PROLOGUE

A piercing alarm woke me. I darted from my sleeping quarters on the lunar transport and saw a crewman running down the corridor. “What’s happening?” I asked.

     “There was an explosion,” he replied without stopping. Another explosion rocked the ship. “Get to the escape pods.”

     I wasted no time and took off, trying to remember where they were. Another jolt shook the ship, and I lost my footing.

     A voice came over the speaker: “The Aurora has suffered critical damage. All hands abandon ship. I repeat, all hands abandon ship.”

     I jumped to my feet and raced toward the pods. Rounding the next corner, I discovered the access corridor. All three hatches stood wide open. I dashed through the nearest hatchway and fell into the seat.

     No one else was coming, so I hit the eject button. The hatch slammed shut and the pod shot away at incredible velocity.

     A blinding flash of light came through the viewport, and everything went black.

CHAPTER 1

Kayla

My head throbbed. I opened one eyelid. Lights blinked above me. I was on the floor.

     *Lexi,* I thought to my AI, using the activation word. *Did I have too much to drink last night?*

     *Snap out of it,* chimed the familiar disembodied voice in my mind. *We’re in trouble. The lunar transport exploded. We crashed somewhere.*

     I sat up, and my head pounded harder. I was in the escape pod. Memories of what happened came back to me. *Where are we? Earth? The moon?*

     *Unknown.*

     *Why am I on the floor?*

     *You didn’t buckle in properly before we crashed.*

     I picked myself up. It felt like I weighed a ton. I wasn’t hurt, but every movement took more effort than usual.

     *Why do I feel so heavy?*

     *Unknown. Get it together. You need to activate the transponder.*

     *Call Jess. Tell her what happened.*

     A black box appeared in my field of vision with the words “unable to complete call” instead of my sister’s face.

     *I’m unable to establish a link with the global net,* Lexi said. *Perhaps I’d be able to contact someone if you had stayed on Earth long enough to receive the military upgrade. You promised me I’d get one when you joined the academy.*

     *You know I planned to return and finish my training after seeing my sister.*

     *It wouldn’t be the first time you started something and quit before seeing it through.*

     Through a small viewport in the hatch, I saw trees. We were in a forest. Somehow, we made it all the way back to Earth. Well, it was better than the moon. But where? After locating the transponder, I activated the automatic signal.

     Sitting around waiting for someone to find me didn’t sound appealing. I grabbed the survival kit and opened it. The food and water pouches were on top. Perfect. I stuffed several into the pockets of my flight suit and zipped them closed.

     *What are you doing?* Lexi asked.

     *I’m going outside to look around.*

     *What if someone comes to rescue you?*

     *I’m not going far.* I touched the control panel by the hatch. It hissed open, and I stepped out.

     This was a forest, all right, but the trees weren’t exactly normal. They were dark gray, with twisted branches that swayed in the wind. The leaves had a strange iridescent blue sheen to them. I’d never seen anything like it. And the air smelled strange . . . kind of sweet. Where the hell was I?

     I went to get a closer look at the trees. Movement caught my attention. Glowing red eyes shone from an animal the size of a large bear that lurked in the darkness.

     A low guttural growl drifted through the twisted branches. I froze as a chill ran down my spine.

     The creature—definitely not a bear!—burst from the trees, coming right at me. It had black scales, and the red eyes hadn’t been a trick of the light.

     I ran for my life. Instinct compelled my legs to move. The trees became a blur of gray as I rushed through the strange forest. The giant creature crashed through the dense brush behind me.

     The growls grew louder, but I was afraid to turn around to see how close it was. Fear and adrenaline kept my fatigued legs moving.

     The forest closed in around me. The low-lying branches appeared to reach out as I ran past them, and the dense undergrowth slowed my pace. Sharp branches tore into my clothes as I charged through them.

