The Human Chronicles Saga : Boxset #2 (The Human Chronicles Saga Boxsets) Read online

  So Zin did his best to consider this just another tracking; why his masters wished this information was none of his concern. He would follow the leads, locate the target and then report back. This was what Zin did best.

  And yet the credits made him think this commission was different from all the others. Twenty-thousand was about normal for his services, yet at the end of this track – if he could meet the conditions set forth – Zin would have waiting for him a one-hundred thousand credit bonus. That was an incredible amount simply for locating an individual. The assignment’s single caveat for receiving the bonus was a deadline of only three months for completion.

  Two months had already past, yet the trail of this being Ni-gel was definitely growing warmer. There was a possibility that his friend Fex-Lor could provide Zin with the final piece to the puzzle.

  “Zin, it is really you!” Fex-Lor Tenth said with undisguised joy. The tall Vinnerian approached the much smaller In’marian and embraced him, running his right hand down Zin’s back and then moving it to his groin area. “Ah, I see you have a gift waiting for me. It has been so long since I’ve experienced one such as yours.”

  Zin pulled away and felt a warm tingling throughout his body. Yes, there were perks to this assignment, even on top of all the credits he could earn. He missed his old partner, and even though they were of different species, the stimulation they could offer each other was immensely satisfying to both.

  But first things first….

  Once the two friends were comfortably seated on a soft cushion forming a semi-circle in Fex-Lor’s office, Zin chose to tend to business first, and pleasure second. The gathering of information was a subtle dance Zin had perfected, yet he did not want to dwell on it any longer than was necessary; the memories of past trysts were too strong to ignore.

  “My friend Fex-Lor, you have indeed succeeded where you said you would. I am very impressed.”

  Fex-Lor lit two Silean smokesticks and passed one to Zin. They each inhaled deeply, holding the pungent, yet potent, fumes within their lungs for as long as they could before exhaling. Although their physiology varied slightly, the ’sticks did their job at roughly the same level for both species. Soon, the talk would be over, and the effects of the ’sticks would only enhance the physical reunion that was to come.

  “Yes, my fortunes have indeed improved. I am sure you have heard that they were not always so.”

  “I was concerned for you, yet my confidence never waned. So what changed?”

  “I am not proud to say this, but I have not accomplished all this success on my own. Often we need support in other areas to help us achieve our goals.”

  “You have a partner?” Zin’s joy began to fade slightly, as he felt the unfamiliar pangs of jealousy rise up in him.

  “Yes, but not that kind, my friend,” Fex-Lor said reassuringly. “This is strictly a business arrangement.”

  “Who is this new partner?”

  “I am not allowed to reveal his identity, even to you, Zin.” Even as the words were spoken no regret could be heard in Fex-Lor’s voice. Zin knew what was coming. “Of course, there is no one else here to know of what I speak.”

  Fex-Lor leaned in closer to Zin and placed a smoothing hand on his shoulder. “He is a creature they call The Ma-Jor. I have not met him physically, yet we have linked on a number of occasions.”

  “And what has this Ma-Jor done that has enhanced your profits?”

  The look of joy faded somewhat from Fex-Lor’s face, even though his hand continued to caress Zin’s shoulder. “I cannot take responsibility for what has happened. Prior to my affiliation with The Ma-Jor, I was suffering dearly. But then two representatives of his arrived – a most unexpected circumstance seeing that they were both Human!”

  “Humans – he has Humans working for him?”

  “Yes. But not only that, The Ma-Jor is a Human as well.”

  “You are in partners with the Humans?” Zin began to grow nervous. If his commission indeed came from the Klin, and Zin now comes to find out he is on the trail of a Human, then he could be caught in the middle of a very serious conflict. “Why did you accept that, Fex-Lor? The Humans are dangerous, violent and unpredictable.”

  Fex-Lor looked down at the couch, breaking eye contact with his friend. “Regrettably – at first – The Ma-Jor made me an offer I could not refuse.”

  “Surely you could have said no? You should have said no!”

