The guy fell back and landed against the pilot.
The ship rocked, and Ozzy slid across the floor, hitting a column.
Quad grabbed the pilot by the throat, lifted him, and threw him across the cabin.
The guy tumbled with a loud thump when he crashed against the ramp wall.
Quad took over the craft and extended the landing gear. He lowered the ship into a hover and touched down.
The pilot reached for a gun lying on the floor. Quad turned, aimed his photon pistol, and shook his head. “Think again.”
The pilot dropped his weapon and put his hands up, scooting back and up against the ship’s wall.
“Thank you.” Quad stood. He rushed to Ozzy and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder. He pointed the gun at the pilot. “Lower the ramp, now.”
The pilot slapped the button. Quad stepped off the ramp and turned. He pointed his gun at the flight console.
Wapooh! Wapooh!
The console fizzed and burst into flames, the thin atmosphere diminishing the fires a few seconds later.
The men on the ground were dead or knocked out. Others backed up, hiding in the shadowed corners of the ship’s interior, choosing to live another day.
When the ramp closed, Quad turned and sent a myriad of photon blasts across its external controls.
A control box exploded into several pieces, sending a plume of smoke into the air.
“Put me down.” Ozzy pointed to where he’d last seen Jozi. “Help her.”
Quad surveyed the area. “Help who?”
“Jozi. I need you to do to her what you did to my brother.” His voice was coming fast and stressed. “You know, cure her with that golden ball.”
“I’m sorry, Ozzy, but she isn’t there.”
Ozzy took several slow steps forward, eyeing where Jozi had been. He gasped, turning around and around. “Where the hell is she?”
Booming thrusters pierced the quiet sky, and Ozzy looked up. A dozen of Jonas’s starfighter S-6 Hawks were nearing his position. Wildly’s lone craft hit its ionic afterburners and zipped away in the opposite direction.
Several of Jonas’s ships followed Wildly, while others came in for a landing.
Ozzy put his head in his hands and sat down, the cold stone sending shivers up his spine. “Where is Gragas? The last I saw him he was by my S-4 Jumper.”
Quad adjusted his mask, touching his eyepieces. “I don’t detect any human life or Dunrakee life in that direction. Jozi and Gragas aren’t here.”
Ozzy closed his eyes, trying to get the spinning to stop. “Impossible. I was just with them.”
“Perhaps Wildly took them.”
Ozzy started to shake his head but then thought better of it. “He didn’t. Wildly went into the ship empty-handed.”
An S-6 Hawk landed a few meters from them. The dust spun into the air, and a man stepped out of the craft, decked out in a full EVA military-grade suit. “Jonas wants to see you.”
“I figured as much,” said Ozzy, a knot growing in his throat.
“It’s about Jozi.”
Ozzy tilted his head and his eyebrows came together. “What do you mean?”
“Gragas is on his way to Jonas’s now. He has Jozi and is flying low to the ground so the MMP don’t detect him.”
“Is she alive?” Ozzy’s eyes were hopeful.
“Barely.”
45
Nearing Tagus Valles, Mars
Ozzy sat in the cabin with Quad by his side.
The S-6 was in the air and veered around a hill and into a gorge.
Ozzy stared at his lap, his mind slowly coming back to him. The spinning had stopped. Thank Mars.
But the reality of life and death consumed him. He’d sent too many of his own family and friends to their graves just by association. He couldn’t do that anymore.
In a way, Jozi was right in her thinking. Family was everything to her, and deep down, he knew family was more important than finding a sphere or any other artifact, for that matter. Money wasn’t worth more than family.
Even though they didn’t see eye to eye on everything, Jozi had become a good friend. And now another person associated with him might die or already be dead.
He cringed and tightened his lips. This was it. No more deaths on his watch. He was done, and to keep those he loved alive, this all needed to end.
It wasn’t a maybe.
It was a must.
“We’re heading in for the sterilization chamber,” said the pilot.
Ozzy glanced up. The domed city of Tagus Valles sparkled into view. Good.
