Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic

by Armand Baltazar

  Suddenly, a deep thud reached them through the water, knocking Seahorse sideways. Diego fired up the stabilizers and checked the Seahorse’s air lock for water breach.

  “Torpedo impact!” Petey said, breaking radio silence.

  “Paige and Gaston must have succeeded!” Lucy sounded relieved.

  “Captain . . . anyone there?” Paige shouted. Then they heard the roar of Paige’s guns. “Die, you son of a—”

  Diego glanced out Seahorse’s window. The sound of the radio might attract attention. He turned it down as low as it would go, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn it off.

  “Three o’clock!” Gaston shouted. “Coming out of the smoke!”

  “Paige . . . we’re here!” Lucy called over the radio. “Gaston!”

  “Captain,” Paige said, “if you can hear me—be advised the battleship is not destroyed! Repeat, the battleship is not destroyed! We were spotted and fired on, and the Aeternum moved ships in to protect—”

  “Paige, this is Diego! Say again, what is your status?”

  “If anyone can hear us, we hit an Aeternum tanker ship . . . got fighters on us . . . and . . .”

  “Paige!” Lucy screamed. “Why won’t she answer?”

  “Lucy, it’s no use,” Diego said. “We can hear their broadcasts when they talk, but their radio must be damaged. They don’t seem to hear us.”

  “I can see one of the gunships over the station leaving,” Petey said.

  Diego looked up. Both Aeternum engines spun, creating storms of bubbles. One of the ships slid forward, leaving massive wakes behind it.

  “It’s going, all right,” Diego said. The chaos of bubbles and waves had subsided. One of the ships was gone, but the other still idled up there. Not leaving. “Crap.”

  The Kingfisher’s transmission burst across the speakers. “Gaston, where’s that fighter?” Paige shouted.

  “He’s in the clouds!” Gaston shouted. But . . . we’ve got bigger problems!”

  “Two more fighters!” Paige shouted. “Coming in at nine o’clock! Right! Bank right! We need to throw them off!”

  “Anyone, if you . . . we’re clear now and heading home.” They heard what sounded like crying. “Hang on, Gaston. . . .”

  The radio went dead.

  “Lucy,” Diego said, “the captain went for our families. Sit tight and wait for the Kingfisher. Seahorse over and out.”

  “Copy that.”

  Silence.

  They were late.

  Diego sat there in the deep blue, trying not to freak out. He’d been afraid to try his radio again. He’d been lucky not to have been discovered already.

  The minutes had crept by so slowly in the silent darkness, and yet now it had been ten minutes since the captain said they’d be back.

  Something had gone wrong.

  The captain had been clear: Diego was supposed to leave.

  And yet . . . his dad, his friends, Lucy’s family.

  He couldn’t go. He wouldn’t.

  Just then he heard something outside. He jumped up and peered out of the air lock. A lone figure approached from the station. He wore a hooded cloak and held a CHC pistol like Diego’s. When he passed by a light, Diego saw that it was Balthus, stepping into the air lock.

  Diego jumped back, gripping his pistol and aiming it at the door. He would shoot. He would have to . . .

  But the door didn’t open. Diego stepped back and saw that Balthus had opened a control panel on the wall. That’s the panel to the lights. He was going to engage the emergency floodlights, making Diego temporarily blind in the darkened bot. Very clever. He looked around. What could he do? Then he remembered the camera in his utility belt.

  Diego hurried to the master override controls, reset the lights, and quickly pulled out his camera. He wound up the timer for the auto flash, attached it to the controls, and set the timer. Then he dashed back across the cockpit and hid behind the dive suits that were hanging in an equipment closet set in the wall.

  The emergency lights blazed to life. Diego blinked hard, letting his eyes adjust. He heard the door open, and Balthus stepped in.

  “Come now,” Balthus whispered, “come out. I know you’re in here. I’d hate to hurt you, too.”

  Diego shut his eyes so they would readjust. Three . . . two . . . one . . .

  All the lights went out.

