The massive cavern seemed to stretch out for half a kilometer in front of them, but what made it even more disconcerting was the crystalline structure that was suspended above the subterranean sinkhole below the cave lip. At first glance it looked like a gigantic spider web made of glass, its strands radiating out from an orb-shaped room at the center.

  Looking downwards, Chuikov couldn't see a bottom. The black hole in the earth seemed to stretch down to an indeterminate depth, and the last thing he wanted to do was to find out what lay below.

  Rabuka stood beside him, and he too had a bewildered look in his eyes. "What do we do now?"

  Chuikov tapped at the very hot defender belt that he wore. "You feel this? Whatever is affecting us leads right into the center of that thing," he said, pointing to the crystalline globe.

  They all looked at each other and nodded. Everyone in the team knew they were humanity's only hope, and to back out now meant the aliens would win. Chuikov made his way to one of the meter-thick strands attached to the sides of the cavern and tested it. The material held his weight.

  With their communications systems down due to the intense radiation field, Chuikov didn't bother to ask for reinforcements. Signaling at the others to cover him, the Russian Alpha Group operative began to slowly make his way along the bridge-like strands, hoping that he wouldn't lose his balance and end up plunging into the abyss below.

  It took him a few minutes to make his way close to the center of the giant crystalline web. As he signaled at the others to follow, the central orb began to pulsate with a bluish glow. Chuikov had to shield his eyes to avoid being blinded.

  A breach suddenly appeared in the side of the sphere, and a naked Edward Mordrake stepped out, both of his faces twisted in anger towards the intruders who dared to violate his inner sanctum.

  SCREAMS OF PAIN MIXED with curses echoed in the air as Gossard's team was being systematically wiped out. The infiltrators would make flying leaps from one end of the room to another. The assault team desperately fired their weapons in every direction in an attempt to get a bead on them, but the enemy aliens always seemed to dodge away at the last minute.

  One of the Canadians went down first. Pascal Roy failed to react in time as one of the infiltrators leapt onto his back and used its claw-like hands to rip his neck open. Roy fell to his knees as he continued to fire his battle rifle, the blood gushing from his throat. Less than a minute later, he toppled over and bled out.

  Vernon had brought his own team into the area as reinforcements, and he did manage to wound an infiltrator before it leapt out of the way and into an alcove near the cavernous ceiling. The SAS trooper had just managed to shift his firing position when another infiltrator landed less than a meter away from where he was taking cover. Vernon quickly pivoted and fired two short bursts, hitting the alien's torso.

  The infiltrator hissed as it tried to leap away, only for Gossard to step out from his cover and fire a full burst into the creature's face. The infiltrator's tough armored skin absorbed much of the kinetic impacts, but one of the 7.62mm rounds penetrated its pupil-less right eye and the pain made it lose its mind. The creature thrashed on the floor like a wounded beast before Gossard and Vernon finished it off with grenades.

  Two more assault team members went down when they were firing back to back, only to get leapt upon by two infiltrators at once, both men screaming in terror as their guts were ripped out from their armored vests.

  We're going to die in here, Gossard thought as he took cover behind one of the alien machines. Reaching for the walkie-talkie by his hip, he realized that his defender belt was glowing red hot. Wait, that means this whole place is powered up.

  The phasor rifle was still strapped to his back. They’d never had a chance to test it, but with his team taking massive casualties he had to make an attempt. Ignoring his own instincts, Gossard let go of his battle rifle and pulled out the phasor weapon, cradling it in his arms.

  He felt something land near him with a thud, and when he turned he saw an infiltrator preparing to leap up at him. Gossard pointed the phasor rifle towards the enemy and pulled the trigger.

  A bluish lightning bolt leapt out of the futuristic looking weapon's barrel and struck the infiltrator in the chest, blowing a fist-sized hole right through the creature's body. The alien fell sideways, mortally wounded.

  Turning, Gossard fired at another alien, the beam blasting right through one of the crystal columns before beheading another infiltrator that had taken cover behind it.

