“I hope it helps. But people will believe what they want to believe.”
Martin shook Kaden’s hand. “I love Crunchy Nut Flakes.”
Kaden laughed. “Me too.”
He still had a smile on his face as he went down in the lift. Right until the door slid open on the second floor and Harris stepped in. He didn’t look surprised to see him so Kaden assumed Malcolm had blabbed. There were bruises under both Harris’ eyes and his nose looked swollen.
Don’t stand near him.
Kaden moved back.
Harris pressed the button to close the door. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought the article for your boss to read.”
“You were supposed to give it to me.”
“I never wanted to see you again.”
“You broke my nose.”
“And we’re still not even.” The door opened and Kaden stepped out.
“No, we’re not, you little shit,” Harris hissed behind him, but he didn’t follow as Kaden left the building.
His heart was racing as he walked across the car park.Did you detect anything?
Head into the woods.
If anyone was watching, he hoped this looked as if he was taking a short cut to the main road.
Left.
Kaden followed Joe’s directions until he told him to stop.
Somewhere here.
“How big is it?”
Kaden scanned the surrounding area. If something even moderately small had crash-landed at speed, he’d have thought the ground would have been disturbed.
Ten paces left.
Kaden swallowed hard when he saw the hole in the ground. Had some part of him still hoped the whole thing was in his head? Yes—just a little.
The hole was roughly a metre across and a metre deep, its edges ringed with snapped branches and churned earth. He followed the damage upward, noting how many limbs had been broken as the craft came down. He hadn’t known what to expect inside the crater, but it wasn’t…this. Just a scattering of blue-grey metal fragments, dull and uneven, their colour shiftingsubtly when he tilted his head and caught them at different angles.
Pick up the pieces. Put them in the bag.
Kaden should have thought about bringing gloves. Holding his breath, he nudged one of the larger fragments with his fingertips. Nothing happened. No heat, no shock, no sudden pain. After a moment, he picked it up properly and dropped it into the plastic bag he’d stuffed into his backpack. One by one, he gathered the rest. The bag was heavy, but he was surprised it wasn’t heavier.
“Any sign of life?” he whispered.
It felt impossible that this wreckage had once held beings like Joe. Then again, he had no idea what Joe had looked like. Winged but…
Bend down and examine the ground around the impact site.
Kaden crouched. “What are you looking for?”
