Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) (14 page)

I stumbled back, my hands raised.

“Wait!” I reached up and pressed a button, opening my visor.

I was a heartbeat away from having a hole torn through me by his plasma-rifle. When he recognized me, the rage on his face changed to disdain.

“What are you doing here?”

“I—”

“You Zarcs are like cockroaches—squish one and another comes scurrying out of the gutter.”

“I know who you are!”

“You…” His expression changed again. Confusion this time. “What do you mean, you know who I am?”

“I know you’re my father. My dad told me—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, kid. I don’t have a son.”

He waved his rifle at Adina, who lay on the ground unmoving.

“Your friend needs help,” he said. “Why don’t you get her out of here so I can be on my way.”

“No!” I put my hands down and stepped toward him. “I’m not going to let you shoo me away. I need answers and I’m not leaving without them.”

He’d towered over me the entire time, but at the moment he seemed smaller.

“I want to know why,” I said. “Why did you leave me?”

He glanced back at the ship. Just like my dad, he wanted to flee.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, kid. You need to go get your mother, by the way. She’s unharmed.”

I took another step toward him— he actually backed up.

“She’s in the lab,” he said. “Here, let me—”

He turned toward the hatch. I stepped in front of him. I wasn’t afraid of him, and that scared the daylights out of me, but I wasn’t going to let him off the hook.

“Why? Why did you leave me?”

He took a deep breath and looked at me for what seemed like a long time.

“All right, you’re my kid. But what’s it matter? My brother did a much better job raising you than I ever would have. He—”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? It matters to me!”

“Listen, kid, I think you’d better talk with your dad. He’ll tell you what happened. He—”

“No.”

I looked at Adina, who stirred. I thought of Mom. Haon said she was okay, and I believed him.

“I want to hear it from
you
. Why didn’t you want me?”

“Because…I was afraid.” He sounded surprised, like he never really knew until he spoke the words.

“Afraid of me? Of a baby?”

“Your mother died shortly after you were born.” He had tears in his voice.

“Shalia?” I whispered.

His brows popped up. “How did you—”

“My brother overheard you and my mom arguing.”

“Ah,” he said. “I wondered how long he was snooping around here.” Anger filled his voice. “She shouldn’t have died—she
wouldn’t
have died, not on Mars.” He shook his head. “We live like rats on Venus.”

“Is it really that bad? The Poligarchy wouldn’t—”

“Ha!” Haon’s face darkened. “The Poligarchy ensures it.”

“Why would they—”

“For the same reason they don’t want humans to colonize Earth. Power.”

I glanced at Adina. She was propped against a pylon watching us. She had her Triple-B in, so she knew exactly what we were saying.

“The war of 2997 revealed their true nature,” Haon said.

“The war of—what?”

“You’re joking.” He shook his head. “Of course you’re not. Your parents wouldn’t want you to think on your own.” He glanced at Adina, then continued.

“In 2997, I was ten. Our parents—mine and your dad’s—had divorced, and I went with Mom to live on Venus. I guess she wanted to be as far away from Dad as she could. I don’t know why she didn’t bring your dad with us.

“With every passing year Venus was becoming more of a problem for the Poligarchy. There was talk of setting up our own government. The Poligarchy wouldn’t have it, so they attacked. Killed off all the ‘rebel ringleaders.’ The
war
only lasted a few months.” He slumped against the ship’s hull behind him. “My mother was killed.”

I’d always wondered what happened to Grandma Zarc.

“Since then the Poligarchy has done everything in its power to keep us down,” he said. “Most on Venus are just fighting to survive.”

“And Earth?” I’d already guessed at his answer.

“The Poligarchy knows if we spread out—if humanity grows to three planets instead of two—they’ll never be able to control us all.”

I swallowed. It was almost too much to take in.

“So the
ARC
project?”

“The Poligarchy’s finest act of treachery.” He sneered. “Unite the people around a noble cause. Repopulate the earth with extinct species. Who could oppose that?”

Haon’s past was filled with so much suffering—how different would I be under the same circumstances? Still, he had a lot to answer for.

“What about the animals?”

“We don’t need the animals anymore.”

“So just because we don’t need them, that gives you the right to destroy them?”

“We’ve evolved beyond them.” Haon motioned around him. “Animals are obsolete in the face of all that man’s accomplished.”

“There are a lot of things we don’t
need
,” I said. “Humanity’s missing the—”

A siren blared. Red lights flashed all around the hangar. Haon ran to a terminal and brought up a holo of the compound. He pressed a few buttons. I saw masses of red dots converging on the base.

