Mars Colony Chronicles (Books 1 - 5): A Space Opera Box Set Adventure

by Brandon Ellis

  Another jostle and more metal against metal rang in the air. Ozzy jerked back again, the chord maintaining his balance, and craned his neck.

  An MMP hover vehicle was behind them and slamming into the limousine.

  He went to a knee, and pulled out his sidearm, pointing his gun at the vehicle.

  He let out an exasperated breath, and holstered his gun. It was Lou, trying to get Ozzy and Gragas off the car, and driving like a madman, his face red, veins nearly popping out of his now muscular neck.

  Gragas pulled himself onto the roof, and grabbed more of the curled opening, and twisted it, making a bigger hand hold.

  The car shook violently as Lou rammed the limo again. Lou was relentless.

  Gragas jumped through the opening and grabbed Lily, cracking a boot in Jonas’s face, and sprung out of the car, yelling, “Release.”

  The black device shot out of Ozzy’s hand, and unmagnetized from the roof, careening off the car and bouncing off the asphalt.

  Ozzy fell back, and Gragas grabbed him with one arm while holding Lily in the other and lifted into the air, activating his sole boosters, and sending them away from the highway.

  Lily screamed and Gragas veered to the right, flying between skyscrapers.

  “We have to lose them,” said Gragas.

  The sound of MMP sirens told Ozzy the MMP crafts were again in pursuit.

  “We have to get to the flyway port and into my ship,” yelled Gragas. “And—”

  Gragas tipped his head to the side and lowered in his flight, flying quickly down an alleyway, an area to thin for the MMP agents to follow.

  He slowed and went into a hover, descending to the ground and setting Lily and Ozzy on the pavement.

  Ozzy immediately went to a knee and put his hands out to Lily. She jumped into his arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. He hugged her tightly. “We’re getting you to safety.”

  “Where’s mommy?”

  Ozzy shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  On either side of them were apartment complexes, squished together to fit more snugly in this overcrowded, small domed cities.

  Ozzy looked to the sky. The MMP were circling like vultures, no doubt telling ground units their location.

  “Gragas, we have to go.”

  Gragas sat on his rear, his head down, his chin to his chest. He slowly shook his head. Something was clearly wrong.

  “Gragas, we need—”

  Gragas put his hand up. “Give me a minute.”

  Ozzy stood, holding Lily. “What happened?”

  “The Ministry has infiltrated my starship in the cleaning port. The Galactic Knights were overrun. Dizzy is hiding in a side panel in the auxiliary engines room. The rest of the Galactic Knights besides Quad, Jozi, and Kat are…”

  Ozzy’s mouth gaped open. “What about the rest of the Galactic Knights?”

  Gragas cleared his throat, “They’re all dead.”

  9

  Gledhill, Mars

  “You’re kidding me?” Ozzy set down Lily.

  “At the moment, we don’t have time to mourn,” replied Gragas, pushing himself into a standing position.

  MMP hovercar sirens were blaring in the distance, coming closer at every passing second. The MMP ships were still hovering like vultures, unable to descend into the narrow alleyway.

  “Daddy, I’m scared,” Lily put her hands together, shrinking as much as possible. She was now eight years old, but a year older didn’t quell any fear a young kid would have at a time like this.

  “Hold on,” said Gragas, grabbing Ozzy and Lily. “It’s going to get a little rough.”

  Ozzy swallowed hard, and grabbed on to Lily to make sure she was extra safe.

  Gragas jumped and they flew out of the alley and toward more skyscrapers, making sure to fly above the hovercars on a Gledhill expressway as well. It was a clever move. If the MMP shot at Gragas, they may hit one of the city residence’s flying vehicles.

  That wouldn’t go well with the population.

  Gragas cocked his head to the side again. “Quad, where are you and Jozi?” He nodded. “Good, you’re close by. Locate me and get on my six. We’ll head to one of the graviton shield cores, and threaten to send photon cannon fire into it so they open up a shield quadrant for us get out of here.”

