Scrapyard Ship 7: Call to Battle (31 page)

“I’m here, Captain.”

Jason followed the sound of Ricket’s voice. Behind him, he heard the battle droid entering the Zoo.

Ricket was standing at an access panel, located on the side of a habitat portal window that, it seemed, was unaffected. It was HAB 12. “It occurred to me, Captain, we did have one option. A way out of here without the battle droid following us.”

“So, out of all the habitats … this is the only one? The only one still intact?”

Ricket, busy entering digits, looked relieved, hearing the familiar three consecutive beeps. “We must hurry, Captain. I fear
The Lilly
is on the verge of—”

The battle droid was crashing through the debris on the deck. Jason could see it quickly approaching, looking as if nothing could stop it.

Jason grabbed Ricket by the collar and pulled him into the portal of HAB 12.

The battle droid followed in their direction and abruptly stopped. It stood there, mere feet away from them, looming. Why was it just standing there? Did it not see them … was it confused? Jason tried to remember how long the portal window would remain open before automatically closing. Then he noticed Ricket still had a multi-gun hanging from a strap on his shoulder.
Should I move
? He had to chance it. Jason dove for Ricket’s weapon, yanked it free from his shoulder, sending Ricket sprawling to the ground. Still in the air, he leveled the weapon on the battle droid and pulled the trigger.

The battle droid moved forward, pushing against continuous plasma strikes. One mechanical leg managed to step over into HAB 12. As it moved again, ready to completely cross over, the portal suddenly closed—slicing off the appendage within the blink of an eye. It stayed there propped up against the portal window … as if waiting to be reunited—to be made whole again. Now, through a distorted portal window, Jason watched as the one-legged battle droid lost its balance and toppled backwards to the deck.

Ricket got to his feet and joined Jason at his side. Ten seconds later, they saw a bright white, then blue, flash and the portal disappeared.

They stood together for some time. Neither spoke.

Startled, Jason heard the sound of metal scraping against metal, somewhere behind them. Well aware this was a dangerous place—he was fully prepared to see one or more Serapins ready to attack them from behind. What he wasn’t prepared for was Jack, standing there in his green coveralls. Jack stepped down from the open doorway of an old Craing utility craft—the same one left abandoned months ago.

“Captain?”

“Um … Jack. What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. But it was Bristol … I caught him bringing his brother weapons, and one of those new-fangled SuitPac things.”

Jason and Ricket exchanged glances.

“Where’s Stalls?” Jason asked, suddenly aware this place was even more dangerous than he first thought.

Jack slowly turned, stared off into the distance, and pointed. “He’s up there … somewhere on that cliff, that little rock outcropping. You see it?”

Jason knew exactly where Jack was pointing. There were few, if any, locations as safe as that one. Twice he’d camped there.

“He surprised me … thought I’d be left here to die. But twice, he’s dropped off cooked meat and water. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for him.”

“He’s a psychopathic killer. Why he brings you food, keeps you alive … I have no idea. But I guarantee it is for his own needs, not yours. Maybe it’s to show he’s a changed man … not the same ruthless killer we’ve all come to know. I’m sure he thinks the day will eventually come when we’d let him out of here.”

Ricket looked around, then back up at Jason. “We could be here a long time, perhaps indefinitely. I do not believe we can survive both the Serapins, and the pirate, Captain Stalls.”

“I’m with you on that, Ricket. How ’bout you let me borrow that battle suit of yours? The one I’m wearing is useless. I’m going to pay a little visit to our pirate friend on the cliff.”

* * *

Jason left the multi-gun with Ricket, telling them to stay put until he returned. He used the battle suit’s phase-shift capabilities to get to the base of the towering, five-hundred-foot-high cliff. Halfway up the rocky surface he saw the flat outcropping. He also saw another life-icon on his HUD. If Stalls was wearing his battle suit, Jason knew that he, too, appeared on Stalls’ HUD.

He observed Stalls’ specific location and decided to phase-shift to the other side of the little plateau area. He set the coordinates, phase-shifted, and appeared near the edge, closer than he planned to be. He looked behind him and saw nothing but sky and several hundred feet of vertical rock surface leading far down to the ground below.

