AcQuest: A Space Opera Military Technothriller (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 3) (22 page)

Q looked up into the sky. The smoke was starting to dissipate and from within it emerged a huge missile, no doubt a present from the enemy. Q straightened his shoulders and put one hand out in front of him, with Jade standing right behind.

The missile came closer and closer. Q could almost feel its explosive power as it headed towards him. He needed to stop this weapon. He needed to do it now. Jade reared up and roared. A circular shield of green energy formed between them and the missile.

My turn
, Q thought. He focused on the energy within him, imagining all the extra energy leaving him and turning into a large wall. His hand vibrated violently. He desperately tried to steady it with his other arm. Just when it seemed like his arm was going to fly off on its own, a small white circle formed in front of him and expanded quickly. In seconds it had become much larger, and thicker as well. But making a shield was not the tough part. Stopping the missile was.

The missile had now left the sky and come onto level ground, not deterring in its speed. It flew towards them in a straight line, kicking up a dust storm around its path.

“This is it,” Q said.

“
We shall stop it,
” Jade said.

The missile slammed into the shield and Q felt his feet being pushed back. He tried to dig his heels deeper into the sand and get some sort of usable traction.

Jade on the other hand was finding it much easier. His talons clawed into the surface and held them in place. He held his shield strong and mighty against the incoming missile. Q felt a hand on his shoulder, pushing him forward. He turned to see Burke pushing him forward with all his might.

“You do this your way, I’ll do it mine,” he muttered.

Q couldn't help smile at the effort he was putting in. The guy was trying his best.

“Something isn't right,” Burke said, “The missile should have gone off by now.”

Q realized that too. Usually missiles exploded on impact but this one was clearly different. Was it timer based? Was it remote controlled?

“Keep going,” Q urged. “It has to run out of fuel sometime!”

“This one is definitely a nuclear missile, so it won’t be surprising for it to be using a nuclear core as fuel,” Burke said. “It would take a really long time for the nuclear core to be completely used up. Basically, that thing could keep this up for a month and still blast you to bits when it hits.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Burke,” Q mumbled. “What do we do now?” he asked.

“
I only see one way out of this,
” Jade said, “
Get ready to run.
”

Before Q could even react, Jade’s green shield went out. The great griffin extended his wings and pulled himself up into the air. The missile sensed the moving target and shot towards him at amazing speed.

“
I will communicate with you. Do not worry.
”

“What the hell are you doing?” Q yelled. “Come back!”

“
There are certain things that one must do to preserve his companions, young one. I was alone and isolated until you found me. If not for you I would have been under the White Knights grasp. I may have only had a few hours of freedom, but for that you have my gratitude.
”

Anger swelled up inside Q. “Gratitude? You think dying for your friends is gratitude?” he yelled. “Well, I think it’s a cowardly way of giving up on your will to live!”

The griffin remained silent.

“Reply you big fuzzy idiot!”

Burke put a hand on his shoulder, and tried to calm him down.

“Jade?” Q couldn't hear Jade’s voice in his head anymore. “Please. Come back here already,” he pleaded. “I’m not going to let you die.”

“
Very well,
” the griffin’s voice echoed in his mind, “
You have one shot at destroying the missile. If that doesn’t work then we do it my way.
”

The sky filled with a high-pitched whistle and a dust storm kicked up on the horizon. There was no doubt that that was where Jade and the missile were.

“Burke, you better get away from here,” Q said.

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

He chuckled, “Don't worry. I’m not going to kill myself.”

Burke breathed a sigh of relief, “This ‘I will die to help you’ thing is getting too much for me to handle,” he said. “You guys have to realize I’m a scientist who hasn’t even fully explored his own lab yet!”

“I get it, I get it,” Q smiled, “Now you better go. Fast.”

Burke scampered away as quick as he could. Q turned and stared at the approaching dust storm.

“
I need you to get Burke and get out of here,
” Q said, hoping Jade would hear him.

“
And you?
” the griffin asked.

“
I’ll catch up with you in a while.
”

“
Are you sure you can take care of the missile on your own?
”

The dust storm came closer. Q could see Jade zooming in towards him, the missile right on his tail.

“
Just leave it to me.
”

***

4-2

“Come on, quickly!” Chris said as she walked through the corridors inside the mothership. “We can’t waste any time.”

Lisara worked some controls inside her Lancelot. The Nightmare glowed bright white, and detached itself from her before sinking back into the floor.

“Why did you deactivate the Lancelot?” Chris asked. She didn't want to lose their ace weapon now of all times.

“I can move around faster this way,” Lisara said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be able to activate the Lancelot if I have to.”

“Fine,” she said, “Can we just get going?”

“What’s the big hurry?” she asked innocently.

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. The corridors were bathed in red and alarms blared all around them.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. I busted the wrong door. Now we’re in trouble.”

“Thank you for not making me explain that.”

“So you have any vague idea where your friend might be right now?” she asked as they moved forwards.

“I have no clue.”

“Think like this friend of yours.”

