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  Joey froze, and his eyes darted back up to JD's. "You mean?" The humor and rapid-fire words had died.

  "Yes. They gave us orders on that. It's the only evidence we have. Can you find out who ordered it? Who took us? Get me every bit of data that's on that hard drive." The weight of the Elentrin threat weighed down on him, making him wonder if it was worth dragging someone else into this mess. JD shrugged. "It might not matter, but that's information I want to know. I want to know why and I plan on asking that person some very specific questions."

  Joey looked down at it, more seriously this time. "I'll take a look, but no promises. This looks a lot banged up, but SSDs are pretty tough. And yeah, I'll do this on my time. I owe you. Whoever did this, it was a very uncool thing to do."

  JD snorted in amusement. "Just hope Toni never gets a hold of the guy who did this. There won't be enough left of him for mulch." Joey arched a brow at him. "She was one of the civilians that got grabbed. Her two kids were left behind and they'd been taken by that idiot earlier this year. She was not happy."

  Understatement of the year there. Toni is scary when she's mad or fixated.

  Joey nodded a bit. "Understood. I'll pull out all the stops. Promise. Just don't tell me if you're going to do anything illegal. At least not until after the statute of limitations has passed." He flashed a teasing smile at JD, trying to make light of it.

  But JD just nodded. If he ever got a hold of that man, they'd never find his body parts.

  "Thanks, Joey. I'll owe you but we need some answers, all of this doesn't make sense. Not to mention the expense and strings it took to pull this off." He paused thinking about what was coming down. What might be coming down. "Do me a favor though?" He left it as a question, not sure how he would not sound like a crazy man for asking this.

  A funny look from Joey. "Other than the one you're already asking for?"

  "Ha, yes. Other than that. Stock up on supplies and make sure you travel armed. Get some extra stuff for your place. Ammo, food, water. Stuff like that. Okay?"

  Confusion, shock, then a flicker of fear flashed across his face. "JD? What's going on?" His voice low and serious.

  JD just shrugged. "Don't know, maybe nothing, maybe the end of the world. But being prepared is never a bad thing. Just keep that in mind, okay? And if you hear me backing up some crazy stuff, maybe it isn't so crazy." He turned and caught the Hispanic woman looking at him, her a face a bit pale under the harsh lights. He didn't smile but nodded and strode out. Maybe she'd heed what he'd told Joey, maybe she wouldn't. The need to get back to McKenna tugged at him, back to Charley, even as the mental clock ticked down, telling him they were coming. That aliens were coming.

  That everything they knew might be over in days.

  The thought sat stark in his mind as he drove, catching the beginning of the rush hour, his speed slowed to a crawl. JD barely noticed as he mulled over thoughts and ideas.

  "What is my problem? What do I have to lose?" The words rang in the empty Hummer and he growled.

  ~Cass?~ He sent the thought, hoping she wasn't in the middle of anything important.

  ~Hey. How'd your day go?~ Even in the private channel she sounded tired.

  ~Got done what I needed to. You okay?~

  In the mind space she seemed to sigh. ~Yeah. Just issues with jerk. Trying to figure out a new project, and everyone keeps looking at me sideways. Heck, it's like if they talk with me they might get kidnapped too.~ Her exasperation leaked through. ~Right now I just want to go home, pour a glass of wine and curl up with everyone. Though that might be hard to do with a glass of wine, but you know what I mean.~

  He chuckled, knowing exactly what she meant. It was the same thing that drove him and Charley to sleep in the same room as McKenna. It hurt too much to not be there, not with her so close. Nothing sexual but something almost primal that couldn't be denied. The idea of being as isolated as Cass must be. As Perc must be, made him shudder. Toni at least had the kids and he had no doubt they slept as near to her as they could.

  ~Speaking of that. McKenna's told you about the barbecue Saturday, right?~

  ~Yes, I can't wait.~ There was a hunger in her thoughts, a hunger he understood. There was just something that felt safe and whole when they were all together. How much of that was the experience in the jungle and how much was the nanobots he didn't know. JD also didn't know if he cared.

