Martian Plague

by Brandon Ellis

  “That’s not two million auric credits, sir. You’re looking at double that.”

  Ozzy didn’t have time to negotiate. “I’ll put two million down now and two million later.”

  The man smiled and strolled toward his office. “Excellent. If you come this way, we’ll get the paperwork ready—”

  Ozzy dropped his duffle bag and unzipped it, pulling out his rifle. He switched the safety off, and a loud click echoed in the building.

  The man spun on his heels at the sound. He gasped and put his hands up. His smile faded.

  “Yeah, we’re not signing anything until I get back. You have my word.” He tapped his hand on his pants pocket. “My auric credits are in my wallet. Take all the funds. You’ll see an extra five-hundred thousand for you if you keep your mouth shut.”

  “I can’t do that, sir. I’m sorry. Please don’t shoot.”

  “I’m an MMP agent from Gale Crater City.”

  The man jumped back, most likely from not wanting to be plagued than from the weapon in Ozzy’s hand. “Alright.”

  “Reach into my pocket, extract the money, and give me the access code to the S-4 Jumper over there.”

  The man did what he said, tapped the wallet on the auric transaction machine, and handed the wallet back to Ozzy.

  He nodded. “Done. The access code is O-Z-Z-Y-1-4.”

  “Wait, that’s my old…” he gave a double take. It was easy to patch into any ship’s old code if you had the equipment, but… “Where did you get that Jumper?”

  “It was built last year and has been—”

  Ozzy pointed the rifle at the guy’s head. “I don’t want to repeat myself. Tell me the truth.”

  The salesman stepped back, panic in his eyes. “We found it at a crash site in the Martian desert. We fixed it up quickly and put it up for sale.”

  “You little scoundrel. Then it’s worth half of what I paid.” He dropped his weapon. “I’m impressed though.”

  He looked at the time on the wall. It had been ten minutes since Jozi went down. “Gotta go.”

  He dashed toward Relic, reaching into his duffle bag, glad to feel his lucky charm in his hands—Lily’s picture. He pulled it out and kissed her lips, wiping a tear away from his eye. “You’ll always be with me, Lily-bug.” He held in a yell. She was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  He had to man up and get over it.

  He reached Relic and threw open the outside ramp console cover and typed the code into the panel. The ramp hissed, and steam pushed out of the airtight lining. It opened up nice and smooth. They had fixed Relic up well.

  He stepped inside and rushed to the ladder. He climbed to the upper deck and jimmied through the narrow entrance to his cockpit. He plopped into his chair.

  He slapped Lily’s picture on the flight console and turned on the outside speakers. “Open the building’s doors.”

  The man nodded from across the warehouse and pressed a button. The building’s ceiling opened.

  Ozzy flipped a switch, pressed a few levers, and the ionic engines purred. “It’s nice to have you back.”

  Relic lifted off the floor and rose through the warehouse opening, the lights of the city blaring at him like an over-illuminated circus. He pressed the throttle forward, and his boosters engaged.

  “Time to get Jozi.”

  28

  Nearing Dawes, Mars

  He blasted out of the launch tubes under Lanlee Junction and headed for Jozi and the Galactic Knight crew.

  He had the holoscreen on, channeled to the Lanlee News Network, LNN.

  “As you can see, the Dunrakee aren’t attacking them, but the crash victims are wandering far away from their downed craft…”

  They were heading in the direction of the Moonshinka Rock.

  “…movement is coming from the north of their position. We suspect it’s the Dunrakee. We’ll keep you posted if there will be any efforts to extract them.”

  The channel switched to more sobering news. Deaths were on the rise. The Martian Plague was infecting yet another city.

  He kissed Lily’s picture.

  Ozzy turned off the screen and activated autopilot. He stood and hustled out of his cockpit, down the ramp, and to his duffle bag. “Indigo.”

  He pulled it out of the bag and raced to his tool kit, digging for extra wires and stretchable bands. “Perfect.”

  He headed for the room, placed his hands on the door, and it slid open with an audible whooshing sound.

