Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (48 page)

Jack heard Scallywag curse and felt his throat tighten.  The
Deathlords were on the way, and they still had quite a bit of distance to
cover.  Jack tapped a few switches on the dash of his bike to bring up a sensor
scan.  Sure enough, the readout showed three contacts on the way right toward
them.

Three against three
, thought Jack. 
At least we have
a fair shot, for now
.

Jack looked up and squinted against the air that rushed by
him.  All he could see was the Deathlord Mothership before him.  There was no
sign of any approaching vehicles.  He looked around, scanning the horizon. 
“See anything?” he shouted into his headset.

“Not yet,” replied Scallywag.

Then, Jack saw something… a slight movement against the
black backdrop of the mothership.  He tried to focus in on it.  It was slight
at first, almost like a mirage that was playing tricks on his eyes.  But before
long, he was able to separate out the movement as three tiny specks materialized,
drawing closer and closer…

They were Deathlords, all right.  Three Dark Soldiers, armed
with blasters, and they were flying right at them.

Jetpacks!
thought Jack with a twinge of jealousy. 
Why
didn’t I think of that?

“We’ve got incoming!” cried Jack into his headset as he
grabbed the blaster gun from the holster on his leg.

“I see ‘em,” grumbled Scallywag.  “Hold tight until they get
closer.  Then get ready ta scramble.”

Jack saw Grohm reach back and unholster the massive shotgun
he carried, setting the barrel on the front of his bike to steady it.  The
weapon whined to life as it began to charge up.

Jack watched as the three Deathlords came closer, readying
their weapons. He was suddenly aware of how every muscle in his body had
tightened and how his heart was pounding…

“Wait for it…” he heard Scallywag’s voice say over the coms.

Then, the Deathlords opened fire, sending streaks of red plasma
light flashing through the air.  Jack and Scallywag veered off, Jack firing his
gun as he did so.  Scally hugged his bike between his legs and let both his
weapons answer in return.

Grohm stayed steady and unmoving as blaster fire streaked
all around him.  He calmly aimed his shotgun and unleashed a massive blast that
tore across the sky in a chaotic ball of fury.  The three Deathlords tried to
maneuver, but it was too late – the blast caught the trooper in the middle dead
on, causing him to blow up in a fireball of red and green flame followed by
plumes of black smoke.

His comrades quickly scattered, and before they knew it,
Jack and his team were past them and heading steadily toward their destination.

Jack let out a “whoop” of celebration.  “Way to go big guy!”
he cheered.  “Nice shot!”

His jubilance was short-lived, however, as more plasma fire
erupted from behind him.  Jack turned and saw the two remaining Deathlords had
quickly turned and were now on their tails, flying in the sky and raining hot
death from above.

“Scramble!” ordered Scallywag over the comm.

Jack swerved his bike hard to the left, just as Grohm
swerved to the right, their paths crossing.  Scally veered in the opposite
direction and the Deathlords struggled to follow with their weapons’ fire.

Jack watched as Scallywag rolled onto his back, balancing
himself on the seat of his bike, and returned fire with both his blaster
pistols.  His shots sent the Deathlords scrambling, each one veering off to the
side.  Scallywag quickly rolled back to a more secure stance and gunned his
engine.

Looking to his right, Jack saw one of the Deathlords coming
back around.  He aimed his gun at him and began to fire.  The shots went wide
until Jack adjusted his aim, and they started to get closer to their mark.  The
Deathlord, obviously not enjoying being shot at, returned fire, causing Jack to
swerve and struggle to keep his bike steady as plasma blasts hit the ground
around him.

One of Jack’s blasts found its mark, striking the metal
jetpack of the soldier, causing black smoke to billow forth from its wound. 
The Deathlord quickly began losing altitude and angled himself toward Jack as he
was descending.

Jack swerved and kept firing, but the Deathlord matched his
maneuvers.  As he got closer the blasts from Jack’s pistol found their mark,
tearing into the Deathlord and causing him to drop his gun, but he didn’t
disintegrate.  Instead, the Deathlord managed to land on the back of Jack’s
bike and wrapped his claws around Jack’s neck.

Jack struggled, trying to fight the Deathlord off while
maintaining control of his bike at the breakneck speed at which he was
travelling.  “Help!” cried Jack into his headset.  “A little help, please!!!”

