“We need both.” He held his index finger up. “One to get there, and…” he held up another finger, “one to dig into the mountain.” He knocked on the door. “Jonas, we need a ship and a mole digger to get the Ark.”
“Go away. I’m busy.”
“Jonas, come on.”
The door opened and out came a few of Jonas’s guards. They closed the door quietly and were holding photon rifles, planting themselves in front of the entryway.
Ozzy got the hint and spun on his heels, walking back toward the Miner.
“How much money do you have in your auric wallet?” Jozi asked.
“Twelve and a half million and some change.”
She eyed the Flying Miner like she would be tested on the thing. “We need extra boosters and fresh energy cells to get us quickly to Olympus Mons, correct?”
Ozzy nodded.
She grinned, pointing at a hovercar in Jonas’s driveway. “I have a plan.”
19
Tagus Valles, Mars
“This is your plan?” Ozzy should have known. Anything dealing with Jozi would have to go the legal way.
They stood in line at a local parts warehouse.
“You want an extra booster, and we can get it here.”
“This is going to cost me.” He pulled out his auric wallet, not wanting to part with anymore funds.
“It will not cost you much.”
People stood around, shuffling their feet and sighing their impatience. Pallet jacks and forklifts moved throughout the warehouse, pulling engine and thruster parts from the large shelves.
None of them knew a small group of Dunrakee starfighters were on their way. The less they knew, the better.
Clangs and pings reverberated throughout the structure, reminding Ozzy of his old days back at the factory with his brother when they were teenagers—before college and family life took over and before the High Judge sent him on his crooked life of forbidden archaeology digs.
“Next,” called a woman at the cashier’s counter. She had on glasses and looked past them like they were a huge inconvenience, similar to the way she looked at the customer before them.
Ozzy leaned forward, pressing his hands on the counter.
“What do you need, sir?”
“H-3 Boosters, military grade.” He feigned a smile.
“We don’t have any Hover-3 Boosters. We have the next step up, the H-5 Renegade Boosters, sir.” Her voice whined like the Flying Miner’s gears.
That would cost him a pretty auric, and he didn’t have any auric he wanted to part with in the first place. But he was in a hurry so he’d negotiate.
Jozi poked him in the ribs, whispering, “It’s for humanity.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He held up his auric wallet. “I’ll take one. I’ll need it delivered and attached to my craft.”
“That will cost you more.”
Ozzy blinked his disappointment. “I figured. How long will it take your boys to hook it up?”
“A few hours, sir.”
Ozzy leaned in closer. “We don’t have a few hours.” The Dunrakee would be here in less than an hour if not sooner. “How do I speed it up?” He shook the wallet in his hand.
“We could send techbots. With them, it’d take ten minutes at most to install your boosters.” She paused and pushed her glasses higher up on the bridge of her nose. “That’ll cost you several million auric credits alone, sir.”
Crap.
He slapped the wallet on the counter, rubbing the back of his neck. “About how much is the total?”
She calculated the cost on her holopad. “Seven million twenty-two thousand auric.”
He let out an audible sigh loud enough for Jozi to hear.
There goes his way off the planet anytime soon. He gave Jonas’s address where the Miner was parked and went to leave.
He paused, glaring up at a holoimage on the wall. It was Robert Baldwin in his white High Judge robe, his white pants and white hat, standing at a podium giving a speech. At the top of the image was a quote from Robert endorsing this company. The image then changed to a beautiful ionic engine, one this business manufactured. But he saw something on Robert’s chest that looked oddly familiar, and something he’d never seen on Robert before.
He turned to the cashier. “Can you switch back to the last image?”
“What are you doing, Ozzy?” inquired Jozi.
“Next,” yelled the cashier.
Ozzy didn’t move and put his hand up for the man behind him to wait. “Listen, lady, I need to see that last image.”
She touched her earpiece. “Bobby, we have a problem up here.”
