Free Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) by D. Robert Pease Page A

said.
    “Poachers,” I said. “Men who kill animals and take their pride, leaving the meat to rot in the sun.” Many heads were shaking—with outrage or disbelief.
    “Finally I could hear my dad telling me to get in the ship and prepare for takeoff. We had the refractor cloak—um, we had the ship well hidden, so the poachers didn’t know it was there. I dashed in and fired up the engines. As soon as Dad made it to the ship, we took off and climbed about fifteen meters into the air. From above, I saw the poachers chasing the elephants. They were shooting at them, with their… fire spears.
    “I told Dad to stay in the hold and leave the doors to the ship open. We raced ahead of the elephants. They were running through the brush, knocking over everything in their path. I had to time it just right. I remember Dad yelling he wasn’t sure this was such a good idea.”
    Some of the men in the crowd smiled or chuckled. Parents, no doubt.
    “I told him to trust me. The male elephant was running down a beaten trail, the female following. He was the one the poachers wanted most—he had enormous pride.” Adina grinned at me.
    “I saw an area not too far ahead of him that should do the trick. I knew I’d only have one chance. Just before the elephants reached a clearing, I dropped the ship to the ground in front of them, the door of the hold open. I heard a loud crash and the ship shook something fierce, but then Dad said, ‘We got them! Get us out of here.’ I hit the thrusters and lifted the ship into the air. The poachers screeched to a halt in the cloud of dust.” I laughed. “One minute they were chasing elephants and the next both of them were gone.
    “So that’s how we got our two elephants. Sam, my sister, named them Elimu and Fathiya. They haven’t had any babies yet, but we think it’s just a matter of time.”
    The people clapped and cheered when I lowered my chair to the cave floor. Even better was Adina’s smile and the look on her face.
    “That was a good tale,” Adina said. “I’m not sure how much of it I believe—”
    “It’s true, every word of it.” Then I laughed. “Well, almost every word.”
    Sam’s voice sounded over the comm-link.
    “We’re finished with the Morning Star repairs. We can go after Mom as soon as the gel foam is hardened.”
    “Good,” Dad said. “Get inside and lock up for the night. I don’t think it’ll be safe for Noah and me to come home tonight, so we’ll stay here. Tomorrow morning we’ll come get you.”
    “Sounds good,” Sam said. “Save some mammoth-burgers for us.”

Dad had a dry spot near the back of the cave where he’d been sleeping the past week or so. Adina brought us another pile of warm furs and showed me where a stack of wood was stored to keep the nearest fire stoked.
    “She’s a sweet girl,” Dad said once she’d gone to bed.
    I felt my cheeks burning. I was probably too close to the fire.
    Dad laid out the furs for me. I pulled myself from my chair, snuggled into them, and lay there for a while staring into the fire. The cave quieted down as everyone settled in for the night. Off in the distance a wolf howled, but I felt safe in the back of the cave.
    Was Mom safe? I’d been enjoying myself tonight—telling silly stories while she was being held captive by that…what did Sam call him? That madman.
    “Do you think Mom will be okay?”
    “She’s much better at taking care of herself than I am,” Dad said. “I’m sure she’s fine.”
    “Do you really think the repairs on the Morning Star will hold up?”
    Dad turned onto his elbow and looked at me. “Of course. Why?”
    For a while, I was silent.
    “I just always seem to mess everything up. If I hadn’t crashed the Morning Star , we probably would have rescued her already.”
    “And all these people would be sleeping on empty stomachs,” he said. “I don’t think you realize what a gift you’ve given them. When you’re hungry you can just go down and have Le