The Copernicus Deception (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 15) (17 page)

Adam really wanted to show Riyad the tiny orb he had in his pocket. That was the reason he suggested the trip out of the compound in the first place. But with Copernicus playing host, he would have to wait for another time.

Coop ordered for all of them, and Adam had to admit the grenic steaks were excellent. In fact, the three manly men ordered seconds and wolfed down the charred brown meat like the carnivores they were.

They also indulged in potent, fruit-flavored drinks, completing the whole Caribbean illusion.

Coop produced three fat and stubby cigars from a hidden pocket and passed them around, lighting each in turn. He explained that he had periodic shipments brought in from Earth at a cost he was embarrassed to reveal. “Hey, we sacrifice a lot being way out here from Earth. Any little pleasure we can import is worth the price.”

They toasted to each other, to Earth, to the ocean—even to grenic steaks and to Ginger—letting the intoxicating evening breeze and beverages wash away their worries and inhibitions.

That’s when Copernicus produced an MK-17 bolt launcher and set it on the table.

Adam and Riyad sobered up immediately.

“You know what this is?” Copernicus asked.

Neither one of them answered.

“It’s an archaic piece of crap, that’s what,” Coop announced.

Adam and Riyad relaxed…a bit.

He continued: “It can’t shoot accurately beyond fifty meters. You only get ten shots at level-2. Hell, a level-2 won’t even kill old smiley here,” he said, referring to Riyad. “At a level that will, you only get five shots. Five stinking shots! In battle you have to carry a shitload of power packs just to make things interesting. Now projectiles weapons, that’s the way to go. They’re powerful…and they make a lot of noise. Besides that, not too many friggin’ aliens can carry one, leaving Humans to dominate the scene.”

Adam smiled. “You got that right, buddy,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Humans kick ass. Now how about I take the keys and drive us back to the compound.”

Coop scooped up the MK and pointed it at Adam. Everyone froze.

“You know what some people are trying to do?” Coop blabbered on. He turned the weapon towards himself. “They want to increase the energy capacity so they can get more powerful bolts—and more of them—out of these things. By doing that they think they’ll be able to compete with us Humans and our Glocks and Sig Sauers. Yeah, right!”

Coop set the weapon back on the table, and Adam and Riyad visibly relaxed.

“This is big business—the biggest business,” Coop rambled on. “The fate of companies like MK and Xan-fi are in the balance. And you know what, my Human buddies—brothers—they’ll pay a lot of money to figure out a way to get an edge on us. A whole lot of money.”

Coop flashed a silly, drunken grin at his tablemates. Adam and Riyad mirrored the goofy expression.

Then slowly the grin faded from Coop’s face. He lifted the weapon and pointed it again at Adam. “And that’s why I need to know what you have in your shirt pocket,
Mister
Cain.”

“I told you…it’s
Captain
Ca—”

Copernicus shifted the MK and lit off a bolt, striking Riyad in the left arm. He screamed out and grabbed at the smoking sleeve.

“It was only set on level-3. Won’t even leave a scar.” Before Adam could react, Copernicus used his right thumb to deftly crank the bolt meter up to the highest level on the weapon. “Don’t even think about it. Now…your pocket, if you please.”

“How did you know?” Adam asked as he set the tiny green orb on the table.

“What the hell is that?” Riyad asked through the pain.

“That is what everyone has been looking for, General Tarazi.”

“That?”

Copernicus nodded. “Kind of a letdown, isn’t it? But to answer your question, Adam, I wouldn’t recommend you take up poker for a living. You’re too easy to read.”

“So what is it?” Adam asked.

Copernicus frowned. “You don’t know?”

“A paperweight for your desk?”

“A very valuable paperweight.” Then Coop smiled. “You’re looking at the next big thing in energy production, or so they tell me. An ancient artifact that will make weapons like these the toast of the town and something even Humans can’t compete with.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Adam asked, hoping he would say he was going to turn it over to the Union.

“I’m going to give it the Gradis Cartel, that’s what. They’ve gone through a lot of trouble to get it, and they’re willing to pay me a lot of money for its return.”

“And what about Earth?” Adam asked. “You said this thing could revolutionize flash weapons, making them superior to what we have. It that what you want to do, allow aliens the means to defeat us? You know the Juireans will use this technology to conquer the Union.”

“And I should care…why? I may be Human, but I haven’t been to Earth in ten years. The place is as alien to me as…as the Sol-Kor universe.” He reached out and picked up the object, turning it over in his hand while keep a watchful eye on the two other Humans. “With the money I make, I’ll be able to build a pretty nice living for myself here, and without having to repair starships anymore.”

