Chapter Ten
It took ninety long seconds before the tracking device Zarek had planted on the quantum logic belt to show up on his scanners. “The Earth First base is outside Paraburdoo, Australia and is hidden beneath an open-pit iron mine.”
“My battle cruiser has moved into position over their base,” Sariel said, tapping away at the icons on his gauntlet. “I have routed your transmissions to my command center.”
“Link confirmed. The magnetic field is growing in strength.” Zarek advised. He touched his bracelet and a 3D hologram of the mine formed in mid-air.
I grabbed a beer and pulled up a chaise lounge to watch the show.
Sariel studied the lightning snaking across the reddish-orange soil. “The resulting detonation will register as a magnitude eight on the human’s Richter scale.”
Yikes! “It’s going to cause an earthquake?”
“It will,” Zarek confirmed and took the beer away from me.
I gave him the stink eye. Didn’t he realize how thirsty, tired and hungry I was? “How far away will people feel the effects?”
“All the way to Perth.” Zarek replied and handed me a bottle of water.
“Shit! Can we warn them?”
“General Jones is doing that now,” Zarek answered.
I drained the bottle of water. “Good to know.” As soon as Zarek’s attention was back on the growing crisis, I snuck another beer out of the fridge.
Sariel stated, “My transporter crew has been alerted. Anyone leaving the area will be tagged and transported.”
“That information has been relayed to General Jones and his warriors are on standby,” Zarek responded and magnified the image.
“My warriors will help roundup any surviving enemy soldiers.” Sariel bared his truly scary fangs. “If they resist, they will feel our wrath.”
I grimaced. It was about to get very bloody. Popping the top of the beer, I took a sip and focused my attention on the 3D image. Red electromagnetic pulses arced over the mine. It wouldn’t be long now before everything went boom.
The wide terraces lining the sides of the mine were suddenly swarming with Rodan, Legionnaire and Earth First soldiers running for their lives. “Like rats fleeing a sinking ship,” I murmured.
“Soon to be exterminated rats.” A pitiless smile pulled at Zarek’s lips as he snagged my beer and drained it.
Dang. Did he have eyes in the back of his head?
The floor of the mine suddenly slid back, and two shuttles shot out. Almost instantaneously glittering blue lights penetrated the ships. “The Rodan commanders and their crews have been taken. I have given permission to destroy the vessels,” Sariel said.
Two deadly laser beams flashed from the heavens and nailed the ships. Flames erupted from the crafts as they tumbled from the sky.
“The magnetic field has reached critical mass,” Zarek announced and crushed the beer can into a tiny ball of metal.
Kablooey! A torrent of power exploded from the mine, hurling huge chunks of earth in every direction. A sun bright holocaust raged overhead, and brilliant bolts of silver lightning crackled wildly.
The enemy’s stockpile of ammunition and weapons abruptly ignited. Kaboom! The unholy cataclysm belched blazing shrapnel, bodies and pieces of machinery. The cascading debris set the surrounding vegetation on fire. Thick black smoke billowed from the gaping crater.
“They must have had a shitload of thermite grenades. How deep is that hole?”
Zarek glanced at his bracelet. “Eight hundred feet.”
Violent tremors continued to shake the area. The ground buckled and collapsed into the pit.
“A fitting grave for Mary Beth, but now we’ll never know why she sold us out.”
“The belt was programmed to return to that location. We have no proof Mary Beth was ever there,” Zarek replied.
“Crap.”
“Have no doubt. We will find her.” Implacable resolve was stamped on Zarek’s face.
The hunt had begun and a Coletti warrior never, ever stopped his pursuit until his prey was captured or killed. Zarek was utterly relentless and Mary Beth was a dead woman walking.
My stomach rumbled loudly. God, was I starving. I searched the remains of the wet bar and found several bottles of Champagne in the mini-fridge. They were the good stuff and what better way to celebrate our victory? I pulled out two bottles and looked around for a corkscrew.
Zarek took the bottles away from me. “You are not old enough to drink or have sex. Which includes heavy petting, necking, mental sex or nooky of any kind. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir. Not even a smooch?”
“Smooching is allowed as long as there is no tongue involved.”
“Yes, sir.” Uncle Saul was such a snitch.
Zarek examined me from head to toe. “When was the last time you ate, and I don’t mean candy?”
“About eighteen hours ago.”
“We must take better care of you.” Zarek held out his hand.
“Food would be great.” I took his hand and flinched. With all the power thrumming through him, it was like touching a live electrical wire. I kept waiting to get zapped. I instinctively tried to break his hold.
“Relax, I seldom kill members of my family.”
A hysterical laugh broke from me. “Good to know.” Wow! He considered me family?
“Yes, I do.” There was a fleeting second of inky blackness, and we were standing on the bridge of Zarek’s warbird.
Holy cow! He was in my head. The utter silence caught my attention and I noticed every single warrior was staring at me. “What? You’ve never seen a girl in a swimsuit before?”
“Eyes forward. We’re at battle status,” Uncle Saul bellowed.
The warriors quickly averted their gazes.
Zarek towed me over to Hothar. “Get your mate some food and suitable clothing,”
“Yes, my lord.” Hothar scooped me up and teleported us to the mess hall.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m too tired to eat. You gotta bed?”
“I do.” Poof we were in his quarters. The walls were covered with an assortment of weapons and there were two large beds. “Who sleeps in the other bed?”
“Siv.”
“He’s not showing up any time soon, is he?”
“No, he has been assigned to clean-up duties at Paraburdoo.”
“Good. Oh yeah, Zarek laid down some rules.”
Hothar collapsed on his bunk. He was as exhausted as I was. “They are?”
“No heavy petting, necking, mental sex or nooky of any kind. Smooching is permitted, but no tongue.”
With a groan, Hothar fell back on the bed. “Not possible.”
“I know.” I snuggled against his chest and closed my eyes. “Just need to rest for a minute or two.”
Hothar wrapped his arms around me and sighed. “Me too. Then we will come up with a plan.”