The three soldiers were all wearing the same camouflaged pattern combat uniform, with the German flag stitched on the shoulder.

Their surprise at seeing my eyes glowing dissipated after only a moment, and two of them turned back to harassing my sister. The third, however, started walking towards me, jabbering something in German.

Fuck. This. Guy.

He said something again that I didn’t understand, and laughed derisively.

Casey flashed past me, a furious blur, uttering a vehement reply in the same tongue. She reached out to grab the guy’s arm, but he batted her hand away.

Now that this prick was distracted by my girlfriend, an opportunity opened for me to rescue my sister and her furry charge. I danced around the scuffle, and set my sights on the two that were remaining.

“What are you going to do, little girl?” one of them teased, sneering at Sarah in heavily-accented English. He was stretching his arm out to touch Sabina again, but my sister twisted a little more to keep her out of his grasp.

The other soldier sounded like he was jeering and egging on his companion, but I didn’t speak the language enough to know for sure.

“Don’t fucking ignore me, arseholes!” I screamed.

As I lunged forward, I reached out for the second of the two, grasping his upper arm firmly with both hands.

With a burst of inwardly directed energy, I cemented my feet to the floor and heaved him backwards. The satisfying sound of his uniform ripping a few stitches accompanied the thud of him tumbling into the dirt behind me.

Before the first one could shout in alarm, I had him gripped by the collar. My hold on him was like iron as I yanked him towards me, and away from Sarah, until our faces were only centimetres apart. The difference in height forced him to have to stoop down to me and he looked entirely uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” I demanded through clenched teeth, my voice a low growl.

Behind me, I heard the sound of someone else thumping to the floor.

When I glanced over my shoulder I saw Casey gesturing in a shooing motion at the fallen figure of the soldier she’d been grappling with. She shouted something else, then flipped him her middle finger.

The soldier still held in my grip was trying desperately to free himself, battering my hands with his fists. His eyes were wide as he realised just how solidly I was keeping him in place. He was yammering something, and I’m sure it would only have pissed me off if I could have understood.

“If I see you near my sister again, I will break both of your arms and one of your legs,” I uttered at him menacingly, before turning him bodily away from her. “It’s your choice as to which.”

He lost his footing and went sprawling onto the compacted dirt when I shoved him away.

“Crazy bitch,” he spat at me from the floor.

That made me laugh.

“Dickhead,” I swore back, making the same shooing gesture as Casey had done just a moment before.

The three gathered themselves up and dusted themselves off, but they all regarded us with sneering contempt. They made no effort to walk away, and I thought for a moment that they might try something else.

The sound of barked German echoed from behind them and I noticed the small form of Emilia. Her glare was all daggers and knives, but what she’d said had caused Sarah’s antagonists to begin to leave. They all gave me one last narrow-eyed squint as they were staggering out of view.

Oof. What the hell had all this been about?

I turned to Sarah, reaching out to pull her into a hug.

“What happened?” I asked her, my voice as gentle as I could manage given the adrenaline in my veins.

She looked at me with uncertainty, then opened her arms to show Sabina, “She got out of your room somehow, and I found them hurting her.”

My insides went cold and I turned my gaze to the squirrel. She didn’t move when I ran my hand along her fur.

‘She is gravely injured and needs immediate attention,’ Muse told me after just a moment, her voice thick with concern.

Oh no.

I wondered if we could do anything to help her, or if she needed a vet urgently.

“It’s okay, just hand her to me,” I said to Sarah.

She held the tiny form of Sabina out for me, and I gently scooping the poor thing into my arms. Casey approached to see what had happened, too, and slipped a comforting arm around my shoulder.

“I am sorry, that was…” Emilia began, but froze when she saw me.

As I cradled Sabina in my arms, I felt that familiar tugging sensation of something inside me pulling towards her. The feeling was far weaker than when I’d first met Casey, but it was still there.

‘Aid me, Erin,’ Muse pleaded, her voice sounding distant.

I wasn’t entirely certain what she was asking, but I sensed inside myself for something. It took me a moment, but I felt a kind of connection within me, linking the two of us together. My immediate guess was that Muse had formed some kind of bridge, and I began to funnel energy through it.

The three women around me gasped, and I realised that Sabina was glowing in a soft golden light, not too dissimilar from how she’d looked when I’d first met her.

