Apex 3: Shaylo Attacks by Adam Moon Read Free Book Online Page B

places so dark he didn’t even see the creature he was sure was right in front of him, but he could feel it.
    He had no clue how he was able to survive in their alien atmospheres or when this would all end. He was traveling the universe. This could take awhile.

Safe and Sound
     
    Sally’s face hovered before him. He couldn’t feel her with his empathic ability and for that he was grateful.
    He had reappeared back in the cafeteria, in the exact same spot he’d vanished from. He wondered how long he’d been gone. Was it years, or decades?
    His mind was spinning out of control. “How long was I gone?”
    His mom’s face came into view. “You didn’t go anywhere, son.”
    That wasn’t right. “I went everywhere. I was a part of everything.”
    Watson said, “Get him back to bed. He’s delirious.”
    He felt his weight being lifted by many arms. He tried to move his legs but they were dangling in the air like a marionette’s.
    He was placed in a bed. Faces hovered and shadows fell over him for awhile and then, after some time, he was left alone. 
    His brain felt bruised and raw with all of the new information flashing through it. He tried to focus on any one single thing, but he couldn’t manage it. There was just too much. He must’ve seen millions of different types of alien creatures. He felt like he’d spent a very long time touring the cosmos, and yet he had never left the mountain bunker.
    Then he had an epiphany. He might have phased in and out so rapidly all across the universe that it just appeared to the others that he’d never left their sight. He wasn’t even sure if he could do that, but it felt like the truth.
    His brain crashed like it had been attacked by a computer virus and he fell asleep instantly.

Deployment
     
    The First Mate reported that none of the armored suits showed any bio-readouts any longer. That meant that the owners were all dead, including the Captain. There were now no survivors from the initial invasion as far as she could tell.
    For his part, Shaylo didn’t seem to care either way. He’d been ignoring her reports on them ever since she’d started to give them.
    He sat at his command console and watched as his warriors departed in ship after ship. The ships were well armored and armed with enough firepower to take out the rest of mankind but he knew better than to ask his men to sit behind the controls and let the ships do all of the fighting for them. Part of being an effective General was oftentimes letting the men have their fun. The troops wanted to get dirty. They had a bloodlust that had to be sated or it would drive them crazy. He couldn’t have that on his ship so he would let them disembark and get to know the enemy intimately as they slaughtered them.
    The first order of business was to kill off the advanced humans. He had a visual on them already so if his men failed, he’d at least know how they’d failed and be able to adjust for a follow-up attack. He doubte d if the additional scrutiny was necessary but he was thorough when it came to his job. No stone would be left unturned. And no human would escape death today.
    He rarely got excited about a conquest, but these creatures had proven to be far more formidable than he’d expected when he first accepted the mission from High Command. They might even put up a struggle. It would be futile, but it would make things more interesting.
    He said to the First Mate. “Tell Command that we’ve begun the invasion. Get coordinates for the next planet we’re supposed to clear while you’re at it.”
    She was surprised by his reversal. He had insisted that he always focused on the task at hand before moving to the next one so his order seemed hypocritical. Maybe he’d decided the Earth didn’t deserve his whole concentration any longer now that he had a plan in place. She didn’t question him though; she just obeyed his orders.

Swarmed
     
    Watson jostled Jack’s shoulder until he opened his bleary