I skirted the mountain range to our right. A flashing light on the holoscreen indicated the coordinates Mo had given us.
“What did Draben mean when he said you could visit Earth before it died?” Adina said.
Uh-oh. I hadn’t really explained about the Cataclysm.
“There are things mankind has done that...well, they’re pretty awful.”
“But how does a planet die?” Her brows furrowed. “Are you saying men killed it?”
“I honestly don’t know the whole story. Even my mom and dad have a different opinion about what happened. My mom seems more convinced that humans did it. Over the years we used up all the resources of the planet: wood for fires, animals for food, pumping chemicals into the air until it wasn’t breathable anymore. Men made it so the planet wasn’t livable. Everything died—all the plants, all the animals—everything.”
Adina stared at me in horror.
“My dad thinks it was a combination of what man did and natural causes. There was a huge volcanic explosion that filled the Earth with dust. It blocked the sun and caused another ice age.”
“Another ice age?”
“Yeah, the time you lived in was the end of the last ice age. Just a few hundred years after that, the planet was warm, and most of the ice was gone. Green plants covered the earth, and animals flourished.”
“Just like I used to dream.” Adina smiled. “Where my mom and dad went.”
“Everything was fine for thousands of years,” I said. “Then it died.” I watched Adina’s smile fade again.
“It seems so sad. All those animals.”
“That’s what the ARC project is all about. We go back in time and find the animals before they died. Then we’re going to put them back on Earth.”
“So it isn’t dead anymore?”
“No. My dad says it’s ready.” For a moment the excitement of what we were about to do got my heart racing. Then I remembered why we were here, on Mars, chasing Haon—chasing my father. Maybe I wasn’t really part of the whole ARC project after all.
Adina was quiet for a long time.
“I want to help,” she said at last. “I can’t imagine living in a world without the wooly mammoths or aurochs or deer.”
I shook my head and worked up a smile.
“Once we rescue my mom and she says it’s okay, you’ll get your wish.”
I looked at the display. “We should be getting close. Keep an eye out for Haon’s compound.”
The sun was setting behind us. Long shadows made the sand dunes below look like giant waves on a black sea.
“I think I see something.” Adina pointed out the window.
I strained to see.
“There, Noah. A flashing light.”
Sure enough, within the shadow of what looked to be a large crater, a yellow light blinked.
“Turn off all external lights.”
The ship went dark. I brought her down as close as possible to the sand. The flashing light disappeared behind a rocky ridge ahead of us.
“I think we should land outside the crater and walk in. We’d better wear EV suits. It’s going to get cold, fast.”
By the time I landed and we got into the Extra Vehicle suits, it was pitch-black outside. I was a little embarrassed because I needed Adina’s help to get into my suit, but once we walked out into the cold desert I forgot all about it.
The EV was nowhere near as fun as a thermsuit, but I liked it. Just like the chair, it moved in response to my thoughts as if my legs were whole. One day I’d walk like this all the time.
I looked up into the night. Phobos was shining brightly in the northern sky.
“The moon is so small,” Adina said over the comm-link. “And it’s not round!”
I laughed. “Yeah, lots of moons are shaped funny. Mars has two moons—Phobos is the largest. The other one, Deimos, is a lot smaller and further away so it’s harder to see.”
We climbed to the top of a rise. I was glad for the low gravity—it made walking in the EV suit easier. I pointed to another ridge a few hundred meters in front of us.
“That should be the edge of the crater. Let’s try to be quiet—who knows what kind of sentries Haon has posted out here.”
We scrambled down one hill and climbed up the next. By the time we reached the top I was breathing hard. I sat down on the near side of the ridge, Adina next to me. Her face was lit by the green glow of her heads-up display. I’d shown her how to read some of the symbols on the display—human and robotic signatures. I looked at mine. So far, there was nothing in range. I pointed at my eyes, then at the top of the ridge. She nodded, and we both crawled up and peered over the edge.
Below, lit by the pale light of Phobos, was a small compound made up of two main domes and several smaller ones. Nothing moved. Only the flashing yellow light we’d seen earlier indicated any signs of life at all.
I motioned to Adina and crawled over the edge of the crater.
I wasn’t sure how we’d get inside. Hamilton used his knowledge of high-tech gadgetry and computer programming to override the security system. But as long as we were moving and no one had spotted us, I figured we were doing okay.
Besides, I wasn’t sure I didn’t want to be discovered.
Adina grabbed my arm just as I was about to head down into the crater. She pointed to one of the smaller domes. At first I couldn’t see anything—then a sliver of light widened along the top of the dome. The roof was opening.
Maybe this was our chance.
I leapt over the crater’s edge and half ran, half slid down the gravelly slope. I heard Adina clattering after me. The ground around the facility was bathed in light from the opening dome. I ran, trying to stick to the shadows along the edge of the buildings.
We reached the dome, which was now completely open. I stopped and looked for a way onto the roof. Adina grabbed me and pointed toward a ladder. She dashed over and began climbing. I followed.
