Aetherial Annihilation (7 page)

"Onward to God's glory!" Jay raised a fist in the air. The man driving the boat gunned it and Jay tumbled backwards with a yelp as his holy chariot bounced away toward the whirlpool.

Cheers went up from our group.

I gave Reese a thumb's up. "Nice going, man."

"My pleasure." He turned away and stopped. "By the way, I stowed the bodies I found onboard in a compartment near the engine room." A sigh. "At least they can get a decent funeral." Reese pressed his lips together, turned, and ascended to the upper deck, presumably to keep an eye on Jay and company.

We quickly helped everyone board the ship and loaded the supplies. The doctor had found a med kit and managed to awaken the pilot. Though the man was still mostly out of it, he instructed Alon how to operate the yacht and the advanced sonar.

I walked to the bow with Elyssa and looked to the east where Jay's motorboat was closing on the maelstrom, probably quarter of a mile away by now. "I wonder if they can even scratch the thing with grenades."

"That's if they don't get sucked into the whirlpool first," Elyssa said.

I magnified my vision and watched as Jay and the others tied several gray bricks on a small inflatable raft, and I realized they must have gotten their hands on something more powerful than grenades. They were also a bit craftier than I'd given them credit for being.

If they did destroy the meteor, I wondered what would happen to all the aether. Had the meteor sucked in all the aether, or was it doing something else to it? I really didn't know. Then again, I didn't want to be anywhere near that thing if it blew up.

Outboard motor fighting the violent eddies, they released the raft. It swirled away toward the gaping maw and was quickly consumed. At first I thought Captain Jackass Jay and his boatload of flunkies might not escape the swirling current around the vortex, but the small boat fought free.

"Those idiots are gonna get themselves killed," Reese said. He pulled a pair of binoculars from his eyes and shook his head. "Maybe they'd be doing the world a favor."

"Who knows?" I said. "There might be somebody in this world who'd miss them."

Reese chuckled. "Yeah, their psychiatrists." He lifted his head in an upward nod. "What's your story, man? I've been saving Q&A time for later, but I gotta admit, I'm curious about that transformation you pulled on the roof yesterday."

"Uhm…" I wasn't sure if I wanted to launch into the story I'd given Harley, or make up something on the spot. "It's complicated, and probably best kept secret unless you want people in black knocking on your door someday." I didn't really know if the Custodians made house calls on people they suspected had knowledge of the Overworld, or simply let them be until they started making waves.

"Ah." He nodded again. "Some kind of government thing."

I didn't challenge his supposition. "More or less. Let's just say that the fewer people who know, the better."

"I gotcha." Reese shrugged and put the binoculars to his eyes. "I've had to keep my share of secrets."

"Special forces?" Elyssa asked.

He nodded without lowering the binoculars. "That obvious, huh?"

"Let's just say you know how to handle a gun." She shuddered. To her and most Templars, guns were grody nom weapons.

"I can tell by the way you handled yourself on the roof, you might know a thing or two." He glanced away from the lens and winked.

By now, Jay and pals were a couple hundred yards from the whirpool. Someone was fiddling with the engine on the boat, and I wondered if they'd run out of gas. I hadn't thought to check the fuel situation on this rig and hoped we had enough.

A distant rumble told me the explosives must have gone off. A brilliant burst of light from the maelstrom confirmed the theory. A shockwave rippled through the ocean and blasted me in the face with mist. Then the real explosion happened. A massive sphere of crackling ultraviolet and white energy bubbled up from the depths of the ocean and spread at a terrifying rate.

Jay and the others with him threw up their arms. I could almost hear their screams over the deafening roar as what could only be malaether—corrupted, poisonous aether—burned them to ash.

"Holy mother!" Reese looked at the other spectators on the deck. "Get inside now! Go! Go! Go!" The look of panic in his eyes was enough to send everyone scuttling to shelter.

The giant wave preceding the malaether blast was enough to turn my insides to water.

If the tidal wave didn't kill us, the malaether blast would probably burn us all to ash.

