The Hawk lowered down into a small clearing in the trees. Branches brushed the side of the quadcopter. It was tight, and only a pilot with Finn’s skill could do this.
Tane released a slow breath, readying himself for the mission.
Beside him, Santha tightened the straps on her backpack. Her long, lean body was coiled and ready. She was a mother now—she and Cruz had an adopted daughter, and another baby that they’d had about a year ago. It hadn’t slowed Santha down.
She’d survived alone in the ruins of Sydney for a long time, before she’d crossed paths with Cruz and Hell Squad.
On the other side of Tane, Devlin checked his weapons. The guy had a face that all the women at the Enclave mooned over, and even in carbon fiber armor, he looked like he should be in a suit, cradling a glass of some expensive liquor. The former spy was an invaluable part of the Intel team. He’d also fallen for the tough, gorgeous Taylor Cates from Squad Nine.
Knowing that both of these people had loved ones back at the Enclave sharpened Tane’s nerves. People depended on them, and needed them back safely.
He glanced at Selena in the faint light. She was focused. Her armor looked a little too big for her, but she showed no fear. Although she was biting her lip, so he guessed she was nervous.
Without thinking, he reached out and touched her gloved hand. Her gaze flicked up to his and he squeezed her fingers. She gave him a small smile that he liked far too much.
“Good luck,” Finn called back from the cockpit. “Take care of Selena.”
“Selena can take care of herself,” she called back.
Tane opened the door, and cool, night air rushed in.
He jumped out, then turned and gripped Selena’s waist. As Santha and Devlin jumped out quietly, he lifted Selena down until her boots hit the ground.
“You should have a weapon,” he said.
“I don’t like them.” She wiggled her fingers. “And I don’t really need one.”
No, there was a lot of power packed into that small body.
The Hawk lifted up with a wash of air. Its illusion system clicked on and it vanished, pulling away and leaving them alone in the darkness.
“Okay, illusion armor on,” Santha said.
“And night-vision lenses too,” Tane added.
He watched everyone slide the night-vision lens over their left eyes. Then they activated the controls for their illusion armor. One by one, they blinked out of view. Tane touched the controls on his forearm. The illusion system was a smaller version of what kept the Hawks near-invisible in the sky. The technology bent and blurred light and muffled sounds, and would keep them hidden from alien eyes.
Santha stepped in close and reappeared. “Let’s go. Stay close.”
They moved off in single file through the trees. If they stood close enough to each other, they moved inside each other’s illusion field.
Selena was right in front of him, and he kept her in view. She was keeping up, but also looking around the night-drenched forest. She breathed deep, and touched some leaves as they passed a tree.
She loved nature, and he saw that she was soaking it in.
“We’re getting close to the entrance,” Santha murmured.
Finally, Santha stopped and nodded. Devlin opened a small toolkit and crouched near some rocks. He pushed a spot on the rock, and the rough, gray surface slid back to reveal a comp pad set into the stone.
Dev went to work on it.
Tane lifted his carbine and scanned the green-tinged darkness. They didn’t need any unexpected alien visitors.
“Let’s hope there isn’t a raptor welcoming party on the other side of the door,” Santha murmured.
“This entrance is in a fairly distant part of the base,” Devlin said in his crisp British accent.
Selena shifted. “I’m not sensing any Gizzida nearby. They’re close, but not right here.”
Tane eyed her, wondering what other skills she had.
There was a quiet beep.
“Got it,” Dev said.
A door set in the rock slid open, uncovering a dark tunnel.
“I’ll go first.” Tane ducked his head and stepped inside, his weapon up.
The tunnel was dark and dank. No one had been here for a long time. It’d been a year since they’d been forced to abandon the base and rushed south to find the Enclave.
He scanned around. “It’s clear.”
The others moved inside, and the door clicked closed behind them.
“Stay close,” Tane said.
They moved together down the tunnel. He passed through some spiderwebs, and he had no idea if they’d been made by regular spiders, or alien-hybrid ones.
Tane spotted an abandoned shoe, a torn blanket, some old trash. Things that had been discarded during the attack.
They moved into another tunnel, making their way closer to the heart of the base. That was where Ari Matthews had said she’d seen the bomb.
A loud, guttural roar echoed off the walls, and they all froze.
