He moved to the door of the theater room. “Get me a direct link with our forces in the Fringe!”
Almost instantly, the right side of the screen once again split in two. On the smaller screen, a Klin appeared, startled that the Pleabaen would be linking to him without warning.
“Where is this new Human fleet!” Linuso screamed at the screen.
The mouth of this new Klin dropped open slightly, and then he looked down, apparently calling up data on a second screen. He looked back at Linuso. “They are mid-way through the Void; I have two of our ships shadowing them at this very moment. May I inquire as to-”
“Cut the link,” the Pleabaen commanded. He returned to stand before the screen showing the interior of the Klin flagship, which was now revealing a frenzied scene of chaos.
Hoden’s face swept back into view. “They are definitely Human, and they are now smashing through the Juirean lines with relative ease.”
“I can see that, Fleet Master,” Linuso said, anger in his voice. “My question is where did they come from?”
Hoden hesitated answering for a moment as a Kracori was speaking in his ear. He turned back to the screen. “The Kracori believe the estimates of their losses leading up to this engagement may have been deliberately exaggerated to give the illusion of a weakened force. They estimate that the Humans will survive this battle with a force numbering close to seven hundred ships, maybe more. What should I do?”
Adam saw Linuso bite his bottom lip, his eyes now staring intently at the floor in front of the large screen. He was quiet for almost a full minute before raising his head back to the screen.
“Disengage, Fleet Master. Our force of three hundred ships cannot match the Humans on this battlefield. We cannot afford to sacrifice our forces for a cause we will not win. Layoff the system and await further orders.”
The Fleet Master’s mouth dropped open slightly, and Adam could see all the others within the field of the pilothouse lens suddenly stop what they were doing and stare at Hoden.
He nodded at Linuso. “I will obey. What are we to do now?”
“I do not know. This new situation will require a rethinking. You may cut the link, Fleet Master.”
After the screen went blank, Linuso slowly turned to face the small audience seated in the room. “Do not think this has changed any of your fortunes,” he said, staring directly at Adam. “If anything, it has only hastened your demise. It appears as though you Humans are of no value to us whatsoever, not anymore. Now besides the Juireans, you have made full enemies of the Klin, and you, Mr. Cain, will not live to regret it.”
He moved to the door of the theater room, just as a dozen aliens armed with flash rifles entered the command center. “Take them all away to detention. I will send further instructions momentarily.”
Chapter 59
Detention, it turned out, was not the plush suite Adam and his team had been previously sequestered in, but rather a thick-walled traditional jail setup located in another building on the estate grounds. They were all placed in the same cell, as a single, solid metal door slammed shut. There were no windows in the room, and only six cots, a wash basin and a toilet set into one wall.
The mood of the prisoners was decidedly depressed; to Adam it looked like this could be the end of the line. The only consolation was that the Humans had pulled a swift one on the Juireans, and in the process royally screwed up the plans of the Klin. That was a double bonus. As a soldier, Adam always accepted the concept of sacrifice for the greater good. He and his companions had fought the good fight. They had confounded the enemy and even managed to take quite a few of them out along the way. It looked like the Human race may actually prevail in this war, and now, after the purge of the Klin spies on Earth, they appeared to be in complete control of their destiny.
Adam sat down next to Kaylor on one of the cots. The tall alien didn’t seem to be sharing in his quiet resignation.
“We are to be executed, and soon,” the Belsonian said, stating verbally what was on the minds of all the other prisoners. “And for what good?”
“Rejoice in the knowledge that the Klin have had their plans all covered in shit, Kaylor,” Adam said through a wry smirk. “That’s what’s going to get the rest of us through this.”
“Uh-rah!” John Tindal said.
“Uh-rah!” said all the rest of the Humans.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kaylor asked, anger growing in his voice. “You have always had a plan. I have never seen you give up.”
“In battle Kaylor, not all the warriors survive. However, just knowing that your side is winning can bring you a lot of comfort.”
“Your side is the Human side. We — Jym and I — are not Human. We do not have a winning side in this conflict.”
“You have a point there, my friend-”
Just then, the door unlatched noisily and flew open, and several more Humans were shoved into the cell — including Nigel McCarthy and Carter Thomas.
Adam sprung to his feet and instantly took up a defensive stance — legs spread, left hand forward, right hand back in a fist.
McCarthy instantly recognized Adam and held up his hands, palms open, facing Adam. “No need, Mr. Cain. We are all in the same boat now.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” Adam yelled, taking a step forward.
Carter Thomas stepped between them. “Chill out, man,” the large black man said. “This is not the time or the place. We have to work together now.”
“What’s the use? The fucking Klin aren’t going to keep a lot of troublemakers like us around for very long. I’d just as soon spend what time I have left kicking the shit out this asshole.”
Tobias and Riyad flanked Adam and lightly placed their hands on his shoulders. The last thing the two of them wanted was a full-scale melee to erupt in the cell between Adam’s men and McCarthy’s.
McCarthy stepped around his hulking mediator and up to Adam. “Carter’s right. We have to work together now, as unit — if we’re to get out of here alive.”
Adam was stunned by McCarthy’s brazen statement. “You’re crazy. Why do you think we have a chance to get out of here?”
McCarthy leaned in closer to Adam; Riyad and Tobias leaned in, too. “It’s because I’ve never trusted these silver-skinned bastards in the first place,” said the big Brit in his sharp, sing-song accent. “You see, I’ve made contingency plans, like any good Special Forces operative would.” He looked Adam hard in the eyes, only inches from his face. “You with me, mate — or not?”
Adam hesitated for a moment, trying to determine the truth in McCarthy’s words. Finally he leaned in even closer and grunted, “Uh-rah, you son-of-a bitch. Let’s do this!”
McCarthy walked over to the wall near the door to the cell. “I’ve had free reign of this place for almost seven years now, and I always wondered why the Klin would have a jail cell constructed on the estate,” he said turning his back on everyone in the room. “The Klin never commit any crime against each other, so I figured it had to be for us — just in case we caused them any trouble.”
He ran his fingers along the concrete block of the wall until he felt something, and then he pushed. One of the blocks spun outward. He reached inside what was a small cavity in the block and pulled out a long tube, about the length of a pencil with tiny notches placed within it. He held it up for all in the cell to see. “I give you … a key.”
Adam rushed forward, flanked by Tobias and Rutledge. “That’s great, McCarthy,” Adam said. “But what do we do once we get outside?”
“I have that covered, too.” The big Brit nodded to Carter Thomas and the other five men who had been placed in the cell with him. They all moved quickly to the cots and flipped them over. Pulling the long side supports apart, they revealed metal tubes with something hidden inside each one. Thomas lifted up one of the tubes and let its contents slide out into this hand. It was a sword, about a meter long. Adam could tell it was one of the fancy biometric blades which utilized nanotechnology for constant sharpening at the molecular level, just like the ones he and Sherri had used on Hyben. These blades never went dull and provided an almost laser-like cut through just about any material.