“What the hell is she doing?” Ozzy said to himself. He stood and ran after her, moving around rocks and broken limbs.
Up ahead, Jozi slid and picked up something. She popped to her feet like a professional athlete. She turned and rushed back toward Ozzy. “Move, move,” she yelled, motioning for Ozzy to turn around and get his ass away from the burning forest.
Ozzy spun around just as Jozi ran past him, holding something he couldn’t quite make out. Ozzy followed.
Another rumble filled the sky. A ship was heading in their direction.
The wind shifted, and the snapping and popping of fire roared to his ears. He looked over his shoulder. The fire was spreading and heading his way.
Jozi cut right, bypassing the boulder and curling around a tree near where Ozzy had been hiding.
“What do you have in your hands?” he asked, rushing after her.
Thruster engines grew louder as the ship neared.
Jozi held up a flat pad the size of her hand. “It’s the holopad. We have the map.”
“Are you kidding me?” He was more than dumbfounded that it was in one piece, especially after the starfighter lit the tree up in an inferno, let alone that Jozi had the thing. Heck, he was even more surprised that Jozi had seen it, but it was Jozi, what did he expect?
The ship growled overhead and stopped in a hover above Ozzy.
Its belly thrusters rotated, and a blue blaze shot outward.
It began descending.
15
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
Ozzy dashed away, moving his legs as fast as they could go. Here on Earth, everything was denser and heavier—his legs, his arms, yet, he was faster.
He slid under a tree and hid. He went to one knee and pointed his rifle. One shot in one of the thrusters would probably turn the ship into an exploding mess.
He rested his finger on the trigger and inched himself into a crouch, keeping his eyes on the target.
He closed one eye, aiming.
The craft’s belly opened, and a hose-like apparatus lowered. White foam sprayed from the hose in a mushroom shape, splattering outward and over Ozzy and the surrounding ground.
He dropped his rifle and wiped the foam from his eyes and spat the white substance out of his mouth.
It was tasteless and evaporated within seconds.
He stood and watched the craft move away from him. It continued to spray.
The embers and growing forest fire heading in his direction calmed and eased up the moment the foam evaporated.
The ship moved onward, spraying every burning inch and drowning more flames.
The Dunrakee were keeping the forest from burning. He scratched his chin and glared at the sky. “Interesting.”
Jozi looked over at Ozzy. “What is it?”
“From what our experts guessed, we thought the Dunrakee would destroy this planet from the inside out, polluting it, deforesting it, and taking all of its natural resources.” He continued to watch the sky. “Everything is still pristine and beautiful. It’s rather clean.”
Ozzy had always thought the Dunrakee were unclean, like muddy pigs. That they shit in the streets and didn’t give a rats ass who knew or who smelled it.
He shook his head. “Unreal.” He was flabbergasted. “Well, they won’t be clean after I get through with them.”
He walked over to Jozi, staring at the holopad in her hands. She was studying the blinking, red dot on the holoscreen. She pushed her finger through the pulsating light. “That’s our crystal sphere. I’m sure of it.”
It was due west, the direction Zeld had been going before she was most likely charred to death in the tree the Dunrakee had burned to a crisp.
Ozzy grinned. “The sphere isn’t that far away.”
“Let’s rest up and wait for the coast to clear. Then we’ll head in that direction and retrieve it.”
“And dig the Ark back up and rid this planet of the Dunrakee scum.”
Jozi nodded. There was an odd pleasure in her eyes. She wanted him to take this mission. He could see why as she disliked the Dunrakee more than he did.
“Over there.” Ozzy pointed to a rock formation at the top of a hill. “We’ll rest there.”
They made their way to the top and sat on a massive gray rock. Trees surrounded the area, and a river flowed ten meters below them. Ozzy and Jozi dangled their feet over the edge of a small cliff.
A fish jumped out of the water and plopped back in.
