A new static charge blossomed on the curved claw blades. Dodge summoned enough energy to throw his body into a sideways roll that brought him a few feet closer to the water’s edge, but he was too slow by a fraction of a second. The lightning bolt sizzled along his leg for a moment but then expended most of its energy harmlessly on the ground. Krieger spat an incomprehensible curse, along with a mouthful of bright blood and lurched forward again. Dodge grimaced through the pain. As his foe closed to within ten paces, he managed to get to his knees and faced the pirate king.
He didn’t know if he could survive another blast of lighting. It was moot anyway; one more paralyzing attack would leave him vulnerable to a fatal slash of Krieger’s knives. He had to stop his foe’s advance.
“Is that all you’ve got?” The taunt seemed hollow, spoken breathlessly through clenched teeth.
Krieger’s eyes boiled like lava and he thrust his talon at Dodge’s face. The lightning was there an instant later, but this time, Dodge was faster. As the electric bolt sizzled from the curved claws, he threw himself flat and ducked under the blast.
The air crackled with ozone as the energy struck the water and fed back to the source. In an instant, Krieger was sheathed in a cocoon of brilliant purple energy — consumed by his own fire. The stunning discharge ended as suddenly as it had begun and when the electric shroud fell away, the smoldering lifeless body of Johannes Krieger toppled over like a stricken tree. Dodge was too exhausted to survey the final fate of his foe, too tired also to hear the crunch of approaching footsteps.
“Tsk. Tres tragique, monsieur. You fought admirably to slay the dragon, but alas, you will still die.”
Though he recognized the voice, Dodge nevertheless turned his head to face the speaker. It was Marten, the treacherous riverboat captain, but his gaze did not linger on the familiar face. His eyes were locked on the enormous twin pistols the big man held in either hand — Hurricane’s custom-made semi-automatic pistols.
With a cruel chuckle, Marten thumbed off the safety, and took aim.
CHAPTER 16
THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
A violent crack split the air, but it was not the sound of a gunshot and it was not Dodge that fell but rather Marten. The scoundrel froze in place, his eyes rolling back in his head, as a brilliant corona of energy blossomed all over his body. Dodge followed the snaking bolt of lightning to its source in the heavens, but it was no natural thunderhead that had reached out to strike the villain down.
An enormous shadow passed over Dodge, a familiar cross shape, and he could just make out the sound of the X-314’s four Wright Twin Cyclone radial piston engines. More tongues of energy leaped out from the massive airplane, striking select targets with pinpoint accuracy. Dodge knew of only one marksman with that kind of skilclass="underline" Hurricane Hurley! His friends had returned to save him. Dodge felt like weeping.
The pirates had no defense against the aerial assault. They fled back to the surviving fortress, but a heavy bombardment of lightning ripped into the flanks of the baobab and set it ablaze as well. In a matter of minutes, the second tree was fully engulfed in fire.
Dodge struggled to his feet and approached the stricken Marten. The renegade boat operator was still alive — the lightning weapons rarely delivered a lethal injury, as Dodge could well attest — but did not resist as Hurricane’s pistols were plucked from his limp grasp. Dodge knew better than to attempt to use the titanic shooting irons, but he was looking forward to returning them to their owner, personally.
The plane made another pass, picking off a few souls who had managed to escape the flames, then raced downriver. When Dodge saw the plane again, it was surging along the surface of the muddy water, taxiing up to the dock. Hurricane and Father Hobbs stood on the sponson, wearing the familiar exoskeletons — evidently no longer being used as landing gear — over their clothes. The Padre was characteristically dour, but Hurley made no effort to hide his joy at seeing Dodge.
Dodge meekly held out Hurricane’s pistols, and the big man gave a thunderous guffaw of delight as he leaped onto the dock and swept Dodge into a crushing bear hug.
“Dodge, m’boy, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. How in blazes did you survive that fall?”
Dodge winced as the embrace exacerbated a multitude of hurts but managed a grin as the big man set him down. “Never mind that, how did you know to find me here?”
“Truth be told we didn’t,” intoned Hobbs, stepping across the gap to join them. “We came back to free the villagers.”
“And deal with Krieger once and for all,” added Hurricane.
“Done and done. Your flock escaped into the jungle, Padre. As for Krieger…” Dodge jerked a thumb in the general area where he had left the fallen pirate, but when his gaze followed he saw only the slithering shape of a crocodile tail as it slipped into the water. “Well, trust me, he won’t be a problem ever again.”
The Padre raised an eyebrow to salute the accomplishment, while Hurley was somewhat more effusive. “Well done. What did I tell you, Padre? He’s just like… he’s a good man in a fight.”
Dodge sensed that the giant had been on the verge of making a very different comment, but ignored the omission. “Is Molly…?”
No sooner had he spoken than the fiery-haired pilot burst through the hatch and gave him a hug to rival Hurley’s, followed by a kiss that was certainly without parallel. Dodge was still savoring the taste on his lips when the girl drew back and slugged him in the shoulder. “I told you to be careful. Don’t you ever listen to anyone?”
He managed a weak smile, then impulsively pulled her close and answered her accusation with another kiss.
Hurley grinned at Hobbs, who seemed to be growing more uncomfortable by the moment, and then cleared his throat. “Son, we’ve got to get moving. We know where he’s taken the President.”
Dodge’s eyes flew open and he gently disconnected from Molly’s embrace. “Where?”
Hurley guided him back into the plane. “The last place on earth: Antarctica. We got a pretty good fix on it from…” He gestured to a trio of men who sat meekly on the cabin floor.
Dodge stared in disbelief at the three mercenaries they had defeated in order to gain control of the exoskeletons. The men were not restrained in any way, yet seemed completely unthreatening.
“I don’t think we’ll need their help any longer,” intoned Hobbs. He knelt beside the men. “Find the people who were captured by the pirates and help them rebuild their village. Tell them I sent you.”
The three former soldiers of fortune rose and began thanking the clergyman for rescuing them from a life of wickedness. Dodge stared in disbelief as Hobbs laid hands on each man and offered a benediction. “Go, and sin no more.” As they filed out of the plane, it occurred to Dodge that, of the original trio of heroes that had led the Fighting Falcons, the peace-loving cleric was perhaps the most dangerous.
Once aloft and on course, Molly engaged the autopilot and ventured out to minister to Dodge’s many wounds. The vibration of the plane, coupled with the abrupt cessation of life-threatening activity, quickly lulled the exhausted Dodge to sleep, curtailing his report on the events that had followed his earlier plummet from the aircraft.