Free The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) by T.R. Harris Page B

the flash of a bolt lit up the room. The ball of energy hit the 2G at the base of the neck, and he collapsed to the deck. Suddenly, the remaining 2G’s began to rush out of the room and into the corridor with any weapon they could find – metal bars, tools and the like. The air vent in the room crashed to the floor, and Adam could see Chris Mullis lying flat in the metal tube, firing bolt after bolt at the men below. Adam could see the fire in his eyes. These were the men who had held him captive for so long, and now he was having his revenge.
    Four of the men rushed into the corridor and surged toward Adam and Riyad. Adam pulled his MK, just as Riyad let loose with several bolts of his own. Soon it was over, and all nine of the 2G’s lie dead on the deck, the last wispy vapors from the bolts still drifting in the air.
    Kaylor was leaning against the bulkhead, rubbing his bruised neck, and looking at Adam through squinted, angry eyes.
    “After all we’ve been through, you were going to let him kill me!”
    As Adam surveyed the dead men around him, he placed a hand casually on the alien’s shoulder. “He wasn’t going to kill you. You were his only bargaining chip.”
    “I don’t understand. He was going to kill me.”
    Adam turned to him. “No, he wasn’t. Trust me. I would never let anything happen to my favorite alien.”
    “I’m your favorite?”
    “Yeah, sure,” Adam said, as they stepped past the bodies, heading for the landing bay. “You’re my favorite Martian.”
    “Adam, I have not been receiving good translations recently. I wish you would speak in more commonly used language.”
    “I’ll do my best, ET.”
    “There you go again!”

 

    Chapter Nine
     

    An hour later, the landing craft was docking at the open landing bay of the other Juirean battlecruiser. As they had approached the huge warship, Adam saw where their bolts had penetrated the hull just forward of the aft generator room. The lucky barrage of bolts had done the trick, catching the Juireans off guard and disabling the drive generators. The other power systems would have remained active, but as the deadly heat and radiation from the explosions continued to affect the ship, more and more systems were continuing to fail. Soon the huge battlecruiser would be dead.
    Once in the landing bay, Adam’s group exited the shuttle, leaving Kaylor inside. The landing party consisted of Adam, Riyad, Chris and Billy, and they soon found that the internal airlocks were still functioning – for the time being – so the main part of the ship was still airtight. However, it was the radiation that now spelled the demise of the Juirean battlecruiser. Kaylor had told the landing party that they could only stay aboard for about 30 minutes, even with the environment suits. After that, they could start suffering the effects of the radiation themselves.
    Since this was a sister ship of the one they currently resided on, Adam’s group had no trouble navigating the various corridors leading to the bridge. All along the way, they found a few dead Juireans, along with a larger contingent of other dead creatures. Even aboard Juirean battleships, the crew was comprised of about 80% non-Juireans. There just were not enough Juireans to go around.
    The bridge was empty of any surviving crewmembers, but as they entered, they heard voices coming from the captain’s quarters to the rear of the bridge.
    With weapons drawn, they entered the room.
    Inside were three Juireans, two on a long couch to the left, and a third seated at a desk to the right. The one at the desk wore the capes of the captain, his green-tinted mane now matted and oily.
    Each of the Juireans sat slouched and round-shouldered, their eyes weepy and bloodshot. None of them had the energy to protest when Adam’s party entered the room.
    Adam walked up to the captain. “Is there anything we can do to help?”
    “You offer to help? Your race is very peculiar.” The voice was weak and strained.