Jason King: Agent to the Stars 1: The Enclaves of Sylox (43 page)

Chapter 18

F
eeling as if he no longer had to keep all the players under constant guard, Riyad allowed everyone to return to their routines; to clean up, go to the restroom if needed, and to get something to eat. In five hours they would be at the asteroid belt, so the two Humans departed for Adam’s cabin where they could have a more private conversation.

As they entered, the first thing Riyad did was crank up the gravity to a more respectable level. He said to Adam, “I rarely leave my ship because of the gravity issue. K’ly – the planet where my pirate base is located – is a little more than three-quarters Earth’s gravity. If I spent too much time there, I’d grow weak and lose my edge.”

Adam sat backwards in the chair, resting his arms on the back and facing the bed, which Riyad had already claimed. The pirate leader propped pillows against the bulkhead and leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him and locking his hands behind his head.

“There, Mr. Cain, now we are both comfortable – so let’s catch up.” He flashed a wide grin. “So where are you from? I take it you are an American.”

“That’s right, and you’re Middle Eastern.”

“Lebanese originally, but I spent most of my adult life in Pakistan, and even some time in your country, Florida to be precise. So please tell me, Adam, what year and day is it back on Earth? I have been out of touch for such a long time.”

Adam was surprised by the question. “I’m not quite sure. I don’t have any idea how long I was asleep on the … on the Klin ship. But the last day I remember was October 23rd, 2011.”

“Ah ha!” Riyad exclaimed. “I was so close! I had no way of telling time – Earth time – that at one point, years ago, I counted one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two and so forth until I estimated how long a minute was. Then set a device to count off the intervals. I figured it was around 2011, but I was off by about four months or so by my calculations. Not bad for an estimate, wouldn’t you say?”

“So how long have you been … out here? And how did you end up being the leader of the space pirates?” This was actually something Adam was anxious to learn.

“I’ve been here for about six years, and I’m sure my story is very similar to yours. One day was in the mountains near the Afghan-Pakistani border when I remember seeing a bright light – and then nothing. I woke up to find I was aboard a spaceship of some kind – but certainly without the fancy accommodations you had onboard the
Klin
ship.” He flashed his bright smile at Adam again. “I was in a cell – a cage really –with three other Humans and several other creatures. The conditions were horrible; we slept on straw pads and drank filthy water. The food we were given was alien and without the computer testing like you have here. We were all sick with food poisoning for several days. Two of my fellow Humans died during the trip.

“Then we were transferred to another ship – sold, I believe – to a group of pirates. After about a week – I think it was about a week – we landed on a planet and were taken out to be sold again. Not taking too kindly to the idea of becoming a slave, I fought back and started a mini riot right there on the auction block. My one remaining Human companion, a gentleman name Ashbar from India, was killed during the riot.

“Yet I survived, and instead of becoming a slave, I caught the attention of one of the pirate captains. He was impressed with my fighting skills and offered me a place in his crew. Sorry bastard.” Riyad said with a wicked smile, as if sharing an inside joke.

He stopped his story and narrowed his eyes. “You must know by now, my friend, that we Humans have certain advantages over most of the other creatures out here. In fact, I understand you defeated two Rigorians during a duel your first day on Nimor. That is no easy task.”

“I didn’t pick that fight!
They
challenged me,” Adam said in his defense.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong; I’m not being critical. I’m just pointing out a fact. In the six years I have been out here, I have found creatures who were faster, who were stronger and who were tougher than we are. Some even exhibited remarkable intelligence and coordination. Yet
none
combine all these traits into one being as we do. Out here,
we are the supermen
. No, we can’t fly, and we can certainly be killed by the weapons they possess. But none of the creatures I’ve encountered can stand against us in a fair fight.”

“What about the Juireans?”

Riyad pursed his lips. “I’ve never met a Juirean before, but from what I’ve heard, they may be a fair challenge. But I had also heard how tough the Rigorians are, and both of us have made easy work of them. Yet I have to admit it, I
have
been trained at combat and am considered an accomplished warrior where I come from.”

Adam tensed. His one advantage over his fellow Human was the fact that Riyad didn’t know Adam’s profession or skill-set. In fact, he was beginning to believe Riyad might have been a terrorist in his past life.

“You were in the military?” Adam asked, trying to pull more details out of the conversation.

Riyad laughed. “I guess you could say that. As an American, I’m not sure I should tell you this, but for a while I was a face in a deck of cards that your military carried with them in Iraq.”

Adam couldn’t play ignorant any longer. “You were a
terrorist!”
Adam tried to display as much shock and outrage as possible.

“I was a
freedom
fighter
,” Riyad corrected without a trace of indignation. “My cause was just, and I have no regrets fighting the infidels who invade our lands and kill our women and children,” he continued, his voice nearly musical in nature. Adam got the sense Riyad was reciting a standard line. It all seemed strange.

“Why do I get the sense that you don’t believe that anymore?” Adam asked.

