Jaxx went to push himself up and instead ducked, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.
“Holy…”
Ducking down wasn’t enough. He went into fetal position as the starfighter skimmed the rooftop, sparks clamoring against its belly. Jaxx’s world went into slow motion, and he viewed the Agadon in the cockpit, their eyes meeting one another’s — the Agadon looking a little pissed he hadn’t knocked Jaxx off the rooftop or squished him under his starfighter’s wings.
The Agadon pulled up just as the back of one of its wings brushed across Jaxx’s hair.
This starfighter pilot was ballsy.
Jaxx sucked in heavy breaths, surprised he wasn’t decapitated. He calmed himself and surveyed the area, now having a little more time before the Agadon had another pass at him. He looked left and right. There had to be a way off this building. Any window? Any sun roof? Any —
Jaxx gasped. Yes, windows. “Perfect.”
Around the edge of one side of the roof was a railing. He nodded, formulating his plan quickly. He rushed over to the parachute and dislodged it from the I-beam.
He glanced up. “Dammit.” His heart pounded faster and his stomach flipped a few more times. The Agadon was already coming around for another shot at ripping Jaxx to shreds, and by now, perhaps these Agadon weren’t looking to keep Jaxx alive anymore. Perhaps this guy was heading in hot, baring down to kill Jaxx. Maybe the Agadon’s wish to keep Jaxx in one piece was now a side note or a long lost memory.
Jaxx hurried to the railing. This was going to be close.
He tied the parachute’s risers, brake and toggle to the railing, pulling tightly, making sure is it was snug enough for his body weight.
He leaned over the railing, making sure his plan could work. When he saw the closest window, he nodded. It was in reach.
He grabbed the parachute’s canopy and shuffled his feet backwards, stretching the parachute as far as it could go.
He took another look at the heavens. The Agadon pilot was closing in faster.
Jaxx took off, running as fast as his Chi would take him toward the railing, holding on to the parachute’s canopy, making sure he was squeezing the parachute’s material with all his might.
Zoopha! Zoopha! Zoopha!
More of the roof cracked and broke off as ion bolts strafed the rooftop.
The debris from the ion cannon fire hitting the roof rushed up like a waive against the soles of Jaxx’s boots. He threw his arms out and took a flying leap, his fingers curling around the canopy material as if it was his first born baby. He wasn’t letting go of the sucker, no matter what.
He cleared the railing, seeing hundreds of feet below, his feet sending funny prickly, nerve-like sensations to his shins.
He twisted in mid-air to face the building and fell for a brief second. He grunted, the parachute jerking him up and toward the building.
He put his feet out, the rush of the building coming at him like a tidal wave, and kicked as hard as humanly possible.
Kishish!
The long and wide, tinted window shattered into a thousand pieces. He let go of the parachute, allowing his swinging momentum to take him into the building.
He landed on the tile floor, awkwardly somersaulting to a standing position. He twisted around, his mind and body on high alert, half-expecting the Agadon pilot to be flying through the window. He relaxed when he saw the starfighter’s rear booster’s ion burn. The Agadon was heading away from the building and toward the battle that was taking place on the horizon.
He carefully wiped off the shards of glass covering him. They tapped the tile loudly as each one fell to the floor.
The Agadon had left, and he took a deep breath. It was a close call. “That was crazy.” Hell, several months ago, evading ion blasters and jumping off skyscrapers wasn’t on his resume. It wasn’t on anyone’s resume.
He wiped his hands together, thinking he could easily fill in a lot more shit on his resume than just jumping off a skyscraper. But, as always, and like his archaeology research, articles, and books — ain’t no one going to believe him.
He shrugged, finding a wall to lean against. He slid down it, plopping on his butt, staring at the onslaught happening in the sky a mile or two away. It was like an evil version of the Fourth of July but those weren’t firecrackers blowing up out there. They were aliens and people.
And this was probably happening all over the world.
He palmed his face and let his head hang. The only way to get to South America was if he hitched a ride. Getting through the Agadon offensive would be as difficult as difficult could be. Perhaps sticking around Denver for a while to help the Marines was the correct choice, and the choice he should have made before he jumped into a helicopter.
