The Fringe Worlds (18 page)

Riyad cradled his shattered left arm and fought the wave of nausea flowing over him. He had no idea what had happened to the Klin ship. Had it been destroyed from the outside, maybe by the Klin themselves Or was there a bomb aboard, a booby-trap of some kind That he had experience with. Either way, he was beyond anger, literally shaking from hatred for all things alien!

His vision had been so real — and he had been so close! Riyad Tarazi, ruler of the planet Earth! And now his vision had evaporated in an instant, along with the computer core and the Klin ship, all in a fireball of splitting atoms and radioactive debris.

Through the viewport, he watched as the last of remnants of the explosion — sparking ribbons of blue and yellow radiation — dissipated into the nothingness of space above Melfora Lum. And then there was nothing.

But that’s not exactly true, he thought, as a glimmer of an idea swelled up from his gut. I know now that the Klin exist! And they not only know the location of Earth, but they’re building an army of humans, probably somewhere here in the Fringe!

With a determination borne of hatred, as well as his lust for power, Riyad swore then and there that once he rounded up the scattered remains of his pirate fleet, he would spend every waking hour, every ounce of his being, on the singular quest of finding the Klin and the human army!

He would make his vision come true. He knew now that it was possible. He would find the Klin and he would return to Earth. And his homeworld would never be the same.

On the other side of Melfora Lum, Adam stood at the viewport of the FS-475, watching as the last remnants of the nuclear blast evaporated into ribbons of sparking blue and yellow electricity. He couldn’t believe it! He had been so close to finding his way home!

He didn’t care what happened to the Klin — or to anything else — in this nightmare universe. All he wanted to do was get home.

But all that didn’t matter now.

Kaylor and Jym stood behind him, not knowing what to say. Adam finally spoke without turning, “Well, I’m really stuck here now. There will be no homecoming for Adam Cain in the foreseeable future.” He turned to face the two aliens. “But it looks like the two of you are off the hook for now. The Juirean did say no one else knew about the ship and the Klin.”

There was an awkward moment of silence. Then Kaylor asked, “What will you do now”

Adam just shook his head. “Well the first thing I need to do is find a way to make a living. The two of you can’t carry me forever.”

Kaylor nodded vigorously, much to Adam’s surprise. “What were you trained at on your planet.on Earth”

Adam thought for a moment. He knew the long answer, but the time didn’t seem appropriate to go into detail. Finally he said, “I was a trained killer.”

Both Kaylor and Jym recoiled slightly from the answer. They had held their suspicion, and now it was confirmed.

Seeing the disgust on the faces of the aliens, Adam explained further, “I was in the military.”

This seemed to bring them a degree of relief, but then Jym blurted out, “Maybe you can go to work for the Gangs, as an assassin!”

Kaylor jabbed him in the ribs, shooting him a stern look. But Adam wasn’t offended. In fact, he gave them both a sly smile and said, “So, I could kill aliens for a living I could get used to that.”

The End of Book One

Look for the second book in The Human Chronicles Saga: Galactic Assassin available January 2012.

Also go to TheHumanChronicles.com for more information about the series and to help contribute to future volumes.

Please contact author T.R. Harris directly at [email protected]. He welcomes all comments, critiques and suggestions.