Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) (22 page)

When I looked back to the sky the ships' actions seemed to confirm Wraith's statement. They flew past us. The ring tone in my head went from deafening roar to dull hum. Several of the Scarlet Moon ships lagged behind the main pack. The largest among them broke from the smaller group and headed toward us.

“Uh oh,” Kedge lamented.

It approached for landing in a nearby dirt field off the main highway. Several small wheels emerged from the hull extending along the base toward the rear of the vessel. The metal sails adjusted to form a parachute-like canopy above the deck. Bright red halogen lights blinked rapidly along the “masts” of the ship, signaling its approach. It landed and rolled to a stop about twenty yards from the fire house. Despite the similarity to a pirate ship it was almost as big as a full-sized aircraft carrier. A door opened and a ramp lowered to the ground.

The first person to exit was an Exorg. They resembled angler fish with their toothed maw and glowing appendage sticking from their forehead. Despite their ugliness, I was reminded of an ally from long ago who had been taken from us before his time—Madoc. Behind him exited a human with an eye patch. He looked familiar and I struggled to recall who he was. It wasn't until he descended the ramp that I remembered a conversation long ago with the prison planet, Carcer-4. Colonel Noz appears to have picked a side in this conflict. The Exorg grasped a rifle tightly to his chest and moved off to the side of the ramp once he reached the bottom. Colonel Noz had a sidearm strapped to his waist. He moved aside as well once he reached the bottom of the ramp. The last person to exit caused my blood to boil.

“Shai,” I growled.

I barely noticed Wraith sliding his hand to his sidearm. My focus was solely on the man who had killed Captain Jasper who was murdered in cold blood before our eyes. Whether he was our enemy or not I couldn't stomach an allegiance with him. I clenched my fists in anger. Kedge gripped his staff tightly. The move made the Exorg uncomfortable and he shifted the rifle in his hands. Shai reached the bottom of the ramp and smiled broadly when he saw our group. He was armed with nothing more than a slender, curved sword strapped to his waist.
I could take him out with one shot from the rifle,
I thought. One shot and Lianne would have her justice.

“Look what we have here,” Shai beamed. He pointed and turned to Colonel Noz. “Do you know who this is?”

Noz squinted his eye and shook his head. “Can't say I do.”

“This is the Cartographer,” he chuckled. “Map reader extraordinaire and prized possession of the Consortium.” Noz only responded with a grunt of disinterest.

I stepped forward, clutching the rifle tightly. The Exorg lifted his rifle and pointed it at me.

“Maybe you haven't heard, but we aren't part of the Consortium anymore,” I said through clenched teeth.

Shai's smile faded. His gaze fell upon Kedge. “Well then,” he sneered. “That seems to lower your value significantly. What should we do with you?”

“Can you cook, boy?” Noz asked. “Some of the crap the Scarlet Moon serves I wouldn't serve to a dog.”

“Maybe they consider you less than a dog,” I retorted.

Noz stared coldly at me before eventually breaking into a smile. “Ha! The boy has balls, I'll give him that.”

Shai didn't take his eyes off me. “Perhaps. But unfortunately for him we can't afford to have a cook with 'balls'. Normally I would kill you based on your recent value reduction but today is your lucky day.”

“Oh really,” I mocked. “Why is that?”

“It seems Corvus needs you for something. He can be such a diva sometimes,” Shai grumbled. “He always
needs
something but for now it's you he requires.” He turned to the Exorg. “Kill the others, but take the boy alive.”

The Exorg approached while Noz retrieved his sidearm.

“NO!” Kedge shouted.

Before the Exorg could lift his rifle the staff was in the air, once again transforming from pale wooden stick to a living snake. It wrapped its body around the rifle and the Exorg dropped it in a panic before being shot in the chest by Wraith. Dark blue blood washed over the snake, turning it into a macabre blue-and-white candy cane. The creature shattered the rifle in its embrace and turned its head toward Shai, who backed up a step and removed his sword.

Wraith got off another shot but missed Noz wide to the right. Noz fell to the ground and somersaulted to his left. He leapt up and fired a shot, clipping Wraith in the shoulder. Wraith fell back a step and dropped his weapon.

