Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) (17 page)

“Computer, keep track of Haon’s location.” I slowed the ship slightly. “We want to make sure he keeps following.”

“XB Class is two-point-seven kilometers behind and closing,” the computer said. “Altitude five hundred meters.”

“Perfect,” I said.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Mom looked a little pale. Adina on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the excitement.

The mountain range soared in front of us. I pulled back and skimmed along the peaks.

“Missile lock confirmed.”

I accelerated over a ridge of granite.

“Two Mark 7 missiles fired.”

After we crested the ridge I plunged back down. The
DUV III
streaked toward a green valley below. I heard an explosion as one of the rockets clipped a peak behind us. I banked left and climbed up over another ridge. The second rocket didn’t make the turn and smashed into a granite wall.

“That was close!” Adina yelled.

Once more I hugged the terrain. The ground below was broken up by never-ending rows of sharp granite peaks.

“XB Class is still within missile range.”

“Good.” Finally the terrain below smoothed out. We sped over brown desert. I pushed the
DUV III
faster and pulled away from Haon.

“Just a little further.” Finally I saw what I was looking for. The desert gave way to rocky terrain again and a huge chasm came into view.

“The Grand Canyon?” Mom said.

I grinned. “I always wanted to try this.” I banked right and dropped into the canyon. Even after I lowered our speed, the canyon walls still sped by in a blur.

“XB Class closing. One kilometer.”

“Seven hundred fifty meters.”

“Missile lock confirmed.”

The
DUV III
screamed around a column of red rock.

“Four Mark 7 missiles fired.”

“He can’t have too many missiles left.” I skimmed over a flat butte, then dropped down toward the green Colorado River. Rockets exploded around us, smashing into ancient stone.

“One Mark 7 missile remains. Impact in five-seconds.”

I spotted the perfect outcropping of stone. I skimmed the surface of the river, mashed the yoke left, and whizzed behind it. The rocket blew a hole through the shale. Fragments of stone pinged all over the
DUV III
.

“Those are getting too close for comfort.” Mom dug her fingernails into her armrests.

“I need the right spot.” I banked, turned, rose, and fell while we rocketed through the canyon. Just ahead, the canyon walls came together. “That should do.”

I slowed and let Haon close in. I dropped toward the river. He followed.

“XB Class is two hundred meters back. Missile lock confirmed.”

A few more heartbeats, then I yanked back on the yoke. The
DUV III
groaned, but her wings caught the air and lifted her up. I kept pulling back as the ship strained toward the blue sky above, then curved back around to the canyon floor. I’d done a complete loop.

Haon’s ship was now in front of us. I dove forward. He couldn’t turn—he was surrounded by stone walls left and right. He couldn’t climb out of the canyon—I moved in to block his ship.

Just ahead, the canyon took a sharp turn left.

The
DUV III
skimmed above the XB Class, Haon hurtling toward the rock. We were maybe ten meters away from the canyon wall when he managed to pull up high enough to scrape over the cliff’s edge.

He smashed against our underside—and flew out from beneath us with a wrenching tear. The vertical stabilizers on his ship dangled.

I clipped an outcropping of stone and the
DUV III
spun left. I used up every trick I knew to straighten her out, but the ship continued to spin.

We dropped toward a plateau of rock below.

“Landing thrusters!” I yelled. The
DUV III
continued to twirl like a top. A loud grinding noise rent the cabin.

We hit the ground.

Dust and debris filled the air while I fought with the controls. For several long heartbeats, the ship rumbled and shook. Finally everything went quiet.

We’d crashed.

And Haon’s ship was gone.

I smacked the yoke—hard.

“He’ll get away!”

“I don’t think he’s going far,” Adina said. “Did you see how much damage you did to him?” She cracked a smile. “You do tend to run into things when flying.”

I looked at her and couldn’t help smiling myself.

“You’re right. Haon can’t fly well without his rear stabilizers. There’s no way he can climb to six kilometers.”

“Okay,” Mom said. “What do we have to do to get this ship back in the air?”

“Computer, run a diagnostic on the ship’s flight systems,” I said. “But first get me a lock on Haon’s location.”

