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the buildings on either
side of the square.
    He grinned. He was using the word square loosely. It was more accurately
a slightly squashed rectangle, but he was sure it used to be the town square so
that’s what he’d continue to call it.
    He and Duncan had just finished their work when Erle and Chad returned.
    “Which quadrant do you want us to do now, east or west?” asked Chad.
    “East. The hill might be dangerous. There are far more places to hide up
there, than down here. You’d better wait until Fletcher and Boris return and
take them as well.”
    Just then his personal communication device beeped. “Human movement on
the hill overlooking the town. Four persons,” Herman announced crisply.
    “Duncan, Erle, Chad, and I’ll go now. As soon as Boris and Fletcher
return send them after us as backup.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Where are we going?” asked Duncan, helping him lock the ladder back
into place.
    “Up the hill. Herman saw four people there.”
    “Damn. Trouble already. I’d hoped no one would see us arrive,” Erle
said.
    Andreas just grunted. They’d been seen and that was all there was about
it. The good news was that Earthlings had no technology anymore. All their
electronics had failed shortly after 2030, and their reliance on petroleum
products and gas had left them helpless almost immediately. Second, they were
frail and weak. Hardly a one of them was much over six feet tall, and the poor
nutrition here on Earth meant they weren’t very strong. The four of them should
be easily able to take out four humans.
    “Split up and be silent. There’s one each,” he ordered.
    Whereas most of the buildings in the town were creamy-gray old
concrete, with green plants growing over them, the hill itself was a riot of
brown and green. Their uniforms were in Mu Arae 7’s
official color, purple, which didn’t blend in with the surroundings at all. But
they were all professional warriors and knew how to hide and how to make
themselves very difficult to locate.
    Andreas kept his body low to the ground. Because
they were going uphill, the people coming down the hill would have the
advantage over them of being able to see them first. But difficulties were
merely challenges to overcome. No Earthling would hold him back from finding
his bride and saving their planet. That was his mission and he was going to
achieve it.
    ****
    “Look. There are buildings down there. We’ll be able to sleep with
walls around us and a real roof over our heads again,” called Flame.
    “Hold your excitement about the roof. Not too many of those houses have
one,” Skye teased her.
    “But some do. Surely we can find one not too far from a river.”
    Talk of a river worried Terah . They had very
little water left and the river was a full day’s walk from them now. She hadn’t
even seen a spring or the smallest of water sources. But Old Anny wouldn’t have
sent them here unless it was possible to live here so there must be water
somewhere nearby.
    She stood on a small rise and stared at the town spread out below her,
looking at the houses, with their green plant coverings, checking the few that
still seemed to have part of their roof.
    “Something is wrong in the center of the village. The buildings are
wrong there,” Terah said, worry itching at her and
tension filling her body.
    Flame came and stood beside her, pushing her red bangs away from her eyes.
“You’re right. The center is different. The colors don’t match. They aren’t the
same plants.”
    Raine was sniffing deeply. “I can’t smell fresh water.”
    Terah took a deep breath in through her nose. “Danger. There’s danger here.”
    She picked up her pack and screamed, “Run!” but it was too late. As the
four of them scattered, a horde of enormous aliens burst over the hill and captured
them. One of the giants grabbed her, sweeping her into his arms, and saying
something in a language she didn’t know.
    Terah kicked and screamed, struggling to get free