After Moses: Wormwood

by Michael F Kane

  “He’s okay,” Abigail said. “For now. But we have to get out of here.”

  Abigail lowered Matthew down to where she could see him better. Her son’s eyes were squinted shut against the light. She cupped his face with her palm and wiped the wet off her cheek as she fought back the sudden wave of emotion.

  He opened one eye and tried a weak smile before closing it again.

  “Not to break this up, but we need to go,” Yvonne said as she stepped out of the building. A woman and her son followed closely behind her, presumably Candace and Benny.

  Elizabeth nodded determinedly and turned away from Matthew, though it took a herculean effort. “Then let’s load up.” They carefully strapped Matthew into the cramped back seat. He grumbled and looked to be in more than a little pain, but the task was accomplished without incident. Yvonne climbed into the cab. Abigail and the newcomers would have to ride in the bed. Unfortunately for them, Elizabeth had recently moved a load of fertilizer. Hopefully, it wasn’t too rank back there.

  When they were finally situated, she started the truck and pulled back out onto the street. “To the hospital?” she asked.

  Yvonne didn’t immediately answer, and Elizabeth’s heart sank. They were going to run. Couldn’t they have a normal life for once? Just once.

  “Whoever the assailants are, they’ve already set one trap for Matthew,” Yvonne finally said. “And make no mistake. He was the target. I don’t trust any hospital security team to keep him safe.”

  “Spell it out for me. What are you going to do?” Elizabeth said, mouth dry.

  “We leave Mars. One of the Martian freeports should be safe enough. We’ll let him recover for a few days and then move on.”

  Elizabeth turned onto a larger street with more traffic. She resisted the impulse to turn around and check on Matthew. Yvonne had it in hand and would see to him.

  “Which, unfortunately, brings us to you,” Yvonne said.

  Elizabeth knew where this was going. “No. I’m not leaving.”

  “I don’t think you get a choice in the matter. And I’m sorry.”

  “What do I have to do with any of this?” she asked. It was a stalling tactic. She was well aware.

  “Whoever’s after Matthew has already shown that they’re willing to use the people in his life as bait. It’s a miracle they went for Benny first instead of you.”

  Elizabeth passed a slow-moving tanker truck. “There’s a cousin I can stay with.”

  Yvonne shook her head. “With how well informed these guys were, that’s not an option. You would only be putting more people in danger. I’m sorry. I really am. But if you disagree, you can take it up with Abigail. With Matthew out, security decisions are technically her call, not mine.”

  She was being ripped away from her farm and her life in the space of a heartbeat. Would it be safe for her workers to continue the work until harvest? She hoped so because she wasn’t about to let it all go to waste or let them lose their jobs. Even for Matthew. Everything he had done, everything he had become, had finally caught up to him. And it was destroying both of their lives.

  She choked back the old feeling of bitterness and nodded once, resigning herself to the inevitable. “I’ll need to pack a bag.”

  AS THEY APPROACHED the farm, Abigail went on full alert. She stood up from her perch in the bed of the truck and peered out over the cab. The grounds looked quiet as far as she could tell. It was late enough in the afternoon that the farmhands had already left.

  “What are you doing,” Benny asked as they slowed down to turn into the lane.

  “Making sure our friends didn’t out-think us and beat us here,” she said. “Do you fancy a bullet between the ears? Because I don’t.”

  He grunted an agreement. “You know, I always imagined the Sparrow to be smaller.”

  “And I always imagined you were a grownup,” she replied. She vaulted over the side of the truck and hit the ground running. She easily passed the truck and ran up to the porch. She snagged the hidden key from beneath a loose stone and unlocked the front door. It was dark inside, save for the light coming through the curtains, and utterly silent. She wasn’t going to take a chance here. She checked every room in the house before heading back outside.

  “It’s clear,” she said to the group as they climbed out of the truck. “Elizabeth, you’ve got ten minutes to pack.” The woman gave her a rather displeased look as she stepped off the running board. Abigail tried not to let it bother her, but she really did love the old woman and it stung to be on the receiving end of her frustration. It wasn’t like any of this was her fault. She opened the back door of the truck and leaned in.

