Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) (20 page)

Kedge poked the charred corpse with his staff. “Do what?”

He followed my gaze toward the sky. His mouth tightened and his monocled eye focused furiously in the glare of the sun. “I'm not sure it was intentional.”

I turned toward him incredulously. “Not intentional?”

It was Gard who responded. “
Chlorofluorocarbons did this
,
Nathan
.
The emissions from so many battleships combined with weapon discharge contributed to the degradation of the ozone layer.
”

“I suppose it doesn't matter,” I replied, my words laced with venom. “They are responsible, whether it's intentional or not.” I moved next to Wraith who had been busy scanning the corpse. I pointed at it. “They did
this
!”

No one argued my point. Wraith completed his scan and shoved the scanner into his belt clip. “This person is dead,” he said flatly. He looked into my rage-filled face and frowned. “There is no point dwelling on this. It will be worse in more populated areas of the planet.”

I looked from the corpse to Wraith. “You think?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He pursed his lips with a confused look. “No I don't
think
. I can confirm it with facts.”

I rolled my eyes and moved toward the bays. Wraith remained behind, apparently confused by my outburst. He could be so thickheaded at times.

“What goes inside there?” Kedge walked behind me and motioned toward the building.

“Fire trucks,” I responded.

He rubbed his chin. “Fire trucks? Are they always on fire?”

I looked at him to see if he was serious. His frown and hard stare answered my question. “Um, they aren't on fire. We use them to help put out fires.”

His frown changed into a wry smile. “Oh, I see. We had something like that on Mars. We called them water transports.” He grabbed a fireman's helmet off a shelf and turned it over in his hands. “Warriors piloted these
fire trucks
?”

“No.” A smile played at the corner of my lips as I watched him study the helmet. “Normally it was volunteers from the community.” Kedge held the helmet up to his monocled eye and examined it.

“Interesting,” he mused. “These helmets are hard. They would be useful in battle.”

We stepped out of the bay and joined Wraith, who was preoccupied with examining the charred husk of the fire truck. He scraped off a burnt piece of metal and pinched it between his fingers. He brought it up to his nose. “Smells like plasma.”

“So?” I asked.

Wraith frowned. “I just wanted to verify the cause.”

“The cause?” My anger started to rise. “What else do you think caused this? Do you think this fireman was out here just washing the truck when suddenly it spontaneously burst into flames?”

Wraith opened his fingers and let the debris fall to the ground. “We should go,” he chuffed.

I felt bad for snapping at him. I had to remind myself that he helped bring me back home. He may be snobbish at times but he had been instrumental in rescuing me from Calypso and bringing me here. “I'm sorry,” I apologized.

He brushed me off and started down the road. “It's this way, right?”

I nodded and followed him. Gard fell in behind us. As we passed Kedge he grabbed my arm. “It is alright to be angry. Anger keeps us focused on the task at hand.”

I turned to him. “And what is the task at hand?”

He stopped walking. “Why it's to defeat the—,” Gard's communicator interrupted him.

“
I don't know where you guys are but you better wrap it up quickly. Two ships have entered the sector and are headed in your direction
,” Vayne's voice barked.

“Consortium ships?” Wraith asked.

“
Are they Consortium ships
?” Gard repeated.

“
They don't appear to be
,” Vayne responded. “
That doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful. If I were you, I'd start making travel arrangements out of there
.”

I squinted and looked to the hills on the horizon. Two black circles appeared just above the Shell gas station sign in the distance. They looked like thick dishes with antennas attached on the top.
Remote controlled Frisbees.
I laughed out loud.

“What's so funny?” Wraith grumbled.

I gestured toward the incoming objects. “You've got to be kidding me…real flying saucers!”

“
Those appear to be Kamilian vessels
,” offered Gard.

I recalled the Kamilian I observed onboard the Argus during my first voyage with the Consortium. I remembered how their similarity to Bugs Bunny made me giggle. The question was:
whose side were they on now?
It didn't seem so funny now.

“Friends?” I asked.

No one offered a response. Kedge grabbed my elbow. “We should go.”

“It's too late,” Wraith said.

He was right. The ships were no more than a quarter mile away. As they passed over a nearby Rodeway Inn, the lobby doors burst open and a young couple ran out. When they turned and saw us the man pointed and ran in our direction. The ships veered to the left and followed. As they approached I appreciated the size of the ships. They were enormous and had to be the size of a football field.

“We better get inside,” Kedge said, motioning toward the fire station.

“I agree,” I replied.

We hurried through the nearest bay door. Inside was another door leading to an interior office where I led the group. There was a lone window in the office which faced the highway. Blinds partially concealed us, but we could still be seen from the outside. I reached up to close the blinds and spotted the couple outside. The ships were directly over them, blocking out the sun and covering them in their shadow. The woman let out a scream as the man pulled her along.

“Those people are leading them right to us,” Wraith grumbled.

I pulled the string controlling the blinds, but it became twisted around the gear. After muttering several curses under my breath I managed to unhook the string. Before I could close the blinds a beam of light exited the bottom of the ship and engulfed the couple and they vanished. One minute they were running toward the fire house, the next minute they were gone.

“
Fascinating
.”

I turned toward Gard wide-eyed. His tone of voice was detached, as if he had just watched a gymnast do a triple somersault rather than observe two humans get vaporized.

“Fascinating?” I croaked.

He ignored me and continued to stare out the window. The ship that fired continued to hover while the other ship departed the area.

“It appears that they are looking to land,” Wraith whispered.

