by Anna Hackett
She dictated notes to her comp, removed organs and weighed them. When she lifted her head and stretched her neck, she saw Gabe was still standing in the same place. “You’re still here? God, Gabe you should have gone and grabbed some lunch. How long have I been at it?” She glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Three hours,” he said. “It’s not a problem. There have been loads of missions I’ve had to wait longer than this. Besides, I could watch you work all day. All that competence.”
She glanced at her gloved hand clutching the saw. All of it covered in blood. “I’ve been autopsying a dead half-alien body.”
“Could still watch you all day.”
She shook her head, but smiled.
“You find anything important?”
“Well, there’s a lot of alien in him. I’d guess the transition takes time and he’s been with them several months.” Maybe floating in one of those genesis tanks. Then she studied the glowing orange fluid again. “There’s this strange fluid everywhere. We know raptor blood is red like ours, but this orange stuff…”
“Lymph?” Gabe suggested.
“I don’t think so. I think it might be a part of the transformation process.” She’d already taken some samples to run through the analyzer. She also lifted her new scanner and ran it over the fluid. “Completely alien. The scanner can’t even isolate everything it’s made of. I’ll have to run some manual tests.” She paused. “It has a really unique signature…and it’s very easy to pick up on the scanners.”
Gabe straightened. “You saying we can scan for it?”
Emerson tried to tamp down the surge of excitement. “Maybe.”
“Send everything you have on it to Elle and Santha. They can see what we can do.”
Emerson nodded. It took another hour to finish up with Jason. She said a quiet farewell as she bagged his body and set it in the morgue storage. They’d have to keep his remains for further testing. She hoped he was in a better place now.
After she’d cleaned up, Gabe motioned her out the door. “We’ll grab some sandwiches, then head over to Ops. Santha says they already have drones up scanning for the fluid.”
Emerson blinked. “That fast?”
“They roped Noah into helping. He rigged a few drones and got them in the air. Says he can do more if we need them.”
They hurried through the tunnels and, after a quick stop in the dining room, reached Ops. As they walked through the Hive, General Holmes stepped in front of them.
“Emerson? You’re doing okay?”
“Yes, General.” Emerson liked the leader of Blue Mountain Base. He was always calm and steadfast in the face of any crisis. He’d single-handedly created the squads, and got the base into some sort of order, organizing medical, research, tech, schooling, food stores. Not to mention teams to protect the base.
Without him, she guessed a lot more survivors would have died and they’d all be a lot more uncomfortable. She knew he often clashed with the squad leaders, but he had to weigh up the benefits to all, not just a few, and that meant he couldn’t be popular. It was a tough job. She’d seen him once or twice for private medical checkups. He was under a great deal of stress, which he never allowed anyone to see. Emerson worried if he didn’t find something to relieve the stress, to help him bear the load, it might swallow him up.
“Jackson, I hear you saved the doctor. Good work.”
Gabe nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Elle also tells me you might have found a way to scan for the Genesis Facility?” He fell into step beside them.
“We hope so,” Emerson replied. “We have to see if it’ll work, first.”
“It’s a start. That’s all we need.”
Chapter Eleven
Gabe watched as Santha directed one of the drone operators, a redheaded woman named Lia. The footage on the large main screen in the Hive showed a drone flying over the shattered ruins of the skyscrapers in the city center.
Behind him, the rest of Hell Squad stood, watching in silence.
“So far, nothing,” Santha said over her shoulder.
“You’re sure this scanner you rigged up will work?” Gabe asked.
Noah Kim stirred in his chair. “I don’t ask you if you can take down a raptor or fire your carbine.”
Sitting beside the tech guru, Elle looked like she was trying not to laugh. “The scanner will work, but Lia has to fly the drone low to pick up the fluid signature.”
The redhead didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “Exactly. There’s a greater chance I’ll hit something.” She moved her hands through the air in a hypnotic dance. She was wearing a set of thin, black gloves with glowing wires running through them.
