by Kip Hartzell
“I see the smoke from the wreckage,” Apollo butted in on the comm. “Give us cover, while we get there.”
“On our way,” Athene-A responded.
The battleground was messy as they tried to subdue the infected. It was difficult, and not very successful. Apollo’s detachment advanced through a loosely wooded area to see Hephaestus and his crew fighting off another attack. He spotted Drof working on the side of Andromeda. Scepter, dove in and cleared the area of hostiles. Apollo moved in to shore up Their defenses.
Apollo faced Hephaestus’s blood spattered bull face. “You called for takeout? As Jay, would say.”
“I don’t know, Jay, but I appreciate the reference. It’s good to see you, Apollo. Drof says he will have the shuttle capable of flight in another fifteen minutes.”
“He had better hurry. The Greek Air Force is on their way to put an end to everything here.”
“Well, let’s not let it end, here.”
A wave of ancient Persian soldiers came at them.
Out of breath, and exhausted from the fight, Hephaestus said, “Drof, are you ready?” Jets screamed overhead. “We are out of time.”
Drof hopped down beside him. “Then let’s get going.” His dark face, smiled.
“Athene-A has called a retreat,” Hephaestus said, waving people into the shuttle.
“So, does that mean we were successful?”
“I don’t know. Apollo has already started evacuating. We should do the same.”
“This little experiment is being terminated.” The smug little fat man lifted one hand, and everyone in the room was levitated several feet off the floor, sending them backward and pinned against the stone wall nearest to each one of them. Jay, and Rhe-A, were the only ones that were untouched. The explosions and gunfire ceased outside the ruin. John fought with every fiber of his being to break free, he felt the weak binding as he mentally struggled against its invisible force. It wouldn’t hold for long. John, just hoped they would still be alive when the break came.
“Now, Jay Rodgers, hand over the artifact,” the pretentious Professor demanded, holding out the other hand.
“Professor Snodgrass, or whatever you are, release them,” Jay pleaded. “This place is about to be bombarded. No one will get the skull, and we will all die.”
“You’ve always been a stubborn student, always trying to advance farther than your natural abilities. Now, one last time, hand over the artifact.”
“I can’t do that.”
“How did I know you were going to say that. Rhe-A, my Dear, would you take the artifact from him?”
Jay looked at her, who now had that faraway look in her eyes, again. “Rhe-A! You fought them off before, do it again.”
She hesitated, looked at Jay with recognizing eyes, and said, “I can’t. They are too powerful.”
“They?” He quietly said, “Abbadon must be here, also.” He glanced around. There, the heat wave signature, just behind, and to the left of Snodgrass. Rhe-A reached for the skull. When she touched it, Jay saw her thoughts?
She was in a dark room, fear, anxiety, remorse, and guilt, saturated every corner. Jay still stood next to her, he yelled her name, but there was no sound. The only light in the room was the dim glow from the tracker skull. She was frozen, with her hands on the skull. Jay put his hand on hers. Sound returned, she turned to him as if seeing him for the first time. She smiled a smile he had never seen before. Holding up an empty hand, she began chanting an old Atlantean poem. A bright line formed in the distance, the line drew a rectangle. It cracked open like a door, and let a bright white light in. A swirl of nonexistent wind flared up like a tornado, grabbing the darkness and flushing it out of the opening. The light door slammed shut, calmness and brightness ruled again.
Jay stared into her deep blue eyes, and put a hand on her cheek. He had finally felt the overpowering love she had for him, and his for her. The room fell away in pieces, leaving them floating in warm, bright sunlight. There was an odd sound, and her eyes got wide. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth, she couldn’t speak. Her limp body fell away, Jay reached for her, but she was gone.
Jay found himself back in the ruins. Rhe-A was falling, he wrapped a free arm around her and gently laid her down. He blinked back his shock, when he saw a large chunk of her abdomen missing. It looked like a shark had taken a bit out of her. A crescent moon shaped wound from her chest to her hip, almost cutting her in half. “I’m sorry, Jay,” she whispered.
