The Battle for Earth (Teen Superheroes Book 3) (19 page)

“Chad,” I said. “When we catch sight of the alien ship –”

“Gotcha,” he said.

He didn’t need the plan explained. In the next instant I saw an alien craft appear in the window. Chad raised his hand and the other ship began to glow. No, not glow. It began to reflect light from the sun as Chad completely enveloped it in ice.

Then it fell from the sky like a rock.

We whooped with delight. Even Mr. Brown punched the air. At the same moment I saw the dome flicker once, twice – and then disappear completely. Chad continued to laugh like a mad person.

“The Chad does it again!” he whooped. “The Chad –”

He didn’t finish the sentence because at that moment a missile struck the wing of the Atom and tore the ship apart.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“General!” the pilot of the Helix shouted. “The barrier’s down!”

“Take us in,” General Clarke ordered.

Brodie and Ebony grabbed Ferdy and drew him away from the console.

“It looks like this is it,” Ebony said.

“This is what?” Ferdy asked.

“I mean…oh, never mind. Let’s just hope we get to the island in one piece.”

“There’s an alien vessel closing on us,” the bridge commander announced. “It’s firing.”

“Raise the Grav shields and start our descent.”

It occurred to Ebony that the US government had technologies that no one else had ever heard about. The Helix was one of those technologies. She wondered how they had kept their equipment a secret for so long. She felt her ears pop as the Helix slowly descended toward the water. At the same time she felt the vessel shudder as missiles from the approaching craft slammed into their vessel.

“The Grav shields are holding,” a lieutenant announced. “But a Tagaar ship is closing rapidly.”

Ebony could see the approaching vessel clearer now through the view screen. It was larger than the others she had seen after they were captured by the aliens. The approaching ship was definitely not a fighter craft. Even at this distance it seemed to rival the Helix in size.

“Close weapons on the target and –”

“It’s on a collision course!” the lieutenant yelled.

“What?” the general roared.

“Collision course! Range five hundred feet!”

“Fire on it!” General Clarke roared. “Keep firing until –”

The vessel suddenly disappeared from view.

Brodie and her friends looked at each other.

“Where did it go?” Brodie asked.

General Clarke was asking the same question. “Location of Tagaar Vessel?”

“It’s…it’s…not there anymore,” the lieutenant said. “It’s as if –”

The Helix lurched to one side and Brodie found herself flying through the air. She hit the floor, banging her elbow hard on the edge of one of the consoles. The ship lurched again – this time in the opposite direction. She caught sight of arms, legs, chairs and General Clarke as they tumbled about on the floor of the bridge.

What the hell was going on?

Most of the flight personnel had kept their seats. “The Tagaar vessel is directly above the Helix,” she said. “It’s attached to us.”

Alarms rang throughout the Helix.

“Boarding…boarding…boarding…” The computer repeated the same word again and again.

“What’s happening?” Ebony asked.

“The Tagaar have started to board the Helix,” Ferdy explained.

“In mid-flight?”

The ship shuddered again and this time Brodie heard the sound of firing coming from the corridor. A computer voice started to intone another warning.

“All civilians to evacuation stations…all civilians –”

“That’s us,” Brodie said.

She grabbed Ferdy and Ebony and half-dragged them with her as they hurried down a corridor away from the bridge.

“Shouldn’t Ferdy and his friends stay and fight?” Ferdy asked. “The crew of the Helix may need us.”

“The planet needs us,” Brodie said.

They raced down a corridor. Military personnel were dashing in all directions. Brodie grabbed a passing soldier by the arm.

“Where’s the evacuation station?” she asked.

He pointed down a vertical ladder leading to the lower decks. They hurried down it until they reached a docking bay for aircraft. Several scientists and other civilians were climbing into egg-shaped escape capsules. These were being ejected from the side of the vessel. Brodie could hear the sound of fighting from the decks above. It sounded like a full-scale war was in progress.

She grabbed the others and they jammed themselves into one of the evacuation pods. It readied itself to fire.

“Ferdy estimates we only have a forty-two percent chance of surviving –”

“Enough with the numbers!” Brodie snapped.

