The Copernicus Deception (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 15) (22 page)

Chapter 29

He became aware of soft light and equally soft music filtering into his consciousness. He opened his eyes to find he was in a room with a plethora of tubes and wires supported by thin racks and booms above him. Above the music, a rhythmic beeping was heard.

He was in a hospital bed, and when the revelation hit him, he closed his eyes again and squeezed out a tear. He was alive, and apparently in good hands. Anything beyond that would be a bonus.

There was a presence next to him. He opened his eyes again and through the pain turned his head. Two men dressed in khakis were looking down at him. One had a white medical lab coat over his uniform.

“Welcome back, Captain, how are you feeling?” asked the man in the lab coat.

“Where am I?” The words felt like sandpaper over an open wound as they escaped his dry mouth.

“You’re aboard the
Abraham Lincoln
, heading for Earth.”

“Riyad…the others?”

“They’re safe and sound. Tarazi is in about the same shape as you, while your two alien buddies came out with nary a scratch.”

“Nary?”

The officer laughed. “Sorry, my British upbringing coming through. I’m Commander James Kittery, your primary care physician.”

Adam wriggled his toes and fingers. His body seemed to reach to the extremities. That was good. “What’s the prognosis, doc?”

“To be honest, you took quite a beating, both at the hands of the Klin and from the explosion.”

“What happened? What happened to the Klin ship?”

The doctor stepped aside and let the other officer move into Adam’s view. “I’m Ryan Cox, captain of the
Lincoln
. About the explosion, we’re not really sure. Maybe they blew it up so we couldn’t take control of the ship and learn the location of the others. Or maybe a reactor went crazy. We just don’t know.”

“Were any of the rescue party still aboard.”

The officer’s expression said it all. “At that point it was beyond a rescue mission. It was an occupation. We had about hundred darts in the station at the time, over three hundred men. Another couple of hundred assault vessels were in route and were consumed by the explosion.

Adam squeezed his eyes shut.

“Don’t blame yourself, Captain. When we learned the location of the Klin ship, our goal was to gain control of the vessel. Rescuing you and your party was only part of the mission. That part was a success. And, by the way, there’s about twenty-thousand fewer Klin we have to worry about.”

Then the Captain turned serious. He looked at the doctor, who acknowledged the unspoken order by leaving the room.

“Captain Cain, I know you just woke up, but I need to ask you a few questions.”

Adam nodded.

“The artifact, the energy globe. Do you know what happened to it?”

Adam shook his head about as much as he could without too much pain.

“We know the Klin had it aboard. Do you think it could have survived the explosion?”

“I don’t know,” Adam answered honestly. “It survived a supernova explosion and then drifted through space on a rock for three billion years. I wouldn’t say no to the possibility.”

Captain Cox nodded. “We have units out with metal detectors searching the space around the explosion, but we’re not having any luck. Trying to find something the size of a snow-globe among all the debris from a Klin colony ship may be an impossibility, even if it survived. But we’ll keep looking, until the Juireans find us.”

“The Juireans?”

“Yes, Captain, we’re at war. And yes, they tried to blame it on you and Mr. Tarazi. It didn’t work, however. We have too much intelligence showing how the Juireans have been planning for this war for quite a while. We were hoping the energy device would help us out in that regard. Instead, it looks like we’ll have to rely on good ol’ fashion conventional hardware. It’s worked well up to this point.”

Adam’s eyes began to flutter.

“Take it easy, Captain Cain,” the officer said. “Get your rest. We’re still three weeks out from Earth. You’ll be up and running marathons by then.”

********

The Captain’s prophecy didn’t come true, although after a week, Adam was up and moving around the ship, if gingerly. He saw Riyad, who was recovering at about the same pace as he was. Kaylor and Jym where excited to see him, as well, and Adam was relieved to find that the Klin hadn’t done much to them during their captivity. They were minor characters in the play and the Klin essentially ignored them.

Adam made his way to the hangar deck and recovered the blanket his rescuers had wrapped around him on the Klin ship. He considered it a good luck charm.

Beyond that, Adam Cain’s body continued to heal…if not his mind.

Chapter 30

Two weeks later the Union Starship
Abraham Lincoln
achieved orbit above the Earth. Adam was getting around better by this time and went to the observation deck, wrapped in his good-luck blanket. The ship was abuzz with activity, as homesick crewmembers scurried about readying for shore leave, change of shift or duty rotation.

They were home.

So was Adam Cain.

The shining orb below him was still the most beautiful planet in the galaxy. Of course, he may have been biased, and his prolonged absence only served to strengthen it.  Two years had passed since he’d last gazed upon her shimmering oceans, fleecy white clouds and ruddy continents. Between then and now he’d traveled to a foreign universe, assassinated a five-thousand-year-old queen, fought an evil immortal mutant and helped bring down a trillion-member empire of flesh-eating aliens. Add to that, he’d recently made friends with a three-billion-year-old ancient relic, fought Juireans and dinosaurs, and finally been held captive by the Klin.

Yes, his last two years had been action-packed for sure, and about as much as his forty-seven-year-old bones could stand. But now he was home. Tears of joy were difficult to hold back.

He reached under the thick, cotton blanket he had draped over his shoulders and pulled out another orb, this one reflecting the bright light of Earth off its greenish metal surface. He held it up to the window.

“This is my home,” Adam said aloud. “This is Earth.”

It is beautiful, Adam, worthy of your love and devotion. It reminds of me Aris, long before its star grew old and unstable.

“It does? You never told me that.”

I never told you either that your race bears a striking resemblance to the ancient Aris, before they evolved beyond the need to care for their physical bodies. They still retained them, but they became mere vessels for their intellect.

“Did they all die off? Or—as Copernicus suggested—were they smart enough to figure a way to survive?”

I can only say the effort was underway when the star went nova. After that I lost contact with my creators. Some may very well have survived, but for how long? Eternity is a very long time. Even immortals grow bored.

“So I’ve heard,” Adam said with a smile.

Yet your race is still young and vibrant, full of energy and wanderlust. Your people have a long way to go before they become bored with existence. There is still much growth and glory for the Human race to experience. And you are a testament to that glory, my friend, Adam Cain.

Epilogue

Copernicus Smith was about to vomit. He couldn’t believe what he was doing.

“Can’t I keep
some
of it?”

“We’ve given you enough to get your cover business going again. Anything beyond that and you’d stand out like a sore thumb.”

He watched the uniformed official cart away the stacks of credits. The other man in the room placed a hand on Coop’s shoulder. “You did a great job, Commander, above and beyond the mission parameters.”

“Yeah…but that was one hundred million credits. That’s like a billion Earth dollars.”

“And the money will help fund the war with the Juireans. Look, you’ve cemented your reputation not only with the cartels and the Juireans, but also with the Klin. You’re going to have access like we’ve never had before. And in a time of war, your efforts will help save countless lives. You’re going to help us win this, Coop.”

“I’ll also be operating behind enemy lines. There won’t be much mercy for me if I’m found out.”

“Just make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“And what about Cain and Tarazi? They’ll come looking for me. Can’t you let them in on our little secret?”

“Even they can’t know. Currently, there are only three people in the galaxy who know your true identity and mission, and that doesn’t include any elected officials. They’re temporary at best, and can’t be trusted.” Again the man smiled. “Relax. We’ll keep Cain and Tarazi off your back.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“We’ll give them a new assignment, something challenging enough to keep them occupied for a while.”

“And what will that be?”

“Not sure right now, but we’ll think of something.”

The End