Nicholas didn’t answer right away. Scott had a valid point. The pre-programmed slip coordinates had brought them to this planet and to the recording. There was nothing coincidental about it.

  “Frank, can you use the Swarm data to locate an alternate landing site on the surface?” Nicholas asked.

  “Processing,” Frank replied. “Landing site identified.” A second mark appeared on the planet’s surface.

  “Swarm, get me a view of the second site,” Nicholas said.

  One of the Swarm ‘birds’ launched from its perch, climbing over the area and flying to the proposed landing site. Another clearing a few kilometers from the first, but farther out of the city.

  “Can we get Foresight down there without being spotted?” Jennifer asked.

  “It’s risky,” Nicholas replied, “but the Swarm would give us enough advance warning to get them the hell out of Dodge before they could do anything about us.” He made a quick decision. “I’m willing to chance it. Frank, set a course for geosynchronous orbit over the landing site, gentle burn.”

  “Yes, Captain Shepherd,” Frank replied. “Course set.”

  “Initiate.”

  Nicholas felt the slight shift in Foresight as the neural network slowly drew them out from behind the moon and onto an approach vector for planetary orbit.

  They continued watching the drone feed. The lead motioned to the hatch again, and a final crew member departed. A plasma rifle of his own slung over his shoulder, he wore a G-suit sans the helmet. Nicholas recognized him immediately, his breath catching in his throat, his already thudding heart somehow finding a faster pace.

  It was him.

  Chapter 7

  “Captain Shepherd,” Jennifer said behind him.

  “I know,” Nicholas replied breathlessly.

  “Nick,” Yasmin said, frowning.

  “I know,” he repeated.

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. Grimmel said we could fix things. How do you change something that’s already happened without time travel? Maybe that’s really me, but from another time.”

  “No, it can’t be. If that’s the real you, and that’s really Foresight…” She trailed off before continuing. “Two of you can’t be here at the same time under two completely different circumstances. The only way that can happen is if one of you came and left, and then the other one of you came.”

  “Which would mean that the first version of me, this version, had to survive to leave this planet and become the second version. That one, with the unit of crack Marines instead of our current crew complement.”

  “But why would you go back to pick up Marines after leaving without them? When the USSF surely knows by now that you took Foresight without permission.”

  “If we’re the first version, there’s no way for us to know that right now. All we can do is guess that I do go back.”

  Nicholas continued staring at the second version of himself. Like the Marines with him, Shepherd appeared a lot more rested and prepared for the mission.

  “Swarm, can you get me an audio feed?” he asked.

  The audio immediately began flowing through the transmission, clearly intercepted directly from the other group’s comms. That was no surprise since they were using the same technology, same encryption, same ship, same everything.

  “We’re clear, Captain Shepherd,” a commanding male voice said. “The broadcast origin is three klicks that way.” The lead nodded in a northerly direction. “If we stay aggressive, we can be there within the hour.”

  “Any sign of the enemy, Sergeant Card?” Shepherd asked.

  “Nothing on sensors.”

  Nicholas’ eyebrows shot up. Card? As in Caleb Card? So this version of himself or perhaps the alternate Grimmel had managed to recruit the Vultures after all. That fact tempted him to use the Swarm to reveal his presence to the alternate version of himself.

  “But…” A simple thing caused him to hesitate. “Yazz,” he said. “If that’s me from a point in the future, shouldn’t new me know we’re here, watching them?”

  “How do you know he doesn’t know we’re here?” Yasmin replied. “What if he’s ignoring us because interacting with your past self would cause a destabilizing paradox?”

  “But we wouldn’t be here to watch him if we left before they arrived. Does that make any sense?”

  Yasmin didn’t answer right away. Then she sighed. “It’s time travel, Nick. It doesn’t make sense by its very nature.”

  “Right. All I’m saying is that maybe it’s not time travel. Maybe this is part of an enemy ruse.”

  “I don’t think we can rule that out.”

