Free Rescue From Planet Pleasure by Mario Acevedo Page A

skull.
    “Then why did we need the Sun Dagger?”
    “I didn’t need the Sun Dagger. You needed the Sun Dagger.”
    Coyote’s convoluted explanation tied my thoughts into knots. What I needed was another drink. Of something stronger than Mexican beer.
    “How do we get back?”
    “The same way we got here. Only backwards.”
    Did I say a drink? Make that many drinks. From a very large bottle.
    Instead of walking south on Van Nuys toward our arrival point, we headed north. Cars and trucks rushed by.
    Coyote suddenly pushed me off the sidewalk and into the path of a large delivery truck. A jolt of panic stung my nerves. I was just about to summon vampire speed to bound out of the way when he dove off the curb and slammed into my belly. I dropped backwards and pictured the truck squashing the both of us into the asphalt.
    My shoulders hit sand and I sprawled under bright sunlight. Coyote stumbled past me. I lay on my back and stared past the edges of the sandstone slabs on Fajada Butte.
    Jolie stepped close and looked down on me. “Where the hell have you guys been?”
    I rolled to my feet and brushed dirt from my clothes. I wasn’t as confused as I was angry.
    Coyote braced an arm against one of the slabs and beamed a Cheshire Cat grin. “Like I told you. Backwards.”
    I looked back Jolie and said, “Pacoima.”
    She sniffed. “And you guys had lunch while I sat on this rock?”
    I fanned my hands. “Don’t yell at me, I didn’t make the travel arrangements.”
    Coyote read his Rolex and said to Jolie, “Your turn.” He ducked under the slab and crouched against the petroglyph.
    She chuffed. “We better go someplace awesome.” She saluted sayonara and joined Coyote.
    I crouched to get a better look at them. “Where are you guys going?”
    “Just hold down the fort, ese. ” Coyote put his hand where the beam of light sliced across the Sun Dagger. “We’ll be back soon.”
    Jolie placed her hand over his. They dissolved into the wall, and a blink later, they were gone.
    Even though I knew what to expect, I grimaced in amazement.
    Holyfreakin’shit.
    ***

Chapter Ten
    Until Coyote and Jolie returned, I had nothing to do but study the view. I spotted the muted gleam of the Cress Tech towers facing the butte. The closest of the towers was at least a mile away and the sunlight reflecting off the psychotronic diviner on top made the device shine like a metal button in the dusty haze. I counted eleven towers in one arc to the west and five more in another arc to the east. The towers were placed about a half-mile apart. The two arcs could be just the start of a large circle that had yet to be filled in. By my guess a total of twenty-four towers would be needed to complete its circumference.
    I mused over what Cress Tech was using the psychotronic diviners for. They detected psychic transmissions, and years ago I had used one to find Phaedra.
    And these? Did they detect our teleportation through the Sun Dagger?
    I thought about that as I sat in the shade and waited for Coyote and Jolie to return.
    And waited. One hour. Two. Three.
    Coyote and I had been gone half an hour. Where did he and Jolie go? What if they got stuck at their destination? Or were they caught in a supernatural traffic jam inside the psychic plane?
    The sun dipped toward the western horizon, and a long shadow bled from the butte across Chaco Canyon.
    I heard Jolie laughing. Then a snicker from Coyote. A tote bag full of clothes flew from between the stone slabs and landed beside me in the dirt. Both of them emerged from between the slabs. Jolie wore a lime-green bikini and pink flip-flops. She carried a plastic hurricane cup with a long bendy straw. Coyote still wore his same clothes and palmed a half-eaten hoagie in one hand and a tallboy of PBR in the other.
    Jolie perched her sunglasses on her head. Her eyes sizzled with excitement. “That was fucking awesome.” I could smell rum on her breath.
    “The hell you go?” I asked.
    She showed me