     Risking a look over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of its crimson eyes. Teeth and claws tore at the foliage, but the enormous beast’s progress slowed. The distance between us was growing. I turned back and stumbled on an exposed tree root in my path.

     The rampaging creature released an ear-piercing shriek. Fearing the feral rage behind me, I scrambled to my feet. Capitalizing on my blunder, it picked up speed and gained on me again.

     I took off, but the beast was nearly upon me. It was so close that its warm, putrid breath hit my neck. A faint light appeared up ahead. The forest was ending. There would be nothing to impede its movement, but I couldn’t turn back.

     *Your heart rate is approaching dangerous levels,* my AI advised me.

     *Not now, Lexi.*

     I dashed through the tree line into a wide clearing. In the distance, a group of tall rock pillars rose into the sky. If I could make it there, I might find safety. Each breath came in a labored gasp, and I stumbled with exhaustion, but I pushed myself onward.

     Twenty yards across the clearing, I no longer heard the thing pursuing me. I stopped and looked back. It had halted just short of the tree line. The beast gave a final roar and stalked deeper into the trees, its black scales melting into the shadows.

     I let out a sigh of relief. Bent over with both hands on my burning thighs, I tried to catch my breath. My disarrayed blond hair hung down around my face. Why had the beast relented when it had been so close to catching me?

     *Your heart rate is still abnormally elevated,* Lexi said.

     *If you weren’t a computer program, your heart rate would be elevated too.*

     *I’ve administered a mild sedative to help stabilize your heart rate.*

     *Thanks, Lexi. What was that thing?*

     *Unknown.*

     *Take a guess,* I urged.

     *It doesn’t match anything in my database. Further information is required for proper analysis.*

     *Of course. For now, store the last few minutes of video for recall labeled ‘Red-eyed Beast.’ If we get rescued, I’d like to have a recording of this to show everyone back home. No one would believe me otherwise.*

     *Task complete.*

     I needed to think this through logically. The beast was as large as a bear and had four legs, but it was unlike anything I’d seen before. It could be some genetically modified animal, but a forest like that didn’t exist anywhere on Earth. And the gravity was too strong to be either the moon or Earth. There was no other reasonable conclusion; this had to be an alien world.

     How had I wound up here? I had only been headed to the moon when my transport ship exploded. There certainly weren’t any planets between Earth and the moon. Besides, alien creatures in alien forests on alien planets didn’t exist. I was sure they existed somewhere, but no one had seen anything like this before. At least not that anyone had revealed to the public. Was I going crazy?

     This wasn’t possible, but everything was so real. How could someone have managed all this? It would need to be some kind of new mind tech because VR wasn’t this good.

     *Lexi,* I said. *What the hell’s going on?*

     *You’ll have to be more specific,* she responded.

     *You know what I mean. How did I end up on this planet?*

     *How can you be sure we’re on another planet?*

     *Well . . . the trees look very un-Earth-like, and it feels like I weigh two hundred pounds.*

     *I assure you, you don’t weigh that much.*

     *I know I don’t, but the gravity is too strong to be Earth. Also, there’s this faint aroma of recently baked cookies in the air.* While being pleasant at first, I was growing tired of the sweet smell.

     *Those do sound like valid points.*

     *So, where are we?*

     *Unknown.*

     *There must be some logical explanation. Maybe it’s some psychological test the military is conducting on me.*

     Yes, that must be it. This was too real to be anything else. I’d heard some rumors of deep psych evaluations for specific candidates. The ship I’d been on probably hadn’t even really exploded. Most likely, I was strapped to a chair in some secret laboratory with wires attached to my head.

     *Lexi, recall the last two events prior to waking up near the escape pod.*

     *Unable to recall those events.*

     *Why?*

     *There are no saved recall events.*

     “What?” I gasped aloud. *Where are they?*

     *The entire neural storage space in your brain has been purged.*

     My heart sank. *All of them?*

     *All of them.*

     The recall moments of the last days with my mother were gone forever. Tears threatened to well up in my eyes, but I suppressed them. There was no time to cry right now. I needed to figure out what to do next.

