knew of the Klin, this might be even a little higher than what they were comfortable with. The fact that they would have chosen this planet as the residence for their leader was a little puzzling.
There were open-air transports waiting for them, and soon a convoy of six cars was moving across the vast plain of the spaceport and heading toward the skyline of a nearby city.
Once they passed through the spaceport gates, the convoy entered a complex maze of streets, wending their way among towering buildings easily reaching fifty stories or more in height. There were hundreds of creatures on the sidewalks, yet sparse traffic. As they passed, Adam studied the natives. They were Primes of average height, in a variety of weights and all dressed in a kaleidoscope of colorful and individually-tailored outfits; the scene was very similar to any large city back on Earth.
And yet he saw no Klin.
After about twenty minutes, the line of transports entered the grounds of a massive palatial estate, lined with tall wrought-iron fencing, soaring trees with green and purple leaves, and grounds of manicured green lawn. To the left, Adam could see the edge of a vast, shimmering lake that appeared to spread out behind the estate, with woods of green and purple climbing the gentle hills rising up on the other side of the water.
Adam’s jaw dropped slightly as he took in the entire scene. It was one of opulence — yet comfort — familiar to the Human to such a degree that it was unsettling. He looked at the others in his car. They all appeared mesmerized — as was he — by the beauty of the estate and its grounds.
A long paved driveway circled around to the front of the massive and ornate four-story brick building, placed strategically at the focal point of the landscaping. The guards popped out of their cars and took up positions around the prisoners. Ludl Vizon climbed out the lead car and joined them near the carved, double entrance doors to the estate. He appeared to be in his customary jovial mood.
“This is where the Pleabaen lives, and is the symbolic capital of the Klin race in the galaxy.
Weeks ago, the Humans had decided not to antagonize the Klin, so Adam simply looked around and said, “Very impressive. The Klin and we Humans have very similar tastes regarding class and elegance. I can see why we have so much in common.” Adam wasn’t lying about how impressive was the estate.
“Yes, we are quite proud of this structure and the surrounding complex. It reminds us of our home, of Klinmon. Now follow me. It is time to meet the Pleabaen.”
They entered the massive building and were just as awe-struck by the absolute immensity of the room before them. Besides being four stories tall, the floor of the room dropped down through a series of steps and landings for another two stories, forming a spherical chamber of incredible volume. Below them, a number of hallways spoked off from the much smaller ground-level floor, and here Adam finally saw a large number of Klin, all moving about with deliberate and unhurried ease.
Ludl did not lead them down into the room, but rather to the right and up a wide stairway that wound its way up the side of the circular room. At the top was a-ten-meter-wide hallway leading further into the depths of the building. Here, too, Klin scurried about, all engaged in the various bureaucratic duties one would expect to find in the central headquarters for an entire race of beings.
At the end of the long hallway, Ludl pushed open a large, heavy door and they entered a smaller anteroom, lined with holographic pictures of what Adam recognized as scenes from the past on the planet Klinmon. They were similar to those that had been in the captain’s quarters of the Klin ship he had first been aboard, just over three years before. The Juirean Overlord Oplim Ra Unis had explained their significance, just moments before he had died in the nuclear explosion that had consumed the ship.
As Adam looked at the pictures, his mind raced back through the events that had shaped his life since then, a time when he’d first discovered that a whole new universe existed outside his own comfortable, myopic world. And now here he was, at the headquarters of the race that had started it all, who had begun the journey out from a single world, and who had provided the scientific imagination and brain-power that had made it all possible. Even though the Klin were now his mortal enemy, their achievements were not to be diminished….
His reverie was interrupted when Ludl instructed the few guards who had accompanied them to watch Lt. Tobias and the rest of the team.
“You and the others are to remain here,” he said addressing Tobias. “Misters Cain, Tarazi and Miss Valentine will follow me.”
They passed through another door and down a carpeted hallway to a room at the end. As they entered, Adam saw that they were now in a very large office, with an ornately-carved wooden desk set off to one side, with statures and wood paneling lining its walls. Yet most of all, he was struck by the brilliant light cascading through a wide and tall set of raked windows, and the shimmering blue beauty of the lake beyond.
And rising from a long couch facing the lake — were two other Humans!