“Do as you please, Master.” Jaxx did everything he could not to twitch a muscle and to keep his eyes on Okbak. But could Okbak not see the smoke or smell it? He wanted to close his eyes and call Zara, Fox, Rivkah…anyone to come and help him escape. Zara was right. He shouldn’t have gone it alone.
He concentrated on Okbak’s eyes and whispered for Zara, Kiyo-zan, and Fox in his mind. Help me. My cell stands unguarded and when it’s under guard, only a few Kelhoon stand watch. There has to be another way to turn off the energy bars around me. When you find the way, and disengage the bars’ electrical charge, come get me.
Okbak covered his hand over his ear. He nodded, his eyes conveying a tinge of surprise. “He is here now? Let him come forward.” He crossed his arms and gave a screwed-up smile in Jaxx’s direction—if you could call it a smile. His sharp, yellow-stained teeth and crooked upturned mouth looked more like a facial tick, but Jaxx knew it was supposed to mimic a smile, not something you came across often when dealing with the Kelhoon.
“How much he offers will determine my decision,” said Okbak. He didn’t explain who “he” was.
The door creaked open and a man in a full robe, his hood covering his face, walked in. The door shut behind him. He bowed to Okbak, then turned and bowed to Jaxx. A loud, mechanical laugh came from the man, like a saw cutting steel.
Jaxx forced himself to remain absolutely still, in spite of the summersaults his stomach was executing.
The newest visitor to Jaxx’s cell gave a few more cackles and sniffed. He flipped off his hood. It was Taz, his blue-gray skin flaking off his face, and his eyes burned a hole through Jaxx. “Before I hand over the majority of Agadon assets, in exchange for this stinking chunk of human meat, I must ask you, Kajka Okbak, why does my future prisoner have smoke pouring out of his head?”
Okbak curled his lips and narrowed his eyes. He took a deep whiff and eyed Jaxx more closely. He hissed and looked over his shoulder. “Guards!”
21
J-Quadrant, Solar System - Outskirts of Namuh Farms, Callisto
Abdu was playing dead. He had to be.
Rivkah pushed him forward and a rock slipped passed him and to the ground. “Abdu, I need you to move.”
Slade and his Kelhoon grunts had left the cave a few minutes ago, thinking Rivkah and Abdu were dead. It told her that Abdu’s invisible technique indeed worked, and Slade could no longer detect her. She wondered if it meant Jaxx couldn’t find her energy signature as well.
Right now, it didn’t matter. She pushed a rock off of her shoulder, then slid several more off of Abdu. When she did, she touched a gooey liquid on the back of his neck.
The cavern was dark and she couldn’t tell exactly what she was feeling, but her worst fears told her it was Abdu’s blood.
“Please get up.” She jammed her shoulder into his chest and pushed, rolling him away. More rocks cascaded off of him and fell to the cold, stone ground.
She patted his fur, looking for his face. When she felt soft lips and his cat-like nose, she held her hand a few inches away to feel his breath against her palm.
Her heart fell. He wasn’t breathing.
“No, no. Stay with me.” She slapped his chest, then pushed him onto his back and slammed her fists on his sternum. “Come back.” She slid the chains on his torso aside and used her fingers to locate Abdu’s breastbone, where his ribs came together. She placed the heel of one hand on the top of Abdu’s breastbone and laced the fingers of both of her hands together. She used her body as a weight and pressed down, one after the other, performing chest compressions. “I said come back.”
She pressed and he jolted, his arms and legs jerked back and forth. She sat back, lifting her hands off of him. “You awake? You there?”
No reply.
His arms and legs were limp.
She pounded his chest with her fist. “You son of a bitch. Come back to me.” She stood, placing her hands on her hips. She shook her head and glared up at the ceiling. “What the hell?” The lion saved her. He gave up his life for hers. Who would do that for her? She was nothing more than a pile of shit who could kick ass and take names, but that was about it.
Again, why would he die to save her? He deserved to live more than she ever did. He was a good individual who cared about life and had a compassionate heart. Rivkah, on the other hand, wanted revenge, justice, and to just live her life out without anyone bothering her again.
