Page 39 of A Monster's Light
“After you two flew off, I called in the incident and requested for a pickup. While I waited, I had nothing to do, so I messed around with my radio.”
“You mean a homemade radio?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
Those were illegal. Colonists were only allowed devices set to public broadcasting channels. Just last year, they arrested two teenagers who made radios for fun so they could talk to each other privately.
“So where is this radio?” Mark asked. “We found nothing on you.”
“I ditched it with my phone and my ID chip.”
I glanced down at his arm, and sure enough, it was bandaged.
“I heard them talking about nuking the settlement.”
“Who? Nova Vita? Exotech?” Sami demanded.
Amir shook his head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t on a known colony channel. But I heard what I heard. You have to get everyone somewhere—” He suddenly started shaking violently.
“Fuck. It’s happening again.” Sami jammed something into the man’s mouth.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What’s happening to him?”
“Don’t know. It happened twice already.” Mark blew out a breath and paced the room, mumbling to himself. “What do you think? Should we believe him?”
I suddenly remembered something I’d heard once. “I don’t think he’s lying. I think he’s going through withdrawal. I’ve heard rumors of Nova Vita dosing high flight-risk soldiers to prevent them from defecting.”
“Fuck!” Mark kicked a chair. “Any idea what they use?”
I shook my head.
A loud siren suddenly had me covering my ears.
“Fuck!” Mark swore again before stomping out of the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Sami looked grim. “It’s too late.”
We were under attack.
Chapter 22: Gnnar
I checked the security system one last time before taking to the air to give the area a final once-over. This was one of four hidden emergency entrances to the stronghold. Nova Vita knew about the main one since they’d delivered the females for our yearly rut there.
That one was large enough to drive transports and shuttles into, and led to an opulent meeting room we’d used whenever we had to meet with Nova Vita representatives. It was the only part of the stronghold we’d allow them to see. They didn’t know that section was separated from the main fortress by a long corridor that could be sealed off at either end and flooded.
There was also the exit out to the valley, which we often used since we encouraged warriors and human females who lived with us to spend time outdoors. Both species naturally produced vitamin D through exposure to sunlight. That entrance was well protected since it was the meeting junction between all six of our hidden warships.
Then there were the four hidden exits. Like the main entrance, they were protected by long corridors that could be sealed off and flooded. They weren’t in any of the maps we’d distributedto the human women living here either. They were there for absolute emergencies, but the goal was never to use them at all.
I had just started to head back to the valley when a bright flash filled the sky. It started at one point, then it spread until it was all I saw. Then, as quickly as it started, it was gone.
I knew in an instant what had happened. One of my interceptors had found its target, causing it to explode just out of range of the stronghold and the human settlement. As the very air molecules around me shuddered, I squinted through the blinding flash, trying to estimate where the impact had happened.
Our shield system was designed to intercept and destroy any missiles or drones from reaching both the stronghold and the settlement. Originally, it only covered the stronghold, but extending it out to the settlement had been easy. With Penelope often working there, Vostak had insisted on it.
It was similar to the shield we used on Kadri to protect the capital. The one on Kadri would intercept dozens of missiles and aircraft simultaneously and could rearm in a matter of minutes. This one was less impressive but still very effective. It worked like a net of protection. The missiles would explode at the edge of the net, close enough to rattle the settlement but do no damage.
