Scout's Law

by Henry Vogel

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Jade

  The blaster rifle felt odd in my hands. Far lighter than a crossbow, it was easy to move around and change aim. While waiting for David to do…whatever he was going to do, I practiced aiming at the crowd forming around Forbose and Chris. I got the hang of moving the rifle around quickly and found my attention drawn to the fistfight below.

  I knew Forbose was good at fighting. He’d gotten into more than a few scraps back in Oshwindon and always came out on top. Some of my friends called him a bully, but Forbose always claimed the others started the fights and he ended them. Watching him pound on Chris, who was smaller and hampered by the chains, I realized just how willfully blind I’d been about Forbose. He grabbed Chris around the neck and hammered his fist into the smaller boy’s ribs. Chris crouched and did his best to protect himself, all the while swinging away at Forbose. I was certain Forbose would claim he was simply defending himself and even insist Chris started the whole thing. For all I knew, he might even believe it.

  But I didn’t. Not any more. I saw Forbose’s face. I saw the rage. I saw the bully. I saw the brute. And, in that second, I realized just how lucky I had been all those weeks ago out at the lake. If this Forbose had surfaced, I felt certain he’d have forced himself on me. I realized, at long last, my mother had been right all along. I was ashamed how long it took me to see it.

  And I fervently wished poor Chris wasn’t paying the price for showing me the real Forbose.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone leap from the strange airship. Before looking, I knew it could only be David. As he charged toward the crowd around Chris and Forbose, I took aim and started firing.

  I aimed for a trog—and hit him right in the ass!

  I shifted my aim to the man on the trog’s left. The shot hit his upper arm and just blew the man’s arm right off.

  Forcing my mind away from that gross image, I kept firing into the crowd. Then David Boosted and I almost forgot what I was doing. Reading about David Boosting is one thing, watching David Boosting is something totally different. He was so fast! And so strong! And so amazing!

  I forced myself to stop watching David and go back to shooting. That’s why I saw Forbose freeze when he caught sight of David charging his way. That’s why I saw Chris hit Forbose with an uppercut that lifted my totally ex-sort-of-boyfriend off the ground and laid him out.

  “Chris, that was patchless!” I cried, knowing nobody heard me but wanting to shout it anyway.

  Before I knew it, David had Chris and his companions free. They beat a hasty retreat for the airship, getting covering fire from me and someone on the ship. Seconds later, the airship slowly rose off the ground and its bow swung around toward me.

  I kept firing at anyone who moved, only stopping when the blaster rifle’s charge ran out. At least, I think that’s what happened. The only things I knew about blasters came from adventure stories and who knew if those were accurate?

  Then a blaster bolt struck the cliff’s edge just below my position. Another followed. And another. Within seconds, blaster shots were flying all around me. Even though I had the ledge to protect me, the blaster bolts blew out chunks of rock each time they hit. Sharp rock shards flew all around me. By instinct, I rolled back and forth to stay clear of the shards—and any particularly well-placed blaster shots.

  I tried keeping an eye on the airship, praying it would move a little faster or the people shooting at me would have their charges run out. Neither one of those happened.

  The airship was only twenty feet from me when a bunch of blaster shots spattered all around me. Instinctively, I rolled away from the hot rock shards and other blaster bolts. This time, I completely screwed up and rolled over the edge of the ledge!

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Chris

  When David ordered me to stand ready to help the shooter, I grabbed some rope and ran to the bow. The airship had little steam pressure, so we weren’t moving very fast. That gave me plenty of time to tie the rope to a cleat on the bow and make sure there were no knots or tangles that might keep the rope from reaching the man on the ledge.

  Then the villains below us rallied their defenses. Blaster shots flew all around us, many striking the airship’s hull and almost as many striking all around David’s man on the ledge. By the light of the blaster bolts, I watched him roll around the narrow ledge in an attempt to dodge the shots.

  David called, “Are you ready, Chris?”

  “I am, sir,” I called. “Please hurry—the shots are landing all around your man on the cliff!”

