Ozzy could see it in Jonas’s eyes that this was leverage against him. Jonas knew if Ozzy snuck Lily on board during his trip to Earth, what would stop him from changing course to Europa instead? He could hide out on that moon and live the rest of his life in bliss.
Ozzy exhaled the breath he’d been holding. Jonas was a killer, but he was trustworthy among his friends. No harm would come upon Lily-bug. “Alright.”
Jozi stomped her foot, her face going stern. “Are you serious, Ozzy? You’re going to do this?”
“For that kind of money, there isn’t any reason I shouldn’t.”
“What about Anonymity?”
“He’ll get the truth out. You’ll see.”
“We need to be here to make sure,” said Jozi.
Ozzy ignored her. Money was the topic now, not Anonymity. Nonetheless, he’d wait another two days to celebrate Anonymity’s information dump about Robert. He wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Jonas stood straighter, typing on his holopad again. “I knew you’d come around, Ozzy.” He pressed another button, sending information to Relic’s com line. “This certain ship will get you to Earth. But you’ll have to pick it up.” He walked down the ramp, then spun on his heels. “You’ll figure out a safe, stealthy trajectory to get to Earth and extract the sphere, I assume?”
Ozzy nodded, his mind filled with auric credits and the freedom he’d always wanted—after he extracted the artifact from Earth, got it back to Jonas, and was given the happy-ton of money.
Finally, his dream would be realized. “I’ll figure out how to get the artifact. I always do.”
Jonas cracked a large smile. “That’s my Ozzy.”
20
Tagus Valles, Mars
One day until Anonymity releases the documents to the world, thought Ozzy.
Ozzy set the controls and eased Relic’s engines on. He was in the flyway exit tubes on Tagus Valles and ready to fly his vessel to Olympus Mons where he would think of a way to get to Earth.
Ozzy yawned. It was morning, and he and his small rag-tag crew spent the night sleeping in Relic on Jonas’s property. He had dinner with Lily and his ex-wife, Venessa, that evening then Jonas shuttled them off to the resort.
And here he was now, in a damn departure tube, ready to start a mission to Earth.
For all the money Jonas was giving him, he’d fly to the Dunrakee leader and slap him on the ass.
But Ozzy needed an Eagle. He couldn’t get to Earth to extract the crystal sphere in Relic. There was no way. How’d that slip his mind? How’d it slip Jonas’s?
He turned on his com line. If Jonas needed him to get the sphere, then Jonas would need to supply the ride.
He had the map, or rather the shape of the continent where the sphere was buried, ingrained in his mind. He’d draw out what was in his memory as soon as he landed in Olympus Mons where he would rest up for a bit and prepare.
The sphere, however, apparently called out to the bloodline when the bloodline had knowledge of its whereabouts or something like that. So maybe he didn’t need the map. Instead, the sphere would be like an emergency beacon in his mind.
Though he doubted it, but stranger things had happened.
In the back of his mind, he figured this might be a suicide mission. What was more important: his family or getting this sphere for Jonas?
“Don’t do this, Ozzy,” Jozi said. “You can’t survive the defensive arrays and the ships that the Dunrakee have lined up around Earth’s exosphere.” Her lips purse tightly in annoyance, and she shook her head, throwing her hands in the air. “It’s absolutely nuts.”
He grunted in response, doing his damnedest to ignore her. I’d be nuts not to do this mission for that amount of money.
“Jozi is right,” said Gragas who was standing behind Ozzy’s chair and holding onto the headrest.
“Thanks for the support!” Ozzy pushed the throttle forward. The flyway’s amber lights blinked on and off and whizzed by faster and faster as more energy from the engines supplied to the ionic boosters, moving Relic toward the exit.
The flyway departure tube opened, and Relic blasted into the butterscotch-colored sky. The sun was fading on the horizon, and the blue sunset of Mars was peeking over the skyline. In a few hours, the skies would be dark and twinkling full of stars.
When Ozzy was ready to punch in Jonas’s number, a few lines and paragraphs blinked onto the com screen instead. Ozzy had almost forgotten that Jonas had typed several things on his holopad and sent them to Relic’s com channel.
