The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga

by Ellis, Brandon

  Damion made his way over to Jaxx, gesturing for him to lower his head down to Damion’s height. He wanted to whisper something in Jaxx’s ear.

  Jaxx bent down.

  Damion lifted up on his tip-toes, whispering, “You’re an idiot. Listen to us. We can make it to the key pyramid if we leave now. But you’ll have to fake-out Mya’s dad.”

  He’d have to fake-out Mya’s dad? What for? It didn’t matter, Jaxx was staying, and he’d convince these kids to do the same.

  “Jaxx,” said Megan. “You haven’t seen the full weight of what these kids can do. Trust them. Go south with us.”

  Jaxx pointed to his chest. “You’d go south even if I don’t go? One, how? Two, why?”

  Together, and not long ago, Damion, Mya, and Jaxx had held hands and closed their eyes, meditating. They had a vision and had all seen why the pyramid network didn’t close on Earth, and that there was a black pyramid underneath Machu Picchu. It was the key pyramid. In the vision, and like the prophecies proclaimed, Jaxx was the only one who could fix the network.

  For the kids, along with Megan and Drew, to go alone would be pointless.

  “We stay here,” said Jaxx, pointing to the ground.

  Mya spoke up. “Deep down, you know what you’re supposed to do.”

  Jaxx paused, thinking. Even if he wanted to stay, he knew his body would pull him to the key pyramid. Somehow, someway. He clenched his fist. He did not want to put the kids in any more danger, but they’d also find a way to get down to South America. He rubbed his chin, trying to bite his tongue. The words came out anyway. “How long would it take to get to Peru?”

  Segarra was taken aback, clearly not liking the idea. “With our propulsion, maybe two hours?”

  “Damn,” Jaxx’s heart fell. “Do you think you could hold off these Agadon for two hours while we make our way to South America?”

  Segarra huffed. “No. Not a chance. They are bringing twice the fleet size as last time and that means more ammunition. The only way we could hold them off is if you and the kids were here with us do your voodoo stuff.” He locked his knees and took a deep breath, flaring out his chest. “I like your plan of going from city to city. It’s sound. It will work. However, you taking the kids, and my kid, down to Peru would get us all killed. And, I’m not permitting such an act.”

  Mya slapped her hands together, getting her father’s attention. “Daddy, but —”

  Segarra cut her off. “Don’t argue, baby doll. I’m the final say with you and this little team of yours, okay? We’ve come upon dangerous times and we need you more than ever.”

  Mya retreated, her body staying put, but slumping. “Okay, fine.”

  Jaxx glanced at Drew. His skin was pale and his breath was shallow. He’d be surprised if the guy had five more hours of life left in him.

  Jaxx’s heart contracted and the knot in his throat expanded. He wanted his little nephew to live, to rule whatever it was that Mya said he was going to rule.

  He pondered for a few precious moments. From what he knew during his archeological days, a pyramid was in fact a healing chamber.

  The shape of the pyramid was like a carbon atom, a tetrahedron, in fact. And that atom, when aligned to magnetic north, hummed for some reason. He’d never gotten past that mystery.

  Pyramids had another amazing characteristic — all of them, whether they were in Egypt or somewhere else on the planet, always aligned to magnetic north, which may be why the limestone blocks chimed when hit with a hammer. Sound had an amazing healing property within itself. Because of the gravitational pull inside a pyramid, the energy inside is enhanced, bringing with it positive ions, and any negative ions trying to invade the pyramid walls, were instantly converted into positive ions — another pyramid anomaly.

  And since a pyramid shape acts like a lens, the gravity pull and the way the positive ions interact with the pull, a pyramid enhances the magnetism inside and around it. In that way, it lifts the ground it sits upon and lifts the ground 180 degrees on the other side of the earth at exactly the same latitude. At least, that’s what his theory suggested, which would make sense, and perhaps that’s why pyra means fire in greek, and mede means middle in latin — “fire in the middle.”

  Put Drew in the middle of the pyramid and he’d have a better chance at healing? While in the pyramid, the kids could run their energies on Drew as well. That could be the way to save his nephew’s life. It was a long shot, but it was all they had.

  He turned and faced Segarra. “Your daughter is right. We have to go.”

