Scrapyard Ship 4 Realms of Time (24 page)

Jason was being hailed.

“
Go for Cap. What’s up, Billy?”

“
We’ve got a problem here, Cap. Papa Dino is back and he’s not looking too happy about the mess we’ve made.”

Jason heard repeated multi-gun fire in the background. Eyeing his HUD, life icons were spread out and moving here and there erratically.

“
Our current attack plan, using stun-level bursts, simply doesn’t work,” Billy reported.

“
Well, keep evading him as long as possible. Bring him down only if absolutely necessary. Sorry, but we’ve got our own crazed dinosaur to deal with.” Jason cut the connection as the female Spinosaurus seemed to have come to a decision and was charging back in the direction of her nest. Jason, standing directly in her path, fired his multi-gun, as did Chang, Goldstein, and Mead, at the approaching dinosaur. She stopped and brought her head down low, spitting fire in the process. Jason felt his battle suit’s temperature-control compensators kick into full gear. Everything around him, except for his teammates, had turned into charcoal. Jason hailed Ricket.

“
Go for Ricket.”

“
What’s going on with the drone pair?”

“
It’s here. Hovering fifty feet up, but it hasn’t paired yet. The male Spinosaurus must be making it nervous,” Ricket replied.

Jason had to cut the connection short. Again, the female was poising to charge. Jason phase-shifted twenty yards to his right—Chang, the same distance to his left. Both Goldstein and Mead hesitated too long.

“
Get the hell out of there!” Jason barked over an open channel.

While Mead miraculously made a successful dash through the dinosaur’s legs, and phase-shifted away once he was clear, Goldstein wasn’t so lucky. First he was sprayed with an up-close fireball, then snatched between the dinosaur’s forward teeth. With an audible crunch, the lower portion of Goldstein’s torso and legs fell to the ground.

The female Spinosaurus rushed toward her nest, and it was apparent nothing was going to stop her. Jason, his two surviving team members, and the three rhino-warriors, followed behind her, phase-shifting in leaps.

“
Captain,” Ricket’s voice blared into Jason’s NanoCom. “She’s paired! The male Spinosaurus heard, apparently recognized, the female’s familiar snorts and left the area long enough for our probe to settle close to the other one in the trees. They’ve paired! We’re done here.”

Jason phase-shifted once more, along with the others. The three rhinos, each still holding an egg, phase-shifted somewhat farther back into the trees.

Jason watched as the two goliath dinosaurs frantically paced near the nest and its one lone egg. “Traveler, we need to get those eggs back into their nest.”

Traveler set the phase-shift coordinates on his wrist panel, then took ahold of the other two eggs from the two rhinos. Nearly dropping all three eggs, he precariously cradled them in his arms while carefully extending a thick finger to press the activate key. Without further conversation, Traveler flashed away.

In that very instant, Traveler reappeared, now in the middle of the damaged nest. Still unnoticed by the two pacing dinosaurs, he gingerly placed the eggs down next to the other one. Jason, Billy, Rizzo, and Ricket yelled simultaneously: “Get out of there, Traveler!”

Both dinosaurs emerged from the far side of the clearing. Startled, Traveler looked up. He hesitated momentarily and by the time he opened his wrist panel they were practically upon him. He froze.

As if seeing everything happen in slow motion, Jason was sure his friend had just lived his last few seconds on Earth. Jason was paralyzed by Traveler’s inevitable outcome.

So when four galloping steeds carrying blue-clad, U.S. 7th Cavalry riders broke into the clearing, Jason’s jaw dropped. Behind them, and in close pursuit, were more horses and more riders: Indian warriors. But it was the soldier in the lead who first drew and held Jason’s attention. It was none other than a terrified-looking General George Armstrong Custer—his eyes wide open and long blond hair flowing in the wind behind him. His wide-brimmed hat flew into the air, just as he was snatched up by his head and plopped into the mouth of the closest dinosaur, the mother Spinosaurus.

So stunned was everyone by the sudden co-mingling of the two disparate time realms that no one noticed Traveler. He had completed his phase-shift maneuver and was safely back with the rest of the team.

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Jason had Grimes take the Perilous above Earth’s atmosphere into low orbit where the drones no longer affected time and, more importantly, their communications. The admiral was on comms within minutes and clearly eager to hear how their progress was coming along.

“
Four down, one to go,” Jason explained. “But Ricket tells me the drones are now communicating and trying to sync, so our timeframe has been pushed forward. We need to get the last one paired by this time tomorrow.”

“
What happens if you don’t?” the admiral asked.

“
They’ll go ahead and sync to some unified time realm. One that would be, in all likelihood, different than our own.”

The admiral grunted, then proceeded to give Jason an update on the repairs being made to Her Majesty and his work with Gaddy—developing a strategy for her to gather information when she entered the Emperor’s Palace.

“
I’m just surprised that little bug, Overlord Lom, is her uncle.”

“
Interim emperor. He’s about as powerful a Craing dignitary as you can get.”

“
And you’re sure he has no idea his niece is associated with the dissident underground?”

“
She says she’s been careful. She sees no way he could know. It’s a risk she’s willing to take,” the admiral replied.

“
And she realizes that we’ll be using her subterfuge and information-gathering to ultimately hold the advantage when we attack the Craing?”

“
Definitely, but she’s made it clear this is not about the Alliance attacking the populace of the Craing worlds. That’s off limits. She’s looking for the overthrow of Craing governmental and political factions. She understands we are confronting the Craing leadership strictly on a military level.”

“
So talk to me about Her Majesty.”

