and other aliens — kitchen staff he reckoned — in a full circle around him. The sight and sounds were deafening, of crumbling ceilings, burning wallboard and wailing creatures. Then fires began to flare up, from grease, fabric and burning wood. It all added to the confusion Adam was hoping for.
Soon he was out of the kitchen and blasting his way across a large dining area. He was surprised to see even more guards come headlong into the hall, wondering just how many of them Bundnet had on the grounds. There seemed to be a lot more than when he’d reconned the compound over the past few days.
Oh well, just more score to rack up…
Then to his shock and surprise, Adam felt a heavy thud hit his back. He flew forward and fell, sliding several meters on the polished stone floor. He knew he taken a hit to the back, but was relieved to find that his own makeshift diffusion screen had apparently worked. Since all the bolts from the various weapons they carried were made up of concentrated balls of electricity, Adam had fashioned a series of wires sewn onto the exterior of the pressure suit he wore. Not as strong or long-lasting as a full-fledged diffusion shield, his experiments had shown, however, that the electric bolts would dissipate along the wires, heating them up and melting the wires, but also lessening the impact of the hit. The concussion still knocked him off his feet, but that was about the extent of the damage. Of course he also knew that the wire mesh was only good for one bolt. The next one could prove fatal.
Rolling on his back as he slid along the floor, Adam aimed the flash rifle between his legs at the three guards who had taken up positions behind him. His aim was true and the bolts from the rifle had a devastating effect on the thin-boned Hildorians. Then he was on his feet again and running for the main entrance of the house.
The ornate, double front doors were made of metal of some kind, so instead of barreling through them, Adam jumped and crashed through the thin glass transom window above the doors. His action took the seven remaining guards stationed outside by surprise. As he flew over them, they did their best to follow his movement with their weapons, but like most aliens, their shots came slow and several meters behind him.
Landing softly on the brick walkway leading to the entrance, Adam rolled once and came up on one knee. With the flash rifle married to his chin, he sent a stream of bolts into the guards, literally ripping them apart at their waists.
He then scanned the front of the building, his movements and those of his rifle acting as one. When he was satisfied there was no further movement in his direction, he slowly rose to his feet.
No one appeared to be left alive in the compound, or those who were chose to stay indoors and out of sight. It was a wise move.
Calmly, Adam Cain snugged down his boonie hat and shouldered his rifle. Then he turned and walked casually down the long driveway and through the open gates of the compound, his back illuminated by the flickering light from the now fully-involved fire, as it quickly consumed the building behind him…
Chapter Two
Adam drove the transport to the small spaceport located on the other side of Jaxas, about 150 klicks from Bundnet’s compound. Even though the gang leader was — had been — a criminal, he still had a lot of contacts and support within the local government, military and law enforcement. It was imperative for Adam to get off-planet as soon as possible, especially after the carnage he’d created over the past three hours.
Although he was relatively new to the whole hitman occupation, the one issue he had with it was the dichotomy associated with getting work. One couldn’t simply advertise ‘assassin-for-hire.’ Yet you still had to get your resume out, and with some way for potential clients to contact you. As it turned out, although his name wasn’t widely known, his species was gaining recognition. And since Humans were so rare in these parts, he figured it wouldn’t be long before the authorities — as well as Bundnet’s criminal partners — placed the hit squarely at his doorstep. He was undoubtedly the only Human on the entire planet.
Even though it was well past midnight on this part of Hildoria when Adam arrived at the spaceport, there was still quite a bit of activity at the facility. Every planet, and even every spaceship, operated mainly on its own internal time schedule, so spaceships were arriving and departing at all hours of the day and night. This was actually good for Adam, since his arrival was masked by all the activity.
He parked the transport near the main gate and wiped the black grease from his face. Then he gathered up his duffle bag full of weapons and walked the rest of the distance to his ship.
His spaceship often presented a problem of its own. The Cassie-1 — named after his young daughter back on Earth — was a unique-looking ship that never failed to draw attention everywhere he went. Unfortunately, this was something a professional hitman tried desperately to avoid.
He had acquired the sleek, modern craft as a consequence of the events near Malfora Lum almost nine months before. It had belonged to the Juirean Counselor Deslor Lin Jul, and Adam and his two alien companions, Kaylor and Jym, had used it to escape from the Klin starship just before it exploded. Since the Counselor had been aboard the Klin ship when its atoms were sent hurdling into the universe, Adam figured the Juirean wouldn’t have much need for the shuttle after that…
So Kaylor had attached the craft to the hull of his own ship and carried it back to Silea with them. There, with the help of some of Kaylor’s more unsavory associates, the ship had been repainted and re-designated. Still, the unique design of the ship could not be hidden from inquiring eyes.
He entered the ship and stowed his professional gear in the ship’s single stateroom, then proceeded to the pilothouse. The ship was small, yet powerful. It boasted dual 5,000-Unnis 2g/Generators that provided equal compression whether in a front- or backwell. Yet being as small as she was, the ship only had one internal gravity generator. This didn’t cause a problem for Adam; he always kept the internal gravity cranked up to what he estimated to be at least Earth’s level, if not a little higher, in order to keep himself strong and his muscles toned. Yet it did present the rare visitor to his ship with difficulty moving about. That was all right; he never had that many visitors anyway.
Adam slipped into the pilot seat and began the lift-off procedures. Kaylor — probably his only real friend outside of Earth — had once told him that while on-planet he always kept one of his generators active, just in case he had to make a quick exit. Adam had adopted this practice, and it had saved his hide on more than one occasion. So it wasn’t long before the Cassie-1 was lifting silently and smoothly off the surface of Hildoria, and heading for open space.
As he reached the outer limits of the planet’s thin atmosphere, Adam spotted two contacts on his screen moving to intercept. This had been expected. He made no attempt to evade; rather he watched to verify their intent before taking action.
Since the Cassie-1 had been originally built and owned by the Juireans, Adam had elected to save one special feature of that lineage — the ship’s original transponder. On Silea, Adam had a new primary transponder installed that masked the ship’s Juirean identity, otherwise everywhere he went local officials and luminaries would be swarming all over him and the ship, trying to make an impression and curious as to why a Juirean official would be arriving unannounced. The new transponder, although highly illegal, had solved that problem.
But with a simple flick of a switch, Adam once again activated the Juirean transponder. Almost immediately, the two ships on his screen slowed. Then they paralleled his course for a moment before finally veering off.
Even though he had no love lost for the Juireans, at times it was good to be the King!
After setting the coordinates for Castor, Adam shed the alien-blood-stained pressure suit and took a quick shower. He then dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and then went to the ship’s small galley for something to eat. He took the plate of bland-tasting brown mush to the stateroom.
The stateroom aboard the Cassie-1 was the only internal part of the ship that screamed opulence. Designed so a high-ranking Juirean could travel in luxury, it was huge, measuring twenty meters square, with a full-size bed to accommodate the seven-foot-tall Juireans, a private bathroom — grooming station, they called it — and an office area sporting a large metal desk and a four-meter long couch.
The trip to Castor would take two days, and was the headquarters of Seton Amick, the gang leader who had hired Adam for the Bundnet hit. So after finishing his meal, Adam lay down on the couch and propped a pillow under his head. He had carried the boonie hat into the room with him, and now twirled it on his hand absent-mindedly. The floppy-brim hat had been made custom for him by tailors on K’ly. In fact, he had spent most of his first contract