“She’s flying it manually?” Emerson asked. “I thought the drones flew themselves.”
Noah nodded. “They do. And when there aren’t too many obstacles the programming works well. But with more to run into and a more complex task, you can’t beat manual. As long as the operator knows what they’re doing.”
Gabe thought Lia looked more than competent.
The woman in question cast a quick look back. Large almond-shaped eyes dominated her face. “And I certainly know what I’m doing, Kim.”
“What did you do before, Lia?” Emerson asked.
“Commercial pilot,” the woman answered.
The comp made a pinging noise. Everyone straightened, the air in the room going taut.
Lia tapped at the comp screen, then she looked back and grinned. “We’ve picked something up west of the city center. Going in for a closer look.”
Images filled the screen. Elle frowned. “It’s a sports stadium. Is that where the signal’s coming from?”
Lia nodded. “It’s Stadium Australia. A multi-purpose stadium that’s been renovated and rebuilt numerous times over the years. It was first built for the Olympics.”
Gabe eyed the decaying ruin of the stadium. From a distance, it looked almost normal. Like a sports team could head in there and play a game at any moment.
But as the drone got closer, it was easy to see that one side of the complex was damaged. The wall had been smashed through. A rampaging rex, Gabe decided. He had a strong dislike for the giant creatures.
Elle was tapping another comp screen. “I’m picking up raptor signatures.” Her mouth tightened. “Not a lot of them, but they are getting better at hiding from the drone scans.”
Noah tapped his fingers against the table in front of him. “I’m working on that.”
“Good. I hate seeing the squads go in without the right intel.” The comms officer’s gaze went to Marcus.
“Okay, definite readings for this alien goo,” Lia said.
“Look.” Santha pointed.
Gabe leaned forward, the rest of the squad doing the same. At first, he didn’t see anything. Wait…now he saw them moving out of the stadium. God, Santha had good eyes.
A small group of raptor soldiers were walking, keeping an unarmed raptor between them. As the drone camera zoomed in, the middle raptor glanced around and was talking. Probably issuing orders, as two soldiers peeled off.
Then the lead raptor looked up. Like he was looking directly at the drone.
One red eye, the other covered in a nasty, ugly scar.
Gabe’s hands curled into fists and he heard Emerson gasp. Her hand groped for his and she squeezed it.
“Hello, One Eye,” Shaw murmured.
Gabe looked over at Marcus. “Hell Squad going in?”
“Yeah.” Marcus’ face was turned toward the screen.
Gabe didn’t say anything else. Marcus would know what he was asking.
Hell Squad’s leader turned his head. “You keep it together, you’re back in the field.”
Good. Gabe nodded.
“All right, Hell Squad. You know the drill.”
Gabe gave Emerson a quick kiss.
“Be careful,” she said.
He stayed silent. He couldn’t promise that. He’d try, but he wouldn’t lie to her. He
’d do whatever needed to be done.
She sighed and pressed her palms to his chest. “Come back to me, okay, big guy?” She pressed her lips to his, a fleeting touch.
He wanted more. But it wasn’t the time. With a nod, he followed the team.
In the squad locker room, he put his armor on and checked his carbine. A deadly calm settled over him. Destroy the raptors’ shit and kill this one-eyed raptor. If he could do that, he could finally be rid of the darkness inside. Be a better man for Emerson.
He looked up and saw Marcus watching him.
“We end this,” Marcus said.
“Yeah.” Gabe would. For the brother he’d lost, for the woman he’d been gifted with.
“Remember, we’re a team. I don’t have to remind you what got you sidelined last time.”
Gabe’s jaw tightened. “I got it.”
“All right. Let’s get on the Hawk. We’re heading out to pick up the Hunters.”
“We’re driving in?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah. You might have missed the way that raptor fucking looked right at the drone, but I didn’t.”
“I saw. He couldn’t have known it was there, could he?”
“Not taking the risk. They won’t expect us to come in on wheels.”
