Her large paw curled around his shoulder, and her sharp claws tore through his jumpsuit and dug into his skin. “Not so fast.”
Ozzy winced and did his best not to yelp. He gingerly pulled her paw away. “Don’t do that again.”
“Don’t treat me like a second-class citizen again. Do you understand?” Her paw landed on her sidearm.
“Do we have a deal?”
“Will Jonas let me stay in his bunker?”
Was this twenty questions? “He will.”
“Then you have yourself an Eagle. I’ll get it ready for you and drop it off at a specified location that I’ll give you in a few days time.” She cleared her throat. “But under one condition.”
“Here we go,” he whispered. “Alright, what is the condition?”
“We know Wildly wants to expose Robert Baldwin. Or maybe he just wants to use the holopad’s video as leverage, you know, to get what he wants from the High Judge. But, the rest of us in the crime syndicates want the High Judge dead. He’s a menace to Mars and will accidentally hand over this planet to any Dunrakee terrorist group because he doesn’t know what he is doing.” The fur around her lips moved upward. “And, Ozzy, rumor has it that you are involved with an elite group called the Galactic Knights.”
“Yeah.”
“This is the condition: you must convince them to kill Robert Baldwin or no Eagle for you.”
25
Heading Toward Olympus Mons, Mars
“I cannot give those orders,” Gragas said.
They were standing inside the cockpit of Relic and heading toward Olympus Mons.
Jozi lounged in the copilot’s chair, and Quad was still trapped between the forks in the storage bay.
“Ozzy,” said Jozi. “You’re going against the Galactic Knights’ code. Gragas can’t do that even if he wanted to.”
“Believe me, I want to. It’d be a quick end to a tyrannous High Judge. At least, for the time being. It’s not our code, however,” Gragas said, an edge to his voice. “I’m living by the code of the galaxy. I am not allowed to positively or negatively impact a races’ development unless that race is purposely destroying other races or being destroyed by other races. Killing a high official would change the outcome of what could have happened if your race was left to their own devices. You can kill your High Judge, but I cannot.”
“Damn. How am I going to get that Eagle, then?” Ozzy said, steering the craft higher into the atmosphere.
Jozi looked ahead through the cockpit window. “It’s smarter to stay on Mars. Or, I should say, safer. Going to Earth will kill you.”
Ozzy didn’t want to argue. He knew probably better than her what the outcome would be. He glanced at the device sitting on his thighs.
“Why do you have this holopad?” asked Jozi.
“No reason.”
“Yeah, right.”
A beep echoed, and Ozzy glanced at the radar, gritting his teeth. “Indigo isn’t doing its job, or I have a beacon on board. We have four S-9 Mars Ministry Police ships on our ass.”
“It’s not Indigo,” Gragas said. “My guess is—”
Relic rocked from side to side, and Ozzy gripped the armrests tightly as his straps tightened and constrained his movements. “We’ve been hit.”
Relic didn’t have weapons other than the rifles and guns on the rack in the storage bay.
“Gragas?” The craft shook violently, taking a second hit. Ozzy grasped his control stick, keeping Relic on course to his new home—Olympus Mons. “Is it against your galactic code to go through the hole in the storage bay ceiling and shoot the MMP ships down?”
Gragas heaved a big breath. “It isn’t against the code for the fact that I’m on your ship. I have the right to protect myself for any cause, and because I’m inside your ship, it means I’m being shot at as well. I’ll get Quad to help me.” He left the cockpit.
Ozzy reached out, trying to stop Gragas from getting Quad anywhere near another weapon. “No, Gragas. What are you doing?”
Gragas’s boots clanked on the metallic floor in the lower deck. He was already in the storage bay.
“He knows what he’s doing. If he thinks Quad will help, then I back Gragas one hundred percent,” said Jozi.
“You better be right.” Ozzy veered Relic into a long turn. The ship shook again. “Damn the MMP,” he shouted and flicked on his helmet mic. “Gragas, you on the roof yet?”
