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Book: The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga by T.R. Harris
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Authors: T.R. Harris
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longer his luck would hold up.
Riyad Tarazi, the third member of the Big Three heroes of the Juirean and Klin Wars, hadn’t been as content to let the gravy train disappear. With the very lucrative promotional tours over, he’d sought consulting work, both in the Union and the Expansion. Along with Adam and a few surviving Q’uel, Riyad was among only a handful of creatures in the galaxy to have ever traveled to another dimension—in fact, to the very homeworld of the Sol-Kor—and as a result he’d found a decent replacement for the Joining tours by passing himself off as an expert on the Sol-Kor. Now he bounced from planet to planet offering his advice on defensive strategies, as well as a concocted psychological analysis of the voracious invaders. Having met the Queen herself, Riyad professed to have a unique insight into how the Sol-Kor thought, and this insight was being parlayed into a very lucrative occupation for the ex-terrorist-turned-hero.
It was all bullshit, of course. In reality, the Sol-Kor were the most transparent creatures around, governed by the most basic of instincts— hunger . Food was all they wanted, all they needed. It was as simple as that, and they would do anything to get it. It didn’t take any special insight to see that.
But not according to Riyad Tarazi. According to him, the Sol-Kor were a complex and unreadable race, and his expertise was needed to decipher them. And his expertise didn’t come cheap.
The last Adam had heard, Riyad was somewhere in the Expansion, on a circuit of a dozen worried worlds who were paying dearly for his special insight and advice. Adam smiled when he remembered how much Riyad told him he was getting for these consulting jobs. It was far more than they got for the promotional tours, and without needing to give public speeches or to put on dog-and-pony shows for adoring masses.
Now, as the brown dust of Castor billowed up to obscure the landing field of the spaceport, Adam was feeling a little lonely. It had been many a year since he’d set off on an adventure without his two main companions. Through good and bad, they had been the one constant in his otherwise chaotic life.
He tried to cheer his mood by thinking that in a few short hours he would be reunited with the very first aliens he’d ever met—Kaylor and Jym. It would be an emotional homecoming, but…they were still just aliens. The level of intimacy wouldn’t be same, not like if they were Human. Plus, this wasn’t a pleasure trip. He was involving his two best alien friends in a situation that could easily cost them their lives. Yet he had no one else to turn to.
The dust quickly settled outside the ship; the new dimensional phase shifter engines produced only a minimal amount of backwash. Looking out at the stark landscape of the savage mining world, Adam had no doubt the wolves would already be out for him and Panur, even here in the backwater part of the galaxy. In fact, with all the scoundrels and miscreants to be found here, this was probably a more dangerous landfall than most.
This line of thinking brought him to the two million Juirean credits he had stashed aboard the Pegasus II —contingency funds left over from a bygone era. With this money he knew his anonymity could be bought, at least for a while. Hopefully that would be enough time for Panur to complete his detector and offer it to the galaxy as vindication for Adam’s actions.
If not, then all the success and glory from the past twenty years would have all been wasted.
********
The need for payola began immediately upon landing. The port authority was slipped ten thousand credits to conveniently misplace the transponder code for the Pegasus II —a temporary error, lasting only five days. After that, they would have to leave the planet, or the fee tripled.
The two fugitives gained access to the huge underground city through a VIP entrance devoid of scanners and cameras, where they were met by a transport
Riyad Tarazi, the third member of the Big Three heroes of the Juirean and Klin Wars, hadn’t been as content to let the gravy train disappear. With the very lucrative promotional tours over, he’d sought consulting work, both in the Union and the Expansion. Along with Adam and a few surviving Q’uel, Riyad was among only a handful of creatures in the galaxy to have ever traveled to another dimension—in fact, to the very homeworld of the Sol-Kor—and as a result he’d found a decent replacement for the Joining tours by passing himself off as an expert on the Sol-Kor. Now he bounced from planet to planet offering his advice on defensive strategies, as well as a concocted psychological analysis of the voracious invaders. Having met the Queen herself, Riyad professed to have a unique insight into how the Sol-Kor thought, and this insight was being parlayed into a very lucrative occupation for the ex-terrorist-turned-hero.
It was all bullshit, of course. In reality, the Sol-Kor were the most transparent creatures around, governed by the most basic of instincts— hunger . Food was all they wanted, all they needed. It was as simple as that, and they would do anything to get it. It didn’t take any special insight to see that.
But not according to Riyad Tarazi. According to him, the Sol-Kor were a complex and unreadable race, and his expertise was needed to decipher them. And his expertise didn’t come cheap.
The last Adam had heard, Riyad was somewhere in the Expansion, on a circuit of a dozen worried worlds who were paying dearly for his special insight and advice. Adam smiled when he remembered how much Riyad told him he was getting for these consulting jobs. It was far more than they got for the promotional tours, and without needing to give public speeches or to put on dog-and-pony shows for adoring masses.
Now, as the brown dust of Castor billowed up to obscure the landing field of the spaceport, Adam was feeling a little lonely. It had been many a year since he’d set off on an adventure without his two main companions. Through good and bad, they had been the one constant in his otherwise chaotic life.
He tried to cheer his mood by thinking that in a few short hours he would be reunited with the very first aliens he’d ever met—Kaylor and Jym. It would be an emotional homecoming, but…they were still just aliens. The level of intimacy wouldn’t be same, not like if they were Human. Plus, this wasn’t a pleasure trip. He was involving his two best alien friends in a situation that could easily cost them their lives. Yet he had no one else to turn to.
The dust quickly settled outside the ship; the new dimensional phase shifter engines produced only a minimal amount of backwash. Looking out at the stark landscape of the savage mining world, Adam had no doubt the wolves would already be out for him and Panur, even here in the backwater part of the galaxy. In fact, with all the scoundrels and miscreants to be found here, this was probably a more dangerous landfall than most.
This line of thinking brought him to the two million Juirean credits he had stashed aboard the Pegasus II —contingency funds left over from a bygone era. With this money he knew his anonymity could be bought, at least for a while. Hopefully that would be enough time for Panur to complete his detector and offer it to the galaxy as vindication for Adam’s actions.
If not, then all the success and glory from the past twenty years would have all been wasted.
********
The need for payola began immediately upon landing. The port authority was slipped ten thousand credits to conveniently misplace the transponder code for the Pegasus II —a temporary error, lasting only five days. After that, they would have to leave the planet, or the fee tripled.
The two fugitives gained access to the huge underground city through a VIP entrance devoid of scanners and cameras, where they were met by a transport
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