Just then, the dragon thrust his electric rod between the bars of the cage. It found its target and lit up the captive puma as if a ball of lightning had exploded in the corner. Energy rippled around the big cat. She went suddenly tense and lifted into the air. Her muscles writhed in a twisted mockery of dance.
Seeing the outline of the puma bathed in brutal electricity, Mags understood how the dragon amused itself. “No!” Her Desert Eagle pistol leapt into her hand almost by itself. She pointed at the dragon and fired.
Her yell gave just enough warning that the dragon, turning in surprise, missed the full impact of her shot. Hollow point shells ripped through his armor. He dropped the electric rod in pain and sprayed blood across the wall. He reached for a laser rifle.
“Oh, shit!” Tarzi yelled, dropping to the floor.
Mags fired again. “Don’t hit the cat!”
Tarzi aimed for the dragon’s center of mass. He fired four shots in quick succession. “Bastard!” A crimson spray erupted from the dragon’s torso. Its body slammed backwards into the cage. In its death throes, random bursts of laser fire strafed the dock.
“Bloody fuck!” Mags shouted, diving to the floor. A big door opened on one of the walls, releasing a troop of dragons, armed and ready to kill. “Get this shit onto the ship, Tarzi! Go! Go!”
“What the—wait—Mags!”
“Go!”
He took control of the crates and made for the ship like his life depended on it. He pushed them up the ramp into the cargo hold. Laser fire pinged off the hull of the ship.
Kneeling in the recess of the cargo hold, he blasted wildly into the troop of dragons. “Mags, time to go!”
But Mags wasn’t going anywhere—not yet. She sprinted to the dead body of the puma’s tormentor and dove for it. Rolling the bulky carcass over, she used it as a shield and fired into the oncoming troop. Three of them fell, but more kept coming.
“Goddamnit, I know you have a key on you, you sick sack of—ha!” Mags tore the key from the dragon’s belt. She shoved the carcass against the cage, still using it as a shield, and slammed the key into the lock.
The puma howled. Laser fire burned holes in the wall above her head.
Mags flung the door open. “Go,” she shouted. “Go!” She pointed at the stolen ship where Tarzi returned fire at the dragons. “It’s now or never, baby!”
The puma bolted, running for Tarzi.
Dragons descended upon Mags’ position. She fired, but there were too many of them. A fist caught her in the face and beat her to the ground.
“Mags!” Tarzi cried.
The puma dashed up the ramp and into the cargo hold. She backed into a corner, seething in rage and terror.
Through the open doorway to the loading zone, a river of dragons poured. Mags grabbed her boot knife and plunged it into the thigh of the nearest one. Arterial blood sprayed in jets across her face. “Tarzi! Get out of here! Now!”
She rose to her feet in time to slash her boot knife through the jugular of another dragon. Gushing scarlet, he fell to the ground. Then a rifle butt smashed into her skull.
Her world went black.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
“Ugh.” Meteor Mags first became aware of the stench. It stunk of corpses, boiled broccoli, and sewer gas. Her stomach churned before she could open her eyes.
“Hurr hurr hurr.” The dragon’s breath assaulted her with each grunting laugh. The beast spoke in her language. “Open your eyes, you corpulent cow. I want you to see me kill you.”
Its face slowly came into focus. Mags retched on the floor.
As the wet mess dribbled down her chin, she began to comprehend. Manacles around her wrists led to chains bolted into the wall at her back. Her feet were similarly bound and chained. She could turn her head and writhe but not much more than that. Her pistol, boot knife, and all of her clothes sat in a box on a nearby table. Through cracked lips she said softly, “I’m going to—” before retching again.
The dragon slapped her carelessly across the face. “You’re going to what, you fat pig?”
“I’m—going to enjoy killing you.”
The dragon laughed again. “You have been a thorn in our side too long. Now shut up. I want to show you something.”
The dragon touched a dial on the wall where Mags hung. The opposite wall, once black, faded into transparency. Slowly, the planets of the solar system came into view.