In front of him, a line of trees obstructed his view to the rest of the plateau. Doing his best to stay quiet, he crouched low and winced, still sore where the battle droid’s plasma fire penetrated his battle suit. His internal nanites would be working overtime for a while yet. He stopped and took cover within the tree line. Up ahead, he saw the distinct outline of an RCM. The tent-like structure sat in the middle of the overhang. Stalls’ life-icon didn’t correspond to the location of the RCM … Good, Stalls wasn’t home.

Jason moved out of the trees and slowly approached the RCM—using it as cover as he moved into the open. There were only so many places to go. Peering around the corner of the RCM, he saw a campfire and some kind of animal cooking on a spit.

Jason knew exactly where Stalls would be, the only other place he could be. He double-checked his coordinates and phase-shifted there.

The sound of water gently cascading into the natural pond brought back fond memories of when he and Dira swam together here. Swam … other things, too.

Stalls, in the water, floated on his back, his head positioned beneath the waterfall. It looked relaxing. Jason figured there were worse places to be stranded. The pirate was naked and he was singing.

Stalls’ multi-gun and a pile of clothes lay on a nearby rock. On top of them rested a small metallic box, about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Jason casually walked over to the clothes and picked up the SuitPac device. He found a nice rock to use as a seat and waited.

Five minutes later, Captain Stalls floated out from the cascading water and stood up in the pool. His eyes locked on to Jason.

“That looked quite relaxing, Captain Stalls.”

He looked to the pile of clothes. “You can’t. Without that … I’m dead.”

“That’s not a very positive attitude, Stalls. I’ve learned to never underestimate your resourcefulness. With that said, you still have much to account for. You’re a shit, Stalls; luckily, I’ve decided to let you live. With that said, I’ll let you keep the multi-gun … but I’ll be taking the SuitPac, and these too.” Jason leaned over, picked up Stalls’ clothes, and, smiling, phase-shifted away.

* * *

Boomer ran into the
Minain
’s Zoo and abruptly came to a stop. This wasn’t like
The Lilly
’s Zoo at all. She was standing at a wide, circular entrance, where four separate corridors fanned out before her. Each one, she could already see, had dozens and dozens of habitat windows. It was magnificent … it was huge!

Granger was back at her side. He returned her smile. “I thought you’d like this.”

“It’s amazing. But I need to find the same habitats that were on
The Lilly
. Take me to them, please!”

“I’m sorry, Boomer. But they’re interspersed all over … you’ll just have to look for them.”

Starting with the corridor at her far left, she ran. As she moved past the habitat windows, her head spinning left and right, she saw amazing, crazy-looking creatures. A dinosaur in one, a walking fish in another. She stopped and took three quick steps backward. It was HAB 4! Alice, her drog, was in here … somewhere. She continued on, slower now, conscious she could easily pass by other
Lilly
habitats. She saw the water habitat, where the Drapple swam. She ran on and on. One window after another, she passed in front of some familiar habitats. Familiar, but not exactly the same: The portals, too, were in slightly different locations—close, but not quite the same.

She walked fast now—a perspiration sheen on her forehead—her hair damp. She just finished the second corridor, and was entering the third, when she stopped and screamed out loud.

Granger came running up, his face full of worry. “What! What is it, Boomer?” She was wide-eyed—her arm outstretched and finger pointing. She screamed again.

Granger looked into the portal window, into the habitat. Dusk was falling on a desert scene: A campfire blazed next to an old, beat-up spacecraft, and three individuals were laughing, looking no worse for wear. “That’s my dad … Oh my god … that’s my dad!”

Epilogue

Jason retrieved two bottles of beer from the cooler. On his way down to the yard he heard the same cursing he’d been listening to for the last hour.
Why in hell does he put himself through
this?
He descended the steps down to the gate, opened it, and let it slam shut behind him.

As he entered the scrapyard, Jason stepped on something sharp.
Shit!
I should have put on
my shoes
. He found the old ’49 pickup where it always sat. The hood was up and more cursing erupted from beneath it. Jason placed the cold bottle on the fender and peered down at the little engine block, and the back of his father’s head.

