Lost in Magadan: Extraterrestrials on Earth

“You will know when you see it. Until then, go about your day as if nothing has changed. I will be waiting to hear from you.”

Nikita’s body twitched. Mike spun around to see her struggling to pull herself up off the ground. She made a coughed and gasped for air. Mike rushed to her side and dropped to one knee to help lift her head.

“Are you okay?” he asked, as he helped her turn over.

How can this be? How could she be alive? I shot her in the face.

Calidus stepped toward them, his hulking body blocking out the moon light. “She should be fine. You shot her with a cotton ball. The cartridge had gun powder, but I replaced the lead bullet with a wad of cotton. She had no idea.”

“You. Fucking. Asshole. You shot me in the face!” Nikita screamed. She jumped to her feet. Mike stood up with her, holding her steady.

“I’m so glad you are okay,” Mike sputtered in shock.

Nikita thrust her knee into Mike’s groin as hard as she could. Mike doubled over in pain and dropped to his knees.

“You love me? You’re an asshole!” Nikita screamed.

Nikita punched Mike in the face. Mike could not block the powerful blow to his left cheek and eye because he was still clutching his aching balls with both hands.

“You tried to kill me. How can you fuck me and then try to kill me?”

Calidus stepped back. “Well, I see you two have a lot to talk about. Nikita, you can get your revenge, but make sure he gets back to his hotel in one piece. He works for me now, just like you. Is that understood?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Last Week

Major Morgan “Snap” Slade stepped from behind the low, stone wall and fired the laser rifle at the AK-47 wielding man wearing a black hood. The 100-kilowatt laser beam instantly burned a hole through the chest of the hooded gunman. The gunman dropped to his knees and fell face-forward into the dirt, still clutching the archaic Soviet assault rifle. Snap ducked and ran forward, toward the blackened hulk of a late model pickup truck, keeping his eyes on the compound the whole time.

Snap and his twelve-man squad were attempting to neutralize a terrorist compound that was holding an ambassador’s daughter hostage. Intelligence reports indicated that the compound contained 25 insurgents and three hostages. Peering around the front bumper of the wrecked truck, Snap could see three terrorists on the compound’s wall. Snap’s Head Up Display, or HUD for short, built into the visor of his helmet, indicated that the hostile nearest to him on the wall was armed with a rocket propelled grenade launcher, or RPG for short. “That’s the one to target first,” Snap thought.

Snap stood from his concealed position and easily lifted the forty-pound laser rifle, also known as a DE Rifle, up toward the RPG wielding terrorist. The HUD in his visor glowed red when the laser locked on the target, Snap squeezed the trigger. A flash of light burned a hole through the center of the hostile’s chest. The target fell off the wall, dropping his RPG. Snap immediately shifted his weapon toward the other two terrorists, the HUD glowing red in his visor when the laser had locked on both targets at once. Both terrorists fell from their positions on the wall, their AK-47s having never fired a shot.

The HUD indicated enemies in red and team mates as green dots on the visor screen. Most of his team was still behind him, and the remaining terrorists were inside the walled compound. “I’m going to breach the door!”

“Roger that, Major,” Josh Miller said through the communications device that was built into his helmet.

Snap ran toward the steel door. The 200-pound armor suit he was wearing, commonly referred to as FALOS armor, also known as Fusion-powered Armor Light Operator System, allowed him to run at 25 miles per hour because it was powered by a micro modular fusion reactor, or MMFR for short. Snap reached the door and kicked it with his right foot. The titanium exoskeleton that supported the weight of the heavy armor easily smashed down the steel door.

Snap immediately backed away from the gaping hole that had once been a heavy security door. His squad ran through the opening, weapons ready. INTEL suggested that they would have to secure the building in less than four minutes if they hoped to save the hostages. Once in the compound, the team ran toward the two-story building, taking out two more rooftop terrorists as they ran. Breaching the building was even easier than breaking down the compound door. Half the team entered the building; the other half branched off to secure the rest of area.

Inside, the building was dark, as all the windows were boarded shut. Snap’s visor automatically switched to night vison.

“Target eliminated,” Snap heard in his COM system.

“Target eliminated.” This time it was Moore.

“Target eliminated,” Martin said.