     There were others on the transport ship. It had been full of soldiers and other personnel. I couldn’t have been the only one to make it to an escape pod. There must be other survivors who ended up here. I surveyed my surroundings. There wasn’t much else besides trees and the rock pillars I saw earlier. Nothing looked promising.

     *Lexi, we need to try to find the other people from the transport. Any suggestions on where to start?*

     *Why don’t you try the city?*

     *What city?* I asked.

     *Those rock pillars are too uniform and evenly spaced to be natural rock formations. They’re registering as buildings.*

     It would be a good place to start if it was a city. The others would probably head for civilization. Also, someone living there might be able to provide some answers.

     *Lexi, how are you still working?* I asked. *I thought you got everything from the net.*

     *Most of the information I offer is, but I have plenty of onboard computing power of my own.*

     Still breathing hard, I backed away from the trees. The beast, watching somewhere from the shadows, snarled in frustration. I whipped my head around to look for it, but it stayed put. A chill ran down my spine, and I quickened my pace.

     Fortunately, I had found the survival kit before the creature attacked. My pockets had plenty of food and water. I retrieved a water pouch and drank eagerly.

     After finishing, I nearly discarded the empty pouch on the ground before I thought better of it. I didn’t want to make a bad impression if an alien saw me littering on their planet, so I decided my pocket was a better place for now. Besides, I might need to refill it later.

     I walked toward “the city” as a light wind picked up. The day was warm, and the breeze felt good on my sweaty skin.

     Black smoke rose from several locations in the city. Was it coming from industrial factories? That could be a sign of advanced technology. Upon moving closer, I realized the buildings were burning.

     Shortly, I came upon a road that led into what remained of this city made from stone and glass. *What do you think, Lexi?*

     *Entering a war-torn city might not be the smartest idea, but it’s a place to start.*

     *You’re right. I don’t see any other good options.*

     *Set a recall marker named ‘City’ and keep your eyes open.*

     *Recall marker set.*

     *I’ll also need a map so I don’t get lost,* I said.

     *When you woke up, I could no longer connect to the GPS network to provide a map of our location. I took the initiative to create one for you. Would you like to see it now?*

     *No thanks. I don’t plan to return to the escape pod right now.*

CHAPTER 2

The smell of charred metal hung in the air as I entered the war-torn city. It had taken one hell of a beating. The place looked like it had recently suffered heavy bombardment. Large sections had been reduced to ruins and debris filled the streets. Blackened craters were everywhere. Bent metal support beams and piles of rubble were all that remained of many buildings. Soot from recent fires was smeared across large patches of the ground.

     The area I walked through hadn’t been completely bombed to oblivion, but many of the crumbling buildings that still stood were hollow husks. I could barely make out what remained of elaborate murals carved into the exterior walls. The doors leading into them were huge. The inhabitants must have been enormous—at least twice my size.

     The buildings appeared to have been cut from stone in massive pieces and fitted with windows. My best guess was that the inhabitants wanted the buildings to appear as natural formations, not constructions. They did a good job, but it wasn’t perfect.

     Further away, a cluster of buildings remained intact. Somehow, they had been spared from the massive devastation all around me. That was where I would start.

     Rubble crunched underfoot as I wound through the maze of debris. Since I was all alone in the silent, lifeless city, every noise I made sounded amplified. I considered obscuring the tracks I’d left in the layers of stone dust but quickly discarded the idea. I wanted to find other people, not hide from them. But questions lurked in the back of my mind. What if the people who did this were still around? Would they try to kill me?

     As the day wore on, my hope of finding anyone who survived this carnage faded. The place appeared deserted. The eerie silence was getting to me. I needed someone to talk to.

