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

problem. Be careful, Captain. The place was swarming with mane-heads up until about forty-eight hours ago. Since then, I have no idea where they’ve gone.”
    “The spaceport?”
    “Virtually empty, but no liftoffs that we know of in a week.”
    “And Sherri and Arieel?”
    “Still no sightings.”
    “Roger that. We’re making our approach, Commander. See you in a few minutes.”
     
    ********
     
    After so many jumps, Adam was getting the hang of the new stardrive. He now calculated a short hop to the planet’s north pole region. Even still, the maneuver was risky, appearing so close to a large gravity body. If he pulled it off, they’d reach the surface with minimal chance of detection.
    Once engaged, the blackness of space was immediately replaced by the blinding white of a pristine snowpack fifty miles below the ship. Adam gunned it, dropping even lower in a matter of seconds. He leveled out at seven hundred feet, keeping a very weak gravity-well created above them to stay aloft, while using the chemical jets for forward propulsion.
    The relatively smooth and level expanse of snow soon gave way to a rising mountain range to the south. Adam spotted the twin peaks that formed the pass Paulson had mentioned and steered in that direction.  From there, it was a rollercoaster ride, as the topography rose and fell, often with little warning.
    After fifteen minutes, the valley floor began to fall away, dropping toward a vast plain covered in verdant forests and laced with shimmering threads of rivers and streams. Adam and Riyad had spent a couple of weeks on Worak-nin, mostly in and around the area where the mutant Panur had built his golden palace, so they knew the area fairly well, at least where they were headed.
    Even so, they had the benefit of Adam’s mental ghost presence in Paulson’s comm unit to guide them
    This was a trick Adam had learned long ago, right after he’d first been fitted with his brain-interface device. It was discovered he could send his awareness along various communications waves, be they continuous wormholes or conventional. Once at the other end, he could create a surrogate presence. This came in handy for controlling things at space-borne distances. In this case, all he needed to do was plant a signal in the comm unit’s internal circuitry. Within his mind’s eye, he could see the white dot in his vision. They were almost there.
    The clearing rushed into view; Adam pulled back on the stick and the nose rose up to slow the ship, keeping them from overshooting the LZ. He corrected the jarring maneuver, before unceremoniously plopping the craft down on the grassy surface with a pronounced bump.
    Riyad twisted his neck and looked at Adam. “Might have a lawsuit coming after a landing like that.”
    “Good luck trying to collect. I’m just a poor GS worker.”
    “Aren’t we all.”
     
    ********
     
    Paulson and Morgan were waiting at the hatch when Riyad cracked it open. After the obligatory hugs and fist-bumps, the four men moved inside.
    “What is this thing?” Paulson asked.
    “It’s a Mark VII experiment craft. One of a kind.”
    “How did you get it here undetected?”
    “It employs a type of trans-dimensional stardrive—”
    “No way, not again!”
    Adam smiled. “Relax, Tom, it can’t jump into other universes.”
    “Thank god. I’ve had about as many universes as I can handle in one lifetime. Any backup expected?”
    “’Fraid not,” said Riyad. “We kinda borrowed the ship…without permission.”
    “We call that stealing where I come from.” Paulson’s smile matched that of the other three men.
    “Like the saying goes,” Adam began, “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”
    “Well, I would say you’re one trying son-of-a-bitch…sir,” said Travis Morgan.
    Adam gripped the enlisted man’s shoulder. “Thanks, sergeant. Now what say we go rescue us some damsels in distress?”
    “Yessir, Captain Cain, sir! That’s what legends are made