  On the inside of the room and sitting directly in the middle was a platform. He set Indigo on top and attached three wires in it. They automatically welded to Indigo, a technology Ozzy didn’t understand and didn’t question. Next, he connected the lines into the auxiliary wiring and placed the elastic bands around the rock and platform, securing it in place. He flipped a switch, turning the wires and cables from “receive mode” to “send mode.”

  His craft was now invisible to radar and any other detection arrays that the Dunrakee may have.

  He walked out of the room and climbed the ladder, the rungs cold against his fingers.

  He hurried into his cockpit. He turned on his com line and dialed the com channel registered to Jozi’s EVA.

  “Jozi, do you hear me?”

  He heard heavy breathing on the other end. A sinking sensation filled his stomach.

  “Jozi, are you able to respond?”

  More heavy breathing. Was she running?

  “Jozi, it’s Ozzy.”

  Silence.

  He made a fist and slammed it on his armrest. “I shouldn’t have left them.”

  His cockpit beeped, and a jolt of nerves ran up his spine. Relic had detected enemy craft. Two of them. They were Dunrakee, though far from his position.

  He pushed forward on his control stick, taking Relic into a dive. “They can’t detect me on their radar systems, but they can see my ship with their own eyes. I must be too high on the horizon.”

  He wished Indigo could cloak his ship as well.

  A plume of smoke rose toward the sky. He adjusted his holovid display and zoomed in on the anomaly.

  “Dammit.” Gragas’s ship wasn’t like that on the news channel a few minutes ago.

  The craft was on fire, a hole ripped through its roof, an obvious ruptured oxygen tank feeding the flame. That wouldn’t last for long when the tank emptied—the thin Mars atmosphere would quickly extinguish the fire. The hole in the ship must have happened recently.

  “Jozi,” repeated Ozzy. “Where are you located?”

  No response.

  “Jozi?”

  Nothing.

  He brought Relic lower and headed toward a large, cat-shaped rock in the distance. He didn’t see any movement or any Galactic Knights racing toward the Moonshinka. They had either been picked up by the Dunrakee or were hiding.

  But where? They couldn’t have made it to the rock already, and there was no place to hide in this area other than there.

  He clicked Jozi’s com channel again. “Give me any hint or indication you are still alive.”

  Static.

  He pushed the throttle up a notch, picking up speed and approaching the Moonshinka at a faster pace. “I’m almost there, Jozi.”

  He put the bow boosters on full, which slowed him down, and activated the ionic hover thrusters, taking Relic in for a landing.

  He lowered Relic, bringing her closer to the rock, using it to hide his craft.

  He pressed a button, and Relic hummed as she extended her skids. A thump and a jostle told him he landed. “Here goes nothing.”

  He rushed out of the cockpit and slid down the ladder. He ran to his duffle bag and hastily threw his EVA on, switched the oxygen tanks to active, and strung his rifle over his shoulder.

  He slapped his hand on the “open” button.

  A hiss resonated, and the ramp descended onto the red dirt, throwing up a puff of dust as it made contact with the ground. He took steps down the ramp onto the Martian soil
.

  He turned. Moonshinka Rock was immense. The expression in the rock’s eyes was ominous, as if they were alive and wanting to rip his arms apart. Even the fangs were realistic, along with its wide mouth, which was practically asking for dinner.

  It was a beast.

  He walked toward it, then stopped and eyed the ground. Bootprints in the red soil caught his attention.

  Jozi and the Galactic Knights had been through here. The bootprints led to the rock.

  He followed the prints. They were multiplying in numbers, all leading to every facet of the rock.

  Clever.

  But the entrance was inside the Moonshinka’s mouth. There was only one way in and one way out.

  He glanced at the sky, searching for the Dunrakee craft he thought he noticed following him on his way to the Moonshinka Rock, and turned on his outside audio sensors to hear them.

  The sky was silent and empty.

  Good.

  He stepped forward, walking cautiously toward the Moonshinka’s mouth, its fangs almost touching the ground.

  He reached the long, sharp teeth.

  “Jozi?” he said into his mic. “Do you read me?”

  No answer.

  He exhaled and walked past them into the shade of the mouth. He turned on his EVA external lights.

