The Legend of Earth (The Human Chronicles Saga -- Book 5) (35 page)

“Captain Cain, your presence is requested immediately in Comm. Urgent.”

He walked to the small unit on the wall and pressed the button. “I’m on my way.”

It still took him over six minutes to make his way through the maze of curving corridors and plastic-covered walkways between the saucers to reach the radio shack. As he entered, he noticed Admiral Allen’s creased forehead and knew immediately that something was up. He looked to the big screen behind the Admiral and saw the large, angular face of a white-haired Juirean looking out at him. The face was familiar and it only took him a second to recognize him.

“Lord Wydor, isn’t it?” Adam asked as he walked up next to Admiral Allen.

“That is correct, Mr. Cain. I am pleased to see that you have survived the ordeal you encountered while on my world. You are one of the very few beings who can claim as much.”

Allen looked at Adam, still frowning. “Lord Wydor has asked to speak with you personally, Captain. Needless to say, we were a little surprised to receive his call – or link – you call it out here.”

Adam looked back at the alien. “From the lack of delay in your message, can I assume you are close by, Lord Wydor?”

“Yes, but my message is scrambled, so you will not be able to locate its source. Even though we have been evicted from our system, we still have certain resources in the area at our disposal.”

“So why have you returned?”

The alien expressed a look of deep sorrow. “I have come to personally witness the damage done to my world by the savage Kracori. I must say, I am staggered by the cruel and vindictive nature of their actions. I’m sure even the
Humans
would not have resorted to such barbaric and childish behavior.”

Both Adam and Allen exchanged looks of surprise at the Juirean’s blatant condescension but Adam knew that was just how the aliens spoke; they usually said exactly what was on their minds.

“Probably not,” Adam agreed, half-convincingly. Mankind had been known to do some barbaric and childish things themselves, and more often than not, against their own kind. What they would have ultimately done to Juir would now remain a mystery.

“So why have you requested to speak with me? I am not a diplomat or in charge of our military.”

“It is because during our previously brief encounter, you displayed a good sense of perspective for the events that had already taken place – as well as accurate insight into those still remaining. You also gained the favor of my very close friend and mentor Elder Hydon Ra Elys. In addition, prior to the Kracori asteroid attack upon Juir, I had been in contact with the personnel within the survival bunker under Malor Tower. I am aware that Lord Hydon was taken and that your particular group of Humans was not involved in that action. However, I do know that the other group of Humans was responsible. Do you have any news of Lord Hydon?”

Adam shook his head. “All I know is that he was placed aboard a Kracori ship and sent to their homeworld. I don’t know if they’ve kept him as a prisoner or if they’ve killed him. Sorry.”

“No apologies necessary, Mr. Cain. I suspect that by now he has been dispatched in a most undesirable manner, especially considering what the Kracori did to Juir just as a means of inflicting more pain and suffering on any surviving Juireans.”

“I’m sure your concern for Hydon is genuine, Lord Wydor, but I ask again, why have you called me?”

Wydor stretched a small smile across his thin lips. It seemed strained and out of place. “I wish to give you a briefing as to the intentions of the Juireans in the wake of recent events.”

Both Adam and Allen tensed. They knew that were still several billion Juireans spread throughout the galaxy and that they had vast resources to draw upon. Adam was positive they could field a fleet large enough to rival the Human’s. The question had been on the minds of all the top brass: What would the Juireans do next?

“The honesty I will provide you with is sincere, Mr. Cain. I believe now that you and your people never sought war with the Expansion, and you do not wish to prolong it any longer than is necessary. That is why I have sought you out personally. I believe you will relay this information to your superiors in as passionate a form as you did when describing your insights to me and Hydon.”

The new Elder of the Juirean race paused and looked away for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. When he looked back at Adam, his eyes carried an even sadder shade of blue.

“I will not try to delude you, Mr. Cain; the attack on the Cluster has had a devastating effect on the Juireans as a race, more so than you can even imagine, and in an area you may not be familiar with. For nearly three thousand years, almost all of our females have been located either on Salin or Crilis here in the Cluster. Our females are extremely important to us and serve the most vital function in our society, that of procreation and the raising of our young. There had been over a billion Juirean females on these two worlds. Now, after the Kracori attack, we estimate that we have fewer than one million left.

“This information may not seem very important to you Humans. You – like the vast majority of the other races in the Expansion – mate within your communities and in bonding units. We Juireans did so as well until the demands for more administrators for the Expansion became so great. We could no longer leave the production and training of these administrators to chance, and instead transitioned to a more predictable and streamlined process.”

“Lord Wydor, I am aware of how the Juireans reproduce. This is not news to us.”

“I realize that, but I wish to explain what an impact the loss of so many females has had on my race. Not only were so many females killed on our two reproduction worlds, but nearly all of our young were as well, including the current pre-release brood. Currently, we estimate that there are over three billion Juireans left in the galaxy, however, approximately nine-nine percent of them are male. As time passes, there simply will not be enough new Juireans to replace those who expire.”