  ~I'm actually kinda envious of you.~ Her voice had a wistfulness to it and pulled him out of his musing.

  You're not paying attention, good thing the traffic is at a crawl.

  ~Oh, why is that?~

  ~You get McKenna. And Charley. You have people there with you. I never thought I'd want to be surrounded by people. I've always been more of a loner.~

  ~I get that. I don't know what it is. But I do know something.~ He felt his mouth get dry and was glad he didn't have to say these words out loud. Heck, even asking a girl to a dance in high school had always been an experience of ego-crushing proportions. Maybe not seeing her would make it easier.

  ~Oh? What? Something about the Elentrin?~

  That almost derailed him for a minute, but he forced himself back onto the important stuff. After all, there was a very real chance they might die in a few weeks.

  ~No. I know that I really like you. Would you like to go out to dinner? Maybe tomorrow?~ JD tried to tell himself her answer didn't matter.

  ~Yes.~ Her voice a whisper, but her delight rippled down the line, and JD found himself grinning.

  ~Pick you up tomorrow? About six?~

  ~I'll be waiting for you.~

  The rest of the drive back to McKenna's his face ached from the smile until he remembered he needed something to wear tomorrow for a nice dinner.

  8

  Chances

  While the world seems to be getting into a groove with people turning into animals, South Africa is getting interesting. While apartheid is officially gone, a lot of discrimination still exists, especially about mixed-race couples. A couple, the male white and the female black, are both Shifters that turn into lions and are using this to stage protests and prove that skin color means nothing. They have created multiple social media accounts and have stated they will prove that if they can change into the same animal, having different colored skin means nothing. ~TNN News

  He managed to sleep on the air mattress in the spare room that night though it felt too far away from the others. With three bedrooms, the house that had seemed huge, suddenly seemed almost too small with the three of them and the room they needed to make for others. Sleep came easily, pulling him down hard and fast, and he opened his eyes to the mustard brown walls of a ship. He knew it was a dream, but he still reached, checking.

  ~McKenna? Wefor? Charley?~

  No one responded, the links gray and inaccessible. A mental sigh as the body rose and headed to the door. Side glances told him it was a barracks, simple and spartan even by Army standards. Others were moving along beside him, but no one he recognized. He'd always been able to tell when the others were near, seeing their forms even when it didn't make sense, but this time he was alone.

  Various beings were pulled off to other rooms, but his body kept moving forward, finally stopping in a small classroom. His body took a seat in one of the chairs in front of a small table that seemed to tilt and had a stylus laying on it.

  It must have received orders before I became aware.

  Others came in around him, but even though he wanted to turn to look at them, the body faced forward.

  This would be much easier if I could look around.

  The thought didn't result in anything. He waited, paying attention to what he could see. There was a wall made of a substance similar to the table in front of him. Space for someone to stand, and to the side a clear window that showed cylinders with something in them, but he couldn't turn enough to make them out for sure. But from the description he figured it had to be the storage tubes that Cass had talked about. A wave of revulsion washed through him.
If he'd been in control of the body he'd assume it was nausea, but he really couldn't sense most of the body he rode in. So he couldn't decide what it was.

  Sound and movement came from behind him and a being strode to the front. Smooth leathery skin, like a bat wing, covered its body, dappling in shades of brown and gray.

  It would disappear in most environments. It reminds me of a lizard, but I suspect it's a mammal, maybe? Then again maybe my definitions of mammal and reptile aren't appropriate for this, these, creatures.

  It had a long thick tail that didn't move much, if anything it looked like a weight to keep the creature from pitching forward.

  "This is to go over the abominations' primary weapon, the Wyrm. Origin, prescribed techniques for fighting them, and approved reactions will be covered. You are all in Commander squads and will be their primary adviser as needed should Wyrm be sighted." It didn't speak English, but JD understood everything it said without difficulty.

