Free Resident Alien: Department of Homeworld Security, Book 2 by Cassandra Chandler Page A

her from the equation, who knew how long they could keep destroying Earth’s ecosystems before the Coalition caught on.
    He had no doubt his sister would fall in the line of fire eventually as well. Those water samples Kira mentioned didn’t just hop into the lab on their own. Paige was Senator Conroy’s main environmental scientist.
    “Kira, we have to tell the Coalition what’s going on.”
    She nodded. “I know.”

Chapter Twelve
    “Turning on my nanites will be nothing compared to this.”
    Kira watched as Brendan completed preparations to send his final broadcast. She had recorded a message that contained everything they had figured out about the Tau Ceti involvement on Earth. They would send the broadcast across a section of space that should ensure the Arbiter received it.
    The transmission would need at least five minutes to complete and would show up loud and clear on any Tau Ceti scanners that were still functional. She was no longer just worried about the ship that had boarded the listening station. With an operation on Earth as big as they suspected, there were probably plenty of Tau Ceti waiting and watching for just such a signal. The question was whether they would be close enough to reach Brendan and Kira before they could run.
    Brendan had resources. If they could reach civilization, their chances of survival would be better.
    She wasn’t holding out much hope.
    “You ready?” Brendan asked.
    She nodded, then rested her hand on his shoulder, leaning over him to watch him work. He put his hand on top of hers. They locked gazes for a moment, then he turned back to the controls and initiated the broadcast.
    “There it goes.”
    “Are you sure they won’t be able to recover any data?”
    “I set up my equipment with a self-destruct. It won’t take out the whole cabin, but there should be some pretty cool fireworks.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “What, you think you’re the only ones advanced enough to have self-destruct buttons? Please. I worked for my government. I don’t want this falling into anyone else’s hands. You can’t pull data from a system that’s been both wiped and slagged.”
    “Too bad we can’t time this one to take a few of them out.”
    The cabin was already precious to her. In only a few hours, she had built the best memories of her life there.
    “Remind me never to make you mad.”
    She smiled, then leaned forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders and kiss his cheek. She nuzzled the soft hair of his beard. Stars, she hoped there would be time for more of that.
    His smile suddenly vanished. “Part of it is an EMP. I was so distracted with everything going on, I forgot about your nanites.”
    “They’ll be fine. They’re powered down.” She gave him another quick kiss. Her stomach was tightening as the broadcast neared completion. “You’re not using nuclear fission for that, are you?”
    Her sensors hadn’t picked up anything like that near his cabin.
    “There are other ways to create an EMP.”
    “Nothing that standard Earth-tech can make.”
    “Look around you. Any of this look like standard Earth-tech?”
    He had a point. It was too bad Earth wasn’t considered advanced enough to begin First Contact preparations. Brendan would be a perfect candidate for the preliminary committee.
    His computer beeped.
    “That’s that.” He shut down the broadcast, then keyed in the commands for the self-destruct. “We have ten minutes to make ourselves scarce. My jeep is about a five minute hike if we hustle. The EMP won’t reach that far. I know you say you’ll be fine, but I’d just as soon get you far from here before it goes off.”
    “Let’s go, then.”
    Brendan headed for the door while Kira ran to the counter to grab the med-kit. Sunlight spread across the floor briefly, then was blocked. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
    “Um, Kira?”
    She turned around, knowing what she would see. Brendan had his hands in the air and was backing