“From here in my private quarters, we have quite a view of your system. I enjoy looking through my little window here, imagining how we will crush every drop of life out of it.”
“Are you a tour guide now? I know my neighborhood.” Mags suppressed her nausea.
The dragon breathed in her face again. “I am the shipping magistrate of this port, and, after I turn in your carcass, of the Outer Planets. And long after I carve your eyes out of your head, of the Inner Planets too.” The dragon picked up an electric rod from a rack of sinister instruments. “My soldiers were having quite a bit of fun with that animal we captured on Earth. You took that away from them. So, you will take its place.”
Mags winced as he pressed the rod to her throat. She felt nothing but cold metal against her neck. She spat bile and said, “Ha! Guess it’s out of juice, you sick fuck.”
“It’s fun watching you squirm. The rod is harmless enough until I touch this button. This one. Right here.”
Then Mags screamed and screamed and screamed.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
Aboard the stolen ship, Tarzi pondered his next move. Getting from the cargo hold onto the deck required a bit of fast thinking. The puma, angry and terrified, stood between him and the doorway, snarling. “Oh my god. I am going to die. I am going to die, die, die, die, die.”
The puma hissed her displeasure and bared her teeth.
“You aren’t helping!”
Then he had an idea. He ripped open the top crate as laser fire pinged off the hull. Inside were the treats he had reminded Mags to “liberate” for Patches. If Patches liked them, maybe the puma would, too.
“Only one way to find out.” He tore open a pack of beef jerky and threw the whole thing against the wall opposite the door.
Smelling meat, the starving cat pounced on it. “Yes!” Tarzi bolted for the door and slammed it shut behind him. “Now to get out of here!”
He ran to the deck. Seconds later, the ship took off. Looking back, he saw the doors to the loading dock snap shut. He had barely made it out himself.
“Now what? I can’t leave Mags there, and I can’t be any help with this stupid cargo ship. We need bigger guns. And a bigger ship. And that means—”
He steered the ship toward the moon where the Queen Anne awaited him. He revved the engines to full power.
As the moon came into view, Tarzi considered whom he could call for help. Mags’ friends at the club may or may not be there. And by the time he rounded them up, she might be dead. Damn it, he thought. She could be dead already.
He slammed his fist on the console. “No! She’s not dead, Tarzi. Don’t think that. Don’t think that for even a second.” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of smokes.
“These better not all be ruined.” With a look of disdain, he pulled the last uncrushed cigarette from the pack and lit up. “Oh god, that’s good.”
As his nerves settled, his course of action became clear. He would pilot the Queen Anne, which had far superior armor and weapons, by himself. Then, he would return to that port to rain down fiery hell on the scumbags who had taken Mags.
The hair prickled on the back of his neck. He turned around and looked the puma right in the eye.
“Gah!” He threw his arms up in front of his face. The cigarette fell from his mouth and into his lap. “Shit shit shit!” Tarzi slapped at the burning cherry as it singed his pants, but the puma just turned and walked away.
“Mew,” she said, like a typical house cat. She squatted.
“Hey what are you—no! Don
’t do that on the—” But it was too late. The puma stared at him calmly then pawed uselessly at the carpet on the steel deck.
“Ah, bloody hell!”
The puma stalked back to Tarzi’s side, keeping an eye on him the whole time. She plopped down near his chair and began cleaning herself. She licked her paws, rubbing them on her face then licking them again.
“Fine then! Just—make yourself at home, I guess.”
He guided the ship down to the surface of the moon. Or was it up to the surface? Directions in space could be so confusing.
The Queen Anne came into view.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
Meteor Mags dreamed of wings, a pair of wings so unbearably bright she had to turn her eyes away. A circle above her head shone with the same intensity. It lit a path for her through the atmosphere.
She flew up through dark, billowing thunderclouds to where the sun waited for her. A web of lightning burned the sky. She flew faster, like a spear through an opening in the blue lace of electricity.
