Chapter 13
The AI had been monitoring his partner up until the moment the Earth’s military confronted him and somehow blocked his communicator.
Unexpected. They’d not realized the humans knew how to muffle signals.
Beta, who’d given the other male warning of their approach, hadn’t beamed Jaspar’s partner aboard because Cade thought this might be an opportunity to further the other part of their mission.
“Can you still track them?” he asked.
“The facility they’ve entered is shielded. I cannot detect any life forms.”
This was bad. Jaspar paced as he tried to decide his next move, especially since the blame for Cade’s capture partially rested on him.
Since Jaspar’s intimate moment with Colette, he’d been unable to think of much else.
Flashbacks of her flushed expression. The feel of her against him.
The intense pleasure. It jumbled his usually work-focused ethic.
It was why, when he found himself anxious and eager to see Colette, he decided it might be best to send Cade, who’d been more than happy to go.
Too happy.
It took restraint to not rescind the offer. To stay aboard the ship. But Jaspar insisted Cade go, even as he wondered if the bold Colette would seduce his partner. A thought that clenched his fists.
Jealousy proved to be a new emotion for Jaspar.
It got pushed aside, though, at Beta’s announcement that the humans had planned an ambush.
Concern filled him, not just at Cade being taken captive, but Colette, too.
And now they’d disappeared underground, where Jaspar couldn’t ensure either Colette’s or Cade’s safety.
“Discover what you can about their location,” he ordered.
“I’m trying,” Beta grumbled. “The material they’re using is too dense for me to penetrate.”
“Surely there’s a way around the shield they’ve put in place to block signals.”
“I am trying to infiltrate their inner communication network,” Beta advised. “But it might take a bit of time. The humans have evolved rapidly since we first began visiting. Their security is much harder to bypass than before.”
Not the reply he wanted from the advanced AI.
While Beta worked, Jaspar replayed the scene of their capture. Noted how the soldiers didn’t actually do any harm to either Cade or Colette. Surely a good sign.
“Commander, you might want to peruse the latest data from the far scans of the galaxy.”
“Why? What did you see?” Jaspar asked as he pulled up the recently gathered information.
“One of the moving objects is not an asteroid as initially suspected.”
The reply stiffened Jaspar. “Another ship?”
“Yes. Judging by the radioactive emissions, it is heavily armed and on a course for Earth.”
“Who does it belong to?” Unfortunately, the Xamian did not have exclusivity when it came to the human planet.
As a still-developing world, who’d yet to achieve proper galactic travel, it couldn’t yet align itself with any of the federations that had formed alliances against some of the more aggressive races.
Although that could change if they succeeded in their mission.
If the humans agreed to a treaty between their planets, the Xamian could then actively protect Earth.
“I’m running it against the database to identify it.”
Standing by the large viewing screen, Jaspar enlarged the speck captured by the long-range sensors, a smudged ball of red that tightened his belly. He immediately thought of one race that enjoyed using bold colors for their ships.
Before his brain had completely finished that thought, Beta announced, “The vessel appears to be a Boulmas, which are exclusive to the—”
“Krampusonians,” Jaspar exclaimed, interrupting the AI. “What are they doing here? I thought they’d been confined to their galaxy.”
“They have. However, when the wormhole to their area of the universe was collapsed, not all their people were on the other side.”
“This is bad,” he muttered. The Krampusonians had proven themselves to be a vile race, and not just in appearance.
A violent species who fed on the young. Not their young, of course.
More than one planet had found itself in civilization collapse after being invaded.
If this ship headed to Earth, it could mean only one thing, and Beta said it aloud: “It’s going to steal humanity’s progeny. ”
“Can we stop it?”
“Our weapons array is not equipped to take down an armored vessel of its size and capability.” Because their ship was barely more than an exploratory scout.
“Recommendation?”
“Retrieve Commander Cade’krinno Mer Acadu and as many fertile females as we can fit on the ship and return them to Xaanda.
” Thus ensuring the survival of the human race—and that of the Xamian—because the Krampusonians would likely settle in orbit and begin harvesting the young—and killing the adults—until the planet had nothing left to feed them.
“Do the humans have anything capable of destroying the vessel?”
“They do have missiles capable of penetrating the Boulmas shield, but having studied the Earthlings’ launching ability, the Krampusonian vessel will have plenty of time to either detonate or evade before they do damage.”
“Surely there’s something we can do to help.”
“I am running possible scenarios. However, none have more than a fifteen percent chance of success.”
Terrible odds. He now needed to decide what to do. But not alone. This was too important for Jaspar to handle without help.
“We need to get Cade back.”
“I’m trying,” Beta practically grumbled.
“Let me know when you have something.”
In the meantime, Jaspar went through every recorded battle with Krampusonians. What worked. What didn’t.
Negotiation? Always rejected.
Bribery? Also never accepted.
The only thing that seemed to stop them? Annihilation.
If Jaspar been in one of their heavily armed military cruisers, they would have been able to battle. Had their vessel had more than basic weaponry to fight off pirates and the balekit—massive-sized creatures that roamed space, eating asteroid dust and small ships—they might have stood a chance.
The more Jaspar researched, the more he began to think Beta’s suggestion might be their only option.
Unless…
“Beta, beam me down to the entrance of the facility that contains Cade.”
“Commander, is that wise? Once you enter, I won’t be able to transport you out.”
“I’m aware; however, the dire situation calls for bold action.” Because the human military needed to know of the coming calamity, and if he could get them to cooperate, he had an idea that might just work.
If he could convince the Earthlings to listen.