Zara lifted her shoulders, her chains jingling as she did so. “Anything from a minute to a day.”
The sky thundered, rumbling the earth.
Zara let out a growl. “Or now.” She grabbed Jaxx by the back of the shirt and lifted him up, carrying him out of the building. “Get into a Taiyo starfighter. They tell me you’re the best in those things. Be one with it, Jaxx.” She planted her fist in her hand, then dipped her head. “Once we hold these blue-bastards off, we will get you back to Callisto. There we will close up the portals before these Agadon destroy entire solar systems.”
Jaxx nodded.
A gust of wind blew against Zara and Abdu’s fur and flung Jaxx’s hair up, flapping his clothes in the wind. They looked up. A starfighter towing another starfighter by an electric blue light was hovering just above. It moved towards them.
Abdu slapped Jaxx’s shoulder. “See you on the battlefield.” Abdu turned and ran toward his combat-mech, Zara directly on his heels and heading toward her own mech.
An explosion knocked Jaxx on his side. He rolled and pushed himself up, then rolled away as fast as he could. A golden light washed over the land, lighting the grass and buildings on fire, pieces of the dome crashing against the ground.
The center of the dome blew open and more pieces plummeted onto the city, raising smoke and cinder everywhere, exposing the inner city to the sky.
An Agadon star carrier came into view. A hefty beam weapon on its starboard side sent hot, amber energy down upon the city. If Jaxx’s eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, there were hundreds of starfighters exiting one of its bays, heading in for a strafe run.
30
Edge of M-Quadrant, Nearing Jupiter ~ Starship Atlantis
Slade could hear explosions coming from the deck below him. He stomped his foot on the floor inside Andrea’s doctor’s office. “I think we’re losing the battle.”
Andrea blinked. Slade could tell that was the last thing she wanted to hear. “What are you going to do?”
“Watch.”
“What do you mean?”
He sat on the doctor’s table and patted the space beside him, asking for her to hop up and sit next to him.
She did.
“You want to see something?” he eyed Andrea.
Andrea shrugged. “What you got?”
He tapped his watch and a hologram popped up. “This is the combat taking place right now. I have hidden cameras on every area of Starship Atlantis.” He waved his hand over the holodisplay and sat up. “Holy shit, Ken is actually in the fight? I hope the motherfucker dies slowly.”
Slade watched as Ken gripped a hand grenade and grasped the pull ring with his middle finger and twisted. The grenade’s pin released.
Slade chuckled. “This doesn’t look good.” He winked, then frowned. “Wait. Where is he?” Slade zoomed out. Ken was positioned on a metal grating in a hallway with Slade’s troops beneath him, unaware.
Ken looked down and leaned over the grating, dropping the grenade. He stood, and quickly ran on the grate in the opposite direction.
Dakadakadaka!
Ken dove forward, covering his head as sparks flew from bullet fire clanging against the metal.
Baroom!
The grenade blew.
Slade slapped his face. “Fuck me.”
His troops – their faces half gone, their skin hanging off their bodies, their limbs sliced in half – were strewn about the deck.
Slade moved his finger over the hologram and highlighted Ken, seeing him run to the end of the hallway, hop off the grate, and land next to his troops. One gave him a thumbs up, the others advanced, shooting their weapons with deadly aim.
Baroom!
Ken ducked.
Another explosion went off.
Slade stood, pressed a few buttons on his watch, and yelled, “Get more troops down on Deck 6.” He unholstered his gun. “I’ll be down there in a second.”
“Aye, Colonel.”
Slade bolted out of the doctor’s office and down the hallway. He continued to watch Ken and his troops. They were sending phaser fire down the corridor, downing more of Slade’s allies.
Slade punched the wall. They were breaking through his line and heading in his direction.
He turned around and hurried back into Andrea’s office.
“Bad news?” asked Andrea, her face screwed up in worry.
