He raced to the truck and jumped in, Gunner leaping and landing on his lap, then climbing to the back seat. The passenger door opened and Francine sat down, shaking like it was below zero. Kip turned on the ignition and put his foot on the gas. Gravel shot out from under his wheels as he spun the truck around and down his long driveway.
He didn’t know their names. He didn’t want to know their names. All he knew was some blue-skinned aliens, large as friggin’ black bears, had landed on his property. Where they went next, he didn’t care, as long as they didn’t follow him. They were Jaxx’s problem, his dream had told him so.
“Sure as sugar hope that Jaxx fellow is ready, because there’s more where they came from.”
He took a left at the end of the driveway, heading north.
Enigma Atlantis
Ascendant Saga Book 5
Copyright © 2018
Brandon Ellis
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Names used in this novel do not represent the personalities, traits, or mental and physical characteristics to real persons, living or dead, with the same name.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner.
All rights reserved. Version 1.03.
Edited by Kate Pickford
Published by BookLily Press, LLC
Website: www.brandonelliswrites.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/brandonellis1212
1
South of Whitefish, Montana
A missile-shaped projectile twisted and flew over the forest trees with blue flames screaming out its back. It rotated and turned toward the small town. It picked up speed, pitched, and descended.
Woohoompa!
It slammed into the street separating two office buildings.
A vacuum-like energy sucked downward upon impact. The structures shook ferociously and fell toward one another.
Krackooh!
Red and yellow fire exploded toward the sky with a small mushroom cloud of debris and smoke following closely behind. The impact’s energy quickly shifted and shot outward, pushing the buildings away.
People shrieked in terror, their screams carrying to the wooded Montana highlands where Jaxx stood.
Jaxx furrowed his brow and his lips drew downward. “The first city we come upon and the Agadon are already ravaging it to hell and back.” He scratched his chin, thinking how this never-ending war, combat, and death had dominated his life for the past several months.
He just wanted it to be done and over with. A ball of pulsing hot rage filled his stomach.
Mya touched his hand. The six-year-old looked up at him, her touch soft and delicate. “We have to stop them, Jaxx. They are hurting people.”
Jaxx grimaced, his anger not subsiding an ounce. “More like killing people, Mya.” He touched the top of her head. “Stay here, okay?” He glanced over his shoulder at his genius journalist nephew, Drew, and his gal-pal from Whitefish, Megan. “Keep Mya safe. Do you understand?”
Drew took a step forward, the dry broken branches and needles crunching under his feet. He pushed a tree limb out of the way. “Will do, Jaxx. You be safe as well.”
Mya vehemently shook her head. “You’re not supposed to do this alone. I have to be with you wherever you go.”
Jaxx cracked his knuckles, shaking his head as fiercely as Mya. “Hell no.” Jaxx wouldn’t let that happen. Mya was just a kid. She may have powers like him, but she wasn’t experienced in war — other than what she had been forced to witness happening around her. “When we find the kid in that city down there — the one that you say is like you — then we’re bringing you and him to safety. And that will be somewhere far away from any combat.”
“After getting this boy, there is one more we have to find. We need three,” explained Mya, her eyes wide, her voice innocent.
Another explosion ripped through the town. Jaxx flinched as more cries echoed from the city and bounced off the forested hill they stood upon.
Suffering of any kind, let alone from women and children hollering bloody murder, didn’t sit well with Jaxx. It needed to end and it needed to end now.
He clenched his fists, ready to move down the hill to stop the misery below. He pointed at the city, wanting to get one more thing straight before he rushed down there to beat the shit out of a few Agadon scum. “Okay, so you say the second child is somewhere in that town. Where exactly is the third child?” He hoped the third was sitting next to the second. It’d make things a hell of a lot easier.
“There are many children in the world like me. The second is down there. The next closest child, and the third one we’re looking for is…” Mya pointed to Jaxx’s left.
“That’s south,” said Drew.
Jaxx bent down and drew a line in the dirt with his index finger, staring at Mya. “Don’t pass this, okay?” He glanced at Megan and Drew. “Actually, no one pass this point. I’ll be back with the child.”
“You won’t know what he looks like,” said Megan, her eyes steely. Jaxx could tell she didn’t like being told what she could or couldn’t do. But this wasn’t a game they were playing. This was real blood, sweat, and death.
Woohoompa!
Jaxx flinched. A bright light highlighted his face and a concussion reverberated across the town, roaring loudly. The rumble died down a few seconds later.
Jaxx turned to leave. “We don’t have time. Stay here.”
Drew huffed and walked over to Mya, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Jaxx, listen to me. I’d suggest following Mya’s lead. She knows what she’s doing…intuitively. She’ll know where the kid that we’re looking for is.”
If the child had an aura like Mya, violet with rainbow flecks throughout, then Jaxx was confident he could find the child. It would be a quick in and out.
“Stay.” Jaxx put his hands together and bowed, much like Kiyo-zan, his old Japanese-looking friend from planet Taiyo, used to do. Kiyo-zan was a wiz behind the cockpit and as tough as it gets in hand to hand combat. How he wished Kiyo-zan was still alive and with him now, but he had been killed by Colonel Slade Roberson’s hand. That asshole was also deader than a damn doornail.
