by Rob Lopez
A thousand answers would have been nice, but he was struggling to come up with even one.
The assassin, or the thing, was vaulting over a fence across the road when Alex got out, and Alex picked up the pace before he lost him completely. His body was in serious pain now, and he glanded some painblocker, plus another shot of stimulant to clear his head. Scrambling over the fence, he found himself in someone’s garden and he followed the assassin over a serious of fences as they ran through every garden in the terraced row, setting dogs barking. Climbing the last fence and onto some garage roofs, he bolted across and jumped down onto the gravel of the railway line. The assassin had stretched his lead and was almost invisible in the dark. Determined not to let him get away, Alex pounded along the railway sleepers, his lungs heaving. The assassin had made a tactical mistake, as the rail line ran into a deep cutting here, with high fences running along the top of the slope. Up ahead was a tunnel and, as the pain eased and Alex found his track pace, he was confident of being able to catch him.
The assassin thought so too because, after glancing behind, he veered off to tackle the bank, running straight up the steep slope. Running an interception course, Alex hurdled through the tangled vegetation and threw himself forward, catching the thing’s leg. He received a kick in the face for his trouble, but he kept hold of the leg, pulling the assassin off balance as he rolled.
Alex scrambled up, punching him hard to keep him down, but the assassin swung his arm, and Alex felt something slice across his chest.
Shit. Claws. He hadn’t seen that one coming. The assassin was shedding his disguise now and all sorts of things were popping out.
Alex staggered back and the assassin slashed again, catching his arm. Alex grabbed the thing’s neck and kneed it heavily in the chest, but the thing was trying to slash his face now and Alex had to let go of him, using his forearms to block the slashing hands. Light was filling the railway cutting now, and Alex could see his assailant more clearly. Against the night sky, he looked like a demon.
Hold on, where’s the light coming from?
As he glanced across, Alex saw the train, its beams illuminating the track as it sped towards the tunnel. He also saw he was losing this fight.
Dropping to the ground, he slid down the slope on his back towards the thing’s feet, reaching into his pocket for the gun. The head might have been bullet-proof, but Alex had hit him enough times to know that he had some softer areas too. As the thing pounced down on him to slash him again, Alex forced the gun up against the thing’s body and pulled the trigger in rapid succession.
Whether it was really doing the thing any damage, it was hard to tell, but it did pause for just one fatal moment. Lying underneath him, and with good leverage, Alex got his feet up and pushed hard with all the strength he could muster, launching the thing into the air. It landed heavily on the gravel and tumbled across the track.
And the train hit it.
Alex listened to the rattle of the track and then the echo as the train entered the tunnel. It was only a single carriage and, as quickly as it had arrived, it had gone, plunging the cutting into darkness again.
The silence was sweet - nothing scrabbling on the gravel as it tried to get up again. The stars were bright and Alex watched as a single, tiny light streaked across the sky. A record year for meteor showers, apparently.
He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness again, then made his way down the bank. The twisted form of the assassin lay by the side of the track. Alex prodded it with his toe, just to make sure it was dead, then searched its clothing.
Nothing. No data sticks or memory cards. Not even loose change. As he lifted an arm up by its sleeve to examine the claws, a cloud of vapour wafted up and the body started to dissolve, sizzling as the cells broke down. In less than a minute he was left holding an empty sleeve and gagging at the smell.
11
Alex made his way back to the thing’s flat and searched the place, but there was no sign of Randal’s research data, in any form. There wasn’t even a laptop. Picking up the spent cartridge that had been ejected on the carpet, Alex wiped his prints off everything he’d touched, then left the room.
Outside, the decrepit blocks were illuminated by the light of flames - the aggrieved youths had set fire to Nicky’s car. There was a brief explosion as the fuel detonated, followed by the cheering of the youths.
Well, no need to worry about wiping his prints from that.
With sirens echoing through the streets, Alex walked back through the town and up the hill to the farm. Coming down off the high was a melancholy experience, and he was shaking badly and limping. The painkiller wasn’t having much effect now, and glanding more only made him too drowsy to walk. By the time he made it to the farm, he was barely staggering.
Randal was waiting for him, wearing a crisp white lab coat. “Take a seat,” he said, “and I will examine you.”
Eh? That was a miraculous recovery.
Gerald and Nadine, also wearing clean clothes, were sweeping and mopping up the mess on the floor.
“Hold on a minute,” said Alex. “They’re supposed to be...”
“Dead,” said Randal. “I know. Remove your shirt and let me see those cuts.”
“I checked their pulse. They didn’t have one.”
“Nor will they ever.”
Alex stared into Randal’s face. Those eyes...
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
“If you mean the thing that you destroyed, no. But I am not one of you either, if that is what you are thinking.”
Unbelievable. “There was never any data taken, was there?”
“No.”
“That thing never even came here, did it? You set me up.”
“I had to test you.”
“Test me?”
Randal swabbed the wounds with alcohol. “If I had told you that there was an agent from another world hiding in your town, and that you had to eliminate him, would you have believed me? I had to let you see for yourself.”
