The Doomed Earth: Destiny's Way E-Book

Jack Campbell

• Herausgeber: Titan Books
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: The Doomed Earth
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 561

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The New York Times-bestselling author concludes the desperate and action-packed saga of the refugee from the future, and the one naval space officer who believes her, trying to avert the apocalypse as all forces turn against them. Earth was destroyed on June 12, 2180. Lieutenant Selene Genji watched it happen. And only she can prevent it. Thrown forty years into the past, into a time before the Universal War began, Genji can only guess what to do to change the events that led to the death of all humanity. She has no way of knowing the long-term impacts of her actions and can only depend on her instincts. But many of the people Genji's trying to save want her dead. Her creation was an experiment: a fusing of human and alien DNA. To them, she's a monster who can't be trusted, a tool of the aliens who have just made first contact. Fortunately, she has an unshakable ally in Lieutenant Kayl Owen, who has risked everything to help her mission. Declared a traitor to humanity by Earth Guard, Owen is determined to help Genji save the Earth. Even if he dies trying.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Also by Jack Campbell and Available from Titan Books

Title Page

Leave us a Review

Copyright

Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also Available from Titan Books

THE DOOMED EARTH

destiny's way

ALSO BY JACK CAMPBELLAND AVAILABLE FROM TITAN BOOKS

THE DOOMED EARTH

In Our Stars

THE LOST FLEET SERIES

Dauntless

Fearless

Courageous

Valiant

Relentless

Victorious

Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught

Beyond the Frontier: Invincible

Beyond the Frontier: Guardian

Beyond the Frontier: Steadfast

Beyond the Frontier: Leviathan

Outlands: Boundless

Outlands: Resolute

Outlands: Implacable

THE LOST STARS SERIES

Tarnished Knight

Perilous Shield

Imperfect Sword

Shattered Spear

THE GENESIS FLEET SERIES

Vanguard

Ascendant

Triumphant

THE STARK’S WAR SERIES(as John G. Hemry)

Stark’s War

Stark’s Command

Stark’s Crusade

JAG IN SPACE(as John G. Hemry)

A Just Determination

Burden of Proof

Rule of Evidence

Against All Enemies

THE DOOMED EARTH

destiny's way

TITAN BOOKS

LEAVE US A REVIEW

We hope you enjoy this book – if you did we would really appreciate it if you can write a short review. Your ratings really make a difference for the authors, helping the books you love reach more people.

You can rate this book, or leave a short review here:

Amazon.co.uk,

Goodreads,

Waterstones,

or your preferred retailer.

The Doomed Earth: Destiny’s Way

Print edition ISBN: 9781803367286

E-book edition ISBN: 9781803367293

Published by Titan Books

A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP

www.titanbooks.com

First Titan edition: February 2025

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead (except for satirical purposes), is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2025 John G. Hemry writing as Jack Campbell.

The right of John G. Hemry to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

EU RP

eucomply OÜ Pärnu mnt 139b-14 11317

Tallinn, Estonia

[e-mail]

[phone]

Typeset in Bembo 11/13pt.

To Danielle Ackley-McPhail and MikeMcPhail, the finest of people, and strongcreative voices who have worked tirelessly tosupport other creative voices as well

For S., as always

1

8 July 2140

THE VIEW FROM THE lunar shuttle heading for a landing on the east coast of North America still felt unreal to Selene Genji. Born in 2158, a lieutenant in a fleet that wouldn’t exist until 2171, veteran of the multiple conflicts known as the Universal War that would rage through the 2170s, and witness to the death of the planet Earth on the twelfth of June, 2180, she had trouble at times believing that Earth still existed. That somehow the massive forces unleashed by the destruction of Earth had warped space and time itself to hurl her back to the year 2140, giving her a chance to try to alter the past that had led to that awful event.

If, that is, she could survive long enough to make enough changes while not knowing which changes were needed, her eyes and glossy skin betraying the fact that she was a genetically engineered “alloy” containing alien DNA in her mostly human genome. Alloys weren’t supposed to exist until the late 2150s. But to some humans in 2140, the mere fact of her being partly alien was enough to mark her as a horrible threat that had to be eliminated.

A lot of those humans would be waiting when the shuttle landed.

Lieutenant Kayl Owen of Earth Guard, one of his hands tightly grasping hers, shook his head as the panel “window” in their compartment went blank, preventing any more outside views. In place of that, the window displayed warnings to cooperate with the security personnel waiting to screen all passengers when the shuttle returned to Earth at the minor spaceport named Wallops. “How do you suppose they figured out we’re aboard this shuttle?”

“I’m more worried at the moment about getting off it without being killed. We have to assume shoot-on-sight orders are still in place when it comes to me,” Genji said.

“They’ve targeted me as well,” Kayl said.

“What if you put on your uniform?” she suggested. “Wouldn’t they hesitate to fire at you if they knew you were an Earth Guard officer?”

He shook his head once more. “No. Whoever is waiting for us down there won’t be Earth Guard. Probably soldiers and spaceport security. Soldiers fired on me while we were on Mars, remember? They know I’m officially a renegade Earth Guard officer, helping the dangerous alien scout they think is laying the groundwork for an invasion by the Tramontine.”

“How long do the Tramontine have to demonstrate peaceful intent?” Genji asked in frustration. “Since their ship arrived in orbit about Mars, they haven’t done anything aggressive.”

“You haven’t done anything aggressive, either,” Kayl said. “That hasn’t stopped some people from thinking you’re a deadly threat.”

Genji felt the shuttle shudder slightly as it entered thicker atmosphere. They were probably only a few more minutes from landing. “If I’m trapped here, Kayl, you need to move on. Find a way to remain free and try to carry out the mission.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he said.

“We may not have a choice! It’s not just about trying to save the Earth! I love you, and I don’t want you to die.”

Kayl nodded to her, his expression solemn. “And I love you, and you’re not going to die. Not as long as I’m around.”

“The mission, Kayl! We have to save the Earth!”

“I understand,” Kayl said. “When we land, let’s scope out the security and see what options we have.” He turned to speak to the fourteen-year-old girl sharing their compartment. “Krysta, remember what you promised Lieutenant Genji. When we tell you to drop, you get on the ground fast, and stay there until police come along. We don’t want you hurt.”

“Why do they want to hurt you?” Krysta asked, her voice plaintive.

