Martian Earth (Mars Colony Chronicles Book 4)

by Brandon Ellis

  Ozzy narrowed his eyes and brought his rifle into position, aiming it at one of the Dunrakee soldiers.

  Gragas put his hand on Ozzy’s shoulder and said softly, “Hold until I say. Do you understand?”

  Ozzy nodded. He understood these Dunrakee bastards were about to get what they deserved. But he’d wait.

  Jozi brought her rifle over the roof’s peak, targeting a Dunrakee. “In position. Give me the go-ahead, and I’ll blast three of these Dunrakee before they know what hit them.”

  Something moved across the street.

  Ozzy raised his rifle again. “They are positioning in the trees. They’ll have a clean shot at us.”

  “That’s Quad,” replied Gragas.

  Ozzy jerked his head back in surprise. “How did he get over there so quickly?” More importantly, undetected.

  “Again,” Gragas said. “It’s Quad. He’s what humans would call the badass of badasses.”

  As if Gragas weren’t already a badass himself.

  Ozzy watched more trees to make sure the Dunrakee troops weren’t setting up snipers. He spotted a man with a photon blaster pointed down at the soldiers along with several others. Dozens of villagers were in trees, weapons drawn, and ready to pounce.

  Ozzy v’d his eyebrows. “What’s going on?” He motioned toward the Dunrakee villagers in the trees. “You’re going to get them killed.”

  “The governance treats us more or less as slaves. These villagers would rather defend my Galactic Knights than continue the terrible life that the governance has forced upon them. Very few of us are as free as your race, and I suspect it’s going to get worse,” responded Gragas.

  Ozzy rolled his eyes. He wanted to tell Gragas to cry him a river or get a pair of balls. It served them right for taking what wasn’t theirs.

  Gragas touched the portion of his mask that covered his ear. He nodded. “Twenty seconds and the Galactic Knights will be above us in our ship. They will engage and then we will.”

  The Dunrakee grunts clicked in their ammo charge packs and filed in rank. A lead soldier spoke to them. He motioned at several areas in the village.

  A roar ripped across the sky. The Dunrakee glanced at the heavens. A large and daunting craft descended. It had the Galactic Knights mask insignia on its belly, lit up by blue thrusters slowing the craft into a hover.

  The belly opened and cannons withdrew, spinning and targeting.

  Quad jumped from his position, landing next to the line of soldiers.

  Gragas stood and leaped over the roof’s peak, dashed forward, and jumped to the ground, rushing to the Dunrakee’s position.

  Men and women villagers repelled from the trees and held their guns at the troops.

  The soldiers were quickly overrun, outnumbered tenfold.

  The troops jolted in a start. Many dropped their weapons and held their arms down and close to their sides—a Dunrakee sign of surrender.

  “Don’t move,” Gragas yelled, approaching the line of troops. “You do, you die.”

  Ozzy glanced at Jozi. “That was fast.”

  Quad rushed the leader, picked him up by the collar, and tossed him out of the way.

  He stepped into one of the Dunrakee craft and punched a panel. Sparks flew, highlighting Quad’s mask.

  He hurried to the next craft and the next, destroying the flight consoles.

  Any chance to fly away was gone, and any opportunity to report or ask for backup also wasn’t going to happen.

  “Did they have this planned for a long while?” asked Jozi.

  From the looks of it, Ozzy figured the villagers had some sort of scenario devised against Dunrakee soldiers if they ever needed to use it.

  Seven Galactic Knights repelled from their craft, landing on the street next to Gragas and the surrendering soldiers.

  “Let’s go,” ordered Porgas, nudging Ozzy.

  Ozzy didn’t move, but Jozi followed, rushing over the rooftop and to the ground, aiming her weapon at the troops.

  Ozzy rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll go,” he said to himself. This wasn’t his mission, and anything slowing it down was only getting in the way.

  He went to stand but heard a branch snap somewhere behind him. A muffled scream came shortly after.

  He twisted around, glancing in the backyard. A soldier had Zalas, and his hand was wrapped around the little girl’s mouth.

