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.She allowed herself to hope that one day she’d see a streak of light shooting down one of the helicopters, but the resistance seemed to be very thin on the ground around the detention camp.The aliens, according to some of the older prisoners, had simply uprooted thousands of humans and ordered them away from their bases.Remembering some of the havoc caused by dickers – civilians who reported British military movements to the enemy – in Afghanistan, Alex couldn't blame them, even though the mobile phone network had never been restored.She shook her head.The Taliban had never scored a major victory, but they’d kept up the pressure and they might have won in the long term – if the aliens hadn't invaded.But the Coalition had been bound by rules of engagement dreamed up by decent – if ignorant – politicians.The aliens didn't seem to care about civilian casualties and they were perfectly willing to obliterate entire towns to punish resistance.Weaker forces had defeated stronger forces before – or had at least convinced them to withdraw – but Alex couldn't remember if they’d ever done it when the stronger forces had also been the barbarians.When the call came, it took her by surprise.A pair of aliens were standing by the gate, bellowing for her in their toneless voices.She hesitated, considering hiding within the crowd, before realising that it was pointless.Bracing herself, she strode out with as much dignity as she could muster and stopped in front of the aliens.One of them pointed his cannon-like weapon at his chest, as if he imagined that she was a threat.Alex couldn't keep the giggles from forming deep inside her chest.She was half-naked, half-starved and completely unarmed.and he thought she was a threat?“Turn around and place your hands behind your back,” the alien ordered.Alex obeyed, unsurprised to feel a metal tie contracting around her wrists.They weren't taking any chances, all right.Their voices were almost robotic.“Walk with us.Do not attempt to escape.”The alien strung her around and marched her towards the gate, which clanged shut behind them.Despite her growing nervousness, Alex was privately glad of the chance to inspect the rest of the base.A number of human-designed buildings were still intact, but others had clearly been knocked down and were being replaced by prefabricated alien buildings.She caught sight of what looked like a futuristic car at the end of one building, before her escort marched her onwards, half-pulling her whenever she tried to slow them down.The sound of alien voices speaking what had to be their own language – it sounded like grunting to her ears – caught her attention and she looked up.A small group of aliens was staring at her, their dark eyes wide.Surely she wasn't the first human they’d seen.And these aliens were smaller.For a moment, she wondered if they were children, before realising that they were differently proportioned than her escort.Alien females? She’d assumed that the aliens had their own version of keeping women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen, but maybe they made better use of female labour than some human societies.Their clothing was different too.she wondered, absently, how the aliens mated, before pushing the thought aside.It was clear that she was about to have far more serious problems.A human designed building loomed up in front of her and the aliens pushed her right into the darkness.For a moment, Alex was completely disorientated before her eyes adjusted to the gloom.There was a chair in the centre of the room, bolted to the floor, and the aliens pushed her down onto the cold metal.She yelped as they stubbed her bound wrists, before, fixing a bar around her chest and walking away.The door closed behind them with an audible clunk.“Well, well, well,” a voice said, from the darkness.“What have we here?”Alex started, peering ahead of her.In the gloom, she could make out two figures, both clearly human.They didn’t seem to be restrained.The light came on suddenly, almost blinding her.The two men definitely weren't restrained.Alien collaborators.or something else? But what else could they be?“Who
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