Martian Quadrilogy Box Set

by Brandon Ellis

  Robert needed to be removed from power, or better yet, killed. It was the only way to save what remained of Ozzy’s family.

  They hurried down a narrow underground street. A hovercar turned a corner and headed in their direction.

  Ozzy reached for his holstered photon pistol but loosened his grip when the car drove by, the occupant not giving them even as much as a glance.

  “Do you think Auntie Gloria is at my house?” Lily huddled closer to her dad, her face was beaming at the thought.

  Ozzy shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  A clank echoed in the tunnel. Ozzy stopped and glared at the shadowed corner across the way.

  He didn’t see any movement and continued walking.

  A hovervan drove by. The car’s breeze whirled around a low-hanging light, causing it to swing back and forth on its copper-colored wire.

  “Almost there, just around the corner and down the street,” said Ozzy.

  The tap-tap-tap of heavy footsteps from behind them reverberated against the walls. Ozzy glanced over at Jozi, who nodded. The tapping noises grew more rapid as the person advanced closer. The person was heavyset, and a hood covered their face.

  At first glance, it didn’t look like the person was carrying a weapon.

  Ozzy trotted with Jozi following close behind. They turned a corner, their shoes slapping on the damp sidewalk. Ozzy’s shoulder glanced off of a rock that jutted from the wall.

  He held in a grunt and looked behind him again. The hooded person turned the corner as well. Ozzy picked up his pace.

  “Why are we going so fast?” asked Lily.

  Ozzy faked a grin. “Because I want to see who can run the quickest to your mom’s house.”

  Lily showed her pearly white teeth. “I’ll win.”

  The hooded figure sped up and was now less than ten meters behind them.

  Jozi halted and turned, facing the person. Her hand rested on her holstered gun.

  The person stopped.

  “Jozi,” warned Ozzy. “Don’t. We have Lily here.”

  Jozi huffed and spun around, hurrying after Ozzy.

  “Ready. Set. Go!” said Ozzy.

  Lily took off running toward her mother’s house. Ozzy reached back, grabbing Jozi’s arm, and tugged her along. She ran alongside Ozzy, passing several doors that lined the cave-like walls, all acting as entryways to homes.

  Lily stopped at a white door and jumped in the air. “I won.” She put her palms together, leaning her cheek against the back of one of her hands. She fluttered her eyes. “I win a toy, right?”

  Ozzy slowed and came to a stop, giving her a wink and acting as if he was out of breath. “You betcha, Lily-bug. Next time you come to my place I’ll have a secret prize for you.”

  She threw a fist in the air. “Yes!”

  The hooded person came closer. Ozzy jiggled the handle and tried to twist it open, but the door was locked. In a way that was good because it meant that Venessa was most likely alive.

  Lily gently tapped her tiny fist against the resin door. “Let me in, Mama.”

  Jozi turned and unholstered her gun. She kept it close to her hip and against her jumpsuit, her steely blue eyes focused on the oncoming figure. She swiped her black hair off of her perspiring forehead.

  The person halted and backed up.

  The lock clicked and the door swung open. “Lily, I’m so happy to see you.”

  Lily jumped into Venessa’s arms, hugging and kissing her mom.

  Ozzy hurried through the entryway but then turned, grabbed Jozi’s arm again and pulled her inside the house.

  “What’s going on?” asked Venessa, her gaze darting from Ozzy to Jozi.

  Ozzy put his finger against his lips. He peeked around the door. The hooded figure was talking on a wrist com device. The person glanced up, dropped their arm to their side, and walked in Ozzy’s direction.

  2

  Tunnel Downs, Mars

  Ozzy slammed the door and locked it. Jozi stood in front of Lily and Venessa, gun drawn, ready to poke the door full of holes.

  Ozzy put his arms up. “Whoa, Tiger. You can’t shoot through me to get him.”

  “Get who?” asked Venessa, stepping back and moving into her kitchen with Lily in her arms. Her brows drew closer together and her face tightened. “You two are scaring me.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” said Jozi, keeping her eyes on the door. “Someone was following us.”

  Ozzy moved out of the way. “Venessa,” he said, “we have to get you and Lily to a safe place.”

