MoonRush (49 page)

“Challenger Deep. My thought exactly. We’ll be over the Mariana Trench in two minutes.”

Mia pursed her lips in confusion. “What’s that?”

“It’s the deepest ocean canyon in the world,” Cleo responded.

Jarod rubbed his hands together in mock excitement. “Seven miles straight down. Come on.”

It once more took every able body on board to haul the diamond out to the hatch. The thing was truly a monster. A gorgeous monster. Worth more than the Midas Touch. Seriously. What the hell was he doing? Jarod heaved the door open as wind whipped into the cabin.

He called out, “Simon, bring us in low…Mia, watch the map. Call out when we’re over the trench.”

The ship was mere inches from the tips of the waves, steam pouring off the surface from the continued heat of their ship.

Jarod yelled to Simon, “That’s low enough!”

Mia called out from her station. “Ten seconds!”

As she continued the count down to one, Jarod and Rob stood over the stone, soaking in its radiant glow. Jarod looked at Rob.

“I think your dad would be proud of you.”

Rob replied, blinking back more tears, “Of us.” Rob included Cleo in his gaze. “Of
all
of us.”

Mia finished her countdown. “Two. One! Go!”

The men heaved the crystal out of the hatch. As it splashed into the ocean, Jarod let out the biggest sigh of his life.

“Karma officially sucks.”

Simon’s voice cut through Jarod’s morose moment. “We’ve got company!”

Jarod headed back up to the cockpit. It was time to face the music.

* * *

This was the endgame. Gil had worked so long to make this come to fruition, and now it had. Victory was sweet. Victory over Jarod? Even sweeter.

Sure, Jarod had played a halfway decent game, but in the end, the predator always took down the prey. The
Eureka
was trapped. There was nowhere for her to go. Jarod was caught.

Gil heard Captain Stavros speak to the
Eureka
over their radio connection.

“Do not attempt escape. Our weapons are locked. Release control of your navigation systems, and we’ll land you safely.” The captain paused,
and
the silence
was
significant. “If not, we’ll vaporize you.”

Gil felt his smile just get bigger and bigger. This day could not get any better.

A voice, not Jarod’s, came back from the ship. “That’s a big 10-4, Smoky.”

They could hide behind all the humor they wanted to, but the Rogues knew
that
they were beat
en
. Outgunned, outmanned, outplayed
,
and outclassed, the little pigs were lying down and waiting for the big bad wolf to come and eat them up. By the hair of their chinny-chin-chins.

The crew mobilized to remotely take over the
Eureka
’s navigational system. With the Rogues
’
ship safely in tow, the
Eclipse
set a course for Andersen Air Force
B
ase in Guam, about
two hundred
miles to the northeast.

Gil spent the next twenty minutes alternating between calculating the amount of money he was going to make off this venture and staring out at the
Eureka
and laughing maniacally. He hadn’t had this much fun in as long as he could remember.

As the ships entered American airspace and glided toward Hawaii, Gil took a moment to spruce up. While his arm still ached, he removed the sling
,
as he felt it diminished his sense of personal power. He washed his face. He took time to sculpt and craft his hair. Moments like these did not just happen…they were created. And Gil wanted his final blow to Jarod to be devastating.

The poor man would never recover from this one.

* * *

Jarod spent the flight playing five
-
card stud with Simon. He now owed the man fifty matchsticks and the shirt off his back. Fate and Jarod had not been on speaking terms lately.

The
Eureka
limped onto the first of the runways, making a less-than-spectacular landing. She came to a halt
—
more from parts falling off than from any sort of braking on the pilot’s part.

The
landing of the
Eclipse
, on the other hand, could not have been smooth
er
. The
sleekness and menace of the military vessel had only increased with the wear and tear of going to and from the
M
oon. What once was a pristine craft was now one infused with purpose.

As the
Eureka
ground to a halt on the sunbaked tarmac, military personnel swarmed into the craft, hauling out Jarod and the crew with more than a little brusqueness. As they were dragged out of the ship, Jarod watched as more troops flooded into the
Eureka
to begin tearing her apart. He grimaced, both from the sun and from the
imminent
destruction of their spaceship. That beast had taken them to the
M
oon and back. She deserved better than this.

