Cain's Crusaders (35 page)

In reality, his time out in the galaxy had been a complete letdown. Maybe it was time to return home? The only question was how would that homecoming be received? Would it be simply as another disillusioned soldier, returning home from a distant battlefield, alone and unappreciated? Or would it be as a conquering hero, bringing with him information containing one of the best-kept secrets in the galaxy?

If only Dawson wasn’t aboard!

“You’re thinking about Dawson, aren’t you?” McCarthy said, breaking into Henderson’s silent deliberations. “Isn’t it a small price to pay for such a great reward?”

“Shut up – I’m thinking!” Henderson shot back, angry with himself that he would even be considering McCarthy’s proposal. And then a thought struck him. “How do I even know if the coordinates you’ll give me are real or not? Knowing you, they could just be a bunch of random numbers you’ve pulled out of your ass!”

“Fair enough, and I’m prepared to give you a sample, something to prove my worth. At the end you’ll have part of the information, but not all of it. In time, the people on Earth
might
be able to narrow it down, but that would take time. And once you do have the coordinates, I will be out of bargaining chips. My value to you will be gone, and all the people of Earth would want me for at that point would be to pass judgment on a billion consecutive life-sentences, just to show that justice has been served. You could give it all to them on a silver platter – minus me, of course.”

“What’s this sample?”

“I will need access to the navigation charts.”

Henderson again hesitated. Could he trust McCarthy? The answer was obvious. And yet McCarthy was bargaining for his life, and for the past ten years he had confined his illegal activities to the Expansion, leaving the Humans alone. Maybe he just wanted to remain out here, to be eventually forgotten among the stars.

“So what if I go along with all this and then you reappear sometime. I said you were killed in the explosion, but now you suddenly show up alive. Won’t that look suspicious?”

“Just tell them you
thought
I had died. Once the Kracori attacked and you had the information about Elision, you felt it was more important to get safely away with the information than to verify if I had died in the explosion. Besides, you can always say McCarthy’s a resourceful guy. He’s escaped from situations before, this was just one more. I think they’ll believe you.”

Damn, he was making it difficult to say no. “I’ll activate the computer here; that will give us access to the nav charts. If what you show me convinces me that you will give me the full coordinates, then I’ll think about your offer. But why can’t I just bring Dawson in on this? I’m sure he’d like to share in the reward, too.”

“But are you willing to share, Captain? And are you willing to take the risk that he won’t just freak out and go running to bloody Cain, or to anyone else. I didn’t know you two were such good friends?”

We’re not
, Henderson thought.
We were thrown together and just kind of stayed that way once all the other Humans left. We never really even hang out….

“Show me what you’ve got.”

Mark Henderson moved to the small table with the inlaid computer keyboard and inset monitor in the bulkhead. He turned on the device and punched in his security code. Every stateroom aboard the ship had such a similar computer, but Henderson had placed a security lock on the one in McCarthy’s. He didn’t want him attempting to do … well anything, on the computer.

Once the nav program was accessed, McCarthy came over and sat down at the desk. He quickly entered a set of coordinates and a region of space appeared. Henderson hadn’t seen the numbers being entered – he’d typed them too fast. And then McCarthy zoomed in on the region of space displayed. The image on the screen showed a blaze of stars, obviously within a stellar nebulae somewhere; there were just too many for this to be a normal region of space. And then he pointed.

“Do you see anything odd about this section right here?”

Henderson was not a very experienced space navigator; as a matter fact, he had absolutely no experience with it at all. He was a soldier, not a pilot and not a scientist. But he did see that the region of space McCarthy was pointing to seemed to be devoid of stars, which seemed very strange considering the neighborhood it was in.

“It looks like an empty space, no stars at all.”

“That’s what they want you to believe. The Klin have doctored the star charts that everyone uses to hide the location of Elision. It’s located there, within that void region.”

“That’s it? That’s where they are?”

“In that area. But it’s still rather large, containing over forty stars, but Elision’s in there.” McCarthy then pressed another button on the keyboard and a display appeared: Ecliptic plus 9, Sector 22.