Chapter 6

Elyssa and I raced to the control room where Alon, his arm in a makeshift sling, guided the boat.

"Are we at full speed?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I thought we should conserve fuel. What was that—"

I ran forward and jammed the throttle all the way to max. The ship lurched. "We've got to get out of here!"

During the war, both sides had used small malaether crucibles like mini-nukes. Those detonations had been relatively small. If that crystal meteor had been soaking up aether all this time, it meant the explosion would be exponentially greater.

I looked back and saw the leading wave racing toward us, the sphere of cascading death close behind. The water caught us, slammed into the stern, and the entire ship groaned as it tilted forward. Water bottles and other loose objects tumbled to the floor. Everyone grabbed onto seats or consoles to keep from crashing into the control panel or front windows.

The ship rushed down the wave, riding it like a giant surfboard, and cries of terror rose from everyone present. I looked back—rather up—since the ship was at such a precarious tilt, and saw the deadly energy wave not more than a hundred yards behind the rising ocean.

"C'mon, baby." I patted the console. "You survived the first tidal wave. You can make it through this one."

"I don't think petting the ship is going to help," Elyssa shouted over the din of rushing water, groaning metal, and the thunderous roar of malaether.

The bow shuddered as if it had hit something. I saw a cluster of small boats that must have been cast out to sea spinning before us and figured we must have hit at least one. The yacht spun sideways and gravity shifted. Alon slipped and fell hard against the wall. The ship captain, who I hadn't noticed before, was buckled into a large chair, eyes wide with terror.

I almost wished he'd shout something crazy but encouraging, like, "Argh, mateys! This here ship has sailed the seven seas and ridden the deadly waves of hurricanes. Never has she let me down, and never will she!"

Instead, he closed his eyes and whimpered.

I'm totally with you, bro.
Unfortunately, I wasn't buckled in, and it was all I could do to keep my grip on the slick console. The yacht pitched, and for a moment, I thought it would completely roll over. For a split second, I saw nothing but dark waves and water through the left windows. The hull slammed into more of the small boats riding the wave before us, and the entire craft shuddered.

We crested the tidal wave and the ship wobbled to the right. I lost my grip and tumbled down the aisle, crashed through the window. My fingers barely gripped the railing in time to keep me from hurtling into the water. The ship bobbed upright and catapulted me back onto the deck just in time to see the malaether sphere rushing toward us.

We're dead.

I tried to stand, but my body was beyond tired and beaten. Even if I got inside, it would roast us alive.

"I love you Elyssa!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and futilely threw up my arms.

Death didn't come. The crackling energy faded, leaving a boiling sea behind. Dead fish floated to the surface, and the steam turned to a dense fog.

The yacht's engines cut off and for a moment, there was nothing but profound silence. I heard movement, and Elyssa appeared by my side. She hugged me, not too hard, thankfully, and peppered my face with kisses.

"Justin, are you—oh, never mind—I know you're hurt." Tears sparkled down her cheeks.

"I'm going to need another vacation after this," I groaned.

She helped me to my feet. My legs were skinned to hell, and so were my arms, for that matter. I tasted blood in my mouth and found a painful cut on my lip. Elyssa put my arm over her shoulder and helped me limp back inside the control room.

Alon lay motionless beneath the broken window I'd fallen through. Elyssa knelt, touched his neck, and shook her head slowly. "He's dead."

The captain sobbed uncontrollably, but seemed otherwise unharmed. Two other people had strapped themselves into chairs and appeared okay as well.

We went inside the upper deck cabin and found two more bodies amidst stunned and frightened people. I didn't recognize the two men, but sorrow burrowed into my chest. I found Elizabeth and several other people clustered into one of the cabins.

"There are probably a lot of people who need your help," I told her. "Can you use the lounge up here as a makeshift medic station?"

She wiped tears from her eyes and nodded. "How many did we lose?"

I shook my head. "Three so far. I'm going downstairs to check on the others."

