Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER NINE

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Jack and Kate returned to find Tangaroa and Erin still tied up
and back to back with Braun and Keller with their guns trained
on the duo.

"Are you two alright?" Jack asked as they entered.

"Yeah, still in one piece," Erin replied.

"No holes," Tangaroa added.

"Good," Jack said as he stood before them.

"What did you find?" Erin asked, unable to detain her
curiosity.

"The superweapon and some machines," Jack said sadly.

Tangaroa and Erin both noted the disdain on his face.

"It's that bad, huh?" Erin questioned him as she shifted to
face him.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad," Jack admitted. Then he turned his
attention to Johanna. "So, what's the plan? What are you
going to do with us?"

"Once my men have the weapon on my cargo vessel and we get off
safely, you are free to go," Johanna told him.

"Just like that?" Jack asked.

"Just like that," Johanna replied as she replied and moved out
to the balcony so she could acknowledge the location of the
machines. They were almost on the other side of the city,
where they could exit and return to the ships.

Jack waited for her to get out of view, before making his
move. His hands were not bound, which made it easier for him
to work with the mechanics of Atlantis. He noted Keller's
position as well as Braun's. He winked at Erin, whom was
close to Keller. He jerked to his left and punched Braun in
the nose, as Erin tripped Keller and kicked her in the face.

Johanna heard the commotion and rushed back into the room,
where she spotted Tangaroa and Erin racing out of the room
with Kate and Jack behind them. She quickly pulled her gun
from her holster and shot at them, missing them and hitting
the marble lining of the wall, putting multiple holes into it.

As the team fled, they had a hunter on their trail. Jack had
memorized the next several tiers of the spire. He knew the
main audience chamber for the royal family of Atlantis was the
second to the last level. He guided his friends to the
staircase at the back of the spire and led them up.

Johanna was not far behind them, but she was far enough back.
She had not even bothered to revive the two fallen men in the
hall of records. She figured that if she wanted something
done right, she would have to do it herself.

Jack and the others reached the top of the stairs and entered
the throne room where two large thrones sat with one smaller
one in the middle, which must have been for the princess. He
stopped in the middle and examined the place for a moment.

"Jack, why are you stopping?" Erin asked as she turned back
to him. She had made it to the other side of the room before
noticing him.

"I was just admiring the place," he replied.

"We don't have time for that," Erin said with a hint of
urgency in her voice. "Come on!"

Jack looked at her and spotted the stairs that were directly
behind the throne. They must have been for emergencies, or
quick escapes in case of hostility in the throne room. He
followed Erin and his mother up the stairs, with Tangaroa
behind him.

Johanna entered the throne room to find it empty. She paused
for a moment and scanned the entire area. She spotted the
elevators which were not moving, so they had to have gone some
other way. She turned slowly and noticed the inconspicuous
staircase in the back.

Jack and Erin were the first to enter the top chamber, which
was an awesome sight. Though, Jack had a cocky grin on his
face, because he knew what this place held.

Tangaroa and Kate arrived at the top tier of the spire and
were just as shocked as Erin.

"It's a hangar," Kate said as chills spread throughout her
body. she took in the entire place, which held numerous
planes.

The planes were many, but all uniformly created. They had a
simple light metal frame with two small wings of animal skin
on the front and two larger wings on back, which was above the
body. There was a rudder on the rear of the body which was
used to steer the machine.

Erin stood in the center aisle with her eyes on Jack, because
something just hit her. "Jack, please, tell me something.
This isn't your plan of escape is it?"

"Yes, it is," Jack said proudly.

"Oh, my God," she said as she nearly fell to her knees, but
she caught herself.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked her as he placed his hands in
various places to support her and keep her from falling.

"Jack, you know me very well," she said. "So, you tell me if
I am alright!"

"You hate flying," Jack realized. Before he could turn
around, Johanna appeared and shot at them. Jack pushed Erin
behind a plane to protect her as Tangaroa moved on his own for
cover.