“I’m backing up the forklift to release Quad. We’ll be up there soon enough.”
“You know what you’re doing with Quad?”
“He owes you one, Ozzy.”
“The MMP ships are getting awfully close,” warned Jozi. “My boots are magnetic. I’ll go on the roof to help.”
Ozzy held up his thumb. “Be careful.”
She stood and patted his arm. “You too.”
Ozzy flicked on the cameras and split the holoscreen, decreasing the roof cam to half its size and moving it to the top left corner.
He saw Jozi climbing onto the roof first, holding a rifle in her hand. She walked cautiously toward the back of Relic, heading toward its stern boosters.
Quad was next and holding a double-barreled photon gun, and Gragas shimmied up, holding his rifle by his side.
A beam shot past Jozi and slammed into Quad. Electricity spun around his armor like live wires sparking and moving uncontrollably then faded away. He stiffened for an instant but trekked onward.
He reached out, grabbed Jozi and lifted her.
“What’s he doing?” Ozzy said.
Jozi flailed her arms, pushing her hands against Quad’s face. Ozzy stood up about to run out of the cockpit.
Quad set her down behind him, and a blast zipped into his armor a second time. He went rigid, shook, and then dusted himself off.
Ozzy let out the breath he had been holding. Quad was using himself as a shield. Perhaps he wasn’t a prick after all.
“Get into position, guys,” Ozzy ordered. “They’re coming in fast.”
They all dropped to their stomachs and readied their weapons.
“Got one in my sights,” Jozi said. “And…”
A blue beam expelled from her muzzle.
It missed.
“What happened to your crackshot?” Ozzy said, pulling back on his control stick and pushing the ship toward the upper atmosphere.
“I’ve missed before, but never twice,” she said.
The flight console buzzed, and a red light highlighted the cockpit.
Shit.
The MMP ships were gaining on him.
“I need more speed,” Ozzy yelled. “Grab a roof hold and hang on.”
He pushed his control stick forward, sending them into a dive. He eyed the upper left portion of his screen, watching how his friends and Quad, were fairing.
Their gloved hands were grasping the thick and rounded handholds that topped the roof.
“Can’t hold on much longer, Ozzy,” cried Jozi.
Ozzy continued his dive, watching the red terrain below rising closer and closer. He pulled back on the control stick, bringing Relic parallel to the ground, and checked his speed.
He was going fast.
Real fast.
He glanced at his radar. The MMP ships were farther from him now. That wouldn’t be for long.
Hills were coming into view, followed by a gorge. He’d fly through the canyons to make himself less of a target.
The craft jostled up and down, and a bang reverberated against the walls.
Another loud beep engulfed his cockpit. “What the…”
Two more ships appeared on the radar. He glanced at his rear cam and nearly choked when he saw photon cannon blasts streaming toward him.
He heard Jozi scream, and he moved his eyes to the roof cam view.
Jozi flipped backward, and a stream of blaster fire sizzled a portion of her suit. She tumbled and her boots magnetized at every roll but didn’t keep her secured in one place.
She disappeared from the
camera view, but Ozzy saw Gragas running in her direction.
Ozzy’s heart skipped a beat while a knot formed in his throat. “Oh my Mars.” He switched to stern cams and stood. “Jozi, hold on.”
She was hanging from a handhold, her legs flailing over the side of the ship.
“I can’t,” she yelled. “I’m losing my grip.”
Gragas reached for Jozi and swiped but caught nothing but air.
Jozi screamed and lost her grip. She fell away from Relic.
“No,” yelled Gragas, losing his balance and stumbling forward. He slid off the roof, falling toward the sand below.
“Shit,” Ozzy yelled. “This can’t be happening.”
A loud beep blared in the cockpit alerting him the MMP craft were right on his tail. He smacked the back of his helmet, panicking. He flicked the autopilot switch on and turned to run to the storage bay and climb out to the roof.
Something out of the corner of his eye on the stern cam caught his attention.