Jozi set the holopad on Ozzy’s lap. She laid on her back and closed her eyes. “Wake me when we’re ready to move again.”
“Or, you can wake up now,” came a woman’s voice.
A gun pressed against Ozzy’s head.
Shit.
He grabbed a tight hold of the holopad, keeping his eyes forward. “Looks like ole’ Zeld is alive after all.”
Jozi already had her gun drawn and pointed at Zeld. Her eyes narrowed, readying to end Zeld’s existence.
Zeld batted her eyes at Jozi. “No, no, darlin’. You put that gun down, or your friend here bites the big one.”
16
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
“Hand me the holopad,” demanded Zeld, her gun’s muzzle planted firmly against Ozzy’s temple.
“I don’t think so, Zeld,” he responded. What was she thinking? In order to finish the mission, Zeld forgot one basic truth: she wouldn’t get paid if Ozzy didn’t make it back home alive.
Zeld was all about getting paid.
She wouldn’t pull the trigger.
Jozi kept her aim.
“You know, Zeld,” said Ozzy. “If you die, then no skin off of my back. Jonas still pays me when I return.” It was a glaring “if he were alive” and able to return from this blasted trip. “But if I die…well…that’s a different story altogether, isn’t it?”
Zeld smiled, letting out a soft laugh. “I don’t think so. With the crystal sphere solely in my hands, how long do you think it will take for another crime boss to offer me a shitload of auric credits? There will be a bidding war, and I’ll come out the richer and the wiser person.”
Ozzy swallowed hard.
She had a point.
He cleared his throat. “Then who will kill the Dunrakee with the sphere and the Ark?”
“I don’t care. I have no dog in this fight.” She eyed Jozi. “Throw your weapon on the ground, or your friend here gets it through the head. Got it?”
Ozzy stiffened. “Don’t, Jozi. You drop that weapon and she pulls the trigger on me first and then you next.”
Jozi nodded. “I’m a crackshot, Zeld.”
Zeld bared her teeth. “Drop. Your. Weapon.” She pushed her gun harder into Ozzy’s temple.
Jozi didn’t budge, flinch, or blink. Her eyes were trained on Zeld, and they weren’t moving.
Zeld pressed firmly into Ozzy’s temple, and he leaned to the side from the pressure.
Ozzy placed the holopad into his waist belt and slowly brought his hands together into a fist. I can’t believe I’m about to do this. But it was now or never. This better work.
He took in a deep breath and twisted, swinging his fist in an upward motion and slamming it into Zeld’s gun.
Wapooh!
The gun went off, sending a photon blast into the air. It sliced through branches and leaves, and the gun flipped out of her hand. It twirled off the cliff to the river below.
Zeld leaned back and unholstered her other gun. Jozi shifted. Zeld ducked as Jozi popped off a shot. She missed by millimeters.
Zeld lost her footing and fell backward, pulling her trigger at the same time.
Wapooh!
A photon charge sizzled out of Zeld’s gun and punched against Jozi’s weapon. The sidearm spun out of Jozi’s hand.
Ozzy kicked, slamming his boot into Zeld’s stomach and sending her hard to the ground.
Zeld rolled away and scurried behind a tree.
Ozzy glanced down at his waist belt
. The holopad was gone.
Not good.
He turned, taking his gun out of his holster.
Jozi did the same and took a shot at the tree Zeld was behind.
The tree shook, and Zeld ran toward the cliff as fast as she could. She took a flying leap, her pink hair flowing in the wind while she was clutching the holopad to her chest.
Ozzy rushed to the edge and pulled the trigger. The gun recoiled and recoiled. Several photon beams cracked the air, and smoke swirled from the end of his muzzle.
Yet, he was no marksman.
Zeld hit the water, and a loud splash reverberated against the cliff walls.
Ozzy put his hands on his knees and shook his head in dismay. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jozi rushed to his side, and they both eyed Zeld swimming down the river. It looked choppy, and her head bobbed up and down.
