He shook his head. “Don’t do this, Jozi,” he whispered. “Let the asshole die.”
He sighed.
From what Ozzy had seen, Gragas was somewhat of a match for Quad—sometimes, but Jozi wasn’t even close. She could hold her own with any human, but, beyond that, she was out of her league.
“Dammit, you two,” he shouted. Shar, the woman in Ares Monument, was right—they needed to do everything in their power to oust the current government, not do everything in their power to keep it afloat.
To do that, they needed to trust Jonas. The guy had many tricks up his sleeve, and Ozzy didn’t doubt that Jonas could somehow take over the High Judge’s seat.
But now Gragas and Jozi were putting themselves in harm’s way to stop something that needed to be done.
He activated his engines and closed the storage bay ramp. Relic rumbled and shook, and the ship’s purr brought a twinkle to Ozzy’s eyes. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
He touched the hover lever.
“See you guys in a minute.”
His holodisplay beeped and a message appeared.
Your Eagle is ready. Coordinates will be sent in the next patch.
Lyra No Tail.
He took his hand off the lever and leaned back in his seat. Hmm, what should I do now?
He nodded.
34
Heading Toward Olympus Mons, Mars
Ozzy pulled the hover lever, raising Relic into the sky.
A Class-14 Quadruple Engine Electrohydrodynamic Ionic Thruster 113 SX Vessel was waiting for him to use on a specific job—to get the crystal sphere on Earth.
He’d seen Earth’s beauty in holovids, in holoimages, and in reading Earth tales in books.
Yet, being there and breathing fresh oxygen, touching a river stream, drinking its water, and feeling the wind against his skin, was something he’d always wanted to do.
He’d get some of that on Europa, but it wouldn’t be the same.
And an Eagle. A legit vehicle that could cross the distance from Mars to Earth with no problem was sitting for him, and only for him.
There wasn’t a better civilian craft.
The coordinates to Lyra’s Eagle zipped across the screen and were near the entrance to his little castle inside Olympus Mons. That was far away and in the opposite direction of Gale Crater City where Jozi and Gragas were traveling.
“Screw it. Gragas is with her. He’ll keep her safe.” He patched the coordinates into his controls then flipped on the autopilot.
Relic blasted forward.
Anyway, he had to get to the Eagle before Sonya Zeld, who was still hiding somewhere in the castle. She was probably laying her greedy eyes on the Eagle at this very moment. If she grabbed one of the EVA’s outside, she could mosey over to the craft and steal it.
That wasn’t good.
He pulled up his com line and dialed Robert’s number. It was to his private line and something Ozzy had used many times when Robert would send him on digs.
The com channel rang. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to. It was for Jozi’s sake. He didn’t want Quad ripping her apart for trying to stop him from killing Robert.
He’d at least let the evil son of a Mars know that Quad was on his way. Robert would go to another location, and Jozi wouldn’t have to worry about saving the evil guy.
From Ozzy’s experience, Robert’s eyes could tell a million lies. Except, on this call, they registered confusion. “Why are you calling me?”
“To warn you that Quad is on his way to kill you.”
“What did you just say? Why would he kill me if I paid him handsomely to kill you?”
“It’s a long story and even longer to explain how Quad’s mind works. But trust me when I tell you, he’s coming to kill you.”
Robert snickered. “Yeah, sure. Are you saying he’s coming right this very minute?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m all for him killing you, trust me on that, but Jozi and Gragas are on their way to stop him. Quad is a dangerous bounty hunter. I don’t want my friends to die for the sake of saving you.”
Robert jutted out his chin and scratched under it. “You’re pranking me.”
Ozzy let out an exasperated breath. “No. Listen to me. Get into hiding. Don’t tell me where because Quad might be patched into this line. Get out of the Ministry building and find a rock to hide under. Do something. Get a thousand troops to stand in front of you. Just leave your current location because Quad is on his way at this very second. Do. You. Understand. What. I’m. Saying, Robert?”