“That’s complicated,” Genji said. Why had they yielded to Krysta’s pleas to bring her with them to Earth? After rescuing Krysta from the abusive “husband” who’d bought her when she was eleven, they should have turned her over to a child welfare organization at the lunar colony named Hamilton. “Just do as we say so you’ll be safe.”

What would they be facing when the shuttle landed? How many foes, how much backup, how many bots and drones?

Her primary specialty in the Unified Fleet had been, or would be, close combat. She’d chosen that so she could battle the fanatics of the Spear of Humanity, trying to kill as many as possible of the sort of people who’d murdered her mother. But she’d never been able to kill enough, and eventually the Spear had won, if destroying the world could be considered winning.

An eye for an eye hadn’t worked to win the future. It wouldn’t work now to convince people in 2140 that she was trying to save the Earth and everyone who lived on it.

But, if she died here, only Kayl would be left to try to carry on, to try to complete the mission she’d given herself and he had agreed to give everything to try to accomplish. And if Kayl died as well . . .

One way or another, one of them would have to survive.

“Five minutes until landing at Wallops,” the cheerful voice of the shuttle’s announcing system informed them. “The security level at Wallops is Code Red One. Please comply with all security instructions to ensure the safety of you and your fellow passengers. Local time at landing will be 1700. The weather is comfortable with scattered clouds and light winds. Everyone is reminded that failure to cooperate with all security instructions could unnecessarily endanger you or your fellow passengers.”

*   *   *

LIEUTENANT KAYL OWEN HADN’T exactly turned his back on a successful career in Earth Guard. Before encountering Lieutenant Selene Genji, he had been on a one-way road to nonpromotion and dismissal from the service, not because he couldn’t do his job, but because senior officers in Earth Guard had tarred his father with responsibility for the loss of the cruiser Sentinel ten years ago. Since his father had died along with most of Sentinel’s crew, and an independent investigation had absolved him of responsibility for the disaster, those senior officers had to be content with blaming Kayl in his place.

But then he had been sent to investigate a piece of wreckage that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, and he’d found a living survivor aboard it. A survivor named Selene Genji, who had turned out to have alien DNA among her genome. Suddenly, Selene Genji officially ceased to exist, all contact with her forbidden. Worried for her, Kayl had found means to communicate with Genji, convincing the stunned refugee from the future destruction of Earth that it was 2140.

He still didn’t know what he would have ended up doing if he and Lieutenant Genji hadn’t both been put on a sabotaged ship on its way to a catastrophic entry into Earth’s atmosphere. After two more attempts to kill them both, he’d thrown himself wholeheartedly into helping her.

And ended up falling in love with the part-alien woman from the future who was trying to save a world that kept trying to kill her.

But the path they’d been on to try to save the planet looked like it might have hit a dead end. If the security forces at Wallops were expecting them and prepared for them, managing another escape might be impossible. And with shoot-on-sight orders still in effect, no one would listen to them before opening fire once they’d been identified.

The shuttle grounded. In other passenger compartments and the main passenger deck where hundreds of people were seated, the rest of those aboard the shuttle would be grumbling about diversions and delays as they prepared to debark.

Owen stood up, gazing at Selene. “We’ll make it through somehow.”

“Sure we will,” she said, smiling.

They both knew they were lying.

He kissed her for what might be the last time.

“Stay close, Krysta,” Selene said as they paused at the door to their compartment so Owen could figure out how many passengers had already left.

“Looks like about half are off. We should go now,” Owen said.

He was in civilian clothing, hopefully looking unremarkable in every way. Selene, due to the unusual shape and size of her eyes, and the gleaming skin that came with her genetic makeup, had once again donned the sort of clothes worn by UV Aversives, who tried to avoid any exposure to the sun: a sun jacket covering her arms and neck, light gloves on her hands, large sunglasses, and a broad-brimmed hat with a flap hanging down along the sides and back of her head and neck. The outfit wouldn’t normally attract much attention, however, the authorities knew about Selene’s skin and eyes, and would be watching for anyone concealing those things. But there wasn’t any alternative to wearing it except instantly giving herself away.

The three of them merged with the flow of passengers going out the accesses. The shuttle was parked well away from the terminal, so instead of entering the building, stairs were leading the passengers onto the surface of the spaceport. Kayl could see a ring of portable security fences already in position. The portable fences had a total of four gates in them, and each gate was occupied by multiple sentries with DNA scanners positioned. Beyond the fences, there were numerous security vehicles, groups of soldiers and security personnel, drones hovering, and a couple of warbirds making slow passes overhead.

Beyond the immediate area, a perimeter fence surrounded Wallops, a large number of buildings visible along with rows of grounded aircraft, hangars, orbital lifters, and a variety of military defensive equipment.

“It looks like they’re ready to fight an army,” one of the passengers close to Owen grumbled. “How long is this going to take?”

“Why were we diverted from Tanegashima?” another complained. “I have a meeting in Nagasaki in six hours! Even a suborbital taxi won’t get me there in time!”

Once on the concrete of the spaceport field, the mass of passengers opened up a bit, some crowding forward to try to get through the security screening first. The air was hot and muggy, the slight breeze offering little relief, a far cry from the comfortable weather predicted before they landed.

Selene looked around them, slowly appraising everything that could be seen. “Kayl, I know we talked about no more suicidal plans, but I don’t see any way both of us are getting out of this. We could try surrendering.”

“Selene, I can tell from here that the soldiers have charged energy weapons and mag rifles. You can see how pumped up they all are, nervous and edgy. The moment they know who you are, they’ll kill you.”

“I know.”

“I’ll do the diversion, then,” Owen said, trying not to get too rattled thinking about what that meant. “They may not kill me right off. You get free while I’m distracting them.”

“I’ll do the diversion,” Selene said. “You’ll get free. You know they’re going to come after me the moment they realize it’s you and not me.”

“They’re going to kill you,” Owen repeated.

“If it has to be one of us—”

“You don’t get to decide that, Selene.”

“You’re talking like we have a choice,” Selene said. “We can’t afford to take too long to decide this. The fewer passengers left unscreened, the less cover we have. Krysta, get ready to—”

“No,” Krysta abruptly said. She’d been passive and quiet up to that point. “You saved me. I’m going to save you.”

With no more warning than that, before either Owen or Selene could react, Krysta yanked the UV Aversive hat off Selene and bolted toward the far side of the security perimeter.

