“You were right,” I said. “We’re scientists—”
“Noah, Han…you?” The comm barked to life, but static overpowered the signal.
“That was Dad!” I said. “Reentry must be messing with the transmission.”
“…anti… risk getting killed…”
“Is there anything you can do to clean it up?” Even as she said it, Mom was working frantically to boost the signal and clear out the static.
“Not until we get out of this.” I nodded toward the flames burning outside the window and pushed forward on the yoke.
Mom and Adina glanced at each other and gripped the arms of their seats. The ship rattled violently.
“Noah?” Mom said.
“She’ll hold up.” We were engulfed in orange and red fire. “I’m taking her in much steeper than recommended. Might get a little hot in here.”
The temperature rose until sweat poured off our bodies. Obadiah panted in Mom’s arms. Great globs of drool spun out from his jowls toward the ceiling. Just when I thought the air was going to burn up in my chest, we broke through the upper atmosphere. I fired the rear thrusters, yanked the nose up, and pulled out of the semi-controlled fall. The blue of the Pacific Ocean spread beneath us in every direction. I scanned the horizon.
“There!” Adina pointed.
Three or four kilometers ahead, I saw a long contrail streaking through the sky. I adjusted course.
“It’s going to get bumpy.”
“Bumpier than what we just went through?” Adina hollered over the roar of the engines.
Mom flipped on the comm. “Noah, can you read me? This is Hannah.”
There was only static. I looked at the display.
“I still don’t see any other ships,” I said.
Even if that was Dad we heard, I didn’t have time to worry about it. Haon was dropping fast. I pushed the DUV III forward.
We rocketed through the air at speeds normally reserved for spaceflight. Air friction kept the wings’ edges glowing red-hot. Sonic booms exploded around us. I struggled to keep our ship steady. Haon’s leveled off, and we drew within a kilometer.
“Computer, what’s our altitude?” I said.
“Twelve kilometers.”
I allowed myself a little smile. We might just make it. I pointed the DUV III at the underside of Haon’s ship and slowed down so we wouldn’t fly past him.
“Altitude, ten kilometers.”
Haon’s XB Class glided ahead of us, dropping through the air toward the surface. I brought the DUV III within a few hundred meters and lowered our speed.
“It doesn’t look like he knows we’re here,” I said. “If I can just pull ahead of him, I can fire the rear thrusters and maybe take him down.”
“Like the mammoth,” Adina said.
“Be careful,” Mom said. “We don’t want his ship to explode at this altitude and release the nano-virus into the atmosphere.”
I shoved the yoke forward and matched the descent of the XB Class.
“Seven kilometers.”
“Okay, hold on.” I pulled up underneath Haon. The scorched underside of his ship passed only four meters above us.
“A little more.”
Just when we were about to pass his ship, I heard a loud roar. Haon fired his thrusters.
“He saw us!” The XB Class shot ahead, then dove to keep us from getting under him again. I banked left when the flames from his ship smashed into the DUV III.
We pitched sideways. I decided not to fight it and pulled the ship into a roll. We corkscrewed through the air several times, the earth spinning in front of us. After a few nerve-wracking seconds, I was able to get her back under control. I hit the thrusters and rocketed toward Haon, who fled to our right.
I checked the display.
“The good news is he’s dropped to nearly three kilometers. Now all we have to do is keep him from climbing back up to six.”
I pushed the DUV III to her limits. In a matter of seconds, his ship was directly in front of us again. The XB Class rocked back and forth, trying to shake us.
“It looks like he thinks we’re armed.”
“Maybe we can use that,” Mom said. “Computer, open a channel to the XB Class.”
It only took a couple of seconds.
“Haon, this is Hannah Zarc. I’m not going to let you deploy that bomb.”
“Hannah. I thought it was you. By your flying it looks like you have my twerp of a son on board too.”
“I’m not a twerp!” I yelled.