“It’s the Poligarchy.” He looked at Adina, who’d jumped to her feet. “I suggest the two of you go find Hannah. I’ve got work to do.”

He swiped his fingers through the holo, clicking on doors.

“I’ve cleared a path. Your mother won’t be stopped from leaving.” He turned and stepped toward me. I realized I was still standing between him and the hatch. I tried to figure out how I could stop him, but there was nothing I could do, really. I stepped aside.

He pushed past me but paused at the ship’s stairs.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” With that, he hopped into the ship and the hatch closed behind him.

Almost immediately, the ship began to rumble. I grabbed Adina’s hand and pulled her toward a door Haon had opened. It was a clear shot down the hall. Another door stood open at the far end. The roar of a ship taking off behind us momentarily drowned out the alarms. Smoke filled the hall. I’d forgotten to shut the door behind.

“Your visor!” I yelled. We both put our faceplates down moments before we were engulfed in heated steam. If it weren’t for the suits, we’d have been cooked alive.

I yanked Adina around a corner and slammed my hand against the switch plate. The door shut just as a someone running from the opposite direction plowed into us. All three of us crashed to the floor in a heap. The scorching vapor rolled over our heads and dissipated into the ventilation system. I pushed myself off the figure beneath me.

It was Mom.

She scrambled away, glancing back and forth from Adina to me.

“It’s okay.” I lifted my visor. “It’s me, Noah.”

Her expression shifted from fear to relief and back to fear in a matter of heartbeats.

“What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you, Mom.”

“I heard a ship,” Mom said. “Was it Haon?”

“Yeah.” I looked at Adina, willing her to keep quiet about our conversation.

“And the alarm?”

“It’s the Poligarchy Police. They’ve got the place surrounded.”

“We have to get out of here.” My mom looked frantic. “Tell me you have a ship.”

“Of course, but why don’t we just wait for the police? I bet they—”

“There’s no time.” She grabbed my arm. “Which way?”

I got my bearings, then turned down the hall.

“Follow me.”

We wound our way through the maze of corridors until we reached a door to the outside. A quick peek through a nearby window didn’t show me anything. Perhaps the authorities left when they saw Haon’s ship blasting off.

I cracked the door and still didn’t see anyone. I motioned for Mom and Adina to follow as I headed outside.

“Your visors,” Mom said.

“What about you?” I looked at her. She wasn’t even wearing a jacket, and the Martian night could be brutal. It already seemed like it was near freezing.

“I’ll be all right.” She stood unmoving until Adina and I lowered our visors. “Now, where’s that ship of yours?”

I looked around. Everything looked the same to me. I glanced at Adina.

“This way.” Adina sprinted toward the dark side of the crater. My mom and I took off after her.

We only made it a dozen meters or so before I heard a gruff voice off to my right.

“Halt!”

I faltered, but Mom grabbed my arm and pulled me onward. Adina disappeared in the gloom ahead.

“I said halt.” A man dressed in a crisp white uniform with a respirator hanging to the side of his face materialized out of the shadows. He had a rifle leveled at us.

We kept running. I saw a look of confusion on his face before he lowered his weapon and took off after us.

I heard his footsteps gaining on us when I saw a silver blur in my peripheral vision. I whipped around just as Adina tackled the man, sending him flying to the ground. His rifle skidded away into the night.

Adina rolled away and popped up with the rifle in her hands.

“
You
halt!” She pointed it at the officer. He lay on the ground, fear on his face. He didn’t look any older than Hamilton.

“You make one move and I’ll...I’ll spear you!” At least she held the rifle the right way. She looked at us and nodded at the crater’s side.

“Get to the ship,” she said.

“I’m not leaving you,” I said.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

Mom looked at us both, then pushed me toward the slope.

“Let’s go. Obviously your friend can take care of herself.”

I took another look at Adina, then headed off.

My mom struggled up the side of the crater. As we neared the top she slowed, until I had to practically drag her. Her face was contorted in pain.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“Just get me to the ship and I’ll be fine.” She didn’t look fine—what was it Dad had said about a neuro-chip?

Just as we crested the crater’s edge, I heard a blast behind us. A plasma-rifle. I whipped around and looked down. At first I couldn’t make out anything in the gloom—then I saw a figure running toward us. Adina.

“She’s okay,” I said over my shoulder. Mom didn’t reply.