He set the skull on her chest between them and took her face in both his hands. “It’s okay, we’re going to get you fixed up, just hold on, help’s coming.”
The horror on John’s face was unmistakable. Rage boiled, as he used that to fight harder against the invisible force. He began to sink slightly to the floor.
Rhe-A’s eyes fixed on the ceiling, as Jay’s tears rolled off of his face onto hers. “Noo!” He yelled at the ceiling. His emotions exploded. The skull glowed dimly, as he stood up and faced the murderer. He still had his handout, holding people in place. But the other, Jay spotted, had the Gauntlet of Zeus on it. Its power was legendary. Jay froze.
“Mr. Rodgers, get the artifact, and come with me.”
“Why would I help you, get it yourself.”
“Because, if you don’t, I will eliminate your comrades.” He moved his arm and a power surge burst forth. A Cyclops soldier exploded against the wall, leaving a blood trail down the wall. He fired at a minotaur next to him, with the same results.
“Stop!” Jay’s head pounded with anger. He was so furious, he could barely contain himself. He wanted to strike out at the one thing causing him so much pain. He spun around to hear a familiar slurping noise. Rhe-A’s body was healing at a faster rate than a vampire. The backbone had formed, and internal organs were forming, and repairing. He felt the pull of the skull. The healing influence was a small radius, he needed to stall a little longer. He turned back to Snodgrass. Explosions began in the distance and sounded as if getting closer. Athene-A must be making progress. “Why do you need me to get the skull? Why do you need me to carry it for you? Does it harm you, wait, no, it destabilizes your existence in this dimension?”
The look on the Professor’s face told Jay he had hit home. The strain of keeping everyone captive was beginning to show. “That’s quite enough, Mr. Rodgers. I am going to kill John if you do not bring me that artifact, now!”
“Alright, alright, relax,” Jay said, raising is hands in surrender. He slowly went to Rhe-A and took the skull from her chest. She was breathing on her own, and skin was forming over the muscle tissue. He sighed in relief, knowing she would be able to heal herself from this point. He stood up quickly and started for Snodgrass.
A war cry the likes Jay had never heard, came from the top of the temple stairs. Ares was in midflight from the top of the stairs coming down on Snodgrass. His spear beam weapon firing rapidly until he was almost on top of him. The Professor raised his arm in protection, and was only slightly driven back. The gauntlet absorbed the energy and built up a charge, just before impact, he fired it point blank at Ares. The exploding impact sent Jay back a few steps. The power collided with a shield, launching Ares back against the stone steps. The constant power blast pushed the shield slowly against Ares, it was crushing him. The stone began to give as blood oozed out of his eyes and mouth. The captive group slipped closer the floor.
Jay immediately felt the power, it sizzled within him, like a fire brand. He was tired of seeing the people he cared for hurt by this...thing. His pent-up energy was going to escape, all he had to do was figure out how to direct it.
“Mr. Rodgers,” the Professor said, showing uncertainty. The others slipped even closer to the floor. “I will kill the rest of your family and friends. Shut the skull down, and come with me.”
The threat to his family and friends reignited his rage. He held the skull in both hands along its cheek and temples, with the hollow eyes pointing at the Professor. A bright white beam of ligh
t struck out, and hit the Professor. He managed to disengage the gauntlet from Ares just before the impact. The force drove Snodgrass back several feet, allowing Ares to fall to the floor. The Professor was shielding himself, but was clearly losing. He yelled in anger, or pain, Jay couldn’t tell, but could have cared less. The gauntlet was overloading and smoking, so he flicked his arm, and the glove fell smoldering to the floor. The Professor howled as the beam steadily pushed him back against a wall. The captives dropped to the floor, on their knees, exhausted from their imprisonment. Jay saw the blur move away from the Professor, and thought, time for my own experiment. Jay changed targets and swept the beam across the room.
“Abbadon, it’s payback time,” he yelled, as the beam coming out of the skull’s eyes hit its mark.
