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

by Ellis, Brandon

“As best we can be,” muttered Megan, pulling Drew onto cabin seat and strapping him in. She hopped over a seat’s back rest and sat down, promptly clipping herself in as well. “Got it.”

  Jaxx checked the location on the console display. “We’re over Mexico City.” He swallowed. “Holy hell, that was fast.” He checked his display. He was far ahead of Taz.

  He slammed his foot on the cockpit floor, accidentally using it as a brake where there was none. Up ahead was a vast horizon of Agadon ships. Smoke billowed up from the city below, the Agadon fleet making mincemeat out of the Mexicans below.

  He wanted to help, but one man against an entire armada wasn’t going to get him anywhere, especially in a craft that didn’t have any weapons and one being chased by an Agadon.

  He veered west, heading toward the Pacific Ocean, doing his best to duck out of sight.

  He moved the throttle forward, taking the craft faster. “Are you all okay back there?”

  “Yeah,” said the kids simultaneously.

  A loud beep sounded.

  He checked the holodisplay and his gut fell, then twisted in knots, and came straight back into his abdomen. He pounded the console, shaking his head in dismay. “Part of the fleet broke off and are heading our way.”

  There was no way they could make it now. He was still a little frail from his last successful attempt at downing a shitload of Agadon ships with his powers, and doing so now would put him completely out of commission.

  He banked his ship to the south, heading for Peru.

  “Jaxx?” said a metallic voice over the com line.

  “Taz?” Jaxx responded.

  “Yep, your best buddy, Taz. I finally found your radio frequency.”

  Jaxx moved the throttle, checking the engine’s heat gauge. It was overheating, yet it was putting distance between him and the other ships.

  “What is it, Taz?”

  “I’ll call the starfighters off if you land. You and I can go at it mono e mono.”

  One, how did Taz know that term. Two, he was putting quite the distance between him and everyone else, so how would this be a benefit to Jaxx?

  “No can do, Taz.”

  Taz laughed. “So be it.”

  In a span of a couple of seconds, the ships he thought he was outrunning, suddenly sped up, including Taz. They’d be on his ass in a matter of minutes.

  29

  Isla Santa Cruz, Puerto Ayora

  Jaxx flew over the island of Peurto Ayora, according to the Agadon on board navigation system. He’d never heard of that island before and from the blur that it was, he couldn’t tell if it was inhabited or not.

  “Okay, fine. Agreed,” yelled Jaxx. “Mono e mono.”

  Megan leaned forward. “Don’t, Jaxx.”

  Taz came over the line again. “Excellent. I’ve let my pilots know to fall back.”

  Jaxx checked his radar. Taz was good on his word and the rest of the starfighters, minus Taz’s own ship, had turned around, most likely heading back to Mexico City.

  Mya huffed. “Jaxx can take him.”

  “We’ll land in Peru, Taz.” Jaxx slowed his craft, the heat sensors moving from the red into the yellow.

  “Why are you going to this Peru place, anyway, Jaxx?” asked Taz.

  Jaxx bit his lip. How should he answer this question? Tell him that he was going to a pyramid that would suck Taz’s entire race into a twirling vortex, no matter where they were on the planet, and send them back from where they came?

  Or, should he lie…again? He hated lying. A lie was always caught soon enough.

  “To get my friends away from any more harm.”

  “That’s not why, Jaxx. You know it. I can see it in your brain activity?”

  Jaxx touched his hair, feeling his skull underneath. “The hell you can. We’re trying to get away from you guys, but you assholes won’t leave us alone.”

  He steered the transport over land, reaching Talara, Peru. A long beach lined by tall buildings and surrounded by greenery came into view.

  “Jaxx, Jaxx, Jaxx. My friend. I am not just a biological entity that can see the world outside of me and you, I can also see what’s inside of you, such as your brain waves, patterns, and nuances.” He chuckled. “I can scan your brain, which I’m doing constantly while I’m tracking you and following you during this flight. I don’t have the psychic abilities to read minds like a few of your passengers, but I do have the ability to use the power that you use and effectively, and in so doing, I can see what your brain is doing right now.”

