Chapter Eight

The shuttle entered the Martian atmosphere and bucked again. People began to scream, and this time, no matter what he said, Numbar couldn't calm them down. Even so, the shuttle landed as planned in the docking bay of the Martian base. Most of the people on the shuttle scrambled to get off, searching for some semblance of safety.

Numbar was the last one off, and immediately he asked for the most recent status report on all functions of the system of buildings currently set up.

The airlock doors buckled inward, and the lights flickered off. In the panic that ensued, no one noticed the four people slipping off the shuttle and down an adjascent corridor.

ZZZ

"That was close," Dasha whispered as soon as they were out of sight of anyone.

"Too close," Zenon replied. "Remember, we need to find a way to get these buildings off Mars the planet before Mars the god kills us."

"Is that why Zoa's wearing the Elvis outfit?" Sirius asked.

"No, I just couldn't afford to be noticed, or else this whole thing would've gone up," Zoa said. He took a few steps closer to Zenon. "Alright, how did this work on the moon, do you remember?"

"We evacuated everybody onto the Wonder Bus, and then some friends and I got our pods and got the dome off. Selena took care of everything else," Zenon said.

"Well, this case is clearly different. We're dealing with a different diety and a different volume of people."

"But we have a ride back," Sirius said. "We have the shuttle."

"Yes, very good. Alright, what do we have to do differently?"

Zenon thought back on her space station exploding, not for the first time in several days, and looked over at Proto Zoa. As if he read her mind, he said, "That might just work."

"Am I missing something?" Dasha asked.

"Trust me, you're not the only one," Sirius said.

"The question is how," Zenon said.

"I think I know," a voice from farther down the corridor said.

ZZZ

Numbar thought he heard footsteps in one of the corridors, so he followed them. Standing in the middle of the corridor was someone he recognized as Proto Zoa purely by the man's gait and build, and he asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What?" he asked, turning around and tearing off his swimcap and wig. "I can't get the lay of the place before I actually have to perform? We can't have a lost me, now can we?"

"You aren't supposed to be here."

"Neither are you, last time I checked, but I guess since you're building yourself a self-sustaining settlement and staying, you don't care. Some things never change."

Numbar approached Proto Zoa, and the latter, despite his best efforts to hide it, was beginning to break out in a cold sweat. "Now, I'm just curious," Numbar said calmly. "Exactly how did you get here?"

"What, you don't already know? I thought you were smart enough to figure that out, but I guess I overestimated you, since you weren't smart enough to figure out that Mars was causing the charges so you'd halt this project. It was one of many tricks he used. It amazes me that after everything that happened on the moon, you'd underestimate, of all people, the god of war."

"That's a fluke."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure."

As if on cue, the walls of the corridor buckled, and the floor shook, almost sending the two men off their feet. "These buildings will fall," Mars shouted.

"Now do you see what I mean?" Zoa asked.

Numbar brushed past Zoa, who followed silently.

ZZZ

Zenon, Dasha, and Sirius walked into the main hall, interrupted only by Mars' shouting and the violent shaking of the floor. None of the threesome spoke until they reached the stage, with its mess of wires connecting the many panels of the giant background screen. Zenon cringed. "This looks dangerous major."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Unless they plan on getting that in regulation any time soon, I can't see Microbe on this stage at any point in the future," Sirius replied. "Unless this is how you plan to off Numbar."

"We're not going to kill him. That's not the plan, at least."

"Still, it's pretty dangerous," Dasha said. "Maybe we should be careful."

"Oh, great, more stowaways," Numbar said, forcing the three to turn to face him. Zenon found herself instantly relieved to see Proto Zoa behind him. "Another bunch of anti-colonial activists, most likely. Now, get back to wherever you came from."

"We can't without the full shuttle full of people," Zenon said. "You don't want to leave them here at the mercy of Mars, do you?"

A strange look passed over Numbar then: he looked as if he had no idea what Zenon was talking about. And what's more, he had a hard time shaking this look and putting on that face he used for his public appearances.

