A short note: You guys ready for some new villains and a serious plot upgrade? How about a serious lack of sex… (for this chapter anyway). I hope so, cause it’s coming! This chapter is a little shorter than normal but I think you’ll find it enjoyable.

As usual, mail me comments/suggestions at (invidwriter@hotmail.com) – Even if you have to resort to just saying "cool story." I also have msn messenger so if you want to add me to your contact list just use the email address above.

Invid Invasion

Chapter 13

"Triple Threat"

"Andrea was standing alone in the arid landscape of North East Mexico. She wasn’t sure exactly how she had reached that particular spot, or for that matter where her coyote, Tessa, had gone.

She walked forward for a moment and surveyed her surroundings. "Yup, I definitely have no idea where I am," she said to herself. She sighed and turned around as if that would somehow help. "Okay, let’s go over this one step at a time. I picked up Tess, left a note for Tristen, headed South from York, traveled about a day, and then…" She looked around once more. "Great. My cyclone isn’t even here. How the hell am I supposed to…"

She cut her words short as a blinding light lit up the Western horizon. The light quickly imploded in on itself and in its place a dark line of cloud traveled upwards into the air. Andrea saw it as if in slow motion as it spread out high above the ground in the shape of a mushroom. "Oh, shit…"

The shock wave spread out instantly. It sent debris and vegetation into the air but Andrea was obviously far enough away, since it dissipated before reaching her. The scene reminded her of four years ago when she had watched from outside her town as American used nukes on it’s own territory as a last resort for fighting the Invid.

A sound from behind her forced her to regain herself and she turned to look. An Invid fleet blackened the sky as it headed North towards the point of the blast.

* * * *

Andrea awoke next to both Tess and her cyclone. She sighed to herself and sat up. That was the third time that night she had had that dream. The first time was scary and the second time was worse, but the third bordered on down right annoying.

"What do you say we go for a walk, hey Tess? Shake ourselves awake a bit?" Naturally, there was no respond from the animal, other than a blank stare. Andrea smiled and stood up. "You know, even house dogs know what ‘walk’ means." There was only another blank stare. "Alright, alright, I know you’re a coyote… At least ten times better than an ordinary dog, right? Heh, come on, let’s go." She packed up her bag and hid her cyclone. She hadn’t gone on many walks in recent months and as she got further into it, she realized how much she missed them.

Andrea walked along the edge of the ocean and it wasn’t even fifteen minutes into her stroll when Tess climbed down the embankment on the ocean side of her and started barking. Tess had reached what appeared to be a giant cave mouth along the beach. The ground was strewn with dried reeds and the like from the ocean so Andrea stepped carefully so as not to trip on one of them. As she neared the cave mouth she put a hand on her weapon. She wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Tess was ahead of her, in plain site, staring into the cave and growling fiercely. Andrea spoke to her. "It’s okay, Tess. Calm down, I’m sure you’re worked up about nothing." Andrea said the words as if trying to convince herself. Once she was close enough, she followed the animal’s gaze into the cave and startled at the sight of an old Mach II.

As she first laid eyes on it, she recalled the flash of light and cloud of smoke from her dream and backed up in a small panic. She tripped on something and fell ass first onto the beach.

She paused a moment to regain herself and noticed the giant mecha wasn’t active. "Way to go Andrea. Freak out about nothing…" The mech had sand and reeds all over it. It was rusted and worn and had obviously seen much better days. It probably couldn’t even boot up. Meanwhile, Tess stopped barking and went over to Andrea’s side, now more concerned with her companion than the metal monstrosity in the cave.

"I’m okay, Tess," Andrea said while slowly standing. "It’s inactive. Just some old war relic." Andrea looked down to make sure she didn’t trip on anything else and instead opened up her jaw in astonishment. "Or maybe not." When she had tripped in surprise, she ended up pulling some of the reeds on the beach back and underneath there was very obviously a large, four foot wide mechanical footprint. The destroid was most definitely more active than she originally thought.

"Alright then," Andrea took her weapon out of its holster. "Stay here, Tess." The animal moved to follow closely at her side. Andrea looked down again. "I’m serious. Stay here." The animal ignored her a second time and failed to convince Andrea of its ignorance. She knew Tess understood ‘stay’ just fine. Regardless, she decided to concede the battle and the two went inside quietly. Tess seemed to be in hunting mode and her nose was trying to pick up a trail of some kind.

While Tess was searching, Andrea made her way up the ladder. When she reached the top, and looked into the cockpit she discovered that the batter was full. Not only that, but the thing had a full compliment of missiles. She tried to open the cockpit door, but as expected it was magnetically sealed.

She went back down to the cave floor to find Tess already tracking a scent. Andrea followed the three-legged animal to the edge of a cave wall. Once there, Tess pawed at the base of it as if trying to dig up some dirt. Andrea gently moved Tess out of the way and took over. After a short investigation it was quite obvious that there was a seam along the base of the rock for about three feet. It was a door.

It took another ten minutes of searching until she found the well-concealed button on the underside of a rock outcropping. The door silently slid open and into the wall, leaving only a staircase leading down in its place. Andrea wasn’t sure she wanted to see where it led, but as all good adventurers do, she cast reason aside and descended downwards. Tess remained close behind and nearly got caught in the door when it closed behind her. The staircase was nearly pitch black with the exception of a soft light coming from its base. The two walked downwards in silence, hoping that whoever was below wouldn’t notice them.

The staircase opened up into a complex of some kind that was built into the rock. It looked military in nature and they obviously had electricity judging by the fluorescent lighting. The first room had the appearance of a reception hall, but it was completely abandoned. Two doors led out from it and Andrea decided to try the one to her left.

The door opened into a conference room of some kind. It was fully furnished and had posters covering all four walls. Going over to the largest one, Andrea discovered what appeared to be the blueprints to an Invid hive. The posters around it were all related by the looks of things. Most of them gave more detailed accounts of specific sections. Unfortunately, everything was written in a language she had never seen before. She moved to a computer on the table, but again it was all in that strange language.

Thinking it best to keep moving, Andrea tried a new door leading out of the conference room. It led into a long corridor that was well lit and just as abandoned as everything else. She noticed there was no dust on the floor though and there was light coming from some of the offices off to either side of the hall. She walked through quickly and silently hoped that no one would choose that moment to take a bathroom break. Tess stayed close behind her, sniffing to the best of her ability. She seemed to have a lot of scents to choose from.

She reached another staircase and descended without hesitation. On the first landing she found herself in a new hall with more doors off to either side. She walked forward slightly and cautiously peered into the first doors window.

Her stomach turned as she spotted three doctors around a patient on a table. The patient was a humanoid Invid, judging from the amount of green blood all over the place and it was trying to get free as they operated on it while it was still conscious. Andrea saw an arm on a side table that had been detached and quickly backed up. She looked down to Tess. "Come on, let’s get out of here."

Andrea returned the way she came and excited the building as quickly as stealth permitted. Upon reaching the main door, it was a short search to find the exit button and she left the cave. She wasn’t even through the opening when she saw a half dozen Invid ships fly to the South. Presumably, they were looking for their companion.

"Andrea? Andrea is that you?"

Andrea turned, immediately recognizing the voice, "Ed?"

"Yeah, yeah. Ah never thought ah’d see you again." He smiled broadly and walked up to give her a hug.

"Whoa. What do you think you’re doing? I’m still more than a little pissed at you."

