I picked up a half-finished model of a J-Class destroyer I hadn’t touched in months.
“Nah, most of it’s just for fun. Like your doll.”
Adina reached into the pocket of my coat, which she still had on. She pulled out the little figure made of bone and rawhide. She looked around the room, then back at her doll. With her eyes cast down she put it back in her pocket.
“So what’s your plan, Noah Zarc?”
“I think you should stay in my room until we get back.” I pushed a pile of clothes off my bed. “We shouldn’t be gone long, and Obadiah will keep you company.”
“I don’t know.” She looked around the room as if something might jump out and eat her the minute I left. With the mess I kept, it wasn’t that far-fetched.
“You just have to trust me.”
She raised her eyebrows and gave me a look I couldn’t figure out.
“This doesn’t feel right—not telling your dad about me.”
“But if I told him now—”
“He’d send me back home?” Her voice rose a bit.
He probably would, eventually, but I didn’t want to tell her that.
“I know if we just give him some time—”
“Noah, I just think it’s wrong! If he doesn’t want me here, I should go.”
“But once we get Mom and she meets you, there’ll be no way Dad can send you back.” Why was she getting mad at me? Didn’t she see I was just trying to help?
She studied me through her shaggy hair. Finally she sat down on my bed with a harrumph.
“We’ll do it your way for now. But I don’t have to like it.”
I struggled to find something to say that would convince her I was right but decided I’d just have to settle for having her mad for now.
“I’ll bring you something to eat.”
I moved around straightening my room. For the first time in my life I was a little embarrassed about the mess.
“It’ll take a few hours to get ready,” I said, “and if all goes well we’ll be back just a few minutes after we leave.”
She glanced about the room again, then back at me.
“Okay, but please hurry back.”
“I will, Adina. I know my mom will let you stay with us, I just know it.” I tried to reassure her with a smile, then left the room.
I glanced over at Sam, who looked miserable in her twelfth-century dress. She scowled at me. Maybe she was mad that I didn’t have to wear something just as uncomfortable. But I’d trade places with her in a minute if it meant I could leave the ship once we got to the surface. Well, I wouldn’t put on a dress, but something just as bad as what Dad was wearing. Who ever heard of a man in hose?
Dad constantly fidgeted in his seat, pulling his tunic down, trying to cover the dark wool clinging to his legs.
Sam had studied twelfth-century history and culture during the trip back in time, so we had some idea what to expect. According to her, she and Dad were now dressed appropriately for the period.
“You look like you’re wearing a pressurized EV suit in a low atmosphere,” I said, grinning at her.
“Meaning what? I look fat?” Sam’s dress was made of a coarse woven silk, dark blue with red trim around the sleeves and neck. “Mom’ll gush when she sees me in this. ‘Oh darling, you look so beautiful.’ I say ugh.”
“I say let’s get going.” I looked at Dad. “The quicker we find Mom, the quicker you can get out of those getups.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re in charge now?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m just worried about Mom.”
“We all are.” Dad smiled. “Take us out of here.”
I had to laugh when we lost gravity. Sam’s dress, which had pooled at her feet, now billowed around her. She bunched the fabric up with her hands and wrestled it back down. It was hard to believe that just hours ago she was covered in grime while she worked on repairing the Morning Star. Hamilton had stayed aboard the ARC, completing the calibration of the DUV III’s warp manifold. He wasn’t happy about being left behind, but logic told him he could better put his talents to use with the work on the ARC. I only hoped Adina would stay out of sight.
I nudged the Morning Star into a lower orbit. From the cockpit window I could see the outline of the British Isles.
Moses had given us the coordinates of an isolated area in the woods that surrounded Haon’s castle. With a little luck, we’d be able to land without anyone seeing us.
Dad looked up from the screen at his chair.
“I’ve completed a scan of the castle and located several life forms.”
“Well, we know he doesn’t have any use for living animals, so we can assume they’re people,” Sam said. “And one of them has to be Mom.”
Twenty minutes later, the Morning Star was on the ground. A rich green forest rose up around us on all sides. I shut down the ship’s engines and engaged the shield generator.
“So what’s the plan? You walk up to the castle and ask Haon to let Mom go?”
Dad looked amused, but Sam took me seriously.
“Haon would know Dad in a minute,” she said. “He’d probably recognize me, too. We have to find a way to sneak in.”
“Once we’re in sight of the castle,” Dad said, “your sister and I will come up with a plan. I highly doubt Haon is expecting anyone to come looking for him here.”
They both stood up.
“Sam, do you have your Triple-B?”
She pointed to her ear.
My stomach tightened at the idea of their leaving me alone on the ship while they headed off to unknown danger. It must’ve shown on my face, because Dad went into mega-reassurance mode.
“Don’t worry, son.” He put his hands on my shoulders. “All you need to do is be ready for liftoff as soon as we come back with your mother.”
“I’ll be ready.” I touched my comm-link. “And you’ll keep in contact?”
“You’ll be able to monitor us every step of the way.” He gave my shoulder a last squeeze, then Dad and Sam left the ship.