The Helix shuddered again as an ominous groan resounded throughout the body of the ship. Brodie was slammed back into her seat as the egg was ejected from the Helix. Then they were in mid-air and heading rapidly toward the water.

Ferdy activated a panel and a control column shot up from the floor between them.

“Do you know how to fly this thing?” Ebony asked.

“Ferdy has read the manual.” He peered at the controls. “But there is a problem.”

“What is it?”

“The engines have failed.”

Brodie blanched. “What does that mean?”

“The chances of surviving a descent into the water are now only twelve percent –”

Their fall was abruptly halted in mid-flight. Brodie swung about and saw a masked face at the side of the capsule. The mask was blue in colour and had a small Union Jack above the eyes. The young man behind the mask looked to be about twenty years old.

“What is it?” Ebony screamed. “What’s happening?”

“It’s okay,” Brodie said. “There’s a flying…super person at the window. He’s got us.”

“Oh, good.”

They watched the island draw closer. Finally the masked man gently placed the escape capsule on the rocky beach. Brodie disengaged the lock and they climbed out onto the pebble beach as the masked hero leapt back up into the sky. He sailed into the distance with his crimson red cape flowing gently behind him, his rear end very comfortably encased within a pair of stretch pants.

“Very nice,” Brodie said.

“You mean the uniform?” Ebony smiled.

“Oh…absolutely,” she said. “The uniform. We need uniforms.”

They stumbled to their feet. Out at sea the battle was continuing. The sky had become a mass of fire and smoke. They saw something slowly falling toward the ocean. Ebony cried out in shock.

“That’s the Helix,” she said.

Although there had only been five Tagaar warships, it appeared they were all carrying a full complement of fighter craft. There were now hundreds of airborne vessels roaring across the sky. Costumed heroes were in the middle of the fray. Battleships were firing at Tagaar vessels whilst taking fire from alien ships. At least one cruiser was on fire and sinking.

Their vision was cut off by another barrier of green light.

“What’s going on?” Ebony asked.

“It appears the Tagaar have reinstated the barrier,” Ferdy said.

“You mean –”

“We are cut off from the outside world.” He nodded toward the Solar Accelerator at the top of the hill. “Only Ferdy and his friends can stop the EMP now.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I landed us safely at one end of Cargill Island. It had been a tense few minutes as the Atom had fallen apart in mid-flight, but I was able to fashion a flying platform and take us in toward the island. Despite a killer headache, my powers had worked fine. Just as we landed on the beach, I heard a hiss behind us as a second dome encased the island.

Mr. Brown was clenching his leg.

“Are you all right?” Chad asked.

“My leg is broken,” Mr. Brown said. “I don’t think I can go on. You’ll have to leave me.”

I looked more closely at Dan. He was gripping his arm. “Is your arm okay?”

“It’s fine.”

Chad examined it more closely. “I’m no doctor, but I think it’s broken too.”

“It’s not.” He looked angry. “I can keep going.”

Laying a hand on his shoulder, I said, “I know you can, but someone has got to look after Mr. Brown.”

“But he can –”

“This island is probably crawling with Tagaar warriors.” I drew him to one side. “He needs protection.”

Dan nodded. “Okay, but I’m happy to come if you if you need me.”

“I know,” I said firmly. “But we need you to guard Mr. Brown. And yourself.”

Chad and I carried Mr. Brown across the rocky beach until we reached an enclave in the rocks. We placed him inside. I looked up and down the beach. I doubted anyone would see either him or Dan as long as they stayed out of sight. Dan still looked rebellious and annoyed at being left behind.

“We’ll be back for you ASAP,” I promised. “Stay alert.”

Dan nodded. “Be safe.”

We hurried up from the beach until we reached a clump of trees. I could see a small, winding street with a scattering of houses on both sides. One of the buildings had burnt to the ground. There were dead bodies in the street. Beyond it the road continued up toward the installation. The yellow beam of the EMP was growing brighter with every second.

“We’re at the right place,” I said.

“I’d say so,” Chad said. “You know something else, buddy? It’s you and me again.”

“The dynamic duo?”

“More like The Chad and…well, Axel.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go.”

