Syn-En: Registration (30 page)

“Learning to speak takes too long.” Rome shrugged. “Besides, I’m making one specifically for
our
child’s small hands.”

Standing in the hall, Richmond kept watch. “Shuttle is standing by for course direction, Admiral.”

Bei waited until Keyes moved into position. “Open her up.”

The two ensigns each shoved a hand behind the cabinet then shoved it forward. It teetered for a moment then clanged to the floor.

The smell of blood, sweat and burned flesh wafted from the room.

Job stood in the archway, one hand raised to shield his eyes. The other held a bloody shovel. “‘Bout time you got here.”

Chapter 34

Groat opened his desk drawer while the video reloaded. Turning off the lights had been a mistake. He hadn’t seen the Humans arrive. They seemed to appear out of nowhere, just like in the square. That was most troubling.

By-passing the tube of oil, he picked up a letter opener and rammed it under his forearm armor. Moving the metal back and forth, he closed his eyes and groaned. Yes, that damn itch was finally scratched.

His subordinate, Tactin, stood on Groat’s right, claws clasped behind his back. “I do not see that these new Humans are much of a threat.”

The screen flickered. The Human leader Beijing stared directly at the camera for a moment before hopping into the elevator shaft.

“They found the escaped diggers.” Groat tapped a holographic key and paused the clip. When he enlarged the image of the Human’s hands, the image blurred. He should have installed a high resolution camera. This one made it look as if Beijing’s fingers had fused together.

Tactin’s armor creaked when he paced. “I thought the plan was to use the diggers as bait.”

The plan had been to use the diggers on a far outpost to gain a little more precious metals before being forced to turn them over. But his men had failed to capture the escaped slaves after over half an axis spin of searching.

And the diggers had been in the laboratories the entire time.

The Human had seen what his men had not.

Obviously, the Scraptors needed refresher training courses.

Groat could practically taste the impending war. He tossed the letter opener into the drawer. It bounced to the bottom with a clang.

On screen, Beijing joined his strike team at the research level. Green lights skimmed up and down the halls.

Tactin shrugged. “Those probes would be good to have.”

“So would their weapons.” Groat needed to know what he faced. Maybe if he fudged the truth a little, he could request an increase in his operating budget.

Of course, the return of the Skaperians should accomplish that.

But one could never have enough weapons.

Beijing knelt in front of the surgery door.

“They rely heavily on their technology.” Tactin turned away from the screen to stare through the open door and scratched his chest. “We can use that against them. Humans are not a threat, especially with our new armor.”

The new body armor itched like hell and smelled sweet. Groat hated it. He hated the Humans, too. But he wasn’t about to underestimate them. Their damn ships had led him light years around the galaxy. And the diggers had evaded his men.

“How many code breakers are working on the Human’s technology?”

“I’ve requisitioned four, but there’s a hold up in accounting.” Tactin’s mandibles tightened. “Mopus believes his company should be awarded the contract.”

Mopus. May his stink fail and his hair fall out.

Groat stiffened as, on the screen, diggers flooded the halls. One hundred thirteen workers, gone. Only time would tell if the information he gained on these new Humans was worth the loss of labor. “I want Scraptors on those tech codes, not Municians. Requisition them as secretaries.”

“Yes, Superior.” Turning on his heel, Tactin marched from the office.

The female called Keyes unraveled a cord from her forearm and jacked into the elevator’s control system. Light flooded the lift. The drain didn’t even register on his consumption accounts.

The Human soldiers were good.

Fortunately, the Scraptors had thousands of axis spins of experience to draw upon.

The exit camera flickered to life and split the screen. The exit doors stood wide open. Humans in black uniforms rushed inside the tunnels, helped the injured diggers into the waiting shuttle.

The shuttle that hadn’t been visible on his scans or satellites.

Groat squirted oil on his armor and rubbed it in. The Humans would keep the code breakers very busy for a while. He watched the lower floor empty, then the exit, before checking the time.

Six Earth minutes.

His screen flickered, filled with static, and then cleared.

Beijing stared out of the screen.

Groat’s hackles stood on end. That hadn’t happened when he’d watched the recording before.

The Human face faded and the new image focused on three Scraptor guards. Groat’s men raised their weapons. A fist buried itself in one guard’s face. Light crackled down his body before it fell out of frame. One had his arm ripped from his socket. The image fizzled out.

Beijing returned. “Leave. Humanity. Alone.”

Anger bubbled under Groat’s skin. The pathetic Human dared to threaten him? “Listen here, you little…”

The screen blinked out, then the words “file not found” scrolled across his black screen.

Groat pounded on his holographic keyboard, but no files came up.

He hated technology.

He hated Humans!

Chapter 35

Bei dropped the data crystal on the floor and ground it to sand under his heel. Now he could enjoy the registration party. Music pulsed through the open doors and ports of the ground floor office. Voices poured in from the crowded courtyard and echoed in the empty buildings. Faded paint peeled from the cream-colored walls. Thanks to the energy barrier, the place was preserved as it had been over a million years ago. Too bad there was no furniture. But that would come.

Tomorrow, when Humans moved in.

“Do you think that was wise? Baiting a Scraptor when our fleet is halfway across the galaxy?” Nell wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed against his back.

Through her dress, he felt every curve, peak and valley. He loved every one of them. “It is only fair that Groat understands Humans won’t be the universe’s bitch anymore.”

“Yes, but now he knows what you can do.”

Bei eased his wife in front of him. “He cannot even fathom what I’ll do to stay free.”

She squeezed his waist. “What
we’ll
do. This is everyone’s fight. You’re not alone anymore.”

No. No, he wasn’t. Nor was he just a Syn-En. Somewhere on the rolling sands of an alien world, the universe had recognized him as a flesh and blood man. No one could take that from him.  Ever. “Let’s celebrate.”

Rising on her toes, she kissed his throat, his jaw. She stopped just short of his lips. “With a hot shower?”

Heat shimmered through him. He loved how she thought. Hell, he just loved her. Scooping his wife into his arms, he strode toward their new quarters. “Any way we want. We’re free to choose.”

Thank you for purchasing a copy of
Syn-En: Registration
.

Currently available:

The Syn-En Solution

Syn-En: Culture Clash

Coming Summer 2014

Syn-En: Plague World
— journey to the place where the Surlat strain started and uncover a secret so powerful it will ignite a intergalactic war.

If you’re interested I have other scifi stories available:

www.LindaAndrews.net/id16.html

Plus these with a touch of romance:

www.LindaAndrews.net/id15.html

I’m also on twitter
@LindaAndrews

And facebook:
www.facebook.com/LindaAndrews

And have a blog where I post free chapters and updates about the sequels:
LindaAndrews.wordpress.com

About the Author:

Linda Andrews lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, three children and a menagerie of domesticated animals. While she started writing a decade ago, she always used her stories to escape the redundancy of her day job as a scientist and never thought to actually combine her love of fiction and science. DOH! After that Homer Simpson moment, she allowed the two halves of her brain to talk to each other. The journeys she’s embarked on since then are dark, twisted and occasionally violent, but never predictable. If you’ve loved one of her most demented creations so far, she’d love to hear from you at lindaandrews at lindaandrews dot net.