“I’m trying.”
“One of them shot a photon charge. It’s incoming,” warned Jozi, panicked.
The craft pitched into a descent, and Ozzy went flying through the roof’s opening. He flipped and landed with a thud. He shakily stood and walked toward the pilot’s chair, letting his magnetic boots do their job and keep him from tumbling toward the seat.
Jozi pulled back on the control stick and swiped her finger across the holographic display. The roof hissed when it shut.
Ozzy jumped into his seat, patting his EVA. He paused, his body stiff as a mummy. His EVA pocket was unzipped. He let out an exasperated breath, and his heart about stopped. “Shit. I don’t have the capsule.”
The map to the Ark of the Concordant was gone.
13
Outlawed Zone Four, Mars
Jozi veered the craft to the right. “What do you mean you don’t have the capsule?”
A loud bang filled the cockpit, and the craft vibrated.
Ozzy patted his entire body down, his eyebrows rising to the top of his forehead. “I don’t have it.”
Jozi dipped the S-99. “Oh Mars. Where could you have lost it?” There was a sense of relief in her tone that was hard not to miss.
“Somewhere back there. It probably fell with the lopper and is sitting on the ground right now.”
“Good. It’s lost and for the better.”
“What?” Ozzy shot her a menacing look. “Without it, I can’t find the Ark.”
“And like I said, for the better, Ozzy. I’m not willing to let the entire population burn in flames because a crime lord couldn’t figure out how to work a weapon of mass destruction correctly.”
Ozzy shook his head. “Hell no. Turn around.”
“I’m sorry, Ozzy, but no.”
Ozzy switched the copilot controls offline and reclaimed the helm. He pulled the Miner into a wide, arcing turn.
Jozi clenched her jaws. “Don’t do it, Ozzy.” She looked at the radar. “Incoming."
The craft shuddered, and Ozzy jerked forward into his chair’s restraints. “They can shoot all they want. They aren’t breaching the hull.”
“You’re veering into the S-9 MMP ships.” She gripped her armrests. “If you want the Ark that badly, then land at Olympus Mons and start digging. Heading right into a Mars Ministry Police storm isn’t going to do it for you.”
It was a lousy attempt to get Ozzy to turn around. He pushed the throttle to gain more speed and eyed the holovid.
A handful of S-9’s, in front of a red mountain range backdrop, were flying at him.
“You know as well as I do that I wouldn’t be able to find the Ark without that map.” An S-9’s missile extended from one of its wings. “Olympus Mons is the biggest volcano in the solar system. I’d spend weeks looking, if not months.” The S-9 let loose a rocket. Blue flames shot out from its rear, sending the missile like a laser at the Miner.
“Brace,” said Ozzy, narrowing his eyes.
The missile slammed into the Miner, pushing the ship upward a few meters. Ozzy and Jozi shook from the impact, but their ship easily held.
“Move out of the way, Ozzy.” She grabbed a small bulge under her EVA suit that was in the middle of her chest. It was her pendant, and she wrapped her fingers around it, crinkling her suit.
Ozzy steadied the craft, readying to ram some S-9’s at full bore. He ignored her warning. “We need the capsule in order to find the Ark’s exact location.”
Jozi reached for Ozzy, grabbing his control stick. “No, those are MMP agents you’re about to ram. They’re my friends and my family.” She pulled on the stick, and the Miner banked hard to the right.
The S-9’s flew by.
Ozzy batted her hand away. “Yeah, and that MMP family of yours wants to try you as a traitor and shove you in prison.” He squeezed his fingers tighter around the control stick. “That’s some kind of family you’ve got.”
Jozi sat straighter. “That’s all I have. Regardless, I’ll prove my case. I’ll be exonerated.”
“Fine.” He waved his hand in front of the holographic display, cutting it in two. “I’m searching for the capsule.” He dipped the craft and veered left. A photon blast yanked him forward and back into his seat, but again it did no damage.
He pulled up the ground cam just as another loud explosion rocked the ship, and they bounced up and down.
