She pushed herself up, fighting against her body’s attempts to keep her on the ground to grab a breath of fresh air. She didn’t have time to appease her body’s wishes. The grunts of Kelhoon lizard-heads were coming closer.
The glass stuck into her hands and knees, slicing them open, as she made it to a standing position. She spotted steps that went up to the next floor. An ion blast tagged the wall across from her. She ran to the first landing, and went up another set of stairs.
More gunfire and she paused. Should she go through a door or keep heading up? They might expect her to keep climbing. She raced to the door to her right and burst through it. Kicking it closed, she ran down the hallway, lit by the dim glow of lights outside.
Doors lined the corridor like a hotel. Halfway down the hall, she halted in front of a door numbered twenty-nine. She gripped the door knob, and twisted.
It was unlocked.
She swung it open, swiping her sweat-covered bangs away from her face, and entered the room. She closed it softly, fighting the urge to fall to the floor and rest her racing heart, to slow her quick breathing. She was bloodied and bleeding.
And, again, she should be dead. True to form, the voice in her head painted the worst scenario.
“Screw you, Dad.” She was no failure. A survivor, yes. A strong, brave woman, capable of fending for herself, yes. Few people endured what she had in life, and fewer lived to tell about it.
She walked into a living room, which was bathed in low light, but she could see the outlines of furniture—a coffee table, shelves, two couches, and a recliner. It was all built for a human, in shape and in size.
Behind the living room was an open kitchen. Between the kitchen and living room was a hallway that most likely led to a bathroom and bedrooms.
She was inside a fully furnished fancy hotel room, or an apartment. Why was it furnished? Was someone living here?
She closed her eyes, energetically scanning the room.
She shook her head, and let out a breath. No energy signatures.
No one was here.
What was Slade trying to do? Bring an entire city of people here? Humans? Would they be workers? Was this where the politicians were supposed to live?
Hell, if Slade was already here, then were the politicians on Starship Atlantis here as well?
So many questions and no time to find the answers to them. At least, not yet.
She made her way to the large living room window, and looked out. A building was across from her, and a large road lined with street lamps was below, separating the buildings. She leaned forward, getting a better view of what was all around her.
A few blocks down were an intersection, and crosswalks, with signals? It was just like Chicago, or New York, or any other big city.
A Kelhoon assault hover-vehicle flew through the intersection with a handful of Kelhoon soldiers clinging to the side of the vehicle, weapons in hand.
They were most likely looking for her.
She backed away, and turned. Commotion came from down the hall. She hurried over to the door and locked it. She walked back into the living room and sat on the couch, both hands now throbbing.
She glanced at her good hand. It was covered in blood from two large glass splinters stuck in her skin. That meant the doorknob had blood on it as well, and probably a trail of her blood led right to this room. Shit. She’d led them right to her.
She unstrapped Abdu’s bamboo rifle, and kissed it. “If I haven’t thanked you enough, here is another thank you, Abdu.” She pointed the rifle at the door, using her knee to balance the remainder of the bamboo-looking muzzle. Her hand shook, and she closed one eye, making sure her aim was true.
25
E-Quadrant, Solar System - Whitefish, Montana
“Get up, Drew. Follow her.” It was Drew’s mother. Again, she was talking to him, speaking from the other side of death and across the veil. And it wasn’t too long ago he took a few hits of ganja. Was there a correlation?
Probably not.
Mya stood at the base of the ramp. Drew tried to move. The straps kept him planted. He wiggled, then bit his lip, his eyes welling up. An ache tore through his shoulder and wrapped around his head in a ferocious vice grip. His head spun. He needed to puke, and swallowed hard to keep it down.
“That’s the girl,” said a guy walking from another section of the ship and into the ship’s cabin where Drew and the children lay. He glanced up. It was Anderle. The jerk was on this craft? He hadn’t seen Anderle since he and T-hacker had bolted from Anderle’s “hideout” with Mya in tow. That Anderle guy could not be trusted.
“Yep, that’s her.” T-hacker came into view.