  Lily’s face screwed up in fear, her eyebrows rising and her nose crinkling. “You’re scaring me too, Daddy.”

  “I know, Lily-bug, but some mean people don’t know how to be nice sometimes. Even if I hugged them, they still act mean.”

  The doorknob jiggled.

  Jozi bent to one knee, waving her hand in the air, motioning for Ozzy, Venessa, and Lily to move into the living room. She pointed her photon pistol toward the door. “You walk in, sir, and you’re a dead man. I’m a crackshot, plus we have several guns from several different angles aimed at the door.”

  Silence.

  Ozzy grabbed Venessa, guiding her into the living room. She gripped Lily.

  Ozzy leaned up against the entertainment center. In every Tunnel Downs house, there was an elevator leading to the residence’s parking spaces and the larger city in general.

  The elevators could only be accessed via a personal code—a code Venessa never gave him. But, all that was needed to get inside an elevator was to press a button inside the home.

  Ozzy hurried over to the elevator door nestled between two couches at the back of the living room and gestured for Venessa.

  She carried Lily over to him. “What’s going on, Ozzy? I don’t like this.”

  Ozzy leaned in, whispering in Venessa’s ear, “You need to get as far away from me as possible. Fly to Tagus Valles. I’ll let Jonas Moon know—”

  “The criminal?” interrupted Venessa, shaking her head and pursing her lips. “I’m not—”

  “He is the only one you can trust besides me. I want you and my daughter to live. Please—”

  Lily started to cry. Ozzy put his fingers on her lips. “You have to be quiet until you get into your mother’s craft, okay?”

  Lily quieted, but her chin trembled, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She bobbed her head up and down, clearly not understanding, but Ozzy could tell she understood enough not to make noise or speak.

  The doorknob wiggled a second time.

  “Don’t think about it,” yelled Jozi. She moved into the kitchen, keeping her gun targeted on the door.

  “Venessa, the bad guy is outside your door. Even though he wants me, he means to do everyone in here harm, so you have to leave to be safe.”

  Venessa nodded.

  “Okay, go to 222 Pleasant Valley Way in Tagus Valles and tell Jonas who you are. I’ll notify him you’re on the way. He’ll keep you safe and secure.” Ozzy pressed the button to open the elevator doors. “Go.” He leaned over and kissed Lily on the cheek. He put his hand on the top of her head, stroking her hair a few times. “I love you.”

  She put her hand out. “I love you too, Daddy.”

  Venessa stepped inside the elevator with Lily in her arms. She nodded, her face drawn in fear.

  The elevator doors slid closed.

  A fist pounded against the front door. Ozzy pulled out his weapon and hid around the corner against a wall.

  “This is the Mars Ministry Police. Drop your weapons and put your hands up. We are investigating a murder, and Ozzy Mack and Jozi Ryan, you are the prime suspects.”

  “Oh bullshit,” said Ozzy, more to himself than anyone else. “I’m being pinned for that?”

  “If you are the MMP, tell me your name and your badge number,” Jozi said.

  “Jozi, it’s Sergeant Marino. Badge number 118140. We went to college together. I’m sorry about all of this.”

  Jozi hung her
head and put her weapon on the ground. She unholstered a gun on the other side of her hip and slipped it into a cupboard. She raised her hands, signaling Ozzy to do the same.

  “Hold on, Sergeant,” said Jozi. “I’ll unlock the door.”

  Ozzy shook his head no and mouthed, “It’s a trick.”

  “Hide your weapon,” she mouthed. She then whispered, “This is the best way to keep Lily and your ex-wife safe. We have to turn ourselves in. They can’t plant your sister-in-law’s death on us. There are no witnesses and no prints.” She raised her eyebrows, offering a questioning gaze. “Robert Baldwin is my uncle after all. When I tell him I know this, it will help. Trust me.”

  Is she nuts? Ozzy’s heart sank. She didn’t understand the weight of Robert’s evil mind. Robert would rather watch her die than treat her with any form of love like a good uncle would. She had damaging information about Robert that he no doubt wanted to be erased from her mind, and killing her would be the only way to do that.