Mom shot me a look. “My son can fly circles around you. Better give it up. We’ll stop you by any means necessary.”
“What are you going to do, shoot me out of the sky? Do you really want to turn your son into a murderer?”
Mom looked at me and swallowed hard.
“He understands the value of life, more than you can possibly comprehend. But if it means stopping a madman—”
“Oh, a madman. That’s rich. Go ahead, fire on me.”
Mom swore, then looked at me and raised her eyebrows.
“It’s okay, Mom. I know who he is.” I turned back to the controls and moved the DUV III just above and behind Haon’s ship. “But we can talk about it later.”
She looked at Haon’s ship weaving and dodging in front of us and spoke into the comm.
“Wouldn’t you rather just find a place to land and give me the nano-virus?”
“You don’t even have weapons on that ship, do you?” Haon laughed. “I should have known. You and my brother wouldn’t dream of using violence to solve your problems.” More laughter. “Fortunately I’m not handicapped by such shortcomings.”
Haon opened his air brakes. His ship dropped beneath us and popped up behind the DUV III.
“Noah, get us out of here!” Mom screamed.
I shoved the yoke forward and left. The DUV III plummeted. Loud beeping filled the cockpit.
“The XB Class has achieved missile lock,” the computer said.
We flew straight down. Bright, blue ocean filled the window in front of us.
“Two Mark 7 missiles fired. Impact in ten-seconds.”
“Just a little… bit… more…” I pushed aside the thought that my own father was trying to kill me and let instinct take over. My knuckles went white on the yoke.
“Five. Four. Three.”
I yanked back. The DUV III shuddered but pulled out of the dive moments before hitting the ocean waves. An explosion rocked the ship as the rockets smashed into the sea. Geysers of water shot into the air.
“My son is quite the pilot, but how long can he keep it up?” Haon sounded smug, but I could tell he was mad, too.
I saw land ahead of us and pushed the DUV III to her limits.
“You’re not making this easy on me—”
Mom reached forward and slapped the comm, cutting Haon off.
“Maybe we should head back to orbit, Noah.”
“No way.” My jaw tightened. “If we do, he wins.”
“If we do, we live.”
“It’s not over yet, I have an idea.” We rocketed over the coast of what was once southern California.
“Missile lock confirmed.”
I banked left, and then back right.
“Missile lock lost.”
I smiled. “He was too far away.”
California sped by in a blur below. I hugged the terrain as closely as I dared. A line of mountains in front of us made me smile.
“Computer, keep track of Haon’s location.” I slowed the ship slightly. “We want to make sure he keeps following.”
“XB Class is two-point-seven kilometers behind and closing,” the computer said. “Altitude five hundred meters.”
“Perfect,” I said.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Mom looked a little pale. Adina on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the excitement.
The mountain range soared in front of us. I pulled back and skimmed along the peaks.
“Missile
lock confirmed.”
I accelerated over a ridge of granite.
“Two Mark 7 missiles fired.”
After we crested the ridge I plunged back down. The DUV III streaked toward a green valley below. I heard an explosion as one of the rockets clipped a peak behind us. I banked left and climbed up over another ridge. The second rocket didn’t make the turn and smashed into a granite wall.
“That was close!” Adina yelled.
Once more I hugged the terrain. The ground below was broken up by never-ending rows of sharp granite peaks.
“XB Class is still within missile range.”
“Good.” Finally the terrain below smoothed out. We sped over brown desert. I pushed the DUV III faster and pulled away from Haon.
“Just a little further.” Finally I saw what I was looking for. The desert gave way to rocky terrain again and a huge chasm came into view.
“The Grand Canyon?” Mom said.
I grinned. “I always wanted to try this.” I banked right and dropped into the canyon. Even after I lowered our speed, the canyon walls still sped by in a blur.
“XB Class closing. One kilometer.”
“Seven hundred fifty meters.”
“Missile lock confirmed.”
The DUV III screamed around a column of red rock.