  “You do not understand, my friend,” Fex-Lor said looking back at Zin. “I was not allowed to refuse the offer. The Humans came to my domicile and killed nine of my most fierce and effective guards as if they did not even exist. It was made clear that I must accept the offer of partnership or suffer the same fate.”

  “Then it was a command, not at offer.”

  “That is correct, yet I use the term the Humans used.” Fex-Lor sat up a little straighter and raised his chin. “Yet Zin, even though the affiliation is with the Humans, I have profited handsomely, as you can see. The negotiation may not have been one at all, but the results have been very satisfactory. In fact, I wish you to join me. My greatest problem at this time is finding adequate personnel for all the activities I am involved in.”

  “And what are those?”

  “Primarily, the supply of weapons to the Federation, apparently there is great need for stockpiles. The Omphly have primitive weapons of their own, and yet now they are bringing in the most-sophisticated available and The Ma-Jor is my only supplier. Join me Zin, and you can assume the role of my equal. Together we will earn so many credits that we may both leave if the Humans prove to be too demanding.”

  “I do not trust Humans, Fex-Lor, but tell me more: what does this Ma-Jor look like.” Zin was sure that Ni-gel and The Ma-Jor were one and the same. It was what had brought Zin to Surun in the first place. He just needed a little more confirmation.

  “He is a smallish, pink creature – as are all Humans I’ve seen – yet with tiny brown dots on his face. His hair glows a slight reddish tint – and he has the habit of continually bearing his teeth at me when we link. At first I was scared, but then I noticed he did it with everyone, even his own kind, so he was not challenging me to a life duel.”

  Yes! This was Ni-gel Mcoukatie. So this Human was influencing the criminal activities throughout a third of the Expansion. Fex-Lor and the Federation were only part of his operation, as Zin’s trail had revealed. This Human, the creature known to Fex-Lor as The Ma-Jor, seemed capable of great feats. In addition, he had made Fex-Lor extremely wealthy – and someday possibly even Zin would share in that benefit!

  And yet just knowing that Fex-Lor’s patron was Ni-gel did not fulfill Zin’s contract. He had to locate him as well.

  “So where is The Ma-Jor? Where is he located?”

  “I do not know his headquarters, but recently I was asked to arrange a secure compound for some of his activities here within the Federation.”

  “Where is that?”

  “Why do you ask? It would not be safe to attempt to meet him. You said it yourself, Humans are violent and unpredictable. I would hate to see anything unforeseen happen to you.”

  “I’m more curious than concerned. If we are to partner again, I would not welcome interference beyond a reasonable level, even from our patron.” Zin leaned over and snuggled against Fex-Lor’s chest. He could feel the beating of his heart under the warm skin.

  Zin had already decided that he would take Fex-Lor up on his offer to join him, yet the fulfillment of his commission was so near, it would be impossible to walk away from a hundred-thousand credits. He would track down Ni-gel and make his report. But then he would return to be with Fex-Lor.

  “So you have decided! That is wonderful,” Fex-Lor took the last long puff off his smokestick and then tossed the last remaining nub on the floor. Then he caressed Zin with both arms, holding him tight. “You need not worry about The Ma-Jor. He is on Uniss-3, or he was the last I heard of him. But that was only a week ago. I assume he is st
ill there. Now, Zin, let’s get you unpacked. It will be so wonderful having you with me again.”

  Zin pulled away and sat up. “I am afraid I will need a little time.”

  “Why?” Fex-Lor was genuinely hurt. “I thought—”

  “Yes, you thought right. However I must return to In-mar briefly to tie up my affairs there. I hope you understand? I shouldn’t be gone more than a month.”

  Fex-Lor was suddenly beaming again. He climbed up off the cushion and helped Zin to stand. “I assume you do have at least an hour to spare before heading back out? I need something to hold me until your return. But then after that – off with you! The longer you delay, the longer it will be before you return … for good.”

