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When I’d seen her ability for the first time, I had been surprised. I’d heard whispers of the possibility that humans were a special species and that our DNA could intercalate within theirs, but I’d thought it was simply gossip. Now, I was becoming more and more sure that it wasn’t rumor, but truth.
I was hesitant to discuss it with the other Vakarrans, but I finally sat down with Ryder, a man I’d known a long time and had fought by his side in many invasions over the years. He was still the reigning commander of the Second Battalion, and from what I could tell, the leader of this new settlement in the city. I hadn’t expected to hear what he told me. It confirmed my suspicions about what was happening to Danika.
He told me that Alaina had picked up the ability to speak to them using only her mind, a trait that I had thought only Vakarrans could take part in.
“From our research, it seems it can present in various ways, from telepathy, to camouflage capabilities, to an extreme elevation of the senses. It’s all pretty hush-hush and only available in the recesses of the dark web, but it’s there. We’ve kept it quiet though, just to keep Alaina safe. I recommend you do as well,” Ryder explained.
“There’s one more thing I’ve noticed about Danika, in addition to her eyes and the ability to camouflage,” I began.
“Go on,” he replied.
“When she goes into a stealth mode, hiding within her surroundings, I can’t sense her at all, as I can with my comrades. It’s like she disappears entirely,” I explained with a snap of my fingers.
I’d only picked up on that anomaly over the past few days and I thought it was especially strange and warranted further observation.
“Is that right? That’s incredibly useful,” Ryder mused. After a long moment, he turned back to me. “Keep that knowledge under wraps. If it proves useful and a situation arises for it, you may need to rely on her for her strength.”
He was right, but I would be damned if my woman would be put in danger because of it.
I tensed my jaw and he lifted his hands in defense.
“You protect your woman as you see fit, Roan. I won’t step on your toes,” he replied.
I nodded. I had known that, but there was something about Danika that turned my calmness into something dangerous and protective wherever she was concerned. It made me into a man who relied solely on instinct, rather than logic.
I took a deep breath and shook my shoulders.
“No harm done, Ryder,” I finally said.
“I know what it’s like. I abandoned the Vakarrans for Alaina, just like you did. There’s something special about these Stryk
e sisters. Something very special indeed,” Ryder replied, his blue eyes flashing with emotion. He moved to stand up as I digested his words.
“Come. I want to show you our forces. We’ve dubbed ourselves New Atlanta, a settlement that’s growing every day. Davon is fantastic with tech and has sent out messages throughout every possible interstellar line in space and aliens have been arriving in droves. Many Vakarran exiles have come, under cover of darkness and through the use of illegal invisible shields only sold on the black market. The support we’ve received has been unexpected, but much needed,” he explained.
I stood and followed him. Using the elevator, we descended to the basement level, underneath the streets and walked some distance to find an underground bunker, guarded by a very heavy sliding steel door. To the side was a square box with numerical buttons.
“Once we arrived, we commissioned the construction of this place, under the dark of night. Materials were plentiful here in the city and we even found some sort of abandoned government facility with some tech that we hadn’t seen the humans ever use before. Some of it was based on some early alien technology, so with a few upgrades, we were able to use their research for our gain,” he said proudly as he showed me a weapon room.
He pointed upward and explained that they’d been able to generate a ceiling that was impervious to any bombs the Vakarrans might drop on us, including ancient radioactive technology all the way to the newer hydrogen atom and antimatter bombs that our military might use.
“Is it similar to a spaceship shield?” I asked.
“Yes. It expands for a diameter of two miles when on baseline energy and for four miles when activated. It uses energy directly from the Earth’s core to power itself,” he said.
“Very useful,” I added.
“Indeed,” he smirked.
“And the code for entry?” I asked, suspicious that such a thing could be shared.
“Different for every member of the settlement. The buttons can also scan for fingerprints at the same time, so if they don’t match, the code is put on high alert and guards are dispatched immediately to the entry,” he explained.
“Good,” I replied.
Next, he toured me through a bedding chamber, complete with hundreds of beds.
“Now, we’re stationed all over the city. Since we’re growing at such a phenomenal rate, we’re working on a second location, similar to this one, but we’re still in the building stages. It’s not complete yet,” he explained.
