Page 114 of Tribute
Abandoning his post, he ran back into the house and up the stairs to where Bron had established his command center.
Kai’s furious voice came over his earpiece as he moved. “Farn’s dead. Wrantz and I are returning to you. We have his body.”
Bron turned as Rehz erupted into the room. “What’s wrong?”
“This is wrong.” He made an all-encompassing gesture. “All of this.”
“I agree. They aren’t making any real attempt to penetrate the walls.”
“Why not? Don’t they want to get in? What are we missing? Is there some kind of secret passageway Palk might know about that leads inside?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“How about an alternate way into the basement?” He locked gazes with Bron. “Fuck. . . Aled and Anna are underground, aren’t they? What if Palk doesn’t need to get in, but just has to keep us occupied on the exterior while his allies do the rest?”
Bron paled. “You think theUngrichmight be here?”
Rehz was already running.
Anna shivered as the light flickered again and the booming sounds rocked the safe room.
Aled patted her arm. “It’s okay. I saw the schematics for this place. Nothing is getting through that door without a security code.”
“If it does, we have to be prepared to shoot it. Especially if it looks like Palk.”
“Let me kill him,please.”
She grinned at him. “We’ll do it together.” She jumped as the table and some of the cabinets started to sway back and forth. “That one felt like it came from below us.”
“Yeah.” He swallowed hard. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“We’re in an impenetrable metal box beneath the surface of the planet. No one can get in without the codes.” Beneath her feet, the concrete floor started to crack, the sound ripping and echoing through the space. She met Aled’s gaze. “Unless, of course, they are already down here.”
Aled took her hand and they jumped up onto the table, grabbed all their weapons, then climbed higher onto one of the metal cabinets attached to the wall. Below them the floor rippled, sending up huge chunks of matter as if something below was trying to punch a hole through to them.
“Do you have the mini explosives?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Aled handed her a few of the small, round shells, and she shoved them into her pockets and then tied one into the back of her hair, under the ponytail band. The whole floor was disintegrating now and falling into a black void. A familiar salty smell assaulted her. If she squinted downward, she could see the faint reddish-pink glow of slithering parts.
Aled took her hand. “So, plan B, then?”
She tried to smile at him, but she was shaking so hard she couldn’t manage it.
“Not quite.” She raised her weapon and shot him. Even as he fell, he was reaching out to her, his expression desperate, his fingers catching at her jacket.
She carefully laid him back on the cabinet and then turned to face what was coming through the hole. A thin, red tentacle reached her, and she allowed it to wrap itself around her throat.
“Anna Lee.”
She recognized theUngrich. It was one of the pair who had kept her company during their attempts to impregnate her. That might help matters considerably. They had never lied to her about their purpose and needs. She wasn’t even sure if the concept of lying meant anything to their race.
She let her mind shift, seeking and finding the connection with theUngrichintelligence.“What do you want?”
“You, Anna Lee.”
“I have conditions.”