It took a minute or two, and all the while questions were being thrown at me by both Sarah and Emilia, but soon enough the little pest was twitching her tail and stirring. I gave her some pets and scritches while she recovered, plus a small kiss to her tiny head.

“What is happening?” Emilia asked, her eyes still wide.

“Erin’s mending the poor creature,” Casey answered, wrapping her arms around me.

“I… do not… understand,” she said back, her wide eyes flicking between us. “How?”

I was honestly done with explaining the whole thing about the symbiotes and aliens, so I allowed Casey to go over everything and answer her questions. She still looked like she didn’t believe us once she did, in spite of everything she was seeing right in front of her.

“Oh. I almost forgot to tell you,” she admitted, touching her forehead with her fingers as her cheeks reddened. “You have been allocated your new room.”

Casey and I looked at each other with widening smiles.

---

We found our new accommodation to be more spacious than the cosy hut we’d each been given initially. It also had the bonus of being just a few rows down from our old cabin, so at least Sarah wouldn’t be far away if she needed us.

The first thing we did, after moving our few belongings across, was to have another shower. I won’t go into the details, but the adrenaline from what had just happened made it hot, wet and steamy. Why waste water when two can fit just fine?

Once dried and dressed, we met up with Sarah and Emilia for the evening meal. Our chaperone was still watching us suspiciously, but I was detecting a little bit of respect there, too. Maybe not everyone here was determined to be our enemy in some shape or form.

The queues in the evening were much longer than we’d had to endure in the morning – I guess we must have just caught the tail end of breakfast. We chatted idly while we waited, trying to ignore the sharp looks of hostility that were being thrown in our direction.

Emilia queued with us, although she had to leave to eat with her own people instead.

Eventually, after about half an hour of waiting, we were finally sat down in the civilian designated mess tent. It was still quite empty, but there were one or two familiar faces. I gave them a small smile and a wave, which they returned.

The food for dinner was pretty basic, too, and I was starting to get the impression that this might just be my life now. If we wanted something more luxurious, then I’d have to convince Casey to take me on a date or something.

We were just about finished and getting ready to leave when Emilia returned.

“Your colleague should be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes,” she told us, her clipboard back in her hands. She also looked like she’d taken some time to smarten the camouflaged combat uniform she was wearing.

She beckoned us to walk with her and we followed behind. I made sure that Sarah stayed with us, though she refused when I offered to take her hand. Those glares we were getting must be upsetting her.

 

We arrived at a mostly deserted entry courtyard, and I noticed that there were only a couple of soldiers with fluorescent jackets and clipboards there besides us.

Conversation was how we passed the time.

“So, why do you think we’re here?” I asked Emilia, curiosity getting the better of me.

She looked at me again, though I could see in her eyes that she was hesitant to voice what she was thinking. I arched my eyebrows a little more, encouraging her to speak.

“Well,” she began, “I think that you are here because you are special.”

Her gaze dropped to her feet in embarrassment and I laughed, although I could feel myself starting to really like this woman.

“Hella special,” Casey inserted into the conversation, her arms finding their way around my waist. Was she getting possessive?

I blushed, but gave Emilia a friendly smile. I wasn’t getting gay vibes from her per sé, but I could tell that something was making her feel uncomfortable around us.

“So how come you’ve been assigned to look after us?” I asked, leaning back into Casey and resting my head against her.

She looked embarrassed again, and let out a sigh. “My father arranged for me to be moved to this post a day before you were here,” she answered, looking at us. “I am not sure why he thinks I am incapable of serving in combat, but…”

I glanced back at Casey, then to Emilia again.

“Wait, you were assigned to us two days ago?” I asked, something akin to understanding beginning to rise up inside me.

She nodded, her features hardening in anger as she spoke, “Yes. I am a trained field medic but my father used his influence to have me moved here.”

Are Sarah and I surrounded by people with famous, influential fathers?

“Well, that does sound kind of suspicious,” I said, turning back to Casey again. She gave me a small nod of her head, letting me know that she was thinking along the same track that I’d been on.

Someone had moved Emilia away from battlefield duty a few days before a major engagement with an unknown, highly advanced enemy force. If nothing else, then it showed that some people in positions of authority were taking the threat seriously.