Begin transmission.
Ozzy, you’re the only guy I trust outside of my own family. I wanted to let you know I’ve aligned with Lyra No Tail against the Ministry and Mort Wildly. We’re bringing more crime lords on board soon. We’ll be taking over the government then taking over Earth. You have the Ark of the Concordant. You will soon have the crystal sphere to give us. That will be more than enough to rid this solar system of the Dunrakee and the Ministry and to get Earth back once and for all. The artifacts you find will guarantee we’ll keep it that way.
But, right now, I need you to go to Lyra No Tail. She has an Eagle. Convince her you need to borrow it. If she says no, tell her our alliance is off. That should be enough to persuade her to hand over her precious Eagle so you can get us the sphere.
End transmission.
Ozzy sighed and nodded. Am I ever going to get my own Eagle? “Looks like we’re taking a detour.” He veered the craft into a tight turn, heading for Schroeter City where Lyra’s crime syndicate exploited the rich and gave to the poor—so the half-cat, half-human proclaimed.
Jozi let out an exasperated breath. “I’m staying back at Olympus Mons.” She glanced out the cockpit’s side window. “Hopefully, what’s-her-butt doesn’t try to kill me.”
“I understand,” muttered Ozzy. “I have to make this one last stop before we part ways.”
“Yeah, figured.”
Ozzy assumed she would try to make things right with Robert. He didn’t know how that would go, considering Robert should be on the run or in jail soon after the truth was smeared all over the com channels tomorrow.
“Is there any way I can change your mind, Ozzy?” asked Gragas.
Ozzy pushed the control stick forward, flying closer to the ground. Schroeter City was off in the distance, its blazing dome shining brightly. It was the second biggest metropolis on Mars, and a red sand wasteland engulfed it along with small hills and rocks jutting out of the ground.
“Ozzy,” Gragas said. “All the crime syndicates and their small armies are no match for the Dunrakee back on Earth. Even if they could defeat the Ministry and Mort Wildly, they’d be devastated by the Dunrakee power if the crime syndicates attacked.”
Ozzy straightened his lips. “We can beat the Dunrakee.”
“Yes, it sounds great, but humans have many hundreds of years ahead of them before they can build a big enough military and change their government to one that helps the people. Just be lucky you have the Ark. It’s the only thing keeping another massive Dunrakee invasion from sending every human to their graves.”
Ozzy glared at the outline of Schroeter City. Buildings and structures were growing larger as they flew toward it. “Like you said, we have the Ark.” Yet, something was telling Ozzy it wasn’t right to go to Earth. He’d be turned into mincemeat the moment he landed.
He shook his head. I have Indigo. The Dunrakee won’t be able to detect me.
A loud pounding echoed in the storage bay. They all turned around.
“What the Mars was that?” Ozzy said.
Jozi turned and leaned forward, swiping her finger across the holoscreen. She pulled up the roof cams and gasped.
Sparking fire and smoke swirled in the air as they watched Quad cutting a hole with a device.
Ozzy smacked his forehead. He’d forgotten about that guy. “Jozi, get your EVA suit on right away.”
Any puncture in Relic would send the internal air and oxygen into Mars’s atmos
phere, successfully killing them before they would have time to defend themselves against Quad.
He put Relic on autopilot and rushed out of the cockpit.
Ozzy flew down the ladder, and his feet slapped the floor as he dashed to a locker, pulling out his EVA suit.
Jozi struggled into hers.
A loud crack reverberated against the walls. Ozzy secured the last of his suit and clipped his helmet in place.
He glanced up and saw a black circle and smoking-hot fire forming on the ceiling. A jagged metallic piece went up and down, sawing through.
Another clank and the smoking circle broke in two. It lifted into the air, slipped away from view, and fell toward the Martian desert.
“Get ready,” said Gragas as he aimed his weapon toward the roof. The butterscotch-colored sky glinted through the hole and highlighted the storage bay’s grated floor.