"What's the matter? Afraid to admit to the truth?" Zoa asked as he leaned against the wall.

"What truth?" Numbar asked.

"That your answer to the question is 'yes'."

Numbar scoffed. "Nonsense," he said.

"I wouldn't be so sure. After all, given your track record..."

"My track record has nothing to do with this."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it does have something to do with this," Zenon said. "Next question. How will you explain yourself?"

"I have nothing to explain, but you, Mr. Zoa, are another matter. You better start talking before I file a restraining order."

"If anyone's going to file a restraining order, it's me," Dasha said, "and that's if you live through this."

Numbar smirked again. "Listen to me, little girl. I...will thrive here. You, however, are a different story."

"Do you want another punch to the face?" Zoa asked, standing up straight and taking a step toward Numbar. "I may not be a contractor, but I'm pretty good at rearranging faces."

"Is that a threat?"

"You threatened my girls, so I see no reason why I can't threaten you."

"Are we his girls?" Dasha whispered to Zenon.

"Clear minor. Guess he's a family man major at heart," Zenon replied.

Numbar took a few steps toward Zoa. "You just think you're invincible, don't you?" he hissed. "You think you can do whatever you want because you're some kind of pop star-"

"Rock star."

"Same thing."

"Actually, it's very different."

"What does it matter, anyway?"

"I'll tell you what it matters. It matters that you think I'm something I'm not, and I prefer to be regarded exactly as I am, an ultra-fabulous rock star. I'm not a pop star in any way, shape, or form."

"I didn't come here to argue semantics with a diva."

"That's because you know you'll lose."

Numbar lunged at Zoa, who dodged effortlessly. Zoa glanced at the wires of the screen panels and made his way over to the stage, watching Numbar as he went. Numbar's eyes lit up with an idea of his, and he shoved Proto Zoa backward, into the mass of wires.

Zenon leapt up onto the stage as Zoa collapsed to the ground, unconscious and with soft, pale whisps of smoke drifting up from his form. Just as Numbar turned around, she slapped him across the face and pushed him backward almost irreverently. She rushed over to where Zoa lay and rolled him over onto his back to check his breathing and heartbeat. Then she began to resuscitate him.

ZZZ

Dasha ran up to help her cousin, and Sirius yelled after her. Numbar's body had disturbed many of the wires as it tumbled backward, and sparks were raining down onto the stage. Some of the sparks touched other wires, causing another shower of sparks. Sirius ran up to Dasha and tried to pull her back, but she jerked away and continued to help her cousin resuscitate the unconscious rock star.

Flames erupted, though Sirius couldn't exactly be sure from where. His sense of danger heightened, but this time he wasn't sure whether he should help the others get out now or wait until Proto Zoa was breathing on his own. The flames began to circle around the four gathered there, and Sirius glanced over at Numbar's form, barely visible through the tongues of fire. "Okay, guys, we have to get out of here before we're trapped," he said. "We can't die here."

"Well, we're not leaving Zoa here to die, either," Zenon replied, taking a break from her resuscitation attempts. She returned to resussitating, and Dasha helped her count off the chest pumps.

Sirius looked around at the flames as they raced across the room and said, "We resuscitate him on the shuttle. Right now, we have to get out of here."

Dasha touched Zenon's arm gently, which seemed to be all the convincing she needed. The cousins supported Zoa and pulled him off the stage, following Sirius out of the room and down a corridor. Sirius paused only a minute to pat out some flames on his pants leg before continuing on.

They found the shuttle packed as soon as they boarded. The three conscious people walked into the cargo hold, the two cousins carrying Proto Zoa between them. They lay him down, and Zenon immediately continued her attempts to bring him back. "Zee, I'll take care of him," Dasha said. "This space shuttle needs someone to fly it out."

Zenon seemed to ignore her, preparing to give Zoa another round of CPR, when he gasped and coughed. She looked up at Dasha and nodded, before walking out of the cargo hold.