“That was you.”
“Oh no, Ziron, you’ve always been brilliant on your own. I just nudged you here and there, but don’t let that affect your self-worth. You’re a genius inventor and a great friend. Now, do what you do best and provide your other friends with backup they may need.”
Mira’s hologram faded away.
“Thank you,” said Ziron.
He turned back to his holo-screens and started coding at light speed.
Let’s start by hacking some of these cameras the humans have in their streets. I need eyes on Kevin.
* * *
The moment Kevin and Lacuna landed in the woods, they heard noises of branches cracking nearby.
“He’s still on to us,” said Lacuna.
“I know, we need to get rid of him though, and quickly. I’m worried about my family. Plus, we need to check on Boomer, he lost consciousness back there.”
“That’s probably a good thing, at least he’s not a target, since the creature is hunting us.”
There was logic in that statement, but Kevin worried, nonetheless.
“You didn’t happen to bring Leg’olas?”
The spider grew out of Lacuna’s hair.
“I’m here,” said the spider.
“You hitched a ride without asking me?” said Lacuna.
“Most of you seem scared of me, so I kinda had to.”
“Good,” said Kevin with a smile.
“Want me to bite that creature?”
“I would like nothing more, but it’s too dangerous. You’ll be toast if one of these bolts hits you. But can you do me a favor?”
The noises from the branches cracking intensified.
“Anything for my friend,” said Leg’olas enthusiastically.
“Go heal Boomer and regroup. Wait for us by hiding near the house.”
“I’m not sure he’ll listen to Leg’olas,” interjected Lacuna.
“Can you heal him partially so that he’s not in pain but still stays asleep?”
“What good will that do?” asked Lacuna.
“Look, that was a nasty hit he took, he might be bleeding internally.”
“Alright,” said Lacuna.
“I can do that,” confirmed Leg’olas.
“Then go, be careful.”
“No problem, I can be so small nobody sees me.”
“Then do that, make sure you don’t get hurt, either.”
“Okay,” said Leg’olas as she jumped off of Lacuna’s hair and hopped along in the forest.
24
A lightning bolt burned the tree Kevin and Lacuna took cover behind.
“I’m getting really irritated with being shot at by an invisible foe!” exclaimed Lacuna.
“Tell me about it. Set that thing on maximum stun and rapid fire, will you?”
“What? No! We need to kill that thing.”
“I know, but we need to see if it slows him down a little. Seems like his shield has no problem deflecting full-power kill shots.”
“But we still can’t see him.”
“Let me worry about that, you’ll see him.”
“And how exactly will you manage that?”
“There’s a lot of dirt in the forest. I’ll create a cloud out of it. That should give us a visual on him, and when we do see him, you light him up. Just stay behind cover.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“On three?”
“What?”
“Never mind,” said Kevin with a smile. “I’m gonna do my thing in three seconds, get ready.”
Kevin got down, put his hands on the ground, and unleashed all the kinetic energy he could through the ground. Seconds later, a dirt cloud rose and covered the area.
Lacuna peeked behind the burnt tree only to jerk back behind the trunk’s large pieces of bark that had splintered on impact with the lightning bolt. But this gave her an idea where to look next. She rolled from the tree to the next one, glancing in the direction of the previous blast and saw the silhouette in the dirt cloud.
She stayed behind the tree until another lightning bolt impacted with it, and she rushed out of cover, aimed her rifle, and unleashed a flurry of shots toward the enemy.
“Stay behind cover,” said Kevin between gritted teeth.
“I got this. I think it’s working.”
The enemy lit up with each hit, which seemed to slow him down, but he remained standing, eventually raising his gun toward Lacuna.
“Take cover!” screamed Kevin.
But it was too late, and the enemy opened fire.
Kevin darted toward Lacuna, raised his hand, and erected a shield in front of her. A split second before she was hit by a lightning bolt, Kevin fired a fireball toward the enemy with his other hand.
The fireball hit the enemy on his shoulder, and he spun in the air before crashing to the forest’s floor.
“Good save, thank you,” said Lacuna.
“That was reckless! You could have gotten yourself killed,” Kevin protested.
“Easy there, tiger, it worked.”
Kevin sent Lacuna daggers with his eyes. “This time! Stay here, I’ll finish him.”
* * *
“To say the security protocol of these people is child’s play is an understatement,” said Ziron.
But there was no Mira to respond. Part of Ziron wished her encouraging hologram, even if it were just an interactive recording, would come back.
What bothered Ziron more at the moment was that he couldn’t acquire any camera angle where he could see Kevin, which was not a good sign. Ziron checked Kevin’s subspace tracker, but the sensors had been acting up since the space battle.
Eventually, he received a quick series of bleeps that soon vanished but were visible long enough for Ziron to establish a position.
“What the hell are you doing in the forest, Kevin?”
Ziron ran scans on the area and detected lightning-based weapons discharge.
“Oh no, they have a reaper.”
The reapers were highly effective killers used by the Kregan, and they had very strong shields and armor with extreme stealth technology built-in.
Ziron opened up a channel to Kevin.
“Watch out, Kevin, you have a reaper hunting you. They are invisible.”