“Krysta!” Selene gasped, horrified. Both she and Owen stood, frozen, for a few precious seconds. As the entire security apparatus focused on the fleeing figure of Krysta, her large hat easily visible, Selene spun about, grabbing Owen’s hand and yanking him in the opposite direction. “Damn that girl!” she sobbed.

“Why did she—?” Owen began, feeling sick as he heard the first shots being fired. Not the snap of stunners, but the thunder of energy bolts and the crack of bullets fired from mag pistols and rifles.

“We have to make sure it’s not in vain,” Selene said, her voice ragged with emotion. “Damn her! She was supposed to live.”

Most of those in the crowd were surging away from where the security forces were converging on Krysta’s path. Selene and Owen moved with them, coming up against one of the security checkpoints, the two guards remaining there craning their heads to try to see what was happening.

Selene hit them before either knew their target was here instead of somewhere out there.

Owen grabbed the mag rifle one of the guards had dropped as she fell, following Selene as she ran across the concrete to a nearby tactical vehicle with a single security officer standing by it.

The officer tried to get out his sidearm, but Selene was moving as quickly as if possessed by a demon, one hand knocking him down while the other grabbed the ID / key card off the officer.

“Swap!” Selene told Owen, tossing the key card to him.

Owen tossed her the rifle, jumping into the driver’s seat and bringing the engine online.

Selene slammed her door as Owen gunned the engine, producing a sudden roar as the backup power immediately kicked in. The vehicle tore off down the field, guards scattering away before turning to fire.

“She’s down!” Selene shouted, sounding torn between sorrow and rage. “Krysta is down!” She lowered the window, aiming her mag rifle at the swarm of drones starting to head for the vehicle.

Owen swung the vehicle past a parked service van, thinking that Selene could never score a hit manually aiming from a car moving like this.

He heard the crack of the bullet, moving at supersonic speed, and in the rearview saw the nearest drone shatter.

Crack. Crack. Crack. Three more drones either fell from the sky or fluttered erratically off to the side.

Bullets were impacting the armored rear and back window of the tactical vehicle. Kayl felt it lurch as something important took a hit. Looking ahead and around, he saw security forces and vehicles gathering at the exits. The perimeter fence was too high and too strong to punch through. “We can’t get out on the ground!”

“Find something that can fly!” Selene yelled back. She steadied her aim again, dropping a drone that was about to fire a missile into their vehicle.

Owen spotted an aircraft idling among the rows of parked jump craft. Swinging the vehicle around so hard it tilted dangerously up on one side, he aimed for the aircraft, skidding the vehicle to a halt next to it.

The pilot was frantically running through takeoff preps when Owen ran toward her. She paused to haul out a pistol, but before she could bring it to bear, Selene hit her and, with one swift motion, popped the pilot’s seat harness and tossed her onto the field.

Owen jumped into the aircraft, seeing drones and security vehicles swarming toward them. “Hang on!”

The aircraft’s engines screamed in protest as he yanked the bird into the air, bullets pattering off the armored sides. Swinging it about, Owen shot down the field, keeping low, jerking the bird from side to side.

As they cleared the perimeter fence, guards and sentry bots firing up at the bottom of the aircraft, Owen felt the aircraft jolt alarmingly as something large hit it. Danger lights all over the controls were blinking like a Christmas display.

Selene shot again, taking out another drone zooming toward them from the side. “We’re on fire.”

“Where?” Owen called.

“Looks like the entire back of the bird. The good news is, we’re putting out so much smoke they can’t see to target us visually.”

“You can swim, right?” Owen asked as he angled the crippled bird along a watercourse.

“Of course I can swim. We’re still pretty close to the spaceport to be abandoning this bird.”

“Selene,” Owen said, feeling the controls grow increasingly sluggish and stiff, “we either abandon it soon or we ride it down, crash, burn, and die.”

He took the risk of going lower despite the aircraft’s wavering flight. Glancing back, he saw smoke billowing out from the rear of the bird. “Stand by to jump.”

Selene put down the rifle. “I’ll go out my side when you go out yours.”

“I’m not the one who comes up with suicidal plans,” Owen said. He hastily entered some flight instructions into the autopilot. He wouldn’t have to tell the autopilot to jink along the flight path since the controls were badly enough damaged that the aircraft could no longer hold a straight course.

A stream flashed by below, a larger watercourse visible ahead. A river? The Atlantic? The Chesapeake Bay? No time to look. “Stand by. Go!”

Owen rolled out of his side as Selene did the same on hers.

He hit the water, went under, and stayed under as long as he could, able to see dark shapes flashing by overhead as a swarm of drones pursued the crippled aircraft, followed by a few larger shapes as other aircraft raced past.

Finally, unable to hold his breath any longer, Owen went to the surface and gasped in air. He didn’t need to fight to keep from floating too high since his clothing was trying to drag him down.

Someone grabbed him and started towing him toward the shore.

Owen and Selene stumbled out of the water, scrambling into the high grass near the swampy shoreline before collapsing to the ground, both breathing heavily.

“Can I swim?” Selene finally got enough air to gasp. “I should’ve asked you that.”

Kayl saw a wavering track of smoke marking the path of their former aircraft. He heard the distant whomp of an explosion in the same direction the smoke led. “There went our bird. Hopefully they think we’re still in it.”

“As soon as they get a bot on-site, they can send it in even if the wrecked bird is still burning and tell we’re not inside,” Selene said. “Where the hell are we?”

“I have no idea. Which direction were we going?” Owen tasted the water on his lips. “Salt. We’re on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Or the Atlantic.”

Selene raised herself cautiously to look around. “Which direction is that from Wallops?”

“South. East. West. And north.”

“That’s very helpful. We need to get off the direct path that bird flew. Which way?”

“North looks harder.”

“North it is,” Selene said. She got up, limping slightly the first few steps, angling toward a patch of trees on a hummock rising above the salt marsh. “Damn that girl.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, remembering his last glimpse of Krysta bolting through the crowd. “Maybe she’s okay.”

“I saw her go down, Kayl,” Selene said, her gaze fixed ahead of them. “She was definitely hit at least once. But if they didn’t kill her, they won’t finish her off when they see she’s not me. We can hope for that.”