“Four Mark 7 missiles fired.”
“He can’t have too many missiles left.” I skimmed over a flat butte, then dropped down toward the green Colorado River. Rockets exploded around us, smashing into ancient stone.
“One Mark 7 missile remains. Impact in five-seconds.”
I spotted the perfect outcropping of stone. I skimmed the surface of the river, mashed the yoke left, and whizzed behind it. The rocket blew a hole through the shale. Fragments of stone pinged all over the DUV III.
“Those are getting too close for comfort.” Mom dug her fingernails into her armrests.
“I need the right spot.” I banked, turned, rose, and fell while we rocketed through the canyon. Just ahead, the canyon walls came together. “That should do.”
I slowed and let Haon close in. I dropped toward the river. He followed.
“XB Class is two hundred meters back. Missile lock confirmed.”
A few more heartbeats, then I yanked back on the yoke. The DUV III groaned, but her wings caught the air and lifted her up. I kept pulling back as the ship strained toward the blue sky above, then curved back around to the canyon floor. I’d done a complete loop.
Haon’s ship was now in front of us. I dove forward. He couldn’t turn—he was surrounded by stone walls left and right. He couldn’t climb out of the canyon—I moved in to block his ship.
Just ahead, the canyon took a sharp turn left.
The DUV III skimmed above the XB Class, Haon hurtling toward the rock. We were maybe ten meters away from the canyon wall when he managed to pull up high enough to scrape over the cliff’s edge.
He smashed against our underside—and flew out from beneath us with a wrenching tear. The vertical stabilizers on his ship dangled.
I clipped an outcropping of stone and the DUV III spun left. I used up every trick I knew to straighten her out, but the ship continued to spin.
We dropped toward a plateau of rock below.
“Landing thrusters!” I yelled. The DUV III continued to twirl like a top. A loud grinding noise rent the cabin.
We hit the ground.
Dust and debris filled the air while I fought with the controls. For several long heartbeats, the ship rumbled and shook. Finally everything went quiet.
We’d crashed.
And Haon’s ship was gone.
I smacked the yoke—hard.
“He’ll get away!”
“I don’t think he’s going far,” Adina said. “Did you see how much damage you did to him?” She cracked a smile. “You do tend to run into things when flying.”
I looked at her and couldn’t help smiling myself.
“You’re right. Haon can’t fly well without his rear stabilizers. There’s no way he can climb to six kilometers.”
“Okay,” Mom said. “What do we have to do to get this ship back in the air?”
“Computer, run a diagnostic on the ship’s flight systems,” I said. “But first get me a lock on Haon’s location.”
“The XB Class is traveling approximately two hundred forty kilometers north.”
“He’s still moving fast,” Mom said. “Computer, can you plot a course?”
“At the current heading and current speed, he will reach the Yellowstone Crater in approximately thirty-seven minutes.”
She gasped. “Of course. It makes sense.”
“What?” I said.
“If he can’t fly to six kilometers, he’ll need something else to lift the nano-virus into the upper tradewinds. The Yellowstone volcano is the perfect mechanism.”
“Diagnostics complete. The DUV III is capable of limited flight. Extra atmospheric transit is highly discouraged.”
“Good enough,” I said. “Let’s get going.”
I gave the throttle a little squeeze and fired the thrusters. The ship groaned when she lifted off the rocky surface. I pitched to the right slightly to compensate for the wing tip buried in the dust of the plateau, but with another burst of the lifters, we broke free.
Minutes later, we rocketed north across the desert. I continued to monitor the ship’s vital signs.
“It looks like we damaged the front landing pylons.”
“We?” Adina laughed.
“Well, you were there.” I brought up a 3-D schematic of the ship’s underside. “We’ve got a hull breach…” I spun the display around and pointed at three glowing areas. “Here, here, and here.”
“Nothing we can do about that now.” Mom stood and held on to railings while she worked her way to the door. Obadiah walked drunkenly beside her.