“When are your dumbass friends going to realize their blasts aren’t going to make it through the armor? This is a flying tank but even bulkier,” growled Ozzy.
A loud beep filled the craft. The radar blinked in the upper left portion of the holoscreen. “More Ministry ships. Ten and counting,” Jozi said.
He dropped the ship lower.
Jozi gritted her teeth. “When are you going to realize how stupid you are for wanting to grab the Ark for Jonas?”
He didn’t reply. He didn’t know if he was stupid or brilliant. If this Dunrakee armada arrived sooner rather than later like Jonas and the crime syndicates were predicting, then this Ark was needed now.
It was either the Dunrakee killing every man, woman, and child on Mars or the Ark of the Concordant doing so—that is if Jonas didn’t know how to use it properly.
“I’d rather put my chances on the Ark saving everyone because we have no chance against the Dunrakee.”
A photon cannon charge cracked against the side of the Miner. Shitloads of Ministry ships were now on his tail. He brought up the rear camera view and eyed more than ten ships.
“We have twelve bogies, not ten. These are starfighters, and they are fast.” The fighters were almond-shaped, and their long, boomerang wings made them quick and maneuverable.
Jozi typed on the holokeypad with a pained expression. “Fine, I better not regret this, Ozzy. I’m going to bring up metal detection. That’s what the capsule was made out of, right?” Her hand hovered over a few buttons. “Metal?”
Ozzy almost gave her a double take. Did she just agree with him?
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t make me change my mind, Ozzy. I feel like a complete and absolute lunatic for helping you. What is the capsule made out of?”
This thing wasn’t called an S-99 Flying Miner for nothing. It was created to find minerals and ore. It had the best detection array money could buy, but he didn’t know the exact components and minerals that made up the capsule. He’d have to guess. “Delete iron from your detection sequence. Mars is covered in that.” He thought for a moment, moving the craft closer to the ground. “Look up nickel, chrome, alloy, silver… heck, pick them all, just don’t pick iron.”
The Miner shuddered, and Ozzy jerked. “That was about a dozen shots at once, Jozi.” He grinned. “This thing is a beast.” He patted the arm on his chair. “I might take one of these for my own.”
A ding echoed in the ship. “Found it.” Jozi zoomed in on the screen, showing the capsule inside a small hole in the red sand. “It made a pretty big divot, but it’s intact.”
Ozzy eyed the coordinates. It was less than a minute away. He unstrapped. “Take over the controls and land next to the capsule. I’ll open the main door and grab it.”
Jozi put the ship in a long turn. She straightened it out and slowed, hovering over the capsule.
Ozzy hurried to the door.
Jozi lowered the craft. “It’s twenty meters below us. I’m taking us in for a landing.”
A loud ping sounded, and the Miner tipped and sent Ozzy to the floor.
Another direct hit.
“I’m three meters above it. Jump out, and I’ll use this flying contraption to shield you from any weapons fire.” She then said in a soft whisper, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Ozzy slapped the “open” button and jumped to the ground. A puff shot upward when he landed, creating a crimson cloud full of dust and particles.
He went into a crouch and rolled beneath the Miner.
Whapoo! Whapoo!
The craft jostled bac
k and forth from more photon fire.
Ozzy rushed to the capsule, pushed sand aside, and snagged it. He tucked it in his pocket and zipped it up. “Coming back inside,” he yelled.
“There’s something wrong.” The Miner teetered. “Get out from under there.”
The craft was puttering, losing hover boosters.
“The battery charges are dying,” she hollered.
“You gotta be kidding me,” he moaned, running out from under the craft.
A loud whine and the thrusters petered out, spitting out its last breaths.
Ozzy slid past the craft’s edge.
The Flying Miner fell.
Wompa!
Sand sprayed into the air, and dust stirred into a fog, covering the entire ship from view.
Photon cannons from the Ministry ships ripped across the roof, sending black smoke into the sky.
Ozzy hurried toward the ship, pushing through the blinding dust. He pressed his hands on the thick exterior, moving them across, trying to locate the door’s opening.