Then, the whine of a powering-up weapon made its way to
Jack’s ears.  He turned just in time to see Grohm speed up beside him, aiming
his massive shotgun straight for the Deathlord’s head.  The Dark Soldier turned
and looked at Grohm just as the barrel leveled right at him.

BOOM
.

The shotgun fired, ripping into the Deathlord, causing him
to disintegrate in a puff of black dust, his damaged jetpack flying off into
the distance, tumbling to the ground, and exploding.

“Thanks, big guy!” said Jack.  Grohm nodded.  They both
turned to see Scallywag had fallen behind them, dodging and weaving as the
final Deathlord remained on his tail, doggedly trying to blast the Visini to pieces.

Jack sped up.  Since his bike was much faster than Grohm’s, he
put a little bit of distance between them before skidding on the breaks and
turning his bike around.  He gunned the engine and started straight for
Scallywag, who was too busy with out-maneuvering the Deathlord to see Jack
barreling straight toward him.

Jack opened fire with his blaster pistol, firing directly
over Scallywag’s head at the Deathlord behind him.  So focused was the Dark
Soldier on his prey, he hadn’t seen Jack until the blaster fire started to streak
by.  Jack’s blasts hit their marks, and the Deathlord quickly lost control and plummeted
toward the ground.

Jack passed within a foot of Scallywag as they crossed
paths, but he was going too fast and was too close to the Deathlord when it hit
the ground and exploded.  Jack felt his hoverbike shudder as the shrapnel from
the explosion caught its front-left hoverdisk, ripping it off.  The bike dipped
and skidded its nose across the ground.  Jack fought to regain control but it
was no use.  The bike slid out from under him as it slowed, and he hit the
ground, rolling uncontrollably.

When he came to a stop, Jack was lying on his back looking
up at the sky.  He was dizzy, but otherwise unhurt.  His body armor was scuffed
and banged up, but luckily it seemed that other than a few bumps and bruises,
he wasn’t seriously injured. Jack could only guess that when the hoverbike lost
one of its front discs, it slowed down enough before he fell off to keep Jack
from breaking his neck.

Jack sat up and rubbed his aching shoulders, only faintly
aware of a voice screaming his name.  He looked down and saw his headset had
fallen nearby.  He picked it up and slung it back onto his ear.

“Chill out,” said Jack.  “I’m fine.  I’m okay.”

“The ground!” he heard Scallywag scream into his comm.  “Get
off the ground!!!”

Suddenly, Jack became aware that he was sitting smack dab on
the life-sucking death dirt.  Fear gripped his chest as he scrambled to his
feet.  He looked around, frantically, searching for someplace to run… but there
was nowhere to escape to.

Then, he stopped.  He looked up at his companions who had
turned around and were speeding back toward him.  If the ground was supposed to
kill him, he figured he’d be dead by now.  “I… I think it’s okay,” said Jack. 
“Nothing is happening.  I’m not dying.”

Then, a blood-curdling shriek pierced the air, echoing
around Jack like a warning from a bird of prey.  Jack glanced around him,
suddenly alarmed, looking for the source of the noise.

“Behind ya!” yelled Scallywag into his comm.  “Look behind ya!”

Jack turned.  Behind him, in the distance, was a small
shape.  It was hazy at first but coming up fast.  It looked like a queer
miniature tornado, a small spout coming up from the bone white dust of the
ground and swirling upward, its large apex eventually disappearing into
nothing.

But it wasn’t the swirling white tornado that suddenly
frightened him.  It was the sound… the sound of thousands of screaming people,
moaning in pain, anger, and despair.  It preceded the tornado, thumping against
Jack’s chest like the bass of a bad song, filling Jack with a feeling of
impending doom.

Jack started to run.  He ran away from the tornado as fast
as his legs could carry him.  He could see Scallywag racing toward him on his
bike, but he could feel the impending doom of whatever was coming for him
quickly rushing up from behind.

Grohm shot at the entity, hoping to draw its attention from
Jack, but his blasts passed harmlessly through it as it continued to swirl
angrily forward, its cry getting louder.  Scallywag skidded to a stop right by
Jack, swerving his bike to face the opposite direction for a quick getaway.

“Get on!” the pirate yelled.  Jack didn’t need to be told
twice.  He hopped on behind Scallywag and wrapped his arms around him as the
bike shot forward.  Grohm veered off and began heading in the opposite
direction as the entity barreled forth, twisting and twirling and moaning.

