Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (10 page)

He glanced behind him as he ran and saw the two armored
things emerge from the diner and take aim at Anna again.  With a burst of
speed, he sprinted for her.

“Look out!” Jack yelled as he grabbed Anna and pulled her
behind a parked Buick LeSabre in the diner’s lot.

Not a moment too soon either, as two more volleys of purple
light whizzed by.

“Holy crap!” said Jack.  “Why are those things trying to
kill you?”

“They’re not. They’re Dark Soldiers, and they’re trying to
capture me,” said Anna as she struggled back to her feet.

Jack grabbed hold of her.  “Wait – what?”

“Let go,” hissed Anna.  “Save yourself!”

Anna wrenched herself away from Jack and began to run for
the cover of a big-rig truck parked close by.  Jack glanced over the hood of
the car he was hiding behind and saw the two Dark Soldiers marching toward him.

Suddenly, the ground was vibrating again, and above him Jack
could make out a twisted black thing in the night sky as it shrieked by.  It
moved overhead fast, but just as it passed, there were more flashes of purple,
all over the parking lot, as more of the Dark Soldiers appeared.

Something clicked in the back of Jack’s brain, and suddenly
all that time playing
Arena Deathmatch
actually paid off.  He recognized
the positions of the soldiers – they were surrounding them and marching in toward
their prey, pulling the net tighter until they captured their target…

Anna.

She was halfway to the cover of the truck, but she was
playing right into their trap.  Jack could see it.  All they needed was to
teleport in a few more soldiers at the edge of the parking lot behind the
truck, and she’d be trapped.

Immediately he was on his feet and sprinting toward her.  He
hoped whoever these alien things were, they wouldn’t bother paying any
attention to him while Anna was still in play… at least until he could reach
her.

More volleys of purple light shot by.  He dodged them, but
just barely.  They weren’t really aimed at him, though; they were directed at
Anna, and luckily she was able to evade them as well.

Jack finally caught up with her and grabbed her by the arm.

“Quick!” he said.  “Follow me!”

She wrenched her arm away from him.  “Jack, get out of
here!”

“They’re trying to trap you!” he insisted.  “More are
showing up, cutting off your escape.  We need to head into the fields – now!”

He grabbed her arm again, not waiting for an answer.  This
time, though, she followed as they turned and made for the relative safety of
the nearby cornfields.

More balls of purple light whizzed by.  Jack and Anna ducked
and weaved to avoid them, but they were starting to get annoyingly close.

Lucky these guys are bad shots
, thought Jack.

A cold thought suddenly gripped the back of Jack’s mind. 
These guys
were
bad shots, weren’t they?  Or were they missing
intentionally?  He guessed it was possible that a race of shadow soldiers with
the ability to appear out of thin air and shoot balls of purple energy were
naturally bad at aiming at stuff.  For some reason, Jack didn’t believe he was
that lucky.

If that were the case, why were they missing?  They had
surrounded most of the area and were closing in to trap Anna, but why didn’t
they have people out by the cornfield already?

Then, Jack remembered how more bad guys had appeared after
that thing had flown by overhead, and he thought about how he’d heard three
screeches before while in the diner...

Oh, crap…
he thought.

Jack abruptly stopped running, jerking Anna to a halt with
him.  She looked at him like he was crazy.

“Jack, what are you doing?” she shrieked.

“They
want
us to go into the cornfields,” said Jack. 
“They sent two into the diner to flush us out, then more to cut off all other
escape and herd us into the fields where they have others waiting.”

Anna’s eyes grew wide.  “The other shards,” she gasped. 
“They were hiding more of them for an ambush…”

Jack could only imagine that the “shards” she spoke of were
those things that flew by overhead.

“But why?” wondered Jack aloud.  “Why this elaborate trap?”

“They didn’t know what kind of resistance they’d be facing,”
said Anna grimly.

Jack’s brain was starting to hurt.  He had no idea what was
going on and how Anna was involved, but he knew things were not good.  He
glanced behind him and saw the aliens (or whatever they were) forming up into a
line and marching toward them.

“How’d they find you?” he asked.

“What?” Anna replied.

“You said you snuck out,” said Jack.  “Nobody could have
known you were here.  How did they?”

A sudden realization washed over Anna.  She quickly dug into
her pocket and pulled out the small metal tablet she’d used earlier.

“My data tablet,” she said.  “They’re tracking its energy
signature!”

Jack didn’t know what any of that meant, but he got the gist
of it – they were following the cell-phone-thingy.  He snatched it away from
her.