She reared back and kicked a rock. It ricocheted against the cave, echoing against the cave walls. She wiped a tear from her eye and bit her lip, telling herself there would be no more shedding of tears. She was responsible for Abdu’s death and she wasn’t going to let her pity herself for a situation she put them both in, and just to save some little girls and little boys she’d never met. What were they to her? Nothing. What was Abdu? Her friend. He was her dear, dear friend.
She should have just let the kids be. If they were to be placed on the butcher block, then so be it. Traded into slavery? Well, at least some would live.
She let out a scream.
No, she couldn’t fold, couldn’t let those kids be traded away to Death or a life in chains. She didn’t need to know their names to care. She looked down at the huge, gentle Lion she’d grown so fond of. Abdu had saved her to save the kids. She needed to honor his sacrifice. “Might have been better if you’d saved yourself, friend. But if this is the way the chips have fallen, I’ll do it. For you.”
She scrounged in the dark, trying to locate Abdu’s rifle. She felt the tip of the muzzle, kicked rocks off of it, and strapped it over her shoulder. She climbed the rocks to the opening, taking one last look down at the dark silhouette on the ground. “Thank you, Abdu. You’re a true warrior.” She dipped her head in respect and blew a kiss his way. “You saved my life and now I’m going to save some others.”
She crawled through the opening and made her way down the rocks. She dusted herself off, then dashed forward and through a vein in the tunnel that led to the entrance.
It was quiet when she made it outside, and cold as hell. The wind buffeting off the snow, shoving an even bigger chill across her body. It was night, and she could see the glow of Slade’s city beyond the hills. She took a step forward, heading for the children.
22
E-Quadrant, Solar System - Whitefish, Montana
Drew dashed into the basement and grabbed the phaser and nudged a snoring Carl with his foot
Carl opened his eyes, grunted a few incoherent phrases, smacked his lips together, and went back to sleep.
Shit upstairs was getting real and dangerous. Drew did not have time to coddle some crashed-out stoner, but he didn’t want to leave the dude in the basement with purple-blooded aliens on the rampage, either.
Wapoooo! Wapoooo!
Megan’s scream made the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention. The sound of her rifle clattering to the floor didn’t do much for him either. Drew turned and rushed to the staircase, his phaser at the ready. He ran up the first set of stairs and came to the landing and halted. He had no clue what Andrea’s bodyguards were doing, though he could hear them stomping around the bar. He didn’t want to race in and get splatted. He poked his head around the corner. A guard bent to pick up Megan’s rifle.
“Don’t think about it,” yelled Drew, slowly walking up the steps, the stairs creaking at each footfall.
The guard kicked Megan’s rifle across the room and backed away.
Drew couldn’t see Megan. He took another step up. “Megan?”
Andrea walked into view.
“Megan?”
“I’m here,” Megan’s voice was weak.
“Are you alright?” asked Drew, taking another step up. He still couldn’t see her, but her voice told him she was at the far end of the bar.
The guard inched backwards, toward Megan.
Drew trained his weapon on the guy, and again, the guy halted.
“I’ve been better. I’ve got a few flesh wounds is all.
They shot me twice.”
He took another step up. “Where did they hit you?”
“Arm and leg.”
He stepped onto the last stair, seeing Megan on her knees out of the corner of his eye. She was against a wall, clutching her bicep. Blood was dripping down her elbow and to the wooden floor. Her leg was injured too, though it looked like nothing more than a scrape wound.
Drew side stepped toward her, his phaser not moving from the guard. “All three of you, leave.”
“Not without you, Drew,” came Andrea. Her eyes were full of worry. She either was a great actress—like Academy-Award-level good at faking it—or was genuinely concerned about what had just happened. “She was about to pull the trigger, Drew.”
Megan shook her head, her eyes throwing darts of fury at Andrea’s head. “The hell I was.”
Drew bent down next to Megan. “Let’s get you downstairs and bandaged up.”