  Jaxx punched in Machu Picchu on the global positioning system built into the console, making sure he was on the correct trajectory.

  Yes. His map blipped on and the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machu Picchu District pulled up. It was northwest of Cuzco.

  “You’re ignoring me, Jaxx,” came Taz. “I know you can hear me. To imbue my point more thoroughly and logically, I can detect three areas of your brain becoming more active during deception: the anterior cingulated cortex, the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, and the parietal cortex. The anterior cingulated cortex is in charge of monitoring errors. The dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex controls behavior. The parietal cortex processes sensory input.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “When those portions are in the red, you’re lying.”

  Jaxx intuited this as truth, but he remained quiet. The closer he came to his destination, the better.

  They were now over the Andes Mountains in Pangoa, Peru.

  “You’re not responding. That leaves me with nothing else to do but disintegrate you in the sky,” growled Taz. “Bye, Jaxx. I tried to keep you alive.”

  Jaxx switched off the com line, his hands gripping the control stick like it was trying to run away. He knew Taz was bluffing, but it wouldn’t stop Taz from shooting him down to slow him down. A drop of perspiration rolled down his temple. “Everyone, brace.”

  Taz was closer and easily in range to throw whatever weapon he wanted at Jaxx. And Taz threw them all.

  Every siren, beep, and whistle went off in the cockpit and Jaxx put his craft into a dive, seeing Peru’s greenery rush up to him like a volcano bulging and ready to spew.

  Kackaroom!

  His ship shook like an 8.0 earthquake and sparks lit up the ship’s rear ramp, blowing a hole about five feet in diameter.

  The wind came rushing in, drowning out all sound. Jaxx’s hair and clothes whipped back and forth. His heart wept, knowing some of his passengers, if not all, probably didn’t make it. Yet, he didn’t have time to check for survivors as he was heading in for a crash landing, whether Jaxx liked it or not.

  He quickly glanced at the altimeter, doing his best to keep the craft from spinning out of control. He bared down, narrowing his eyes. He had to concentrate, no matter what.

  Thirteen-hundred feet.

  He reduced the throttle, hearing another bang blast inside the cabin. Another direct hit. Taz was barreling faster toward them.

  He reduced the throttle, easing the thrust to his ion engines, and lifted the nose up three degrees, not enough to lift him higher in the air, but enough to slow this flying machine down.

  A roar rumbled through the ship and he caught a glimpse of Taz’s craft flying on by. Taz bucked back around, turning on a dime, most likely wanting to end this hunt once and for all with a few well targeted shots.

  Six-hundred and thirty-one feet to impact.

  Jaxx had to get to the ground faster.

  He armed the spoilers on the wings, reducing air speed and descent. He dropped the skids from the belly, using it to increase the craft’s drag to decrease speed even more, and to drop the craft lower.

  Two-hundred and eleven feet from the ground.

  The crack and pops of treetops slamming into the nose and wings reverberated through the ship. Jaxx bounced up and down, doing his best to steer this thing away from any jagged rocks that may show themselves.

  Whackoosh!

  Before he knew it, he hit a thin river, water sp
lashing up in all directions. His craft continued to move, sliding across the rocks and small trees and bushes on the shoreline, until the river deepened and drug him to a halt. He jerked forward, then fell back into his seat, his restraints pulling hard.

  He glanced up, seeing that his ship was floating in a wide river bowl. A waterfall twenty or so yards was in front of him, plummeting into the big drink.

  He took a deep breath, blinking his eyes, trying to calm his inner thoughts — the worst of which was telling him to turn and check out his crew. He didn’t want to.

  He unstrapped and stood. He turned around, observing the cabin.

  His mouth gaped open.

  30

  Andes Mountains, Peru

  Mya, Lily, and Damion, were sitting cross-legged on their seats, their eyes closed, and their hands on their knees.

  Drew was slumped in his seat and Megan’s eyes told a thousand stories, but mostly asked the question, “How did we survive?”

  Jaxx was asking himself the same thing.

  But everyone was holy-shit alive.

  Impossible.

  Mya opened her eyes, and the rest of the children followed suit. “We made it.” She smiled.

  “What did you do?” asked Jaxx.

