Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2) by Anna Hackett Page A
Authors: Anna Hackett
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takeoff.”
“Cruz! Where have you been? Marcus and Holmes have been driving everyone crazy.”
“We…ran into a little trouble. We can confirm the human prisoners are at the location.”
Elle hissed in a breath. “Okay. Good. The other recon teams didn’t find anything.”
The Darkswift rose into the air. Santha watched the ground below get smaller and smaller, then they shot forward. Moments later they were heading west.
Away from the raptor base.
Away from the humans who needed their help.
Santha leaned forward until her forehead rested on the console. A helpless churn of anger and sorrow burned through her.
For the first time ever, she was glad Kareena had died. She would never, ever have wanted her sister to end up like that little girl.
Opening her eyes, Santha turned her head to look at the man beside her. The heads-up display cast a green glow over his hard features.
And for the first time in an eternity, she was glad she wasn’t alone.
***
“You’re got to be fucking kidding me.” The words exploded out of Marcus.
Holmes stood nearby, face grim.
Cruz had just finished debriefing them on their recon mission and the raptors’ experimentation.
He’d uploaded the images he’d taken to the comp and they flashed up on the screen. Beside him, he felt Santha tense.
The face of the little girl was like that of a ghost in the murky light of the lab. But it was enough to see the horrors going on behind her and the trauma reflected in the girl’s blank green eyes.
Marcus cursed some more and Gabe, Shaw and Claudia joined him. Tears shimmered in Elle’s eyes and Holmes looked ready to hit someone.
“Christ,” Roth muttered. Squad Nine’s leader had his arms crossed over his broad chest and his gaze glued to the screen.
Looking at that girl’s face took Cruz back to another time, when he’d seen a room full of horrors and children being hurt. Ragged emotions were a storm in his gut.
But it was Santha he was most worried about.
She’d barely said a word on the way back to base, not even as they’d landed the Darkswift. Her face was scarily blank, but he felt the tension pouring off her. Something dark and ugly was brewing inside her, feeding on her thirst for revenge.
He was afraid of just what she’d risk to see it through.
Cruz half listened as the others scrolled through the images and stopped to discuss the alien they wrestled with in the park.
“It looks like a velociraptor.” Elle tapping at the comp controls.
More images appeared, showing a dinosaur skeleton of an animal that looked similar to what had attacked them.
“Here’s a rendering of what they thought the velociraptor would have looked like.”
Cruz straightened. “Shit. That’s eerily similar.” A feathered dinosaur with huge claws on its back feet. The raptor version was a little larger.
“How many more of these are there?” Holmes asked.
“Impossible to know,” Elle said.
“What will we call it?” This from Shaw.
“A velox,” Elle said. “Velociraptor was named from the Latin word velox, meaning swift or rapid.”
“Well, it was damn fast,” Santha said. “Velox works.”
Damn, Cruz really didn’t like the calm face she was putting on.
“All right,” Holmes said. “We’ll plan a rescue mission. But I want an airtight plan. Whatever the raptors are doing, they aren’t going to want to lose their test subjects. We have to have every move planned out, with a plan B and plan C mapped out as well, in case things go bad.”
“We’ll need two squads to go in,” Marcus said.
“As well as a medical team,” Elle added.
“We’ll need the best.” Marcus stared at the screen, his muscled arms crossed. “Hell Squad and Squad Nine.”
“Hell, yeah,” Roth said.
“Nine have been out working on base defenses,” Holmes said. “And Steele, your team and Roth have been out on recon. I need everyone to get some rest, then in the morning we’ll start planning.”
Santha was already
“Cruz! Where have you been? Marcus and Holmes have been driving everyone crazy.”
“We…ran into a little trouble. We can confirm the human prisoners are at the location.”
Elle hissed in a breath. “Okay. Good. The other recon teams didn’t find anything.”
The Darkswift rose into the air. Santha watched the ground below get smaller and smaller, then they shot forward. Moments later they were heading west.
Away from the raptor base.
Away from the humans who needed their help.
Santha leaned forward until her forehead rested on the console. A helpless churn of anger and sorrow burned through her.
For the first time ever, she was glad Kareena had died. She would never, ever have wanted her sister to end up like that little girl.
Opening her eyes, Santha turned her head to look at the man beside her. The heads-up display cast a green glow over his hard features.
And for the first time in an eternity, she was glad she wasn’t alone.
***
“You’re got to be fucking kidding me.” The words exploded out of Marcus.
Holmes stood nearby, face grim.
Cruz had just finished debriefing them on their recon mission and the raptors’ experimentation.
He’d uploaded the images he’d taken to the comp and they flashed up on the screen. Beside him, he felt Santha tense.
The face of the little girl was like that of a ghost in the murky light of the lab. But it was enough to see the horrors going on behind her and the trauma reflected in the girl’s blank green eyes.
Marcus cursed some more and Gabe, Shaw and Claudia joined him. Tears shimmered in Elle’s eyes and Holmes looked ready to hit someone.
“Christ,” Roth muttered. Squad Nine’s leader had his arms crossed over his broad chest and his gaze glued to the screen.
Looking at that girl’s face took Cruz back to another time, when he’d seen a room full of horrors and children being hurt. Ragged emotions were a storm in his gut.
But it was Santha he was most worried about.
She’d barely said a word on the way back to base, not even as they’d landed the Darkswift. Her face was scarily blank, but he felt the tension pouring off her. Something dark and ugly was brewing inside her, feeding on her thirst for revenge.
He was afraid of just what she’d risk to see it through.
Cruz half listened as the others scrolled through the images and stopped to discuss the alien they wrestled with in the park.
“It looks like a velociraptor.” Elle tapping at the comp controls.
More images appeared, showing a dinosaur skeleton of an animal that looked similar to what had attacked them.
“Here’s a rendering of what they thought the velociraptor would have looked like.”
Cruz straightened. “Shit. That’s eerily similar.” A feathered dinosaur with huge claws on its back feet. The raptor version was a little larger.
“How many more of these are there?” Holmes asked.
“Impossible to know,” Elle said.
“What will we call it?” This from Shaw.
“A velox,” Elle said. “Velociraptor was named from the Latin word velox, meaning swift or rapid.”
“Well, it was damn fast,” Santha said. “Velox works.”
Damn, Cruz really didn’t like the calm face she was putting on.
“All right,” Holmes said. “We’ll plan a rescue mission. But I want an airtight plan. Whatever the raptors are doing, they aren’t going to want to lose their test subjects. We have to have every move planned out, with a plan B and plan C mapped out as well, in case things go bad.”
“We’ll need two squads to go in,” Marcus said.
“As well as a medical team,” Elle added.
“We’ll need the best.” Marcus stared at the screen, his muscled arms crossed. “Hell Squad and Squad Nine.”
“Hell, yeah,” Roth said.
“Nine have been out working on base defenses,” Holmes said. “And Steele, your team and Roth have been out on recon. I need everyone to get some rest, then in the morning we’ll start planning.”
Santha was already
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