The image switched to a beautiful Mars sunset with the company’s logo. “Just switch it back,” said Ozzy.
Jozi tugged on his arm. “Why?”
“Pull out your pendant.”
“Ozzy, let’s go.”
“Please, Jozi.”
She reached down her jumpsuit collar and pulled out a red pendant.
Ozzy inspected it. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Ozzy.
Jozi rubbed her forehead. “What’s going on?”
“Sir, you’re holding up the line,” said the man waiting behind Ozzy.
Ozzy shot him a look. “Just wait a bit longer, because this wonderful lady behind the counter is going to switch the image to the one with the High Judge at the podium.”
“No, I’m not, sir.”
The image changed to the High Judge again, apparently going through its short slide show and back to Robert. Ozzy pointed, blurting out, “Jozi, look.” There was a pendant hanging down on Robert’s chest, and it was very similar to Jozi’s. “How many people on Mars own that? I thought your dad made it?”
Jozi’s face held no emotion as she walked toward the image, her eyes boring on Robert’s pendant. “Holy Mars.”
The image changed.
Jozi spun, glaring at the cashier. “Get Robert Baldwin’s image back on the wall.” She pulled out her MMP agent ID and shoved it into the woman’s face. “Now.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The lady typed on her holocomputer, and the images shuffled to Robert again.
“Pause,” demanded Jozi.
The cashier stopped the image.
“Zoom in on that pendant.”
The cashier did.
Jozi gasped. The pendant had a child with a mom and dad. Ryan was etched at the bottom. It was identical to Jozi’s. “That’s my family’s pendant. My dad made only three.” Her hand flew to her mouth, and she closed her eyes. “Wait. No, he made four. One for his estranged brother. But why does Robert have it?”
A siren blared in the store, and everyone looked up, their eyes darting around, wondering why in the hell a city warning was going off, which meant that everyone was to get to their homes and seek shelter. They usually came on when ridiculous dust storms or gigantic dirt devils were on their way, but the last time they blasted throughout the cities was when the Dunrakee terrorists took over Dawes a few months ago.
“I don’t know why Robert has the same pendant, but right now, we have to get going.” Ozzy grabbed Jozi’s arm and pulled her toward the exit.
“Ma’am,” cried Jozi, holding her ID in the air and waving it for the cashier to see. “This is official MMP undercover business. We need the techbots to install the booster regardless of the city’s warnings.”
The cashier nodded. “We support our MMP agents, and we’ll send the techbots.”
“Thank you,” yelled Ozzy to the cashier, pulling Jozi through the doorway.
20
Tagus Valles, Mars
Ozzy stepped into the Miner, smelling the fresh fuel cells and the new ionic Hover-5 Renegade Booster’s fumes wafting into the craft. The techbots had left a few minutes ago.
With the new boosters, they’d make it to Olympus Mons in no time flat.
“You coming?” Ozzy asked, the sirens blaring in the city. He hadn’t checked the news, but he was sure the warnings were for the Dunrakee
squadron coming their way.
Jozi had her arms folded across her chest and was standing in Jonas’s yard next to the Miner. “Yes. Just looking at the last beautiful traces of this city. It’ll be scrapped soon.”
“Not if Jonas has anything to say about it.”
Ozzy could tell there was more on her mind, even more than the coming bubble-head raid. “You wondering if Robert is your dad’s brother?”
“He’s not my dad’s brother, but wherever he got that pendant, I sure as hell want to know.”
“We need to hurry,” said Ozzy. “We can talk about it on our way.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if I want to talk abou it.” Jozi put her helmet on.
Wapooh!
Jozi flipped onto her back, yelping loudly. She slapped her shoulder and rolled on the grass. “I’ve been hit.”
Ozzy ducked inside, grabbing his rifle. “Where did the shot come from?”
“I don’t know,” her voice was high, no doubt from the pain of the photon blast engulfing her. “Maybe at three o’clock from your angle? I’m finding cover on the other side of the Miner.”