“As soon as we get into the cornfield, you peel off.  I’ll
draw them away,” he said.

“No!” cried Anna.  “I can’t let you!”

“I’m faster than you,” insisted Jack.  “I can outrun them!”

Anna gazed into Jack’s eyes.  He could tell she wanted to
object, but she could tell it would do no good.

“If you get away,” she said.  “Meet me at the school… by the
bleachers, where we talked earlier today.”

Jack nodded.  He was about to start running again when Anna
grabbed him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Good luck,” she said.

Jack had to admit, despite being in the middle of an alien
ambush, that kiss made him feel pretty darn good.  Of course, the moment was
ruined by another volley of purple orbs from the approaching army of death.

Jack and Anna quickly ducked as the orbs shot by them, and
with one last look at each other, they dashed into the cornfield.

Jack’s legs were racing as fast as
his mind was as he sprinted up Detroit Street.  A million and one questions
assaulted his brain – who were these armored alien dudes?  Where did they come
from?  Were they really invading Earth?  What did they want with Anna?  Did
they intend to enslave humanity, starting with the hottest chicks first?

More of those “shard” thingies shrieked across the sky. 
They seemed to be making passes every couple of minutes.  Jack could see the
school in the distance, lit by the streetlights from the town center.

Jack considered himself fortunate since he had been able to
make it out of the cornfield by the Burger Shack.  Though those black armored
aliens looked scary enough, they didn’t seem all that bright.  When Anna and he
had separated in the cornfield, he’d done his best to lead them away from her. 
This meant sprinting through the high stalks of corn and zigzagging his way
through the field.  He was able to sense that the aliens were following him
because they barreled through the corn, stomping it down in their pursuit – that,
and their annoying habit of shooting those purple energy balls constantly. (Jack
was sure old Mr. Warner wasn’t going to be too happy to see half of his last crop
of the season vaporized by marauding aliens.)  This gave Jack a pretty clear
picture of where they were and, more importantly, how to avoid them.

That was, of course, until those ships in the sky started
teleporting more guys in.  Jack was getting tired and running out of places to
hide, so he chucked the data tablet as far as he could and took off in the
direction of Detroit Street, leaving his pursuers to follow the thing’s “energy
signature” instead of him.

Years of playing in the fields with his friends gave him the
distinct advantage of knowing the terrain.  Jack knew every shortcut, every
gopher hole, and every hiding spot between Eagle Hill and the town square,
which made avoiding the aliens a relatively easy task.

His real concern was for Anna.  Had she made it past them? 
She didn’t know the area as well as Jack did, and he was worried splitting up
might have been a mistake.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but what if
Anna didn’t make it back to the school?  What would he do then?

Jack’s legs were burning as he jogged onto school grounds. 
He heard the squeal of tires and saw a few cars loaded up with luggage peel
down the street.  No doubt people were either evacuating or hiding.    The town
seemed completely deserted.

He finally got to the bleachers where he’d talked with Anna
earlier in the day.  His heart sank when she was nowhere to be seen.  He
doubled over, grabbing his splitting side and tried to catch his breath.  He
was sweating and felt pretty gross.  He gave himself a moment to calm down in
the cool night air before calling out.

“Anna?” he hollered.  “Anna?  You here?”

For a moment, there was nothing.  Then came a voice.

“Jack?”

Jack turned toward the cornfield about ten feet away. 
Something was rustling through it, and Anna emerged.  Jack breathed a sigh of
relief.  She’d made it!

Anna came running up and threw her arms around him.  Jack
wasn’t expecting such a greeting, but he was glad for it, nonetheless.

“I can’t believe you made it past them,” she said, holding
him tight.  “I was sure they’d get you.”

“Yeah, well, all those months of chasing after the bus have
made me one lean, mean, running machine,” he joked.  “Besides, those alien guys
aren’t exactly the coldest drinks in the fridge, if you know what I mean.”

Anna gave him a look that clearly proved she didn’t.

“You know, they don’t seem that smart,” Jack clarified.

“They’re not,” said Anna.  “They’re just foot soldiers.  They
do only what they’re told.  They might not be smart, but they’re tough,
relentless, and deadly.  I don’t doubt if they weren’t ordered to capture me
this entire town would be dead by now.”

“About that…” said Jack.  “You gonna tell me what’s going on
here?  How do you know so much about these guys?  Why do they want you?”

Anna released her hold on Jack and pulled away from him,
frowning.

