Martian Insurrection (Mars Colony Chronicles Book 3)

by Brandon Ellis

  “I have a package coming for you. After you receive it, get the Eagle in your little hideout inside Olympus Mons. You can then rest up before you go to Earth.”

  Ozzy scoffed. “I was fine going to Earth when I thought the crystal sphere was buried somewhere. Now, I know it’s in the presence of a Dunrakee. If you wanted to kill me, Jonas, you could have just put a photon beam through my head and called it a day.”

  Jonas waved his hands in the air. “Don’t start your pity party with me. You’ll get the sphere and be fine. You always are.”

  Ozzy shook his head. He wasn’t going no matter what Jonas had to say. He just wouldn’t let that prick know…not yet. “I can’t believe you set me up.”

  “It was the only way.” He cleared his throat. “Enough.” He slapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s get to the good stuff. I paid Anonymity, but I upped it one better. In a special private message, I’ve sent all the files to each of the high officials in the Ministry and told them that if they don’t usher me in as High Judge, I have plenty of holodocs, holoimages, and holovids of them doing some very shady things.”

  “But, you don’t.”

  “True, but with the information I am showing them about Robert and all the bad shit we have on him, they will take the bait.”

  “Well—”

  “And I’m asking to be installed tomorrow morning.”

  Ozzy shook his head, his eyes widening. “Don’t you think that’s a little fast?”

  “Yeah, I do. But if I give them too much time, they’ll figure out a way around my bluff. Hell, they might even find out that I’m conning them.”

  Ozzy’s jaw dropped. “You’re actually doing this.”

  “I actually am. Things will get better on Mars. Trust me.”

  With being set up and with being thrown to the Dunrakee on Earth, Ozzy highly doubted things would get better with a lying, double-dealing man like Jonas.

  “What is this surprise you have for me?” He wasn’t looking forward to any additional revelations. All he wanted was to figure out how to get his family from Jonas’s greedy paws.

  “You’ll see.”

  A clank on the exterior ramp echoed through the ship.

  Ozzy turned and hurried out of the bridge and down the hall. Reaching the ramp, he held out his photon gun and pressed the ramp button.

  Steam expelled and the ramp unfolded, dropping to the ground.

  His eyebrows rose and he backed up, gasping loudly. “Son of a—”

  47

  Olympus Mons, Mars

  A squad of men, all decked out in military-grade EVA suits with weapons galore, stepped on the ramp and headed toward Ozzy.

  “Don’t move,” warned Ozzy, pulling out his other sidearm, now holding a gun in each hand and pointing them at the oncoming soldiers.

  “Ozzy, stand down.” It was Gragas somewhere in the back of the pack. “We’re heading on up.”

  Ozzy holstered his guns and stepped aside. A crew of men and women carried up wood crates, setting them on the shiny, polished floor.

  Two men walked by Ozzy, placing a burnt crate on the white sofa. It was the box holding the Ark of the Concordant.

  The soldiers were silent as they marched back down the ramp.

  “Gragas, where are you?”

  “Down here.”

  Gragas had his arm around Jozi and was helping her up the ramp. She was limping, but other than that, she looked fine. Jonas’s medbots worked a miracle.

  Gragas and Jozi made it to the top of the ramp and into the entryway lobby. Ozzy went to shut the ramp, but Gragas grabbed his arm. “I’m leaving.”

  Ozzy’s stomach sank. “But I need your assistance. I’m not going to Earth. I’m going to find a way to get my family back, and then I’m blasting off this planet for good.”

  “I’m sorry. I must get back to my Knights. I have challenges I need to tend to, plus I would be overstepping the code to help you…again.”

  Ozzy huffed, crossing his arms over his stomach. “I thought you said the code doesn’t necessarily go above helping friends when they need it.”

  Gragas rested his hand on Ozzy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. You’re a friend, but I can’t go this far over the code. I’ll be violating Galactic Knight protocol and assisting you too much. I can’t overstep that type of boundary. My Knights would be decommissioned.”

  “Decommissioned by who?” asked Ozzy.

