When Earth Reigned Supreme (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 12) (10 page)

With military efficiency, the team divided the contents of the two equipment carts among themselves. In the light gravity, the men were able to carry more than they could on Earth. But now they had a two thousand foot climb to navigate, up pipes, tubes, and conduits, all with extra weapons, rations, and ammo sacks dangling from every strap on their integrated black Sol-Kor armor MOLLE packs.

As the men began to climb, already with their metal weapons clanging against metal tubes, Adam thought it would be a miracle if they reached the top undetected. Fortunately, the maze of equipment was far enough away from the activity of the service level that coupled with the sound of thousands of creatures and the echoing hum of the electric trucks, the noise was pretty well masked.

About thirty meters up, they entered a separate, dedicated shaft for the equipment. There was very little light here, but the night vision feature in the visors took care of that. Adam had also allowed the men to remove their Sol-Kor masks. Without them they could see better, and it would reduce the prodigious quantities of sweat the men were dealing with in the confined space. The shaft was hot and humid, making handholds slippery and treacherous. It wouldn’t pay to have one of the men lose his grip and fall to the bottom. With Adam in the lead, they took a very slow and cautious route up, taking nearly an hour to make it to the top.

The shaft ended at a massive equipment room, with a dozen twenty-foot-diameter fans whirling above them, feeding the air ducts. The electrical lines converged and joined at huge, gray metal boxes that stood twenty meters high by ten wide, humming with a steady cycle, a relatively few dials and gauges spinning on their faces.

The team spread out, covering the wide area, relieved to have their extra loads now supported by the hard metal deck.

Riyad’s dark skin was glowing red, sweat pouring from where his tight crop of jet black hair met his furrowed forehead. “Damn, I’m showing my age,” he panted from next to Adam.

Adam was also red-faced and sweating. “Aren’t we all, buddy.” He looked around the room. “I wonder where the hell we are.”

“That’s easy,” Riyad replied, attempting a feeble smile. “We’re at the base of a gigantic alien pyramid that looks like it could house twenty million of the buggers, and somewhere within it is one extremely well-guarded individual we’ve come to kill.”

Adam nodded. “That pretty much sums it up.” Then to the team: “Listen up, we’ll set up a temporary base here. Have some rations and rehydrate. Riyad and I will scout beyond here and find a way into the pyramid. Lieutenant Johnson, you’re in charge until we get back.”

“Don’t I get to rest, too?” Riyad asked.

“No rest for the wicked, dude. Besides, at our age, all a rest would do is cause our muscles to tighten up and make us want to take a nap.”

“A nap? Now that does sound appealing.”

“Don’t give me any ideas. Let’s go.”

Chapter 7

Moving along the long row of electrical transformers, Adam and Riyad came upon a wall that defined the limits of the large equipment room. A double doorway—unlocked, of course—led to a wide corridor with a glassed-in control room about ten meters down from the door.

The two men glanced around the huge window and saw a half dozen creatures inside. To their surprise, they were all Salifens. Adam was confused, thinking that with a trillion Sol-Kor, wouldn’t there be enough of them to cover all the jobs within the Colony? Obviously not. Perhaps the task of conquering galaxies took more alien-power than even the Sol-Kor could provide, leaving the more mundane jobs to be covered by their slave race.

It would be impossible to pass the control room without being seen; many of the Salifens sat facing the window. Yet having experienced the simple-minded creatures before, Adam wasn’t too worried. The Sol-Kor masks over their heads, Adam and Riyad strode confidently in the room and up to the nearest alien.

All the Salifens stopped and turned in their direction.

“I am Milok Dosnin,” Adam announced, using the name of the drugged-out Sol-Kor who had died from an overdose of Human painkillers earlier in the day. “I and my associate are wearing these masks to hide our identity since we are on a very secret mission. Do you understand?”

As was the habit of the Salifen, they all answered at once. “Yes.”

“Who is your leader?”

The aliens looked at each other, confused. Then the one closest to the Humans said, “You are.”

Taking the lead, Adam nodded. “That is correct, and I now appoint you as the voice of the Salifen in the room. No one else speak. Is that understood?”

No one spoke.

“No one speaks, except you,” Adam clarified, pointing at the standing alien.

“Yes, I understand.”

“That’s better. Now, I will be testing your knowledge of your surroundings. It is important that you answer honestly and in detail.”

“Honestly…I do not understand the word.”

“Just answer me in detail.”

“That I understand.”

“Is this room located at the base of the largest pyramid on the mountain?”

“Yes.” The alien hesitated before realizing he was to provide more detail if he knew it. “M-1, it is referred to.”

Adam nodded. “Very good. Are you familiar with the Sol-Kor known as the Queen?”

“I have heard the term before…I have not seen such a master.”

“Do you know where the Queen is located within the pyramid?”

“I do not know.”

“Is there an area of the pyramid that is restricted to only certain of the Sol-Kor?”

“There are several.”

“Where are they?”

“There is one two levels above, and then more at the top.”

“How would I reach the top?” And then he added, “Without being seen by other Sol-Kor?”

The mouth of the Salifen fell open. “I…I do not understand. If you wish to reach the top, there are transports that will take you to the restricted areas. I do not know how you could do so without being seen by other masters.”

“I understand,” Adam said. “Where is the nearest transport located that will take me to the top of the pyramid?”

“L-191.”

“Where is L-191?”

The alien blinked several times.

“Can you show me on a map?”

“Yes.”