Slade dipped his head. “They’re coming. Lock this door and only let me back in, okay? If they somehow get in your office, play dumb, and they will leave you alone. To them, you’re the starship’s doctor, not just mine.” He crossed his arms. “I have to go somewhere, but I’ll be back.” He thought for a moment. “And when I come back, we’ll start my training right away like you want me too. Let’s see if I can singlehandedly stop Ken’s rebellion.”
* * *
Starship Atlantis’s head information technician slid his ID card into a door. President Craig Martelle stood behind him, his chin trembling, his eyes red from crying. God, he loved acting. And everything was still going as planned.
Fleet Admiral Lon Vernadore rubbed his back. “I saw it all on my vidfeed, Mr. President. Slade is an insane murderer.”
Craig stiffened, baring his teeth. “You don’t think I know that?”
Lon pulled back. “I sincerely apologize, Mr. President.”
The door to the room opened and Craig took three steps inside. He fell to his knees, putting his hands over his face.
Lon put his hand on Craig’s shoulder, probably not knowing what else to say or do. He surveyed the room, then put his head down. “This is sickening.” Lon brought his shouldered radio device to his mouth. “I need SSP Space Marines and medics to room 294, ASAP.”
Blood stained the wall next to the bed’s head rest, and the bedspread was drenched in blood. Craig’s wife was on her side, her eyes were open, and her face was pale.
There was a scratching and whimpering coming from the far side of the room.
Craig dropped his hands from his face. His eyes tracked the sound to its source. He stood, pushed Lon aside, and rushed over to a door at the other end of the room, doing his best to avoid any eye contact with his now-deceased wife. What Craig had done — setting her up and having her killed — even he was a little ashamed.
He turned the door knob. It was locked. He kicked the door. “Girls? Are you in there?” Without taking a moment to listen, he charged over to the information tech and pulled him to the door. “Open it.”
The guy swiped the card and the door beeped.
Before Craig could reach for the knob, the door came barreling open, and a young girl jumped out, sobbing, holding on to Craig for dear life.
Craig rushed her out of the room, doing his best to keep his daughter’s eyes off of her mom and to the hallway past the room’s entryway.
Space Marines side stepped them and walked quickly into the room. Medics, carrying a gurney, were close behind.
Craig bent down and wiped the girl’s tears. “We’re going to get you to a safe place.” He bit his lip. “Where is your sister?”
She held on to his arm tightly, resting her cheek on his bicep. “Daddy, I want to go home. I want to go back. Please.”
Craig nodded. “Okay, sweetheart.” He lowered his mouth to her ear. “Where is your sister?”
“He took her with him.”
“Who is he?”
“The bad man who killed Mommy.” Her crying picked up.
Craig called over his shoulder. “Lon.”
Lon peeked around the entryway then stepped out into the hall. “Yes, Mr. President.”
“My youngest daughter is missing. We need to case every room on this damned ship.” He hugged his daughter, Claudia – her brown hair in a pony tail, her large brown eyes looking up to him for comfort, her chin trembling even more than Craig’s. “Do you know what direction they went?” Craig knew exactly where his daughter was, but he had to continue playing the part.
She shook her h
ead, her wet cheeks smearing on Craig’s.
“And, Lon,” said Craig. “I don’t care where Slade wants to take this ship. We’re heading back to Earth.”
Lon stared at him for a moment. Finally, he dipped his head. “Will do, Mr. President.”
Craig dropped his chin to his chest and closed his eyes, doing his best to act sad. “Do me a favor?”
“Yes, Sir?”
He made his voice crack. “When you find Slade.” He covered his daughter’s ears. “Do the worst you can. Then kill him”
* * *
Slade stood in a storage room, eyeing his watch’s holoscreen. He perked up when he heard Craig tell the Fleet Admiral to end Slade’s life and a slow smile grew on his lips. “Nice job, Craig. Way to put some oomph in it.”
Slade had every hallway, room, loading bay, and mess hall bugged. Every piece of clothing President Craig Martelle wore had a miniature chip in it. He could follow Craig around Starship Atlantis no matter where he went. And Craig could do the same with Slade. It was part of their agreement to make sure each one wasn’t fucking the other over.
