Scrapyard Ship 4 Realms of Time (27 page)

Nan felt Mollie tense, her breathing had increased and she knew her heart was about to beat right out of her chest. Nan held a finger to her lips and put her attention back on Stalls. Her mind raced: why doesn’t the AI just shoot him?

Stalls, now more relaxed, let the muzzle of his rifle drop several inches. Realizing he was on his way into the great room where they would be instantly seen, Nan pointed for Mollie to hurry and crawl backward out of sight. Nan stood and held her weapon at the ready.

He entered the great room twenty feet away and smiled when he saw her.

“
Hello, Nan. I am happy, so very happy, to see you again.”

She didn’t respond, only held his stare and waited for him to get a little closer. She had practiced, alongside Mollie, getting better at hitting the center zone of targets, but … as Mollie had pointed out … those were only targets.

Stalls slowly shook his head and said, “Nan, you have no need for that weapon. I could no more hurt you than I could hurt myself. I’ve gone to considerable lengths coming here. Finding you. I’m hoping my actions speak for themselves. I’m hoping that you realize I love you. That I want to make you mine.”

He took a step, and then another. A new sound emanated from outside, in the distance. Nan recognized the sound; it was another small ship, or maybe a shuttle. Just ignore it, Stalls, she said to herself. She wanted him to move in closer—closer to where the AI could blast him back to hell.

Stalls stood still, cocked his head to the side, and listened. He took a tentative step backward and held there. A quick glance over his shoulder and he saw what Nan had already spotted. Definitely a shuttle, one she hadn’t seen before. When he turned back to face her, she was smiling. The cavalry had arrived, somehow. Stalls was no longer looking at her. His attention was on the walls—specifically high up, where there were dozens of small security panels.

“
Clever, Nan,” he said, smiling. “I would have expected nothing less from you. This only proves how perfect you are for me. Strong, cunning, and beautiful. Come to me now, Nan, and your daughter goes unharmed. I promise you.”

Nan’s confidence left her in an instant. Did he know Mollie was mere feet away?

He raised his weapon and pointed it behind her. He fired, blasting a three-foot-diameter hole midway up, into the side of the chimney. Mollie screamed, while flinging herself clear of the rocky debris falling from above her. Nan rushed to her side and pulled her into her arms. Several small cuts along her cheek were bleeding. Mollie’s arms encircled her neck. Nan felt Stalls’ presence at their backs, and then his hand was on her shoulder.

“
We’re together now. We’re a family.”

Chapter 43

Jason took in the scene below. He was home. The scrapyard appeared the same as it always had, but there was now another far more modern structure nearby, with an adjacent swimming pool. There was also what looked like a demolished gun turret, as well as a small space vessel parked on the driveway. As the Perilous approached, it was evident the structure, the new home Nan had built for them, had been fired on. Blackened scorch marks pocked what looked like metal storm shutters. She’d fortified the place.

Jason stood and set a phase-shift location for directly below, via his HUD.

“
I’m coming with you, Cap,” Billy said, getting to his feet.

“
No. I’m doing this alone. Hang tight here.”

Ricket was also now standing. “What about the bin lift?”

“
What about it?”

“
It had already entered Earth’s lower orbit by this time.”

“
What does that mean? Why would we care?”

“
It would have flashed into existence right along with everything else on Earth. Within the next few minutes, it will drop from the sky and demolish that house, along with Stalls and anyone else who’s left in it. We have no way to contact your brother for him to change course.”

“
Then I guess you’ll have to destroy it,” Jason said, expressionless.

Billy shook his head. “You’d kill your own brother?”

“
To save Nan? You bet. And don’t forget, there’s already another Brian in upper orbit—a sacrifice we’ll need to take.” Jason looked down at Grimes. “Can I trust you to do what needs to be done?”

She hesitated, looking from Jason to Billy, then back at Jason again. She nodded and Jason phase-shifted away.

* * *

“
Up. Get up.”

“
Can’t you see she’s hurt?” Nan spat, not wanting to look up at Stalls.

“
She’s fine. Come on, up up,” he said, impatiently. His grip tightened on Nan’s shoulder as he pulled her to her feet. Mollie, still on her back, glared up at him.

“
You, too, Mollie,” he said, holding out an outstretched hand.

She ignored it and got to her feet on her own.

“
Unless you want your little girl to die here I suggest you have the AI disable whatever kind of weaponry you have installed.”

Nan looked toward the back of the house. What was taking them so long?

Stalls tightened his grip on Nan’s shoulder again. “I don’t like having to repeat myself.”

“
AI, disable—”

“
Mom, it’s Bag End.”

“
Right,” Nan said. “Bag End, disable all security measures. Do not fire on the hostile intruder.”

The words had barely left her lips before Stalls was ushering them both through the great room toward the front door. Mollie stumbled and he tightened his grip around her waist.

“
Stop it! I’m going—just don’t touch me.”

Stalls pushed Nan forward to open the front door. She felt whatever hope she had associated with the other ship rescuing her fading fast. Perhaps it was one of his own ships.

She reached for the doorknob and pulled, but the door held fast. “Bag End, retract the security shutters and unlock the front door.”

It took several seconds before she heard the high-pitched whine of the security shutter motors raising the metal panel, and then the definitive click of the front door’s deadbolt being retracted.