  “Keep a sharp eye out, Sergeant,” Shepherd said. “I think you’re right. This feels like a trap.”

  “I don’t know about the rest of you,” one of Caleb’s female subordinates said, “but I feel like a worm on a hook, with a big ol’ catfish about to bite me in the ass.”

  “Why would Grimmel send us here just to get us killed?” another of Caleb’s other squad members asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Almost nothing about this makes any sense,” Shepherd replied.

  “Knuckle-up Vultures,” Caleb said. “Be ready for anything.”

  The big Marine flashed a thumbs-up in response.

  “Wash says he’s always ready,” another squad member replied.

  “Standard column, double-time,” Caleb said. “Habib, you’ve got point. “Rodriguez, bring up the rear.”

  “Yes, sir,” they replied.

  “Swarm, stay with them,” Nicholas said. “Don’t let them see you.”

  The view shifted as part of the Swarm changed position, crossing from one tree to another to look down on the group as they jogged to the edge of the clearing.

  “Here goes nothing,” Habib said, pushing into the brush.

  “That could be the same you,” Yasmin said, watching the rest of the rest of the Vultures and Shepherd follow him. “They’re talking about Grimmel sending us out here.”

  “I don’t think that’s me,” Nicholas replied.

  “Why not?”

  “For one thing, Card referred to Grimmel as if he had spoken to him personally. Two, I think I look like I have a bit too much swagger for someone who just lost their son. Three, where’s Dag or the Swarm, or any of the prototype guns Grimmel gave us.”

  “They don’t need prototypes,” Gills said. “They’re locked and loaded with that front-line gear, Cap.”

  “Maybe Dag and the Swarm were destroyed. Or they haven’t found them yet,” Yasmin said. “But you’re right. You don’t have the same look in your eyes that you do here and now.”

  “So, trap?” Macey asked.

  “We’ll find out,” Nicholas replied.

  Shepherd and the Vultures plowed into the vegetation, pushing through shrubs, grasses, and vines toward the source of the broadcast. The Swarm mostly stayed behind and on the flanks, flitting from tree to tree and keeping a constant watch on the group. Even the Marine bringing up the rear—Rodriguez, one of the females—didn’t seem to notice the microbots were there.

  The group broke through the brush a few minutes later, emerging onto a bridge crossing a small stream. Made of a cement-like material Nicholas didn’t recognize, the structure didn’t show any signs of age despite the heavy growth that had engulfed it over the years. The visible parts were clean—rust, crack and pit free. Other than the vegetation, the span remained clear of vehicles and debris.

  The length of the open expanse made it more difficult for the Swarm to stay close to the group. Half of the microbots took a wide path to cross to the other side of the stream and land in the brush there, while the other half remained on the lee side. Nicholas reduced the four feeds to two, enlarging the image to better observe the crossing.

  Shepherd and his group were a third of the way over the bridge when Habib put up his hand, signaling a halt.

  “Sarge, I’ve got movement ahead,” he said.

  “I’ve got it on my HUD,” Caleb replied. “Heat signature doesn’t match anything in the database, so it isn’t trife. Stay frosty, Vultures.”

  They continued the advance, moving a little more slowly, weapons raised.

  “Swarm, get me a visual on the incoming life forms,” Nicholas said.

  He returned to all four feeds, watching as one of them changed, the microbots leaving the bridge and flying toward the city. Almost immediately, the birds-eye view revealed motion in the foliage below. Something pushed the trees and bushes aside as it angled toward the group on the bridge, though he couldn’t make out its shape.

  “I need a better look,” Nicholas said.

  The segment of the Swarm swooped from overhead, diving into the brush just ahead of the movement. It found a perch a dozen feet ahead of incoming life forms, the feed settling in their direction.

  “Sarge, I’ve got additional movement!” one of the Vultures cried out.

  Nicholas’ attention returned to the feed of the group on the bridge.

  “They’re right under us!” one of the others shouted.

  The big Marine swung his minigun over the side of the bridge, looking for targets.