The lower deck situation wasn't as dire as I'd feared. Many of the people were strapped onto a long leather couch in the lounge by a length of sturdy rope. Thankfully, all the furniture appeared to be bolted to the floor, though glasses had shattered, and the odor of spilt alcohol rose from liquid on the floor. Several people had bruises and cuts where their heads had knocked against their neighbor, and one person who hadn't gotten seated in time had a broken leg.

"Rope always comes in handy on a ship," Reese said, loosening the knots of the rope he'd used to secure himself to a separate chair.

"He saved our lives," Harley said, rubbing a cut above his eye, "though I still can't believe the ship didn't break apart."

"I want to give the builders a medal." Reese patted the bulkhead and looked out the window. The fog was already lifting, revealing a sea littered with dead marine life. "Wonder if those fish are cooked to order," he mumbled.

Even though they'd been boiled in the water, I didn't want to chance eating any of them. Malaether crucibles didn't leave behind radiation, but that didn't mean the meteor explosion hadn't.

"Was it a nuke?" A man asked.

"We'll let the government figure that one out." Reese turned from the window. "Does the ship still work, Justin?"

I shrugged. "Don't know yet." I turned to the others. "In the meantime, if you need treatment, the doctor set up a makeshift ward on the upper deck." As the injured filed out, I walked over to Reese. "There are three more bodies—two upstairs, and one in the control room. Can you see to them?"

He snapped a salute. "You got it."

"I'll go to the bridge and see if the captain has stopped wetting his pants," Elyssa said. "The sooner we get moving, the better."

We were underway within half an hour.

Several hours later, we docked at the port in the city of Myeik. Unlike the other coastal towns, it had been shielded from the brunt of the tsunami by the islands off its coast. Refugees flooded the harbor and stranded ships and boats clogged the port.

A flustered official directed us to a large fenced in area where a mob of miserable people waited for food and medical attention.

"I'm not going in there," I told Elyssa. "We've got to get to Bangkok."

Reese produced a cell phone. "Just so happens I have a buddy who runs a charter plane company for tourists. I might be able to call in a favor."

"That would be wonderful," Elyssa said. "How long do you think it'll take?"

He shrugged. "Let me find out."

Harley approached us. "Something tells me you two are off to save the world again."

I sighed. "No rest for the weary."

"Well, I guess this is where we say goodbye." He shook Elyssa’s hand and mine. "Take care, you two. And if you're ever out this way again, I want to treat you to a beer."

"Sounds amazing." I really liked the guy.

Elyssa hugged him. "Take care, Harley."

He smiled shyly. "Don't let this princess out of your sight, Justin. She's a keeper."

I slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Harley nodded. "Well, until next time." He turned and walked into the refugee camp.

Elizabeth hugged each of us. "We all owe you our lives." She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "I can't wait to go home and put this nightmare behind me." She turned to Reese and gave him a slip of paper. "If you're ever in New York, call me."

A broad grin stretched Reese's face. "I haven't been there in a while. Sounds like I have a good reason to go now."

She smiled. "Well, then, I'll look forward to it."

After she left, several more people approached and expressed their thanks. The mother and father of the children we'd saved gave us their number and told us to come by anytime.

"We'd all be dead if not for you," the mother said.

"Demons are awesome!" The boy chimed in.

The mother rolled her eyes. "I heard a lot of rumors on that roof. I think you're angels."

When the crowd departed, Reese walked away and made a call on his cell phone. He spoke for several minutes, and returned. "My buddy said he can get us tomorrow. Until then, maybe we can find a place to eat that's better than the gruel they're serving in there." He took out his wallet and counted some bills. "This should be plenty."

Unfortunately, Elyssa had no money in her purse. "We'll pay you back."

He pshawed. "Nah, it ain't a big deal. Besides, I figure I owe you."

"You did a lot too," Elyssa said. "And we're grateful."

We found a small restaurant, ate, and located a questionable looking hotel. I crawled into bed and fell asleep before my head hit the dingy pillow.

Reese's buddy, Nathan, landed at the tiny airport the next day and flew us to Bangkok. I slept most of the ride, hoping to give my injuries a chance to heal. Once there, Reese handed us some cash to hire a taxi and gave us his number.