  The rolling man paused once, just long enough to look our way. I saw a wide-eyed face framed in long, blonde hair. It wasn’t a man on the ledge at all. It was a girl! She rolled again, doing her best to get clear of the blaster shots and the rock shards flying all around her—and then the unthinkable happened.

  The girl rolled too close to the edge. Already pock-marked from blaster bolts, the lip of the ledge gave way beneath her. With a cry, the girl fell. She caught the lip with fingers of her right hand, but her hold was precarious and couldn’t last long.

  I suddenly found myself swinging through the air, the rope clutched in my left hand. After that, everything happened faster than conscious thought. At the same time, everything happened in extreme slow motion. I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s how I remember it.

  I crossed the twenty feet separating us in a split second that lasted an entire year.

  My bruised and battered left side crashed into the cliff face, sending waves of agony radiating through my body. Yet I felt no pain as I locked eyes with the dangling girl.

  Her fingers were losing their grip as my right arm, moving as if through molasses, wrapped around her.

  Renewed pain lanced through my body as the girl’s fingers slipped off of the cliff and I took her full weight. With our faces no more than an inch apart, I felt nothing but wonder as I stared into the girl’s eyes.

  She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face against my neck. I felt more than heard her muffled, “Thank you!”

  Blaster bolts flew all around us as we swung back toward the airship. Agony radiated from my left side. Yet this slender girl held all of my attention. Had time stopped right then, I would not have uttered a complaint.

  But time did not stop. Hands grabbed the girl and me, pulling us over the airship’s railing to safety. The men carried us to the center of the airship before gently putting us down. All the while, the girl arms remained wrapped tightly around my neck and her face tucked up against my neck. I kept my right arm around her, holding her close. Without conscious thought, I stroked her head with my left hand. Every movement hurt like hell, but I felt her panicked panting ease and her breathing slowly returning to normal.

  “Well done, lad!” Captain Wright said, squatting next to us. “Miss, are you hurt?”

  The girl shook her head and her arms tightened about my neck. “No, sir. Just frightened.”

  “No doubt,” Captain Wright said, a smile flitting across his face. “What about you, Ensign Marlow? How are you?”

  “Fine, sir.”

  “The hell he is!” the girl said, her tone vehement. “His left side got pounded in the fight that started all of this. I saw how much saving me hurt him. Chris, pull up your shirt so I can check your side.”

  I hesitated for a second, but Captain Wright’s nod turned the girl’s request into his order. Moving gingerly, I pulled up the left side of my shirt. It must have looked bad because the Captain drew breath in through closed teeth.

  I know I should have been concerned about my side, but something else held my attention. “How do you know my name, miss?”

  “David told me,” she said, gently probing my injured side. “Thank you, again, for saving my life.”

  “You’re most welcome, miss,” I replied.

  She smiled at me, or perhaps at my formal tone. Her smile was spellbinding. She was entrancing. I suddenly realized my right arm was st
ill wrapped around her. I began pulling my arm back but the girl caught my hand and held it in place. I tightened my arm, smiling back at this girl who so literally fell into my life. And I found myself fervently praying my arm would always have a place around her waist.

  Her smile widened. “My name is Jade.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  David

  My heart leapt into my throat as I watched Jade’s hands flail desperately for a handhold. The fingers of the girl’s right hand caught the lip of the ledge she’d been laying on and stopped her fall. The rest of her body swung down and around her tenuous grip. Her feet smacked into the ladder, loosening her grip and sending her swinging back in the other direction just before her left hand could grab the ladder.

  All of this took but a split second and my cry of horror was still forming when Chris took action. With a ship’s line clutched in his left hand, the Ensign dove over the railing, swinging toward Jade like some kind of jungle lord. Chris came up beside the dangling girl, crashing into the cliff with his wounded left side. Even in the dim light, the pain was evident on Chris’s face. Ignoring it, the boy wrapped his free arm around Jade, pulling her close against him just as her fingertips lost their grip on the ledge!