Henderson felt like such an idiot. He knew the coordinates meant something, but he didn’t know what. He had never piloted a spaceship himself, nor had he ever had to worry about plugging in destination coordinates.

McCarthy saw the blank expression on Henderson’s face. “Those are the first two coordinates, out of four, that you need to plot a point in space.”

“So what are the others?” Henderson asked, trying to mask his ignorance.

“The other two are the distance from the galactic core and from Juir. These first two indicate the relative distance up or down from the galactic plane, and what sector it’s in. The Juireans cut the galaxy up into ninety-two segments, so this location is in sector twenty-two and nine degrees above the plane. Once you have the two distance figures, you’ll know exactly where the planet’s located.”

“This isn’t enough,” Henderson said. “That’s still an awful lot of space where they could be.”

“That’s why I’m going to reveal one more number. It’s the distance of the planet from the galactic core.” He pressed another button and the number sixty-two appeared.”

“Sixty-two light years from the center!”

“Sixty-two
units
,” McCarthy corrected. “But the conversion to light years is simple. It’s closer to eight-thousand light years.”

“Oh.” Damn, he had a lot to learn … if he wanted to bother. Otherwise he could take McCarthy up on his offer and just return home and leave all this Buck Rogers shit behind him.

“This will now give the people back on Earth an arc to follow. Somewhere along this line, in sector twenty-two, is the planet Elision. Just one more number and you’ll know exactly where.” McCarthy hesitated and turned to look at Henderson, who was now leaning over McCarthy’s shoulder, looking at the screen. “You know what you have to do to get the last number….”

Henderson stood up straight. “I still have to think about it,” he said soberly.

“Don’t take too long. We’ll be at Juir in three days, and the closer we get, the harder it’s going to be to disguise the fact that Kracori did not attack the ship. We’re pretty far out now, without a lot of witnesses. I’d say you have about twelve hours before we’re too deep into Juirean space.”

Mark Henderson, formerly
Captain
Mark Henderson, U.S. Army, nodded briefly and then pressed the key on the computer that would relock its operation. He then turned and walked from the room without saying another word. Outside in the corridor, he punched in the code that would lock the door to McCarthy’s stateroom and then fell against metal wall next to the door.

Can I do this?
As he had thought before, the exchange of information for freedom was a pretty straight-forward offer. Yet in order to cover his tracks, Dawson would have to die. And then a small grin appeared on Henderson’s face
. Hell, what if it had been Dawson who answered McCarthy’s summons? I have no doubt what he would do…
.

And with that thought, Mark Henderson made up his mind.

Chapter 30

T
wenty days after Nigel’s attack – and nine days after his death – Arieel Bol and Convor Ton’al Ona arrived on Pyrum-3. This was only a few days into Arieel’s twenty-eight-day Rites cycle, so there was no fear of her not making it back to Formil in time. They had come at Arieel’s bequest, ostensibly to offer Adam an award for the saving of her life.

In reality, she wanted to see Adam again. Even though the Human was nothing like the males she normally associated with, there was still something about him that attracted her. She would work through this, knowing that Adam had chosen his female Human companion as a permanent mate. And it was apparent – even though not from the research she’d done concerning Human mating rituals – the pair intended not to stray from this arrangement.

But there was something a lot more important than her libido she wanted to discuss with Adam. He would find it shocking, yet it was a conversation that had to be made.

Adam was as nervous as a school boy before his first county-wide debate. He and Sherri were standing on a raised platform that had been constructed in the massive hangar at his base on Pyrum-3, and crowding the cavernous room were dignitaries from the New Expansion, including the Administrator himself, Kroekus of Silea. There was also a smattering of Humans there as well, part of the diplomatic mission on Juir who had accompanied Kroekus to Pyrum. Adam’s team was there, too, what was left of them, all standing behind him on the platform. All in all, there were over a hundred beings in the hangar, and they were all looking at him.

