there for a while. You can always return to Tel’or once the dust has settled.”
He knew he had them when neither of them appeared confused by his settling dust comment. They stopped listening to anything else after half-a-million ruiens . That amount was a king’s fortune to them, and when ownership of the Ifrit was thrown in, the aliens never stood a chance.
Riyad smiled. “Just a few days, that’s all I ask. And maybe during that time you may come to love Humans rather than hate us.”
Ruszel’s eyes narrowed. “Of that, I have much doubt.” He glanced at Canos. “We will accompany you, yet we will not fight.”
Riyad looked at Canos as well and gave him a wink. “Don’t worry; I have that part of the mission covered.”
********
The Ifrit departed the surface of Lucon-Por and put on a good show of heading back in the direction of Tel’or. But then just beyond the outer rim of the system, Riyad abruptly changed course, heading for the unexplored region of the Silvean Nebula known as the Dysion Void.
Riyad allowed the more-experienced pilot to guide them most of the way through the turbulent maze of gravity sources that riddled the nebula, especially as they neared their destination. While at the controls of the Ifrit , Ruszel quickly forgot about his trepidation, delighting instead in the thrill of piloting such a powerful vessel. At times, he would open her up for short stretches, and his eyes would gloss over after a particularly thrilling transit. On occasion, Riyad even overheard him commenting to Canos about how very soon this ship would be theirs.
Riyad knew he was paying an ungodly amount for the assistance of the two aliens; however, the money was not his, and he could always get another ship if he needed – that was one of the benefits of having Kroekus, the leader of the galactic Expansion, on your side. Besides, Riyad was pretty sure that once the location of Elision was verified he would be returning to Earth for a prolonged – if not permanent – stay. Stomping on aliens year-in and year-out was all well and good, but he was growing bored. And besides, Riyad Tarazi had his legacy to consider, and there weren’t very many Human women to be found among the stars.
Chapter 15
Aboard the Pegasus…
E ven before they achieved orbit, Adam and Sherri could tell the planet Arcton was a mess. There was a thin, brown haze surrounding the entire globe and even from space they could see dozens of huge fires raging on the surface. In addition, countless streaks of fire still rained down on the planet from space, as the gravity of Arcton sucked up more and more of the meteors, meteorites and asteroids now littering the system. Adam figured this was what it must have looked like when the stellar system was first forming. Unfortunately for the planet Arcton, it was about to return to a primordial state of exploding volcanoes and vast seas of molten lava, the likes of which had not been seen here in over three billion years.
If anything still survived on the surface, it wouldn’t for long. Arcton was doomed, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Even though the long-range CW-communications array for the Pegasus had been damaged in the debris field, the ship still carried traditional radio equipment aboard. Adam tried several times to contact the surface with the archaic device, using the coded reference for all Earth-vessels, but nothing came back except static. There had been a Human consulate on the planet at one time, along with a small service fleet. If any of those ships survived, Adam might be able to salvage a focusing ring or two.
At long last, Adam began a cautious descent to the surface, trying in vain to avoid the falling debris filling the sky. The lower they dropped the more of a beating the Pegasus took as only the largest pieces of space junk made it to the surface. As the thuds and pings on the hull become more numerous and pronounced, Adam was
He knew he had them when neither of them appeared confused by his settling dust comment. They stopped listening to anything else after half-a-million ruiens . That amount was a king’s fortune to them, and when ownership of the Ifrit was thrown in, the aliens never stood a chance.
Riyad smiled. “Just a few days, that’s all I ask. And maybe during that time you may come to love Humans rather than hate us.”
Ruszel’s eyes narrowed. “Of that, I have much doubt.” He glanced at Canos. “We will accompany you, yet we will not fight.”
Riyad looked at Canos as well and gave him a wink. “Don’t worry; I have that part of the mission covered.”
********
The Ifrit departed the surface of Lucon-Por and put on a good show of heading back in the direction of Tel’or. But then just beyond the outer rim of the system, Riyad abruptly changed course, heading for the unexplored region of the Silvean Nebula known as the Dysion Void.
Riyad allowed the more-experienced pilot to guide them most of the way through the turbulent maze of gravity sources that riddled the nebula, especially as they neared their destination. While at the controls of the Ifrit , Ruszel quickly forgot about his trepidation, delighting instead in the thrill of piloting such a powerful vessel. At times, he would open her up for short stretches, and his eyes would gloss over after a particularly thrilling transit. On occasion, Riyad even overheard him commenting to Canos about how very soon this ship would be theirs.
Riyad knew he was paying an ungodly amount for the assistance of the two aliens; however, the money was not his, and he could always get another ship if he needed – that was one of the benefits of having Kroekus, the leader of the galactic Expansion, on your side. Besides, Riyad was pretty sure that once the location of Elision was verified he would be returning to Earth for a prolonged – if not permanent – stay. Stomping on aliens year-in and year-out was all well and good, but he was growing bored. And besides, Riyad Tarazi had his legacy to consider, and there weren’t very many Human women to be found among the stars.
Chapter 15
Aboard the Pegasus…
E ven before they achieved orbit, Adam and Sherri could tell the planet Arcton was a mess. There was a thin, brown haze surrounding the entire globe and even from space they could see dozens of huge fires raging on the surface. In addition, countless streaks of fire still rained down on the planet from space, as the gravity of Arcton sucked up more and more of the meteors, meteorites and asteroids now littering the system. Adam figured this was what it must have looked like when the stellar system was first forming. Unfortunately for the planet Arcton, it was about to return to a primordial state of exploding volcanoes and vast seas of molten lava, the likes of which had not been seen here in over three billion years.
If anything still survived on the surface, it wouldn’t for long. Arcton was doomed, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Even though the long-range CW-communications array for the Pegasus had been damaged in the debris field, the ship still carried traditional radio equipment aboard. Adam tried several times to contact the surface with the archaic device, using the coded reference for all Earth-vessels, but nothing came back except static. There had been a Human consulate on the planet at one time, along with a small service fleet. If any of those ships survived, Adam might be able to salvage a focusing ring or two.
At long last, Adam began a cautious descent to the surface, trying in vain to avoid the falling debris filling the sky. The lower they dropped the more of a beating the Pegasus took as only the largest pieces of space junk made it to the surface. As the thuds and pings on the hull become more numerous and pronounced, Adam was
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