“NO!” I echoed Kedge's battle cry. The AR-15 was in my hands and flame burst from the barrel as I pulled the trigger. I sprayed the area in front of me. In Call of Duty I had been an expert marksman. The reality of it was that I was a terrible shot. Bullets flew everywhere. I hit the side of their ship, the ramp, a stop sign, the ground—everything but my intended targets.

My terrible aim did very little damage, but it bought Kedge and Wraith valuable time. Noz was busy ducking my cover fire. Shai had his sword in his hand and was busy between parrying the snake on the ground and dodging an occasional stray bullet. Kedge produced a bolo from the folds of his cloak and threw it at Shai. It caught the Drith-Nar in the ankles and he fell backward against the bottom of the ramp. Wraith recovered his senses and fired another shot which grazed Noz in the arm. He ducked behind the ramp.

The AR-15 was empty. I killed nothing but the stop sign. In all the confusion none of us saw the rifle barrel poke out from ramp entrance. The sniper fired. The bullet travelled past me and I turned in time to see the top of Wraith's head explode. The bullet took him above the left eye. He buckled to his knees before falling to the ground face first. A pool of blood spread underneath him.

“
NOOOOOO
!” I cried. I fell to my knees and watched his life pour out of him before the sniper turned his rifle toward me. I lifted my gun and pulled the trigger only to hear the sound of dry clicks. I saw a flash of light and was knocked back from the impact of the shot.

I fell to the ground but felt no pain. I looked over and saw Kedge parry Shai's sword thrusts. The snake was once again a staff in his hands. Metal clashed against wood, yet the staff remained unmarred. Blood poured from my left shoulder and I wondered if I would ever get the chance to inquire about the mysterious staff. Shai parried a staff thrust and plunged his sword into Kedge's midsection. He dropped the staff and fell to the ground. Shai removed his sword and held it out, letting the blood drip to the ground.

I closed my eyes and heard boots approaching.

Dead is Dead

My shoulder was on fire. The wound oozed blood and it felt as if someone had their finger inside trying to pull a bone out. The warmth of the sun splashed on my face and I knew I was still outside. I cracked my eyes open but the glare made it difficult to open them completely. Dust covered my face and rolled into my eyes when I turned my head. My face was flushed and I wondered if I had an early onset of sunburn while baking on the highway. I reached up and brushed the sand from my eyes. I heard the crunch of gravel as someone walked toward me.

“
Nathan.” Lianne's voice.

I turned toward the sound. The sound of it was music to my ears. She crouched over me and never looked more beautiful. I smiled in spite of the pain.

“
Lianne,” I croaked.

She placed her hand on my cheek, a welcome cool touch in the desert heat. “Don't die on me,” she said.

“
Wraith's dead,” I grunted and tried to sit up. She placed her hand on my good shoulder and gently pushed me back.

“
Don't get up.” She started to fade. I thought it was the heat of the sun playing tricks on me.

“
Wait,” I said. “Don't leave me. Where is Kedge? Did he survive? Where is Gard?”

“
Stay alive, Nathan,” she said. She seemed to phase out of existence and I could see the horizon through her body. “You will be faced with difficult decisions soon. We will come for you as soon as we can. Stay alive!” She urged before vanishing completely.

“No, wait!” I coughed while trying to get up. “Don't go.”

“Oh, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere.” Shai looked down and laughed. “Not without you.”

Fury bubbled to the surface when I saw him. I wanted to reach up and tear his smug face off and shove it down his throat. Unfortunately the wound in my shoulder prevented me from even the minor act of sitting up. “I hate
you
.”

“Now, that's not very nice.” He feigned a wounded look. “I thought we were becoming good friends.”

Noz walked up to them favoring his right arm. “I can't find the damn robot anywhere.”

The Kamilians were gone and Vayne went missing so I wasn't sure where he could go. He was a resilient fellow, though, and probably in a better predicament than me.

“Doesn't matter,” Shai replied. “The other one scampered off too. It seems our enemies are nothing more than cowards.”