  Gragas flew down another alleyway, and the MMP crafts on their tail pulled upward, avoiding the narrow alley.

  “You’re going to blow up a shield core?” asked Ozzy, uncomfortably hanging my Gragas’s arm.

  Blowing up a shield core would turn a large portion of the graviton shield completely off. They wouldn’t have ten, twenty, or thirty minutes to get it fixed like the city engineers did when a small graviton panel malfunctioned.

  They’d have minutes, if that.

  “That’s not going to work,” said Ozzy. “They get bomb threats every month from crazies, too. They won’t believe you.”

  “The difference,” replied Gragas, “is that they catch those crazies rather quickly. A bomb actually going off only happened once, and the bomb wasn’t powerful enough to do much of anything. The weapons on Quad’s starfighter can and will do massive damage to a core. They’ll know this.”

  “They’ll know you’re not a threat, Gragas.”

  “I’ll be convincing, and they’ll open up a portion of the shield they can easily close without harming Gledhill’s citizens.”

  “Are you alright, Lily?” questioned Ozzy.

  She nodded. Her breathing was bursting in and out, and Ozzy could tell she was trying to be brave while holding in a cry.

  Gragas flew by a high rise and steered into a descent, heading toward an energy core on the ground. He veered around a building, hugging up against the inside lining of the city’s shield. Up ahead was the core, which was surrounded by thick, red concrete, acting as a protective barrier.

  Several guard stations were attached to the barrier and the sirens atop them began spinning, shining red and yellow lights.

  Gragas slowed down, and went into a hover in front of the immense barrier.

  Guards in full Martian Marine regalia jumped out of their stations, their weapons drawn.

  Gragas’s voice boomed through his helmet’s auditory mic. “My name is Gragas. I’m the leader of the Galactic Knights, readying to cause major harm to this city if you do not open a shield panel for me and my friends to fly through.”

  The hum of Quad’s starfighter off in the distance filled Ozzy’s ears. It dove from above, and circled around, its cannons spinning. It slowed, and drifted into a hover next to Ozzy, Lily, and Gragas. Through the cockpit window, Quad held out a thumb, giving them a thumbs-up.

  The ship’s cannons rotated and targeted the barrier covering the energy core.

  “Please do as I say,” demanded Gragas. “And let the MMP ships and MMP agents in pursuit of me and my friends know that if they make any false moves, the starfighter next to me will take this core out of commission, and in turn, take every man, woman, and child in this city out of commission.”

  The soldiers didn’t budge, keeping their rifles steady.

  Gragas continued. “This starfighter has missile and photon lock on the core. I will give you ten seconds.”

  Ozzy moved and eyed the coming MMP S-9’s. A few of them were in the distance, but closing in fast. Nerves pinched his gut and ran up to his throat. “Crap, they’re coming in hot, Gragas.”

  “You have three seconds,” Gragas told the guards.

  A guard glanced at another. He dipped his head and backed away, entering a guard station, and typing something on his holocomputer.

  A panel in the upper right quadrant blinked off, exposing the outside Mars world. A butternut sky shined through the opening, casting a long shadow of the guards across the red concrete they stood on.

  Gragas repositioned. “Ozzy, I need you to reach around, and unhook an extra breathing apparatus connected to my upper oxygen tank.”

  Ozzy was so used to breathing the outside
air on Earth that he forgot a rather important aspect about Mars. Outside the city domes, oxygen was practically nil.

  “Do it,” said Gragas, is voice hurried. “Pull it off and hold it over your daughter’s nose and mouth. She’ll be able to breath.”

  “On it.” Ozzy twisted around in Gragas’s hold and grabbed the breathing apparatus. “Lily, breath in this, okay?” He held it over her face.

  She nodded and began breathing.

  “Now, Ozzy,” came Gragas. “Hold your breath. You and your daughter are going to have to go back and forth with the oxygen until we get there.”

  “Yes, will do.” If there was a worse plan, then Ozzy didn’t know what it was. “Where are we going?”

  “Don’t worry about it, just know that out here, I can go twice the speed of the MMP S-9’s and we’ll lose them quickly.”