“Now what?” he asked.
“We follow her.”
“Wha—”
Jozi pressed on Ozzy’s lower back and shoved.
17
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
Fear clawed through him, and he went to scream, but nothing came out.
Wind like he’d never felt before rushed up his body and a tingly sensation overtook the pit of his stomach.
His feet kicked back and forth, his arms windmilled, and he watched as the water came rushing at him.
His feet slammed into the water, and the rest of his body sunk below the surface.
An instant cold enveloped him, and he pushed down with his arms, doing his best to find his way back up to fresh air. Bubbles swirled around him, blinding his view for a moment.
His head and shoulders rose above the churning water, and a small wave crashed atop his head. He went back under. Muddy water rushed into his mouth and down his gullet.
He popped back up and coughed, spitting out liquid. He took in a deep breath, only to cough even more. A second wave crashed down on him, and he dipped back under. The rifle around his shoulder somehow still hung on.
He surfaced and slammed his knee against a rock. He yelped in pain and reached for his knee as a branch dangling over the water slapped his face. He grabbed for it and curled his fingers around the limb, holding on against the river’s flow.
Something pressed into his body and wrapped around him. He gasped and held on to the limb tighter, wondering what odd water creature was attacking him.
“Hold on, Ozzy.”
Not a creature—only Jozi.
“Can you reach the branch?” he asked, the water rushing against him and doing its best to tear him away and carry him downstream.
“I can’t,” she screamed. She squeezed tighter around his body, barely keeping her nose and mouth above the choppy water.
“Okay, here goes nothing,” Ozzy hollered. He moved one hand over the other, pulling them closer to the shore.
A water surge pelted his face, and a few fingers slipped from the branch. He reached with his other hand and held on while pulling himself further toward shore.
Ozzy felt the rocky river’s bottom through his boots. “Stand on your feet.”
Jozi did and let go and waded around Ozzy and onto the shore. She pulled herself onto the rock-strewn beach and laid on her back, breathing heavily.
Ozzy stepped onto the shoreline and crumpled next to her. His body was completely sapped of energy, and his breaths came quickly.
He turned his head, glaring at Jozi. She was pale and shivering. He imagined he looked the same.
“Why did you do that?”
“Sorry, I didn’t expect the water to be so powerful and so choppy. I thought it would be…you know…water.”
She had a point. Water on Mars was kept in storage tanks, and when you looked at it, it was still. When you jumped into the occasional pool, it didn’t force you where it wanted you to go like the water on Earth did.
“Click…clack.”
Ozzy paused.
“Clack…wondo…click.”
Ozzy rolled onto his side and craned his neck to see exactly where the sound was coming from.
A small Dunrakee reached for him, planting his hands on Ozzy’s shoulder.
Ozzy lurched back and instinctively shrieked.
A Dunrakee woman ran toward the small Being, her feet crunching on the round, smooth pebbles. She waved her hands and arms in the air, clicking and clacking.
Then she screamed bloody murder.
18
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
The female Dunrakee’s breath burst in and out while she eyed Ozzy like the alien he was to her.
“Not good.”
“Oh crap,” said Jozi.
“You can say that again,” he replied, slowly getting to his feet and placing his palms out to show he came in peace, which was the lie of all lies.
He was shivering and soaked from head to toe. Water dripped off him like a faucet. The last thing he looked was peaceful.
The alien woman put her hand over her human-like black lips. Her human-sized, almond-shaped eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets from surprise. Her thick, black hair covered the round protrusion that ran down the middle of her Dunrakee scalp.
She wore a flowery dress. It was very human-like and was probably a hand-me-down taken from an abandoned store after humans left Earth.
The Dunrakee pulled the little boy out of the way and hugged him close to her legs.
Ozzy kept his hands up. “We don’t mean you any harm.” He almost choked on his guile. He’d be zapping her and her son into ashes any day now.
