“Is there any way I can change your mind, Ozzy?” asked Gragas.
Ozzy pushed the control stick forward, flying closer to the ground. Schroeter City was off in the distance, its blazing dome shining brightly. It was the second biggest metropolis on Mars, and a red sand wasteland engulfed it along with small hills and rocks jutting out of the ground.
“Ozzy,” Gragas said. “All the crime syndicates and their small armies are no match for the Dunrakee back on Earth. Even if they could defeat the Ministry and Mort Wildly, they’d be devastated by the Dunrakee power if the crime syndicates attacked.”
Ozzy straightened his lips. “We can beat the Dunrakee.”
“Yes, it sounds great, but humans have many hundreds of years ahead of them before they can build a big enough military and change their government to one that helps the people. Just be lucky you have the Ark. It’s the only thing keeping another massive Dunrakee invasion from sending every human to their graves.”
Ozzy glared at the outline of Schroeter City. Buildings and structures were growing larger as they flew toward it. “Like you said, we have the Ark.” Yet, something was telling Ozzy it wasn’t right to go to Earth. He’d be turned into mincemeat the moment he landed.
He shook his head. I have Indigo. The Dunrakee won’t be able to detect me.
A loud pounding echoed in the storage bay. They all turned around.
“What the Mars was that?” Ozzy said.
Jozi turned and leaned forward, swiping her finger across the holoscreen. She pulled up the roof cams and gasped.
Sparking fire and smoke swirled in the air as they watched Quad cutting a hole with a device.
Ozzy smacked his forehead. He’d forgotten about that guy. “Jozi, get your EVA suit on right away.”
Any puncture in Relic would send the internal air and oxygen into Mars’s atmosphere, successfully killing them before they would have time to defend themselves against Quad.
He put Relic on autopilot and rushed out of the cockpit.
Ozzy flew down the ladder, and his feet slapped the floor as he dashed to a locker, pulling out his EVA suit.
Jozi struggled into hers.
A loud crack reverberated against the walls. Ozzy secured the last of his suit and clipped his helmet in place.
He glanced up and saw a black circle and smoking-hot fire forming on the ceiling. A jagged metallic piece went up and down, sawing through.
Another clank and the smoking circle broke in two. It lifted into the air, slipped away from view, and fell toward the Martian desert.
“Get ready,” said Gragas as he aimed his weapon toward the roof. The butterscotch-colored sky glinted through the hole and highlighted the storage bay’s grated floor.
Ozzy aimed his rifle, and Jozi unholstered both her photon pistols and pointed them at the ceiling.
Another clank came from above.
“Hold your fire,” ordered Gragas.
Ozzy touched his finger against his rifle’s trigger.
“Keep holding,” said Gragas.
Kaklink!
A round object with black smoke trailing behind it dropped through the hole, bounced once on the floor, and then rolled a few meters.
“Take your shots now,” yelled Gragas.
Ozzy pulled the trigger. The rifle pressed against his shoulder as he lit the hole full of photon beams.
The smoke grenade exploded into a thick, black and gray cloud, shooting shrapnel everywhere.
A metallic piece slapped across Ozzy’s helmet. He tumbled on his back, strangely able to keep his aim, and continued firing.
A louder clank shot through the storage bay, and the floor shook.
Ozzy now shot wildly, and his rifle recoiled, sending hate-filled photon blasts Quad’s way.
“Cease-fire,” hollered Gragas. “You’ll shoot one of us, Ozzy.”
Blackness filled his view. It was getting thicker, and he couldn’t see a damned thing.
He waved his hand, doing his best to push the smoke out of his face.
It did nothing.
Quad jumped in front of Ozzy and reached forward.
Ozzy flailed back, kicking Quad away with his feet and smacking him on the hip.
Whapoom!
Quad lurched away. A photon beam hit him square on his armored chest. Electricity soared around Quad, shooting in all directions like lightning bolts. He stepped back a few times to keep from falling.
The thick smoke now began to billow away.
Quad gathered himself and trudged onward, heading right for Ozzy.