Wapooh! Wapooh!
Several photon blasts hit the craft. From his angle, Ozzy couldn’t tell from where the blasts were coming. Smoke billowed from the singe marks on the ship.
“Throw me my rifle,” yelled Jozi.
Ozzy grabbed it and ran to the entrance. He threw it into the grassy yard near where he thought Jozi was.
He curled back inside the ship. “You get it?”
“Thanks for the crappy throw.”
He turned on the engines. The holodisplay beeped awake, and he swiped through cam views, trying to find the culprit.
Wapooh!
A photon beam came from the charred trees. A woman with long, pink hair streaked in bright blue and wearing bright red lipstick was crouched beside a tree. She had one eye looking through a rifle scope and her finger on the trigger. Two long daggers were sheathed to her side.
“It’s Sonya Zeld,” said Ozzy. She still wanted the damn capsule that had the map to the Ark. This woman was relentless.
Wapooh!
“She’s not letting me come around the corner to get in the Miner, Ozzy,” cried Jozi.
“Run behind the mansion. The Miner is hiding Zeld’s visual of you. Use it to your advantage.”
More blasts screamed by the entryway.
Jozi growled. “That witch.” Her breathing came heavy. “I’m running behind the mansion now. You have to go.”
Ozzy strapped the rifle around his shoulder and sat at the cockpit. He shook his head and spoke into his helmet mic. “I’ll come around and pick you up.”
“You can’t get that thing to fit back here. Get going and retrieve that Ark. Hopefully, it saves humanity and doesn’t end it.”
If the Ark didn’t end humanity, the Dunrakee surely would. The Martian Marines were well equipped, but they were still a small brigade, and the young men and women hadn’t fought in a real fight ever.
Ozzy shook his head at Jozi’s comment. “Then run your butt back over to the Miner. I’ll throw cover fire.”
“Get going, Ozzy. And promise me something?”
“What?”
“Come back alive.”
“That’s my plan.”
“Good. I’m turning my mic off.”
Static filled the com line.
Ozzy pressed his lips together tightly. It was probably for the better. He did things better alone, plus he wouldn’t be bringing her more misfortune by her simply being in the same room as him.
He pulled back on the lever and closed the Flying Miner’s door. A pang rang across the Miner from Zeld’s shots hitting the craft’s exterior armor. “I’ll see you when I see you, Jozi.”
He spun the craft around, heading for the city’s exit. He typed in Jonas’s com channel, whose fat face appeared on the screen, perspiration all over his forehead.
“What do you need?” Jonas was out of breath. “I’m gathering my militia as we speak. We will cut the Dunrakee off before they get here.”
“Do me a favor?”
Jonas bared his teeth. “No more favors.”
“You have Sonya Zeld in one of your trees trying to kill anyone who exits your home. Kill her.”
“That piece of Mars shanks,” growled Jonas. “Alright. I’m on it. Gotta go.”
“Wait,” said Ozzy.
Jonas held up his finger, ready to turn off his com line. He sighed. “What is it now?”
“Jozi is outside. Let her in and get her in your underground bunker.”
He gave a thumbs-up. “I will. Now you owe me one.” Jonas thought for a moment. “Can she fly a ship?”
“Yes, why?”
Jonas grinned. “Just curious.” He winked.
“What are you going to have her do?”
The screen blipped off.
“That opportunistic weasel,” Ozzy said under his breath. He cranked the control stick and flew over several large, round buildings, heading toward Tagus Valles’s exit.
The city’s sirens changed, its rhythm quickening and becoming even louder, and roared throughout the city. Red emergency lights installed on all the building tops flashed on.
Krackow!
An orange mushroom cloud enveloped the exit. Sparks and flames flew upward and outward, and the metallic beams holding the exit stations together shifted and crashed to the ground, taking the rest of the station with it.
The Dunrakee had arrived.
