Tara’s building—or at least what remained of Tara’s building—came into view.
“Oh God,” Molly whispered from beside me.
The place was not much more than rubble. The building had been several stories high, but now only the bottom couple of floors remained. Was that what the crash had been when we’d been on the phone to Tara? I’d thought it might have been another asteroid, but it was more likely that a part of the building had come crashing down. Had Tara been inside when it had? I tried to remember if she’d said if she was out yet or not.
From out of the chaos and confusion, I spotted blonde hair flying toward us, and my heart lifted. Tara!
Quickly, I hit the button to unlock the doors, and Tara yanked open the back door and threw herself into the rear seats. “Oh, thank fuck you made it,” she gasped. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
I didn’t wait another second. I locked the doors again and hit the gas.
From the back seat, Tara leaned forward and wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a squeeze. “You didn’t give up on me.”
She burst into tears. Tara wasn’t a crier, and I hugged her arm around my neck as best I could while still driving.
“Never.”
Chapter Four
With my two passengers, I drove back out through the city. The traffic grew worse the longer we were on the road as people tried to make their escape. We saw the flashing lights and heard the sirens of cop cars, paramedics, and the fire department, and I was grateful help was on its way to those who needed it. They were going to have their work cut out for them. I hoped the hospital hadn’t been one of the buildings hit in the strike, or things would get even harder for the inhabitants of Las Vegas.
What worried me most was the possibility this might only be the start. If I was correct in my assumption that this was more than just an unpredicted asteroid strike, whoever had dealt us this blow would have a plan behind them, and it was that plan that had me concerned. We weren’t prepared for this, and clearly whoever was behind the strike was. That was why it was so important that I reach the Observatory. Someone must know something, and the Observatories around the world, and the people who worked in them, would be the ones needed to coordinate whatever happened next.
The buildup in traffic was frustrating, but there was nothing I could do about it. We crawled through the ruined city, having to take different routes or drive down sidewalks when things got really bad. Parts of roads were missing completely where the asteroids had hit, only massive holes remaining.
I was anxious to get to the Observatory, and it wasn’t only for work reasons. I thought we’d all feel safer there. I knew I would, and it wasn’t just because the building had been built to be impenetrable. I wanted to be around the men who worked there, too, Casey and Mike and even Aleandro. I wasn’t one of those women who felt they needed a man to protect them, but right now I found I yearned for a little protecting. Each of them was capable in their own way. Aleandro was physically strong with his ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude. Casey was studious and quieter, and one hundred percent capable, and Mike, while smart with computers, was more easygoing and would help take the tension out of things. I knew Casey and Mike better than Aleandro, as I’d worked side by side with the two of them for several months now. Aleandro tended to be downstairs at the reception, but he and I passed each other several times a day, and we always stopped to exchange a few flirty words and glances. Yeah, I enjoyed those moments with him and would go out of my way to make sure they happened. When he and I were working different shifts, there was never quite the same bounce to my step, and I didn’t make as much effort with my appearance. That wasn’t to be said that I didn’t make an effort. I still had Casey and Mike working with me, and both of them were always worth an extra slick of lip gloss. I stayed professional, however, as did each of them. Our jobs were important to us and weren’t worth a little fraternizing with the staff. Friendship and flirting were perfectly okay, and over time, we had all come to care for each other. I was eager to be back in their company, though I wondered what Molly and Tara would say about the men. I hoped they were both too frightened to think about them as anything more than just guys I worked with.
I was surprised to experience a little stab of jealousy. Molly was too young for them—I hoped—but Tara was my age. She was also blonde, gorgeous and flirty, and was bound to attract the attention of the guys. There was nothing I could say or do about it. I didn’t have any hold over them. They were free to do as they liked.
It felt like forever, but finally we got out of the city and onto the SR 160. Others were also headed in the same direction, and I hoped no one else had considered going to seek help and safety at the Observatory. I was fairly certain they wouldn’t be allowed in, even if they had. I felt horrible at the thought, especially as I’d brought my own civilians with me.
What were the government doing about the strikes? Had they already put some kind of plan into place? The city would be in chaos for a long time to come. There was only so much the emergency services would be able to do. The army would need to be mobilized. There was bound to be looting—there were always assholes who took advantage in these situations—and thousands of people would be without homes. I couldn’t even imagine the sort of money and people power needed to make things right again, and that was assuming this was all over. Trouble was, I was worried it was only the beginning.
“We’re almost there,” I told my passengers.
Neither of them had been to the Observatory before. This wasn’t the type of place you brought people for a tour. Occasionally, we had school visits—the government’s way of getting the next generation interested in space science—but that was about it. It wasn’t somewhere people popped in to say hi.
The huge glass dome of the building rose into the black sky. It looked like glass, but it was built of the same material used on the space ships we coordinated, built to withstand huge pressure and extreme variations in temperature. The structure of the building was also reinforced, and right now that made it the safest place I knew of.