Quad was standing as close to the rear boosters as one could be without burning up. He was taking multiple hits and returning blow after blow.
His shots sunk into the nearest MMP ship, expanding outward into a blue energy cloud a few meters in front of the MMP craft and fading to nothing a second later.
Their shields were absorbing Quad’s weapons fire.
Quad jostled his rifle and aimed. Nothing happened. He shook it again and then targeted the craft in front of him, but still, nothing. He cocked the rifle to the side and checked the magazine charge. He grasped it to pull the magazine out, yet even with Quad’s strength, it wouldn’t budge. He brought his knee up and slammed the rifle down on it, breaking the weapon in two.
He threw his double-barreled gun in the air and jumped toward the craft. Fire expelled from Quad’s boots.
Krackow!
Relic shook violently from another hit.
Ozzy fell against the copilot’s chair and landed on his back. The craft bounced up and down, slamming Ozzy along the cockpit’s side wall, cracking his helmet against it.
The cockpit beeped.
Ozzy pulled himself up by the chair’s armrests and rested on his knees. Out of the window, Ozzy could see that Relic was heading into a death dive, falling toward the rocky terrain at an alarming rate.
He scrambled to his seat and grabbed the control stick and pulled back.
Relic didn’t move.
He looked at the altimeter and nearly choked—three hundred twenty-two meters.
He pulled back again.
Nothing.
“Don’t do this to me, Buddy.”
He pulled back a third time.
Relic didn’t budge.
“You’re doing this to me.”
Ozzy leaped out of his seat knowing that if he stayed much longer in his cockpit, with him inside, he would be a goner when the craft crashed into the ever-approaching ground. He ran to the ladder that led down to the lower deck storage bay. When he reached the ladder, he jumped.
The ship dipped and a terrible sound rattled across the entire craft.
Ozzy fell toward the floor.
Krackajjjj!
The storage bay contents lifted into the air, sending the forklift and crates flying in Ozzy’s direction.
26
Heading Toward Olympus Mons, Mars
He lowered his shoulder and puffed out his cheeks, waiting for the impact.
A crate smashed into the upper part of his body, and his head whipped back. Wood splintered in every direction. He twirled in the air, losing all sense of direction.
Shooting, sharp pains traveled through every muscle as his body tensed and smashed to the floor. “Oomph!” Ozzy twisted around quickly, staring at the ceiling.
A forklift was on its way down.
He gasped, pushed up, and lunged out of the way.
The forklift landed with a loud crash, toppling to the side and smashing a crate.
“Oh no, the Ark.” He stood and limped as fast as he could, pushing the broken wood pieces out of the way and examining the contents inside.
“Thank the Mars gods.” No gold. No nothing. Only an empty crate.
He surveyed the ravaged storage bay. Most crates were intact, but some were broken into a thousand fragments. The weapons rack was on the wall, and the magnetized weapons remained in place.
His tools, his papers, and his lockers didn’t fare as well. They were on the ground. The head of a pickax was halfway through a locker, and his jackhammer was lying next to a now dented wall.
He turned on his helmet mic. “Gragas? Jozi? Are you with me?”
He walked to the room where he kept Indigo.
Static filled his ears.
He paused.
“Gragas?”
More static.
Clank! Clank!
Someone with magnetic boots was walking on the roof. Ozzy looked to the hole in the ceiling.
Clank! Clank!
He moved around the upended forklift and approached his weapons rack. He pulled down a rifle, sunk low, and cautiously walked and pointed the barrel at the hole.
He leaned against the forklift, ready to blast some MMP agents off his roof if they tried to take him out or into custody.
The clanking stopped.
Static filled his helmet again, and he hit it. “Is that you, Jozi? I can’t hear you. Keep trying to get through to me. Someone is on my roof, so I’ll be a little busy for a while.”
Clank!
Ozzy narrowed his eyes, staring at the hole. The muzzle of a rifle came into view.
“Bye, bye,” he whispered to himself. He pulled the trigger, and a photon bolt blasted through the hole and toward the twilight sky.
