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Koothrappally said, “Much faster than when you went to the Moon?”
“Much.”
Avi asked, “How far is Earth? I never asked when we started this adventure.”
Ekka said, “A little over sixty million miles.”
Avi said, “So far?”
Ekka said, “It is only two weeks, Avi. It helps to think of travelling through the ether in that way, rather than in miles.”
Bixie sat with Dakota, who held the cloth bag that Dejah Thoris had given him to carry Guthrie’s glowing orb. They listened but didn’t participate in the conversation at first. Then Bixie said, “We still be havin’ many troubles on us, from both front and back. Before we be reachin’ our blue marble in dah deep ether.”
Billy said, “And we’ll deal with problems when they happen, but not before. Now is the time for resting and doctoring our wounds
. We are gonna need to be at full strength when the ball starts rolling this next time.”
Dakota said, “I miss Guthrie. I wish he was here to help.” He hiccuped a sob, but held back the tears.
Ekka sat beside him and, with a mother’s gentleness ran her hand over his hair. “We all miss him, Dakota. Guthrie was part of our family.”
Edgar looked through the telescope again, “A lot of those gold plants are gone.”
Ekka said, “That is not good. Are they fighting still?”
“They aren’t using cannons because I don’t see any more explosions, but they are hand to hand now.” Edgar moved the telescope over the field in the desperate hope of seeing Dejah, but the dust cloud stirred by the fight blanketed both armies. If she is hurt, or dead, I think my heart will fall from my chest. He continued to scan the battle for her, and wiped the sweat from his palms on his pants.
He saw a bright yellow beam suddenly rake through the area, dissolving the dust and revealing the scene. Everything the beam touched died. The vegetation, animal mounts, and men lay on the field after it passed. Even at this height, Edgar could see the surface looked like the smoking aftermath of a terrible forest fire. The beam played again, this time in the opposite direction and with the same results. Edgar gasped as he realized this second blast was directed to Dejah’s army. He increased the power of the telescope and focused on the origin of the yellow beam. Hairs on his neck prickled. It was the alien robot, the Golden Man, and it was laying waste to the world.
Edgar caught movement in the edge of his vision and moved the scope. His breath caught. John Carter had somehow commandeered Dejah’s small, gossamer-winged fliers. He flew it low and fast across the battlefield towards a small hill that smoked like charred wood. On the hilltop was Dejah, sword in hand, standing behind a bloody and defiant Ian MacKenzie who faced the Golden Man in a last stand.
Edgar stopped breathing as the Golden Man turned its head in the direction of the smoking hill.
[ 104 ]
On the surface, John raced all-out on the glider and slid it to a shuddering, hovering stop beside Dejah. He glanced at the alien robot as the golden head faced them. Its forehead began to glow.
The big Highlander quickly lifted Dejah with one hand and put her on the glider behind John. Everyone knew the craft would not carry more. Ian said, “It has been a grand party with ye, me brother. Now, save the lass.”
John said, “Hide! I will come back!”
“That I cannae do, or ye will die, and that I will not have. It would break me heart.”
Dejah cried, “No!”
John made a sound in his throat and sped away, continuously looking back over his shoulder at his great friend as Dejah clung to him and sobbed.
Ian raced down the hill in long strides and leapt high into the air to come down on the robot. He swung the rose-bladed claymore with all his might in a two-handed, sideways arc. The razor sharp sword hit the golden head where the outside of an eye socket would be on a human.
A bright blue flash erupted as the claymore cut into the metal and dented the robot’s temple. The robot staggered and its head canted to the side. Ian dropped to the ground and rolled away from it, but was slow to rise. His sword lay on the ground and part of the blade glowed cherry red, as if fresh off the forge. He picked it up and stood on wobbly legs.
The tall robot straightened, then turned to Ian. The side of the golden head was discolored, the smooth, featureless face misshapen and buckled slightly outward. The dent at the temple sunk several inches deep and started where the explosion-blackened cut penetrated the metal. Ian smiled grimly, “I tickled ye with that one, ye yellow abomination.”
The robot shot out a beam of yellow power from its forehead, but it missed Ian, exploding a red boulder ten feet beyond him. The Highlander realized the thing’s aim was off because of the damage to its head. The robot advanced on the Scotsman at a limping run. Ian dropped to one knee and sliced at the metal legs. He staggered it again, and left a dent in the left knee.
The Golden Man struck Ian so fast the Highlander didn’t see it coming, and he slid across the smoking landscape for twenty feet. Ian reached around, but realized he’d lost the sword. The robot’s forehead began to glow. Ian rolled to his feet and leaped at it, barehanded, and yelled, “For John Carter!”
The Golden Man caught him in the air with its massive hands and broke the highlander’s neck. It dropped the body, then looked into the sky. Its senses were no longer on the fight and could scan elsewhere. The Golden Man lifted from the surface. Its receptors had located the orb-like heart of the other metal creature.
