Page 84 of Marc
Colbie grinned. “My dad and Gavin.”
Between the Talons and the darkswifts cutting through the swarm, soon a swathe of the monsters was dead, their bodies dropping from the sky. A few stragglers wheeled away, trying to escape.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Finn said.
“Sounds like an excellent plan, Dad,” Colbie replied.
As we flew back toward Dawn, the two Talons moved into place to flank ours. Colbie waved at her dad through the cockpit windshield. The darkswifts sped ahead of us. I felt the tight muscles in my neck start to loosen.
The mountains and dense trees gave way to cleared areas. We passed over a few bustling, walled towns, but also plenty of devastation. Old suburbs of Sydney that had been decimated during the invasion and were still just rubble.
One day, they’d be cleared and would see life again. We’d beaten the aliens, and we’d also beat the monsters. Whatever it took.
Soon, I saw the squat, solid building of Squad Command. Colbie swung the bird around and lowered us down into the base.
I was damn eager to wash this mission off and get Colbie all to myself. I wanted to make things very clear to her.
Once we touched down, I slid the side door of the Talon open. There was a crowd waiting for us. I saw my mom in the back, looking relieved.
“Containment team, get that threader locked up,” Roth barked.
A uniformed group rushed toward our Talon, pushing a large cage. Soon, the threader was behind bars and whisked away.
Maxim strode beside the cage, watching the monster with acute interest. I knew he’d be eager to study it and start planning how to deal with the cocoons.
“Colbie.” Finn appeared, wearing his flight suit, his helmet tucked under his arm. Behind him were my father, Marcus, Tane, and Hemi. All the older men were sweaty but grinning.
Colbie glanced at me briefly before she jumped out of the Talon. She hugged her father.
“Good job, Hunter Squad,” Avery said. “You did well.” Smiling, she turned to the others. “And I guess I should also thank some of Hell Squad and the berserkers.”
Hemi’s wide smile was white against his brown skin. “Any time you need us, we’re happy to kick some monster ass.”
“The cocoons in Blue Mountain Base were all destroyed,” Jameson told the generals.
“Well done.” Marcus clapped his son’s shoulder. “And you brought that threader back.”
“Now, it’s up to the scientists to get to work,” Avery added. “We need to find a way to stop them making the cocoons.”
“There’s more,” Jameson said, voice grave.
Everyone’s attention sharpened.
“We saw another monster.” He turned to Jess.
She took a step forward. “It was a winged humanoid. It looked similar to a threader, but it seemed very intelligent.”
“It was communicating with the other monsters,” Colbie added.
Roth’s scowl was fierce. “Directing them?”
“Yes,” Jameson said.
“And it spoke to me,” I added. “In English.”
There were some horrified gasps.
“You think it’s some sort of leader?” Avery asked.