  “Something you should have done,” replied Damion. “We put a prayer of protection around the ship. And we imagined a ball of light surrounding all of us and keeping us safe.”

  “It worked,” said Jaxx.

  “We think,” replied Mya. “Or we were lucky.”

  A rumble penetrated the sky. Taz was circling around.

  Jaxx hurried to the cockpit, turning off all engines and cutting power. It would hide their heat signature, but who was he fooling? A line of downed trees and a big ship resting in the middle of a river wouldn’t be hard to spot.

  “We gotta go.” Jaxx spotted Drew’s wheelchair. It was resting on its side. It didn’t look good. He flipped it over and all hope of keeping Drew safe escaped his body. Its wheel rim was completely warped. It was inoperable.

  Megan leaned back in her seat, letting out a big sigh. “Of course.”

  “I can carry him,” said Jaxx.

  “How far do we have to go?” inquired Megan.

  Jaxx pointed to the south. “I’ve conducted plenty of field research at Machu Picchu. We’re not far, but the trek is still long, windy, and steep.”

  Taz’s starfighter boomed. Strangely, it sounded like it was flying away from them.

  Mya stood, peering out of the hole in the ramp, eyeing the water. “I don’t know how to swim.”

  “I’ll stay with Drew,” said Megan, resting her palm on his cheek.

  “What do you mean? I’m going to carry him,” replied Jaxx.

  Megan pulled Drew into a more seated position. “Look at him. He doesn’t have more than an hour.”

  Mya nodded. “She’s right. He’s going to be moving to the next transition in life soon.”

  Jaxx bent down, studying his nephew’s face. “Let’s all heal him again. It’ll give him more time and we’ll see if the key pyramid can do some magic on him.” He unstrapped Drew and pulled him into his arms. Their cheeks touched. Drew was damp and cold, his breath as shallow as ever. His face was pale and his lips were blue.

  Drew was holding on by a thread.

  Mya touched Jaxx’s leg. “Let him go, Jaxx.”

  “But what about the ruling? You said he was going to rule over something?”

  Mya’s lower lip protruded, her eyes tearing up. “That will have to be someone else. Leave him here. He will be happy to die by Megan’s side.”

  Jaxx frowned. “No, we have to go and now. We can save my nephew. I won’t have any problem carrying him. I’ll use my Chi and —”

  The ship began to rattle. Taz’s craft was coming around again, this time closer. Was he coming in for a landing? From the sound of Taz’s starfighter’s engines easing up and the hover boosters active, the craft had to be landing.

  “We have to go now, sir,” chimed Damion.

  “Wait,” Jaxx shifted his eyes to Megan. “You stay here and Taz will kill you and Drew. None of you can stay…not even Drew.”

  Taz’s craft’s roar became louder and the water rocked the ship back and forth.

  Jaxx’s eyes narrowed, his breath coming faster than he would have liked. He’d not panicked like this since his first battle in a starfighter. He’d do anything to keep his nephew alive. “Hold on.”

  He paced to the ramp and peeked out of the blown-out hole. Taz’s ship was lowering below the jungle’s canopy and away from the river.

  “What’s he doing?” Jaxx said through gritted teeth.

  “He wants to end us and take you,” said Damion. He cracked his knuckles. “Let’s fuck him up.”

  Jaxx shot a look at Damion. A little kid shouldn’t be saying those kind of words. He went to say something, then dropped his shoulders. It didn’t matter. Instead, he pressed the open ramp button at the back of the transport. Nothing happened. “Flick on the power,” Jaxx said.

  “How?” asked Megan.

  “Got it,” said Lily.

  The power came on and the ramp began to lower.

  How did she know what button to press?

  Again, it didn’t matter. These kids baffled him more than his own powers.

  A splash and the ramp met the water. Jaxx strode to the end of the ramp and looked out. The water was calm and the ramp was close enough to the shore that he’d only need to make a leap to get to the beach safe and dry.

  Leaves rustled and branches broke in the distance. Taz was coming.

  Jaxx turned around and surveyed the walls lining the craft. When he saw a rifle attached to a rack, he hurried to it and unclipped it.