“The XB Class is traveling approximately two hundred forty kilometers north.”

“He’s still moving fast,” Mom said. “Computer, can you plot a course?”

“At the current heading and current speed, he will reach the Yellowstone Crater in approximately thirty-seven minutes.”

She gasped. “Of course. It makes sense.”

“What?” I said.

“If he can’t fly to six kilometers, he’ll need something else to lift the nano-virus into the upper tradewinds. The Yellowstone volcano is the perfect mechanism.”

“Diagnostics complete. The
DUV III
is capable of limited flight. Extra atmospheric transit is highly discouraged.”

“Good enough,” I said. “Let’s get going.”

I gave the throttle a little squeeze and fired the thrusters. The ship groaned when she lifted off the rocky surface. I pitched to the right slightly to compensate for the wing tip buried in the dust of the plateau, but with another burst of the lifters, we broke free.

Minutes later, we rocketed north across the desert. I continued to monitor the ship’s vital signs.

“It looks like we damaged the front landing pylons.”

“We?” Adina laughed.

“Well, you were there.” I brought up a 3-D schematic of the ship’s underside. “We’ve got a hull breach…” I spun the display around and pointed at three glowing areas. “Here, here, and here.”

“Nothing we can do about that now.” Mom stood and held on to railings while she worked her way to the door. Obadiah walked drunkenly beside her.

“If we’re going to be dealing with volcanos, perhaps I should get suited up. Adina, would you help me please?”

“Sure thing, Mrs. Zarc.” Adina unbuckled and stumbled after Mom.

“What do you want me to do?” I said.

“Catch up to him—and whatever you do, don’t let him fly over the crater.”

I turned back to the screen. Catch up? That was one thing I really knew how to do.

Beautiful terrain sped past—deserts, snow-covered peaks, vast forests—but I only had one thing in mind. The ship’s computer calculated we’d catch the XB Class several kilometers outside of what had been called Yellowstone Park. I flew comfortably at several thousand meters, while Haon struggled to stay aloft.

“How long?” Mom called over the comm.

“We should be there in seven minutes,” I said. “Haon’s just ahead of us. I’m not sure he’s going to make it over the Hobak pass into the Teton Valley, though. The computer’s only giving him a forty percent chance.”

“All the better.”

I watched the screen as the flashing light of Haon’s ship climbed up the mountain pass. I was just about to bring the
DUV III
down to make visual contact when the XB Class limped over the ridge.

“He made it into the valley. I’ll keep on him, see if I can slow him down.”

I strained to see his ship when the
DUV III
crested the pass. Nothing yet, so I pushed us forward and dropped into the valley. As I leveled off, I looked north.

In any other circumstance, the jagged snow-capped peaks of the Grand Tetons to our left would have filled me with awe, but what drew my eye now was the churning black column of smoke that filled the entire northern portion of the valley. The immense Yellowstone volcano was spewing tons of ash into the sky.

Adina came in. “Wow! What’s that?”

“That’s the cause of the dark cloud we saw from space. It’s a volcano—a really big one.”

“The elders used to tell stories of mountains that shot fire into the sky, but I thought they were just stories. Mountains don’t burn.”

“Well, this one does, although I’m not sure there’s much of a mountain there.”

Adina looked at the valley below. “Any sign of Haon’s ship?”

I studied the holoscreen. “He should be right below us.” I glanced out the window. “Yeah, there he is.”

Sunlight glinted off an object weaving in out of tall trees and bluffs of stone.

“Mom, I see Haon. You might want to hold on.”

“Okay, Noah. I’m strapped in down here.”

Adina scrambled over to her seat and buckled in. I plunged toward the XB Class. Immediately the ship weaved right. There’d be no catching him off guard this time. I tried to get directly behind him—he’d have a harder time firing at us if he had to do it blind.

“Okay, let’s see what you’ve got left.” I throttled up and closed in. For several minutes I mirrored Haon’s path through the Teton Valley and across the surface of a long, placid lake.

“I’m going to try to force him to land.”