Ozzy aimed his rifle, and Jozi unholstered both her photon pistols and pointed them at the ceiling.
Another clank came from above.
“Hold your fire,” ordered Gragas.
Ozzy touched his finger against his rifle’s trigger.
“Keep holding,” said Gragas.
Kaklink!
A round object with black smoke trailing behind it dropped through the hole, bounced once on the floor, and then rolled a few meters.
“Take your shots now,” yelled Gragas.
Ozzy pulled the trigger. The rifle pressed against his shoulder as he lit the hole full of photon beams.
The smoke grenade exploded into a thick, black and gray cloud, shooting shrapnel everywhere.
A metallic piece slapped across Ozzy’s helmet. He tumbled on his back, strangely able to keep his aim, and continued firing.
A louder clank shot through the storage bay, and the floor shook.
Ozzy now shot wildly, and his rifle recoiled, sending hate-filled photon blasts Quad’s way.
“Cease-fire,” hollered Gragas. “You’ll shoot one of us, Ozzy.”
Blackness filled his view. It was getting thicker, and he couldn’t see a damned thing.
He waved his hand, doing his best to push the smoke out of his face.
It did nothing.
Quad jumped in front of Ozzy and reached forward.
Ozzy flailed back, kicking Quad away with his feet and smacking him on the hip.
Whapoom!
Quad lurched away. A photon beam hit him square on his armored chest. Electricity soared around Quad, shooting in all directions like lightning bolts. He stepped back a few times to keep from falling.
The thick smoke now began to billow away.
Quad gathered himself and trudged onward, heading right for Ozzy.
“Get those digger cuffs out, Gragas,” Ozzy yelled, aiming his rifle.
He took another shot. The photon bolt sucked into Quad’s battle suit then bounced back, electrocuting Ozzy.
Ozzy yelped as electricity coursed through his body, and his weapon fell from his grasp.
“I’m out of digger cuffs.”
“Where are you, Gragas?” Ozzy looked around as more smoke cleared.
Quad leaped and pressed his boot against Ozzy’s chest, pinning Ozzy to the cold tiles.
Ozzy grabbed Quad’s boot and twisted it, trying to push it off of him.
It didn’t budge.
Shit.
Quad pulled out a long dagger and reared back. “Time for me to get paid, Ozzy.”
He slashed in a downward motion. Ozzy threw up his hands, turned his head, and closed his eyes.
This was it. This was how his life would end—at the hands of a damn bounty hunter.
21
Nearing Schroeter City, Mars
Boot’s panged loudly against the floor.
Ozzy felt the pressure of Quad’s boot lift off his chest. A loud crash like cymbals from a drum set echoed in Ozzy’s ears when armor and metal hit the floor.
Ozzy opened his eyes. “What the—”
“Move,” ordered Gragas. He leaped over Ozzy and rushed toward a downed Quad.
Quad pushed himself up before Gragas met him head-on. Gragas lowered his shoulder, and Quad turned toward Ozzy, thrusting his arm forward in a throwing motion.
A dagger spun in Ozzy’s direction.
Gragas slammed into Quad a moment later, forcing him back on the floor.
Wapooh!
A blue photon blast slammed into the dagger, which ignited and then turned into grayish ash. Particles of the dagger and the ash fell to the floor and slipped through the grates.
Ozzy, still on his back, twisted around and saw that Jozi was the one who pulled the trigger, incinerating the knife that was coming right at him.
He twisted and moved into a standing position. “Keep him busy, Jozi.”
Ozzy ran toward his forklift. He jumped in and began pressing buttons to activate the engines. The magnets that kept the lift in place released, and it roared on. He pressed his foot on the pedal and floored it as he lowered the forks and steered toward Quad.
“Gragas, it’s your turn to move.”
Gragas jumped to his feet and leaped out of the way.
Quad pushed up and paused.
He pulled out a double-barreled photon gun. Ozzy ducked, lowering his head under the steering column and peered through the holoscreen in the middle of the driving console.
Whapoom!
Quad released a shot, and the forklift shuddered but kept moving.
