When Earth Reigned Supreme (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 12) by T.R. Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

feed their massive numbers. Planets of raw material were to be exploited, up to the point where all utility had been exhausted. Then it was time to move on.
    Was this Kor, the Sol-Kor homeworld? Or somewhere else? And if was Kor, then was the Queen sequestered in one of the ugly pyramids lining the ridgetop?
    If not, then where the hell were they?
    “Listen up,” Adam announced, his words picked up by the visor and transmitted to the rest of the team. “We need a hostage. Drake, bring your drone in over the street outside the building and find us a pedestrian, or even a car coming down the street. With this much activity, there has to be someone we can have a talk with.”
    With a dizzying movement, the image on the left side of his visor swung along the street outside the grayish-blue building they were in. Immediately they saw individuals moving along a wide sidewalk lining the street, as well as vehicles, though not as many as one might expect with a population as large as the Sol-Kor’s.
    “Two targets approaching—east side, fifty meters,” Drake reported.
    Adam jumped to his feet, followed closely by Riyad. He pulled out the rubber mask from this utility vest. “Time to see if these things work,” he said to Riyad. “You care to join me?”
    “I was afraid you’d say that, but why not? Beats sitting around here on our asses.”
    The two men slipped the rubber masks over their heads. Their visors smoothed out the material around the eyes but then the rubber sank dramatically down to the mouth and chin, giving them both the look of having incredibly prominent cheekbones, more than that of most Sol-Kor. Light reflecting off their visors through the open eyeholes made the sockets glow. They tucked the trailing material into the collar of their black armor and turned to study each other.
    And burst out laughing. Nearby members of the team joined in, with someone commenting over the comm, “You gotta be shitting me! That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
    “Maybe the shock value will play into our hands?” Riyad said. “I’d stand gawking if anything like the two of us came close.”
    “Get serious,” Adam said, before letting loose with another snicker. “The two are about half a block away. We’re going to have to cross the street, grab them and get back here without being seen.”
    “I have a better idea,” Riyad said.
    He moved to one of the two smaller doors located to each side of a large rollup panel. Watching the image on his visor, he waited until the natives were nearly parallel to the door before opening it. He leaned outside.
    “Could you come here? I need your help,” he yelled out. The Sol-Kor voice synthesizer he was equipped with sent out the statement from tiny speakers located on each side of the visor. Both Adam and Riyad had heard the Sol-Kor speak their native language, and they had to give kudos to the developer of the synthesizer program. It sounded spot on.
    The two creatures across the street stopped and looked in Riyad’s direction. That’s when the image on the drone revealed they were not Sol-Kor. They were aliens of comparable height—approximately seven feet tall—but definitely were not Sol-Kor. Their skin was much paler, missing scales, and they had four arms instead of two. Adam had seen similar alien design like this before, two main arms and hands, except with a smaller set below the others as well, used primarily for feeding a second, lower mouth than the one on the head, which was used exclusively for breathing and speaking.
    The team tensed, wondering if these new aliens would understand what Riyad said. Then the two creatures obediently crossed the street and approached the open door without hesitation.
    Riyad stepped back into the shadows and let the two aliens enter, before shutting the door behind them.
    Swift, strong Human hands grabbed the tall aliens, pulling the longer set of arms behind them to be secured with nylon ties. The two smaller arms