Invasion (The Alien Wars #1) (3 page)

Donald sipped his drink as he riffled through his desk drawers. It took him a minute or two, but he finally pulled out an envelope and threw it to
Logan
.

Logan
caught it. “What’s this?”

“It’s your wedding present.”

“But I’m not married yet,”
Logan
said.

Donald waved his hand dismissively. “You’ll be married in less than two hours. Besides, I want you to read it now, when there aren’t hundreds of people around.”

Logan
tried to hand back the envelope, but Donald just laughed. “Just open the damn thing.”

Logan
gave in, broke the seal on the envelope, and tore it open. He had expected a card, maybe some money, but nothing like this. It was a single piece of paper, a letter addressed to him.

As he quickly read it, he shook his head. He looked up at Donald. “I’m sorry, I can’t accept this gift.” He put the paper back into the envelope and tried to hand it back to his future father-in-law.

Donald folded his arms in defiance. “I’ve already made up my mind. It’s yours, whether you like it or not.”

“What’s in the letter?” Kenneth asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m giving it back,”
Logan
said.

“Don’t you love my daughter?”

“Of course!”
Logan
answered.
“More than anything in the world.”

“Then accept what’s in that letter,” Donald replied and finished off his brandy.

Just as he did so, the door opened and a charming Asian woman with a sweet smile and long, black hair stepped inside. “Lucy is ready, sir.”

Donald nodded. “Thanks.” He turned to the brothers. “Knowing Lucy, we’ll be another five minutes, but you can go on ahead.” He walked after the woman but paused a moment later. Turning, he pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to
Logan
. “This key pass will open up any door in the building.” He slapped a hand on
Logan
’s shoulder. “You can thank me afterwards for providing you with a future.” He paused for a moment and gazed deep into his bright blue eyes. “Just promise me that you’ll take care of her, whatever happens.”

“I promise,”
Logan
replied.

As Donald left the room, Kenneth turned to his brother. “What was all that about?”

Logan
handed him the letter as he turned to the window and gazed out.

Kenneth’s eyes opened wide as he read it. “Whoa. You’re going to be rich.”

“I’m no businessman,”
Logan
stated.

Kenneth laughed. “With this amount of money, you don’t need to be. Heck, you could be a high school dropout and still have a few hundred grand left when you die.”

Logan
shook his head. “I don’t want the money.”

Kenneth grinned. “Then give me a million or two.”

“I don’t want control of Thorn Industries,”
Logan
said. “I’m not that type of guy.”

“What type of guy are you then?” Kenneth stared at his brother. “Your army days are over. It’s time to move on.”

Logan
thumped the nearby desk with his right fist. “I don’t want to move on.” Emotion showed in his voice and he sat back down on the settee. He covered his face with his hands as he continued talking. “Leonard, Joshua, and Will were good guys. And so were the rest of the group. I don’t want their deaths to be in vain.”

Kenneth walked over and sat down. He put his hand on
Logan
’s shoulder. “It’s been three years. It’s time to move on. Besides, according to the letter, you don’t get full control of the company until Mr. Thorn passes away, and I doubt that’s going to be anytime soon.” He stood up. “Come on. I’m sure Lucy must be ready by now.”

Logan
sighed and followed his brother out of the room and up the steps to the roof. They climbed into the helicopter. The blades swung round and round. As the machine rose in the air, another helicopter, this one black, touched down.

Logan
looked down and saw Donald and Lucy walking across the roof toward the helicopter.

Kenneth tried to cover
Logan
’s eyes to prevent him from seeing Lucy. “It’s bad luck seeing the bride before the wedding.”

Logan
pulled Kenneth’s hands away and stared down at his soon-to-be wife. She was gorgeous to look at. With long, blonde hair and an athletic figure from her days as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers,
Logan
thought that she was the most beautiful person alive. It wasn’t just that she was easy to look at, though he had often become mesmerized while staring into her stunning blue eyes; she also had a kind heart. As a nurse, she spent most of her evenings at the local hospital, cheering up the children by telling
them
jokes.

Logan
smiled. “Relax. What could happen?”

“Uh, we could get a storm.” Kenneth glanced at the bay where the clouds had quickly built into a huge thunderstorm.

“How could a storm grow that quickly?”
Logan
asked, worried.

“I don’t know, but it’s coming this way,” Kenneth said.

Logan
frowned. “They look like storm clouds, but something doesn’t seem right. It shouldn’t be developing that fast.”

Kenneth leaned forward and yelled at the pilot, “Let’s get going.”

The pilot nodded, and the helicopter turned toward the coast.