The clouds rushed through her wings as she soared. They left tiny beads of water on her feathers. The beads clung briefly then surrendered to the wind.
As she broke through the clouds, Mags looked up. Her great-grandmother's hand reached down to her from above the clouds. The sun gleamed on the steely curves of the ring it wore.
Mags wore a ring just like it on her left hand. It, too, sparkled in this light above the storm. She reached out to take her great-grandmother’s hand.
And then it was gone.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
“The last mammal I hit with that many amps died almost instantly.” The dragon watched until her convulsions ended. “Of course, that one wasn’t as fat as you. Just as ugly, but not so fat. Hurr hurr hurrr.”
A tear broke loose from Mags’ eye. It hissed as it streamed down the curve of her cheek. A faint blue static crackled like an aura through her white hair. She hung limply in her chains.
The dragon set the electric rod back on his rack of despicable instruments. He picked up a knife, briefly admiring the reflections on the blade. “This has been fun, but I have things to do. You are going to die now, Meteor. I won’t miss you.”
Mags lifted her head, and her gaze fell on a tiny speck in the window behind the dragon. Had the shocks addled her senses? Or was the speck getting bigger?
Then she realized it was the Queen Anne. It was heading straight for her.
Mustering her last reserves of strength, Mags spat at the dragon. As her spit defaced his boots, she snarled, “Ain’t gonna miss you either, fuckface. So long!”
The ship crashed through the window.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
Tarzi left the goods in the stolen ship to board the Queen Anne as soon as he landed. Then he remembered one small detail: the big cat.
The puma followed him to the door, unaware of the thin atmosphere on this lonely moon.
“Look, are you coming or not?”
She growled a response but remained at the door.
“Okay. If you want. But you’re going to need a helmet when we go outside! Let me see if one of Patches’ helmets will fit.”
Tarzi managed to get the helmet on the puma with only a few scratches. “Fucksticks! I am trying to make this—ow! Make this relationship work! Trust me!” The puma thrust her head into the helmet and pressed it against the door.
“Let’s get to it, then.”
The two of them raced across the cold expanse between the two ships, taking long leaps across the lunar plains in the low gravity. Any other time, Tarzi would have laughed and yelled, “I can fly!”
But now, his concern for Mags kept him silent and focused. Before he could step up to the keypad on the side of The Queen Anne, the door opened for him. There stood Patches, cocking her head and glaring at the big cat tagging along with Tarzi.
The puma bounded aboard the ship, giving Patches a wide berth.
“I hope you two can get along. I’ve got no time to explain, let alone get you two sorted!” He stormed aboard and peeled off his helmet. “Auntie’s in big trouble, Patches. She’s being held and probably—probably tortured in the spaceport we raided!”
Patches blinked. She cast another glare at the puma.
“Don’t blame her! Strap in! Or—whatever it is you do when we fly about. Go! Go! Go!”
Shouting commands energized him. He brought the Queen Anne up from standby to full power. But a cold mask fell across his face. He sat up stiffly and slammed his fist down on the console. “Fuck! Mags could be anywhere in that spaceport!”
Skreek skreek skreek. Cat claws scratched at metal. Skreek skreek skreek! Patches wiggled her bottom and jumped up on the control panel.
“Watch out!”
She swatted at his hand when he tried to scoot her onto the floor.
“Damn it, cat. Get down!”
She insistently clawed at one panel on the console over and over again.
“What could you possibly want? Do you want to fly the ship?”
Skreek skreek skreek!
Tarzi flipped a switch next to the panel she clawed so furiously. It slid back to reveal a glowing screen.
“What’s this, then?” He stood to bend over the screen. His eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open.
“Patches, you are a genius!” Two dots glowed on the screen. The yellow one clearly marked the position of the Queen Anne. It radiated a pulse of thin yellow rings.
A second dot glowed bright red every time a pulse of rings intersected it. The bottom of the screen read “MM Track Dev 1.”
