MoonRush (47 page)

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, followed by light smattering
s
of chuckles. Relief had turned even Jarod’s jokes into something somewhat humorous.

Buton began to run through the ship’s damage report, looking to see if there was anything that would keep them from being able to land. In spite of all the red, he was shocked but relieved to see that most of the damage was to the exterior of the hull. Now that they were past reentry, that was no longer their biggest priority. Buton was just thankful
that
they had managed to make it through the upper atmosphere.

A beeping from the control panel caught Buton’s attention. He pointed out the flashing lights to Jarod, who did a double take at the readout.

Buton turned around and watched as the rear view screen filled up with advancing fighter jets. From the missiles radiating out from the planes, Buton had to assume they were hostile.

Jarod spoke to the general air. “Welcome back to
Earth
, folks.”

Buton sighed and returned to his post, doing what he could to help keep the ship together during their evasive maneuvers. Welcome back to
Earth
, indeed.

* * *

Gil had to admit he was impressed despite himself. Impressed, but enraged. When Jarod had eluded the police cruisers back on the
Moon
, there had been moments of flying that deserved some acclaim. But really, Jarod had just been running from
R
ent-
A
-
C
ops.

T
hat Jarod had dodged all the missiles launched from the
Eclipse
? Again, some fancy footwork, but... Meh. Because of the doctor’s interference, nobody was really trying to actually hit them.

But when Gil had watched the creepy satellites open up into those incredible metal predators while the
Eureka
floated right into the middle of them, he thought they had been gone for good. Gone with a nice tracer attached to their hull for good measure.

Gil had begun tallying up his share of what he knew in his gut was the haul of the century. Century? He was thinking small. This was the haul to beat all hauls. Nothing would ever compare to this.

But once more, in spite of all
the
odds against him, Jarod had somehow managed to pull it
off
. The crazed spin into the upper atmosphere, shedding Taggers like fleas. The cutting out of the engines
—
with the restart at the last second. The spectacular recovery from a near
-
flat spin.

Gil wanted to kill someone.

He called Talon over. “I want you to contact all our backers planetside. We may need some backup once the
Eureka
goes down.”

Dr. Weigner was watching the planes now swarming around the
Eureka
like flies at a picnic. Gil grinned as the missiles came closer and closer to hitting their mark. Weigner burst out at Captain Stavros.

“Where is our Air Force cover?”

Stavros, his lips tightly pursed, pointed to several of the jets attacking the
Eureka
, the American flag plainly emblazoned on their sides.

Weigner was clearly losing control. “What are they doing? We need that ship!”

Gil watched the battle in front of them, mesmerized. “Classic feeding frenzy.”

There was nothing in the world quite like it. Didn’t matter if it was sharks, jackals or good ol’
homo sapiens
. The lizard brain had apparently taken over here, and Gil was having a blast watching.

Weigner, on the other hand, was having none of it. “I need access to the ship’s Super Nova array.”

Captain Stavros made a chopping motion with his hand. “We are not authorized
—
”

Weigner stepped forward and stabbed a trembling finger at the screen, his face contorted. “Why do you think they put the damn thing on this craft? For a moment like this!”

The two faced each other for a long moment. The tension in the air was palpable. Finally, Stavros turned to the crew to grant his approval, although the frown on his face seemed to say that he was far from happy about it.

Gil had to restrain himself from rubbing his hands together. “I have a feeling I’m going to like this.”

CHAPTER
1
5

Aboard the Eureka, above the Pacific Ocean

April 1, 2049

07
28 hours, GMT

Cleo was positive
that
she was about to die.

Yes, there had been many, many times over the last couple of weeks
when
she would have said the same thing, but none of those moments compared to what was happening right now.

After all the near misses, the close calls,
and
the impossible escapes, this was it.
C
lose to twenty fighter jets
surrounded
their ship, each one unloading its missiles and ordinance. 
S
he could see at least three different flags on the planes around them
.
O
ne of them
was
the Stars and Stripes. Half of the fighters were unmarked.

Looking at the damage report over Buton’s shoulder, she saw that they had been hit by more bullets than she could count and had come close to being hit by two missiles that exploded close enough to do real damage.
T
he jets were closing in more and more by the second.

Cleo was just sorry that so many of her last memories with the crew were of her arguing with them. She may have started out as a “date”
who
had conveniently known marine biology like the back of her hand, but she had become so much more than that. This crew was her family. And it looked
as though
she was about to lose them all in a fiery explosion over the ocean.

As five more jets zoomed toward them, Cleo closed her eyes and resigned herself to the inevitable.

Then Buton called out, “Look!”

Her eyes popped open, and she saw the
Eclipse
barge its way into the center of the cloud of planes. The sudden presence of the obviously military ship created a strange reaction in the fighters swarming around their ship. The only way Cleo could describe it was that they were flying with caution. They clearly had no idea what the
Eclipse
was there to do. For that matter, neither did Cleo.

A ship that large had even less maneuverability than their falling
-
apart relic. There would be no evasive action as far as the
Eclipse
was concerned. What on
E
arth was she doing out there? Was this some kind of quarterback huddle to coordinate the attack against them?

The
Eclipse
spun about, nimble
r
than Cleo would have ever given her credit for being. She positioned herself above the biggest concentration of jets. A radiant flash blossomed from the military shuttle
.
E
ach ray
was
tipped with what looked like a miniature sun. Cleo had to look away to keep the light from burning her retinas.

But rather than signifying the
Eureka
’s demise, the burst was aimed away from their ship. A blinding wave of destruction tore through the fighters
.
More than
half of them
tumbled
out of the sky
—
flaming wrecks trailing wreaths of smoke down to the water below. The remaining jets flailed helplessly, either damaged or piloted by men done temporarily blind. Cleo almost felt bad for them. Even partially shielded by the hull of the
Eclipse
and her own eyelids, she had dark spots dancing in front of her face.

Simon, clearly not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, gestured at Jarod. “The Pacific…Skim just above it. Our hull is still superheated from the descent.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it!”

The
Eureka
screamed out of the sky, pulling up to skim just meters above the waves. The ship slowed while her superheated skin boiled the water under them. A cloud of steam wrapped around the
Eureka
, effectively causing her to vanish from sight.

With all the view screens fogged with the steam, no one could see to steer. Jarod appeared to be flying solely by instrument and touch.

Buton warned, “They can still track us by radar.”

Jarod growled at the map on one of the screens off to the side. “If only there was a place to land
—
”

But Cleo’s attention had been snagged by the news
feed
still spilling out of the screen. She found she had no ability to drag herself away from the terror she found there. Words burst out of her without any conscious volition.

“Dear
G
od!”

Visions of riot and conflict spreading across the globe clashed with
what
the entire crew
sensed
. All eyes
except
Jarod
’s
and Simon’s were now turned to view the cataclysm about to envelop the nations of Earth. Blood and violence were everywhere…
a
nd spreading fast.

“We
can’t
let them have the crystal
!
” Cleo spoke to the crew, her tone pleading.

Jarod gave what looked to be his “duh” look. “No kidding.”

Cleo took a deep breath. He didn’t get it.

“I mean
ever
. Look at what it’s doing!”

She pointed at the screen, the images searing in their vitriol. Somehow, impossibly, they were getting worse. Mankind was on the brink of planetwide devastation. This could not be allowed to continue. And they had the power to stop it.