Page 22

KROKTL

I ’d forgotten how good it felt to simply run flat out as fast as possible.

Sleek, silent, slipping through the ferns and brush.

The night air filled with a million alien scents.

Earth was a lush, vibrant planet with remarkable jungles and wilderness, though the population was trying its best to demolish everything for another dollar.

Panting, Akylla fell behind, her small body worn out despite the adrenaline surge of her first shift.

I slowed, preparing to circle back, but Axxol already had her.

She shrieked with glee from her perch on the alpha’s shoulder ten meters above the ground.

He let her climb around on him, using her teeth and claws, without a single snap or grumble.

:You’ve come a long way,: I told him.

:Fuck you.:

I huffed out a low, rattling chuckle. :Thanks for giving her a ride home.:

He narrowed his mental touch, hoping she wouldn’t overhear. :She might need a little help shifting back. Not sure if Natalie’ll be able to help.:

True. Shifting to the dynos usually came naturally.

Convincing the beast to subside took control and focus.

The first couple of times could be tricky, especially given Akylla’s age.

I hadn’t missed Natalie’s first impression of seeing our youngling’s new form.

I didn’t blame her. She’d never seen anything like us before.

I didn’t doubt her love for me, us, or especially Akylla.

Though something deep inside my chest cracked with fear she might look at me with momentary revulsion again, even for just a moment.

:Do you remember your first shift?: Axxol asked.

I flipped through my earliest memory files but they were all training vids. :No. I reckon we weren’t hatched. We were engineered.: Rizan had hatched in a giant aviary. He’d killed the competition to get into Dynosauros.

Axxol and I had been created by them one cell at a time.

:Fuck those assholes. The least they could have done was give us emotional modules.:

:Speak for yourself. I emote just fine.:

I expected him to tell me to fuck off again. Instead, he gave me a mental shove on the grid. It took me a moment to recognize a nudge of grudging affection from a BGR+. :Damned straight. You showed the rest of us how to love our mate. Go feed, Red. We’ll protect the nest.:

Slowing my pace, I shifted my focus to predator rather than speed. I needed a nice juicy kill. Scanning the undergrowth, I looked for the largest heat signatures. :Don’t rush back. It’s good for us to be in the wild.:

:Don’t tell me what to do,: Axxol retorted—though not with his usual bite. He might not admit it, but he was enjoying playtime with the youngling. Away from the rest of the squad, he didn’t mind letting his guard down without fear of looking foolish.

I targeted a nice sized deer. Feasted. Then I went looking for another.

It’d been too long since I fed. I hadn’t even hunted my own kills since I found Natalie lost in the jungle.

Not a complaint—just a fact. I hadn’t needed anything but her.

Though if I was going to keep her and our youngling safe, I needed to be as strong and well-fed as possible.

Rizan flashed an alert on the grid. :The human male sent a text to an external number. Tracking recipient.:

My head snapped up, nostrils flaring wide.

First instinct: another squad. But I didn’t scent anything that shouldn’t be in the trees.

Rizan swept higher above the nest, widening his mapping capability.

Nothing unexpected pinged for kilometers in any direction.

Just the hurricane nearing the coast, sending wind and rain ahead in spiraling gusts.

The text itself seemed innocuous—yet cryptic. The mice should play.

Mice? :Earth rodents, right? Is there an infestation in the house?:

:It’s a human idiom,: Rizan said. :While the cat’s away, the mice will play.:

:Motherfucker.: Hissing out a vicious snarl, I spun toward the nest. :I should have ripped that bastard’s head off in Creel.:

:Halt,: Axxol ordered. :Take cover. Riz, get as high as you dare. Lohr, Snryx, take our mate to the most secure room in the house.:

Every protective instinct warred within me, demanding I sprint to my mate’s side. Without me, she was exposed. Vulnerable. Even worse, two of the squad were away, including the alpha.

But millennia of engineering had been painstakingly programmed into every single one of my cells.

The squad obeyed the alpha without question. Especially in times of warfare when strategic command would be needed.

I crouched in the shadow of a giant fallen tree with the bulk of its trunk against my back. Resisting the urge to gnash my teeth—which would only give away my position—I waited for my next order.

:The signal was received by a device located approximately five kilometers out to sea,: Rizan said. :It’s pinging the same size as several other ships in the harbor. Without getting eyes on the target, I can’t confirm if it’s a naval vessel or merely a fishing ship.:

:Where’s he located in the house?: I asked. :Sn, Lohr, do you have eyes on Snyder?:

:Negative,: Lohr replied immediately. :We’re both with Natalie in the main bathing chamber.:

He sent us an image of Natalie crouched beneath him in the large soaking tub, protected beneath his giant shell. Snryx guarded the door, all implements sharpened into blades.