“Well … look around you, my friend.” Riyad said with a sweeping motion of his hand. “You can’t tell me that your belief in the Christian god has not been shaken over the past few days? It’s hard to maintain your faith in light of the reality we both find ourselves in.”

“You mean with all the alien life in the galaxy? I was never that strong of a believer in the first place,” Adam offered.

“Oh, don’t be mistaken, neither was I. That’s why I was a
leader
in the movement, and not just one of the foot soldiers. The honor of
suicide bomber
is reserved for the youngest and most-devout of our faith. The only time you’d see one the senior commanders take his own life – to meet Allah and our seventy-two virgins – was if he had no choice in the matter.”

“By the way … we got Osama,” Adam interjected, just to pick the scab.

“Captured?”

“No, shot dead … and in his pajamas.”

“That’s a shame,” was all Riyad said, with little emotion. “But he was more of a figurehead in the movement rather than our true leader. You do know he was not the one who planned the attack on your country? He was just the money man, and helped supply some of the manpower for the attack.”

“We got Khalid Sheik Mohamed as well.”

Riyad just shrugged. “We all knew the risks we were taking. But that is all in the past now, my friend. We have both been shown a new future for our planet, as well as for our Human race.”

“What do you mean?”

The pirate leaned over onto one elbow. “Mr. Cain, the Klin have plans for us; why else would they be transporting eighty Humans through hostile territory unless we’re important to them. The Juireans have now learned that the Klin still exist, and they certainly will not let the Earth remain unharmed knowing that the Klin find us of value.”

“What do the Klin want with
us
?”

“My guess is they are aware of our abilities. There is no telling how many of their ships have made it to and from Earth over the years, bringing Humans to some unknown destination.” Then he grew very serious. “I believe the Klin are building an army …
of
Human
s.”

Adam was shocked by the revelation, but he couldn’t dispute it. “Why … so we can fight against the Juireans for them?”

“That would be my guess.” Riyad laughed and leaned back on the pillows. “And they couldn’t have picked a better race for the task. We
are
pretty proficient killers; just look at what we do to our own kind. Imagine what we could do against an
alien
enemy.”

Adam shook his head. “You come from a different culture, one that doesn’t value life as much as we do,” Adam countered. “I don’t think we’re as blood-thirsty as you believe.”

“Bullshit, Mr. Cain! We’re as blood-thirsty as they come. You’ve only been out here for a few days … and how many of these aliens have you already killed?”

“This isn’t a god-damn video game; we’re not keeping score!”

“Sure we are,” Riyad shot back. “It’s us against them; it’s always been that way. The only variable is who we determine to be
us
and who we designate as
them
. When we’re faced with an enemy, we tend to put aside all of our so-called
humanity
and treat our enemy as essentially as
non
-Human, just objects to the eliminated and not deserving of life. It’s all a matter of perspective.”

“I think you’re wrong, Riyad,” Adam said, shaking his head. “We may fight, but the killing is always something normal people feel bad about.”

“On the contrary, let me prove it to you. Let us take a normal person, say someone who works in a convenience store, who later joins the military and is sent out to kill other people – other
Humans
. When he comes back home, to the so-called real-world, he is celebrated, and can sleep peacefully at night, content in the knowledge that his killing was justified. He may have killed dozens of his fellow Humans, yet no one considers him to be a murderer.

“Now let that same man walk into an office building and indiscriminately kill a dozen people. Now he is the most-vile of creatures, a mass-murderer, to be scorned and ridiculed, the basest of our kind.

“So you see, Mr. Cain, when you kill in war it’s different, and yet in both of my scenarios, wives, children, mothers and fathers have all had their lives shattered by the same event. It all depends on which side you’re on as to whether the killing was a form of self-defense or simply murder. That’s why you Westerners call us animals and savages, because you think we are killing indiscriminately, without cause. We are not. We are at war, and that makes all the difference, at least it does for us. So returning to my original premise, if we treat our own kind –
mankind
– in such a callous and arbitrary manner, then the act of killing aliens … well, we wouldn’t give
that
a second thought … and we’d feel no remorse in doing so.”

“I thought you said all of that was in your past –
my friend
,” Adam said sarcastically.

“Forgive me, but old habits do die hard. I apologize for my rant, yet you must agree my points are valid.”

Regrettably, most of what he was saying was true. As a Navy SEAL, Adam had never concerned himself too much with the enemy he’d killed in combat; in fact, he never gave it a second thought, until now. Granted, he had seen horrific things on the battlefield, and that had upset him to a degree. The burned and maimed bodies, the bloody, ripped apart corpses, the vacant, hollow eyes of the dead –
that
he had trouble getting used to.
But score one for the good guys
, is how he often justified his missions. It was them or us – just as Riyad had said. And to agree with another of Riyad’s points, when he had killed the Rigorian lizards – as well as the Nimorians guards in the security building – he hadn’t felt any remorse in doing so. It had been like stepping on a bug….