Chris replied before I did. “The police saw some guy that looks it could be Haley’s or Travis’ relative—like when you got burned—except not in alien armor.”
Sydney’s mouth twisted. “I remember those guys. But not an invasion, right?”
Shrugging, Chris said, “They only saw one and no spaceships.”
Deciding they ought to know, I added, “I’m betting it’s from the Abominator birthing chamber where I work. It’s not the first creature created in the thing that’s been used lately.”
Slipping off of my stool, I took a quick look at the factory dashboard on my monitor. I didn’t have any processes running that had to be manually stopped.
I was safe from whatever the nanotech equivalent of Mickey Mouse directing brooms to carry pails of water might be.
Compelled to be accurate, I said, “We did talk a few different times, but yeah, it hasn’t been much more than ‘hi’ and a couple technical things.” Continue reading Claws & Eyes: Part 9→
Just as it had earlier, Blue’s yell caused chaos. The giant winged dinos dove to avoid her voice despite anything their riders did with their reins. As they dove, the League jet circled around from over Grand Lake to appear behind us even as we dove to follow.
“I’m thinking we should use Blue to herd them,” the Rocket said. “If they stay low, it shouldn’t be hard to hit them from the side.”
Control stopped at the table in the center and directly in front of the giant screen. She grabbed a mouse and started tapping, starting by clicking on a button under the word “Status,” changing it from green to red.
Immediately a text message started appearing on another part of her monitor.
Another thought popped into my head. “Oh, and if we can manage it, we need to come up with some way to track it even though it looks exactly like a normal human when it’s not transformed and the only way a person can know the difference is with magic.”
“I’m sure,” Lee said. “Now that doesn’t mean I can’t help at all. All I’m saying is that The Thing can’t see me in action. I’ll be happy to give you advice. I wasn’t directly involved in creating our deadly toys, but I know that typically our creatures go to ground and try to grow in secret. If they can, they’ll hide until they can attack with overwhelming force. The sooner you find it, the better for everyone.”
“I already started on that, but without magic, I can’t automate my system for detecting it.”
Lee laughed. “I’m confident you’ll figure something out. In my experience, there’s more than one way to solve most problems. Anyway, if you want my advice, I’m only a phone call away.” Continue reading Share The Love: Part 8→
When I opened up the pictures on my laptop, it was the speedster I’d seen first—the one that wasn’t glowing—the guy. He’d run back to his origin point, but there was no sign of the woman.
I stayed up for another ten minutes, waiting to see if she’d show up too, but she didn’t. When I woke up the next morning, there hadn’t been any further alerts. Maybe the north end of the route was where she lived.
The burrito hit it in the middle of the chest, sticking there. The burrito dripped cheese, beans, and a glowing green sauce across the creature’s body.
The alien looked down, staring at the mess, sniffing once.
All the voices disappeared into static along with the displays in the helmet and every light in the armor. As of that moment, she was alone in front of the exit to HQ, and not standing either.
She didn’t know what the suit did to help her stay balanced, but whatever it was, it had to be electrical because moments after the lights faded she fell over backwards.
Taking stock of the situation, she stared upward. Stars peeked through the leaves and branches, visible in the dusk.