Around them, the squad finished getting ready—slipping combat knives into sheaths, slinging carbines over their shoulders. They made their way to the landing pads.
The Hawk was waiting for them, rotors already spinning.
The team climbed aboard. Marcus slammed the side door closed and called out to Finn. As the Hawk lifted off, Gabe spotted Emerson watching them leave. For the first time, he felt the burning need to get the mission done and get back to her. He watched her until he couldn’t see her anymore.
The Hawk flew over trees, a few smaller towns. It was a dull, dreary day, the sky packed with gray clouds. Finally, they flew over a dilapidated, abandoned area that looked like it had once been a farm.
Except Gabe knew it was no farm.
Unlike the last time they’d come here, they didn’t land near the ruined sheds. Instead, Finn set them down in a clearing amongst the trees. They never used the same entrance to the Hunter facility more than twice in a row.
Marcus leaped off the Hawk and the rest of them followed. They had their carbines in their hands, but not aimed. Raptors didn’t like trees. Marcus led them to a large area of rocks. He moved to one, uncovered a hidden keypad and tapped in a code. A cleverly hidden door disguised as rocks slid open. He waved them in.
The narrow tunnel ran straight for a bit before descending. They all clicked on the tactical flashlights attached to their carbines. Soon, they reached a door and stepped into an underground parking facility.
The Z6-Hunters were parked in a row. The experimental vehicles were black, armor-plated personnel carriers with autocannons mounted on top. They had a few more dings and scratches now than they’d had a year ago.
“All right. Gabe and Claudia, you’re with me. Cruz, Reed and Shaw, take the second vehicle.”
Everyone did as ordered. Gabe raised a brow at Claudia. She waved at the slightly elevated autocannon seat. “You take it.”
Hell, yeah. He climbed up and settled into the seat. The autocannon’s controls and virtual heads-up display flashed to life in front of him. He fitted his hands around the autocannon controls, and prayed he got to use it. They had an automatic setting and could target and fire themselves, but it was much more fun on manual.
Soon Marcus was pulling the Hunter up the exit ramp, Cruz’s Hunter following close behind.
Elle’s voice came through their earpieces. “I’ve mapped out the best route to the stadium. There are raptor patrols in the air, so I’ll let you know if any get too close. Illusion systems up?”
“Yeah.” Marcus’s gravelly reply.
“You got it, Ellie,” Cruz confirmed.
The illusion system was an awesome piece of tech that, while didn’t cloak the Hunters completely, did the next best thing. It blurred them, messed with their signatures on raptor scans, and used directed sound waves to distort any noise and make the enemy think they were in a different location. The Hawks had them too.
The journey through the ruined suburbs, past empty schools and looted shops, was uneventful.
As they neared the stadium, Gabe saw its distinctive shape ahead in the distance.
“I’m not picking up any raptor signatures,” Elle said, a frown evident in her voice. “Not one.”
“You still picking up the alien substance?” Marcus asked.
“Yes.”
“Then they can’t be far away.”
Gabe searched the area, but didn’t see anything. Nothing was moving out there.
“Wait!” Elle’s frantic voice came through loud and clear. “I got a flicker of something. Wait a second…oh, God, Marcus you have three…no, four raptor ground vehicles inbound.”
A second after she said it, Gabe saw them. Everyone else cursed, but Gabe calmly swung the autocannon around. The raptor vehicles were squat and ugly, with large spikes sticking out at the front. He’s always thought they’d resembled some dinosaur, a triceratops maybe. He knew the armor plating was tough as hell.
But not tough enough for an autocannon.
He opened fire, the deadly green laser cutting through the gloomy afternoon.
A second later, Shaw did the same from the second Hunter.
The four black vehicles split apart.
“Marcus! Swing us round,” Gabe yelled, twisting the autocannon as far as he could. Laser cut across the hull of the passing raptor vehicle, scoring the side of it.
The vehicles roared around them. Marcus gunned the Hunter, glancing at his rear camera view. Gabe touched his display and the camera image flashed up.