A figure appeared.
“Son of a—I missed?” Ozzy took another shot.
The figure stepped back, avoiding the photon charge. It then dropped through the hole, falling like an Earth hawk pursuing its prey.
Ozzy shot again.
The figure landed and lunged for him.
27
Heading Toward Olympus Mons, Mars
The figure twisted and a boot came down, smacking across Ozzy’s wrist. His rifle went flying across the room.
Shit.
The figure picked Ozzy off the ground and shoved him against the forklift.
Ozzy put his hands up. “Whoa, whoa. I have money. Plenty of—” He cut himself off, lowering his arms. “Gragas?”
Gragas tapped his helmet, indicating his mic wasn’t working. Ozzy turned up his auditory sensors, which detected outside sounds more clearly.
“Can you hear me?” Gragas asked.
“I can now.” Ozzy turned, glancing up at the hole. “Where’s Jozi?” His voice shook when he asked. Of all people, Jozi deserved to live. She was a good person.
“Don’t worry. Jozi is outside watching Quad finish his work.”
Ozzy tilted his head. “Come again?”
Gragas spun on his heels and walked to the ramp. He slapped the button, and the door hissed and opened, pounding against the outside sand.
“How. . .?” The cockpit was surely smashed in, so how could the ship have any power, especially the ramp? He was positive the crash tripped every wire on the vessel.
Ozzy stepped forward, gawking at what he saw beyond the edge of the ramp.
Past a long, wide trail in the sand from Relic’s crash-landing were a handful of downed MMP ships. The cockpit windows were smashed and broken with gray-blue smoke trailing toward the sky.
Jozi, her arms crossed, stood between Relic and the downed ships. Quad clomped toward her with his thick legs chomping up tendrils of the Mars dust with his every step.
This guy would be a good asset to have around, just like Jozi and Gragas.
That’s if Ozzy wanted anyone around other than his daughter. Not that they weren’t helpful. It was stressful worrying if he was going to lead them to their own death, which was nearly happening every day.
“I saw you and Jo
zi fall off my ship,” said Ozzy.
Gragas dipped his head. “You did.” He touched his belt, and wings expanded from his back. “Remember? I can fly.”
“Aren’t you the hero?”
“Just saving a friend. There isn’t anything heroic about that. I didn’t want her to die.”
“Well, I’m glad you saved her.”
Gragas bowed. “I’d do it for you, too.”
“I’m going to check the cockpit. I don’t think there is much left.”
Gragas followed Ozzy inside the storage bay and leaned up against the forklift.
“I’ll wait here for our buddies,” Gragas said. “If we can’t get this boat up into the air, then I’ll let the Galactic Knights know. They’ll take us to your next stop.”
“Yeah, this boat ain’t flying any time today.” With one foot on the upper deck and the other on the ladder, Ozzy said, “Call your Galactic Knights now and let them…”
He paused and eyed the cockpit across from him.
It wasn’t a hulk of broken glass and warped metal. It was in one piece except for a few items thrown here and there.
He picked up some mementos he had hanging from switches and put them back in place. Other than that, nothing else was wrong.
He walked around and accidentally kicked something that skidded along the floor. The holopad.
“How the hell?”
“At the last second, Relic’s nose lifted, and she bounced across the ground, sliding to a halt. Gragas and I saw it.”
Ozzy turned around. Jozi leaned against the wall, tapping her foot.
He wanted to rush forward and hug her. Instead, he pushed down a smile and merely gave her a nod. “I’m glad you’re alive.”
“Constantly saving your ass is taking a toll on me, Ozzy.” She looked down. “I can’t wait to get back to Olympus Mons and take a break before I get back to clearing my name with the Ministry.” She gave him a half smile. “Shall we go?”
A roar ripped across the sky.
They both looked at the ceiling.
Jozi crinkled her nose. “Can’t anyone leave us alone?”
Martian Quadrilogy Box Set Page 53
