The Legend of Earth

Chapter 27



Kaylor and Jym were the only ones on the bridge, stealing some time for themselves, while the Humans were down on the lower level attempting to sleep. Over the past three days, the two aliens had noticed the steady progression of resignation in the attitudes of their shipmates, along with a growing depression. With each passing hour, they knew their chances of stopping the attack on the Earth grew slimmer. The two aliens tried their best to relate, imagining how they would feel if it were their home planets under attack.

“Yes, it would be horrible, knowing that you have no home to return to,” Jym agreed. “I haven’t been back to Fulqin in over ten standard years, yet I still know I could if I wished.”

“And what will the Expansion be like if these Kracori creatures are able to take control from the Juireans?” Kaylor asked. “We’ve seen what they are like. It’s hard to believe how quickly things have changed.” But then he grinned. “I really enjoyed your comment to Adam about all these changes taking place, and how we probably could have survived with hardly any effect.”

“I see it as truth. We are very far down any galactic hierarchy, so no one would care what we do—” Jym was interrupted by a soft, steady bleeping coming from his console. He twisted around in the seat and investigated the cause.

It was coming from a word-hit, a program he’d set up to scan all the thousands of frequencies Adam’s message had been sent out on, searching for any keywords or phrases that could possibly signal a reply. Adam had provided him with over a hundred Human words and phrase possibilities for his program. It continuously scanned the millions of open messages on these frequencies, looking for a match.

He dialed in the frequency and highlighted the phrase. His eyes grew wide – and then he slapped down on the ship’s intercom system. “Adam, I think we got a hit! Do you hear me? We got a hit!”



Adam couldn’t help but hear Jym’s call; it blared out of every speaker in the ship, jarring him from the hazy edge of sleep he was teetering on. He was fed up with trying to sleep anyway. With the depression he was feeling, what fitful sleep he was able to find was filled with nothing but horrible nightmares bordering on night terrors. All the Humans aboard were suffering from the same malady. Now he could give up the pretense of even trying to sleep.

They may have made contact with the fleet!

Adam thought he had climbed to the bridge in a hurry, yet he found he was actually the next-to-last person to enter. Only Chief Rutledge was slower; he was the oldest person in the crew and had probably been fast asleep.

“What do you have, Jym?” Adam asked as he entered.

“It’s a very strong hit,” Jym replied, his voice bouncing with excitement. “The word is Allen. That’s not your normal alien word – to use something you would say.”

“Bring up the full message. Have you been able to pull it out of all the clutter?”

“The program is just finishing. Here it is….”

“Commander SEAL Team Six to A.C. Commander SEAL Team Six, to A.C. Message received. Allen here. We have locked onto your strongest signal and are awaiting contact for urgent message. Once locked, line should be secure. Will monitor this frequency continuously. Proceed at your earliest. Allen out.”

“That’s it!” Adam confirmed. “That’s it! Lock on, Jym, before it’s gone.”

“Already working on it; only take a second … done.” He looked up at Adam and smiled. Nearly all the Humans were now looming over Jym’s station. “The link should now be secure.”

“Can we tell how far they are from us?” Sherri asked.

“Not yet,” Jym said. “The original message has been broadcasting continually for the past three days. There is no way of telling which of those messages they are responding to. Now that we are locked, there will be a direct link with your fleet. We can tell when they respond again.”

“Send a reply, Adam.” Tobias prompted.

“You got it,” Adam said. “Open the link, Jym.”

“Open.”

“Adam Cain to Allen. Action required on the following message: The Kracori are currently sending a strike force against the Earth to initiate a nuclear attack. I repeat: There is an imminent nuclear attack on the planet Earth.”

“Adam, will they know who the Kracori are?” Sherri asked. He knew her words were also being recorded and sent out simultaneously.

“You’re right. Admiral, the Kracori are a race of beings who have been working with the Klin. They are on their own now and have taken over Juir. They’re attacking the Earth now so that the fleet will return there instead of continuing to Juir. Nate, they intend on making the Earth radioactive, to make it uninhabitable. They have to be stopped.”

“Tell them they’ll probably be in Klin-type ships.” It was Tobias’ turn to amend Adam’s message.

Adam grimaced. That was a crucial piece of information he’d forgotten. “That’s right. They will undoubtedly be in Klin ships – just like the ones we have.”

“Tell him about the time line.” It was Rutledge speaking now.

Adam just grunted, but then said: “And the attack could happen at any time. Please confirm that you have received this message, but send a warning to Earth first. We don’t have any time to lose.”

“Is that it?” Jym asked, looking around at the crowd of Humans.

“I believe so,” Adam said, also scanning the anxious expressions of his companions. When no one else spoke, Adam told him to cut the link. “Now all we have to do is wait.”

“Yeah, that’s all,” Sherri said as she turned away and headed for the bridge exit. “It’s still not over yet, not by a long shot.”