  The Dunrakee pulled her toward the forest lining the property and held a gun to her head, not noticing Ozzy.

  Ozzy’s heart leaped to his throat, forming a knot. “The hell you will,” he muttered. He wanted to yell for Jozi or Gragas, or even Quad, but he didn’t want to alert the Dunrakee that was taking Zalas. It may startle the man, and surprising a scared soldier with a gun was never a good idea.

  Ozzy slid down the roof, watching the soldier disappear into the forest.

  Ozzy hopped onto the soft backyard moss and shouldered his rifle. He unholstered his gun and walked toward the tree line.

  What was this Dunrakee going to do to the little girl? If he wanted to kill her, he would have already done so.

  Thoughts he didn’t want to think about entered his mind. This confirmed how truly sick the Dunrakee were.

  He pushed away a bush and took a step into the forest. The dry needles crunched against his boots. He leaned against a tree, listening intently.

  Zalas was struggling, her muffled whines carrying through the forest, yet he could hear the soldier dragging her deeper into the woods.

  Ozzy gritted his teeth and trekked forward.

  He held the gun out and rounded a tree. He couldn’t see the soldier or Zalas, but nearby crunching told him the bastard was still walking, carrying Zalas to Mars knows where.

  Ozzy walked on and quietly stepped toward the sound. A fern touched his arm. He held it so it wouldn’t whip loudly against anything else and moved it back into position as quietly as possible.

  He ambled over a log.

  And halted.

  The sounds had ceased.

  Where did the soldier go?

  He lowered into a crouch and surveyed the area. A small rodent scurried by him and up a tree. A shiny, green frog jumped. He’d never seen a frog in real life. But it didn’t matter. This wasn’t a sight-seeing trip.

  He moved around another tree.

  Ozzy froze. He spotted the soldier. Ozzy’s heart nearly stopped, and he covered his mouth. The Dunrakee was pushing up the little girl’s dress.

  That bastard.

  Ozzy raised his weapon, but Zalas was in the way.

  Shit.

  He couldn’t get a clear shot.

  Zalas struggled, putting herself directly in the line of fire, and her erratic movements made Ozzy’s shot nearly impossible.

  A shot he sorely wanted to take.

  Ozzy eyed the ground around them. The soldier’s weapon butted up against a tree.

  The soldier lifted her dress more.

  Ozzy took a step. “Don’t think about it,” he yelled, moving toward the grunt.

  The Dunrakee straightened, his eyes opening wide in surprise. He took a step back, and Zalas let out a cry.

  She was still in the way.

  “Zalas, move to the side,” ordered Ozzy.

  The soldier grabbed her harder and pulled her close, holding her in his arms. He slowly crouched, keeping his eyes on Ozzy and picked up his photon pistol. He pressed the muzzle against Zalas’s neck.

  Zalas closed her eyes. She was scared. Lily would be scared too.

  Ozzy’s face hardened, and he aimed at the piece of shit’s forehead. “Put her down.”

  The grunt lifted the dress some more and lowered Zalas. Whatever he was going to try wasn’t something Ozzy was going to let happen.

  “Not on my watch.” Ozzy squeezed the trigger. The gun recoiled in his hand, and a blast expelled like a missile. Smoke swirled off the muzzle’s edge, and a photon ball of death rammed into the Dunrakee’s skull.

  The bubble-head slumped to the ground an
d flopped onto his side, dropping both his weapon and Zalas. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  Zalas screamed and rushed toward Ozzy, tears streaking down her cheeks. Ozzy went to one knee and held his arms out. She embraced him, crying and laying her head on his shoulder.

  Ozzy wrapped his arms around her as he would his own daughter and held her tightly. “You’re okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you, do you understand?”

  Zalas nodded her head, her wet cheeks touching Ozzy’s chin.

  He wanted to holler to the high heavens what the hell was wrong with people. Who would treat a child like that? But he didn’t. He held her while she cried. He kissed her on top of the head, feeling the bubble-like bone protrusions that Mohawked under her black hair. He stood and carried her toward the house the same way he would carry Lily.

  “I’m going to get you to your daddy, okay?”