He slapped his knees. “Get up, Jaxx. No rest for the weary.” He pushed himself up and made his way out of the office room door and into a hallway.
Elevators stood on one side of the hall. He made his way to them and pressed the down arrow, hearing the ding. He folded his arms over his chest, waiting.
The elevator door opened. He stepped in, pressing the lobby button.
Jaxx! came Mya’s voice, penetrating his mind.
Jaxx paused, a little stunned Mya got through to him at a time like this. Are you in a safe place? replied Jaxx.
Yes. And Drew doesn’t have much more time. Get back to me. We have the third. We’re ready to go with you.
Jaxx looked down at his feet. Why the hell couldn’t they get a damn doctor to fix his poor nephew? He huffed, chewing on his bottom lip.
Screw it. He’d pull the bullet out himself. It could save Drew. Or perhaps kill him. Right now, there wasn’t another option. He needed Drew, his last remaining known relative, to stay alive.
21
Denver, Colorado
“Drew,” cried Megan. “Listen to me.”
Drew was listless and let his head drop to the side. “Let me die…”
“No. That’s not an option,” said Megan. Drew did his best to look at her, only to see a blurry resemblance of her and strangely enough, a hazy park behind her. “We are —”
An explosion cut Megan off, and a fire consumed the park, a wall of smoke veiling it a moment later. A rush of heat consuming him. Megan toppled into him, though managed to stay on her feet while keeping Drew and his wheelchair from flipping to the side.
Megan looked behind her. “Was that another bomb?”
Who the hell knew. More the reason for Drew to drift off and fall asleep — forever. The war, this constant pounding, wasn’t helping his mood a bit.
Megan pushed Drew around and farther away from the park fire. Burning trees and play structures crackled across the wind like a camp fire.
Megan stopped in the middle of a sidewalk, watching the flames, her hand on her chest. Drew yawned, his eyes creeping heavier and heavier, slowly closing. Of all things, being tired in an adrenaline-filled combat zone should be the last thing taking over Drew’s body.
But death was coming. That he understood more than anything.
Mya came up to Drew, laying her hand against his forearm. It was comforting, and a bright energy went through him. He straightened and his stomach pain becoming more of a dull ache.
Mya rested her head on his shoulder. “You are dying, Drew. I can help you for a little bit longer before your body doesn’t accept our help anymore.” She backed away toward Damion and Lily, her eyes sad. “Thank you for helping me for the time we knew each other.”
Drew nodded, forcing a smile. If this girl was the last thing he saw before his last breath, then all the better. It would be a beautiful ending to a screweded-up, marijuana-confused, girlfriend-less life.
He rubbed his eyes and yawned again. “My pleasure.”
Mya put her hand on his heart. “Let’s keep trying to find a doctor. Maybe there is a way to save you. I —” She stopped and gave Damion and Lily a look. “Jaxx is back.”
All three dashed off.
“What? Wa
it,” called Drew.
Megan pushed Drew forward.
“Where are we going?”
“Didn’t you hear her? They found Jaxx,” Megan replied.
“Yeah, that guy.” His head drooped, but he managed to keep his eyes up to watch the kids run down the sidewalk.
Drew slowly shook his head, pointing a shaky finger at the structures they were heading toward. “No, no, no. Not there.” They had just come from the library, and now they were going back?
He lowered his arm onto his leg and closed his eyes. He yawned again, feeling the rocking of the wheelchair as Megan proceeded to push him as fast as she could go. The kids’ footsteps tapped on the road, their soles catching Drew’s eyes.
Then the kids faded as his eyes closed. His head bobbed up and down, his eyelids fluttered several times before he couldn’t continue his giant chore of keeping them open.
His chin hit his chest, and in a flash, he was unconscious.
22
Denver, Colorado
Jaxx exited the elevator and made his way out of the main entrance doors and to the sidewalk. He stopped for a moment, happy for the nice peaceful pause.