"Pissed? Why?" His confusion looked genuine but Andrea was already on to the next question.

"And what the hell are you doing here of all places?"

"Well," he hiked up his pants and looked upwards while he thought about his answer. "After ah finally got outa that God forsaken hive, ah wandered around for a couple a months and eventually ended up here."

"Wait, after you got out of the hive?"

"Yeah. See, they brought me t’ the hive down here instead o’ keepin’ me up North. To be honest ah figured you’d have no idea where I was." He looked at her for a moment. "An’ judgin’ from your expression ah guess ah figured right, eh?"
Andrea was still confused. "And how long have you been here?"

"About a month now. The folks took me in. Ah get supplies and what not for ‘em in exchange, but uh… You didn’t hear that from me. They’re real secretive like you understand."

"Right…" Andrea stared at him for a moment and concentrated. She felt a tingle in the back of her neck and suddenly was overwhelmed with a sense of joyous confusion. It took her a minute to realize that the feelings weren’t coming from her. They were coming from here. Did they somehow work in conjunction with her so-called ‘psychic’ dreams?

"Andrea? Are you okay?"

"When was the last time you saw me Ed?"

"Uh, that’d be when you went to investigate the Invid hive a few months ago. Why? What kind of a question is that?"

Andrea started walking back to her cyclone. "How can I talk to you again? Will you be here?"

"Uh, yeah, ah’ll wait here. But if you’re goin’ where ah think you’re goin’ ah can’t let you leave."

Andrea stopped. "You can’t let me?"

Ed shifted, hesitant. He knew he couldn’t really stop her. "You promise t’ keep this to yourself?"

"Ed…" Andrea wasn’t in the mood for games.

"They’re plannin' an attack on the hive. If you’re inside when it happens… well ah’d be inconsolable."

"I won’t be. Which direction is it?"

Ed sighed. "It’s southwest o’ here. Just don’t take any unnecessary risks okay?"

Andrea looked to Tess. "This time you stay with him." Tess sat down, obviously not impressed, but this time she wasn’t putting up a fight. Andrea jogged back to her cyclone.

* * * *

Andrea was still fuming as the hive came into sight, but she didn’t want her cyclone to get confiscated again so she hid it a good distance away and walked the rest. She didn’t go without protection though and made sure to pull the energy pistol out of the cyclone’s seat compartment.

After about five minutes she reached the outer edge of the structure but no one was there to greet her, or for that matter, shoe her away. "Hey!" She gave the large spongy looking dome a good kick. "I know you can hear me." She waited for a moment. "Show yourselves!" There was still no response.

Andrea cursed herself for what she was about to do, but she wasn’t going to be turned away at their doorstep. She spoke to herself, "fine, have it your way." She pulled out her energy pistol and fired at the structure. The beam connected with the side of the hive and left a large scorch mark on the building's skin.

Within seconds two scouts flew out from the top of the hive. At the same time, a hole opened in the wall and two stage fours exited the structure. "It’s about time someone decide to talk to me."

One of the stage fours spoke. "Relinquish your weapon."

Andrea took the protoculture cell out and handed it over. The Invid seemed to accept the compromise for now and asked a question that was becoming much more common in her life. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk with the brain."

"Unlikely."

Andrea frowned. She was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. "I don’t care if it’s likely or not. You can either let me in, or I’ll let myself in."

The Invid looked to it’s partner and then to the two scouts behind Andrea. It responded in a cold but nearly cocky tone. "Our studies have shown that humans without armor are very fragile."

Andrea frowned again. It wasn’t leaving her much choice. She was already reaching for the backup protoculture cell behind her when she heard a familiar voice. "I would recommend you do as she suggests. This human is far more dangerous than most." The unseen Invid stepped out from between the two guards and came into view. It was Destiny. The Invid she had met in Salt Lake. "I knew you’d track me down but to be honest, I didn’t realize you would do it so quickly."

Destiny saw the surprise in Andrea’s eyes and realized her assumption was wrong. "If you’re not here for me, then who are you here for?"

"I need to talk to the brain."

"Yes, I’ve heard that. What for?"
"That’s none of your business. Now are you going to let me in or not?"

Destiny extended an arm towards the entrance. "By all means."

The guards moved out of the way and Andrea stepped inside with Destiny. "So, are you going to kill me now or some other trivial thing? Because you know I’ll just come back in the next batch of Invid."

Andrea looked at her seriously. "Ah, but will you come back if there is no next batch of Invid?"

Destiny took on a concerned look. "What do you know, Andrea?"

Andrea looked passed the Invid, "one thing at a time."

"Fine, but you can’t come any further dressed like that."

Andrea frowned. "You mean dressed at all."

"You know the routine Andrea. Nothing made by humans comes past this point in the hive."

"Well then give me one of those suits I see all of you wearing all of the time." Andrea was referring to the skintight black latex looking material that most of the Invid wore.

"If you simply get undressed, it will do quite fine." Andrea sighed but complied, knowing it was useless to argue. She soon found herself naked.

"You know, last time I was in a hive it didn’t work out very well for me." The two started walking.

"Then why return?"

"Answers. I need answers."

"I can give you that. I know everything the brain does if I simply ask. And then you don’t need to talk to something that looks quite so despicable… At least by human standards."

"I don’t care who I talk to as long as I get the truth."

"And the truth, you will get."

The two walked in silence for a short time and then Andrea thought of something. "Wait a minute, if you’re here, is Cliff here too?"

"Yes, but he doesn’t know that you are here. I think that’s probably for the best, don’t you agree?"

"Probably."

"Good. I hope you and I can develop a better dialogue than he did with you."

Andrea borrowed the stage four’s word. "Unlikely."

"Ah yes, you’re still mad about Salt Lake."

"Do you know what really pisses me off about the Invid?" Andrea didn’t wait for an answer. "It’s that they have such a damn little respect for human life. For some reason you think I should be good and over it by now."

"We would be."

"No, you would be reincarnated." They walked again for a minute. "Here’s a question for you. How come I go to all these hives or see all these Invid and I have only met three stage fives?"

"Simple, every time one of us meets you, they quickly develop an extreme like or dislike for humanity. Both sides are seen as dangerous."

"And which one are you?"

Destiny hesitated, not wanting to answer. "I have a very deep respect for your people, and specifically for yourself." She paused a moment. "At least now I do."

"I’m flattered," Andrea said sarcastically.

"Yes, I’m sure you are." A door opened in the wall. "Well, here we are." The doorway led into a small room with a shelf that Andrea assumed doubled as a bed. "Have a seat."

"No thanks."

"Very well, it’s your choice. Please, ask your questions." Destiny sat on the bench and crossed her legs. She lent back against the wall casually and the light from the room highlighted the curves of her body thanks to the skintight suit.

"What did you people do to Ed?"

She paused a moment, "The Regis says that you already know the answer to that because you were there."

"The Regis?"

"Yes, that is what some of you humans have been calling her. We refer to her as the All Mother."

"Well you tell the All Mother, or the Regis, or whatever that I do know what she told me and now I’ve come back to get the truth."

Destiny paused again, "she says she has already told you the truth."

"Is that so?"

"You sound skeptical."

Andrea let out a frustrated grunt. "Invid aren’t very good at determining meaning behind words, are they?"

"Humans often say what they don’t mean. It can be hard to tell true intentions when everything is sarcasm or rhetorical or any number of other things."