We hurried up to the closest house and took shelter on the side away from the installation. The body of an elderly woman lay on the stone path outside. The sight enraged me.

“The Tagaar think they’re warriors, do they?” I asked. “Hard to imagine a harmless old lady putting up much of a fight.”

“They don’t know what fighting is,” Chad said grimly.

We hurried up to the next building. I saw a Tagaar warrior marching down the hill behind the group of scattered houses. I wanted to attack, but I fought the urge. Our goal was the Solar Accelerator. We waited until the alien moved out of sight before continuing up the hill. Taking refuge in the ruins of another building, I saw one of the Tagaar warships perched on the hill next to the Accelerator.

Something dripped down my shirt. I was having another nosebleed.

“Are you okay, Axel?” Chad asked.

“Absolutely. I normally save this trick for children’s parties.”

“Very funny.” He watched me closely as I pinched my nose. The bleeding stopped after a moment. “If you need to stop –”

“Let’s keep moving,” I interrupted, and hurried away from the building.

We continued up the hill until we reached a stone wall. We peered around it. A wire fence surrounded the installation, but this had been torn down in places. The body of an elderly security guard lay on the ground near the gate.

“I think we’re going to make it,” I said. “Once we get into the building –”

The sound of footsteps came from behind us. We turned to see two Tagaar warriors advancing with weapons ready.

Chad sighed. “Can’t it be easy for once?”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Dan watched Mr. Brown as he slept in the rocky enclave. Actually, he was unsure if the man was asleep or unconscious. His face looked pale and his eyes had been shut for several minutes. Dan could imagine how he felt. His left arm was in the makeshift sling, but it was hurting more all the time. Continuing with the others would have been a serious mistake. They needed able-bodied people. Not a short, dumpy kid with a broken arm.

He sighed. It wasn’t easy being the youngest of the group.

He stuck his head out of the enclave – and pulled it back in again.

“Hell,” he muttered.

A Tagaar warrior was making his way along the beach. There appeared to be only one of them, but one was enough. He was still some distance away. Dan looked around wildly. Axel and Chad had told him to look after Mr. Brown, but now he was uncertain as to exactly how he was supposed to do that.

Wait a minute
, he thought.
Mr. Brown has a gun.

Dan took it from him gently. It was small but would suffice. He had been trained in the use of several weapons during his time with The Agency. He knew how to fire the weapon, but he wasn’t sure how effective it would be against a Tagaar. Of course, he also had his powers. Unfortunately, he was only able to manipulate metal, and there wasn’t a whole lot of that around.

He peered out from the gap again. The warrior would be here within moments. It would probably be best to –

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He didn’t move at first. Then he slowly shifted his head to see a Tagaar soldier standing behind him. Dan gulped. The alien towered over him by about three feet.

Dan tried to keep his voice even. “Do you know you look like a fish?”

Dan pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit the alien in the stomach. As it raised its own weapon, Dan fired again and hit it mid-chest. The third bullet slammed into its throat. Green blood poured from the wounds. The alien made a final attempt to speak before collapsing to the ground.

Falling back against the rock, Dan realised his heart was thumping wildly in his chest. The firing of the gun had been like a series of explosions in the small enclave, but Mr. Brown hadn’t moved at all. He really was unconscious. Still gripping the weapon, Dan swung about and looked back down the beach.

Empty.

Damn
, he thought.
The other warrior must have heard the gun.

But where had he gone?

Dan stepped cautiously from the enclosure. He still had the weapon raised and he was ready to use it. The entire beach lay deserted. The waves continued to sweep up and down it, tumbling over the stones on the shoreline. He peered toward the hills. The warrior wouldn’t have had enough time to move out of sight.

So where was he?

He heard a single splash of water come from the ocean. Turning, he was ready with the weapon, but the Tagaar had made an incredible leap from the water. As well as looking like fish, Dan realised, they were able to behave like them as well. The warrior covered twenty feet in less than a second.

Dan fired until the weapon was empty, but the shots went wide as the Tagaar slammed into him. He hit the ground. Trying to scramble free, he felt the warrior grab his left arm – his broken arm – and lift him into the air.