I lifted the
DUV III
above Haon’s ship and accelerated. He weaved and bobbed for several minutes while we worked our way closer to the volcano—then the XB Class braked and disappeared behind us. Fearing Haon would launch another missile, I pulled up into a steady climb, then banked right to try to get behind him again. From the side window, I saw the ship at a near standstill, hovering a couple meters above the ground.

Just as I was bringing the
DUV III
in behind her, the XB Class rocketed forward again. This time it lifted from the ground and attempted to shoot skyward.

“What’s he doing? There’s no way he can handle that.” But somehow the ship held together. I followed while he surged toward the sky.

“I think he’s making a run for six kilometers!”

“You have to stop him, Noah!” Mom sounded desperate.

I punched the throttle and hurtled after the XB Class. Within seconds, I was just behind.

I looked at Adina. “Hold on.”

The
DUV III
twisted into a spiral when I rocketed past the XB Class and skimmed its cockpit. Haon glanced at me through the window, then turned back to his controls. The ship fought him every meter. His face was red with the effort, and he looked… afraid.

I jerked the yoke left and weaved in front.

“Fire full afterburners.” Two bright orange spouts of flame erupted from the rear engines. We lunged forward.

Seconds later a massive fireball smashed into the
DUV III
. Haon’s ship had exploded.

“What happened?” Adina said.

“I don’t know. That shouldn’t have been enough to destroy the ship.”

I banked left and looked out the window.

Burning debris plummeted toward the earth.

From her seat beside me Mom looked at the field of burning debris below. I flew in a slow circle around what was left of Haon’s ship.

“Computer,” she said. “Run a chemical analysis of the air outside the ship.” She looked at me. “The nano-virus should have been released in the explosion. It probably wasn’t high enough to cause worldwide destruction, but most of North America won’t support animal life for centuries, if ever.”

“Chemical analysis complete. Seventy-eight percent nitrogen. Twenty point one percent oxygen. Point nine percent argon. Point seven percent carbon dioxide. Point three percent sulfur.”

“There should be a sharp spike in carbon molecules,” Mom said.

“Negative.”

She shook her head. “But the nano-bots wouldn’t have been destroyed, even in an explosion of that magnitude.” She frowned. “Unless Haon never had the virus with him in the first place.”

“What if he dropped it somewhere before the ship exploded?” Adina said.

We both looked at her.

“Just before Haon turned toward the sky, he slowed almost to a stop. What if he dropped the nano-bots then?”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Mom said. “Unless—” She whipped around. “Noah, take us down. To the point where Haon’s ship slowed.”

I grabbed the yoke and pushed forward, scanning the ground below.

“I think it was right there—see? That small clearing just north of the debris field.”

Minutes later, we were on the ground.

“What are we looking for?” I said once we were all outside the ship.

“I’m not sure.” Mom’s hands parted vegetation around her.

Adina bent over and moved back and forth, scanning the ground.

“Here!” Mom and I ran over. In the soft ground was the perfect imprint of a boot.

Mom looked at Adina.

“He jumped out of the ship?” I tried getting my mind around what I was seeing. “It can’t be him,” I said. “Adina and I both saw Haon in the XB Class seconds before it blew up.”

“That’s true, Mrs. Zarc,” Adina said. “He was definitely flying the ship.”

Mom threw her hands up. “Then whose footprints are these? This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Unless…” I shook my head. “No, that’s impossible.”

“What?” Mom said.

“Back in the twelfth century, when we tried to rescue you, I fought Haon. I found out his arm wasn’t real. It was mechanical, like—”

“Like a robot,” Mom said. “So
that’s
how he’s been able to time-travel. I couldn’t figure out how he was always there, no matter when we went, how he was able to defeat all the Poligarchy’s scanners.”

“It was never really him?” I said.

“Exactly.”

“So we just blew up this
robot
?” Adina said.

“It’s possible,” Mom said. Her voice held a tinge of awe. No one had robots so advanced, completely indistinguishable from their human counterparts.

“If true, that means these footprints could be the real Haon’s,” Adina said.

“Do you think you can follow him?” Mom said.

