Weapon of Atlantis (4 page)

H
e realigned the weapons tracking system to the moving target. His fingers tapped several buttons, then launched a new beam of energy at the tiny craft. With split-second timing, the transport abruptly stopped its climb, causing the bolt of energy to pass high above it. Instantly, it resumed its escape higher, continuing on its erratic path.

“Yo
u missed?” Cmdr. Malkor blurted in surprise and anger.

“Sorry Sir. The pilot seems to be hig
hly skilled,” he responded back feebly. “I’ve got another lock on him,” he added, momentarily belaying his superior’s remonstrations.

Quickly, he depressed his controls and fired once more. Again, the beam passed by the small craft as it pitched directly sideways.

Gen. Xenos watched anxiously as the transport continued its evasive escape. In seconds, he knew it would move beyond his angle of fire. He was now left with a difficult decision: ignore the escaping craft and continue eradicating life inside the underwater base or break off and give chase. A moment later, he nodded confidently of his decision.

“
Cmdr. Malkor, break off from the base and catch that
damn
transport,” he shouted with great authority.

“My Lord, with all due respect, any survivors could also escape,” he responded respectfully.

“I think not. For the moment, they’re stunned or dying. Monitor any activity at the base and catch that transport,” he demanded.

Cmdr. Malkor felt the general’s icy stare. He swallowed nervously and nodded. Turning back to his officers, he shouted, “You heard the
general: break off the attack and catch that transport!”

The crew of the destroyer quickly refocused. All attention was now on the escaping craf
t. The large ship moved from its stationary position over the base and now moved swiftly higher, slicing through the dense water with ease. As it lined up on its target, the transport broke free of the surface. Without the tremendous drag of the water, it now raced through the sky with great speed, rendering the destroyers tracking system nearly useless.

“Maximum speed,” Cmdr. Malkor shouted. “Hurry, they’re getting away.”

----- ----- ----- -----

As Zeus piloted the transport, Poseidon monitored the
ir systems. The tiny craft burst through the surface and instantly rushed to maximum speed.

“Find us a place to hide,” Zeus shouted, his voiced now panicked.

“Searching,” Poseidon responded.

His fingers rushed over the keypad as he studied several possibilities. With each location, he zoomed up on the contour of the land, considered its stealth characteristic
s, then moved onto the next.

Seconds later, Zeus shouted in frantic tone, “They’ve broken free of the water. I need a location,
NOW!
”

“There’s nothing suitable,” Poseidon shouted back. “Keep heading north.
I see another land mass on the horizon.”

“Poseidon, they’re closing fast, hurry!”

Zeus heard a distress beacon sound. His eyes darted to the radar. Faintly lit, he stared in horror at the sight of small bands of energy that now rushed toward them. He thrust his controls sharply left, then pushed forward. The craft instantly veered left and dropped to the ocean’s surface. The energy pulse rushed past them, its outer edges just barely entering the transport. Both men felt the slight sensation of passing energy and groaned momentarily from its effects.

“Landmass dead ahead. It has life forms inhabiting it. We might be able to hide amongst them. Hurry,” Poseidon shouted.

“I’m at full power now. I don’t know if we’ll make it,” Zeus responded.

Fear rushed through his body as he watched another faint beam illuminate on the screen. His eyes scanned the landmass
in the distance, then back to his display. As the beam approached, he pulled back hard on the controls and pitched the craft upward.

“Pulse is changing course. It’s climbing with us,” Poseidon yelled, anxiously. “Bank right!”

Zeus instantly hauled his controls right and continued his climb.

“It’s changing course again… still fo
llowing us!” Poseidon exclaimed in frightened tone.

Zeus held his control inputs steady, then made a split-second pitch downward as the beam passed by. Both men
felt the surge of electricity rush through them and cried out in pain. The lights on their monitors suddenly went dark… then illuminated.

Poseidon studied the monitor in front of him. His vision blurred, then refocused. Looking toward Zeus, he could see his brother struggled with the controls. Still feeling the effects of the electric pulse, his movements were now slow and lethargic.

Another alarm sounded.

“Pulse approaching!” he shriek.

Zeus ignored the warning and concentrated on the shoreline through his window. Just miles from their location, it loomed large and inviting. As the transport now skimmed along the ocean’s surface, he stared down at a large red handle, barely visible under his brother’s seat. Looking up, his stared into Poseidon’s eyes who now considered the same action.

“Do we eject?” he asked
, shocked by their last resort option.

“Do we
have a choice?” Zeus responded reluctantly.

Both men watched the pulse speeding toward them. They looked outside the window at the shoreline now just a mile away. With only seconds to decide, both men reached for the
ir ejection handles and pulled hard. A large window above them shot rearward. Warm air rushed into the cabin. Instantly, the two cockpit seats were launched up through the opening and jetted away from the aircraft. As they rocketed higher, they watched in dread as their spacecraft was overcome by the energy pulse. Just feet above the water, it slowed and bounced off the surface, then crashed through several waves, skidding to a stop facing upright as it rushed up the sandy beach.