  “Vultures form up back to back,” Caleb said. “Shepherd, get in the middle.”

  “What’s coming?” Shepherd asked. “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know what they are,” Caleb replied. “But they’re everywhere.”

  Nicholas frowned. What the hell was going on here?

  “Swarm, get me a visual under the bridge,” Nicholas said.

  Another group of microbots left its perch to duck down below, using the vegetation as cover from the group on the bridge.

  Nicholas glanced back at the feed from the part of the Swarm that had already crossed to the other side, eyes widening as the brush shifted and a nightmare filled the screen.

  Chapter 8

  “What is that thing?” Briar said, obviously watching the same feed on her terminal in the main compartment.

  “I don’t know,” Nicholas replied softly, his eyes locked on the creature.

  Nearly two meters tall, it held a vague resemblance to a trife, with a humanoid body and stance and a short head with a mouth lined in razor-sharp teeth. But that was where its similarity to the trife ended.

  This thing’s arms were larger and thicker than those of any trife he had ever seen, including on the queen that had killed Luke. Its claws were longer and most importantly, its hide thicker. The dark, mottled flesh had the appearance of an exoskeleton, as tough as the plates on the combat armor Caleb Card and his Vultures wore, but with flexible seams between the armored plates. Dozens of tendrils dangled from beneath its jaws, each with a spike at the end that glistened as if loaded with toxin. Two monstrous tentacles extended from beneath each side of the hard turtle-like shell on its back. It used them to push the foliage aside as it and a half dozen more just like it stormed past the Swarm without noticing one of them. The microbots spun around to watch them crash through the foliage as they converged on the bridge.

  “Why do I have a feeling those things are impervious to bullets?” Gills said.

  “Why do I have a feeling those things are impervious to everything?” Macey replied.

  Nicholas turned his attention to the feed coming from beneath the bridge. He expected to see more of the same creatures moving toward the bridge from the other direction, along the stream. Instead, the feed showed hundreds of tentacled creatures nearly identical to the large one that had killed Toast in London—only much, much smaller. They bubbled up from a hole in the ground, climbing up the lee end of the bridge in endless streams, like a colony of soldier ants.

  “What in the name of…” he trailed off, reality sinking in. They were preparing for a massive, coordinated attack.

  Elite Marines or not, there was no way anyone on that bridge would survive what was about to happen to them. Not unless he did something about it.

  But should he?

  “Nick, we need to help them,” Yasmin said. After years of marriage, she had a knack for reading his mind.

  Nicholas flicked his gaze back and forth between the two screens. The two alien groups were seconds away from converging on the bridge where the Vultures and Shepherd waited defensively. He didn’t understand why they hadn’t left someone in their Foresight to monitor them in case something like this happened.

  “Nick?” Yasmin repeated, urging his decision.

  “Tighten up,” Nicholas said, making up his mind. “We’re going in. Frank, update navigation to bring us to the planet surface at the marker, increase burn to maximum human-sustainable and give me an ETA. Execute.”

  “Processing,” Frank replied.

  “I hate this part,” Briar said.

  Nicholas was shoved back in his seat so hard he almost didn’t have time to prepare.

  “ETA, fourteen minutes and thirty-four seconds,” Frank said.

  “They’ll never last that long,” Nicholas said. “Swarm, I need access to their comms.”

  “Nick, what are you doing?” Yasmin asked, her voice strained from the G-forces.

  “I’m going to warn them.”

  “If they’re at all like us, they won’t believe you.”

  Nicholas considered it. “They might believe you. Frank, patch comms to the Swarm into terminal Delta.”

  “Confirmed,” Frank replied.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Yasmin said.

  “Just tell them to get off the bridge.”

  He looked at the Swarm’s feed. The smaller creatures were nearly in position, the bulk of them at the far end of the bridge, closest to the second Foresight. He could almost see the fight developing in his mind. The larger creatures and the smaller aliens would force the Marines to retreat, only to have them run into a larger force at their backs.