  She sobbed in his arms but nodded her head, unable to speak. Her body was shaking, her arms were cold, and her face was wet with tears.

  “Why was…he…pulling my…dress up?”

  Ozzy almost stopped at the question. She didn’t know why, but how could she? Lily wouldn’t have known either.

  Ozzy didn’t reply.

  She continued to talk. “Why do…they always want…to kill us? Or hurt…us?” Her voice was cracking at every word, and the translator was picking it up incredibly well.

  Ozzy could tell she was referring to the soldiers. “I don’t know.”

  “Can we go…live with you? Are you…hermans…safe?”

  Ozzy gently rubbed the back of her head, again feeling the bubble-like bone protrusions. “We’re humans, not hermans, but there are bad humans and good humans.”

  “Are…you a good…human?”

  Ozzy didn’t answer. To his daughter he was. To the rest of the world and the galaxy that wasn’t a question he felt comfortable answering.

  “My daughter is a good person. You’d like her.” He stepped around a tree, his boot cracking a dead branch in half.

  “Can I play…with her?”

  Lily would like that. He nodded. “One day, perhaps. One day.”

  25

  Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California

  Ozzy sat against a tree in Porgas’s backyard, his head in his hands and his eyes closed. Ten minutes ago he had handed Zalas to Porgas, and it was human-like affection he felt between them.

  And human-like gratitude from Porgas to Ozzy.

  Human-damn-affection, human-no-shit-gratitude.

  He pushed out a breath he was holding inside. He missed Lily. He longed for her, and he wanted more than ever to give her a daddy-hug and to lose against her in chess as he always did.

  Jozi sat next to him, her hands folded in front of her as she rested against the tree.

  Ozzy kept his head in his hands. “What are we going to do with all the troops we captured?”

  Jozi shrugged. “Let them go, I guess.”

  Ozzy lifted his head. “And then what?”

  “Gragas is going to take all the people in this village to some distant location.”

  Ozzy put his hands out, palms up. “To Europa, the Jupiter moon?” Outside of Mars, Europa was the only distant location habitable in the solar system.

  Jozi shook her head. “No. I’m thinking someplace on Earth that is remote and where they can build a village without being controlled by the governance.”

  “Is there a way we can get Zalas off the planet?”

  Jozi breathed a quick and shallow breath. “The longer I’m in this village, the harder time I have of wrapping my mind around killing these people.”

  Ozzy rubbed his temples. The same thoughts were polluting his head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  Jozi placed her hand on his shoulder and used it to help herself up. “You really, really don’t change.” She walked toward the house.

  “It was your idea, Jozi. You guilted me into this. Remember saying do something for humanity for once in your life? Do those words sound familiar?”

  She continued walking. “Yes, but you know what’s great about choices? You know what’s great about being wrong? You can change your mind and do what’s right.”

  Ozzy scoffed and said under his breath, “You forgot to add: You’ll be no better than the Dunrakee.”

  She spun on her heels. “It’s true.”

  Ozzy raised his hands. “Then why did you come with me? Why did you pull me on this trip to use the Ark on every one of these people?”

  She went to talk, but no words came. He saw hesitation in her eyes as she avoided his direct eye contact. There was something she wasn’t telling him. But it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

  “You’ve made up your mind. You’re not going to let me use the Ark anymore.”

  She could kick his ass, so it was possible she would keep him from completing his mission. “You’re not going to let me go through with it, are you, Jozi?”

  Her shoulders slumped, and she hung her head. “No.” She tapped her temple. “I have a brain, and I use it, Ozzy. I think one thing and realize the thought isn’t only wrong but also horrifying. And you know what? I can change my mind. It’s simple. You should try it once in a while.”

  She turned back around and walked into the house and slammed the door behind her.

  Ozzy spat on the ground, scowling at her retreating figure.

  Gragas emerged from the same doorway and ran in Ozzy’s direction. “A large contingent is on their way. We have less than a minute. We’ll head out in our ship.”

  Ozzy stood. “I thought you destroyed their communications on those three ships out there?”

  “One of the soldiers may have gotten away.” He brought his forearm to his lips and spoke into a com device. “Dizzy, bring the ship around back.”