But as he thought about it, he realized that wasn’t entirely true. As a matter of fact, at that very moment very few eyes were on him; instead they were all focused on the incredible figure of Speaker Arieel Bol as she slowly approached the platform between two rows of seated dignitaries.
 
Arieel and the High Celebrant, Convor Ton’al Ona, had come to Pyrum-3 to present to Adam the highest honor Formilian society had to offer – the Crest of Honor – for his success at saving the life of the Formilian Speaker. To him, it was all just a big photo-op, and he was feeling very out of place standing there on the platform. He had just been doing his job – and trying to save his own life in the process.

But the person who was really making him feel uneasy, was the one standing a step behind him and to his right – Sherri Valentine. As Arieel approached, her dark, almond-shaped eyes now locked on Adam, she was looking as incredibly beautiful as ever, and Adam knew Sherri would be scrutinizing his every move, his every glance, while in the presence to the Speaker. Sherri had already admitted that even
she
considered Arieel to be probably the most beautiful and seductive female she’d ever seen, of any race. So what was he – a mere male – to do in light of that fact? It would take incredible restraint on his part not to completely screw up this entire encounter.

But Adam did have one ace up his sleeve –
Convor
. Even though the High Celebrant was easily sixty years of age, he was still an incredible example of virile manhood. (Adam chose not to bother with changing his thinking to
Formilian-hood
anymore; it just didn’t matter. The old guy was simply a hunk, and he knew Sherri would notice.)

So Adam would himself be on the lookout for any reaction from Sherri to Convor’s presence, ready to use it as a counter argument against any criticisms she may later send his way.
It would have been simpler if they’d just mailed me the god-damn award!

“Greetings Mr. Cain,” Arieel said warmly as she stopped in front of him, her voice strong and projecting, so the entire chamber could hear. “It is very good to see you again.”

“Same here,” Adam stuttered, his voice already crackling and revealing his nerves. Arieel locked eyes with him for longer than was necessary, a sly smile curling up the corners of her ample lips.

Eventually Arieel broke eye contact with Adam and looked over at Sherri. Both females were about the same height, yet one blonde, the other dark haired. “You must be Adam’s mate, Sherri Valentine,” Arieel said with small bow. “You have such a lovely name, almost like that of a song.”

Sherri’s mouth fell open, as she found herself at a loss for words. Finally she was able to blabber her own awkward reply. “Oh, thank you, Ms. Speaker, or Arieel. I’m afraid I don’t know what to call you?”

Arieel flashed one of the brightest, warmest smiles Adam had ever seen. “Please call me Arieel. We are all friends here.”

Convor then stepped up and greeted first Adam and then Sherri just as warmly. Adam could see Sherri’s checks go flush as the tall, barrel-chested, deeply tanned hunk of maleness leaned in close to her and kissed her on the cheek. Adam had never seen Convor do that with any female before, but figured he must have considered the gesture a common greeting of Human females. Whether or not this was the case, it caused Sherri to wobble slightly before she regained her composure.

Sherri looked over at Adam and smiled, yet her eyes said it all:
Holy crap! We’re both in trouble, aren’t we?
Adam just returned the smile.

Arieel then stepped back some and straightened her back. “Adam Cain,” she began formally, “I have been hard at work petitioning the Order to award you a special honor afforded to you and to you only. Even though Speakers in the past have faced grave danger in their lives, in my case it was the worst ever encountered in the entire two-thousand years of the Speaker’s existence. If it wasn’t for you, I would have surely perished, and even our entire way of life may have been compromised.”

Adam chanced a quick glance Convor’s way and noticed from his expression the High Celebrant was not sharing in the joy of the occasion. Convor knew the truth, the truth about how little Adam cared for the Formilian way of life, and how close he had come to bringing it all crashing down.

“So here, my friend Adam Cain, I present to you the Formilian Crest of Honor, the first ever given to a non-Formilian, and the highest award my people have to offer.” Arieel stepped forward and placed a ribbon over his head with a large, silver medallion hanging from it.

