Scorched Earth: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #16) Read Online Free PDF Page B

rectangular windows, most covered in a thick layer of obscuring dust.
    A survey map of the settlement came up on Adam’s screen, providing more information about the colony. There was a permanent population of around ten thousand individuals, serving the needs of approximately three thousand starships per standard Juirean year. The one feature that caught Adam’s attention, however, was the mention of an underground gravity-grid.
    He’d heard of this being done before, but not on something this small. Buried generators produced a series of regulated singularities in huge chambers carved out below surface, creating a supplement to the planetoid’s own feeble gravity field. Adam knew this type of technology didn’t come cheap, but it would provide them with gravity similar to Juirean-standard or about three-quarters that of Earth.
    “Heads up, Mister Cain—we have Juireans.”
    Adam glanced at Riyad’s real-time view of the colony. There were several ships in stationary orbit above the main part of the settlement, among them a couple of Class-4 Juirean cruisers. The long-range video also showed a dozen or more Class-2’s and -3’s in port at the three surface landing fields visible from this angle. Undoubtedly, there would be more on the other side.
    “Shit!” Adam growled.
    “Luckily we took a detour from our projected path to Worak-nin,” Riyad said. “Maybe they won’t associate us with the mystery signal that’s been popping in and out of their space.”
    “We’re still two Humans in a Human-designed starship.”
    “Well, maybe it’s time to let the aliens know who’s boss, Captain Cain,” Riyad said with an evil-looking grin.
    Adam sighed. “Yep, you’re right. Nothing subtle; it never is. I’ll have Pogo keep what’s left of our battery banks charged and ready. When we get what we’re after, we’ll pop out of here, leaving the mane-heads with one finger up their noses and another up their butts, wondering what just happened.”
    “You paint such graphic images with your colorful American way of saying things.”
    Adam smiled. “Gear up, buddy. We’re going in.”
     
    ********
     
    Three suits of battle armor were found hanging in a locker within the Mark VII’s service bay. There was also a compartment with a wide assortment of projectile and flash weaponry. Ammo for the Human weapons could be an issue. They only had twenty-five thousand rounds of standard caliber. There were a lot more than twenty-five thousand Juireans in the galaxy, but that would be a good start.
    The Mark VII was a one-of-a-kind starship, so it wouldn’t be registered in any Library database, either in the Union or the Expansion. Adam was counting on this fact to give them enough time to land on the surface and locate a new battery bank before the ship could be identified as being of Human origin.
    Clearance for landing wasn’t necessary, not at a supply colony. But they were guided to a landing pad by an automated system and a snake-like umbilical tube mated with the Mark VII’s main exterior hatch. Once pressure was equalized, the armed and armored Humans moved through the passageway and into the main section of the settlement.
    Juireans might have been able to recognize the armor as being that of Union forces, but not the bulk of the colony’s occupants, or if they could they didn’t let on. The interior was crowded, far beyond what the Library brief had indicated about the colony. Through his helmet lens, Adam scanned the menagerie of alien species filling a huge central courtyard, wondering if the increased population came from refugees seeking shelter and protection against the coming conflict. Even though war had been declared between the Expansion and the Union, no major battles had yet to take place. That was about to change, and apparently these creatures knew it.
    Adam and Riyad were two of the smaller beings in the chamber. This was common for heavy-worlders, whereas species evolving in light gravity