Traveling at a high velocity, the two men tum
bled in the air. Internal to the seats, gyros and electronics worked together to right their path in the sky. In seconds, the two men felt thrusters ignite, slowing their speed as they now crossed over the shoreline. Bracing for impact, they clutched the restraints on their chest and held on. Just feet from the ground, sensors detected the approaching terrain. The thrusters exploded with force, slowing the two nearly to a stop. A moment later, Poseidon and Zeus settled gently to the soft sands of the beach.

As they popped the release on their restraints, Zeus
stared at the transport buried in the sand as short distance away. His hope of escape was nearly broken. He then scanned a set of ragged cliffs in front of him. His mind filled with dread at the fifty foot walls that seem to block their passage. He studied their structure and noted their pockmarked appearance. At the base of the cliffs, he spotted large cave-like openings, carved out by repeated pounding of high tide.

“Hurry, to the large cavities in the cliff,” he yelled.

Without waiting on an answer, he darted toward them. Poseidon looked back at their craft and hesitated. Any attempt to run seemed a futile exercise.

“Poseidon! Hurry!” Zeus shouted frantically.

In reflex, Poseidon bolted after his brother, loyalty supplanting his resignation to death.

Zeus rushed to the
largest of openings. He surveyed its shallow depth and quickly dismissed it.

“How about that one,” Poseidon pointed. “It’s small and cramped but looks deep enough to conceal us.”

Zeus nodded and moved quickly toward it. He dropped to his knees and crawled backward into the three foot in diameter opening. He continued sliding rearward inside the narrowing cave until his feet touched a wall of rock.

“I’m in. You’re next,” he yelled.

Poseidon spun around and crawled backward inside the cave, just as Zeus had done. As his feet touched the rear wall, he looked over to Zeus.

“Do you think thi
s’ll work?” he asked anxiously.

“I don’t know. I can
only hope the sun has warmed these cliffs enough to mask our heat signatures,” Zeus responded, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Poseidon breathed in a large volume of air through his nostrils.

“This place stinks,” he said.

Zeus smiled at his brother
’s ability to distract himself. “Certainly not a Geleon flower, now is it?” he concurred.

“How are we going to get back?”

“One crisis at a time, Poseidon,” Zeus responded, pointing toward the sea.

The two stared at the horizon.
A small dark spot quickly grew into a large Endorian destroyer. As it approached the abandoned transport, it shot out another pulse of energy.

Zeus and Poseidon groaned in pain as the residual affects penetrated through the cliff face and brushed past them.

----- ----- ----- -----

Moments before…

Gen. Xenos watched his monitors with great anticipation. Too far to see with the naked eye, the hologram depicted the action far out in front of the destroyer.
As the pulse energy beam engulfed the transport, he felt a sense of relief as the speed of the craft slowed. His heart beat faster as he watched it bounce off the water and come to a rest on land.

“We have them now. Hurry, send another pulse into that ship,” he ordered.

Cmdr. Malkor nodded to his controls officer. A second later, another pulse beam rushed through the air and contacted the beached craft.

In seconds, the large destroyer slowed its speed as it neared the l
and. Hovering just offshore, Gen. Xenos studied his hologram.

“Scan for life forms,” he commanded.

He watched his own monitors as the crew initiated the electronic sweeps. After several passes, the data puzzled the general.

“Impossible. We should see their bodies… either inside the transport or somewhere outside it,” he questioned aloud. “Run another scan,” he ordered.

Once again, the crew made more passes with various detection systems. All scans were reported negative.

“They must be here. They couldn’t have escaped. There wasn’t time,” the
general theorized.

“My Lord, it’s possible they ejected into the water and drown. We may not be able to detect them in the water due to the cold temperatures chilling their
bodies and masking them from our scans,” Cmdr. Malkor suggested.

Gen. Xenos considered the idea. He nodded simply, then said, “Even if they somehow lived, they’ll soon die. Their engines and electronics are disabled. They have no way to return home or signal for help. They’ll simply starve to death.”

“Yes my Lord,” Cmdr. Malkor concurred.

“Ok, back to the outpost. Let’
s finish the job, then report to Lord Zagreus.”

“I’m sure he’
ll find relief in our discovery,” the commander responded proudly.

“Relief? There could be hundreds
of those labs scattered around the galaxies,” the general shot back. “Relief will come
only
when Arae surrenders.”

“Yes my Lord,” Cmdr. Malkor responded simply.

----- ----- ----- -----

Zeus and Poseidon crawled slowly from the small cave, still feeling the painful effects for the Endorian weapon. The quiet sounds of the wind and surf reminded them they were all alone. As they watched the large destroyer shrink to a dot on the horizon, they contemplated their future.

“What now? We’re marooned. What do we do?” Poseidon said in quick succession.