leaves off the vine, placing them into a wide dish. She took a glance at the screen, too, from across the table.
Both women’s faces paled.
“Do you know this language?” he asked, now absolutely certain this was a language, and the characters represented words or letters.
Svetlana nodded.
“It’s English, one of Earth’s languages. Do you think it’s from Val?” She turned to Nadia.
Nadia kept staring at the screen, her green eyes larger than ever.
“It must be from her. And it could only be meant for me. She didn’t know about you being alive. And she didn’t want anyone from the crew to understand it, that’s why she wrote it in English, not Universal.”
“What does it mean, sugar?” he asked. “What does it say?”
“It says ‘Help Me.’”
THE END
EXPLOSION, book 3 of Dark Anomaly, is coming soon.
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EXPERIMENT
CHAPTER 1
“Isabella Bruno.” The man in a dark suit wasn’t asking. Staring at me from the other side of the front entrance as I held the door open, he stated my name confidently, as if he already knew it was me.
“How can I help you?” I asked cautiously, glancing at the two others behind him. The large, black vehicles parked at the curb in front of our house did not put my mind at ease either.
“Michael Trevin.” He offered me his hand. “May we come in?”
“Trevin?” I stared at him in shock, ignoring his hand. “The Michael Trevin?” I asked, dumbfounded, even as I had already recognized the face of one of the three North American representatives in the coalition of Earth Governments. “You’re here? In Deer Rock?”
The fact that someone so high up in the government personally visited our small town—far up North on the territory that used to be Canada before the three countries of the continent had been merged into one—should be a huge event.
Had his visit been made public? How had I missed the news? And why was he at my house?
“Can we come in?” he asked more persistently, moving forward, which forced me to step back.
“Um, sure,” I mumbled, as if my permission meant anything at that point—all three had entered our small hallway.
I smoothed my hair quickly and brushed my palms down my t-shirt, feeling painfully underdressed in my pajama pants. It was mid-morning on a weekday, but I had an evening shift at the store today and hadn’t changed yet. Luckily, I had at least put a bra on.
“Who is it, Bella?” Mom came out of the kitchen, bouncing Lily, one of my sister’s twins, on her hip. “Mister Trevin . . .” She stared at the representative, her eyes opened wide, her mouth agape. “In my house?”
“Mrs Bruno.” He shook her hand energetically. “Where would be the best place for us to have a quick talk?” Without waiting for an answer, he shoved past her and into our kitchen. His escort followed.
“Um . . . About what?” Mom hurried after them. “Would you like anything? Tea? Water?”
“We don’t have much time.” Trevin pulled a chair from the table and sat down. “Secretary Carter. Agent Miller.” He gestured at the two men accompanying him as they took seats at the table too.
“What is it all about?” Mom moved her gaze from one man to another. Both her and I remained standing.
“We are here to collect Isabella Bruno,” Miller blurted out, earning a stern glare from Trevin.
“Me?” I stepped into the kitchen from the entrance where I had been standing.
Surely this was some kind of misunderstanding.
“What did she do?” Mom sent me a questioning stare.
“Before I explain,” Trevin raised a hand in a calming gesture, “allow me to remind you that although our coalition is the main human governing body on the planet, it has been under the jurisdiction of the planet Keala for the past nine years. The extraterrestrials have left us to administer our population, but the Kealan laws take precedence over ours.”
The aliens had come to Earth suddenly one day. Several giant flying saucers had hovered over a few major cities, and it didn’t take long for them to make it clear they did not come in peace.
All military attempts by the coalition to attack the spaceships resulted in the immediate annihilation of our aircraft and missiles.
Then they attacked us. Entire populations of several towns and small cities around the world were eradicated within minutes when bright rays of light had descended from the ships. All structures, machines, and animals were left intact. However, the people in those places were turned