  Ozzy closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”

  Gragas zipped forward, heading through the entrance.

  10

  Ancient Martian Base—Forbidden Zone 4, Mars

  Ozzy sat on a bench, and watched a dirt devil make a Martian sand mess across the desert. He was staring out a wall-sized window, hidden from the outside by an ancient holographic technology.

  After they had escaped Gledhill, the MMP didn’t pursue, or if they did, Gragas lost them quickly. Jozi and Quad blasted out of the city just as fast, eventually catching landing at the base Ozzy was at now. Apparently, there was a dogfight, and Quad came out on top.

  From the outside of this base, the ancient Martian compound looked like a hill, and nothing more.

  It was a hologram, hiding what it truly was. An old military outpost the Ancients used way back when, yet this one somehow hadn’t been touched by the calamity that befell the Martians thousands of years ago.

  It was now taken over by Gragas, who apparently had been using it as a Galactic Knight’s stronghold for almost a year.

  And now only four Galactic Knights remained; Ozzy, Gragas, Jozi, and Quad. Kat was missing, and the rest were dead by Dizzy’s count before he went missing as well.

  It was because of Jonas that these men and women were dead. Power had corrupted him, or Ozzy was just too stupid to see through Jonas’s trust me, I’m you’re family, act.

  “Screw that bastard.”

  Ozzy yawned and held in a yell. After they landed, he’d been sitting on this bench all night, allowing his daughter to sleep in a bed on a lower level.

  Yet he couldn’t sleep. He had to find his daughter’s mom, and figure out what the hell happened to Lou.

  Lily mentioned Lou volunteering for something while they were at the resort together, but what was it? She would hear him scream from down the hall, and when he’d return hours later, he would be different. Mean, and quiet.

  Until he stopped returning at all and it was just her mom and her, playing at the resort, eating delicious meals, until those too stopped.

  Then Jonas became mean, shortly before Ozzy arrived home on Mars.

  Ozzy rested his hands on his satchel, something he had on at all times. It made a crunching sound. On Earth, a Dunrakee healer woman gave him a healing device. And there it was, snug in his satchel, doing nothing to heal his emotional wounds.

  Too bad it wasn’t a time machine. If it was, he’d prevent all of this. He’d start all over. He’d be with his daughter, living a normal life, and not worrying about anything but family and work. He’d be a professor, back at Gale City University again, teaching archaeology and linguistics.

  And turning down Robert Baldwin, the old High Judge, when Robert hired him for a job. The job turned into a life sentence away from his family.

  He yawned again and rubbed his eyes.

  “I gotta go. Where is Relic when you need her?” he said to himself, referring to his old S-4 Jumper, his best buddy, and a ship he hadn’t seen in months. “Where is she, anyway?”

  Probably still blown to bits next to Olympus Mons, where he left her.

  The bench moved, startling Ozzy.

  “You’re not doing well,” said Gragas, sitting down next to him.

  Ozzy leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “I’m fine and dandy.” He patted Gragas’s leg. “I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry for everything. If you can get me a ship or something, I’ll get me and Lily out of your hair.”

  “I don’t have hair.” Gragas jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Jumper is in a ship bay in the west wing.”

  The west wing? Ship bay? “How is my S-4 Jumper here?”

  “Before we left for Earth, my Galactic Knights and I grabbed it, fixed it up, and added some new components on it that you might like.”

  “You did what?”

  Gragas patted Ozzy’s leg this time. “You’re welcome.”

  Ozzy stood. “Thank you, but I don’t deserve your kindness.”

  “Then what do you deserve, and who decides on what one deserves or not?”

  Ozzy rubbed the back of his head and looked down. He didn’t want to play these Galactic Knights mind tricks. He exhaled, and eyed Gragas. “I’m going to find Lou and Venessa.”

  Gragas stood as well. “Not yet. We are pinpointing their location, and trying to locate the limousine’s route. And all the locations where the limousine stopped, and if it exited Gledhill to an outside Mars highway. If it did, then we will find the city they drove to. This is assuming that the car Venessa left in also went to the same location that the limousine travelled to.”

