The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) (28 page)

“And on a more personal note, I want to thank each of you for believing in me. Some of you know the truth, while others are only taking my word for it. But I did
not
bring this tragedy upon the Human race.”

“We know,” some of the SEALs called out. “Here, here!” said some of the civilians.

“Thank you all for that. I think that’s all for now. I don’t know about the rest of you, but for me it’s been one hellfa couple of days.” They all laughed. “Let’s try to get some rest. There’s a whole lot of work to be done.”

Chapter Forty

The ‘officers’ aboard left the mess decks and went to the captain’s quarters with Kaylor and Jym. Once there, the Humans continued to revel in the lighter gravity, something that would not hurt them in the short term. They spread out on various chairs and couches, before all eyes locked on Adam.

“Well, Captain,” Sherri said with a smile, “I guess the big question is: ‘What do we do now?’”

Adam looked over at Tobias. “You said that Captain Allen had a mission for us. What mission?”

“The CO had a back-up plan in mind if your suspicions came true and the negotiations broke down. If the Klin are going to help us fight a war – which is the only way we could ever stand up to the Juireans – then it was his reasoning that it would be nice to have a strike force operating behind enemy lines.”

Chief Rutledge was the oldest person in the room at 42. With over 22 years in the service, he had been everywhere and done everything, at least on Earth. He was tough as nails and as mean as a banshee, and with a mind for tactics and strategy. He spoke next. “If Adam’s right, then the Klin will help us win the first battles, at least until we get to a point where both our forces are at parity. Then they’ll continue to manipulate battles, as each side grows weaker and weaker. It’s actually a masterful plan. They play one side against the other until both sides are depleted, and then they step in, which I suppose was their goal all along.”

“It makes sense, Chief,” Adam said. “We’ve all been racking our brains trying to figure out why all this has been happening to us.”

“That’s what I can’t figure out,” Tobias said. “Why us, why the Human race? Out of all the other races in the galaxy, the Klin chose us to fight their war for them.”

The three veterans – Adam, Riyad and Sherri – shared a knowing glance before Riyad explained. He began by flexing his muscles, Atlas-style.

“I don’t get it,” Tobias said, frowning.

Riyad put his arms down, disappointed. “We’re the supermen of the galaxy, Mr. Tobias. I know you haven’t realized this yet, coming from a planet full of supermen, but you’ll learn soon enough.”

Tobias looked to Adam for more clarification. “What Riyad is trying to say is that Humans are much stronger, quicker and more coordinated that just about all the other races in the galaxy. The Klin must realize this, too. And not only that, but we have an intelligence level and fighting skill set that puts us several notches above even the Juireans. The problem is we haven’t learned how to fully utilize our talents, outside of being able to crush a few alien skulls with ease.”

“Our ‘skills’ didn’t seem to make a big difference back on Earth a few days ago,” Rutledge said. “Even with advanced weaponry, unless we go hand-to-hand with these aliens, then it will simply be technology against technology.”

“The Klin will see to it that we have the weapons necessary to hold our own against the Juireans, at least at first,” Sherri spoke for the first time, venom in her voice. “They may also realize that with the right motivation, we Humans are a vicious and savage race. After what just happened back on Earth, they’re hoping we’ll jump headlong into the fight without thinking too much about it.”

“And they’ll be correct,” Riyad said. “And I’m sure the Klin will see to it that we stay continually motivated.”

“What do you mean?” Rutledge asked.

“Atrocities,” was Riyad’s one-word answer. “Occasionally they’ll throw in a few mass killings of Humans, or desecration of the casualties, and then they’ll make sure the entire planet knows about them. It’s a well-developed tactic.”

Everyone in the room was aware of Riyad’s background, but they had all come to know and like him, so none of them commented further on his statement. Instead they just nodded their agreement.

Changing the subject quickly, Sherri spoke again. “So how do we carry out this mission?”

It was Tobias’s turn. “As our forces move toward the enemy, it will be our job to indentify munitions dumps, supply lines, communication channels and the like, then we can help by disrupting all of these. We need to soften up the enemy for our forces. This is really the job of Army Rangers. SEALs are primarily for extraction and target elimination.”

“Assassinations,” Riyad stated.

“If need be. But we’re normally not cut-out for prolonged operations behind the lines, just quick in, and quick out operations.”

“We’ll do fine,” Adam said. “We’re not going up against other Humans. In fact, most of the alien planets, with the exception of the Juireans, do not even maintain standing armies, just local police and security forces. And even the Juireans may be ill-prepared to fight a prolonged campaign.”

“That’s true,” Jym said, speaking for the first time. “The Juireans have not had to fight a major war in a thousand years or so. You remember, in the entire Fringe they had fewer than 20 warships. But there is another factor to consider.”