  "Use the phasor rifles! They work!" Gossard screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping everyone would hear him.

  CHUIKOV WAS NOW ON his knees. The defender belt seemed useless as the feelings of pain wracked his skull, making him unable to move.

  Mordrake stood a few meters in front of him, his body radiating white light like a blinding star. "You fools think you could take me? I empower this entire domain!"

  The Russian grimaced as his hands fell onto the top of the web strand he had been moving on. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the rest of his team had been incapacitated by the intense psionic waves emanating from the leader of the Etherians.

  Mordrake hardly seemed to notice him as he continued on as if speaking to a captive audience. "Why do you little insects keep trying to resist the coming ascension? Don't you know that your actions are meaningless? Why not accept the inevitability of fate?"

  The pain in his waistline made it seem like he was on fire, and the agony coming from his brain made Chuikov doubly helpless. He just couldn't believe that there was nothing more he could do.

  Mordrake suddenly looked up. "Wait, I can sense another's presence."

  Chuikov managed to touch his nose, and felt the blood seeping out. He was about to buy the farm and he knew it. Being closest to the psionic wave attacks meant he was doomed.

  A child's voice seemed to come from nowhere, and it spoke directly into Chuikov's ear. "You're about to die, and the rest of your team will be dead too."

  "Help me," the Russian commando said aloud.

  "I can, but it would mean giving up your existence. Will you accept that?"

  Chuikov thought about his family, and he didn't balk at what was going to happen next. "Da. I am ready."

  Mordrake hissed as he turned to face the new threat, but he was too late.

  Chuikov's eyes were glazed over as he stood up without any seeming discomfort. Mordrake roared with anger as he realized what was happening, using his psionic powers to lift up the now brain dead Russian into the air before attempting to rip his victim's body into little pieces.

  Yet Chuikov's hands seemed to take a life of their own as they reached back, pulled out a phasor rifle and pointed it towards Mordrake before the fingers twitched on the trigger. The leader of the Etherians screamed as a bluish beam tore through his side, nearly cutting his lower torso in two before he fell back onto the crystalline floor of the giant web and finally stopped moving.

  29 Ochoco National Forest

  WHEN DEREK OPENED HIS eyes and stood up, he could see his sister staring back at him, shining a flashlight towards his face. He gestured at her to point the beam away. "Cut it out."

  Piper stood by a hilly incline, the looming shadows of pine trees all around her. They had been hiking up the forest for hours, until her brother suddenly sat down and closed his eyes. "Are you okay? You sort of like, zoned out for almost half an hour."

  "I finally made contact with one of the soldiers of Task Force Zero."

  "Oh yeah? How did it go?"

  "He's dead."

  "Oh my god."

  "But I was able to possess him long enough to kill Mordrake. He's the asshole who was behind all this, and now he's dead too."

  Piper let out a deep breath. "He's the guy who sort of manipulated our parents and stuff. So I guess it's over then."

  "No."

  "Huh? I don't get it."

  "We're up here for a reason. There's plenty of other aliens and their human gofers all over the world."

  "Okay, so now what?"

  "Wait a bit, there's a friend coming."

  Piper was about to ask him what he meant by it, until she felt a buzzing in her ears. Using her telepathy, she detected another mind heading down towards them. When she tried to probe a bit deeper, the unearthly thoughts and feelings made her tense up almost immediately. There was an alien nearby, and it was coming closer.

  Dashing back down to where her brother was, she stood beside him while turning the flashlight's beam back and forth. "Something's out there."

  "Duh, I know. I'm the one who called him over," the boy said casually.

  A movement by the western tree line caught her eye. Piper could only gawk in silence as a large hairy ape-like creature emerged from behind one of the pines and slowly make its way towards them. She had encountered these things before, when the attack at Big Bear Lake occurred.

  Derek nudged her elbow as he began to walk towards the creature. "Open up your mind. He's one of the rebels."

