“No,” she said again. “I’m coming with you.”
“What?”
“I’m coming with you!”
He didn’t know what to say. He listened to the hotel room noises in the background—the same excited voices around her—most audibly the sheriff’s. Apparently no one had heard her most recent statement.
“Seriously … you want to come with me? I’m talking about traveling to another planet.”
“I let you leave without me before, and I’ve been miserable … regretting it … ever since. I love you, Cam. I’ve never stopped loving you. So no, you’re taking me with you … and I don’t care to where.” She lowered her voice, “But, Cam, you have to come get me … Come get me now, okay? Will you do that?”
Before he could answer, he heard her talking in low tones. There was excited nervousness in her voice.
“Mom … I’m going with him.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I know what I’m doing. I love him, Mom … I have to do this.”
“Your father would never agree to—”
She cut her off. “I’m grown up … can make my own decisions. Don’t you want me to be happy?”
There was a long hesitation where all Cameron could hear was the sheriff’s distant one-sided conversation. Then her mother said, practically whispering, “I can’t believe I’m going along with this. You’ll get back here soon? And find a way to call me … let me know how you’re doing?”
“Of course I will. I promise.”
“This is crazy. Don’t make me regret this, Heather. Go … I’ll do my best to stall the others from following you. You know your father won’t just let you leave.”
Cameron heard a quick kiss and then a door open. Someone, an authoritative man’s voice, said, “Hey … where is she going?” He heard Heather’s mother say something unintelligible about a soda machine and then the door close. Then there were fast running footfalls. He heard Heather hurrying down stairs; she was panting hard into the phone. “Cam? Are you there?”
“Yes …I’m here”
“There’s a big open field two blocks east of the hotel. I saw it when we arrived here. Crap! I hope you can get here fast … because there’s about ten big guys chasing after me.”
“Okay, we’re lifting off as we speak … We’re on our way. But, Heather?”
He waited for her to catch her breath.
“Yeah?”
“Never mind … I don’t think anything I can tell you now will prepare you for what you’re about to see. Just try to keep an open mind.”
She laughed, “Now you’re starting to scare me …”
“What? I can barely hear you.”
“I think I can see the spaceship …”
Chapter 56
The Primion was accelerating forward—first over a blackened wasteland below, but soon over snow-covered treetops and then the rooftops of varying-sized businesses. Cameron stood at the open aft hatchway, holding on for dear life as gale-force winds buffeted his hair and clothes.
The spacecraft eventually tilted and was then circling around what he recognized as the Lake Placid business district below. A life-sized pop-up display appeared next to him. The virtual Alice was, of course, unaffected by the winds. She looked at him and pointed out beyond the back of the ship. “I believe there … that is the indicated open field destination.”
Eyes watering from the constant gusts, he brought his attention to where she was pointing. He saw a large field below. He also saw a moving dot in the middle of a road heading in that same general direction. He leaned out and saw that the dot was a person running. And there were no less than ten people, armed men, running after her. Closer now, Cameron saw that the man in the lead was none other than her father, the sheriff, and he was quickly gaining on her.
He pointed. “She won’t make it to the field. Put us down … right in front of her … There, on the road!”
The ship suddenly banked sideways while quickly dropping altitude. Cameron, nearly losing his grip and feeling his legs start to go out from under him, scrambled to regain his footing. At around two hundred feet above ground level the ship’s big landing thrusters roared to life and everything disappeared behind billowing clouds of white mist. He felt the craft’s landing struts make contact onto solid ground.
About to call for the gangway to be extended, he now saw that it was already halfway along its outward trajectory. He ran down the still-moving ramp and jumped the rest of the way down to the pavement. Beyond, through the thick haze, he heard yelling and a stampede of approaching running feet. Running, he yelled, “Heather!”
“Oh God … Cam!”
And then he saw her. She was running full out. Her straw-colored hair was like a cape fluttering in the wind behind her. She was wearing her skinny jeans, her baby blue North Face winter coat, and a fluffy white scarf wrapped around her neck. Her cheeks were pink from the cold—and all the running.
Her father, seeming larger than life, was suddenly there—upon her—reaching for her through the somewhat dissipating mist. The Larksburg Stand Sheriff got a grip on the back of her coat and pulled her up and off her feet.
