Martian Insurrection (Mars Colony Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Martian Insurrection

  Mars Colony Chronicles Book 3

  Brandon Ellis

  Booklily Press, LLC

  Copyright © 2019

  Brandon Ellis

  All rights reserved. Version 1.03.

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Names used in this novel do not represent the personalities, traits, or mental and physical characteristics to real persons, living or dead, with the same name.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

  Edited by Paula Lavattiata-Lopez

  Published by Knight Star Press, LLC

  Cover by Peter Herman

  Branding & enhancements by Christian Kallias at www.infinitescifi.com

  Website: www.brandonelliswrites.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/brandonellis1212

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  1

  Tunnel Downs, Mars

  A bloody slit lined her neck from ear to ear, and thick, red liquid oozed to her collarbone and dripped onto the couch. She wasn’t pale or blue, which indicated she might not have died that long ago.

  A sickeningly sweet stench made Ozzy stumble back almost losing his balance. He pressed his hand over his mouth and nose as he stood next to her body. His insides felt like liquid and he was unable to blink even though his eyes burned from the smell.

  He swallowed hard and gulped down his fear and sorrow.

  This was the last thing he wanted, especially for his brother’s wife. She was gone, and there was nothing he could do to bring her back.

  A chair lay on its side, books were strewn about on the floor, and there was a trail of blood streaking from the middle of the living room to her final resting place on the couch. From the way it looked, she must have crawled to the couch before her heart gave its last beat.

  There were scratches along her arms and skin underneath her fingernails. Freshly smeared, bloody footprints traced the killer’s escape from the living room to the front door.

  Ozzy kept his mouth covered with one hand and held up his other hand and pointed at the open doorway. “Don’t touch anything, and keep Lily out of here.”

  Jozi stepped back, her eyes wide and confusion clouding her face. She was still outside and couldn’t see what Ozzy was witnessing. She shielded Lily, keeping her a few steps outside the door and in one of the dimly lit tunneled streets of Tunnel Downs.

  “Daddy, is Auntie Gloria here?” Lily asked as she moved her head, trying to catch a glimpse around Jozi’s leg. She was bouncing foot to foot. Lily and her mom, Venessa, lived only five minutes away, and Lily knew Gloria well.

  Ozzy peered around the corner and feigned a smile. His daughter’s innocent eyes were looking back at him. He cleared his throat, rubbing his temples. It appeared Gloria had been attacked in the middle of the day when the majority of people in this town were at work, including his brother, Lou, and she had bled out from an intruder’s knife.

  “No, she’s not here Lily-bug.” Ozzy swallowed hard a second time, keeping the lie down as far as he could. “Let’s get you to your mom’s house, okay?”

  That’s why they were in Tunnel Downs: to get his daughter to his ex-wife and to get Lily and her mom into hiding as fast as possible.

  In fact, he was also going to tell Lou and Gloria to go into hiding. A bounty hunter named Quad was on the planet, wanting to kill Ozzy for a crap-ton of auric credits, most likely hired by High Judge Robert Baldwin. It was rumored that Quad was going to use Ozzy’s family as bait to draw him out and kill him.

  The High Judge wanted Ozzy dead and would stop at nothing to see this accomplished, and, apparently, so did Quad.

  But Ozzy was too late. Quad’s deadly cut had struck fast. He hoped Lily’s mom, Venessa, wasn’t also on the receiving end of Quad’s knife.

  Blood continued to drip from the couch and splash on the tile, creating a glistening pool of ruby-colored liquid. Finally, Ozzy looked away and stared at the floor.

  “I’m sorry, Lou,” he said under his breath. His brother wasn’t going to take his wife’s death well at all, and he’d, of course, blame it on Ozzy.

  But so be it.

  When he located his brother, he’d get him to safety anyway.

  Ozzy walked around the corner, past the kitchen, and to the entryway where he grabbed his daughter’s hand.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Jozi, be aware of everything around us. Quad might be lurking in the shadows.”