“I keep telling myself it’s not our fault,” Owen said, nearly twisting his ankle as a marshy bit of soil gave way under his foot. “And then I tell myself, yes, it was.”

“We should have left her at Hamilton,” Selene said. “Handed her off to Yolanda Thanh.”

“Yeah.”

“Did she give us any hint she was planning that? Something we missed?”

“I’m not sure she planned it,” Owen said. “I think we didn’t get any warning because Krysta acted on the spur of the moment. Which doesn’t make me feel the least bit better.” It didn’t help to realize that if not for Krysta’s impulsive sacrifice, neither he nor Selene probably would have made it out of Wallops alive. They might still get run to ground soon, but they had a chance. And that made him feel guilty as hell. “We didn’t save her from that guy so she could die for us.”

“No, we didn’t. I hear sirens that way and that way,” Selene said, pointing across the landscape. “That’s Wallops back there. Is that a town over in that direction?”

Owen squinted to look. “Some of the buildings have collapsed. I’m guessing it’s an old subdivision flooded by sea level rise.”

“Good place to hide?”

“What are your feelings about mosquitoes?”

“You haven’t cleared out mosquitoes yet in 2140?” Selene demanded.

“No,” Kayl said. “It’s a difficult problem.”

“Why—Cover! Now!”

They’d almost reached the low trees on the hummock of land, so Owen followed Selene in a dash to lie down under that protection.

He finally heard the faint whine of the drone motors moments before a loose line of searchers tore past overhead. He waited, unmoving, until the drones were well past. “Good thing your ears are so much better than mine.”

“Yeah,” Selene said. “Being an alloy is so great. Let me know if you want to swap bodies. That search line looked too spread out and was moving too fast.”

“I had the same impression,” Owen said. “They don’t seem to have had a backup plan if we made it off the spaceport, and now they’re improvising and trying to run us down fast instead of taking time to organize a tight search.”

“Which gives us a chance,” Selene said. “Krysta sacrificed herself for us. We have to do our best to ensure that sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Do you feel as guilty about that as I do?”

“Yeah,” Owen said. “It’s late afternoon, the sun should be in the southwest. That means we’re headed roughly north.”

“If we power up our burner phones, they might spot them,” Selene said. “Do you have any idea what the geography is like around here? Which way should we be going?”

“I think we’re on a big peninsula named the Eastern Shore. A lot of it has been turned into salt marshes by sea level rise.” Owen looked about him. “It’s a trap. We need to either break out to the north, which is a long hike, or head west and hope we can find an unguarded boat to carry us across the Chesapeake Bay.”

Selene twisted and rose up a bit to look around. “They’re going to assume the shore to our west is a barrier we can’t cross. Same for the shore to our east. The search is going to focus on the north as soon as they figure that out.”

“So we go west?”

“I think we should. We might get pinned on the coast, but that’s still our best chance.”

“Okay,” Owen said. “Do we risk moving now?”

“Wait until the drones come back. I bet they’ll run them out a dozen kilometers and then bring them back over this area on the return to Wallops.”

Despite their precautions, they were still far too close to Wallops and the center of the search. They would surely have been pinned down, Owen thought, if the Earth itself hadn’t come to their aid.

Heavy clouds marshalling to the southwest swept closer and then overhead, the sky rapidly darkening. A flash of brilliant light and the crash of thunder seemed to trigger the deluge that followed, rain coming down in torrents.

Owen and Selene did their best to drink the rainwater as it fell, cupping their hands for it. There might not be any other source of fresh water available to them. With lightning tearing open the sky and the rain so heavy it pounded on their shoulders, Owen and Selene took the chance of racing as fast as they could across the marshy landscape, at one point crossing over a raised road still in use, the sporadic vehicle traffic on it slowed and nearly blinded by the weather.

By the time the rain let up, they’d covered a good distance west, and sunset wasn’t far off.

*   *   *

OWEN WOKE WITH A groan he barely managed to stifle. Selene had advised against hiding during daylight in any of the abandoned buildings or towns, pointing out that they would attract searchers. And from their hidden vantage point, it had indeed been possible to see bot, drone, and human searchers going through any standing structures within sight.

Their hiding place was a mound of wood that had once been a barn before collapsing and decaying and settling. There had been barely enough room beneath it for them to wriggle inside when dawn approached.

What had woken him? Moving his head cautiously in the limited space, Owen saw a large black snake, close to two meters long, thrashing out the end of its life near Selene. “Was it poisonous?” he whispered.

She shook her head slightly. “No. It’s food.”

“Food? You think we can risk trying to make a fire?”

“No, I don’t think we can risk that.” As the snake’s struggles ebbed, Selene held up a rusty nail she’d found amid the broken wood. “Have you ever had snake sashimi?”

“No. Never wanted to,” Owen said.

“We need the food, and its blood will provide moisture we also need,” Selene said, working to peel off the snake’s skin. “Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape training taught me a few useful skills I haven’t forgotten.”

“Did you eat raw snake when you were doing that?”

“Maybe Earth Guard should be giving you guys SERE training,” she suggested.

“Is it like what we’ve been doing for the last day or so?”

“Pretty much.”

“Then, no.” He watched, appalled, as Selene peeled off strips of raw meat and offered him one. “We’re really going to do this?”

“Our bodies need fuel, Kayl.” She held up a strip of snake meat. “Thank you for the food.” Dropping it in her mouth, she swallowed.

He did the same, grimacing. “At least it doesn’t need salt.”

“Yeah, that’s one advantage of having blood on it.”

“I hope the Earth appreciates what we’re going through to try to save it,” Owen grumbled.

“If it does,” Selene suggested, “maybe it’ll give us some more storms for cover.”

As it turned out, another intense thunderstorm hit during the early afternoon, giving them enough cover to move quickly. As it eased, they took shelter in a partial structure that showed signs of having been searched recently. A second thunderstorm marched through perhaps an hour later, letting them make more progress west, and providing some more fresh water to help them cope with thirst that was once again becoming agonizing.

The sea grass that had been planted all over the region as the water levels rose, a genetically modified strain designed to prevent erosion by holding the land with dense fields of vegetation, provided more and more cover the closer they got to the coast.

Soon after sunset they reached a tidal stream with the remains of a dock on one bank, the waterlogged remnants of a wooden boat still visible next to it.

“What do we do when we reach the coast?” Selene asked. “Swim?”

Owen fought down an urge to snap back at her. “This was the best option.”

