Host Oblivion: Moons of Mars, #4

By Michael L. Bazzo

Carl Landry is no stranger to insurmountable odds, but when he crash-lands on an uncharted planet, he finds himself in an untenable situation that could have deadly consequences for the universe. As he and his friend Tank Williams scour the planet, they discover not only a devious plot to usurp control of the universe but a deviant character who is doing Vesh's bidding to create a zombie army. With so much at stake and no time to second-guess himself, Landry must fend off zombies, escape a mind control machine, and face off with the ultimate evil - the pirate Lothar Vesh's quest to destroy the Federation and dominate the universe at any cost. Experience the adrenaline-rushing, non-stop action adventure featuring heart-pounding and mind-blowing suspense in the exciting sequel to The Female Captive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael L. Bazzo
• Release date: Nov 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393109082

Book preview

Chapter 01

Radio signals squealed and buzzed, filling the laboratory with unearthly sounds. Oblivious to the din filling the room, Professor Celeste sat before a chalkboard littered with calculations, his head in his hands and his mind buried in thought.

The professor got up from the desk and scratched his bald head, as he walked toward the chalkboard, adroitly circumnavigating the mess of equipment nearly engulfing the floor surrounding his desk. He stood gazing at the board for quite some time, whispering the calculations as he read them. Shaking his head, he stepped back to get a look at the board from a further distance, as if to make something more intelligible jump out at him.

With a shake of the head and a roll of the eyes, the professor relented and walked with stilted steps to the water cooler in the room’s corner to get a long overdue drink. He stared out the window across campus, missing his daughter, Rosie Celeste. The earthly clouds, puffy and white, passed slowly by, casting shadows that moved across the patio below. He pondered how the clouds on Venus were so similar and wondered whether his daughter was at that same moment enjoying a similarly beautiful atmospheric demonstration there.

The professor took a long drink of water, crushed the paper cup in his hand and tossed it into the nearby metal trash can. He walked to the chalkboard and once again took up the chalk in his right hand intending to add to his calculations. He touched the chalk to the board, paused, and stepped back again to view his work, as another odd sound screeched from the radio console. Oblivious to the sound, the professor rubbed his chin with his left hand then placed it under his right armpit. He stood pondering while shaking the piece of chalk at the board in the exact rhythm of his whispered speech. As he touched the chalk to the board again and pressed to write, the door to the laboratory swung open and his secretary Nelly ran into the room, startling the professor and causing him to break the chalk. A line from the broken chalk scratched across a set of scribbled numbers and letters.

Nelly was tall and slender and wore hoop earrings that were nearly half the size of her head. Her red hair was done up in a beehive on the top of her head, her overly large glasses accentuated her blue eyes, and with ruby lips she announced a visitor with exuberance.

Professor, Jack Carter is here to see you! He’s waiting outside.

Nelly was an artist who loved fashion and design. Her brightly colored and wildly patterned dress was something right out of the 1960s on Earth, and though the look was several centuries old, it was a testament to the fact that things never really go out of style and eventually return to fashion. She began her stint as the professor’s assistant when she was a student seeking extra credit and remained when his kindness paved the way with administration for her to get a paid gig.

The professor turned to Nelly with a wave of the chalk, Show him in!

Of course, I’ll… Nelly began, as Jack pushed his way into the room past Nelly, who moved quickly to one side.

Jack pulled off his flight jacket and pushed his messy, brown hair off his forehead. He tossed the leather jacket onto a nearby stool, as the radio signal blared its interruption again. Jack shot Nelly an enormous smile and she in turn fanned herself at his good looks.

Hi ya Professor! Jack exclaimed. I just got in from Venus. Man, the Earth spaceport is a nightmare!

Jack, my boy! So good to see you. What brings you here?

I rushed over to find another way to locate Landry and Tank, he explained as he approached. We don’t have the kind of equipment on Venus to track them like you do here.

He plopped himself down onto a stool next to where he had thrown his jacket. He put one booted foot on the rung of the stool and relaxed, leaning forward with his forearm on his thigh.

The radio squealed again.

Darn these encoded transmissions! complained the professor, not hearing what Jack just said. He faced the board again and began waving his piece of chalk at the board, as he read some of the calculations. The chalk bounced along in rhythm with his words. If I can only figure out what they are and where they’re coming from.

Professor, didn't you hear me? Jack moved closer to the chalkboard.

It’s the strangest thing, began the professor, I just can’t seem to make sense of these,… yes, yes, what was it you were saying? asked the professor, still pointing the chalk at the board.

I was talking about Landry. You know, your son-in-law, my step dad… missing… hello?

The professor gazed at the chalkboard again. Almost got it, almost there, he mumbled. The professor backed away from the chalkboard and rubbed his chin. His eyes suddenly grew large at the significance of the calculations and he stood with mouth agape, It can’t be. I don’t believe it.

The radio blared its intrusion once more.

Can’t you turn that noise down? questioned Jack, becoming increasingly frustrated. Look, as I was trying to explain, we lost contact with Landry. He was last in sector 42b. He stood waving his arms as he spoke.

That’s ridiculous! exclaimed the professor. That’s beyond the Kuiper belt. What’s he doing way out there?

