“Meimei, what’s on it?”

“I told you, you should see for yourself.” She tilted her head and a hologram shimmered to life in our midst. Had she activated this holo without even touching the computers?

I jumped as a dozen heavily armored men stampeded straight through me. Those weren’t stun guns in their hands, either. I’d seen huge rifles like that. Omnistellar manufactured some, in fact, but my parents never let me fire one. I didn’t even want to consider how Obsidian got their hands on that sort of weaponry.

The security feed showed the view from someone’s helmet cam, giving the whole thing a surreal look, as if we were inside a VR game. The guards took up positions outside a sealed door. “Everything looks clear,” someone announced from ahead. “But we can’t get in.”

Over comms came a voice laden with frustration. “I know. I’m not having any luck unlocking the system.”

The woman who spoke first had even less patience than Mia. “Blow it, then. Or I will.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the reply: “Copy that, Alpha Two. Stand clear.”

The suited figure, who I now realized was the commander, gestured everyone back. The view lurched as the owner of the camera slid around the corner. A muffled explosion reached my ears, and the commander barked, “Let’s move!”

The guards charged through the smoking remains of the door into a prison sector similar to the one we were in, but much cleaner and nicer, better maintained. Some sort of foam block surrounded most of the cells. I recognized it as a cheap soundproofing material. My dad used it to cover the basement walls on Earth when he and Mom set up a weekend shooting gallery. Here, it provided privacy for apartments.

I barely had time to register this, though, as the guards charged through. They kicked open doors. My camera view illuminated a nicely appointed apartment. It was tiny, being a cell, but it contained decent furniture, some framed pictures, and a plush carpet.

“Alpha One!” a voice barked. I jumped. It sounded like it was in the room with us—because, I realized, it was the voice of our camera’s owner. “You’d better see this.”

The camera angled to reveal a long bloody streak marring the cream-colored carpet.

The commander drew near, and I made out her worried expression behind her faceplate. “Similar situation in the other apartments,” she said shortly. “Let’s keep moving. We haven’t found any bodies yet. Whatever happened here, there has to be evidence.”

My knees grew weak. No. No, there didn’t. Not if the bodies were taken. The aliens had taken everyone on Sanctuary, even my mom, even Rita, even though they weren’t anomalies. They might do the same thing here.

A sudden scream sent me shooting to my feet, my heart pounding. For a moment I thought it came from directly behind me, but after a second, I realized it was part of the recording. I wasn’t the only one, either: everyone was either on their feet or sitting as tense as a steel bar.