  Jozi straightened her lips and narrowed her eyes. “Already on it.” She curled her fingers in a fist, her eyes sweeping the room and surrounding area. She bent her legs slightly and was ready to pounce on any attacker that may come her way. She was badass, but Ozzy didn’t think even she could take on Quad, the most ruthless bounty hunter in the galaxy.

  “Who is Quad?” Lily asked.

  Ozzy picked up his pace. “Just a mean guy. We don’t want to see him.”

  “Give him a hug. It always makes me feel better when I’m mad,” said Lily.

  “Good idea,” he responded.

  Good idea if he wanted to die a similar fate as his brother’s wife.

  He stiffened in his walk. The High Judge, Robert Baldwin, who was the head of Mars’s government, known as the Ministry, had hired a bounty hunter to kill him because Robert couldn’t find Ozzy himself.

  Robert needed to be removed from power, or better yet, killed. It was the only way to save what remained of Ozzy’s family.

  They hurried down a narrow underground street. A hovercar turned a corner and headed in their direction.

  Ozzy reached for his holstered photon pistol but loosened his grip when the car drove by, the occupant not giving them even as much as a glance.

  “Do you think Auntie Gloria is at my house?” Lily huddled closer to her dad, her face was beaming at the thought.

  Ozzy shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  A clank echoed in the tunnel. Ozzy stopped and glared at the shadowed corner across the way.

  He didn’t see any movement and continued walking.

  A hovervan drove by. The car’s breeze whirled around a low-hanging light, causing it to swing back and forth on its copper-colored wire.

  “Almost there, just around the corner and down the street,” said Ozzy.

  The tap-tap-tap of heavy footsteps from behind them reverberated against the walls. Ozzy glanced over at Jozi, who nodded. The tapping noises grew more rapid as the person advanced closer. The person was heavyset, and a hood covered their face.

  At first glance, it didn’t look like the person was carrying a weapon.

  Ozzy trotted with Jozi following close behind. They turned a corner, their shoes slapping on the damp sidewalk. Ozzy’s shoulder glanced off of a rock that jutted from the wall.

  He held in a grunt and looked behind him again. The hooded person turned the corner as well. Ozzy picked up his pace.

  “Why are we going so fast?” asked Lily.

  Ozzy faked a grin. “Because I want to see who can run the quickest to your mom’s house.”

  Lily showed her pearly white teeth. “I’ll win.”

  The hooded figure sped up and was now less than ten meters behind them.

  Jozi halted and turned, facing the person. Her hand rested
on her holstered gun.

  The person stopped.

  “Jozi,” warned Ozzy. “Don’t. We have Lily here.”

  Jozi huffed and spun around, hurrying after Ozzy.

  “Ready. Set. Go!” said Ozzy.

  Lily took off running toward her mother’s house. Ozzy reached back, grabbing Jozi’s arm, and tugged her along. She ran alongside Ozzy, passing several doors that lined the cave-like walls, all acting as entryways to homes.

  Lily stopped at a white door and jumped in the air. “I won.” She put her palms together, leaning her cheek against the back of one of her hands. She fluttered her eyes. “I win a toy, right?”

  Ozzy slowed and came to a stop, giving her a wink and acting as if he was out of breath. “You betcha, Lily-bug. Next time you come to my place I’ll have a secret prize for you.”

  She threw a fist in the air. “Yes!”

  The hooded person came closer. Ozzy jiggled the handle and tried to twist it open, but the door was locked. In a way that was good because it meant that Venessa was most likely alive.

  Lily gently tapped her tiny fist against the resin door. “Let me in, Mama.”

  Jozi turned and unholstered her gun. She kept it close to her hip and against her jumpsuit, her steely blue eyes focused on the oncoming figure. She swiped her black hair off of her perspiring forehead.

  The person halted and backed up.

  The lock clicked and the door swung open. “Lily, I’m so happy to see you.”

  Lily jumped into Venessa’s arms, hugging and kissing her mom.