  Segarra stared ominously at Jaxx, his eyes like rifles aiming at Jaxx’s pupils. He cleared his throat. “Okay, Jaxx. Let me tell you what you’re going to do.” He thumbed over his shoulder. “There is a room back there that I’ll put you, my daughter, and the two other children in. The moment the Agadon enter our airspace, we’ll shoot them down with your magical powers. Do you understand?”

  Jaxx chewed his bottom lip. How was he going to explain this to Segarra without a struggle or violence, especially in front of his daughter? “Have you seen what I could do to the Agadon…by myself?”

  Segarra nodded, knowing where he was going with this. Jaxx could knock Segarra out easily.

  “Good.” He stepped forward.

  Leaning backward in an attempt to avoid a potential punch, Segarra put his hand on Jaxx’s chest, stopping him from moving. “You have your orders.”

  Jaxx glanced at Mya, bringing his fingers into a fist, ready to knock out Segarra and anyone else that stood in their way. Mya’s eyes were full of panic and she withdrew, slightly bending over and looking up at the scene between him and her dad. She tucked her hands between her legs. She mouthed, “Please, no.”

  Jaxx dipped his head in her direction and uncurled his fingers. He let out a gush of air. “Fine. We’ll do what you ask. Where is the room?”

  “Excellent.” Segarra side-glanced over his shoulder. “Gatto.”

  “Yes, sir.” A young man, curly hair, rushed up next to Segarra, his back straight, his eyes forward. Perfect posture.

  “Send this man, my daughter, and those two kids to conference room four.”

  “Yes, sir.” Gatto put his arm out. “This way.”

  * * *

  The room was white walled, had no windows, and included a table. Master Sergeant Segarra wasn’t in sight. Yet, Gatto stood quietly by the door, quietly waiting for Segarra to come back.

  Megan and Drew were in the room as well. Drew’s eyes were sunken and shadowed. There was a pale sheen to his skin.

  He wasn’t long for this world.

  If Jaxx’s thoughts and theories were correct, then the pyramid was Drew’s last chance. It could heal him. And they had about ten minutes to find a way out of here under Segarra’s nose before the Agadon arrived in Denver airspace.

  Jaxx and the kids were spread around the table, all sitting. Lily gave Jaxx a slight head nod, her eyes as innocent as Mya’s, her courage bigger than her body — bigger than Jaxx’s.

  She nonchalantly stood and made her way to Jaxx. She whispered in Jaxx’s ear. “He won’t shoot us.”

  Jaxx shot her an odd look.

  She continued, “Get up and walk out. He won’t shoot that gun at us.”

  Jaxx eyed the rifle that Gatto held across his chest.

  Gatto’s brows furrowed. “What’s the little girl saying?”

  Jaxx stood. “Let’s go, kids.”

  Mya and Damion pushed their chairs out and stood next to Lily, as if they knew exactly what was happening.

  Megan paused from stroking Drew’s forearm, no doubt waiting for the inevitable — Drew’s death. “What’s going on?”

  “Follow me,” said Jaxx, strutting past the wild eyed Gatto and reaching for the door knob.

  Gatto sprang into action, dropping his rifle on the floor, and lunged for Jaxx’s outreached arm. “You can’t do that.” He wrapped his fingers around Jaxx’s wrist.

  Jaxx brought his Chi up, bringing a fierce he
at into his arm.

  Gatto jerked back, wiggling his hand and cringing in pain. “What did you do?” he cried.

  Jaxx ignored him and opened the door. “This way, kids.” He motioned for Megan to follow.

  They slowly made their way down the hall — nothing to see here.

  Gatto bolted out of the room, holding his hand and speaking into his com device attached to his shoulder fatigue. “Master Sergeant Segarra, we have a situation.”

  Jaxx and the kids continued to walk away, Megan behind them and pushing Drew in his wheelchair.

  Gatto rushed after Jaxx and moved around Megan, grabbing the back of Jaxx’s shirt. “Excuse me, sir.”

  Another soldier walked by, watching the situation with a curious eye. He turned, walking backwards, making sure everything was okay.

  Gatto pulled on Jaxx even more. “Someone, let Master Sergeant Segarra know that his daughter has left the conference room.”