  Light flickered on the table, and he glanced down at the table top to see a dragon appear.

  What in the world?

  "If you note, it is a larger form of the abominations. While it is suspected they can store mass in the quantum fields they use to store data and travel, it has not been validated. As you can see, the soft supple scales in their abomination form are larger and harder in this form. With the expected resistance to weapons. There are rarely more than four at any given time. No reports of abominations changing during attacks, so it is presumed they are few in number and not something very many can do."

  Another picture flipped up on the screen and JD pulled back. The body he rode didn't flinch but JD couldn't help it. An image of a huge mouth, powerful muscled forearms coming in and grabbing a shuttle, claws sinking into it, was visceral.

  "Allowing them to get close enough to grab the shuttles all but guarantees the loss of the shuttle. Note that any Kaylid stupid enough to have their shuttle destroyed is not worth retrieving."

  In a normal class at the academy or in basic there would have been laughter in response. Or the words would have been sardonic. Here it was presented as a fact of life.

  "The best chance of killing them is multiple direct head shots. Note that they are extremely tough. Aiming anywhere else is a waste of time and energy. It will only draw their attention to you. The weapons you are provided have the ability to pinpoint precision. While all abominations are relatively tough and head shots are the most efficient, other parts of the body will rarely kill them. Here you must pierce the head with energy fire before they can disable the weapons and destroy the shuttle."

  A video started to play that would have made any Hollywood director drool in desire. A great dragon swooped down and slaughtered the Kaylid as they shot at him, a large weapon pointed at it. Even as multiple groups attacked the dragon focused on destroying the ships and as many Kaylid as possible. The brutality was obvious, but the way the dragon moved, he could tell it had human-level intelligence. Taking damage to reach its goals. He couldn't look away, but a distant thought drifted through.

  Huh, I thought it would at least breath fire.

  "While no Wyrm has ever been taken prisoner, if by chance you succeed in disabling one without killing it, you will be greatly rewarded. The scientists would greatly like to study a living Wyrm." It was a flat statement and in any other group he would have expected a well of excitement or even a smile from the instructor. But it had no emotion and if anything JD got the sense that the prize might be worse than their current existence. Not to mention the implication of another living being becoming a science experiment.

  "They do not seem to be immediately responsive to our missions. You will have anywhere from two to three hours to clear out current abominations, though occasionally it appears faster. On one or two of the sparsely populated worlds they never showed before we left. Once a planet has been fully cleansed and worthy of the Elentrin, they start to make their homes there, the abominations never come back. There is no record of them attacking after their people have all been killed, though a few have been seen to rescue eggs if we have already made significant progress in cleansing the planet, but not completely. Always remember to destroy eggs to help prevent them from spreading."

  The display changed and JD glanced at it, a big weapon was shown. With schematics and numbers listed to the side.

  "We will now go over the use of this weapon, how to change out power packs, and later there will be target practice. Other groups are trained to maintain and care for these weapons. That is not your purpose."

  The time was spent going over the weapons, how to store and get them out of the shuttles and then set them up to target the incoming Wyrms.

  A soft buzz in his ear pulled him out of the dream, but even as he reached for it, it faded away, leaving only the vague impression of flying dragons and bolts of light splashing against scaled hide.

  He lay there trying to grasp the dream, but he couldn't. The memory of what today was made him smile and he rolled off the mattress to get things done.

  JD didn't tell McKenna about the date. He wasn't trying to hide it, just more he wanted to savor it until it all fell apart. He knew it would fall apart, it always did.

  "I'm taking off this afternoon. Things to deal with at the house and then going to meet a friend for dinner."

  McKenna nodded, still distracted, from the expression on her face. "Enjoy. I think Charley and I'll work on organizing this place. And he says he's working on something in the back yard?"

  "Yeah. We'll focus on that more tomorrow. Surprise for Saturday." It would be fun, and the twins would love it. Even if he knew McKenna and Toni would roll their eyes at him for participating.