  She could hardly think. "H-how do y-you know all this?"

  "They communicate with telepathy, that's why. Open up your mind already!"

  "O-okay," Piper whispered as she decided to bring down the psionic shields blocking her thoughts. A torrent of cascading images, sounds, and feelings began pouring into her thoughts, and for the first time she finally understood everything.

  ELSNER STARED AT THE small bonfire, enthralled by the tongues of yellow-orange flame. He remembered the time when he used to camp out with his parents in the woods all those years ago, and a part of him wished he had never grown up to face an increasingly complicated world.

  Sally was in her sleeping bag, lying beside him. "Where's Austin?"

  "He's with Bruce," Elsner said softly. After the Bigfoot had killed all the Denglers and their allies, he had decided it was better to move on. Levi Brown thought it best too, and had said he’d call the cops later and not tell them about Elsner and his family.

  Sally sat up. "He ought to be going to sleep, not run around with that Bigfoot in the dark."

  "He's been resting all day so I guess he's just bored."

  "It's not safe out there though."

  "I think Bruce can keep him safer than we can."

  She gave a soft sigh while leaning into his shoulder. "What do we do now?"

  "I'm not sure. Austin and Bruce led us up here, so I think they're waiting for somebody."

  The sounds of incoming footsteps alerted them both, and Elsner stood up while his wife hurriedly put her boots on before getting up too.

  His son and the Sasquatch emerged from a nearby tree line. Elsner could see two others walking behind them.

  "Mom, Dad," Austin said as he pointed towards a pair of other kids. "This here's Piper and her brother Derek."

  Elsner's eyebrows shot up. "Piper? Piper Torres?"

  The young woman smiled as she strode forward and they met, shaking each other's outstretched hands. "Hey there, been a long time."

  "I'll say," Elsner said as he gestured towards his wife. "This is Sally. I think I told you about her."

  "You did," Piper said, shaking the other woman's hand. "Hi."

  "Hello," Sally said. "Would you like some coffee or something? There's a pot by the fire."

  "We're fine, thanks."

  Elsner nodded towards Derek. "So you're Piper's brother? She told me you were..."

  Derek remained expressionless. "Dead? I guess I was—for a bit."

  "Wow, it's like the whole world just got smaller," Elsner said, greeting his son with a hug. "Bruce has sort of given us the rundown as to what's really happening. The aliens are divided, and some of them are rebelling against something called the Compact."

  Piper nodded. "That's only a part of it. It seems the aliens have been here on Earth for a long time, and they've been trying to breed humans. Some of these kids have got telepathic powers."

  Austin pointed towards the other boy. "So your mom's an alien or something?"

  Sally hissed at her son, "Austin! That's not a nice thing to say."

  "My parents were human, and they were sort of put in a secret breeding program," Piper said. "They altered our DNA with some alien stuff, and so we were born with telepathic powers and other things. My powers aren't that good, but my brother's are... well let's just say he's off the charts."

  Austin's eyes lit up. "Whoa, that's so cool!"

  "No it's not," Derek said tersely. "I was a prisoner and they made me do... things."

  Elsner held his hand up. "What matters is you're both safe. So now what do we do?"

  Derek pulled out a fist-sized clump of crystal and handed it to the Sasquatch. "He needs this."

  "What's it for?"

  "To contact the Rebellion," Piper said. "He says he can bring your family with him, to where some other humans have taken refuge. You can be offered sanctuary there."

  Sally placed her hands on her hips. "What about the two of you? Will you be coming with us?"

  Piper shook her head. "We've got to find a way to contact the good guys in the government and help them fight the aliens, so we're staying here."

  "It's dangerous though, the Etherians have got spies everywhere," Elsner said.

  "I killed their leader," Derek said. "So I think they'll be finished soon."

  Elsner staggered backwards in complete shock. "Mordrake? He's dead?"

  "Took an energy beam right to his body and blew it wide open, so yeah, I'm sure he is."