“No problem,” said Adina.

I turned toward the volcano. “Let’s go.”

“Not so fast,” Mom said. “We need to get suited up. The closer we get to that volcano, the more toxic the air will get.”

“Fine, but let’s hurry.” Haon could be kilometers away by now.

We rushed back to the
DUV III
and helped one another into our suits. Ten minutes later, we were back outside. Obadiah wanted to come, but I had to make him stay. His sad eyes tore at me as the hatch closed.

Once more I felt the rush of being able to walk in the EV suit. The mechanical legs whirred as we ran back to the field.

It was hard not to run ahead of them, but I knew it wouldn’t do us any good. Luckily Adina lost no time picking up Haon’s trail. We all jogged after him into the woods.

It was much warmer than back on Mars when I last wore the suit. Sweat rolled between my shoulder blades. Mom allowed us to keep our visors up for the time being, though, so at least I had fresh air.

Adina wove back and forth but steadily moved toward the dense smoke ahead.

“He makes a trail easier to follow than a cave bear.”

The air began to stink of burning sulfur. I tried to stifle a cough, but Mom heard me and stopped.

“Okay. Visors down.”

“Aw, Mom. Just a little further.”

She didn’t have to say anything. One look and I dropped my visor.

Soon visibility worsened. The woods around us darkened to an eerie twilight. Smoke rolled along the forest floor.

“It seems Haon picked a good time to visit the Yellowstone volcano—it hasn’t been this active in years.” Mom peered around. “Keep your eyes out, he could be anywhere in this smoke.”

The forest thinned around us until we broke into a bleak landscape of burnt tree trunks that stood like broken sentinels.

Haon’s footprints were now easy to see in the blanket of ash. The three of us ran side by side, darting in and out of burnt trees. Finally, the blackened trunks thinned and disappeared, leaving only a tumbled mess of boulders and smooth obsidian lava flows.

We climbed upwards along a rocky ridge. When we reached the top, a wall of heat and smoke hit us. I thrust my hands in front of my face and looked down.

A crater the size of a small city opened up before us, its walls curving off into the shadows. Black smoke poured from a central cone. Slow rolling lava oozed down the cone’s side in several places.

“There he is!” Adina pointed down and to the right.

Hopping atop black boulders, avoiding steaming jets and molten lava, was a figure in a silver EV suit. He was nearly to the base of the cone.

I scampered down the ridge into the crater, my mechanical legs pumping. The floor of the crater was pocked with debris and potholes, and Mom fell behind.

“We can’t let him reach the top of the cone!” she shouted. “You two are the only chance we have. I’ll catch up.”

Adina, who’d lived most of her life chasing down game, dashed off. I followed. Haon was now climbing the cone, using both hands to scramble up the steep sides.

Adina reached the base of the cone and started climbing really fast. Haon turned and saw her. I couldn’t actually hear him, but I was sure he swore.

He started grabbing loose rocks and rolling them down at her. I darted to his right and climbed as fast as I could. He continued to scramble up the slope, but Adina was getting so close he stopped long enough to rock a nasty boulder loose.

“Look out!” I yelled.

She glanced up in time to get out of the way as Haon turned and started climbing again. I was now even with him, only two meters or so below the volcano’s top. Lava flowed over the lip of the cone to my right. The heat was so intense I knew I’d be dead without my EV suit. I looked over to see Haon reaching into a pocket on his chest. He pulled out a gleaming vial.

I lunged when he cocked his arm and threw. I got hold of his boot, but it was too late—the vial flew end over end through the air toward the mouth of the cone. It disappeared in a belch of smoke.

“Tough luck, kid.” He kicked me in the shoulder and rolled away.

No—we couldn’t have failed, not after everything we’d been through, we
couldn’t—

A white-suited figure outfitted in a highly customized EV suit emerged from the churning smoke above us. In his hand was the vial!

“No!” Haon shouted. “Where’d you come from?”

Jets were strapped to the figure’s feet and back. Haon scrambled forward.

“It’s not possible! Give me that vial.” His eyes darted around frantically.