Katelyn, however, had been standing near the entrance where
Johanna Mahler come up the stairs. She was out of sight and
knocked the gun from the German woman's hand. "Go! Stop them
from taking the weapon from Atlantis!" She turned back to
Johanna, who punched her in the stomach.

Jack helped Erin onto the plane at the end of the hangar.
Then he looked to his friend, Tangaroa. "Let's get those
hangar doors open, eh?"

Tangaroa helped him slide the large door in front of the plane
open. It seemed as if each plane was positioned in front of a
door.

"Tanga, I want you to go with her," Jack said. "Keep her
safe."

"I will, buddy," Atawhai replied as he climbed into the open
cockpit of the plane. It easily seated two people. "How do
we shove off?"

Jack examined the hangar floor beneath the plane and realized
what aided the plane's take off. He removed a rod from the
floor and the floor turned into a downward slope, sending Erin
and Tangaroa sliding out of the hangar.

Erin shifted the wings trying to get them to steer right,
bringing them around the spire and into a trajectory that
would guide them down to the machines on the other end of
town.

Jack looked up to see his mother holding Johanna back, but
they were making their way down the hangar bay. He opened the
door in front of him and jumped into a plane. He tugged on
the anchoring rope, which removed the rod from the floor.
Before he knew it, he was drifting around the spire in midair.

Kate punched Johanna, who kicked her in return. They had
fought all the way to the back of the hangar. Kate tried to
get back, but Johanna continued to advance. She knocked the
German baroness into the wall, which activated the hangar
doors.

The hangar's roof began to open slowly and the walls opened,
revealing nothing but the ceiling of the cave. They noticed
the floor beneath them was extending out, which must have
meant it was an observation platform for commanders.

Kate punched Johanna hard, almost knocking her off the
platform, but she fought back.

Jack located the plane that Erin and Tangaroa were occupying.
He followed them toward the end of the city where the machines
were hauling the superweapon out.

Erin and Tangaroa went into a dive toward the machines. Both
were unsure of how to land these marvelous inventions. It
should have been something that Jack discussed before take
off.

Jack followed their dive, which took him into the streets of
the city again. The north pier came in view, where some
stranded boats and large ships were flushed against the docks.
Then he noticed the large bored hole in the cave wall, which
must have been drilled by the Germans.

Erin and Tangaroa landed their plane, or more like they
crashed it. The bottom pegs, which were the landing gear,
broke as they landed hard and skidded across the gold street.

Jack pulled the cord on the wings hard sending him into a dive
for one of the machines. He smashed hard into it, knocking it
down and flipping his plane several times. The wings
splintered and were flung into various directions, smashing
into buildings. The plane came to a halt, but no more
movement came from it.

Erin and Tangaroa jumped out of the plane, but as they were
about to race to Jack's rescue, they were met by the other
machines.

"Check on Jack," Tangaroa spoke. "I will distract them."

"You can't take them all on by yourself," Erin announced.
"We'll do this together."

The machines tried to stomp on the duo and smash them with the
mechanic arms and hands.

Erin and Tangaroa ducked and dodged the large machines,
avoiding their massive fists.

Jack shoved the frame of the plane off him and slowly moved to
his hands and knees. It was troublesome to move any more. He
groaned as he tried to move.

Tangaroa jumped onto the back of one of the machines and
started to bash the network of gears, which moved the machine,
with a piece of the plane. Suddenly, he was thrown off the
back and almost stepped on.

Jack wiped the blood from his face and stepped forward to help
his friends. He arrived in time to see Tangaroa tossed off
the back of one machine.

Erin saw Jack and moved to him. "That was a heck of a crash.
Are you okay?"

"I'm good," he lied as a small cut on his face still bled.
"There are these battery packs on their backs. They glow a
red or orange. They're easy to spot."

"So, what?" Erin asked in confusion. "We remove them and they're powerless?"

"That's it," Jack told her. "Pass the word to Tanga." He moved with Erin into the battle.