As the helicopter turned toward the coast,
Logan
glanced back and noted with satisfaction that the black helicopter was not far behind. He stared as he saw something exit the clouds. “What the hell …”
 

Logan
looked on as he saw a sleek, black aircraft the length of three football fields emerge from the storm clouds. It was a triangular shape and looked futuristic and shiny and similar to a B-2 Stealth Bomber, but much larger.

It slowed down as it approached the city and then, for some reason, it stopped. A few moments later, two massive doors slid open.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Kenneth muttered.

A moment later, a number of smaller crafts glided out of the gaping hole. They were roughly the length of four helicopters and were circular in shape. A few seconds later, a rocket shot out of the main aircraft and hurtled toward
San Francisco
. It hit one of the tallest skyscrapers and, within seconds, the entire structure collapsed on itself.

As mini-mushroom clouds engulfed the city,
Logan
noticed one of the smaller crafts heading toward them. As it got closer, it opened fire, shooting a red energy bolt. The deadly energy whipped past his window, barely missing them.

Going as fast as they could, the helicopters headed away from the city, with the mysterious craft right behind them. As more red bolts passed,
Logan
realized that luck was against them.

As they flew over the Golden Gate Recreation Area, the mysterious craft released another rocket. It headed straight for Donald’s helicopter and smashed into the tail. The machine veered down and hurtled toward the ground.

“No!”
Logan
punched the roof. The wounded craft tried to pull up.

They had almost made it.
Logan
could only stare on as it slammed into the trees.

As the seconds passed, he wondered if there were any survivors. However, due to the pine trees, it was impossible to see. He was contemplating where their helicopter could land, when the crashed chopper exploded, showering fragments in every direction.

Logan
wanted more than anything to land, but he knew that if they did, they’d suffer the same fate as the other helicopter. As long as they kept on moving from side to side, they stood a chance. He clapped the pilot’s shoulder. “Take her low through the city.”

Kenneth frowned. “But only a madman would attempt that.”

“The man’s right,” the pilot pointed out as he jinked the helicopter to the side to avoid another red bolt.

“If we don’t try something different, we are all going to die!”
Logan
shouted.

The pilot thought for a brief moment and then, seeing that their pursuers were not giving up the chase, reluctantly did as
Logan
suggested. He tilted the nose down and raced back across the
Golden Gate
Bridge
and headed toward the skyscrapers that dotted the city, with the mysterious craft in pursuit.

Logan and Kenneth clutched onto their seats as the pilot ducked the helicopter between buildings. But red bolts still followed their every move. While none struck the aircraft directly, one of the rotor blades had been hit, and as the controls became harder to handle, the pilot glanced at
Logan
. “If we get hit again, that might be the end of us.”

Logan
punched the side of the machine in frustration and anger as he gazed back at the mysterious craft. He had hoped that whoever was behind the controls would give up, but this clearly hadn’t happened.

Just like their helicopter, the small craft zigzagged between buildings, firing red bolts whenever it had a clear shot, which was a lot more frequently than
Logan
would have liked.

Suddenly, one of the red bolts hit the tail. As a beeping noise rang out and lights flashed, the pilot glanced back at the brothers. “Hang on, we’re going to crash.”

Logan and Kenneth held on tight as the helicopter veered toward the city streets. The pilot tried to avoid the line of vehicles that covered the entire stretch of road, but by doing so he crashed onto the sidewalk.

Glass shattered as the machine thundered through the shop window of a Chinese restaurant.
Logan
clambered out of the machine and then realized that the pilot hadn’t moved a muscle. So, with Kenneth by his side, the two of them helped carry the pilot out onto the sidewalk just as a red bolt tore toward them.

Logan
flung himself to the ground as the helicopter exploded. Dazed and bruised, he staggered to his feet a few moments later, half expecting to see another red bolt tearing toward him.

But the mysterious craft was no longer in view. Confused, but thanking his lucky stars,
Logan
helped Kenneth to his feet and, together, they helped move the pilot away from the restaurant that was still burning fiercely.

As the three of them rested against the side of a car, they observed the sight in front of them. People were hurrying as fast as they could in every direction, while those in cars were stalled on the road due to the mass of traffic. It was ten times worse than peak hour in
New York City
.

Fires burned in a number of buildings, while gunshots rang out every minute or so. Emergency personnel were helping as many people as they could, but with red bolts striking the buildings and causing them to break
apart,
they were fighting a losing battle.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the red bolts stopped and the crafts disappeared from view.
Logan
gazed around, searching for a reason why the shooting had stopped.