  Ozzy hurried through the entryway but then turned, grabbed Jozi’s arm again and pulled her inside the house.

  “What’s going on?” asked Venessa, her gaze darting from Ozzy to Jozi.

  Ozzy put his finger against his lips. He peeked around the door. The hooded figure was talking on a wrist com device. The person glanced up, dropped their arm to their side, and walked in Ozzy’s direction.

  2

  Tunnel Downs, Mars

  Ozzy slammed the door and locked it. Jozi stood in front of Lily and Venessa, gun drawn, ready to poke the door full of holes.

  Ozzy put his arms up. “Whoa, Tiger. You can’t shoot through me to get him.”

  “Get who?” asked Venessa, stepping back and moving into her kitchen with Lily in her arms. Her brows drew closer together and her face tightened. “You two are scaring me.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” said Jozi, keeping her eyes on the door. “Someone was following us.”

  Ozzy moved out of the way. “Venessa,” he said, “we have to get you and Lily to a safe place.”

  Lily’s face screwed up in fear, her eyebrows rising and her nose crinkling. “You’re scaring me too, Daddy.”

  “I know, Lily-bug, but some mean people don’t know how to be nice sometimes. Even if I hugged them, they still act mean.”

  The doorknob jiggled.

  Jozi bent to one knee, waving her hand in the air, motioning for Ozzy, Venessa, and Lily to move into the living room. She pointed her photon pistol toward the door. “You walk in, sir, and you’re a dead man. I’m a crackshot, plus we have several guns from several different angles aimed at the door.”

  Silence.

  Ozzy grabbed Venessa, guiding her into the living room. She gripped Lily.

  Ozzy leaned up against the entertainment center. In every Tunnel Downs house, there was an elevator leading to the residence’s parking spaces and the larger city in general.

  The elevators could only be accessed via a personal code—a code Venessa never gave him. But, all that was needed to get inside an elevator was to press a button inside the home.

  Ozzy hurried over to the elevator door nestled between two couches at the back of the living room and gestured for Venessa.

  She carried Lily over to him. “What’s going on, Ozzy? I don’t like this.”

  Ozzy leaned in, whispering in Venessa’s ear, “You need to get as far away from me as possible. Fly to Tagus Valles. I’ll let Jonas Moon know—”

  “The criminal?” interrupted Venessa, shaking her head and pursing her lips. “I’m not—”

  “He is the only one you can trust besides me. I want you and my daughter to live. Please—”

  Lily started to cry. Ozzy put his fingers on her lips. “You have to be quiet until you get into your mother’s craft, okay?”

  Lily quieted, but her chin trembled, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She bobbed her head up and down, clearly not understanding, but Ozzy could tell she understood enough not to make noise or speak.

  The doorknob wiggled a second time.

  “Don’t think about it,” yelled Jozi. She moved into the kitchen, keeping her gun targeted on the door.

  “Venessa, the bad guy is outside your door. Even though he wants me, he means to do everyone in here harm, so you have to leave to be safe.”

  Venessa nodded.

  “Okay, go to 222 Pleasant Valley Way in Tagus Valles and tell Jonas who you are. I’ll notify him you’re on the way. He’ll keep you safe and secure.” Ozzy pressed the button to open the elevator doors. “Go.” He leaned over and kissed Lily on the cheek. He put his hand on the top of her head, stroking her hair a few times. “I love you.”

  She put her hand out. “I love you too, Daddy.”

  Venessa stepped inside the elevator with Lily in her arms. She nodded, her face drawn in fear.

  The elevator doors slid closed.

  A fist pounded against the front door. Ozzy pulled out his weapon and hid around the corner against a wall.

  “This is the Mars Ministry Police. Drop your weapons and put your hands up. We are investigating a murder, and Ozzy Mack and Jozi Ryan, you are the prime suspects.”

  “Oh bullshit,” said Ozzy, more to himself than anyone else. “I’m being pinned for that?”

