Slade Read online

It was light outside when Trisha woke next. She inched to the entrance on her stomach, gripping the binoculars to scan the area. She was careful to go slowly and tried to use a grid pattern not to miss any sections. She didn’t see anyone or anything. She finally gave up after an hour and tried to get some rest on the sleeping bag again. She drank half a soda, saved the rest, and ate one more breakfast bar.

  She worried that Slade might not return to her, knowing he could have been killed. She lay there with her eyes closed, his image haunting her thoughts. She wasn’t sure what kind of relationship they’d have if they survived. Did they even have one? He’d called her his. That has to mean something, she decided. It gave her hope that they had a future awaiting them if they could avoid being killed.

  A sound jerked her from a light sleep a little while later. Trisha listened until she heard the noise again. She sat up, her heart hammered, realizing it sounded similar to…she wasn’t sure, but it was familiar for some reason. The noise came again. Crap. It sounded as though rocks or something equally heavy were falling. She moved and gripped the handgun since it was a smaller weapon, easier to hold than the two rifles Slade had left behind.

  She crawled toward the opening on her belly to peer down and jerked back hard when she saw someone move below her. She moved backward, still on her belly, and grabbed one of the rifles too. She fought down fear and inched forward to reach the opening.

  She kept on her stomach when she drew closer to the edge, laying the rifle at her side to keep it within easy reach. She stayed as low as possible to peer over the edge again until she saw them. Two men were about twenty-five feet below her, climbing up the hillside were she hid. She ducked down.

  Both men wore camouflage green clothing and headed directly toward her hidden spot. She hoped they hadn’t seen her, assumed not, since they hadn’t called out. They’d reach the opening soon enough if she didn’t do something. She wondered how they had found her and if they were New Species. They usually wore black uniforms but did they wear them away from Homeland too? She didn’t know.

  She could sit there waiting for them to discover her or keep them below her. She didn’t know what to do. She frantically wished Slade hadn’t left her because he’d know how to handle the situation. At least Slade would be able to smell them to know if they were his people or the enemy.

  Indecision sawed at her. She uttered a silent curse and then decided she had to hold them back. If they reached the opening she wasn’t sure she could shoot them before they shot her since they outnumbered her. Slade had told her to hold them off with the weapons and he’d hear it. She wondered how these men had gotten past him but it didn’t really matter since they had. She moved again quickly and grabbed the last weapon. She wanted all three of them available.

  She crawled on her stomach and peeked out over the edge again but couldn’t see their faces. She gripped the handgun and waited until one of them looked up. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties. Trisha leaned out more to aim the gun right at him. His gaze widened in surprise when he saw her.

  “That’s far enough,” she called out. “Don’t move or I will shoot. Who are you?”

  The man next to him jerked his chin up until she could see his face too. He was a little older than his companion, in his early thirties, with facial hair, and a cold look. Trisha kept glancing back and forth between them. They climbed in a steep area below her, she remembered vividly how difficult it had been, and both of them had to hold on not to fall. It would be a painful fall if they lost their holds, if not deadly. They were a good fifty to sixty feet up the incline.

  “We’re New Species,” the younger man stated evenly. “We’ve come to rescue you, Dr. Norbit.”

  She bit her lip, studying their features. He looked a hundred percent human but so did the other man. Most of the New Species had distinct facial anomalies similar to Slade’s with his flattened nose and pronounced cheekbones. Justice North had those feature anomalies but he had cat eyes. Every New Species man she’d ever seen had long hair that fell at least to their shoulders but these men had crew cuts.

  “I don’t believe you.” Fear gripped her, knowing they were trying to fool her.

  “It’s true. Justice North sent us.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  Crap. How could she tell for sure? She’d hate to shoot the wrong men but an idea came to her suddenly. “What do you smell?”

  He blinked. “You’re too high up to do that,” he responded after a few seconds. “We’re primate species.”

  Those were rare, she’d only met one, but she’d been able to tell what he’d been because he’d had feature anomalies consistent with an ape—a flattened nose and rounded eye sockets. Her suspicion grew that they lied to her. Was she willing to shoot them though, one hundred percent certain they lied? Not yet. She’d hate to be wrong since she’d only seen one primate species.

  I have a medical degree, she reminded herself. I’m supposed to be smart. She thought for a second and then smiled. “What’s today’s password? New Species know about the code system in place and I want you to tell it to me,” she bullshitted.

  He paled slightly. “It’s Noose.”

  He’s good. She’d grant him that. He hadn’t missed a beat in finding an answer to give her. She smiled. “Wrong answer.”

  “It was changed after you were run off the road,” the other man stated quickly. “It’s noose today. Justice changed the password because he was afraid it would be compromised if his man was forced to talk.”

  Maybe they actually use code words. That thought made her hesitate. She’d been guessing but it was reasonable that they’d have secret passwords or codes. They were learning from humans since they’d been freed. She decided it wasn’t proof enough since it was a possibility. She needed more proof before she could be sure either way if they were full of crap or telling her the truth. It would be horrible if she shot a real New Species. Slade might not ever forgive her and she wouldn’t ever recover from the guilt. She’d sworn to save their lives, not take them, when she’d taken the job at Homeland.

  “If you are who you say you are then you’ll know the name of the man Justice sent to escort me to where he wanted me to be. Tell me the name of the New Species, not the human escort.”

  The second man spoke. “His name is Slade.”

  She wavered for a second but then remembered how Slade had told her that Justice would probably have their names publicized to make it widely known they were missing in an attempt to get people to help find them. Slade’s name might be in the press right along with hers. She dropped that line of questioning.

  Trisha’s finger tightened on the trigger. “What was the password for yesterday then?” She wanted to know how far they’d take it.

  The men glanced at each other nervously. The younger one looked up. “Yesterday was my day off. I’m not sure but today it’s noose. We’re coming up to get you, Dr. Norbit. We have a team standing by about half a mile from here and we’re going to take you back to Homeland. You’ve been rescued.”

  If there was a code system, the guy would know it, especially since he was a supposed member of a rescue team going after a New Species out of contact with his people. Since he didn’t, she figured her bluff had worked.

  “There is no password, asshole.”

  She saw both men glance at each other again, their alarm clear. One of them moved his hand and reached for something at his waist. “I’m getting my ID,” he warned loudly. “We do use passwords at Homeland. All security guards do.”

  “So you’re New Species security guards? And you’re New Species? Is security guard your job title then?”

  They both nodded. She couldn’t believe how easily both men lied. Paul had told her New Species never called themselves security guards, instead preferring the title of officers. They hated the other term. She watched him as he removed something from behind him. She wondered if he’d pull out his wallet and try to bluff her by showing his driver’s license. Instead he pulled