Tarzi grinned. “MM. Meteor Mags! When the hell did she get a tracking implant? And why didn’t she tell me?”
He did not know the yellow dot did not represent the ship at all. The yellow dot stood for Patches. Earlier that year, she and Mags both got chipped, just in case they ever got separated. Mags would later insist it was Patches’ idea in the first place, and Tarzi was inclined to believe her.
“Right, then. Strap in! What did I tell you?” Tarzi grinned at Patches and patted her hips. “Good work, kitty. Good work.”
As the Queen Anne pulled away from the surface of the moon, he grew uncharacteristically quiet. Lift-off always awed him with its beauty, the way the planets and stars came into crisp, clear view. Normally, they enveloped him like a blanket of nebula, soft and comforting in every direction to infinity.
But today, he could only think of Mags. Mags—and ramming the Queen Anne right down the bloody throats of those scumbags. He narrowed his eyes and looked straight ahead.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
The ship’s prow burst through the huge window behind the dragon. The wall wrinkled and tore into twisted metal forms. The impact killed the power to the room, but a backup system flooded it with red light.
The dragon fell against Meteor Mags. Shards of broken window stuck out of his back like daggers.
Mags growled. She sank her teeth into his face. His screaming pleased her, as did the chunk of his face that ripped off in her teeth. She spat it at him.
The Queen Anne penetrated far enough that it could open right into the room. White lights from inside the ship glowed in the eerie red, revealing the silhouettes of Patches and Tarzi.
“Mags! Where are you?”
The puma caught the scent first. She shot like a rocket past Tarzi and Patches. She cleared the room in three leaps. The third brought her to the dragon.
She slammed into him and broke his grip on Mags. They smashed into the floor.
“Watch out for the glass!” Mags shouted.
Heedless of danger, the puma savagely ripped chunks of meat from the dragon’s throat and face. His blood flowed freely, appearing black in the red light.
Tarzi set his laser pistol to “torch” and cut through Mags’ restraints as fast as he could. “I can get the chains now. We’ll worry about the manacles later! Okay?”
“I knew you’d be back, dear. I knew it.”
�
�Bloody hell, Auntie. Next time I come to visit, would you put some clothes on first? This is awkward.”
The pistol burned through the final chain, and Mags jerked her leg free.
“That’s the last chain! Let’s get the fuck out!”
Mags grabbed the box of her clothes and weapons from the table. “Wait.” She set the box down.
She grabbed the electric rod from the rack and stood over the dragon. “Get back, kitty! Get!”
The puma stepped away from the object of her rage, leaving a barely breathing body in a pool of black.
Mags plunged the end of the electric rod into the open wounds in the dragon’s throat. It shrieked.
“Laugh now, you fuck.” She twisted the rod, and its body spasmed in response. “Thanks for showing me how to turn this thing on.”
The dragon rose off the floor in an arc of terrible blue lightning. It writhed in horror, went tense, and moved no more.
Mags kept the juice on as the body cooked in its own blood. When she finally released the button, she whispered, “I am going to come back, and I will kill every last one of you fucking things. Until then, this isn’t over.”
She tossed the inert rod aside. It clanged off the floor. She ran with her box of things onto the Queen Anne, and they all took off.
★ ○•♥•○ ★
Tarzi and Mags stood on the edge of a cliff. The Rocky Mountains lay all around them in ragged splendor. Wind blew the clouds up from a valley, carrying them to the peak.
“We should come here more often,” she said. “It’s so pretty up here.”
Tarzi scanned the mountains for hawks and eagles. He had never seen one before, only in pictures. The puma sat in the top branches of an old, dead tree. The tree had been struck by lightning once, but now it made a perfect spot for her to take in the view. She leisurely licked her paw and rubbed it across her face.
“She seems happy here. All’s well that ends well, I suppose. You know, Auntie, I thought you were out of your friggin’ mind when you ran off to save her.”
Meteor Mags: Omnibus Edition Page 9