  “We going for another ride?” Matthew asked.

  “I see the drugs are wearing off,” Abigail said. She leaned in to unstrap him, but he pushed her hand away and tried to do it himself. “You know you’re going to have to ditch that independent streak.”

  His hands fumbled with the restraints, and he gave up. “Sorry.”

  She didn’t say anything else but carefully unstrapped him and lifted him out of the back seat.

  “Aaugh. Yup. Drugs wearing off,” he said between clenched teeth.

  “You’ll have to talk to the doctor about that. We’ll get you fixed up better on the Sparrow.” Ahead of her, Yvonne led Candace and Benny through the fields. “You know you really scared us this time.” He didn’t answer and they passed the trip to the Sparrow in silence. Yvonne had the ramp down and the port airlock open by the time they caught up.

  “Where do you want me to take the patient?” she asked.

  “Take him to his cabin. I’ve got to get preflight started and call Davey and Grace. They need to be ready for pickup. Then I’ll come to check on Matthew.”

  Well, at least she had something to do. Abigail ducked through the airlock entry. She was just useful when something needed hitting. “This is the common room,” she grunted at Benny. “Set your stuff down here and don’t mess with anything.”

  “I’m not going to touch—”

  “Save it.” She continued on through the hall and opened Matthew’s door. “Hope you’ve picked up your laundry.” He snorted in reply and Abigail took that as a win. “Alright, I’m going to set you down right here on your bed.” She propped him up with pillows then stepped back, feeling a sudden surge of awkwardness. “Anything else I can do for you?”

  “I’m thirsty,” he said, settling back.

  “Sorry, can’t do. Yvonne said nothing to eat or drink yet. So, I guess I can’t help you then. I’m sorry. She’ll be by in a minute to check on you.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry.” She cocked her head and leaned in. His breaths were slow and deep. She frowned. He must still have plenty of drugs in his system, after all, for him to drift off mid conversation. A dozen thoughts chased each other in circles for a long moment before she turned away.

  Yvonne was just leaving the cockpit when she opened the door. “Preflight is started, and I called the kids to let them know we’re on the way.”

  Abigail frowned. “Did you tell them about Matthew?”

  She shook her head and elbowed past Abigail. “That can wait. No need to cause panic. We’ve all had enough of that for the day.”

  Abigail’s comm buzzed. “Elizabeth, I wonder what she needs.” Yvonne left Matthew’s door open as she entered, probably so she could eavesdrop. “Yes?”

  “A vehicle just pulled up to the house.” The woman’s voice was calm, but there was a tension in her tone, like a cord stretched too tight.

  Yvonne’s head turned, and she met Abigail’s eye. “I hoped we would have a little more time.”

  “Me too,” Abigail said. “Stay put, Elizabeth. I’ll be right there.”

  ELIZABETH LOCKED HER bedroom door and had a sudden flashback to the last time her farm was attacked. They’d been after Yvonne that time. She looked at her half-packed bag, thinking of how many things she wasn’t going to be able to bring with her. On an impulse, she zipped it closed. Th
is would have to do.

  She opened her closet and got out Albert’s old rifle and loaded it. This was far too much like two years ago. She moved to the window and eased around the edge to get a view of the farm. All appeared quiet. A field away, the Sparrow sat, humming the deep throb she’d come to associate with its take-off. Its ramp was still down, but the door was shut fast.

  She opened the window, and, as she propped the rifle on the sill, breathed in the familiar Martian air, the sharp tang of dust with a hint of sulfur. How many days would pass before she would come back to her homeworld? A week? An entire season. The Sparrow’s airlock opened and Abigail strode out, shield brandished.

  Gunfire instantly rang out across the farm. Abigail tucked behind her shield and charged down the ramp and disappeared into the field. Elizabeth looked for the source of the shots but to no luck. They sounded like they had come from just beneath her. Perhaps they were using the house for cover.

  She fumbled with her comm. “Abigail, I’ve locked myself in my room and—”

  “I see you up there. Keep your head down. I’m on my way.”