He’d decline Jonas’s offer to go to Earth and convince the crime lord to return his family. He’d told himself that he was done with forbidden archaeology before, but this time was the real deal.
It would mean more time with Lily-bug. Now that Robert was gone, things would start easing up in his life.
Hell, maybe he could be a professor again at the university.
He shook his head. Because Anonymity didn’t do his job of leaking all the information to the press, Ozzy would still be considered a criminal.
Instead, maybe he’d use whatever money he had left over to fix Relic and spend the rest of his life playing with his daughter and only pulling his rifles and guns out when she was in high school and the boys started coming around.
The com channel crackled. Jonas held a smile. “Good job, Ozzy. Our plan worked.”
Ozzy blinked several times. “What plan? If the plan was for me to fly the Eagle inside Olympus Mons, then, well…it didn’t work.”
“Not that plan.” He shrugged, a sinister look in his eyes. “Well, I didn’t tell you most of the plan, actually.”
“What did you do, Jonas?” The guy was about to come clean with something, and that something probably wasn’t going to sit right with Ozzy.
“I notified Wildly of your Eagle’s location and that you were on your way. I told him I wanted to align with him, and this was my offer to show him I could be trusted. He took it hook, line, and sinker.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No.”
Ozzy balled his hands into fists. “You set me up.”
“But my plan was to kill him, which you and your team almost did. My guys are chasing after him now, and I just spent the last ten minutes on the com line with him while he cursed me out.” Jonas leaned back, touching his belly and letting out a satisfied chuckle.
“Jozi may have been killed,” said Ozzy through gritted teeth.
“Sometimes that’s the price we pay.”
Ozzy’s heart burned like a hot knife was stabbing into it. “So, she’s going to die?” He wasn’t sure if Jonas had seen her yet or if his med-techbots had started working on her, but whether she was going to live or not, Jonas setting him up like this stamped it clearly into his mind that he wasn’t working for Jonas anymore or any crime lord from this point forward.
“Ozzy, I know you may not feel good about what I did or if your friend is going to live, but this was something I had to do. It was a gamble, and you get nowhere in this business if you’re not willing to take these calculated risks.”
Ozzy stiffened. “You didn’t risk your life, you risked mine and my friends’ lives.” He took in a deep breath. “Jonas, please understand when I say this, I’m a little too tired and worn out to do any work for you or anyone else. At least for a while. I’m going to have to turn down the job.”
Jonas frowned. “What job?”
“The job to get the sphere from Earth and return it to Mars. You can find someone else. I’m sure any archaeologist would jump at the opportunity if you pay them as much as you were going to pay me.”
“Trust me, I didn’t want to set you up like I did, but it got what I wanted. It almost worked perfectly.”
“I’m serious. No more digs.”
Jonas quieted and glared at Ozzy. He nodded his head, saying calmly, “That won’t do.” He shifted his gaze to the pilot. “Pilot, turn your s
hip around and head back to Ozzy’s Eagle.”
Ozzy threw his hands out. “Wait, no. I’m refusing to work for you.”
“A deal is a deal. You’re going to Earth.”
“The hell I am.”
“Your daughter, your ex-wife, and your brother are safe with me, but if you don’t go on this agreed upon mission, they won’t be for much longer. Do you understand?”
Ozzy shifted in his seat. Jonas was supposed to be somewhat of a buddy. He had always trusted Jonas, so why was he acting like this? “I don’t understand. You wouldn’t harm my family.”
“Ozzy, this is business. Don’t take it so hard.”
There had to be something he could do to change Jonas’s mind, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He sat straighter and forced a smile. “If I can get you the High Judge position, would you hire another forbidden archaeologist for this find?”
Jonas scratched the stubble on his chin. “I’m listening.”
“If you can grab Anonymity, do so. Robert is dead, therefore, Anonymity doesn’t have an arrangement with the High Judge anymore. Everything that I gave him to expose Robert is still with Anonymity, and if you can pay him top dollar, you can show how corrupt the High Judge was and even those in the Ministry. It should pave an easier way for you to get the High Judge seat.”
