“They are doubling back, Rivkah,” said Bogle. “Tell your team to get ready.”
Rikvah went to one knee, aiming her rifle at the soon to be oncoming Kelhoon grunts. “Get ready, they’re doubling back.”
A few of the Dut Team raced toward the end of the alleyway, passing the Kelhoon they just stuck a couple dozen ion bolts through, and leaned up against the gate. The rest went to one knee as well, aiming their weapons.
The first Kelhoon jumped into the alleyway, blasting at anything and everything, putting holes in the domes — rocks shot out everywhere.
Rivkah pulled her trigger, hitting the Kelhoon smack-dab between the eyes. The Kelhoon was then greeted with a shot to the gut and to the side of the head by the two Dut Team members at the end of the alleyway. Blood splat outward as the Kelhoon dropped to his knees and fell forward, dead.
A long sword flew across the alleyway from behind the team, digging into a woman’s back. She screamed, then turned, putting two ion charges into a Kelhoon coming from their rear. The woman lay on her side, dropping her weapon, reaching for the sky. Her arm fell and her breathing stopped.
They were surrounded, if you could call it that. The Kelhoon had them at both ends of the alleyway, the gates and domes were trapping them in at the sides.
“You led us to our death, Bogle,” moaned Rivkah, taking aim at another Kelhoon, dropping it before it could get a shot off.
“I’m tasked to get you to their leader. I’m doing my best to keep you alive.”
“Find us a way out.”
Morning Star rushed forward at a Kelhoon who was mere feet from Rivkah, and slammed his shoulder into the side of the intruder, tackling him to the cobblestone. Morning Star slipped his arms around the Kelhoon’s neck, twisted, and broke its neck.
They were being overrun, Kelhoon coming in from each direction; over gates, from the top of the domes, and in the front and back of the alleyway.
“Use your powers, Rivkah!” screamed Bogle.
“This doesn’t feel like you took us in this direction by accident, Bogle.” Rivkah dropped her rifle, covering her ears. “You fucking –”
Rivkah’s anger rose, coming to the surface, and then outward as she thrust her arms to her side. A Kelhoon lifted off the ground, flying back into a fellow soldier. Rivkah picked up her rifle and rushed the Kelhoon, sliding in by its side, putting two shots into its brain, then quickly stood, pounding her fist into another Kelhoon making its way past another recently killed Atlantean. The Kelhoon fell back, toppling over a downed fellow soldier.
Rivkah jumped and landed a knee on its chest, then pounded her fist against his face. He grabbed her and tossed her off like a rag doll, then pulled out a jagged sword. It reared back, the sword slicing through another Atlantean Dut Team member coming to help, dropping the woman. She flopped to her side, holding her stomach.
Rivkah placed a well-aimed kick into the Kelhoon’s groin just as he came down with the sword. A blast rang out, hitting the Kelhoon in the head, and Rivkah spun away, the sword penetrating the ground where she once was, the Kelhoon falling forward, breathless on the ground.
Rivkah immediately popped back up in a defensive crouch, waiting for the next enemy, seeing that the others from her team were ready to pounce as well. Yet, everything in the alleyway was strangely quiet, the echoing of the distant battle bouncing off the dome walls.
She gathered herself, glancing at the damage done in the alleyway. “Five of us dead, fourteen of them.” Not bad. These Atlanteans knew what they were doing. Trapped, and they still came out on top.
Rivkah walked forward. “Bogle, no more fuck ups. Where now?” Somehow it felt like a trap. But why would Bogle lead them to their deaths? It made no sense. She shook away her suspicion.
“More Kelhoon coming, so get out of there as fast you can. Race to the domes in Koptic End. Await instructions there.”
Rivkah rushed to the end of the alleyway, the rest following her. She peeked around the corners, seeing a blood bath taking place down the way, the Atlanteans taking the brunt of a battle they didn’t want.
A hand grabbed her shoulder. “You get in the middle of the pack,” said Morning Star, greenish-blue blood splattered across his golden chest armor. “Where to next?”
“Koptic End.”
“Excellent. Follow me.”
A few soldiers pushed Rivkah back, making her the center of the group, surrounding her the best they could with five less warriors on their team.