“It still sucks.”

“I never claimed it didn’t!” Pointing out that she’d been the one to suggest heading west wouldn’t accomplish anything except elevating the temperature of the debate they were having. He took the risk of rising up enough to gaze out across the night-shrouded bay. “There are a lot of lights out there.”

“People searching for us,” Selene said.

“There’s normally a lot of other traffic on the water. You remember my former juvenile delinquent friend Edourd?”

“The guy from Mars.”

“Yeah,” Owen said. “We did some sailing together. He loves anything to do with the water. Surfing, sailing, you name it. As long as he could be on or in an ocean, a sea, or a river, or a lake.”

“Sure,” Selene said. “He grew up with oceans that were expanses of dirt and rock. I’m trying not to be negative, Kayl. But we thought they wouldn’t expect us to head west because they would think the coast would be a trap. We and they might both be right.”

“Anything else we did would have put us in worse trouble,” Owen insisted.

Selene rubbed her face wearily. “What do we do when we reach the coast and there aren’t any convenient boats lying around? We’ll have to head either north or south at that point.”

Owen looked south, fighting a sense of despair. “If I remember right, the land to the south necks down and ends in a point. We’d have less and less room to hide in. We’ll have to work our way north. Eventually we’ll hit a community that’s still unflooded. They’ll have boats. We’ll borrow one.”

She lowered her hands, looking dejected. “I can tell you know how desperate that plan is. But there isn’t anything else that offers even a small chance. I’d just like to point out that this time you’re the one proposing what is essentially a suicidal plan.” Selene looked up. “Drones coming. Let’s get in the grass.”

After the search line of drones passed, they made their way cautiously through water of varying depth toward the soggy coastline. Not because they still had much hope, but simply because neither one of them was willing to give up.

It was probably near midnight when they reached the bay, huddled in the high grass near the water, gazing at the lights of boats and ships moving through the cloaked-in-darkness waters of the Chesapeake. The drones moving overhead, tirelessly searching for signs of Owen and Selene, were almost invisible and nearly silent. But they occasionally heard the sounds of vehicles crunching or splashing across the landscape farther inland, and sometimes the purr of a larger aircraft moving past overhead.

The net around them was tightening.

“There’s a lot of search activity to the north,” Selene said. “They know we have to head that way.”

“Swimming out into the bay would be crazy, but it may be our last option,” Owen said. “If we can avoid the boats searching for us. But we’d still be out there on the water when the sun came out.”

“Ducks sitting in a barrel,” Selene grumbled. “That boat is close,” she murmured to Owen, gesturing to a light on the water just offshore which was moving slowly along the coast.

He nodded. “It’s not too big. Looks like a sailboat with one mast.”

“It has two masts. There’s a much smaller one behind the tall one.”

“I think that’s a yawl, then,” Owen said. He didn’t question her statement, having long ago learned that Selene’s night vision was better than that of full humans. “Really old design. Strange it’d be out here so close to shore at night.”

“A sailboat.” Selene shook her head. “Are they really hunting us with sailboats? If I can get aboard, there’s a chance I can take out the crew. There can’t be too many people on something that size.”

“Maybe if I distract them?” Owen said, knowing he was grasping at straws. But when he tried to say something else, Selene raised a hand to quiet him.

“Someone on the boat is calling something.”

Owen had learned early on that Selene’s hearing was also better than his, better, in fact, than most full humans’. He waited, despite the growing sense that time was quickly running out.

Then he heard it, too.

2

SELENE GENJI? SELENE GENJI?” The voice was pitched low, trying to carry without carrying too far. “We’re friends. If you’re out there, please let us know. Selene Genji?”

“It seems a little too obvious for a trap,” Owen said.

“Should we risk it?” Selene asked him.

“We’re out of options,” he said. “If we don’t get clear of this area soon, they’re going to find us.”

“So that’s a yes.”

“That’s a yes,” Owen reluctantly agreed.

The boat had continued moving slowly along the coast, a little ways out, navigation lights shining, but no other lights visible above deck except that of the binnacle near the helm. It was almost opposite them now, and Kayl could see that the yawl seemed to be about ten meters from bow to stern.

“Selene Genji?” the voice called again. It sounded like a young woman.

“Here,” Selene called back. “I’m here.”

“Selene Genji?”

Owen waited, wondering what they could do if this did turn out to be a trap. If they ran, the drones overhead would spot them in no time.

“Yes,” Selene called again. “I am Lieutenant Selene Genji. Are you friends?”

“Yes! Yes! Can you swim out to us? We can’t risk getting any closer to shore without grounding.”

Selene waded out carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible, while Owen did the same behind her. Despite the darkness, he felt fearfully exposed walking slowly through the water.

The bottom shoaled slowly before suddenly dropping away, leaving Owen and Selene swimming the last part of the journey to the boat.

A rope ladder dropped over the side. “Can you make it up?” the young woman called.

“No problem,” Selene said. She went up carefully, the water dripping off her sounding tremendously loud to Owen as it hit the surface of the bay.

He followed as soon as she was on deck.

“She’s already below,” a young man said. “Get down there with her in case someone checks us out.”

The boat’s crew didn’t look anything like security personnel. Owen let willing hands urge him along a brief stretch of deck and down a short ladder into the boat’s cabin, where a blackout sheet at the foot of the ladder prevented light from shining upward.

Past that was a small but efficient cabin, with multiple fold-down cots toward the bow and some fixed berths along the sides that could also serve as seats.

Selene, sitting on one of the berths, waved him over. She’d already drained half of a glass of water, offering him the rest.

Owen sat next to her, drinking greedily and gratefully, acutely aware of their dripping wet clothes.

Also in the cabin were two women and a man, all of whom seemed a little younger than twenty-two-year-old Selene. “We’ve got more,” one of them hastened to say, bringing out additional water. “Are you guys hungry?”

“Very hungry,” Owen said.

“I hope you like trail mix and jerky,” one of the women said, offering them bags.

“Thank you,” Owen said, feeling dizzy from the sudden shift in their fortunes. “It’s a lot better than our last meal.” He ripped open a package of jerky, offering some to Selene.

The young woman sat down on the berth opposite them. “We might get asked questions about people, so we’re not going to ask what your names are, and for tonight our names are Pandora, Alera, and Gus. We just picked up a couple of people, that’s all. And we’re going to drop them off where they want to go. We’re assuming that’s the coast across the bay from here.”