  “Frank, did the Swarm capture an aerial view?” It appeared on the screen next to the Swarm’s feeds. Nicholas zoomed into it. “Tell them to head for the city along the river. We can provide air support there, and they’ll have more cover.”

  “I’ll try,” Yasmin said. “Nick, can you hear me?”

  Shepherd froze, head swiveling, searching for the source of the voice.

  “Yasmin?”

  “Nick, it’s a trap. You need to get out of there now. Head north along the stream to the city. We’ll meet you there.”

  “What is this, Captain?” Caleb said.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “This can’t be real. Yazz, how are you talking to me? You’re supposed to be on the Pilgrim with Luke.”

  “It’s complicated, but you have to trust me,” Yasmin replied. “You’re out of time. You need to run, right now!”

  As if on queue, the smaller creatures began climbing over the sides of the bridge by the dozens, racing toward the group. The big Marine opened fire with his minigun, rendering the first wave on their left flank a blob of desiccated jelly.

  “Wash, hold your fire,” Caleb said. “Wait for a denser grouping.”

  The other Vultures opened up, firing measured, unhurried blasts from their plasma rifles that picked off multiple aliens with each hit. They didn’t seem concerned about the nature or appearance of the creatures, and there was little indication in their posture or response that they were afraid.

  “Nick, go damn it!” Yasmin shouted at the top of her already strained lungs, hoping to spur him into action.

  “Swarm, show yourselves and lead them along the designated route,” Nicholas said, tracing the path along the aerial view with his forefinger. The Swarm fragments went airborne, breaking apart into thousands of microbots and flying over the bridge. They formed an arrow in the sky, pointing the group in the right direction.

  “This can’t be happening,” Caleb said, watching the arrow travel along the stream bed.

  “Sergeant, this is too crazy to not believe,” Shepherd replied. “We’ll follow it.”

  “If we’re going to retreat, we should get back to the ship,” Caleb countered.

  “No!” Yasmin shouted. “They’re between you and the ship. By the hundreds.” Her voice was amplified coming from each individual speaker on each of the microbots.

  “That isn’t your wife, Captain,” Caleb insisted.

  “We’ve already done the impossible, Sergeant. I’m not convinced she isn’t Yasmin. Let’s go.”

  “Copy that. Vultures, we’re moving out. Wash, cover the rear.”

  Caleb moved to the front as the group changed formation, forming a wedge, with Wash and his minigun in the back and alternate Nicholas in the center. They charged ahead, toward the end of the bridge, still firing at the smaller aliens as they swarmed over the sides of the bridge behind them.

  “Nick, we’re on our way. Twelve minutes to air support. Follow the Swarm. They’ll lead you out of there!”

  “Air support?” Habib said. “From where?”

  “Who cares if it helps,” Rodriguez replied. “Oh, shit.”

  The larger aliens burst out of the brush ahead of them and charged onto the bridge, mouths open in sharp hisses.

  They were trapped.

  Chapter 9

  “Vultures, light ‘em up!” Caleb yelled, swinging his own plasma rifle toward the first of the big aliens advancing steadily toward them. Together, they bathed the lead creature in superheated bolts of gas. Its armor absorbed the blasts, steam rising from strikes that failed to punch all the way through.

  “Full rotation. Wash, cut ‘em down!” Caleb shouted.

  The Marines didn’t miss a beat, rotating their positions like hands on a clock. Each of them continued to fire as Wash moved to point and unleashed his weapon’s fury. His twenty millimeter rounds spewed death at the oncoming trife-like creature, the bullets chewing into its armor.

  Screeching, its tentacles flailing, it fell backward into the creatures crowding in behind it, its massive body blocking both the squad’s escape route off the bridge and the rest of the creatures’ way onto it. Two of the creatures finally tossed the body over the side of the bridge and went for Wash. Backing up, he swung the minigun in an arc, bullets chopping into each of them and slowing their advance.