MoonRush (36 page)

“With all this activity consuming our reserves, we’ve only got a few hours left, and if we want any margin of safety…” Cleo allowed her sentence to trail off. She could see the frustration in Jarod’s eyes. She felt it too. They had been so close. But still, four diamonds. They were coming out of this more than okay.

Rob slapped his uncle on the back. “We can always come back. Fully stocked.”

Jarod shook his head at the boy. “This place will be
overrun
by then. You didn’t see the café. If anyone gets a whiff of this new strike, it’s over.”

Everyone looked at Mia’s sensor, the same thought clearly on
each person’s
mind. Cleo willed the sensor to make some noise, but it just sat there, inert.

Cleo finally said what had to be said. After all, wasn’t that her job? Marine biologist, nothing. More like professional killjoy. “Jarod, we’ve got what we came for. These four
S
tar
D
iamonds will bankroll us forever. It eclipses anything Gil has ever accomplished.”

“But the mother lode…” Jarod punched at the air. “I know it’s out there. Can’t you feel it?”

As a matter of fact, she could. Cleo knew exactly what Jarod was talking about. It was that feeling of charged electricity coursing through her body. The butterflies in the stomach. The feel
ing
of the first day of school
—
where everything is pure promise. She felt it, but… “Is it worth our lives?”

Buton stepped to Cleo’s side, nodding. “I agree. We should turn back.”

Jarod didn’t seem ready to give it up. Cleo knew what that set of his jaw meant. But there was a thoughtful cast to his eyes that Cleo had never seen from Jarod before. He turned once more to Mia, still scanning with her device.

“But, Mia, your original readings
—
”

“Must have been wrong,” Mia completed his sentence for him, her tone gentle.

Cleo stepped in, pushing the point home. “Fate doesn’t like being cheated, Jarod. Too many times in a row
,
and it will turn on you.”

Buton cocked his head. “Actually, karma
—
”

Cleo elbowed Buton in the ribs, cutting off his correction. Jarod was actually thinking for once. She didn’t want anyone getting in the way.

Jarod’s shoulders relaxed. He looked around at his crew, meeting each of their eyes. “Fine…I give up.” Jarod gazed right at Cleo and smiled.

Then he disappeared from view.

* * *

What was weird about the fall was that it almost seemed like an extension of the moment that Jarod gave up. He had felt the tension drain out of his body, and then the crater rim he was standing on gave way right afterward. Almost like the ground had shrugged for him.

The next landing jolted Jarod’s right shoulder, bringing him back to a full awareness of his predicament. The lower gravitational pull lessened the impact, but it still hurt. Jarod tried to gain some control over his erratic progress down the steep slope, but nothing doing. There was no stopping this train before it got to the station.

He continued bouncing down the slope head over heels until he landed full on his head. Jarod found himself completely upside down, propped against a dune of moondust, in the most awkward position he could imagine. Gazing up at his feet was certainly a new perspective for him. He gradually untwisted his body, let out an
oomph
,
and turned himself right side up. Looking up at the crest that had given out from under him, he could see it was a very long way up.

“That was different
,
”
he said.

Jarod crawled around, looking for a way back up the slope. He turned to face the dune he had landed against
—
just in time to see the dust slip away in a curtain-like avalanche, revealing a shallow cave behind it. Inside the cave, a gigantic gemstone glowed with its own inner radiance. It was the size of a basketball.

Jarod couldn’t move. He sat there for an eternal moment, mesmerized by the sight in front of him. He felt something akin to awe suffuse his body. He breathed out, the breath forming an unconscious word. “Wow…”

Cleo’s voice coming through his helmet speakers penetrated through Jarod’s gemstone haze, bringing him back to himself for a moment.

“Jarod! Jarod! Are you okay? We can’t see you!”

“I’m all right. I’m more than all right. In fact, I’d say I’ve never been better.” Jarod backed away from the cave and peered up. A row of helmets lining the rim of the dune’s edge faced him, concern etched on each face contained within. Jarod waved for the crew to come down.

They all raced toward him, trying to pick out a path that wouldn’t send them down quite so quickly. When they gathered at the bottom, the radiance from the stone struck their faces. As one, the entire group fell to their knees, basking in the beauty of something alien but intensely and immediately precious to each one of them. Jarod saw his own awe mirrored in each face. It almost looked like they were praying.

Rob met Jarod’s eye, his tone reverent, but also a little scared. “That is one mother!”