She cried out, “No! Let me go … I’m going with him!”
Cameron had gotten her too late. Now enveloped within her father’s arms, all she could do is struggle and squirm.
Cameron slowed to a jog and then stopped completely, twenty feet in front of them.
Looking defeated, she looked into Cameron’s eyes. She mouthed the words, I’m sorry, Cam.
The other men came into view through the swirling mist. Some were obviously police, some were government men wearing suits, and others were military men wearing uniforms or camos; all were out of breath. They came to a stop behind the sheriff and his daughter. Guns were pointed at him.
Someone yelled, “Get on the ground, hands behind your head. Do it, now!”
No, not somebody; it was Deputy fucking Kirk who’d barked off the order. He was standing directly to the sheriff’s and Heather’s right. And like the others, his arms were fully extended out—both hands gripping his service weapon. It was pointed at Cameron’s head. A look of smug triumph lingered there on Kirk’s face.
“Do what he says, son,” the sheriff said—his words not completely devoid of compassion.
Slowly, Cameron did as told. He intertwined his fingers together behind his head and slowly knelt down onto the pavement. His mind raced. Have I come this far only to end up in police or military custody? Perhaps even prison? And what of the ship … more importantly, the Minal Loth? My Loth? How long will it be before they are forced to try to kill it, or worse, it gets loose and is set on a similar course of action as that of its mother—perhaps to ravage the Earth as it endlessly searches for me? It would be unstoppable.
“You don’t need to treat Cam like a criminal, Dad. Did you forget that he just saved the fucking world from that monster?” Heather’s words hung in the air.
“Now get all the way down on the ground, Cameron,” the sheriff said.
Cameron shook his head. “No. You’re not taking me into custody. You’re not taking this ship, and you’re not getting anywhere near that Minal Loth inside.”
A silver-haired military officer with color bars on his chest and gold stars on his shoulders took a step closer. “Come on. Don’t make this any harder on yourself than it has to be, young man.”
Cameron could now hear the approach of helicopters. A whole lot of helicopters. Streets away, distant sirens whaled; they were getting closer by the second. Cameron said, “Alice … can you hear me?”
She stepped up to his side from behind. It was actually her—not just one more pop-up virtual representation. She was holding a plasma pistol. It looked oversized in her small hand. Smiling, Cameron found it immensely gratifying that she had chosen Deputy Kirk to point the weapon at, though he was sure it was just a coincidence. Then the others were there, too—the rest of the cyborg-uniformed crewmembers. All were armed. A
ll were ready to defend him. He was momentarily touched by the show of support.
He said, “Sure you can shoot me … easily kill me … but these people … the ship’s crew … you need to know they are not organic life forms. Your bullets would have zero effect. He looked to Alice. “With the exception of Heather, and I guess her father there … the sheriff … anything happens to me, kill them. Kill them right where they stand.”
Alice nodded once.
Looking from the sheriff and then to the general, he continued, “Please, make no mistake about what I’m saying. You’re dealing with things you have no clue about.” Cameron slowly got back to his feet. “Sheriff, tell everyone to lower their weapons.”
The big man slowly shook his head, contemplating what to do next. He looked to his daughter, still grasped in his arms.”
“That’s not going to happen,” the general said. “This is too damn important. Now listen to me carefully, Mr. Decker. At this very moment, this location is being surrounded by an army the likes you couldn’t even imagine. There’s enough prime United States weaponry targeting this specific position to level a continent. We’re all expendable at this point. The powers that be won’t hesitate to do what needs to be done …” but then his words suddenly fell away to silence.
Cameron saw that everyone was now looking upward. Everyone’s jaw was dropping. He took in all the gaping, open mouths.
He felt its monumental footfalls coming up through his boots before he actually saw the Minal Loth move into view nearby at his left. A wet wad of mucus dripped down onto his shoulder.
Heather made a face.
“You get kinda used to it,” he said with a crooked smile.
Heather chose that moment to spin herself out of her father’s clutches. She darted forward and rushed into Cameron’s awaiting open arms. He held her tight and breathed in her sweet fragrance.
The sheriff, now looking desperate, stood with his arms still reaching out for his daughter. “Don’t do this, Squeak … please.”