"Well then, for the sack of interspecies relations, you’re right. I’m skeptical."

"Why?"

"Because I just met the real Ed." Destiny closed her eyes and there was a long silence. "Destiny?" There was still no response. "Destiny? Are you okay?" Andrea moved over to investigate and Destiny’s eyes shot open.

"Andrea." It was Destiny’s voice but it had different inflections. It was calmer, more passive.

"Are you okay?"

"You’re talking to the All Mother now, Andrea. I’m using Destiny as a conduit. She’s simply watching us now."

Andrea took a step back and regained her more aggressive questioning. "You have something to say to me I take it?"

"I do." Destiny stood, "I will not answer to a human, least of all one who thinks herself my superior. Leave my hive at once and do not return again or I will detain you and put you in a protoculture field with anyone else who has ever had the audacity to enter one of my homes."

The fields that the All Mother spoke of were simply slave labor camps and Andrea had no intention of ending up there. On the other hand however, she had no intention of backing down to someone who was afraid to show their face personally. "I thought you were trying to improve relations with humans, not threaten them. At least that’s what I was told a week ago when you guys massacred the people at Salt Lake."

"As I said, I do not answer to you, and neither will Destiny. You don’t have the right to question our actions."

Destiny closed her eyes again and jarred back to consciousness. "I guess our conversation is over," Andrea said.

"It would appear that way."

"How can someone sound so passive and be so aggressive?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

Andrea responded seriously. "Not if you have an answer."

"Are you trying to say that you don’t know? How could you not know?"

Andrea shrugged. "What do you mean, how could I not know? How about something more like ‘I don’t have to answer to humans,’ from every Invid I meet?" Andrea took a step closer and decided it was time for a direct question. She looked Destiny in the eyes, "Why does your species hate us so much?"

"Because you destroyed our home."

"What?" Andrea’s surprise showed on her face.

"Well not you specifically."

"Then who… specifically?"

"The Masters."

Andrea’s state of shock continued. "You mean the Robotech Masters?"

"Yes, of course. Them and their puppets, the Zentradi." Destiny paused a moment. "How could you not know this?" It was Destiny’s turn to be confused.

"What happened? Why did they destroy it?" Andrea continued to question.

"For the flower. They discovered that it grew abundantly on our planet and invaded us to harvest it. By the time the Zentradi were finished, there was nothing left of our ecosystem. The flower was the key; it fit in with everything else. So, after that we did all we could do, we abandoned our planet and searched for somewhere else the flower grew. Then we found Earth.

"Why didn’t you just tell us and ask for it?"

"Because we wanted vengeance and you never would have said yes."

"So let me get this straight," Andrea said pacing slightly. "You think we’re the Robotech Masters?"

"You are."

"Let me tell you something that you may not know. We are not the Robotech Masters," Andrea said firmly. "Ten years ago we were attacked by the Zentradi. We fought them off and a few years later, the Masters themselves attacked us. We eventually fought them off too and sent most of our fleet to pursue them back to their home space. That’s why we were such easy prey when you got here."

Destiny looked stunned and sat back down. "Perhaps you are cousins of them. They could have put you here to grow independently."

Andrea sighed, "if we grew independently then the point is moot. We’re not them.

"What about your technology?" Destiny wasn’t ready to give up on it just yet.

Andrea opened her arms in frustration. "A Zentradi ship crashed here before they invaded. We derived all our protoculture technology from that. Even the flower came with the ship.

"I see."

"So you just never thought to ask anyone about this stuff?"

"We assumed because of the physical and technological similarities, not to mention the presence of the Zentradi, that there was no reason to ask."

"Hah. Sounds like the Invid to me. Shoot first, ask questions later."

"Your species isn’t much better you know."

Andrea was getting mad. "At least we know who we’re fighting." Andrea walked to where the door had formed and turned back towards Destiny. She nearly yelled, "And we haven’t invaded anyone’s God damn planet."

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes. Andrea just stared at the wall and took deep breaths to calm herself. The last place she wanted to lose it was inside an Invid hive. Once she had regained her wits she spoke, "come on, take me out of this place. I’m obviously not going to get the answers I need."

Destiny hesitated. "I want to ask you something but it’s probably not the best time."

"What?" Andrea said angrily.

Destiny took a quick look up and down Andrea’s naked body and brought her eyes back up to meet Andrea’s. "Irene talks a lot about the times you’ve had sex with her and I’ve never tried it with anyone before… and since you’ve always been open minded about it, I thought…"

"You’re kidding," Andrea tried not to look too astonished. "Sex isn’t just some physical thing like Irene seems to think. It’s emotional!"

Destiny picked up on the hint, "and you don’t want to do it with someone that killed all your friends."

"Bingo."

"Oh." She paused in thought. "I’m sorry." Destiny walked over to the door and it opened. "But for the record, I didn’t kill anyone. I just led the other Invid."

"Not good enough," Andrea said simply.

"I understand. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"I’ll keep that in mind," Andrea said with no intention of doing so.

The two started walking down the corridor. The heat was starting to get to Andrea and she was sweating quite a bit. She was more than happy to be on her way out. At least, she would have been if she had received a few answers.

They had been walking about two minutes when Andrea realized they weren’t leaving the same way they had come in. In fact, Andrea estimated that after going through the elevator they were still three or four stories above ground level. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"I have to make a stop." As if on cue, a door opened from the wall and Destiny went inside. "I’m going to be studying something in that far wall cabinet. Please don’t enter or look in this room while I’m distracted with the object of study." She said the words rather mechanically and it was obvious Andrea wasn’t supposed to take them too seriously. Nonetheless, it was an unusual comment.

Without regard to Destiny’s statement, Andrea entered the room and looked around. It was a lab of some kind with various sizes of transparent tubing, all filled with green liquid. The first smaller ones she looked at seemed to be empty but as she progressed past more of them she saw that they were all divided into pairs. The larger ones stood about two feet tall and had what appeared to be embryos growing inside.

While Andrea continued to look through the lab, she glanced over her shoulder to see Destiny still occupied with whatever she was doing. She was humming quietly to herself, in blissful ignorance of what Andrea was doing.

Andrea came to the far end of the lab and instead of seeing tubes of the liquid, she saw two pits full of it. The pits were about six feet by two and a half feet and inside there was a man in each one. As Andrea took a better look she realized it was the same person. "Cloning," she said to herself.

Destiny stopped humming. "Sorry? Did you say something? I can’t hear from way over here."

Andrea spoke up, "uh, no. Nothing."

"Good. I’m just about done here. Just give me another minute."

"Yeah, no problem," Andrea exited the room and only waited a few seconds before Destiny turned around to join her.

They walked back to the elevator in silence. A minute later, they were standing at the edge of the hive. "I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help," Destiny said honestly.

"Me too." Andrea took a quick look around and took a step closer to Destiny. She spoke quietly, "but just between you and me, I would find an excuse to leave the hive for a few days."

"I’ll take that under advisement." Destiny handed Andrea her clothes. "I hope you find what you’re looking for."

"Me too," Andrea started to get dressed. The door opened up and when finished, Andrea exited through it with a frown on her face. Obviously Ed had been cloned and the one she knew now was most likely the original. But the real question was why? What did they hope to gain from it? And why would Destiny go against the Regis to tell her? Or at least to imply it…

Andrea walked back to her cyclone and started to drive back to the cave. All the possibilities were rolling around in her head as fast as the wheels were moving beneath her. She barely remembered to check the radar to make sure she wasn’t being followed but when she did, the coast was clear. She switched to the gas engine as an extra precaution.