  Both teenagers gave muffled cries—Jade, I assume, in relief and Chris, obviously, in pain as his injured side took the full weight of another person. Then the pair swung away from the cliff, the long arc bringing them back to the airship and almost to the height of the railing.

  Captain Wright, shouting orders to his crew from the second Jade rolled off the cliff’s edge, had his crew well positioned. Half a dozen men leaned far over the edge of the airship, their own weight anchored by crew mates holding onto their legs. The airmen caught the rope, the girl, and the Ensign. Those holding onto the airmen pulled them all over the railing to safety.

  All the while, blaster bolts lit the cliff face as they streaked at the underside of the airship. The smell of smoke rose from the hull as the dry wood smoldered and started burning.

  I twisted the repulser power knob to one hundred percent lift. The rapid ascent caught the crew by surprise, knocking many of them off their feet and pressing down on all of us.

  “Captain Wright, the bottom of the hull is on fire!” I shouted over the din of blaster shots and shouting men. “Prepare to abandon ship once we reach the top of the cliff!”

  Wright skipped an acknowledgment of my order and went straight to issuing his own orders. He sent men below to scrounge anything useful they could find—from food and water to weapons. Crewmen scattered to do their captain’s bidding.

  “Someone find the medical kit, too!” Jade’s voice cut through the hubbub on the deck, no doubt a skill she learned working on the Wind Dancer. “Chris is hurt!”

  I spent almost an entire second wondering how the girl knew the Ensign’s name before remembering I’d all but shouted it myself when I spotted Chris while on the ledge with Jade.

  “You heard the young lady!” Wright added his authority to Jade’s demand. “And I want two crewmen to assist Ensign Marlow’s debarkation when we land!”

  The airship climbed above the top edge of the cliff and I fed what power the steam engines had into the propellers. The density of blaster fire dropped to only a handful of shots and most of them were replaced with the sound of feet running across the desert floor. I assumed Thor ordered a team to ascend the ladders, hoping to have troops hot on our trail as we ran from his mountain. Meanwhile, he’d send other troops to block our escape. It’s a basic pincer maneuver and just the sort of thing a mind untrained in military tactics selects.

  Alas for Thor, I had a big surprise in mind for him.

  Once the airship had solid ground beneath it, I brought it down quickly and Mordanian airmen hopped off the airship. Under Jade’s watchful eye, two men carefully lowered Chris to other men waiting below to catch him. One of the airmen then offered a hand to Jade, who ignored it and jumped lithely down next to Chris.

  Once all were clear of the ship, I vaulted over the railing to land next to Captain Wright. “Our adversary is sending men up the cliff after us, Captain. I suggest we discourage this pursuit.”

  “I concur wholeheartedly, sir, but they have men providing covering fire. If we try to shoot over the edge of the cliff, our men will be in danger of being shot in return.”

  “Oh, we’re not going to waste time and risk lives shooting at them, Captain.” I jerked a thumb over my shoulder at the anti-grav airship. “I think we should give them back their airship.”

  A feral grin spread over the Captain’s face. “Men, form up around this airship and let’s push it over the cliff!”

  Airmen ran to positions all around the airship. I saw Chris struggling to join his crew and Jade struggling to keep him from doing just that.

  “Ensign Marlow,” I said, stepping over to the reclining boy, “as you were.”

  “But sir-” Chris protested.

  “You are in no condition to push an airship, Ensign,” I said.

  “That’s what I told him,” Jade huffed.

  “She’s right, Chris,” I said. “In fact, I’m officially putting you under her orders until further notice.”

  “But she’s a civilian, sir!”

  “Good point, Ensign.” I smiled at Jade. “How would you like to be a medic in the Mordanian Navy? Temporarily, of course. Only until we can return you to your father.”

  “If it’ll help keep Chris from killing himself, I’m all for it,” Jade replied.

  “Welcome to the Navy, young lady.” I turned back to Chris. “Satisfied?”