“It’s okay, Dad … I’ll be okay.”
Cameron kissed the top of her head. But he saw her eyes were glued to the monumental beast that was mere feet away, he laughed. “Believe it or not, you’ve never been more safe than you are right now.”
“Yeah, well how come I don’t feel that way?”
Smiling, he took her by the hand and together they traversed their way in and out of the Primion’s steadfast crewmembers. Up the ramp they went and into the aft hold of the ship.
Out of breath, they came to a stop. Cameron couldn’t wait another moment. He pulled her in close and kissed her. He kissed her like he’d never kissed her before. Then suddenly, the cyborg crew was hurrying past them on both sides; he didn’t care. Undoubtedly they were on their way back to their posts—back to the bridge. The Minal Loth, the last one to enter, was big enough to block all but the slightest amount of light from coming in from the rear hatch. It clumsily thumped past them before settling down nearly right on top of them.
As the back hatchway began to close, Cameron felt the ship’s lift thrusters come back alive; the ship began to rise—slowly at first, and then much much faster.
Heather eyed the creature wearily. Laughing she waived away a probing, incoming tentacle.
“He likes you … Just wants to get to know you … that’s all.”
Now a different tentacle was wrapping itself around both his and Heather’s waists. The Loth pulled them in close. Its pungent hot breath made it hard to breathe. Cameron tried to kiss her again, but she put a hand on his chest.
“Later, Romeo … when we aren’t wrapped up in the arms of a … What’s it called?”
“A Minal Loth.”
“Yeah … Minal Loth.” She peered back into the recess of the hold area. “Isn’t that your truck?”
“Yeah, you know me … don’t like to go anywhere without it.”
She rolled her eyes.
“So, you ready to go?” he asked.
“Go where, exactly?”
He patted the tentacle several times. “Let go of us for goodness sakes, Loth.”
The beast did as asked. It moved off into the dimly lit hold space providing them some privacy.
“Well, first … we’ll spend some time on an exoplanet called Sang-Morang. You’ll like it there … Actually, you’ll love it there. Then … I have a few more ideas.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this, Cam,” she said then nervously laughed.
Her eyes were alive and sparkling. He could feel and see the excitement brimming within her. It took a brave, and perhaps slightly crazy, girl to go along with all of this. She was one in a million, and he would never take her for granted again.
She was making a face again as she held her hands up displaying copious amounts of sticky slimy Loth mucus. “But I will never, ever, get used to this …”
The End
Thank you for reading Ship Wrecked.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I am grateful to the fans of my writing and the ongoing support for all my books. I'd like to thank my wife, Kim, she's my rock and is a crucial, loving, component of my publishing business. I'd like to thank my mother, Lura Genz, for her tireless work as my first-phase creative editor and a staunch cheerleader of my writing. I'd also like to thank Zora Knauf for her amazing detailed line editing work, and Ashley Carter for his science and technical guidance. I'd also like to thank my friend, L.J. Ganser, for his superb audiobook performance. Others who provided fantastic support include Lura and James Fischer, Stuart Church, and Eric Sundius.
Check out the other available titles by Mark Wayne McGinnis on the following page.
Other Books by MWM
Scrapyard Ship Series
Scrapyard Ship (Book 1)
HAB 12 (Book 2)
Space Vengeance (Book 3)
Realms of Time (Book 4)
Craing Dominion (Book 5
The Great Space (Book 6)
Call To Battle (Book 7)
Tapped In Series
Mad Powers (Book 1)
Deadly Powers (Book 2)
Lone Star Renegades Series
Lone Star Renegades (als called ‘Jacked’) (Book 1)
Star Watch Series
Star Watch (Book 1)
Ricket (Book 2)
Boomer (Book 3)
Glory for Space Sea and Space (Book 4)
Space Chase (Book 5)
Scrapyard LEGACY (Book 6)
The Simpleton Series
The Simpleton (Book 1)
The Simpleton Quest (Book 2)
Galaxy Man Series
Galaxy Man (Book 1)
Ship Wrecked Series
Ship Wrecked (Book 1)
Copyright © 2017, by Mark Wayne McGinnis. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published by:
Avenstar Productions
E-book ISBN: 978-0-9992147-4-9
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