They entered a scorched blackened forest, smoke trailing off tree branches, the ground blanketed in ash. They ran for ten minutes, brushing past dead tree after dead tree, a few Kelhoon and dozens of Atlanteans were strung around the trees, charred to the core. Rivkah did her best not to inhale the smell of barbecued flesh.
“Koptic End is up ahead,” said Morning Star.
They pushed passed the edge of the forest, entering a meadow filled with dome upon dome, also beaten to shit, their walls caved in, their roofs collapsed, and many more dead lying in the streets.
“Bogle, we’re here.”
“The Kelhoon HQ is moving. It must be a ship.”
“Is it taking off?”
“It’s too far away now.” Bogle sighed. “You will never get there from here. I’ll call in a transport.”
Rivkah leaned up against a dome, eyeing Morning Star. “She’s calling a transport. The HQ has left its current position.”
Morning Star smiled. “We may need to attempt this at another point in time, Rivkah. Let’s fall back. We’ve done too mu–” He suddenly winced in pain, his breath expelling quickly. He looked down, grabbing a sword thrust through his stomach, blood dripping across his hands and down his stomach armor. “So much for double-gilded armor.” He turned around. A Kelhoon was racing toward him. He lifted his spear, sending a smearing of shots in its direction, hitting the alien bastard, then more shots blanketed the Kelhoon from the rest of Dut Team. The Kelhoon and Morning Star both hit the ground at the same time, never to breathe again.
Rivkah looked down at the fallen warrior, Morning Star, shocked. That sword came out of nowhere. Almost as if they’d been sent into a trap. It had to be. The second one in less than twenty minutes. “Bogle, what are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, Rivkah. I’m not here to defend the demons that killed Star Warden and have taken you, me, Jaxx, and Fox prisoner. I’m here against my will, Rivkah. I’m here against the will of God.”
“I’m your God Damn Captain, Bogle. You take orders from me.”
“I’m sorry. Bogle, out.”
“Bogle?”
No reply.
“Bogle!”
Nothing.
“That piece of shit. Does anyone have any loyalty?” She lifted her rifle. A swarm of Kelhoon came out of domes, their weapons aimed at Rivkah and what remained of Dut Team. Dut Team opened fire and several Kelhoon fell. Rivkah knew this wasn’t a winning battle and backed up, firing her IPR-8 on auto, red-tracer fire, ripping apart Kelhoon after Kelhoon. If she had to die, she was going to take as many of them with her as she could.
An ion bolt sliced into her thigh and she dropped to the ground, picking off more Kelhoons as they filed out in droves. An Atlantean slammed into her, knocking her over. She pushed the Atlantean away, only to see he was dead.
She crawled backward, butting up against a dome, the IPR-8 starting to burn her hands from the continued auto-fire, practically melting her skin to the rifle.
She took a quick survey around, still firing wildly, doing her best to keep the Kelhoon at bay. She was the only one on her team left alive, and although Dut Team had killed a lot of Kelhoon, a lot wasn’t enough.
A boom erupted overhead and a flash lit up the sky. A ship descended fast, dropping at what seemed to be thousands of miles per hour, then stopping on a dime, hovering a few inches off the ground a bit in front of her, taking the brunt of Kelhoon fire.
It was a dropship. In fact, it was Fox’s dropship.
The ra
mp hissed, then descended and Fox jumped out, full striated-ebb nebula titanium exo-suit on, and a cannon hanging tightly from a strap around his shoulder. He leaped atop his dropship and pulled the trigger, letting cannon blast expel, hit a target, then repeat.
A dome went up in flames, crystals and rocks splintered out from it, a slight miss by Fox, but nonetheless it crumbled onto a Kelhoon who thought it wise to use it as cover.
Rivkah pulled herself forward, dragging herself just as another energy charge zipped into her foot, slashing her boot open, exposing blood and singed skin. She screamed in pain, cringing, biting down hard and hobbled up, hopping on one foot until she made it to the ramp.
Another shot clipped her shoulder and spun her around, tossing her to the ground.
She felt a thump next to her. It was Fox, using his body and striated suit to deflect any shot directed at her. He slapped the cannon onto his back, magnetizing it in place. He picked her up, rushing her up the ramp and into the dropship. He quickly shut the ramp, placing her on the bed, strapping her in.