We stopped when we reached a small ledge. The dome had retracted completely, leaving a circular opening about fifteen meters across. The gleaming hull of a starship pointed toward the Martian sky. Steam hissed and bellowed beneath it. The ship was being readied for launch.
If Haon was in there—or, more important, Mom—
“Come on!” I spied a ladder descending into the mist on our left. We ran.
Seconds later we were down. The ship grumbled and belched smoke. I knew it was moments from liftoff. We were just a few meters from its hatch, which was still open. Even as I watched, it started to close. I commanded the EV suit to give me as much power to the legs as possible and lunged toward the door.
Maybe I gave it too much power.
I flew four meters through the air and crashed into the door. The suit bore the brunt of the hit, but I nearly passed out as the air was knocked out of me. When my head cleared I was relieved to see the anti-jam safeguards had kept the hatch from closing on my arm. Slowly, the door opened back up.
Adina helped me to my feet, her back to the hatch. She turned as a huge shadow loomed, blocking the light from within.
Haon yelled as he jumped out. He smashed the butt of a rifle into Adina’s visor. I heard the faceplate crack, and she fell backward.
He swung the weapon toward me, ready to fire.
I stumbled back, my hands raised.
“Wait!” I reached up and pressed a button, opening my visor.
I was a heartbeat away from having a hole torn through me by his plasma-rifle. When he recognized me, the rage on his face changed to disdain.
“What are you doing here?”
“I—”
“You Zarcs are like cockroaches—squish one and another comes scurrying out of the gutter.”
“I know who you are!”
“You…” His expression changed again. Confusion this time. “What do you mean, you know who I am?”
“I know you’re my father. My dad told me—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, kid
. I don’t have a son.”
He waved his rifle at Adina, who lay on the ground unmoving.
“Your friend needs help,” he said. “Why don’t you get her out of here so I can be on my way.”
“No!” I put my hands down and stepped toward him. “I’m not going to let you shoo me away. I need answers and I’m not leaving without them.”
He’d towered over me the entire time, but at the moment he seemed smaller.
“I want to know why,” I said. “Why did you leave me?”
He glanced back at the ship. Just like my dad, he wanted to flee.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, kid. You need to go get your mother, by the way. She’s unharmed.”
I took another step toward him— he actually backed up.
“She’s in the lab,” he said. “Here, let me—”
He turned toward the hatch. I stepped in front of him. I wasn’t afraid of him, and that scared the daylights out of me, but I wasn’t going to let him off the hook.
“Why? Why did you leave me?”
He took a deep breath and looked at me for what seemed like a long time.
“All right, you’re my kid. But what’s it matter? My brother did a much better job raising you than I ever would have. He—”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? It matters to me!”
“Listen, kid, I think you’d better talk with your dad. He’ll tell you what happened. He—”
“No.”
I looked at Adina, who stirred. I thought of Mom. Haon said she was okay, and I believed him.
“I want to hear it from you. Why didn’t you want me?”
“Because…I was afraid.” He sounded surprised, like he never really knew until he spoke the words.
“Afraid of me? Of a baby?”
“Your mother died shortly after you were born.” He had tears in his voice.
“Shalia?” I whispered.
His brows popped up. “How did you—”
“My brother overheard you and my mom arguing.”
“Ah,” he said. “I wondered how long he was snooping around here.” Anger filled his voice. “She shouldn’t have died—she wouldn’t have died, not on Mars.” He shook his head. “We live like rats on Venus.”
“Is it really that bad? The Poligarchy wouldn’t—”
“Ha!” Haon’s face darkened. “The Poligarchy ensures it.”
“Why would they—”
“For the same reason they don’t want humans to colonize Earth. Power.”
I glanced at Adina. She was propped against a pylon watching us. She had her Triple-B in, so she knew exactly what we were saying.
“The war of 2997 revealed their true nature,” Haon said.
“The war of—what?”
“You’re joking.” He shook his head. “Of course you’re not. Your parents wouldn’t want you to think on your own.” He glanced at Adina, then continued.
“In 2997, I was ten. Our parents—mine and your dad’s—had divorced, and I went with Mom to live on Venus. I guess she wanted to be as far away from Dad as she could. I don’t know why she didn’t bring your dad with us.
“With every passing year Venus was becoming more of a problem for the Poligarchy. There was talk of setting up our own government. The Poligarchy wouldn’t have it, so they attacked. Killed off all the ‘rebel ringleaders.’ The war only lasted a few months.” He slumped against the ship’s hull behind him. “My mother was killed.”
I’d always wondered what happened to Grandma Zarc.
“Since then the Poligarchy has done everything in its power to keep us down,” he said. “Most on Venus are just fighting to survive.”
“And Earth?” I’d already guessed at his answer.
“The Poligarchy knows if we spread out—if humanity grows to three planets instead of two—they’ll never be able to control us all.”
I swallowed. It was almost too much to take in.
“So the ARC project?”
“The Poligarchy’s finest act of treachery.” He sneered. “Unite the people around a noble cause. Repopulate the earth with extinct species. Who could oppose that?”