Andrea got back to the cave quickly and saw Ed, still sitting outside waiting for her. He stood up as he saw her approach and Tess walked over with him while she started to hide her cyclone.

"How’d it go?" He asked.

"Not good. I didn’t get the answers I needed. At least not directly."

"Oh. Ah’m sorry to hear that. Did you get anythin’ from em?"

"I guess they cloned you."

"Cloned me? What the dickens would they want t’ do that for?"

"I don’t know. They wouldn’t tell me."

"Well ah hope mah clone didn’t do anythin’ too embarrassin’."

"Don’t hold your breath on that one, Ed."

"Oh. That don’t sound too good. "What’d ah do?"

"Probably better not to get into it."

"That bad huh? Well, what else did those bastards tell you?"

"Who, the Invid?" Ed nodded. "That they think humans are the Masters. That’s why the attack was so bad when they came."

"Oh… ah see." His expression turned to one of concern.

"What is it?"

"Nothin'… just what do you suppose they’d do if say, they found out some’a the masters are still here?"

Andrea joined his concern. She responded, half-afraid to hear the answer to her counter question, "why?"

"Cause ah may know of a few that’re still here."

"Shit." Andrea paused for a moment. "In the cave? How many?"

"Ah dunno, maybe three?"

"You think it’s three or you know it’s three?"

"Ah think it is. They have humans workin’ for em too so it can be hard t’ tell sometimes."

"Shit. I knew something was strange in there. How did you know it was them?"

"Well ah’m not stupid. They tried to hide it, but it’s pretty obvious if you’re around for any length o’ time, you know?"

Andrea paused for a moment thinking, "do you know how they plan to attack the hive?"

"No, can’t say as they told me."

"I need to find out."

"Are you sure that’s a good idea? Ah don’t think they’d much appreciate you waltzin’ in there. ‘Sides, pretty much all their stuff is in their language."

"But they still speak English, right?" Andrea walked over to her cyclone and Ed followed.

"Sure, but if any o’ them get their hands on you… Well ah don’t even want t’ think about it."

"I’ll be fine, Ed." Andrea opened up her seat compartment.

"Andrea, will you just hang on one dang minute," Ed said.

She turned to face him in response. "What do you want Ed?"

Ed leaned in without warning and kissed her on the lips. Andrea was wide-eyed at the unexpected gesture and forgot to return the act. He pulled away after a few moments. "Ah’m sorry. Ah just missed you is all. It’s been a long time."

Andrea looked back at him, quickly recovering from the unforeseen kiss. "I missed you too."

"Then can’t you wait a few minutes before runnin’ off to your death like you usually seem to?"
Ed saw her hesitation and grasped her gently by the shoulders as he leaned forward for another kiss. This time Andrea returned the gesture and leaned into him. They wrapped their arms around each other and Ed kissed harder. He leaned too far in and Andrea had to take a step backward to balance herself. Unfortunately, her cyclone was right behind her and she tripped over it. The two fell to the ground roughly and Andrea grunted with the impact.

"Oh, shit. Are you okay? Ah’m sorry."

Andrea didn’t answer with words; instead she kissed him hard. She was getting turned on as the memories from last time she did it with the real Ed came flooding back. He had gone to sleep while still inside her and had never wanted him to leave. He may not have ever been the perfect match for her but damn if she didn’t have a soft spot for the guy.

As he put more weight into the kiss, Andrea’s back pressed into the soft ground underneath her. She reached under his shirt and pulled it over his head. Ed reluctantly broke the kiss long enough to get it past his head. "Ah really did miss you, y’know."

"I know. I missed you too. I’m sorry I didn’t come looking for you." Andrea was suddenly pained with guilt. She should have known something was wrong when he acted so differently. She shouldn’t have taken the Invid’s word for it.

"Don’t worry about it. You thought ah was still with you."

Andrea still looked a little sad but a smile came back to her face and she kissed him lightly. "I’ll make it worth your while."

"Is that so?" Ed smiled back.

Andrea rolled over and took him with her. She straddled his lap and crossed her arms in front of her before lifting her shirt over hear head in one fluid motion. The white cotton caught on her breasts for a moment before exposing them to the warm sea air. Her raised arms caused them to sit high on her chest. As she lowered her arms, now bare from the waist up, her breasts sank into their usual spot but her erect nipples pointed proudly into the air.

Ed looked from her toned stomach, up past her breasts and to her face and curly hair. "You really are beautiful, you know that?"

"I know," Andrea said in mock egotism. While she spoke, she ran her hands across his naked chest. He looked a little uncomfortable as she dragged her nails along his beer belly but when her fingertips reached the belt of his pants he forgot all about his physical shortcomings.

Andrea unbuckled his pants and slid them, and his boxers, down his hips at the same time. They weren’t down to his knees before she pounced on his dick with her tongue. Her hands grabbed hold of his waist and she brought her tongue up and down the length of his semi-hard member before moving to his balls. She played with them in her mouth for a while and could feel coarse hairs tickle her cheeks. He moved a hand down into her hair and held it there, as if to encourage her, but encouragement was the last thing she needed.

She gently nibbled her way back up his now hard cock and upon reaching it’s head she gently dragged her lower teeth along it before taking the whole thing into her mouth. Ed moaned as she flicked her tongue across his cock’s tip, all the while keeping the head inside her mouth. Ed moaned again and Andrea took it as her cue to go further. She moved her mouth down on his cock, inserting more and more of it into her mouth. Soon he was completely inside her and tickling against the back of her throat. She pulled back up and his dick was instantly covered in saliva. "Damn that’s good," Ed said.

Andrea smiled and went back to work, dipping her head once more. Her breasts hung down from her naked chest and swung slightly at her up down motion as she increased pace on his member. Then, remembering that he was a rather quick one to cum, she backed off, kissed the head of his cock and licked down the outside of it again. It regularly twitched against the side of her face or chin and left a smear of saliva on her face as it did so.

Feeling like he had calmed down a bit again, Andrea got off him and stood. With a slight gyration of the hips she undid her leather pants and slid them down her hips slowly. Ed’s gaze fixated on her abdomen where the material was gradually moving downwards. He could see her pubic bone and the creases where her legs joined her hips to form the "V" of her crotch, framed by her well-defined stomach.

As the waist of her pants made it lower, Ed could make out the first few trimmed pubic hairs before more of the landing strip came into view and the waistband passed down her hips and to her ankles. Andrea stepped out of the pant legs and walked the few feet over to Ed before straddling him and crouching down over his cock. "You ready?" She asked with a smile. She noticed Ed was staring at her breasts as she leaned forward slightly and they came away from her chest when she kneeled on the ground.

"Ready as ah’ll ever be," Ed said smiling. He took his gaze away from Andrea’s breasts long enough to look at her face as he felt her grab his cock lightly and press the tip of it against her pussy.

"Mmm," Andrea moaned mostly for his benefit as it slipped inside. It did feel good though, she realized as it fit itself home and her ass came down on his thighs. Andrea gyrated her hips around with his cock fully inside her. She could feel his member touching each side of her inner walls as the circular motion continued. "How does that feel?" She asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" Ed said closing his eyes. One of his hands found its way to her ass while the other one grabbed hold of her right breast. Andrea leaned forward her face was over his and slowly lifted her hips up until he was nearly outside of her. Then, as Ed thought he would slip out, Andrea lowered herself once more. Her breasts jiggled as her ass slapped against his thighs once more.