That’s if he survived long enough to find the sphere.
The woman shook her head and backed up. She turned, and beach pebbles kicked up when she bolted away and made a run for safety.
She screamed and dashed into the tree line, pushing away brush and limbs and pulling the little boy along with her. It was probably her son, and they were there for a calm day on the river.
Little did they know they’d meet the terrible humans.
Ozzy shook his arms and legs, getting as much water off of him as he could, and looked around. “We have to get her. She’ll rat on us.”
Jozi frowned. “Oh, because the Dunrakee have no idea we’re on Earth?” She grabbed hold of her jumpsuit at the belly and wrung it out. Water splashed to the ground. She hurried toward the tree line. She most likely had it in mind to get out of the open. “She’s already long gone and scared shitless. Let her be.”
Nope. Not if he could help it. She was probably notifying the Dunrakee government right now.
He marched toward the tall tree line next to Jozi. “I’m finding her.”
Jozi huffed. “You going to kill her?”
“Eventually.”
“I say we find a place to hide for the rest of the day. Looking for her might be the death of us.”
Being on Earth and this mission was the death of them.
He pushed a fern out of the way and hurried past the trees. He maneuvered around a line of tall boxwoods and jerked back when he didn’t see any additional forest.
A vast city with trees, grasses, and beautiful buildings loomed before him. Rounded three- and four-story skyscrapers were in the middle of the city, and smaller, circular structures surrounded the city’s perimeter. Hundreds of meters in front of him was a gate with what looked to be a guard station.
The roads were white and small hovervehicles—thin and long—drove along the streets. Some vehicles were stopped at the guard station, waiting to get inside the town.
Everything was clean. No smoke coming out of chimney stacks, and for all Ozzy could tell, no garbage laying about.
A ship zipped overhead and flew over the middle of the city. It banked right and dipped low into the horizon.
Ozzy crouched next to a thick and bristly bush. Its small, yellow flowers grew on tough, dense limbs. It poked Ozzy, and he brushed it off.
Jozi crouched next to him, moving the plant out of h
er face. “They are making themselves quite at home on our planet, aren’t they?”
Ozzy nodded and made a fist. “Those Mars-holes.”
Someone tugged on his pants. Startled, he looked down. The same Dunrakee child was on his stomach, eyeing Ozzy. His black lips were curled in a smile.
His mother forcibly pulled him back. Apparently, they were hiding in the same spot.
Ozzy pulled out his sidearm and aimed. “Don’t move.”
The child’s smile turned downward. The Dunrakee woman picked her son up and shielded him with her body.
“Don’t shoot her, Ozzy,” said Jozi. “You’ll have more than just the Dunrakee soldiers on your ass if you do. You’ll have her family and her friends after you too. Right now, that’s the last thing we need.”
“They’re all a piece of shit to me, Jozi.” He gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow, shoving his gun into his holster. “They all deserve to burn in hell for what they did to us.”
Jozi took a step forward. “I know that as well as you do.”
The Dunrakee woman pressed a button near her shoulder. “Clack muyana clack yanta mee click wosh.”
“You little bubble-head,” growled Ozzy. He reached again for his gun. The woman tightened her grip on her son and ran toward the city. Ozzy aimed.
Jozi’s hand came down on his forearm when he pulled the trigger. The shot skipped against the ground a few meters in front of him. The Dunrakee mother rushed toward the security guard station, but the security guards had heard the blast and were already hurrying out of their stations with their weapons drawn.
They spotted Ozzy and ran at him.
Ozzy twisted on his feet and ran toward the river.
“You nitwit, you just notified exactly who you didn’t want to be notified,” yelled Jozi, moving past him.
They turned when they saw the water and instead rushed upstream, heading for another patch of woods.
A photon blast whizzed by Ozzy’s head. He looked over his shoulder and pointed his weapon, taking several shots.
Martian Quadrilogy Box Set Page 67