Drew’s mouth dropped, and he reached out with his good hand, squeezing Anderle’s wrist, again gulping down more vomit. “Don’t touch her.”
Anderle tilted his head. “Drew? You’re awake? Hi, buddy.”
“What are you doing here?”
Anderle sat on the rim of a cot next to him, where a child lay. “This is my new job, Drew. I’m part owner of your dad’s business. Recruited earlier today.” He patted Drew’s head. He tapped a device-looking microphone attached around his ear and to his lower jaw. “Guards, we have another worthy child for our exports.”
Drew pulled away, then let out a loud yelp. The pain jumped all over his body.
Anderle’s eyes went wide and T-hacker stepped a few paces back. A violet haze entered the cabin.
Drew lifted his head. Mya had walked up the ramp and was in the craft, making her way toward them. Somehow the glowing aura around her grew bigger with every step.
“Go, Mya. Don’t come in here,” warned Drew.
What was she doing? Didn’t she know she’d get herself caught?
A guard, with Dr. Andrea Cross by his side, shuffled into the room, standing where the cockpit and the cabin met. He withdrew his gun. “Step back, little girl.”
Mya shook her head, and moved closer.
Dr. Andrea gently pushed the guard’s gun away from Mya, aiming it at the floor. “I think this is her.”
“Who?” asked the guard.
Anderle laughed. “Keep her for tests, Andrea. This girl has some strange voodoo shit going on with her.”
Dr. Andrea nodded. “You read my mind, Anderle. Now get out of my cabin and back into the storage where I asked you to stay.”
Anderle shut his mouth quickly, huffing. T-hacker pulled Anderle out of the room and around the corner.
“Mya,” Drew shook his head. “Get out of here.”
Mya didn’t say a word, and kept her eyes trained on the doctor.
“That’s a good girl. Come here,” said Andrea, motioning her to come closer. She glanced over her shoulder to the guard, whispering, “That has to be her. It has to be.”
Mya put her hand up, and smiled, walking even closer.
A click, and the ship vibrated. A low hum cut across the cabin. The ramp began to close.
Mya thrust her hand in the ramp’s direction. The hum ceased, and the vibrating stopped. The ramp dropped to the ground.
Andrea gasped. “She has Jaxx’s powers. How does she have Jaxx’s powers? I’d even say she’s more powerful.” She clutched her chest as if she was proud of the little girl. “We need tests.” She bent down, putting her hand out. “Now, come on sweetie. Let us close the ramp door, too. Okay?”
Mya shook her head and made her way to the back edge of Drew’s cot. She touched Drew’s foot and closed her eyes.
The guard stepped forward in a rush and Andrea put a hand against his chest. “No, no. This is part of testing. Let’s see what she has in store for us.”
A tingling went up Drew’s leg, through his abdomen, and into his shoulder. A warm sensation swirled around his injury and a heat encapsulated Drew’s body. He winced, not in pain, but because of the sweat that started seeping like a faucet out of his pores.
His shoulder involuntarily shifted inward, accompanied with a crunch and a sharp pain. In seconds, the ru
sh, the blinding ache, and everything negative associated with his shoulder disappeared.
Mya patted his foot. “All better.” She stood, her head and face now defiant, her eyes like a devil ready to pounce. “Take the seatbelts off of him.”
Drew shifted in the cot. No pain. None whatsoever. He understood why they wanted to hold her for testing, but he was no asshole; he was never going to let that happen.
“You may point your gun at her again,” responded Andrea, crossing her arms at her chest. The guard lifted his phaser. “Now, darling. Don’t put me in a pickle here. I want to keep you alive.”
Mya slowly lifted her arm and even more slowly, swept her arm around the cabin, the violet energy becoming a bit thicker.
The children stirred in their cots, waking up.
“Take the seatbelts off of them, as well,” demanded Mya.
“Now, dear. I can’t take the restraints off.” Andrea tapped her toe, becoming noticeably irritated. “I’m going to count to three. If you don’t surrender yourself, and for the safety of my friends on this ship, I’m going to have to blow your brains out. Do you understand, little girl?”
