Birthright: Book I of the Temujin Saga (29 page)

“Hurry!” Temujin lifted the heavy lid.

Moments later, the casket lid slammed shut on both the Khan and his general, sealing them both inside.

“They will pay for this, Chuluun,” Temujin said. “I swear it.”

“Yes, my Khan,” Chuluun rasped, his words drowned out by the rumbling of the
Ragnarok
crashing to Earth.

*****

“Great Mother’s beard!” Quintin wailed, reverting to his native Phaedojian tongue in his panic. “Put me down!”

Lamont swooped low over the river and deposited the kicking youth on the southern bank. He turned to look as the
Ragnarok
crashed into the bridge. In hindsight, he thought, maybe bringing the ship down hadn’t been such a hot idea after all. He watched the ship plunge into the river, trailing thick black smoke and incongruous white vapor behind it.

“I hope everyone’s all right,” he said.

“Okay,” said Quintin. “I don’t know who you are, pal, but I had everything under control until you two showed up.”

“Relax, kid.”

Lamont reached up to his helmet, thumbing a hidden switch in the collar. The helmet emitted a soft hiss as the airtight seal was broken. He slowly lifted the helmet off his head, revealing his face, his dark hair matted against his head.

Quintin squinted in the afternoon sun. “Lamont?”

“Howdy, kid,” said the Replodian, setting the helmet down on a log.

Quintin snatched up the helmet and turned it over in his hands. “Wow! Where did you get this armor? This is some serious hardware!”

“It’s a long story,” said Lamont. “Right now, we need to meet back up with Alex and the others and get the hell out of here before the military shows up.”

“Alex?” said Quintin, realization slowly dawning in his voice. “Was that Alex with you on the ship? In the—”

“In the other suit?” Lamont said. “Yeah, it was.”

Quintin scanned the sky for any sign of his brother. “Where is he?”

Lamont looked up and smiled as he caught a distant metallic glint high up in the sky. “I think he’s got some important business to attend to.”

*****

Alex boosted the power to his thrusters, pulling away from the ship and breaking through the dense layer of black smoke. He climbed higher, far away from the fireballs erupting from the enemy craft. As the air around them grew cold, Crystal stirred in his arms. He slowed his ascent and shook her gently.

“Crystal?” His voice was soft and tender even through the voice synthesizer.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around her. She panicked as she saw the ground hundreds of feet below them. She wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck and shrieked.

“Oh, my God!” she screamed, clinging to Alex’s body. “Oh, my God! Please, don’t drop me! Oh, God, please don’t let me fall!”

“Crystal.”

At the mention of her name, Crystal stopped struggling and slowly looked into her rescuer’s faceplate.

“Remember when we went ice skating at Gabe Hamilton’s pond?” asked Alex, his head tilting slightly to the side. “I promised I’d
never
let you fall.”

The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by confusion. “Alex?”

The black visor on Alex’s faceplate retracted into the helmet, revealing his familiar green eyes. “Hey, babe.”

Crystal shook her head. “I don’t understand. What’s going on? What are you
wearing
? Who were those people?”

“Crystal… I have something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago.”

She looked into his eyes expectantly.

“But it can wait,” he said. “Are you all right?”

She nodded.

“Thank God,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around her tighter.

He carefully repositioned her so that she was standing on top of his armored toes, the thrusters keeping them airborne as they shared a long embrace.

“I thought I’d lost you,” said Alex.

Crystal choked back a sob. “I thought you were dead.”

“Shh.” Alex stroked her hair. “Everything’s going to be okay, Crys. It’s all over now.”

She rested her cheek against his armored chest. “I love you, Alex.”

He closed his eyes, savoring the words he thought he’d never hear pass her lips again. “I love you, too, Crystal.”

They stayed there for a few minutes, holding each other before Crystal finally broke the silence. “Umm, Alex?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Put me down.”

“Oh.” Alex grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

TDC Command

Bonaparte, Iowa

“God
damn
it,” Sam grunted. His curse echoed in the confined space underneath the hologram projector in the deserted main chamber.