Today Jaxx was getting his way, no matter what. He dipped his head, his lips straight and tight. He rushed down the hill and toward the shattered town a little less than a mile away.
Vvvvzzzzzshh!
An Agadon starfighter zipped overhead, its ion afterburners humming loudly. It dipped its nose toward the city, letting out ion lasers and photon slugs across a city block.
Zoopha! Zoopha!
It shot two more times before pulling up.
Chunks of buildings and homes flew into the air, the lasers and slugs stripping wood and concrete like it was mere Styrofoam.
“Those evil bastards,” growled Jaxx, forcing his legs as fast as they could go, the wind racing through his hair, and his Chi rising. It felt good to be back on Earth. Well, as good as it could get with Agadon chipping away at his old home world.
Reaching the outskirts of the city, he jumped over a steel gate that wrapped around someone’s yard.
Wapoooh!
A photon bolt slammed into an oak tree beside him. The tree’s branches and leaves lit up in fire, licking red and yellow flames toward the heavens. A loud crack pierced the area and Jaxx spun away, barely missing a falling branch.
The Agadon knew he was here. But he didn’t have time to see who fired that shot.
He ran toward a sidewalk circling a building. He rounded the corner and dug his heels into the ground, coming to a skidding halt. His heart fell.
Agadon upon Agadon were marching down the street, their cannons in hand, lighting the town up, blasting round after round of photon charges. De
ad people were strewn about, blood oozing from their wounds, coloring the sidewalks, darkening the road.
He took in a deep breath. Up ahead were two Agadon, their backs to Jaxx, and unaware of Jaxx’s presence — for the moment. He wouldn’t want to keep the party waiting, so he best let them know he was around.
He rushed forward and jumped, his arms splayed outward, his legs flexed. One arm snagged the back of an Agadon’s neck and his other hand palmed the back of the other Agadon’s skull. Upon contact, Jaxx drew his arms together, mimicking a butterfly press.
The Agadon’s heads came together, cracking loudly. The soldiers collapsed to the ground.
Wapoooh! Wapoooh!
Jaxx dove and rolled. Two photon charges whizzed over his head. He exhaled loudly. No way would Mya be able to handle this and survive. What was Drew thinking?
Jaxx leaped behind a car.
Wapooh!
Another shot rang out, penetrating the car Jaxx hid behind. The car lifted a few feet into the air and tipped to the side and away from Jaxx. It landed and bounced, tumbling on its roof, and turning into a ball of flames.
He quickly got up and raced toward a building, heading for cover and out of the Agadon’s line of sight.
A blast cracked open the ground behind him, pelting the soles of his boots with soot and rock. He slid to the building and rested his back against it. He peeked around the corner. An Agadon marching in his direction immediately fired. Jaxx ducked back around and the projectile whizzed by.
He rubbed his sweaty hands on his jumpsuit pants. He’d worn the same jumpsuit on Starship Atlantis, on planet Leonia, on planet Taiyo, and even on Callisto. He smelled his armpits. Was that rotting fish that wafted through the air or his smell? He knew the answer right away. “God, I need a shower.”
He peeked around the corner again. More Agadon troops were coming his way. “I got myself into a little pickle, didn’t I.”
Just above him, a ladder extended ten feet down from a balcony. The bottom rung was still a good four or five feet out of reach. He crouched and jumped, grabbing ahold of the rung. He wrapped his fingers tightly and thrust his arm upward, catching the next rung up. Chi for the win.
The sounds of Agadon feet came closer. Any minute now and they’d be rounding the building, catching him in a climb toward a balcony. He was a sitting duck…or rather, a climbing duck.
He moved fast and furiously until he made it over the railing and to the terrace. He spun around, seeing a window to an apartment. He hurried over and pushed up.
It was locked. “Shit.” Breaking it open would let the Agadon know exactly where he was, either by sound or sight.
The Agadon’s clunky footsteps came closer, pounding against the street like jack hammers. Apparently, they didn’t know that stealth was a concept.
Jaxx glanced through the window, making sure that no one — especially the Agadon — were inside. Other than couches, a television set, and a table with lamps and other mementos throughout the small living room, the place looked empty.
He went to open it again.
Kikishish!
“Dammit.”
The glass broke from the force of his upward thrust. He forgot the Chi was still running through him. He shook his head in annoyance and leaned back, placing his hands on the balcony railings, and kicked the remaining shards of glass out of the window frame.
“Jaxx?”
Stunned that someone knew his name, he looked behind him and down at the concrete below.
An Agadon stared up at him. Laughter, sounding like a chainsaw cutting through metal, followed. “It is you.”
Jaxx jumped through the window and into the living room. The Agadon’s voice sounded familiar. Was that Taz, the Agadon who had given him so many fits through this recent journey from planet to planet that Jaxx had been on? Jaxx shook his head. It couldn’t be. The guy was dead. He raced to the kitchen, opening drawer after drawer, frantically looking for a knife. Whoever spoke his name was no doubt climbing up to this apartment right now.
