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“I spoke to Jameson, and he and the guys will help us move the rest of your stuff out of your place tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was our day off. Excitement flitted through me. North’s place was similar to mine and decorated in what I called “man style” aka simple and sparse. He’d told me to change or add whatever touches I wanted.

He wanted to make it ours. Make it our home.

“And I’m also here because we’ve been summoned to a meeting with the generals,” he added.

I nodded and slipped off my lab coat. When I turned, North was studying the cocoon.

“There’s really a kangaroo in there?”

“There is. And it’s very much alive.”

He pulled a face. “Doesn’t seem right to leave it in there.”

“I know, but studying it could save human lives. We have to know what these cocoons do.”

We headed out of the lab and down the corridor toward the command room.

“Colbie’s been blowing up my communicator,” I told him. “I’ve been invited to girls’ night at Hemi’s tonight. From what I can tell, there will be lots of cocktails involved, and I can’t say no.”

He smiled. “I’m meeting Zeke for a workout later. So, I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

Home. I really liked the sound of that.

He leaned in close. “Promise to be a little tipsy? I’ll let you take advantage of me.”

I laughed. “We’ll see.”

When the doors to the command room opened, I saw the rest of the squad was there, including Sasha, Colbie, and Maxim. Marcus and Cruz were also standing nearby with their arms crossed. My uncle gave me a chin lift.

“All right, everyone,” General Masters said. “We’ve read Jameson’s report on the rescue near Picton last night. Good work.”

“North, are you okay?” General Stillman asked, concern on her face.

He nodded. “Thankfully, I wasn’t in the cocoon for more than a few minutes before the guys got me out.”

General Masters leveled his serious gaze on me. “And you have a cocoon in the lab?”

“Yes. It contains a live kangaroo. All the animal’s vitals have slowed down. Its heart rate, respiration, digestion, everything is low. It’s alive, but in some sort of stasis or coma state.”

General Masters’ brows drew together and he shared a glance with his wife. “Why?”

I shook my head. “That, I can’t answer. Not yet.”

“We are extremely worried about these cocoons and the missing people.” General Stillman frowned. “And the fact that the monsters you fought at the orchard appeared to be able to mask their heat signatures.”

Sasha nodded. “They seemed to be in hiding, and appeared out of nowhere. It puts us at a big disadvantage. We’ve always relied on heat signatures to track them.”

“Sounds like we need a new way to detect them,” Maxim murmured. I could see the inventor was already considering possible solutions.

“You think you can come up with something?” General Masters asked.

Maxim shrugged. “I’ll see.”

Zeke stepped forward and everyone looked his way. The quiet man didn’t say much, so I figured this was important. “At the orchard, Jess and I saw a monster. It didn’t engage in the fight.”

“God, yes.” I’d almost forgotten about it with everything that had happened. “It was watching us, and it felt…intelligent.”