“And why not?” Jonnif asked. “The Humans are neophytes in the ways of the Expansion. They may not even know that their path is clear.”
Bulinif’s eyes grew wide. “That is correct! They have won a battle here, but they may not even realize that the war is essentially won. Now all they need to do is move on Juir.”
“And that is all we have to do, as well. The first force to reach Juir — and destroy the capital of the Expansion — can claim the mantel of ruler of the new Expansion, or whatever the Ludif Assembly will choose to call it.” He grinned at his two companions. “And without the Klin to restrict our operations, we will be free to rebuild the galaxy into whatever form we choose.”
“What of the Humans?” Kolif asked. “Even with the Juireans and the Klin defeated, there would still be a powerful force left to challenge our authority.”
“This is true, my Ludif. The Humans will have to be dealt with, that is a certainty. However, our priority should now be to beat them to the planet Juir. We may not have the strength to defeat their fleet, but we do have ample power to lay waste to the home of the Juirean scum.”
“And the Klin?”
Jonnif smiled again. “Let a purge of our own begin. Just as the Humans have recently discovered, they are of no further use to us. Assemble the fleet — and set a course for Juir!”
Chapter 65
Juirean Overlord Anawar Fe Batlin looked over the shoulder of the screen operator and frowned. “Are you sure?” he asked the nervous Fenwolenese, squirming in his chair.
“Yes, my Lord. It matches the signature we now have in our database. It is definitely a Klin — or I mean — a Human spacecraft.”
“Cluster the ships on my location, we are going to investigate. Raise the shields and charge the launchers,” The Overlord returned to his command chair, both shocked and surprised that he would find such a vessel so far above the ecliptic plane. From his understanding, all the Human battle forces were concentrated in Region Six and well within the plane.
This fact was actually the reason Anawar was where he was at the time. He had been tasked with rounding up all available Juirean military craft from the outlying systems, no matter how small or insignificant those vessels may be. He was then to escort them Juir; the Authority was in the process of consolidating all available forces there, either as a buffer against the advancing Humans, or as the core of a new fleet to be sent against them.
Anawar’s picking had been sparse, and to date he had acquired only two aging Class-3’s, four small Enforcers and four other craft that had been originally merchant vessels, yet now carried single bolt launchers on their bows. It wasn’t much, but it was all the isolated and nearly-forgotten Members of the outer Expansion had to offer.
The fact that a Klin-built ship — whether manned by Klin or Humans — had been detected this far from the battle theater raised a variety of concerns for the aging Overlord.
First, this could mean that his small force may have actually stumbled upon the location of the secret hiding place of the evil Klin. Like all Juireans, Anawar had been overcome with emotion when it had been confirmed that the Klin actually did still exist, and that for four thousand years they had been planning their revenge against the Juirean race. And now that the war had begun, the Klin were proving that they had found the perfect surrogates with which to carry out their evil deeds in the form of the barbaric Humans.
The other possibility was that this ship was not operating alone, and that the Humans were attempting to outflank the Expansion by traveling into its heart from above the ecliptic plane. Yet so far, no other gravity signatures had been detected. This ship appeared to be traveling alone.
Anwar’s options were obvious, in light of the overwhelming advantage in firepower he had over this single vessel. He could simply blow the ship to atoms, or he could have it submit and take the crew as prisoners. The second possibility was preferred. Acquiring an intact Klin spacecraft — along with its crew — could be very valuable to the technicians and analysts within the Authority.
Whether or not he could take the ship captive or not would depend on the course of action its crew chose to take. If they elected to stand and fight, then he would surely destroy the ship. If they succumbed, then he would accept their surrender.
On the forward screen, Anawar could see his small fleet form up to the rear of the contact. They would overtake it in less than ten minutes at their current velocity. The choice as to whether they lived or died now rested in the hands of the crew of the small saucer-shaped vessel.
Either way, Anawar would be satisfied.
Chapter 66
“Son-of-a-bitch! Didn’t we just leave this party?” Sherri Valentine yelled to no one in particular. She ran to the pilothouse just as Riyad approached from the other direction.
Already inside were Adam, McCarthy and Tobias, along with the two aliens Kaylor and Jym. Adam nodded at her as she entered, a look of worry and disgust on his face.
“Juireans, are you sure?” she asked moving to get a closer look at the tac screen facing Nigel McCarthy.
The big Brit didn’t look back at her, but rather kept his attention focused on the screen. “Not just Juireans, Miss Valentine, but ten of them.”
“What are they doing this far out?”
“At the moment they are rapidly closing on our position.”
“What are you going to do?”
“The better question is what are they going to do?” said Andy Tobias. “We can’t outrun them and we can’t out fight them. If they’re in a bad mood, they may just blast the crap out of us.”
Adam slipped into the co-pilot seat next to McCarthy and activated the shields. “I for one am not going down without a fight!”
“Relax, Mr. Cain,” said McCarthy. “We’re already within range of their weapons. I think if they intended to shoot, they would have by now.”
Adam released the controls and leaned back in the chair. He let out a deep sigh. “So what now, prisoners again and hope for an escape or rescue?” He looked around at the others in the pilothouse. “Just about everyone I’ve ever counted on to come to my rescue is right here in this room with me. If we’re going to do this, we’ll have to do it on our own.”
Riyad Tarazi placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder and grinned in his interminable way. “Adam my friend, we are all quite resourceful — as you are well aware. We have been like a cancer to all our past captors, destroying them from the inside out. If I were the Juireans, I would be the ones afraid of taking us prisoner.”
Chapter 67
The Juirean forces dissolved their wells and then moved under chemical drive to surround the much smaller spacecraft. A comm link was established, sending directions for docking the Klin starship within the bowls of the Class-3. Soon, atmosphere was returning to the vast landing bay, as the shimmering hull of the alien craft creaked and moaned, warming from the absolute cold of space.
Anawar had never seen a Klin/Human spacecraft in person before — very few Juireans had and lived to tell about it — so he was anxious to see this one up close. As he entered the landing bay, he was first struck by the circular shape of the craft and its near-uniform gray color. The prominent disk now rested on a wide pedestal that had descended from its center … and a doorway in the base was slowly sliding open.
A squad of twenty security personnel formed a semi-circle facing the doorway, flash rifles leveled and ready for any sign of hostilities. Having read dozens of reports regarding the ferocity of the Humans, the Overlord could not discount the possibility of a head-on suicidal attack by these beasts from within his ship. The guards appeared nervous, yet ready.