“What’s that?” Adam asked.

“It’s the other Members of The Expansion.”

“Adam just said that most of ’em don’t even have a military,” said Tobias.

“That’s correct. But for a long time now, the galaxy has been pretty stable with the Juireans in charge. No one is going to want a major war to disrupt things. And since the Humans will be seen as the invaders, I doubt if you will receive very much support.”

Tobias nodded his head for several seconds. “That’s a very good point, Mr. Jym—”

“My full name is Jym Sollom-Rognillin-Cacas, but we do not use the last names. And we do not have prefixes.”

“Sorry. My mistake. Then all good points, simply-Jym.” Tobias and Adam shared a glance. Adam had warned him about the tiny alien’s volatile temperament. “Are there any groups who
would
like to be free of the Juireans?”

Kaylor had watched the interaction between the Humans and Jym and decided it was time for him to speak up. “There may be a few. The Nimorians have never been happy with The Expansion, and neither have the Rigorians. But in the case of the Nimorians, they would miss the trade and technology they receive from The Expansion. And the Rigorians would just as soon rule the galaxy as help someone else do it. As far as races further into The Expansion, I’m not sure. But the further you do go in, the more influence the Juireans have in these Sectors.”

“Then it sounds like we’ll be operating on our own, just those we have aboard and our one ship.” Tobias’s tone was not very encouraging.

“There may be some other Humans we can recruit,” Adam said. All eyes turned to him, but before he could explain Sherri was speaking.

“The non-converts on Calamore! There are supposed to be about a thousand people there who would not join the 2G’s. Also a bunch of women that have been used to produce the 2G army.” Then her expression dropped. “But the 2G’s may have already killed them by now.”

“Where are they? A place called
Calamari
?” Rutledge asked.

“No,
Calamore
. And that’s another thing,” Adam said. “We don’t know exactly where it is. We have an idea, but it may take some searching to find it. But if we can, we could potentially have small army of our own, and all Human. A thousand Humans are worth 10,000 alien combatants.”

Tobias looked around the room. “It’s obvious we can’t keep another thousand or so people aboard this ship. We will need more. Any ideas?”

“I’ve been kicking around an idea in my head for awhile that would use Riyad’s skills at acquiring pirate ships, and then crew them with the non-converts from Calamore,” Adam offered.

“I could do that,” Riyad said. “And I might be able to round up a decent-size group of mercenaries, if we could pay them, either in money or bounty. And I have a debt to settle with an old friend that just might provide us with the start-up capital we would need for such a venture.” There was that devious smile of his again.

“Sounds like a plan is coming together,” Adam said with a smile. “Now all we have to do is find Calamore – and hope we’re not too late.”

A few minutes after the staff meeting adjourned, the Juirean battlecruiser was changing course and heading for the Rigor side of the Barrier. They knew that Calamore was located in a three-star cluster on their side of the Barrier, and Adam thought this might be where the scientists could come in handy, helping to identify possible targets. He paired up the two astrophysicists in the crew with Jym and his nav computer. Soon Darryl Symington and Carol Nash were hunched over star charts and computer models with the furry alien as if they were life-long friends.

Carol Nash had been elected the liaison for the scientists, and had become a regular attendee of most of their planning sessions.

She was 49 years old, a graduate of Stanford, and had spent most of her career teaching physics and advanced mathematics at Berkeley. Growing tired of academia – and needing a change after a bitter divorce – the childless astrophysicist had decided to become more involved in the practical side of physics, so she joined a research team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

After a few years, she was transferred to the Cape, where she worked on various shuttle missions until the program was shut down in 2011. Since that time, she had been a special projects manager for the emerging technologies division of NASA.

Eighteen days before, she had been awakened in the early morning and flown from Houston to Virginia Beach, with no satisfactory explanation coming as to why – not until she walked into the hanger at Langley Air Force Base. Then all her complaining had ceased.

She and a team of diverse scientists and engineers were tasked with examining the alien spacecraft. Unfortunately, they had spent the first two days developing protocols before beginning the actual examination. Little did they know, their time with the alien spacecraft was limited.

When the first fireballs began to strike the base, the scientists had all gone outside to see what was happening. Thinking at first that they were experiencing a meteor shower, the scientists didn’t panic, beyond how one would normally react to a natural disaster of this magnitude. But soon they noticed the non-randomness of the strikes. All the scientists had retreated back in the hanger to begin debating what they should do next.

They debated for four hours, right up until the time Adam Cain and his group arrived at the hanger.

Watching the alien spaceship be prepared for flight had sent Carol’s heart racing. Her mind had been a jumble of contradictions – as well as possibilities – as the reality of an alien attack from space had dawned on her. The science fiction movies were coming true. How she reacted to that reality took her completely by surprise.