“Get those digger cuffs out, Gragas,” Ozzy yelled, aiming his rifle.
He took another shot. The photon bolt sucked into Quad’s battle suit then bounced back, electrocuting Ozzy.
Ozzy yelped as electricity coursed through his body, and his weapon fell from his grasp.
“I’m out of digger cuffs.”
“Where are you, Gragas?” Ozzy looked around as more smoke cleared.
Quad leaped and pressed his boot against Ozzy’s chest, pinning Ozzy to the cold tiles.
Ozzy grabbed Quad’s boot and twisted it, trying to push it off of him.
It didn’t budge.
Shit.
Quad pulled out a long dagger and reared back. “Time for me to get paid, Ozzy.”
He slashed in a downward motion. Ozzy threw up his hands, turned his head, and closed his eyes.
This was it. This was how his life would end—at the hands of a damn bounty hunter.
21
Nearing Schroeter City, Mars
Boot’s panged loudly against the floor.
Ozzy felt the pressure of Quad’s boot lift off his chest. A loud crash like cymbals from a drum set echoed in Ozzy’s ears when armor and metal hit the floor.
Ozzy opened his eyes. “What the—”
“Move,” ordered Gragas. He leaped over Ozzy and rushed toward a downed Quad.
Quad pushed himself up before Gragas met him head-on. Gragas lowered his shoulder, and Quad turned toward Ozzy, thrusting his arm forward in a throwing motion.
A dagger spun in Ozzy’s direction.
Gragas slammed into Quad a moment later, forcing him back on the floor.
Wapooh!
A blue photon blast slammed into the dagger, which ignited and then turned into grayish ash. Particles of the dagger and the ash fell to the floor and slipped through the grates.
Ozzy, still on his back, twisted around and saw that Jozi was the one who pulled the trigger, incinerating the knife that was coming right at him.
He twisted and moved into a standing position. “Keep him busy, Jozi.”
Ozzy ran toward his forklift. He jumped in and began pressing buttons to activate the engines. The magnets that kept the lift in place released, and it roared on. He pressed his foot on the pedal and floored it as he lowered the forks and steered toward Quad.
“Gragas, it’s your turn to move.”
Gragas jumped to his feet and leaped out of the way.
Quad pushed up and paused.
He pulled out a double-barreled photon gun. Ozzy ducked, lowering his head under the steering column and peered through the holoscreen in the middle of the driving console.
Whapoom!
Quad released a shot, and the forklift shuddered but kept moving.
The forks hit Quad’s waist. Ozzy pressed a lever that widened the forks as it continued forward, and they slipped onto both sides of Quad.
Ozzy pressed another lever and closed the forks.
Quad was unable to hold his weapon, and he grabbed at the forks and dug in with his feet. The forklift slowed but maintained a steady speed.
Ozzy jerked forward when the lift came to a jolting stop, and he hit the driving console then bounced off. His head hit the seat from the backlash.
Slowly looking up, he saw the end of the forks were flush against a wall, and Quad was trapped between them. Quad was twisting and turning, trying to force his way to freedom.
Ozzy slammed on the parking brake and magnetized the forklift to the floor.
Gragas jumped on top of the forks and crouched, coming mask to mask with Quad. “Stop your ruthless killings, now.”
Quad laughed. “None of my killings are ruthless, Galactic Knight. They are necessary for the betterment of the galaxy.”
Gragas inched closer. “You’re delusional.”
Jozi grabbed Ozzy’s arm. “Are you okay?”
He nodded and slid out from the forklift and to his feet. He took a step toward Quad, but his boot kicked something. It was Quad’s double-barreled weapon.
Ozzy picked it up and turned it end over end. “This will do just fine.”
Quad glanced at Ozzy. “You’re not the killing type, my friend.”
Ozzy tilted his head. “I’m your friend now? Funny how that happens when you’re stuck between a forklift and a hard place.”
Jozi walked with him, holding her weapon in front of her.
Gragas stepped down from the forks and folded his arms. “What are you going to do with him?”
