Page 54 of Trigger Discipline

What looked like hundreds of planes, helicopters, and even tanks were lying around like some sort of macabre museum. Crushed like cans at the bottom of the recycle bin, they hardly resembled the machines they started out as. Planes and helicopters were twisted around each other, scattered farther from the shield and all around the field. The tanks were closer; their front ends smashed in and smoking.

“Holy shit,” Judd rumbled so low Blake could feel it against his back.

This was…it wasn’t like he was impressed with the alien technology. More like horrified. But seeing it like this, the full scope of it all, it was…it was difficult to breathe.

If the tanks and the planes and all those otherwarmachines were taken out by their shield, what could they possibly do?

“I don’t understand,” Judd began, setting Blake back on his feet. Hands on his hips, he looked up at the shield. “If they’re so smart, how did their shield get damaged?”

Blake was still trying to catch his breath. Turning away from the shield, he focused on Judd. Not seeing it helped a little. “What do you mean?”

“Seems kind of careless. They need this…battery or energy source of theirs for this shield. And maybe even their guns. So how did it get damaged?”

“We don’t know that it is damaged,” Blake hedged, licking his dry lips. “And if it is…it’s not like space travel is safe. Even advanced species can’t possibly avoid space junk and black holes.”

Probably. It’s not like Blake would have any idea, but just driving down a highway is dangerous. Space would have to be so much worse.

But it was a good question. How could they allow theirprecious battery to be damaged? And if they had so much technology, why didn’t they just demolish the entire city like they did the military bases? Why bother fighting with the humans at all? Or why were they even here in the first place?

He was about to voice his question when a sonic boom cracked across the sky.

CHAPTER 16

CHARLIE MIKE

Blake wasn’t sure if he dropped or if Judd threw him to the ground. Either way, he ended up pinned underneath the soldier with a mouthful of grass. Grunting, he knocked Judd’s hands off his head and glanced up.

The boom sounded like someone struck a sheet pan. Magnified by a thousand. It echoed painfully. He didn’t see any aliens around. The small park was the same as it had been five seconds ago. Tentatively, he wriggled out from under Judd and looked over to Victoria.

She’d had the same idea. The pilot was plastered to the ground just under the front of the SUV. They all looked at each other with the same panicked questioning look, until the shadow slipped over them.

Massive, it rippled across the ground like a wave. Faster than any cloud. For a hysterical moment, Blake thought it was a dragon. Which was ridiculous, but then again, three days ago he would have told you thataliensweren’t real either. He wasn’t taking any bets against giant flying fire-breathing reptilians.

Craning his neck, he looked up in time to see a massive ship soaring overhead. It was flying high, so far away hecouldn’t make out any exact details. What he could tell was that it wasn’t the same ship that was resting over Capitol Hill.

Judd came to the same conclusion at the same moment as Victoria. Their shocked cries mirrored each other.

“What—” they began just as a second boom echoed across the sky.

Blake’s brain worked faster than his body. It recognized the second ship was shooting before he could move. A large yellowish snot color, if he was going to be really specific—orb launched itself from the bottom of the second ship. The orb hurtled toward the ground before splitting up into a hundred different smaller ones, like a shotgun blast.

They slammed against the shield, splintering apart as arcs of electricity danced over the translucent barrier. Flickering, the orbs went dark as they slid toward the ground, tumbling end over end before striking the dirt with a resounding thud. The ground shook with the force.

“They’re shooting at us,” Judd muttered, blinking up at the sky.

Victoria shook her head, pushing herself up with her broken leg sticking straight out. “Not us.” Her words were so faint Blake almost couldn’t hear them. “It’s shooting at the other ship.”

Another volley of orbs launched with the same effect. Electricity zapped from where they struck, thick arcs twisting out over the barrier before they died off. The useless orbs fell to earth as nothing more than dead projectiles.

No matter how much the second ship launched, the barrier held.

Blake felt exposed. Not that being inside a building would be of any benefit, but he would feel a hell of a lot better with a roof over his head. He swallowed thickly. How long would the barrier hold? What if it pulsated at just the right moment and the electric orbs got through? How much damage couldthey do? What if they hit the river? Would the water conduct the electricity?

A thought struck him.

Maybe it wasn’t space junk that damaged the alien’s shield. Maybe…maybe their battery was damaged in a fight with this second ship?

If the battery was damaged by this ship, that meant that these second aliens had weaponry that could destroy the first. And if they could destroy them…