     *Okay, Lexi, let’s go through this again. I woke up in an alien forest after a disaster on the lunar transport. And while I’m minding my own business, some giant beast bursts through the trees and comes after me. Now, we’re walking through an abandoned war-torn city.*

     *Are you suffering from memory loss? You did hit your head pretty hard when we landed.*

     *No, just checking to make sure I’m not crazy,* I said, hoping if I was sane enough to ask, I hadn’t lost my mind.

     *Well,* Lexi said, drawing out the word. *The events you describe do sound crazy.*

     *Hey, you backed me up a second ago and confirmed all this actually did happen.*

     *Yes, but I can’t explain these events either, which clearly puts them in the crazy category.*

     *That’s not helping. Just keep recording everything.*

     *I was merely trying to lighten the mood,* Lexi muttered.

I rounded the corner of another barely standing building and stopped in my tracks. A dozen lifeless humanoid bodies lay scattered about the street. A tank-like vehicle lay on its side near them. I considered turning around to go another way, but curiosity got the best of me.

     The bodies wore tan clothes and armor made of a dark granite material. They were also significantly larger than humans, as I predicted. Aliens—actual living, breathing aliens. Well, it didn’t look like they were living and breathing at the moment, but they had once. Hoping a few might still be alive, I walked over to the closest group.

     A small reptilian creature sat next to one of them. It fed on a muddy brown substance that oozed from the broken torso. So involved with its endeavor to consume the gelatinous material, it failed to notice me until I loomed over it. Abruptly, it scampered away over the rubble until it disappeared.

     I knelt to inspect a body more closely, shocked by how big it was. It must have been at least ten or eleven feet long. Also, what I thought was clothing and armor turned out to be their “skin.” They didn’t appear to be wearing any clothes or have any body hair. The natural granite-like plating protected various parts of their tan bodies. It was thickest around the chest and shoulders.

     The face consisted of sharp angles and planes yet was humanoid in appearance. There were two hollow eye sockets and an opening for a mouth. The granite plating on its head had sharp edges and was less bulky than the rest of the body.

     A gust of wind blew, causing fine dust to lift into the air. The lifeless bodies were disintegrating. How long had they been lying there? And how much of the dust that I walked through earlier had been from their bodies?

     A stronger gust of wind blew swirls of tan dust into the air above the bodies. I moved away from them. I’d seen enough sci-fi movies to know better than to hang around dead aliens. The last thing I needed was to catch some exotic disease and die a horribly painful death.

     The low-lying sun created long shadows that stretched across the streets. It made the desolate city appear ominous. I needed to find a place to hole up for the night.

     I turned my attention to the large vehicle lying on its side near the bodies. It would be the perfect place. It was all black metal with a large turret at each of the four corners. After examining the underside, I discovered six round pads around the outer edges. There were no wheels or other means of locomotion. It was as if someone built a tank and modified it to function as a gunship.

     The design was sleek, but it wasn’t especially aerodynamic. A sizable open hatch in the side provided entry. Although, with the thing perched on its side, the opening was way at the top.

     That wasn’t going to stop me. There were plenty of protruding parts to use. I climbed to the top of the vehicle and cautiously peered through the hatchway. More bodies. While the tank would offer protection, I wasn’t about to spend the night lying next to a bunch of dead aliens. I climbed back down and looked for other options.

     Several buildings surrounded me, but most appeared as though they would collapse at any moment. I didn’t relish the idea of being crushed to death in the middle of the night. Several prominent buildings in the center of the city were structurally intact. Glancing at the sun, I set out toward the inner city.

As the last rays of the sun faded, the oppressive silence pushed in on me. An unfamiliar pattern of stars came out, and three moons became visible. One was massive with a white surface that shone brightly. The other two were colorful but tiny in comparison. The smallest was a pretty shade of purple, while the other was amber with patches of gray streaking across its surface.

     This place just kept getting stranger. How could I be so far from Earth? I’d only been going to the moon, for Christ’s sake. This couldn’t be happening. There weren’t any planets or moons like this in the solar system.