Mya dropped her hands by her side, shaking her head.
“One,” counted Andrea. She took a step behind the guard that targeted Mya.
Mya got down on her knees, her hands curling into fists.
“Two,” continued Andrea.
Mya shook her head again and dropped her chin to her chest, taking in a heaving breath.
“Thr—”
Mya screamed and her head lurched backward and her back arched. A wave of energy blasted from her chest. The guard was picked up and thrown against a wall, Andrea with him. He smashed the doctor, and Andrea’s head clanked against a metallic beam, knocking her out cold.
The guard, now unconscious, dropped his gun.
The ship’s lights blinked off, the engine’s low purr ceased, and a bustle of guards ran into the cabin, barking orders here and there.
Everything was pitch black, and Drew couldn’t see a damn thing. He heard a slap, and someone fell to the ground. A bright glow emanated in the middle of the room, violet as well and obviously coming from Mya. A phaser went off, then a gun fell, clacking against the ground.
A grunt, and a guard went flying across the room, slamming into a control panel. Sparks shot out of the wall, dying down a few seconds later.
A snap, and all of the lights in the cabin came on.
Drew squinted, his eyes adjusting to the brightness. He looked around the room. Mya was crouched and in the same place she was before the lights went out. She was breathing heavily, her eyes wild and full of rage, sweat dripping off of her forehead and hair.
She slowly stood, her fists still at her side.
And to Drew’s complete surprise, a dozen men and women were on the ground, out cold. T-hacker and Anderle were among them, sleeping or dead. Drew didn’t know, didn’t care. He just wanted out of this flying vehicle.
“Megan,” he gulped, remembering his injured friend in the bar. “We have to help her. She’s dying.”
Mya dipped her head. “You will rule with her.”
Drew furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side. “Rule with her?” What an odd thing to say.
Mya rushed to him, quickly unstrapping him. “Help me with the other children, Drew.”
He unstrapped his ankle restraints and hurried from cot to cot, child to child, freeing the confused, scared kids.
“Go, run to your mommies,” Drew said, pushing one child after another to their feet, watching them hustle down the ramp and into the darkness of night.
Mya grabbed Drew’s hand. “They’ll be safe.” She jerked him toward the exit. “We have to make it to the one who will rule with you.”
“The one who will what?” He ran down the ramp, picking up Mya, holding her on his hip. She grabbed a hold tightly.
He ran as fast as he could, dashing across the park. Megan was down and hopefully still alive. Drew slowed for a moment, feeling Mya shivering.
“Are you okay?”
She was crying. “I don’t want to kill anyone, Drew. No more.”
“What do you mean, Mya?” Drew took a left between two buildings, his feet taking him across the concrete and toward Megan’s bar.
“I have killed a lot of bad people, and people not from Earth. They are still trying to get in to this place, but I keep hurting them, keep killing them.” She rested her head between Drew’s neck and shoulder, sobbing.
“You’re protecting us, Mya. You’re protecting your dad, too.”
She shook her head. “No, my dad wants me to keep doing this. He says I’m the only hope for Earth, and it’s not true.” She cried even more, her words almost incoherent. “There are others. There is you. There is another that you know.”
“Who, Mya, who?”
“Jaxx.”
Drew almost stopped dead in his tracks. How did she know about Jaxx? And how could Jaxx possibly be able to do what Mya does, or help Earth? Was Jaxx even alive?
“My dad wants me to do it all. It’s impossible. He doesn’t trust anyone else. He doesn’t think others are like me. We have to get Jaxx here. We have to.”
“How? Where is he?” Drew jumped over a curb and onto a sidewalk. He could see the bar up ahead.
Mya shook her head, her tears wetting Drew’s neck. “I don’t know.” She tensed, her body curling into a ball as Drew held her. She let out another scream.
A loud blast and a massive ball of heat pressed into Drew. He stumbled and fell off the sidewalk, dropping Mya. He landed in the street, sliding on his side. He glanced up at a ball of fire erupting behind several buildings. It was in the direction they had come. It was in the direction of the ship he had just been on.
