A Dunrakee guard jumped out of the way, avoiding the beams and continued in pursuit. A second guard was a few paces behind his friend.
Jozi fired two shots, missing high.
Ozzy jumped over a large rock and into the woods. A tree limb punched him in the face. He shook it off and kept running. “You don’t know the Dunrakee language like I do. She gave them our location.”
Ozzy jumped over a little stream, landing on a patch of soft grass, almost slipping. He continued and weaved through rows of thin trees with white bark. If he remembered correctly, these were maples.
He glanced over his shoulder. Jozi was right behind him, running her ass off just as he was. Jozi’s face was red, and he wondered how many colors his face was changing right now too.
A loud crack pierced the forest. Ozzy glanced back. “Shit. Run faster, Jozi. Run faster.”
A handful of guards were now in pursuit, their bald heads covered with Dunrakee guard caps: an ornate orange ball with a black rifle insignia embroidered on the front.
A roar blanketed the sky. Two tear-shaped military craft with wide wings and a wide tail flew over Ozzy, shaking the forest’s canopy. A loud boom shook the trees and birds scattered. The craft pulled up and looped.
“They’re coming in for a strafing run,” hollered Jozi.
“Split,” ordered Ozzy, rushing to the right.
Jozi ran to the left.
Zoota! Zoota!
An explosion picked up a portion of the ground and knocked over a tree, spitting clods of dirt between Ozzy and Jozi.
A second blast pocked the ground, uprooting another tree and leaving a tangled mess of singed bark and boiling soil.
“A clearing is up ahead,” he yelled.
“I see it.”
The clearing was no more than twenty meters away. It was littered with small adobe houses and white streets paved around them.
Ozzy jumped over a downed tree. The Dunrakee ships flew low for another pass.
He headed for the village. At the moment, it might be the best place to hide. They wouldn’t dare strafe their own people. Or would they?
Ozzy glanced over his shoulder, almost forgetting about the chasing guards. He laughed when he saw them. They were panting like dogs and slowing down.
The ships pulled away and flew onward. Good. Ozzy was right. They didn’t want to take out innocent villagers.
He ran onto a street with Jozi close behind him.
They passed a light post of some kind and a few domed homes with white stucco-like material covering their outer shells. Windows were on the houses much like the houses on Mars. Trees leaned over the abodes, and plants grew around them, but no Dunrakee civilians were on the streets or their porches. They were hiding, or this was an abandoned village.
If it were, it was well kept and clean.
He waved Jozi along, his heart racing, his mind imagining all the terrible shit the Dunrakee would do to him if they caught him. Skin him alive? Disembowel or dismember him? Eat him for breakfast?
And what would they do to Jozi because of him? Why did she join him on this mission? He was nothing but a bad luck charm that got people harmed or worse—killed.
Heck, she was the one who convinced him in the first place, so maybe she deserved whatever pain came her way.
He huffed and pointed at a dead-end road full of more homes. “Down this street. We’ll head out of the village over there.” They could cut through a backyard and head toward the river again.
Whap! Kacheeee!
Ozzy lifted off of his feet, and Jozi smacked into him. He fell and then rose high into the air. The top of the trees rushed at him, and he covered his eyes. His head whipped back as he and Jozi slapped against leaves and branches.
The leaves shivered and rained down on him, and he and Jozi were flush against some branches.
He rolled over, facing down and his face touching thick rope.
“A trap?” He nodded to himself, confirming his own question.
“We’re in a net of some sort,” responded Jozi, trying to move around.
Ozzy eyed the ground. They were above the village, hanging in a sturdy, well-built net.
Commotion came from the edge of the forest, and the plants jostled. The guards were coming.
He twisted around, grabbing for his rifle strapped around the back of his neck. It hung through the net. He pulled. It didn’t budge.
“Can you reach your gun, Jozi?”
