raptor hunting
dogs. The damned things had a row of sharp spikes along their backs
and a mouth of teeth that made razors look dull.
And they loved gnawing on humans.
Chapter Seven
Hell Squad opened fire.
The canids loped in their direction, easily
leaping over obstacles, their burning-red eyes fixed on them.
Marcus fired with one hand and grabbed Elle with the other, pushing
her down.
The front line of creatures fell, letting
out wild, inhuman screams as they writhed in pools of their own
blood.
“We need to go there!” Elle pointed to a
long, low-set building. “That’s the library.”
“Go!” Marcus pulled her up. She ran, her
arms pumping. His team closed in around them, still firing at the
next wave of canids.
Marcus hit the door with one shoulder. The
metal groaned. He reared back and hit again. It gave way.
Immediately inside sat the library reception
desk. Dust coated all the surfaces and trash and dried leaves
littered the floor.
Marcus nodded toward the main part of the
library. “Keep it quiet,” he murmured. “Roth said there were
raptors working in here. They might still be around.” He looked at
Gabe and Zeke. “Bar the door.”
One step ahead of Marcus, the brothers had
already started the task before Marcus had finished speaking.
They’d barely gotten some metal pipes through the door handles when
the canids hit it. The door vibrated under the weight of them, and
they shrieked. The canids’ howls were enough to send shivers
through anyone. Gabe and Zeke kept working to strengthen the
doors.
“All right, let’s find these crystals.”
Marcus touched his ear. “Noah, we’ve reached the library.”
A hiss of static came across the line. Then
Noah’s faint voice. “Marcus…raptors jamming…working to…hold
tight.”
Dammit . Marcus bit off a curse. It
didn’t change anything, it just left them blind until Noah could
get the comms back up. The team fell into position. Cruz took
point, followed by Claudia. Marcus kept Elle in the center and Shaw
brought up the rear, holding his sniper rifle like it was precious
gold.
The passed into the main part of the library
and as the doors closed behind them, all the noise cut off. The
library had been soundproofed, no doubt to keep the noise of the
city out. It was mostly high-tech comp screens and consoles, now
silent and covered in dust. But toward the back, the library still
had a historic section of paper books lined up on rows of
shelves.
A loud humming sound filled the room. Like
the whirr of a large machine.
Marcus used hand signals to direct his team.
They moved with stealth, constantly scanning ahead for any movement
or noise. Moments later, Gabe and Zeke silently rejoined the
group.
Elle stayed close, moving slowly and working
hard to be quiet.
They rounded an overturned table. Elle
stepped onto glass from one smashed comp screen. It made a faint
crunching noise.
A sudden, deep grunt made them all
freeze.
Marcus held his closed fist up. Then he
inched forward and glanced around a bookshelf.
Three large screens sat on a long desk. He
guessed they were what passed for raptor comp screens. They were
all liquid black with jagged edges, and had strange golden symbols
flashing in the center of them.
Surrounding them, heavy, scale-covered
cables tapped into the side of the screens. The cables looked
organic and pulsed gently. They were attached to a large black box
that was making the humming sound and glowed red intermittently.
The geek squad at base had studied some raptor tech the squads had
brought home. Most of the alien technology had organic material
spliced into it.
Off to the side on a separate table sat an
untidy stack of black crystals in the shape of small cubes. More
were sitting in a box below.
A raptor sat in front of the screens,
perusing the data.
Marcus scanned around. The alien appeared to
be alone. He was smaller than the standard warrior raptors.
Gabe inched forward and caught Marcus’ gaze.
He held up
dogs. The damned things had a row of sharp spikes along their backs
and a mouth of teeth that made razors look dull.
And they loved gnawing on humans.
Chapter Seven
Hell Squad opened fire.
The canids loped in their direction, easily
leaping over obstacles, their burning-red eyes fixed on them.
Marcus fired with one hand and grabbed Elle with the other, pushing
her down.
The front line of creatures fell, letting
out wild, inhuman screams as they writhed in pools of their own
blood.
“We need to go there!” Elle pointed to a
long, low-set building. “That’s the library.”
“Go!” Marcus pulled her up. She ran, her
arms pumping. His team closed in around them, still firing at the
next wave of canids.
Marcus hit the door with one shoulder. The
metal groaned. He reared back and hit again. It gave way.
Immediately inside sat the library reception
desk. Dust coated all the surfaces and trash and dried leaves
littered the floor.
Marcus nodded toward the main part of the
library. “Keep it quiet,” he murmured. “Roth said there were
raptors working in here. They might still be around.” He looked at
Gabe and Zeke. “Bar the door.”
One step ahead of Marcus, the brothers had
already started the task before Marcus had finished speaking.
They’d barely gotten some metal pipes through the door handles when
the canids hit it. The door vibrated under the weight of them, and
they shrieked. The canids’ howls were enough to send shivers
through anyone. Gabe and Zeke kept working to strengthen the
doors.
“All right, let’s find these crystals.”
Marcus touched his ear. “Noah, we’ve reached the library.”
A hiss of static came across the line. Then
Noah’s faint voice. “Marcus…raptors jamming…working to…hold
tight.”
Dammit . Marcus bit off a curse. It
didn’t change anything, it just left them blind until Noah could
get the comms back up. The team fell into position. Cruz took
point, followed by Claudia. Marcus kept Elle in the center and Shaw
brought up the rear, holding his sniper rifle like it was precious
gold.
The passed into the main part of the library
and as the doors closed behind them, all the noise cut off. The
library had been soundproofed, no doubt to keep the noise of the
city out. It was mostly high-tech comp screens and consoles, now
silent and covered in dust. But toward the back, the library still
had a historic section of paper books lined up on rows of
shelves.
A loud humming sound filled the room. Like
the whirr of a large machine.
Marcus used hand signals to direct his team.
They moved with stealth, constantly scanning ahead for any movement
or noise. Moments later, Gabe and Zeke silently rejoined the
group.
Elle stayed close, moving slowly and working
hard to be quiet.
They rounded an overturned table. Elle
stepped onto glass from one smashed comp screen. It made a faint
crunching noise.
A sudden, deep grunt made them all
freeze.
Marcus held his closed fist up. Then he
inched forward and glanced around a bookshelf.
Three large screens sat on a long desk. He
guessed they were what passed for raptor comp screens. They were
all liquid black with jagged edges, and had strange golden symbols
flashing in the center of them.
Surrounding them, heavy, scale-covered
cables tapped into the side of the screens. The cables looked
organic and pulsed gently. They were attached to a large black box
that was making the humming sound and glowed red intermittently.
The geek squad at base had studied some raptor tech the squads had
brought home. Most of the alien technology had organic material
spliced into it.
Off to the side on a separate table sat an
untidy stack of black crystals in the shape of small cubes. More
were sitting in a box below.
A raptor sat in front of the screens,
perusing the data.
Marcus scanned around. The alien appeared to
be alone. He was smaller than the standard warrior raptors.
Gabe inched forward and caught Marcus’ gaze.
He held up
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