“
We’re still retrofitting her and making repairs. Her cloaking device is operational and her weaponry formidable. But in the end, she’s still a converted luxury liner. Nothing nimble about that ship,” the admiral added.

“
Why did you select Brian to captain her?”

“
Your brother knows Craing space better than any human alive. He also is a master at weaseling himself out of tight situations. Her Majesty is not an Allied vessel and has no ties to the Alliance, thus providing us a layer of separation. If you think about it, Brian is the perfect choice to enter Craing space.”

Jason let that comment hang in the air, not needing to ask him the unspoken question.

“
Yes, Jason, I do trust him. I’ve seen changes in him over the last few weeks. Everyone deserves a second chance, so I expect you to support your brother on this. Can you do that?”

“
Sure. What else do you need from me?”

“
We need Ricket back here as soon as you’re done with him. He’ll be instrumental for our plan to come together. He’ll be accompanying Gaddy, posing as a prospective boyfriend she wants to introduce to her uncle.”

“
Seriously? Ricket’s over two hundred years old! They’ll recognize him—hell, he was the Craing emperor, for God’s sake!”

“
Calm down. We’ll alter his looks. As for his age, he doesn’t look that much older than Gaddy. Have you really looked at him lately?” the admiral asked, defiantly.

Jason let his eyes fall on Ricket seated in the shuttle’s cockpit, next to Grimes. Truth was, since he’d gone through the process of becoming fully organic, he did look much younger. But Gaddy’s boyfriend? And Brian captaining a ship for the Alliance? It seemed to him the admiral’s plan was a deck of precariously stacked cards: one strong jolt and everything would fall apart.

The admiral interrupted Jason’s thoughts. “Boomer’s here; wants to talk to you.”

“
Boomer?”

“
That’s what Mollie goes by these days. It’s just a phase, I’m sure.”

“
Daddy?”

“
Hey! I miss you, little one.”

“
I miss you, too. When you coming back? I have a lot to show you—you’ve been gone way too long,” she said, sounding as bossy as ever.

“
I’m almost done, Mollie. If everything goes well in Asia, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“
I’m called Boomer now, Dad. I’m tiny, sneaky and lethal, like a boomslang.”

“
What the heck’s a boomslang?”

“
I think it’s a snake. Woodrow says it comes from a place in Africa.”

“
Woodrow? You mean Chief Petty Officer Woodrow?” Jason didn’t know the SEAL well, only that he was a hard-ass and carried a reputation for being a man born to kill—lethal in every way possible. “I don’t understand your association with him, Mollie.”

“
I told you, it’s Boomer now, Dad. He’s taken over my self-defense classes. He’s teaching me not to be a victim again.”

Jason heard something in her voice he hadn’t heard before. Had he been gone that long? Did he not really know her anymore?

“
I just should have been consulted on who you work with, that’s all.”

“
Well, Dad, you’re never here. There’s things I need to know how to do. Don’t you understand that?”

The truth was, he didn’t. When she needed him most, when Nan died, he’d left to fight the Craing, the Caldurians … hell, dinosaurs. The reason he wasn’t relating to his little girl on the other end of his comms signal was that she was doing what was necessary for her own future survival: mentally, physically, and emotionally.

“
I’m sorry, Mollie … Boomer. Work with Woodrow. I trust you, little one. And more important, I love you. You know that, right?”

“
Yeah, Dad. I know that.”

Jason cut the connection and leaned back in his seat, his mind replaying his conversation with Mollie. Boomer?

From the rear seating area of the shuttle, Dira leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “You okay in there?” She had removed her battle suit saying she needed to let her skin breathe. Jason’s eyes took in her violet skin and her skimpy, formfitting tank top.

“
Can you scratch the middle of my back?” she asked, leaning forward in her seat, using her thumb to point over her shoulder.

“
Sure.” He reached over and scratched her backbone until she smiled and leaned back.

“
Much better, thanks. Tell me about your home. Where you grew up.”

Jason’s mind went to the collection of old cars, buses, and assorted scrap metal that comprised his backyard—the scrapyard. His cheeks flushed. “Well, there’s not much to tell. You’ve seen where I grew up.”

“
The scrapyard. I’ve seen it on The Lilly’s display. But what was it like to grow up there? Did you have a lot of friends?” she asked, her face turned toward his, mere inches away.

“
When I was young, Mollie’s age, it was magical. I loved it. Getting older, though, it was anything but magical. I guess I was embarrassed living at a junkyard. That’s probably why both my brother and I left as soon as possible, joining the service. How about you? Tell me about your home.”

“
It may not be what you envision it to be, Jason. Where you lived, at a scrapyard, you had freedom to explore and do as you wanted. I was never alone. A Jhardian girl, especially one of noble heritage, must conform to certain dictates. The clothes I wore were selected for me the night before; other than family members I was never alone with someone of the opposite sex. I only spoke when spoken to.”

“
Sounds very formal. Terrible, actually,” Jason said, sympathetically.

“
Don’t get me wrong, I was loved. It was a nurturing, loving environment. But confining, stifling, to the point I was miserable. Wealth beyond your imagination, and a world filled with natural beauty. I’ve never seen its equal. But I would have loved your childhood existence—your freedom.”

Jason watched her lips as she talked. He’d never wanted to kiss a woman as much as he wanted to kiss her right then. A slight smile spread across her lips.

“
Are you even listening to me?”

“
Yes, I’m listening … for the most part.” His eyes met hers and held there. He felt her move in closer, saw the flesh of her upper arm press into his battle suit.

“
Captain,” came Grimes’ voice from the cockpit. “We’re closing in on the coordinates for the last drone.”

Chapter 40

Chapter 40