Chapter Two

 

 

Smoke billows into the night sky, and the ground shakes with fury. I navigate through the chaos of the alien attack on Capital Acres, my heart pounding. Screams and weapons’ fire ring out from every direction, prompting me to run faster. Women are being dragged onto a hovercraft in a clearing up ahead.

Women. Only women.

I pray the aliens don’t catch me.

A human man in a security uniform emerges from behind a tree and opens fire on the Kleaxians, but misses his target, and a nearby alien blasts him with a beam of white light. The human man drops dead, joining the other bodies scattered lifeless on the ground. Smoke is rising from those felled by the strange light shooting weapons, and the sickening smell makes me gag. Still, others are laying in the street bleeding from wounds inflicted with long daggers many of the Kleaxians are wielding. A few are missing heads and other body parts.

I swerve to the left and sprint to a back road that winds out of the sprawling city. Thick vegetation surrounds me. I run until my mouth tastes like pennies and my side throbs in agony.

Most of the inhabitants of Capital Acres are probably shocked by this evening’s events, but I’m not. I’ve known about the Kleaxians for longer than I care to admit, and I know all about the horrible atrocities that have been committed against their species.

Clearly, the humans who first settled this planet had underestimated the strength of the Kleaxians, or an entire city that catered to thousands of tourists wouldn’t have been constructed here.

The Stargazer was supposed to be my trip back home. To Earth. But fuck, a few minutes ago I’d witnessed the total destruction of the ship—as well as the wormhole from which it emerged.

Everyone had been out in the streets to witness the Stargazer’s arrival, only to watch in horror as strange lights appeared in the sky. The blue speck of light that marked the Anders-Perkins Wormhole—the only way to and from Earth—had exploded and lit up the city for several seconds, bright as daylight.

The Stargazer blew up about thirty minutes later.

At first I hadn’t understood why the pause in action, but now that I’d seen Kleaxians shooting only men and forcing the women onto hovercrafts, I had my answer.

The Stargazer had likely been boarded and the women taken captive.

The aliens want to keep the women, but whether as mates or slaves, or both, I do not know.

All I know is that the Kleaxians have every right to be pissed off at humans. We’ve captured them. We’ve experimented on them. We’ve broken their families apart. We’ve forced them off this particular continent on Tallia. We’ve even killed them.

The Demitros Research Facility—the front for Project KH09—comes into sight. The guards that typically keep watch are nowhere to be seen, and I swipe Harry’s ID card and the door clicks open. I hurry inside and jog beyond the lobby, heading for the stairs that lead to the lower level. That’s where Harry will be. He always brags that he has almost the entire basement to himself.

I hate that I’m seeking his help, but if anyone knows a way out of this mess, it’ll be him. Maybe there’s a secret ship hidden outside Capital Acres that he’s aware of, or maybe there’s a way to repair the wormhole. I can only hope. I refuse to believe all the humans on Tallia are stuck here forever, fated to be slaughtered by the Kleaxians, or taken captive.

Though I’m not supposed to be here, none of the white-faced scientists I pass pay me any attention. They all look like they’re about to piss themselves. The ground shakes with vigor and I pray the building doesn’t collapse and bury us alive.

I descend to the lowest level and swipe Harry’s ID card at the next door. As soon as it opens, I bolt through the entryway, only to slam into a hard body.

My gaze travels up to meet hard blue eyes. It’s Harry.

He pushes me against the wall. I hate how he’s crowding over me, using his size to intimidate. He’s never hit me before, but he’s manhandled me a few times while angry. Right now, he looks fucking furious. A chill skitters down my spine as his fingers dig into my upper arms.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Katrina?”

“The Kleaxians are attacking Capital Acres. They destroyed the Stargazer and the wormhole.”

His eyes widen and he pales. “I thought all the shaking and noise was the Stargazer crashing into Capital Acres. Holy fuck.” He releases me and steps back, then rakes a hand through his dirty blond locks.

“Is there another ship hidden somewhere on Tallia, a ship like the Stargazer, that might take us away from here? Is there an evacuation plan in case the Kleaxians attack? Is there—”

“The Kleaxians don’t have ships. They are primitive beasts. You must be mistaken.”

“I’m not fucking mistaken, Harry. I watched the wormhole and the Stargazer get blasted to bits in the sky, and then several vessels landed in Capital Acres. Kleaxians are storming the streets, shooting men on sight and taking women captive. I saw it with my own eyes. Would you care to take a stroll outside to confirm I’m not making this all up?”

“Fucking hell.” He starts pacing. The ground continues shaking and I remain leaning on the wall for support.

Realization settles over me, and my blood runs cold with fear.

Harry’s completely surprised by the attack. Hell, he didn’t even know the Kleaxians possessed ships. He’d truly believed them to be the Neanderthals of Tallia.