Robert briefly closed his eyes, taking it all in. “Okay, let me get this straight. Quad is going to kill me even though I paid him to kill you. Jozi, who I fired and whose head I’m going to put on bounty next, is going to save me. And Gragas, who is some guy who works with you and who has never met me or could care two licks about me, wants to help me.” He twirled his finger in the air. “Stuff doesn’t seem to be flying true here or making much sense, does it?”
Ozzy punched the control panel. “Are you kidding me? Of all things, I should wish you a happy death. I’m warning you, Robert.”
“You’re full of hogwash, Ozzy. Nice try, though. See you on the other side. Oh, and give Quad my gratitude when he pulls the trigger on your sad face.”
Ozzy stared at the blank holoscreen for a few seconds in disbelief. He unclipped his helmet and threw it on the seat next to him.
He made a fist and growled at the butterscotch-colored sky then punched in new coordinates on his flight console.
“Damn you, guys.”
The craft made a U-turn, heading for Gale Crater City.
35
Nearing Gale Crater City, Mars
Ozzy lowered his craft, zooming toward Gale Crater City’s dome.
“This is the city’s tower. You are heading in fast. Please slow your approach. Identify yourself, and we’ll run a check then let you in sterilization chamber three, which is open and ready for use.”
“This is…”
Crap.
He was on the High Judge’s most wanted list. There was no way they’d let him in.
Or they’d let him in and arrest him the moment he exited his craft.
“Sir, reduce your speed, and please identify yourself.”
He slowed his ship, pulling Relic into a hover.
How was he going to get around this?
He thought for a moment and rested his elbow on his armrest and his chin in his palm.
“Sir? We need your identification, please.”
His brother.
He could use his brother’s information. The Ministry didn’t know where on Mars the guy was. Well, hell, either did Ozzy. The last he saw was Lou being carted off to the medical techbots at Jonas’s compound. By chance, he was with Lily at some resort in Gledhill—a resort owned by Jonas.
“Sir?”
“I’m Lou Mack, owner of Pollack Mine.”
There was a pause. Ozzy stared at the enormous, glowing graviton shield domed around the city.
The com line blared. “I need your ID number.”
He looked back and forth across the sandy terrain in front of the dome. What was Lou’s damn ID? It should be simple. It was one number away from Ozzy’s, but was it a number after or a number before?
He knocked his head with his knuckles. Lou was born after Ozzy. “It’s one number after mine, dumbass.”
“Excuse me, sir?” came the tower.
“Oh, my apologies, tower. My number is 185145. Do you need my address? Or how many times I wipe my ass after a restroom break?”
He had to sound like a miner. They were usually pissed at the world, and, in truth, it sounded like Ozzy anyway, so it wasn’t a big leap.
“You’re clear. Ease into sterilization chamber three, sir.”
The water turned off, and Ozzy marched down Relic’s ramp. He exited the sterilization chamber and turned down a side street. He kept his communication’s cap on and activated his com channel, hoping th
at if Jozi were near him, he could patch into her line and find her.
“Jozi?”
Static.
“Jozi?”
He rounded a corner. Hovercars zipped by, and several people stood in front of him, waiting to cross when the traffic halted.
“Yo, Jozi?”
“Ozzy?”
The hovercars stopped, and the crowd in front of him proceeded across the street, making sure to stay between the yellow-painted crosswalk lines.
“Are you in Gale Crater City?”
“Yes,” Jozi said. “You being able to talk to me over your cap com tells me that you are also here.”
Ozzy stepped to the other side of the street and headed for the Ministry building.
“Stop what you’re doing, Jozi. Quad will kill you if you don’t. There’s no telling what’s on that guy’s mind.”
“We’re here at the Ministry building and about to enter. Quad is nowhere in sight. Out.”
“Jozi? Jozi!” Ozzy threw a fist in his palm. “That little—”
As he rounded another building, he spotted the Ministry up ahead.
