“Negative, Dr. Winston. Orders are to stay put,” Bouma replied.

“I don’t give a shit. They aren’t going to make it!”

“Stay put, Dr. Winston. That’s an order,” Overton said over the open com.

Sophie looked for the outline of the Jeep. It was about a minute’s run. Based off the trajectory of the craft in the top left of her HUD, that was just enough time to get to the Jeep and intercept Overton and the girl. With a blink she switched the com from an open frequency and changed it to direct.

“Private Finley, Corporal Bouma, I want you to provide covering fire if the drone catches up with them.”

They nodded, and she snapped into a sprint. Sixty-five seconds later she was twisting the key in the ignition and listening to the engine groan to life. She threw it into first gear and squealed toward the semi, zigzagging in and out of the maze of empty vehicles.

By the time she reached the shoulder of the road, there were tracers of plasma ripping through the night. Either the trajectory calculated by her HUD had been wrong, or the ship had sped up. Either way, it was catching up to them.

She took a hard left, and the oversized Jeep tires tore onto the gravel shoulder, rocks crunching under their weight. She punched the gas. The momentum was just enough to push the Jeep off the small strip around the truck. A cloud of gravel shot out from behind the tires as Sophie maneuvered the vehicle back onto the highway. In the distance, the drone immediately filled her HUD with a luminous, ghostly green glow.

The cracks from Finley’s and Bouma’s pulse rifles filled the night, and for a second Sophie had to marvel at the absurdity of the situation. Only days before she had been ready to begin one of the most important scientific missions in modern history. Now she was battling an alien invasion.

The drone let out a high-frequency shriek and she narrowly avoided crashing into the back of a sedan. She pulled the wheel hard to the left and gave the engine more gas, racing toward the heat signatures of Overton and the child.

With another blink she switched the com back to open. “Prepare for evac, Sergeant. I’m coming in fast!”

A short burst of static and what sounded like a groan filled her earpiece. She smiled; it was Overton’s way of saying thanks.

Sophie peered back up through the windshield and saw that the craft was almost on top of them, a bright beam tracing their movements down the blacktop. In seconds it would have them in its grip.