“If we’re going to be dealing with volcanos, perhaps I should get suited up. Adina, would you help me please?”
“Sure thing, Mrs. Zarc.” Adina unbuckled and stumbled after Mom.
“What do you want me to do?” I said.
“Catch up to him—and whatever you do, don’t let him fly over the crater.”
I turned back to the screen. Catch up? That was one thing I really knew how to do.
Beautiful terrain sped past—deserts, snow-covered peaks, vast forests—but I only had one thing in mind. The ship’s computer calculated we’d catch the XB Class several kilometers outside of what had been called Yellowstone Park. I flew comfortably at several thousand meters, while Haon struggled to stay aloft.
“How long?” Mom called over the comm.
“We should be there in seven minutes,” I said. “Haon’s just ahead of us. I’m not sure he’s going to make it over the Hobak pass into the Teton Valley, though. The computer’s only giving him a forty percent chance.”
“All the better.”
I watched the screen as the flashing light of Haon’s ship climbed up the mountain pass. I was just about to bring the DUV III down to make visual contact when the XB Class limped over the ridge.
“He made it into the valley. I’ll keep on him, see if I can slow him down.”
I strained to see his ship when the DUV III crested the pass. Nothing yet, so I pushed us forward and dropped into the valley. As I leveled off, I looked north.
In any other circumstance, the jagged snow-capped peaks of the Grand Tetons to our left would have filled me with awe, but what drew my eye now was the churning black column of smoke that filled the entire northern portion of the valley. The immense Yellowstone volcano was spewing tons of ash into the sky.
Adina came in. “Wow! What’s that?”
“That’s the cause of the dark cloud we saw from space. It’s a volcano—a really big one.”
“The elders used to tell stories of mountains that shot fire into the sky, but I thought they were just stories. Mountains don’t burn.”
“Well, this one does, although I’m not
sure there’s much of a mountain there.”
Adina looked at the valley below. “Any sign of Haon’s ship?”
I studied the holoscreen. “He should be right below us.” I glanced out the window. “Yeah, there he is.”
Sunlight glinted off an object weaving in out of tall trees and bluffs of stone.
“Mom, I see Haon. You might want to hold on.”
“Okay, Noah. I’m strapped in down here.”
Adina scrambled over to her seat and buckled in. I plunged toward the XB Class. Immediately the ship weaved right. There’d be no catching him off guard this time. I tried to get directly behind him—he’d have a harder time firing at us if he had to do it blind.
“Okay, let’s see what you’ve got left.” I throttled up and closed in. For several minutes I mirrored Haon’s path through the Teton Valley and across the surface of a long, placid lake.
“I’m going to try to force him to land.”
I lifted the DUV III above Haon’s ship and accelerated. He weaved and bobbed for several minutes while we worked our way closer to the volcano—then the XB Class braked and disappeared behind us. Fearing Haon would launch another missile, I pulled up into a steady climb, then banked right to try to get behind him again. From the side window, I saw the ship at a near standstill, hovering a couple meters above the ground.
Just as I was bringing the DUV III in behind her, the XB Class rocketed forward again. This time it lifted from the ground and attempted to shoot skyward.
“What’s he doing? There’s no way he can handle that.” But somehow the ship held together. I followed while he surged toward the sky.
“I think he’s making a run for six kilometers!”
“You have to stop him, Noah!” Mom sounded desperate.
I punched the throttle and hurtled after the XB Class. Within seconds, I was just behind.
I looked at Adina. “Hold on.”
The DUV III twisted into a spiral when I rocketed past the XB Class and skimmed its cockpit. Haon glanced at me through the window, then turned back to his controls. The ship fought him every meter. His face was red with the effort, and he looked… afraid.
I jerked the yoke left and weaved in front.
“Fire full afterburners.” Two bright orange spouts of flame erupted from the rear engines. We lunged forward.
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) Page 16