“What the blazes is that thing???” cried Scallywag.  Jack
knew the pirate could feel the dread it was putting out, too.

“Whatever it is, I think it’s what kills you when you touch
the ground!” said Jack.  “It must be some type of guard dog – touching the
ground sets it off!”

Scallywag glanced behind them.  “Whatever it is, lad, it
ain’t goin’ away!”

Jack looked behind them as well.  Sure enough, the entity
was still there, and slowly gaining on them.  “What do we do?” asked Jack, the
cold grip of panic starting to tighten within him.

Scallywag cursed and activated his comms.  “Robot!” he
barked.  “We need help!”

“With what?” Heckubus replied.  “You obviously survived the
Deathlords.”

“Well, now we’ve got some type o’ evil, angry tornado that’s
trying ta kill us!”

“Preposterous,” said Heckubus.  “I’m showing no weather
patterns that would facilitate—”

“It’s an Ancient security system,” interrupted Jack.  “It’s
activated when someone touches the ground, and then it comes after you!  That’s
what they meant when they said the ground was deadly!  It’s not the dirt that
kills you; it’s this tornado thing!”

“Ah, interesting,” responded the robot.  “It would make
sense that if this planet were designed as a prison there would be some kind of
sentry designated to keep sentient beings from walking its surface and possibly
escaping.  I always thought the concept of dirt that kills you if you touched
it was rather far-fetched…”

“And an evil tornado that kills ya instead is so much more
believable???” screamed Scallywag.

The entity was growing closer and closer.  Jack could see
the tendrils of dust caught up in its wind swirling angrily. Shapes began to
form as though the dust were brushing up against something invisible within the
vortex.

“It’s gaining on us, Heckubus!” said Jack.  “How do we get
rid of it?”

“How should I know?”

“Yer always saying how ya know everything, ya blasted tin
can,” yelled Scallywag into his headset.  “For once, we need ya to prove it!”

“Have you tried shooting it?”

Scallywag gave a scream of frustration.  “Shooting it? 
SHOOTING IT?  That’s yer brilliant idea?  OF COURSE WE SHOT IT, YA IDIOT!  It’s
a bloody tornado!  Blasters have no effect on it!”

“Fine, fine, fine,” said Heckubus. “Now, I assume it only
appeared when one of you touched the ground, correct?”

“Yeah, that was my bad,” said Jack.

“Tell me, is this ‘evil’ tornado thing making contact with
the ground at all?”

Jack turned and looked.  He could feel the entity closing in
on him and Scallywag.  It seemed much larger and more menacing now, and as it
twirled Jack could see faces materialize within the chaos – stretched, and
pained, and screaming in agony – hundreds of them forming and disappearing as
the entity twisted and flailed about.

He glanced down and saw its skinny base, flittering
to-and-fro over the ground as it trailed behind them, its large, swirling top
gyrating around it.

“Yes!” said Jack.  “It’s making contact with the ground!”

“Hmmm.  Then it might be safe to assume that it has some
type of connection with the natural terrain of the planet.”

“What the bloody difference does that make?” growled
Scallywag.

“Well, perhaps if you weren’t over the ground, it wouldn’t
be able to get you,” replied Heckubus.  “I’m sending you coordinates of a
nearby crater.  I recommend you turn your hover stabilizers up to maximum and
try to make it over there before you die.”

The hoverbike beeped as it received Heckubus’s new coordinates. 
Scallywag cursed under his breath as he turned his bike in the new direction. 
“I hope this bloody works!” he said.

Jack felt the bike shiver as Scally punched the
accelerator.  Jack turned and saw the swirling chaos of the entity grow
closer.  It pursued them relentlessly, the faces within its funnel growing more
and more rabid, as if they could smell a fresh kill in front of them.  The
moaning grew louder, and Jack could feel the malevolence oozing from it.

“Faster!  Faster!  FASTER!” screamed Jack.  “Can’t you go
any faster???”

“Maybe if one o’ us weren’t here to weigh us down,” grumbled
Scallywag.

Jack could see a glint of metal in the distance, the large
opening ringed with it signaled that it was one of the mysterious craters that led
deep within the planet.  They were heading right toward it, but would it really
save them?