Read The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga for Free Online

the agreement and lowers their guard against the Sol-Kor. And that is when they attack.” Panur’s face took on a sad expression. “I wish I could provide you with evidence of this, yet in every case the species that returned me was consumed within a very short time. Every time. So you see you have been given a false choice. Returning me will not save your species—or any species—yet it will increase the chance of me inventing other means of subduing even more worlds. As a fact, I’m nearing completion on a suppressor beam upgrade which can dominate an entire planet from a light-year away. As it is today, the Sol-Kor need over a hundred beam platforms and considerable set-up time to subdue a planet. With my new beam, a single platform is required, with no units within close proximity of the target world. It will greatly improve the efficiency of the harvest.”
    Adam rested his head on the end of the control stick. “Then just don’t finish the damn thing,” he said without lifting his head.
    “I just told you why I must complete the project. Were you not listening?”
    Adam turned his head toward the alien. “Yes, dickhead, I was listening.”
    Panur furrowed his brow as the translation worked its way through his mind.
    “Then you must not have understood the message. As I said, I go into a dormant st—”
    “Yes, I get all that,” Adam interrupted. “There’s no need to repeat it.” He sat up again and slumped back in the chair. “So this offer of immunity is all bullshit, and if you do get returned to the Queen, you’ll complete a weapon that will allow Earth—and countless other worlds—to be overcome even easier.”
    Panur attempted a smile. “That is something I truly enjoy about Humans. You can condense a subject down to a single sentence or two if need be. That is a benefit of having such a simple mind.”
    Adam stared out the viewport at the strange looking tunnel the ship was plowing through. “So what are we supposed to do now? I could try convincing Andy that you should never be returned to the Sol-Kor, but I doubt he’d believe me. He’d look at it just as I did at first, as a way to buy us time to better prepare a defense. I doubt the Klin and the Juireans will call off the bounty, either.”
    “It is a perplexing situation.”
    “No shit. I can’t hide you forever, and once word gets out that any race that returns you to the Queen will be spared, everyone and their alien brother will be out looking for you, regardless of what we say.”
    “That is how it has been in the past, and why I have always been returned.”
    Adam felt a sour lump in his stomach. “I’ll be seen as the one who selfishly kept you from their salvation. Thanks a lot, Panur. I’m going from being a hero to a goat overnight. You know how many high schools will have to change their name as a result of this?”
    “Twenty-eight,” Panur replied.
    “Twenty-eight, are you screwing with me?”
    “No, I have studied the records.”
    “Only twenty-eight?” Adam was let down. He assumed the number was a lot higher.
    “However, three more are opening this year,” Panur said after studying his expression. “Does that make you feel better?”
    Adam shook his head at the alien. “Feel better? Let’s see: my reputation is ruined, my home is destroyed, I’m the subject of a galaxy-wide man-slash-alien hunt…and I’m sitting here in my boxer shorts, bruised, cut up, and freezing from the damn air conditioning. You’ll have to do a lot better than that to make me feel better.”

 
    Chapter 3
     
    Admiral Andy Tobias tapped his fingers on the cover of the report he cradled in his lap, anxiously awaiting the call to enter the conference room. He had been kept waiting in the anteroom for over fifteen minutes past the scheduled time for his briefing, and Tobias was not one to tolerate missed deadlines. As the highest ranking Navy SEAL in the fleet, he and his charges operated by strict timetables, often measured