Page 45 of Monstrous Baby
:Where’s he located in the house?:I asked.:Sn, Lohr, do you have eyes on Snyder?:
:Negative,:Lohr replied immediately.:We’re both with Natalie in the main bathing chamber.:
He sent us an image of Natalie crouched beneath him in the large soaking tub, protected beneath his giant shell. Snryx guarded the door, all implements sharpened into blades.
:The two humans are pinging in their respective rooms,:Rizan said.:No one’s approaching the house or moving inside.:
:Keep scanning,:Axxol replied.:Both human and possible squad movement.:
:The closest unknown human contacts are on the road out of Livingston headed our way. However, there’s nothing suspicious in their movements yet. Two humans only, traveling within normal speed parameters. They could be headed to the resort up the coast.:
Several seconds went by with agonized slowness. We watched the map displayed on the grid as the vehicle neared the turnoff toward our lake house. If they kept going, no concern. If they stopped…
Axxol slipped closer to the road.
With my youngling trotting after him.
Rage seared my brain to ash. If she was put into harm’s way by the traitorous human…
Snyder would wish I’d simply decapitated him in a quick, easy death.
My heart thudded in slow, painful beats. The vehicle slowed near our driveway. However, the road curved ahead into the thick jungle. In the dark, stormy night, a human might slow down for countless innocent reasons.
A small red speck lifted out of the vehicle.
:Tracking,:Rizan barked out.:One point three five meters wide by one point five meters long. Electronic drone. I’m not detecting any munitions. Should I intercept?:
:Negative,:Axxol replied.:Keep your position and track both threats.:
:Understood.:
The vehicle continued down the road away from the house where my mate hid, but I didn’t relax. Not with the unknown device in the air. It flew straight up, hovering over the road, slowly spinning, as if seeking a target. In the trees, I couldn’t scan it with my own vision to see if we could identify any weapons. It could be a child’s toy.
Though if the mice were playing…
The device reached fifty meters above the road, finally hovering high enough I could see it through the canopy. I blinked, focusing in tighter, dropping snapshots on the grid for the squad to disseminate.
:Heat fluctuation,:I warned.:Looks like a bomb.:
:It’s vibrating,:Rizan added.:Collapsing on itself. I think it’s self-destructing.:
:Rise higher,:Axxol commanded him.:Estimate damage range.:
:Calculating. Unless it’s nuclear, I’m not able to identify any threat.:
The device flared hotter and popped with a small explosion midair. One heartbeat. Two. Nothing?—
An electromagnetic pulse rolled over me. I could feel it sliding through my scales and passing. Not a weapon that would hurt me?—
Until darkness dropped like a meteor.
RIZAN
Very little terrified me.Losing Natalie or the squad, of course. Breaking a wing so badly Snryx couldn’t heal me. Never being able to fly again.
Silence on the grid.
Falling out of the sky in infinite darkness.