“You’ll let your homeworld be destroyed just so you can spend your days playing with your pet dinosaur?”

“Earth never did anything for me, so why should I care? I’m never going back, not when I have a place like this where I can be king.”

“You really think the Gradis will leave you alone after you turn the orb over to them? Cartels don’t normally work like that.”

“And what experience do you have with the Gradis? I’ve worked with them for years. They know me, and I know them. We’re best buds.”

“We’ll see how long that lasts.”

The smile vanished from Coop’s face. “You’re talking out of your ass now, Cain, trying anything to stop me from doing what I’m about to do. Well, don’t worry, you won’t have to stick around to watch your precious homeworld get overrun by hordes of aliens with Buck Rogers ray-guns.”

“What are you going to do with us?” Riyad asked as he flexed his arm. Adam had never seen a Human shot with a level-3 bolt before. Apparently it wasn’t that bad.

“Oh, I have other plans for the two of you—the famous Cain and Tarazi. There are certain parties in the galaxy who would love to see the two of you again.”

“Like who?” Adam asked.

Copernicus snorted. “The list is long. I’m sure I could shop you around until I get my price.”

“I thought the orb was going to get you all the money you’ll ever need?” said Adam.

Coop wrinkled his nose and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll auction the two of you off…simply because I can.”

On cue, two burly aliens moved up to the table and placed Adam and Riyad in restraints.

“I don’t believe you’ve met,” said Coop. “This is Misters Flisher and Krons, two of my other repair crew. As you can see, I hired them more for their brawn than their technical abilities. Still, they know how to operate magnetic grapples to get a ship back to the yards. Now…let’s get going. I really have to take a piss.”

Chapter 24

Copernicus took Adam and Riyad to the Gradis ship and locked them in one of the crew cabins, explaining how he didn’t trust the wooden walls of his headquarters building to hold the pair of Humans.

He pointed at the ventilation grate. “Good luck trying to squeeze through there. And this—” he lifted a link of metal chain—“I got this at The Home Depot on Earth. Good luck trying to break through it. And the lock, it’s mechanical, with a key, so not susceptible to your magic gizmo, Cain. And if that isn’t enough…” he pointed to the alien named Krons, who was holding a very Human .9mm Beretta handgun. “And he’s  trained to use it.”

Coop moved to the door. “Just relax. I’ve put the word out on the galactic version of eBay. It shouldn’t be long before the bids start coming in for the two of you.”

Adam looked around the room. “Hey, we’ve been drinking, too. What if we have to go to the bathroom?”

Copernicus gave him a thoughtful look and nodded. “You’re right.”

He left the room and returned a minute later with a wastebasket. He set it on the deck. “Here, enjoy. Now please, don’t try anything. I may not get much for the two of you, but it could still cover the cost of my next shipment of cigars from Earth.”

He left, and moments later Adam and Riyad heard the heavy metal chain being threaded through the outer door handles, along with a snap of the lock.

Adam and Riyad looked at each other.

“How’s your arm?”

“It’s fine,” Riyad answered impatiently. “When were you going to tell me about that thing?”

“That’s why I wanted to get us into town, away from the compound.”

“So what is it, really?”

“I don’t know. All I do know is that there’s some form of artificial intelligence in it and that it was trying to communicate with me.”

“What did it say?”

“I don’t know. All I got were vibrations in my head through the ATD.”

Riyad sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his arm. “Do you think it can do all those things Smith said it could?”

Adam sat down on his bed. “If not, then people are going through a lot of trouble for nothing.”

Adam scanned the room before shaking his head. “It’s been a while since we were held captive by a Human. This ain’t lookin’ too good.”

Riyad laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. “Yeah, and you’re not the one who’s always getting shot. Don’t know about you, but I’m going to take advantage of my rum-buzz and try to get some sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”

Adam followed suit, dimming the lights in the room with a command from his ATD. A rested warrior was an effective warrior. And Riyad was right: Tomorrow is another day.

********

Less than an hour later, Adam and Riyad were awakened by a loud scraping of metal on metal as the chain was removed from the door. Copernicus stormed into the room and planted a strong right cross on Adam’s jaw just as he stood up from the bed. Adam tumbled backwards, falling first on the bed and then rolling off the edge to the deck.

In the meantime, Copernicus shoved Riyad against the bulkhead face first, then drew his MK-17 flash weapon and pressed it against the back of Riyad’s head.

“Three seconds to tell me where it is, or Tarazi’s brains paint the wall.”

“Where what is!” Adam scrambled to his feet. Coop pressed the barrel harder against Riyad’s head.

