Alien Storm
Authors: A. G. Taylor
ALIEN
STORM
“Hey, look, it's been great,” the biker stammered. “But me and my crew didn't sign up to fight a war⦔
Bright held up his hand, palm forward, fingers splayed. “Then you should go.”
There was a dull thud as the biker exploded in a puff of red-tinted mist. Eco wrinkled his nose at the burning smell that had filled the air. Without its rider, the Harley toppled over onto its side. A scrap of the biker's leather jacket floated through the air and landed on the rear wheel. The other two bikers jumped off their machines and stumbled backwards, away from the major and Eco
.
“Does anyone else want to disappear?” Bright asked mildly
.
About the Author
A.G. TAYLOR was born in New Zealand and grew up in East Anglia. He studied English Literature at Sheffield University and teaching at Cambridge. For the last ten years he has worked as a teacher in England, South Korea, Poland and Australia. He currently lives in Melbourne with his partner, her whippet, his Italian greyhound and numerous computer games consoles.
ALIEN
STORM
A.G. TAYLOR
For my parents
First published in the UK in 2010 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85
Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England.
www.usborne.com
epub edition © 2010
Copyright © A.G. Taylor, 2010
The right of A.G. Taylor to be identified as the author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
The name Usborne and the devices
are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or used in any way except as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or loaned or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. This is a work of fiction.
The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781409532033
Batch no. 02287-2
Contents
Book 3: Enemy Invasion Prologue
The nightmare had visited Sarah Williams every night for a week.
In her dream she was trapped in a burning plane, desperately trying to fight her way through people towards the exit â except the exit was a swirling mass of desert sand that jumped out to engulf her. It was when the red dust filled her mouth and nose, suffocating her, that she awoke, sitting bolt upright in bed and staring into the darkness. The dreams she shared with Robert, her brother, were growing in intensity. Breathing deeply, Sarah brought herself back to reality. She knew she would have little sleep for the rest of the night.
Sarah eased herself from under the duvet, slipped on a dressing gown and walked barefoot across the cool tiles of the bedroom. She brushed her long, dark hair back with her hands and fixed it with a tie from her pocket as she headed for the door. Sarah Williams was fifteen years old, but she had more to worry about than taking GCSEs or making friends â during the last six months she had become the leader of a group of kids on the run. If someone had told her a year before where she would be, Sarah would have laughed in their face.
How quickly things change.
In the corridor outside, Sarah paused at the doorway of the boys' room. Nestor, Octavio and Wei were sleeping soundly, but Robert was not there. Looking round, she saw the outline of his head silhouetted against the balcony window in the lounge.
Although the late summer day had been unusually hot, a cool change had come to Melbourne that evening and now the night air had a real chill to it. As Sarah stepped out onto the balcony, the sound of a baby crying in the tower block opposite carried across the deserted car park. Robert looked round briefly and then back to the glittering view of the night city. He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed kid of ten. When he smiled, his eyes sparkled with humour, but that night his expression was serious.
Sorry, I guess I woke you
, Robert told her, although he said nothing aloud. Communicating with their minds had become second nature to them over the previous few months.
You were dreaming about the plane crash
, Sarah replied. She put her arm around his shoulder and gave him a squeeze to show it was okay. He smiled, but then his expression darkened again.
What's it like?
he asked.
Living someone else's nightmares, I mean
.
For a moment, Sarah didn't answer. Six months before, when they were just coming to terms with the death of their mother, the plane carrying them to Australia had crashed in the outback. Like thousands of others, their lives had been changed for ever by the meteorite that hit the desert that day â creating an electromagnetic pulse that knocked their plane out of the sky.
But the meteorite also carried with it a visitor from outer space: the fall virus.
Sarah and Robert had been among the lucky ones â rather than falling into the coma that adults exposed to the alien virus suffered, they had been gifted with extraordinary powers as a side-effect. Now, along with four other kids, they were on the run from anyone who might exploit them because of their talents. Sarah's enhanced psychic ability meant that she shared the dreams and nightmares of her brother, the person closest to her.
It's not so bad
, she reassured him.
At least I know you're not going through it alone
.
I sense you there
, Robert said with a nod. Then he looked away, out over the city again.
You'd never leave us, would you?
Sarah frowned.
Leave you? Why would you thinkâ
“Because you don't need us,” Robert interrupted, speaking aloud for the first time, voice thin and strained. In the city-light Sarah saw tears forming in his eyes. “With your powers you could go anywhere or be anyone. All we're doing is holding you back.”
He fell silent. For a while neither of them said anything at all, but Sarah didn't move her arm from around his shoulder. The power she'd been gifted by the fall virus was the ability to read and even control the minds of others, so the thoughts and motivations of those around her were often an open book. In the months since the change, she'd almost forgotten what it was like to be unsure of people around her â to not know their plans or ambitions. She gently pulled her brother round and looked into his eyes.
“I'll never leave you,” she replied softly. “That's a promise.”
Robert finally cracked a smile. Sarah patted his arm.
Now, it's time you got some sleep
.
Robert nodded.
Thanks, sis. You always make me feel better
.
She was about to say something in reply, but Robert disappeared in that instant â his own special ability. Teleporting from one place to another around the apartment was second nature to him, but it could be disconcerting to her and others. She made a mental note to remind him about it again as she stepped back into the lounge.
On her way through the apartment, Sarah looked into the boys' room. Robert was already back in his bed. She closed the door quietly and returned to her room.
What's going on?
Louise, her nine-year-old room-mate, asked sleepily as Sarah climbed into her bed.
Are we okay?
Sarah pulled the covers over herself and said softly, “Go back to sleep. We're all fine.”
Louise smiled and turned over. Sarah sensed the younger girl's thoughts overtaken by sleep once more, but as she had expected, it was a long time before she slept herself.
We're okay
,
we're fine
, she thought as she stared at the ceiling, but it was impossible to escape the dark feeling that had come over her during the past few weeks.
Something bad was coming.
And if they didn't all get out of Australia soon, none of them would be safeâ¦
Dr. Rachel Andersen removed her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. She hadn't slept much that night, but she hadn't slept much at all since being made head of HIDRA AsiaâPacific, the international task-force in charge of containing the fall virus in the region. Rachel's background was as a scientist, but that morning she had to deal with the military operations of HIDRA â something that always left her feeling drained. She stifled a yawn as a communications screen opened on her computer desktop. In the window, Commander Craig appeared. He was the young officer who was in charge of HIDRA's military operations in Australia. He kept his fair hair slightly longer than the ordinary soldiers â a privilege of rank â and was dressed in the black and gold uniform of the HIDRA elite.
“Dr. Andersen?” he snapped with typical military bluntness. “Are you there, sir?”
Rachel turned on her camera. “Yes, Commander. Sitrep, please.”
Sitrep
â military terminology for “situations report”. She was getting used to throwing a few bits of army jargon into conversations â it seemed to make the soldiers more comfortable with her. As a scientist, it was taking a long time to win their respect, but she was getting there. And at least she had persuaded them to stop calling her “Colonel Andersen”. She had been given the honorary rank after taking over HIDRA AsiaâPacific to sort out the mess left by Colonel Moss.