The guards breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their weapons, several even nodded in greeting at the young woman. “It’s good to see you again, Nori,” a young blond man said. “Haven't seen you for a week, thought the Warped got you.”

Nori winked at him. “No chance, Dug. I got an alien spacecraft now. The Warped don’t stand a chance.”

He chuckled good-naturedly. “You’ll never change. We all thought we were about to die when that huge one breached the wall, then you came in, guns blazing … like a Valkyrie. Thought for a moment I died and reached Valhalla.”

“Yeah, right, Dug. You’re a veritable Norse godling, you.” One of his friends clapped him hard on his back.

The blond man winced.

“Were there other attacks since then?” Nori asked.

“No, ma'am,” another answered. “Martin said to call him if we spot any. Reckon he wanted to try his new space-gun, but it's been quiet for the last several hours.”

“Call me for what now?” Martin appeared behind the second barrier. “Nori! You’re back. Got any more alien guns?” he asked jokingly.

“Actually,” Nori said with a straight face. “Yes.”

She got up from the crate she was using as a makeshift stool and opened it, revealing the shiny silver Zappers. “Nine, brand new alien weapons and some spare power cells. Here.” She threw him one. “I brought one for the Disruptor too.”

“Amazing,” he said, his eyes shining as he took in the Zappers.

He picked up one of the guns and examined it closely. “Oh,” he said, somewhat disappointedly. “Those are nice, but not at the level of the Disruptor. It’ll take a few bursts to take down a level two Warped, and we’ll need at least three shooters to safely take down anything stronger. At least they have a larger magazine. Good for a hundred shots, not bad.”

“Well, there are nine Zappers and nine spare power cells. With 1,800 shots, you should be able to handle even something as big as that giant Warped that attacked you earlier,” Nori said.

“True,” Martin smiled at her. “Now if only we had people who could actually use them.”

“That’s easy to fix,” Nori flashed him her curved smile. “Pick out nine of your men and let’s go take a leisurely stroll.”

“Hell, no way I’m going out there.” One of the men stepped back. “I’ve seen what those monsters can do to a person. I’m staying right here, thank you.”

Several other guards nodded and stepped back but Dug and a few others stood their ground.

Martin shrugged. “I guess that settles that.” He looked at Nori and withdrew the Disruptor from his belt. “We’re ready.”

The heavy outer door opened slowly and eleven people emerged onto the streets. Nori led them away from the shelter and they passed by the shuttle.