The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga by T.R. Harris Page B

the back of his jacket and spun him around until his back was to Adam.  A strong forearm then clamped itself around the alien’s throat, while Adam’s other arm came down hard on the Castorians’ gun hand. With a snapping of thin bone, the gun fell to the deck.
    With alien number three firmly in his grasp, Adam looked to where number two was leaning against the couch, still holding his broken hand and screaming. Adam never realized Castorians had such powerful vocal chords, and the sound of the wailing alien was too much for him to bear. He kicked out, catching the sitting Castorian on the side of the head, and once again a clash between Human and alien resulted in a dead alien.
    Adam spun the surviving thug around until they were facing one another. “Okay, now we’re going to have a little talk.”
    The side-mounted eyes of the alien were wobbling uncontrollably, making Adam wonder what the hell the scene looked like from his point of view. It was disturbing.
    “Will you stop with all that weird eye shit and look at me!” Adam yelled.
    The gyrations continued.
    “Look at me, dammit!”
    Finally the movements quieted and the alien focused on Adam.
    “Who told you I was here?”
    “What?”
    “I asked…who told you I was here? I’m sure you didn’t recognize me from the broadcasts. I’ve stayed pretty well hidden.”
    “Will you let me go if I tell you?”
    “You’re dead if you don’t, so you decide.”
    “It was Dox Noan.”
    “Who the hell is Dox Noan?”
    “He is the one who told us about you being here.”
    Adam’s eyes rolled back in his head. “Are you acting stupid, or is this the way you are naturally?”
    “You asked—”
    “I realize he told you about me, dumbass. What I want to know is who does he work for? You know, things like that.”
    The alien formed an almost perfect “o” with his thin mouth. “He is a pirate, one of the Fringe Pirates.”
    “He works for Angar?”
    “Yes, he is his second. So now will you let me go?”
    “Yep, as soon as I’m sure you won’t talk to anyone about this, and only then.”
    “But how can you be sure I will not talk?”
    Adam’s grin became a smirk. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? The only way I can think of is to kill you.”
    “I could promise not to talk.”
    “You could, but look at it from my side. Once you’re out of sight, you go straight to the Enforcers and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
    “Yes, I see your dilemma.”
    “Then no hard feelings?”
    “Of course there will be, Adam Cain. I do not wish to die.”
    “And I don’t want to be captured.”
    A look of resignation crossed the alien’s pale face. “Please make it swift.”
    “I promise.”
    The Castorian nodded, just before Adam grabbed his head on each side and twisted it with a sudden jerk. The neck snapped and the body collapsed to the floor.
    Adam looked down at the dead alien, and for the first time in—well, he had no idea how long—he actually felt regret for killing an alien.
    “Am I getting soft in my old age?” he asked aloud. He looked around at the three dead aliens littering his common room, one bleeding on his couch. “It does leave a mess most of the time. That blood is going to be impossible to get out of the fabric.”
     
    ********
     
    An hour later, Adam returned to the hotel. He didn’t tell anyone about the incident with the thugs, or of his conversation with Riyad. With Angar waiting for him at a nearby restaurant, he didn’t want to complicate things before securing the pirate’s commitment to the mission.
    And now there was the issue of Dox Noan, Angar’s second-in-command.
    Was Angar also involved? Was he out to get the massive reward being offered for Adam and Panur, or was Dox a rogue agent looking for a huge score of his own? From Adam’s experience, whenever a second-in-command is involved, he would always suspect a double-cross was underway—grab the reward, stab Angar in the back, and take over the Fringe