“As long as it’s not too far,” the young man going by Gus said. “We’re not supposed to be out too long.”

“It’s not your boat?” Owen asked.

“Nah. It belongs to the college. St. Mary’s. We’re just out doing a night sail.” He grinned. “A lot of people with boats are out there right now. Just in case someone needed a lift off the Eastern Shore. Everybody knows something happened at Wallops. There are a lot of rumors about who was involved. We figured they might need help.”

“You haven’t done anything,” the young woman called Alera said. “Except good things. We wanted to help.”

“It’s been hairy out here with all the people and things looking for whoever escaped from Wallops,” Gus added. “But we don’t know anything about that! We’ve already turned to head back west across the bay, sort of easing along like people with no special place to be.”

“Quiet!” someone called down from on deck.

Owen and Selene stopped eating and drinking, trying not to make any noise. The small group sat, listening to the water running along the hull, until an amplified voice suddenly sounded. “This area is temporarily restricted. Move offshore a minimum of ten kilometers. Do not approach this close to the shore again until notified that the navigational restriction has been lifted.”

“Okay, man! You can see we’re heading out already!” a man called from on deck.

“Why are you out here?” the amplified voice demanded.

“We’re just doing a night sail! Pleasure cruise! Is that, like, a crime now?”

“Have you seen anyone near the coast?”

“Huh? Is someone lost?”

“Just get away from the coast,” the voice ordered. “A minimum of ten kilometers. Understand?”

“We got it,” the student on deck said. “Fine. See? We’re heading out into the bay. Happy?”

Silence fell except for the creaking of the boat’s hull and the rush of water.

After a couple of minutes, someone on deck spoke again. “Okay, they’ve moved off toward the coast.”

“Let me see what happened,” Gus said, dodging through the blackout curtain. He was back in about a minute. “A military bird was up there. They scanned our deck when they ordered us out of here, but didn’t notice anything.”

“Why are you helping us?” Owen asked.

Pandora looked at Selene. “Because so much of what’s going on seems wrong. We’ve all seen what you said on Mars. What was wrong with that? But they tried to kill you! And whenever we ask exactly what it is you’ve done that’s so terrible, we either get told it’s classified or that you’re still preparing to do something.”

“Some of us have ancestors who got that treatment,” Alera said. “Locked up because they might do something because they weren’t like everybody else.”

“Supposedly they’re trying to capture you guys,” Gus said. “But then at Wallops they had some sort of major battle. What was that? How do you capture people by blowing up everything?”

“I fired a few shots there,” Selene said. “But only at drones. Everything else was aimed at us, or at . . .” She swallowed, looking toward one side. “Have you . . . have you heard anything about Krysta?”

“Is that the girl at Wallops?” Gus said. “The one who got hurt?”

Selene’s eyes fixed on him. “Hurt?”

“Yeah. There are reports a girl got shot a few times. But sources are saying she’ll be okay.”

“She’s alive?” Selene stared at the others, her eyes wide. “Krysta’s alive?”

“Yeah,” Pandora said. “I guess you couldn’t check any news or rumor sources while trying to maintain a low electronic profile. Most of them are saying she got shot up pretty bad. No one’s explaining how that happened, but she’s supposedly out of danger.”

“She’s alive.” Selene buried her face in her hands, shaking with reaction. “She’s alive. Kayl, she’s alive.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, putting one arm about Selene, blinking to stop his own tears. “Someday we’ll get to yell at her for not doing what she promised to do.”

“I am going to have a long talk with that girl.” Selene stopped herself, looking up as she lowered her hands and wiped away tears. “She’s really alive?”

“She’s really alive,” Pandora said, smiling and looking as if she, too, was about to cry. “What happened?”

“She was supposed to go to ground when we told her to,” Owen explained. “So she’d be safe. Instead, she took off on her own to distract everyone. She was trying to protect us. But the last thing we wanted was for her to get hurt.”

“Why was she with you?” Alera asked.

Owen looked at Selene, who was still trying to control her breathing. “We ran into her on the Moon. She was with a guy, much older, who’d bought her as a bride when Krysta was eleven.”

Several seconds of silence followed. “That still happens?” Pandora whispered.

“It still happens,” Owen said. “I’m learning that a lot is still happening that never shows up in the official databases.”

“Did you do anything to the guy?” Gus asked, his voice gone hostile.

“He’s dead,” Selene said.

“We didn’t kill him,” Owen added quickly. “We wanted to get Krysta to an organization that would help her. She really wanted to get back to Earth first, though.”

“We shouldn’t have caved on that,” Selene said. “It was too dangerous for her. Sorry that I lost it back there. Thank you so much for letting us know about Krysta.”

“You didn’t react much like a heartless alien monster,” Pandora replied. “Are you . . . are you really an alien?”

Selene inhaled deeply, still calming herself. “I’m part alien, mostly human. Some of my genome is Tramontine DNA.”

“That’s true?” Pandora said in amazement. “So humans and these aliens can reproduce?”

“No,” Selene said. “They can’t. I mean, they could sort of have intercourse, but nothing would come of it. I’m the product of genetic engineering.”

“Who did the engineering?”

“Humans,” Selene said. “And that is all I can say about it.”

“Your skin, um, is that what the Tramontine look like, too? None of the images we’ve seen seem to show that.”

Selene shook her head. “No, Tramontine skin doesn’t look like this. The shiny aspect to the skin is an unexpected side effect of the Tramontine DNA interacting with my human DNA. The size and shape of my eyes are a direct result of the Tramontine DNA, though.”

“And the eyes work okay?”

“Yeah,” Selene said. “They work fine.”

Owen wasn’t surprised that Selene didn’t elaborate on that. She’d told him that in her experience, a lot of full humans got uncomfortable when told about ways in which alloys had slight advantages over them.

“What are the Tramontine like?” Gus asked. “I mean, physically. You said sort of intercourse?”

Pandora rolled her eyes. “Trust a guy to want to know if he can screw one of them.”

Selene smiled, clearly feeling much better after the news about Krysta, as well as the food and water. “The onemales and twomales are recognizably male to humans, but neither are built in ways that would be comfortable for human females. It would hurt. A lot. A Tramontine female could accept a human male, but I don’t think either party would get any enjoyment out of it. I guess you could say the parts are compatible, but they don’t really fit.”