The forks hit Quad’s waist. Ozzy pressed a lever that widened the forks as it continued forward, and they slipped onto both sides of Quad.
Ozzy pressed another lever and closed the forks.
Quad was unable to hold his weapon, and he grabbed at the forks and dug in with his feet. The forklift slowed but maintained a steady speed.
Ozzy jerked forward when the lift came to a jolting stop, and he hit the driving console then bounced off. His head hit the seat from the backlash.
Slowly looking up, he saw the end of the forks were flush against a wall, and Quad was trapped between them. Quad was twisting and turning, trying to force his way to freedom.
Ozzy slammed on the parking brake and magnetized the forklift to the floor.
Gragas jumped on top of the forks and crouched, coming mask to mask with Quad. “Stop your ruthless killings, now.”
Quad laughed. “None of my killings are ruthless, Galactic Knight. They are necessary for the betterment of the galaxy.”
Gragas inched closer. “You’re delusional.”
Jozi grabbed Ozzy’s arm. “Are you okay?”
He nodded and slid out from the forklift and to his feet. He took a step toward Quad, but his boot kicked something. It was Quad’s double-barreled weapon.
Ozzy picked it up and turned it end over end. “This will do just fine.”
Quad glanced at Ozzy. “You’re not the killing type, my friend.”
Ozzy tilted his head. “I’m your friend now? Funny how that happens when you’re stuck between a forklift and a hard place.”
Jozi walked with him, holding her weapon in front of her.
Gragas stepped down from the forks and folded his arms. “What are you going to do with him?”
“I have it in my mind to kill him. We’ll rip off his helmet and let him die in Mars’s atmosphere.”
Jozi nodded. “I’m all for it.”
Gragas gave Ozzy a long look. “Are you sure?”
Ozzy wasn’t a stone-cold killer, and he was as far from sure as Mars was from a breathable atmosphere.
“I saved your brother,” Quad said.
“Take off his helmet,” Ozzy instructed Gragas. Deep down, this didn’t feel right just as going to Earth didn’t feel right. Killing Quad would be as ruthless as Quad. But if he didn’t do this, he’d be dead by Quad’s hands.
Gragas bowed his head. “As you wish.” He lifted himself back onto the forks and leaned down.
Quad growled. “You’re making a mistake.”
“If I d
on’t kill you, then you’ll kill me.”
Gragas took in a hefty breath. “Quad, we’ll eventually get your helmet off. You can either die like a warrior or grovel like a coward.”
Quad heaved and smacked his fist into his palm. He lowered his head. “Do as you must. I’m ready to die.”
Gragas grabbed each side of Quad’s helmet.
Ozzy’s stomach tensed. This was wrong, but he didn’t know why he felt this way. He’d killed in defense before when he was being hunted and shot at, but he had never killed a defenseless person.
“Stop!”
Gragas pulled his hands away, and Quad lifted his head and looked up. A loud beep blared through the cockpit, echoing down to the storage bay. Mumbled words sounded shortly after.
Jozi glanced over at Ozzy. “That might be Schroeter City’s flyway tower. Did you change the trajectory when you put Relic on autopilot?”
“Crap.”
22
Schroeter City, Mars
“Run,” Jozi yelled. “We’re heading right for Schroeter City’s graviton shield.”
Ozzy dashed up the ladder and into his cockpit, dropping onto his flight seat as sweat dripped down his forehead and under his arms. He was out of breath.
Schroeter City’s graviton shield was seconds away, glowing a bright gold.
“…you’re heading too close. Pull up. Pull up,” the tower warned.
“Oh shit.” He pulled back on the control stick, pushed on the throttle, and activated the hover boosters on Relic’s belly.
Relic’s nose lifted. “We’ve got this under control, tower.” Ozzy gritted his teeth.
The swift movement of the craft and the force of the hover boosters pushed the ship away from the dome but sent boxes and crates crashing in the storage bay.
He initiated bow thrusts, pushing Relic farther from the dome while slowing it into a hover.
Martian Insurrection (Mars Colony Chronicles Book 3) Page 9