She focused. The two flying machines, bristling with a discordant power of their own. However they were kept in the sky, it was not the energy of the earth.

But now she could bring them down to it.

The leading pilot entered a shallow descent to line up his gunsight reticule on the UFO. Whether or not it had been built by space aliens, he didn’t know; what he did know was that being the first person ever to shoot one down would earn him a place in the history books, and hopefully money and fame besides . . .

The crosshairs found the dragon-like aircraft. It was stationary, hanging unnervingly over the city. The remains of the skyscraper it had just destroyed were nearby. The sight blew trivial thoughts of personal gain from his mind. This thing had attacked his country, killing who knew how many people. Whoever – or whatever – was inside was going to pay.

‘Four thousand metres to target,’ he reported. ‘Closing at four-fifty knots.’ He thumbed the weapon selector on his joystick. ‘Guns hot.’

His wingman confirmed she was ready to fire. The city rolled past below as the fighter descended. ‘Three thousand metres,’ he continued. ‘Two thousand.’ His cannon had a maximum effective range of eighteen hundred metres, but he wanted to be close enough to damage the target; according to Major Wu, it had some kind of shield. It sounded like something from a superhero movie, but Wu did not seem the kind to imagine such things.

Besides, he was looking at a UFO! Who knew what it could do? ‘Fifteen hundred, ready to fire.’ His finger tightened on the trigger—

The air around the target seemed to ripple, a flash illuminating the ground around it – but there was no lightning. He hesitated, confused, but recovered. Less than a kilometre—

Another flash, brighter, closer – and a searing bolt of energy tore his fighter apart.

Major Wu stared intently at the two fighters as they closed on the fortress, waiting for them to unleash their weapons upon it. A flash, and she held her breath in anticipation, but it had not come from the jets. What—

A thick, weaving line of lightning lanced up from the ground – and hit the leading fighter. The J-20 disintegrated into a churning plume of liquid flame. She gasped in horror.

The second fighter sought vengeance, firing a stream of cannon rounds from its external gun pod. The shield shimmered – then the shells tore into the dark hull. ‘Yes!’ Wu cried—

Another lightning flash – and the J-20’s wing blew apart as it swooped low over the dragon’s back.

The crippled aircraft spun into a corkscrewing roll towards the ground—

It hit the base of the collapsed tower – and exploded.