  “If you are the MMP, tell me your name and your badge number,” Jozi said.

  “Jozi, it’s Sergeant Marino. Badge number 118140. We went to college together. I’m sorry about all of this.”

  Jozi hung her head and put her weapon on the ground. She unholstered a gun on the other side of her hip and slipped it into a cupboard. She raised her hands, signaling Ozzy to do the same.

  “Hold on, Sergeant,” said Jozi. “I’ll unlock the door.”

  Ozzy shook his head no and mouthed, “It’s a trick.”

  “Hide your weapon,” she mouthed. She then whispered, “This is the best way to keep Lily and your ex-wife safe. We have to turn ourselves in. They can’t plant your sister-in-law’s death on us. There are no witnesses and no prints.” She raised her eyebrows, offering a questioning gaze. “Robert Baldwin is my uncle after all. When I tell him I know this, it will help. Trust me.”

  Is she nuts? Ozzy’s heart sank. She didn’t understand the weight of Robert’s evil mind. Robert would rather watch her die than treat her with any form of love like a good uncle would. She had damaging information about Robert that he no doubt wanted to be erased from her mind, and killing her would be the only way to do that.

  “Don’t do it, Jozi.” Plus, if Quad were out there and not the MMP this could be Ozzy’s last breath before Quad burst in, blazing photon bolts in every direction. He bit his tongue, furiously shaking his head at Jozi.

  She ignored him and reached for the doorknob.

  Shit.

  Ozzy quickly shoved his gun behind the holovision box, pushing a large ornamental crystal in the way to block his weapon from view.

  Jozi unlocked the door and swung it open.

  A man in a hood, along with a dozen Mars Ministry Police all suited in MMP uniforms, pushed their way into the house, their guns low to the ground but ready to shoot anyone’s kneecaps if they so wished.

  The man slid his hood off.

  Jozi put her hands together in a cuff-me-like position. “Sergeant Marino.”

  “Turn around, Jozi,” he ordered. “You’re under arrest for aiding and abetting a criminal. You’re also under arrest for conspiracy to m
urder.”

  Marino pushed her against a wall, pulled her hands behind her back, and cuffed her.

  “I was set up, Sarge. You know it,” barked Jozi.

  “Tell it to the High Judge,” Marino said.

  Several MMP agents marched past Jozi. They grabbed Ozzy and tripped him to the ground. A knee slammed on his upper back. Ozzy yelped as his breath was forced out of his lungs. Another agent pulled his hands behind his back and slapped cuffs around his wrists.

  “Easy, easy.” Ozzy cringed.

  “Ozzy Mack, you’re under arrest for violating excavation codes 040, 041, 083, 099, 102, 114, 118, and thirty eight other codes. Also, for killing Lou Mack’s wife, which we have on tape as proof.”

  “What?” screamed Ozzy. “I didn’t kill my sister-in-law.”

  They pulled Ozzy to his feet and rushed him outside, ignoring his pleas of injustice. An MMP hovervan, all decked out in MMP insignia and colors along with police lights that were mounted on the top of the roof, was parked outside.

  Another damn Robert Baldwin setup, perchance to keep Robert’s name off the lips of other criminals in case they had enough treasonous documents on him as Ozzy did.

  The good news? Ozzy and Jozi had a guy named Anonymity on the inside. He was about to disclose all the corrupt information they had on Robert: the illegal digs he hired Ozzy to do with Robert’s voice, face, and name stamped all over them; Robert’s threats; and the murder of Ozzy’s mother and father when Ozzy’s father was the mayor of Gale Crater City. There was even evidence of Robert’s siphoning of funds from the museums and schools into his own pockets.

  What they had given Anonymity would be littered all over the com channel news networks.

  Ozzy would be vindicated and out of prison in no time.

  Hopefully.

  That’s if Jozi’s new knowledge of Robert being her uncle didn’t screw things up. Robert was good at using delicate situations and sympathy to his advantage.