He pushed himself up. Mya was on the ground, her eyes closed, her body perspiring even more.
He scooped her up. He wanted to peek around the corner to see if it was indeed the ship that blew. In a way, he hoped it was. It would be another thing off his chest. Having a gang of people chasing him around the city, along with weird aliens trying to blow up the city, was too much.
He held Mya in his arms and sprinted to the bar. He pushed open the door, glad to see the lights were still on, and Megan in the corner breathing.
Or was she?
A pang hit his heart and he cautiously moved forward. The last thing he wanted was Megan to be dead.
“Megan?” he said.
No answer.
Her face was pale, her lips blue.
She was dead. She had to be. He looked at Mya, who he still had in his arms. She was fast asleep. Maybe she could bring Megan back. He wiggled Mya, tapped on her head, and poked her ribs.
No response.
Drew exhaled and sank to the floor, his forehead against his palm, his other arm holding Mya. “Mom, for once, answer me. Tell me what to do when I actually ask.”
He waited for a few seconds. But no whisper, no sweet words from beyond the veil came to him. He was alone.
A creak came from the stairs that led into the basement. He craned his neck. Another creak, and a hard boot landed on a stair. Someone was coming up.
Metallic laughter came from the staircase. No, it was robotic laughter. Another step up and a louder creak, and a man came into view. He was bald, had blue-ashen skin, his lips gray, his eyes dark. He wore a jumpsuit with chords and wires coming out of the suit and attaching to his neck and head. He was smeared with blue blood, or perhaps it was paint.
Most importantly, this guy wasn’t of this world.
Now, and most definitely now, a big-ass blunt was in order.
26
J-Quadrant, Solar System - Nearing Namuh Farms, Callisto
“This guy is like a damn kid without his candy,” said Fox, pressing his gun under Okbak’s chin. “Now, tell your troops to open up the walled city that we’re coming up to and to hold fire.”
Okbak, laying on the ground, his leg uncomfortably strapped into a seat, s
hook his head. “You give me more credits, and I’ll make that order.”
Fox pressed harder into Okbak’s chin. “You don’t give that order, and you can kiss all of your galactic credits goodbye.”
Okbak gave him an odd look.
“The Kelhoon are very literal, Fox,” said Jaxx.
Fox frowned.
“You said he could ‘kiss his galactic credits goodbye.’ He thinks you mean it literally.”
Fox leaned in close, so his eyes were level with Okbak’s. “Give the order for your troops to cease fire or I will take all your credits and shove them up your ass.”
Jaxx turned in his seat to stare out the cockpit window. A city, glowing in the night, had come into view. Slade’s energy signature was there, meaning Slade was hunkered down in a nice-looking, newly-built city that was teaming with green trees that didn’t match the small, spindly trees on the rest of Callisto.
Fox rolled his eyes at Okbak. “What I’m saying is if you don’t give the order to halt all battles with all Humans, then I’ll shoot you and kill you. You will die. Yes, die, die, die. And because you’ll be dead, you won’t be able to spend the fortune that Taz, the ugly-ass Agadon, gave you. Does that make a lick of sense, prime jerk-face?”
“You won’t kill me,” hissed Okbak. “I’m your shield.”
“You’ll be a pile of rubble if you don’t tell your people to stand down when we fly to this here city,” reiterated Jaxx.
Okbak merely stared at him.
“What I’m saying is that we’ll be shot down by the Kelhoon in that city if you don’t tell them to not, and I repeat, to not shoot us down. Got it?”
“How many damned times do we have to say the same damned thing before you get it through your damned scaly hide?” yelled Fox.
Okbak twitched his nose, most likely not liking the prospects of being blown to bits. He tapped the back of his ear. “This is prime chieftain, Kajka Okbak, your leader. I’m flying in a Kelhoon transport and nearing Namuh Farms. Open the gates, stand the cannons down, and allow me safe passage into the city.” He held a hand over his ear, then nodded. “It is done.”
The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga Page 85