Chris snapped her fingers, “The control room!”

“Really?” Lisara said, “How exactly do we go there though?”

Chris pointed above her, “There you go” she said.

A large sign hung from the ceiling.

Control room: Right

“That’s convenient isn't it?” Lisara said.

“I know right?” Chris said, “You would think they were welcoming intruders to this place.”

They headed right and charged into the corridor. Chris could see something in a distance. It didn’t seem like a cadet but she decided to arm herself anyway.

“
Ethosien,
” she said. Her green bracelet glowed and her battle armor formed around her. A suit made of flexible, leaf-green metal. Agile and deadly. Lisara, though, smiled at her in amusement. Chris was used to it. People always thought she was a pushover whenever they got a glimpse of her suit. She didn't blame them. Her suit wasn't exactly a ten on the ‘Fear instilling’ scale but that didn't matter to her. She had a surefire method of putting people in their places when it came to her suit. She pulled out a crossbow from her back in a flash and shot an arrow, cutting off a strand of Lisara’s red hair.

She yelped out in fright, “What in the world?!”

Chris laughed, “Always gets them.”

Lisara couldn't help chuckling as well, “I guess that’s payback for my chuckling.”

“Yup,” she laughed.

“You can't blame me for underestimating you though. I mean, c’mon. You look like Tinker Bell.”

“Tinker Bell is pretty cool too,” she chuckled.

They went on ahead. All of a sudden she felt an aura of energy pass through her. Something powerful was nearing. She saw a humanoid figure at the end of the corridor, a hundred pieces of metal floating in the air about it. Chris’ eyes widened. One name struck her immediately.

Kai. He seemed to be in attack mode

He must have thought we’re guards
, she realized.

She was about to alert him, when suddenly she saw a dark shadow slither behind him. He was in danger. A rush of adrenaline hit Chris. She held out her crossbow and fired an arrow in one fluid motion. The shadow stumbled to the ground. She had hit her target smack in the middle.

“Kai!” she yelled as she ran with Lisara fast on her heels. The metal pieces dropped onto the ground as soon as she called out to him.

Kai lay on the floor holding a girl. His attacker, no doubt.

“Kai?” Chris asked.

“Chris?” he looked up at her with mixed emotions of delight and remorse.

She didn't understand what was going on. Kai looked worriedly at a girl who lay on the ground. She was probably the shadow that she had seen behind Kai. What exactly was Kai doing worrying about her?

First of all, this girl had tried to attack him, hadn't she? And second of all, even though she thought she hit the bullseye she was off by a long shot. The arrow hadn't even bruised the girl, which made her wonder why she had collapsed in the first place.

“Kai, who’s that?” Chris asked him.

“That’s Trisha,” he said.

“Sis!” Lisara ran forward

“Who’s that?” Kai asked.

“That’s Lisara.”

“Wait a minute!” Kai and Chris said at once “Sis?!”

Trisha sat up and rubbed her eyes “Lisara?” she squinted.

“Oh my god, It is you!” Trisha threw her arms around Lisara and hugged her tight.

Chris and Kai looked at each other “Sis?!” they asked again.

“Okay, Okay. You only have to say it once,” Lisara smiled.

“I’m Lisara’s elder sister,” Trisha said.

“Wait, just how old are both of you?” Kai said.

“I’m 15,” Lisara said. “And Trisha’s 16.”

“I can't believe she’s your sister.”

“It’s a small world,” Kai laughed.

“This is a nice warm moment, but we better get moving,” Lisara said.

“Yeah,” Chris said. “The alarms were set off when we mauled a secure door. The cadets are probably after us already.”

“You didn't set off the alarms,” Kai laughed. “The alarms were set off when the security system realized we had broken into the main control room.”

“Wouldn’t the alarms have sounded the moment you broke in?” Chris raised an eyebrow.

“We used a pass when we got in,” he said. “The alarms went off when we tried to hack into the computer system. Plus, the alarms couldn't have gone off when you crushed a door. They’re not programmed to go off for such trivial things.”

“GANGWAY!” yelled a voice.

Trisha and Lisara looked puzzled but Chris and Kai knew exactly who it was.

Carlos ran smack into them and crashed into the floor. A girl landed right next to him and folded up her snow white wings behind her back.

“Elizabeth!” Chris exclaimed and hugged her.

“Boy aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Elizabeth smiled.

She looked behind Chris, “Who’re those two?” she asked.

“Elizabeth, Lisara. Lisara, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Trisha. Trisha, Elizabeth,” she said in one breath.

Juliana walked out as well, and helped Carlos back onto his feet.

“Juliana!” Chris said. Everyone was coming together now.

“Chris!” Juliana exclaimed and hugged her. “It’s so nice to see you.”

She paused.

“Err…Who are those two?” she asked.

Chris groaned, “Alright. Last time,” she took a deep breath.

“Lisara, Carlos. Carlos, Trisha. Trisha, Juliana. Juliana, Carlos. Carlos, Lisara. Lisara, Juliana. Trisha, Carlos. Juliana, Trisha.”

