Grace Goodwin - Hunted

He glanced up quickly, then returned his gaze to the transport controls. “No, Vice Admiral. Elite Hunter Quinn is currently stationed with Battlegroup Karter in Sector 437. According to Coalition records, he is running Hive ReCon patrols from a subterranean base on Latiri 4.”

The Karter? Sector 437? The doctor was sending me into the middle of a war zone. I knew it. Apparently, Kira did as well.

“Oh my God. That’s the front line.” Her gaze jumped from Doctor Surnen to me. “Maybe you should wait. He’s not even on the battleship, Niobe. He’s on the ground.”

Elite Hunter Quinn.

Nice name. Quinn. My mind wandered momentarily. He was an Elite. He’d be strong. Fast. Maybe as fast as that warrior chasing me in my dreams…

“Niobe, no. You can’t be serious. You should wait.”

I was so preoccupied with imagining Quinn that it took me a moment to process what Kira said. “Wait. He’s on the ground? I thought you said he was with Battleship Karter.”

Doctor Surnen cleared his throat, looked at something on his tablet, then looked at me. “Normally, I would not be allowed to tell you this, nor would I be able to transport you to his location. But I see you have very high level I.C. clearance.”

“I do.” I knew just about everything going on in this war. Not all of it, but most. My work with the Intelligence Core was extensive and had been for years.

He sighed. “Elite Hunter Quinn is currently operating with a Hunter unit doing reconnaissance on the Hive. His unit is stationed in an underground facility behind enemy lines.”

“What?” My mate was currently in Hive territory?

“The battle for Latiri 4 and Latiri 7 are pivotal in this war. Those two planets and their moons are perfectly positioned to operate as forward attack bases for several sectors of space. The Hive are not willing to give it up, and neither are we.”

I knew that. I even knew we’d followed the Hive’s lead and started building bases under the ground for the sole purpose of allowing them to overrun the territory. Once they were ensconced above the ground, unaware of our below-ground reconnaissance teams, we gathered significant amounts of intel on their movements, plans, and technological developments. I’d read about the new subterranean programs in an I.C. briefing several months ago. But reading about it and transporting to an underground fortress beneath Hive controlled territory were two very different things.

Kira and the doctor both looked at me. Did I want to wait?

No. Not really. But I wasn’t stupid either.

“Is the base secure?”

The doctor checked his tablet again. “I’m sure you could check with better sources than me, but according to current data, yes.”

I digested that one for a moment. “And how long is Quinn assigned to the base?”

His sigh was long and deep, and I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Indefinitely. Hunter units aren’t like other Coalition assets. They cooperate with the Coalition Fleet, as long as it suits their agenda. He could leave tomorrow. He could be there for years. There are no firm orders. It is up to the Elite Hunter in charge of his unit, and their allegiances on Everis.”

Yes, I could go back to the Academy and wait. Or, I could get on the transport pad and go on a wild adventure.

A tingle of excitement flooded my system. I hadn’t been in combat in years, but the thought didn’t frighten me. What made me want to shudder with dread was the idea of going back to my sparse office at the Academy and staring out that fucking window for one more day. Yes, what I did was important. I trained fighters. I made them smart. I saved lives. Occasionally, the I.C. would call me out for assignment. But these days, it was more diplomacy and spy games than open warfare. I was a desk-jockey, and it sucked the soul right out of me.

My primary job was to train new warriors, to make sure they could handle what they would find out there against the Hive. But I was bored. Lonely. A few days of excitement and hot sex sounded amazing.

“I spent over a decade in ReCon before I was promoted to serve at the Academy. I’m not afraid of getting dirty, Kira.”

Kira was I.C., Intelligence Core. She and her mate, the Atlan warlord, still served. She knew me well enough to know I meant what I said. “I know.” She didn’t mention the I.C. aloud, as that was against protocol, but the look she gave me said she knew exactly what I was talking about. “It’s not the dirt I’m worried about.”

Rachel was laughing out loud when the vibrations of the transport pad traveled up from the soles of my feet. A second later, the hair on my arms stood on end.

“Your transport will occur in three… two… one.”

Then my two friends were gone and I was once again on a transport pad.

Not on The Colony. On Latiri 4.

Instead of being welcomed by an Elite Hunter mate, I faced a Hive trio who looked as shocked as I felt. What the fuck was going on here?

All three raised their weapons in unison, three former Viken warriors covered in Hive technology. There was no light in their eyes. No soul. They were well and truly gone. Integrated.

Oh shit. Doctor Surnen needed to update his intel.

This was no Coalition controlled base.

This was Hive hell…

Quinn, Latiri 4, Hive Integration Base, Sector 437

The transport pad vibrations made my head pound where my cheek pressed to the cold, hard floor of my cell. No doubt even more prisoners were about to arrive on their way to hell, more warriors I couldn’t save.

Fuck it all, I couldn’t even save myself.

The last injection the Nexus bastard gave me was burning through my system like acid.

Worse, I could hear them now, inside my head, like the constant buzzing of insects on the trees back on Everis. Buzz. Rattle. Hum. The noise was constant. The headache made me grind my teeth in frustration. But I didn’t stop fighting the noise, no matter how badly it hurt. If I gave in, they’d own me, and I’d rather be dead.

The trio of Hive who ran the transport pad moved around like silent drones in perfect unison. Seeing Coalition warriors who’d been fully integrated and made into mindless machines was painful, but not as horrible as the idea of ending up exactly like them.

Empty.

Numb.

A weapon for the Nexus to wield against my fellow warriors.

This base was built to be a Coalition stronghold. Latiri 4 and Latiri 7, both in Sector 437 and under Commander Karter’s protection, had been the front line of this war for a long time. Years. This sector of space was imperative for supply transport, and as a gateway for access to multiple inhabited planets.

The Coalition Fleet could not afford to lose control of this sector of space. So this underground base had been built in secret when this pile of rock was ours.

And then—we’d let them in. Let them take it. Let the Hive think they’d conquered ground and overrun our territory.

In truth, the whole thing had been a trap so we could gather intelligence from behind enemy lines. This base had been used to spy on Hive operations for almost a year now. The knowledge we’d acquired had begun to turn the odds in our favor.

Until about a week ago, when we’d been ambushed and overrun by Hive Soldiers and Drones. The Integration Units had moved in right behind them and the torture, deaths and integrations of my friends and fellow warriors had begun.

The Nexus had arrived on day two. His presence marked the end of the Elite Hunters under my command. We’d been set aside. Special. The injections we’d received made the Hive’s work on us invisible to the outside world.