Naomi jogged down the stairs. “The dam has two powerhouses, one on the Nevada side of the river, and one on the Arizona side.”
They rounded another landing. The walls were all raw rock from where the tunnels and stairwells had been cut.
“We’ll reach the Nevada powerhouse first. The main turbine room will be the most likely place they’d store the bomb.”
“Got it,” Dak said.
The stairs ended and she carefully pushed open the door. They stepped onto a mezzanine level, looking down over the huge Nevada powerhouse.
Sticking to the shadows, Dak grabbed the railing. “Impressive.”
“Amazing, huh?” The workers who’d constructed the place had done one hell of a job. Naomi had been in awe of the huge structure when she’d first visited. The old turbines—huge, circular structures—rested in a row in the cavernous space. They’d been decommissioned a few decades back, and the new technology had been installed beside the old turbines. But most of that was lost among the Gizzida tech. Organic, sinewy cables ran along the concrete floor. Boxy bits of equipment hummed, lights blinking on them.
Assholes.
“I don’t see the bomb,” Dak said quietly.
“This way,” she whispered. “We need to head down to the turbine floor.”
They took a side tunnel, listening for any unwanted company. Naomi led him down another set of stairs and they pushed through another door. She peered onto the turbine floor. She didn’t see any aliens, but right ahead, she saw the metal body of one of the turbines.
They darted out, ducking down behind the turbine casing.
Dak scanned the area, his brow creased. “No sign of the bomb.”
She nodded, and then they snuck out of their hiding spot, sticking close to the wall as they headed toward the next turbine.
They heard some deep grunts, followed by the guttural voice of a raptor. Naomi and Dak froze. The raptors were close.
Dak grabbed her arm and they sprinted in behind some Gizzida equipment. Crouching, they waited.
Two raptors marched by, their boots thumping on the concrete floor.
Naomi bit her lip, fighting a flood of anger. They were so close, so easy to attack. These beings had destroyed the Earth and killed so many people.
Warm lips pressed to her ear. “Focus. We need to keep searching.”
Dragging in a breath, she did as he ordered. They reached the end of the powerhouse.
No bomb. Shit.
Lines bracketed Dak’s mouth.
“There’s the other powerhouse on the other side of the river,” she said.
He nodded. “Let’s move.”
They turned the corner, and she knew they’d be right at the base of the dam wall. They carefully snuck through the adjoining space, heading toward the Arizona side of the structure.
A horrible smell reached her nose and she switched to breathing through her mouth. “What the—?”
Ahead, the rock-cut walls were covered in cocoons and pods. Holy shit. Naomi’s heart skipped a beat. There were so many of them. Several of the pods were pulsing, and she saw fleshy cables connecting them and crisscrossing the space.
Ugh. To her, they looked like organs just pulled out of someone’s body.
She pressed the tips of her fingers against one cocoon. It was tough to the touch. A shadow moved inside, and she snatched her hand back.
“Don’t touch them,” Dak warned.
They continued on their way, picking a path through the foul-looking pods, and eventually, they reached the Arizona powerhouse. The space was almost identical to the one on the Nevada side.
“This place is huge,” Dak said.
Once again, they moved from turbine to turbine, checking for any sign of the octagonal bomb. A few raptors patrolled through the space, but far fewer than on the surface. They clearly weren’t expecting any humans down here. She and Dak easily dodged and avoided the aliens.
They reached the back of the powerhouse.
No bomb.
“Fuck,” Dak muttered. “Where else could it be?”
Naomi chewed on her lip. What if it wasn’t even here? Her chest tightened, and she forced herself to relax.
Think, Naomi, think. The time she’d spent here had been providing security for the dam, and dealing with tourists.
“Wait,” she said softly. “There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff they don’t show the public anymore, except for the odd VIP guest. We should check the penstocks.”
“The what?”
“The huge metal intake pipes. The water comes from the intake towers in the lake, then into the penstocks.” She turned and pointed at a door. “We need to go that way. But the tunnels are a bit of a maze, and there’s nowhere to hide if we run into company.”
Dak nodded. “Noted, but we need to take the risk.”
They moved along the wall and reached the heavy, steel door. Naomi quickly hacked the lock.
They entered a curving walkway cut into the rock, moving quickly. They were halfway along, when a lone raptor came around the other curve.
The alien’s red eyes widened, and he bared his teeth.
Shit, they couldn’t fire their weapons and alert the other Gizzida to their presence. Dak launched himself at the raptor like a football player. He and the alien smacked together, and grunts filled the air.
Naomi came in from the side, ramming her fist into the alien’s torso. The force of the blow vibrated up her arm, but she kept attacking. The raptors were all densely-packed muscle.
She and Dak worked together, raining blows on the alien and not letting him attack. Soon, the raptor dropped to his knees, breathing harshly. Dak gripped the alien’s head, and, using the enhanced strength from the exoskeleton in his armor, he broke the raptor’s neck.