“Onemales?” Alera asked. “Twomales?”

“The Tramontine have two and a half sexes,” Selene explained. “Two types of males, and one type of female. All mutually fertile, so it doesn’t matter whether a female shares her life with a onemale or a twomale, and their offspring might be either female, onemale, or twomale.”

“That is so amazing!” Pandora said. “I’m a biology major and . . . is this a secret? Do the Tramontine want stuff like that kept private?”

“No,” Selene said. “To the Tramontine, it’s just biology. And they recognize that if they want other species to share information about themselves, then the Tramontine have to be willing to share information about their physical nature.”

“So the aliens are not here after our women,” Gus said. “I did hear someone warning about that, believe it or not.”

Selene shook her head. “No. Some Tramontine have kinks just like some humans, but to the Tramontine, everything about the bodies of human females is built wrong, and we don’t smell right. There are no biological cues attracting them to us. I don’t think there’s enough beer in the universe to get the average Tramontine onemale or twomale attracted to a human female.”

“And the same is true in reverse of human males and Tramontine females?” Pandora asked. “No attraction?”

“Right,” Selene said. “I mean, I’m sure someone has . . . will someday . . . experiment that way, because that’s humans, right? But I don’t think it’ll ever be a thing, because it won’t be fun, it’ll just be weird.”

“Right,” Pandora echoed. “So, are you—?” Both hands went to her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask that.”

Selene looked at Owen. “Do you want to answer that, Kayl?”

“Do I want to answer what?” Owen asked.

“I didn’t ask!” Pandora said, embarrassed. “It’s none of my business!”

“She wants to know if I’m physically a human female,” Selene told Owen.

He realized that his mouth had fallen open as he stared at her. “That’s . . . that’s between you and me and nobody else.”

“Kayl,” Selene said, “do you have any idea what kinds of stories were told about alloys? About me? About what we’re like physically? I’d rather, this time around, the truth be told up front.”

“But that’s such a private thing!”

“I don’t mind, Kayl.” She grimaced. “Actually, I do mind. But it needs to be said. Just please tell them. So the truth can start fighting against the . . . strange rumors.”

Owen looked at the deck, trying to get the words out. “I don’t talk about my partners. I don’t do that. But, since she has asked me to, Selene Genji is . . . physically . . . a human female.”

“Okay,” Pandora said, still looking horribly embarrassed. “I really didn’t mean to ask.”

“There are stupid rumors going around,” Gus said. “Sorry.”

“I’m not posting any pictures,” Selene said. “So anyone who isn’t convinced by Kayl’s statement can believe what they want to.”

“You’re so amazing,” Alera said.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re so amazing, Selene Genji,” Alera repeated. “Being willing to talk about that. Standing up for everyone. Helping so much with First Contact. Lots of people think you’re great.”

“I’m an alloy,” Selene said, “a Human-Tramontine alloy.”

“Yeah. And you’re amazing! That’s why we came out here. That’s why a lot of boats are out here, looking to help you if we could.”

Owen saw the baffled look appear in Selene’s eyes, the expression she got when confronted with things in 2140 that dramatically differed from her experiences growing up in the 2160s and 2170s, when alloys would be tolerated at best and often shunned.

As Owen expected, facing what were for her strange attitudes, Selene changed the subject. “Everything we’ve spoken of here is about me,” Selene said. She pointed to Owen. “Don’t forget this guy. Without this guy, I wouldn’t be here. Without this guy, my mission to protect the Earth and its people would have already failed.”

“Right,” Gus said, nodding and smiling at Owen. “The Earth Guard guy who stood up to the whole corrupt system. Man, that must have taken some guts. Now they’re trying to kill you, too!”

“Everybody’s seen those images of you standing by her on Mars, guarding her with your life,” Alera said. “It is so cool that you’re doing that. And so cool that you two are together despite your differences. I’m sorry. People are saying that, but I don’t know. You are together together, aren’t you?”

Selene smiled and reached to take Owen’s hand. “We are one.”

“You know that’s freaking out some people, right?” Gus asked. “The whole alien and a human thing. I don’t personally think it’s anyone’s business but yours, but there are people warning about humans being replaced by alien/human mixes.”

“People have always worried about that,” Alera said, her disgust clear. “Only they were usually talking about different humans replacing them. They just have a new target now.”

“There have always been aliens,” Pandora said. “Always outsiders. Now we have real aliens, and some people are acting like humans always have. But we don’t have to be afraid! Do we?”

“No,” Selene said. “Not of me, and not of the Tramontine. What people need to fear is what has always posed the greatest danger to people, and that is other people.”

She paused as the students took that in.

“But,” Selene added, “as you three and everyone else aboard this boat prove, other people are also the source of our greatest hope. We’re the problem, and we’re the solution.”

“We,” Pandora said. “You do consider yourself human, too.”

“Yes,” Selene said.

“She’s human in every way that matters,” Owen said.

“But how can you be so sure humans are also the solution?” Alera asked. “We’re so screwed up.”

Selene paused before answering. “Yes, we’re screwed up, but we have to be the answer. Because, if we’re not, Earth is doomed. I have to believe there’s a chance to save the Earth.”

The silence following her words stretched across several seconds.

“You sounded really certain when you said that,” Pandora said, worried eyes on Selene.

“I am,” she said. “That’s why I need the help of people like you. It’s impossible for me to thank you enough for helping us tonight. But, in the days and weeks and months to come, it is important that things work. Everything you take for granted. If those things work, people won’t turn to reasons to blame others for why things don’t work.”

“What . . . things?”

“The things we count on,” Owen said. “Like the Earth Cooperation Council, and Earth Guard, and everything else.”

“Earth Cooperation Council is useless,” Gus said. “When’s the last time they did something important? And, Earth Guard, look what they did to you! Why get involved with something that messed up?”

“Because if people like you don’t,” Owen said, “it leaves important jobs to people who don’t care or can’t do the jobs. I admit, it’s tough to beat your head against some of those walls. But Selene has reminded me that we have to. Otherwise the things we need get weaker and weaker, and then . . .”

“A lot of people end up dying in senseless wars,” Selene said.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re guessing what will happen,” Alera said, shaken.

“I’m sorry,” Selene said. “This is my burden. Not yours.”

“Our burden,” Owen said.