“Oh, that’s what’s been firing at us all this time, thanks.”
“Was that sarcasm?”
“What do you think? Gotta go finish it off. Kevin out.”
“No, wait.”
Ziron tried re-establishing a connection, but Kevin didn’t pick up.
“Dammit!”
* * *
Kevin approached the downed reaper and trapped him in a time bubble. He then lit it up with dozens of fireballs.
When they entered the bubble, the fire advancing in slow motion looked like it had a life of its own, a relentless, flame-like monster advancing ruthlessly toward its prey. The roles were now reversed, and Kevin was going in for the kill.
With Mira’s matrix enhancing his tech-sorcerer’s skills, Kevin could keep the time bubble almost indefinitely. This allowed him to send enough attacks to overload and deplete the reaper’s powerful shields. Kevin had sent so many fireballs that the time bubble was now a radiating mixture of flames and shield emission, and eventually, the shield would give in.
Kevin didn’t have all day, so he created a rotating shield with cutting edges and held it over his head. He looked down at his opponent and threw the cutting-shield disc down.
When it started entering the bubble, Kevin took a few steps back and erected a shield before dropping the time spell.
Flames went from slow motion to real time and burned the last of the shields, but the reaper rolled backward and dodged the next attack, which by all accounts should have sectioned him in half.
He got back to his feet and jumped forward, a blade of light bursting to life.
Kevin used his free hand and immobilized the reaper in midair. The reaper couldn’t move a muscle and was growli
ng through gritted teeth.
“Game over,” said Kevin.
He increased the telekinetic hold and added ten times more power into the spell. The result was devastating, and the reaper blew up like a smashed watermelon.
Lacuna ran to Kevin’s side and covered her mouth with her hand.
“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”
“Well, had to be done.”
“No arguments here.”
“Let’s go save my family. They’ll want to meet you.”
“Would they now?”
* * *
Leg’olas stopped healing Boomer just before he woke up. Now Boomer was snoring.
“There, you rest now,” said Leg’olas, using one of its legs to pat Boomer on the head.
Kevin and Lacuna came running, both panting when they stopped.
“All ok?” asked Leg’olas.
“Yeah,” said Kevin, “just took longer than I would have liked. How’s Boomer?”
“You were right to send me. He was in pretty bad shape. In fact, he might not have survived.”
“Thank you for healing him.”
“Sure thing, what’s next?”
“Here is what I want you to do. Stay behind cover, small, nearly invisible, and wait for it to be over.”
“Not fighting with Kevin?” asked Leg’olas with a sad tone in her voice.
“No, not today.”
“I don’t think that’s the right move,” said Lacuna.
“And why not?”
“We don’t know how things will turn out. Why not use her deadly bite?”
Kevin thought about it, and while it was hard to argue with Lacuna’s logic, he didn’t like it. The reaper had almost killed Boomer, and if it hadn’t been for Leg’olas, Boomer might have perished. Kevin hated repeatedly putting his friends on the line like this.
“I don’t know…”
“Can I chose?” said Leg’olas, hopping around.
“That seems fair,” said Lacuna.
Kevin wanted to argue the spider had the maturity of a five year old and it wasn’t a fair way to deal with the potential dangers, but he heard his mother scream inside the house.
“We gotta go. Now!” Kevin said. “You choose what you want to do, Leg’olas.”
“Okay, good luck,” said Leg’olas.
“To us all,” added Lacuna.
25
When Kevin stepped in the house, he noticed some things looked relatively the same but at the same time, he couldn’t help but see the damage already done.
Seeing a cyborg head of himself on the ground didn’t help reassure him in any way, either. At least the sentinels had tried protecting his family, as Ziron said they would.
Everyone stayed very quiet in the living room. Kevin’s dad was on the floor, unconscious, but he was breathing. His mom was scared out of her mind, and Xonax had Kevin’s crying sister in his arms, a dagger under her throat. She looked utterly terrified.
Four Kregan guards walked around Kevin, pointing their blaster rifles at his head.
“Mom,” said Kevin, “Sonja, just stay calm. Everything will be fine.”
“It’s not nice lying to your family, Kevin. This is what’s going to happen,” said Xonax. “You’re going to give us a jump-capable ship, I’ll take your sister with me, and you can get her back once I’ve returned to my palace.”
“There’s no palace for you to return to,” said Kevin. “Your reign is over.”
Xonax’s metallic teeth ground together. “Don’t be ridiculous. I have planetary defenses, and you came here with the Arcadian fleet, so you’re bluffing.”
“Think what you will, but I expect Admiral Corso has carried out my attack plan and taken down your world and palace.”
“If that’s the truth, then you’ll lose everything today, your family, your world, your life.”
“I can live with the last one, but the rest, I don’t think so. The only way you make it out of here alive is if you agree to surrender now. The question is, are you willing to drop your weapon, go in a nice cell, and stay alive, here, on Earth, for the rest of your life, or should we do this the hard way?”
Xonax tightened his grasp on Sonja and his dagger broke skin. A little drop of blood ran down her throat.
“You do realize I can kill her in an instant?”
Lacuna, said Kevin over their subspace telepathic link, get ready.