When she finished she was so out of breath she felt she’d collapse.

“I’m sorry sweetie, but that’s not what I meant,” Juliana said, “I already know Lisara and Trisha. I wanted to know who those two men are.”

Chris turned around immediately. A door had slid open from the walls adjacent to the corridor and two men stood at the doorway, holding blasters that were aimed right at them.

Kai flicked his wrist. The door slid into Baddie #1’s ankle. He yelled out in pain and fell onto Baddie #2, pushing him to the floor and knocking him unconscious. Kai pushed both of them inside the room and flicked his wrist again. The door closed immediately.

“What men?” he smiled.

“Wait, you know Lisara and Trisha?” Chris asked.

“How would you know them? They’re with the enemy.”

Carlos chuckled, “On the contrary. They’re Aliea’s secret agents.”

“What?!” Kai and Chris exclaimed.

“Basically, they’re our spies,” he said.

Chris felt like an idiot and she was sure Kai felt the same way too. She turned to Lisara, “So that thing about your sister-”

“A complete lie.”

“So you’re spies for Aliea?”

“Yup.”

“And you didn't feel like telling us why?”

“We needed to assess the situation before revealing our identities,” Trisha said.

“Plus, we should be asking you guys the same thing,” Lisara said, “You never told us you were from Aliea. We had to find out on our own.”

“Fair enough,” Chris said. She realized how difficult it would’ve been for any of them to reveal their true identities and allegiances.

“Wait, so why did the alarms activate anyway?” Kai asked.

“There they are!” a few men charged down the corridor.

Carlos rubbed his head “Oh yeah. That was kinda my fault,” he grinned.

“We figured it kinda was,” Kai chuckled.

Chris smiled. She had a warm feeling in her heart. This felt like old times again. Sure, they were knee-deep in trouble. But now she was with all her friends.

Together.

And together is an amazingly powerful thing.

***

Q watched as Jade led the missile straight towards him. Powerful gusts of wind surged as the griffin flapped his massive wings, kicking up the loose desert sand into the air. Q looked to his right and saw Burke, who was charging away from him at full throttle.

Perfect
, Q thought. He had asked both Jade and Burke to isolate him. It wasn’t safe for them to be around him while he tried to take out the missile.

Jade held course until he was about a mile from Q, and then swerved away, heading towards Burke instead.

It’s time
, Q realized. His plan was being set into motion. He flexed his muscles and shot to his left. This was the tricky part. The missile was obviously motion targeted; meaning it could lock onto moving objects. Now that both he and Jade were both moving, who would it go after?

He finally felt relieved when the missile shifted its course and headed towards him.

Relieved?
he chuckled. When’s the last time you felt relieved that you had a two kiloton nuclear missile heading straight for you?

He set his hands to the side, palms facing the ground. He needed to summon his Elementa of Fire. His energy burned from within and large tongues of fire shrouded him in an inferno of dancing flames.

He charged at the missile, bathed in flames, a battle cry escaping from his lips.

“
How far are you?
” he asked Jade in his mind.

“
About twenty miles or so.
”

“
Perfect,
” he infused his life energy into his fist, and punched down on the ground. A line of rock rose to the surface, blocking the path of the missile. He threw his arm forward.

“Man I hope it works” he muttered as he closed his eyes. He focused on his energy and brought it to his hands. A shield of white appeared again, but this time it was surrounded by red-hot flames

“You’re going down missile,” he grinned.

The nuke blasted through his small hill of rocks, surging through at undeterred speed. Q kept his sights on the fast approaching missile as it broke through the last layer of rock and headed straight at him. The two kilotons of nuclear power charged right into the shield.

The flames of fire washed over the metal cover, and melted a part of it. The missile tremored and exploded in one big blast. The shield held strong, but the blast still knocked him back and he flew through the air, landing about a hundred yards from the explosion. A nuke was usually supposed to have a blast radius of many miles. This one didn’t even cross fifty yards.

“
Are you okay?
” Jade asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Q managed to say.

“
Also, Burke asked me to tell you he was wrong about the missile. It wasn’t a nuclear warhead. Just a regular one
.”

Q sighed. He had no energy to even feel mad about that one. He lay flat on the sandy surface and looked into the sky. The stars shone clean and bright. With the missile gone all he had left to do right now was lay back and relax.

“
I and Burke are coming to get you. Stay where you are
.”

“Got it,” Q said.

He kept staring at the stars. They looked beautiful. Their light was so simple and yet it captivated him. It was almost like he was drawn into them. He could stare at them forever and lose his problems in them, lose himself to them. He felt like he could forget everything he was expected to do. He could just be himself.

“They’re beautiful aren’t they,” a voice said.

Q turned his head, and his eyes widened. Anti-verse Taylor sat down right next to him.

He sat up immediately, “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I...I…was afraid,” she stuttered. “Afraid that something might happen,” her hands moved nervously along the sandy floor, grabbing at the fine sand and dropping it back down.

“Everything is okay,” Q smiled at her, “Don't worry.”