Ed was in heaven as Andrea moved up and down his cock, thrusting her hips forward and back, respectively, at the same time to create a long fluid stroke. He moved his other hand to join his first one at her breasts and massaged them both simultaneously. Suddenly, she felt him clamp down on her breasts and she noticed him biting his lips. She stopped moving instantly and he opened his eyes. "Don’t stop."

"Oh no," Andrea said. "You’re not coming yet."
"Ah’m not?" Ed said questioningly. "What if ah ask real nice like."

Andrea smiled. "Forget it." She picked herself off his cock completely and it stiffly smacked against his stomach.

"Okay, ah’ll wait. Just put it back in."

"I’ve got a better idea." Andrea shifted herself a few inches up his body.

"Oh?" Ed said not sure what to expect.

Andrea reached just behind her butt and grabbed his cock. "Have you ever done a girl in the ass, Ed?"

Ed’s eyes went wide. "Can’t say as ah have." That was obviously the answer Andrea was looking for and she pressed the head of his slippery cock against her ass hold. "Why? You’re not intendin’ to…" He cut himself short as Andrea lowered her hips once more, this time pushing him straight into her rectum. " Oh, God," he said and Andrea felt his body stiffen once more. She stopped moving to hold off his orgasm. "Too cruel," he moaned to himself.

"Too cruel?" Andrea said jokingly while feeling his hard member deep inside her bowels. He was smaller than some of the men that had done her in that hole and it felt much better that way. It was much more enjoyable than normal.

"Oh, did ah say cruel?" he backtracked. "Ah meant… ah meant…" Andrea rocked her hips hard into him, gaining another half inch in penetration. "Oh yeah."

"You like that?" Andrea said as she did it again.

"God yeah, I like it." Ed could see her pussy and he reached down awkwardly to stroke her clit with his thumb.

This time Andrea let out a fully real moan and leaned way back away from him so he’d have easier access to her clit. It also meant he got inside her another small amount. His thumb worked wonders as she started to pump up and down. She clenched her ass as she withdrew and loosened it as she sat back down on him again, practically milking his cock for everything it was worth.

She noticed that after a few more strokes he was getting pretty red in the face and chest, probably trying to hold off orgasm. "You still can’t cum," she reminded him. "Just concentrate on my clit to take your mind off it," she said with a bit of an ulterior motive. It was feeling damn fine as he continued to rub her off in circular motions.

After a few more strokes up and down inside her ass, Andrea knew she was about to cum. "You better not let go if you feel me tighten up," she clarified.

"Don’t worry, ah won’t."

With a few more pumps up and down Andrea was finished. Knowing she was about to cum, she stretched her legs out in front of her so her feet were under his arms and laid all the way back until he was inside her as far as possible. From there, she balanced on her shoulders and heels and lifted her ass up one more time before letting him enter her again. The feeling, combined with his rubbing of her clit sent her into one of the best orgasms she ever had. She twitched around on his cock, bucking her hips about an inch at regular intervals. Her breasts shook on her chest with each twitch and her body rushed all over in pleasurable sensations.

She finally came down and to her amazement realized Ed was still trying his damnedest not to come. She thought about letting him go right then and there but realistically, she didn’t want cum constantly dripping out of her ass if she was going to try and infiltrate an enemy stronghold. She sat up straight and more pleasure shot through her body as his cock was forced to shift positions inside her. He moaned again at the same time and Andrea got off him. She backed up on hands and knees to her first position and grabbing his thighs once more enveloped his cock in her hot mouth.

Ed bucked his hips immediately and his cock went all the way inside her. She could taste where it had been but did her best to ignore it, as she really wanted him to have a great time. Not only that but it would have to be nice and slick for the final thing she had planned. Once he was well covered in saliva once again she rolled on to her back. "Straddle my chest," she said.

Ed complied without the slightest hesitation. He was rubbing himself gently and Andrea figured that at this point he probably couldn’t stop if he wanted to. She grabbed his cock for him and after giving it a couple quick pumps she lowered it between her breasts. Then, she mashed her chest around his member and interlaced her fingers to hold them into place. Ed stood down in awe. Her breasts weren’t particularly large, but they were big enough to get in between them comfortably.

"What are you waiting for?" Andrea said with a smile."

"Uh, sorry, nothin’." Ed started to rock his hips back and forth, feeling her soft flesh around his cock. Every now and then his cock head would poke out the other side and Andrea would be there to give it a quick lick before it disappeared into her cleavage once more.

After doing the same thing a few more times, Andrea looked up at him and said one short sentence. "Now you can cum."

Ed didn’t waste a second. Faster than she had expected, a blast of semen arched out from between her breasts and hit her square on the face, dangling from her nose down the side of her cheek and neck. Ed sat back and let the rest fall where it may. By the time he was half-finished, Andrea was shocked at how much there was. When he was finally done, she was astounded. Trying to be as sexy as possible, Andrea reached her index finger into a pool of cum that had collected at her collar bone and spooned it into her mouth. She sucked her finger clean and smiled up at Ed. "Tastes good."

Ed backed off to her lap and Andrea propped herself up on her elbows. "Ah’ve never had to wait that long in mah life," he said breathlessly and rolled off her onto his side. He closed his eyes in bliss and Andrea could have sworn he just fell asleep. She looked down at her chest and saw streams of cum rolling down her. Some had even gone so far down her as to collect in her pubic area and matte the hair down. Her face had a few long strands along it too, but she didn’t care. She let herself fall down on her back and closed her eyes for a few minutes.

* * * *

Andrea was lying on her back. She had drifted off to sleep for a few minutes but her subconscious woke her up before the cum on her chest even had a chance to dry. "I need to go, Ed."

He was already half awake and her comment brought him the rest of the way back. "Ah, know." Andrea reluctantly stood and searched for her clothes. She grabbed a rag from he backpack to wipe her face with and left the rest. "Aren’t you gonna get that?" Ed said.

"Guess not, Andrea said with a smile. It’s a habit I picked up from an old friend."

"Ah see," he said. He watched as Andrea bent over to put on her underwear and batted her leather pants against a tree to get some dirt off. He smiled and watched her breasts as they moved as if separate from the rest of her body as she did so. "You know," Ed said, now admiring her panties. "Ah think you’re more of a boxers kinda girl."

"Huh?" Andrea said with some confusion. She put on her pants.

"Don’t get me wrong now, ah love the tight panties look as much as the next guy. But boxers’d be more you somehow."

Andrea pulled her dirty tank top over hear head and yanked it down passed her still sticky breasts. Ed could see the faint coloration of her nipples through the fabric. She smiled. "I’ll keep it in mind." She gave her shirt a final tug passed her midriff. "Listen, do you have any idea where the information on the attack they’re planning would be?"

"Uh, there’s a computer in the third basement that has everythin’ written in English so that the humans helping them can know what’s goin’ on. Problem is, there’s a guard there 24/7 to keep unimportant people like me from seein’ it."

"That’s where I’ll go then. Stay out of the base if you can. Just in case."

"Sorry, no can do. They’ll be expectin’ me soon." Andrea opened her mouth to speak but Ed cut her off. "Don’t worry, ah’ll be careful."