  Gragas didn’t answer, and, instead, helped Jozi to a chair. She cautiously sat down and rested her head on the backrest. She was going to live, that was for sure, but Ozzy could tell she was in some massive pain.

  “There is nothing I can do to change your mind?”

  Gragas shook his head. “Nothing.” He bowed. “Be well, Ozzy. And most of all, be safe.”

  He walked down the ramp. Ozzy bit his lower lip, wanting to bite all the way through. How the hell was he going to get his family back?

  With Gragas, it would have been a quick in and out extraction.

  “Ozzy,” said Jozi, her voice soft and weak. “There is another thing.”

  “What is it?”

  “Jonas’s surprise for you.”

  He could tell from Jozi’s voice that he wouldn’t like the surprise.

  “When we get the sphere, he wants you to use the crystal skulls, the crystal sphere, and the Ark of the Concordant to obliterate every Dunrakee on Earth.”

  “I’m not getting the sphere.”

  Jozi cringed, attempting to hold in her pain. She leaned forward, staring Ozzy directly in the eyes. “Yes, you are.”

  Ozzy let out a quick laugh. “You’re joking, right?”

  She shook her head. “Do something right for humanity for the first time in your life.”

  Ozzy gulped. “Excuse me? You want me to forgo saving my family and destroy the Dunrakee?”

  “Yes. This is something that will save humanity for the remainder of our days and a way we can get back our home world. This is Jonas’s plan, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I back him on it. Him taking over the Ministry is something I can’t stand and something I’ll be firmly against, yet his plan to have you and me sneak onto Earth and erase every Dunrakee is sound and, by all intents and purposes, I’m all for it. I owe this to everyone. And so do you. We will be at peace in the solar system once again.”

  What Jonas wanted was possible; with all of those tools together, the Ancient Coptic writings said there was enough power to destroy entire suns and solar systems, and according to the writings, those with the bloodline, like Ozzy, were able to direct where the Ark weapon should be aimed.

  “To even attempt killing all the Dunrakee on Earth, I’d also need all thirteen skulls.”

  Jozi pointed to two of the dozen crates in the room. “Open those.”

  Ozzy creased his brow. “Impossible.”

  Ozzy lifted a lid on one of the crates. Half a dozen crystal skulls were sitting at the bottom surrounded by protective cloths.

  He hurried to the other crate to which Jozi had pointed. His eyes about jumped out of their sockets when he lifted the lid and saw seven more crystal skulls sitting at the bottom of the crate, making a total of thirteen crystal skulls between the two.

  He put his hands on his knees, his eyes glued to the skulls. “He wants me to commit genocide.”

  “And then he wants Earth back. Do this for humanity. Do this for peace, and you won’t have to worry about being a forbidden archaeologist ever again.”

  Ozzy bit the inside of his cheek and began pacing. He tapped his temple, thinking. Do it for humanity. Why would he do it for humanity? They’ve given him nothing.

  Lily.

  Humanity gave him his daughter. But he wouldn’t see his daughter ever again if he didn’t survive this trip. It was all or nothing. He halted and stared at his feet, his mind racing. Do it for humanity, you idiot. Do something good in your life without selfish motives.

  He sighed. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. He
faced Jozi. “When does he want me to leave?”

  “In three days,” replied Jozi.

  48

  Olympus Mons, Mars

  Ozzy yawned and threw his blankets off. He stretched his arms and rolled over.

  He was in one of the many bedrooms inside the Eagle. He had parked the craft inside Olympus Mons late last night.

  He pushed himself out of bed then whipped his head around in a start. Next to the bed was a port window, and he saw movement by one of the many columns near where he parked the craft.

  He yawned again. He must be seeing things.

  He opened the bedroom door, watching it slide into the sidewall.

  “Whoa,” he yelped, taking a step back.

  “Sorry,” said Jozi, standing at his door. “Was just about to knock.” Her face was solemn.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I just got done watching Jonas on the holoscreen being sworn in as the interim High Judge.”

  “It worked?” Jonas got every damn thing he wanted. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Well, believe it.” She put her hands on her hips. “Your best buddy, Jonas, is now running Mars. He told me before I left that if I help you get the crystal sphere, he will clear my name, and I’d be an MMP agent again.”