Moments later, Adina leapt over the crater’s edge. Her visor was up, and she was grinning.

“What happened?”

“The fire-spear went off. I didn’t hit him, but—” Her face fell as she looked behind me. “What’s wrong with your mother?”

I turned around. Mom was on the ground, on her hands and knees, panting. Sweat dripped down her face.

I knelt beside her, and with Adina’s help we got her to her feet. By the time we reached the ship, she could barely walk. She staggered into the airlock and collapsed.

“Mom!” I dropped to her side. She was burning up.

“We must… get off… this planet.” She struggled to speak through clenched teeth.

“Go, Noah!”

I jumped up, ran to the cockpit, and yelled for the computer to initiate launch sequence. I couldn’t sit down in the bulky EV suit, so I found a rail and held on tight. Three minutes later we were rocketing toward the blackness of space.

The shipboard computer located a vessel fleeing Martian space that matched Haon’s. I told the computer to follow, then engaged autopilot. I climbed out of the suit into my magchair and went to find Mom.

She was lying in a bed in the rear quarters. Her body writhed in pain—her face was bright red. She moaned while tears streamed down her cheeks. Obadiah, somehow sensed now wasn’t the time for greeting us with his usual licking. He sat watching Mom, his hound eyes mirroring the fear I felt.

“I don’t know what’s happening to her.” Adina stopped peeling off her EV suit long enough to glance at me, her eyes wide with fear. I moved to Mom’s side and grabbed her hand.

“What’s wrong?”

Her eyes were squeezed shut, but she opened them long enough to find my hand and pull it toward her face. Then she placed it on her head.

“Of course!” Now I remembered what Dad had said. “The neuro pain inducer.”

I headed for the ship’s workshop. Once there, I tore open every drawer and cupboard until I found an Electronic Chip Locator—just like the one Sam had used a few days ago. I grabbed it and rushed back.

“You’ll have to hold her still, Adina.”

I knelt at Mom’s side. “Hope this works.” I flicked the switch but nothing happened. I shook it and held it near the neuro implant at the base of my skull. Wait—what if I fried my own chip? The ECL beeped and I yanked it away from my head.

“Okay, hold her still.”

Adina cradled Mom’s head in her lap and draped her arm over her chest, pressing down. I brought the silver box to her forehead and slowly moved it around. The beeping began. As I moved it around the beeps grew closer and closer together until finally it was one long tone.

“Intel neuro-transceiver chip located. Modified code structure.” The box spoke in a clear, female voice. “Please choose from the following options: Display specifications. Disable chip. Cancel.”

“Disable! Disable!” I yelled.

Mom groaned.

“Are you sure you wish to disable the Intel neuro-transceiver chip? Yes or no?”

“Yes!”

“Disabling Intel neuro-transceiver chip.”

The screen brightened. For a few seconds the tone continued, then it stopped. Mom quit shaking. Adina looked up at me, her face wet.

“I think we got it,” I said. “Thank you, Sam.”

Mom closed her eyes and drifted off—one hand still holding Obadiah who had snuggled onto her lap. Mom’s other hand opened and a bluish crystal floated free. I pulled it out of the air.

“A data crystal.”

“You don’t know how good it is to see you, Noah.”

I held Mom’s hand while she struggled to unbuckle the straps holding her in bed.

“Where are your brother and sister? Are they safe? Did Hamilton make it out of the compound okay?”

“They’re safe.” I held on to the bed frame. My body floated behind me in the zero-g of space. “And so is Dad.”

Relief flooded her face. “Oh, that’s good news.” She looked around the room. “We’re in space? Are we moving?”

“Yeah, we’re moving.” I realized there’d be no keeping her in bed.

“Where are we headed?”

“Earth.”

“I wish we were in the
Morning Star
, she might be able to beat him, but the
DUV III…
”

Her voice sounded urgent. And she looked frightened.

“What’s going on, Mom?”

She looked at me for a long moment. I had no idea what she was going to say, but I was afraid to hear it.

“Haon’s headed to Earth to unleash the nano-bomb I created. He’ll destroy everything we’ve worked to build over the last twenty-five years.” She patted her pockets. “The crystal?”

I held it up between my thumb and forefinger.

Relief flooded her face. “I managed to get a copy of the blueprints for the nano-virus.” She reached up and I handed her the crystal.

“So we can stop him?”

She sighed. “I just don’t know. We have to catch him first.”

Adina cleared her throat from the doorway. Mom looked up.

“I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Adina, ma’am.”

