Shock muted Aquarius.She’s dead.She’d gambled and failed. The fucker killed his queen.
CHAPTER 15
Aquarius could barely hearthe alien’s speech over the roaring in his ears.
“Dear disciples, I must leave thee for a short, as I must journey to another world. Fear not, though, for I shall return, more powerful than before. In my absence, you shall go forth and spread the gospel of God, and to those who won’t believe…” It paused and hissed. “Eliminate them, for they are our enemies and, so long as they live, they will deny you entry to Heaven where you belong.”
It sickened how the gathered people began to cheer. They’d seen and heard the entire confrontation between the Kukakk and Ishtar yet still chose to believe its lies. Would continue to kill.
With a wide grin, the Kukakk strode up the gangplank, pausing only to kick Ishtar’s lifeless body aside. It boarded the ship, and within minutes, the vessel took off.
Took off to Mars without Ishtar.
To a planet ripe with more of the gemstones.
Unlimited power for the Kukakk to destroy Earth.
Not if Aquarius got there first.
He spun on his heel and headed for the door.
“Wait,” Aries called out.
“I’m too angry right now to talk to you,” Aquarius spat, wrenching open the door.
“I get it.”
“Do you?” Aquarius spun with his fists clenched. “You knew she planned a suicide mission.”
“She’d hoped the alien would take her hostage to pilot the ship.”
“Hoped? Bullshit. She well knew there was a high probability that fucker would kill her, as did you, yet neither of you thought fit to tell me.”
“She asked me not to.” A faint rebuttal that came with the downturn of Aries’ lips.
“Because I would have told her the plan was insane.”
“Hence why she asked me to keep it secret. She thought the risk was worth it.”
“Let me guess, she planned to fly it to Mars, where she would have a slim opportunity to detonate the bomb and kill the alien far from Earth.”
“That was the idea, yes.”
“Well, that fucking failed, didn’t it? Now Ishtar is dead, and that alien fuck is on its way to Mars, where the mother lode of gemstones exists.”
“They won’t do it much good.”
“How do you figure?”
“Aware of the possibility she might perish, Ishtar sabotaged the flier. Soon as it lands on Mars, it’s going to self-destruct. The alien won’t have a way to return.”
“You do realize the Kukakk is crafty enough to build another.”
“According to Ishtar, there isn’t anything left on Mars that it could really use.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he growled. “Those nanobots it’s fond of don’t require much material. The citadel might be empty of furnishings and machines in its rooms, however, the wiring in that place, the systems that keep it running, are still available.”
“Oh.” Aries frowned. “She didn’t mention that. Could she have programmed the bomb to auto detonate?”