“There,” he said, pulling out a butcher knife. It wasn’t the best to do the job, but if he needed it, it would do to protect him — if his fists couldn’t do the job.
He rushed to the window, his eyes narrowed, his mind determined to stop the blue-faced piece of shit with that metallic laughter.
He reached the broken window, his hand gripping the knife’s handle tightly, and readied to defend himself in close-to-close combat.
He stepped back, his lower lip protruding. “Where did you go?” The Agadon was gone. He paused, listening. “Well, where the hell did every Agadon go?” The explosions, deathly yells and screams that filled the town had evaporated.
Everything was silent.
“Drop your weapon.”
Well, apparently, not that silent.
Jaxx twirled around, his knife by his side and ready.
A man aiming a small pistol at Jaxx’s chest was standing in the room, the main door to the apartment was behind him and closed. The guy’s cheeks were wet, his eyes bloodshot, and his face scraped with fresh wounds. “They killed my family.”
Jaxx dropped his knife, a pain engulfing his heart for the man in front of him. The Agadon had killed almost everyone here, except this man, and hopefully not the kid he was supposed to locate and take back to the hill where Mya and the rest were.
Jaxx’s breath came quick and shallow. “I’m so sorry.” He didn’t know if the guy thought he meant it, but it sure as hell didn’t register any kind of emotion coming from the man.
The guy lifted his gun, targeting Jaxx between the eyes. His arms shook and his lips quivered. “Are you one of them?”
Jaxx slowly shook his head. “I’m not. I’m a human. I’m here to help you.”
“Are you one of them shapeshifter aliens?” He looked Jaxx up and down, noticing his ripped muscles. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?” His mouth came up into a smile, as if he finally had a target, finally had the piece of revenge he was seeking.
“No, trust me. I’m not.”
The door behind the man burst open. The guy twisted around, yelping loudly in surprise. He pulled the trigger.
Phhtah!
A bullet shot from the gun’s barrel and smoke rose from the muzzle.
Jaxx’s eyes went wide, seeing who’d just been hit. “No,” Jaxx screamed, grabbing the man in front of him, and pulling him back. He brandished the gun and threw it out of the window in one quick sweeping motion. “Help him.”
2
South of Whitefish, Montana
Drew was on the wooded covered hill, leaning up against a tree, in awe at what he saw.
Jaxx, his uncle, his own blood — his damn mother’s brother — had rushed into combat as if it was nothing, smashing two Agadon heads together like it was as simple as riding a bike. He then continued into the battle, dodging weapon’s fire, rolling away from explosions, and doing shit Drew had only seen make-believe super heroes perform.
Megan stood next to Drew, her mouth gaping open as well. Mya was crouched at the edge of the tree-covered hill, looking down at a town being rampaged by blue alien dudes with nothing better to do but end innocent lives.
A building crumbled to the ground as an energy bomb dropped from another starfighter. The hill quaked and the tree’s shook back and forth, and Megan braced against Drew. Mya didn’t move an inch, though. She was grounded to her spot, most likely using her mind-bending powers.
Mya inched forward. Drew could tell she wanted to be down there with Jaxx. But Jaxx was right. If they could keep Mya safe, then all the better. She was only six years old, after all.
Mya turned, her eyes welled up. “They’re doing mean things to the people down there.” She put her head in her hands. “I don’t want to hurt the bad people. Do I have to, Drew? Do I have to?”
Drew didn’t know the answer. He knew that Master Sergeant Angel Segarra, her father, would send her into town to end the blue-gray Agadon pricks down there without as
much as batting an eye. But Segarra, thank God, wasn’t here.
“Let Jaxx deal with them, Mya. Okay?”
Mya nodded, her lower lip trembling.
Megan touched Drew’s arm, soothing him immediately. Maybe she liked him? Or, maybe he was growing on her? This woman was gorgeous. No, beyond gorgeous. And she was right here with Drew, side by side, like peas in a pod.
One look at her and Drew knew it wasn’t a loving touch.
Megan spoke up, “Drew, we have to go down there. If she can do something to end the disaster in that city, then she must.”
Drew thought for a moment, then glanced at Mya. His heart skipped a beat and he dashed forward, yanking Megan’s hand away from his arm. “Where did she go?”
Before Megan could answer, he spotted Mya racing down the hill and toward the city. “Shit. Not good.” He turned to tell Megan to stay, only to feel her brush against his body as she rushed down the hill after the little girl.
Mya looked back at Megan and Drew with a smile on her face. “I found the little boy. I know where he is.”
Drew pounded his legs down the grassy hill as fast they would take him, trying to catch Mya.
She made it to the same gate that Jaxx did when he first entered the city. “I found the boy who will help us. He and I will connect with Jaxx to beat the bad guys.” She backed up, ran, and hurdled the gate like she was jumping over a small rock.
Drew knew there was more to it than simply connecting up and beating the bad guys, but again, she was six years old and even though her communication was better than most children her age, her explanations were still young in nature. She wasn’t spilling the whole story. And Drew, being a journalist, needed the entire enchilada.
Megan made it to the gate before Drew and climbed over, landing on the other side. She gathered herself and ran after Mya.
The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga Page 92