Mom wrinkled her nose. “Please, call me Hannah, or Mrs. Zarc, but definitely not ma’am.”

Adina smiled. “As you wish… Mrs. Zarc.” She floated over with a clear box of sliced fruit in her hand.

“If you don’t mind me asking, ma—Mrs. Zarc,
when
are we going?”

“When?”

“I mean, what time will it be on Earth?”

“I think she’s trying to ask when we’re jumping to.” I glanced over at Mom. “Adina’s from Earth, 8500 BC, where you and Dad were.”

Mom’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a little hard to say. I mean…” Adina looked at me for help.

“I brought her here. She was going to die, and I saved her.” I gave my mom a pleading look. She glanced from me to Adina and back.

“I see. Well, I can certainly tell there’s a tale there, but it’ll have to wait. We need to locate Haon’s ship.” She sat up. Only the belt around her legs was still buckled. “Have we reached orbit?”

“We’ve cleared Mars’ gravitational pull. Want me to lock in coordinates? For what time?”

“We won’t be jumping. If we jumped now, we’d risk missing him, and I have no idea if he plans to jump at all.” She looked toward the window. “Where’s your father? Is he here in orbit around Mars?”

I flushed. “As far as I know he’s back where we left him, orbiting Earth in 8500 BC.”

“What do you mean as far as you know? Where did he tell you he’d be? For that matter, why didn’t he come himself? I can’t believe he sent you and Adina alone.”

She looked at me, waiting for an answer. I stared at the ground.

“Noah.” She folded her arms. “What did you do?”

“I… I took the
DUV III.
” I glanced at Adina. “He was going to take Adina back to where she came from. He didn’t let us tell our side of the story. He wasn’t being fair.”

“Noah James Zarc, that doesn’t sound like the whole story.”

I knew Mom was mad now.

“So you just took off in the
DUV III,
jumped eleven thousand years into the future and flew to Mars where you knew Haon was and put yourself and your friend in mortal danger because you thought your father wasn’t being fair?”

When she talked without stopping for a breath, I knew she was
really
mad.

“But Mom, Adina would die if we took her back.”

“I’m sure your father wouldn’t let that happen.” Mom’s face was red, but she looked at Adina, then back at me, and took a deep breath. “There’s nothing we can do about it at the moment. Once this mess is over, I’ll hear the whole story, and then your father and I will decide what’s to be done with you—both of you.

She watched us for a moment. The soft hum of the ship’s engines the only sound.

“Now, let’s go see if we can confirm Haon is really headed for Earth.”

I glanced over at Adina, who shrugged her shoulders slightly. We helped Mom unbuckle and pushed ourselves toward the cockpit.

Once we were all strapped in our seats, Mom said, “Computer, are you still tracking that ship?”

“Affirmative. It is on an intercept course for Earth.”

“Okay. Noah, let’s see what you can make this ship do.”

I smiled slightly. It wasn’t every day I was allowed to fly at full throttle.

“Computer, please route all available power to main thrusters.”

“Would you like me to bring life support systems offline in unused portions of the ship?”

I glanced at Mom, who nodded.

“Yes, please. Then bring thrusters up to full power in a three-minute burn.”

Mom called Obadiah over and lifted him up on her lap.

“Fire when ready,” I said.

“Initiating full-power burn now.”

The ship rocketed forward and smashed us back into our seats. For three long minutes, none of us could move while the
DUV III
accelerated to speeds beyond anything I’d ever experienced. When the ship reached one point two million kilometers per hour, I looked at the charts.

“I’m not sure it’s enough, but we might beat Haon if he doesn’t push his ship beyond its recommended parameters.”

“It’ll have to do,” Mom said. “How long until we reach Earth?”

“Should be a little over six days.”

“Let’s hope it’s enough.” Mom turned to Adina. “In the meantime, you can tell me a bit about yourself. What was life like for you growing up? How did your people live?”

I smiled. Of Mom’s many areas of expertise, anthropology was a favorite. She’d love the chance to find out about ancient civilizations directly from someone who lived there.

“Cold.” Adina giggled. “Every moment of every day, you are cold. But after a while you get used to it. Sometimes, after a big hunt, we have fires that fill the cave while the women cook the meat. Then the temperature is bearable.”

I studied the two of them. Even though I’d known Adina only a short while, almost instinctively I knew she was someone I could trust. And by now I knew not to underestimate her intelligence—and her ability to see things in ways that I couldn’t entirely understand. Nothing like the image people had of cavemen.