The stairs creaked. Drew froze and looked up.
P-taff!
A rifle shot. The mirror behind the bar shattered. Drew ducked and Megan fell into him, alarmed.
The guards twisted around, wild eyed, and took aim at the stairs.
Wapoooo! Wapoooo! Wapoooo! Wapoooo!
They sent phaser bolt after phaser bolt as Carl took a step up at the top of the staircase and into view. Phaser charges slammed into his chest and he lurched backwards.
“No, Carl,” shouted Megan, her arm outstretched.
Carl grunted, and the sounds of his body tumbling down the stairs rebounded across the bar.
Drew slumped, knowing the guy was dead. No way could he have survived so many shots to the chest.
Megan scrambled to her feet, her eyes wet with tears. She raced to the staircase. She covered her mouth, her other arm hanging by her side, bloody and useless, and sobbed.
“Put that gun down, Drew,” said Andrea, her hands out. “I’m sorry for Carl. I really am.”
Drew slowly stood. He shifted his gun’s aim on Andrea. “Who are you, really?”
Andrea stepped back, more sorrow in her eyes, more incredible acting accolades in her future. “I am just a friend of your parents. We worked together. They were like parents to me, Drew. I’m to keep you safe. It was your mother’s last wish.”
“Carl’s dead,” hollered Megan. She reappeared at the top of the stairs, her face wild with grief. “Who…why would you do this? The guy wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
The guard by the front entrance marched into the middle of the room and thrust his gun at Megan. “She’s deadweight. We don’t have enough medics to deal with her. We need to get out of here. Now.” He closed one eye and focused his sights on Megan. “Bye.”
Wapoooo!
Drew dropped his gun, stunned. The guard collapsed. Drew’s mouth gaped open. He didn’t mean to. It just happened. He had tapped the trigger, blasting phaser fire into the guard’s chest, killing him instantly.
Wapoooo! Wapoooo!
Drew’s shoulder whipped back and he stumbled into the wall. His legs went weak and he slid down the wall; a line of blood from his shoulder wound streaked down with him. He took a few breaths. His eyes wanted to close. His mind raced. He needed to keep his eyelids open. If he closed them, he’d be toast. He knew that. “I can sleep when I’m dead.” He blinked several times and touched his shoulder. It was listless and numb.
Andrea bull-rushed the guard, knocking the phaser out of his hand. “You idiot.”
The guard pushed her away, then tapped his ear a few times. “We need assistance and now.” He looked at Andrea. “I was protecting us. That’s my job.” He crossed his arms, glaring at Drew. “More guards are on their way. So don’t think about making another move.”
“Drew?” called Megan.
Drew felt the life force seeping out of the wound in his shoulder. The ache in his shoulder was growing. Lethargy crept from the wound down into his chest. He coughed. “Yeah?”
“You’re alive.” There was a sense of relief in her voice.
For a moment, Drew lightened up. Someone in the room cared about him, and that it was someone as pretty as her was a plus. She didn’t move, though. Didn’t run to him like she had with Carl. That wasn’t such a plus.
Drew rested his head on the wall, and shook it back and forth. “Megan, go downstairs until they leave. Lock the door. Patch yourself up.”
“Do as he says,” Andrea chimed in. “Don’t die on account of someone you don’t know.”
The bar door opened and in walked a handful of guards— Andrea’s guards.
“Grab our target, and let’s jet out of here,” said Andrea. She gestured to another guard. “And you, don’t let that young woman come any closer. She’s not an asset.”
A guard grabbed Drew by the collar and twisted, bunching up his shirt. He leaned back and pulled Drew to his feet.
A sudden waive of dizziness overtook Drew and he fell into the man like a drunk.
“Grab Drew’s feet,” said the guard corralling Drew. Someone gripped Drew’s feet and lifted him. The other guard shifted his hands under Drew’s arms.
Drew yelped in pain and squeezed his eyes shut. His shoulder and arm were on fire, and every few seconds a knife-like sensation pierced his chest. This being shot “thing” felt like shit. He considered asking Megan to throw Carl’s dime bag at him so he could smoke a joint to soothe the pain, but before he could form the words, the front door opened and they hurried him outside.
