“We need to try to avoid escalating things.”
“I agree,” Veirn said. “But much will depend on the reaction of the inhabitants.”
“And what the alien entity is doing with its advantage.”
Their sensors couldn’t see through the alien miasma, which was troubling. What was happening down there?
Riina felt urgency rise. She turned and strode toward the bridge.
“We need to get going,” she said.
11
If it hadn’t been for the two moons, the darkness would have been eerily intense, though Miles’ night vision was slowly returning after the brilliant flashes from what he presumed were weapons.
“What just happened?” Lira asked, her voice a whisper, as if the aliens might overhear them.
“I think it was an EM pulse,” he whispered back. Okay, he was a bit freaked out, too. “Harold?”
Had the EM pulse taken the robot down with the rest of the electronics? It was starting to seep into his consciousness just how very hosed they were. If their comms were down, their flyers most likely were, too.
They’d brought emergency supplies in their flyer, but how hard would it be to access the interior with the electronics out?
And—bigger question—now that the aliens had put out the lights, what did they intend to do with their advantage?
“I am in the process of rebooting my systems,” Harold said, its voice back to its most robotic yet.
“How bad were you hit?” Miles asked. He hadn’t been sure the robot could answer him, and it wasn’t over the comms. Somehow, in the scramble for cover, it had landed next to him. Or had joined him? And where was Lira’s father?
“I experienced some disruptions before I deployed counter measures.”
Miles hadn’t known there were counter measures for an EM pulse. He resisted the urge to find out more. They had larger problems to resolve.
Problem one. Depending on how badly their communications were damaged, he had no way to get in contact with the Quendala.
Problem two. They were a considerable distance from Lira’s house, and their flyers were most likely out of commission.
Problem three. Their emergency supplies were inside the flyers and possibly inaccessible, though if Harold was able to recover it was possible it could break into their flyer.
Problem four. If the planet was experiencing an alien invasion, he only had an electronic—and probably disabled—ray gun to defend them with.
And what was that thing that had seemed to suck the Vorthari right out of the ground? It hadn’t been a gentle extraction either.
That didn’t seem like a hostile act. But the EM pulse? That did seem hostile. Unless it had to do with the Vorthari? Were they somehow affected by electronic signals?
He didn’t know what the nanites had done to neutralize the Vorthari they’d encountered at the southern pole.
There was, he admitted rather ruefully, a lot he didn’t know. And it wasn’t all just because he was a geologist and far out of his scientific lane.
“What do we do now?” Lira’s voice had a tremble to it.
She’d had to process a lot since her first contact with Miles and Harold. He’d gone in knowing the planet was inhabited by—to him—aliens, and he couldn’t say he was loving everything that had happened.
Except for meeting her. He turned and their gazes met. Okay, worth it. But still stressful.
“So,” Lira’s father’s voice came from the other side of Lira, “these aren’t your people?”
There was, Miles noted, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
