“Because, thus far, you’ve only witnessed their savage conquering mode,” Aquarius interjected. “Look at me. To see me fighting, you’d never imagine I’m actually more skilled with a keyboard.”
“I guess.” She agreed, and yet the thought wouldn’t leave. Something about these aliens and their advanced technology made no sense.
“Maybe we should give Blue some raw materials and see what he does,” Asterion suggested.
“Give it the ability to build itself a weapon or a lockpick?” She snorted. “I don’t think so. Tower can’t see it at all, and the last thing we need is for it to get loose and rampage. Most of us are ill-equipped to take it on.”
“Wait, Tower can’t see it? For real? How is this the first I’m hearing of it?” Aquarius exclaimed.
She offered a sheepish shrug. “I didn’t realize it until after you left and must have forgot to put it in my report.”
“Damn. I’d better let Aries know. He might want to install some detection systems.”
Off went Aquarius, and she sighed. “I hope this doesn’t become a habit.”
“Running off without saying good-bye?” Asterion asked.
“Thinking they can pop in to visit anytime,” she grumbled. She didn’t socialize. Ever.
So explain why she ended up outside Grayson’s door that evening.
CHAPTER 9
Grayson metup with a stressed-looking Aries in the training room.
“I trust you’ve been made comfortable,” the man stated.
“Yeah. Place is kind of daunting, but cool.”
“It will take time to adjust, and I apologize for abandoning you. Usually, a new recruit would be paired with a seasoned warrior to show them the ropes.”
“Understandable you have no one to spare with all the shit going down. Have the aliens been eliminated?” he asked, limbering up since Aries had begun stretching.
“Some, yes, but the fact that the ones we initially killed managed to heal did cause problems.” Aries shook his head. “We know now to burn them to ash.”
“You heard about the one Leila accidentally grew from a chunk of flesh?”
The reminder darkened Aries’ expression. “Yes, which adds a difficult element. If we miss a single piece when cleaning an area, there is a possibility the threat returns.”
“Leila’s working on finding their weakness.”
“Which will be needed. The varied locations have us spread thin, which makes containing with minimal loss of life difficult.”
“Surely the military are able to help.”
“They are trying. However, their usual method of going in guns blazing will cause issue, as they are not fire-cleansing the kill areas.”
“Meaning they’re creating little blobs that will grow into new aliens. Can’t you tell them?”
“I’ve notified my contacts. However, they are somewhat hamstrung with the information because it is hard to convince others of the veracity until they see it for themselves.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Grayson asked.
“Help us fight. Speaking of which, let’s see what skills you already have.”
They spent the next few hours sparring, starting with hand-to-hand, where Grayson tried his best, but Aries proved to be faster and trickier than Grayson’s usual opponents. Next on to firearms, where Grayson missed most of the targets. As for wielding a sword, or even a dagger, the other man proved too quick, and Grayson spent most of the time blocking blows and rarely managing a hit in return.
Still, by the end of their training, Aries nodded. “Not bad. You’re better already than most new recruits.”