The ship shook from the oncoming fire, but its armor was thick and ion fire from hand held weapons would do little damage, if any.
He sat at in his pilot’s seat. “Time to get you back to Flood of Dawn, Rivkah.”
The dropship lifted, then bolted forward, leaving the combat zone.
38
J-Quadrant, Solar System ~ Flood of Dawn, Callisto
Rivkah was back in Flood of Dawn, sitting in a healer’s room. A zap went through her thigh and she yelped, jerking back, slapping a device away from the healer’s hand.
The instrument hit the floor, bouncing up and down on the crystal tiling. To Rivkah’s untrained eye, the thing looked like a small spray gun.
The woman healer stepped back and glanced down at the medical instrument, wiggling her hand from Rivkah’s sharp smack. “It’s fixed, Miss Rivkah Ravenwood.” She bowed and turned. She walked out of the small room and down a hall.
Rivkah moved her leg around. “Holy shit.” It was better. Beyond better. How did they heal her so fast?
Right now it didn’t matter. She needed to find Bogle and fast. If Fox hadn’t saved her own ass, Rivkah would be splattered all over an East Rise street, much like Morning Star.
A knock echoed in the room. It was Liberty. “We’ll be resting up and getting back to the front lines tomorrow.”
Who were we? Liberty hadn’t even come close to touching any front lines. Instead, she sat back in her luxury and monitored the battles. Saying you would have been more accurate.
“Bogle betrayed us.” Rivkah’s nose flared. “Let me find her.”
“She’s gone.”
Rivkah thrust her hands out, palms up. “You can’t find her?”
Liberty shook her head. “No, and we don’t know why. It’s as if she just vanished.” She walked over to Rivkah, sitting on the medical table along side her. She touched Rivkah’s upper back. Rivkah immediately calmed and almost dropped to the floor in relaxation from Liberty’s soothing touch. “We rest up.” She stood and bowed, then walked out of the room just like the healer had.
Rivkah shrugged. “I guess that’s that.”
Rivkah was more than ready to kick butt and head into action and help push these Kelhoon off of Callisto, but apparently she wasn’t allowed to — just yet.
“Tomorrow,” she told herself, remembering the young girl who was torn apart by the Kelhoon piece of shits. Even her own dad wouldn’t stoop that low or that evil, and that guy was the most rotten man she’d ever known.
Boots clanked down the hall and Rivkah stood. She took a few steps toward the door to see who was coming.
Fox turned the corner, nearly bumping into her. “Whoa,” he said. “Watch it.”
Rivkah stepped back. “What are you doing here?” She needed to know why he came back and why the hell he was helping the Atlanteans, and most importantly, her.
“I do what I want and when I want.” He folded his arms over his chest.
Rivkah wasn’t stupid like this jerk thought she was. “Nah, that’s not even close. Do I have to repeat myself to get the truth?”
“I’m here to right a wrong. A big wrong. Slade —”
A siren sounded and the crystalline walls that made up the room changed from beautiful translucent white to a dimmer glow.
Rivkah cocked her head to the side, pushing Fox out of the way. She dashed forward and out into the hall, seeing a mess of Atlanteans glaring up at the hallway walls, also wondering what the hell was going on.
Did the Kellhoons send a force to attack Flood of Dawn?
“Rivkah,” came a voice.
Rivkah spun on her heels. Liberty was striding toward her and fast. “What is it?”
Liberty walked past her. “We have to go. Jaxx changed his mind.” She continued down the hall, glancing over her shoulder. “Fox, we need you as well.”
“What do you mean—” Rikvah stopped mid-sentence as Liberty rounded a corner, disappearing from view. She turned, staring at Fox. “Looks like we gotta go see what the hubbub is about.”
“What the hell did Jaxx do now?” Fox grunted, moving by Rivkah, marching down the hall where Liberty had gone.
Rivkah followed, her mind spinning. If Jaxx came back, then that meant…
Her heart fell. Yes, Jaxx was a pain in the ass, but he had become her pain in the ass, even though she would never admit it to the poor bastard’s face, and him coming back meant one thing — he was returning to give his life for all the inhabitants of Callisto and to end a prophecy he was born to fulfill.