He turned a small piece of alien hardware over between his fingers, the same piece Rene had been examining only a few hours prior, and sighed despondently. He could fix it, but it would take time. Sam didn’t like taking time. He slipped the module into his breast pocket and inspected the central imaging processor, humming to block out the sounds of revelry drifting down the hall from the commissary.

It hadn’t taken long for his guilt to get the better of him. The damage he’d caused those three long years ago was at the front of his thoughts from the moment he stepped over the threshold, and partying was the farthest thing from his mind. And so there he was, lying on a mechanic’s creeper, waist-deep in the charred and long-cold guts of the central computer’s hologram projector.

Faint footsteps echoed through the main chamber, and Sam paused to listen. He smiled and called out softly, “Borrowing the car, Junior?”

The footsteps stopped.

He slid the creeper out and looked up at Alex, who was holding his power-armor helmet underneath his arm. The teen looked like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Don’t worry, kid,” said Sam. “I’m not gonna rat you out. Just have it back by midnight or it’ll turn into a pumpkin.”

Alex nodded nervously. “Thanks. I owe you.”

“Oh, shut up,” said Sam. “You do not. Now get out of here before someone else sees you.”

Alex turned and ran for the well entrance. Sam chuckled and slid back into the machine. A minute later, he heard another set of footsteps approaching the projector.

“Did you forget something?” he called out.

A well-worn boot thumped against the side of the creeper and pulled him out into the open air. Cherry looked down at him, smirking

“Cheryl! Hi.”

“Cherry,”
she corrected him. “You didn’t like the party?”

He shrugged. “It’s not that. I just have a lot of work to do.”

“Busy man.”

Again, he shrugged. “I like to keep busy.”

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, but Cherry’s smile never faltered. Sam grabbed the edges of the access panel and prepared to pull himself back under the machine. “Well, back to work.”

Cherry’s foot pulled the creeper back out before he could completely disappear. The Replodian blinked nervously as she stepped over his body and sat down on top of him, straddling his hips.

“That was a very brave thing you did today,” she said.

“It was nothing.”

“Hmm.” She smiled. “Modest, too.”

“Me, modest?” He laughed nervously. “Lady, you obviously don’t know me very well.”

She placed her elbows against his chest and rested her chin in her hands. “Well, what do you think I’m doing here if not trying to get to know you better?”

“Umm,” he replied, trying to think of a response not typical of a grade-schooler. “I… I, uh… Well, I—”

“Let’s see,” she said, ticking off points on her fingers. “Brave. Modest.
Cute.
And glib. Am I forgetting anything?”

He grinned. “I’m good with my hands.”

She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, her voice low and throaty, “I’ll remember that.”

Sam swallowed the lump in his throat as her breath tickled his ear and neck.

“I never got a chance to thank you properly for saving me on the truck earlier,” she said.

“Oh, well, that was n—”

She crushed her mouth against his, cutting off his words and filling both his mouth and body with warmth he had never felt before. He reached up and ran his hand along the small of her back as her fingers curled through his hair. When she finally pulled away, she couldn’t help but giggle at his bewildered expression.

“How was it?” she asked, her lips a mere inch from his.

He licked his lips. “Wet.”

She laughed. “Is that a good thing?”

He grinned, regaining a little of his composure. “Lady, I’m a Replodian. Wet is
always
a good thing.”

“Well then,” she said, sitting up and slowly unzipping the front of her coveralls, “you’re
really
going to like what’s coming next.”

*****

Alex hovered outside the second-story window and peered inside. Crystal was sitting on her bed, dressed in her red satin pajamas. A recent comedy movie played on the television, but Alex could tell she was uninterested in it. Just background noise.

He tapped lightly on the glass, but his metal fingers made the noise louder than intended, and Crystal jumped with a small squeal. She looked over at the window, but couldn’t see clearly in the reflected light from the bedside lamp. Alex tapped again, this time a little softer. Slowly she approached the window and opened it, startled by the silver figure.

Alex gave a little wave. “Hi.”

“Alex?” Crystal whispered, looking first at him and then down at the ground. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

Crystal looked outside once more, and then gestured for him to come inside. “Hurry up before somebody sees you.”