21
Tagus Valles, Mars
Ozzy gasped and pulled left, banking away from the bright explosion that filled his screen. Orange, yellow, and red colors burst outward. The metallic shield catalysts forming this portion of the graviton shield were twisted and broken in half and falling to the ground.
The Flying Miner jerked to the side from the blast’s strong force, tipping the bulky machine. Ozzy squeezed the control stick, leaned to the side, and cranked it into a slow roll to turn the craft to a more intense degree.
His rifle and gear clanged against the walls and ceiling, along with tools that weren’t fastened to the racks, and pounded to the floor the moment he straightened the craft.
He pulled back when Dunrakee boomerang-winged starfighters flew through the dying fire, putting Ozzy in a steep incline toward the top of the graviton dome.
He glanced at his display screen, readying to activate his extra booster. It’d take his craft to twice its speed, and with its ultra-thick armor, he’d smash as many starfighters trying to get through the exit as he could.
He leveled the Miner, then sent it into a sharp decline toward the exit. More Dunrakee starfighters were flying through.
He turned on his com channel, readying to call Jonas to warn him to get his and Jozi’s asses into the bunker.
A blue photon blast flew from behind him and toward the exit from where the Dunrakee were coming. A Dunrakee craft exploded, turning into a spectacular ball of red and orange flames and debris. It fell toward an expressway, slamming into the wide road and sending a secondary blast up and into the air.
Another Dunrakee ship turned into a fireworks display, shooting bluish-white sparks outward.
Ozzy kept his craft on a trajectory toward the exit. He split his holodisplay, bringing up the rear cams. A small fleet of badass starfighters was sending photon beams at the oncoming Dunrakee.
He zoomed in on the starfighters and grinned. Jonas’s crew. The Earth’s moon was painted on the nose and wings of the starfighters, along with the letters J and M with a silly lightning streak slashing between them.
The craft were small but maneuverable and were shaped like a triangle with long wings extended out their sides.
They were doing a damn good job at tearing the Dunrakee Mars-holes to pieces.
But a shitload of oxygen was being sucked out of the dome while more Dunrakee ships entered.
The city’s authorities needed to close the graviton shield over the exit stations at t
his very moment or all oxygen would be siphoned.
They needed to close it soon, or it could kill Jozi along with the rest of the inhabitants that lived here.
He switched his H-5 Renegade Booster to activation mode. The engines revved, sending more fuel cells to the H-5. A loud pop echoed, and Ozzy’s back sunk into his chair.
“Holy Mars.” He flew at double his speed in a matter of seconds. He screamed past Dunrakee starfighters. He swiped his finger over the screen, widening it, and leaned forward.
He was closing in on the hole that was now the domed city’s exit. A Dunrakee starfighter slipped through the opening and inside Tagus Valles, not realizing what was directly on the other side—a big, rectangular-shaped, flying box with boomerang wings called the Flying Miner—and heading right for it.
Ozzy didn’t move, keeping the target in his sights.
The starfighter banked left.
Too late.
Krakooooj!
The Miner bucked back, taking the full brunt of the impact. Flames licked up at Ozzy’s screen, and the Miner jostled as he imagined how an Earth hurricane might jostle a house.
Ozzy sat straighter. He was less than twenty meters from the exit that would lead him to the harsh, outside, red dust and butterscotch-filled skies.
He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.
Another starfighter shot through the hole, pulling up.
The Miner rocked back, taking the punishment like a god, plowing the Dunrakee to bits and pieces and sending puffs of smoke and debris in the air.
He zipped through the hole, moving faster and faster. The new ionic H-5 Renegade Boosters were definitely kicking in.
His eyes widened. The sky was painted with Dunrakee ships, and more were coming toward Tagus Valles.
He switched to rear cams. The graviton shields were repairing themselves and extending over Tagus Valles’ busted-out hole where the exit stations were five minutes ago.
The town would be safe once those graviton shields completely closed.
He pushed his control stick down, heading toward the terrain below. He’d stay low, hopefully keeping himself out of more trouble.
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