Final Assault Read Online Free

about,” he said.
    “Leo—”
    “How many ships launched, Britt?” he asked. She probably thought he wanted to distract her, but he didn’t. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her, really talk to her, in days. He didn’t want to get all of the news at the meeting. He wanted to be able to discuss some of it with her. “The news never said.”
    “On purpose.” She slid her hand from his then eased his fingers back on the steering wheel. She was younger than he was, just enough to trust a computer’s driving skills over a person’s. He, on the other hand, never completely trusted a computer and could never quite overlook the glitches they used to cause.
    “People are already rioting,” Bradshaw said from the backseat. “How much worse could the news be?” Britt turned toward him, the look on her face both weary and old. With Bradshaw’s question, she had clearly forgotten the driving debate; somehow that alarmed Cross more than her initial response had.
    “Britt?” Cross asked again. “How many ships left the tenth planet?”
    “A hundred and eight.” Her words were soft. Cross felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. The aliens were using a few more ships than they had used the last time they had attacked Earth. Then they had sent one hundred one. The coming attack would be at least as bad as the first one. And that one had left whole chunks of the planet devastated.
    “I don’t understand,” Bradshaw said. “People know ships are coming toward Earth. Why not tell them how many?”
    “It’s not my decision.” Britt turned around and slumped on the passenger side.
    The car was entering a new neighborhood, and as it did, Cross saw a gang of men setting fire to a building at the end of the block. He looked away. He certainly couldn’t get out of the car and help. In fact, all news outlets had been warning people to stay away from the rioting area.
    “Britt,” he said, “use your phone to report a disturbance down here.”
    She glanced at him, then used her wrist’puter to dial the emergency number. The computerized dispatch took the information but did not promise a response time. The police and emergency response units were already stressed to the breaking point. Cross and Bradshaw had called other disturbances in and had received the same responses.
    Finally, Britt shut off her link and ran a hand through her hair. She sighed. “What about you guys?”
    “What about us?” Cross saw smoke near the Beltway. He sighed. They’d have to take more back routes.
    “What have you found?”
    He knew the tactic. Britt didn’t want to talk about the ships anymore.
    “We know more about these aliens than I ever thought possible,” Bradshaw said.
    Cross nodded. “We’re going to lay out most of this at the meeting. We’ve put a lot together in the last few weeks.”
    He was amazed at how little he had been able to share with her lately. When they got together, they often ate a late meal and fell asleep in each other’s arms, too tired for anything else.
    They had to save the world, he thought wryly, just so that he could have a day off with Britt.
    “Fill me in” Britt said. “I hate surprises at meetings.”
    The street ahead was blocked with two ruined taxicabs. All of the buildings’ windows were broken, and glass covered the concrete. Cross turned down a side street.
    “We’ve learned,” he said as if nothing were wrong, “from the doctors working with the bodies recovered from the alien ships we shot down, that the aliens evolved on a stable, warm planet, covered with oceans. They have a methane-rich atmosphere, and a gravity about one tenth lighter than ours.”
    “We know from using a special dating of material from their ships,” Bradshaw said, “that the material has been frozen and thawed at least six thousand times. And the aliens themselves show signs of slight cell damage caused by repeated freezing and thawing.”
    “Six thousand?” Britt asked, turning to stare at