For the next half-hour I listened in as they worked their way toward the castle. I began to feel better about sitting in the climate-controlled ship while they mucked around in the forest.
“How did humans survive in the Middle Ages with clothes this constricting?” Sam said. “If I don’t trip and break my neck I’ll probably die of heat stroke.”
Dad kept quiet, but every now and then I caught a snicker. Finally they reached the castle.
“Looks pretty run down,” Dad said, “but the gates are wide open.”
“Just inside the archway? Someone seems to be sweeping the floor.”
“I see her too. Let’s go see what we can find out. I’ll do the talking, Sam.”
After a few minutes, I heard a raspy woman’s voice. “Fàilte, Ceud mìle fàilte.” Of course I had no idea what she was saying—I wasn’t wearing a Triple-B—but I thought it was in Gaelic.
Dad said, “Tha mi toilichte do choinneachadh.”
I caught snatches of conversation as the woman apparently led them into the castle. “Is mise Brìghde inghean Flaithbheartach. Dè an t ainm a th’ort.”
“Is mise Noah Zarc,” Dad said, then whispered for my benefit, “She said her name is Bridget. She’ll be happy to give us a room for the night and something to eat.”
I hit my comm-link. “Did you ask about Mom?”
“I asked her about the master of the castle,” Dad said. “By the sound of things, Haon’s been living here for about ten years, off and on.”
I heard pots and pans clanking. Women chattered in the background.
“He disappears on long trips, often for months at a time. When he returns he usually has a new trophy for his wall, some dead animal he hangs along with the hundred others he’s killed. They know to stay out of his way when he comes back empty-handed.”
“Nearly two months ago was the first time he’d ever come back with another person,” Sam whispered. “He was ag
itated, so they avoided him. He asked for food for the woman—for Mom—”
“What? Two months ago!” My mind reeled. How was that possible?
Dad spoke again in Gaelic. Another voice, not Bridget, answered.
Sam gasped. “A servant girl said they didn’t see her the whole time she was here—”
“Until just a few minutes ago,” Dad said. “The master and woman were seen leaving the castle on foot.”
“What? Where did they go?” I shouted.
“I don’t know,” Dad said. “Let’s scan the area surrounding the castle. I can do it from here, but I’ll need help from the ship’s computers to amplify the signal.”
“What do you need me to do?” I said.
“Ask the computer to pair with my signal, then do a broad sweep of the surrounding area for life-forms.”
I moved to the main monitor bank and waved my hand, bringing the screens to life, and repeated Dad’s request. The monitor immediately displayed an overhead thermal view of the castle and outlying area.
Blue indicated the cool stone of the castle. Several warm orange figures were moving within the structure. Two ran through what looked like the main entrance and flared brightly once they were outside the walls.
“Did you just leave the castle?”
“Yes,” Sam said. “Do you see them?”
“Not yet.” I hunched over the screen searching.
“Computer, increase coverage area.” The display zoomed out to take in several kilometers around the castle. I saw one other heat signature—mine.
“I don’t … wait!”
On the edge of the screen a brief flash of orange appeared. I swiped my hand over the screen and zeroed in. Sure enough, there were two figures running away from the castle.
“I see them…I think.” The larger of the two blobs burned a dull red color. The other flared bright, almost white.
“I see them on my wrist-comm display.” Dad panted as he ran. “We’ll try to catch them before—”
“They’re getting away!” I launched myself toward the door. “I’m the only one close enough to stop them!”
“Noah, NO!”
I tore out of the Morning Star and swept my gaze around the forest. The display had shown Haon and Mom running several hundred meters behind the ship’s tail.
I spotted a trail leading out of the clearing in the underbrush and took off as fast as my chair would let me. Brambles ripped my face and hands as I rushed through the thicket. I could hear Dad shouting over my wrist-comm.
After about a hundred meters, I stopped and looked around near the top of a little ridge. Much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just blindly charge through the woods.
I swiveled, peering into the late afternoon gloom.
“Noah, what are you—” I slapped my wrist-comm and cut Dad off. It took me a minute to catch my breath.
The forest was still.
A bit of color flashed between the trees to my right. I moved toward it, trying not to make a sound. A crash of snapping branches and rustling leaves sounded just ahead. I climbed to the very top of the ridge, and a ravine opened before me.
Two figures ran through a small creek below. Haon and Mom. Water erupted around them as Haon dragged her through the stream.
They stopped. Haon whipped around and glared at me. How’d he know I was here?
“You’ll never catch me, son.”
He yanked Mom by the arm when she turned to see who was following. She stumbled and smacked her head against a large stone. Blood swirled in the water.
Haon reached down with one hand and lifted her out of the water like a rag doll. He turned and sprinted up the stream, Mom hanging limply under his arm.
I slapped my wrist-comm.
“Dad, I see them! Where’s the ravine end?”
“About... one hundred meters to the north… bends right.” He was breathing so hard he could hardly get the words out.
I searched the ridge and saw an opening through the woods toward the northeast. I spun my chair and rocketed forward through branches that whipped my face.