  “Don’t do it, Jozi.” Plus, if Quad were out there and not the MMP this could be Ozzy’s last breath before Quad burst in, blazing photon bolts in every direction. He bit his tongue, furiously shaking his head at Jozi.

  She ignored him and reached for the doorknob.

  Shit.

  Ozzy quickly shoved his gun behind the holovision box, pushing a large ornamental crystal in the way to block his weapon from view.

  Jozi unlocked the door and swung it open.

  A man in a hood, along with a dozen Mars Ministry Police all suited in MMP uniforms, pushed their way into the house, their guns low to the ground but ready to shoot anyone’s kneecaps if they so wished.

  The man slid his hood off.

  Jozi put her hands together in a cuff-me-like position. “Sergeant Marino.”

  “Turn around, Jozi,” he ordered. “You’re under arrest for aiding and abetting a criminal. You’re also under arrest for conspiracy to murder.”

  Marino pushed her against a wall, pulled her hands behind her back, and cuffed her.

  “I was set up, Sarge. You know it,” barked Jozi.

  “Tell it to the High Judge,” Marino said.

  Several MMP agents marched past Jozi. They grabbed Ozzy and tripped him to the ground. A knee slammed on his upper back. Ozzy yelped as his breath was forced out of his lungs. Another agent pulled his hands behind his back and slapped cuffs around his wrists.

  “Easy, easy.” Ozzy cringed.

  “Ozzy Mack, you’re under arrest for violating excavation codes 040, 041, 083, 099, 102, 114, 118, and thirty eight other codes. Also, for killing Lou Mack’s wife, which we have on tape as proof.”

  “What?” screamed Ozzy. “I didn’t kill my sister-in-law.”

  They pulled Ozzy to his feet and rushed him outside, ignoring his pleas of injustice. An MMP hovervan, all decked out in MMP insignia and colors along with police lights that were mounted on the top of the roof, was parked outside.

  Another damn Robert Baldwin setup, perchance to keep Robert’s name off the lips of other criminals in case they had enough treasonous documents on him as Ozzy did.

  The good news? Ozzy and Jozi had a guy named Anonymity on the inside. He was about to disclose all the corrupt information they had on Robert: the illegal digs he hired Ozzy to do with Robert’s voice, face, and name stamped all over them; Robert’s threats; and the murder of Ozzy’s mother and father when Ozzy’s father was the mayor of Gale Crater City. There was even evidence of Robert’s siphoning of funds from the museums and schools into his own pockets.

  What they had given Anonymity would be littered all over the com channel news networks.

  Ozzy would be vindicated and out of prison in no time.

  Hopefully.

  That’s if Jozi’s new knowledge of Robert being her uncle didn’t screw things up. Robert was good at using delicate situations and sympathy to his advantage.

  The MMP opened the back doors of the van. Bucket seats lined the sides, and a barrier partition from the floor to ceiling was behind the front seats.

  “Stop,” a loud and penetrating robotic voice yelled.

  They all turned, including Ozzy.

  Eight hooded men with capes, robot-looking battle suits, and donned with robot masks and helmets, stood with large photon cannons and photon rifles pointed directly at the MMP.

  “Gentlemen. Uncuff my friends.”

  3

  Tunnel Downs, Mars

  Silence filled the underground street except for water drops splashing onto the ground and sidewalk.

  Gragas and his Galactic Knights stood ten meters away.

  Sergeant Marino stepped in between the masked men and his MMP agents. “This is Ministry business. You are violating a police investigation and an arrest. I suggest you leave before we are forced to cuff you.”

  A giant, bulky Galactic Knight stepped forward to meet the sergeant halfway. His cannon hung near his hip with a long strap connected to his weapon and around his shoulder.

  A few clicks came from the Knight then laughter.

  It was Dizzy, a guy Ozzy could never and would never forget. He had helped Ozzy when he and Jozi were looking for the Martian Plague cure. Without him and the rest of the Knights, Ozzy doubted he would have survived, along with the rest of the human race.

  And look at how the Ministry thanked them for all their hard work. If Robert hadn’t been petrified of contracting the Martian Plague, Ozzy knew the prick wouldn’t have hired him to find the cure in the first place. Robert would have let most of the population die.

  The fewer people there were, the easier they were to control.