***

The ground shook violently as an earthquake vibrated abruptly. It was powerful enough to cause the platform that Kate and Johanna fought upon to crack and slant slightly. They almost fell, but kept their footing. They also continued to fight.

Kate kicked Johanna in the chin, knocking her down, but she was up again. She hit the German in the stomach, but still, the woman continued to come back.

Johanna blocked the next hit, and shoved Kate back, which made the woman fall and slide down the platform. She neared Kate as she dangled off the edge.

***

Jack leaped onto the back of the machine Hahn was driving. He held on tightly as Hahn tried to throw Jack off. He reached up to the battery and tried to remove it, but slipped and almost fell off the machine.

Tangaroa and Erin teamed up on another machine. Erin distracted Wagner, as Atawhai jumped onto its back. She stayed out front as Tangaroa pulled the battery from its slot. Before he could jump off, the machine collapsed.

Jack had his hand on the battery again, ready to pull it free when Hahn thrashed the machine against a building, knocking Jack off.

Erin saw the fallen machine that Jack had crashed into. Richter was the driver of it. It seemed as if the crash had killed him. She moved on with Tangaroa to the other machine, which was controlled by Jung. Erin was about to make her move when Wagner attacked her.

Tangaroa jumped onto the front of the machine and began to punch Jung, who was hiding behind the wire cage around the head of the machine. He forced the cage up and jerked the man off the machine.

Jack rose to his feet after digging himself out of the rubble. He saw Hahn's machine racing toward him and about to make contact with him. Jack side stepped and the machine continued on its path forward. It was much too heavy and large to stop or turn immediately.

Hahn crashed into the boat building equipment, which ripped his loading machine in half, killing him.

Jack nearly collapsed from the strain all this had taken on him.

***

The platform collapsed further, dropping Johanna over the edge.

The German baroness clutched the edge for dear life as the platform bent even more. Finally, it hit the side of the spire, dropping the two women off it. Luckily, a balcony was below, but the platform was giving way.

Kate punched the woman hard, hoping to knock her over the rail of the balcony, but to no avail. She kicked and thrust her knee at the woman.

Johanna grasped Kate by the hair and jerked her close. "I am going to kill you for all the trouble you have caused me!"

"Fick dich!" Kate shouted, which translated to "fuck you," as she elbowed the woman in the ribs and jumped into the spire's throne room from the balcony just as the platform gave way and crashed down onto the balcony, breaking it off and sending it down the spire and into the street. Kate looked down the side of the spire at the debris below.

***

Jack limped slowly toward the other two, who were still fighting. He watched as Tangaroa gave Jung a hard right hook, and Erin gave Wagner a bloody nose.

Erin punched Wagner again forcing the German woman back. Then she thrust her fist into the woman's gut. Finally, Erin knocked her down and kicked her hard in the face, knocking her out.

Tangaroa shoved his knee into Jung's stomach and then gave him another hard right hook, which dropped the man quickly. He was about to kick him, but the man tripped Tangaroa and got on top of him. Atawhai blocked the first few punches, but received the rest to his face.

Erin spun her leg around in a round-house kick, which met Jung's head, knocking him out.

Tangaroa sat up and looked at the red head. "I almost had him."

"I bet you did," Erin replied as she dropped to her knees.

Jack held himself up by placing his hands on his knees, which supporting him greatly. He breathed deeply and did not speak.

Tangaroa looked up to see Katelyn walking toward them with relief on her face. "It's good to see you made it," he said with a smile.

"Likewise," Kate replied as she looked at the trio of archaeologists. Then she looked up at the superweapon and the fallen machines. "Well, this journey is over."

Jack glanced back at where the machines had been heading. "There's the exit. Maybe Rallis is waiting for us. I think I need medical attention."

"I think we all do," Tangaroa asked.

"I could go for a nice hot shower," Erin added as she rose to her feet. She looked at Jack, who she knew was going to say something with sexual innuendo. "And no, you can't join me, Jack."

Kate smiled and shook her head as she followed the two into the drilled hole. Behind her, Tangaroa pursued.