Free Scorched Earth: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #16) by T.R. Harris Page A

Adam lashed out with his right leg, striking Lofis in the chest. The force of the kick sent the old native busting through the front door of the building and into the interior. Adam then removed a hand grenade from his utility belt, pulled the pin and tossed the knotty green metal ball into the building.
    “But now you have to fear the Humans!”
    He stepped to the side of the doorway.
    None of the natives knew what a hand grenade was, not until a thunderous torrent of fire, smoke and debris exploded through the doors and windows of the building. Several of the shocked natives stumbled backwards as they attempted to move away from the blast, while others took wholesale flight.
    Adam stepped forward, mingling with the black smoke billowing from the building.
    “Run, all of you! Run for your lives. You thought the Juireans were dangerous, but you have no idea what Humans are capable of. Run before you find out…just like Lofis did.”
    Adam descended the stairs, however this time as he marched down the center of the street, not a single purple native was seen.  

   

     
    Chapter 8
     
    Adam entered the palace a few minutes later to find a three-foot-high stack of assorted gold objects near the front door. Paulson walked up and dropped another armful of shiny items onto the pile with a loud clunk.
    “There’s so much damn gold here that if we took just the loose items, the ship would be too heavy to lift,” said the sweating officer. “I found a cart—made of gold, of course—and loaded up the food canisters from the main kitchen. Should last the four of us quite a while. And here, I found this.” Paulson handed Adam a datapad. “It’s the Overlord’s.”
    Adam switched it on. “Is this what I think it is?”
    “Yessir. A running update of Juirean locations in the Frontier. The number of ships will change, but probably not the base locations. Should give us a pretty good indication where our targets are placed.”
    “Great job, Tom.”
    Adam had already heard through his comm that Riyad and Travis had the Mark VII circling high above, scanning for bogies. He looked at the pile of gold on the floor. “This should do,” he said. “Let’s get the ship down here and loaded. And screw the spaceport. Have them set down right outside.”
     
    ********
     
    Ten minutes later the starship was loaded and ready to lift when Adam made an announcement.
    “I’m tired of calling this ship the Mark VII. From now on we’ll call it the Vengeance . Just seems appropriate.” There were no arguments, and moments later the newly christened Vengeance burned away another layer of landscaping from outside Panur’s palace as chem jets sent the starship skyward.
    “We knew this was coming,” Commander Paulson said moments later from the nav station. “Eight ships, just breaking the horizon.”
    The Vengeance was in space by then, and the first contingent of alien warcraft were soon joined by another four coming around the planet from the other side.
    “Pogo, are you fully charged up? We’re going to need the laser beams hot in just a few seconds.”
    “I’m ready. Just use conventional gravity maneuvering, no light-drive.” The ancient orb’s synthetic voice came over the bridge speakers, being converted from his typed comments on an isolated console.
    “Who’s that?” Sergeant Morgan asked. There were only three active stations within the small pilothouse, so Travis had made a makeshift spot for himself along the rear bulkhead.
    “Another crewmember,” Adam said, looking at Riyad in the co-pilot seat. “I’ll introduce you later. Pogo, how many batteries do you have charged?”
    “All four.”
    “ Pogo …his name is Pogo?” Paulson said.
    “Later. What’s the recycle time?”
    “Half a second between pulse, for nine pulses. Then I will need a few minutes to recharge.”
    “That should be plenty.”
    “Mister Paulson, you have weapons. Pre-target the Juireans. Light ‘em up.”
    “Yessir.” The