She then turned to the audience so they could all see Adam’s glimmering award. The crowd began to clap – or at least half of them did. The other half produced a cacophony of dissonant sounds ranging from hoots to screeches, as each represented race had their own distinct form of expressing congratulations.

Then Convor stepped up to say a few words to the audience, to be followed by Kroekus, and then Ambassador John Daulton, the highest ranking Human in the New Expansion.

You look nervous, Adam Cain. Try to relax.

Adam’s eyes blinked several times as he heard the words echo in his mind. He was sure he heard them, but they seemed to come out of nowhere … and everywhere.

He looked around the podium. Sherri was still flushed in the cheeks and staring, mesmerized, at the view of Convor’s back, or more correctly, his butt. Next he turned to his left and saw Arieel looking at him with one of her trademark seductive smiles.

Don’t be alarmed,
the voice said again.
It is only me, Arieel.

Adam’s eyes grew wide and his gaze locked on the stunning alien.
What the hell’s going on?
he thought.

Just try to imagine we are talking traditionally. Use the skills you’ve acquired until now to imagine this. You can do it.

Are we talking telepathically?

Of course, Adam, how else could you hear my thoughts?

You said you couldn’t read my mind!
Adam was angry, as well as a little embarrassed.

I am not reading your thoughts. We are communicating through our Gifts.

Adam’s mouth fell open.

Yes, I know you carry within you a Gift, just as I carry. Even though it is an affront to my religion and a threat to our very way of life, I have come to accept the fact that you have it, and that – regrettable – it has been deemed a benefit to the Formilian people.

What do you mean? And you knew about my implant?

Of course I knew. I knew the moment it was born in your body.

Why didn’t you tell me?

Oh, this is a secret even the Order does not know. Throughout the long history of the Speakers, we have been able to communicate with other wearers of the Gift, but we have chosen not to reveal this to the others. It is how my mother and I communicated throughout the years, as I was trained, and up until the very moment she relinquished her contact with Mislin and Sufor. She taught me a lot during our private conversations, and I am sure the loss of our intimate contact is what hastened her death upon losing our link. It has been the same for nearly every other mother-Speaker pair.

And now we’re linked?

Yes. This is such a unique occurrence that I hesitated at first to reveal it to you. Yet in light of recent developments, I felt it necessary.

Adam looked over at Sherri almost in a panic and saw her looking at him, a frown on her forehead. “Are you all right?” she asked, leaning over to whisper in his ear. “You look pale.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little anxiety attack being up here in front of all these people, I guess.”

“You’ve done this before, Mr. Hero of the Human Race. What’s so different now?” Sherri looked past him and at Arieel, who was watching the two of them with an amused expression.

Does she know?
Adam asked through his mind.

How could she?
 
She does not possess the Gift.

“I’m fine,” Adam repeated, patting Sherri on the shoulder. “It will pass.”

Sherri frowned a little deeper, but then slowly looked away and back to Convor, who was still speaking.

You do not have to look at me for us to communicate,
Arieel’s voice told him.

Thanks, that helps a lot,
Adam thought.
Now what do we do?

We are at a critical crossroads in the affairs of the galaxy. Even with the creature McCarthy’s death, we do know that his technicians now possess the knowledge to construct more of his primitive devices. This could be catastrophic to the Formilians, as well as the structure of the entire galaxy. If the knowledge and use of these counterfeit Gifts becomes widespread, it could alter everything.

I agree; that was one of the reasons I insisted I get the implant – the Gift. I knew McCarthy was on the verge of learning how to build one, and I needed to be a counterforce against him having it.

Adam, we both know that it was also the power you sought as well.

Adam looked out at the adoring crowd, now beginning to stir restlessly as Kroekus took the stage. He wondered if she could also read his interior thoughts, his own deep musings?

I sense a caution on your part Adam. We can only communicate when you chose to communicate. The Gift will know the difference between a public thought and a private one. So, once again, please try to relax. This is a wonderful Gift you’ve been given, as unique as the award I just gave you.