Defeat Read Online Free PDF Page A

the Soviet Republic after the so
called fifth Russian revolution, the aliens were weird and
disguised themselves as human, the aliens had the ability to morph,
like chameleons, and only appeared human.
    Jayla had thrown the bs flag on
that one, looking up chameleons. Chameleons couldn’t really morph
and they weren’t even capable of the kind of color changes many
people ascribed to them. They didn’t blend in with just any color
that was in the background. They only changed to match certain
ones. They were limited.
    If the Hrwang were living,
breathing mammals, like humans, they would have similar
restrictions, wouldn’t they?
    Jayla couldn’t stand it any longer
and ran back out to the deck and screamed her sister’s name. How
far had that girl gone, anyway?
     
    Wolfgang never felt any blast
wave. Perhaps it hadn’t been a nuclear device. Who would be crazy
enough to use them anyway? They contaminated soil and water and
air, leaving territory useless.
    If it were the aliens, the Hrwang,
surely they would have more effective weapons than nuclear devices.
If they knew how to travel light years to get to Earth, surely they
had more advanced technology than nuclear bombs.
    That line of reasoning didn’t make
him feel any better.
    The American soldiers were
speaking rapidly and he couldn’t keep up. Leah held him tightly,
still sobbing into his side, and he didn’t want to leave her to
stand closer to them.
    When several of the other hikers
began arguing with them, Wolfgang decided he was in charge of the
group and he needed to do something.
    He peeled Leah off of himself and
she looked like a lost kitten, but he told her everything would be
fine. He approached the arguing group, trying to fathom what they
were saying.
    He asked, in German, the hiker who
had translated before what was going on. The woman told him the
soldiers wanted to head back to Ramstein as soon as
possible.
    “ No!” Wolfgang
said in English. Everyone stopped and stared at
him.
    “ No. We take best
hikers and run to top of dragon rock. We look and see what’s
happening. Towers up there.” He didn’t know the words in English,
so he said to the interpreter, “If the network is still up, they’ll
get a signal on their phones up top. And we can see for miles.
Perhaps we can figure out what’s going on before we head
back.”
    The interpreter translated for the
Americans.
    “ How long will it
take?”
    “ Good runners.”
Wolfgang tried to estimate. “Twenty, thirty
minutes.”
    “ I’ll go, sir,”
one of the younger Americans said.
    “ You don’t think
I can run thirty minutes?” the oldest American
replied.
    The younger one stayed
silent.
    “ You’re probably
right.” He turned to Wolfgang. “Take whoever you want, but if they
can’t keep up, they drop out. We need to get into network coverage
as soon as possible. You make sure Captain Wlazlo makes
it.”
    A Polish name? Americans came from
every nationality, didn’t they? Wolfgang thought.
    He turned to the group and
explained in German that a few volunteers would need to run up to
the top of the mountain and back down again, and that they might be
running for an hour. Most of the group looked down at their feet
and their packs, but two of the men and one of the women
volunteered. Wolfgang reviewed the path they would take.
    “ Okay, then,
let’s go,” he said in English.
    “ I’m coming,
too,” Leah said.
    “ You stay here.
We will be back soon.”
    “ I can run,” she
replied and stood resolutely next to him.
    He shrugged his
shoulders.
     
    The argument about what to do had
taken longer than ten minutes. It had been more like twenty since
the flash of light had passed by them. After being cooped up in the
small cave, running felt good to Wolfgang for the first few
minutes. A chance to stretch his legs and breathe fresh
air.
    But after too short a while,
running up the steep hill tired him. It had the same effect on the
others. One of the German men stopped