“It didn’t sound close,” Santha said.
Tane wondered what kind of creatures the Gizzida were creating in here. They loved infecting native animals with their DNA. He also wondered if there were more human prisoners trapped somewhere in the maze of rooms and tunnels. He pressed his lips together. If there were, he couldn’t save them today, and the thought burned.
They continued on, but a few minutes later, they heard the thud of heavy boots approaching.
Shit. Tane pointed into a side tunnel. Santha and Devlin slid around the corner and crouched. Tane gripped Selena’s hand and tugged her into the tunnel. He pressed her against the wall, just as two raptors walked past.
A patrol. They murmured to each other in their guttural language, their scaled weapons in their clawed hands.
Tane waited for them to disappear into the darkness. He nodded. “Let’s move.”
They headed back down the tunnel. Doors were open, revealing old living quarters. In several rooms he spotted unmade beds and overturned tables.
“Wait.” Selena grabbed his arm.
They all tensed.
Tane cocked his head, but heard nothing but the drip of water. “What is—?”
The slithering sound of something moving over the concrete made his muscles tense even more.
He swiveled and saw a bug slide into view on the floor.
It moved like a snake, with a long body as thick as Tane’s wrist, but it had a large head with bug-like pincers on it, and a row of red eyes above.
It was one of the hybrid beasts the aliens liked cooking up.
Dammit, Tane couldn’t shoot it. They were too close to the raptors. One whine of his laser and they’d descend on them in a rush. He yanked his combat knife off his belt.
The bug stilled. It shouldn’t be able to see them, but it sensed them.
It coiled its sinuous body like a cobra. Then before Tane could come up with a plan, it launched off the ground and flew straight at him.
Shit.
Selena sucked in a sharp breath.
The alien creature launched itself at Tane. From behind her, Dev muttered a low curse. Selena’s fingertips tingled with energy.
Tane’s knife flashed through the darkness. He moved fast, his deadly moves a near-blur.
The Gizzida creature hit his chest armor and he staggered into the wall. But he rammed the knife deep into the creature’s slimy body, while his other hand clenched just below the alien’s snapping pincers, holding it away from his face.
The alien let out a low sound, and its long tail whipped up, wrapping around Tane’s neck.
Selena gasped. He staggered again, almost tripping over, as he tried to pry the bug off his neck.
“Fuck,” Santha said.
Dev and Santha surged forward. The alien’s head whipped around, and its sharp pincers snapped at them.
Selena circled around from the other side, trying to think. How could she help Tane without hurting him?
Her fingers tingled again, but she couldn’t draw much power in here. All this concrete cut off her connection to the Earth.
Tane grunted, jerking against the creature. His face was strained as he struggled for air.
Screw this. Selena darted in. The alien swiveled its head, snapping at her, but she ducked. She reached around and touched its slimy body, right near where it was coiled around Tane’s neck.
The alien struck at her, its pinchers digging into her hand and tearing through her glove. She winced but ignored the pain.
She managed to pour a shot of electricity through the alien. She couldn’t avoid some of it leaking into Tane.
His big body jolted, but the creature shook wildly and released him. It slapped onto the floor, flopping around like a fish out of water.
Rubbing his neck, Tane lifted a boot and stomped on the creature.
Selena looked away.
“You all right, Tane?” Santha asked.
“Yeah.” He looked at Selena. “Thanks.”
Through the strange night-vision lens, she could see the ugly marks on his neck. It would bruise badly. She reached up to touch it.
He grabbed her wrist. “Save your energy until we get out of here.”
She desperately wanted to heal him, but he had a point. She nodded.
Then he turned her hand over and frowned. “You’re hurt.”
The alien had left an ugly gouge on her hand. It stung and was bleeding, but it was nothing major. Her blood glowed bright green through the night-vision lens.
“It’ll be okay,” she said.
Tane pulled something from his pocket, then wrapped some fabric around her hand. It carried his scent.
“Hold this until the bleeding stops.” He turned to the others. “Let’s go. We’re close.”
They crept through the tunnels. It was hard to imagine that the survivors had once called this base home. Selena followed Tane, trying to be as quiet as possible. They had to hide from another raptor patrol, but then they made it to the central area.
It was a part of the base that had collapsed in the alien attack. Selena gasped. They crouched by the open edge.