  Ozzy wiped his mouth, doing his best to hold in the disgust in his heart. Not disgust with Gragas, but disgust with his own life. His distaste to what he had done to the Galactic Knights, and how he led them to slaughter by trusting Jonas Moon. “I’m sorry, Gragas. I can’t ask for your help. I’ve caused enough harm.” He stepped forward, then paused. “Where is the west wing?”

  They were in a large room. Tables, and benches lined the walls. It was dark, and the only light streaming in was the rising sun.

  Gragas pointed. “Out the main doorway there and take a left. You’ll come to it.”

  He walked to the open doorway. A knot formed in his throat. He put his hand on the door frame, turning to face his friend. “Gragas, about your friends. I—”

  Gragas put his hand up. “No need for forgiveness or heartache. A sorry is understandable, but also a word that will fall on deaf ears. My Galactic Knights died a noble death. They fought for truth, justice, and the light of the galaxy. I thank them with every inch of my soul for being there for you and your family, and doing all they could to help. If you are down about that, then brighten up. They’ve helped many throughout the years. I will miss them and I will always love them, but know they are transitioning to another life. This was their soul contracts to fulfill, not yours to hinder. In other words, they knew what they signed up for.” Gragas dipped his head. “I hope you understand.”

  Ozzy dipped his head as well. He didn’t understand, but right now, it didn’t matter. He had to find his family, and figure out where to go from there.

  He dropped his hand from the door frame and exited the room. He walked down a drafty hallway, lined with windows.

  A dust storm was picking up to the south, and lightning clusters were shooting inside the blowing sand.

  This was going to be a big one. On Mars, dust storms could last for months. Ozzy had become an expert, and figured this one would last for six months or longer.

  He walked down a set of stairs made for twelve-foot tall ancient Martian Beings and entered a ship bay.

  Ships of all sizes, shapes, and styles were littered throughout the area. These were either Galactic Knight vessels or the Ancients.

  Up ahead was Relic.

  He walked to Relic’s ramp and up the ramp to the storage bay.

  Forklifts, crates, boxes, and pallet jacks were strewn throughout the bay. He bypassed them and marched to Indigo’s room. He made it to the room’s door and slouched in his posture.

/>   He’d forgotten. Indigo was on Gragas’s ship, and they left Gragas’s ship, including Dizzy, back in the cleaning port at Gledhill.

  Indigo made Relic invisible to all radar.

  He climbed up the ladder to his cockpit. He walked down the grated landing and squeezed between the small corridor that led from the ladder’s landing to the cockpit.

  He gasped, stopping dead in his tracks.

  Someone was sitting in his pilot’s chair.

  “Jozi?”

  She twisted around in the seat. Her eyes were dull, her mouth straight and tight. She stood and walked slowly toward him.

  “You’ll have to get off. I’m going to look for Lou and Venessa,” he said.

  Jozi pushed down her sleeve, exposing the flesh on her wrist.

  She walked forward. A thick needle bulged through her skin, and elongated. A liquid dripped from of it.

  Ozzy backed up, putting his hands up, palms out. “What are you doing?”

  She lunged, and stabbed Ozzy in the shoulder. A burning sensation pressed into his veins and shoulder capsule. She pulled the needle out, and it sunk back into her skin.

  Ozzy fell against a wall and slid down it. He landed on his butt, and cringed in pain. His arm went numb, and his vision blurred.

  “What…did—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, he lost body control and flopped to his side. He closed his eyes, and his breaths came slow and shallow.

  He attempted to talk, to tell her he was sorry that he caused everything, and to please take care of Lily.

  He didn’t mean to be a pain in the ass. It just came with criminal life. He didn’t mean to fly her all over Mars where she’d experience constant heartache and loss.

  He didn’t mean any of it.

  He went to open his eyes, to say those words.

  His eyelids wouldn’t work.

  Yet, he didn’t want to die this way.

  A chill ran through his torso, and up his neck. He relaxed and blackness took over.