The raptor vehicles were coming back.
“Cruz,” Marcus said. “Let’s pull that maneuver we used back in Syria with the Hummers.”
“Good idea, amigo.”
When the raptors returned, Marcus and Cruz yanked the wheels and the Hunters veered left.
“Gabe, Shaw, keep the others off us. And everyone, hold on.”
A second later, Cruz pulled in an inch behind their Hunter. And a second after that, Marcus and Cruz rammed the Hunters into the isolated raptor vehicle.
Ahead, water shimmered. Homebush Bay was a dull, dark gray, reflecting the lack of sun and sullen clouds.
Another ram by the two Hunters and the alien vehicle lost control. It zigged and zagged, before running straight into the harbor, landing with a giant splash.
“Woo-hoo!” Shaw yelled. “Now spin us around, Cruz. I got some shooting to do. Gabe, let’s hit the same one and even the odds.”
“The one on the far left?”
“Got it.”
Together they targeted their cannon fire. Marcus and Cruz drove to give them a perfect view of their prey.
Flames and smoke appeared from the back of the vehicle. A moment later, the raptor vehicle hit a parked car, flipped and crashed down.
“Two down, two to go,” Marcus said.
But the other two vehicles were wary, keeping their distance.
Soon, the Hunters and the two alien vehicles were racing down the streets. The hulking form of the stadium was close now.
They roared into a large, empty parking lot.
The raptor vehicles did some fancy maneuvers. But Marcus and Cruz kept on them.
And this time, the raptors were returning fire. Deadly raptor poison arced through the air.
“Fuck.” Marcus swerved to avoid being hit, but a small splatter caught the rear of the Hunter.
Burning metal sizzled, and the ugly, smoky smell caught Gabe’s nose. He glanced back—right through a small hole the raptor poison had chewed through the vehicle.
“Gabe?”
“It’s okay. Minor damage.”
Suddenly, Marcus braked. The Hunter skidded and he swung the vehicle around. Gabe sighted the next raptor vehicle and fired the
autocannon. The alien vehicle lost control and hit a pile of rubble. It exploded in a giant ball of flames.
“Woot!” Shaw called out. “Last one’s mine, Jackson. Hands off.”
Thirty seconds later, the final raptor vehicle—already scorched by laser fire—crashed into the side of the stadium.
Hell Squad pulled to a stop. As they climbed out, Gabe eyed the horizon. The sky had begun to dim, and he thought of base, of Emerson.
“It’ll be dark soon,” he said.
“Yeah.” Marcus didn’t sound happy.
Night was always problematic in the city. And lately, the few survivors making it to Blue Mountain Base also talked about strange attacks in the dark that left people a bloody mass of meat.
“Come on,” Marcus said. “Hell Squad, ready to go to Hell?”
“Hell, yeah! The devil needs an ass-kicking!”
Cautiously, guns up, they moved into the tunnel leading into the stadium. Their boots made a faint echo on the cement, but the place was empty. As they stepped out into the stadium itself, at the base of the rows and rows of empty seats, Gabe felt a flash of sorrow. This place had once been full of life, with people laughing, celebrating, and cheering on their favorite athletes.
Now it was an empty relic, mocking the past.
He shook his head to clear the gloomy thoughts. Kill raptors. That was all he should be thinking about.
They walked along a row of seats.
“Gabe, you see anything?”
He had better vision than the others, but didn’t spot anything unusual in the growing shadows. “Negative.”
“All right, let’s switch to night vision.”
Gabe flicked the lens across his right eye. Instantly, everything around him appeared in shades of green.
“I really, really don’t like this,” Shaw said.
They stepped out on the central field of the stadium. The grass was the same high-tech turf that most stadiums had switched to years ago. It was made of recycled products and it was virtually impossible to tell it apart from real grass. But Gabe could tell now. Instead of being brown and crunchy from lack of care and water, it was still a vibrant, unrealistic green.