Page 73 of Alien Mercenary's Wife
Static.
He tried again, adjusting frequencies. "Red, respond immediately. This is priority alpha."
Nothing but electronic hash filled his earpiece. The signal was being actively jammed—crude, brute-force interference that screamed human technology.
Ice flooded his veins. Cut off. Isolated. Every warrior's nightmare in hostile territory. His heart hammered against his ribs as the reality crashed over him—no fire support, no extraction, no backup whatsoever. Just him against a coordinated corporate hit team with Reese as their target.
He was moving before he thought about it, taking long strides to eat up the distance as he pushed through pedestrian traffic toward the courthouse. Such a small distance had never seemed so far. The security checkpoint at the base of the steps might as well have been on another planet.
"Sir, could you step over here for a moment?" A human security guard tried to step into his way. "Just a few routine questions."
Bullshit. They were trying to pin him down while they grabbed Reese.
At the courthouse, the first team made its move. Uniformed figures approached Reese's group. They looked official, but moved all wrong. They were too aggressive.
He shoved past the security guard.
"Sir! Sir, you need to?—"
He broke into a run.
Another guard stepped into his path, hand moving to his weapon, but T'Raal didn't slow down. He slammed his shoulder into the guard's, sending him sprawling across the sidewalk. Pedestrians scattered, voices rising in alarm.
Two hundred meters to the courthouse. He could make it if?—
A third guard appeared from nowhere, taser already aimed. T'Raal twisted away from the first shot, electrical prongs sparking against pavement where he'd been standing. He grabbed the operative's wrist, twisting until it cracked. The taser clattered away.
Behind him, the first operative was shouting into his comm."Target is mobile! Repeat, target is mobile and moving toward the package!"
Package.Reese.
He vaulted over a low barrier, cutting across a small plaza toward the courthouse steps. One hundred fifty meters. He could see Reese clearly now, her body language changing as she spotted the team approaching.
She stepped slightly in front of Hughes, Mason moving to flank their group, creating better defensive positioning from pure reflex. But they were civilians now. Worse, they were injured veterans facing professional operators.
T'Raal's comm crackled with Red's voice."Boss, multiple teams converging on your position. You've got company coming from three directions."
One hundred meters to the courthouse steps.
The lead operative reached Reese's group, flashing official identification. T'Raal couldn't hear the conversation, but he could read body language. Whatever bullshit story they were selling, his female wasn't buying it. Mason tried to step in and got shut down fast.
Fifty meters.
T'Raal saw Reese's face change, and her hand moved toward the concealed weapon he'd insisted she carry. Then she stopped, and he could read her thought processes as though she were telepathic. There were too many of the enemy. Hughes andMason would get caught in the crossfire, along with countless civilians.
She was going to comply.
Twenty meters.
"Reese!" He bellowed across the plaza.
Every head turned toward him. Reese's face flooded with relief and terror in equal measure.
"Target has backup!" someone shouted. "All teams, move now!"
The lead operative grabbed Reese's arm, no longer bothering with polite requests. "Ma'am, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism."
"What?" Reese's voice carried shock and outrage. "That's bullshit and you know it!"
