Human Chronicles Part 2 Book 3: A Galaxy to Conquer by T. R. Harris

this operation, you’re just the contingency we may need.”
    “I still do not like it,” Kaylor said. “With our ATD’s, Jym and I are potent fighters as well.”
    “I know you are,” Adam said, “and that’s why I feel better with you and Jym covering us. Now go back to the Pegasus and wait for my signal. I don’t know anything about this new ship the team will be transferring to, or about the informant, so I don’t want anyone outside the team to know about you and Jym—and Ruszel.”
    Adam smiled even wider as a thought crossed his mind. “So, Ruszel put up a fight? How did you convince him to come along?”
    “It was all Jym,” Kaylor answered, his face displaying even more concern than before. “I believe we have created a monster.”

 
     

    Chapter 6

    T he informant’s ship was located at another spaceport on the opposite side of Saf’in. Adam left the Formilians aboard their ship and took Sherri and Andy Tobias with him for the first meeting.
    In all the chaos of the spaceports—understandable now from what Kaylor had told him—it took Adam longer than he’d planned to locate the informant’s ship. Already frustrated, he did a quick walk-around of the huge ship—probably the largest he’d ever seen capable of a planetary landing. The ship had a huge landing bay hatch, and according to Kroekus carried two shuttles and a number of escape pods. Next to the large bay hatch was a smaller access door with a monitor set off to one side within the hull. Adam touched the screen and a message instantly appeared.
    Welcome Adam Cain , the message read. Then it continued to scroll down. Please enter alone and leave your weapons with your companions. Because of the delicate position I am in, I wish our first meeting to be private and secure. Please comply. You are being monitored.
    Adam looked at Sherri and Andy and raised his eyebrows. “Cautious bastard, isn’t he?”
    “He’s probably risking a lot by helping us,” Sherri said by way of an explanation.
    “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what it is.” Adam handed his MK-17 to Andy Tobias. “I detect a supply of power packs, but none are attached to flash weapons.”
    “You can tell that?” Andy asked. “Damn, I’ve still got a whole lot to learn about my thingumajig. Can you detect that, Sherri?”
    Sherri scrunched up her face. “Yeah, Andy, I can. Sorry.”
    “No worries; I guess it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.”
    “I’m going in,” Adam stated as the door slid aside. “You both should be able to link with me if I call. Stay alert.”
    “Aye aye, sir!” Sherri said, snapping off a sloppy Boy Scout-type salute, the one with the thumb tucked into the palm—which was not an official military salute.
    Assuming his host would be on the bridge, Adam proceeded along a wide corridor forward from the hanger bay access airlock. He had noticed the wide bank of viewports at the forward section of the elongated spaceship and knew that if he just kept moving in that direction he would eventually reach the bridge. The spaceship was a good three-hundred feet long and half that wide, about the size of football field, and he crossed through several large intersections along the central corridor, although he didn’t take the time to investigate what lay beyond the dozen of hatches and doorways he passed. If the informant passed the test, then he would have plenty of time for exploration.
    The central corridor did indeed end at the bridge, announced by a wide portal in the forward bulkhead, its double doors already open.
    The lights on the bridge were dimmed and the blast shield was down, and it took Adam a moment for his eyes to adjust. The room was like most starship bridges, with consoles lining three walls, a three-window array of viewports forward and two pilot seats just below the ports with a command chair located behind the pilots. This ship was large enough to have separate pilots and a commander, rather than like the Pegasus where