  A craft’s hum grew closer and, in seconds, the Galactic Knights’ ship was directly above him. The belly glowed blue, and three ropes dropped from the ship and hung in front of Ozzy and Gragas.

  Jozi ran out of the house and grabbed one of the ropes. Gragas followed suit. The ropes ascended, pulling them both toward the ship’s belly.

  Ozzy clasped his hands around his rope, then let go. He had a job to do—a race to eradicate. If Gragas knew the actual plan, he wouldn’t allow Ozzy to carry it out and might fly his ass back to Mars when he got aboard the ship.

  “Hell no.” He wrung his hands together. “I’m not getting on the ship, Gragas.” He knew Gragas couldn’t hear him, but if he could, so much the better.

  Krakoom!

  An explosion rocked the house, and Ozzy was thrown from his feet. He hit the soft moss and rolled.

  A small fire cloud rose from the roof, and all the windows shattered. Flames decorated the surrounding trees.

  “Shit.” He wrapped his fingers around the rope and tugged. The rope pulled him off his feet and zipped him upward.

  A loud crack shot across the sky followed by thunderous engines.

  Ozzy whipped his head around, holding on tight. On the horizon were a Dunrakee cruiser and a few other large craft. They were daunting and heading right for the village Ozzy was escaping.

  He gulped. The enemy ships were coming in fast, too fast.

  Grayish smoke appeared, followed by a hiss, and the ship’s underbelly opened. Ozzy was pulled through and hung above the opening until the floor closed and sealed tight. Steam shot out from the seams, and Ozzy dropped to the floor, his boots clanging loudly.

  The craft’s rockets initiated, and Ozzy was jerked off of his feet, and he flopped on the floor. The crafted shifted into a turn, and Ozzy slid and banged against a wall.

  “Anti-gravity activated,” came a robotic voice over the craft’s intercom.

  The G-forces eased up, and Ozzy pushed himself to a standing position. He was in the ship’s holding bay. He rubbed his head and pressed a button on a panel next to a door.

  It was the entrance to a hallway, and he walked inside. It connected to seve
ral chambers, some of which showed open doors. He turned and touched a wall that faced outside.

  The wall fluttered and changed, transforming into a window. Or did the wall became transparent? He didn’t know which.

  He gasped when he saw in the distance several large enemy cruisers hovering over the village, sending missile volleys, energy torpedoes, and photon cannon fire at the houses.

  Fiery mushroom clouds consumed the entire town, burning everything in sight.

  His stomach sunk. He hoped Gragas had taken everyone out of the village before the Dunrakee assholes turned it into Armageddon.

  He eyed the devastation as the ship flew further from the village. He stiffened. The Dunrakee governance was like the Mars Ministry, except the Dunrakee leaders were more open about their dislike for their citizens.

  He spun around and walked down a hall and into a big lobby where many weeping men, women, and children were, all huddled together, consoling one another.

  He was relieved when he saw that Zalas was there. She didn’t notice him and sat on the floor with Porgas. She leaned against him, her chin trembling and her eyes full of unspilled tears.

  Ozzy walked past them and toward the bridge. He put his hand on the panel next to a door at the end of another hall, and the door opened.

  Gragas stood in the middle of the bridge with his arms folded. Quad was next to him, and Jozi stood on the other side. The rest of the Galactic Knights, including Dizzy, were at stations around the bridge.

  They were looking at a map on the bridge’s vid screen. A blue dot marked a spot far south past a sizeable gulf and to a large continent. If Ozzy’s recollection was correct, the continent used to be called South America.

  “Gragas, you have to drop me off. I need to locate Zeld in order to find that crystal sphere. She has the holomap.”

  Gragas looked over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ozzy. I can’t do that. I’ll take you to your ship, and you can go back home.”

  Ozzy wiped his mouth, knowing this would not go well. Plus, his ship was not operational so it wouldn’t get him anywhere. “If I go back home without the crystal sphere, there’s no telling what happens to my daughter and brother. Jonas has them, and if I don’t come back with the mission completed, I might not see them again.”