Star Runners: Revelation Protocol

Chapter 9-3

He lifted his head, his ears still ringing from the explosion. Sweat rolled into his eyes. They would find him first, force him to be a pawn to lure the others into the clearing. Whoever they were, they would kill them all and leave their bodies in the woods.

A sudden rush of energy filled his veins. Grabbing the final clip from his pocket, he slapped it into the gun and waited for the attackers to claim their prize.

Footsteps pressed into the ground near him.

This is it.

More laser fire erupted, filling the air with the distinctive burning sound of laser bolts igniting the oxygen it passed through. This time, however, an engine crackled to life as the lasers fired. Rising to his elbows, Austin surveyed the scene.

Blazing fires completely engulfed the cabin, the heat surging across the clearing and burning his skin. Two ATVs burst through the storage building’s wooden door, Sharkey at the lead with a rifle in hand. Ash coated his damp face. Kadyn wrapped her arms around Sharkey’s waist, her face buried in his back. Sharkey blanketed the area with his own laser fire, the bolts dropping shocked mercenaries too slow to dive for cover.

Behind Sharkey was Austin’s mother, driving like a bull rider unsure if they could hang onto the wild animal. Austin rose to one knee, his gun still trained on the yard now free of the attackers. Sharkey’s fire had swept the mercenaries into cover for now.

The ATVs screeched to a halt.

“Get on!” Sharkey yelled.

With her skin covered in black soot, Mom shifted back on the ATV, allowing Austin room to drive.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Follow me,” Sharkey said, his voice cool.

He accelerated away from the scene, the forest catching fire and thrusting plumes of smoke into the sky. Two stray laser bolts exploded into the trees as they fled, sending a shower of sparks falling in their path. Pulling back his wrist to accelerate, Austin followed Sharkey closely, his vision still blurred from the explosion. His eyes burned, but he pressed on. Hanging branches scratched at his face and arms as they sped through the forest. Mom gripped his shoulders tightly, her hands squeezing each time the ATV bounced over a dip in the road.

“Hang on!” he yelled.

“Yeah!” Mom screamed in his ear. “Thanks for the idea!”

At the crest of a hill, Sharkey turned off the road and stopped his ATV. He slipped off the vehicle, swinging the repeating laser rifle around in front of him as he slapped in a fresh energy pack, and took aim back down the path.

Austin stopped next to Sharkey and tapped his mother’s hand. He looked at Sharkey’s weapon. “Thought you couldn’t use that on dark worlds.”

“Seemed like the thing to do at the time,” he said with a wry smile. “Report me later.” He leaned against a tree and surveyed the trail behind them.

“What are you doing, Chief?”

“Making sure you aren’t followed.” He dropped to one knee. “Kadyn, ma’am, you need to get on the back of Stone’s ride.”

Austin’s face went slack. “You’re staying here,” he said. “That’s crazy.”

“Needs to be done.” He gestured forward. “This trail leads to the lake. Your ride is coming tonight. With any luck, they’ve picked up on that attack and are on their way now. We need to hold out until they get here.”

“But you don’t know how many of them are back there!”

“Lieutenant, please,” Sharkey said. “You’ll frighten the women.”

Sharkey pulled another laser rifle from his ATV and offered.

“I’ve never fired anything like this in my life,” Austin admitted.

“No time like the present.” He leaned close, his face softening. “Just remember, shoot and move. Don’t let them get your exact position if you can help it. Take this knife, too.”

“I don’t think this is a knife fight, sir.”

“If fate is good,” he said, passing over a large hunting knife, “it won’t become one.”

Taking both weapons, Austin slipped the rifle’s strap around his back and secured the knife at his belt. He studied the trail continuing down the mountain. The sun had reached the midpoint in the sky, meaning dusk was still a long way off.

He looked at Sharkey. “Phantoms for sure?”

“With that tech? Absolutely.” Sharkey wiped his face. “I need to make myself less visible. Get to that lake, Lieutenant.”

“I think we should stay together, Chief.”

“I appreciate that, Lieutenant.” He nodded toward the smoke from the destroyed cabin towering high into the sky. “Anyone with eyes is going to see that smoke from our altercation. I doubt these mercs will want to hunt us and dodge local authorities. We probably bought ourselves a few hours.”

“You think they’re still coming?”

“I know they are. I don’t know who hired them, but it doesn’t matter. With the tech they’re carrying and the force they’re willing to use, these guys are playing for keeps.” He cracked open a silver container the size of a tuna fish can, revealing a black, tar-like substance. Using two fingers, he dipped into the sticky goo and smeared it across his face. “I’ll stay concealed here until darkness. Once I’m notified you’re clear, I’ll find my own exit.”

“We really should stay together.”

“So you said.” Sharkey gestured down the path toward the lake. “Lieutenant, go.”