  “Um, I guess.” Chris allowed Jade to push him prone again.

  During our short conversation, the girl had somehow managed to position herself so Chris’s head ended up in her lap. I tried to think what Callan—who is always ready and willing to encourage romance—would say at this moment.

  “Jade, Chris is under your orders but not part of your chain of command.”

  From the look on Chris’s face, he understood what I meant immediately. Jade’s face screwed up in puzzlement and she asked, “Huh?”

  “Fraternization is allowed,” I said.

  I thought Jade blushed, but it was dark and I couldn’t be certain. But when I looked at the two a few seconds later, Jade and Chris had their heads close together. The girl, at least, looked prepared to explore the concept of fraternization. I thought the young Ensign appeared quite interested, as well, but then Captain Wright’s voice called out orders to push.

  Along with the rest of the airmen, I put my shoulder against the hull and shoved. For once, the loose stones that covered most of the mountain worked in our favor. I’d left a small amount of power running to the repulser plates. It wasn’t nearly enough to keep the ship in the air, but it did reduce the weight somewhat.

  It took three good shoves before the airship slid a few inches. Once it moved the first time, it was easier to move a second time. When it moved the third time, it didn’t stop. The crew kept pushing until the stern, with the heavy boiler and most of the anti-grav machinery, overbalanced and the entire airship tipped up and plunged over the edge of the cliff.

  Cries of fear rose from the men ascending the ladders then cut off suddenly. A second later, the airship crashed to the ground far below. With a satisfying boom, the boiler blew. The fearful cries turned to agonized screams as the explosion sent scalding-hot steam washing over everyone around and above it.

  Captain Wright appeared before me. “The ladders have been sheared off the cliff, sir, along with our pursuers.”

  “Please give my compliments to the crew for a job well done, Captain,” I said. “Gather the men and supplies. We’ve got a long march ahead of us and I expect Thor will prove unwilling to simply let us walk away.”

  “Aye sir,” Wright replied. His eyes cut to his Ensign and Jade, their cheeks touching though not actively kissing at the moment. “And, um, what about Ensign Marlow and the young lady?”

  �
�She’s officially our medic for right now and I’ve put the Ensign under her orders.”

  Wright smiled. “It appears he’s complying fully. I’ll tell the men that the first man to tease either of them will answer to you.”

  “Go one better, Captain. Tell the crew they’ll answer to my wife.”

  Wright laughed. “Yes, that threat will keep them in line.”

  “Have the men form up behind me. We leave as soon as they’re ready.”

  To no one’s surprise, Jade helped Chris to his feet and stayed at his side. Wright made sure an airman was nearby to offer help if Chris needed it, though Jade was supporting him well enough for the moment. The men were ready in less than a minute.

  With only the light from the planetary ring to illuminate our path, we started the long march away from Thor’s base.

  As the line of airmen got underway, I fell in beside Chris and Jade. The girl had Chris’s right arm draped over her shoulder, providing support while staying away from his injured ribs. Life on an airship gave Jade strength beyond that of an average sixteen-year-old girl, but Chris was both taller and heavier than she was. Jade wore a determined expression and I thought she’d rather collapse with exhaustion than let down the boy who rescued her from the cliff. Chris’s face was equally set and I was sure he’d rather die than show weakness before the pretty blonde.

  “Listen up you two.” Chris and Jade looked at me. “Speed is of the utmost importance right now. The longer it takes us to get off this mountain, the greater the chance we’ll have to fight our way off of it. In other words, this is not the time to try to be an ironman, Chris. You took a hell of a beating fighting Forbose.”

  Chris interrupted, “How do you know that guy’s name? Is he from one of the other Navy ships?”

  “No,” Jade answered. “I…know him. Or at least thought I knew him.”

  “Anyway,” I took back control of the conversation, “if you’re having trouble keeping up with the rest of us, you must tell Captain Wright or me. Your injuries were honorably earned in the service of your country. The men will want to help you. Is that clear?”