Moments later I overlooked the ravine again. It was empty. Where—
“Behind you!” Dad shouted over the wrist-comm.
Something hit me so hard on the back that I flew from my chair and landed on my side.
I twisted to see what had clobbered me. Three meters away Mom lay in the leaves, her eyes closed.
“Should have left well enough alone, kid.”
I flopped on my back and looked up at Haon. He reared over me like a bear getting ready to finish the kill. He held a heavy log in his hand as if it were a twig.
Sunlight streamed through the trees and shadowed his face. I glanced at my chair, just a meter or so behind him. It was still in range.
“Don’t even think about it.” He didn’t turn away. “I’d kill you before you moved a centimeter.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and gave the mental command. My magchair roared to life and launched itself right at Haon.
I flattened myself against the ground as the chair caught him behind the knees. He tumbled back and the chair flew over me, Haon sprawled on top.
He smashed into a tree, his arm between the chair and the trunk. A terrible crunch sounded in the woods.
Haon roared, but more in anger than pain.
He jumped up and threw the smashed chair aside with his left arm, his right arm dangling uselessly at his side. In two steps he covered the distance between us, hauled back his good arm, and smacked me across the jaw.
Pain exploded in my face. I collapsed to the forest floor, my ears ringing. Yet somehow I’d thought the blow would be harder, the pain worse.
“I should kill you now,” he said. “But that wouldn’t be very fatherly of me.”
He turned and ran toward Mom. Darkness flooded my mind as he bent over her.
Then I noticed something weird. Haon’s right arm, nearly severed in two, wasn’t bleeding. Bent and twisted cylinders poked out through the rent in his skin. Sparks sprayed from frayed wires.
But as strange as that was, his words and actions were stranger. He not only hadn’t killed me, he hadn’t hit me very hard—for Haon. And he’d said killing me wouldn’t be fatherly?
Who—or what—was he?
Dad cradled me in his arms as we stumbled into the cockpit of the Morning Star. The magchair sparked and crackled while it ground along behind us. He laid me on the floor.
“Noah James Zarc!” He could barely hold his voice in check. “I told you to stay on the ship!”
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” Sam threw herself into her chair. She looked angry, but she also looked like she might cry. “I wish your idiocy would just finish the job next time—”
“SAM!” Dad looked twice as angry now.
“He’s always pulling stuff like this!” Her face was an ugly red. “If it weren’t for him, Mom—”
“Enough!” Dad said. “We need to find out where they’re headed.”
“What happened?” I glared at Sam before looking back at Dad.
“After your sister and I found you sprawled on the ground, we tracked Haon and your mom to where the DUV II was hidden. Seconds later, they blasted off.” He slapped his wrist-comm. “Hamilton, do you have a lock on them?”
“I have a lock on the ship,” Hamilton said. “They’ve reached orbital altitude.” He sent an image to the Morning Star’s screen. We could all see the ship was fleeing the planet.
Sam was already running through the launch sequence.
“Can you tell where he’s headed?”
“They’re moving at considerable speed, on an intercept course with Mars.”
“Mars?” I said.
“I’ve also detected warp particles building in the DUV II’s manifolds. It appears he’s planning a jump to some time in Mars’s past. Or future.”
Dad buckled me into my seat.
“Prepare the ARC, Hamilton. We’re going after him the minute we�
�re on board. And send Noah’s spare magchair to the docking bay. Your brother’s pretty hard on his equipment.”
Dad glanced at me and we exchanged weak smiles. Something niggled at the back of my mind—something Haon said. He must’ve hit me pretty hard, because I couldn’t quite remember. Something about my father?
Twenty minutes later we docked in Hangar Bay One and powered down the Morning Star. Dad jumped up, lifted me from my seat, and headed for the exit.
“I’m not losing your mother again!” He carried me none too gently down the spiral stair to the hatch, Sam at our heels.
The door opened. Dad stepped out and stopped dead. I turned my head to follow his gaze.
A figure in a thermsuit stood a few meters away—Hamilton. Numbers and images scrolled across his visor.
“Hamilton, what are you doing?” Dad yelled.
“I’ve gained access!” He shouted over the hum of the thermsuit. “Just a few more seconds and I’ll have the coordinates.”
My brother didn’t seem to hear.
“I have it. Moses, confirm!”
Dad dropped me down in the spare magchair and ran toward my brother.
“I can’t let you—”
“Confirmed,” Moses said over the comm. “Haon’s ship is set to jump to those coordinates in five seconds… four… three…”
Then I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Hamilton had retrofitted the thermsuit with something that looked just like a small—
Bright purple and green flashes of electricity enveloped my brother. A pulse of energy exploded outwards and blew us backwards. My chair smashed against the Morning Star, and Sam fell at my feet.
—like a small warp manifold.
Hamilton was gone.
I pushed my chair around Sam. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head and sat up slowly, looking where her brother had vanished.
“If he makes it back alive, I’m going to kill him,” she said.
Dad lurched to his feet and stared at the spot where Hamilton had stood just seconds ago.
“What’s your brother—”
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) Page 9