Page 10 of Doom

“You cannot go out there alone,” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. “You barely survived today, and your friend is out of commission for at least a day or two.”

“I know. Andy is done,” she conceded, looking affectionately at her friend.

He stared back at her. Although paralyzed, Mexlar victims could still think, feel, and hear normally. They could usually move their eyes, even open their mouths, but no sound would come out, not even a scream.

“You’ve done what you could,” Victoria said, caressing Andy’s hair. “Like that man said in the store, these survivors and our military can use your talent.”

Andy blinked, his eyes misting. It dawned on me then that gratitude had triggered it. She’d given him her blessing to seek refuge away from here. I didn’t understand why he’d needed her permission, nor did I really care. Her aura shone with sisterly affection for him, not love. But her underlying meaning didn’t sit well with me.

“And you are going with him,” I insisted.

She turned around to look at me with pleading eyes. “I know I barely survived today, but Idid, thanks to you and your people. It’s not that long of a drive to the hospital. If you guys tagged along …”

“We cannot send our entire unit to rescue a handful of people, not while there are still hundreds being tossed into Breeding Swamps,” I explained in a commiserating tone.

“What are those, anyway?” Victoria asked.

I hesitated and then realized it might be the best way to convince her. “The Kryptids are here to replenish their ranks. Fertile females of breeding age will be used to birth more Soldiers—the bugs we were fighting outside. The rest of your population will be dumped with Drone eggs in a dark, warm, and humid place called a Breeding Swamp. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae will feed on them.”

I pointed at the box of Mexlars we’d extracted from the humans. “Aside from paralyzing the victims so that they can’t flee, these dispense enough nutrients to keep them alive for ten days, giving the larvae plenty of time to hatch and feed. They prefer live food. The Drones are mindless. Individually, they aren’t much of a threat to a Xian Warrior, but they reproduce and mature at an insane rate. Then they attack as a Swarm.”

Victoria’s milky skin took on a chalky color. But instead of deterring her as I’d hoped, it seemed to strengthen her resolve. She glanced around the shuttle before locking gazes with me.

“Then we really must rescue them. It would take at least two shuttles like this one to get everyone out. Maybe even a third for those we’ll have to transport on stretchers.” Her intense gaze drilled into me. “I swore to do everything in my power to see them through. Please help me.”

I hated making her beg. “How far is it?” I asked.

“A little over twelve miles from here,” she replied apologetically.

I shook my head sadly at her. “There are two more big hotspots nearby. It wouldn’t make sense for us to leave them to go that far for a smaller group of people then have to backtrack to handle these, hoping they haven’t spread in our absence. I would love to accompany you, but my brothers won’t do it as it isn’t strategically sound.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Victoria said, her shoulders drooping.

I hated disappointing her even more. With an impulsiveness completely unusual for me, I mind-spoke to Legion.“I’m going to escort Victoria to her makeshift hospital.”

His shock reached me through our mental link.“Just the two of you?”

“Stran will be with us,”I reminded him, stung by the ‘have you lost your mind?’ implied in his tone.

“We’re here on a mission,”Legion said.

That stung even more, and my temper flared—another unusual occurrence for me.“Thanks for pointing that out. I had forgotten.”

“Doom …”Legion said in that irritating, reasonable tone that also betrayed his annoyance.

“Do not patronize me. I do not need your permission,”I snapped.“There are enough patients and staff where we are going to have lured the Kryptids. If that is the case, better we get eyes there early before the rest of you arrive. And if it is safe, we can send in the evacuation teams right away instead of waiting for us to clear the other nests first.”

Silence stretched for a couple of seconds.

“Good luck, then,”Legion finally said in a conciliatory tone.

I snorted.“I don’t need luck. Plus, I have Stran.”

Even without seeing him, I knew Legion was shaking his head.

“As much as I would love to see that ego of yours knocked down a notch or two … or three … I hope your survival streak will continue,”Legion said before breaking the link.

A silly smile played on my lips as I refocused on Victoria. She was staring at me, wide-eyed, looking almost like she was holding her breath.

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