“There’s nothing, is there? No secret ships? No contingency plan of any kind?”

He lifts his chin and glares at me. “Come, we’ll hide out in the lab until it’s all over. I doubt the Kleaxians can breach the building’s security.” He eyes the ID card I’m still holding and snatches it from my hand. “I hope no one saw you with this. You could get me fired.”

“I’d say getting fired is the least of your worries right now, Dr. Jenner,” I say, my tone dripping with disdain as I utter his name.

He grabs my arm and roughly guides me down the corridor. He swipes the ID card and presses his hand to a black surface on the wall. It lights up and scans his palm. This must be his personal laboratory, the one he’s taken illicit pictures and videos inside.

My heart pounds. He’d recently boasted about being given a new Kleaxian female to study, saying she was near death when brought to the lab and if she died, he would get to perform an autopsy on her. It was my understanding that she’d almost drowned while trying to escape the humans pursuing her, and rather than administer medical attention, Harry’s team has decided to wait it out until she passed on her own—as if watching her die of so-called “natural causes” made their hands any cleaner and their research slightly more ethical. I wonder if she survived, and if so, what kind of awful experiments she’s endured.

Why did I stupidly run to Harry for help?

I try to escape his firm hold, but he forces me deeper inside the laboratory. I should have realized there weren’t any secret ships or evacuation plans in case of a Kleaxian attack and tried to escape on my own. If there had been a fallback plan, surely Harry would’ve crowed about it.

The forest surrounding Capital Acres is vast. I could have hidden in the trees until the attack ended, traveled miles and miles into the woods where no one would find me.

“Ah, there’s my patient. Right where I left her.”

I peer ahead at the naked Kleaxian female sprawled out on a gleaming metallic table. There are trays filled with instruments placed around her, and a bright light hangs from the ceiling, illuminating her unmoving body. She’s a lighter shade of red than a healthy, living Kleaxian female, at least compared to the aliens I’ve seen in Harry’s images and videos.

She’s dead.

Oh God. I close my eyes and turn my head, only for Harry to laugh. I feel sick.

“You’re a monster.” I push away from him. “I’m leaving. I’ll take my chances outside.”

I should’ve known better than to run to the devil for help.

Turning, I aim for the door, but he’s quick to block my exit. His sinister smile unnerves me—as if he’s got nothing left to lose because aliens are attacking. I shudder and try to remain calm, but it’s not easy when I think he’s close to snapping. Everything he’s worked for is about to go up in flames and he fucking knows it.

“Get out of my way, Harry.” Vaguely, the scent of another woman’s perfume wafts toward me, and my gaze lowers to the dress shirt I’d carefully pressed last night. It’s wrinkled and a smudge of pink lipstick adorns the collar. He’d left for work unusually early, and I shouldn’t be surprised that he would cheat on me.

I don’t even care. I only want to leave. I never want to see his smug face again, even if I’m risking my life outside the safety of this building.

He chuckles and says, “You’re not going anywhere, darling. I paid your way to Tallia and I’ve supported you these last two years.” He gestures at the body behind him. “Don’t be ungrateful. Studying the Kleaxians’ remarkable immune system has already improved medical treatments on Earth and saved countless human lives. What does it matter if some of them die? This type of work has kept a roof over your head, you know.”

Guilt besieges me. I hate him for pointing out what feels like my complicity in his crimes.

“Fuck you, Harry.” I hold his gaze, figuring I also have nothing left to lose. “I was leaving you tonight. I was going to board the Stargazer while you were at work, and be through the wormhole before you even realized I’d left your sorry ass.”

He yanks on my hair and drags me into a smaller room that contains a desk, a chair, and several large touchscreen computers. I try to hit him in the stomach, but he blocks my punch and twists my arm behind my back. I gasp at the stabbing pain. Pushing me over the desk, he puts his mouth to my ear and says, “Look what you’re making me do to you, Katrina. Do you think I like hurting you?” He tugs on my arm harder, until agony resonates in my joints, sharp and merciless.

He’s crazy. I should’ve seen it years ago, but I’d been too blinded by infatuation, and even though it kills me to admit it—too excited by the prospect of making my hard-to-please family proud when I eventually married him.

I struggle against his hold, only to be lifted briefly and slammed hard on the desk.

All the air leaves my lungs in a violent rush.

A blast shakes the building and smoke soon spills into his office from the laboratory.

Harry releases me and I slide off the desk, sinking to the floor as I try to catch my breath, my chest heaving as I emit desperate rasping noises.

Once I regain my composure, I will summon my strength and escape this crumbling building. Escape Harry. I’m not going to die here, of all places, and once more I berate myself for seeking his help.

When I look up, the sight that greets me knocks the air from my lungs all over again.

A huge red Kleaxian male is standing in the doorway.