Flags topped the structure. One was white, one was black, and the other one had Mars’s colors: orange and gray stripes with one red star in the center.
The structure was wide, domed like the shield around the city and about ten stories tall. It housed a small hospital, the Ministry headquarters, and a courthouse with jail cells.
He picked up his pace, passing a few pedestrians, and trotted up the steps to the main entrance.
When he pulled open the doors, he jerked back and came to an abrupt halt. “What the hell?”
The guards, along with workers, were on the floor, unconscious. Luckily, he didn’t see any blood.
A small device, courtesy of Gragas, sat on the floor and had been used to knock everyone out.
He hurried passed security’s full-body scanners and metal detectors. They dinged when he went through, telling him his sidearms had been detected.
All the security guards were down and out, so it didn’t matter.
He walked into the main lobby. It was also full of unconscious people. Several were facedown on a giant star marbled in the middle of the large room, others leaned back against couches, their eyes closed and breathing soundly.
He headed down a hallway and came upon a few guards who were on their sides, slumped on the floor, peacefully dreaming.
Another one of Gragas’s devices was next to them.
He turned down a corridor and activated up his com line. “Jozi?”
Sweat began to form on his head, and his heart beat faster as he ran around a corner and saw an open door at the end of the hallway. It was Robert’s office.
“Jozi?”
His feet pounded on the tiles, almost as fast as his heart was beating.
He hoped Quad hadn’t found Jozi and Gragas. If he had, then no telling what was behind that door.
He unholstered his weapon, moving closer and closer to Robert’s office.
“Jozi?”
He pushed the door further open and came to an abrupt halt.
Gragas was on his knees, checking a bloody guard who was slumped over Robert’s desk.
Jozi was glancing down, shaking her head.
Papers littered the floor.
Robert was leaning over the side of his chair with his mouth open. A thin line of blood streaked down his temple and to his cheek, dripping onto his white shirt. On the side of his head was a dark photon hole. His hair was charred where the photon slug hit.
His eyes stared blankly toward the floor. The shot that took his life came so swiftly that the High Judge didn’t have a chance to duck out of the way, let alone move.
A window was smashed behind Robert. The glass shards spread out onto the floor. That had to be Quad’s entrance and exit.
“Put your hands up.”
Ozzy spun around. A handful of guards were in the hall, aiming their weapons.
“This is not a good time, guys.”
“Drop your weapons,” shouted a guard. “And, I repeat, put your hands up.”
Ozzy eyed Gragas, who returned the gaze.
“One last warning,” barked a guard. “Put your hands up where we can see them.”
Ozzy shifted on his feet. “I don’t think so.”
36
Gale Crater City, Mars
A guard stepped forward, his eyes on Ozzy like he was the murderer of the century. “If you don’t want to get yourself killed, I would suggest you do as I say and drop your weapons and put your hands up.”
“I’m an MMP agent,” said Jozi, her hands raised. “Let me show you my ID.”
“Keep your hands where we can see them,” ordered the guard.
Ozzy stiffened. Gragas’s weapon was aimed at the guard. Ozzy never even saw him lift the rifle.
“Do it, Gragas,” Ozzy said. He was bluffing. In truth, the High Judge was dead, and he didn’t want to see anyone else die today, especially himself.
“Gentlemen,” said Gragas. “I’d suggest you lower your weapons. I’m an elite fighter from deep within this galaxy. Don’t make a mistake.”
“I’d do what that masked man says,” Ozzy said.
Kishiiish!
A window from across the room broke. A grenade spewing fire at one end rolled across the carpet.
“Duck,” shouted Gragas.
Ozzy dove. He hit the floor and crawled toward the desk. A flash of light engulfed the room. Ozzy closed his eyes and curled up, waiting for the percussion to throw him into a wall or burn him to ashes—whichever came first.
A thud reverberated against the walls, and the sound of wood smashing and more thuds filled his ears. Then someone yelled.