     A noise behind me interrupted my thoughts. I jerked my head around, looking in the direction I had come. Nothing was there.

     Fatigue was taking a toll on my body. Without scrutinizing it too closely, I concluded that the building next to me would do. With some effort, I forced open the cracked glass door, and I entered the darkened structure.

     The room inside was bare except for what appeared to be a massive couch by the back wall. It wasn’t much, but it looked like heaven. In my eagerness to reach it, I twisted my ankle on some unseen rubble littering the floor. I cursed and hobbled over to lie down.

     After clearing away some debris, I sat down to discover the “couch” wasn’t the salvation I’d hoped it would be. It was hard as a rock. Upon closer inspection, I found it actually was made of rock. It wasn’t comfortable, but it would do.

     I took a nutrient pouch from my pocket and consumed the whole thing in seconds. Although my stomach ached for more, I needed to ration my food.

     Relieved to have some shelter for the night, the tension in my neck eased a little. I laid down and watched the door for movement. I considered leaving the small flashlight in the exterior portion of my implant on. It would give me some comfort from the dark, but I didn’t want to alert anyone or anything of my whereabouts while I slept.

     *Lexi, security mode.*

     *Security mode active,* came the standard reply.

     While I couldn’t see what might be coming for me in the dark, Lexi would be able to listen for any unusual sounds. However, I wasn’t sure exactly what constituted an unusual sound on this planet. Still, I remained confident Lexi would rouse me if necessary.

     I hadn’t had time to stop and think how dire my situation was until now. I really was all alone on an alien planet in a deserted, war-torn city. Not to mention, my ankle throbbed, and I couldn’t get comfortable on this godforsaken couch.

     Several minutes passed, but sleep eluded me. The transport ship kept exploding, over and over, in my mind. There had to be a logical explanation for all this, but the events that led to me waking up here remained a mystery. And why hadn’t I found any of the others? A few could have ended up on one of the moons, but surely, some had also crashed here.

     *Lexi, I just thought of something. Jessica must be worried sick by now.*

     *Your sister is the least of your concerns at the moment.*

     *I know, but things between us haven’t been good lately, and I’d hoped we could patch things up on this trip. Now that Mom’s gone, she’s all I have left.*

     *Considering what went down between you two, it’s going to take more than one visit to change anything.*

     *Yes, but it’s a start. My life was finally getting back on track. If Mom hadn’t died, I would have graduated from the academy with my friends. Most of them were on the transport. I’m worried about Matt.* Picturing him brought a smile to my face.

     *You only went out with him a couple of times.*

     *Still, there was some chemistry there. We can’t be very far from Earth. As soon as we’re rescued, he and I can pick up where we left off. I’m going to have one hell of a story to tell.*

     *You seem to be in complete denial about how serious this situation is.*

     There was a creaking sound. My eyes darted to the door. I should have blocked it with something.

     *I heard a noise,* I said. *Do you think that thing in the forest followed us here?*

     *Don’t worry. It’s only the building settling. I’ll let you know when it’s time to panic.*

     I couldn’t stop thinking about Lexi’s comment. Was I in denial? None of this made sense. Regular space travel was still in its infancy. After the two Mars missions met with disaster, we abandoned the hope of colonizing other planets. Hell, we’d only established the moon base a few years ago. No one would be coming for me if this mysterious planet was too far from the moon’s orbit.

     After tossing and turning for several minutes on the hard couch, I said, *Lexi, I need a painkiller.*

     *Analgesic administered.*

     Shortly, I started weeping. Before long, I was crying uncontrollably. My lonely sobs were all I heard in the darkness as I drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER 3

My eyes popped open at a sound in the darkness. Why didn’t I find something in the rubble to defend myself with earlier?