“Shit.” Naomi pressed a hand to her chest, staring at the unmoving body. Her heart was hammering, and adrenaline rushed through her body.
“We’ll bring it with us and hide the body,” Dak said. “Can’t leave it here.”
It took the two of them to drag the raptor’s heavy body out of the tunnel. Right at the end, Naomi spotted a door. “Maintenance closet.” She shoved open the door, and together, she and Dak pushed the raptor’s body inside.
After catching their breath, they moved through the heavy door and into another area of the dam.
“There’s the first penstock,” she said.
They looked through the reinforced-glass window. A huge pipe was visible.
Walkways traversed either side of the pipe, and Naomi spotted several raptors walking along them.
Dak peered through the glass, frowning. “There isn’t much space down there. I don’t think there’s any room for the bomb.”
She snapped her fingers. “I know. There’s another off-limits area below the turbines. Where the rest of the turbine operates. What we saw in the main powerhouse is just the top of it.”
“Let’s check it out.”
They headed away from the penstocks, moving through the tunnels at a jog. They went down some more stairs and kept going lower until they reached a door marked “Restricted.” They peered through the reinforced glass panel in the center of it.
Naomi sucked in a breath.
The bomb rested in the center of the space, not far from the long, cylindrical metal shaft of one of the turbines. Several raptors were working on the octagonal-shaped device, and the top of the bomb was open. They were just high enough that she could glimpse some sort of fluid inside it.
Dak pulled out his camera and started taking some pictures, zooming in to get as much detail as he could.
“All right, now we get out of here,” he said.
She nodded.
They crept out of the area. They needed to avoid the aliens and get topside.
They worked their way back through the tunnels and past the pods and cocoons. Naomi’s nerves were strung tight. She expected a raptor to spot them at any second.
Voices echoed ahead, and they pressed against the wall. She glanced around and cursed.
“There’s a big group of aliens between us and the stairs we used to get down here.”
Dak’s mouth pressed into a firm line. “Is there another set of stairs we can use?”
She nodded. “But it’ll bring us out on the dam wall.”
He was silent a moment, weighing the odds. “Better to be outside, with more room to maneuver.”
She nodded and headed to the secondary stairwell. When they reached the stairs, she let out a long breath. Almost there.
“Move it, Silver.”
She rolled her eyes at him and started upward. Just a few flights, and they could get outside.
They wound their way up and were roughly halfway, when she heard the heavy thud of boots above.
“Raptors,” she hissed.
“Fuck.”
She met Dak’s gaze. Then he grabbed her arm and they jogged back down the stairs. They’d passed a few doors into other levels and when they reached one door, Dak pressed his shoulder against it. It swung open.
It was pitch-black inside and they slipped in, closing the door quietly behind them.
There were no sounds in the room and Dak flicked on a small light.
In response, several red lights flared to life.
Naomi’s belly turned over. Shit. The entire room was filled with glowing, red pods.
“We need to get away from the door,” Dak said. “In case those raptors come in here.”
Wincing, she moved deeper into the room, carefully maneuvering through the pods.
“Have you ever seen that old, classic movie Alien?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “Let’s not bring that up right now.”
They ducked down behind some pods, and Naomi’s hand landed in something sticky. Gross. The place smelled horrible, so she breathed through her mouth.
Once again, she was close enough to see a shadow of something moving inside the nearest pod. She peered closer and suddenly, a creature slammed against the pod’s side, like it could sense her.
She jerked back, slamming into Dak. He steadied her.
“I think we can go now,” he said. “The raptors should have passed by.”
She couldn’t wait to get out of this room. They moved back to the door and she stepped back into the stairwell. It was silent.
They started back up the stairs, and when she cracked open the door, a gust of wind hit her face.
They were on top of the dam wall. It was littered with Gizzida light sets and gear.
“Over there.” Dak pointed to a stack of crates.
They dashed out and slid in behind the boxes.
“Fuck,” Dak said.
She saw exactly what had him worried. There was massive alien activity on the Nevada side of the dam.
Which cut off their escape route.
“We’ll have to go to the Arizona side,” he said.
She turned to look at the Arizona side of the dam, and her heart thumped against her ribs. “Dak, we can’t. Look.”
He swiveled. More alien vehicles were heading down toward the road across the top of the dam.
They were trapped between them.
“We can’t let them know that we’re here,” he said.
He was right. If they knew that they’d seen the bomb, they’d move it.
She swiveled to look straight ahead, to the dark waters of Lake Mead. The water level was higher on the Lake Mead side. She saw Dak rise, moving toward the edge. There was a considering look on his face.
“No,” she breathed.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. There was a yawning blackness ahead, and far, far below was the water.
“It’s our only chance,” he said.
She just stared at him.
“Where’s that courage of yours, Silver?”