I pulled into the parking lot, the same space I’d vacated only a matter of hours earlier, and switched off the car engine. There were other cars in the lot, but none that weren’t supposed to be here. If any civilians got the idea that this would be a safe place to come, they clearly hadn’t arrived yet.
I glanced across to Molly, who was staring, wide-eyed, at the Observatory. “Wow. I’ve seen photographs of this place, but I didn’t realize it was this impressive.”
A little firework of pride exploded inside me, and I glanced to the rearview to see Tara wasn’t quite as impressed. In fact, she’d barely even noticed we’d stopped, sitting with her hand shielding her eyes instead.
“You okay, Tara?” I asked gently.
She looked up at me and nodded. “Yeah, just trying to get my head around what happened back there.”
“I know. Me, too.” The sight of people running, screaming, blood down their faces, and begging for help, would stay with me for the rest of my life. I wanted to do what Tara was doing and withdraw and dwell in my fear for the future, but I had work to do.
“Come on,” I told her. “Let’s get inside.”
We climbed out of the SUV, into the cool desert air. Huge metal shutters had been pulled down over the glass entrance to the Observatory. I was going to need to get someone to open them before we could get in.
I pulled out my cell phone, relieved I still had a signal. From the lights on inside the building, we clearly still had power, too, though the Observatory was also on a huge underground generator which would act as backup should the power get cut.
I frowned. This was what was confusing me. We’d always been taught that in the event of an alien invasion, the first things they’d hit would be power and communications, anything to disrupt us from fighting back, and yet that hadn’t happened. Was it possible the asteroids had simply been asteroids—perhaps ones from a different s
olar system that behaved in a way we hadn’t yet come across, making them untraceable? I made a mental note to talk all this through with Casey just as soon as we got inside.
I hit my caller log and redialed Casey’s number. I spoke as soon as he answered. “I’m right outside. You need to open up.”
“Got it,” was his only reply, and then he was gone again.
Mere seconds passed, and a hum came from somewhere deep in the mechanics of the metal shutters, and they began to lift. I didn’t even wait for them to be head height before grabbing Molly with one hand and Tara with the other, ducking beneath, and entering the building.
I blinked in the bright light and spotted Aleandro’s huge bulk working the shutters, bringing them back down again now that we were inside.
My entire body finally relaxed at the sight of him. “Aleandro!”
“Camille. Thank God you’re all right.”
We moved in synchronization, both of us taking steps toward each other, meeting in the middle. I flung my arms around his broad neck, and his arms wrapped around my waist, squeezing me tight, squishing me between his biceps. It was a brief hug, but it was as though he’d squeezed the tension out of my body, immediately making me feel better.
We were still work colleagues, despite the circumstances, so even though I would have happily stayed like that, my face pressed against his muscular chest, allowing him to surround me with his bulk, I forced myself to release him and step away.
“This is my sister, Molly,” I told him, remembering the two women I’d brought with me. “And my best friend, Tara.” I introduced him, “And this is Aleandro Levy, head of security for our Observatory.”
Aleandro ducked his head in a nod. “Ladies,” he said. Then he turned his attention back to me. “How bad is it out there, Camille? Some of the reports we’re getting are unbelievable.”
I bit my lower lip. “It’s bad. Let’s go and find the others, and I’ll tell you all everything.”
Of course, I knew where I was going, but I followed him anyway. There were others who worked in the building, too, people flitting between offices, giving me anxious nods as they went. The Observatory was never unmanned, even during the night shift.
We took the stairs rather than the elevator, Molly and Tara following close behind. We pushed through the door at the top and stepped out into the glass-domed part of the Observatory where my desk was located.
Mike spotted me first, giving me a tight smile and crossing the room toward me. “Camille, thank God you made it safely.” His blue eyes, which contrasted so well with their fringe of dark lashes, narrowed slightly, and then his gaze flicked up and down my body as though he was checking to see if I was hurt.
“Thanks, it’s good to see you.” My voice cracked as I spoke. I’d been trying to be strong, but after going through what we’d just been through, it wasn’t easy.
“Ah, shit, come here.” He put out his arms, and I stepped into them, allowed him to fold me into his body. Mike was more my height, and I turned my face to press my nose and mouth against his neck, inhaling the warm, comforting scent of him. He stroked my hair. “I’m so relieved you’re okay, Camille.” He spoke against the side of my head. “I was worried sick about you. We all were.”
“I’m here now.” I untangled myself from his embrace. We had work to do.
Casey was at his desk, his head bent over his computer, ever studious. “How the fuck did we miss this, Camille?” he said without turning to look up at me. “It doesn’t make sense.”
I stopped beside him and put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. He reached up with his own hand and covered my fingers with his.
Mike stepped in beside us. “It wasn’t just us. No one predicted the strike. I’ve been in touch with a number of different Observatories, and not a single one saw this coming.”
I glanced over at him. “A number of different Observatories? Does this mean whatever has happened here isn’t localized to Las Vegas?”
Mike’s lips thinned, and he shook his head. “No, it’s not.”