  Elizabeth kept the call open. She didn’t ask how they were supposed to get to the Sparrow under fire, but she doubted Abigail had come to a conclusion on that end either. In the field beneath, she could make out glints of the woman’s armor as she barreled through the wheat toward the house.

  The sound of the front door getting kicked in froze her blood on the spot. “Abigail, someone is in the house.” She took cover behind her bed and pointed the rifle at her door.

  “I’m coming,” she hissed back. “They’re flanking out wide around the house. Probably trying to encircle me in the field and get to the Sparrow. Whatever you do, don’t reveal that you’re inside until the last possible moment.”

  Elizabeth concentrated on the door. They were probably just being cautious. The Sparrow was their target, and with it warming up, they’d have to move fast. Maybe they would reach the locked bedroom door and move on. The stairs creaked. “Running out of time, Abigail.”

  More gunfire outside. “Busy, but on my way.”

  The door handle rattled.

  Elizabeth aimed down the sights.

  Crack. A kick landed against the door. A second. On the third kick, the door jamb gave way.

  She took in the sight of the man in an instant. Face covered by a balaclava. Dark gray combat fatigues. Gun raised. His eyes widened when he saw her. She squeezed the trigger and put a bullet in center mass. She reached for the lever to chamber another round as two men rushed into the room. It was too late. They pulled the gun from her grasp and held her with strong arms. She shrieked and thrashed to break their grip, but it was no use.

  An indescribable sound erupted from just outside the window and the men froze. Like a car plowing into a building, suddenly, the wall and window were ripped away as Abigail tore through. The men tried to swing their guns to meet her, but she backhanded one with her shield, sending him crashing into a dresser with bone-crushing force. The other she grabbed with her left hand and flung out through the hole in the wall. He’d hit the ground somewhere well beyond the house, given his trajectory. “They know we’re here now,” Abigail said. She hefted her shield and ran to the door to block anyone else from entering the room.

  Elizabeth could only stare at the hole Abigail had torn through her bedroom. It was shocking to see the ease with which she’d done so. An irrational part of her brain was furious and later, she might even cry about it, but right now—

  The high-pitched whine of the Sparrow turned into a deafening roar. “Are they leaving?” she shouted.

  “Never,” Abigail said. “If I had to guess, Yvonne is coming to get us.”

  Elizabeth crept to what used to be her window and peered out, leery of showing her face. The Sparrow lifted off the ground with its landing thrusters and swung around to face the farmhouse. Then the chin gun opened fire.

  The ear-shattering buzzing was the loudest sound Elizabeth had ever heard, and she covered her head and dove for cover.

  “No time for that!” Abigail said, pulling her back to her feet. “She’s coming in!” Elizabeth could only make out what she said over the ringing in her ears by watching her lips.

  The Sparrow drifted slowly toward the farmhouse and she saw the ventral lift lowering. “How are we going to get there?”

  “I’m going to jump. You’re going to fly.” Before Elizabeth knew what was happening, she was hoisted into the air. Abigail ran out onto what was left of the roof and threw her across the fifteen-foot gap. She hit the surface of the lift and rolled end over end before catching herself. She was going to be a bruised mess come morning. There was an impact and a loud clang. She turned and saw Abigail grasping the edge of the lift, half hanging over the farmyard. Elizabeth moved forward to help but then hit the deck as gunfire sparked off Abigail’s armor. She swung her legs over the edge and shouted into her comm. “We’re on. Raise the lift. Go!”

  The Sparrow raised its nose and slid backward away from the house and toward the ridge. The nose gun fired one last time, and Elizabeth watched in awe as a pair of black grav cars were raked with cannon fire and shredded to useless scrap. Then the lift pulled them up into the hold and they were away. Her head spun. She laid down flat on the metal surface and tried not to tear up as she left behind the home she’d shared with Albert.

  “THANKS FOR THE RIDE,” Davey said, offering his hand to Vicente. “And I’m sorry this didn’t work out like we wanted.”