Andrea picked up her pistol, her energy pistol and a small limpet mine from the cyclone. She went back to the cave, this time without Tess and quickly found the button that opened the hidden door. She held her .44 magnum at the ready as she walked into the conference room and down the first hallway of offices. Assuming she was on the first basement level, Andrea descended down the stairs. "Two levels to go," she said to herself.

Looking through the door window on the level she wanted, she noticed a long hallways with doors branching off either side before a T-junction at the end. The hall was empty so she opened the door and began searching for the computer Ed spoke of.

Most of the rooms that branched off were labs, so Andrea let them be, deciding to check the more likely rooms first. After a few minutes of walking, she realized that the base was surprisingly large and surprisingly empty. So empty in fact that she was convinced they were running a skeleton crew for some reason. She dreaded the thought of why, but at least it was making it easier to find the information she needed.

She was midway down the hall and looking through another door window into a lab when she noticed someone lying on a table inside. He was strapped down and looking over at her in direct eye contact. He looked pitiful, like he didn’t even have the strength to call for help.

Andrea kept moving.

A few doors further down, Andrea was still thinking about what she had seen. He had looked like the Invid she had seen on her last visit, which is why she wasn’t particularly worried about assisting him. She checked another door but her conscience was nagging at her. Reluctantly, she went back to where she had seen him and entered the lab. She moved silently towards the table he was at and bent over him.

"Help," he managed to whisper out.

"I can come back for you," Andrea said. "I have to find something else first."

"No… Not me," he said in the same raspy, defeated voice. "Help my people."

"I’m here to help my own people," Andrea said simply. He relaxed his head and sighed, looking defeated. Andrea frowned. "I’ll help if I can. But only if I can."

The Invid regained his attention and made eye contact again. He grabbed her arm with surprising strength and speed. "You need to know. The attack… The attack is not what it seams." The Invid’s eyes were blurring. It looked as if it was about to pass out.

"How is it not what it seems?"

"It… Different," his body finally had enough and he passed out. His arm went limp. Andrea backed away and noticed that when he grabbed her arm he had broken the restraint that held it in place. Whatever he had to say, it must have been important. Vowing to come back to get him out, Andrea left the room.

* * * *

Andrea traveled the floor about ten more minutes before she found a door with a guard perched beside it. She reasoned it must be the one she wanted.

She put her weapons in the back of her pants and walked calmly towards him. He was wearing armor that looked to be quite thoroughly distributed. The suit included a helmet, torso piece, as well as more armor for his arms and legs. There were unarmored spots at some of the joints and hands however. "How are you? Where’s your uniform?"

Andrea knew she wouldn’t be able to bluff him for long. She just hoped she would be able to get close to him before he figured out that she wasn’t supposed to even be in the base, let alone in that room. "I forgot it in my quarters."

"Unlikely," he said skeptically. Andrea was only about ten feet away from him. "Please present your ID."

"Sure," she said reaching behind her as if to grab her badge. Instead she reached for her .44. It wouldn’t be enough to penetrate the armor but it would put some extra wallop into a punch. And the one thing armor knew about armor like his was that it was made for energy pistols, not hand to hand combat. Finally, within striking distance she lunged forward, but he had obviously suspected something since he was ready for her.

He deflected her first blow by raising an arm and counteracted it by hitting her with the hilt of his rifle in her midsection. Andrea doubled over but managed to absorb most of the blow by flexing her abdominal muscles just before the hit. The guard predictably moved to come down with the butt of his rifle on her head while she tried to catch her breath. She saw it coming and easily rolled out of the way.

Andrea kicked at his knee, hoping she could get enough force behind it to bring down her opponent regardless of the armor. Unfortunately it was better padded than she thought and he stayed standing. With speed, he pointed his rifle at her and when Andrea found herself staring down the barrel of a laser rifle she moved with renewed vigor and lightning speed.

She dodged to the side as he fired and kicked the weapon out of his hands with a backward roll. He scrambled after it but Andrea was soon on her feet and she tackled him to the ground. She pulled her energy pistol out and in the same move charged it. The pistol made a soft whine as it indicated full power and the guard froze as he felt it at a soft spot in the armor at the back of his neck. "Don’t shoot," he said quickly.

"Give me a reason not to," Andrea said in her best tough girl voice.

"I can’t tell you anything or they’ll kill me," the guard said panicking a little. Andrea removed the main helmet with her free hand and backed away.

"Take off the rest of the armor slowly." The guard did as instructed and Andrea opened the door to the room. "Kick it all inside." Again, the guard did as he was told. Andrea gestured for him to enter the room and she followed him inside.

She watched him carefully and moved towards the only desk in the room. She sat down in the chair and glanced at the computer. It was in English. "On the floor. Hands behind your head." She privately hoped she remembered how to use the machine.

Andrea focused the majority of her attention on the screen in front of her. There were a lot of files by the look of it. She clicked on a group of files marked "Invid" and let out a low whistle. "Have you seen these?"

"Some of them," the guard responded.

There were dozens of categories inside. "Anatomy," "stage one through five," "The Regis," "hives," "vessels," the list went on. Andrea opened one called "counter-measures," but the file didn’t contain quite what she was looking for. It focused on measure the Invid used for certain situations. One stood out at her specifically, "nuclear assault." She opened it and looked inside. Andrea read the file:

Nuclear Assault:

Intelligence suggests that in the event of a successful nuclear strike on an Invid hive, retaliation would be swift and relentless. During comparable experiments it was determined that the Invid would immediately try to determine where the strike originated. In the event that they could not locate the origin point the are likely to proceed with the systematic destruction of every building and human within an approximate 500-mile radius.

Andrea opened her eyes widely. "500 miles?"

"What?" The guard asked from the floor.

"Nothing," Andrea said going back out to the main file list. The Invid folder didn’t appear to have any information about the actual strike itself so Andrea decided to try again. She found a folder called "war" and opened it up. The folder consisted of a series of dates from before the Invid even arrived on the planet, straight through into the future about two years from the current date. One of them read August 21, 2037.

"That’s today," Andrea said to herself. She clicked the file and started to read:

Stage 21 – Initial Strike

Nuclear attack of the hive will commence at 18:30 hours. Majority of personnel should evacuate to site 4b to prepare.

There was a crash at the door and Andrea startled. Four guards stormed into the room armored and holding rifles. A tall lanky man came in the door behind them. He had a pale complexion and a cruel face. Andrea already ducking behind the desk as they entered

"Mmm, how charming," he said. "A human has infiltrated the base."

Andrea heard the guard she had subdued stand and join the others. She wasn’t quite sure how to get out of this one. She decided to blab a bit and see what happens. "I know what you’re planning with the attack on the Invid." She pressed her back hard against the desk. It was comforting to know it was there.

"Indeed," the person she guessed was a Master said. "Are you sure you know what you know?"

"You’d love for me to start doubting myself like that wouldn’t you?" Andrea’s words sounded strong but she remembered the Invid’s warning. Something was still missing from the puzzle and she knew it.

"Hmm, it seems you have some experience in these matters."

"Some," Andrea said not wanting to give him any further information. Meanwhile she shifted over behind the desk so she could reach the mouse.

"You know, you’re completely out gunned, not to mention the fact that you’re cornered."

"Why nuclear weapons? Why not a ray gun or whatever else you guys invented?" Andrea closed the open window on the computer and still remaining behind cover, she opened up a "map" file.

"How little you truly know." Andrea clicked on third basement. "We have to use a nuke because only humans use nukes."