“I have it in my mind to kill him. We’ll rip off his helmet and let him die in Mars’s atmosphere.”
Jozi nodded. “I’m all for it.”
Gragas gave Ozzy a long look. “Are you sure?”
Ozzy wasn’t a stone-cold killer, and he was as far from sure as Mars was from a breathable atmosphere.
“I saved your brother,” Quad said.
“Take off his helmet,” Ozzy instructed Gragas. Deep down, this didn’t feel right just as going to Earth didn’t feel right. Killing Quad would be as ruthless as Quad. But if he didn’t do this, he’d be dead by Quad’s hands.
Gragas bowed his head. “As you wish.” He lifted himself back onto the forks and leaned down.
Quad growled. “You’re making a mistake.”
“If I don’t kill you, then you’ll kill me.”
Gragas took in a hefty breath. “Quad, we’ll eventually get your helmet off. You can either die like a warrior or grovel like a coward.”
Quad heaved and smacked his fist into his palm. He lowered his head. “Do as you must. I’m ready to die.”
Gragas grabbed each side of Quad’s helmet.
Ozzy’s stomach tensed. This was wrong, but he didn’t know why he felt this way. He’d killed in defense before when he was being hunted and shot at, but he had never killed a defenseless person.
“Stop!”
Gragas pulled his hands away, and Quad lifted his head and looked up. A loud beep blared through the cockpit, echoing down to the storage bay. Mumbled words sounded shortly after.
Jozi glanced over at Ozzy. “That might be Schroeter City’s flyway tower. Did you change the trajectory when you put Relic on autopilot?”
“Crap.”
22
Schroeter City, Mars
“Run,” Jozi yelled. “We’re heading right for Schroeter City’s graviton shield.”
Ozzy dashed up the ladder and into his cockpit, dropping onto his flight seat as sweat dripped down his forehead and under his arms. He was out of breath.
Schroeter City’s graviton shield was seconds away, glowing a bright gold.
“…you’re heading too close. Pull up. Pull up,” the tower warned.
“Oh shit.” He pulled back on the control stick, pushed on the throttle, and activated the hover boosters on Relic’s belly.
Relic’s nose lifted. “We’ve got this under control, tower.” Ozzy gritted his teeth.
The swift movement of the craft and the force of the hover boosters pushed the ship away from the dome but sent boxes and crates crashing in the storage bay.
He initiated bow thrusts, pushing Relic farther from the dome while slowing it into a hover.
“Permission to land in sterilization station one?” asked Ozzy.
“Identify yourself, Sir. We’ll run checks, and then you can proceed to sterilization station one and clean your ship.”
“Uh…” Ozzy looked around. He was a known criminal, probably logged in every holocomputer across Mars except Tagus Valles, thanks to Jonas’s clout. “Just a second.”
“And, Sir, how are you invisible to our radar? If I hadn’t seen you with my own eyes, you would have impacted the shield and most likely exploded on contact.”
The corners of Ozzy’s eyes crinkled. “Must be something wrong with your radar.” He muted his com line and spun in his chair. “Jozi. Get up here, quickly.”
Footsteps pounded across the lower deck and panged up the ladder. She put her hands on her hips, heaving. “What is it?”
“I need your help. They want me to identify myself.”
Jozi nodded then sat and unmuted the com line. “Tower, this is Tonya Murphy of the Mars Ministry Police. My ID number is 115432. Please check and verify.”
“Okay, we have you here. What is your passcode?”
“It’s lioness,” she replied.
“You may enter when ready,” responded the tower.
The sterilization chamber doors opened.
Ozzy raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain?”
“It’s another agent’s ID and passcode. I know a few more if we need them.”
Ozzy smiled. “Alright.” He lowered into the flyway port.
His com line rang with an anonymous number. Ozzy glanced at Jozi.
She shrugged.
Anonymity’s face lit the screen when Ozzy answered the call. “Welcome to Schroeter City, Ozzy.”
Ozzy squinted his eyes. “How do you know where we are?”