     *Lexi, what was that sound?* I asked, my heart pounding. Several seconds passed. *Lexi, light.*

     Nothing. My AI wasn’t responding. It couldn’t have run out of energy. It drew its power from the electrical current in my body. Something else had to be wrong.

     A scraping sound came from outside, and my heart leaped. I wanted to get up and see what had made the noise, but fear gripped me. My trembling hand touched the controls on the external portion of the implant, attempting to manually reboot it.

     The scratching grew louder. My stomach clenched into knots. More time passed. No reassuring greeting came from Lexi to let me know the reboot succeeded. I was on my own for real now.

     Scanning the darkness for the source of the sound, I saw glowing red eyes through a hole in the wall. The beast from the forest. It scratched and clawed at the hole, trying to get in. The opening grew larger until it broke through, climbing over chunks of debris as it closed the distance between us.

     I scrambled backward over the arm of the couch and hunkered down. I attempted to shield myself as the massive jaws clamped down on me.

     My body convulsed violently, and I woke up screaming. Thank God it had only been a dream. I blinked several times to clear my vision. My entire body hurt from lying on the hard couch all night, and my muscles ached with fatigue. At least I was still alive.

     *Internal diagnostics show high levels of stress,* Lexi informed me. *Would you like another sedative?*

     *No, the sun’s coming up, and it’s time I got up to search the city.* I also needed to find a reliable source of water, food, and a whole lot of answers. Determined not to break down like last night, I forced myself to sit up.

     A tingling pain shot through my arm. It had fallen asleep. My stomach growled as I flexed my fingers to regain the feeling in my hand. My emergency rations wouldn’t last long, so I waited to fill my empty belly.

     *Lexi, I’m dying for a cup of coffee.*

     *Maybe you’ll find a Starbucks in the city. There’s usually one on every corner.*

     I chuckled despite the bad joke. Moving through the room stirred up moats of swirling dust. They showed up brightly in the rays of sunlight that pierced through cracks and holes in the wall. My ankle was tight, but it no longer hurt to walk on.

     “Let’s see what we’re dealing with here,” I mumbled to myself.

     Walking into the next room, I discovered a massive hole blown into the side of the building. Half the exterior wall was missing, littered in chunks on the floor. The sunlit room was bright compared to the dim interior of the other room.

     *Would you like me to set another recall marker?* Lexi offered.

     *Yes, label it ‘City Day Two.’ Actually, I want you to record and save everything. With all my recall memories gone, there should be plenty of room. Use logical divisions with chronological numbering and simple titles. I’ll rename them later if I need to.*

     I decided to see if the recently recorded events had disappeared. The recall overlay sprang into my field of vision. The names from the prior day’s memories were still there. Relieved, I closed the overlay and returned to the task at hand.

     Moving closer to the opening, I scanned the area around the building. It was bright outside, and I squinted until my eyes adjusted. Seeing nothing immediately threatening in the vicinity, I stepped out.

In the early morning sunlight, the ruins had a certain beauty to them. The pleasant, warm day starkly contrasted with the devastation surrounding me. As a light breeze swept through my hair, I admired how magnificent this city must have been.

     Before heading out, I found a discrete place to relieve my aching bladder. The last thing I wanted was for an alien, or even worse, a vicious creature, to come up on me while I was doing my business.

     A few minutes later, I walked through the streets, searching through the rubble. It became immediately apparent that there was nothing worthwhile to find here. I needed to resume my original plan and go to the center of the city, where the buildings had sustained less damage.

     The sound of a distant aircraft drew my eyes to the sky, but I didn’t see anything. I couldn’t tell where it came from, but it sounded far off. Instead of walking through the middle of the streets, I decided to be prudent and keep to the shadows of buildings. A few minutes later, the sound faded behind me.

     The cool breeze felt good, but the decrepit buildings began to shift in the wind. Every creak and groan made me jump. My eyes darted in every direction, seeking the source of the noise, but found nothing.