  Vicente shrugged. “The problem got solved.” He’d agreed to pay half and negotiate on the remainder later. Considering the circumstances, Davey thought that was more than fair. His hand drifted to his pocket where he kept the drive of photos. Matthew had said to take them to the press. Whitaker said to never show them to anyone. Davey decided it wouldn’t hurt to sit on that decision for now.

  “There they are,” Grace said.

  Davey squinted into the westering sun as the Sparrow made its approach. Vicente had driven them to the outskirts of Warszawa after they’d gotten the call from Yvonne. The mechanic had hoped he’d have a chance to see Matthew but given the urgency with which they were leaving Mars, Davey doubted it would be a long reunion.

  The Sparrow set down with a crunch on the rocky ground, and the side ramp lowered at once. Davey was surprised when Abigail showed her face and not Matthew. Grace skipped ahead to meet her, but he held back. He knew that Abigail would never be excited to see him, but she was usually a little happier about seeing Grace. Something was wrong.

  “How big of a hurry are we in?” he asked.

  Abigail bit her lip. “Matthew’s been injured. We have to go.”

  Grace stopped in her tracks at the bottom of the ramp. “Wait. Like serious injured?”

  “Serious.”

  Davey felt a fist tighten around his heart. He turned to Vicente. “I’m afraid that reunion got put on hold.”

  The poor man looked at a loss for words. “Let me know how he is,” he said sadly.

  “I will. I promise.” He jogged up the ramp to catch up with his sister. This wasn’t the homecoming he had imagined from his first successful job. Abigail ribbing him. Maybe a few kind words from Yvonne. A nod of the head and a smile from Matthew. He closed the airlock behind him and entered the common room. An unknown woman and teen stared at him. He stared back.

  “Passengers?” He asked Abigail.

  “Benny and his mother.”

  Benny’s face turned bright red and he shook his hair out of his eyes. Davey laughed despite knowing he shouldn’t. “Sorry. I was just expecting a grownup.”

  “Yeah well, you’re just as short as I was expecting.”

  Davey closed the distance and had him by the collar of his shirt before Abigail could pull him off. “Whoa. Not right now. We’ve got bigger problems.” She gave Benny a light shove. “Behave, or I’ll lock you in a closet.”

  Grace kicked Benny in the shins as she passed. “Not cool.”

/>   Benny’s mom just looked mortified at the whole exchange. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  “Yeah, whatever, me too,” Davey said. He pushed past him to the cockpit.

  Yvonne was just lifting the Sparrow off the ground. “Good to see you. You’ve missed a rough day.”

  “Apparently,” he said, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. “Is Matthew okay?”

  “For now. Elizabeth is with him, but you can see him later if you’d like.”

  Okay, it had to be bad if she were aboard. “So, what happened?”

  “Someone is trying to kill Matthew,” she said. She pointed the Sparrow toward the sky, and the familiar thrum of the engines rumbled through the deck. “So we’re leaving Mars. I can’t provide definitive medical care. One of the older freeports should be able to. Right now, I’m leaning toward Freeport 2. It’s in a distant orbit around Mars and we should be able to be there in a couple hours.”

  He heard a door behind him and turned his head. Grace had entered Matthew’s room. Apparently, she got visiting rights before he did. That figured. He turned his attention back to the cockpit.

  “Looks like you had an adventure too,” Yvonne said, giving him an appraisal out of the corner of her eye.

  “I’ll be fine,” he mumbled. “Just a building blown out from under me with a thumper.”

  Yvonne chuckled and then sighed. “You two may not be related by blood, but the way you get into trouble, I’d still say you’re a chip off of Matthew’s block.”

  Davey wasn’t sure how to take that, and the hand squeezing his heart gripped a little tighter. A light on the console distracted him from the thought. “What’s that?”

  “Intercept warning.”

  “Meaning?”

  “It means a ship on the scopes has changed course to intercept with us.”

  He sucked in a breath. “Do I need to—”

  “Yes.”

  He leaped to his feet and sprinted out of the cockpit, down the hall, and through the common room. Benny and his mother both jumped out of his way as he plowed on toward the turret. As he sat in the familiar seat and powered up the targeting controls, he let out a quiet breath. It felt better to be on this side of the thumper this time.