Ozzy tried reaching for the gun in his holster, but everything was too cramped. He attempted to pull it out, but that also wouldn’t budge.
“I can’t get my hand to my holster,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I can’t get mine either.”
Security guards leaped into view and onto the village’s main road.
They held out their weapons and walked toward Ozzy and Jozi.
Ozzy and Jozi had no chance.
19
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
“Nunda clack nank click,” ordered a security guard, pointing his men to several houses on the block Ozzy and Jozi were hanging above.
“They don’t see us?” Jozi asked.
Ozzy shook his head. “Maybe not yet.” They were high enough in the trees that they were camouflaged, but wouldn’t the guards know they caught someone or something in their trap?
Or maybe the trap wasn’t explicitly set for Ozzy and Jozi and wasn’t set by the guards?
A guard banged on a villager’s door. No one answered. He banged harder. “Yaga click mos.”
A few seconds later, a young woman opened the door. She lowered her eyes.
The man grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her out of the house. She yelped.
“Minlo,” she screamed. “Minlo.”
An older man emerged from the doorway. His hands were in a prayer position, and he bowed profusely, keeping his eyes to the ground.
“I think he’s apologizing,” said Ozzy in a soft voice.
Jozi kept her eyes focused on the scene below.
The guard slapped the older man on the side of the face, and the man fell. The young woman pushed the guard away. She reached for the older Dunrakee.
“Yaga click mos,” yelled the guard.
The woman straightened like a trained dog.
“Seave em zow,” hollered someone from a different direction. Ozzy careened his neck and saw a large man walking confidently up the street and toward the guards. He raised a fist in the air. “Seave em zow.” He wasn’t wearing a guard’s uniform. Perhaps it was another villager.
“Leave her alone,” whispered Ozzy. “That’s what he’s saying.”
The confident villager folded his hands at his lower back and stood tall in front of the guard, saying several loud and angry words Ozzy couldn’t understand.
The guard let go of the young woman and folded his arms, eyeing the man up and down. “Wosh ne wa bafa click,” he said.
Ozzy went rigid. “He wants to know where we went.”
He waited for the villager to motion toward the sky, right where he and Jozi were hanging. He waited for the weapons to be drawn and pointed at them, only to end his and Jozi’s life a second later.
Instead, the big Dunrakee cocked his head, indicating that Ozzy and Jozi ran off toward the river. He hollered as his clicking and clacking mixed with several words Ozzy still couldn’t make out.
Finally, the man said, “Oom clack kaj.”
“He’s saying that way. He’s telling the guard we went to the river, I think.”
“Why?”
Ozzy blinked away his fantasy that maybe these villagers were saving them. But in truth, they were probably keeping their fresh flesh and bones to themselves.
The guard raised a photon rifle at the man. The man went docile and lowered his chin.
The guard laughed. He gave a side glance to his troops and clacked loudly. The guards stood at attention. He click-clacked, and they marched toward the river.
Se
veral Dunrakee villagers walked out of their homes, watching the guards pass by and eventually disappear from view. After a few minutes of quiet, the townspeople surrounded the big man and conversed.
“What are they saying, Ozzy?”
“I don’t know. I can barely hear them. Can you reach your knife?”
Jozi shook her head. “No, can you?”
“No.”
“Why do you want it?”
To Ozzy it was obvious. “As soon as they move on and go inside, we can cut ourselves out of here and climb down one of these trees.”
Jozi looked dumbfounded. “You don’t think they caught us on purpose?”
“I think this is a net for their food. They probably catch deer or someth—”
The net jerked, and the rope connecting the net to the tree eased.
Ozzy’s stomach dropped. “Crap.”
The men and women below him were now looking up, staring at them. The big man held a rope in his hands.
He loosened his grip, and the net lowered. The man tightened his grip again, and the net stopped.