The light in the ruin got as bright as the beam impact. The bright force mingled with the black force, expanding, and continued to expand. The Destroyer’s image switched back and forth from the gray creature to Aztek-Alon’s features. Jay started to feel queasy, as if his life force was being drained out of him. When he reached his end, Abbadon let out a loud growl, and the darkness faded away. Jay, and the Professor, were on their hands and knees, across from each other, panting. Snodgrass looked up and coughed. His clothes smoldered with burns and steam. He looked around to see his former prisoners moving in on him. He staggered as he got up, but he was faking the extent of his injuries. He leaped forward, head first into the hole he had come from. The group, including John, converged on the empty tunnel.
John looked up, determining pursuit was futile. “Everybody, grab the wounded, we need to get out of here.” No sooner than he said it, the sound of jet aircraft rumbled overhead. “There lining up for a bomb run. We are too weak to hold off that kind of blast.”
Jay shook off the dizziness and sat back on his haunches. He looked down to see the skull on the floor, looking at him. It was now cold and lifeless. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Rhe-A stood beside him. Her hair disheveled, and her jump suit was missing from just below her chest, to below her navel. The tracker skull properties had hyper accelerated the nanites, and her natural healing ability. “Nice look,” Jay commented.
“It’s the latest,” her repertoire caused Jay to laugh-cough, while she helped him up.
He took the skull as he steadied himself. “I believe this belongs to you,” he said, holding out the artifact.
“Keep it, you’ve earned it.”
Jay saw John kneeling over Ares. His crushed flesh was piled against the steps. Rhe-A led Jay over to them and kneeled beside John.
Jay put the skull on Ares.
“I think its power has been exhausted. There is so much damage.” Rhe-A dropped a tear on the floor.
“John,” came Athene-A’s voice over their comms, “they’re lining up for a final run at your position. Shall I incapacitate their machines?”
“No, they are fragile, and you may kill some of them. Do not expose yourself any more that you have to.”
“I have to do something soon,” her near panicked voice echoed.
“Gramps,” Jay’s voice echoed back, “there’s a tunnel behind where the skull was hidden. A back door. It might be safer.”
“Jay, my boy, you never cease to amaze me.” A deep breath came from Ares. He rolled onto his side and spit out coughed up blood. “Rhe-A, see what you can do for him. The rest of you help me. He led everyone over to the rubble covering half the tunnel.
A stone storm erupted, as the shaft was quickly cleared. The tunnel was wide enough for two abreast, except for the Cyclops. The healthy helped the wounded down the tunnel. Glowing light from individuals lit the tunnel as they went. Rhe-A was ahead, helping a Cyclops carry Ares, as Jay and John brought up the rear.
“They’re coming,” John said, looking back. “The back blast will overtake us. The tunnel will act as guide for the explosions.”
“Not if we put something between us, and it.” Jay took out his pistol, and fired down the tunnel, caving it in. The light winked out, and the dust was thick. “A few more of those should do it.”
They barely got one more cave in before the ground rumbled and portions of the rest of the tunnel caved in. The two hustled over rock piles, and quickly met up with the others.
“John, do you copy,” Athene-A’s voice could be heard echoing over everyone’s comm.
“Affirmative, we are in a maintenance shaft, moving North West. We have wounded, need an evac.”
“Oh, thank the Great Creator. You stopped moving and I thought the worst. The bombing has stopped, everyone, and everything, has retreated. The whole area is ablaze. I’ll use Scepter to make an opening a few hundred yards from your current position.”
“Understood, on our way.”
Rhe-A took Jay by the waist and floated up out of the hole in the Earth. Jay noticed the smell of smoke as he gazed across a scared landscape. They lightly touched down in the hold of the shuttle, where Athene-A had her arms around John’s neck. She spied Jay as Rhe-A let go of him. She raced to hug him. She let go to wipe away a tear. Reaching out to take Rhe-A’s arm, she said, “Good to see you well, old friend. I can’t wait to read the reports.”
“They will prove to be-interesting,” Rhe-A replied, and then put her hand on top of Athene-A’s.
“I believe this is yours,” Jay said, holding out the skull to his Grandmother.