She looked to the side and saw the aliens coming closer. She looked to the other side and saw them advancing from that side as well. “My courage is currently whimpering in fear.”
“There’s nothing you can’t do.” He took her hand. “Ready?”
“No.”
“On three.”
Naomi pulled in a deep breath and gave a single nod. She could do this.
“One,” he said. “Two—”
Before Dak finished the countdown, he leaped into the air, pulling Naomi off the top of the dam.
Oh, fuck.
With powerful kicks, Dak and Naomi came up out of the water. He spat out a mouthful and then found his arms full of a spitting mad woman.
She slapped at him. “Asshole.”
He grabbed her and kissed her. They’d made the terrifying drop into the water. They were both alive, they’d found the bomb, and from what he could tell, the aliens hadn’t spotted them.
Dak treaded water, sliding his tongue into her mouth and she moaned. She wrapped her arms around him and threaded her hands into his hair.
“I’m going to make you pay for that.” She bit his lip. Hard.
“I hope so.” Damn, he was glad they were alive. He touched his earpiece. “Groom Lake, are you receiving?”
No response. Turning in the water, he stared at the dark shadow of the Nevada side of the lake. They needed to put some more distance between them and the aliens, and clear the jamming area.
“Time for a swim, Silver.”
She let out a sigh. “Guess that’s better than dodging aliens.”
They started through the water.
“This is almost nice,” Naomi said. “Jumping off the Hoover Dam, aside. A midnight swim under the stars with a sexy guy isn’t too bad.”
“You think I’m sexy?”
“Oh yes, Captain Tight Buns.”
Dak winced at the name. They kept swimming and he tried the comm line again. Still no response.
A second later, a large splash of water hit them.
Naomi cursed and Dak spun. The surface was rippling. There was something in the water. Something big.
“Dak.” Fear edged Naomi’s voice.
“Keep swimming.” His pulse pounded, and another splash of water hit them. The moonlight gave him just enough light to catch a glimpse of a scaled body rising out of the water, then diving back into the dark water again.
“Oh, God.” Naomi started swimming faster.
Dak followed her, but a moment later he sensed something, and turned.
The creature was swimming around them in a circle. He got a better look at it now. It looked like some sort of alien shark. As it rose up out of the water, arrowing toward them, Dak saw its teeth. Fuck. It looked like a buzz saw was attached to the front of it. It had a weird, circular jaw filled with overlapping rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The rocky edge of the lake was still too far away, and they were too close to the dam to contact Groom Lake for a pickup.
If he used his carbine, the aliens might hear the gunfire. Instead, he drew his combat knife.
He touched his ear. “Groom Lake, we need a pickup.”
Still no response.
The shark cruised closer, then did a sharp turn and powered at them.
“Oh, shit.” Naomi lunged to the side.
Dak dodged and stabbed at the creature. His blade cut into scaly flesh, but with a powerful thrust of its tail, the beast disappeared into the water.
“Keep going, Naomi,” he bit out. “Get to the shore and call for help.”
“Fuck that.” She appeared at his side, her own knife in hand.
He gritted his teeth. This woman made him want to shake her and kiss her at the same time.
The shark rose out of the water again, that horrifying buzz-saw mouth aimed right at them.
“Ugly guy.” Naomi lifted her knife. As the shark came closer both she and Dak separated, darting away.
The shark moved between them and they both attacked. Dak rammed his knife in, saw Naomi do the same.
The creature thrashed, and Dak caught a glimpse of blood in the water.
“Keep stabbing,” he yelled.
Together, they kept attacking—stabbing and stabbing. He cut a large slash down the shark’s side. It thrashed again, the splash of water almost sending them under. Then the shark flopped over on its side and started to sink.
Naomi laughed. “You’re a fun date, Captain Vaughn.”
Just then, there was a huge splash behind them.
Dread filling his gut like concrete, Dak turned.
A larger buzz-saw shark—the size of an SUV—rose out of the water.
“Uh-oh,” Naomi said. “I think we just killed her baby.”
“Swim!”
They both started slicing through the water. He glanced back and saw the shark coming through the water like a missile.
He gripped the back of Naomi’s armor and tried to propel her forward. He knew they’d never make it to the side in time.
“Dak.” Her tone was quiet, shaky. She knew it as well.
Shit. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms, curling his body around her.
A massive splash of water suddenly poured over them. They both turned their heads.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed.
He stared in disbelief. Another huge, aquatic alien reared up out of the water. It had a long neck and a sinuous body.
It snapped up the huge shark in its jaws, rearing up high out of the dark water, before it splashed back down, taking the shark with it.
The water rocked all around Dak and Naomi, then slowly settled.
They just stayed there, treading water, their hearts thundering. He could feel her heart hammering against his chest.
Then everything was silent around them.
“I suggest we get out of the water ASAP,” he said.
“Good idea.”