A realization hit her. "You’re trying to start the fighting back up again between us and them."

Andrea knew he was smiling without even seeing him. He had that sort of smug attitude. "Of course, why else would we attack the Regis."

Andrea eyes opened wide. That was the missing piece. The Masters weren’t attacking the hive where she was. They were attacking the Regis’ hive. "If you destroy the Regis it’ll start an extermination, not a war."

"Either way," he said casually. "It’ll get rid of one enemy and the other won’t take long to fall apart once their leader is gone.

Andrea took a look at the map. According to the computer there used to be a hatch that led to the fourth floor beneath her. Andrea thought she could see the outline for it. It was just out of her cover; she’d have to risk getting shot at.

"Perhaps you’d like to come out now and save us all some time."

Andrea ignored him and pointed her energy pistol at the hatch. She fired and the hinges were easily blown off. The hatch collapsed onto the next level down. "Oh, good idea," the master said sarcastically. "Escape deeper into our base."

Andrea didn’t let him get to her. "May I make a recommendation for next time you enter a room to talk to an armed infiltrator?"

The Master laughed egotistically. "Please do. Share your wisdom with me."

"You should wear body armor." Before he could respond Andrea poked her head and shoulders up over the desk and fired several shots with her magnum at him. She saw him fall to the ground and quickly ducked behind the desk again. While the guards were distracted with their injured leader, Andrea dived down the hatch and onto the floor below.

She found herself in an unused lab and got into a defensive posture at the base of the hatch with energy pistol in one hand and .44 in the other. It wasn’t long until two guards jumped in after her.

She fired at one relentlessly, hitting his gloved hand with one of her burst shots from the magnum and hitting a shoulder joint with the energy pistol. He moaned in pain and crumpled over, already out of the fight.

The other guard swung around and fired his rifle at her. Thankfully, it was an automatic. Unfortunately it sounded like it was using high caliber bullets. Andrea dived for cover behind a thick filing cabinet but she wasn’t fast enough. She felt one of the bullets pass through her leg with a burning pain she knew all too well. She yelped as she landed awkwardly on it.

The guard fired randomly into the cabinet and Andrea ducked and chunks of wood and metal practically exploded all around her. She was glad he didn’t have a laser gun or she’d already be dead.

When the firing stopped, Andrea waited until she could hear footsteps. She quietly got to her feet and wen they sounded close enough she charged the cabinet and plowed into it with her shoulder.

The cabinet came crashing down on the other guard and Andrea quickly wrestled his weapon from him. With one swift motion, Andrea found the latch for his helmet, removed it, and slammed it back down again. It knocked him out instantly.

She pulled out her limpet mind and limped over to the doorway. "This is going to be loud," she said to herself as she set the timer for three minutes and changed the setting to lowest yield. She threw it down the hall. Then, painfully she walked back to the hatch and jumped to grab the floor where she had come from. She heard nothing so she pulled herself up and looked in the room. No one was there but a trail of blood led into the hall. Andrea smiled; her misdirection of going down a floor, combined with her attack on the Master had worked perfectly.

She pulled herself the rest of the way up and ripped the midriff off her shirt. She did a quick first aid job on her leg to stop the bleeding and wrapped the wound tightly. She left the computer room and entered into the empty hallway.

She was almost at the lab the Invid had been in when she heard a large explosion behind her and alarm sirens began to sound. The mine had obviously gone off.

She entered the lab and untied the unconscious Invid. There was a clock on the wall indicating she only had about half an hour until the nuke was launched. With a bit of a panic, she flung the Invid over her into a fireman’s carry. Immediately she collapsed to one knee. Her injured leg wasn’t strong enough to carry him.

With a silent thought to herself she used all her will power and forced herself to stand. She wasn’t going to let the Masters kill anyone else. Invid or no.

* * * *

Andrea made it up to the long hallway on the first level thanks to the limited number of people at the base but she was still worried to go much further. She was sure someone would be guarding the exit. As she thought about it, a faint noise from behind her made her whirl around, energy pistol at the ready.

"Whoa, careful with that thing. It’s just me." Ed’s familiar voice was more than comforting. He was speaking quietly so as not to be heard by the guards.

"Do you know how many are up there?" She asked Ed.

"Three. On the other side of the conference room." Ed opened up one of the side office doors. The room was empty. "Get in, I have an idea."

Andrea did as instructed and Ed closed the door quietly. Right away she heard his voice. He was yelling. "Ah just saw her. She’s in the stairs." Andrea heard the sound of clanking armor. It grew louder as they passed and then faded again as they went down the stairs. Ed opened the door again.

"That got rid o’ two o’ them. Just one left now."

"I’ll take care of it. Here, hold him."

Ed reached for the Invid and took him. "Geez, what happened t’ this poor bastard?"

"I’ll explain later. Stay close." Andrea drew her second pistol and cautiously entered the conference room. It was empty but the door on the other side was closed.

Andrea gritted her teeth and ignored the pain as she ran forward. She fired twice, once at each shingle for the door and rammed it with all the force she could muster. The heavy wood door broke free from the frame and spiraled into the small hall on the other side of it. Just as Andrea hoped, it hit the other guard and knocked him to the floor. She fired a burst from her energy pistol into his chest and he stopped moving. Satisfied, she walked past him and ran as quickly as her leg allowed up the stairs as Ed trailed close behind.

The light from the cave mouth was almost blinding and Andrea hurried towards it. It didn’t take long to unearth her cyclone and board it. She took the Invid from Ed and sat him down awkwardly in front of her. "Do you have a place where you and Tess can hide?"

"Uh, yeah. About three miles Northwest of here there’s another cave. Kinda hard t’ find but it’s there."

"Okay, I have to go. I’ll come back from you."

"You better," he said with a smile.

Once she had managed to balance the Invid, she took off as fast as she was able. She looked at her watch. She only had ten minutes to get there and the drive was at least that long. She gave it more gas.

She switched over to protoculture almost immediately so that she could gain the Invid’s attention before she arrived. The plan worked well enough since Andrea quickly found herself being escorted by four armored scouts.

She pulled up to what the Invid called the front door and yanked her unconscious passenger off the bike quickly. Unfortunately it ended up not being quite as gently as she intended. Destiny was standing there waiting for her and was shocked to see the familiar face of the Invid. "You found him!"

Andrea ignored the comment and rushed over to her. She was talking louder than normal. "Get the All Mother out of the hive."

Destiny looked confused. "The All Mother isn’t here."

"I know. Get her out of her hive."

"Andrea, I don’t…"

"Now!" Andrea interrupted. Her adrenaline was wearing out and her leg nearly gave out on her. Destiny noticed it for the first time.

"Your leg. Are you okay?"

"Just tell the Regis to leave. My leg will be fine."

"I’ve already told her Andrea. Right now I’m worried about you. Come into the hive and I can fix it for you."

"No, thank-you," Andrea said sitting down. "I’ve been a patient in a hive before."

Two stage fours rushed out of the hive and picked up Andrea’s passenger. Without a word they brought him inside. "Can you please tell me what is going on?" Destiny asked.

"The people who kidnapped your friend are trying to kill the Regis. I thought they were going to attack here but I was wrong. They’re going for her hive."

Destiny put a hand on Andrea’s shoulder. "Andrea, there’s no way an attack could succeed against the main hive. There is way too much defense there for anything to get through."