  McKenna nodded, glancing at the phone again.

  "Kenna. Have faith. It's all we can do. Otherwise, come Sunday, we'll do what we have to."

  She sagged a bit, then straightened. "True. And I've got a barbecue to plan."

  JD fought back a grin. She made it sound like she needed to plan for battle. Though with a house full of shifters maybe she did.

  "Have fun. I'll be back late."

  She waved at him, already pulling open the fridge and peering in.

  With a chuckle he left, headed for the Big and Tall store, hoping to get at least a pair of khakis that might fit. He'd already planned on the shirt and it was in a bag in his vehicle. It took him two stores, but he lucked out and they had some khakis that fit and could alter the hems right there. Killing a bit of time people-watching while they made the alterations, the knowledge of the Elentrin beat at him. He really didn't need to think about things he couldn't affect right now. Instead he found a restaurant near where Cass lived and made reservations. Nothing fancy, just a nice place they could have a date.

  Date.

  The word made him grin again. She'd impressed him in the jungle. Her ability to deal with everything. He didn't know if he could have done it without already knowing about Wefor. But she had, and kept it together. Even Toni admitted she didn't think she'd have done as well. Though she had her kids to keep her focused.

  Time slipped out of his hands like sand, faster than he could have anticipated. He pulled up to her apartment complex, suddenly self-conscious of his Hummer for the first time ever. What if she thought he was showing off, or overcompensating for something?

  When did you become this insecure person? She's seen you naked, she's seen you kill people, I think she knows who you are, ugly mug and all.

  Shaking off the thoughts he headed towards her apartment.

  ~I'm here.~ He sent to her with a soft knock on her link.

  ~Good, I'll meet you at the door. ~ Joy flickered through her mental voice. It helped ease some of his worries.

  Heck, the last time I was on a date was what, four years ago?

  His thought derailed as she pulled open the door before he could knock. She stood there in a simple sundress the color of sunflowers, her hair curled, and a bit of makeup. Her eyes sparkled at him and he had to resist the urge
to pull her close and kiss her.

  "You look great. Hungry?"

  "Yes. I'm still trying to get some weight back on. Have you noticed Wefor can nag us now?" she asked as she stepped out and locked the door, double-checking it.

  JD blinked at that, looking at her. "She can?"

  [It would be impractical to nag. But if information should be shared it is more efficient to share that information rather than wait. Keeping all of you in optimal health is imperative for yours and the Commander's wellbeing.]

  He had to snort at Wefor's tone even as he opened the door to Hummer and helped her up into it.

  "What she thinks is an imperative is nagging. I swear she's been reminding me to eat." Her tone was both amused and a bit self-effacing.

  "You scared us." His voice heavy and serious. "McKenna didn't know if you were going to make it. I was so weak I couldn't even get up, but I could hear them, and all I could do was hope."

  Cass swallowed hard. "You don't pray? I also noticed you don't really cuss."

  JD focused very intently on getting out on the road, but finally he answered. "No. Let's just say my childhood impressed a few truths on me. God doesn't exist. Using curse words carries immediate and heavy punishment. And faith is just a way to control you. I can cuss, but it has been so ingrained that I really never think about cussing unless everything is going very, very wrong."

  He could feel her looking at him, and his shoulders hunched in.

  "Hmmm, sounds like your mother and my mother should never meet. I get the feeling the world might implode. I am very okay with this. I'd be okay if you never met my mother, but that is a different story."

  A relieved laugh escaped. "So not a deal breaker?"

  "What, the church thing? Uh, no. Especially here lately with the aliens, shifting, etcetera, yeah, I was never big on organized religion. Now?" She shrugged. "I think I'll be the best person I can and deal with everything else. I don't think I can handle worrying about anything else."

  "That. I'm already trying to figure out what else to do. McKenna is wrapped so tight she's about to snap. If we do need to go public I think she'll fret herself to pieces."