  He let out a deep breath. A large part of him felt relieved. "It's over then."

  Piper shook her head. "There's still a lot of work to be done."

  "I meant the main threat to my family is over," Elsner said as he placed his arm around his wife's shoulder while his other arm was wrapped tightly around his son. "I couldn't think of any better news."

  Bruce was by himself and the crystal he held in his large stubby hands had begun to glow. Austin ran over to him and looked on. Without warning, a hole in the fabric of space suddenly appeared a few meters away from them, startling all the humans. Bruce nodded while staring at the glowing rip.

  Elsner and Sally ran over to where their son was and protectively kept him by their side as a radiant vortex appeared along the sides of the hole, bathing the clearing in a blinding lightshow. Derek and Piper casually walked closer and then waited.

  Moments later, a figure emerged from the dimension breach. He looked human, with dark hair and wearing a strange looking body suit that seemed to be made of a shiny tinfoil-like material. The man held his open palm towards the Sasquatch, who returned his gesture.

  Turning towards the Bravys, he spoke in English with an American accent. "Don't be afraid. I'm Raul Silva, and I used to work for the CIA. I'd like to thank all of you for saving one of our members, and I can offer you sanctuary, if you wish."

  Elsner hugged and kissed Sally, before placing his hands on Austin's shoulders. "You two go on ahead. I'm going with Piper and her brother."

  Austin looked crestfallen. "Dad, why? We can be together now."

  Elsner stared into his son's tearful eyes first, before shifting his gaze up towards his wife. "This is something I have to do. All my life I've kept running away, and it was because I was scared that you both might be hurt. But now you'll both be safe and sound, and I can undo all the wrong things I've done. I need to do this—otherwise I won't ever be able to live with myself."

  Silva had a look of disappointment on his face. "The human governments will never be united. We're better off on our own."

  He remained adamant. "I have to try."

  "Beats running away," Derek said. His sister nodded.

  Austin started crying. "Please stay with us, Daddy."

  Elsner smiled at the boy. "I will, when I've cleared my name and we start to beat back the aliens."

  Sally bit her lip while she took Austin's left hand. "I get it. Just be careful, okay?"

  Elsner smiled before kissing the top of his son's head. "I will. Keep whatever bed they have over there warm for me. I'll be reunited with you both very soon. Goodbye for now."

  30 Scotland

  AFTER TAKING OUT A chilled water bottle from the RV's refrigerator, Qyss sat down in one of the rear chairs before leaning forward and pulling off the prisoner's blindfold. "Do you want a drink of water?"

  Lying on the floor with bound limbs, Thorne blinked his eyes open and nodded.

  "Same arrangements like before. You start screaming and I'll knock your teeth out, okay?"

  Another nod.

  Thorne let out a deep breath as the gag around his mouth was removed. "Thank you."

  Qyss opened the bottle and waited until Thorne sat up before tilting the tip of the bottle to his mouth. "How's the diaper holding up?"

  Thorne had a few sips before shaking his head. "A bit uncomfortable, but given the circumstances of how you got me, I would have done the same thing."

  "Don't worry, we'll be getting on a boat soon, and you'll have access to a stateroom so you can clean up."

  Thorne looked around as the vehicle's rear cabin vibrated while they made a turn. "A motorhome? I would have thought I'd have been undergoing interrogation at MI5 or MI6 headquarters by now. Are we still in Scotland?"

  Qyss didn't answer him. The other two men at the front of the vehicle looked back at them before keeping their eyes on the road once more.

  Thorne nodded slowly. "I see. This wasn't a British operation, or even a Chinese one at that."

  Qyss's curiosity was piqued. He didn't want to give the prisoner any details of the mission, but he was interested in what Thorne knew. "Why did you specifically mention those two?"

  "If this was a British operation, they would have just gone up to me and made the accusation over a cup of tea. If it was the Chinese I'd no doubt be dead by now."

 

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