  “What?” Balthus said. Diego’s camera started to beep. He heard Balthus turn and step toward the sound. The camera shot a picture, emitting a series of sharp flashes. “Aah!”

  Now! Diego popped out, aimed at Balthus’s silhouette, and fired. The shot rang out, deafening in Seahorse’s tight command compartment. Balthus staggered but didn’t fall. His cloak vibrated violently but then settled down. That cloak! The material absorbed the blast—

  Diego pulled down the dive suits between them and lunged for the air lock. Balthus raised his gun at him, but paused as Diego passed into the light of the air lock.

  “Diego!” Balthus shouted.

  Diego tore down the hall as thundering footsteps pounded behind him, and found himself in a huge cargo bay. It was full of shipping containers and high stacks of equipment and supplies, the space dimly lit by suspended globes. He ran down an aisle and ducked into an open container then fought to control his frantic breathing. His heart was beating so loud he was sure that Balthus could hear it.

  “Come out, boy!” Balthus shouted, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. “We have your friends, the Russian and the cyborg. You want to see your dad, don’t you?”

  Diego pressed himself against the cold metal.

  “I know what the Russian told you,” Balthus said. Diego heard his boots echoing on the metal floor. “We aim to change the world back, it’s true, but it won’t be like he thinks. I can protect you. Keep you and your family alive and together. The power of the Quantum Reactors can do much more than simply change the world back.”

  Diego tried not to listen. He looked around for something to help him escape. The container was empty except for piles of random junk: useless circuit boards and gears, an open box piled high with valves. There were tools scattered around the floor. A stack of cans . . .

  “There’s so much we could do with the help of men like your father, and young men like you.”

  Diego’s eyes settled on the cans. He crawled a few feet and inspected their labels. Paint, mineral spirits. One of the cans on the bottom contained machine oil.

  “Don’t try my patience.” Balthus’s footsteps echoed closer.

  Diego slid out the can of oil from the stack an inch at a time, the other cans wobbling. He grabbed a screwdriver from nearby and started prying open the can. The screwdriver kept slipping, but then he got it.

  He scrambled forward and dumped the oil in a swirling pattern outside the container, and it slowly spread into a wide pool. Then he stepped out of the container, tossing the screwdriver. It clanged off the wall and floor.

  Balthus’s footsteps slowed. He rounded the corner, a dark silhouette in the dim light. Diego aimed his gun at Balthus’s chest, steadying it as best he could.

  Balthus smiled and walked slowly toward him. “Come now, Diego. Put down your weapon. You’re a smart boy. You know it won’t work on my cloak.”

  “No,” Diego said. “I want my people.” Come on . . . just a few more steps.

  As Balthus stepped out onto the oil, Diego raised the gun higher to aim at Balthus’s face.

  Looking down at the unconscious foe, Diego nearly cried out in disbelief. He’d done it! He took Balthus’s gun, checked that it was loaded, and slipped it beneath his shirt. Diego grabbed a pile of rags from inside the container, and tied Balthus’s arms and legs. He stood over him another moment, breathing hard. But he had to keep moving. Paige said they’d missed the battleship, and now it was coming. Time was short.

  Diego followed the corridor, staying near the wall, and reached the opening to a massive chamber. He peered around the corner, his fingers clammy as he
gripped his gun. When he saw the scene below, his breath stopped in his throat.

  Diego saw his father, the sword tip at his throat, and Santiago’s eyes tracked up and found him in the shadows, almost like he sensed his presence.

  “Diego! Run!” Santiago shouted.

  Magnus yanked Santiago’s head back and raised the sword. “Well, the gods have delivered unto me a gift!”

  “No!” Diego shouted, sprinting down the gantry to the main floor, gun raised. He barely saw the bodies he passed, but he knew they were men from the Arlington station, men who’d worked with his father, and the horror of it all made him feel like, if he stopped moving, he would collapse, vomit. No. He had to keep going.

  He moved forward, not noticing the cloak that Magnus wore . . . exactly like Balthus’s.