Mom squeezed his shoulder. “Come on, honey,” she said, her voice wavering. “Let’s go.”

Kadyn shuffled over to the ATV and slipped onto the vehicle in slow motion. Her soiled pink pajamas were torn at the edges, the corners blackened and burnt. She trembled as she settled in between Mom and Austin on the ATV. Austin started the engine, staring at Sharkey covering his skin with black.

“I won’t forget this, Chief.”

“I’ll see you soon.” He jerked his head toward the trail. “Go.”

Austin nodded. He accelerated down the trail, ducking under a branch. Rotting logs covered the path. The tires obliterated former trees, turning wood into a powder. The trail flattened. The trees spread out, the land between the towering hardwoods covered in lush green grass. The two-path road smoothed, the ride becoming easier. Kadyn’s grip on his hips lessened, through fatigue or relaxation, Austin couldn’t tell.

The path wound around a clump of trees and led to a small mountain lake with a surface smooth as glass. A wooden dock stretched out into the water, spiders scurrying around the planks. Austin pulled the ATV off the path and into the trees, careful to hide the vehicle behind plant life.

He killed the engine and exhaled. With the exception of a distant bird call and wind rustling through the treetops, silence surrounded them. He slipped off the ATV and pulled the rifle out. Walking back to the path, he saw the black smoke rising from the other side of the mountain.

“Mom, come over here,” he said.

Mom tapped Kadyn on the shoulder and stepped up behind him. He surveyed his mother’s torn and tattered clothing. Several spots of blood had seeped into her dirty blue robe. The skin under her eyes was mixed with black and blue, and her brunette hair reached out in different directions like a squirrel’s nest.

“What is it?” she asked.

He handed her the pistol. “I want you to have this.”

“I don’t shoot, Austin.”

“These men do.” He clenched his jaw. “You might need to return the favor. If something should happen to me, I want you and Kadyn to hide in the woods and move when you think it’s safe.”

“Nothing’ll happen to you.”

“If it does.” He pressed the gun into her shaking hands and closed her fingers around it.

He looked at the water. “Why don’t you and Kadyn clean up? I’ll keep an eye on the trail and come get you if we have any visitors. As soon as we get where we’re going, I’ll make sure you both get a change of clothes.”

Mom glanced at the water and then back at Kadyn, who hunched over the ATV. “I don’t know how much longer she’s going to be able to keep going.”

“We just need to make it to night. Then everything will be okay.”

“Why are they doing this to you?”

Austin braced himself, thinking of Phantom’s relentless pursuit and how he nearly shot down Rodon’s fighter. “I’m not sure,” he lied.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I have to be.” He paused, staring down at the ground before adding, “I killed people today.”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

He blinked hard, his gut rumbling as he recalled the mercenary spinning to the ground as his hands clutched his throat. “I know.”

Walking away, Austin made his way down the path. Mom gently led Kadyn to the water, speaking in soft, assuring tones. Austin found a toppled tree and slipped in behind it, making sure he could cover the path with the rifle. He leaned the weapon against the log and sat in silence. He closed his eyes, listening to the forest.

When he opened them, the sunlight seemed brighter. The clouds dissipated and made the sky a brighter blue. He took in a deep breath of the cool, mountain air. The sun continued on its descent and he wished he could push it farther. Somewhere in the forest, the Phantoms hunted them. Sharkey, the first line of defense, stood on guard about a mile from their position. But if the mercenaries came in force, if they called in more reinforcements, Sharkey wouldn’t be able to hold them by himself

He remembered Flin Six. The hours he’d spent avoiding the Tyral Pirates as they searched for Ryker. How had he done that? It seemed like a different person had achieved that escape, almost as if he had accomplished the rescue without thinking about it. He thought it made him nervous then, but now his stomach twisted and turned as he thought of the mercenaries storming this position. He wasn’t an infantry soldier–he had never been forced to defend a position with a laser rifle. He hadn’t even done it in video games, always preferring to spend his time in the Trident cockpit.

He wished he had his fighter now, wondering idly who flew his Trident while he was on leave.

The black smoke in the sky transitioned to gray, fading the higher it stretched into the atmosphere. Either the fires had died, or something had put them out.

He looked back to the sun. The transport would arrive soon. The tension in his chest eased. Maybe, just maybe, they would make it.

A laser shot crackled through the forest, echoing like a thunder clap. Austin gripped the rifle, his aim trained on the trail. More shots followed, the sounds sizzling like a dozen sparklers on Independence Day. A man cried out in terror, other voices barking. The wails cut off sharply. More laser fire ripped through the silence. He tried to calm his breathing, keeping his rifle aimed toward the incline. The firefight continued, disrupting the quiet.

Sharkey had engaged the enemy.