“It sounds like it’s everyone’s burden,” Pandora said. She looked at the other students, exchanging nods with them. “We won’t forget what you said. But we need to talk about where you’re going. Not long-term. Just tonight. We can’t go too far astray to drop you off. That would attract more attention.”

“And get us in trouble,” Gus said.

The woman projected a chart between them, pointing to spots on it. “So, we can let you ashore where we dock, but that’s down here at the end of a peninsula. There’s only one major road still certain to be unflooded that’ll get you north from there. I don’t know if you want to risk that. If we drop you up here, you can reach one of these towns and get a car pretty easily, with a number of roads north and west. Oh.” She dug in a pocket, producing some IDs. “I don’t know if you need them, but these are fake IDs. The great thing about these is they’ll show you as a local resident, so they won’t attract any extra attention.”

“College students with fake IDs?” Owen said. “I am shocked.”

Gus grinned. “That never happened when you were in college, huh?”

“Not unless we got caught,” Owen said. Thinking about it now, he wondered why he hadn’t seen the significance of how easily college students could get fake IDs good enough to pass any examination. If college students could get them, at reasonable prices, why couldn’t anyone? The more IDs had been made mandatory, the more carefully they’d been crafted to avoid counterfeiting. Yet, in retrospect, since they were required to do just about anything, the more incentive there had been for clever people to create and sell fakes.

“Maybe we should drop them on the other side of the Potomac,” Alera suggested. “That’ll give them a lot more room to move in different directions.”

“Yeah,” Pandora said. “See?” she added, pointing to areas on the coast. “It’s not that much farther for us, but it’ll make sure you’re not stuck on a peninsula that can be sealed off.”

Selene looked at Owen for his appraisal. He studied the chart, then nodded. “I think that sounds good.”

“Great!” Pandora looked at both of them, concerned. “You guys look terrible. It’s been a tough few days, huh?”

“Yes,” Selene said.

“Eat and drink as much as you want. You can draw the curtain screening those berths near the bow and sleep as much as you can. We’ll wake you when we’re getting close to the place where we’ll drop you off.”

“We owe you more than we can ever repay,” Owen said.

“It sounds like we owe you guys more than we thought,” Alera said.

The students went on deck to give them some privacy, but both Owen and Selene were too tired to do anything but slam down jerky and trail mix, accompanied by plenty of water.

Owen wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep, but exhaustion did the trick for him. He passed out in the dimness offered by the forward berths, looking across at the berth where Selene lay looking back at him.

*   *   *

THE GIRL LYING IN the emergency treatment bed looked dismayingly small and frail, numerous tubes and lines leading into and out of her body, heal packs over the three places where mag rifle bullets had hit, a burn pack over another where an energy bolt had clipped her. She was sealed into a quarantine room, the attending nurse bots the only moving presence with her.

“It’s a miracle she’s alive,” Dr. Bortnick told Special Representative Cerise Camacho.

“Will she recover?” Camacho asked.

“She should. That’s one lucky girl. Two of those bullets would have killed her if she hadn’t received immediate medical care.” The doctor frowned at his readouts. “She wasn’t carrying any ID, but we got a hit on her DNA. Krysta Fogorais. The last verified status on her was three years ago when she was eleven. Since then there have been sporadic DNA hits on her at screening sites such as airfields and spaceports, but she’s never been reported missing.”

“How does an eleven-year-old girl fall through the cracks like that?” Camacho asked.

“Nobody reported her,” Dr. Bortnick repeated.

“There’s nothing else on her in the last three years?” Camacho turned toward one of the men beside her. “Congratulations, General Molstad. You nearly killed a teenage girl with no charges against her.”

“What was she doing there in the first place?” Molstad replied. “Why didn’t the databases alert us to her presence among the passengers?”

“Are you asking me that question?” Camacho said. “Or are you asking yourself?”

“My job isn’t to oversee databases, it’s to protect human lives and the Earth itself,” General Molstad insisted.

“How do you do that job if your data isn’t accurate?” Camacho asked him. She pointed toward the images of Krysta. “That girl effectively disappeared for more than three years. How many other people aren’t being tracked? Is that alien you’re unsuccessfully hunting using special alien skills to move around, or is she exploiting holes in our system that we’ve allowed to develop while assuring ourselves that everything was working fine? Holes that many other people may be using as well.”

“That’s . . . a leap from what we know,” Molstad said, but he was plainly discomfited by the idea. “I will concede that we need to take a good look at how the alien has been able to move around so effectively. It may indicate systemic problems that need to be addressed. But it should not distract from the need to identify and stop the alien.”

Colonel Kalibangan, head of Wallops Security, made an angry noise. “Identify the alien? I was told there was a positive ID on the target before I approved the shoot-to-kill order. Why was I told that when this is obviously not the alien?”

Molstad shook his head. “You’re familiar with the chaos of a battle situation, Colonel.”

“I was told there was a positive ID,” Kalibangan repeated. “My people came this close to killing a young girl with no warrants against her.”

“We couldn’t take any chances,” General Molstad said. “The alien is too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Cerise Camacho said. “I keep hearing that. Exactly how many humans has this alien killed, General?”

“We have no idea what that number is,” Molstad replied.

“Is it more than one, General? Is it even one? Can you give me one name of one person we know that alien woman has killed?”

“She could have killed some of my people,” Colonel Kalibangan said. “She didn’t. She used disabling blows.”

“But you think she could’ve used lethal blows instead?” Camacho asked.

“I have no doubt of it,” Kalibangan answered.

“That’s pure speculation,” General Molstad said in a scoffing tone.

“Anyone who knows how to strike disabling blows also knows how to strike killing blows!” the colonel said. “They have to know what not to hit! There’s nothing speculative about that.”

“What about this girl, then?” Molstad demanded. “Using her as a decoy! How cold-blooded is that? You’re trying to blame me for this? Who sent her out to draw fire?”

Cerise Camacho turned to the doctor. “Can she answer any questions?”

“Maybe a few,” Dr. Bortnick said cautiously.

Camacho tapped the comm link. “Hello? Can you hear me?”

After a long moment, the girl’s eyes opened partway. “Hel . . . lo?” Her voice was a raspy near-whisper.

“Krysta? Is your name Krysta?” Camacho asked.

“Y . . . yes.”

“You’re going to be all right, Krysta. Were you with the alien, Krysta?”