Casey let go of my fingers and scrubbed his hand across his eyes but didn’t look at me. A horrible sinking sensation dragged at my gut, and though I didn’t want to know the answer, I knew I had to ask the question. “How far is this spread?”
Casey put his hand over his mouth as though he wanted to hold back the words. “It’s everywhere.”
I widened my eyes. “What do you mean, everywhere? Like all over the United States?”
Mike shook his head. “No. All over the world.”
Chapter Five
What he had said began to sink in.
“Oh my God.”
My mind spun at the thought of this being spread across the globe. How many lives had been lost in the past few hours since the first strike had started? It had been nighttime for us, so people hadn’t been in office buildings and had been home in bed, but in other time zones it would have been the middle of the day—cars on the roads, people at work, and children in school. I couldn’t even fathom the amount of pain and terror and loss that had happened across our globe in the last few hours.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Molly and Tara were standing together, holding each other’s hands. They seemed as terrified of this news as I felt.
“It’s everywhere?” my sister asked me. “So there’s no place to go?”
I wished I could tell her something different, to try to reassure her, but I didn’t know anything more than she did. “I’m sure we don’t know about everywhere yet. The world is a big place.” I shot Mike a glare to tell him to stay quiet for the moment. My sister was an adult, but I still wanted to protect her.
“We’re safe here,” Casey said, spinning in his chair to face us. “We have plenty of supplies, and this place is reinforced. No one is going to come to any harm while we’re here.”
Molly frowned at me. “But what about all those other people out there? Shouldn’t we try to help them somehow?”
My heart tugged, knowing deep down she was right, but it was impossible. “Molly, if we open this place up to people, it’ll be overrun in the space of an hour. People will loot, and the food will be gone, and if anyone tries to interfere with our work, we might not be able to figure out what’s happened or how to prevent it from happening again. I understand what you’re thinking and feeling right now, but we have to think of the bigger picture.”
I turned to Tara for support, but she wasn’t even looking at me. Her teeth were working at her lower lip, and her frown matched Molly’s. There was blood at her temple—something I hadn’t noticed before—and gray dust clung to her hair and clothing.
I felt wretched. I wanted to comfort and take care of my friend and sister, but I also needed to work.
“The cafeteria is down in the basement,” I told them. “Why don’t you go and get coffee. I’ll be down when I get a minute.”
Tara finally lifted her chin and nodded. “Okay.” She put her arm around Molly’s shoulders. “What if someone questions us?”
“Just tell them to come and speak to me if there’s a problem, but it’ll be fine, I promise. A lot of people work here, and there are different people in and out all the time. No one is going to question you.”
She nodded and guided my sister away.
I exhaled a sigh and ran my hand over my face.
“I expect we’re going to have more people here soon,” Aleandro said when they were out of earshot.
I turned to him. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve got word that the government is sending its best men from each of its departments out to their local Observatories to help figure this out. I’ve been told to watch out for them and let them inside.”
My stomach dropped. “Great. That’s just what we need. Officials here, trying to tell us how to do our jobs.”
Mike propped himself up against Casey’s desk and folded his arms. “I guess they think we didn’t do such a great job in predicting the strike,
so they’re bound to send in some heavies.”
“Shit.”
I didn’t want other people here, though I guessed it was going to be inevitable. Everyone was going to want to know what was happening.
“When do you think they’ll get here?” I asked Aleandro.
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “No idea, but within the next twenty-four hours. I guess it depends on how far they have to come and how badly infrastructure has been damaged.”
I twisted my lips. “The roads were pretty messed up when I drove through. If they’ve got access to aircraft—helicopters or small planes—they’ll be more likely to travel by air, which means they will be here faster.”
Casey spun his chair back around and nudged his glasses higher up his face. “Then we’d better get on with this before they get here.”
I knew what he was saying—whoever the officials were heading our way, they might easily decide we weren’t fit for the job and kick us out. None of us wanted that.
Casey got to work, pulling up all the data from the previous evening. Me, Mike, and Aleandro hovered over his shoulder, watching while his fingers flew over the keyboard. I could go to my own computer and pull up the same info, but it seemed like a better idea that we put all our heads together.
“So, this is last night,” Casey said eventually, clicking between multiple screens. He pointed to the illuminated dots. “These are the asteroids I spotted at twenty-one-oh-seven. Do you remember I said they were traveling too fast, and they just appeared as though from nowhere?”
I nodded in agreement, remembering what he’d said. “And I told you they didn’t look like they were going to come anywhere near us, so not to worry about it.” Christ, how wrong I’d been.
“That’s right. Then at twenty-one-twenty-four, they completely vanish from our radar. I assumed they’d simply broken up, too small for us to even pick up on.”
He clicked forward a number of screens. “Then at oh-two-forty-eight, they suddenly reappear again, only now they’re right on top of us. By this point, it’s too late to even warn anyone. Minutes later, the strikes begin.”
Their Invasion- Planet Athion Page 3
