“Uncle Saul and I will circle around behind her.”
“Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere once I hit her with my freeze ray.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jake said and teleported.
Ten seconds later, General Jones vanished.
I shook my uncle. “Uncle Jesse, wake up.”
“What?” He jerked upright.
“We’re here and Jia, the assassin, is outside.”
“Where?”
I zoomed the monitor in on her. “See her?”
“Yep.” He peered at the screen. “Is that the new Falcon rocket launcher?”
“It is.”
“I call dibs on it.”
“The last thing you need is another rocket launcher. Focus on the mission.” I lowered the landing ramp. “Go out there and create a distraction. The General and Jake are approaching her from the south.”
“Okey-dokey.” Singing off key, Uncle Jesse staggered out of the shuttle. He tottered over to Jia’s tree, whipped it out and took a piss.
I clamped a hand to my forehead. I had asked for a diversion but that wasn’t quite what I had in mind. I hurried out of the shuttle. “What are you doing?”
“Taking a piss. You blind?”
I threw my hands up in the air. Sometimes Uncle Jesse reminded me of a twelve-year-old and he loved putting on a show. For our audience, I yelled, “There’s a perfectly good toilet onboard the shuttle and I only stopped so you could take pictures of those stupid ruins.” I lashed out psychically and hit Jia with my freeze ray.
She toppled out of the tree and landed at our feet.
“Oh, look. A falling songbird,” I exclaimed.
Uncle Jesse grabbed Jia’s rocket launcher. “With a new Falcon rocket launcher.”
“Put it down before you blow something up,” I barked.
Uncle Jesse scowled at me. “I know my way around weapons.”
Bang! Flames shot from the rocket launcher. Whoosh! The missile whizzed by my ear.
“Fuck!” I triggered my armor and knocked Uncle Jesse to the ground.
Kablooey the shuttle blew into a thousand tiny pieces.
I did my best to shield Uncle Jesse and Jia from the flaming debris raining down on us. “Nothing like announcing our presence to the evil scientist.”
“It’s not my fault the controls are touchy,” Uncle Jesse retorted.
I retracted my helmet. “It wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t picked the stupid thing up.”
“Maybe.”
Jake crashed into my mind. “Anyone hurt? What happened?”
“We’re all okay but I’m afraid the shuttle is a total loss and unless Giovanni is deaf and blind, he knows we’re here. Stay hidden until we see what he does.”
The General demanded, “Where did that missile come from?”
“Jia had a rocket launcher and Uncle Jesse accidently fired it.”
“He what?” Jake bellowed. “I knew we should have left the old man behind.”
A glittering blue light suddenly engulfed us. “Crap.”
Chapter Fourteen
When the light faded, we were sitting in an ancient dungeon complete with mummified human remains shackled to the wall.
“Was that a transporter beam?” Uncle Jesse ran his hands over his body.
“It was.”
“It felt like my insides were being scattered about the universe.” Uncle Jesse blew out a relieved breath as he patted his groin. “But I’ve got all my parts.”
I rolled my eyes and gave Jake a 180-degree view of our new accommodations. “Are you tracking us?”
“No. The iridium is blocking our scanners.”
I gave myself a mental head smack. Duh.
“Can you free yourselves?” Jake’s voice was laced with concern.
“I think so.” I tapped my bracelet. It was deader than a doornail. “My bracelet’s not working.”
“Giovanni must have set up an energy suppression field. None of your weapons are going to work either,” Jake advised.”
I mentally scanned the area. Eight of Giovanni’s monsters roamed the catacombs. Had they escaped or had he deliberately released them? “Be careful. Our mad scientist’s super soldiers are in the catacombs.”
“Copy that. Is the suppression field affecting your abilities?”
I summoned a tiny bolt of lightning. “Not at all. The cell door is as old as the catacombs, blowing it won’t be a problem.”
“Be careful,” Jake said and gave me a fierce mental kiss.
I kissed him back. “Don’t get dead on me.”
“Warlords are hard to kill.”
“Is that a promise?”
“It is.”
“I’m holding you to that and Giovanni’s about to find out messing with shamans is a bad idea.” In my mind’s eye I could see Jake attaching an explosive device to a security keypad. The shit was about to hit the fan.
“I’ve found three surveillance cameras,” Uncle Jesse announced.
“Take them out.”
His arms and legs gyrating wildly, Uncle Jesse danced around the dungeon and yelled like a lost soul, “Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu.” Flames erupted from the cameras.
I turned my attention to Jia. The anger in her eyes didn’t bode well for a temporary partnership. “My name is CeeCee Tsosie. My team is here to stop Giovanni from creating more monsters. I think that’s your objective too. I propose we join forces and take him down together.”
“You’re Coletti,” Jia snarled. “Give me one good reason why I should work with you? Plus, that old fool over there blew up your shuttle and got us captured.”
I watched Uncle Jesse switch to his Death Dance and cavort about our prison like a demented Ninja. “This is Coletti body armor, but I’m a shaman, not a warlord. That old fool is not as harmless as he looks.” I let tiny bolts of lightning form on my palm. “I can get us out of here, but Giovanni’s creatures are loose in the catacombs.” I released my freeze hold on Jia. “Truce? Oh yeah, Giovanni installed an energy suppression field in his swell dungeon and your weapons are as useless as mine.”
“Shaman?” Jia carefully got to her feet.
“I’m a protector of my people and I can control the weather and other things.”
Jia gaze roved over my petite frame. “You’re Polizia?”
“I am.”
“What did you hit me with?”
“I psychically stopped your ability to move.”
“Handy talent.”
I smiled as I felt Jia trying to breach my shields. “I know one of your abilities is to cloud people’s minds. Give it a rest. It won’t work on