I’m trying to tell you. Landry and Tank Williams went looking for Azurra after Rosie escaped the planet Retera where she and Azurra were briefly taken prisoner. Azurra escaped before Rosie managed to talk her way off that rock and now it’s believed Azurra is trying to find Rosie.

Hmm, muttered the professor.

Jack stepped forward and, straightening the professor’s bowtie, said in a more patient voice, You remember Tank Williams, don’t you? And Azurra, his girlfriend? The one who was a nurse on a medevac near Phobos. She got captured by Vesh, then escaped and got captured again. Then she found Rosie, who didn’t know she was Tank’s girlfriend, and the two of them flew to Retera where they were captured again, but Azurra escaped, and now we don’t know where she is, and Tank and Landry went to go look for her, but we lost track of them too.

You’re making me dizzy, my boy.

All I’m trying to explain to you, Professor is that we’ve got Landry and Tank lost somewhere out past the Kuiper belt and Azurra running around looking for Rosie while Tank is looking for Azurra, explained Jack calmly.

Well, my boy… I see.

Just then, the radio signal blared again.

What’s with that radio! asked Jack, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

The signal was definitely coming in stronger and more rapid now. It was a pulsating signal of a different pitch than before. The sound repeated, as if set to play on a loop, similar to the way a Mayday call can be set to repeat a signal of distress.

I’m not sure what’s going on, replied the professor.

Can the instruments be off? asked Jack.

The professor turned toward the radio console just beyond his desk and looked at the instruments. Dials were flickering and lights were lighting up on the panel. The professor turned several switches, pressed an array of buttons, and turned back toward Jack. The direction finder has swung all the way around. That’s odd.

Is that code of some sort? probed Jack.

That’s very odd, continued the professor as he stepped back to look at the radio panel in much the same manner as he did with the blackboard minutes earlier. He folded his arms and rubbed his chin, contemplating what the reaction of the radio could signify.

What can it mean, Professor? Jack stepped closer to the professor and looked over his shoulder at the radio console.

Well, I’m not sure, stated the professor. It could be a code, and it could be a signal of some sort.

A signal?! yelled Jack excitedly. It could be Landry!

The professor walked back from the radio to the chalkboard and grabbed the piece of chalk and began writing on the board again, hurriedly. He mumbled as he wrote, The timing, the timing doesn’t seem right, it seems to indicate… the signal might be… from… somewhere near Jupiter.

What?! What if it’s Landry? What if it’s Landry and Tank… What if they’re in trouble… What if… shouted Jack excitedly!

I don’t think it’s a signal from them, but it might be. The professor stepped back from the chalkboard and shook his head as he pointed the chalk at the calculations. No, I think not. I think it is coming from a particular point, a satellite, a moon.

A moon?

Yes, Jack. I think it may come from the moon Io.

Are you telling me you think Landry and Tank are on the moon Io and signaling us for help?

Now, now, Jack. I did not say that this was indeed a signal or that it was coming from Landry, or in fact even that it was coming from the planet Io. My calculations merely suggest that.

Professor, how can they be on Io, if it is them. Isn’t that a volcanic planet?

Well, yes, Jack. It’s one of the most volcanically active planets in the entire solar system. In fact, plumes of sulfur can eject hundreds of miles into the atmosphere above the surface and the surface itself is splotched with lava lakes and floodplains of liquid rock. It’s a horrible, hellish place, and not one which Landry and Tank could survive, let alone from which they could send signals. Volcanoes are all over the surface. It can’t be coming from there, explained the professor.

No one lives there? offered Jack.

"No one can live there," explained the professor.

Jack stepped forward and stared at the chalkboard. The transmission radio signal buzzed again loudly. Jack and the professor looked at each other and immediately, Jack pointed to the chalkboard. He grabbed the eraser and wiped out a set of calculations and quickly added new numbers and letters of his own. Jack scribbled furiously, writing and writing, and racing until finally he put the chalk down and stepped back. Both the professor and Jack stood and stared at the chalkboard.

The professor rubbed his chin. Well, my boy, you’ve done it again!

Of course, no one can live on Io, stated Jack. But, how about a moon of Io?

Well, there’s none known, said the professor, though not with full confidence. He stepped forward, examining Jack’s calculations. Jack’s calculations showed a wobble in the planet’s orbit. The professor pointed his finger at a particular group of letters scrawled on the chalkboard by Jack. He rubbed his chin and stepped back saying, Io has a plasma torus and a toroidal cloud of gas surrounding it. Gas tori are produced by an interaction of a satellite atmosphere with a magnetic field of the planet.

So, a moon in the penumbra of a gas tori would not be easily detected, am I right? asked Jack, proud of himself.

It would appear so, whispered the professor without taking his eyes off the calculations. He folded his arms again, then began rubbing his chin in contemplation of the numbers before him.

Nelly stood propped up against the desk with a confused look on her face, as she tried to make sense of what the professor was getting at. Would the satellite differ from Io? I mean, could they be completely different? questioned Nelly unexpectedly. Both Jack and the professor looked at her quizzically. Like, maybe a satellite covered in like, jungle and tropical, like Venus, that could support life? she raised her eyebrows imploring a response.

Well, that may very well be, the professor surmised. "I think you may be onto something. If such a satellite existed, it could be very likely that Landry and Tank could survive