No guns. No running. No fighting. Just…calm.
He was farther away from combat but still far from Drew, Mya, and the rest. He gazed up at the skyscraper he almost bit the big one on. It loomed high, and a wisp of smoke rose from the top, most likely from the remnants of the strafing runs almost ending his life.
Krackow!
Jaxx went to the ground in a defensive position as an explosion rocked somewhere nearby. He pressed his palms on the cement and studied the area.
A car was on fire across the street, and a gaggle of Marines in battle suits ran by on the other side of the road, their once glimmering armor now full of dark soot and burn streaks.
An ion zipped from a skyscraper across the way, slamming into the ground and near a Marines’ feet. Rock and gravel shot upward, lifting a few Marines into the air and onto their back and sides, their suits crashing loudly on impact.
More Marines rounded a corner and crouched low, their weapons trained on the culprit — an Agadon sniper with a large weapon poking out from the skyscapers busted windows.
Wapooh!
The alien shot another blast, smacking against a Marine, pushing him backward. He fell and slid across the ground, shaking off the blast a moment later before standing back up.
He aimed his rifle at the skyscraper and pulled the trigger, the rifle pressing hard against the crease between his chest plate and shoulder.
B-da-da-da-da! B-da-da-da-da!
The Marines let loose, sending blasts of slugs the Agadon’s way.
The Agadon ducked back in, hiding himself from view. Pieces of skyscraper broke off at every pounding hit.
Wapooh!
The Marine fell over, holding his neck. Jaxx rushed to him, just as another Marine arrived.
“Get back, sir,” ordered the Marine. “Find safety. You —”
Wapooh!
Another direct hit, this time hitting the other Marine in the neck. The guy went down, clutching his throat — a weak point in the armor.
Jaxx grabbed one of their legs each and pulled them behind a car. One of the Marines unstrapped his helmet and flipped it off, taking in deep breaths.
B-da-da-da-da! B-da-da-da-da!
More Marine cannon fire. Jaxx looked around. There were more than he could count.
He glanced back down at the Marine. The kid was young. Maybe in his early twenties, maybe late teens? A black-and-blue welt was forming on the side of his neck, and his face was covered in sweat. He was cringing and wincing, gathering his bearings, but the guy would make it.
However, the other Marine on the ground next to him was motionless. He was either knocked out or dead.
Jaxx unstrapped the guy’s helmet, then ducked out of the way as more blasts came near his position, puncturing the concrete nearby.
The Agadon sniper was a damn near perfect shot, and more Marines dropped to the ground, also hit in the neck by the alien prick.
Jaxx brought his attention to the motionless Marine by his side and slid the mask off the Marine’s face. He gasped. Master Sergeant Angel Segarra, Mya’s father? A red burn mark was ablaze on his anterior throat just below his Adam’s apple.
He checked Segarra’s vitals, pressing his finger next to the Master Sergeant’s windpipe and against his carotid artery.
No pulse.
Mya went through his mind, and her innocent eyes looked up at him. His heart poured out to her, feeling compassion for the child. The last thing she needed right now was a dead father.
“Soldier, how do I get his chest plate off?”
The Marine next to him looked dazed, his hand covering his growing welt as he leaned against the car in front of him. He took one look at who Jaxx was trying to help, and his eyes went wide. He quickly unclipped Segarra’s shoulder clasps, and the chest plate armor opened up on its own, lifting off his chest in a hover. It moved to the side, resting on the pavement.
Wapooh!
The chest plate pinged and spun wildly about. The sniper was quick and, more importantly, ruthless.
Jaxx interlocked his fingers together, pressing his palm on Segarra’s lower sternum, performing chest compressions. He heaved, pressing up and down in fluid rhythm motion.
“Come on, buddy. Your daughter needs you,” said Jaxx, pressing down again and again.
B-da-da-da-da! B-da-da-da-da!
Jaxx ducked, wincing, wanting to cover his ears. He looked up. The kid he just rescued had his cannon on his hip, going berserker on the Agadon sniper and lighting up the skyscraper with bullets the size of Jaxx’s hand.