Ozzy slid his hand down his side, pushing through the discomfort and rope burn against his arm and hand. His whispered “yes” when he reached his sidearm. “I got it,” he said, unholstering his gun. “Several dead Dunrakee’s coming up.” He brought his arm upward, but it didn’t get past his side before the weapon tangled in the net and dislodged from his hand.
It spun toward the ground and bounced on the white concrete.
The big man let go of the rope. They free-fell.
Jozi screeched.
The Dunrakee squeezed the rope, and the net halted a few feet from the ground. He handed the rope to another man standing beside him. He bent down and grabbed Ozzy’s gun.
Frowning, he studied the weapon, then looked at Ozzy and Jozi and put his finger over his black lips, narrowing his almond-shaped eyes.
He was telling Jozi and Ozzy to be quiet.
The Dunrakee aimed the gun at Jozi, shaking his head. “Click-clack wowon lowj.”
20
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
Nerves hit Ozzy like an atomic bomb. He and Jozi were dead to rights.
The Dunrakee made a shooting sound and then waved the gun around. He gestured for the man holding the rope to let go.
The net lowered quickly, and Jozi and Ozzy hit the pavement with an “Oomph.”
Ozzy rubbed his face and laid there, waiting for a shot to go off and end his miserable existence.
Someone grabbed him and flipped him over like he was a toy. It was the big guy. He twisted his hand around Ozzy’s chest and tugged on Ozzy’s jumpsuit, pulling him to his feet.
He stared into Ozzy’s eyes as if studying his soul.
Ozzy stood rigid and practically paralyzed with fright. This guy was strong and had twice the muscle mass as Ozzy. The Dunrakee man could probably throw him fifty meters across the road if he wanted.
But he didn’t.
Instead, the man eyed Jozi and jabbed a thumb into his own chest. “I…clack…am Porgas. They…click…civilian people. I…clack…lead…them.” He spun, gesturing to everything around him. “My…town.”
Ozzy’s mouth gaped open. Apparently, the guy’s name was Porgas. “You speak my lang—”
A loud cracking sound came from the forest.
The man turned, eyeing his people. “Wosha.”
Everyone scurried and raced across a few front yards and to the side roads and into their respective houses.
“No…clack…time…click…to talk,” said Porgas. He motioned toward a house. “Come.”
Jozi and Ozzy shot each other a look.
Her face was as shocked as Ozzy’s. Were these people helping them?
“I think more guards are coming,” said Jozi. “Let’s follow the guy.”
Ozzy dipped his head in agreement and walked after the Dunrakee. Porgas strode to a home and held the door open, gesturing for Jozi and Ozzy to enter.
They stepped inside, and Porgas led them past a few warped tables that held statues.
Porgas hurried them down a hall. The room they entered had a large table and an ornate rug. Fruits and vegetables were on the tabletop in beautifully colored bowls, and geometric designs were painted on the wall.
Ozzy couldn’t help but marvel at the craftsmanship of the furniture and the incredible details of the paintings.
Porgas pressed a button underneath the table, and the table and rug hovered about two and a half meters in the air, exposing a round hole with stairs directly underneath.
Porgas nudged Ozzy and pointed inside the hole. “Clack click…go,” he said.
Ozzy creased his eyebrows together. “I guess we go under the table?” he said to Jozi. He and Jozi walked down the stairs into a cold, damp room.
The table and rug above them crashed shut, covering the hole, and darkness filled the room. A moment later, the walls blinked on and glowed, sending a pleasant white, hazy light all around them.
Ozzy rubbed his eyes, doing his best to gather his bearings. Usually, he paced to do that. He thought hiding down here wasn’t the best idea. “What the hell is going on?”
“Not a clue,” replied Jozi. She took a seat on a long bench lining a wall. She jumped when a cushion popped up from the seat and formed around her. “What the hell?” She lifted her shoulders in an I don’t know motion about the seat function, but took it for what it was and adjusted herself in the seat. “My Mars this is comfortable.”