“There’s… there’s a lot you don’t know about me, Jack,” she
said.

“So fill me in,” he said.

Anna bit her lower lip and looked like she was going to say
something when another familiar voice rang out.

“Princess!”

Jack and Anna turned to see Professor Green running up toward
them, waving his hand and smiling.

“Professor!” exclaimed Anna.  She ran toward him and gave
him an even bigger hug than she’d given Jack.

“Oh, thank the Ancients!” said Professor Green.  “We were so
worried!”

“I’m sorry,” said Anna.  “I didn’t know.”

“No way you could have, child,” responded Green.

Jack had known that Professor Green and Mr. Shepherd were
supposedly friends, but he had never known how close he and Anna were.  They
seemed quite friendly with each other.  Despite the fact that it was just goofy
Professor Green, Jack couldn’t help but feel a little resentful.  After all,
hadn’t he just risked life-and-limb to help Anna escape an alien ambush?  Sure,
the hug was nice, but the image of that romantic night on the hill above the
drive-in haunted him.  Just his luck that tonight would be the night aliens would
choose to invade Earth.

Anna pulled away from Green.  “Where’s Shepherd?” she asked.

“He’s on his way,” said Green.  “He had me wait here in case
you showed up and then went out searching for you.  I contacted him as soon as
I saw you come out of the cornfield.”

“He’s going to want to evacuate,” she said.

“They’ve got the planet surrounded,” Green said sadly. 
“It’s only a matter of time, I’m afraid.”

Anna looked worried.  “We can’t leave, not yet.  We cannot
allow the temple to be destroyed.”

“I fear we may not have a choice,” responded Green.

“Did you complete that analysis program?” asked Anna.  “The
one you were working on to help me navigate the interface?”

“Why yes, as a matter of fact—” Green started to say before
catching himself.  “Oh dear, you’re not suggesting…”

“I am confident with your help, I can unlock the temple,”
said Anna.

“But, Your Majesty…”

“Professor,” said Anna sternly, “We cannot leave what could
be the key to ending this war behind.  We
must
unlock the temple, and we
must
do it now.”

“Uh… what war?” asked Jack.

Green and Anna turned to him.  The Professor lit up, as if
noticing for the first time Jack was there.

“Jack, my boy!” the Professor exclaimed.  “What are you
doing here?”

“He’s the one who…” Anna looked like she was about to say
I
snuck out to see
, but instead she said “saved me from being captured.”

“Really!” said Green, giving Jack the thumbs up.  “Good
work, lad!  I always knew you had it in you!”

Jack gave Green a strange look, which he directed toward
Anna, as well.

“Is
someone
going to tell me what’s going on here?” asked
Jack, exasperated.  “What temple?  Why’s he calling you ‘your majesty?’  And
what, in the history of Physics class, ever made you think I had it in me to
escape an alien ambush???”

Before either Green or Anna could respond, Jack heard the
squeal of tires.  The group turned to see a car skidding from a turn onto
Detroit Street and accelerate up to the school, scraping the curb as it hurtled
onto school grounds and tore right toward them.

“Great,” said Jack.  “What now?”

The car rumbled to a halt about ten feet away from them, and
Shepherd got out.  He did not look happy as he marched toward the group.

“We’re leaving,” he said in a tone that brokered no
argument.  “Now.”

Anna pulled away from Green and looked at Shepherd
defiantly.

“No,” she said.

Shepherd stopped and for a second looked as though her
answer surprised him.  Then his steely cold gaze returned.

“In the car,” he said.  “We’re heading to the shuttle.”

“We’re going to the temple,” said Anna.  “That’s an order.”

Jack’s eyes grew wide as he saw Shepherd bristle.  Did Anna
really just tell off her dad?  Jack suddenly felt like he was near a bomb that
was about to explode.

 “We are going to get off this planet, and to somewhere safe
if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming,” insisted Shepherd.

“Off planet?” piped up Jack.  “You guys can, like,
leave
the planet?”

Shepherd looked at Jack like he were a piece of gum stuck to
his shoe.  “Go home, Jack,” he said, without a hint of interest in why Jack was
there in the first place.

“Um, aliens are invading,” said Jack.  “I don’t think my
trailer is the safest place to be right now.”

“No place is safe,” interjected Anna.  “Which is why we must
retrieve the Ancient artifact
right now
.”

“You can’t unlock the temple,” said Shepherd.

“I believe I can,” said Anna.

“Would someone
please
tell me what’s going on?”
pleaded Jack.