He pushed his finger through the holoscreen, his index finger turning the many vibrant colors the holoimage was presenting, and the hologram turned off.
He unholstered his pistol, pressed the button on the side of the hand grip and ejected his magazine. He pulled back the rack and pushed up on the slide lock, revealing the chamber. He placed a bullet in the magazine, then another one until the magazine was full. He inserted the magazine back into the hand grip, and pushed firmly upward into the hand grip. A click told him it was locked and loaded.
He gently tapped the back of the magazine with his palm so he could align the ammunition. He pushed down on the safety lever at the gun’s rear, disengaging it. The side lock slid forward on its own. He aimed it at the wall and closed one eye. He mimicked a shot, this time at the imaginary fleet admiral in front of him. “Pew, pew, Lon.”
He gave the wall a wink, then held the gun to his side and glanced down at his feet. “Let’s get this shit on the road, shall we?”
A murmur in the room interrupted him. He turned, staring at Craig’s daughter, bound and gagged. She was small and probably very precious to Craig.
He pouted, over exaggerating the jut of his bottom lip. “Believe me when I tell you this, but you’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you. You’ll see your daddy soon enough.”
The girl sputtered, snot dripping from her nose. Craig wouldn’t be pleased how Slade had his daughter tied up, but he had to keep her as quiet as possible. And this guaranteed it. Or at least her voice would be muffled by the gag he had in her mouth, especially if she screamed and screamed. She being tied to a metal column in the room would keep her from making her way to the door as well, also something Craig wouldn’t be to happy seeing, but oh well, life goes on.
“Bye, sweetheart.” He opened the storage door, pulled a rectangular device out of his pocket, and eyed it. A holovid pulled up, showing a map and several blue dots, indicating key people he had secretly tapped and tracked.
Slade gave a half smile, his crow’s feet only wrinkling a little. He walked out of storage, closing the door quietly behind him, then jogged toward one of the blue dot’s direction. “See you soon, Ken.”
31
North of Flood of Dawn, Callisto ~ J-Quadrant, Solar System
Another pound on the door and Rivkah backed away. “We have to get out of here.”
Bogle patted Rivkah’s back, doing her best to console her. “We have time. Fox is next door.”
“Out of all the rooms, you had to choose this one?”
“They won’t blow this one up, Riv. That’s why.”
Rivkah bent down, searching the floor for her flashlight. The door vibrated and screeched. “Are they breaking through?”
“It looks like they are attempted to burn a hole in the door.”
The metallic door glowed red and began to warp.
“We have like ten minutes,” said Rivkah.
“Less than that.”
She touched a round, hard object. It was her flash light. She stood and turned it on, sweeping a beam of light across the ground until it landed on the door, a door that was starting to bulge. “I thought you had some type of energy lock on the door or something?”
“I do,” said Bogle.
Rivkah turned around, flashing the light on Bogle, then backed up, bringing her hand to her mouth, the gorge rising in her throat, nearly vomiting all over the ground. “What the fuck? Are they sociopaths?”
Atlantean women and children were in large glass tubes lining the wall. They floated in some type of thick, clear liquid with hoses hooked into their mouths. The problem was, they were disemboweled and their limbs were sliced off and left floating next to their bodies.
“They’re not even dead,” observed Rivkah, still doing her best to keep the contents in her stomach from coming up.
Bogle shook her head. “Humans and other sentient-beings are the Kelhoon’s food. We’re their food. We are nothing more than two-legged cattle to them. In essence, these Kelhoon warriors are farmers, gathering their crop to take back home and to their other worlds. In doing so, they drain resources from planet to planet to take back to their nation of worlds as well.”
“How do you know this?”
Bogle puffed out her lower lip. “I don’t know. I just do. There is a lot I know that I didn’t know before. Things are changing within me and –”
The door cracked and Rivkah spun. The door still held, but the bulging was getting worse, more warped, and molten-hot
Rivkah pointed her Kelhoon phaser – a phaser she’d picked up on the battlefield – and aimed it at the door. “One of them is going to be in for a nice surprise.”