The alien turned and approached one of the display screens in the control room. He tapped a key and a diagram appeared. Adam and Riyad leaned in close. Acquiring a map to the entire pyramid would be a godsend.

The Salifen pointed to a block of rooms at the bottom of the screen, then traced his finger along until stopping at a solid black block. “This is L-191.”

The elevator—if that’s what it was—was located down the corridor on the same level, past another twenty or so rooms of comparable size to the control room.

“Can you zoom out—show more of the pyramid?”

“Of M-1, yes?” A few taps and the entire shape of the structure was now displayed, although it didn’t do the Humans any good because now interior detail was lost.

Adam pointed to the pinnacle of the shape. “This is restricted area, even for the Sol-Kor?”

“Not all Sol-Kor. You asked about most Sol-Kor.”

“And we can reach it by entering here, at L-191?”

“That is the closest access point. There are others.”

“You have been very helpful…and you have passed the test,” Adam said. The creature displayed no emotion at the announcement. “Now I will order you—all of you—not to mention our presence here or the questions that were asked. It is part of our secret mission and you are forbidden to speak of it. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” said the alien. Adam looked at the others in the room. They all stared back at him with blank expressions.

Adam shrugged and then nodded for Riyad to follow, and then they left the room.

“Let’s see what this L-191 is all about,” he said.

“I can’t get over how gullible the Salifens are,” Riyad commented.

“Just be thankful they are.”

The rooms they had to pass were marked by closed doors, with no other glassed-in control rooms along the way.

But halfway down the corridor, a Sol-Kor appeared from one of the doorways, and after just a casual glance in their direction, turned away from the two Humans. But then as he continued down the hallway, his pace began to slow, until he eventually stopped and turned to face them.

Adam and Riyad continued to approach the alien.

“You…you are not of the Colony,” the native managed to say, then Adam placed a lightning-quick right jab into the center of his ribcage. The creature exhaled sharply, his eyes wide. He staggered backwards, while Riyad raced around behind and caught him before he fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

The native was too concerned with breathing to protest when Adam scooped up his legs and he and Riyad hustled him through the next doorway down the corridor. As was expected, there were other Sol-Kor in the room, and they stopped what they were doing when the trio entered.

It was an office of some kind, and all the aliens in the room—five of them—were seated at four-legged tables with monitors atop them. Three of them stood.

Adam and Riyad lowered the alien they were carrying to the floor and turned to the room, swinging their M-91 assault rifles from behind their backs. They fired from the hip, spraying the room with deadly lead projectiles. The muzzled short-barrels were greatly muted, but still it was heard in other parts of the room. Two more aliens appeared from a side room and quickly met the fate of their brothers.

Adam and Riyad split up, moving to each side of the room, clearing adjoining rooms of hostiles before meeting back up in the main room.

Adam flipped one of the desks on its face and pulled it towards the door. He ordered Riyad to stack several of the dead on the underside of the table, held in place by the two legs at one end. Then he opened the door and looked out into the corridor.

“Lean the table against the door.”

Riyad obliged, seeing what Adam was attempting to do.

With the table propped against the open door at a forty-five degree angle, the two Humans moved back into the corridor before Adam closed the door behind him. An accompanying thud was heard as the heavy table slammed to the floor on the other side.

“That should keep anyone from getting inside, unless they’re really determined.”

“You do know we’re leaving quite a trail behind us. Once the bodies start being discovered, the Sol-Kor will put two and two together and beef up security around the Queen.”

“That’s why we have to act fast. Get back to the others. I’ll continue to the elevator and secure it. Get the men here as fast as you can. So far I haven’t seen any Sol-Kor with weapons. We may have to fight the rest of the way, but this tip-toeing around is pissing me off.”

“Now that’s the Adam Cain we all know and love.”

“We’ll see how all this turns out. Now move!”

********

Adam was alone in the hallway, M-91 assault rifle in his hands. He hugged the right wall until he came to a wide opening with a bank of elevators. Two Sol-Kor were waiting at the doors, and they turned when they sensed his presence.

“Fuck it,” Adam said under his breath, and opened up with the rifle, placing two quick shots center mass into each alien. The door to the elevator then opened; inside were four more Sol-Kor.

Without hesitation, Adam rushed forward, bathing the inside of the elevator with gunfire. The elevator car was huge, capable of holding a dozen or more of the tall aliens. Adam grabbed one of the dead by the collar and threw the body across the entrance, keeping the door from closing. He pulled the other two dead aliens into the car, after which he ducked inside and assumed a lookout posture to the right of the doorway.

From here, since the elevator was set slight off to one side of the large room, he could only see about ten meters down the corridor he’d just traversed. He dropped to one knee and brought the stock of his rifle up to his cheek as he heard movement coming from that direction.

Lieutenant Rock Johnson came briefly into view, before quickly ducking back for cover.

“Clear!” Adam called out. Then the entire team raced from the corridor towards the elevator.

Adam moved aside, and within three seconds the elevator was full of sweaty, foul-smelling Humans. Adam grimaced. If the trail of dead Sol-Kor didn’t give them away, the smell surely would. He pulled the dead alien away from the doorway.

“Where to, Captain?” Johnson called out.

“The top.”

There were three rows of white push panels, each with strange symbols on them. Johnson lifted a small table computer to the array and pressed a button. The image was absorbed by the device and the translation program quickly deciphered the symbols. Even then, it didn’t help much. They were names, along with other labels, but no numbers. Taking a guess, the officer pressed the first panel on the first row.

The door slid shut…and then promptly reopened.

Johnson shrugged, and then pressed the bottom-most button in the third row.