  Diego extended his arm, aiming the gun. Magnus hit Santiago in the head with the hilt of his sword and tossed him aside. Diego fired, but Magnus swept his cloak, and it absorbed the blast. He lunged, and before Diego could react, Magnus shoved him in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground. Diego lost the gun. It skittered across the floor, and Magnus kicked it over the side of the platform. He stood over Diego, pinning him down with his boot.

  “Welcome, young Ribera,” Magnus said. “Now, what have you done to my chief scientist? I hope for your sake that he is unharmed.”

  Diego couldn’t respond, the pain crippling him.

  “We’ll find out soon enough. This disruption by your captain has set us back considerably. I should kill you all, but it pleases me to hurt you instead. Santiago,” Magnus barked. “It’s time to input the activation code on the NIS.”

  “I’ll never do it,” Santiago said. He pushed himself back up to his feet, keeping a wary eye on the tip of Magnus’s sword.

  “Won’t you?” Magnus lowered his sword and pressed the tip against Diego’s abdomen. “Do it. Your boy is brave, but I’ll show you what he’s really made of.”

  “No!”

  “Your captain and your child came to save you,” Magnus said. “Ironic, don’t you think, that if you’d given Boleslavich the weapon he asked you for all those years ago, your son’s life would not be in danger now. But now you stand on the edge of giving me the means to destroy him in order that I may have back . . . my own.”

  “At the cost of countless millions.”

  Magnus didn’t reply. He raised the sword to strike Diego.

  “Fine. You win, Magnus.” Santiago tapped at the computer console.

  “Ignition codes accepted. Nuclear ignition sequencer activated.”

  “Good.” Magnus withdrew his sword but leaned over Diego and put his boot against his throat. “For a mistake, you’re quite the little soldier, aren’t you? Your father probably never bothered to mention that he once swore an oath to me to help restore the world, only to break it for the love of a girl. Just so they could make you—another child that has no right to be.”

  Magnus pushed down harder. Diego grabbed at his neck, spots appearing in his vision. He squirmed, trying to get free. . . .

  And as he did so, he felt a sharp pain in his back.

  Balthus’s gun.

  “Let him go!” Santiago shouted.

  Magnus twisted, raising his sword at Santiago. “Easy. Another step toward me and your boy dies.”

  Diego strained to reach his belt. He fiddled to get the gun free, felt it slip into his fingers.

  “Hey, Magnus, here’s your mistake!”

  Magnus landed in a heap on the floor, right in front of the captain, who had just staggered to his feet.

  “Diego,” Santiago said.

  Diego rolled over and pushed to his knees. He looked to the captain, now standing across the gantry, and to his father.

  “You disobeyed my orders,” the captain said.

  “Yes, sir,” Diego said, and he fell into his father’s arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Fury and Love

  Diego had imagined it, more times than he would ever have admitted. His father’s arms around him again.

  “My son,” Santiago said. “How is this possible?”

  “I had to find you,” Diego said, fighting back tears.

  “It’s okay. It’s all okay, now.”

  Diego nodded into his shoulder.

  “Diego.” He looked up to see the captain rubbing his head and slowly walking across the gantry toward them.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I—”

  “What’s done is done, Ranger, and I’m glad for it,” the captain said.

  “Alex,” Santiago said, and the two men embraced.

  “We’ll speak of the past another day,” the captain said. “For now, we have work to do.”

  “Captain, what happened? You and Ajax were gone way past the designated return time.”

  “We had the element of surprise,” the captain said. “But we arrived to find Magnus executing some of your people. So we chose to intervene. Ajax and I were able to dispatch Magnus’s men, but those accursed cloaks gave Magnus and Balthus the advantage.”

  “Your companion fought valiantly,” George Emerson said, crossing the gantry with Georgie, “but the weapons proved no match against their cloak shields. The general subdued them with those concussive guns. I wish I could say the same for the engineers. That heartless savage butchered them.”

  “What about him?” Diego asked, pointing at Magnus.