     A deep growl from somewhere nearby interrupted my trek. I stopped and listened, my heart racing. All was quiet.

     A shadow moved inside a building. I squinted, scanning the broken windows and cracks for where the thing might have gone. Had the beast from the forest followed me here like in my nightmare? I didn’t plan to wait around. I backed away and quickened my pace.

Near the inner city, I discovered that the buildings had been carved from a natural rock formation. They were weathered and looked older than the artificial structures around them, but they had withstood the attack rather well. Scorch marks disfigured the surface of some, where artillery had blasted large holes through their walls. Others were riddled with deep gouges.

     One tall building up ahead had been spared from the bombing. Thick stone blast walls were haphazardly placed in front of it. It might hold the answers I sought. I was walking toward the building when someone spoke.

     I froze and scanned the area but saw no one. Several seconds passed without hearing another sound. Had it been my imagination?

     *Lexi,* I said. *I could have sworn I heard something. Recall the last ten seconds and enhance the audio.*

     I experienced all the sights, sounds, and smells of the previous few seconds in my mind. There it was again. If it had been speech, it was unintelligible.

     *Judging from the sound patterns, it’s a vocalization of some kind.* Lexi said.

     *Can you make out what they’re saying?*

     *Negative. The sounds don’t match anything in my database.*

     It came again, louder. Two people were speaking in a strange language and getting closer.

     I trotted over to a twisted metal support beam in the street and hid behind it.

     *What are you doing?* Lexi asked. *This is what you’ve been waiting for.*

     *How do I know if they’re the “good guys” or the “bad guys?*

     *Does it really matter in our current situation?*

     *Good point,* I admitted.

     Still, there was no point in walking into the situation blind. Peering around the beam, I saw one of the tank-like gunships hovering above the ground. Several glowing yellow lines covered its surface, reminding me of racing stripes. Three bulky figures walked in front of it. All had the same granite plating and tan bodies as those I’d seen yesterday, and they were coming my way.

     My mind reeled. I was looking at living alien beings. Was there some proper first contact protocol I should be following? I would start with the basics since they probably wouldn’t understand me. Good guys or not, I gathered my courage and walked toward them.

     *Lexi, I’m going to try to talk to them. Set up a new language file.*

     *Language file created along with a new recall marker.*

     As soon as the aliens saw me, all three raised their arms in my direction, palms out. A metal object was wrapped around each of their hands, brandished like a weapon.

     The hovering tank glided to a halt and turned its guns toward me. I froze and put my hands up. Okay, there’s no reason to be alarmed. I’d do the same thing if some strange alien being came up to me in an abandoned war-torn city on Earth.

     One lowered his arm and stepped forward while his two friends covered him. It wasn’t clear if they were male or female—if there was such a thing as gender here—but they looked male. It was hard to see in the bright sunlight, but his hollow eyes had a faint yellow glow. He stopped about twenty yards from me and growled loudly. No, it wasn’t a growl; it was speaking.

     *Lexi, what’s he saying?*

     *Unknown.*

     *You’re sure full of a lot of unknowns lately,* I said, emulating Lexi’s voice when I said the word ‘unknowns.’ *Give me something.*

     *Sorry, but additional data is required to formulate a reasonable hypothesis.*

     Frustrated, I started using hand gestures to communicate. Pointing at myself, I said, “Kayla.” I repeated the process. I then pointed at the closest alien, hoping he would tell me his name.

     Instead, yellow light erupted from the devices in the two aliens’ hands behind him, accompanied by a high-pitched whine. They were shooting at me with laser weapons.

     I fled. It didn’t take long to find cover. Plenty of rubble from a fallen building was strewn around the street. I ran in a crouch behind the wreckage as several more yellow streaks flew over my head. A stray shot struck one of the less fortunate-looking buildings near me. It collapsed into the street with a deafening crash.