Andrea shook her head, "you don’t understand, it’s not a direct attack. They found a nuke. They’re going to blow it up without getting anywhere near it."

"What?" She went silent for a minute. "I just sent a warning for the others to get out. But this better not be some kind of ruse."

"Trust me, it’s not a…" Andrea was cut short as Destiny clutched her head and fell to her knees. Her face was contorted in pain. Andrea stood to try and catch her but her leg wasn’t strong enough and the two fell to their knees. "What’s wrong?"

Destiny looked up. She looked sadder than Andrea could have imagined. "It went off."

Andrea’s heart skipped a beat. That didn’t take long at all. "Did the Regis make it out?" Andrea started to panic. If the Regis hadn’t made it out…

Destiny nodded, easing Andrea’s fears. "Yeah. She made it out."

"How many were there when it went off?"

"More than two million." Destiny got back to her feet. "The All Mother wants to retaliate."

Andrea stood up as well, forcing the weight back on her leg. "No."

"It’s not my choice Andrea." She was still clutching her forehead but her pain seemed to be easing.

"Then let me talk to the All Mother."

"She says she’s busy right now."

"You tell her that I just saved her life and she’s not too busy to see me."

There was a silence and Destiny spoke, "her answer is still no."

"Damn-it. Of all the arrogant…" Andrea was talking to herself but a thought interrupted her. "Where is she now?"

"In Hawaii." Destiny saw Andrea’s determined look. "No. You can’t go. She’ll kill you if you get anywhere near her."

Andrea wasn’t going to let that stop her. "You take me there."

"I can’t," she said. "If anyone…" Andrea stared her down with a much fiercer glare than even she intended. Destiny stopped talking and took a step back in fear. Her expression passed after a moment and she silenced herself for a moment. Andrea thought she was consulting with the other Invid but she spoke quicker than normal. "I will take you. Come with me."

* * * *

Andrea entered the Invid ship hesitantly. As usual she had to discard her clothes at the door to the hive but Destiny had refrained from commenting about her matted down pubic hair or the trails of dried semen on her chest and stomach. Once inside the ship, Andrea found herself standing in a knee-deep level of the usual green goo. "I had the ship mostly drained of protoplasm but it won’t be able to function properly if I take out any more."

Andrea made her way to the front of the small cockpit silently acknowledging Destiny’s comment. "As long as we get there in one piece I’m sure it’ll be fine," she said. "Where do I sit?"

The ship started moving and Destiny walked up beside Andrea, "normally we stand."

"I see," Andrea said looking around. There was no furniture, no equipment and no window. It was also exceedingly hot. Hotter than the hive even. "What’s with the heat in here?"

"I’m sorry, it’s simply the ships internal body temperature. I have no way of altering it for you."

"Don’t worry about it then," Andrea said already sweating.

"If you wish, you could sit down. The liquid is much cooler."

Andrea looked down at it. "No thanks, I’ll stand."

The two stood in awkward silence for most of the trip. Andrea had crossed her arms over her sweaty breasts and was leaning against one of the ship walls. Destiny on the other hand was sitting comfortably in the liquid when she spoke, "I wanted to thank you for saving the All Mother. And also for saving my friend. You could have done neither and we all might have died. I also wanted to say thank-you for showing concern for me back when the All Mother first took over my body. I don’t think many humans would have cared if something was wrong with me or not."

"You’re welcome," Andrea said simply. She wasn’t yet sure if she made the right choice or not. "Is the Regis likely to be reasonable when she sees me?"

"Unlikely since she doesn’t know you’re coming."

"You haven’t told her?"

"Judging from the last two times she’s spoken of you, that would not be wise."

"Great," Andrea said to herself. "Just great."

* * * *

The ship arrived at the Regis’ new hive about ten minutes later and Andrea was escorted up to her chamber by Destiny. Just before Andrea entered, Destiny leaned over and whispered, "she plans to start leveling towns around the area within the hour. I’ll be just inside the door to make sure you’re safe."

"Oh yeah?" Andrea said skeptically, "and if she told you to kill me would you do it?" There was no response. Destiny looked away and Andrea had her answer. "Yeah… Real comforting." Andrea entered the room.

The All Mother was not what she expected. She – or just as possibly it – was not humanoid at all. She was about eight feet tall and twice that in length. She had a large abdomen like an ant, and a singular frontal eye on an elongated head. No, not human at all. She was instantly reminded that the stage fives were only a means of infiltration and not what the Invid actually look like. "What do you want?" The voice was somewhat feminine but booming and painful in her head.

"You can’t attack us."

"Is that so? Can you stop me?"

"Just as easily as I can save your life." After seeing the Regis’ reaction, Andrea instantly regretted her comment.

"If you think I owe you, you’re mistaken. I knew the attack was coming."

Andrea paused a moment to consider the Regis’ comment. The answer quickly hit her, "my ass you did. You’re just saying that to justify not returning the favor."

"Don’t pretend to lecture me on…"

Andrea interrupted. Her aggressive nature seemed to be keeping the Regis off guard. She probably wasn’t used to direct confrontation like that. "If you saw the attack coming than you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do to Destiny. Not to mention around two million dead."

The All Mother was getting fiercer, "I already told you that I do not have to answer to you."

"No, no, no," Andrea said, not ready to back off yet. "That was before I saved your race from extinction. If I’m not mistaken, without you the rest will just die off naturally?" There was silence for the first time from the Invid leader. Andrea pressed on, "no, now you listen to me whenever I want to speak to you. I don’t presume to run things around her but when I want to speak, I damn well better get an ear." There was more uneasy silence. The giant frame of the Regis shifted uncomfortably. Andrea wasn’t sure if she was simply bewildered or just thinking of the best way to kill her. So, that said, Andrea did the only thing she could. She kept going.

"There will be no retaliation, do you hear me? No retaliation. I know who did it and the matter will be dealt with internally. No retaliation. Say it!"

There was an expectant pause in the room as the All Mother seemed to consider what Andrea just said. "For entering my home a second time, you will be sent to someone in the city you call Chetumal whom I have an arrangement with."

"I don’t care whether you send me to the moon as long as you leave this matter to us."

There was a long pause. "Agreed. No retaliation if the matter is dealt with."

Andrea couldn’t help but smile. She hid it quickly. "Good."

"You will find I always keep my word Andrea. Always. You will be delivered to my associate for ignoring my earlier warning and he may do with you as he sees fit. But if you can escape or are set free from him and if you do as you say you will do then we will your people will be safe."

"Wait, escape?" Andrea obviously didn’t like the sound of that. "From who?"

"He is what your people refer to as an arms dealer I believe," and without wasting any time, the All Mother continued. "Destiny will show you out."

Not wanting to push her luck, Andrea turned and headed to the door. She stopped as the All Mother spoke. "I notice your thoughts dwelling on your concern that you think we consider your people related to the Masters. If it eases your mind to know this, I know that your people have nothing to do with them."

Andrea sighed in relief as the All Mother continued. "For if I truly thought you related to them I would have wiped out your kind long ago. In fact, if I even suspected there was a Master on this planet I would eradicate you all. Consider yourself lucky that I know of none."

With that the Regis turned and Andrea left in stunned silence. The Invid could not learn about the masters. If they did, the consequences would be absolute.

End Part 13"

Next: Andrea is sent to the Regis’ "contact" who convinces Andrea to be his sex slave for a week in exchange for some valuable items. Who is he and where do his alliances really lie?