“An agent?”
“Gathering information.”
“What are you fucking talking about? He was watching telly.”
“As good a means as any to gather data I suppose. The creation you encountered is not particularly intelligent.”
Alex pushed him away. “You’re having a giraffe mate. You telling me we’ve got aliens from outer space dicking around, checking us out?”
“Alien to you, certainly. They are gathering intelligence for an invasion - a concept you must surely understand.”
“Invasion? Well if they’re as thick as what you say they are, they can come down and subscribe to as much satellite TV as they like. They’ll blend right in.”
“The being you encountered was a Drozdt. A drone. They are merely scouts. What will follow will be more intelligent, and far more dangerous.”
“Well what are you lot then?”
“Refugees, as I said. Our homeworld has already been ravaged, and we three are perhaps the only survivors. If you have seen what I have seen, Mr Harvey, then you will understand the great danger your planet is in. My species was infiltrated, attacked and then systematically hunted down. I am here to prevent the same thing happening to yours.”
“By dosing me up and sending me to hunt them down?”
“Precisely. Your drive, combined with my research, gives you the ability to match them. Though perhaps only just. You have four broken ribs, a fractured ankle and several cracked bones in both your hands, and yet still you eliminated your quarry. Nobody else could have done the same. As you have discovered, they are very fast, enduring and resistant to damage.”
“And they’ve got claws.”
“Small claws, yes. As a last ditch defence, though they have to be very desperate before they resort to that. They are programmed to be as low key as possible, with few clues as to their real identity, so they are sent out with few weapons.”
“He pulled something on me. Shone a green light.
Didn’t do anything though.”
“Some sort of neural disruptor I believe. The triggered decay of the element Clyfedius-415 releases a charge that attacks the synapses, causing disorientation and memory loss - long enough for them to escape. A purely defensive weapon, though it can cause brain damage and insanity in humans. Fortunately for you I have introduced nanotrites into your cerebrospinal fluid, which act to cancel the charge, effectively shielding your brain.”
“They’re what gave me the headache?”
“Yes, and that is another thing that may need refining. My own species, you see, was completely unprepared for the onslaught and, though we were able to capture some of their technology, it was far too late to save us. I have brought that knowledge with me in the hope that we can use it, this time with adequate foresight.”
While Randal bandaged him up, Alex mulled over what he’d just been told. Honestly, it was just mad. On the other hand, it was strangely attractive. To be a special operative again, this time without the political interference. A chance to serve humanity and beat the crap out of aliens. What’s not to like?
“So I’m on counter-intelligence,” he said. “How do you know where they all are?”
Randal produced a tablet and scrolled an image of the world. There were flashing blips in almost every country. “I can track them by the implants which serve as their communication devices.”
“I’m not going to be able to get all them by myself.”
“No. We will have to assemble a team, of which you are the first.” Randal handed him a crutch. “Go through to the next room. There is someone waiting to see you.”
Alex hobbled in and found Forbes, sitting on a packing case and thumbing through his phone, as usual.
“You,” said Alex.
“Yep, me. Congratulations on taking down your first perp.”
“You’ve been involved in this all along.”
Forbes put his phone away. “Well how else did you think Randal found you?”
“Through my star qualities and stunning charisma, obviously. So what’s your part in all this, apart from shagging millionaires?”
“Logistics, mate.”
Forbes jumped off the packing case and opened it. Alex peered inside. Handguns, comms, protective vests and more. Forbes reached in and pulled out a heavy cardboard package. “Armour piercing bullets, specially designed to get through thick skulls,” he said. “You’ll be surprised what Miss McIntyre’s funds can get you.”
Alex pulled out a fearsome looking custom revolver. “Nice.”
“So, you in then?”
“Throw in the phone numbers of a few of your nicest clients, and I could be persuaded. So are you running the ops?”
“In my own inimitable fashion, yes.”
Alex spun the chamber of the revolver and sighted down the bore. Very nice.
“Better set the next one up then.”
Forbes smiled. “Welcome to X-Troop.”
End
What Now?
You have just finished reading the teaser trailer for the Alien Infiltrators series. The next title in the series is Assembled (available at Amazon and Amazon UK) and you can follow Alex Harvey as he leads his assembled team of elite, enhanced warriors against hidden alien foes, with the same mix of grit and humour that you’ve come to expect.
Tracking their enemy down to an abandoned industrial site, they are about to uncover something far bigger than they imagined. Join them on a white knuckle ride as the plot thickens and the danger increases, because soon they’ll be fighting for their very survival.
They just don’t know it yet.
If you’d like to keep track of each new release as it comes out, head over to www.robsnewreleases.blogspot.co.uk and subscribe to email notifications to take advantage of the initial release discount price.
And if you really enjoyed this story, please feel free to leave a review on Amazon.
The Alien Infiltrators Series
Amped
Assembled
The Tollon Codex
Bunker 51
Arctic Run
The Alien Infiltrators Collection: Books 1-5
Other titles by this Author
Callisto: Dead Colony