  A few hours later, Zin left the company of Fex-Lor Tenth and returned to his ship. After checking the coordinates for Uniss-3, he launched and then settled in for the six-day journey to the planet.

  A quick drop to the surface, a few discrete inquires – and if fortunes smiled upon him – a confirmation of Ni-gel’s whereabouts.

  He would then send a secure link with the information. Once the bonus was in his account, he would return to Surun … and to Fex-Lor.

  In truth, Zin was attracted to the skinny Vinnerian – even if those of his own kind would find it appalling – but certainly not to the same degree Fex-Lor felt towards him. Yet, as always, Zin had other motives for joining with Fex-Lor. After the completion of this assignment, Zin had no guarantee of when the next commission would be arriving, or from whom. Granted, one-hundred thousand credits was a princely sum, yet not enough on which to retire. Fex-Lor was offering him stability and the chance to share in substantially more credits over time – plus a bonus of another kind.

  Zin smiled, thinking of the conversation he had had with Fex-Lor. Indeed, it appeared as though his old friend had also made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

  4

  It wasn’t until the last day out from Pyrum-3 that the pain of the welts on Adam’s face and body had healed enough that he didn’t dwell on them constantly. Yet all it took was seeing his reflection in a mirror or shiny bulkhead to remind him that they were still very visible; lines of angry red forming a hilarious grid pattern over one side his body. He had hoped they would be less noticeable by the time they reached the base otherwise Sherri would be merciless in her ribbing. He could more-easily tolerate the cruel jokes from his fellow soldiers, but Sherri’s would be particularly biting. She just had a talent for such things.

  Maybe another day would be all it would take – but that wasn’t likely. It seemed that their extremely rapid transit from Yaki back to Pyrum-3 would be his downfall….

  The journey to Adam’s base took eight days, which in reality was about ten days faster than any other ship in the galaxy could have made it.

  The bulk of the time savings came from the fact that the Phoenix did not have to travel the established long-haul space routes where the bulk of interstellar traffic took place. With the finicky nature of gravity drives, truly deep-wells could only be established when away from conflicting gravity sources, such as stars, nebulae and the like. The main space lanes of the galaxy were a rare mix of wide open spaces and just enough rogue dust to be gobbled up by the focusing rings and compressed to a point of critical mass required to establish the series of singularities that were at the heart of faster-than-light travel.

  Without the interference caused by the wacky twisting of space/time within more densely populated regions, long-haul vessels could establish such powerful singularities that space for half-a-light-year surrounding their transit paths was disturbed by the gravity wakes.

  To attempt such wells within a stellar system – or even near a star-cluster for that matter – would have been catastrophic. For one thing, the wells would have been overloaded by the abundance of stray matter near these objects, resulting in their unpredictable disintegration. And secondly, deep-transit wells could cause such havoc to the surrounding space as to actually change the orbits of many of the smaller bodies nearby. Therefore, once within a denser region of space, star-travel slowed to only a fraction of the velocities which could be achieved within the deep-space lanes.

  Unfortunately, these main space routes were often located many hundreds of light years away from the most straight-line path to a destination. Even then, the transits were faster than navigating the more-densely populated interstellar systems using shallow-well generation.

  Adam’s ship, on the other hand, could zip along the most direct path, whether it be right through the middle of a star system or not. The secret lay in the Phoenix’ powerful array of multiple focusing rings and generators, which allowed extremely deep-wells to be created in close proximity to the ship – essentially at nose-length – that the effect of the wells on surrounding space was greatly reduced.

  Adam knew it was a cliché, but the Phoenix – as well as her sister ship the Pegasus – were the two fastest ships in the galaxy!

  Three years before, Adam and his fellow Humans had scouted a heavy-gravity world in a star system about ninety light years from Juir from which to establish their new base. The planet was called Pyrum-3 and it was populated by an intelligent species of bulky, four-legged creatures with two short arms, who looked a lot like the Minotaurs of Greek legend. Unfortunately, their three-finger hands limited their ability to advance very far technologically, and so they had never been fully incorporated into the Expansion, either Old or New. The natives were swift-moving beasts – like graceful steeds – as well as very gentle and passive.