Anonymity tapped on a device in front of him that was hidden from view. “Let me show you something.”
“We don’t have time.”
“Oh, you will for this.”
The screen changed, and High Judge Robert Baldwin was standing next to his desk, talking to a large human all decked out in a battle suit strapped full of weapons. On the right of the screen showed the date—a week ago.
“Who is that with him?” Ozzy asked.
“I’ll zoom in on the video.”
When he did, Ozzy could tell exactly who was next to Robert. “Quad.”
“Now listen,” Anonymity said.
Robert leaned against his desk and crossed his arms, his squirrelly sounding voice penetrating the room. “Ozzy Mack has been a criminal for many years and very elusive. I imagine he won’t be so elusive for you, correct?”
Quad inclined his head. “I’ll get the job done, but I need auric credits up front.”
“And you will kill this criminal?” Robert asked.
“What has he done?”
“Two things: he has been breaking our excavation laws and codes for years now, stealing and killing innocent women and children.”
Ozzy lurched back. “That son of a—”
“The other thing is he has damning holovids, holodocs, and holoimages of me, which are, of course, doctored.”
“Is there more?” inquired Quad.
Robert placed his hands on his desk. “If you see a woman with him who has black hair and blue eyes, young and pretty, that’s Jozi.” He straightened in his posture and pulled a necklace out from under his white robe collar. It was the same pendant Jozi wore, the one her father had made. He clasped it in his hand much as Jozi had done on several occasions. “There are some things I don’t want her to know. She needs to be silenced.”
Quad dipped his head. “That’s not my concern. Personal issues are your issues, and those matters don’t belong in my business. I will take out this Ozzy criminal, but Jozi is a non-issue to me.” He slapped his chest when he said me.
The vid turned off, and Anonymity reappeared on the screen. “He is breaking the Ministry laws on many accounts with this action alone, which will help your cause, Ozzy.”
It was true. Hiring someone to kill another person was against the law, especially by a government official.
He glanced at Jozi, who had seen and heard everything. She was unconsciously clutching her pendant. Ozzy looked down at i
t, and she realized what she was doing and gently slid it behind her collar where it dangled under her jumpsuit. Her lips were tight, and Ozzy could tell she wanted to do anything but remain quiet. She wanted to yell and wanted to throw everything she had at her uncle.
At least now she had a hint at what Robert was capable of even to his own niece. Silencing Jozi didn’t mean he wanted her alive and not speaking; he wanted her dead, and Jozi was smart enough to know that.
Ozzy turned back to Anonymity. “But that vid alone isn’t enough to throw him in prison.”
Anonymity shook his head. “This just proves your case more, Ozzy. This, plus all the information we’ll be spewing across the com channels tomorrow, will damage the guy in more ways than we could ever imagine.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Jozi chimed in. “You didn’t doctor that video in any way, did you?”
“Why would I do that, Jozi?”
She stared at him, studying him and perhaps trying to catch him in a lie. She was a trained MMP agent and could probably spot a lie by a person’s posture, their twitches, their type of eye contact, and their facial features. “You are telling the truth. But there is something else you are calling us about, Anonymity. You wouldn’t be calling us unless you have another angle here.”
“This goes out tomorrow. All of it. I can’t really feel it in my heart to put the polished politician in jail without a little more. . .compensation.”
Ozzy sat straighter. “What? That’s not part of the deal.”
“It is now.”
Jozi moaned. “I heard that’s how you do things. I should have listened.” She shrugged. “Don’t spend more money, Ozzy.”
“Then none of this will go out tomorrow,” said Anonymity, a chuckle trailing his statement.
Ozzy understood. This was how things were done in the criminal world. He didn’t like it and had always fought against it, but he, nevertheless, constantly had to deal with it. “Fine, how much more?”
“Two million auric credits.”
Damn. Like always, Ozzy needed all the money he could save, and this would put another dent in his savings. “One million.”
Mars Colony Chronicles (Books 1 - 5): A Space Opera Box Set Adventure Page 51