Bogle placed her hand on the top of the phaser and pushed it down, lowering it to Rivah’s side.
“What are you doing?” questioned Rivkah.
“Let them in, unharmed.” Bogle bent down on one knee, her head lowered, her hands touching the ground. “Do what I do.”
The door cracked a little more. A pale light slipped inside, sending beams across the floor.
Rivkah lifted her phaser. “I’m not liking your plan, so hell no.”
“They won’t harm us if we bow to them. It is a way of surrender. They will look at us as obedient slaves, rather than food. Please do this, Rivkah.”
Rivkah bared her teeth, pointing her phaser squarely at the door. “Not a chance.”
“This is how we can get into Fox’s room and align with him. That will give us a better chance at escaping. Don’t let a surrender blind you from the bigger win. We’ll get Fox and start heading toward our goal.”
“Our goal? What are you talking about?”
The door burst open and spun off its hinges. Red-flames blazed from the door as it slid across the floor. A handful of Kelhoons stood at the entrance, rifles at the ready, red laser sights dotting Rivkah’s chest.
“Bend down, Rivkah,” said Bogle.
“Never.”
“Do it for Jaxx.”
“What? How will this help him?”
“Joonka, movat!” growled a Kelhoon.
“That means get on your knees or you’ll die, Rivkah. If you’re lucky, they’ll let you live until they eat you.”
The Kelhoon stepped in, their heavy boots clanging against the floor. “Joonka, movat!”
Rivkah slowly shook her head. She could take out a couple with her Chi and a few more with her stolen phaser. “Nope, lizard-head.” Her hands started heating up. “Just come a few steps closer so mama can end your miserable lives.”
The phaser leapt out of her hand and bounced against the floor, moving quickly toward a Kelhoon. It stopped at its feet. The Kelhoon bent at the waist and picked up the phaser, looked it over, and placed it in one of his empty holsters.
Rivkah crouched, getting into a defensive fighting position. “However that lizard breath took my gun, he ain’t gonna do it again.”
> “They don’t know how to use Chi like we do, Rivkah. He didn’t disarm you. I did.”
Rivkah clinched her teeth. “You’re turning against us again.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Jooovka mooolkaka,” said a Kelhoon.
“He wants us to know we are going to be good slaves,” said Bogle.
“You will. Not me. I’ll be dead by morning.”
Bogle trained her eyes to the floor. “When will you trust me?”
A Kelhoon marched over to Rivkah.
Rivkah threw a punch, landing it on his stomach. She brought up her energy just as a whip took her legs out from under her, sending her onto her back. A Kelhoon pulled her up and energy cuffs materialized around her hands. She went to turn her Chi back on, but a rush of ice cold energy enveloped her head. She went limp in surprise and fell back to the floor and onto her side. She strained to get up, but was too cold, too numb. She twisted over and onto her back, a copper tipped spear glowing in front of her. Whatever that was, it was powerful.
“You just don’t know how to use it properly. They wouldn’t be able to do that if you knew how Chi really worked.”
The Kelhoon grabbed Rivkah’s hands and dragged her toward the exit. “I’ll hopefully Chi your head off, soon, Bogle.”
“Fine, but after we meet our ultimate goal, to close the pyramid network and stop the negative ET races from using the portals, then open the network up properly and let good flow in all directions. If by then you still don’t trust me, I deserve to die.”
They pulled Bogle off the floor, materializing energy cuffs around her as well.
“Gookja!” came a powerful voice.
Rivkah’s eyes turned cold and hard.
Fox and Okbak were standing at the doorway.
Rage filled Rivkah. “Fox, you greedy –”
Fox gave Rivkah strong eye contact. “I’m here to save you and Bogle.”
The energy restraints zipped off Rivkah and dematerialized.
The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga Page 64