The fact that she was confused about why she’d been moved also told me that she didn’t know the whole situation. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if no one here really knew what was going on.

“Well, we really appreciate you being here for us, Emilia. I’m not sure why everyone else is so hostile to us, though.”

She held the clipboard behind her back and shuffled her feet nervously as she answered, “General Schulz does not think that you have any place here, and has let everybody know that he feels this way.”

Well now, that would explain some things.

I was just about to ask her who General Schulz even was when a coach turned the corner and began to pull into the courtyard.

There wasn’t any sign of Rishaan from the outside, but I saw someone that looked suspiciously like him file out with the rest of the passengers. Once he’d been ticked off a list, I waved to him and called out his name. He grabbed his bag from the pile as they were unloaded, then stepped over to us with a grin.

“Hey,” he greeted me, his eyes roving over my face.

“Hey,” I answered back, offering out my arms for a hug. We embraced for a few moments before he started to scrutinise my face again.

“You look a little different than the last time I saw you,” he commented, picking up his luggage again.

I laughed, “Oh yeah. That happens.”

Emilia just gave me a confused look.

---

After introductions had been made, in addition to one very star-struck Rish meeting Casey for the first time, we allowed Emilia to lead on.

She guided us to where Rish would be staying – which was conveniently close to the rest of us – and informed us of a meeting we’d been asked to attend. She had no further information for us, except the location and time.

We helped Rish settle in until we had to leave. This included telling him the locations of the showers, where to go for meals and generally letting him know how unfriendly everyone else had been towards us so far.

He wasn’t too happy about the last part, but once I’d told him why I wanted him around, his old grin returned. Someone needed him to be a liaison between humans and aliens, which was cool as all heck.

Sarah wasn’t invited to our meeting, so I suggested that she stay in our room to look after Sabina. The poor little thing still needed to recover, but she was looking much better than she had been even an hour before. We agreed that Sarah would phone me if anything happened, and I’d be back immediately to break some arms and legs.

Once she was comfortable, the rest of us ventured off to find the meeting room. Emilia mentioned that it was inside one of the permanent brick buildings that had been here originally, before all this craziness had started happening.

There were guards stationed at a security checkpoint outside the doors, and they handed us lanyards and ID cards with our names on as we entered. Mine and Casey’s both had a little gold band in one corner which I thought was pretty funny – I was trying not to think of the sinister implications of making us easily identifiable.

I slipped my lanyard over my head and waited in the queue to move further in. This was where we had to say farewell to Emilia since wasn’t cleared for the meeting. She had to wait outside.

Luckily, we weren’t asked to hand over our electronic devices when we entered. I didn’t want to leave Sarah without a way of getting in touch should she need me.

After another minor delay we were led through a further set of doors, into a larger windowless room with a massive conference table set in the centre. It was adorned with large flatscreen monitors on the outer walls, plus what seemed to be some kind of projector screen next to the door.

There must have been close to forty seats in all, and most of them were already occupied. Martin was on one end, with three empty seats just down from him, facing the screen.

Across the table, at the other end, sat the middle-aged gentleman we’d seen earlier when we’d been training. He was now wearing his service dress uniform, an array of medals and festooned with braids and insignia that I had no idea about the meaning of.

Was this General Schulz?

The rest of the people at the table were either wearing some kind of military uniform, or were dressed in smart office attire. Unfortunately for the three of us, we were just wearing our everyday casual clothing – jeans and t-shirts for the most part.

Conversation died and all eyes turned to us as we entered. I tried to hide the redness of my cheeks, but it was a lost cause. We were so out-of-place here.

Thankfully, Martin was gesturing for us to take the seats near him, giving us a reason to stop gaping like we were entirely clueless.

“It is nice of you to join us,” the military man said, his accent lightly accented in what I guessed was German. There was a rumble of laughter around the table, but I wasn’t sure I was in on the joke.

We gave him a nod as we settled down on our seats. Rishaan didn’t look as fazed as we did, but then he wasn’t getting all the stares.

“Ms Reid, Ms Kowalski, I’d like you to meet General Willerich Schulz,” Martin offered, gesturing from us to the man at the end of the table. “He is currently commanding the combined forces that are working with the UN.”

We both gave him slightly strained smiles, and he nodded back at us.

“Shall we begin?” Martin asked now, gesturing towards someone that was controlling a projector.