Ja
rod knew exactly what he meant.

* * *

The trip back to the northeast sector had been largely uneventful, barring a few tense moments between the captain and the doctor. The empty time had allowed Gil to speculate about just what the Rogues and Mia were
up
to. Visions of fist
-
sized
S
tar
D
iamonds danced in his head, followed closely by the delicious look of betrayal, frustration
,
and despair on Jarod’s face when Gil took them away. It was a look Gil had seen before. It was one he was looking forward to seeing again.

Gil glanced around at his traveling companions. He could tell that Captain Stavros didn’t really trust him. That was more than fine by Gil. Trust was for losers. All he cared about were results. When they arrived at their destination, Gil and Tal were led up and over a ridge that opened out on one of the largest craters Gil had seen here on the moon. He recognized the crater as the one that had swallowed up the ship he had partially spotted that first day.

Gil had known he was teaming up with some serious muscle. He hadn’t really had a full appreciation of how much muscle until this moment. As the craft pulled to stop, he found himself down in the bottom of that crater, looking up at the now fully exposed
Eclipse
, which had to be the biggest, baddest, sleekest outfit he had ever laid eyes on. This ship made his own
Vanquisher
look like some kid’s toy on Christmas morning. There was nothing Christmasy about this shuttle. His eyes dilated
,
and his mouth started to water. He had an urge to run his fingers over the hull. Gil was in love.

Stavros barked out orders. “You two, to that hovercraft. You’ll be coming with our guests and me. You three
—
take the other. You’re going with Weigner. The rest of you, take whatever vehicle you can find.” The men burst into action, the epitome of military discipline. Gil could see that this was a tightly run outfit.

Looking closer at the men swirling around the captain, Gil could see the subtle but distinct signs of armed force. These guys were packing, and from what Gil could see, he wasn’t sure he even recognized all the weapons. This was so much better than anything he had imagined when he cornered the doctor back at the bar.

As Gil and Talon moved toward the closer of the two hovercraft, Gil felt his heart rate accelerate even further. This was no mere hovercraft. This vehicle
was
designed to seek out and destroy.
Built
with the same deadly sleek lines as the shuttle, it was clear that peace was not on the designer
’s
mind while creating this beauty. Gil turned to Talon.

“Wait
’til Jarod gets a load of this…”

CHAPTER
12

On the Moon, far
, far
away from the diamond fields

March 31, 2049

1418 hours, LST

Cleo grunted as she tried to get her fingers underneath the gigantic stone. Reverence had finally given way to practicality. It was all fine and good to find the sucker, but now they actually had to do something about it. Like picking it up and getting it to their vehicle. Easier said than done. Much easier.

Cleo had no idea how they were going to accomplish this task. She also found that at least for the moment she didn’t care. This was incredible. The problem they were having was that the diamond was
too big
to carry
easily. Awesome problem to have.

After much groaning and more than a little swearing, they managed to find some finger holds on the underside of the gargantuan diamond. By all crowding around and creating a sort of basket with their arms and hands, they were able to start moving toward their waiting Moon
Rover. Staring down into the surface of the gemstone, Cleo felt like she was sinking under the surface of the water once more, drifting on the currents of the ocean. She had to continually shake herself to keep from getting mesmerized by the glowing, swirling depths of the gorgeous rock.

“Tidal pool, here we come,” Cleo grunted.

“Remember the
island
, baby!” Rob responded.

Jarod sneered good-naturedly at both of them. “Oh, please…
You’re both thinking too small. We could buy
Micronesia
.”

Rob laughed,
and
then turned his attention to their scientist. “Buton, how much do you think it’s really worth?”

“Conservative estimate?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I’d say…twenty-seven billion.” Buton’s tone was as matter-of-fact as Cleo had ever heard it. Hearing him say such an enormous number in that tone of voice made it all the more real. Cleo found that she was more than a little frightened.

“Billion.” Mia’s face was unreadable. “As in twelve figures?”

“Conservatively, that is,” Buton clarified. “It could be as much as twice that price.”

Rob cackled. “You are talking
dollars
, right?”

They had reached the Rover. With a final collective heave-ho, they loaded the stone into the truck. Rob and Buton grabbed a tarp and started tying the stone down, covering its glow in the process. All the better, as far as Cleo was concerned. No one could see this. Not yet.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cleo saw Jarod scanning the horizon. She watched as his spine stiffened. “Oh, crap!” Cleo whipped around to see what had gotten to him.