Kedge escaped?
I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought for sure he had been killed. “They will come back for you. They will kill you,” I muttered.

Shai crouched over me. “Oh they will, will they?” He stuck his finger inside my shoulder wound and I screamed. “But I should have plenty of time to make you miserable.”

I didn't doubt him. Tears from the pain formed in the corner of my eyes but I blinked them away. I refused to show him any sign of weakness. The sour taste of sweat filled my mouth as I tried to move. He removed his finger and I bit my lip until the pain subsided. “I will kill you,” I uttered through clenched teeth.

He grabbed me under the shoulders and hauled me to my feet, bringing a fresh wave of pain. Dizziness overwhelmed me and if it wasn't for him holding me I would have fallen to the ground. He leaned in and put his face next to my cheek. “No, you won't,” he whispered. “If it wasn't for Corvus, I would snap your neck right here and be done with it. Perhaps by the time we reach the end of our journey, you will beg me to do just that.” He looked at Noz. “Take him inside.”

Noz wasn't gentle as he dragged me up the ramp. By the time we reached the top the pain was so unbearable I almost begged for death. I faded in and out of consciousness as he dragged me through the halls of the cavernous ship. We came to a room guarded by a squat, lizard-looking fellow with a massive rifle held firmly against his chest. His cold black eyes looked disdainfully at me.

“The room is ready,” the lizard man muttered. “I removed most of the blood stains. Our last
guest
was such a bleeder.”

“I don't think our friend here will mind,” Noz replied. He looked down at me. “Do you mind?”

I coughed out something unintelligible. The entire room spun out of control. The door opened and I fell face first into the room. It smelled of mold and urine.

“Get a medic down here,” Noz grunted. “We don't want him dying before Shai gets a chance to question him.”

That was the last thing I heard before mercifully blacking out. When I regained consciousness I found myself lying on a gurney in the center of a cold and dreary room. The room had dull gray metal walls, dull gray metal ceiling and pretty much dull gray metal everything. It was as if I was inside the world's largest lunchbox. There were no decorations anywhere except for a single table next to the gurney. On the table lay a small blue box with a red laser light coming from the center that had been angled to point at my forehead. I looked away from the box and noticed that my wounds had been dressed. Despite a dull throbbing coming from the site of the wound, there was no actual pain. I tried to sit up but found I could not. There were no restraints holding me back and for a brief moment I feared that I had been paralyzed by the gun shot.
Can shoulder wounds lead to paralyzation
? Panic crept to the surface. Luckily before my head burst from the anxiety, the door opened.

Being completely paralyzed I couldn't even move my head to see the person until they stood over me. It was a woman with flowing auburn hair, a warm face a slightly bent nose and full, pouting lips that were red like blood. She wore a tattered, gray uniform with no visible markings. Despite her lovely face there was one feature that really interested me.

“You're human,” I croaked.

She tossed me a dry smile. “Yes, I am.”

My head was pounding. It was as if a cement truck was being dismantled by a jackhammer inside my skull. Although the room had been dimly lit, I still had to squint. The fluorescent tubes bordering the ceiling had been dimmed significantly but it felt like tiny daggers of light poked my eyeballs.

“Were you one of the survivors?” I asked.

Her face twisted with confusion. “Survivors?” She looked behind her toward the door. “Oh no, the Scarlet Moon found me during a scouting mission about a month ago.”

“You are one of them?” I asked incredulously.

She placed her finger to her lips. “No,” she whispered with a frown. “Don't get yourself all worked up.” She leaned over and placed her hand on my good shoulder. Despite my inability to move I felt it. She was warm to the touch. “I was taken,” she explained. “I was on my way to a friend's house after work when I came up to a road that was closed due to construction. I took the detour but the road was unfamiliar. It was dark and my GPS wasn't working. For some reason it was unable to locate any satellites. Anyway, there was this car on the side of the road that looked like it was in an accident. The front end was smashed and someone was underneath the car with a flashlight. So being a nurse I figured I'd stop and see if anyone needed help. My father always warned me of strangers and…well…I wish that was the one time I had listened.