  More teeth. He eyed one. It had a symbol etched on it in Ancient Coptic hieroglyphs, displaying an arched door with a strangely pointed-petaled flower in the middle.

  A loud pounding sound came from outside, and Ozzy instinctively ducked. He turned off his lights and leaned against a rock wall, hiding in the shadows.

  A Dunrakee ship shot overhead, heading in a wide circle back around where it had come from. Ozzy’s craft was in stealth mode and nearly butted up against the rock. Yet, if the Dunrakee pilot had half a brain, it no doubt saw Ozzy’s S-4 Jumper.

  Another boom shook the earth. A Dunrakee craft buzzed lower this time, again making a U-turn.

  Ozzy remained still for several minutes until quiet filled the sky. He turned, flipping his lights back on, and read symbols engraved on the wall next to a tooth.

  It was an instruction manual.

  “Left, left, left, right, up, up, up, down.” His brows drew together. “What the hell does that mean?”

  Footsteps crunched against the ground and echoed inside the Moonshinka’s mouth.

  He went for his rifle.

  A shadowed figure came around a rock formation.

  Ozzy pulled the trigger.

  Wapooh!

  The butt of his rifle sunk into the crease between his shoulder and chest. A photon blast expelled, and the muzzle flashed a bright blue, highlighting the entire entrance.

  The figure fell and bounced off of the red dirt next to one of the Moonshinka fangs.

  Ozzy lowered his rifle a few inches, fingering the trigger, ready to poke another hole in the Dunrakee bastard.

  29

  Moonshinka Rock Near Dawes, Mars

  Quick as a flash, a thin metallic cord stretched into the shadows, twisted around Ozzy’s rifle barrel, and pulled, flinging the rifle out of his hands and into the daylight beyond the Moonshinka’s sharp teeth.

  It spun on the dust, making a complete circle in the crimson sand.

  A Dunrakee walked into view, the cord dangling from his hands.

  “You bubble-headed slime bucket,” growled Ozzy, crouching and leaping at the culprit.

  The Dunrakee side-stepped and put out his leg, simultaneously coming down with an elbow on Ozzy’s back.

  Ozzy grunted, tripped, and fell hard to the ground. He went to push up, then felt half a dozen boots pressing down on him and a rifle muzzle poking into his shoulder.

  Ozzy put his hands out the best he could. “You got me. Take me to your leader. I’ll be happy to be the one to take the stick out of his ass.” He knew he was a goner, so why give the Dunrakee the pleasure of his groveling?

  “I would appreciate it if your race stopped calling us bubble-heads. It’s unevolved.”

  Was that Gragas?

  A slow smiled crept on Ozzy’s face. “It’s because you are ugly assholes that have taken over Earth and won’t give my race a shred of peace.”

  The boots stepped off of him, and a hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to a standing position.

  Jozi stood in front of him. Her EVA was half covered in red dirt. She had her backpack strapped to her shoulders. “You showed up. How gracious of you.”

  Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him.

  “Where are the Dunrakee?” He glanced at Gragas, then corrected himself. “Where are the bad Dunrakee?”

  “Combing the sky, looking for us. My guess is they have inbound vehicles with foot soldiers heading our way right now. They no doubt have spotted your ship.” Gragas gestured with his hand toward the back of Moonshinka’s mouth. “Lead the way, archaeologist.”

  Ozzy shook his head. “No, no. Wait a minute. We won’t survive if we don’t leave now. They’ll have a small army on us if we don’t get in my S-4 Jumper and fly our asses out of here.”

  “We have a much higher calling than that,” responded Gragas. “If we die, then so be it.” He patted Jozi’s backpack. “We have the teleporter, and we’ll send the cure over to your scientists as soon as you find it.”

  Ozzy looked around at the Galactic Knights and to Jozi. He put his hands on his hips. “You tricked me. You didn’t crash because of a malfunction or from an attack. You faked it. You knew it would get me here.”

  “Correct. We also sent an emergency beacon to a few of Jozi’s news anchor friends,” replied Gragas.