  “Here.” He handed it to Megan. “Anything goes awry, you know what to do.”

  “No, you use it.”

  Jaxx walked toward the ramp. “I won’t need it.” At the end of the ramp, he watched the treeline. A moment later, Taz stepped out of the jungle, pushing aside a large fern.

  Jaxx grinned, impressed by how relentless Taz was. “You found me.” Jaxx put his hands out. “What are you going to do?”

  Taz made a line in the dirt with his foot. “You step over this line and your friends survive.” His upper back cannon lifted up and positioned above Taz’s shoulder. It rotated and aimed at the ship.

  “Hold it.” Jaxx gestured for Taz to halt. “Don’t do anything. I’m going to go over to the shoreline.”

  Taz nodded and Jaxx jumped onto the rocky shore.

  Taz watched Jaxx like a hawk. “If you don’t step over this line, I’ll poke your ship so full of holes, that no one in that craft will survive.” He smirked. “But, truly Jaxx, how can I trust you any more?”

  Jaxx took cautious step after cautious step, studying Taz the entire time. “It’s hard for me to give my word to a race that is hellbent on killing my own race. And to a race that doesn’t keep their word to me as well. It’s a give and take thing, and you keep taking without offering anything back but bloodshed.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Jaxx stopped in front of Taz, the toes of his boots nearly touching the line that Taz drew on the ground.

  “Take that step, Jaxx, and like I said, your friends will live to breath another day.”

  Jaxx had another idea. He reached forward, his Chi activating quick as a flash, and grasped the cannon above Taz’s shoulder. He twisted his hand, popping the cannon off of the metal shaft that extended from Taz’s upper back. A flame burst outward and Jaxx tossed the cannon over his head, hearing it plop into the water.

  Taz dropped to his knees, reaching back at the now missing cannon, purple and blue sparks igniting from the shaft. “Why…did you…” He shook his head. “Humans.” He pressed off the ground with his feet, his muscular legs flexing, and lunged into Jaxx’s stomach.

  Jaxx lifted off the ground and brought his fists together, slamming them into Taz’s back just as he landed hard against the earth.


  Jaxx brought his knees up and extended his legs, pushing Taz up and over him, kicking him farther down the shoreline.

  Taz landed on his backside and tumbled a few times. He slowly pushed off the ground and stood, his face full of fury.

  Jaxx stood as well, wiping dirt and dust off his hands, creating a small puff that faded away. “Don’t even try it, Taz. No more fighting. Just leave us be.”

  Taz heaved a big breath, his chest expanding. “No.”

  Jaxx tipped his head to the side toward his craft, asking the obvious question. “Why didn’t you just finish us while we were sitting ducks in that river?”

  Taz laughed, acting as if that was the dumbest question ever posed to an Agadon. “Then I would have killed you.”

  “You said you were going to kill me not too long ago…if I recall correctly.” Jaxx figured he was bluffing, and not to his surprise, he was right.

  “I’m learning all about this lying thing you humans do. It’s quite easy.” He put his hands on his hips. “You should know by now that I’m not giving up on you or giving up on controlling the entire pyramid nexus. It’s the best way to do what we do.”

  “Yes, power and control. Then you’ll just have to kill me. I’m not letting you use me to control the network.” The Agadon were ruthless genocidal maniacs. And they were too damn good at it for Jaxx to let the Agadon terrorize and eventually destroy all Beings in the rest of the galaxy.

  Taz closed his eyes for a brief second, shaking his head. “No, that’s not how it goes.” Taz put his hands up, then curled his fingers in a fist. “I’ll just knock you out and take you to my mother ship. Okay?”

  “Not okay.” Jaxx bent down, picking up a handful of dirt.

  “What are you doing?” Taz took a step back, curiosity in his eyes.

  “I’m an archaeologist. I’m checking the dirt for fossil samples.” He hoped this trick hadn’t been played on an Agadon before.

  “You lie.”

  “Yep.” Jaxx flung the dirt into Taz’s eyes.

  Taz brought his hands to his face.

  Jaxx spun in the air, bringing a hefty kick to Taz’s head, smacking his heel onto Taz’s temple.