T. Harris - The Legend of Earth

Riyad Tarazi had faded away as well. He was semi-famous now — although nothing like Adam — and had made a fair amount of money off a book he wrote about his experiences in space. Adam hadn’t had the time to read it yet, but he was sure Riyad had glossed over some of the more unsavory parts of his adventures. Adam hadn’t heard from him in a couple years either.

Lieutenant Andy Tobias was now Captain Andy Tobias, still in the Navy, yet spending most of his time off-planet, as most of the military did these days.

Chief Geoffrey Rutledge had retired from the Navy and was now living in Key West, Florida, running a small fishing boat operation with his buddy John Tindal. Unknown to Adam before this time, the two of them were actually fairly accomplished musicians, and they moonlighted as a duo at the Hog’s Breath Saloon on Duval Street four nights a week. They were known by the professional name of Local Knowledge , meaning they knew their way around. In their case, that meant a lot of places — including the galaxy.

Yes, Adam was feeling nostalgic. But now he had a job to do, one that had brought him twenty thousand light years across the galaxy and to a planet he swore he’d never return to.

Adam was escorted to the main structure on the mountain, a building unceremoniously called NU-6. Aliens never were very creative at naming things — but neither were Human bureaucrats! It was a nine-story concrete structure, housing the Administrator’s offices and the primary diplomat corps for Earth. Most of the surrounding buildings housed the military headquarters for the galaxy, as well as various Human trade missions.

Below the mountain, and on land that had once been Juir City, a new city in its own right had sprung up: Consulate City. With a population nearing half a million — including an estimated thirty-five thousand Humans — this was where the diplomatic missions from nearly eight thousand worlds could be found.

And snuggled up against the base of the mountain were the buildings of the Union Assembly, where representatives from the twenty-three sectors of the Expansion held court.

Adam was amazed at all the changes that had taken place here in seven years, especially in light of the planet’s harsh weather. But when one has the resources of a galaxy at one’s disposal, then anything was possible.

Yes, it turned out that the Human Expansion was still run out of the planet Juir, at least officially. Most of the actual day-to-day operations, however, took place on Earth, a task made easier by the sustained-wormhole (S/W) relays invented by the Klin, which allowed for instantaneous communications between Earth and Juir. It seemed that in their haste to leave the Cluster, the Kracori had left an S/W relay station in orbit around Juir. Human and alien technicians had quickly learned the secrets of the device, and had actually improved upon it. Now most starships and planets within the Expansion utilized this revolutionary new technology.

Even though communications had improved greatly in the intervening years, travel time throughout the galaxy had not. Earth was still located much too far away to make an effective capital for the Expansion, and so it was decided that it served everyone’s best interest to keep the official capital of the galaxy at the same location it had been for the past four thousand years.

At least it would remain so for a few more months, until Adam Cain concluded his assignment.

Inside the main administration building it was warm and cozy, with dark wood paneling lining the walls and with impressive statues of crystal and marble set about tastefully. The wide corridor that led to the Administrator’s office was floored with a thick, red-wine colored carpet with intricate designs subtly embossed in its weave. Adam followed the young Human aide down the hallway and up to the ornate double doors of carved wood. The doors looked familiar, and Adam knew why.

The aide opened the doors and Adam walked in. Behind the massive wood desk, the Administrator for the Expansion Union rose up with a wide grin across his face, his huge figure looking slightly less huge than the last time Adam had seen him.

“My friend, Adam Cain, it is so wonderful to see you again. It has been ages.”

“Yes it has, Kroekus, and I’m glad to see this meeting is on much friendlier terms than last time.” Last time was when Kroekus had attempted to have him, Sherri and Riyad all killed in the crime boss’s headquarters back on the Fringe world of Silea. “And I see you have imported the same doors from your old office.”

“Please have a seat, Mister Ambassador! And yes, I try to make myself as comfortable as I can wherever I go. Charm is a lavish life, so they say.”

Adam didn’t quite catch the Silean reference, but the meaning registered. Adam grinned as he took a seat in a richly-padded chair in front of the desk. “You look good, Kroekus. Have you lost weight?”

Adam noticed a frown appear on the alien’s forehead, but then the smile quickly returned. “Ah, your foreign ways,” Kroekus said jovially. “Your ignorance can be forgiven, but let me explain why that question is not a compliment. For Silean males our, ah, sex organ, grows with our accumulation of weight and mass. Therefore, the larger the male, the larger is his, shall I say — tool? It is a sign of sexual prowess and attribute to be of considerable bulk, and quite appealing to our females. But looking at you Humans, I see that does not apply to your race — or does it?”

Adam couldn’t help himself; he burst out laughing, exposing teeth and all. Kroekus did the same, however his laugh was like that of car engine trying to turn over in cold weather. The two of them laughing made for a quite a scene.

Once the pleasantries were out of the way, along with a little more reminiscing, the two diplomats got down to business.

“Your news will not be welcome, Adam.”

“I realize that, but it is a decision we’re going with. I hope you understand.”

“Oh I do, completely. It is just that it will throw the galaxy back into turmoil just as we were beginning to recover. It will not make my job any easier.”

Adam had often wondered why the former crime lord of Silea had taken the job of Administrator in the first place — he didn’t need the headache. Kroekus had capitalized on the retreat of the Juireans during the war by issuing gold-certificates to the hundreds — and then thousands — of worlds who had previously relied on Juirean credits as their currency of record. And then with the complete downfall of the Juireans and their money, Kroekus soon reorganized the entire financial structure of the galaxy, through a combination of gold-backed credits and an elaborate conversion program that allowed for individual worlds to use their own currency in intergalactic transactions.

Adam was in awe knowing that sitting across the desk from him, was the wealthiest creature in the entire galaxy.

“Kroekus, I’ve often wondered why you even bother with this job? You don’t need to put up with all the bullshit — I mean — trouble that goes along with it.”

The Silean had had drinks and snacks brought in and now he devoured a pastry-looking thing and then downed a long swallow of a brown liquid. “Adam, my friend, my family has controlled Silea for a thousand years; I was born into wealth, so credits mean very little to me. I enjoy the running of things, of seeing vast organizations operating under my direction, and I gain pleasure in seeing these operations work efficiently. When I saw the financial system of the Expansion collapsing, I simply offered a solution. That solution worked, and now I have more wealth than I could possibly use. But I had that already. Now it is the challenge I live for.”