  “Listen, Ozzy,” Jozi chimed in. “Lily—”

  Ozzy grit his teeth, loudly interrupting Jozi. “I’m not here to help you retrieve the cure. I’m here to get you to safety.” He pointed to Relic. “We have to leave right away. The Dunrakee are on their way and will kill us before we even find the cure.”

  Jozi waived her hands in the air. “No, listen, you bull-headed buffoon. I was able to use the teleporter again and got in contact with Connie and—”

  Zzeeeee!

  Ozzy looked up. “What’s that sound?”

  “Get down,” yelled Jozi, sending a forearm across Ozzy’s chest, flinging him on his back. She jumped on the ground beside him, covering the back of her helmet with her hands and going into a fetal position.

  Kakrooom!

  A blast rocked the earth, sending rock and debris onto Ozzy, pelting him like bullets from a machine gun.

  It died down, and Ozzy lifted his head. A thin stream of fire licked toward the sky. “No.” Relic was now a hulk of twisted metal and flames.

  He reached his hand toward his ship. “Lily. My Lily-bug.” Her picture was burning inside his ship, turning into the same smoke that filled his view.

  “Get up,” demanded Jozi, grabbing Ozzy’s EVA and thrusting him toward the back of the mouth. “Just listen to me. Connie said—”

  A photon blast zipped into the stone cat’s mouth, slamming into the rock and sending scorched chunks to the ground.

  Gragas and his Galactic Knights flew into action, pulling out their weapons and leaning against the inner rock walls.

  Ozzy gulped. A mass of Dunrakee grunts was heading their way. They were running with their weapons drawn, ready to end every single person standing in the Moonshinka Rock’s mouth.

  He dove for his weapon and pulled it into his chest.

  He went to a knee and aimed, pressing on the trigger more than a dozen times and sending photon volleys at the Dunrakee soldiers.

  Wapooh! Wapooh!

  The Knights fired at the oncoming Dunrakee horde as well, though with much more precision and expertise. Several Dunrakee jerked back and forth before falling to the ground, most likely dying before they knew what hit them.

  Gragas looked over his shoulder and continued to fire. He eyed Ozzy. “Get the cure. We’ll hold them off while we can.” He cocked his head toward another Galactic Knight. “Dizzy, follow Ozzy
and Jozi. Find a way inside Dawes from underneath and set up the charges. We’ll torch this city nice and pretty.”

  A large Galactic Knight wearing a bulky pack and a strapped, thick photon cannon hanging down at his hip, hurried toward Ozzy.

  Jozi rushed over to Ozzy and pinned him against a rock wall, her forearm against his chest. “For the last time, listen to what I have to say. Your daughter is alive, but there isn’t much time. She is alive, but not well.”

  “What?” She was lying. She had to be. She was trying to get Ozzy to find the cure. Hell, he’d do the same if he were in her position.

  “She’s alive. I’m dead serious.” Jozi didn’t blink. Her eyes didn’t dilate. She didn’t even look away.

  Ozzy’s mouth slackened. She was telling the truth. His hands went numb in shock, and he dropped his weapon. His daughter still had time? How much time? Was she breathing and hanging on for dear life?

  Everything went silent. He looked around. Beams were blasting against the Moonshinka Rock, and Galactic Knights were blowing divots in Dunrakee grunts.

  A loud slap smacked against his helmet. It was Jozi. “Ozzy, we have to get the cure.”

  He looked at her blankly, then nodded. “Yes, the cure.” He picked up his rifle and turned around, repeating the instructions he read not too long ago. “Left, left, left, right, up, up, up, down.”

  Jozi rushed to the back of the mouth, pressing her hand on a dead-end wall. It wasn’t evident that there was an opening here, but according to the hieroglyphs, there was.

  Ozzy approached, turning on his EVA lights. The wall lit up. It was made out of granite, something completely different from the red rock all around.

  He slid his hands over the granite, not seeing any indentations or lines that might indicate a way inside—a door.

  A blast rocked the ground, and Ozzy lost his balance. He fell on his side. Several Galactic Knights were on the ground and not moving. The others, including Gragas, continued to fire.

  He jumped back up and studied the wall. There wasn’t anything on it. No Coptic writing or markings of any kind.