“Princess,” said Shepherd, completely ignoring Jack, “The
minute we enter the portgate, we will be signaling to the Deathlords exactly
where we are and that there is Ancient technology on this planet.  They will zero
in on our location, break through, and throw everything they have at us.”

“Whoa, waitaminute…” said Jack.  “They’re called
DEATHLORDS
?”

“I will not abandon the key to the universe’s survival to
the Deathlords,” said Anna stubbornly.  “Our only hope is to access it before
they can get to us.”

“The risk to your safety is too great,” insisted Shepherd.

“
Deathlords
?” repeated Jack.

“This is not a debate, Paragon,” said Anna.

“You’re right,” replied Shepherd.  “It’s not.”

With that, Shepherd grabbed Anna, lifting her up
effortlessly and slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  Anna
squealed in protest, indignant, demanding Shepherd put her down.  Shepherd
ignored her and turned to Professor Green.

“Professor,” he said, “I recommend you come with us.”

“Shepherd!” screamed Anna.  “Release me!  That is an order!”

Green hesitated.  “If I may be so bold, good Paragon, but… we
have no idea what the temple is housing.  If it is the weapon of the Ancients,
abandoning it to the Deathlords could be disastrous…”

“Then stay if you wish,” said Shepherd coldly.  “I am
getting her Royal Highness off this planet.”

Shepherd turned on his heel and began marching to the car. 
Professor Green hesitated, and then sheepishly began to follow.  Jack watched
dumbfounded, until Anna looked up and caught his eye as she was being carried
away.

“Jack!” she screamed.  “Help me!”

Jack was more confused than ever.  Aliens were attacking,
the girl of his dreams – who it sounds like might just be actual royalty - was
being carried away, and it appeared as though Mr. Shepherd had access to some
sort of spaceship.

But by the look on Anna’s face, it was clear she did not
want to go.  And for the life of him, Jack did not want her to either.

Suddenly, he found himself running around Shepherd and blocking
his way.

“Wait!  Mr. Shepherd, wait!” said Jack, holding up his hands
as if that were enough to stop the six-foot-three grown man before him.

“Move, Jack,” said Shepherd sternly – so much so that Jack
was almost scared not to obey.

“Look,” replied Jack, “far be it from me to tell you how to
handle your own daughter, but… uh… this artifact thing, in the temple place… it
sounds kind of important.”

Shepherd glared at Jack, his face hard as a rock… but it was
his eyes Jack noticed.  There was a hint of sadness in them, and for some
reason, that intimidated Jack more than any stare he had ever received from the
man.

“I’m sorry, son,” said Shepherd.  And with that, he stepped
to the side of Jack and tried to walk past him.  Anna kicked and pounded on the
man’s back, demanding he let her go.  Jack hopped in front of him again.

“No, Mr. Shepherd, just wait–”

This time, Shepherd did not stop.  Instead, his hand reached
out, grabbed Jack firmly by the shoulder, and tossed him aside like he were a
rag doll.

Jack hit the ground.  He looked up at Shepherd as he was
walking away, incredulously. 
Oh no he didn’t…
thought Jack angrily. 
Taking away Anna, being an all around thorn in his side, AND manhandling him
was just too much for Jack to take.  Giving into his anger, Jack got to his
feet and SPRINTED toward the man.  He dropped low, and aimed for Shepherd’s
knees.

He hit Shepherd from behind and could feel the man’s legs
buckle as he brought Shepherd and Anna to the ground.

The fall had done the trick – Shepherd was distracted long
enough for Anna to wriggle free.  Before Shepherd could grab her again, she was
off, running for the cornfield.

“Green!” snarled Shepherd, “Get her!”

“Oh, dear,” said Green as he took off after Anna.  Shepherd
reached over and grabbed Jack by the neck.  His grip was vice-like, his thumb
digging in hard and pressing on Jack’s artery.  Jack struggled, but he could
not break free of Shepherd’s grasp.  He was starting to get light-headed.

“You…” growled Shepherd.  “Stay out of this.”

With that, the man pushed Jack away, releasing his hold. 
Jack gasped for air.  When he next looked up, Shepherd was already to his feet
and on Anna’s trail.  For a moment, Jack thought of obeying the man.  But then
he thought about all the people in his life who had pushed him around.  People
like J.C. Rowdey.  He thought about earlier this morning when he got hit in the
head with a shoe and lay on the side of the road, defeated.  Then, he thought
of Anna and of how she needed his help.  Jack had no idea what was happening,
but he did know this…