Jonas nodded. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Excellent, Ozzy. You see, you’re a valuable asset to have.”
Ozzy’s heart lifted. “So, you’ll do it?”
“I think I will.”
Ozzy let out a long breath. “Thank you, Jonas.”
Jonas put his finger up. “Don’t think I’m hiring someone else, though. You’re still going on the mission.”
“What?”
“Once I have the sphere in my arms, you’ll have your daughter and your family back in yours.”
Ozzy’s heart beat faster and a rush of anger gravitated to his throat. He narrowed his eyes. “Wait a minute.” A lot of things started adding up like they didn’t before, and in rapid succession. Perhaps it was because, as Gragas said, Ozzy was of the bloodline and his gift allowed him the ability to decode things more quickly than others. “You piece of shit. This wasn’t the only thing you set me up with, is it?”
Jonas didn’t say a word, his eyes locked on Ozzy’s.
Ozzy frowned. “You set me up this entire time. The devices around the arched doorway at Ares Monument. I thought those were strange and human-made technology. The devices around the fake crystal sphere that I found inside Ares Monument were human-made as well. And that woman, Shar? She was the size of a human because she was human.”
How could he be so stupid?
He should have known the first time he laid eyes on her. Ancient Martians towered over Earthlings. Shar should have been twice his height and twice his width. She wasn’t a Martian at all.
The pilot lowered the craft and was coming up on the Eagle. Blown-out ships were strewn in hunks of metal around it.
Jonas shrugged. “I did what I had to do. The invading Dunrakee took that sphere during the time you held them off with the Ark of the Concordant.” He took a deep breath. “My crew and I went into Ares Monument to find it, and when we figured out it was gone, I devised a plan to get it back. The real sphere was there less than a month ago before the Dunrakee stole it, and that’s why I had to create a fake sphere and plant it in the mountain.” He crossed his arms. “We had holocams strategically positioned throughout Ares Monument, and when Jozi tried to walk through the fake shield separating both rooms, we zapped her. But when you and Gragas attempted, we didn’t. In a sense, we fooled you.” He dipped his head. “I want you to trust me, Ozzy, and that’s why I’m telling you. You’re like family to me, so don’t forget that.”
If Ozzy could, he’d pull the prick through the screen and punch him in the nose. All of this was a sham? “Then are you saying the sphere isn’t buried where the map said it was?” Jonas probably made up that map as well.
“Oh, it’s on Earth but not buried. The holographic map coming from the fake sphere you found was my creation. We put this entire plan together to entice you to go find the sphere on Earth.” He looked over his shoulder and back at Ozzy. “It worked.”
The screen went black.
Ozzy slapped his hands together. “That piece of Mars dung. If I go to Earth, I’m going to have to figure out where the hell the sphere is located because it’s sure as Mars not where the map said it was. It’s probably in some damn Dunrakee leader’s bedroom.”
He was once again between a rock and a hard place.
Quad stiffened. “Do you want me to kill Jonas? I’ll lower my fee by half.”
Ozzy pushed the question away. “No.” That could end up being a blood bath, and his family would come up with the short end of that stick like they always did. “I’ll figure a way out of this.”
The pilot brought the craft into a hover. “I’m sorry, boys, orders are orders. A word to the wise: if you don’t do what Jonas asks, your family won’t be alive much longer.”
If Ozzy goes to Earth to find a sphere without its exact whereabouts, then he wouldn’t be alive much longer either.
46
Olympus Mons, Mars
Ozzy’s S-4 Jumper was a burnt mess. Luckily for him, Mars didn’t have much oxygen in the atmosphere or else his entire ship would be a pile of ash. The fire only burned as long as Relic’s internal oxygen tanks leaked, and they leaked dry quickly.
Ozzy and Quad waded through the mess in his storage bay, heading for the door to the room that housed Indigo. He needed that rock to evade anyone and everyone when he took the Eagle for himself. He’d figure a way out of Jonas’s diabolical plan to get him to go to Earth.