Dr. Weig
n
er and Gil stalked toward the Rogues, accompanied by a military man with, as far as Jarod could tell, a stick up his rectum the length of Montana. Weigner came to a halt less than a meter away from Jarod. The doctor jutted his chin out as he spoke.

“Where is it?”

Jarod put on his best stupid look. He had been working on it for years. It was a good look.

“Where’s what?”

Gil stalked closer, sneering at Jarod as he added his two cents. “Don’t play the mother starling, limping away to protect her young! We know you found it!”

Jarod found himself thinking about how often Gil used animal metaphors. That probably meant something. He decided to ask Mia later.

Again, Jarod kept his face studiously blank. “Found what?”

Weigner gave Gil a hard look, suddenly unsure. “The mother lode?”

Jarod stared at the doctor, his face uncomprehending. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Gil stepped forward and backhanded Jarod across the mouth. Jarod wiped his mouth, bringing his head back up to
eye
level. He looked at Gil…and smiled.

“All I know is that you assholes attacked us unprovoked. And don’t think you won’t be hearing from my lawyers.”

A soldier crossed over from the sad remains of the
Eureka
. What the ravages of space travel, being repeatedly attacked
,
and reentry into the
E
arth’s atmosphere had not completely accomplished, the American military had finished. Brilliantly.

The soldier stopped in front of the military man with Gil and Weigner and snapped a smart salute.

“Captain Stavros.”

Stavros replied with a certain amount of impatience. “Well?”

“All clear, sir.”

The captain gave a significant look to Gil. “There’s nothing there?”

“No, sir. We tore everything apart. Down to the hull.”

Simon placed a hand on his forehead and groaned. Jarod patted him gently on his back. Simon let out a long lament.

“My baby
!
”

Doctor Weigner looked from the serviceman to Gil
,
and then back at Stavros. “This is impossible.”

Buton spoke as he would to a remedial student. “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Weigner snarled back at him. “Dimwitted…” The doctor groped, searching for a word he clearly couldn’t find. He gawped like a fish on land for a moment,
and
then rushed off toward the wreckage of the
Eureka
, clutching his head with both of his hands. As he neared the entrance to the craft, they heard him scream.

“Dork! Dimwitted dork!”

Ah, it was sad when the mighty fell. Jarod remembered something and whispered to Mia.

“Was Buton quoting Freud? Van Gogh?”

Mia grinned back at him. “More like Sherlock Holmes.”

The two shared a moment until Stavros planted himself toe to toe with Jarod. He leaned in with menace.

“Where did you hide it?”

Jarod shrugged, spreading his arms wide. “We only found a few small gems…”

Cleo stepped forward, revealing three small shards of crystal in her palm. The gemstones sparkled brilliantly in the bright sun, sending slivers of rainbow light darting around the faces of everyone present.

Gil stepped up to Stavros’ side, yelling in Jarod’s face. “Bullshit! You never would’ve left with just those baubles. Where’s the
real
find?”

“That’s all. I don’t know where this ‘mother lode’ crap came from. Everyone was insane up there.” Jarod looked Gil straight in the face.

Captain Stavros snatched the jewels out of Cleo’s hand and growled in Jarod’s face. “A rumor? I risked lives for
these
?” He clenched his fist around the stones. “These are government property now.”

Jarod fired back at him. “Hey! We’re not to blame. We were just protecting ourselves. Whoever said we had the mother lode…”

Jarod paused and glanced at Gil, winking at him from the eye Stavros couldn’t see. Jarod watched as Gil’s face blanched.

“…that’s the person to blame.”

Captain Stavros’ tone dipped down dangerously low. “Rest assured. The blame will be placed where it’s deserved.” Stavros motioned to the men around him. “Take him into custody.”

The captain then pointed directly at Gil. His men grabbed Gil’s arms and yanked them behind his back, slapping binders in place on Gil’s wrists.

For the first time Jarod could remember seeing it, Gil was speechless.

Stavros glanced back at the Rogues. “You’ll be debriefed. If you cooperate, you should be released by this afternoon.” He turned on his heel and stalked off toward the base.

Jarod took the opportunity to speak one last time to Gil before he was carted off.