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Shit. I whipped my carbine up. Jameson and Kai moved in with me, and we scanned the cave.

I half listened to North talking with the boy, using that calm, steady voice. Hudson’s panicked tone evened out, and his voice got stronger. He was reacting to North’s calming influence.

Then in the depths of the cave, a shadow moved. “Three o’clock,” I murmured.

“I see it,” Kai said.

The monster roared and charged.

The beams of light caught it. It had a tall, almost emaciated body, with dark, spongy black skin. There wasn’t any fat on it, and the skin was stretched tight over corded muscles. There were no eyes, or mouth, just a smooth, eerie face that ended in a long snout.

I had no idea what animals they’d been created from. It looked like pure monster.

The three of us lit it up.

The creature screeched and its snout flared open like petals on a deadly flower.

Laser fire made the cave as bright as day. I kept my finger on the trigger, aiming at the creature’s torso.

Soon, the monster fell. It landed on its knees, and let out a garbled roar, then it collapsed forward and didn’t get up.

I stopped firing. I watched its body twitching.

Jameson strode up to it, then kicked the monster over onto its back. He fired right into its eyeless face.

“What the hell was that?” Kai said.

Jameson shook his head. “Haven’t seen anything like it before. Jess?”

“No.” It didn’t resemble anything I’d seen.

“Call Colbie.” North carefully wrapped Hudson’s arm, pinning it to his chest. “We need to get him out of here.”

Jameson touched his ear. “Sasha, we have the boy. He’s alive. Send Colbie to get us.”

“Were there any other people here?” North asked.

The boy shook his head. “No, just the monster. It got kind of blurry. Then when I woke up, I was stuck in that stuff.” He shuddered.

“You’re safe now.” North ran a hand over the boy’s mussed, dirty hair.

“I had Echo with me. I wasn’t alone.”

I frowned. “Echo?”

With his good arm, he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a robot the same shape as the one Joe had. This one was white with blue stripes.

“He kept me safe. Me and Joe both have them.”

“Kai, we need to bag the woman’s body,” Jameson said quietly. “Jess, take some pictures of these cocoon things.”

I nodded. “I’ll grab a sample of the stuff as well.” I pulled my small science kit off my belt.

North kept Hudson occupied while the men slid the desiccated body into a body bag. I took photos and samples, then nodded at Jameson.

North lifted Hudson into his arms. “You ready to go home, buddy?”

The little boy nodded. “Yes, please.”