:The two humans are pinging in their respective rooms,: Rizan said. :No one’s approaching the house or moving inside.:

:Keep scanning,: Axxol replied. :Both human and possible squad movement.:

:The closest unknown human contacts are on the road out of Livingston headed our way. However, there’s nothing suspicious in their movements yet. Two humans only, traveling within normal speed parameters. They could be headed to the resort up the coast.:

Several seconds went by with agonized slowness. We watched the map displayed on the grid as the vehicle neared the turnoff toward our lake house. If they kept going, no concern. If they stopped…

Axxol slipped closer to the road.

With my youngling trotting after him.

Rage seared my brain to ash. If she was put into harm’s way by the traitorous human…

Snyder would wish I’d simply decapitated him in a quick, easy death.

My heart thudded in slow, painful beats. The vehicle slowed near our driveway. However, the road curved ahead into the thick jungle. In the dark, stormy night, a human might slow down for countless innocent reasons.

A small red speck lifted out of the vehicle.

:Tracking,: Rizan barked out. :One point three five meters wide by one point five meters long. Electronic drone. I’m not detecting any munitions. Should I intercept?:

:Negative,: Axxol replied. :Keep your position and track both threats.:

:Understood.:

The vehicle continued down the road away from the house where my mate hid, but I didn’t relax.

Not with the unknown device in the air. It flew straight up, hovering over the road, slowly spinning, as if seeking a target.

In the trees, I couldn’t scan it with my own vision to see if we could identify any weapons. It could be a child’s toy.

Though if the mice were playing…

The device reached fifty meters above the road, finally hovering high enough I could see it through the canopy. I blinked, focusing in tighter, dropping snapshots on the grid for the squad to disseminate.

:Heat fluctuation,: I warned. :Looks like a bomb.:

:It’s vibrating,: Rizan added. :Collapsing on itself. I think it’s self-destructing.:

:Rise higher,: Axxol commanded him. :Estimate damage range.:

:Calculating. Unless it’s nuclear, I’m not able to identify any threat.:

The device flared hotter and popped with a small explosion midair. One heartbeat. Two. Nothing?—

An electromagnetic pulse rolled over me. I could feel it sliding through my scales and passing. Not a weapon that would hurt me?—

Until darkness dropped like a meteor.

RIZAN

Very little terrified me. Losing Natalie or the squad, of course. Breaking a wing so badly Snryx couldn’t heal me. Never being able to fly again.

Silence on the grid.

Falling out of the sky in infinite darkness.

Instinct guided my wings, cupping the air to slow my chaotic tumble.

Lifting and flicking one wing then the other to right my body in the air.

Focusing on the sensation of air on my feathers.

My eyes. My sight wasn’t blinded, though I couldn’t see much in the dark night sky.

However, my echolocation had gone down along with the grid.

Stay in the air. Above the trees. I’m not injured.

Though the silence inside me was deafening.

While running diagnostics to get the grid back up, I reoriented myself using the lights of our house below, familiar even though I’d never needed to use the small solar lights lining the patio and walkways to guide myself before.

I often flew at night on patrol. The grid was down, but my personal databanks were functional.

I overlaid nighttime patrols with my current visuals and instantly felt more aligned.

Until I noticed the headlights turning in an arc back toward our house. The vehicle that had deployed the drone now drove up our driveway.

Toward Natalie.

I scanned the ground, looking for any sign of Kroktl or Axxol.

I remembered roughly where they’d been located before the electromagnetic pulse wiped us out, but I couldn’t see them in the darkness.

My eyesight wasn’t strong enough, and I didn’t dare dip lower until my echolocation was functional again. Though I had to warn them.

I screeched out a long, howling cry. It betrayed my location, so I flew a seemingly erratic crossing pattern over the house and out over the jungle.

I even flapped one wing awkwardly, acting as if I were injured, trying to draw attention away from the house.

Hopefully one of the squad would hear the warning.

Turning back to the north, I spied a flash of brilliant blue light. A jump.

Axxol? He might still be functional, though I couldn’t detect his signature yet.

But then a second blue jump ring glowed closer to the house.

Two. Two squads. One in Kroktl’s general location. The other near the house.

Our squad was defenseless. Our mate and youngling exposed. Betrayed.

Thinking quickly, I decided to do the unexpected. I was blinded anyway. I couldn’t do much from the sky until I got the grid back up. I needed time before my skills would be useful to the squad.

More importantly, Kroktl needed time to get to Natalie.

I screamed out another warning. Then I tucked my wings tight and plummeted straight toward the first jump ring I’d seen furthest from the house. Kroktl would have a better chance of reaching her with a little help.

Talons extended, beak cracked open to expose the rows of saw blade teeth, I screeched again, telling anyone who was listening where one of the squads had jumped.

Hasta la vista, baby!