Alex climbed through the window awkwardly, struggling to disengage his thrusters without falling into the bushes below. He left a small burn mark on the windowsill.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m still getting the hang of it.”

Crystal sighed. She was obviously having a hard time adjusting to this, not that he could blame her. Alex brushed a cold metal hand against her cheek. She recoiled from the touch.

Alex pulled back. “What’s wrong?”

“I just…” Crystal pointed at the armor. “That
thing
creeps me out.”

“Oh.” Alex looked down at his body. “Right. Um… just a sec.”

The armor melted into a featureless mass of liquid silver metal that crawled up Alex’s body, disappearing into the helmet’s collar. When the armor was fully retracted, Alex lifted the helmet and shook out his hair. Crystal relaxed.

He touched her cheek again, this time with his own skin. “Better?”

Crystal nodded.

Alex took a step closer and planted a kiss on her lips, which she returned.

“So…” Alex placed his helmet on the floor. “How’d your parents take it?”

Crystal rolled her eyes and began to pace around the room. “What do you think? They
freaked out
! I just got home from the hospital an hour ago.”

“The hospital?”

“Yeah. My mom is so paranoid. And my dad scheduled an appointment for me with a psychiatrist on Tuesday.”

Alex winced.

“I know, right? I’m scarred for life.” She rolled her eyes again.

Alex shrugged. “Most people would be.”

She sighed. “I guess.”

“Look…” Alex pulled her into an embrace. “You don’t have to worry about anything anymore. Temujin’s dead. It’s all over.”

The tension in Crystal’s shoulders faded. “Thank God.”

“Crystal!”
a male voice called from downstairs. “Who are you talking to?”

Crystal gasped. “My dad! Alex, hide!”

Alex looked around frantically as Mr. Hammond’s heavy footsteps thumped up the stairs. As the doorknob turned, Crystal kicked the helmet underneath her bed. Alex slipped behind the door as Mr. Hammond threw it open and stepped into the room.

“Who are you talking to?” he demanded.

Alex held his breath and willed his heart to beat more quietly. Crystal’s eyes flicked past her father’s shoulder at him.

“Crystal,” Mr. Hammond said. “I said, ‘Who were you talking to?’”

“No one, Daddy.”

“I heard talking.”

“No you didn’t.”

But Mr. Hammond wasn’t buying it. He ripped her closet door open and parted the clothes hanging inside. When he found it empty, he knelt beside her bed and lifted the bed skirt. Crystal looked at Alex and saw the look of horror on his face that mirrored her own. When she looked back down, her father was holding the helmet in his hands.

“What’s this?”

“It’s… Alex’s…” Crystal began slowly, trying to come up with a suitable cover story. “Motorcycle helmet! He forgot it when he was here the other day.”

“Motorcycle hel—” Mr. Hammond sputtered. “Are you telling me that Walker punk has a
motorcycle
now?”

Alex gaped and mouthed the word
“Punk?”

Crystal shrugged and gave her father a sheepish grin.

Mr. Hammond slowly turned toward the door. One didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking; the gears turning inside his head were so loud Alex could hear them over his own pounding pulse. As Mr. Hammond took his first step toward the door, Alex squeezed his eyes shut and summoned all of his will into a single word.

::Stop!::

Crystal’s father stopped mid-stride.

Alex exhaled. He peeked around the door and saw Crystal’s father frozen in time, his eyes locked on Alex but totally unresponsive.

Alex stared into Mr. Hammond’s eyes. ::You don’t see me.::

Mr. Hammond shook his head slowly.

::It’s been a long day. We’re all tired.::

“It’s been a long day,” Mr. Hammond droned. “We’re all tired.”

::You should get some sleep.::

Mr. Hammond turned to look at Crystal, his voice regaining its usual cadence. “You should get some sleep.”

Crystal looked back and forth between her father and Alex, who stared at her, wide-eyed, and nodded.

“Oh! Right!” She yawned. “You’re right, Daddy. I’m
really
tired.”

Mr. Hammond held up the helmet. “We’ll discuss
this
little development in the morning, young lady.”