Page 6

NATALIE

O ne week later

The truce between our human houseguests and the squad still held, though Kroktl couldn’t resist growling at Dr. Snyder every time he saw him.

If his research into other alien sightings didn’t prove useful, I’d have to ask him to leave.

I couldn’t stand the sight of him—but I didn’t want to dismiss something important because of my past unsavory dealings with the guy. “So, what did you find out?”

Shifting from foot to foot nervously, Snyder tried to keep a wary eye on Kroktl pacing behind me, Axxol guarding the door, and Rizan, all at the same time.

“We’ve been able to correlate several of the sightings with known coordinates of a squad, but there are several other possible sightings that we haven’t been able to confirm or rule out. ”

Rizan used a conglomeration of Earth technology to display a large map of Central America on the bare wall in what we’d started calling the war room.

The large, open great room had two massive sectionals offering plenty of seating, and the guys had made a cozy nest in between them for Akylla to nap while we talked.

“If they’re all squads, we’re fucked,” Rizan said.

“Here, in red, is Creel, Mexico, where DSC trapped Axxol. These two pins are where we originally deployed and the trace deposit at the crash site. These spots are where the original lake house was located and the cave system where the other squad attacked prior to us coming here.”

I couldn’t help but note that he was careful not to say we’d been using the cave as a sort of safe house because of the thick layer of lead that hopefully prevented dyni detection.

I wasn’t opposed to using Snyder for information—but I sure didn’t trust the man.

He’d left me to die when the base camp came under attack to protect his own skin.

He might be fascinated by my alien squad, but he wouldn’t hesitate to sell us out for the right price.

:He won’t have the opportunity to betray you,: Kroktl said on the grid.

:Damn straight,: Rizan added. :He’s under my full surveillance. If he reaches out to any outside source, we’ll know immediately.:

“The rest of these blue dots are possible sightings,” Snyder said. “We kept our focus on Central America for now, but I’m working on gathering a global map as well.”

Eleven blue dots dotted the map of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.

Some on either the coast—but not close to our current oceanfront house in the eastern corner of Guatemala between Belize and Honduras.

“Shouldn’t there be at least one spotting close to us?

We’ve jumped from here a couple of times now. ”

Axxol’s jaws jutted out aggressively. “I’ve been masking my jumps since the cave. No one could trace that first jump here, and now I’m using even more interference to mask the energy surge.”

“Could we test it? Safely, I mean. I don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, but maybe a controlled experiment with a regular jump to see if the same reports are made.”

“I’m game.”

“I’m not detecting anything unexpected for this planet on the grid,” Rizan added.

“If these spots are other squads, they’re actively blocking their signal using some new method I’m not familiar with.

” His wry tone indicated the possibility was highly unlikely.

“I’m also regularly scanning for non-Earthling lifeforms, but nothing has pinged. ”

Axxol grunted. “You can ping that far?”

“I can.” Rizan flickered a glance in my direction, and the feathers down his spine and across his shoulders fluffed up like a ruff. “Now.”

“Wait, what was that?” I laughed, shaking my head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You absolutely did,” he replied in a solemn tone, though his eyes gleamed like emeralds. “Mating has increased my capacity by at least one hundred times, and I’m only getting stronger.”

“Whoa,” I whispered, shaken but also a little giddy. I grinned at him. “Cool beans.”

“Awesome sauce.”

Snyder gaped at us as if I’d sprouted feathers too. “I’m not following.”

“Rizan’s designation is CPT, so his main strength is echolocation.”

“Oh. Like radar?”

Rizan rolled his eyes. “Sure, but that’s only one frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum I can detect.”

“How old are these reported sightings?” Kroktl asked. “One of us could go sniff it out.”

“Though that could be another trap like the one that snagged me.” Axxol shuddered, his mouth grim. “I could jump Lohr nearby and see if he can taste tungsten without triggering the trap, but it’s a risk I’d rather not take.”

I agreed wholeheartedly. The last thing I wanted was for two of the guys to be gone and in danger. “Let’s think through all the possibilities. If these reports are all legitimate sightings of alien activity, what does that mean?”

“Squads or traps,” Axxol said. “Though the pattern doesn’t indicate squad activity.”

I tipped my head sideways, studying the map, trying to see what he meant. “What kind of patterns are we talking about?”

“Standard operating procedures when a squad deploys.” Axxol stepped closer to the map and pointed out the two red dots closer together.

“We landed here. Immediately, Red went on the hunt, scouting the terrain in measured arcs ahead of us until he found our target. Then the rest of us jumped to that location.”

“The crash was reported as a dark blob in the sky, right? Did people see the blue ozone from the jumps?”

“There were several sightings of blue flashes,” Rizan replied. “Our initial jump, the short jump to the crash site, and then Axxol’s jump when he left the squad.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “I’m not following why these other sightings couldn’t be squads.”

“Our jumps were all grouped together.” Axxol circled the blue jump spots with his finger.

“We get close, deploy quickly, and exit. These other supposed sightings are scattered too far apart to be a search and destroy mission. Trust me, if HQ knew where we were, they wouldn’t give us even five kilometers’ warning, let alone ten or more. ”

“Could each of these be independent squads on the ground instead of jumping around?”

“In my opinion, not likely,” Rizan said. “There aren’t any reports of creature sightings, which if that many squads were actually on the ground moving in, someone would’ve seen something somewhere. You can’t keep that many squads hidden.”

I stared at the map, sure we were missing something. Something obvious.

“They could be hoaxes,” Dr. Snyder said. “People talk. Rumors spread. A few legit sightings are mixed in with the rubble.”

“If the details varied, I might agree,” Rizan replied. “But the reports are consistently about blue flashes, lasting only for a few seconds. Sometimes blue lightning was reported even when there wasn’t any thunderstorm activity. That sounds like a jump to me.”

“Don’t even get me started on all the supposed alien abductions,” Snyder said with a laugh.

The pit of my stomach dropped with a sickening realization. Kroktl tensed beside me, immediately pulling me into his lap, his arms closing around me. “What?”

“Abductions,” I whispered. “Rizan, how many of the blue sightings also have a missing person reported on the same day?”

Rizan stared blankly for a few minutes while he ran the reports.

Then he clacked his beak sharply. “Eighty-seven percent of the sighting locations also have a missing person reported within twelve hours.” He blinked, his eyes flashing as his head snapped in my direction.

“All of the abductees were female between the ages of twenty and thirty.”

A low growl vibrated from Kroktl’s chest, rumbling through me. “Motherfucker.”