Ozzy pointed. “Quad, can you do me a favor and blast that door open for me?”
Quad reached around his belt and pulled out a detonation device. He placed it on the door and stepped back, using his arm to push Ozzy back as well.
Baroom!
The door flew off its hinges and tumbled across the floor. It slid and stopped at the base of the pillar that strapped Indigo in place.
Ozzy unstrapped Indigo.
“I can’t go to Earth with you, Ozzy. I have another job.”
Ozzy nodded while walking down the ramp to the outside. “I’m not planning to go to Earth. It’s the last thing I’m going to do. The first thing I’m going to do, however, is free my family from Jonas.”
He trudged to the Eagle, wishing he’d picked a different life and hoping he’d be able to see his daughter again. His boots spat up dust at every step he took across the sandy mountain base. He stopped and turned to Olympus Mons, eyeing the holographic image of a rock outcropping that covered up the true image inside—a castle-like structure in the mountain—Ozzy’s newest squatting area.
“Ozzy,” said Quad, standing next to him. “I learned something from Gragas.”
Ozzy flinched, and an ache punched him in the gut. He’d almost forgotten about Gragas and Jozi, and he had no idea if Jozi were still alive. “What’s that?”
Quad touched a button on his belt. Gragas’s voice boomed through the external mic on Quad’s helmet. “For a friend, overstepping is more important than understepping for the sake of a code.”
Quad turned it off. “I came back to help my friends. I came back to help you.”
Ozzy tilted his head to the right. “Thank you. Without you, I’d be dead, or worse, in prison.”
“I know,” replied Quad in his gruff, robotic voice. He stepped back. “I must go.”
Ozzy nodded. “I’ll see you when I see you.”
Quad crouched then jumped, his boots making an odd sound as they lifted him into the air. Whatever technology Quad had, it was something new and spectacular to witness.
Quad shot into the sky and arched over a short peak on the mountain range. He vanished from sight.
Ozzy paused. It would have been nice to keep Quad around, but life wasn’t ever that easy for O
zzy. He’d become the poster boy for things going wrong and for people double-crossing him.
He stepped forward, finding himself underneath the Eagle’s belly and near the middle of the craft where the ramp to get inside was located.
Above him was a large piece of paper taped next to the ramp and full of codes and login data for the ship.
“Way to keep it mysterious, Lyra No Tail.” Anybody could have moseyed on over and used the codes to get in the craft and steal it.
Lucky for Ozzy, he was at the base of Olympus Mons, and there wasn’t anyone in their right mind around here looking for flying rigs to take.
He gazed upon the note, framed it in his helmet cam, and took a picture. He reached up to the control box next to the ramp and typed the code. The ship shuddered and hissed loudly like Relic always did.
The ramp unfolded, setting down on the Martian sand.
He held Indigo in his arms and ambled inside.
He was in the Eagle’s lobby. This ship was a lap of luxury. Couches, fancy chairs, and a holovid were in the entry room. Corridors in all four directions led to other spacious accommodations.
He wasn’t on a ship. He was on a flying mansion.
“Ozzy,” came a voice that sounded too much like Jonas. “I have a surprise coming for you.”
Ozzy pressed a button next to the ramp opening, and the ramp moved upward and closed. He walked down a corridor lined with several doors until he made it onto the bridge.
“Holy of all Holy’s,” he said under his breath.
The space was massive and mimicked a small star cruiser’s bridge. It held a captain’s chair, a helm, and numerous stations all around. Would he need an entire crew to fly this thing?
“Ozzy, pay attention.”
Ozzy glanced at the movie screen-sized holodisplay at the room’s bow. “What is it?”
“The surprise.” Jonas’s eyes glowed. Something was making the guy a little happier than usual.
Ozzy furrowed his brow and stepped around the captain’s chair and sat down. The smooth, silky leather automatically molded to his back. “Yeah?”
Martian Insurrection (Mars Colony Chronicles Book 3) Page 17