Ozzy opened his eyes. The flash had died down. Quad stood over Jozi, who was backing up to a now broken desk and reaching for her holster.
Gragas had a guard against the wall, raising him so his feet dangled. He punched him across the cheek, and the guy’s eyes shut, and he went limp and fell to the floor.
Quad cocked his head to the side. He spun and kicked, slamming his boot across another guard’s temple. The guard fell on contact and buckled to the carpet.
The room fell silent, the only sound was Quad’s heaving.
Jozi stood with her gun pointed at Quad. “You just created a shitstorm. Now everyone in the Ministry will vie for the High Judge’s position. And my guess is they aren’t much better than Robert.”
Gragas rested his hand on his sword’s hilt, ready to unsheathe and draw Quad’s blood if he attacked.
Ozzy sat on the ground, his eyes on a dead Robert Baldwin. He couldn’t believe it. The one man who ruined his life and continued to make Ozzy’s life a maze of mental torture and drama was dead.
Quad stood in the center of the room, his hands in fists, waiting for another guard to enter. “I did my duty. I no longer need to kill Ozzy. Especially after meeting him and you all, I didn’t want to kill him anymore.”
He sounded like a little kid confessing to his family.
Dozens of bootsteps echoed down the hall.
Quad went into a defensive stance. “I’ll stay. You all get out of here.”
Gragas grabbed his arm. “No, Quad. Come with us.”
Jozi rushed to one of the broken windows. She jumped through it and landed on the other side, planting her feet on a soft patch of grass. “Let’s go.”
Ozzy ran over to the window and leaped through, smashing into a bush and flipping onto his back.
A thud sounded, and someone landed beside him. It was Gragas, who helped Ozzy up. “You need to learn the finer aspects of balance, Ozzy.”
An MMP vehicle zipped passed. It came to a stop and reversed. More MMP vehicles were coming down the street, their sirens blaring.
“Duck, Quad,” Gragas shouted.
Photon fire riddled the room from where they had exited. Ozzy looked back. Quad was in full-fight mode, throwing MMP agents and guards all about.
; He tossed a guard against the wall next to the window where Ozzy was standing. The guy turned and glanced out the window, stunned to see a wanted criminal staring back at him. He pointed at Ozzy. “That’s the guy who killed the High Judge. He’s getting away.”
Shit.
37
Gale Crater City, Mars
Ozzy thrashed through the shrubbery, burst out onto the sidewalk, and ran down the street.
A dozen MMP vehicles, noticing him, swerved and made a U-turn.
It wouldn’t be long until they caught up to Ozzy. Ten seconds, at best.
He unholstered his gun and shot over his shoulder.
“Watch it,” Jozi said, chasing after him. Gragas was on her tail and running fast, his cape whipping in the wind.
Quad, on the other hand, wasn’t in sight. He was most likely kicking ass.
Ozzy rounded a corner. “How are we going to get out of—”
Someone grabbed him around the waist, and Ozzy lifted into the air. He looked down, seeing his feet rise farther and farther off the sidewalk.
He looked over his shoulder and jerked back. “Holy Mars.”
Gragas had an arm wrapped around him and one wrapped around Jozi. His metallic wings were outstretched, and fire was thrusting out of his boots.
They were going fast; too fast and too high for the MMP hovervehicles to catch them.
Good move.
“I’m heading to the city’s exit tubes,” Gragas said. “We’ll get into Relic from there.”
“Well, land before you do. We need to sneak in past security. If they notice me, they’ll hunt me down. I’m being blamed for killing Robert.”
“There was no one there to witness the killing,” Gragas said.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m the prime suspect.”
“Right there!” Jozi pointed. “Land next to that park.”
Gragas zoomed down, landing near a dense tree line. His wings folded in, making a sucking sound.
Jozi rushed past the line of trees and into the small forest. She leaned against a trunk and put her hands on her knees. She was shaking, and her eyes welled up. “I feel like throwing up.”
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