  Ozzy ignored her and gently pushed passed her. “I have to see this swearing in for myself.” He marched down the corridor and to the bridge.

  Jonas was standing at a podium, and a news anchor was talking over him. “Apparently, the high officials in the Ministry were very impressed by this gentleman. He is a business tycoon, but some people are saying he has ties with the crime syndicates. Right now, that’s only a rumor.”

  The sound switched from the anchor to Jonas.

  “…together we can create a lasting…”

  Ozzy turned off the holoscreen and rolled his eyes. “Political drivel.” All politicians said the same damn thing since the beginning of time.

  He walked out of the bridge, passing Jozi yet again, and made his way to his room.

  Jozi followed and tugged on Ozzy’s jumpsuit. “Did you see that?”

  Ozzy stepped out of his room, nodding. He saw it too, but now the realization hit him. The ramp was extended to the ground and open. “We closed the ramp last night, didn’t we?”

  Jozi nodded, reaching for her holster.

  “You didn’t open it this morning, did you?”

  Jozi shook her head, aiming her weapon at the open ramp. “Sonya Zeld?”

  Crap. He had forgotten about her. She was the only one inside the mountain.

  But how long had she been inside the Eagle?

  A gun’s muzzle pressed against the back of Ozzy’s head.

  “Don’t move,” came a snake-like voice. She was in his room and must have snuck in when he went to the bridge a moment ago.

  “Zeld,” said Ozzy, putting his hands up. “Mind telling me how long you’ve been inside?”

  “Since five minutes ago.” She threw a piece of paper on the ground. It was the codes and login information. “You forgot to take this off the underbelly, Ozzy.”

  Shit.

  “What do you want, Zeld?” asked Jozi, her arms outstretched with a gun pointing at the pink-haired rebel archaeologist.

  “I want this Eagle, beautiful.” She parted her lips.

  Ozzy snorted. “You take this Eagle, Jonas kills you.”

  “You know I can pop your head off at any second,” came Jozi, her eyes narrowed.

  “You do that, my body will tense up and my finger will flex, pressing against the trigger. Ozzy will die as well.”

  “Do it, Ozzy,” said Jozi.

  “Uh…do what?” Ozzy asked.

  “You know.”

  What was Jozi talking about?

  Zeld sidestepped, pulling Ozzy along with her, and ducked back into his room. “Don’t you be thinking up anything clever. I’ll zip a shot through your handsome friend’s brain here.”

  “Ozzy,” Jonas’s voice came through the intercom system. “I have a change of plans.”

  Ozzy went rigid. That wasn’t good and having Zeld holding him with a gun to the back of his head wasn’t too great either.

  “Jozi, get that,” Ozzy said.

  “Nope,” said Zeld. “We’ll all get that together.” She motioned with the tilt of her head for them to walk to the bridge. “Go, and you first, Jozi.”

  Jozi led them down a few corridors and to the bridge. Jonas was on the holoscreen and stroking his chin. He stopped when he saw Zeld. His eyes beamed like a burning hell Ozzy hadn’t seen before. “Zeld, get your hands off of my archaeologist.”

  Zeld looked around, noticing the nice stations, the fancy, large holoscreen, and the two-tiered bridge. “This is delicious. I want a scoop.”

  Jozi held her gun out. “Tell me when to shoot and I will, Ozzy.”

  Ozzy held up his hands. “Remember what Zeld said when you shoot, she’ll tense up? Yeah, don’t shoot.”

  Jozi let out a gush of air, lowering her weapon.

  “Now, Jonas, let me know what you have up your sleeve, and I might just let Ozzy go,” said Zeld.

  A grin crept onto Jonas’s face. That was never good. “Zeld, I have a proposition for you.”

  Zeld licked her lips. “I love propositions.”

  “You’re as good as Ozzy when it comes to finding artifacts. You’ve done plenty of work for me in the past, so I know this to be true.”

  That hit Ozzy like a punch in the stomach. No one was as good as him.

  “Would you,” Jonas continued, “accompany Ozzy to Earth? We have a find.”