He pounded his fist on the door. “Why is it closed?”
“It malfunctioned. This big heap of metal malfunctioned, too.”
“Open it,” he barked.
“The power is off. I’m trying.”
“Why did the power shut off in the first place?”
“I don’t know.”
Damn.
Ozzy stepped back and out of the rising dust. A pair of MMP ships were coming in for a landing, their warning lights blinking red and yellow and highlighting the sand.
“They’ll be cuffing me any minute. Override the system.”
Jozi sighed. He could hear boots pounding on the floor through the helmet mic; she was most likely searching for something. “Hold on.”
Ozzy stepped into the dying red cloud. He pounded his fist on the door again. “Just override it, Jozi.”
“Just a second. Let me think.”
He went around the back of the Miner, crouching low. By now, the MMP agents were probably headed his way, walking across the sand with their rifles in hand.
He peeked around the corner, trying to catch a glimpse of the oncoming agents. His stomach about hit the ground. They were indeed on their way, though walking slowly, and aiming their weapons at the ship.
He slammed another fist against the exterior wall. “Jozi, hurry up. They’re almost here.”
14
Outlawed Zone Four, Mars
“Ozzy, I don’t know what to do. We’ll have to wait until the Miner’s solar rings charge the fuel cells.”
Ozzy ducked around the back of the Miner for the second time. “They’re almost on top of me.” He got down on one knee and started digging under the craft, piling the sand on both sides of him, excavating like a dog. “How much time until the cells charge and are powerful enough to open a damn door?”
“Fifteen minutes.” There was a pause. “Hold on.”
Ozzy kept digging, moving his arms as fast as they could go, cupping the sand and pushing it aside.
“Twelve minutes.”
The cloud that swirled in the air and around the ship from the hard landing was dissipating.
Not good.
He looked around at the pile he was making. Even if he could make a space big enough for him under the Flying Miner, the piles of sand would give him away.
He spread it out and moved deeper into his hole, pushing more sand aside. He was almost completely under the ship. “This is ridiculous,” he shouted. If they didn’t catch him under here, then they were brain dead.
He hoped the latter.
“Run, Ozzy.”
“I have another plan.”
“What is it?”
He dug himself deeper under the craft. “No time to talk.”
He pushed more sand toward the opening.
He was cramped as hell, but this was his only real option from being captured.
Footsteps approached.
“They’re here,” Ozzy whispered, making himself into a ball the best he could. It was a shitty makeshift hole, and he could see out the top of the pile of sand he put in front of it. If he could see out, then the MMP could surely see in.
“Ozzy? Where are you?”
Ozzy could see one of the retractable diamond-tipped drills curled up in the bottom of the craft. “Under the Flying Miner.”
There was a long pause.
“How?”
“I dug.”
Boots appeared from around the ship, and an agent walked by.
“They are surrounding the craft,” Ozzy said. “No way I can get in once the craft has enough solar charge to open the door.”
“I’m thinking up a plan.”
“Well, think fast.”
“I’m looking for a hatch in the floor. Maybe there is a way up through the bottom?”
Hope hit Ozzy like a hovertrain slamming into a building. “Look for it, please.”
“I’m in the process.”
Ozzy crouched lower, moving his body as far away from the hole’s opening as possible. More boots stepped by his position.
A pang vibrated across the craft.
Then another.
Ozzy’s com line crackled.
“What’s that?” Jozi was nearly blind inside the craft. The lights were probably off, and so was the holodisplay. All she had were her EVA lights. Any attempt right now to turn on the holodisplay would sap the much-needed energy from the recharging fuel cells.
“Get your rifle. They might be breaking in.”
“How? Lou said this thing is practically unbreakable,” replied Jozi.
Ozzy didn’t know. Maybe they could override the system, get it charged, and open the door on their own?
Hell, there was always a way into something. He should know. As a forbidden archaeologist, he did it for a living. If you had the right materials and the right tools—
“Wait,” said Ozzy, interrupting his own thoughts. “Is there a steel cutter or perhaps welding supplies on the back rack?”
