Cloud Invasion: R-D 2 (R-D #2)(58)

"Good. All the mice in one trap," he said.

"Not all. I'd feel better if they were in one trap. The big rat is still out there somewhere."

"This I know," he agreed. "I want his throat in my hands."

"Honey, that may be too close for my liking," I responded. "Just shoot him from a distance, all right?"

"Whatever you want."

"That's what I want, if I can't get to him first."

"You don't think he might be bullet-proof?" Nathan asked.

"If he were bullet-proof, I think we'd have seen him before now," Ilya growled. "A vulnerable man hides. He has a weakness."

"I think Corinne terrified him," Nick observed. "You see he did his damnedest to get her out of the way? The rest of us were just icing on the cake."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I told Nick. "I just don't like the fact that he felt comfortable killing so many people just to get to me."

"That's why it's prudent to stay dead until he declares himself," Maye said.

"I'm beginning to wonder when that will be," Richard broke in. "We have no idea who else he may target-now that he has discredited Colonel Hunter. Word has it that the President is searching for Hunter's replacement-according to the media."

Ilya had some choice words to say in his native language, which expressed his feelings on the sensationalism-hungry media succinctly. I ducked my head to hide my smile. He didn't miss it, though. Pulling my face up with a finger under my chin, he kissed me decisively.

What did he say? Maye asked.

He called them sphincter-sucking deviants, I replied.

Remind me not to make him mad, she struggled to hide a smile.

"Opal and I may do some hunting tonight," Nick announced. "Up the mountain."

"But what if," Maye began.

"They won't recognize us," Opal said.

"It's time to show you," Nick agreed. "Don't be shocked-these are my favorite jeans, he said, unbuttoning them and letting them drop before coming out of his T-shirt.

"He has to get naked?" Nathan asked.

"Just hold on," I touched Nathan's shoulder. It happened in a blink. Nick's underwear was torn to shreds and dropped beneath the huge wolf he'd become.

Opal, with a huge grin, also changed.

A huge version of a velociraptor continued to grin at all of us.





Chapter 13

Corinne

"That explains a lot," Maye breathed, her eyes wide with wonder. Nick stood as tall as her shoulder as he stretched and yawned before lolling his tongue in a wolfish version of a chuckle.

You knew this? Ilya's voice sounded in my head. He didn't appear to be happy.

Their secret to tell, not mine, I replied. If they meet up with anybody tonight that's on the enemy list, it'll suck to be them-the enemy, that is.

What if they are in trouble? Ilya asked.

"I'll know," I said aloud.

"Cori will know," Opal was back to herself. "Just have your weapons ready if she says we're in trouble."

"What weapons will I have, cabbage?"

"Whatever you want," I shrugged. "Just tell me and it's yours."

"Just remember that a loaded rocket launcher weighs almost as much as she does," Opal said. "In case that's on your list."

"I can handle my cabbage easily; however a rocket launcher is not on my wish list."

"Let's eat before we talk big guns," I said.

"Good idea," Nick said, becoming human again and lifting his jeans off the ground. Clothed or naked, he had nothing to be ashamed of.

*

Ilya

I wanted to be furious with Corinne for not telling me about Opal and Nick. After thinking it over, however, I appreciated her willingness to protect them, because she also protected me with the fiercest loyalty.

It helped, too, that she provided our small compound with enough weapons to fend off most attacks-I worried that the creatures at the mountaintop would be set on us, should the enemy learn how close we were.

While I didn't ask for a rocket launcher, Opal did. Corinne equipped all of us who were able to handle weapons expertly, including Richard Farrell.

The last thing she gave me I hadn't asked for-it was a type of pistol I'd never seen before.

It appeared before her instead of in her hands, like all the other weapons.

"Reach out and take it," she told me. I lifted it from whatever energy held it in mid-air. "It will only fire for you, now," she said, visibly relaxing.

"What is this? Something experimental?" I asked, looking the weapon over.

"No. It's alien technology."

"Where are the bullets?"

"There aren't any. It's solar powered and fires blasts. Be careful-it'll bring down a helicopter with no trouble."

"If I shoot a person?"

"There won't be much left," she explained.

"Very nice," I handled the weapon with new respect.

"I suggest using it as a last resort. If it falls into any hands except yours and they attempt to use it, it will explode, taking them with it."

"Impressive."