     I hunkered down as a cloud of dust and smoke rolled over me. I fought to keep from coughing as I waited until the dust settled and my vision cleared. There was a gap in the side of a building up ahead. Without thinking of what might be lurking inside, I squeezed through.

     My visual filters adjusted for darkness, but it remained hard to see. I couldn’t afford to trip on anything. *Lexi, light,* I commanded.

     With the LED light on my implant illuminating the area, I made my way to the other side of the building and ran out the back.

     Several minutes later, I darted behind a thick wall to catch my breath. Hopefully, those aliens hadn’t been the “good guys.” If there were worse people out there, I didn’t want to meet them.

     Crouching down, I peered through a hole in the wall. I didn’t see anyone following me. Finally, something was going my way.

     Metal clanged loudly behind me. I jumped, my eyes going wide. I turned to see a massive tank, this one with glowing blue lines, hovering a few inches above the ground. The metal hatch on its side was open, and a gray alien was emerging from it.

     The hulking figure and the tank behind him blocked my only avenue of escape. He wore no clothing other than a bandolier slung across his chest. A weapon hung from it, along with an assortment of other equipment, but he made no move to grab it.

     His rock plating differed from what I’d seen earlier. It looked like sandstone mixed with brown rocks rather than a granite pattern. His glowing blue eyes matched his tank.

     The pockmarked vehicle was much bulkier and more like a human tank than the gunship style I had seen earlier. Possibly an older model. It had sustained a substantial amount of damage. How was that thing still running?

     I scanned my surroundings for a means of escape, but the vehicle blocked my path. However, the alien made no move; he just stood there, watching. Possibly, he wanted me to come to him.

     There was no choice but to surrender. Exhausted, trapped, and with my ankle still throbbing from running on it, I walked toward him. He made a swift gesturing motion with his hand, and I halted.

     Three figures who resembled him appeared. They came around the rugged tank and joined him. They must have been hanging back out of sight, waiting for his signal.

     None had their weapons drawn, but each wore a bandolier. The end of a metal rod peeked out over each of their shoulders. I waited for them to take me captive, but no one moved.

     After several uncomfortable seconds, I broke the silence. “Well, are you going to take me prisoner or not?”

     This at least got the four of them chatting among themselves. I understood none of what they were saying, so I waited.

     *Lexi, are you getting any of this?* I asked.

     *Negative. These beings are speaking a different language than the other one.*

     It sounded the same to me, but Lexi must have picked up on some subtle differences. Great, more complications. My AI would have to start over with a new language. *Lexi, create another language file.*

     *Already done,* she said.

     At last, the first one turned back to me just as a yellow beam flew past my head and struck the wall. Everyone reacted at once. I dove to the ground while the aliens took cover behind the tank. They returned fire, shooting blue laser beams from their hand weapons. I crawled behind the vehicle to join them.

     The tank fired wide blue bolts from one of its rear turrets, but the assailants were too close. The turrets couldn’t angle down far enough to hit them. Yellow and blue lasers blew holes in the rubble around us, throwing sharp debris everywhere. Curling into myself, I shielded my face with an arm.

     Judging from the number of yellow beams, more than the three tan aliens I’d seen earlier were attacking us. An alien beside me took a direct hit to the chest. He fell back, clutching at his wound. The thick stone plating was cracked, but it didn’t bleed.

     I froze, unsure what to do. I hadn’t completed my military training, so I’d never seen any action. Without a weapon, all I could do was keep my head down and pray I didn’t die as another body dropped near me.

     The attacking aliens closed in around us. Within seconds, only one gray alien remained alive, firing at the advancing enemy. When his beat-up tank maneuvered closer to us, he took off running toward it. I followed him, praying we would make it before they cut us down.

     I fell behind as we raced for the open hatch. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed another tank glide around a building from a side street. Its sleek gunship design glowed with the enemies’ yellow lines.

     Then, the world exploded around me.

Copyright © 2024 by B.W. Reeves. All rights reserved.