“
Open it. Now!”

Nan had never wanted to kill someone more than at that particular moment. She knew once they were locked into that ship of his, they were as good as dead. Or worse. Ready to make a stand, she straightened and faced him. “No. We’re not going anywhere with you.”

He slapped her with an open hand, then slapped her again, bringing his hand back across her face a second time.

“
Stop! Don’t hurt her!” Mollie yelled up at him, tears in her eyes. “I’ll open the door. I’m opening the door, see?”

Mollie reached for the door and turned the knob. The door cracked opened and light poured in from the outside.

Startled, Nan pulled Mollie back into her arms. Nan, Mollie and Captain Stalls stared into the black cold muzzle of a multi-gun. The man holding the gun was Captain Jason Reynolds.

* * *

Jason froze. Seeing Nan alive was simply too much to comprehend. His heart constricted. Emotions overwhelmed him. It’s actually her. He’d already said his goodbyes; he’d come to terms with the fact that she was gone forever. The mother of his little girl was dead. But it was the trickle of blood at the corner of Nan’s lip that brought him back to the present. Rage filled his mind. This time he’d have the pleasure of killing the bastard himself.

He was too late. Stalls, already making a move, brought up his own weapon and was poised to fire. Jason adjusted his aim, pointed his multi-gun over Mollie’s head, and just to the left of Nan’s … Yes, he had him this time. Jason felt his trigger finger tighten, but Stalls fired a fraction of a second sooner.

Jason’s visor took the near-pointblank blast with little effect—other than to snap Jason’s head backward from the driving force of the plasma blast. Off balance, Jason took three quick steps back. Two more blasts to his visor followed. Stalls strode after him firing, continuing to pound one blast after another into Jason’s visor. Nan and Mollie stood in the doorway watching in horror as Jason was continually pummeled backward.

Chapter 44

“
I’m going down there,” Billy said, setting phase-shift coordinates on his HUD.

“
Absolutely not,” Grimes said. “You heard him, he’s doing this on his own.”

“
Well, if you haven’t noticed, he’s getting his ass kicked down there,” Billy said.

Grimes had maneuvered the shuttle to the other side of the house and they’d witnessed Jason being repeatedly shot at, barely able to remain on his feet.

“
Incoming!” Ricket yelled, pointing at the shuttle’s holo-display. “Directly above us—it’s the bin lift.”

Grimes reached for the controls and brought the shuttle into a steep climb. “There it is. Locking on target.”

“
Wait! Are you sure? There are two people on board that vessel. Two living, breathing people …” Dira yelled from the back of the cabin.

Grimes hesitated, looking down at her holo-display. “I also see two life forms still in that house. Someone’s going to die. I’m sorry.” She fired into the clouds above.

“
Bin lift’s still falling,” Ricket exclaimed.

Grimes didn’t let up. An endless stream of plasma fire lit up the sky.

“
Still coming,” Ricket reported.

“
What the hell is that thing made of?” Billy asked.

Ricket shrugged. “A solid, heavy mix of various exotic metals.”

The bin lift was now visible with the naked eye and falling fast.

“
I’m not going to be able to stop that thing. Maybe The Lilly could take it out, but not a shuttle’s single plasma cannon,” Grimes said, exasperated.

She adjusted the position of the Perilous and watched as the bin lift grew in size, came even with the shuttle, then continued on its downward trajectory. Billy was the first to say the obvious: “No one’s alive on that thing. Not anymore.”

The bin lift had been reduced to a molten heap of hardened metal, and like a meteor, nothing could stop it from impacting below.

Grimes and Billy were on their comms. “Get away from the house, Captain!”

It was too late. The bin lift hit the house with an explosive, devastating impact.

* * *

Jason withstood eight direct blasts to his face visor before regaining enough footing to charge back at Stalls. Somewhere along the way, he’d lost his multi-gun. He no longer needed it. His two hands were all that was necessary. Jason plowed into Stalls a second time and knocked him flat on his ass. To Stalls’ obvious surprise, Jason stood tall and systematically unlatched the clasps securing his battle suit. By the time he stepped out of it, Stalls was back on his feet, had a knife in his hand, and was smiling.

“
I will enjoy this. You see, I’m going to gut you from your scrotum to your chin.” He gestured toward Nan and Mollie standing in the doorway twenty paces away. “Your daughter and ex-wife will replay this scene in their minds over and over until their own dying breaths.”

Neither Jason nor Stalls would have time to charge the other. Jason was positioned perfectly to see the house erupt into a ball of fire and disappear into a smoldering crater.

* * *

The shuttle landed nearby and everyone filed out. Billy had removed his helmet and was puffing fiery life into a fresh cigar.

“
We’re going to let them go at it like that?” Rizzo asked.

“
You want to get in the middle of the fray, Rizzo?” Billy asked back, taking in another smoke-filled breath.

Grimes and Dira were the last to come down the gangway and join Billy and Rizzo.

“
We can’t just let them fight on like that, can we?” Dira asked them.

Jason and Stalls continued to fight. Stalls no longer had his knife and seemed to be getting his ass kicked.

“
Too bad about the house. I’m sure that just pissed Jason off that much more,” Grimes said.