“I’ll look.”
Another pang.
They were trying to break in, but with what? They’d need a diamond cutter like this Flying Miner had on its retractable drills.
His com line crackled. A third line patched into his channel.
“It turns out you had a brother at the mine. He ran the mine?”
Ozzy jerked back in surprise. He brought his wrist to his helmet’s visor, looking for the record button. He swiped over the small holographic display, pressed record, and remained quiet.
The voice was Robert Baldwin. “And, oops, sorry, Ozzy. There was an accident at the mine. We couldn’t contain it.”
Ozzy’s heart sank, and he bared his teeth. “What did you do?”
“It wasn’t what I did. It was what you and our new criminal-at-large, Jozi, did.”
“Why are you setting me up?” Jozi asked.
Ozzy swallowed hard. “Is my brother alive?” His voice cracked, knowing the inevitable. Robert wasn’t in the business of keeping his enemies and their friends and family alive, especially Ozzy’s. Robert was in the business of getting his way, no matter what it took.
“I don’t know. It turns out, however, that the accident wasn’t an accident. A few bombs, concocted by two criminal minds—Ozzy and Jozi—were left at the mine and detonated shortly after you escaped.”
Ozzy sucked in a gush of air. “Is my brother alive? Please give me that answer. You owe me that much after all the shit you’ve put me through.”
“We’re still counting the bodies. I’ll let you know if your brother shows up in the body count.”
The line clicked off.
Ozzy sucked in a deep breath. He turned off his voice recorder.
More boots surrounded the craft.
“I’m sorry, Ozzy,” Jozi said.
It was true that Ozzy was a bane to his brother and his entire family. Why the hell did he try to convince himself otherwise? Whatever Ozzy touched, did, or said, his
family took the brunt of it all, and the only thing he had left was his daughter, and that’s who he loved the most.
If he didn’t stop now, he’d put her in even more mortal danger.
He leaned back, rocking back and forth in the sand, his eyes drawn to his hands cupping both of his knees.
“Ozzy, are you there?”
“Jozi.” He continued to rock back and forth, not believing he was going to say this. “I’m turning myself in. Once you have enough charge, don’t fly away in this ship. They’ll find you. Dig this puppy under the ground as far as you can go. Try to find a way to the Ark.” He unzipped his pocket and pulled out the capsule. He set it on the ground next to him.
“Ozzy—”
“Don’t try to stop me.”
“I’m not. I think it’s a good idea.”
Ozzy furrowed his brow then nodded his head in understanding. Of course, she did. She was MMP through and through and thought what she called her family would have her back.
They wouldn’t.
Jozi continued, “Tell my friends out there that I’ll step out of the craft as soon as I can. I’ll try to get you a better sentence.”
Ozzy scrunched his eyebrows closer together. “Jozi, you don’t know Robert. He won’t go easy on you. You have information on him he doesn’t want you to have.”
“Don’t be silly, Ozzy. I’ve known him my entire life. He’s like a dad to me. Well, a distant dad.”
“Jozi, don’t be foolish.” Ozzy shook his head. It didn’t matter. This was her life. If she wanted to be an idiot, so be it.
He tilted his head to the side. “But, Jozi, if you decide to be intelligent about this, then hook up Indigo to the central processing unit. You will be invisible on all radar. No one would be able to locate you unless they physically saw you. I’m leaving the capsule underneath here. So, when you are up and running, lift off a few meters and move a few meters to the side. Land, get out of the Miner, and retrieve this capsule as fast as possible.”
“Ozzy, we’ll be fine.”
Ozzy ignored her. “Listen, if you wise up and get the capsule, dig your way to the Ark with the Miner. Once you locate the Ark, extract it. Then get it to Jonas Moon as fast as you can. He’ll pay you a lot of money for it. You can then live in an underground city in luxury for a while. Tell Jonas that by my orders he needs to take care of you. At least for a while. Do you understand?”
Mars Colony Chronicles (Books 1 - 5): A Space Opera Box Set Adventure Page 30