“You know! Where is it?”

“The orb? I don’t know where it is. The last I saw it you had it, and we’ve been locked in here ever since.”

“Bullshit. You have it.”

“It can move!”

Copernicus blinked. “Move? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you it can move.”

“Like on wheels, or with feet?”

“I don’t know. All I do know is that it can move from one place to another. I never saw the actual move, but it was also able to open cabinet doors somehow.”

Copernicus continued to press Riyad against the wall as his eyes darted back and forth. Then he released him.  “God dammit!” he yelled.

“Sorry you lost it, but we didn’t have anything to do with it.” Adam said.

Coop’s eyes were on fire, both from anger and from worry. But then he turned and rushed from the room. The door was secured again.

Riyad fell back on the bed. “That was close.”

“Look on the bright side,” Adam said.

“What bright side?”

“At least you didn’t get shot.”

********

It took a while for the two of them to get back to sleep. Adam was thinking what was going to happen if Copernicus didn’t find the orb. The Gradis would tear the place apart until it was found, and he could just imagine the interrogation he and Riyad would have to endure, even though he had no idea where the elusive object was.

Eventually exhaustion and alcohol did the trick and Adam fell asleep. But he didn’t stay that way for long.

Something nagged at him, and when he opened his eyes and looked out into the dimness of the room, he saw the tiny green orb resting on the table next to his bed, staring at him.

Adam sat upright, turning on the light in the room to full illumination with his ATD. He was staring at the object when the light woke Riyad. He followed Adam’s intense gaze to the orb.

“Copernicus will surely kill us both if he finds that here. How did—”

“I don’t know. Maybe it came in when he was here last.”

Adam Cain.

The words came through loud and clear, and Adam had to take a moment to figure out if he heard them in his ear or in his mind. He looked to Riyad. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Damn…it’s talking to me!”

Riyad came over and sat next to Adam. The orb was only three feet away. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“It must be communicating through my ATD.”

Riyad looked at the door. “Then keep it down. We don’t want alien Guido out there to tell Coop we’re up and talking.”

Adam looked at the orb. “Are you able to talk to me now?”

Yes.

“How can you do it now?”

I attempted to find language functions within your interface device and failed. Yet you have another device that contains such information. It was the same as the Incus, yet even after acquiring their language, there was no link to their brains. You are the only being since the awakening that I have been able to speak with. It is quite a revelation and a joy.

“Same here.”

“What’s it saying?” Riyad asked.

“It says it’s glad it can communicate with me. Apparently it was with the Incus—whoever they are—and couldn’t. Who are you?” Adam asked the orb.

I am not a who, but a what.

“Then
what
are you?”

I am a personal service module.

“A personal service module,” Adam repeated aloud for Riyad’s benefit.

“But you do have some form of artificial intelligence, don’t you?”

There is nothing artificial about my intelligence.
The orb sounded insulted.

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

“What’s a personal service module?” Riyad asked.

“Can you hear my friend?”

Yes. He is Riyad Tarazi. I cannot communicate with him.

“You can through me. It can hear you, Riyad. So what is a personal service module?”

I am a personal service module.

“I realize that, but what do you do?”

I provide service to an individual.

“What kind of service and to whom?”

Service as required, and the last individual was….

Adam saw an image of a ghostly figure rather than heard a name. “Who is that?”

I showed you. They do not have names. Names are not necessary for the individuals.

“It showed me some wispy image of a figure,” he said to Riyad. “Said they don’t use names.” He turned back to the orb. “Do you have a name?”

No…a designation. Z would be the closest sound.

“Zee?”

Yes.

Adam shook his head. “I’m confused. Who are the people that you serve, the people with no names?”

The race has a name, it is Aris. The individuals do not need names because of the identifying quality of their minds.

“They communicate through telepathy?”

“They do. I do. They did. I did.

“What? Where are the Aris now?”

They are gone. Once their parent world was consumed in the stellar fire, what few of them that were left moved on. My Aris faded away and I was left with no one to talk to…until you.

“How long ago was that?”

“What’s it saying?” Riyad asked.

“Hold on.”

Relating time is difficult, yet from what I gather from the Incus, it was three billion of your years ago.

Adam’s mouth fell open.

“What did it say?”

“It—Z—said the last of the Aris race died off three billion years ago.”

Now Riyad’s mouth turned slack.

“How old are you? Adam mustered the courage to ask.

I was created toward the end of the Aris reign, as a ninth-generation device. So I am only a hundred thousand years older than three billion.

“You look good for your age,” Adam said with a grin. He didn’t know what else to say.