“No, get down,” yelled Jaxx.
Wapooh!
The kid fell back, his cannon blaster falling to his side, cracking a small portion of the road when it landed.
Jaxx rushed over to him, pulling him to safety.
The kid touched the top of his chest plate armor. The sniper nearly tagged the young man in the neck again.
“Stay,” Jaxx demanded, pointing at the kid, like a dad to his unruly child. “Don’t move, you understand?”
The guy’s face gnarled in anger. “They are killing us out there. I can’t let them keep killing my brothers and sisters.”
Jaxx nodded, fully understanding the kid’s plight. Jaxx had been there, done that, especially when Rivkah was involved. When you’re in combat, everyone fighting near you and with you are your brothers and sisters. There wasn’t any ifs, ands, or buts about it. You lived and died side by side. But Jaxx didn’t want to needlessly lose another brother in battle, especially this young man in front of him.
Jaxx moved back to Segarra and continued chest compressions. “We need to save your sergeant here, soldier.”
“Yeah.” The kid’s head went up and down, but there was no indication that he thought it was possible to save Segarra. He gazed from Segarra to the skyscraper and back, then snapped to attention. “What do you need, sir?”
“For you to stay put.” Jaxx’s hands kept pumping, his Chi rising in his solar plexus. Maybe if he sent Chi Segarra’s way, the man would start breathing again.
He blasted Chi down his shoulders, through his arms, and into his hands. A fuzzy sensation, warm and loving, washed through Jaxx. He closed his eyes and stopped pushing, instead holding his hands on Segarra’s chest. To his surprise, the compressions continued. The Chi was like a defibrillator, and Segarra’s chest rose off the ground at every zap.
Segarra coughed and his eyelids shot open. He went into a ball and cleared his airway with more hacking.
Wapooh!
An ion bolt whizzed by them, hammering the ground with blue flame, crumpling the pavement like it was paper.
Jaxx grabbed Segarra’s side arm — a large, wide energy weapon. “That’s it. I’m done with blue face up there.” He turned, one eye closed, the other eye targeting the window where the Agadon was shooting. It was vacan
t, but it wouldn’t be for long.
He slipped his finger near the red light trigger at the back of the trigger guard. All he had to do was tap the red light and a blast of photon energy would fill the Agadon’s head, killing him instantly.
He paused, waiting.
Waiting.
The alien poked up and into view, moving into sniper mode.
“Nope,” said Jaxx, pulling the trigger, the hot energy blast zipping out of the gun’s muzzle and sailing like a small missile toward the sniper. He holstered the weapon back into Segarra’s holster, and stood. “Let’s go.”
The young soldier looked aghast. “But, get down, sir. Duck. You —”
Jaxx shook his head. “The prick is dead.” He turned around, pointing at an Agadon slumped over the edge of the window, his arms hanging down like a rag doll.
“Holy shit…”
Jaxx shook his head. “What’s your name, son?”
“Private First Class Lonnie Doblin.”
“Well, Lonnie, there was nothing holy about that.” Jaxx bent down and helped Segarra up. “Nothing at all holy about war.”
Segarra coughed. “Jaxx?” He put his hand up for Jaxx to grasp it.
Jaxx grasped it and helped him up, the two of them grunting and heaving and straining. Segarra was weak. He stood, holding himself up by pressing down on Jaxx’s shoulder. “My gratitu—”
“Save it. We have to get back to the base,” Jaxx said. “Your daughter needs me.”
Segarra’s eyes widened. He took a step forward, nearly fumbling to the ground, his body shaking, his eyes still a bit glassy. He held on to a car, his head down, getting his bearings. “We have a vehicle around the corner. We’ll get to my daughter straight away.”
Wapooh!
A fire from hell struck Jaxx in the side and he flopped to the ground, yelping loudly. He turned, seeing Taz running on the street and slipping between two buildings, an ion rifle in his hands.
Metallic laughter filled the air.
Segarra and the young Marine grabbed Jaxx, pulling him around a large van.
The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga Page 100