Haon’s past was filled with so much suffering—how different would I be under the same circumstances? Still, he had a lot to answer for.
“What about the animals?”
“We don’t need the animals anymore.”
“So just because we don’t need them, that gives you the right to destroy them?”
“We’ve evolved beyond them.” Haon motioned around him. “Animals are obsolete in the face of all that man’s accomplished.”
“There are a lot of things we don’t need,” I said. “Humanity’s missing the—”
A siren blared. Red lights flashed all around the hangar. Haon ran to a terminal and brought up a holo of the compound. He pressed a few buttons. I saw masses of red dots converging on the base.
“It’s the Poligarchy.” He looked at Adina, who’d jumped to her feet. “I suggest the two of you go find Hannah. I’ve got work to do.”
He swiped his fingers through the holo, clicking on doors.
“I’ve cleared a path. Your mother won’t be stopped from leaving.” He turned and stepped toward me. I realized I was still standing between him and the hatch. I tried to figure out how I could stop him, but there was nothing I could do, really. I stepped aside.
He pushed past me but paused at the ship’s stairs.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” With that, he hopped into the ship and the hatch closed behind him.
Almost immediately, the ship began to rumble. I grabbed Adina’s hand and pulled her toward a door Haon had opened. It was a clear shot down the hall. Another door stood open at the far end. The roar of a ship taking off behind us momentarily drowned out the alarms. Smoke filled the hall. I’d forgotten to shut the door behind.
“Your visor!” I yelled. We both put our faceplates down moments before we were engulfed in heated steam. If it weren’t for the suits, we’d have been cooked alive.
I yanked Adina around a corner and slammed my hand against the switch plate. The door shut just as a someone running from the opposite direction plowed into us. All three of us crashed to the floor in a heap. The scorching vapor rolled over our heads and dissipated into the ventilation system. I pushed myself off the figure beneath me.
It was Mom.
She scrambled away, glancing back and forth from Adina to me.
“It’s okay.” I lifted my visor. “It’s me, Noah.”
Her expression shifted from fear to relief and back to fear in a matter of heartbeats.
“What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you, Mom.”
“I heard a ship,” Mom said. “Was it Haon?”
“Yeah.” I looked at Adina, willing her to keep quiet about our conversation.
“And the alarm?”
“It’s the Poligarchy Police. They’ve got the place surrounded.”
“We have to get out of here.” My mom looked frantic. “Tell me you have a ship.”
“Of course, but why don’t we just wait for the police? I bet they—”
“There’s no time.” She grabbed my arm. “Which way?”
I got my bearings, then turned down the hall.
“Follow me.”
We wound our way through the maze of corridors until we reached a door to the outside. A quick peek through a nearby window didn’t show me anything. Perhaps the authorities left when they saw Haon’s ship blasting off.
I cracked the door and still didn’t see anyone. I motioned for Mom and Adina to follow as I headed outside.
“Your visors,” Mom said.
“What about you?” I looked at her. She wasn’t even wearing a jacket, and the Martian night could be brutal. It already seemed like it was near freezing.
“I’ll be all right.” She stood unmoving until Adina and I lowered our visors. “Now, where’s that ship of yours?”
&
nbsp; I looked around. Everything looked the same to me. I glanced at Adina.
“This way.” Adina sprinted toward the dark side of the crater. My mom and I took off after her.
We only made it a dozen meters or so before I heard a gruff voice off to my right.
“Halt!”
I faltered, but Mom grabbed my arm and pulled me onward. Adina disappeared in the gloom ahead.
“I said halt.” A man dressed in a crisp white uniform with a respirator hanging to the side of his face materialized out of the shadows. He had a rifle leveled at us.
We kept running. I saw a look of confusion on his face before he lowered his weapon and took off after us.
I heard his footsteps gaining on us when I saw a silver blur in my peripheral vision. I whipped around just as Adina tackled the man, sending him flying to the ground. His rifle skidded away into the night.
Adina rolled away and popped up with the rifle in her hands.
“You halt!” She pointed it at the officer. He lay on the ground, fear on his face. He didn’t look any older than Hamilton.
“You make one move and I’ll...I’ll spear you!” At least she held the rifle the right way. She looked at us and nodded at the crater’s side.
“Get to the ship,” she said.
“I’m not leaving you,” I said.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Mom looked at us both, then pushed me toward the slope.
“Let’s go. Obviously your friend can take care of herself.”
I took another look at Adina, then headed off.
My mom struggled up the side of the crater. As we neared the top she slowed, until I had to practically drag her. Her face was contorted in pain.
“What’s wrong?” I said.
“Just get me to the ship and I’ll be fine.” She didn’t look fine—what was it Dad had said about a neuro-chip?
Just as we crested the crater’s edge, I heard a blast behind us. A plasma-rifle. I whipped around and looked down. At first I couldn’t make out anything in the gloom—then I saw a figure running toward us. Adina.
“She’s okay,” I said over my shoulder. Mom didn’t reply.
Moments later, Adina leapt over the crater’s edge. Her visor was up, and she was grinning.
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) Page 13