He wasn't wrong. The ship hovered above the firehouse for a moment before darting across the main intersection toward the Rodeway Inn. It descended, kicking up large dust clouds and scattering debris everywhere. Two parallel bars extended from the bottom, allowing the disk-shaped craft to land safely in the parking lot. Due to its size, the corner of the ship crushed a portion of the iron fence surrounding the outdoor pool.

“Sorry folks, the pool will be closed for the remainder of the season,” I uttered before laughing hysterically.

Kedge smacked me on the back of the head. “This is no time to lose your head, Nathan. Stay focused.”

“Stay focused he says,” I mumbled. “Two people were just disintegrated—,”

Before I could finish, a ramp descended from the ship. Two of the Kamilians cautiously moved down the ramp and surveyed the area. One of them was armed with a rifle which he kept straddled close to his chest. He was naked from the waist up except for thin, gray hair that covered him from his neck to his waist. He wore baggy cargo pants and high combat boots, which reminded me of a furry Rambo. He broke off from the other and examined the damage to the pool fence. The other was naked from the waist up as well, with the exception of darker hair and a bright red sash straddled across his shoulder. He wore similar attire but carried no visible weapon. His long ears stood erect at the top of his head, but when he turned I saw one of them had a big hole in the center.

“Are they Meta's people?” I asked.

Wraith craned his head forward and peered out the window. “I don't recognize them.”

“Yeah, well, he is looking right at us.” Kedge unhooked his staff and backed away from the window.

Mr. Red Sash exited the parking lot and started walking up the street toward the fire house. His friend ceased his inspection of the mangled fence and shouted something. Red Sash turned and yelled something in return. His armed companion joined him in the street, holding his weapon defensively and surveying the area.

“Damn, let's hope there's only two of them in that ship,” Wraith muttered doubtfully before removing his weapon from its holster.

“I don't care,” I growled. “I will kill them all.” My gun was in my hand before I even realized I pulled it out.

The Kamilians were no more than one hundred yards away from the fire house and closing. The armed escort continued to sweep his rifle to the right and left while Red Sash stared in our direction, moving slowly. He couldn't possibly see us with the blinds and distance masking our presence, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he “sensed” our presence. He would stop periodically and sniff the air, like he was trying to smell us.

“Kamilians have an enhanced sense of smell,” Wraith said, as if he read my thoughts. “He is trying to locate us.' He moved toward the door leading to the bay and placed his hand on the doorknob. “Gard keep watch and see what they are doing. As soon as they cross the street, let me know.”

“
Acknowledged
.”

“I got your back,” I said.

Kedge moved toward the door and kept his back against the wall. “I'm ready.”

“
They stopped
,” Gard said. “
The Kamilian with the red belt has stopped smelling the air and has engaged in conversation with his companion
.” Gard's eyes flickered. “
Wait, they stopped talking. They are crossing the street
.” Several tense seconds passed before he continued. “
They are examining the corpse.
”

“At the count of three we will rush outside,” Wraith said. “Gard you stay here.”

When we nodded our agreement he began to countdown. “One,” Wraith whispered. “Two.” I felt Kedge place his hand on my shoulder before I moved closer to Wraith. “THREE!”

We burst from the door and into the bay, practically tripping over one another. Startled, Red Sash looked up from the corpse. His companion swung the rifle in our direction. That was when everything turned to chaos. Kedge's staff came to life. One minute it was nothing more than a piece of wood with a snake head engraved along the top and the next minute it was a living serpent. The eyes lit up with an emerald fire and it let out an ungodly sound. The hiss which escaped sounded like steam escaping from a broken valve. The living weapon left Kedge's hands and lunged for the Kamilian holding the rifle. It wrapped itself around the weapon and let out another hiss. The Kamilian dropped it and screamed.

“NO, WAIT!” Red Sash shouted.

That was when the action slowed to a crawl. I watched everything unfold in slow motion. The rifle shattered as the staff serpent squeezed its body around it. Red Sash held up his hands and his lips curled slowly. Wraith shouted something but I didn't hear it. I was no longer paying attention. My gaze looked past the screaming, weaponless Kamilian. My gaze switched to their ship. Two people were coming down the ramp. It was the couple, whole and intact. They stopped and stared at the scene with confusion.

“NO, WAIT!” I echoed.

The serpent slithered back into Kedge's hands where it became a staff again. Wraith fired his weapon well wide of his target. My shout, thankfully, threw off his aim. Red Sash put his hands down and his companion stopped screaming, looking at the shattered ruin of his weapon with disbelief.

“Wait!” Red Sash repeated.

I looked from the stunned couple to him. “What? How?” I stuttered. “How did they survive?”

Red Sash turned to me and held up his hands. “Bree N'Dadi sent us.”

I recognized the name. He was the leader of the Erudites, a group of cosmic messengers, whom I met aboard the Argus long ago. From what I understood they held no affiliation and were simply messengers zooming across the cosmos delivering messages. “Bree from the Erudites?” I asked. “Aren't they just some sort of galactic FedEx?”

“Why would Bree do that?” Wraith asked incredulously.

“My name is Ehoro,” he replied. He pointed to the couple. “We are here to rescue the people of this planet.”

Hope?

“My name is Jimmy, and this is Amber.”

The man was really just an older kid. He looked pale and ready to vomit but remained strong. I thought it was more of an act to impress the girl more than anything. The girl, on the other hand, had a look on her face like she bit had into an onion. Her hair hung in her eyes and she brushed it aside several times trying to study us. Her hair had been dyed red to clash with her name.

“What were you two doing inside the hotel?” I asked.