  Jaxx twisted, squeezed the man’s arm, and threw him over his shoulder. Gatto landed with a thud. Jaxx held on to the man’s arm and pressed his knee on the young grunt’s chest. He bent down, quickly unholstered Gatto’s sidearm and aimed it at the other guard, though keeping his eyes hellbent on Gatto. “Move on,” Jaxx ordered the other Marine. “I can do things to you that you don’t want to experience.”

  Footsteps were coming from around the corner.

  “Gatto here wants to survive,” said Jaxx. “If you want to aid in his survival, then please step in front of us and lead us outside the library. Do you understand?”

  “Don’t do it,” said a breathy Gatto. Jaxx pressed his knee harder into his chest. “Okay, okay.”

  Jaxx let up.

  The other soldier did as told, mumbling, “You aren’t going to get far.”

  The footsteps came closer and a trio of men in fatigues raced by them, heading to who-knows-where.

  “Go,” whispered Jaxx loudly.

  The men walked forward, leading Jaxx, Megan, Drew, and the children to the main entrance.

  Jaxx grinned. “Thank you, gentlemen.” He opened the door, letting the children exit first and then Megan, wheeling Drew along for the ride.

  Jaxx kept his eyes on the men, making sure they didn’t bolt in order to squeal to Segarra…just yet. “Okay, you may go and tattle on us now.” He wiggled his fingers. “Go, go. Scat.” He let the door shut behind him and followed his group down the ramp, the fresh air swirling around his skin.

  A dozen transports, futuristic helicopters, and starfighters were parked out front.

  None were occupied.

  As Jaxx knew all too well, nothing was ever this easy.

  25

  Denver, Colorado

  Jaxx entered a large Marine air transport — wings folded back, ion boosters above and below the tail, wide cabin, and a ramp at the rear. He rushed to the cockpit as the rest of his rag-tag group headed up the transport’s ramp. The Marines would be on them in a matter of minutes, if not sooner.

  “Hey,” yelled a Marine from the top of the library stairs near the entrance. “You are not autho—”

  Jaxx slammed his fist on the open and close ramp button. It closed shut, cutting the Marine off in mid-sentence.

  Megan wheeled Drew next to a seat, locked his wheels, and sat by his side. Even though Megan didn’t volunteer to be Drew’s caretaker at the end of his life, Jaxx thought she was doing an outstanding job, especially under these horrific circumstances.

  The kids sat and buckled in. Mya gave a thumbs up and Jaxx couldn’t help but smile, giving her a thumbs up as well.

  He switched on the engines. The transport purred as the ion drives woke up, humming inside the cabin and cockpit. He checked his gauges. All looked fine and dandy, but he also didn’t have several minutes to check if everything was perfect.

  They had to get out of here as fast as they could.

  “Here we go.” He lifted the craft into the air, changed the craft’s thruster feed, and shot forward. “We have maybe a minute or two before the Agadon enter Denver locality.”

  “Will we get out of Denver in time?” asked Megan.

  “No idea.” Jaxx gunned the craft, the city zipping by as if it was being pulled by a train and in the opposite direction as Jaxx.

  The com line blared. “God dammit, Jaxx.” It was Segarra. “You have stolen my daughter and our air vessel. Turn around and we’ll be kind to you. Don’t, and we’ll shoot you down.”

  “Your daughter is on board, sir,” responded Jaxx.

  Segarra’s irate bluff was a shitty-ass one.

  There was a pause. “True. What you are doing Jaxx is putting my daughter and those children in danger. The Agadon will arrive any moment now and you leave us defenseless. I will be filing Article 15, UCMJ and corrective action will be administered to you by a court of law when you get back.”

  There was no court of law at the moment and right now, screw Segarra. He switched the com line off.

  Mya sat more forward in her seat. “Was that Daddy?”

  Jaxx nodded. “He was a little mad.”

  Mya smiled and threw her hand in the air. “He gets like that sometimes.”

  “Will your dad and the Marines be okay, Mya?” asked Jaxx. It was a legitimate question, because leaving the base was killing Jaxx more than he showed. He wanted to help out his fellow troops.

  Yet, he had his own demons chasing him. He wanted his last living relative to survive. He wanted to end this Agadon misery for good. He wanted peace, plain and simple.