He wasn’t a pussy after all. He was a hero.
Yet, she didn’t want him to die. Not today. Not ever.
39
J-Quadrant, Solar System ~ Callisto
Jaxx hovered over Callisto. Whatever shields had blocked her mighty cities from view had been decimated. She was bare, smoking, vulnerable. He felt her pain, at the cellular level. If he left, he’d be the coward he’d always feared he was. If he stayed, he was dead meat. If it had just been him, he’d have stepped on the gas and been out of that quadrant and headed back for Earth, just as fast as his ship could carry him, but Rivkah was still down there. He could save her. He had one act left in him and it was the one that counted.
He turned the ship back towards the apex of the pyramid that had shot him out into space. As soon as he held the thought that he was to return, the light from the pyramid swallowed him whole. The bolt filled him from his crown to his soles, activating DNA he didn’t know existed.
He passed through the King’s Sarcophagus and deposited his body on the stone table that graced the center of the chamber, deep inside the pyramid.
Rivkah stood over him, her face blank and unreadable.
Liberty guided her hand over Jaxx’s solar plexus, then took Fox’s hand and placed it over Rivkah’s.
“He must decide,” said Liberty. “Only he can activate the solution.”
Jaxx’s hand moved from his side and joined Fox and Rivkah’s.
“For you, Rivkah,” he said. “Always for you.”
He felt Rivkah’s hot tears on his bare chest.
He smiled and pressed down hard on the crystal that graced his sternum.
It started as a single wave, but built so fast he was tripping through the stars and catapulting around the galaxy, the songs of all his people pouring through his brain. He was part of The Law of One. He was Kaden Jaxx, eradicator of all Evil. He was loved and held.
He was the answer to Callisto’s prayers.
Colony Atlantis
Ascendant Chronicles Book 3
1
J-Quadrant, Solar System ~ Flood of Dawn, Callisto
Kaden Jaxx lay on a granite table in the middle of a pyramid. A sharp wave of energy shot through him. His chest lifted violently toward the ceiling, his back arcing away from the stone table, his body shaking. A flash of light singed his vision and penetrated his cells, widening them, expanding them. He slowly drifted upwa
rd, his body now too light for Callisto’s gravity, his hands and feet tingling, his spine firing signals to every area of his body, activating latent DNA. With a distinctive click, he was connected to the pyramid and a vast network opened up like a map before him, golden beams connecting planet to planet, pyramid to pyramid. Its lines created a sacred torus – the geometric seed of all life, the primal shape of all DNA.
Then, for a fleeting, terrifying second – in which he doubted his choice, doubted whether dying to save a world, a people, his one true love, was the right move – absolute darkness.
Out of that darkness, a star appeared. Then another and another. He was in space. The harmonious chimes and songs from invisible angels surrounded him.
Wasn’t space supposed to be a vacuum without sound?
Not today.
He was flung forward and toward the pyramid’s top capstone and out of the atmosphere, moving at a ridiculous pace, passing through the solar system, bypassing planets and moons he’d never known existed, speeding on a stream of light pulling him along like a surfer on a mammoth lauloa, the mystic Hawaiian wave that never ends.
Until it did.
He landed on something hard, strong, and unbreakable, then bounced and shuddered to a stop.
He gasped for air as if emerging from being under water for too long. He pushed himself up, his hands behind him, propping his body in place. His heart pounded and his eyes darted around, taking in his new surroundings.
He blinked. Where the hell am I?
He was in another pyramid, this one with white walls, less polished. No one was in the room but him.
Moments ago, Jaxx had laid on a warm stone in the center of Flood of Dawn’s great pyramid chamber, his eyes meeting Rivkah’s. Two tears streamed down her cheek and dripped onto his chest. She’d bared herself to him and that was all Jaxx had needed to take the next step.
Moments ago, he had smiled, touching the crystal on his sternum, his other hand already on top of her’s and Fox’s. Jaxx’s stomach was tight. How many more breaths before his life would be taken from him, from Rivkah, only to be motionless, lifeless, a corpse for others to stare at? Where would he be next? Was there an afterlife? Was he truly the prophesied savior?
Atlantis Quadrilogy - Box Set Page 45