Page 63 of Alien Warlord's Fury

I inhaled deeply. "How long until we move?"

"Two hours," Ravik said. "We need to finish preparing the paste and synchronize our timing."

Nirako's eyes found mine, a silent question passing between us. I nodded slightly. We'd come this far—there was no turning back now.

"Show me exactly how to apply this paste," I said, turning back to Ravik.

He demonstrated the application pattern—specific points along the neck, wrists, and temples. "It needs to cover your markings' primary nodes. The paste disrupts the energy signature that the guardians are programmed to detect."

"And once we're inside?" Nirako asked.

Ravik traced a path through the central corridors of the compound. "The younglings are kept here, connected directly to Hammond's machines. The Nexus access point is adjacent—he's using them as conduits."

My stomach lurched. "That's what I saw in my vision. He's channeling the Nexus energy through them."

"Yes," Zara confirmed. "Their pain amplifies the connection somehow. Makes it more... malleable."

I clenched my fists, fighting back the surge of rage. The memory of my own time in Hammond's lab flashed through my mind—the cutting, the probing, the endless tests.

"We'll get them out," Nirako said, his hand finding mine. Through our bond, I could feel his steady resolve flowing into me, tempering my anger into something focused and cold.

"The timing has to be precise," Ravik continued. "Once we initiate the diversion, you'll have approximately twenty minutes to reach the chamber, free the children, and attempt to stabilize the Nexus."

"Twenty minutes isn't much," I said.

"It's all we can give you," Zara replied. "Any longer and Hammond will realize it's a diversion."

Nirako studied the schematic one last time. "What about extraction? How do we get the younglings out?"

"There's a maintenance tunnel here," Ravik pointed to a narrow passage on the eastern side of the compound. "It leads to an old storage facility outside the main perimeter. We'll rendezvous there after the diversion."

I traced the route with my finger, committing it to memory. "And if something goes wrong?"

Ravik's expression hardened. "Then you improvise. That's what you're good at, isn't it?"

I couldn't argue with that.

For the next hour, we refined the plan, identifying potential complications and contingencies. Zara's knowledge of the compound's layout proved invaluable, filling in details that even Ravik's intelligence had missed.

As Nirako and Ravik discussed the finer points of timing the diversion, I pulled Zara aside.

"How bad was it?" I asked quietly. "When Hammond had you?"

Her eyes met mine, and I saw the same haunted look I sometimes caught in my own reflection. "Bad enough that I still hear the machines in my sleep."

"We'll stop him," I promised.

"Just be careful with the Nexus," she warned. "It's not like anything else. When you connect to it... it changes you."

I thought of my visions, the way they tore through my mind with increasing frequency and intensity. "I know."

"Do you?" Her eyes narrowed. "Hammond believes the Nexus is conscious—that it's trying to communicate through the markings. That's why he's using the children—their minds are more... receptive."

A chill ran down my spine. "What is it trying to say?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, Hammond wants to control it. And that's what makes him dangerous."

Our conversation was interrupted as Nirako approached, carrying the bowl of completed paste.

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