  He veered the craft to the right, punching his destination into the holographic console. On the map, a line drew from Denver to Machu Picchu, then blinked at the destination, and faded away. The coordinates had been locked, and they were on their way.

  Lightning splashed across the sky and thunder roared. The transport shuddered and dipped just as dark clouds moved across the firmament. The Agadon were back.

  A large ship, more like a star cruiser, burst through the clouds. Thousands of small starfighters surrounded it, heading right for the library.

  A growl-sound slashed across the sky and two more star cruisers, also with smaller vessels, frigates, and starfighters ripped through the heavens.

  Jaxx swallowed. This was as bad as it got.

  One, the base — the library and museum that was housing the Marines and their defense — were screwed. There was no way they’d be able to defend against such a large fleet.

  Two, Jaxx’s transport was directly between the base and the coming armada. He’d have to create a flight plan around it. But, from the last time he did something similar, it didn’t work out to his advantage.

  He brought up the map and keyed in a new flight path. He locked it in.

  “Megan,” said Jaxx. “Take over the controls.”

  Megan’s mouth gaped open. “No can do, Jaxx. I’ve only flown small engine aircraft, and that was years ago and with my father. He did most of the work.”

  “It’s on autopilot, steering us to the key pyramid. You won’t have to do anything but look at the engine battery charges and make sure the shields are up and constant,” Jaxx replied, finishing under his breath, “What little shields this ship has.”

  Megan put her hands on her knees, pushing up. “Why?” She stared at the incoming enemy. “I can’t do shit against them.” Her eyes darted from Jaxx to the armada and back to Jaxx again. “We’re sure as shit dead, aren’t we?”

  “Not if I can help it.” He walked over to Megan and snapped his fingers at the cockpit seat, gesturing for her to take her helm at the wheel.

  Megan inhaled sharply. “I’ll do my best.” She took a glance at Drew and exhaled. “We’ll need a miracle.”

  “That’s precisely what I have in mind.” He walked over to the children and crouched. “Kids. I have an idea.”

  26

  Denver, Colorado

  “We’re heading toward an entire fleet of Agadon. As you know, they mean us harm.” Jaxx looked deeply in each of the children�
�s eyes. His words didn’t faze them. The Agadon may want Jaxx alive, but they sure as shit wanted Jaxx’s helpers dead. The way things had been going, the Agadon would blow this craft out of the sky, knowing Jaxx would somehow survive whatever they threw at him, but also figuring they’d end everything and anything else inside this transport.

  Mya blinked and both Lily and Damion turned their heads in her direction, waiting for her to speak. “We know and we also know you’re scared, Jaxx. We can feel it.”

  “What I want us to do is hold hands, close our eyes, and concentrate. We’ll shut down as many Agadon brains and bodies as we can, making them and their ships fall out of the sky.” He felt his blood starting to rush, his heart pounding faster, and his Chi rising.

  Mya shook her head. “It shortens our life when we do that. It also wouldn’t work on so many of those flying things out there.” She pointed at the cockpit window.

  Jaxx turned. The Agadon were coming closer at a quicker pace. He had steered his craft away from the incoming fleet, but a portion of that fleet had broken off, heading his way.

  Damion touched Jaxx’s arm. “Only a little bit of them are coming in our direction. We can take on that small amount, right Mya?”

  Mya shook her head again. “But it hurts them and will hurt us a lot.”

  “We’ll turn them off and they’ll turn back on someplace else,” said Jaxx, speaking in a matter of fact tone, as if he knew 100% for sure that’s what the Agadon did. Their bodies died, but their A/I consciousness seeks out another unused Agadon body someplace else.

  Mya nodded. She closed her eyes, concentrating. “I’m not permitted.”

  Jaxx slapped his chest. “But I am.” Jaxx had no idea who permitted what and why, but Mya said she wasn’t permitted and that was that. So, he’d permit himself. “All I’ll need is your help.”

  Mya put her hands out. “Touch my hands, Jaxx, but not Lily’s or Damion’s.”

  Jaxx put out his hands and closed his eyes, his chin coming down to his chest. A sensation vibrated through his spinal cord and seeped into his spinal fluid. In his mind’s eye, he could see latent DNA open, sending electric signals from one nerve synapse to another, and on and on, like a domino effect; synapses connected, latent DNA opened.