Free Noah: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 6) by Anna Hackett Page B

glanced up at her, his mouth falling open. He responded.
    Laura nodded and tapped on her mini-tablet. A modulated computer voice said the next few raptor words. The raptor shook his head violently and Gabe jammed the end of his carbine into the raptor’s neck. The alien closed his eyes, then responded.
    “He’s some sort of biologist,” Laura said. “The cubes aren’t his area of expertise.”
    “Could he be lying?” Cruz asked.
    She shook her head. “I don’t think so. My program detects heart rate and perspiration levels. I think he’s telling the truth.”
    “You’re sure it works on aliens?” Marcus said.
    “Yes. We’ve tested it on our raptor prisoners back at base.”
    Marcus huffed out a breath. “Okay. Gabe, stash him somewhere where he won’t be found.”
    Gabe yanked the alien off the chair and dragged him toward some large metal storage boxes.
    “Noah, open the next door,” Marcus ordered.
    Noah had the hang of the system now and the next door opened in seconds. The next room had long metal tables laid out. The bodies of dead animals, some of them dissected, lay on a few of the tables. Noah gritted his teeth. Bastards . Toward the back of the room was a divider made of clouded amber glass. Behind it, they saw a large shadow moving.
    They all froze.
    Marcus used some hand signals, and this time Claudia crept forward. She peered around, then waved them closer.
    When Noah got close enough, he looked around the glass.
    A raptor was working, bent over one of the tables. There was a dead kangaroo on the table, cut open, and the raptor was taking samples.
    Noah stepped back and shook his head. They needed a raptor scientist who worked with the cubes.
    They worked their way through a few more rooms.
    Finally, they stepped into a room lined with raptor comp screens. They were made of a black, glass-like substance with ragged edges. Noah had pulled a few apart in the name of research. He followed the line of screens and off to one side, he saw a large pile of stacked energy cubes. From the number of them, he guessed they powered the entire facility.
    There was also a raptor working at one of the screens.
    Noah nodded.
    And Hell Squad moved.
    A second later, Claudia and Reed had dragged the raptor off his chair.
    “Let’s get out of here,” Marcus said. “Noah, do your magic.”
    Noah headed for the door. He held up his tablet and started tapping away. But this time, before he’d cracked the lock, the door clicked and started to open.
    Oh, hell. He took a step back.
    A huge raptor entered, took one look at Noah, then tackled him to the ground.
    Fuck . The landing was hard. Noah’s tablet flew out of his hands. The weight of the alien had driven all the air out of his lungs. He kicked out, trying to buck the creature off him. But then the alien clamped scaled hands around Noah’s neck.
    Shit. Shit . Noah forced himself to relax. Analyze the problem. Exoskeleton . He didn’t have the strength to battle the raptor, but his armor did. Follow Marcus’ training . Noah jammed an elbow into the raptor’s face and a knee into the alien’s side.
    The raptor grunted, his hands loosened.
    Noah managed to roll and get on top. He slammed a punch at the alien’s ugly face.
    Then a carbine was aimed into the raptor’s temple. A cool, female voice spoke a few words in the language of the aliens.
    Noah looked up at Laura. Damn, she looked badass with that hard, take-no-prisoners look on her face.
    Beneath him, the alien sagged in defeat. Noah pushed off him. “Thanks.”
    She inclined her head. Then Cruz and Gabe appeared, pulling the raptor to his feet and binding him.
    “Nice moves, Kim,” Cruz said.
    “Marcus is a tough teacher.” Noah scooped up his tablet. It had a crack through the screen. Dammit . He thumbed the power button, relieved when it lit up. “Give me a second and we’ll get out of here.”
    He went to work and the door opened. He waved the squad out. They moved, taking their two prisoners