  Adam’s team had setup the small base on an isolated island on the planet, which guaranteed they would not interfere with the activities of the natives. The arrangement seemed to work out quite well, since it was simply the gravity of Pyrum-3 that the Humans craved and nothing more. Rated at Earth-normal, the surface gravity of the planet allowed the Humans to maintain muscle mass and bone density, while also enjoying the wide open spaces of a real world, and not the claustrophobic confinement of a gravity-controlled spaceship.

  The complex on the island consisted of three main buildings, as well as a number of small utility shacks. The living quarters for the Force-One operatives were located in a conical-shaped wedge of polyurethane foam and steel-frame with over twelve-thousand square feet of interior space. There were nine separate apartments, complete with kitchens and private baths, and each offering wide picture windows overlooking the tropical green and blue waters surrounding the island. Each apartment also had an extended deck, where the Humans had placed lounge chairs and gas barbeques. Just because they lived on a planet twenty-thousand light years from Earth didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy the finer things in life….

  A second, even larger building housed the Phoenix and her sistership, the Pegasus, along with all the required maintenance equipment and other assorted support facilities. Eighteen members of the Diaspolean race helped maintain the ships, even though they could only shuttle down to the planet from an orbiting station for work-shifts of nine hours at a time. The oppressive gravity of Pyrum-3 was just too great for them to tolerate any longer.

  The third building contained the operational nerve center of the Force-One Enforcement Inter-Department (FOEID) of the New Expansion. Although the ‘official’ administration headquarters for the Force was located on Juir within the Intelligence Inter-department complex, it was from Pyrum-3 that the very few select agents of the Force operated.

  And very few there were. From the original four Humans – consisting of Adam, Riyad Tarazi, Sherri Valentine and Lee Schwartz – they had added only two more operatives to their ranks in the intervening thirty-four months since the inception of the Force. They were Captain Mark Henderson and Sergeant-Major Jamal Dawson, expatriated Humans who had remained behind when the rest of Humanity had returned to the Far Arm of the galaxy. Both were former Army Special Forces and brought with them a level of expertise Adam’s small band sorely needed. With no other SEALs remaining besides Adam, he found the comradeship of
the Rangers to be very comforting.

  Both Henderson and Dawson had arrived in the Expansion with the last surge of military personnel sent from Earth four years earlier. At that time, they had little more to do than drill and participate in ‘show-the-flag’ events throughout the Expansion. No one at that time seemed too anxious to challenge the Humans for leadership of the galaxy, so their military skills were never called into play.

  When the time came for the Humans to return to the Far Arm, Henderson and Dawson still hadn’t satisfied their need for interstellar adventure. So instead of returning home, they remained on Juir serving in a private-security capacity until recruited by Adam and the Crusaders.

  Not as experienced in the ways of the alien galaxy as Adam, Riyad or Sherri, the two soldiers were more on the experience level of Lee Schwartz. Lee had been a Commander in the Navy at the time of the war, an aviator who had participated in Humanity’s initial thrust into Juirean space almost ten years before. The Human-Juirean war had culminated in the defeat of not only the Juireans, but also the Kracori and the Klin, thanks mainly to Lee’s command of the Human ‘Shadow Fleet’ and its attack of the Juirean forces off the double-star system of Falor-Kapel.

  Even though he had participated in numerous battles during the war, Lee’s exposure to the alien-universe-at-large had been limited the controls of a Klin KFV-A spacecraft, not even seeing an alien in the flesh until he and the bulk of the Human forces had arrived on the ravaged planet of Juir.

  So in reality, half of Adam’s small contingent of not-so-secret agents had very little experience interacting with alien cultures. Fortunately for them, the Crusaders were not tasked with performing subtle and sensitive diplomatic missions. Instead, they were the head-bashers, the last resort before the body bags where brought in. In this regard, Adam’s new recruits had all the experience the job required.