CHAPTER 15 #2
Aquarius protested by spreading his arms and halting his entry. “I am not bathing. I don’t care how badly I stink.”
Apparently, Tower was bothered because a bucket appeared overhead and tilted, dumping water over him.
He sputtered. “Why the fuck are you torturing me? Haven’t you done enough? I could have been through the Mars portal by now if you hadn’t fucked me over.”
For a second, he thought he heard someone sigh.
In the next second, he yelped as he suddenly found himself being dragged for his apartment door.
It swung open just before he would have smashed face first. He didn’t stop in the hall, though.
A cocoon wrapped around him, and he zoomed, zoomed a long while, and when Tower released him, he stood in Ishtar’s suite.
His jaw dropped. “Now you bring me?”
Again, a nudge propelled him forward but not to the wall hiding the portal room. “What is your obsession with me bathing?” he grumbled.
Then again, maybe he owed it to Nimrod, given he’d finally brought him to the top floor.
He took the quickest shower in existence.
Sluicing the filth of the last few days, giving himself a quick swipe of soap, a rinse.
He emerged to find combat gear lying on the bed, the golden orange color reminding him of the citadel’s stone walls.
There were also weapons. A holster for his hips with a dagger on one side, a revolver on the other.
A rifle that slid down a sheath on his back and a strange helmet that reminded him of the one he’d worn when exploring Mars with Ishtar.
He clipped it to his belt and noted the lack of a space suit, likely because he could handle the extreme temperature.
Once attired, he headed for the wall and the sigil, placing his palm upon it and praying it—
The doorway opened, revealing the five portals. Without hesitation, he strode through the one in the middle and emerged on the other side.
Alone on Mars.
A part of him had half hoped he’d see Ishtar. Smiling wide or even scowling. However, just because she didn’t stand there to greet him didn’t mean she’d not revived her clone. Likely she had no clue he’d come. But he’d not come here to find her but to destroy the Kukakk.
He left the room and glanced around, trying to remember the route Ishtar had taken to the basement levels while also wondering if he passed by the chamber with the clone.
Don’t get distracted. Getting the bomb ready for the asshole took priority, and then he would see if he could revive his queen.
Nimrod hadn’t given him much time. By his reckoning the Kukakk had already arrived or would shortly.
Ishtar never said exactly how many hours the journey took, and three days, while technically seventy-two hours, could also mean a few more or less depending.
By his count, it had been seventy-four; however, he didn’t let a thing like bad odds deter him.
It turned out he didn’t have to worry about finding the exact elevator they’d taken because the circles showed up at the end of each corridor. However, simply standing on it didn’t make it go. No buttons either to press.
“Dammit, how do I go down?”
Whoosh. Apparently, it took the thought or request to set it in motion, and the lift descended rapidly, leaving his stomach behind.
Good thing a warrior trained to not lose his cookies—or in this case, the massive amount of cheesy puffs he’d eaten.
The elevator stopped at the bottommost floor, and he stepped off, glancing to orient himself. Look for the big door. Easier said than done when hallways stretched as far as he could see to the left and right and across from him.
He chose a direction at random and took long strides to the next intersection.
Made a choice. Walked briskly again. He couldn’t read the writing on the walls, likely labels or directions, but made note of them, so when he came across one he’d already seen, he chose a different tunnel.
Eventually, he made it to the big doors, or what remained of them.
They’d been blasted apart, and despite expecting it, he still couldn’t help but curse at the sight of the empty spot where the bomb used to sit.
A bomb that was gone.
Too late.
Fucking Nimrod. If only Tower had let him come sooner, Aquarius might have prevented the Kukakk from stealing the only thing that could destroy it.
But he wasn’t giving up yet.
It was just him and the alien on this planet. No bodies for it to steal, at least not any with fingers and opposable thumbs. Let it inhabit a water snake, forced to swim and slither in darkness until the end of time.
He returned to the elevator, possibly not the same one, but he didn’t care.
Time for him to hunt the vast citadel. The Kukakk would be limited by its very human body, meaning it likely wouldn’t head outside.
Why would it? There was nothing here. Especially if the ship self-destructed upon arrival.
Kind of made him wonder why Ishtar didn’t program it to explode in space.
Probably worried the Kukakk would find a way to zip back to Earth.
For all he knew, killing it on Mars would allow it to escape. Only one way to find out.
He could have stalked the main floor quietly, but in a place this large, they could wander for days and never encounter each other.
Fuck that. He did what a warrior did best and bellowed, “Where are you, fuckhead?” Yup, he taunted.
“I know your ugly ass is here somewhere. Why don’t you come out and play? ”
No reply, but he didn’t let that deter him. He moved to a new area and called out again. “Hey, alien fuckwad. You gonna fight, or are you only brave when you’ve brainwashed people into doing your dirty work for you?”
His steps brought him into a hallway of doors that seemed familiar, especially the symbol on the door in front of him. A light touch of his hand on the portal slid it open, and he recognized the room, albeit last time he’d visited, the tank holding Ishtar’s clone hadn’t been smashed.
Puddles of fluid and glass spread over the floor, but he didn’t see any blood or a body.
Had Ishtar managed to revive?
Before he could allow himself a spurt of joy, a slight noise caught his attention.
He whirled, drawing his weapon, only to let it drop.
The good news? He’d found the Kukakk.
The bad? The fucker held an alien-looking weapon to Ishtar’s head!