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will.”
    “You got that right,” said Corbie. “If we’re going up against aliens, I want hazard pay.”
    “Technically speaking, we shouldn’t really call them aliens,” said Dr. Williams. “This is their world, after all. If anyone’s alien here, it’s us.”
    The Investigator chuckled quietly. “Wrong, Doctor. Aliens are aliens, no matter where you find them.”
    “And the only good alien is a dead alien,” said Corbie. “Right, Investigator?”
    Krystel smiled. “Right, marine.”
    “How can you justify that?” said DeChance heatedly. “Everything that lives has some common ground. We share the same thoughts, the same feelings, the same hopes and needs….”
    “You ever met an alien?” asked Krystel.
    “No, but…”
    “Not many have.” Krystel drew on her cigar, blew a perfect smoke ring, and stared at it for a long moment. “Alien isn’t just a noun, esper; it’s an adjective. Alien; as in strange, different, inhuman. Unnatural. There’s no room for the alien inside the Empire, and this planet’s been a part of the Empire from the moment an Imperial ship discovered it. That’s Empire law.”
    “It doesn’t have to be that way here,” said Lindholm slowly. “If we could contact the aliens peacefully, make some kind of alliance …”
    “The Empire would find out eventually,” said Hunter. “And then they’d put a stop to it.”
    “But why?” said DeChance. “Why would they care?”
    “Because aliens represent the unknown,” said Corbie. “And the Empire’s afraid of the unknown. Simple as that. Not too surprising, really. The unknown is always threatening to those in power.”
    “Sometimes they have reason to be afraid,” said Krystel. “I was there on Grendel, when the Sleepers awoke.”
    For a long time no one said anything.
    “I thought no one got out of there alive,” said Lindholm finally.
    Krystel smiled humourlessly. “I was lucky.”
    “I think that’s enough chatting for one day,” said Hunter. “Get your gear together, people. Keep it simple, the bare minimum. Remember, you’ve got to carry it, and we might have to travel in a hurry. Report back here in thirty minutes, ready to leave. Don’t be late, or we’ll go without you. Now move it.”
    The Squad turned as one and filed quickly back into the pinnace. At the rear, hanging back, Corbie looked at Lindholm.
    “An alien city,” he said quietly. “You ever seen an alien, Sven?”
    “Can’t say I have,” said Lindholm. “That’s what Investigators are for. I met a Wampyr once, on Golgotha. He was pretty strange, but not actually alien. How about you? You ever met an alien?”
    “Not yet.” Corbie frowned unhappily. “I just hope our Investigator has enough sense not to get us in over our heads. We’re a long way from help.”

CHAPTER TWO
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    In the Forest of the Night
    The silver sun rode high on the pale green sky. The world lay stark and bare under the brilliant light, and no sound broke the silence. The mists were gone, dispersed by the rising sun, but the day was no warmer. The Hell Squad moved warily through the quiet morning, walking in single file, their hands never far from their gunbelts. Hunter led the way, alert for any sign of movement on the open plain, but for as far as he could see there wasn’t a trace of life anywhere. There were no animals, no birds in the sky, not even an insect. The continuing silence was eerie and disquieting. The soft sound of the Squad’s boots on the plain was quickly swallowed up by the quiet, and there wasn’t even a murmur of wind.
    Hunter hefted his backpack into a slightly more comfortable position and tried not to think about the miles of hard open ground that lay between him and the alien city. His legs ached, his back was killing him, and there was still another nine, ten miles to go. And what was worse, his feeling of being watched was back again. He’d been free of it for a while, but once they’d left the pinnace behind, the feeling