Page 2 of Fractured Souls

“A dangerous lead,” Alexis said dryly. “We’re not waiting around to tangle with its owners. Let’s fall back.” She activated her secure Link. “Station sixty-three, this is Detective Carter. Requesting backup. I have an unidentified spacecraft.”

“Copy.” The voice on the other end was cool, neutral, and female. It was also artificial. Dispatch was manned by an AI called CLOE—Central Logistics Operations and Emergencies. The Agency loved their acronyms. “Your location has been tagged. Has the craft been secured?”

“Negative. I see no evidence of occupancy right now, and I’m not going out of my way to find out. In fact, we’re backing off right now. I’m almost certain that the owners of the craft are Kordolian.”

There had been reports. Sightings. Nothing confirmed, but the descriptions were always the same. Big. Intimidating. Armed. Dangerous. Pale hair. Silver-skin. Eyes that burned in all shades of the fiery sunset. Crimson. Amber. Startling orange.

People disappeared. Women disappeared.

And then there were the murders. They always occurred in the vicinity of the abductions. Some were brutally messy, some were clinically precise. Two different killers, probably. The victims were usually young, and always male.

No, the three of them definitely weren’t going to engage with Kordolians, even though there was no question that Del and Thomas could hold their own in a gunfight.

She wasn’t a half bad shot, either.

“A reinforcement unit has been dispatched,” Cloe announced in her perfectly serene electronic voice. “ETA thirteen minutes.”

Thirteen minutes? That was a long time in the Enforcer world. “I need you to speed it up, Cloe.”

“Negative. All units are currently occupied due to heavy rioting in the Lightside District. ETA twelve minutes and forty one seconds. Stand by.”

The Link went dead.

“Shit.” Alexis reached into her deep jacket pockets and fumbled around. Her fingers closed around something cold and flat; a small, flexible disc.

A standard-issue tracking node.

Just in case.

She quickly removed the seal and pressed the node against the invisible body of the ship, counting to five in her head to allow the polymers to bond to the hull.

“Let’s move,” she snapped, taking stock of their surroundings as she slipped on her night-vis glasses. She blinked. Through the glasses, the world around her became a monotone place of silver lines and ghostly shadows. The Kordolian ship disappeared completely, leaving nothing but slender tree trunks and scattered leaves and the rough earth below.

This was… trippy. Night-vis smoothed out all the tiny refraction errors that had given the ship away in the first place.

“There.” Around fifty yards away, a series of large granite boulders rested amongst the trees, as if thrown by some careless god. “Let’s get out of sight.”

It was Del who hesitated. “Sure you don’t want us to scope out the ship?”

“Oh, hell no, Del. You got a death wish? We’re waiting for backup. Come on. Let’s move.” A sense of urgency welled up inside her.

As far as she could tell, the ship was empty, but she couldn’t be certain. What if there was someone inside, watching them? What if the ship had some sort of motion detection sensor that had alerted its owners to their presence?

Probably.

Shit.

They were alone, at night, in the middle of the forest, and they’d just stumbled across a cloaked alien spaceship.

A ship that was probably linked to the disappearances of dozens of young women in the area.

If she’d been able to see it from a distance, she would have approached the alien craft with more caution, but its damn cloaking technology was just too good. She’d really only become aware of the ship when she was nearly on top of it.

A trickle of fear entered Alexis’s chest as she made a beeline for the boulders, Del and Thomas following close behind.

Kordolians were vicious killers. They had highly advanced technology.

Did the human race stand any kind of chance against them?

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