“You’re blocking my light!”

“Sorry … hey, why don’t you take a break?”

“In a minute … I think I’ve almost got it.”

Jason wasn’t sure what his father
almost got
under the hood, but he knew his father, in his own way, was happy. He was away from the necessity of making life and death decisions; the crushing stress of too many people wanting too many things from him.

Jason plopped himself down on the rickety lawn chair and took a pull from his beer. The warm Santa Ana wind was kicking up and he used his shirtsleeve to wipe his forehead. Two months had elapsed since his release, by Boomer, from HAB 12 … actually, now HAB 331, within the
Minian
’s Zoo. Nothing was the same now. Maybe that was for the better. Billy and Orion were out there somewhere, catching zombies for the government. They’d started their own little business, had asked Jason to join them. But that life had no appeal for him, not in the least. More than half the population was gone. But the country, the world, was on the mend. And on the positive side, people around the globe had stopped fighting each other—Jason wondered how long that would last. He wondered if the planet had really returned back to some nostalgic period in time where helping each other actually trumped taking advantage of one another. Was there ever such a time?

Nan was still the president and not just loved by the people, but beloved. It had turned out that a woman president, at least this one, was a very good thing. Eventually the
peovils
would be dealt with … from what he’d heard from Billy, they were making good progress around the world.

Ricket was still on the
Minian
and, along with Granger and Bristol, getting the ship fully operational again. Jason’s thoughts moved to his friend Traveler, and he smiled. Over the last few months, the number of rhino-warriors had grown exponentially. The habitat they’d been living in had not been large enough to support their now independent society. What had surprised Jason the most was that Traveler and the others wanted to live on Earth. The last Jason heard was a significant section of North Korea had been appropriated for them. With a late influx of
peovils
into that geographic area, much of that section of the world was unpopulated … at least by humans.

His father extricated himself from the old Ford. He found the beer and brought it to his lips. He faced Jason and leaned against the truck’s front grill. “I over-tightened a sparkplug. I can’t get it the hell out off there.”

Jason laughed. “Maybe I can loosen it. That, or we’ll get one of the droids … Teardrop’s around here someplace.”

His father continued to stare at him. “What are you going to do with yourself?”

“I’m doing it … absolutely nothing.”

“You’re going to drive me crazy.”

“I’m going to drive
you
crazy?” Jason answered with a smirk.

But Jason knew he was driving his father crazy, and everyone else, too. Nan repeatedly told him to find something to do with his life. If he was adamant he wasn’t going back into space, then he needed to do something …
hell, maybe I’ll get a job
.

“You know, Dira’s been leaving me messages. Says you’ve been avoiding her … won’t talk to her.”

“Dad, that’s none of your concern. But, if you have to know, I’ve decided there’s no sense in pursuing that relationship. Think about it … she’s certainly got more important things going on in her life than me … like overseeing an entire planet. So, just drop it, Dad … that ship’s already sailed. Got it?” Jason scooted his chair closer to a stack of wheel rims—he sat back and stretched out his long legs. “I’m fine right here.”

The admiral was no longer looking at his son. Off in the distance, where an old Cadillac sat next to a battered school bus, two figures were approaching. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

“Well, they can just turn around and head back the way they came,” Jason said, taking a swig of beer. Shuttles had been coming and going—phase-shifting in and out from the underground base all day. He’d head down there tomorrow; see what the hubbub was all about. He glanced in the direction of the path again. He now recognized them. It was Ricket on the left and Dira on the right. She was now close enough for him to see that she was smiling. He wondered why she had on a spacer’s jumpsuit.

They stopped five feet from Jason’s chair.

“Good afternoon, Captain,” Ricket said.

“You don’t have to call me that any more, Ricket. Jason will work just fine. And good afternoon to you, too.”

“Don’t I get a hello, Jason?”

“How are you, Dira? I’m actually more than a little surprised to see you. Why would the Queen of Jhardon be standing in my scrapyard, wearing a spacer’s jumpsuit?”