“And if you hurt her, I’ll make sure you die slowly and painfully. As a matter of fact, it will be my personal mission in life to make sure you suffer and die when I decide it’s time.”
Kevin could see hatred and madness in his opponent’s eyes and hoped his approach of antagonizing him was the right one. While he did his best not to show it, he was terrified of the idea of losing a family member in the process. But he couldn’t doubt himself. Not now. It was game time, and whatever he did, it had to work.
“You talk too much,” said Xonax. “That will cost your mother her life. Guards, kill her!”
“Now!” screamed Kevin.
He reached with his mind and paralyzed Xonax’s dagger-wielding hand, and at the same time, he created a shield around his mother, right before blaster fire buried her. Kevin then sprung into action as he heard the shot coming from outside.
The plasma shot hit Xonax in the jaw, making his head tilt to the side.
Dammit, why did it have to hit there?
Kevin swiftly fired two fireballs that incinerated two of the Kregan guards, then pushed the other two against the walls of the house with kinetic force pushes.
Xonax grimaced as he recovered from the blaster impact with his half-metallic face. In vain, he tried slashing his dagger. Kevin reached with telekinetic energy, opened his hand by snapping his fingers, and grabbed the dagger. He then used more telekinetic energy to break Xonax’s arm, removing it from holding his sister.
“Sonja, Mom, run upstairs!” ordered Kevin.
Sonja was too scared to move, but Kevin’s mom grabbed her, and they disappeared up the stairs.
Xonax was in pain, and his scream was ear-piercing.
Kevin aimed his palm at the Emperor and created a fire in front of his palm.
“Now you die!”
Xonax started laughing.
“You’ve lost, why the hell would you laugh?”
“You don’t get it, do you? You should turn around.”
Kevin hesitated to lose visual contact with Xonax, but when he heard moaning behind him and recognized Lacuna’s voice, he broke eye contact and turned.
She was being dragged by her hair—by nothing but air.
Another reaper.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t be ready for whatever plan you were cooking up?” said Xonax. “Granted, I didn’t anticipate that you’d be so efficient. As a matter of fact, I thought my first reaper would have dealt with you and your friends.”
Kevin’s heartbeat increased, and his mind went into a dark place. He couldn’t lose Lacuna; he couldn’t lose anyone. But his plan had backfired, and now he had no clear path to victory. Just fear quickly turning into terror and threatening to swallow his sanity.
“Shoot that damn thing,” said Lacuna, clearly in pain. “Don’t worry about me or your family. Just do it!”
“Shut up!” ordered Xonax. “Now, get on your knees, Kevin, or she dies.”
Kevin could hear Xonax walking toward him. Fear paralyzed Kevin, and he couldn’t think of his next move.
He caught a glimpse of Lacuna’s eyes, and she discreetly shook her head, indicating not to comply. But Kevin didn’t know what to do, so he got on his knees and saw tears fall down Lacuna’s cheeks.
Just save your family, said Lacuna on their link.
I can’t lose you.
If you don’t do something soon, we’ll all die!
Get ready to move on three, said a third voice. I’ll create a diversion.
It was Ziron.
One, said Ziron, two…
The sky behind the door illumi
nated, and an explosion near the reaper sent both him and Lacuna crashing to the side. Kevin turned around and fired a shockwave at an unsuspecting Xonax, who flew and smashed through the wall separating the living room from the kitchen.
Kevin darted outside after Lacuna just in time to see her spinning in the air, no doubt thrown by the reaper.
Kevin used telekinetic energy to cradle her fall. But she had lost consciousness.
I’m uploading an algorithm allowing you to see the reaper, said Ziron.
The reaper’s silhouette suddenly appeared in front of Kevin’s eyes. He could see it as a red overlay.
I’m marking a spot on your HUD. Send the damn thing there, and I’ll take care of it, added Ziron.
Kevin used a lot of telekinetic energy to grab the reaper before he could fire at him and unleashed his biggest shockwave yet. The reaper was catapulted in the general vicinity that Zee had marked on Kevin’s HUD, and a wide ray of light fell from the sky and incinerated the enemy target with a loud bang. The shockwave from the impact sent Kevin falling unceremoniously on his ass.
26
Kevin ran to Lacuna, who was still breathing but badly hurt.
Thanks for saving our asses, Ziron, said Kevin.
Behind you, Kevin. Xonax is coming.
Anger and hatred filled Kevin’s soul. He had enough of the Kregans and their Emperor. It was time to end this.
Kevin carefully laid Lacuna’s head on the ground and kissed her before getting back on his feet.
“You’ve been a thorn in my side for much too long,” said Xonax as he grabbed his blaster and aimed at Kevin.
“That won’t hurt me,” said Kevin
“You sure about that?”
Xonax fired, and Kevin trapped the blaster fire in a small time bubble, big enough for him to walk past it on his way to Xonax.
“Impressive, but that won’t work forever.”
“Try me.”
Xonax fired again. Kevin trapped the next shot in another time bubble.
The Emperor took two steps back and screamed while holding a hand to his neck. Leg’olas had just bitten him.
Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series Page 54