Without warning, Haon lunged and grabbed me around the neck, knocking me over. We rolled several times, then stopped. Haon pressed his knee down on my chest.

“Give me that vial or the boy dies.”

A rolling rivulet of lava flowed just centimeters from the visor protecting my face. Haon pushed my head toward the magma.

“Give me that vial. Now!”

I tried to talk but Haon’s weight on my chest was too much.

Lying there helpless, moments from death, I knew the truth. This man wasn’t my father. He could never be my father. My father was Noah Zarc Sr.

The newcomer flew down the side of the cone and landed a few meters away. He held the vial toward Haon.

“No tricks.” Haon climbed to his feet and pulled me with him.

Keeping me between himself and the suited figure, Haon inched forward, his hand outstretched. He grabbed the vial, then thrust me forward so hard I fell over, knocking the figure down with me.

Haon immediately turned and scrambled back up the slope. He climbed to the top and pulled his arm back to throw the vial again.

Adina lunged from behind a boulder and knocked him backwards, landing on top of him. He kicked her off, and she tumbled down the cone’s slope, landing hard then not moving. He stood and lifted the vial.

The suited figure next to me ignited the rockets on his suit and flew straight at Haon—an odd-looking pistol in his outstretched hand. A faint whirring sound filled the air as a jet of white gas erupted from the gun. A cloud engulfed Haon’s arm, then ice crystals formed from shoulder to wrist—his arm was frozen solid.

Haon bellowed and swung around, smashing his free fist into the visor of his attacker. The pistol skidded across the ground and stopped a few centimeters from Adina’s motionless body.

I heard a loud crunch and the suited figure dropped to the side of the crater with a thud. His body began to slide into the boiling black smoke. In a second I was at his side, grabbing for a hold.

My EV suit struggled to keep up with the commands I was sending through my neuro-implant, but I was able to get my footing and grab his arm before he disappeared over the edge. In my chair, I’d never have been able to hold him.

His facemask was shattered. I was surprised to see an old man with a white bushy mustache and beard spilling out of his visor. He looked familiar.

He didn’t move.

“Enough of this!” Haon screamed.

He turned his frozen arm toward the crater. The vial in his hand flickered with a green glow as light caught the liquid inside.

“No!” I struggled to keep the old man from falling into the crater. Adina was unconscious. Mom had just reached the foot of the crater—she’d never make it in time to help.

“You’re not looking so good, brother,” Haon said.

Brother?
I looked down at the old man.

He groaned. Dark brown eyes opened and looked up at me, filled with sadness.

“Dad?”

“Good, you’re awake,” Haon said. “I’d hate for you to miss the demise of everything you’ve worked so hard for.”

He moved the vial over the crater.

Time seemed to slow. I thought of the people on Venus, living in terrible conditions. Would Haon's plan really work? Would the Poligarchy allow the Venusians to populate Earth?

I pictured Obadiah back on the
DUV III
, only a few kilometers away. He’d be the first to die if Haon released the nano-virus.

“This is not the answer!” I was still straining to keep Dad from sliding into the crater.

Haon just shook his head.

I looked at Dad, then at the pistol lying near Adina. No way I could get to the gun without letting go of Dad.

The choice was clear.

I pushed the EV suit’s legs upright and yanked as hard as I could. My arms felt like they were going to tear off. Little by little I pulled him out of the crater. Finally I fell back and Dad landed next to me.

“Bravo!” Haon said.

He squeezed the vial. It shattered.

“NO!”

The liquid inside vaporized. The green gas dispersed into the broiling black cloud of the volcano, churning toward the upper atmosphere.

He really did it.

“Noah, catch!”

I turned in time to see Dad’s pistol sliding toward me. Adina smiled, then slumped back to the ground.

Grabbing the gun, I spun around and fired.

A white cloud of gas engulfed the giant of a man who stood over us.

I couldn’t see anything but kept squeezing the trigger until the stream of gas stopped. The white smoke burned away in the heat. Haon stood for a moment, a scream etched on his face, then toppled over and slid down the slope. His frozen body stopped a meter from the lava he’d held my head to only moments before.