Athene-A took it and held it up to look it in the face. “I hope it was worth it. Come, we have to assess the damage.” She turned, and then turned back to Rhe-A. “Nice outfit.” She turned back, smiling, and the two followed her, weaving through the crowd being treated, to the battle table.
There, John, Aidan, and Rhe-A, were checking out the overall casualties and damage. Athene-A placed the skull on the table. A noticeable, and much needed, power surge brightened the whole area.
“Our forces are all retreating back to Chrysalis. The Greek Air Force has laid waste to the whole area,” Athene-A reported.
“Just great, insult to injury. The greatest archeological find in my era is now a pile of dust and ash.”
“Don’t worry JJ, there will be others,” Athene-A said, patting his dusty back.
The shuttle powered down. The bay door opened, and the wounded were carried off. Ares was still unconscious, but healing without the skull. He was moved quickly to the infirmary. The hangar was alive with activity, while the crew exited, trying to stay out of the way.
Shelly ran through the crowd, and leaped into Jay’s arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried when we lost contact. You are okay, right?”
Jay pulled away, as Rhe-A gave him a quizzical look. Shelly looked her up and down. “Nice wardrobe,” she commented on her very exposed mid-drift.
Rhe-A did what Jay usually did, and rolled her eyes. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” She walked away, grabbing a handheld from a technician and began to diagnose the wounded near her.
Jay wondered away from Shelly, and made his way over to John and Athene-A. They were standing in a crowd of Councilors, reporting.
“Two hundred thirteen confirmed dead, six more in critical condition, and, well, just about everyone else is wounded,” John said.
Dian-A-Artemis had the white skull up to face level. “We’re getting close. Now, let’s see if you can better the odds of our critical wounded,” she said to the skull, and then walked away to use it on the most desperate.
John looked sad, as he watched the group leave. “That one was costly. I hope we can be forgiven.”
“They understand the risks, we did what we always do, survive, win, and live to fight another day,” Aidan said.
“Yes, my friend. Well, there’s nothing left for us to do, but report, analyze, and learn from what happened. I need some rest.” John sadly walked away with Athene-A close behind.
Jay had a restless night, even after exhaustingly convincing Shell that he needed sleep. He was alone in his quarters, laying on his back in just a pair of sweat pan
ts, staring at the ceiling for answers. The door chimed. He remembered to secure it last night after Shell left. He strolled to the door, instead of voice activating it, he opened it. There stood Rhe-A, her E-suit was perfect, unlike the damaged one she had before. She stood there and looked at the bare-chested man, trying not to look obvious.
“I see you’ve finally figured out the locking mechanism,” she flatly said.
“Nice to see you, too. Come in.”
She walked in formally, as he went to the small kitchen and got some coffee. “Want some?”
“No, thank you. I was sent to escort you to the cartography lab.”
“You could’ve just called.”
She looked uncomfortable. “I wanted to speak to you about what happened at the ruins.”
“Oh, the part where you expressed to me that you loved me.”
She shifted her stance. “Ah, hum, among other things. I wanted to thank you for what you did.”
“So, a guy has to save the world to impress you.”
She half smiled. “Uhum, well, you haven’t exactly saved the world, but, not bad for a chimp.”
He smiled, thinking he saw her blush. He decided to stop torturing her. “How about we talk about this over dinner?”
“The wounded are all back to full health. I am free for the evening.”
“Good, it’s a date then.” He touched his sweat pants, and the E-suit formed his jumpsuit as he led her out of the room. “What’s so important at the lab?”
“Over the millennia, we have lost many people searching and retrieving the tracker skulls. It’s our small way of honoring those who have fallen. It’s something like a presentation ceremony, also. We take the tracker skulls we find and secure them in the laboratory vault.”
Jay listened intently as they strolled down the hallway. “Let’s not keep them waiting.”
The room was large and dome shaped. Smooth metal walls showed no sign of being a cave. Groups of people stood around chatting. Jay made his way through them to see several chest high podiums in the middle of the room. They were aligned in a perfect circle; the architecture was the customary ancient Greek. Athene-A and John approached Jay and Rhe-A.