  Zeld let go of Ozzy, backing up. “That’s a suicide run. Sorry. I’ll pass.”

  “One hundred million auric credits. I’ll give you ten million up front, ninety million when you return with the crystal sphere.”

  Ozzy shook his head. “No. I do this with Jozi only.”

  “It’s like they say, Ozzy,” replied Jonas, resting his hands on his gut. He took a bite of a chocolate-covered almond. “Two heads are better than one. And, in this case, three heads are better than two.”

  Ozzy grimaced. “Too many cooks in the—”

  “Deal,” said Zeld, interrupting Ozzy.

  “Great,” responded Jonas. “You’re leaving today.”

  Ozzy straightened, his muscles tightening. “The hell we are.”

  “Yes, the hell you are. Get ready because if you want me to be good to your family, you will leave now.”

  The holoscreen blipped off, slowly fading from Jonas to blackness.

  Ozzy walked over to the helm’s chair. He slumped into it, hung his head, and talked in a low tone, “You take orders from me, Zeld. And my first order is that you stay away from me and Jozi.”

  Zeld looked Ozzy up and down. “I think not.” She paced over to the astrogator chair, the station where she’d drive the ship. “I’m the best pilot here, so I’m in charge.”

  Jozi lifted her gun, pointing it at Zeld.

  Ozzy put his hand up. “I can hold my own, Jozi. You don’t have to keep protecting me.”

  Jozi glanced at Zeld, who was sitting at the astrogator with her legs crossed, her hand on the control stick.

  “You probably can, but it’ll be easier to hold your own with me watching your back.”

  True, thought Ozzy.

  “Let’s try not to die,” said Ozzy. “Switch on the engines, Zeld.”

  Jozi sat at a station and set her weapon across her lap. She turned her chair toward Zeld, making sure Zeld saw her gun.

  “Little lady,” said Zeld, turning on the engines. “All I care about is the money. I don’t care about killing either one of you because if I did, you’d both be dead by now.”

  Zeld reversed engine thrusts, pushing them through the rock hologram and into a hover above the base of Olympus Mons.

  She lifted the Eagle’s nose and pushed the throttle forward, sending energy to the ionic boosters.

  The Eagle growled and shot
toward Mars’s upper atmosphere.

  The sky glowed butterscotch as it usually did, and the sun was at high noon. Ozzy sat back. “Switching to autopilot.”

  He set the coordinates for a nice cruise control to Earth, his home, and every human’s home since the beginning of his race’s existence.

  Epilogue

  “What are you doing, Tiger?” Zeld leaned against the doorway with an apple in her hand. She took a long, slow bite. She let out a deep moan then licked her lips. “This tastes so good.”

  Ozzy was on his back and under a holocomputer console in the auxiliary room. Sweat stained his armpits and snaked down his temples. He clipped a wire and inserted it into Indigo. The wire melded into the device like wires did every time. Again, Indigo was another technology he didn’t understand and something he wasn’t confident enough with his own tech knowledge to question. “It’s none of your business what I’m doing.”

  “She likes you.”

  Ozzy stopped and dropped his arms by his side. He pushed out from under the console. “Who?”

  “Jozi.”

  Ozzy rolled his eyes. “That’s neat. Now, if you can get on your way and leave me alone.”

  “Why else would she stay?”

  “Because she has some type of motherly protection over me or something.” Ozzy wiped his hands together. “I don’t know.”

  “She doesn’t know it yet, but she feels something for you.”

  Ozzy brought up a holoscreen. He swiped his finger across the array, connecting the central processing unit to Indigo’s wires.

  A beep sounded, signaling the connection was set. They were now a flying ghost to all radar.

  “Well, if that were true, which it’s not, then trust me when I say I don’t care. Women are in my past. I don’t want to make that mistake more than once.”

  She walked toward Ozzy, dropping the apple on the ground. “What would you think if I said I liked you too?” She raised one eyebrow. She leaned up against the console that Ozzy was working on and touched his hand. The touch was soft and sensual. She tucked her pink hair behind her ear and slightly opened her mouth. She put her finger against her front teeth, eyeing Ozzy as if he were a sex symbol, which he was far from.