The Legend of Earth

“Yes, my Lord.”

Chapter 4

Adam couldn’t see anything from the confined rear compartment of shuttle. He had hoped to at least catch a glimpse of the infamous planet Juir during the descent. Instead, all he had to look at were the forlorn faces of his companions, all silent, having finally resigned themselves to their fate.

The reality of the situation was hard to dismiss. Even if they did mount an escape and managed to confiscate a starship, one capable of escaping the planet, they were on the planet Juir for Christ’s sake. It would be a long, hard, and impossible slog fighting their way out of the very heart of the Juirean Expansion.

For his part, Adam still held onto a thread of hope. He knew that both the Humans and the Juireans had been maneuvered into this war by the Klin. If he could somehow convince the Juireans of that fact, then they might still have a chance at surviving. Granted, it was a very slim, razor-thin, microscopically narrow chance, but still a chance. And that was assuming he’d even get the chance to say a word before the executioner’s blade fell upon his neck — which had always been Adam’s fantasy way to die; he was a big Braveheart fan.

A bright, blinding light flooded into the shuttle’s compartment as the lower panel slowly opened, shaking Adam from his fantasies. A surprisingly fresh and scented air filled the chamber and Adam took in a deep breath. It had been two months since he last breathed fresh, unfiltered air, and it was marvelous.

Lined up outside the shuttle was a contingent of armed Juirean Guards. Adam quickly counted at least fifty of them — all for fifteen Humans. Before he knew it, the Guards were within the compartment, forcing them all out into the sunlight with the barrels of their flash rifles. Normally, Adam would have revealed in the lower gravity of an Expansion-standard world — and all were measured against this very planet — but he had just spent two months aboard a Juirean starship and his muscles had become acclimated to the lighter gravity. He was hoping that would not be a problem, should the need arise.

He took the opportunity to look around and was shocked at what he saw. Rather than a concreted-over mass of ugly government bureaucracy for as far as the eye could see, he was instead standing in a wide field of bright green grass, flanked by small buildings with dark bronze glass. In the distance was a grove of modest- height trees, all ablaze with leaves of rustic brown and bright reds. A soft breeze was stirring, and the scent of something akin to jasmine filled the air. He looked off to his left and saw that they were high on a hill or mountain, and off in the distance was a vast ocean of deep shimmering blue. The sky was streaked with pure white clouds that seemed to be gathering up the late afternoon light, and for a moment Adam almost felt like he was home.

The moment passed quickly, however, when the Guards began to cut Sherri, Riyad and himself out from the rest of the prisoners. There were silent protests as the three of them locked eyes with Lt. Tobias, Chief Rutledge and Petty Officer Tindal. Even Kaylor and Jym were being pulled away and loaded into the back of a large, truck- like transport. Adam could care less what happened to McCarthy and his men, but the others, that was a different story.

Sherri began to sob loudly as she watched her companions being herded into the back of the truck, believing, as Adam did, that this would be the last time they would ever see them. At the last moment, just as Lt. Tobias was stepping onto the truck, he turned to Adam and saluted. Adam crisply returned the salute, as Rutledge and Tindal joined in. Adam’s bottom lip was trembling visibly when he closed the salute.

Once the truck was loaded, the rear doors were closed and the vehicle hummed off towards its unknown destination, leaving the remaining Humans all alone. Another transport had arrived, and Overlord Anawar emerged from the rear of the shuttle and approached the car.

“The three of you will come with me,” he said almost gleefully.

It appeared the old Overlord was going to personally present Adam to the leader of the Juirean Expansion; he was surprised that Sherri and Riyad had also been invited, but in a way he was glad. They looked at each other and then reluctantly climbed into the rear compartment of the transport, while Anawar sat in the front. There was a third row of seats behind the Humans, already filled with four hulking Juireans, each with MK-47’s at the ready.

A quick sequence of eye contacts sent Adam the message that the two other Humans were content with staying put. If this was to be the end, they at least wanted to meet this supreme being of the galaxy before they went, if even to take the experience to their graves.

As they pulled around the shuttle, a large pyramid-shaped building could be seen reaching into the sky about two kilometers away. It was dark bronze in color and reflected the late afternoon sunlight off its western surface. It was very impressive, easily twice the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Surrounding the building were eight other structures, tall monoliths shaped like over-sized Washington Monuments. As they drew closer, Adam noticed that these surrounding objects were buildings in their own right, with dozens of aliens — mainly Juireans — moving into and out of the glass entrances at their bases.

The entire compound was painted with winding fields of dark green grass, tasteful fountains and walkways, and with parade grounds made up of decorative brick forming pleasing patterns. Adam was quite impressed. He never imagined the Juireans would be into urban planning and design, and he’d never seen any examples of Juirean art before.

He noticed both Sherri and Riyad appeared equally impressed, glad they had the distraction to take their minds off the inevitable. Although Adam still carried a slim glimmer of hope he hadn’t shared any of the details of his plan with them. He didn’t want to give them any false hopes.

The transport slipped around the massive pyramid along its northern face. On this side of the building was a large parking area and the car followed a circular driveway until it came to rest next to a wide glass entrance. Five Juirean Guards waited on the concrete landing, and as they all exited the vehicle, they moved up to the three Humans and strapped collars around their necks. The bands were about an inch wide, and each collar carried a small box that pressed against the back of their necks. These were probably explosive devices, Adam figured, such as Riyad had used on his ankle — damn, that was like three years ago, Adam thought. A lot has happened since then.

The group was led into the building by a Guard wearing a yellow cape. Anawar followed behind him with the Humans sandwiched between the other guards.

As they entered the great bronze pyramid, Adam’s breath was taken away. They had entered a vast open area with a ceiling soaring easily twenty stories high. Along the outer walls of this lower level were various offices, but what really took his breath away was the structure sitting at the very center of this vast gallery.

It was obviously a monument of some kind, with a circle of informational podiums set on top of pedestals and all surrounding something that looked like the Lunar Landing Module from the Apollo moon landings days. It was a bulky object with two distinct segments and resting on six legs, and rising above the odd-looking object was a large spire. One side of the spire was straight, attached to the LEM-like object at its top center and climbing nearly as high as the twenty-story ceiling. The other side of the spire bulged out in a free-form curve, thin at the bottom, thick in the center and then tapering to sharp point high above. There were a number of colored spotlights illuminating the entire display, all designed to highlight and impress.

Dozens of Juireans and other aliens moved around the monument, with only a few actually paying any attention to it — although Adam couldn’t help but notice the expression on Anawar’s face as they neared the display. The old Juireans stared up at the towering spire with unblinking eyes, his smallish mouth open slightly. His breathing appeared to come in shallow bursts and he slowed his pace as he came closer.

The procession stopped briefly as the lead Guard noticed Anawar’s reaction. “Have you not seen the Contact Monument before, my Lord?” the Guard asked.

“Only once, during my orientation tour,” Anawar replied, not taking his eyes from the display. “That was a very long time ago.”

“You have not been to Juir since?” The Guard’s tone was incredulous.