Several levels of the base had been blown apart and collapsed inward. It left a large cavernous central core with several levels opening into it.
Down below, the large, black, octagonal bomb sat in the middle of a hive of alien activity.
Lighting units had been set up, washing red light over the space. Several Gizzida computer stations with black screens and piles of black data cubes sat dotted around. Cables were strung between them—sinewy and organic. They pulsed gently.
But her gaze moved to the bomb.
She felt the ugly throb of energy from it. It felt…wrong.
“I need to get closer,” she whispered.
A muscle ticked in Tane’s jaw.
“And I need to get the samples,” Santha added.
“While you do that, I’ll try and collect some of the data cubes,” Dev said.
Santha nodded. “Go. Be careful.”
Devlin pulled back, disappearing into the shadows.
Tane tilted his head. “Follow me.”
They headed down some stairs and as they got close to the lower level, Santha hissed. “Raptors.”
Selena’s heart pounded in her chest. They had nowhere to hide. They pressed back against the wall and she hoped their illusion systems would hide them. Her heart was thumping so hard she was pretty sure the raptors would hear it.
The aliens got closer. Their bootsteps echoed off the tunnel walls and she stared at their ugly, scaled faces.
She tried to feel sorry for them. Once, they’d been stolen from their worlds and changed into Gizzida.
But whoever they’d been before, those people, those beings, were long gone. Now, they followed the mindless directive to consume and destroy.
Tane touched her arm and she drew in a calming breath.
The raptors moved past them.
“Now,” Tane murmured.
He pushed away from the wall and they followed him. They darted out into the large area, heading toward the bomb. They moved in behind a stack of Gizzida gear. They paused for a second, then Tane nodded. They darted out again, heading toward a stack of black crates.
“Hold.”
Ducking down behind a crate, she ignored the blinking red lights on it. Instead, she watched Tane’s face. He was so strong, so focused. That’s what she’d first noticed about him, his rock-steady core of strength. It made her feel safe.
He nodded and they crept closer. The bomb was ahead of them—big and imposing.
Selena pulled in the syrupy, organic scent that filled the air. It made her nostrils burn.
She noted several Gizzida scientists close by—a little taller and less muscular than the main Gizzida soldiers. They were working at some of the comp stations and strange raptor symbols blinked on the black screens. Tane skirted away from them, and led them up to the octagon.
Selena took in the black metal that formed the bomb’s casing. She pressed her palm to it and was inundated with sensations—warmth, life, death.
“Tane, I need a boost,” Santha said.
The woman held up two clear, heavy-duty storage containers.
“Don’t touch the fluid,” Selena warned. They’d learned that the stuff burned.
Santha nodded. “Noah designed these containers to withstand anything.”
Tane knelt and cupped his hands together. Santha pressed her boot to his hands and he boosted her up. She clung to the edge of the bomb, which was open at the top, and reached inside.
“Got the first sample.” She paused. “And the second.”
Once Tane lifted her down, Santha passed the bottles to Selena. As Selena touched the containers, her fingers tingled. She lifted one up, looking at the brown fluid.
Hard to believe that this fluid was capable of infecting people, taking over their bodies, and turning them into Gizzida. How could they stop this?
“I’ve got two more,” Santha said.
Tane boosted her up again. But a second later, he muttered, “Think we may have trouble.”
Several raptors were congregating on the other side of the space, looking around. Like they were searching for someone.
“We need to go.” Tane lifted Santha down. “You got what you needed?”
“Yes.” Santha packed the containers into her backpack.
“Selena?” Tane murmured.
She nodded. She wasn’t sure there was anything she could do about defusing the bomb. She’d thought that seeing it would spark some kind of inspiration, a way for her to shut down these bombs.
But right now, she had nothing.
Tane pointed for them to leave. There would be time for her to think about the bombs later.
Slowly, Tane picked his way through the space, leading them away from the raptors. They slipped back into the tunnel.
Dev appeared out of the shadows, stepping inside their illusions. “I think the raptors know we’re here, or at least that something is off.”
Tane’s jaw firmed. “Let’s get—” He froze. “Raptors incoming.”
Selena swiveled and saw several jogging down another tunnel. Right at them.
Her pulse spiked. In only a few more meters, they’d be inside their illusion systems and see them.