Keira

Dear god, no.

It had only been a matter of seconds, a minute, maybe, since Brad had disappeared from their hiding spot. Skulking around the edge of the square in the hope that he could signal the ground troops that were arriving and shut this disaster down before they got started. They hadn't been fast enough. Keira felt her blood freeze in her veins as the wailing sirens screamed down the road, three…no, five…ten sets of flashing lights responding. How in the hell had they gotten here so fast? Someone must have been on the phone the minute the portal opened.

Her mind scrambled, trying to think of the best way to minimize the disaster that was about to take place. Flicking her suit to invisibility, she headed for high ground as fast as her feet would carry her. It was the most likely place for the VPD to engage. If she could get herself between them and the droids, maybe the tech in her suit would help minimize the damage until Brad could neutralize the whole situation.

As cars screamed to the edge of the field, doors opened and voices started echoing through megaphones, her entire world narrowed down to one thing-one man, stepping out of his car, gun drawn. Carlos. Oh god. He was supposed to be taking some time off after that little escapade with Alec, not standing in the middle of a futuristic minefield. What the hell was he doing here?

Stupid question. Keira laughed at herself. Since when had Carlos Fonnegra ever stayed where it was safe? Didn't matter that technically, he didn't have the credentials to be calling the shots. With Dillon gone, he was the senior officer at the precinct-and the only one that was going to recognize that they were dealing with future tech rather than modern military warfare. There was no way he was going to let his team step into this kind of trouble without him.

Only now he was in the line of fire, and if she couldn't get him clear...

Damn it. The officers had attracted the attention of the droids. Shots were being fired. Keira broke into a run, cover forgotten.

She was too late. Halfway across the field, she saw one of the droids turn and fire, and Carlos went down.

Carlos

Son of a bitch. Flat on his back on the concrete, he could hear the panicked voices of his fellow officers talking into their microphones. Officer down…officer down…

God he hated those words.

His chest felt like it was on fire, breathing hurt like a bastard and his head was killing him where he'd hit the pavement. Could have been worse. He could have been dead. Should have been dead, judging from the look he'd gotten at the firepower those things were carrying.

Which meant they weren't shooting to kill, just make sure they stayed out of the way. Good news, as far as it went. The bad news was, these clearly weren't anything they'd seen before. Only three short years ago he'd have said it looked like a military op, but he knew better now. Their military didn't have anything like this. Not yet. This was future tech, and while he didn't know how or why he knew somehow this whole mess was related to Keira's new friend.

His brain was getting foggy from pain, but he pushed it back and struggled to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see more shots being fired. Fortunately, the rest of his team had their eyes open, and had been able to take cover behind their vehicles. The things…he wasn't sure exactly what they were…had them surrounded, cut off from backup or any further cover. They were keeping them pinned down, probably so the men he could see running behind them could get to wherever they were going.

'Damn it, Fonnegra, think.' He had to get his people clear, regroup and figure out what the hell they were going to do. Unfortunately, without any clue about what these people were, where-or rather, when-they were from, what they were after or what their capabilities were, he didn't have a whole lot of options. Keira would know, but she was still lying low at the cabin by the lake with lover boy. He was on his own.

Which was why he all but crawled out of his skin when Keira appeared out of the middle of freaking nowhere.