It was dusk, and quiet. No alarms. No bombings. No sound except the shields, which buzzed like an incessant and insistent bee.
Andrea put her hand on Drew’s stomach, and through the lethargic fog taking over his body, he peered up at the brunette doctor. “Where are you taking me?”
“Home, Drew. We’re taking you home.”
“Charlotte?”
She shook her head, sympathy in her eyes. There was more to home than she was saying.
“Where is home?” Drew asked, his head bouncing up and down from the guards’ movement.
“To our ship, then to Callisto.”
Callisto? “The moon?” Slade was on Callisto—his bullshit, shitty-ass father.
He closed his eyes, hoping this was a nightmare, but opened them again almost immediately. He knew he couldn’t wish this away no matter how hard he tried. He had to stay awake in order to stay alive.
They turned down an alleyway and headed for a massive park near the center of the city. “Your ship’s in there?”
“We landed in the park. Yes.”
“How did you get past the shield?”
“A friend of a friend.”
A friend of a friend? What did that mean? He thought for a moment, and in his tired state, remembered a time when a portion of the shield was down for maintenance. It happened right in front of his eyes. A soldier turned off a shield battery in order to, quote unquote, fix a portion of the shield. Did they get through at that very moment?
No shit, Sherlock.
Boots clacked on metal and Drew looked around. He was being carried up a ramp and into a nice-sized ship of some type.
“Andrea, what—” Drew stopped, seeing that she was no longer by his side.
The guards set him down on a cot, then buckled him down, strapping a restraint over his chest, waist, and legs. They pulled tightly, then walked away.
“Where are you taking me?” Drew turned his head, seeing several young children also strapped on cots. They were asleep. But why were children strapped and asleep in the first place? Did their parents know their children were in here? Or, were these the guards’ kids? Two plus two was becoming five. These puzzle pieces weren’t fitting together.
“Hey, Andrea,” called Drew, screaming at the top of his lungs, then gasping in pain from his throbbing shoulder. “What is going on?”
“Drew?”
It was a young girl’s voice.
Drew lifted his head. “Yeah?” What child in Whitefish, Montana could possibly know his name? There was only one. De
ar God, don’t let them have her.
All the kids he could see were still fast asleep.
“Drew, over here.”
Drew looked back toward the door, eyeing a shadow at the base of the ramp. The shadow stepped forward, coming into the light.
It was Mya. She had a strange violet halo around her. She smiled and dipped her head. “Don’t be afraid, Drew. Never be afraid.”
23
J-Quadrant, Solar System - East Rise, Callisto
Kelhoon guards burst into the room, their rifle butts pressed against the crease of their pec and shoulder, aiming at Jaxx, ready to pull the trigger.
“You tricked me.” Okbak crossed his arms, eyeing Jaxx. “I don’t like to be tricked.”
Taz smiled, his brown-stained teeth displayed against the blue tinge of light coming off of the energy bars. “Oh, how I would love to watch you die. Very slow and methodical. But I’m not here to kill you. I have other plans for you. The pyramid network runs through you, Jaxx. And,” he shot a look at Okbak, “our mind control tech is much better than a measly Kelhoon’s tech.” He stepped back and looked Jaxx up and down. “And, who would have imagined that a Being would be a key to the network, let alone a Being’s very own DNA. It’s very clever.”
Okbak’s scales raised on the back of his head, his nostrils flaring. “You insulted me.” He cackled, pressing his hand on his stomach, calming down an instant later. “I like you. You don’t fear me like the Atlanteans and humans.”
“Fear doesn’t exist in my world,” responded Taz. He turned back to Jaxx. “With you in hand, I can manipulate the pyramid network as I please. I will be the decision maker. I will determine who enters the network, where in the galaxy they are transported, and how much they pay me in order to access the network. And, don’t worry, we’ll treat you like a king, because without you, the Agadon controlling the network wouldn’t come to fruition.”
The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga Page 82
