Page 5 of Fractured Souls

But the flashbang had hurt him good. It was that split-second, that element of surprise, that gave them the tiniest sliver of a chance. But any moment now, the second Kordolian would be—

“Shoot him again,” Thomas whispered in her ear as he tapped on her shoulder.

Without thinking, Alexis aimed and fired, and Thomas became a shadow as he ran around to the Kordolian’s side and fired with his own gun, narrowly missing Del as the Kordolian lurched forward.

Closer, he went, closer…

Thomas, what the fuck are you doing?

Then she realized. Thomas was a bull of a man, an ex-college footballer who was deceptively quick on his feet and impressively strong. He rammed into the Kordolian’s side and managed to push the alien back as he reached forward and…

Boomboomboomboom!

The world around her became an ocean of blue plasma fire. Thomas fell back, and he wasn’t Thomas anymore, but a half-body, his face and torso vaporized by the terrible plasma.

He fell to the ground alongside Del, who was coughing up blood.

He’s dead!

She shouted into her Link. “Cloe, I need that fucking backup, now! It’s a Code Black emergency!”

Time slowed to a trickle as Alexis moved forward, her body operating on autopilot as she stared at their attacker. Somehow, Thomas had managed to get close enough to pull one of the Kordolian’s own guns and fire it repeatedly at his head.

The Kordolian lay on the ground, gasping. There was a small defect in the armor-plate covering his face, a white-hot, smoking patch of metal at the edge of his jaw.

Alexis’s mind went blank. She was moving on autopilot, as if possessed by some terrible guardian spirit. She bent down, dropped her gun, and pulled one of the long daggers sheathed at the Kordolian’s waist.

Frantic, desperate, drawing on some deep reserve of strength she didn’t even know she had, Alexis slammed the dark blade through the white-hot, molten patch of metal, pushing with all her strength.

It slid up through bone and sinew and flesh, and she was surprised at how easily it went in…

Like a knife through butter.

The Kordolian fell.

Dead.

Alexis didn’t spare him a second glance, because she was already dropping to her knees beside Del, pressing her hands hard against his belly, trying to stop the warm gush of deep red blood, but it just wouldn’t stop coming, and she didn’t even know whether he was dead or alive anymore, because he wasn’t moving, and he was terribly pale and…

“Got you, you little shit.” Hard fingers twisted through her hair and yanked her back, almost tearing her hair out at the roots. She winced in pain, reaching for her gun, but it wasn’t there.

Del was very, very still. Thomas was gone.

She was all alone now.

Rough hands closed around her shoulders, spinning her around until she came face to face with…

A perfect nightmare.

The Kordolian standing before her was in full battle gear, with not even an inch of his bare skin exposed. He stared at her through his featureless angular helmet, appearing more insectoid than Kordolian.

“On your knees, bitch.” He spoke in perfect Universal, pushing her down with terrifying ease. For the first time in her life, Alexis felt utterly helpless.

She began to reach inside her jacket, feeling for another flashbang, but the Kordolian shook his head. “I didn’t give you permission to move,” he said, his tone deceptively mild. “The next time that that hand so much as trembles, I will cut it off. Where you’re going, you won’t need it, anyway.”

He hadn’t drawn any of his weapons, but Alexis instinctively knew he could have a gun to her head or a blade to her throat before she could do a thing.

Seven minutes.

---