The lights in the room darkened and a presentation began to play on the giant screen on the opposite side of the room.

“As you may or may not be aware, we have been tracking two objects that had broken free of another, larger body within our solar system,” Martin began now, rising from his seat and moving over to gesture towards the screen with his hands.

“At first, we had no idea what they might be but intelligence from Ms Reid here has been very useful,” he looked at me, and smiled. “We now believe it to be an advanced scouting element from an extra-terrestrial force with unknown hostile intentions.”

On the screen we now saw telescope imagery, depicting the incoming objects in grainy detail. The most immediately obvious detail were the rocky striations that ran across the bow of the object. To the sides were small lumps that jutted out, although they were too hidden to determine exactly what they were.

The next words that Muse whispered in my head sent a shiver straight up my spine, and I felt the need to squeeze my eyes shut at the implications.

“Ms Reid?” Martin asked me, his voice sounding concerned.

Shit.

I snapped my eyes open again, and rose to my feet. I had to step around the table to reach where he was standing, but that gave me a few extra moments to consider what I was going to say. This was something that everyone needed to know, but I hated public speaking so much. Muse’s familiar touch on my emotions was welcomed, and I took a deep breath.

A thin smile was all I could muster as I stood alongside the Canadian.

“Actually, we do know their intentions,” I corrected, glancing behind me at the screen. It had been frozen on that grainy imagery.

“Oh? Well, please elaborate.”

I took in a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves before I continued, “The purpose of this invasion force is to sterilise our planet of all life.”

There was a sudden buzz of conversation around the room, including a smattering of laughter.

“And once they’re finished,” I continued, “they will move onto the next life-giving world to do it all over again.”

There was silence for the briefest of moments before the calls that I was talking bullshit or nonsense rang out across the room. Apparently they thought that Casey and I were just attention-seeking teenage girls that needed to leave everything to the men in charge.

I could feel my anger rising up inside me, but I managed to force it down.

“Ah,” Martin answered, and gestured for me to take my seat again. “Well, that kinda increases the stakes, eh?”

Casey rested a hand on my shoulder once I sat down, leaning in to nuzzle my cheek very briefly as a form of comfort. “Good job,” she whispered.

Martin continued on with his demonstration now, indicating the projected paths of the objects which had now been better calculated. From what I was seeing, one of them would land near the border of Canada and the USA, while the closer one was predicted for somewhere west of Stockholm, Sweden.

The relevant countries were shown on the screen, as well as dotted line arrows to indicate the expected trajectory of the incoming object.

The hum of conversation returned again, and I gazed at my two companions. Casey was looking grim, but Rishaan was utterly shocked. I guess he hadn’t heard this before.

Oops.

With his part of the presentation now finished, Martin took a seat while the General at the other end stood up. He had a rounded face with distinctive jowls, beneath thinning, greying hair. There was something about the ambience of the man that reminded me of Dad – and not the few good parts.

It was his turn to speak now, and he indicated the screen with an open palmed gesture.

“The two landing sites are, at the moment, being treated as separate areas of operation,” he began in his accented English. “The American and Canadian forces have taken charge of the North American A.O., while the T.D.E. has been given responsibility for the European one. As such, the European theatre falls under my command, as the most senior member…”

His voice droned on and on and I started to lose focus on what he was saying. Casey was discreetly running her fingers along the outside of my thigh beneath the table, which really didn’t help my focus.

Eventually, though, I got the gist that he was planning to begin deploying forces throughout Europe as quickly as he could, with the aim of protecting the Swedish capital. The logistics would be difficult, and only a small percentage of the desired fighting strength would be in place by the time the hostile element arrived.

He made no mention of Casey or I as he began to perform a roll call of the different units that would be involved. He must have seen my puzzled expression, because the smile he gave me was completely filled with enmity.

“I would also like to add, Mr Parker, that your schoolgirls will not be needed for this operation,” he said, looking at Martin. “Keep them away from my battlefield.”

My cheeks were burning red as a cluster of chuckles erupted from the others sitting around the table. Oh, fucking kill me right now.

‘The General is a fool and these people are cheering his ridiculous performance,’ Muse declared. ‘We will be present – he cannot stop us.’

That made me smile, and I slipped into a self-assured smirk of my own.

He had the decency to allow his grin to falter.