  “Sergeant Marino,” said Jozi, her hands still cuffed behind her back. She stood straight and tall. “You know I’m innocent. If you don’t let me and my friend here go, bloodshed will take place, and I guarantee you will not survive. Plus, I have information I would like to discuss with Robert Baldwin, personal information about him I think he should hear directly from me if you let me use your com unit.”

  The MMP and Marino ignored her. They and the Galactic Knights trained their weapons on each other.

  The sergeant took a breath. “Stand fast, Agents.”

  “Marino,” yelled Jozi as she took a step back, her eyes widening. “All the agents have a family, just like you. You have a wife and two kids. Think of them. Think of all the agents here who have children. Their kids might not have a mom or a dad after today.”

  Gragas slowly stepped around Dizzy.

  “Don’t move,” said Marino, pointing his gun at Gragas.

  Gragas dipped his head. “I’m putting my gun down as a goodwill gesture, but my Galactic Knights will not do the same. I, for one, do not fear any of your MMP weapons. You down one of us, the rest of you will be downed before you could ever imagine shooting another photon blast. We are the elite of the elite, gentlemen, and nothing to mess with. So, please, Sergeant, be wise.”

  Ozzy backed away. He glanced at Jozi. She took his cue and moved to the side of the van. The last thing Ozzy needed right now was to be caught in the crossfire.

  “Don’t move, you two,” ordered Marino. His stressed-out, sunken eyes narrowed. “You are under arrest on orders of the High Judge. Don’t make me slap on more violations.”

  “Galactic Knights,” said Gragas, who was still in a crouched position with his rifle on the ground. “Fire when I give the order.”

  “Don’t do this,” screeched Jozi.

  A car stopped at the end of the road, and seeing that there was a situation about to happen, the person backed up and turned around.

  Shit was about to go down.

  Ozzy took a few steps toward Venessa’s door. Any secondary blasts would tear down the street and into the Knights and agents. He’d jump through the door and into the house and out of harm’s way, if possible.

  “I said, don’t move,” growled Marino.

  Jozi spoke loudly, “Think of your son, Marino. Think of that little tyke growing up without a dad. He’s only
four. Your daughter, too. She’ll be the one most likely impacted, because she’s older, and—”

  “Shut it, Jozi,” he said.

  The agents weren’t flinching and the Knights weren’t either.

  “Your call, Sergeant,” said Gragas, his hand slowly curling around his weapon. “When we leave, we’ll be leaving alive. You won’t.”

  Marino huffed and eyed Gragas. “Unhand your weapon, Sir.”

  “Knights,” yelled Gragas. “In three seconds, if not sooner, let—”

  The Galactic Knights let loose blast after blast, hammering their photon charges at the agents, the Knight’s rifles and cannons recoiling against their bodies. The Knights were too fast and the agents too slow.

  Ozzy jumped and slammed into the door. He bounced off of it and hit his side on the cement. He tried rolling toward the door as close as he could and hugging it to stay out of the way of any stray photon beams.

  Marino’s gun shattered and he bent over, holding his injured hand with his other while wincing in pain.

  The agents were all doing the same. Even though the Galactic Knights were a little outnumbered, they managed to hit all the agent’s guns, disarming them.

  Ozzy’s eyes were wide. Not a single agent was killed, but all of their guns had been distorted and destroyed.

  Gragas wasn’t lying when he said the Galactic Knights were the elite of the elite.

  “Uncuff my friends, Sergeant,” ordered Gragas, standing with his weapon trained on Marino.

  The sergeant wiggled his hand, breathing loudly. He stood straighter, cringing, his face screwed up in pain. “Who are you guys?”

  “The Galactic Knights. We are here to help the galaxy against genocidal races, such as the Dunrakee.” Gragas shifted his gaze to Ozzy. “We’re trying to recruit Ozzy, and so if you have any clout, Sergeant, could you put in a good word about us Knights to Ozzy?” There was a bit of humor in his voice, something Ozzy wasn’t used to.

  Ozzy attempted to stand, his hands still cuffed behind him, but he slipped against the damp pavement and fell onto his back. He loudly yelped as he eyed Gragas. “Not going to happen, Gragas.”