Ozzy made his way to the bench across from Jozi. The same thing happened to him when he sat, and the cushion formed around him, pressing against every nook and cranny in his body. “It’s like a massage chair.”
Shelves lined the walls where more fruit, nuts, and vegetables glistened in their jars. Square bottles with purple liquid were on the shelves, along with carved ornamental items of elephants, dolphins, horses, and many other different species that Ozzy had never seen in real life.
A loud clank echoed from the floor above them. A commotion broke out. A photon pistol went off, and they heard glass shattering.
Yelling and clicks and clacks reverberated off the walls, and Ozzy stood and tiptoed up the steps and placed his ear on the ceiling.
A loud bang rocked the room, and more glass shattered.
Ozzy backed away.
The damn guards were here.
21
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
Ozzy’s heart pounded, and perspiration stained his armpits and dotted his forehead. Whatever was happening above wasn’t good.
“Get your guns ready,” he said in a low voice.
He unstrapped his rifle from around his shoulder and aimed at the ceiling.
Jozi had her two photon pistols also targeting the ceiling.
Another pound vibrated across their small room. They heard a yell, and a gun blast went off. Shuffling and mumbled voices carried to Ozzy’s ears.
Then silence.
A moment later, he heard movement.
The ceiling squeaked and moaned from heavy footsteps walking across the floor. Ozzy trained his weapon.
The footsteps grew fainter until the sound disappeared completely.
Ozzy glanced at Jozi. He had no idea what was happening, but he’d give a pretty auric credit to find out.
He’d also give a pretty auric credit to stay hidden. If they were found, they were dead. Yet, these Dunrakee villagers were keeping him and Jozi safe, and more importantly, alive.
He wondered what they would demand in return. Maybe they would hold them for ransom. Or sell their body parts. Or worse, torture them for pure pleasure.
He sat and leaned his back against the comfortable chair and sighed. How did he get his ass in a bind like this? Why did he agree to this mission for Jonas, oh, and for all of humanity?
I’m an idiot.
“I bet Jonas is calling Zeld on that holopad right now, and she’s acting like everything is fine and dandy.�
�
“If she’s alive,” Jozi said in a hushed tone.
Ozzy shrugged and whispered, “She is. It’s Zeld. She doesn’t die easily or get shot or found, for that matter.”
The glowing walls flickered and turned off. A loud click pierced the air, and the ceiling shook. The trapdoor slowly lifted and light filtered in, revealing shiny, black boots at the top of the staircase.
The ceiling door creaked and rose higher.
A man in a red cape, a red and black mask, a battle suit, and a dagger in each hand stared down at them.
Ozzy tilted his head. Unless his eyes were deceiving him, he knew exactly who that was.
22
Earth • Ancient Athapaskan Land, California
“Don’t move,” said the masked man.
Ozzy grinned. “You son of a Mars’s red dust.” He lowered his weapon and looked toward Gragas. “I thought you weren’t supposed to help me.”
Gragas touched the hilt of each dagger against his belt, and they magnetized to it. He pointed a finger at Jozi, compassion rising in his robotic voice, “I’ll help her in a time of need, but you’re trying to destroy everything I hold dear, so I’m showing up for the lovely lady. Not you.”
She was trying to do the same to Gragas’s people, but Ozzy would keep his mouth shut.
Ozzy trotted up the steps and out from under the floating ceiling. He hugged Gragas, who returned the hug.
Jozi walked up and joined in on the bear hug. “Thanks, Gragas.”
Ozzy let go and took a step back. His eyes swept the room.
Windows were shattered, singe marks and smoking holes covered the walls, and broken chairs and other items littered the floor. “What happened in here?”
“The Dunrakee guards thought they heard a human scream and came back. They ransacked homes, including this one, trying to find you guys. Thankfully, they didn’t kill any of my friends and family, but they managed to stir up a lot of fear, which they do very well.”
Martian Quadrilogy Box Set Page 68