Wydor took a deep breath and the sadness in his eyes grew even more pronounced. “So, Mr. Cain, the only priority of the Juirean people at this time – as well for generations to come – will be to rebuild our species, and to achieve this, we have even resorted back to the old methods of impregnation, namely that of actual physical contact.”

Both Allen and Adam looked at each other and shared wry smiles.
So the aliens are back to doing the nasty?

Wydor was continuing: “Although this practice will produce new offspring – and through genetic manipulation, nearly all newborns will be female – it will still take many years to rebuild just the female gender of our race. In the meantime, many millions of Juirean males will simply die off, not to be replaced. Parity in genders will not come for several generations. “

Wydor looked intensely at Adam with eyes that had now grown moist. “The Juirean people do not wish any further conflict with the Humans and we also are not interested in resuming any leadership position within the Expansion – if in the event the Humans decide to keep it in its present form. We have placed ourselves on a small group of planets in another region of the galaxy. I’m sure that with some effort, you will be able find this location, since it is hard to hide a population such as ours from prying eyes.

“At this time I just wish to express our sincere desire to be left alone. We are not a threat to anyone. Now the greatest fear for the Juirean people is that of extinction. If we are not allowed to follow our reproductive goals, then the Juirean race will die off in great numbers, destined to become only a small, single-planet colony lost to the pages of galactic history. We are too proud of a race to let that happen. We wish to rediscover our heritage and to learn once more what it means to be
Juirean
. One day in the distant future we will seek to rejoin the community of worlds within the galaxy, although definitely not in a leadership position.

“The past six months have been a great time of reflection for the Juirean people. We have looked back at how we became what we have become, and we have not been happy with what we saw. Although our empire was great, and we ruled the galaxy for thousands of years, we have paid a heavy toll for our success. We Juireans never intended to give away our more traditional mating bonds and what you call the
family unit
; that just evolved over time as a consequence of the growth of the Expansion. The chemical desires that are within our genders still remain; three thousand years is not enough time to alter evolution and instinct. Even though this transition has been difficult for us, we are beginning to see what we have lost, and what so many other races within the galaxy still enjoy.”

The Juirean suddenly frowned and leaned in closer to the screen. “May I ask a question of you Mr. Cain, since your race is so much more intimate with this subject?”

“Sure, go ahead?” Adam said, surprised by the question.

“Now that we are having more intimate and continuous interactions with our females, we are having some difficulty in adapting. We males are confused – almost to the point of believing that our females are of a different species than us. We have such diametrically opposed ways at viewing similar events. It is very hard to understand the thinking of our females. Is it the same among Humans?”

Adam and Allen couldn’t help it – they both burst out laughing. After a moment, Adam looked into the confused eyes of the Juirean and replied. “Yes, Lord Wydor, we share the same experience and the same concerns. But that is what makes females so appealing to us – all the mystery and emotion. But I’m sure our women – females – consider
us
to be of a different species, as well. You will get used to it, Lord Wydor, although you will
never
fully understand the female mind. Just enjoy it while you can and don’t question it too deeply.”

“I appreciate the insight, Mr. Cain, if all it has done is confused me more.”

“Welcome to the club.”

“Please repeat.”

“Never mind.” Adam looked at Allen; he gave Adam a simple nod.

“Lord Wydor, I believe I speak for the rest of us here when I say we Humans do not want to continue a war with the Juireans, any more than you want to continue one with us. We never asked for any of this to happen – but here we are. We will respect your privacy and let the Juirean people recover as best you can.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cain, and also to you
Fleet Marshal
Allen.”

“It’s
Admiral
Allen, Lord Wydor,” Allen corrected.

“That is what I said: Fleet Marshal.”

Adam placed a hand on Allen arm. “It’s okay. The translation bug is converting the rank to the Juirean equivalent.”

“Oh, sorry,” Allen said a little embarrassed. He had so much to learn about alien interactions.

Adam continued: “And I am truly sorry for what has happened to your planet. As you know, we Humans also have a very special bond to our homeworld.”

 
“You may find this hard to conceive,” Wydor said, “but even though not a single one of our race has been born upon the planet Juir in over two thousand years, to each of us we still consider Juir to be our home – and always will.”

Wydor attempted the small smile again, even though Adam could tell he was in immense emotional pain. “I will be closing the link now, Mr. Cain, but before I go I wish to say one last thing:
Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Oh, this is not for you exclusively, but for your entire race. If you had not accomplished what you have the Juirean race would have continued along our same self-destructive path. We realize now that we did not have the Expansion to serve
us
, but rather we existed to
serve
the Expansion. That had never been our intention as a people. Looking back on the millennia, it seems we never were superior to any of our subjects, even though we believed ourselves to be. We were the servants, and everyone else the masters. As a result of your actions, we will now have a chance to live as a race of
people
again, interacting as all the other members of the Expansion have been allowed to do. That is why I thank you. You have given identity back to the Juirean people.