  “He’s alive. The cloak dampened the blow but knocked him out,” the captain said. On the main floor, Ajax was being helped back to his feet by the surviving engineers. Free of Magnus’s sword pinned through his mechanized arm, he walked over and held the blade above the prone general. “I can end it here, sir.”

  At first, the captain didn’t answer, and the engineers nearest Ajax backed away.

  The station shuddered again.

  “We will leave the general to this place,” the captain said. “It is not long for this world. And enough blood has been spilled.” The captain looked at the ragged survivors from New Chicago. They were beaten and thin. “Ajax, get those engineers back to Seahorse and wait for us there. The three of us will stay with the Emersons and deal with the crisis here.”

  “Captain,” Diego said. “The Kingfisher sent an urgent message. The battleship wasn’t destroyed. It’s on its way here. If we’re going to do something, sir, we better do it fast!”

  “We must shut down this reactor now and return to the surface!”

  Santiago shook his head. “I can’t. The controls are locked. Nothing can stop the ignition sequence. We have to get off this platform before the reactor ignites and sends its power shooting toward the surface.”

  “What if that happens?” Diego said.

  “Since this is the only station projecting the quantum energy stream, there will not be enough energy to create the field around the planet. But the energy will form a bubble around this station, likely about twenty miles across. It will only last ten or fifteen seconds, but that will be enough . . .”

  “Enough time to kill every child inside its radius,” Diego finished.

  “Well then, we’d better hurry out of here—” George began, before an explosion rattled the reactor station down to its bolts.

  “What was that?” Santiago shouted.

  Water began to spring from wall joints, from seams and doorways, spraying in all directions.

  “Kingfisher! Curtis! Report!” the captain shouted into his radio.

  “This is Petey, sir! We are in a bad way up here. Taking heavy fire.” Explosions and gunfire drowned out Petey’s voice.

  “Petey, report!” the captain shouted. But only static came through the radio. The station rattled again.

  “Captain! Lucy, over. We’ve engaged one of the Aeternum gunships—getting hit hard! The Kingfisher is in—dogfighting three fighters and—Petey, get down!”

  “My God,” George said, horrified. “Is that my Lucy? You brought Lucy into this?”

  “She came with me, sir,” Diego sa
id.

  “Diego! Are you there?” Lucy’s voice again, heavily garbled.

  “Why you . . . little clock mongrel!” George shouted. “How dare you bring—”

  Santiago’s fist landed just above George’s chin. George spun and crumpled to the floor. “You won’t insult my son after he and his friends saved our lives!”

  George staggered to his feet, his hair tousled, rubbing his jaw, but his hands quickly raised to fists. “You’ll pay for that.”

  “That’s enough!” The captain stepped between them. “I need you both to stop this reactor from blowing. And so do your children.”

  “Of course,” Santiago said.

  “Lucy, hang on,” the captain said. “We are on our way!”

  But they were only answered with silence.

  “Get her out of here,” George said, spitting blood. “If she’s on a ship, tell her to go far away, at full throttle.”

  “They are pitched in battle, and they aren’t going anywhere,” the captain said.

  “And at full speed, that ship will not escape the quantum blast radius in time,” Santiago said. “We have to stop this reactor now.” Santiago took a deep breath, surveying the water spraying in around him. “This place will be flooded before we could come up with any kind of work-around to subvert that computer.”

  Diego thought about what they’d seen from Seahorse. “What about the array?” he said. “If we blow up the antennae array, would that stop the bubble from being created?”

  Santiago’s brow wrinkled in thought. “If the reactor couldn’t transmit, the failsafe protocols would funnel all the quantum energy back into the earth. Diego, that’s it!”

  “We’ll need to find the systems to disable the array,” George said.

  “No time,” the captain said. “But I have the means to destroy it on my ship. Let’s go.”

  “Wait, what about—” Diego turned.

  Magnus was gone.

  “Warning: Reactor ignition in forty-four minutes.”

  “Leave Magnus to this accursed place,” the captain said. “Santiago, take point.”